Update on the Training Camp

Team South Africa have been in the Czech Republic since Saturday, and have now settled down into a nice rhythm of eat, sleep and orienteer.

Arrival and Settling In

After arriving in Prague on Saturday, Nicholas, Eugene and Paul drove the 300-odd km down to Olomouc in their rented Merc. Garry arrived at the Olomouc train station on Sunday, so we now await team manager Ian Bratt's arrival on Friday to complete the team. Accommodation in the Palack University hostels is good, but we've been left to fend for ourselves food-wise for this first week. We've managed to locate a few good restaurants and a shopping mall in the area, armed of course with a handy English-Czech translation guidebook.

Training Maps

The first few days in the Czech Republic resulted in the team pulling some of their hair out due to the lack of training maps. We eventually received these on Tuesday, two full days after we arrived. In the meantime we'd come up with some alternative plans, including competing in the 3rd day (middle distance) of the Moravian Champs on Sunday, and joining the Chinese team for an informal sprint race in a suburb of Olomouc on Tuesday morning. Out of interest, the Chinese team have spent the last 2 months training full-time in the Czech Republic!

Eugene approaching the finish line in the Moravian Champs...



With official training maps in hand, we finally got down to some good training on Tueday and Wednesday. We included various exercises, such as star relays, interval training and control picking. The forests are reasonably runnable, with a mixture of both conifer and broad leaf. There is not much rock apart from the occasional cliff or karst formation. The terrain is occasionally steep, depending on which map you are on. Blueberries plants litter the ground.

Garry spots a bear!...



Sightseeing
We haven't had too many opportunities to go sightseeing. We're banned from the centre of Olomouc (the Sprint Final area) until Sunday, which is one of the more interesting parts of the region. On Monday, we did manage to go see a nearby castle. The natural surroundings of the region, particularly the forrested Moravian Karst and Jesenik mountains are far more interesting. They are heavily wooded and must be beautiful to backpack through.

In the mountains near Jesenik...



Sightseeing in one of the nearby towns...



Coming Soon
We've got a few more days of training before WOC officially begins. The first race in on Sunday, with the Sprint Qualifier on Sunday morning and the final in the afternoon. The team for the Sprint (max. 3 men per country) will be Paul, Eugene and Garry. Will keep you updated before then.