Sunrises and Sunsets

As the sun has been out the past two days, I have seen some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Well, only one sunrise, which I watched from the bedroom window before climbing back into bed. I tried to capture the sunset on my camera, but a combination of lack of user knowledge and a mediocre camera means that it didn't do the colors justice.

View of the sunset from our balcony.

The days and nights continue to be relatively warm (often between 5°C and 10°C). Last night it actually got warmer as the night went on, as it was about 6°C when we went out training at 6pm and almost 9° at midnight. I'm having a few aches and pains, mostly in my right stomach/hip/groin and both knees, so I should take my training break soon. But it seems a shame to waste such nice weather and then have to train when the days turn colder.

Ross and I have been doing a lot more night orienteering this past week. I think I've probably doubled my lifetime total of the number of night-o courses that I've done. Last weekend was Rodenloppet, which as I mentioned before, is a pairs night-o race. It was a perfect night for night-o, warm with no rain. It was fun mass starting with all the other teams and watching the other headlamps move through the darkness. Lisa and I ended up being the only team in our category, so we finished first, last and everything in between :) I had a really good time, although I was certainly the weakest link, due to my poor navigational abilities at night. I kept leading us right into the middle of swamps. One was almost waist deep and we both started to panic a bit! We did win a prize for first place - a thermos!

Ross ran with Rasa in the more competitive co-ed team category. Ross was impressed with Rasa's speed in the woods, as she led them a lot in the beginning of the race. They both had a good time and said they would do it again, which is a good sign! He wrote more about his race here. Rasa stayed with us for the weekend, which was fabulously fun. I was amused one night at the sight of Boris, Ross and Rasa all watching YouTube movies together. It was almost 1:00 in the morning, I was getting ready for bed :)

Was it the shrimp running on a treadmill?

Last night I ran my first night-o course where I was completely alone. On all other night trainings so far, I've been with or near a group. This time I let the group pull away early, since they were running faster than I could navigate. I learned that I have to treat night-o like a super technical orienteering race, and then I can actually find all the controls. Of course, I wasn't moving very fast! I often had to stop to read the map, as I was having trouble doing it all at once. I also realized why I don't watch horror movies. When you're out in the middle of a knee deep swamp, at night, by yourself, you don't want flashbacks to horror films. Last night I made myself take the routes right through swamps, to prove to myself that I wouldn't get stuck and drown alone. I am still here today. My map and route can here seen here. Although I missed #7 when I came in off the swamp, I think I'm most proud of my decision to run along the swamp, rather than try to read everything while running straight.

As I watch another beautiful sunset out the window, I'm going to stop writing and start dinner for tonight. I joined Linné's training group, which is responsible for planning and setting all of Linné's weekly trainings. Tonight is my first meeting with the group and we're meeting after tonight's training, an 8k night sprint. Therefore, I'm making my favorite orzo salad to bring with me to eat while we meet.