Day 3 of the WOC spectator races for me was a total disaster. Our bus to the assembly arena was very delayed, I missed my start, got wound up by the start officials who to begin with said I could have a punching start and then said no on the start line. I then sprinted off in a foul mood and pretty much blew every other control losing countless minutes my head full of every thought other than that of the task in hand.
It was a real lesson in lack of mental preparation. I just could not make the small contour detail on the map fit the ground and felt I was running with a cupboard bare of the skills I needed to get round such a tough course on a physically demanding area.
In the end it was just a case of getting round with out retiring and writing off a bad day, as in the overall results it is the best 5 of 6 to count.
