Nopesport

A Good Luck email from the [nope] cartel prompted the following insightful response from one of the teams most experienced and successful members, Heather Monro:

I for one will not be looking at nopesport, the papers, etc until its all over.. worrying about what the everyone else is saying about your performance is a misuse of energy...I shall only be focusing on what I can control during WOC, and that is my own performances.

I've been to enough WOCs to know how difficult it is to keep the enormity of the occasion from blowing you away. Every athlete will be struggling to keep thoughts of 'oh shit, this is the big one' at bay and instead just concentrate on finding the controls, which really isn't as difficult as we make it for ourselves! In 5 out of 6 of my previous World Champs I have let expectations and pressure get the better of me and have underperformed. 1999 in Scotland was different. I just loved every second of being there from the opening ceremony to the morning after the banquet. I stood on the startlines with a big grin on my face and crossed the finish lines feeling triumphant… and surprise, surprise they are still my best WOC results to date.

The WOC team preparation camp in Väerålast week was great. We stayed in the hotel we will be in next week and got a good impression of what to expect, so hopefully it will feel like home when we get there on Thursday. The team gets on really well together. I always look forward to meeting up with the team. Us Brits have always are really good at supporting each other, we have a laugh, share in our successes and disappointments, laughter and tears and the guys and girls in the team have become my very best mates over the years. It makes a big difference to feel that you have 18 others there who you are sharing the whole experience with. The training we did was very focused on the particular races we will be running in. I think the terrain and orienteering is going to be the most enjoyable since my WOC debut in the legendary New York forests in 1993. I certainly came home feeling 100% ready. In fact, this last week has been weird… I have been in a strange state of disinterest and apathy...I feel ready now and all I want to do is get out there and for WOC to start now!

So, bring it on is what I say!

If I manage to maintain composure, relax and really enjoy the whole experience, focus on my races and my performances and orienteer with passion, then I will have acheived my goals!

photo compasssport.com