Orienteering: training in endurance running sport with a map

Name:                  Tomas Kalina

Affiliation:         Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Lecture abstract:

Orienteering is a non-Olympic outdoor sport where the basic principle is to run through the
check-points in the shortest possible time just with the help of map and compass.

In the first part of the lecture, the basic rules of the sport and the structure of Czech and
international competitions will be presented. The sport is structured not only horizontally, but
also vertically. Orienteering is therefore a sport that can be done without exaggeration from the
age of approximately six years to masters’ categories over 95 years. The orienteering training
process fits well with the framework of Long Term Athlete Development concept from Canadian project
Sport for Life.

In the second section, the technical-tactical component of the performance will be presented, which
will focus mainly on navigation. The concept of a continual navigation plan not only allows the
competitor to choose the optimal route between control points, but also reduces the risk of
attention loss thus preventing major mistakes. This process, as well as physical preparation, is
built from the youngest ages from elementary techniques (map symbol knowledge, north-oriented map)
to more advanced (distance estimation, azimuth run) to combine techniques into a coherent plan.

The system of fitness training complements the navigation component. Orienteering cannot be
considered a cross-country discipline of athletics, it has its specifics only by the type of
surfaces on which it is most often raced (from the swamps of Scandinavian forests to urbanized
paved areas used for the shortest disciplines). The orienteering specificity also lies in an uneven
physiological load during the competitive load. A competitor must have a balance of physical
capacity (cardiorespiratory and muscular endurance) and ability to implement a navigation plan. For
the sake of specificity, cross-country training sessions are completed with a map (some of the
world's top runners up to 50% of the total load). However, non-specific means are also used to
optimize the development of physical capacity (interval training on the track, strength and
plyometric training in the gym).

In the last part of the lecture, it will be presented the key points of the preparation of the
female member of the Czech Republic for the World Orienteering Championship 2018, resp. individual
rounds of the World Cup. Attention will be paid to the method of creating an annual training plan
for senior athletes with acceptance for important races. Examples of individual preparation blocks
will be presented on examples of individual weeks, respectively training units/sessions.