Heaven Can Wait:  It is never to late to go for it!

…or what would Johan Ivarsson do differently if he could be a junior again.

Think about what it’d be like, as in the Warren Beatty film “Heaven Can Wait,” if you had the chance to relive a part of your life.

I’d like to change places with him and get to be quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams.

But it might not be so interesting for orienteers to read about American Football, so instead I’ll approach it from the point of view of the orienteer Johan Ivarsson.

I would have been more devoted to orienteering and training.  I’d have traveled around to more interesting races and sought out exciting terrain.  Today I think that I probably went through my university studies a bit too quickly.  Taking another year or two for my studies wouldn’t have done any harm.  More relaxed semesters would have given me more chances for training, training camps and competitions.

As a junior and younger senior, I would have, together with someone’s help, made a loooooong term plan for training.  The plan would have covered at least 5 years and would have had as a goal to steer my training so that with effective training and without injuries I would have reached the Swedish elite level (=world elite level).  The plan would have included a lot of training; that’s what pays off.

When I was making my choice of a place to study, I’d have been more conscious of the opportunities to develop as an orienteer.  I’d still have made the first priority academics, but you can study the same thing in different places.  There are a lot of criteria, for example the terrain, upcoming championships or other runners at a particular town.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.  I would have learned more and listened more to older, experienced orienteers.  I’d see and hear what they’ve done and then tried it myself.  The Swedish O’ Federation has put out a lot of good books (Elitelopparen, Vagval, Marita).  Read them, not just once but two or even three times.  I don’t think you should be afraid to copy others training or ideas.  Yes, but everyone can’t be cast from the same mold, you might say.  I think that is often an excuse for not putting in the work that it takes to reach the top or reach your potential.

If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.  It is the same thing as above.  Find someone or several of the best orienteers and see how they train.  Try to learn how they think.  Visit a friend for a week or a month and try to go to as many training sessions as possible.  Or ask if you can go with them to a training camp with their club.  I “should” have moved to Sodertalje or started to study in Trondheim as soon as possible.  That’s where I’d have found many of the world’s best orienteers in the most professional environment in the mid/late 1980s.  I took one step and moved to Huskvarna, I certainly could have done worse.

As a junior and young senior my results went up and down like a yo-yo.  I often ran fast, and sometimes right, but had a lot of trouble getting both physical and mental form at the same time.  It was after about a year away from competition that I understood what was important for me as an orienteer.  To orienteer right!  I need to take the time to minimize misses.  Think if I’d understood that as a young junior, instead of as the old runner I’ve become….if I really have understood it….

I wouldn’t do everything different.  In a coming issue I will try to write a few things that I think I’ve done well as an orienteer and that have allowed me to perform as well as possible.