7th on the Balkan Mountain Running Champs, Selections in Hungary
2009-06-11 в 11:56:10
The camp in Ribarica continued till 30th of May when the opening ceremony of 2nd Balkan Mountain Running Championships was held in the center of Teteven. On the next day a very tough race was expecting us – it was raining all the day. So the championships began on Sunday with the junior women followed by junior men, then the women and in the end – the men. The lap was about a minute longer than on the National Champs. In the team ranking the junior classes and women got 2nd places and the only medal and a champion title got Milka Mihaylova in women class, 8580m course (2laps).


There was it, the time for the toughest discipline, 12870m in men class. I was in good shape and thought I could do it quite good. Because of the rain the previous day, some slippery downhills, some falls from other athletes, I decided to run with spiked-shoes (with small ones) adidas Neptune. But in the end I analyzed this as my biggest mistake as my foots were sore. It was worth a little as it was dry mostly of the course and when running on asphalt I was struggling. I started my race in the middle of the group and tried not to be very fast as there were 3 laps left. In fact when I passed the first one 19:14 (1s slower than on the 1lap-race last week) I though it will be a hard one to finish. I definitely needed a slower 1st one. It started to be very hard in the uphills. I succeed in passing some guys and made a kind of regular 2nd and 3rd laps. I was walking the most of the uphills but passed the 2nd lap 21:23 and the 3rd in 21:49. In the end I got 7th place with time 62:27. The winner of the gold medal was Erkan Kuc Turkey with 56:33 followed by the orienteer Ionut Zinca from Romania with 57:29. 5th and 6th were the other Bulgarians – Shaban Mustafa 60:18 and Stanislav Lambev 61:50. We succeed in getting the second spot in team ranking once again this day. This competition was selection race for the European Mountain Running Champs in Telfes, Austria on 12th of July for the Bulgarian team. As I secured my third place from the Bulgarians I got the rights to participate in such a big event in Athletics as an European Champs.


Right after the competitions and the price giving ceremony I left for Gorna Oriahovitza missing the banquet and the closing ceremony of the Balkan Champs. I got time only to rearrange my luggage and then left to Hungary where the selection races for the Bulgarian team for WOC were going to be held. It was a long trip with the mini-bus and after such a race it wasn`t as nice as it could be with a fresh body. We went to the accommodation place in midnight so on the next day (02.06) we got an easy training with map. I fell down and hurt my knee badly in a stone.
MAP: Training

On the 03.06 was the first selection race – for Middle. I had no desire to run this discipline on WOC but still wanted to make a clear and stable run. BUT I didn`t. Once again, as on the previous middle test in Sevlievo, I made a mistake for the 1st control. Then I ran well before making the next mistakes for 7th, 8th and a biiig one for 10th, plus some more misses sent me to the bottom of the results. Best time today was made by Kiril Nikolov who didn`t participate in the official classment for the middle but he was 5min faster than the first guy. The team for middle on WOC is Petar Doganov, Ivaylo Petrov and Ivaylo Kamenarov.
MAP: Middle selection

On the next day (04.06) it was the second selection – for sprint distance which was prepared from Josef Polak and was held in Slovakia. This time I should have been with a much better adjustment to the race as this run was decisive if I wanted to run Sprint on WOC. I couldn`t say so when I finished. I made a bad race – mistake for 2nd control about 40secs, mistake for the 6th about 50secs and some more small misses grabbed me far from good run. Even I didn`t feel the tiredness from the Mountain running, the traveling and the starts, later on I think that I didn`t have the freshness in my running which I mostly have on sprint races. I wasn`t concentrated at all as my thoughts, exactly as the previous day, were in my knee which caused some problems. Best once again was Kiril Nikolov with 15:31. Second came Petar Doganov 17:24. The third place which is going to give a permission for participating in WOC Sprint wasn`t decided this day – Ivaylo Kamenarov and I had the same time - 17:28. Vladimir Atanasov got 17:32. The question mark that we made will be decided on the coming National Bulgaria Cup. Then the final decision about the WOC-teams will be made as all is unofficial now.
MAP: Sprint Selection

The last day (05.06) of the camp was a long selection. It was again in Slovakia by Josef Polak. The terrain is quite close to the real one for the WOC Long final. The course was 15.5k with 505m climb and 23 controls. It was raining the whole morning. This was the 2nd individual distance I would like to run on WOC. I tried to change my mood before the start in spite of the knee problem. I made three notable misses – for 2nd, for 12th and for 18th controls, about 1min each. Altogheter with the small ones I made about 4:30 misses. In fact it was a nice run on the background of the bad ones the previous days. The winner of the day was again Kiril Nikolov with 2 and some minutes faster than me. Ivaylo Kamenarov came 3rd on the same difference.
MAP: Long Selection

After the race we went back to Miskolc and visited the Bath-cave Tapolca. In the evening the most of the team left Hungary going back to Bulgaria.
Selection race for middle disance in Sevlievo
2009-05-27 в 09:39:50
On 23.05 (Saturday) the selection race for middle distance was held in Sevlievo. First top5 men goes to the second part of the selections which will be held in Hungary in the early June. Our meeting was at 9 o’clock in front of the sports hall in Sevlievo but we didn`t know where will be the terrain for the race. In fact when we went to the area it was pretty clear that the terrain was from last years National Marathon Champs. Almost everybody knew what to expect. I started 5th according to the drawing and I was absolutely calm about my performance. BUT right for the first control I made a huge mistake which was unrepairable. Hill, rock and the control in the top was the information I got from the description and from the map I got a rough direction and following the slope I thought I could never pass this control. I ran, ran and something was going wrong so I stopped and went back for a round. Then I made one more and going back I saw the next starter (5min interval) coming. I thought he will find it easily but he didn`t. I recognized the stone field with the tree and got a new direction towards the control – this time I saw it going fairly down on the slope. I think that the slope ends just to the control feature and that made me do that mistake. So this is how my first control adventure finished with a 7minutes mistake!


As I don`t have big ambitions for the middle on WOC I wasn`t so disappointed with the mistake but I knew already before the start that I WILL run quite good on that terrain. That was the problem with the mistake so I got a new beginning after the first one and tried to make it better this time. Since there I got few hesitations for 4th, 6th and 10th. Small misses for 11th and 12th and a changed route for the 16th. Alltogether I lost no more than a minute after “my second start”. In that way I came a kind of calm after the race. I got 46:00 but first time for the day got Nikolay Dimitrov 41:36. Luckily I got the place just above the line for the middle selections. I went back to the training camp in Ribaritsa.


On the next day (24.05) we had a demonstration competition on the lap for the Balkan Mountain Running Championships in the coming weekend. Everybody had 1 lap race. Some competitors tried to run hard, some to make a good training but few to make a lap-record:). Shaban Mustafa made a record on the lap – 18:20. I ran the lap for 19:12 and I wasn`t saving myself. The race on 3 laps next Sunday will be very hard job! The weather here is nice and I`m making more march trainings even that it is not so high here with a 580m elevation. I think that a march-week will make me better for the weekend.

Second on a road race in Lokorsko, Sofia
2009-05-22 в 19:41:31
I got some easy runs as a rest the days after the National Champs in V.Tarnovo. But on Thursday (14.05) I trained well twice and in Friday a bit easier as I was going to Sofia the next day to run the 15km long test run in West park – control of the physical shape of the national orienteering team. I combined this trip to Sofia with a road race in a village Lokorsko just to the capital which was going to held on Sunday. So I finished that week with some serious physical “trainings”.

On Saturday (16.05) a 4-person commission was watching my performance on the standart route in West park where the national team tests its physical shape every year. I missed the regular dates for running this test race as I was in Serbia for a Balkan Cross-country Champs so now I was the only one to run that 15k long race on the additional dates. I started my run with the thought not to squeeze myself but still to run with good pace. Still I was quite fast early on the first lap (out of 6) as I passed it in 8:55. So I continued with about the same speed as I didn`t want to slow down. I passed the other laps respectively in 8:49, 8:51, 8:57, 8:50, 8:47. I finished well but one of my calfs was a kind of overload in the last meters. I was pleased with my time – 53:09 as last year I ran it 53:45.

1k before the finish, Lokorsko 2009

On Sunday (17.05) the first road race in village Lokorsko was held but the organizers were provided nice prizes and a well-organized event. The men ran on a 6k distance (actually 5.14k) and in the beginning we ran an uphill which we was going to run down on the way to the finish. The first (uphill) part was quite tough and the way down was pretty fast but painfull as all of it was on asphalt. I turned 5-6 in the highest point of the race but gradually I passed the guys before me on the downhill except one – Iolo Nikolov who came first with 17:32. I got the second place with 17:42 and the third guy was Radoslav Todorov with 17:56. The rest 5 rewarded guys are: Dobromir Raichinov, Rosen Lilov, Svetoslav Panov, Katerin Stoilov, Filip Dragolov.

Lokorsko 2009

I`m on a training camp since yesterday in Ribaritsa where the team for the Balkan Mountain Running Championships in Teteven on 31.05 will prepare for the event. We are surrounded with nice nature and good hills so it will be nice stay in here. Tomorrow I will go to Sevlievo for the selection race on middle distance and I`m coming back here to continue the camp.
I won the national Sprint champs!
2009-05-10 в 23:27:30
Today the national sprint champs was held after the yesterdays long distance. The competition was in a city part of Veliko Tarnovo just to the sports hall. I won the champion title with a one second margin!


Yesterday (09.05) the long distance was held on two big slopes where two monasteries are situated – Sv.Troica and Preobrazhenski. Mens course was 13.7km long with 32controls. Going to the start with the car as it was 10km away from the finish we saw a lot of people that quit the race. After we went to the start there were some more quit-competitors who said it is quite bushy and it is hard to run on the terrain. I started ok finding the first controls well. For the 4th contol I really felt the bushes and finally I was on the asphalt road. It looked pretty easy to find the contol then but it wasn`t. I made first big mistake there. I was stuck in the bushes once again for the 7th contol trying to find a small path. Next stupid mistake that I made was for the 11th contol where I chose the best route going to the asphalt and then using the path to the control. Oh if I wasn`t passed the control and finally stopped at the powerline it could be nice. Then I went to the other slope and on the long leg I felt pain in the muscles of the legs. I made one more big mistake for the 22th contol. As I was walking there the lost time was much more. I didn`t choose the optimal route for the second last control but still I got 2nd split time. On the finish line I got 2:29:55 and a 4th place.
MAP: Long


Today (10.05) for the sprint distance I was wondering if my legs will work well. They were heavy and I was`t a freshman but still I knew that I will push hard and won`t give up so easy. I knew what to expect from the competition area and I was relaxed in the quarantine which was closed at 10:30h. I was the last starter in 11:34, and as I knew my abilities I started well getting contol by control. I didn`t round the last building for the 5th control from the right and lost about 5secs. As the course-line was crossing an important part between two buildings for the 9th contol I didn`t want to risk and went around to the road looosing more 15secs.. I lost 5secs passing the 13th contol and about 10secs looking for a gate in the fence for the 18th contol. A lot of competitors jumped these `unpassable’ fences and gained lots of seconds. Going closer to the finish and espessialy last control I heard a lot of people screaming. As I finished and read my result which was with a second faster than the preliminary leader Kiril Nikolov it was clear that I got the Bulgarian sprint title of 2009. In men elite, two years ago I got 2nd place in the sprint. Last year I missed the 2nd place as I misspunched the second-last control, but this year I succeeded winning the gold medal in my favourite discipline.
MAP: Sprint
National Champs LONG!
2009-05-09 в 18:21:43
Today the National Champs in Long distance was held in Veliko Tarnovo. I could say that it was a big adventure! More info later on.
MAP: LOOONG
Short results:
1. Kiril Nikolov 2:10:39
2. Zlatko Kamenarov 2:17:02
3. Ivaylo Kamenarov 2:21:03
4. Ivan Sirakov 2:29:55
5. Vladimir Atanasov 2:31:02
6. Andrey Abadzhiev 2:41:37
Cup "Ruse" 2009
2009-05-06 в 18:41:21
Today the "Ruse" cup was held in forest-park Beli Lom. I decided to take part in it the night before but still everithing was according to the plan. The mens course was 8.8k long with 25controls with a map change. Pleasant courses and nice weather made the competition good training for the upcoming national champs in long and sprint next weekend. I ran well except the two 1min-mistakes I made for 1st and 15th controls. The terrain wasn`t steep and the forest was clean so I ran mostly straight. I won the race with 47:11, second was Vlado Atanasov - 48:59 and third Nikolay Dimitrov – 50:03.
MAP: 1 part
MAP: 2 part
Troyan 2009 - maps and short story
2009-05-04 в 17:10:13
The weekend was really tough as expected. Three starts for two days were in the program of the competitions in Troyan. On Saturday (02.05) morning it was the Gergiovden Cup – long distance race which was held in a steep terrain. The M21E course was 10.9km with 30 controls. I felt well before the start so I begin my race with good level of self-confidence. I ran well in the beginning but a hesitation for the 5th control costed me a 1:30. I didn`t thought it is a big miss then so I continued my race calm. I made some small mistakes – 30s for 13th, 20sec for 15th, 30sec for 16th. I passed the refreshment on the 17th control with a good feeling and went forward. I made my first stupid miss on the 19th control where I wasn`t concentrated enough – 1:30. I continued with the same rhytm but unforgivable mistakes for the 24th (2:30), 25th (1’) and 27th ruined my race. Actually I punched a wrong one for 27th so I was “mp” at the finish. I made around 10minutes of mistakes in the race and I was going to take the second spot but not today. My time was almost 5mins slower than the winning time of Nikolay Dimitrov. I have reasons to blame myself as I made so stupid mistakes that race. Although my main point in such events are not the results but the preparation and the experience it`s still a bit silly to make such mistakes.
MAP: Long distance


The night sprint was organized in the evening in village Oreshak. Even that I`m not a night runner I decided to take part in that one too as in the Ilina Cup a month ago. I`m pretty happy with my participation as it was pleasant and challenging race. I lost time only on a few small hesitations and that was much much better than in the race early in the morning. I ran the 4.3km long course for 22:04 and got the 1st place but some of the competitors didn`t start that night. Vladimir Atanasov came 2nd with 22:30.
MAP: Night sprint

On Sunday (03.05) the last two races were held – the relay and one-man-relay for the Elite classes. Cup “Hemus” was organized on a steepy terrain with tough courses. M21E had three loops, altogether 7.6km. There wasn`t a splitting system so there were some groups into the forest. I made mistakes in the beginning once again and was out of the fight for the top positions early. Still there was a special leg which was my last one on the last loop. I tried to push harder there and succeeded in winning that split with fairly much time. I won the special prize for that one from FirstInvestmentBank – silver bar-medallion St.Georgi. In the result list I was just 3:20 after the winner of the day so It was a kind of unexpected for me with so many mistakes. There was a closing ceremony after that and the organizers were provided a lot of nice prizes and gifts.
MAP: One man relay 1
MAP: One man relay 2
MAP: One man relay 3
Maps from University champs and 32:15 on 10000m
2009-05-01 в 23:07:30
As I said earlier I will start with the Velikden Cup which was held near Targovishte, 18-20 of April. I was expecting this event from so long as it was going to be the first competition in Bulgaria with a strong field. I started the season well. First day it was the sprint distance where I made it very good and with almost no mistakes and with pretty high speed I won that first round of the Bulgarian Park Cup.
MAP: Sprint

The second day (19.04) it was the middle distance. I started well and the feeling ‘me with the map’ was good too. I made small miss on the 3rd control which took me 30secs. I made such small misses on 7th, 8th and 10th controls. The 11th was long leg where I thought I can rise up my speed and gain precise seconds but... It was pretty clear in front of me just before the control and I easily decided that I was already passed the control so I made a big mistake here.. I lost about 2mins. I made no mistakes till the end and ran with quite high speed but still with a lot of lost time (~3:30) early in the race. I finished 3rd with 2:50 after the winner Nikolay Dimitrov and 2:40 from the second Ionut Zinca.
MAP: Middle


The third day was the national cup and WRE long distance. I was clearly motivated for that race but I wasted all my chances for good result early in the beginning. I made a 3min mistake for 3rd control but not that mistake made me down. It was very stupid mistake from me on the 9th control. In fact I tried to run seriously after that but when I felt down few times on the slope for the 10th control I told myself: “It`s better to stay healthy now, don`t rush.” So I continued my race with a training pace but still made some more mistakes. The winner of the day was Ionut Zinca. After these 3-days competition I had some pain in my knees but now it`s OK.
MAP: Long

Next weekend (25-26.04) the National university champs was held in Sofia. The first day it was the sprint distance which took place in the Borisovata garden. I expected much complicated course in the forested area of the park but when I took my map I saw it will be a fast running in the cultivated area. I made quite good run without mistakes. I won the university champ-title in sprint distance for the 2nd year in a row. 31seconds behind me was Ivaylo Kamenarov and further 11seconds was Petar Doganov.
MAP: NUC Sprint


On Sunday (26.04) it was the middle distance, organized in Vladaya. The field was strong again as the previous day. This time I made not so good race and made a 5-6 small misses altogether ~2:30. But physically I was in good shape so I grabbed the bronze medal 43seconds behind the winner Zlatko Kamenarov and just 7seconds behind the silver medalist of the day Petar Doganov. All in all I made a good university champs.
MAP: NUC Middle


On Tuesday (28.04) it was going to be a very interesting run for me – the National champs in 10000m on track. The competition was held on the national stadium Vasil Levski and the weather was nice with an easy wind. The only problem was that my entry wasn`t arrived in the athletic federation so I was made to run out of classment but still the result is official. I started well in the field and we made a not so fast first km. I felt very good during the distance even that the pace was not as slow as the first one. In fact I passed the 5k mark in 16:04 and the second 5k in 16:10. As the pace was not always the same if I pick the 5 fastest kilometers the time is 15:50. I made a new personal best time on 10000m – 32:15.54. I finished on 4th position. In 2007 I ran the 10000m for the first time and made it 33:42 so my second run this year is clearly better. All in all I left Sofia with positive emotions and a good confidence in my preparation.


This weekend will be though one too – three races are expecting me in Troyan – long distance, night sprint and a one-man-relay. I will try to end the week successfully and then I will take a rest as the next week the National champs in sprint and long will be held in Tarnovo. I will focus on these races as they are selection races and the starting field will be as strong as possible in Bulgaria.
Maps from Velikden Cup
2009-04-21 в 12:14:04
I don`t have much time right now, so I`m just posting the maps from the Velikden Cup which held near Targovishte, 18-20 of April. The story will come soon.
MAP: Sprint
MAP: Middle
MAP: Long
Results
Competitions around Varna...
2009-04-13 в 22:16:15
A good week passed... My sore muscles were bothering me the whole week since the last exhausting weekend but there was no real problem. I made a couple of good trainings in the end of the week and I participated in two competitions around Varna during the weekend.

Saturday (11.04) the competition was on the map just to the village Preselci. The terrain was quite known for me since I have run twice there. And the last one was just a month ago. Even that the weather was a bit colder than the previous days it was a nice competition. The M21 course was 6.3k with 19 controls. I made a stable race with few small mistakes – noticeable 13th, 15th and 16th. In the end of the course I was pretty tired but finally I got the fastest time – 39:01. Nikolay Dimitrov came 2nd with 39:39 and Petar Doganov 3rd with 40:53.
MAP: Preselci


On Sunday (12.04) the park cup was arranged on the known terrain for me around the camp of Academik on the Golden Sands. Still there was an updated map with a new scale 1:5000. The M21 course was 3.0k with 16controls. I started pretty well – physically and technically but made my first miss on the 9th control – around 30seconds. I thought I will find it much easier. The 2nd miss came on the 12th control where I didn’t read all the stuff ok and ended searching the control in the rocks – once again 30secs away. The 13th leg was the longest one with a big importance for the race. I made a good choice but once I tried to catch the small path down there... it was impossible since it wasn’t there... I went down but the mess continued with a fall and a going back to the other road... So I lost almost 2mins on that leg. Finally I got a 3rd best time – 23:43. 1st is Nikolay Dimitrov with 22:00 and 2nd Ivaylo Ivanov with 22:49.
MAP: Golden sands

Today I gave myself a full rest but I planned some good trainings in the coming days. In the end of the week when it is Easter I will participate in the “Velikden” cup. I`m quite impatient about it.