After a pretty tough period at school, I was travelling almost directly from the last exam to Latvia to run the testraces for the World Champs in August. After a good physical training period, I knew that my shape was ok, but I was not very sure about my mental and technical preparation. Even though I didn't do a lot of trainings in Latvia, I felt surprisingly comfortable in the Latvian cities and forests and could run three very stable races.
In the Sprint in Limbazi, I had some troubles to find the "sprint feeling" in my head and to push my legs, but I could keep it together technically and got 4th.
In the Middle I got a nice 2nd place. It felt good from the beginning and I could really press down the gas pedal, but also slow down in the green and tricky parts.
In the Long, I found a good rhythm and felt physically strong until the end, but struggled on two longer legs, where I took the wrong route and lost too much time there. I got 4th again.
All in all, I was positively surprised about my performances and also about how nice the terrain in Latvia was! :) That's why I'm looking forward to spend some more time of my summer holidays out there in the forest!
Photos: Ojars Millers, Janis Ligats