Feeling just too itchy about the WOC

Exactly one year ago, I was preparing for the WOC in Japan. I focused fully on it, ready to make the least compromises possible to get in the shape of my life for that event… as it is actually for any World Championships. I discussed my goal with my professors, and they agreed to give me several days off from seeing patients, so that I could go to training camps to prepare well for the event. I thought to myself, I better move every lever towards these World Championships, and catch up later with the work I need to do to finish my education. And because the next year would be my final year in dentistry, I believed I would have to live like a monk to catch up that work I had missed and pass my exams.
The World Champs were a success, like the whole season. I had made technical and physical improvements thanks to the stronger commitment I gave to it, but more so from having learned to get more out of every experience.
It was with one happy eye I came back from Japan because of the success, and one sad one, because I knew I would have to break this momentum because of school.

So, in October I enrolled for the monastery. My plans were to be a good student and to train enough besides my studies to still have fun competing in 2006 and not loose too much so that to make it hard to be back in shape for 2007.
Well, I studied hard, and as every dental student I worked many extra hours including night shifts at the lab waxing up teeth and doing plaster work. But, my training didn’t suffer too much because of it. With some flexibility, I found ways to train pretty well.

Now I have done half of my practical exams, and actually I have survived them without a hitch. And the end is getting in sight… only 6 weeks left of school (than I have my theoretical exams from August until October). Besides the school load which seems to lighten slowly, I am growing week after week in a better shape. My personal best time on my “through the woods interval loop” are getting faster and faster every week. And just three days ago I dropped my 5km track time by 17 seconds.
So, with going through my exams at a greater ease than expected and my good shape in my hand, my heart started to beat stronger when I received the dates of my theoretical exams… They would only start the week after the WOC in Denmark! Since two weeks the thought of running the WOC were got awoken, and day-by-day the envy to take the challenge to succeed again at the World Champs has been growing… making my body and mind itch. I believe I can do really well at the WOC. So I have decided to change my plans and try to make the team for the WOC.

I will have to skip the sprint selection races, because the same day I will have an exam, and as planed already during the winter I will race the middle and long distance selection race. But instead of before, I will not take back my application for the WOC team.

My motivation for Denmark is not to just be at a WOC, but with the shape I am in I feel the need give it my best at the most important race of the year and play hard at what I like the most… orienteering.