Confident Orienteering

  From Theory to Practice #2 The First Warning Signs: Why You Shouldn't Ignore Them I'm continuing to share insights from Book 3 of Confident Orienteering , which I hope to release in January or February 2027, shortly after the New Year. That should give you enough time before the new orienteering season to pick up plenty of useful ideas and apply them to your own navigation. Book 3 "MASTERING ROUTE EXECUTION" is dedicated to the challenges we face after we have planned our route and started executing it . You probably know the feeling: when you look at the map, everything seems straightforward. The route is clear, the features are easy to identify, and you know exactly what to do. But once you start running, unexpected difficulties somehow appear. Where do these difficulties come from? Why do they happen? And, most importantly, what can we do about them? These are the questions I explore in detail in Book 3. Today, I'd like to share one particularly important ide...

From Theory to Practice #1:  What to Do When You Can't Make Sense of Contours Ideally, when navigating through complex terrain, we want to understand the overall terrain structure. This allows us to combine running on a bearing with navigating between terrain features, while taking advantage of better runnability and avoiding unnecessary climbs and descents. But what if we simply cannot make sense of the contours? We look at the map and see dozens of small circles, ovals, and complicated contour lines. Yet we struggle to put them together into a clear picture of the terrain. How are these hills and depressions connected? Where does the ground rise or fall? What should we expect along the leg? What should we do when the map doesn't give us a clear picture? My first step is always to try to understand the overall terrain structure. But if, even after carefully studying the map, I still cannot make sense of it, there is little benefit in standing still and staring at the same cont...

Eight Languages Already… Will Swedish Be Next? The first book in my Confident Orienteering series has already been published in eight languages! And two more translations are on the way: Spanish is almost ready, and work on Hungarian has begun. I could probably add a Chinese flag 🇨🇳 as well — although not officially. I've personally seen an unauthorised Chinese translation of my book, with entire chapters published word for word. Unfortunately, not every translation comes with the author's permission! But there is one flag I would especially love to see among the translations: SWEDEN!  Sweden has always had a special place in my heart. I've spent wonderful times there, competing and training in different parts of the country. I even studied Swedish and can still manage a little basic conversation! For some years, I competed for Sävedalens AIK in Gothenburg, already as an M35 runner. Through my involvement, quite a few athletes from my home club also joined Sävedalen, an...

  Mastering Route Execution Work on the third book in the Confident Orienteering series is well underway. The book will not be released this autumn. There is still a great deal of work to do, especially on the maps, illustrations, and the many practical examples included throughout the book. All of these require careful preparation, accuracy, and attention to detail. The good news is that the text itself is now almost complete. It is currently going through the final editorial review and last checks. There is also one important update: the working title Techniques and Tactics in Races has been changed. The new title is Mastering Route Execution . The provisional publication date is January–February 2027 . Although this will be the third book in the series, it is designed to stand completely on its own. You do not need to read the first two books before starting this one — in fact, you can begin the Confident Orienteering series with Mastering Route Execution . This will be a ver...