Race report: Raasto Kymppi in Turku: 10000m - DNF
Long time without a blog-post: The reason that I was out of Jyväskylä and visited Miikas home place in Parkano. We went there on last Thursday and on Friday we continued our journey to Turku to compete in a 10.000m race.
It turned out that Friday was not my day, because I dropped out of the race after approx. 4,5km. The splits until this point were 3:11/3:06/3:12/3:11. I never really found into the race and somehow I was not ready to push myself to the limit. Now, there would be a lot of reasons to explain this "black-out" (e.g. the late starting time of 21.25) but that doesn't change the fact that I dropped out. There were some good results, for example the big PR of Miika how won the competition in 30:11,83min so it can't be about the conditions. Of course I am asking myself a lot of questions now and you just think that you are doing everything wrong but I try to motivate myself by running a competition next weekend again (hopefully).
After the competition we stayed one night in Turku and then went back to Miikas house. It was a nice time and it's just so relaxing to think about nothing - no deadlines, no emails, no commitments. After a medium-long run on Sunday morning we went back to Jyväskylä by train. After all it was a nice holiday for me (except for the competition - maybe too much holiday feeling :) and it was nice to spend some time on Finnish countryside in a Finnish family.

Race report: Paavo Nurmen kisat in Turku: 5000m - 15:29,89
Facts first: kilometer splits were 3:01/3:05/3:07/3:13/3:04. Place was 21st and the weather and conditions were very good.
Yesterday I went to Turku to compete in a 5000m race. It was a real big competition with an international field and a lot of spectators. I just realised what I did when I warmed up on the track and felt the competition atmosphere - I was not expecting to run in front of such a big crowd and against the best Finnish distance runners (+some Kenyans). Well, the race unfolded quite as expected and also the time was just what I expected. Afterwards I just blame myself for "falling asleep" during the 4th kilometer (3:13) behind another runner and not pushing the pace myself. Anyway, I can't remember to be lapped after not much more than 3km in a 5000m race - that tells a lot about the quality of the field. The winner (Silas Sang/KEN) ran a 13:36 and with Jussi Utriainen and Matti Räsänen 2 Finns went sub-14. Mate Miika was the 3rd Finn and ran a PB of 14:28,11. Respect to all the performances achieved in the race.

What else happened in the last week? Germany lost the final in the EURO 2008 (if you haven't noticed yet) and I am working on the marathonscene-project. Besides there are a lot of other small things - mainly related to business or the question "How to survive without a fixed income" :).


Also training is going into the right direction again. Last week I could log 12 runs and ~150km.

Reset finished
After 2-3 weeks of recovery and having a relaxed down-time to recharge the batteries I am feeling fresh again now. I hope the mental and physical reset helped me in preparation for the autumn marathon, even though I had to change my plans about running a track season. Now I will run only a few races on track and try to build the basics and some speed.
Monday I had the 3rd track session of this summer season and it was great to run in a group of 5 guys - just hanging on makes it way more easier than running alone. The program was pretty short (4x600m in 1:44/1:43/1:42/1:43 and 3x300m in 48/49/49) but rather fast. In fact raw speed for me. :)
Also midsummer is over now and the days are finally getting shorter again - I guess the long daylight times were one reason for my tiredness. Otherwise the weather is quite ok - not a real summer though: almost every day some rain and temperatures between 12 and 18°C. I don't complain because I don't like the heat and the Finnish weather is perfect for running.

A weekend in the forest - Jukolan viesti
Some time I haven't posted, but there are some good reasons for that: Most of all the training was really bad in the last week, because I felt tired all week and thus made only 10 training sessions last week. Then on the weekend I was in the Finnish forests close to Tampere to participate in "Jukolan Viesti". For me it was a good way to brake my current rhythm of life and to get some motivation for training again. Jukolan Viesti is the worlds' biggest orienteering relay and this year there were altogether more than 14.000 participants in nearly 1500 teams.
If you ever have the chance to watch this event or even participate in it, you should use your chance, because it's a great way to experience the nature and the forest! This year it was my second appearance after 2005 and once again it was a truly unique experience.
The relay is composed of 7 runners and starts in the dusk at 11pm on Saturday night and continues throughout the night, with the winning teams finishing on Sunday morning at 6am. For all the teams that have not finished the race until 9am, there is a restart with all the remaining runners at 9.15am. Since I had the (questionable) honour of running the last leg, I knew quite early that I am starting in the restart at 9.15, because the team I ran for, consisted of recreational hobby orienteers. Anyway, I had to run the last (7th) leg - which is also the longest - because one of the other runners (Vaajakosken Kuohu clubmate Kimmo) was injured and he ran the shorter 4th leg.
The orienteering went quite well, considering that I orienteered only once this year. After approx. half an hour I went for a "swim" in a muddy swamp because I underestimated the ground and couldn't jump over this wet obstacle but that's orienteering. Altogether the 13,7 km (air-line distance) took me 2:25:51 h - that's almost exactly the time of my marathon debut :)

Looking outside the box
Today no running post, because football is taking on Europe again with the European Championships, that started on the weekend in Switzerland and Austria. Germany won the first game against Poland 2-0 and we played ourselves in role of a favorite with a really good game. However, polish-born Lukas Podolski shot both goals :) Somehow it's a bit of a pity that I'm not in Germany and can't feel the atmosphere. As you can see from the pictures, people are going totally nuts for football.

Disappointing 3000m (9:10,42 min)
On Thursday I ran a 3000m here in Jyväskylä as a track season opener and finished in ~9:10mins (2nd place, but that's unimportant). I am rather frustrated with this performance even if it was the first race on track for about 9 months and the marathon is only 3 1/2 weeks old.
The first 2 kilometers were still ok (2:59,9 + 3:02,9min) and it would still have been possible to run sub 9 minutes. However, this shouldn't happen and the last km was 3:08. Especially the last round I was thinking I am standing and the lactate took it's toll. It seems that 2 speed work-outs are not enough to prepare a "short" track race. The positive thing is, that I have an aim of improving this time by a big margin throughout the season (there are few more 3000s I am planning) and should accomplish this aim pretty easily - assuming a good training and more specific speed work on the track. On the other hand I'm a bit scared, because it won't be easy to run the 5000m somewhere close to 15 minutes (that's one of the main aims for the track season). Now I have 2 weeks time before I run the next track race. When I'm running in spikes (today I ran in my normal training shoes) some faster times should be in reach. Talking about shoes: in the 3000m race today there was a guy running barefoot (as you can see on the pictures) - and he was really running fast (~9:15). Respect, Respect.

800m into the race - trying to find a rhythm but never found it (all pictures presented by Jaakko Nieminen)

after 2000 meters: I had contact with leader but on the last lap I was dying and had to settle with second place and a bad time

Kettuhölkkä: 1st place in 45:28 (~13,3K)
On Saturday I had the first running competition in Finland following my marathon debut 3 weeks ago in Mainz. It was a rather small, local competition with only a handful of competitors, so it was not the biggest challenge to win the competition but rather to get a good workout. I ran the ~13,3km (it was supposed to be 14km but the last 2km would have been in an impressive 4:23min) all on my own and could set my own pace all the way. The kilometer splits were between 3:20 and 3:33 minutes if the kilometer signs were right and the final time 45:28. Team mate and driver Kimmo aka. skylark took second place and secured the double of the Vaajakosken Kuohu runners.
Today was "long" run (~20K) with Kimmo and Timo in the morning plus a short evening run (6K). The Sauna afterwards was great and I can feel that Sauna improves my recovery a lot.

Alte Liebe rostet nicht
The last couple of days I did some training sessions I haven't done for a long time: Wednesday I was on the track with a couple of other guys and did 5 800meter-repeats. The legs were felt pretty ok (better than expected) but the breathing was quite hard. The times were surprisingly fast (from 2:26 for the first to 2:20min for the last), but I could always run behind the guys (they ran 1000s) and in the group it is always much easier to keep the pace. Only in the 4th run I had problems, because we kicked out way to fast (33,5 sec for the first 200) and after 400 meter my stomach shut down so that I had to stop after 600 meters. Otherwise everything was fine and I'm excited about the development in the next weeks. If everything is going well I should be at 100% (i.e. run the full program) in 2 weeks.
Thursday I made Orienteering (kuntorasti) for the first time after some years. It was a great cross-training but I still don't have a lot of map-reading skills, so that I'm usually running much to fast and afterwards recognise that I ran way too far. Without running mate Kimmo I would have been even worse but we met after few checkpoints and decided to run together for a while.

Back in Finland
Yesterday evening, short after midnight, I arrived back in a chilly (3°C cold) Jyväskylä. The day was quite long: waking up short after 6 to make the last run in Zwickau with my brother and a workmate, afterwards breakfast with my brother and his with and then to the train station: from Zwickau to the airport Frankfurt-Hahn (altogether 7hours). In the airplane from Frankfurt-Hahn to Tampere the stewardess asked me: "In case of an emergency, could you help us evacuate passengers?" First I was shocked, but then I said yes and got a place at the emergency exit - those are the best places for me, because there is a lot of space for the legs, so I was satisfied.
Next week the regular training is starting again and I am already excited to run the first fast rounds on outdoor track.

The week after
Last week I took really easy and also this week I am only a "fun runner". Enjoying the nature and the company of some relatives and friends. I only took part in one competetion (a 1-hour run), where I ran easy 15.050m. The first 35mins and the last 10mins I was running with my brother (he ended up running 14.250m) and from 35-50mins I secured the win of the small competition.
In general I had a good recovery from the marathon. The first 2 days were tough, but on Wednesday the legs were already quite good and that's why I wanted to participate on home ground in the 1-hour competition.

I also made a few business trips and a lot of family meetings. On Friday I will travel back to Finnland and after that I am starting the serious training again.

running next to my brother (me: with hat and my brother in black) in the 1-hour run in Zwickau

after an easy run with my brother, my nephew and my sister-in-law.

BTW: I am working on a new internet presence, so in future this blog might move to another webpage.

Almost dying on the marathon - but still running even splits.
Hard facts first: the 5K-splits for my marathon debut were: 16:56 / 17:12 / 17:07 / 16:59 / 17:28 /17:10 / 17:15 / 17:15 + 7:45(2,195K). I am quite happy that I did an even split (by definition an even split means that the 2nd half is not more than 1% slower than the 1st half). The weather was sunny and warm (especially at the end, with around 20°C). I couldn't get all my prepared bottles (in fact i got only half of them), had some stitches after 5 and 26 km, but on the other hand I had no stomach problems or other major disturbances.
What an amazing experience this marathon was! I made a lot of crazy competitions in my life (e.g. 24 hours team relay, mountain runs, crazy orienteering races, aqua jogging world championchips, etc.) but the marathon adds yet another kind of exhaustion and fatigue. After around 35K I thought I would not move forward anymore, even if the pace was almost steady. You just think you are standing and you are begging for the next kilometer-sign to come. It's a lot about will-power and muscular pain. After the race I couldn't even make a cool down run (I usually do that, no matter how long or demanding the race was), because after 2 steps my legs were cramping.

The first 10km were absolutely "easy going" and I thought like: "man, this is like a training run - why don't you run faster". I was lucky to run in a group with 4 other guys (last years' German Champion was one of them) because this protected me from going out too fast and making all the work alone. In the group I had the feeling that the pace was ok and I could save some energy. The group splitted after the first hill (km 21) and after the second hill (km 27) it was everyone on his own. So with 15km to go, the race really started. Between kilometer 30 and 37 the sun was burning on the asphalt and there was only one water station. From km35 onward I started feeling the muscles and I couldn't do anything but wait for the finish line. It felt like soooo long and whatever I tried to do, I couldn't increase the pace. Looking to the stopwatch with 100meters to go I saw the time ticking by 2:24:40, ...41, ...42 and I thought I could break the 2:25 but the home stretch was longer as expected.

After all I'm lucky with my debut. Maybe after the Halfmarathon Nationals some people expected a better result, but but ... The experiences I made will help me for preparing and running a faster marathon in autumn. Thanks for all the Congratulations!!
-picture from runnersworld Germany
-report from laufreport

start of the marathon

well, I tried to find another picture, but that's just the way you look like after 42,2 kilometers :)

I'm a marathoner! 2:25:05h and 8th place in Mainz marathon (6th place in German Championships). Race report will follow soon.

Less than 60km to go, to the marathon. A race preview.
Now it's all about counting down the last easy kilometers before the marathon. Today was the last faster run (2x3 km around the lake in 10:12/9:58). Somehow it felt not so easy and I hope the first kilometers (at least) in the marathon will feel a bit easier.
The weather on Sunday should be pretty warm (over 20°C) and sunny - maybe too hot, but since it's a championship race everyone will have the same conditions. Especially in the latter stages of the race it might get really warm and having a good pacing strategy is important. Now, I am a real fan of running negative or even splits, but with the heat and the profile of the course it will be a difficult task to run 2 similar halves. As you can see from the picture, there are 2 hills (bridges) at km 21 and 28.The race favorites (for the overall ranking) come from the Ukraine, Poland and Romania and they are aiming to improve the course record of 2:13:56. Stefan Koch is the clear favorite for the german title and he is even aiming for 2:13h. Even with a personal best of 2:17:17 (in his debut last year) and some german titles in halfmarathon and 10K that aim seems to be unrealistic for me, but we will see. The first candidate for 2nd place is Florian Neuschwander, who proved his good shape with a vice title (1:06:37h) in the German Halfmarathon Nationals earlier this year. Those are the race favorites for the German Championships, but there are some other contestant such as last years marathon vice-champion. I might go as one of the dark races and I'm fine with this role. It will be my first marathon and I will have to learn a lot. At this time I still have a huge respect when it comes to the kilometers after 35K.
The race will also be covered on German television at SWR for 4 hours, but I think there will be no live streaming.

Last test before the marathon: Pentin Pinkaisu 10K in 33:10 (3rd place)
Today was the last "competition" (or fast training) before I'm going to run the Mainz marathon next weeks' Sunday. The race was a 10K on a hilly course and I was riding bike to the competition site (approx. 13km each way). That's one reason why I didn't expect something spectacular. The other reason was the marathon training of the last weeks; I hardly did any speed workouts and the fastest pace in training was about 3:20min/km for the medium-long tempo runs.
In the race there were some fast guys (Miika Takala, Jaakko Kero, Tuomas Puttonen). Miika set an high early pace and was joined by Jaakko after couple of kilometers. For me the pace was just too fast and I made a second group together with teammate Tuomas. At the end Miika could win with a new track record (31:45) ahead of Jaakko (31:45) and I could beat Tuomas on the last kilometer, finishing 1 second ahead of him. Altogether it was an ok competition even though the time could have been a bit faster and it seems as like there are some "gears missing" when I want to run faster. The pace was a bit faster than my marathon pace is going to be and I hope with fresh legs and a good tapering next week I can survive my first marathon with a reasonable time. Maybe the missing speed will even help me, not going out too fast for the first kilometers of the marathon.

Tomorrow will be Hamburg marathon, with 3 Germans (Beckmann, Cierpinski, Steidl) trying to run the qualification time for the Olympics (2:13:00h) and also 3 of my club mates are running (Jari, Matti, Jyrki). Let's hope they will broadcast it on internet (9.30-14.00 finnish time).

For now that's all from a super-sunny Suomi.

Marathon training
The final preparations for the marathon are on it's way and in 2 1/2 weeks it's "showtime". Yesterday I had a looong run; I'm pretty sure that it was the longest run in my training history. 38-39km or 3 times around Jväsjärvi and a clear message: Marathon is way different than halfmarathon. For the last 10km I really had a kind of feeling that I would hit the wall. I was planning to increase the pace towards the end (maybe up to close to race-pace of 3:25min/km). However my legs got really tight and all I could do was a 3:50 pace. It was such a strange feeling: I just couldn't increase the speed anymore, whatever I was trying to do. So I can say that I learnt another message and that I am better prepared for the marathon (especially for the last painful last kilometers) now. Next weeks' long run won't be so long and maximum will be 35km.
After yesterdays long run I took it easier today but still made 8(morning) + 13(evening) plus some strides to get rolling again. With less than 20 days to go till the marathon it's all about the fine tuning and staying healthy. Nevertheless I already know, that I will have to do more longer runs (35+ km) in preparation for my autumn marathon.

Racing season
As spring is approaching (well, in Jyväskylä it was snowing again today), both the international and domestic road running season is on it's way. The weekend saw 2 great marathons in London and Rotterdam. While London saw a German victory on the woman's side with Irina Mikitenko running a new German record (2:24:14h), Rotterdam was the place to be, for Finnish marathon running: Janne Holmen set a new Finnish record on the mens side in 2:10:46h, finishing in 9th place. Congratulations to both! Of course there was a lot more action in those races to write about, but other websites already did the job.
I myself also had a race (on Saturday): it was the district championships in road running of Central Finnland (Keski-Suomen PM-maantiejuoksut). The competition was a 12,3 km race on a rather hilly loop, which had to be run 5 times. I took second place in 41:00min (inofficial) the splits for each round being 7:57/8:10/8:15/8:21/8:17. I could feel the calves from last weeks halfmarathon already early in the race (~after 3K) and that's why I didn't push the pace. At the end I didn't really want to challenge my clubmate Tuomas, who made the pace pretty much the whole race and finished 3 seconds ahead of me. Anyway, I don't know if I had won even if I had given everything for the last 2kms. Tuomas is in really good shape and he can for sure go for a 1:08h in next weeks Finnish Halfmarathon Nationals if the conditions are good.
Probably I am not allowed to run in this Finnish Championships because there were some problems and strange regulations for participation (since I am a foreigner and might have a shot at the medals they are scared it seems :). I was a bit upset about those news, because it would have been a nice way to see where I am in Finnland - last year my time of the German Nationals would have been indeed only 1 second short of the bronce medal. Anyway, now I can focus even more on my 2nd "big race" this spring: The German marathon nationals in Mainz. There are only 20days left!

7th place and PR of 1:07:42 in German Halfmarathon Nationals
Now it's for sure: Erik is back in the running scene. After accomplishing my 2 goals of placing TOP 10 and setting a new PR I am very pleased and the work I put into the sport paid off. Amazingly it took me 5 years to improve my personal best in the halfmarathon (previously 1:08:06h).
Here are the results of the race.
About the race itself (it was held in Calw on Sunday, April 6): The course was fast but not like a pancake - I already ran on faster courses, e.g. last year in Bad Liebenzell (only 5km away from Calw). The temperatures of around 6-7°C were just perfect and during the race there was no rain but the streets were wet from the rain that fell the night before. The race started as usual with some guys overestimating themselves (or just having too much adrenaline) and I was around 20-25th place after the first kilometer. After around 3 km the field was already a bit clear and a lead pack of 5 men already gapped the chasers, including me in the first chase pack (place 10-15). As usual I tried to stay in the back of the group and save some energy. We went through 10K in around 32mins, that was a bit faster than planned but the pace was feeling really relaxed plus in a championship race it's easiest to hide in a big group. The first time I pushed the pace was between kilometers 12 and 15 when I went to the front of the group and wanted to close the gap to the 2 runners in front of us (place 6 and 7). During those 3 km I made up around 70 meters and the 2 guys I wanted to catch were only 30 meters in front of me. However, I sensed that there were still some guys behind me in my wind shadow. I looked over my shoulder and indeed saw 4 other guys. At that point I decided that it would be better if someone else would make the pace, because I did not want to be the train for the other guys. So I shifted back one gear and settled in the group. But just as I was in the group I had a really scary moment. A runner behind me hit my leg with full power and I was on the way to hit the ground. I was really lucky that another runner in the group pulled me back back with his arm while I was on the way to dive into the asphalt - my head was already on the high of the other runners hip and he even had to lean forward to "save" me. One step later and I would have had a bloody nose and bloody knees. Puuuuh! After this incident I had of course some troubles to find my rhythm again. It took me around 1 km to get back to the normal stride and the good flow.
So there I ran: Around 10th position, 4 km to go and only 40-50 meters in front of me place 6 and 7. I knew, if I would wait until the last km I would not have the best chances, because there were faster guys with more leg speed. My only choice was to increase the pace steadily and that was what I did at around 18km. First I was surprised that noone of the group could follow me and I was alone at km 19, running in 8th position with those 2 other guys still in front of me. At km 19,5 I passed 7th place and he had not much to oppose my attack. At km 20 I closed the gap to the 6th place and tried to push to the limit. The maximum lead I could get on him was 5 meters, but he always came back. With 200meters to go he started a furious sprint and I had no answer to it. Still I was not unsatisfied crossing the finish line because I knew I was under the first eight runners, that are usually called to the award ceremony. However, I also realised (too late) that some guys from the (early) leading pack faded a lot and in the results you can see that it was only 12 seconds to 4th place!!
That's it for the race report. Next days I will maybe write something more about my 4-day trip to the competition and the conclusions about the race (I guess I still have to figure it out myself and process the race myself).

start of the race (me in the right of the picture)

the last step

crossing the finish line

The advantages and disadvantages of getting grounded
Yesterday was the last fast workout before the German Halfmarathon Nationals - and it went horrible. I planned to do 2 x 5K in race pace, but ended up doing 3 + 2K (on treadmill). Apparently I overestimated myself and the speed was too high. Furthermore the whole system of legs, breathing and mind was not playing together - shit. Immediately afterwards I was struggling "quite a bit" with this disappointment but now I'm already one step further and got the right consequences from this workout: Now I know that I will not go out too fast for the first kilometers. In fact a time of around 32:30 minutes for the first 10K would be just perfect - let's hope there will be some guys running the same pace. Anyway, I have to give my very best and it won't be a piece of cake to go as close as possible to my PB of 1:08:06h.
Tomorrow will be the last day with "normal" mileage (25-30k) and from Thursday on I will taper off with maximum of 20k per day. I will fly to Germany on Friday night, with the race being held on Sunday 9.30 (german time). Further infos about the race you are available here and here.

Getting ready
Only few days are left until the first highlight of the season: the German Nationals in Halfmarathon road running. The tension is growing with every run and I'm getting really excited to toe the line with all the other "race horses". I should be in better shape than last year, when I took 19th place in 1:09:30 in the same competition. On Wednesday I did a long tempo run on treadmill and hit 17km in one hour for the first time this year - yeah. The legs were in great shape, let's hope it will be like that for the next days.
About weather in Finland: I'm a bit dissapointed about that, because in less than 10 days I am going to race on the road - and not on snow or ice. Furthermore, I might not be adapted to run in the heat: I'm expecting at least 10°C in Germany, but the last weeks have been consistently freezing temperatures in Central Finland. Well, I guess at the end it will be about the shape I have - and the shape is not too bad ;)

Running like an easter bunny
This week was again characterised by high mileage (just like last week). I put in a fast session on monday and ended up running 2x3000m + 1x2000m in halfmarathon race pace (~3:12min/km). Actually I planned to do a bit more (3-4x3000m) but decided that it was not a good idea to destroy the whole week by going above the maximum on monday. I think it was a good decision, because on Tuesday I was really tired and actually had only one running session in the evening (morning session was replaced by skiing). Wednesday was just ok and Thursday I made a nice, long (~25km) crescendo on the flat. I went out in 4:20min/km and ended up running the last 4km in 3:35min/km. Since the streets are mostly ice-free it's a lot easier to run close to halfmarathon/marathon-pace also outside. On the other hand the temperatures are still freezing. Last days, the temperatures during night fell to -20°C and during the lovely, sunny days it was still around -5°C. That's what you can call beautiful winter weather; cold, sunny, no wind. Let's hope the easter bunny won't freeze and can deliver all the easter eggs ;)

Happy Easter / Frohe Ostern / Hyvää pääsiäistä

Volume week
This week was packed with kilometers. I did between 25 and 30K every day and the weekly saldo might dip just over 200km. At the same time I left out the fast or medium-fast runs to make sure I stay injury-free. I need the mileage more than the injuries ;)
It's only three weeks until the German Halfmarathon Nationals and the tension is already growing.
With the increased training volume also the recovery side takes more time, but I still can write my assignments for University (actually I am doing some online-courses so I can organise my time according to the training).

Here are 2 of my favourite youtube-videos:
This one is a funny one and it perfectly reflects the feeling after the marathon.


The second one is rather scary and if you are an athlete I might warn you: you might get some nightmares after watching it. No, seriously: it shows how far you can push yourself in a marathon (this one is at the end of the Ironman marathon '97 in the battle about 4th place). Definitely: I don't want to finish my marathon like this!!

Winter in Finland
Now it's for sure: This winter has been the warmest in Finland since the weather recordings. I can't complain about that even if it sometimes was a bit tricky because the plus-degrees let the snow melt and mad some streets really icy. But still it's better than -25 or -30°C, because if you have those temperatures, you have to go inside and make most of your training on treadmill or indoor track unless you want to feel the ice in your lungs ;) Anyway, winter made some kind of a comeback in March (March is not officially seen as a "winter month" but rather goes as spring) with temperatures around -10°C or even colder. Still those temperatures are not too cold and you can get used to it.

Training continues and there is progress both in mileage and quality kilometers. On monday I did a fast sessions with the JKU-guys, which consisted of 4x3.000m in 9:45min. Tuesday was required as recovery, but on todays evening run the legs felt fresh again and went really well.

The normal weekdays have also been a bit more busier again in recent times. Some courses, the statistical analysis of my thesis results and especially a lot of Student Union activities and meetings. But nothing compared to last year, when I had 10 to 12 hours days.

New week and a snow mouse
After a recovery week with ~100 km it's back to work now. The first important competition (german nationals halfmarathon) is only 6 weeks away and from now on there is no return. This week will still be quite easy: plan is to get to 160-170km (all-easy) again and in the next weeks some speed work is added. Today a nice run with Miika. 1 1/2 hour, so almost as long as sundays "long run". Anyway, we saw a mouse in the middle of the run! Running across the snow and right into the forest - strange Finland.

In German Indoor Champs there were some more good results on Sunday. Best distance competition was the men's 1500m. Carsten Schlangen took the title in 3:38.47 (that's TOP 20 in the world this year) and also 2nd place Christoph Lohse (3:39.60) will go to Valencia for the world indoor championships. The performances in the women races were not as good as on the men's side. Personally I was very delighted that Julia Börner took the bronze medal in the 1500. She is only 18years and started her career in my home club (SV Vorwärts Zwickau) before she was drafted from a bigger club.

German and Finnish Indoor Nationals this weekend
Results (including some cool highlights-videos) of German championships here. Jan Fitschen won the 3000m in 7:54,43, after starting his famous long sprint with ~500m to go, Arne Gabius, Filmon Ghirmai and Sebastian Hallmann also ran reasonable times. Over 800m favourites Robin Schembera, Rene Herms and Nils Schumann qualified for the final without too big problems. Jonas Hamm qualified for the finals over 1500m but is not one of the favourites. In race walking Andre Höhne (men, 5000m) and Melanie Seeger (women, 3000m, new world lead) took the titles as expected.
Results of Finnish championships here.

Recovery - or not? or what?
After the weekend, when I was totally tired I decided to take an easier week now. Actually the recovery week was planned for next week, but I just felt horrible and decided that there was no reason for a self-punishment. So I am taking it a bit easier. What does that mean? Well, I don't set myself any goals concerning the next exercises. In the morning I wake up and decide if I'm going for a morning run or not. Most of all it's about the mental effort, that makes the difference ...
However, even in a "recovery" week I have some good workouts. Yesterday 2hours skiing in nice conditions and with company - great. Today I decided to go to the gym in the evening - making some weights and maybe socialising a bit was the plan. But: there is a treadmill in the gym and after some time the treadmill was free and most of the machines were occupied. I ended up doing 2x5 K in 3:20min/km pace with 15mins stretching inbetween. Not like recovery - but as I said: it's all about the mental effort.
Recovery will continue anyway and some more km's on ski will follow later this week.

The journey is the reward
This week was another important week on the way to the "big" halfmarathon / marathon races this spring. The week started well, with a good workout (7x800m in ~2:25) on Monday evening and some good mileage on Tuesday. Wednesday was easier day in terms of training, because I had some measurements with the finnish national team in shooting (e.g. Juha Hirvi, Silver medalist in the Olympics) followed by my first social evening since a long time. Thursday a medium-fast workout on treadmill (16,5km in 1hour) with really good legs and Friday another mileage day. However, yesterday I started to struggle a bit and my "morning" run took place at around 1PM! I just couldn't get myself out and also the speed was really slow. In the late evening I went out for another run, but it was the same story: rather short and easy pace. Todays long run was pretty much the same: I started not before 5.30PM because of lacking motivation. Damn, I ate and slept the whole day. Somehow it seems the training takes it toll. This week I made almost 200km (between 180 and 190 in total) and now I think I'm able to do 200K in the direct preparation for the marathon.

The big days for me this spring will be the 6th of April (German Championships halfmarathon in Calw) and of course the 4th of May (German Championships marathon in Mainz), when I will give my marathon debut. For those two races it's worth to put yourself through pain and misery.

P.S.: If any of my Finnish readers is thinking about participating in one of the German Championships, I could maybe help to get a spot.

The end of a good week
This week turned out to be really satisfying in terms of training. A lot of volume (some days with more than 30km) including several medium-fast kilometers. Today I recovered in the morning and delayed the long run to the afternoon. It was a good decision because legs were fresh and the easy, steady pace felt alright. In those slushy, icy conditions it's not the biggest fun to run and if I wouldn't feel so good I could probably blame the weather and the poor conditions. Somehow there seems to be no real winter this year. Although there is quite a bit of snow here in Jyväskylä the temperatures are on the plus-side of the scale for the most of the day and the usual winter-temperatures of up to -30°C haven't been here yet - and it's already middle of February. But there's no reason to complain about the weather. You have to take it as it comes and it just makes you mentally stronger as a distance runner.

3000m sub 9
Today I had the first competition in 2008. It was the Central-Finnland Championship (Keski-Suomen hallimestaruuskilpailut) and I ran the 3.000m. The performance of finishing 3rd in 8:57,60 min was reasonable. Taking into account that I only had one fast track session this year (5x800), my aim was to run under 9 minutes and well I've done it. I know that I don't have the best speed but with this time I'm confident that I can run 5K under 15 minutes in the summer time. So far I never ran a timed 5K under 15, even though the second half of my 10K personal best (30:04min) was faster than 15.
The rest of the week was somewhat awkward: monday I had to run on treadmill (16,2K in 1 hour) because the indoor track was not accesible (there was a football match going on). On Tuesday evening I went for cross-country skiing - the first time on finnish snow! This unusual exercise might have caused the problems that I had in my foot on Wednesday and Thursday. I guess there was an inflammation and it was smetimes quite painful. In fact so painful that I had to cut the morning exercises short and Th. evening I only could go for 1h spinning on the bike. After this misery I was not sure if I could compete at all on the weekend, but Friday was ok (no pain during jogging) so I could go for it.

Sun and Snow
Finally, after 10 days of cloudy sky I saw the sun for the first time here in Finland this morning. Also snow arrived and skiing-conditions are somewhere between very good and perfect, so I'm preparing for doing some work on skis next week.
Training is progressing and I'm satisfied. Today a 12K run (most of it in deep snow) in the morning and in the evening a 1-hour run (16km) on treadmill. Felt much better than last week, when I overestimated myself and went out too fast. Still it's a long road to an acceptable shape.

Birthday workout
consisted of 5x800m (300m recovery) today. Well, it was the first fast track session of 2008 so the times ~2:25 mins felt amazing fast and I had to push hard to keep the pace. Also HR was really high (maximum of 190 for the last run) and I hope I will run the same times with less effort in the upcoming weeks. Nothing comes easy - even if it's your birthday :)
Last week was satisfying in terms of mileage (around 165K) but there were only few medium-fast kilometers included. Sunday also saw the first long run of the new year (2h05). That should be a good base and I can already feel that the legs are getting smoother and more relaxed as I am running 4min/km-pace. I try to increase the pace of the "normal" runs throughout the next weeks so that I'm coming as close as possible to this 4minute pace. That should be possible especially when running on the flat.
The weather turns to winter again now (it seems) and I had a nice, snowy, white birthday.

Thanks everyone who remembered my b'day.

Searching for the flow.
The first days back here in Finland are history now and I’m feeling really happy to be back. If the weather would be better and if I would be in a better shape it would be perfect.
The road conditions are indeed horrible and last days it was extremely dangerous to run outside because of lot of ice and snow-mud due to high temperature (around freezing point). On Monday and Tuesday I did some medium-fast kilometers, whereas I had to go indoors (treadmill and 200m indoor track) because I was afraid of breaking my legs on the slippery roads. Anyway, I felt horrible during the workouts and legs were feeling extremely tired even though the speed was far slower than at the end of last year. I guess to some degree it’s the flu I had in the beginning of 2008 but it might also be that I took it a bit too easy during christmas holiday :(

Also normal life goes on and there are a lot of news everyday concerning working, studying and university. Yesterday was one of those normal "crazy" days and I only realised that I was on my legs for 12hours when I rode my bike back from school. After getting up at 7.30 I had lecture until 10 and immediately afterwards went for a run and some sprints. Then lunch and at 13.00 Student Union meeting, followed by some lab-work and discussion with profs. Finally at 18.00 the second run with some gym afterwards. Then to Sauna and back home - puuuuh. During the preparation for the new season I'm not planning on having too much of those days, because I know I need a lot of rest to stay injury-free and to maintain a good quality in training.

Back in the forests!
Just a quick note that I finally made it back home to Jyväskylä. With the new (preliminary) passport I had no problems. The air is great (fresh and clean) but the weather is horrible (raining away the snow). The first run (easy 12K) felt great and my flu is almost completely gone. Now I'm indeed motivated for the following weeks and months - in terms of both sports and academic issues.

Incredible false start into 2008
The olympic year started off horrible: After a bad flu, which caused training loss and cancellation of the first competition I wanted to travel back to Finland today. On the airport the airline staff told me that my identity card is not valid anymore (it was valid until 01.01.08 only).
Now I have to stay in Germany for at least a couple of days more.
Because I'm totally messed up I won't continue to write anything for today.

2008
The last competition for me in 2007 was the 27.Bietigheimer Silvesterlauf. With it's 3.725 finishers it's one of the biggest silvester-runs in Germany. And the atmosphere is just amazing! Over 20.000 people along the 11,2 km track making a lot of noise and motivating all the runners.
I was satisfied with my race and somehow it was representative for this year: I made a step into the right direction but there is still a lot of work to do until the top is reached.
For the first two kilometres the speed was really calm and I found myself running at the end of the leading group - along with all the German Champions and those guys with international experience. However, the quite hilly course took its toll and at the end I was 2 1/2 minutes behind the winner in 15th place (35:37 min). Still I reached my aim of getting into the TOP 20. It was a great experience to run in front of this crowd and with all the strong opponents.

start of the race: "mass movement" indeed

me (bib. 26) in the chase group - approx. 6km into the race

home stretch: soon the pain will be released

also Kimmo was there and finished in strong 39th place

On new years day: getting the year started with an easy run with my brother and sister-in-law