erik runs finland

2008-07-13T22:04:00.002+03:00

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.

2008-07-03T20:18:00.003+03:00

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.

2008-06-24T22:10:00.003+03:00

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.

2008-06-16T13:54:00.002+03:00

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 :)

2008-06-08T23:36:00.005+03:00

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.

2008-05-29T23:01:00.008+03:00

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

2008-05-25T18:24:00.002+03:00

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.

2008-05-22T23:04:00.002+03:00

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.

2008-05-17T23:30:00.002+03:00

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.

2008-05-13T17:50:00.005+03:00

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.

2008-05-05T17:13:00.005+03:00

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 :)

2008-05-04T20:20:00.001+03:00

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

2008-04-29T16:33:00.003+03:00

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.

2008-04-26T18:16:00.003+03:00

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.

2008-04-17T21:55:00.002+03:00

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.

2008-04-14T21:03:00.004+03:00

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!

2008-04-08T12:08:00.006+03:00

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

2008-04-01T21:04:00.002+03:00

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.

2008-03-28T00:12:00.004+02:00

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 ;)

2008-03-22T13:32:00.003+02:00

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

2008-03-16T22:14:00.004+02:00

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!!

2008-03-05T21:22:00.003+02:00

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.

2008-02-25T21:25:00.004+02:00

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.

2008-02-23T21:33:00.004+02:00

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.

2008-02-20T22:54:00.002+02:00

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.

2008-02-17T22:01:00.004+02:00

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.

2008-02-10T20:03:00.000+02:00

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.

2008-02-02T23:13:00.000+02:00

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.

2008-01-23T22:08:00.000+02:00

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.

2008-01-21T20:04:00.000+02:00

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.

2008-01-17T22:17:00.000+02:00

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.

2008-01-11T23:29:00.000+02:00

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.

2008-01-09T19:48:00.000+02:00

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.

2008-01-02T16:39:00.000+02:00

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

2007-12-31T21:31:00.000+02:00

Bietigheimer Silvesterlauf
I took 15th place in the last competition of this year in a top-notch field.
Race report and pics will follow tomorrow.

2007-12-25T14:52:00.000+02:00

White Christmas
Now it's time to enjoy the Christmas time. Just the night before christmas eve we got a thin layer of snow here in my home town - I guess that's what you call a white christmas nowadays.
I visited the Zwickauer Weihnachtsmarkt (christmas market of my home town) and enjoyed the warm, christmas-like atmosphere there. They also sold finnish honey, so I could have some conversation in Finnish because the salesperson was a native Finn. You should have seen his face when I went there the first time and said "Voi helvetti".

on the christmas market: I can apply my Finnish; Finnish honey in Zwickau = amazing

On 23rd I had a small (low-key-like) competition over around 10km. The conditions were not easy, some ups and downs as well as lots of unhitched paths with quite some rocks and pure ice at some parts. Anyway, I won the competition in 34:16min - and I think it's my first victory on German soil for a quite long (too long) time. Last time I won a competition in Germany was in 2006! My mum also participated and took 2nd place in the women category over the shorter 6km round.

the first victory on German soil for a long time - short before the finish line

Yesterday, on Christmas Eve, we had the usual traditional Christmas meal with turkey. Also we were 9 people altogether - I can't remember to have a Christmas dinner with so many people. But since my brother married the family grew a lot and it was really nice spending the Christmas Eve together in a warm-hearted ambience.

Merry Christmas to all of you for the rest of Christmas.

2007-12-20T22:44:00.000+02:00

First days home
After a save but delayed return on Tuesday I am now back home (or is it "only" my origin?) - anyway, in Zwickau. Surprisingly the temperatures are the same or even a bit lower than in Finland, that means under the freezing point. At the same time the air is not as fresh but therefore the days are longer and the sun is much stronger than in Finland.
The first days have been busy with training and some traveling (because we are going to have a new car soon, pictures will follow later). At the same time it was indeed pleasant to see all the close family members again or for the first time, as it was the case for my 3-months old nephew Lu.

the first evening home: along with my brother Lars and his son (my nephew) Lu

Today featured the first fast running training since 2 weeks. After I had the problems with the left thigh I waited quite long to let it heal. However today I wanted to make a test to check if I am prepared for a competition on the weekend. So the program was 5x2000m on the tartan-track. Times (6:30/6:31/6:28/6:26/6:21 with 2mins recovery each) were ok, but when I tried to run faster I could feel that my left thigh went tight and there was no use to force new problems. Anyway the setting for the training was quite strange just when I started the workout it became dark. Fortunately, I have a responsible coach and thus the floodlight was switched on only for me after I came from warm-up. Together with the darkness came a really dense fog + the artificial light = perfect setting for a bad horror movie. Together with the negative temperatures the fog produced a nice Erik, but see yourself:

what is it? An angel, a wig? No! A germanrunner after 5x2000m in foggy, freezing weather.

2007-12-15T22:49:00.000+02:00

Going home for Christmas
After another busy week at university I will go home next week and will stay there for 3 weeks, celebrating Christmas and New Year with my family. I'm really looking forward for the holiday - not having any measurements, lectures, student union meetings and all the other commitments - just put my feet up and relax after training.

Last week Thursday I had the last endurance(VO2,max)-test for my master thesis. I calculated how many tests I made overall and counted exactly 100 endurance tests for my thesis; plus a lot of strength measurements for the overall-project in which I'm conducting my Thesis. Now it's all about analysing the results and starting the writing process. Anyway, this will be much easier because I can organise my time more flexible, i.e. around the training.
The first (preliminary) results are already presented and I'm lucky about it, because my supervising professor gave me a lot of input and opened my eyes to look at some correlations I was not thinking of before.
Thursday also was the last Finnish-exam for me. Let's hope I passed.

Training was once again not running so well (that's a play on words). I think I teared a muscle in my left thigh and now I'm fighting with the edema. Beginning of the week saw only one short running exercise (30-40mins in the morning) plus one bike or gym session in the evening. Last 3 days I could run twice again, covering around 20-25km per day, but everything with slow pace and completely aerobic. My legs are itching to run faster, but I want to (or better: have to) be fit when I'm going to Germany, because there I scheduled at least 2 competitions. So, just stay calm and don't do anything stupid.

The next post will probably be published from Germany, so keep updated for some pictures of a traditional German christmas-market (auf deutsch: Weihnachtmarkt) ;)

2007-12-06T00:32:00.000+02:00

Happy Birthday Suomi
Today is the independence day here in Finland - only 90 years ago Finland became independent. Still a young country ;)

Last week was a bit too stressful and I took some things too serious. In fact I never went to bed before midnight and sometimes it was even after 2am. However, on the weekend my body showed me that it was way too little recovery. Without really urgent things to do I slept 12 hours on Saturday and more than 10 hours on Sunday. I also used the time and the exhaustion to think about general things - and I found that I will concentrate on fewer things and can't participate in every event or happening. It's time to say No.
Also the next year I want to invest more time and effort in sport, so other things will have to fall short. After checking the German Rankings for 2007 in track&field I gained some motivation. This year you have to scroll down quite a bit to find me (only on place 46 in half-marathon). I hope this will change next year and I will go way closer to the TOP10. The quality in Germany is not as high as it used to be in the past decades, there are only couple of guys runningon international level and then there is a quite big gap...
Training is going well and the foot problems disappeared, so my diagnosis of a minor inflammation was right. Anyway I will increase the cross-training (gym, cycling, aquajogging) until the end of the year because I neglected it the last weeks.
Also concerning my studies of Finnish language I got good news: I am close to pass Suomi 3 (intermediate level) and have only one test (written grammar and vocabulary) left. Ymmärtämisen ja puhetentit menivät (erittäin) hyvin.

2007-11-25T22:21:00.000+02:00

Life is all about up's and down's
The thing is how you can cope with it!

Not only the weather was up and down, but also my mood and running shape. Wednesday morning in the pool for doing some alternative training and on Thursday morning a horrible run in the forest. Because of the warm weather last week I was only slipping around on my morning run on Thu. morning. I guess that was the reason why I had some problems in the left foot. On Friday morning only 6km easy because of pain in the foot and in the evening 90mins on the stationary bike. Saturday I was able to run again, but still I was running/jogging very easy in the morning and had to replace the scheduled intervals with easy running for the evening. Sundays long run with the guys was ok, but I could still feel the foot a bit. Altogether the week was far away from perfect in terms of training but I hope the next week will see some more mileage again (this week under 130km). I hope that also the weather supports me - today we got a lot of snow again and I hope to run on a thin snow layer next week - I have enough of ice and snow slush! If everything is going well I'm going to introduce a second fast session on Thursday (1st one should be on Monday) - we'll see if the foot is ok.

In study life I had a presentation in Finnish on Wednesday - man, I was excited about this one. Anyway, I survived and moreover gathered some motivation to call my subjects to inform them about a research meeting all by myself (in Finnish of course, because they are over 60). Now it's time to prepare the feedbacks for them because the meeting is already next Tuesday. So there is some work to do...

Finally, on Saturday I had a nice time and some good company - the best company I can think of

2007-11-19T21:03:00.000+02:00

The highlights of last week
were, first of all the african dinner on Wednesday evening, when I ate my first ugali (the famous energy source for kenyan runners) and secondly some heavy discussions about training and coaching philosophy at the weekend. On Sunday I got a small blood-blister after the long run. Probably there was a fold in my sock - I could feel it after 1 1/2 hours but continued for 40mins. At home I discovered the reason for my pain. Taking it easy on monday morning with only 6km easy I hope I won't have any more problems. Apart from that studies are going well and it's not as busy at it was 2 weeks ago. That means: more time for good training and sufficient recovery - Jess.

Winter in Jyväskylä hasn't decided yet if he wants to come or not. Last week it was constantly sub zero with some snowfall and last weekend saw a lot of skiers getting their skis prepared - the conditions were indeed skiable. Now again most of the snow is gone and it's grey and wet.

So, today I was lucky to stay inside and make a tough work-out on the indoor track. From now on, onday will be one of the core days concerning training. Now, that my study is finished and I don't need to go to the gym so often anymore to coach my subjects I can do the fast training when the other guys are also doing their workouts. Today again 3x3K (9:55/9:43/9:40) plus an additional 2K in 6:34 with Mikael.

We (my coach and me) also made plans for the christmas/new years holidays when I will be in Germany. I will run at least 2 races: One high-quality race in Bietigheim (Bietigheimer Silvesterlauf on 31.12) and the traditional "Falkensteiner Neujahrsberglauf" (new-years mountain run) on 05.01, in which I competed each time for the last 15 years or so. It's so good to have a coach again and discuss the planning of the season - Danke Chefe.

2007-11-12T17:06:00.000+02:00

A new cycle
is just about to start of. After I survived the last two weeks of excessive testing I am lucky that I can now adjust my normal life/studies/work to running and not the other way round. I started this new period with a really recovering weekend. I can't remember the last time when I had such a quite weekend - I slept around 10hours per day! Now I feel fresh again, especially mentally. The next weeks I am trying to increase the pace of the normal and the recovery runs. So just go a bit over the comfort zone and push your body to go faster. When I know I have a recovery afterwards, instead of a long day in the lab, it should be much easier to force your legs to move faster.
Today I just felt this effect in the first fast session after around 10 days of easy running only: 3x3km indoor. I ran 9:44/9:50/9:39 and was really surprised how easy the pace felt. I thought it would be a real struggle to run 10mins after not running fast for such a long time. but the legs and the mind was free.

Since I don't have too many measurements the following weeks (except for some days when I have to make strength tests from noon to evening) I want to concentrate on improving my finnish skills. Perkele, I missed so many lectures during my measurements and now I can hardly keep up the pace.

2007-11-05T21:20:00.000+02:00

Thesis measurements
Last week started the POST-measurements for my M.Sc. Thesis. So quite busy times, spending 10-12 hours in the lab and analysing data. The 6 months of training for my subjects past really fast, but now I'm looking forward to finish all my measurements and focus on running again. At the beginning of December all the measurements should be done. Last week I mad the first bicycle-ergometer tests - "my" endurance-trained subjects improved quite a lot but still it's not so easy to analyse all the results because it seems there are also some non-responders. Anyway the differences to the control group are obvious (but I still have to run the statistical analysis i.e. significance etc.). This week most of the arm ergometer tests take place.

Because of the measurements I have to cut back the training during the weekdays and increase mileage and intensity again during weekends. Last weekend I ran 80-90km in 3 days (fri-sun) with one fast session (flat 10K in 34mins) on Saturday. Now it's again running easy (until Thursday) because I have to get up early and don't get too much sleep. You should not "burn the candle from both sides", especially during this time of the year when the days are getting rapidly shorter and the mood might be somewhat depressing. For those times it's also really important to have someone, who cheers you up and brings you to other thoughts, e.g. we (Minna and Ritva +me) went to the "top of Jyväskylä" and enjoyed a nice+relaxing evening.

2007-10-22T22:42:00.000+03:00

Cross country running
Although I'm not the best cross-country runner and enjoy much more to run on flat roads, I took part in a 9K-cross country race last weekend. The race - which was held in Pajulahti - was at the same time the qualification for the Nordic Championships (international contest between FIN, NOR, SWE, DEN and Iceland). So I was lining up with a selection of the best runners in Finland. Considering this fact I'm satisfied with my 9th place.
I took it somewhat easier this week with only one medium fast session on Wednesday; thus my legs were feeling much fresher than last week and I could push harder for the last third of the race. Still I lost the final sprint against two other guys - 5 seconds faster would have been 7th place. Anyway, now I know where I am and have some more motivation. The national team is only one minute away and my best training mate Miika got the last spot on the Finnish team, finishing 4th - Congratulations. Funny thing is that last year he was running the same time like I did this year (on the same course of course). It will be his first time in the dress of the national team and that's why he changed his plans and doesn't run Frankfurt marathon next weekend because the Nordic Champs are just one week after that - crazy guy. Also the two other guys of JKU (the local athletics club from Jyväskylä) finished well with Juha taking 3rd and Henri taking 5th place. I'm looking forward to having some good workouts together with them this winter.

In the University we had the International Degree Students Come Together, which I was organising together with some other guys from the Student Union board. It was a nice evening and once again a good opportunity to make some contacts.

Here are also a some (quite old) pictures, taken at the Finlandia (half) marathon and the German Nationals in halfmarathon.

yes, the weather was really horrible, the muscles were cold and I was lucky to cross the finish line (though it might not look like that)
2 lucky guys: Miika & me after a hard 21,1 km in German Nationals

2007-10-14T21:56:00.000+03:00

Pieksämäki Osmon Super Hölkkä
That's the name of the competition I was competing today (October, 14th). It was the 3rd time I ran 10K in that race but this time the course was changed a bit compared to the last 2 years. Nevertheless, the 32:36 I was running this year (2006: 34.26, 2005: 32.51) means a personal course record. I took "only" 3rd place, but considering the last week with a lot of tough training I am really satisfied. My aim was to run around 33mins, so I am indeed glad I did it. In fact it's the fastest time I was running in a road race in Finland. If the legs would have been fresher I could have been more competitive for the first 2 places, because after 8 km I was lying in second place and only 20meters behind the leader Mikko. However, I couldn't hold on and the tank was empty, so I lost around 1oometers and one place (to my teammate Marko) during the last 2 kilometres.
After all it was a good end of the training week. I was running around 150-160km in 13 running sessions, including 3 fast sessions (18x100m sprints on tuesday, 14K crescendo on thursday and race today) and one long run (~27K on saturday). Furthermore, 2 cross-training sessions took place this week. One on the spinning bike and one combined session in the gym/swimming pool with Minna, a tough girl making her way towards a professional race cycling team. It was really nice having her company and time went by so fast.

The last and the following week are not too busy, so I work on my plans for next years. I'll let you know when they are ready. So much can be said: If everything runs normal Erik will give a debut.

2007-10-09T21:05:00.000+03:00

New (training) season started
After Finlandia (half)marathon I took it easy with training for 2 weeks and enjoyed the student life by going out almost every second day.
However, now the first week of the new training season is already over and I completed some promising workouts (a flat 10K in just under 35mins and a lot of good-feeling mileage). On last Sunday I went to Helsinki to run the "tunnelijuoksu": A strange 5 km-race in Finlands longest street tunnel. The course was quite challenging, because the first kilometer declined around 30meters which meant that I was running 25meters under sea level! The second kilometer climbed back to sea level and after 2,5km there was the turning point. So on the way back the same amount of altitude difference. My performance (8th place in 15:52) was ok, considering the facts that 5K is a sprint for me and most of the best Finnish runners + some Kenyans were running for the price money.

Another reason why I will never forget this week is the birth of my nephew. Yes, I'm an uncle now! Unfortunately I will have to wait until Christmas holidays until I can see the little man.

2007-09-15T23:11:00.000+03:00

Finlandia marathon
halfmarathon: 2nd place in 1:13:50

2007-09-04T16:07:00.000+03:00

Season peak
One week after the race it's time for a short race recap of the German halfmarathon-championships. I took 19th place in 1:09:31h, so I reached my aims of getting into the TOP 20 and running under 70 minutes. The track in Bad Liebenzell was flat (but not super-flat) and the weather conditions were just perfect (around 15°C, dry, almost no wind). The first 15km I ran in a group of around 5 guys and could save some energy by just "rolling" with this group. The last 5-6 km I increased the pace, consequently blasted the group and passed some runners lying in front of me. Since I ran without a watch I don't really know the splits (except the first 5km which were around 16:15) but I think the pace was even with the first 5K and the last 3K being somewhat faster.
My body was working well but I could feel that I did only few fast kilometers. The last 10km all the leg muscles (calves, quads and hamstrings) were quite stiff and even the lower back sent some pain every now and then. Well, that's one thing to improve: getting more fast kilometers, especially on hard surfaces. After the race it took me around 4 days to get rid of the pain in the calves.
Following the race I spent 3 days at home and enjoyed being with my family and meeting some old friends. At the same time I continued a reduced, slow training because the next halfmarathon (Finlandia marathon here in Jyväskylä) is already next weekend.

before the race

early in the race (~4km) in a big pack - I'm on the left, wearing number 40

later in the race (~11km), still in the (now reduced) pack - I'm between number 227 and 35

2007-08-23T23:14:00.000+03:00

10.000m sub 32
The 10.000m track competition on last Tuesday in Lempäälä turned out to be a worthwhile trip. I clocked a 31:59,86 which was way faster than I expected. My aim was to go sub 33, which would have been a good test for a halfmarathon under 1:10h. Now I am quite confident that I can go under those 70minutes in the German championships. However, it is no self seller and the conditions might not be as perfect as in Lempäälä (around 17°C, no wind). On the other hand I ran the 10.000m in normal training shoes (Nike Air Pegasus) and without special preparation. In fact last week counted again 170-180km and also this week I am going to run around 170km.

The race itself was pretty nice. Negative was only that I had to run the second half on my own and the pace was not so steady (slowest km: 3:18min - fastest=last km: 3:04min). Aah yes, I was also a bit frustrated when Miika lapped me just 100m before he crossed the finish line - but at least he lapped me only once ;). It also motivated me for my last round - actually I was thinking I am on a 32:10 or 32:20 course (unfortunately there was no chronometer next to the track) and it was just 200m before the finish, when one guy cried: "31:25" that I realised I can make it sub 32. Then I really kicked hard the last 200m and indeed dipped under 32minutes.
The recovery from the race was also quite good. Now, two days after the race I am feeling ok and I am ready for some medium-fast runs.

2007-08-15T12:44:00.000+03:00

The odometer is rotating
with less than 3 weeks to go to the main competition of this year (german championships in half-marathon) it's just the right time to set the peak mileage. Last weeks' mileage was between 170 and 180km. Some quality workouts and medium-fast runs give me the confidence I need. Next week I'm competing in a 10.000m track competition, which at the same time is the final test for the half-marathon. So far the summer-training was really good - especially the sufficient recovery made me feel fresh and avoided injuries or diseases.

In the university the new international students are arriving since August. I was a student tutor for a group of 3 guys (Erez from Israel, Kuba from Poland and Andrei from Romania) and 1 girl (Sviatlana from Belarus). I welcomed them after their arrival, showed them around on the campus and in the city and made some administrative things with them (student union registration, housing office, opening bank accounts etc). Some days were quite busy but at the same time it was nice and we had some fun.
I also have a new room-mate, Tahir from Pakistan. He is going to study in the same course as I do (Biology of Physical Activity) and he is a quiet and calm person so far.
My Master-project is also running well and the subjects are obviously improving their shape.

2007-07-28T10:43:00.000+03:00

5000m sub 16
Last wednesday the time was ripe: My first track race since over 12 months, and my first 5000m race since more than 2 years (last time was in Äänekoski/FIN back in July 2005, result was 16:47,52).
This time the race took place in Saarijärvi and I ran a 15:56,17. After some days I can say that it was just what I exoected - not more and not less. I guess the fact that I won the competition made me think it's a a very good performance immediately after the race - when the endorpine level was quite high. However, in terms of the half-marathon preparation (beginning of September) it fits perfectly in the schedule. Also the recovery was very good and I wasn't feeling tired the next days at all.

2007-07-18T22:48:00.000+03:00

ECSS 2007
Last week I was busy on the ECSS (European College of Sport Science) and I listened a lot of interesting presentations. In addition to the usual topics such as Biomechanics, Exercise Physiology and Coaching there have been some new and emerging talks about currently well-discussed topics such as gen-EPO, stem cells and motor control. Overall it was a great experience and a good chance to get an update what is currently going on in the different fields of Sport Sciences.

Concerning the training I increased the mileage from the 100km at home in Germany straight to 100miles during the first week back in Finland. However, because of the Congress I lost some kilometers again and counted around 130km for last week. During the 4 congress-days my longest run was 50 minutes and it was impossible to do any speedwork due to the scientific and social programme of the ECSS. Now I hope to get some fast kilometers by taking part in some competitions.
Keep updated for results ;)

2007-06-30T12:22:00.000+03:00

Back to business
After one week holiday in good old Germany I am now back in Jyväskylä.
A doctor's appointment on the second day of my holiday brought certainty that I need to go operation at my left foot because there is a bone growing on the lateral side between talus and calcaneus. However right now it doesn't hurt and I hope I can run some fast races in autumn and go to operation after that.
Then on Friday, Kimmo (finnish running mate, now working for his PhD in Germany) came to visit my hometown Zwickau over the weekend and celebrate the 60th birthday of my father. It was nice for me because I also learnt something about my origin by guiding him through the region (e.g. we visited the August-Horch-Museum and the Göltzschtalbrücke). The birthday-party was as funny as expected and it was great to see all the family members in one place and get an update what everyone is doing.
The negative aspect of my home leave was that I did nothing for my studies and the training also suffered (less than 100km for that week). On the other hand being with the family compensates those aspects - and holiday is the time for relaxing.

On my flight back I had some moment of shock when the plane took off with one hour delay. There were some problems with the luggage and 1 hour after the planned departure the captain announced that the plan had to start although, there were still some 30 pieces of luggage missing. The point was that I had the keys for my apartment in my checked-in luggage. I was indeed relieved when I saw my luggage on the luggage belt. I learnt: always take the keys in the hand luggage with you :)

2007-06-21T21:32:00.000+03:00

Home, sweet home...
I'm back in Germany for 1 week now. Main reason is the 60th birtday of my father - lot of family members are gathering together and after waiting for 6 months (christmas was the last time I spent in Germany) it's really nice to see the family again.
The last weekend in Finnland was nice, with perfect weather and a visit at Jaakko's summer cottage on Sunday. Typical finnish: Möki (summer cottage), Sauna, swimming in the lake, makkara (sausages) and mosquitos.

me, Jaakko and Miika relaxing from training at the summer cottage

The first day in Germany was exciting too: +30 degrees and sweeting without doing anything- one reason why I choose Finland as my favorite country. However I also had a track work-out with 2x5x400m immediately after my arrival. The times of 72 seconds might not scare most of the competitive runners but for me it's quite good (especially in this weather conditions) and I am on the right way to improve the running shape now. I am planning to participate in some races when I am back Finland, but the main focus is on running a fast half-marathon in autumn.

2007-06-09T17:53:00.000+03:00

May is over
and so is the busiest time of the first half of the year. So here is the update of my running competitions in Finland so far:

28.04.: 10 K road (Pentin pinkaisu in Vaajakoski): 34:08 min, 5th place
-ran with the leading pack for 4K but afterwards the 15km-bicycle "warm-up" (no car) and the barbeaucue the night before (junk food and few hours sleep) took it's toll and I had to let them go. Anyway the time was ok for the circumstances

06.05.: halfmarathon road (Katujuoksu / City run in Jyväskylä): 1:14:32 h, 2nd place
-probably would have won the race if it would have been 2 km longer or if I would have known that I was not in the leading position (only realised after 12km that I was in 3rd/4th place), a massive negative split again (1st half: 38mins, 2nd half 36 1/2mins) after last weeks exception and last 5km feeling really good

12.05.: 6K cross-country (pm-maastot in Keuruu): 20:44 min, 6th place
-well I never was a cross-country runner and after last weeks HM I could not stride fast. However good training after the half marathon, which was some kind of "peak comopetition" for the spring

Besides running there were a lot of other things, e.g.:
I made a 100 hour internship at Firstbeat-Technologies which was really interesting especially because it was related to running and the working atmosphere was very natural and productive.
I was selected as the chairman of the Subcommittee for International Affairs of the Student Union at the University of Jyväskylä.
I finished all my PRE-measurements for my Master thesis and now the training period started for my subjects. Since the courses at the University are also finished there is more time now and I can enjoy the Finnish summer. Running in a recovered state feels so easy!

2007-03-25T13:35:00.000+03:00

Some new beginnings
Last weeks - or better months passed once again in amazing pace and some changes or better: new beginnings appeared during this time.
First of all my master thesis is on its way since the first measurements started already in late February (that's probably the main reason for the long break without any post in this blog). When I wrote the last post I had really no idea that the development is going to be that fast and I don't get any time to breathe deeply.
However, at the same time (4 weeks ago) I started to put some quality kilometers to my training log. With a short set-back last week - due to the thesis stress and lacking recovery - I hope I am on the way to an injury-free season with the first major competition (finnish championships half-marathon) in late April. The first serious fast sessions of this year (e.g. 4x2000m indoor in 6:40min) gave me quite some motivation; of course I can feel the work-outs for 1 or 2 days (=at least 1 day too long) afterwards but I was surprised to keep the pace during the whole sessions.
With the spring coming to Finland I will go back from the street to the forest for most running sessions again - now that the cross-country skiiers are mostly bagging their skis. I can summarise that the winter was really short (only around 2 months) with some icy weeks (under -20°C) but anyway it was a real winter with quite a lot of snow, just the way I like it.
Also I got some great news from good old Germany - thanks to Katja + Lars (my brother and his girl), who visited me in the middle of February.
Stay tuned for news and some changes on my site (like e.g. video, weather, new design I already changed)

2007-01-31T20:49:00.000+02:00

A new year started and the first month is already past.
The expectations for this year were - and still are - optimistic as every year. After having a nice Christmas holiday with my family and friends home in Germany I came back to Finland on 10th of January. I can’t believe that this is already more than 3 weeks ago. The time is really passing by way too fast.
The lectures started and one can already imagine that this semester is also going to get really busy and a lot of work is to be done. I had the first discussions about a possible topic for my Master thesis.
My running shape is still lacking although an injection into my heel short before New Year’s Eve gave temporary improvement of my heel pain (caused by an inflamed heel spur). However I need to do something for my speed since I left out all the fast exercises for around one month (apart from a 20,6km competition in 1:19:08h on a hilly course) and do not feel comfortable when running somewhat faster than 5min/km-pace.

2006-12-17T18:54:00.000+02:00

A Merry Christmas to all of you
who are reading this blog every now and then. I want to apologize for that there was no entry for more than one month but the studies took overhand and I had to set some priorities. A lot of things happened during this time:
I took part in a study and got some wire-electrodes inserted in my calf, the finnish president Tarja Halonen visited Jyväskylä and I saw her and I lot more events I cann't even remember so fast.
However I also got some problems with the heel and had to cut down the running (only 40km the last 2 weeks) but therefore made a lot of cross-training like aqua-jogging, ergometer-cycling and gym training. Only yesterday I took part in a somewhat unique race - just for experience. It was held in a disused bunker of the finnish army.

Now I am writing the last papers and preparing the last days of my studies here and will go back to Germany on 20th of December to spend the Christmas time with my family - I am really looking forward for that.

2006-11-05T18:31:00.000+02:00

Puuuh, ice age started here in Finland it seems.
Today I started the usual long run (with Vesa and Miikka) at 11 and it was still -15°C! Running for 2h10 we ended up in "warm" -10°C - no it was really not too warm and all of us were covered with ice-beards and white eyelids. However at the same time the sun was shining and it was again beatiful to run throught the nature - this time in a snowy white.
Next week the temperature is forecasted to be around the freezing point and it may be that we loose some of the 15cm snow here. Nevertheless the people are busy waxing their skis :) and the skiing season is opened. I could observe it when I was running my usual forest round through the so called Laajavouri-area which used to be a cross-country region during winter times: More and more people replaced their boots with skies and the end of the week I felt like I was the only one destroying the cross-country trace. At the same time it is just so amazing that the tracks there (and that might be 20km) are completely lightened and you can ski or run the whole night without being scared to break your bones.
Concerning school I had some days to get fresh again (especially mentally) for the upcoming tasks since there was not so much work this week. Fortunately I also started my work as a research assistant and I can get some extra chips while freely choosing my working times.

2006-10-30T22:39:00.000+02:00

Time for an update, now that there is the first "easy week"
I can think of since I started my studies here - no reports, assignments or tests for the next couple of days.
Last Monday - 23th of October there was the Liikunta(=sport sciences)-Party for the freshman. After a nice evening with lot of barbecue, Sauna and swimming in the lake I had to leave already early because I had to make a presentation (about comparing sensorimotor and high-intensity strength training) on next morning at 8am. After that it took quite a load off my mind since it took me some nerves to write the review report of the article and prepare the presentation.
On the following Thursday I wrote the intermediate test in Suomi 2 ... and I realised that I should do more when I want to pass the final exam.
Friday then was another exam - on the lectures of the "Measurement of neuromuscular function and performance" - course. Also for this test I should have prepared myself better - I hope I learn from the fact that I was not sure how to answer all the questions.
The weekend was just fine and the first snow came and now the whole city is white - winter came quite fast and most of the mates are complaining. But I enjoyed running through the forest and next to the lake with the snow scrunching under my feet. Fortunately my bike is also working well and I had no problems with going to university - of course it takes a bit longer but it is worth to keep your bones wholesome :)

2006-10-18T20:46:00.000+03:00

The intensive course by visiting professors
with the title "movement control, human performance and training adaptation from 9-16th of October 2006 was indeed intense but at the same time really interesting and inspiring. There are not so many chances to get internationally renowned and leading researchers together and giving up-to date information on their research area.
I also got the result of my first book exam - I passed it! And how! On the finnish grading scale from 0(failed) to 5(as long-headed as the lecturer) I got a 4 - that's really unexpected and made me lucky for quite some hours :)
Contrary the 10km competition in Pieksämäki on 8th of October was not satisfying. I only ran 34:26 and took 4th place. Now it is not about the place but last year I was 1 1/2 minutes faster. So I can clearly state that the shape is not as good as at the same time in 2005 - a lot of work is still to do.
The upcoming days I will use to make some research training (digitalizing cross-country skiing technique) and write some more reports e.g. for the intensive course.

2006-10-03T21:46:00.000+03:00

2 busy weeks passed by
and there are some more to come. However it is quite enjoyable and it is a lot of positive stress right now.
On 23th of September was the so called "Vaajakosken maastroultra" competition which was organised from my running club here in Finland (see picture). We ran the mountainous 60 km in a relay of three (Tero, Juuso and me) and became the first one to cross the finish line.
The Monday after this race I took part in the first book exam at the university. For some courses you have to write a book exam about a special literature to get the credits. Usually this literature is totally independent from the lectures (somewhat strange but that's it) and you can try to pass them as often as you want. That's why I want to make this experience only 3 weeks after I arrived here. However I have a feeling that I might have passed the exam. In the evening I rewarded myself with going out with two girls from my home university (greetings to Claudia and also Jenny-hope you had a good trip back to Germany)
Two days later we had a lecture with Ben Levine from the US. He is one of the best researchers concerning altitude training - but anyway he could not really tell me when there is the best time for competing post-altitude :)
On Thursday (28.09.) I went canoeing. It was indeed funny to navigate a canoe and it was great experience - now that the trees turn so colourful in autumn (so called "ruska" in finnish).
This weekend (30.9./1.10) was quite relaxing - on Saturday there was a come together with most of my study mates but apart from this it was good relaxing.

Vaajakosken maastroultra (23.09.): I (No.161) am changing to Tero

2006-09-20T21:53:00.000+03:00

Siltojen Juoksu 2006
is history now (since 16.09). As suspected I could not defend my title in the 14km-race of this running competition here in my current home-city Jyväskylä. Although the time was 48:44 and thus better as I suggested, there were some better runners (Congratulations Mikael, Mikko ja Marko) deserving the victory. Also an outbreaking flu and some hamstring-problems make me being satisfactory with my performance (thus it was only 7th place).
When I consider the average speed of something under 3:30min/km and compare it to my former competitions this year, where I have never been that fast (not even in 30mins-run), I am sure to be on the right way back to good shape.

2006-09-11T21:48:00.001+03:00

Influence of the mechanical properties of the muscle–tendon unit on force generation in runners with different running economy
was the title of my first article, about which I had to make a report and an oral presentation. However this article by Albracht / Arampatzis was quite hard work and not easy to understand. But I managed it and got the main points. At the same time it showed my, that there is a lot of work for me and a lot of thing in biomechanics, physiology and so on have to be made up since I am a graduated biomedical engineer. On the other hand it is really interesting getting to know how the body works during physical activity.

2006-09-08T23:55:00.000+03:00

The first week is over
and there have been a lot of new experience, people, impressions and so on again. On the other hand it was quite nice to see some familiar faces and places again. However the forest is still the same nice at it was when I departured last autumn.
On Tuesday there was the official opening ceremony for all new degree students of the University of Jyväskylä. The famous Seminaarit performed a great show and it was worth to see it.
Also the first lectures at the Department of Physical Activity took place and it was interesting to get to know how they handle the courses here - quite different to my former school (University of Applied Sciences Zwickau) in Gemany.
Also training runs good so far. Just get the rhythm of making training twice a day (which is not hard since most of the days the lectures begin at 10.00). On Thursday (07.09) I made a first faster session: 10km in approx. 36 min together with Miika and Matti - both preparing for marathon.

2006-09-03T11:18:00.000+03:00

Arrival
After one night at the railway station in Tampere (missed the train by something about 10mins because of flight delay, passport control etc.) I finally arrived in Jyväskylä.