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

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.

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.

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.

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) ;)

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.

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

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.

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.