Finally, I will have new wheels

No tattoo yet

I am an Ironman

It was a crazy day, but the end result was just what I had been looking for - finishing the race.

The race was delayed because of thunderstorm early in the morning. However, the same day's endeavors ended 10:14 hrs later. Race was awesome experience with a suckerpunching twist during the run. At 38K I started to be afraid that my legs will die and that thereafter I can't even walk. But this scenario did not take place, instead I moved forward at pedestrian pace and finished my sloooooooowest marathon ever.

On bike leg I earned a 6 min penalty when I was about to pass a huge group of riders in the last hill. I heard the moto approaching and didn't want to be in its way -> penalty for drafting even if I just arrived at the scene of 15 riders drafting like nothing. At last the guys in the penalty box were funny. 

Swim made me nervous before the start since the Mediterranean Ocean was not at all cozy due to the wind and rain. There was no options so I just had to suck it up and conduct. 

This is a really short summary of an insanely empowering experience during which I was finally able to set aside my negative thoughts and rock on. Not bad at all.

I feel heavy, I only taste Maltodextrin

This is it. I'm pretty sure that now I will reach the start line (or shore) of Ironman Barcelona. Haven't yet got sick or anything. Yay!

And carboloading is going great. My legs feel heavy and I have this taste of sucker in my mouth.

Sunday....

Work is done, but no low hanging fruits is waiting for me

Now it is done. The work for the next weekend, it's all in the books. 

I'm eagerly waiting for what is going to wait for me in Barcelona (I'm #1929). I have done 6 hrs of aqua jogging in a row, 7.15 hrs workout with the guys, some adventure races which have lasted 5-6 hrs. And I have liked all of them. So I WILL enjoy the journey from the start to the finish next weekend. Do I have a choice???  

I feel great!

Dudes and dudettes. I have 1.5 weeks to my first IM race. The work is done, and I'm about to get my mind set for the race. Things at work and elsewhere have kept me busy, but now, soon, I have to focus on the forthcoming race.

After bouncing back from the disappointment and 3 weeks period of illness I have been able to conduct some decent workouts. Not many, but some. Swimming laps has its downside (it's sometimes boring as hell), but luckily the great company keeps me alive. Anyway, I have steadly improvement my performance in the pool which makes me happy.

Biking is steady (Vision's shifters suck ass, though), and for instance last Saturday's 2 hrs @ IM race pace (HR 145) was a nice booster. The weather turned into Fall/early Winter mode so I'm not sure how many outdoor rides I'll do before the race. But I have the bike torture chamber ready...

Running is a mystery, but last week's BLOCKS workout went pretty well and yesterday I ran easily @ 3:45/km pace. That's enough for now.

Now it is a mental game. The swim will be in the ocean which is usually less calm than the water in the pool. Moreover, it is still undecided if the swim is with wet suit or not. Bike leg's wind conditions are also mystery, but that's the name of the game.

Luckily sweetie is mastering this game and she will cool me down if I'm getting too nervous before the race.

It's on!

Less than 3 weeks to go

Last Wednesday, a week ago, I came across yet another drawback - an unexplained ankle problem. Luckily, I now start to consider that it was only a temporary thing. Right ankle has still some kind of unique sensation, but it works like it used to. And today's meeting with a MD indicated that ... just go for it.

I took Thursday and Friday off. And started to hesitate my participation in IM Barcelona. On Saturday morning I jumped into the pool and swam some laps, 3200m. Ankle was silent. On the same afternoon I dared myself and jumped on a bike for 2hrs  ride with my tri buddies. No soreness, no pain.

On Sunday I biked 130 km and ran a 4 km right after the bike. No soreness, no pain, just a little sensation that the ankle is not quite there yet. But no pain. That was the main point.

Monday comprises a short run before a swim core and swim technique practice. After I returned home around 10:30PM the ankle was okay. Then it was time for today's workout, blocks of 3x25min. with accelerating pace. The verdict: no soreness, no pain. Only thing that still keeps me awake  is my sore stomach which was not at all ready for getting back on the road.

But.... less than 3 weeks to go. That's pretty cool.

REALLY????

I can't avoid of getting a feeling that getting into a race is a task for me.

This, whatever it might be, hit me on Wednesday without warning and took away my running and biking abilities. Total BS.

Ozzy once said...

On to the next one

So it really happened. I got so sick before the IM Copenhagen that I could not even to fly over to spectate the race. Instead I had to stay at home (which is okay) and follow the race via Internet. Since there was so many of us racing, the latter option wasn't bad at all - it was actually a thrilling and invigorating day spent online. Thus, I want - one more time - to congratulate all my friends who finished the race. You are awesome.

Just out of curiosity and willingness to test myself I registered for IM Barcelona which takes place on 5th of October. That's in 5.5 weeks.

And I did this even if I am NOT healthy yet. Not even close. I just visited a MD who notice that bronchitis is now stronger and otitis is not at all better. She subscribed me stronger medicine which hopefully helps during the next days. I'm allowed to think about doing sports after next weekend. I sincerely hope that it would be reality. Otherwise, I might consider that I'm slightly unlucky. Health issues killed my running during 1999-2000 and 2002-2007. It should be enough, I think. 

Checkmate

The battle is over.

A cute bronchitis a.k.a. acute bronchitis. Yes. The on-going flu was not enough, so my body threw down the final gauntlet, bronchitis and otitis. This means that there is no way that I'd be racing in Copenhagen. Instead, I'm online eating my antibiotics on Sunday. 

It also means that I won't fly over, cheer my training buddies and fly back. No. This is it. Summer of Triathlons is finished and I'm happy with this solution. During the last 11 months I have:

• met the new me
• met new awesome friends
• had many new training experiences
• learned to like swimming
• learned to like open water swimming
• learned how to handle a puncture in a race
• bonked pretty badly
• bounced back from a disastrous race
• realized how tough guys I am surrounded by

In all, I have had a blast and I cannot wait for the next Summer. But before that I will start running again - only after I'm healthy again.

Good luck everybody and thank you.

A journey with no end?

So...

I have this on-going battle. It has soon lasted for 6 days.

I stared my journey towards an Ironman race about 11 months ago. During this period of ups and downs, new and older experiences, and meeting bunch of new friends I have swam over 100km, ridden and run couple thousand kms. The normal load of a wanna-be Ironman.

Accordingly, I am ready to roll both mentally and physically for the next Sunday.

Only thing is that this illness does not allow me to do anything else but to cough and burn myself mentally. That's bullshit.

But I have 6 days to go, and I really wish that I'd be healthy soon. Me, me, me.

Of course...

This is the right time for fever, sore throat, and loosing your voice.

Marvelous.

Guest blogger: Two weeks to go - is he ready?

Awesome!!! 

I went to movies to see how the apes are hanging and during this time sweetie, who has enabled this entire journey of finding the triathlete within me and whose support I appreciate beyond words, had written a guest blog post. One word: GRADITUDE. 

So, here you go:
The blogger himself went to movies tonight, so I saw my chance to sneak in to write few words about the upcoming Ironman race and his preparations. Actually it's a shared thing, because we both are racing in Copenhagen. 

When we signed up for the race last year, the biggest challenge seemed to be to find the time to train. With full-time jobs, requiring traveling time to time, and our son deserving the most of our free time, it hasn't been an easy puzzle. However, with flexible attitude from both of us and willingness to train during non-optimal hours of the day, the year has been quite smooth. The training hasn't been optimal, far from perfect, but I believe it's been good enough for both of us to have a good race in two weeks.

Although he is the one who has much more experience from endurance sports, namely running, I already have two Ironman distance races under my belt. Thus, it's been really fun and interesting to follow his preparation towards his first Ironman over the past 11 months. There have been ups and downs, excitement and desperation. Oh yes, all of them. Many times, back and forth.

First it was the swimming that required change of attitude and simply more time in the pool. During the spring months I started to hear more often comments like this "It was actually fun today" or "I felt good today" instead of  "I can't stand this", I knew his swimming was going to be ok. 

Towards the spring it was also obvious that he was getting faster and faster on the bike. Especially he was speeding in short tempo rides. No problems in sight in terms of pace or endurance. However, patience, pacing, and ability to tolerate the head wind have required most of his attention recently. And those are much harder to train than physical fitness.

Running has been and of course still is his strongest discipline. With much diverse training than ever before and focused strength training, the nagging hip and hammy injuries have stayed in control. And I can see that the joy of running is gradually returning.

Things were looking really good before half Ironman in Joroinen. As you have heard and read it was far from perfect dress rehearsal for the full Ironman. Bonking in running wasn't pretty, but probably it was just what he needed. I guess multiple sub 3 hour (even sub-2h30min) marathons hadn't prepared himself for the feelings that sneak in your mind during longer races. After few hours of rolling in disappointment and desperation, there was a shift in his thinking. He understood the importance of mental preparation and endurance and have worked hard to get his head ready. Writing mantras to his water bottles and choosing uplifting music :)

Yes, I think he is ready - ready to endure the fatigue, take the pain, but also enjoy the event.

But what about the tattoo, are you really going to get it?

Cheers,
s.

And it is me again.... Yes, I am ready. No matter what the final result may be, I have had a blast. 

Humid welcome, awesome swim and almost brilliant bike

Philly was almost the same as the last time, humid as hell. Since I didn't transport my bike or wet suit with me, I focused on running. Most of my runs were pretty ez since I ran them with my colleague from SLC. On Sunday I strolled through a long run, which was - at the finish - surprisingly demanding. Humidity took its toll and I reached the anaerobic threshold only by running at the ez pace. That's my engine to you...

An 45 minutes later after returning to the old continent I found myself swimming open water for 20 minutes. It was short but totally awesome after spending 1.5 days traveling. On Thursday evening I did a short shake-out ride to wake up my legs for Friday's workout.

Yesterday, Friday, was sort of my final preparation for the IM. I did 5 hours ride (153km) which was divided into 2 hrs of ez pace, 1 hour of strength, 15 minutes again at ez pace followed by 1 hour at race pace and cool down. Since I had to push the race pace as well as the cool down into head wind, the last section of the workout did not go as planned, but I do not worry about that. My mind was happy all the time and that makes me joyful. 

Oh, and now I think that I have my mantra to help me through the streets of Copenhagen.

I'm really looking forward to the race day!!! T-15

Workout Wednesday - the running version

WOWs were the usual deal back in the day but nowadays any 'typical' running workout has been a rarity. Simply because there is some much other things to take care of. But that's a different story.

Back to today's agenda. Due to the relatively harsh weather conditions we ran (A and I) the Ironman tempo run later in the evening. Temperature was lower but the humidity was 90% which sucked. Now it did not worry me since IM tempo run is not full steam workout, it is just long. It's mentally rewarding 85 minutes with a good company. 

We ran the legendary 20 km out and back route from Raisio to Naantali at controlled pace. The outcome was a successful WOW. Average HR was 150 and the pace was just below 4:15/km. Now I'm waiting that the sleepiness would arrive soon. Taxicab will pick me up in 4.5 hours...

No swimming or riding in Philly

My forthcoming trip to Philly will interrupt my IM preparations pretty efficiently. I won't be riding nor swimming during next week. In Philly I will just run when I have time and energy for it. Finland, especially Turku area, is hot as hell, but Philly won't be so much better what comes to the weather. It's hot and humid over there. 

Initially I planned to run a long tempo run in Philly but instead I will join Ami in his 20km tempo run late tomorrow evening. Then I have about 50 hours (2 nights of sleeping and a full day of traveling) to recover from it. In Philly I try to run at least one long run and some shorter workouts in order to get my legs more familiarized in running on asphalt. Simple plan for a simple man.

This morning I did my longest open water swim: an hour in the sea. Even if the temperature was close to 30C I had my wet suit on. Just to entertain. After the swim I ran back home. 

Now I start feeling strong.

Back at it

After Joroinen our family unit traveled to Barcelona for four days. That was brilliant getaway for us. I had an opportunity to run up and down Montjuic mountain, the home base of 1992 Summer Olympics. I shared the same road where "raasto" was born 22 years ago (see the video 2:03:00 ->). After this emotional moment I ran back to the beach and swam in the ocean.


Now we are back at it. On Friday I joined Arttu and Karri for 2.5 hours easy bike ride which lead to Ankkalampi and back. Ankkalampi means a short dip in a tiny tiny tiny pond which is a nice intermission in warm weather.

Yesterday I ran my 3rd (!!!!!!!!) long run (only 22km) for this summer. Among other things my experience in Joroinen teached me that I should get more familiar with running longer. There's not so much to do at this point but I'll make the best out of it. This morning I rode 3 hours and did 3x15min. strength intervals.

Scared little man, mental meltdown and bouncing back

The title sort of sums up my weekend. My debut in half IM didn't go as expected.

I was physically prepared for the event, but didn't realize that my worst enemy would be me and my negative thoughts. All kinda started already before the swim when I was standing in a bathroom line and realized how hot the day will be. I couldn't resist the repulsive idea of running a HM in hot weather. But the full tidal wave of negative attitude and pure unwillingness the accept that I'm not functioning as easily as I was hoping for started already after 20 minutes into biking. I had hard time to ride among so many riders and didn't understand the way how to ride in a group and enjoy the embedded advantage without drafting. Now I know how important this is. Then I started to think about that how in hell I can manage to run a HM in hot weather. Bad mistake. Instead, I should have had to focus on biking and let the rest of the day just be there. 

My mental meltdown peaked at T2 and kept pushing me down during the entire run. The only thing that kept me going was pure hate against giving up. It was around 30C and I was shivering quite many times during the run. To me this is a sign of physical malfunction. I didn't focus on anything else but looking forward for the next water stop enabling me to throw cold water on myself or those two tiny hills which I allowed myself to WALK. Oh yes, I walked. And I walked even more. 

At the finish I was done. Totally done. I got burned. But I finished. And this simple fact makes my half IM debut awful but an important learning experience. This is not a running race. I'm not competing against anyone else than myself. And that makes this sport a challenge. Lucky thing is that I can share these thoughts and experiences with sweetie and rest of TuUL team. That makes this much more enjoyable. 

Summary:
Swim: Goal was 38 minutes. I swam 35:37.
Bike: Goal was 2:30. I biked 2:35.
Run: Goal was 1:30. I ran/walked 1:50.
Finishing time: 5:09:06

I was really disappointed that I lost the race to myself. So yesterday I was selling my bike and my IM registration. For really cheap price. But today I'm more that ready to continue. I have five weeks to go before IM Copenhagen. Bring it on!

Photos by Kaisa Utriainen

My black suit is made from rubber

The recovery from the Olympic distance race was fast. It was slightly faster than the recovery from my longer bike ride on Saturday. I have done couple of ez runs after that and both of them have been stiff and focused on pedestrian pace.

Yesterday  I ran a steady state minimus, a short steady state run (@~4:00/km), in order to get our car from the car repair shop before it was closed. Legs were pretty okay and stomach did not bother me at all even if I started to run right after a dessert and a steak. When I got back home, I jumped a bike oand rode with my fellows to Kakskerta to do an open water practice. It was pretty awesome even if I'm a decade slower swimmer than the others. But I sort of PRed during the workout since my 1000m lap was now sub 17:00. I'm okay with that. 

Tomorrow morning's workout will be the last tougher one before the Half IM waiting me and 1.300 other triathletes on 19th of July in Joroinen. Oh, I really hope that the water temperature is enough cold to justify the use of wet suit. If not, then I'll live through the longest morning ever.

But tomorrow the plan is the ride a group tempo for 45 min. followed by tempo intervals (5x3min., slightly faster than my race pace at Half IM). It's gonna fun and relaxed one.

First 1/4 distance race and a long ride

A week has flown by pretty quick. The reason is that I'm on a vacation. That's the best time. 'Downside' is that I'm mostly offline all the time which is really invigorating. Just like Pepsi Max. 

A week ago I raced my first Olympic distance triathlon. This took place in Kisko where I've been following others to race during the last years. This time I was able to be among them. Unfortunately, Lil' D was sick so sweetie couldn't start. 

The race it short:

Swim: 
Swim leg was shortened because of cold water. Instead of 1500m, we swam 1000m. And I still lost around 1000 minutes to my closest fellows. (As a reminder: I'm not racing anyone in this sport, because I am my worst enemy. Of course you always compare yourself to others, but I don't have plans to win anyone, I just want to conquer new experiences after 40.) Otherwise, swim was emotionless effort, but a good one. My own watch, awesome Garmin Fenix 2, showed that my time was 17:20. That's a PR.

Bike: 
For unknown reasons to me, my triathlon biking leg is usually smooth, kick-ass -spirited effort with a decent speed. My biking effort has totally, albeit positively surprised myself and my fellows (those few who really have been interested). Maybe it is the fact my legs are outran by spending 25 years running, but the aerobic engine is still there. I dunno. I don't think about it too much. At least biking is easier than swimming for me and that is enough for me. In Kisko I was 9th fastest on a bike with average speed of 38kmh for 41km.

Run: 
Of course, as a former competitive runner, one would expect that I would easily match others' pace on the road in a triathlon race. But those may not have experienced the pleasures of trying to run fast after ride a bike. But personally I have been learning this - how to start your running leg after riding your bike harder than you would imagine. This has been a fun process. In Kisko a hilly running course killed me - I ran 10km at 4:00/km. 

In all, I was and am really happy with this race. The biggest learning experience is related to your heart rate. During a longer race (like in the Half IM in two weeks) I really have obey my HRM.

After the race I took it easy. Others ran and biked long distances right after the race. I did't nothing. Except on Wednesday when I joined group tempo workout. I thought that it was moderated somehow, but no. It was full steam right from the start and it resulted a 25km ride with an average speed of 40.4 kmh.

Today I biked back home from Sastamala. After sweetie had opened her racing season, I jumped on my stealth bike and rode 4.5 hours (147km). Now I'm sore.

Olympic distance debut

Today. In Kisko-Triathlon. In few hours. 

EXCITING!

Quick summary of race nr 1

Yesterday was fun, really fun. Not only because of I witnessed innovative ways to solve back bag and aero helmet combination, but mainly because racing is big fun.

If I have to summarize my race in short, it would be something like this:

Swim: 
Emotionless effort, no flow, but no pain. I'm happy with it, but I expected that it would have felt different. On a bike and during running I know how faster pace feeling in your guts. This does not take place in swimming. However, I'm more and more pleased with my swimming gear. Goggles, Aqua Sphere Kayenne, and wet suit, Aqua Sphere Challenger, work really nicely for an entry guy like me. I'm also partially happy that painfully slow exit from wet suit is slowly improving. 

That's Bruno and me battling hard (Photo by Sari Stenholm)

Bike:
When I jumped on my stealth engine, I expected that the pain will arrive next. But it did not. I just rode and the results show that I was 7th fastest (when the transition time from bike to run is included). Garmin showed that the actual time was 45 seconds faster. In all, the average speed was around 38kmh. That's okay for me. But I should train more the transition between bike and run. 

(Photo by Marianne Palmu)

Run:
Lately, running has been a mystery for me. It is no longer my "strength" in triathlon, since I have no clue where I'm standing nowadays. Due to cold weather, my feet were close to numb when I jumped off from bike. But even if the pace is modest (yesterday it was slightly sub 3:40/km), the feeling while running after the bike has improved considerably. So, doing running exercises (short, 3km, with accelerating pace) has strengthened my running after bike. Back in the day it felt nothing but slowly increasing bundle of pain. 

In summary: I freaking happy with yesterdays' effort. Energy levels was okay, and I had no problems during the run. I took one High5 energy gel just before the swim and during the bike I took few sips of High5's Energy Source 2:1. 

Next up... Kisko triathlon in 1.5 weeks. 

Let the racing begin

Today is the day.

The racing season starts at last. In comparison to the seasons as a runner, this Summer is unique. I have scheduled only four races in the calendar.

Today the distance is sprint, in 1.5 weeks the distances are 1.5/40/10. The latter one will be debut. Two weeks later I will debut in 70.3. Then...... in late August I will challenge myself and debut in Ironman.

I've been waiting for today's race for some time and the expected summerish conditions won't bring down my enthusiasm. Not even if it would be snowing.

Insert title here, I won't

Damn it. Working has had a negative effect on my blogging. 

But yes, I'm still in it for the tattoo. After the champion workout 1.5 weeks ago I have done two brick workouts (swim, bike, run), two open water swims, one surprisingly great tempo run of 10 miles and one decent run workout. Moreover, I was able to include a bike strength workout in my routine on last Sunday. 

During yesterday's brick workout my legs felt really heavy, but I was able to push the pace under 3.40/km during the running leg. Normally, this wouldn't be a biggie, but I'm no longer normal. I'm over 40.

I have had hard to estimate how much the swimming during this spring is really aiding me in the open water, but maybe it's better not to over-analyze this. Instead, I'll enjoy the ride. Oh and yes, I have really enjoyed the simple fact that joining this group of triathletes brings back the nice memories of group training. It really helps when you're tired.

Champion workout

Yesterday was really interesting. I had a chance (thanks sweetie) to join the Luoto Special.

To me that sounded like serious business. And that is something it really was. It meant a training block lasting for 7 hours. It meant 172.5km on a bike tied around 25km of running in a hilly course.

Serious, yes. Tough, yes. But fun. The entire day teached me to listen to my body, how to make the voices of weakness silent and how to roll with tired legs.

Total fun.

In Friday I improved my PR in 31km tempo by 1.20 minutes. Now the average speed was 38kmh which is faster than I could even imagine.

Now I'm looking forward to the moment when my left knee is painful (it died yesterday). Niiiiice!

Swimming

In 2012 I swam 11.7km in total.

In 2013 the total amount was 36km.

In 2014 I have done 66km (as of today). 

I'm almost all set.

Bouncing back

After returning back home from Sunday's disappointing albeit excellent learning experience I lost it. The motivation to do any training. Luckily that lasted only one day. I couldn't handle it, just because of possible boredom and scare of loosing the touch.



Yesterday I sneaked out already at 6AM for shake-out bike ride. I rode in misty morning with no worries whatsoever (well I had to be back home early enough). Legs felt slightly tired and thus it was easy to skip the running workout later that day. Today I ran out and back to swim practice and celebrated this choice by eating entire chocolate bar. No remorse.

Duathlon Nationals

Imagine a nice warm day in Nurmo, in tiny place almost in the middle of nowhere. Smell the regenerated fields waiting for August, carry the sunny heat on your back and feel the headwind following you almost 40K out of 42Ks available on a bike. These are the ingredients of an awesome Sunday.

This Sunday it meant a participation in the Duathlon Nationals. I sort of looked forward to this race since a year ago the experience was pretty awesome and it was awarded with a bronze medal (in my age group). This year the preparations covered some googling which indicated that the competition will be stone hard and that I'm not going to participate in the podium challenge.

During the race this expectation was realized after 10K of bike leg when my rear tire was flat as a pancake and I had to stop for 10 minutes to fix that. Well, I wouldn't have been close to the podium even without being sucker-punched by a puncture. But mentally to loose the touch to a race is pain in the ass. 

Luckily I was prepared for a flat and I had carried an extra tire and some CO2. To be honest, I was really close to leave them away - I already detached them from my bike before the start but then out of no reason I reattached them to my stealth engine. While standing on the side of the road this very knowledge eased my pain, but still I hated every single minute that I had to spent there hearing my opponents and many others to pass by. But I did not quit and that's what matters to me the most right now. 

Today I felt that running is getting easier and easier, but some work is needed to increase stamina and tempo. The 2 months which I lost due an injury are not coming back without some work. First run was moderated by me, but the latter one was an awful experience. The warm weather and the emotional roller coaster took lot of energy, but nevertheless I was happy and felt really privileged to finish the race together with sweetie who won silver in women's race. 

Today was a good day.

Tempo ride is hard on your lungs

Yesterday I punished my lungs by riding a 10K tempo. 

This meant that I got myself involved with a first bike "race" for the first time in my entire athletic career which started in 1984. This novel experience was fulfilled with lactic acid and a painful feeling in the lungs. To be honest, I haven't punished my aerobic engine this hard for years, and therefore, the feeling following the tempo ride was awesome. When I returned home after one hour cool down bike ride, I did a quick change and ran 3K in 12 minutes just get my legs used to this bike to run transformation. Then I focused on eating.

 

Had hard time get my shoes in order... missed at least one second. (photo by Holmströms)

L.A.R.E.A.M.

Lactic acid rules everything around me.

True story.

First 10K tempo ever: 15:35.

10K Tempo

Today I will add another new experience in the books: 10K tempo ride. For cyclists this is a normal routine with no weight whatsoever. But I'm super excited. This is going to be a great workout for the forthcoming duathlon...

Today's soundtrack covers these songs.

This shit is getting heavy on your legs

This was the 5th consecutive week during which I had time and energy to train over 10 hrs per week. Before this period the weekly amount of training was closer to 46 minutes due to a running injury. 

Today I finished a week of 15 hrs worth of sweat drained during 6 days. In order to get my running back in touch with real life, I decided to take a short cut: run races. On Tuesday I rode with Ile to Raisio and back to run a first race since September. This one was a 5K XC race which offered empty lungs and fun times. So fun that I spent almost 19 minutes on that course.

Today I repeated that but in different circumstances. Today the local, small race took place on gravel road (7.2K) and I managed to reach the finish line as the first competitor at the pace 3.32/K. Moreover, today the WU and CD bike rides summed up to 72K. Thereafter I felt a bit tired but I was privileged with an opportunity of a nap, and gained back my willingness to hit the pool later in the afternoon. A fun week.

Riding, running, snowing

But no worries... these keep me (and us) on the road!

Good times

One MD once said to me that if you ask from an athlete about his/her training, the response tells you right away does the doc have to be alerted or not.

• If an athlete tells him that "I'm aching here and little more over here", athlete is good to go.

• If an athlete tells him that "I'm feeling great", it is already too late to react.

That being said, I feel like being right in the middle: I am able to run, bike and swim but I'm sore here and there. But nothing is injured. What more can I ask for.... The current amount of running is far less than I have used to but on the other hand this is the first April ever when I have biked 800+kms.

I don't have any training program to follow and thus I have had hard time to reply to continuing questions if I'm right on the target in my training. I don't know that yet. My response is that I really don't know, but I'm enjoying the ride!

Last two weeks

Today I finished a sort of mini training camp. It started on Thursday with brick workout, continued with running and a bike ride on Thursday. On Saturday I swam and ran a short tempo run while running home from the swim arena. On Sunday I spent 4.5 hrs (131km) on a TT-bike with a group of triathletes and that was followed by lot of eating (the best part in training) and a swim session in the evening. Today I just ran. 

On Saturday I updated my TT-bike by replacing the 70x70mm stem with 70x30mm. Now I have to start stretching more...

So in all, I'm again able to run. Due to the nice weather, biking is currently much more enjoyable than it was before our visit to Canary Island. In April I have biked slightly shy of 700km and swam much more than a year ago. Let's see what happens...

Mini Festival of Hammers

Marathoner Nate Jenkins launched the high quantity training period,  more 1.5 weeks of pure smashing of mileage.

My stay in Canary Islands is not at all as fulfilling or demanding as Jenkins's training period, but I have been punishing my legs on a bike. In addition, I have been able to run a few miles. With regards to the swimming, I have done couple of loops in our pool..

Meeting another old friend

Yesterday I met more of my old friends. This time I had a short session with Mr. Cortisone. So suck it up, hamstring.


In addition to the current month-long non-running period, I have had four flus in two months which has amplified my frustration with everything. But hey, tomorrow is always better, right?

Swimming, puncture and my dear old friend NSAID

On Sunday I ran 15 minutes. Every minute sucked ass. Hamstrings are still done. Luckily I can swim. On Saturday I was tired and angry so I did only a quick dip into to pool, but on Sunday I was slowing down the others during a session covering a mix of swim technique and sprints.


Before this nice afternoon I found myself kicked by my MTB after a puncture. Fortunately sweetie was willing to collect me (and my angry ass) from Lieto.


Now I changed my diet from food to liquid (Pepsi Max) and NSAIDs. Healthy as hell.

Roads are open

And still I'm not running nor riding outside. Actually, I'm not running at all currently. That makes me a happy person.

I no longer hate to swim

Really. A while ago I didn't even dare to imagine that some day I'd like to swim. But this has happened during last seven days. This doesn't imply that I'm faster than previously or anything like that. Instead, now I feel just fine when I jump into a pool. I haven't yet processed this so much, but I'm quite sure that this transformation is partially due to the triathlon crew of which I'm a proud member of. So thank you guys. In addition, a strained hamstring has amplified my willingness to whatever exercises which do not hurt my ass. Swimming is one of them. The other one is doing nothing.

Anyhow, I smashed my 2000m PR today. The previous was from last Saturday when I timed it for the first time. With regards to the forthcoming triathlon race I have had a plan according to which my race pace would be around 2:00min/100m. Today I swam 37:54 which equals with 1:53/100m. I have a running nose and sore throat so I'm pretty happy happy joy joy.

Today we also visited a triathlon event which was organized at Nummen Pyora. Nice, cosy event. I brought new goggles for open water swimming. 

Accordingly, today's soundtrack sounds something like this:

There there

All of sudden my training routine got simplified. Swimming, strained hamstring ass routine and some moments in our bike torture chamber. No running. Hamstring/gluteus is not yet ok, but I'm hopeful for getting back at it during next week. 

Monday, Wednesday, Saturday

It wasn't many days ago when I argued that my skills in avoiding swim practices is hurting my progress in this 3-sport. But what I know. This week I will jump into the pool at least three times. Nice!

On Monday (my second attendance to that particular session) I faced and conquered my pain, the lactic acid in my arms. It felt so good. Today I'm ready for the next battle. Bring it on.

In the running front I'm fighting with another kind of battle. My glutes and hamstrings are so tight that running is now getting slower and harder. To cut short this downward spiral I finally started to do some stretching. Results of this activity are not yet - unfortunately - shown. And it's been already two days.

[update 20/02:] On Thursday morning I strained my upper hamstring/gluteus. Not running for couple next days.

Biking... what's that?

A period of odd illnesses

The topic is so boring so I won't spend another second to discuss it. I'm happy that I'm almost 100% back on the road.


My streak of missing highly necessary swimming sessions is continuing. I've been feeling the pool water only once a week for varying set of sorry ass excuses. Fortunately, the remaining swimming sessions have been painful. Based on my 25 years of running that feeling has usually been a sign of progress. Instead of pace and/or speed I desperately need the gut feeling that I'm all good in water. This feeling is almost here.


During the last weeks all of my biking sessions have been short but amusing BTC sessions in the early morning. That's better than nothing.

Sick, not sick, and little more sick

That is not the way to pick up the miserable pieces of a 40-year old man trying to do something else than only run. During January I have lost 8 days due to the simple fact that I have been sick. Just a little but enough to keep me off from training. In addition, I have missed valuable swimming sessions due to whatever reason embedded in our everday lives.


But this year is still young. Now it is time for magic.

Swimming sucks

No it does not. Yes it does.


That's the ongoing battle.


Yesterday I had an opportunity (or I was strongly adviced to use this opportunity) to join the top triathletes' swim practice. For them it was the normal Monday routine, for me it was a reality check with shy results. Missing too many swim session due whatever reasons has taken its toll. If I want conquer my mind in the water, I really have to find myself in the pool way more often. At least twice a week.. hhahaha.


Another realization from yesterday was that I haven't been biking lately... So I have to wake up now before it's too late. Summer is almost here, right? At least the Sun is already shining.

2013 Stats

Number of miles conquered by running: 1730
Number of miles conquered by cycling: 2000
Number of miles conquered by swimming: 18
Number of marathons completed: 0
Number of marathons started: 0
Number of Medal in Nationals in any sports/AG: 1 (bronze, duathlon, 40-44)
Number of the best ever training plans started during 2013: 1
Number of the best ever training plans finished during 2013: 0
Number of running related disappointments: 7+
Number of running races completed: 8
Number of bike races completed: 0
Number of adventure races completed: 1
Number of running injuries: 1
Number of months spent off running: 3.5
Number of broken toes: 1
Number of kgs lost/gained: still don't care
Number of registrations for an Ironman race in 2014: 1