Ez week

On Saturday the treadmill I ran on tried to kick my ass. I was feeling so weak during a normal steady state run that I had to stop at 3 miles. But luckily I had guts to continue and I was able to finish it. A night before I was up too late and instantly had pay the dues. That's what getting older really means???

On Sunday I broke my barriers and took mp3s with me on the long run. Of the 15.5 miles only 1.5 was not icy.

This week is an easy one so no Workout Wednesday for me. I did an easy 5 miler today. Next Saturday I'll run 3.1 miler at the local "race". The one and only Road Running Relay called Karhu-viesti is getting closer...

Top 5 songs from the long run:

Stupid winter

The best thing in this morning's run was the feeling that it can't get much worse than this. Due to sudden and almost heavy snow storm, the springish roads were now covered with a thick layer of cold water and wet snow on ice. After running 50 meters my feet were soaking wet (and cold), but once the engine started humming I didn't feel a thing. Just listened to over and over again.

BThis week's WOW was a repetation from last week: 2x2km (@ 5:50 pace) + 2x1km (@ 5:25) on treadmill.

Soon...

Soon it's time for less injury prone roads...

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Lazerrobogeek

As I have already mentioned, the current running conditions are a big freaking joke. I did only 14 miles and still got aches in lower back, upper thighs and of course in my jaws since I was cursing the whole way. During the last 2 km I chose to run on the street among cars (there was like 3 cars driving at that time) and thereafter the pace dropped from (ice-moderated) 7.40s to 6.55s (with grip). But anyhow the sunrise was nice. I really like to be on the road that early.

Weekly mileage (6 days, I have Mondays off) was 49. That's just fine. When the roads are again open, I'll increase the mileage up to 60-70 miles.

I own this city

What a busy week. Basically it was caused by work, but luckily I've had time to run every day expect on Wednesday. On Wed I had to participate a workshop and give a presentation based on my thesis (I have opened it the last in Dec of 2004) at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications which took time due some traveling.

On Friday morning I "invented" a new workout called "I own this city". It is a workout which is done in the empty streets on early morning. The city centre of Turku has a pedestrian street which is heated(?) so there is no snow nor ice. One stretch is 300m long and I decided to do 200m reps. And too fast of course (@ 5.05 pace). But it was awesome!!!! Only thing is that the gluteus problem, which caused all the trouble in last May, woke up from a long dream. Luckily today during 12.5 miles run it was bearable. Kick ass!

Another ways the rule your city may include using garage entrances and mall's parking lot around the time when no one else is around.

On the road

Roads here are a mess. Yesterday they were plain ice and same was going on this morning. Luckily, I had to skip morning run since Lil' D has had hard time to adjust to our time zone. While I was biking to work, I noticed that waking up a little too late for a run was a blessing in disguise. I think that I wouldn't have been able to run at all on that icy roads.

Afternoon we got some wet snow which made running bearable. Additionally, I feel just great from the beginning so I decided to adjust my schedule and did a accelerating tempo (5k @ 6.40s to 6.05 pace) in the middle of my easy run. It's a start if nothing else.

Ice

What you expect when it's raining and temperatures are around 31F. Yes, ice. This morning I was barely able to walk on slippery wet ice to the trail. The trail looked maintaned but there was a layer of ice on the gravel. So, after 100 meters running and having almost fallen down three times I decided turn back which I did. Then I slept for an hour. I'll give another try in the evening after the cultural activities.

And tomorrow we will begin our journey to the US. Awesome!

[edit:] Another try my ass... it's still too slippery AND we had a dinner at the theather, so my next run will most likely take place in DC on Thursday.

Weird week

This week I've reached the most productive state at work. I'm delivering research papers and results like a badass. That's weird. Maybe it's because of the running conditions are the worst ever (no, the real reason is that I just had 3 weeks of vacation). After two days of rain roads turned into a icy layer a.k.a achilles killer.

Still, on Tuesday I ran my first run (after the surgery) with decent grip even if roads were close to unrunable. Our backyard provides (in addition to Paavo Nurmi Stadium) a trail (about 0.9 miles long) which is maintained in excellent shape for walking and running through the winter. Due to the fact that I wasn't running on snow/ice/their combination, the achilles felt pretty weird. Moreover, I postponed alternating skiing days and did some core workouts instead. That's okay since xc skiing sucks and it especially sucks if you have to ski on ice.

Today I ran in the evening after traveling to Tampere and back. Just out of curiosity I took HRM with me and was amazed by how off my engine really is. But it will be humming again. Oh and an update: I have lost 3.3 pounds.

Early bird

It was 7:30 AM and I had done my long(ish) run. The conditions were surprising because after several days of snow this morning was rainy. It meant only one thing - icy conditions. And roads were really icy but I was able to rumble through 11 miles (still @ pedestrian pace) without any pain in the achilles.

This week's totals:
Running 16 miles
XC skiing 15 miles
1 core workout
3 sick days

Ice

I had planned some tempo repeats for this morning, but after falling down TWICE during the WU I decided not to even give a try. Guys in MD push their pace already in 60s and we are stuck with ice here. Not fair. On the other hand I'm still sore from Saturday and Sunday so maybe an extra easy day is not that bad. But soon I have to start to be more consistent. Today it's time for core workout with a little longer warm-up run.

Evening's outcome was decent but exhausting: core workout with 11 miles WU (@7.00/mile).

Nutrition overload

Two easy days - sometimes a must. I have been hurting a lot since Tuesday's physical insult (race pace tempos + adjusted Indiana elite core workout). This morning I picked up the pieces and shortly thereafter I found myself watching the indoor track. Okay, time for some tempo repeats. The above being said, today tempo pace pretty much sucked, but I finished 3x2000m'2min (6.49, 6.55, 6.43). Then I was ready for some excellent hamburger buffet at the Kerttu with sweetie and couple work colleagues.

In addition, today was the first not-below-freezing day in 2.5 months. Even if roads are now melting into dangerous and annoying icy layer of depressive mass, it feels that Spring is just around the corner. Birds are already singing. And I'm just flippin' the bird at the weather. What a waste...

And good luck for everyone racing the Club Challenge tomorrow. Even if I'm on the HCS's side, Bmore's looks tough.

Back on a treadmill

Ok. Yesterday I was suprised (again) about the effects of tiny amount of snow. But this morning the same roads and pathways were covered with thick icy layer which of course sucks. Instead of staying in bed late I crawled slowly closer to a treadmill and fought through an ez paced 3-miler (6.50/mile). It has been awhile since the last time I've met this buddy of mine. In Finland, during the iciest seasons, treadmill was my soulmate, but here our relationship has been cold. Hence, today was a big day. Luckily both of us were cooperative. Maybe it is the language barrier that hinders the usual cursing between us.