Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

I went to bed last night having a feeling that the forecast of -15 would be conservative, and so it proved. On logging in this morning, it was -18 in central Oslo and -26 at Fornebu, the old airport (and reasonably representative of valleys in suburban Oslo).

There's a Scandinavian saying "there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes" (it rhymes in Norwegian, and probably in Swedish and Danish too), so this was no reason not to head out. By the time Jim and I did head out it had warmed up a little, probably to about -22 in the valleys and -10 on the top of the Holmenkollen hill, which was our destination; the former was the coldest I've been in (running or otherwise) since Canada 1989. If anything I was a bit overdressed for the warm hilltop section (although the effort of getting to said hilltop counted for something there).

Holmenkollen was the biggest climb I've taken on in months, and was reasonably hard work towards the end; wouldn't have wanted it to be much longer or steeper but managed to cope. (As with the Two Bays Run, a small climb after the main one was tougher than the main climb itself). Achilles a bit touchy on the descent but settled once back on the flat. Again most of the run was on snow in some form or other; Jim was a bit bolder on the steeper descents than I was. Quads feeling a bit fatigued at the end (although nowhere near as bad as some runs a month ago). I'm not sure this will do much to prepare me if it's low 30s in Canberra in March (or WA at Easter), but it was definitely a worthwhile experience.

As expected, the locals were not in the least deterred by the conditions and were out in droves on skis, walking dogs et al. - most noticeably a group of (presumably) African immigrants with cross-country skis undergoing some cultural assimilation.

Flew back to Geneva this evening. It feels warm, relatively speaking.

C • "Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder!" 1

An afternoon run with my brother-in-law from their place in suburban Oslo, on a very nice afternoon once you get used to the idea of a Nordic winter (sunny and around -8 with no wind). The run was mostly on snow of varying degrees of depth and firmness (although with only short patches of deep soft stuff, and none of the ice that is more a feature of the inner city).

Not a bad run, and no sign of the Achilles soreness I\ve had a bit of the last couple of days - more of it after a couple of hours sitting on the plane than actually training. (The sitting on the plane was slightly suboptimal for other reasons because I was next to two drunks, but they didn't make too much of a nusiance of themselves - and Oslo Airport`s luggage delivery was so efficient that I landed at 10.40 last night and made the 10.56 train).

Definitely knew I was in Oslo catching the train out to Cassie and Jim\s place - half the platform was carrying skis and heading for Holmenkollen and points beyond.

Performed my first uncle duties today (without either dropping the baby or being thrown up on). Now engaging in a Norwegian sporting Saturday afternoon by watching the biathlon and the ski-jumping, and wondering what Australian TV commentators would make of one of the German ski-jumpers, one Andreas Wank.

Will also be interested to see when I get back to Geneva how the gun-laws referendum went. I have even less time for Swiss gun lobbyists than those in most other countries because of their role, seeing us as a threat to hunting interests, in dragging Swiss orienteering through a series of expensive legal battles in the 1980s and 1990s.

C • WMOC 4

A swim which came to an abrupt end because of a goggles failure, which was a pity because it was going along pretty well, despite the lane again being too crowded for its own good (or perhaps because the crowds provided an incentive). Still a bit of right shoulder/arm soreness, but of the 'a bit of work will do this good' variety (I think).

Off to Oslo this evening. The forecast has backed off a bit - now only looks like about -10.

Noticed in the local papers that someone was killed during the week at the resort I skied at last weekend - they came to grief on the Chavanette Wall, renowned as the most difficult run in Switzerland, and closed because of ice and a lack of snow. You'd really expect a 65-year-old to know better.

A reasonably solid long run, if a little lacking in energy at times. In darkness for most of the first half with an earlier start than last week. For the third time in as many long runs, my map memory was slightly astray and I didn't go quite where I intended (ending up retracing last Thursday's steps for about 20 minutes in the middle), but that's often not a bad way to explore. Changed plans again when it turned out that one area with widely spread small roads on the map, which I thought might have been semi-rural, was actually a "zone industrielle", but found a nice way back to town (most of the way).

Out to the south of Geneva around the back of the golf course, but using a different way to get to the top of the hill this time, using quieter back roads and seeing even more extravagant real estate than I did last time I was in this part of the world. A somewhat longer run than planned, which wasn't really a drama. OK on the steeper climbs, but probably not more than OK. Achilles a bit touchy this morning but shoulder is improving.

I found out last night that Argentina are playing Portugal in Geneva tonight. Would have been a good game to go to but it doesn't look like there are any tickets available, so hopefully it will be on TV.

Again the 10x1 minute cycle. Didn't feel quite as sharp as last week but going a bit faster, which has to be a good sign. A bit slippery underfoot on the frosty grass. Shoulder a bit more of a nuisance at speed than it was at a slower pace, but only a nuisance, nothing more.

Warming up/down for the intervals session. Felt a little out of sorts early but settled down reasonably well.

Geneva's channelling Canberra in July this week (-5 by night, +12 by day) and there was a certain familiarity to the scenes this morning, frosty grass and people scraping ice off car windscreens (although they have proper tools for that here; in Canberra the weapon of choice, at least in the days before plastic drivers licences, was the Medicare card).

The run was reasonably mundane for the first half up through the Old Town, but caught alight in the last 10 minutes, probably the best I've felt on a run for several months, floating along the path next to the lake. A bit disappointed to pull this up but there was work to be done.

My right shoulder was sore this morning for no obvious reason (possibly bruised from Saturday morning's crash?). It was a non-issue running but I probably wouldn't have wanted to be swimming today.

This weekend's long run in Oslo could be interesting. Depending on which forecast you believe, Sunday morning will be somewhere between -15 and -24, which in turn would make it my coldest run since either Albuquerque 2001 or Canada 1989. Still prefer this to +35.