Training Log Archive: W

Well, today was.... less nice. It quasi-snowed over night, so it was pretty wet and rainy. But, I dressed pretty well so that I wasn't too hot or too cold, so it made for a nice run. Ran into some guy o+-ing, he said he recognized me, and that made me nervous about whether I'd met him before, so I was too embarrassed to ask his name. Now I spent 10 minutes chit-chatting with some local orienteer and I don't know who he is. Smooth move, me.

First 1/2 was on nice forest roads, then ended up back on the pavement for a second half around Jyväsjärvi, and then back home. It would be a good loop if I could find a bit more trail, it was too much road for me feet, I think. It didn't help that I had my firmest shoes on, but actually I'm quite surprised at how bad my calves don't feel, give they were 4mm drop shoes. Nice.

Each day I run with my Garmin I count down the days until I get home for Christmas and a new non-Alzheimers watch is waiting for me. This thing can't even last two hours running GPS and HR before resetting and losing the workout. Bring on the Polar V800! Staff discounts for the voitto!

FINALLY, an amazing fall day. Woke up to -4 and frosty sunshine. These are my favorite fall days. Sure, its a little cold, but then you get into a sunny bit of the trail and you warm up real good.

Went over to Laajavouri to do a good thorough exploration. Got on the Lenkki 10 trail (I think), which was the one I intended to, which took me on a meandering loop behind the hill past some lakes (Lummelampi ja Myllyjärvi (really? another one?)) and then along a power line, over to the base of the ski hill. Then I took the inner loop back around past the Vuorilampi (literally - "mountain lake"), then up to the top, back down, then around the ski trails and home.

I didn't look at my watch at all and just kept running until I was trending back home. At that fairly brisk pace it took about 1:40, though unfortunately I was hoping for 2. I think if I crossed the road at one point and checked out the lake that would make it longer, or if I could find a more meander-y route back down from the top of the ski hill. Either way, great day to be out. I'm hoping to do about the same on Sunday but in a different direction.

So, Terä's main sponsor is this big ol' forestry company called Metsä. (Apparently they don't sponsor us enough to allow me to be able to have/buy/acquire in any form some matching pants & socks to go with my jersey, but that's aside the point).

Apparently once a year (maybe more?) they do a hunting day where members of the team go and walk through the woods in a line making noise so that we chase the animals towards the big wigs and they shoot them. I'm not hunting expert, but, this feels like cheating.

Nevertheless, I gamely borrowed some rubber boots and ventured out hoping not to get shot and quietly encouraging all the animals to run the other direction (a snowshoe hare actually listened and was saved from death). At the very least, it was an interesting experience, though probably not one I'd wish to repeat. However, to be fair, the moosemeat soup we had for lunch, was delicious. Real real good.

Quite a few people asked me too if I'd seen any moose out there in the forest, I think thinking that it would be a big highlight for me. Me and moose, though, we have a history. I did see several dead ones, though, which was not exactly my preferred way of seeing them.

Anyway, after all that, despite being fully roasted when I got home, I managed to get out and do a short run and then do my extra indoor workout. So that was good.

Criminy, it gets dark early in this place! I suppose that's not actually news.

Anyway, headed out for another run on a different loop, which turned out to be about the same distance and time as just about every other loop I know. But, this one had a nice climb in the middle over at the Laajavuori. That's going to be quite the climb come winter time. The first part is steep, I'm not sure if I'd be able to climb in the tracks, and then it gentles out a little but is still quite relentless, and then followed up with another little steep pitch. It could be tough! Then, it was down the hill, around the Killeri and home.

I notice Strava seems to be having some brain function issues too, as it and Garmin Connect strongly disagree on elevation. Strava seems to think that I did 344m of climbing, and Garmin thinks only 98. That's a bit of a difference. Like, quite a bit of one. Ah... technology.

I had thought that my shoulder was pretty much back to normal after NAOCs, but it got pretty stiff tonight, so its not quite there. Perhaps its less so a sign of it being back to normal as much as my probably need to relax my shoulders when I run. Or maybe my side training projects are just a little too hard on both shoulders! Either way, I was distracted by actually listening to a podcast, specifically, BBC Radio 4's Friday News Quiz podcast.

Also, did you know that Apollo 440 still makes music?!? Hawt dawg. I liked their mildly repetitive dance music of the '90s before it was cool. (everyone's heard "Stop the Rock", they just don't know it)

Wow, my Garmin really lost its mind tonight. I suppose I didn't quite wait long enough for it to find the satellites, but it clearly never did because where it thinks I went isn't even remotely close, and I did a few of those kilometer splits in 1:50. Man, I got fit, fast.

If I were to guess, it was really closer to about 9.5k or so, but its certainly not exactly clear. Oh well. The big question: Garmin 620, Suunto Ambit3, or Polar V800? I'm leaning towards the Polar, actually.