Training Log Archive: blairtrewinIn the 1 days ending Feb 13, 2011:
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Sunday Feb 13, 2011 #
10 AM
Run 1:46:00 [3] 19.4 km (5:28 / km) +550m 4:47 / km
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.
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.