Back in Finland

January 17, 2009

On Wednesday my “home holiday” was over and it was time to move to my second home in Finland. Thanks to running mate Jarno aka moguli I didn’t had to sleep on the Tampere railway station this time (as I did in 07 when I missed the last train to Jyväskylä).

Even if I lost some kilometers due to the travel I’m now feeling good and ready for the next intensive training period. Unfortunately there is not so much snow here in central Finland at the moment and I have to postpone the planned cross-country skiing training. Until now that is still ok, because I don’t have any major problems with feet, knees or back because of some good physiotherapy I got in Germany. Skiing is a perfect alternative exercise method and you can even sharpen the shape with a well-planned training. However, until the first important competitions in April it’s not so far anymore and the time is running short, because the last weeks before the season the focus is (of course) on running specific training.

The training in Germany went pretty well and I could increase mileage to around 160-170km/week. After week 1 in 2009 when I had 4 fast exercises (3 competitions + 1 medium fartlek) I was a bit tired and decreased the intensity but now I gained freshness again and already did 2 good workouts this week. The fitness is a bit better than at the same time last year and once I get rid of some extra kilos that I got over the Christmas holiday, running should get even easier.