Fresh Start

The 2008 season has officially begun with a 'winter triathlon' here in Turku. The event was pretty minimal and mostly just a fun way for people in the area to get a good workout and remember why they are training.

Taking place in and around our home swimming pool of Impivara, the triathlon consisted of a 500 meter pool swim, short break to put ski clothes on, then off to ski 7km and finish with a 4km run. Snow was particularly hard to find this year and we relied on the 2km man-made track nearby to do the event. MOST of the course had snow, except an uphill where you needed to carefully walk up a narrow band of snow on the side. Regardless of the poor snow conditions, the event was great fun and I can say my season has started on a good note after I finished a couple minutes ahead of 2nd place (my coach Mika).
The 2008 season has officially begun with a 'winter triathlon' here in Turku. The event was pretty minimal and mostly just a fun way for people in the area to get a good workout and remember why they are training.

Taking place in and around our home swimming pool of Impivara, the triathlon consisted of a 500 meter pool swim, short break to put ski clothes on, then off to ski 7km and finish with a 4km run. Snow was particularly hard to find this year and we relied on the 2km man-made track nearby to do the event. MOST of the course had snow, except an uphill where you needed to carefully walk up a narrow band of snow on the side. Regardless of the poor snow conditions, the event was great fun and I can say my season has started on a good note after I finished a couple minutes ahead of 2nd place (my coach Mika).

The remainder of March was spent battling the late winter that finally decided to come to Finland. While training in the snow normally is not a problem, I still managed to have three small cycling crashes in one month. Pretty amazing series of bad luck, but luckily only minor scraps and bruises.

Now everything is back on track and going well. The sun is feeling warm and spring has really started, so training begins to feel very easy when compared to the winter months. As they say, 'now the fun begins!'

The remainder of March was spent battling the late winter that finally decided to come to Finland. While training in the snow normally is not a problem, I still managed to have three small cycling crashes in one month. Pretty amazing series of bad luck, but luckily only minor scraps and bruises.

Now everything is back on track and going well. The sun is feeling warm and spring has really started, so training begins to feel very easy when compared to the winter months. As they say, 'now the fun begins!'

Winter Training

During the winter months in Finland, most summer sport athletes such as runners, cyclists, and triathletes go to long training camps where there is sun and comfortable training conditions. Generally speaking this makes sense and the athletes do benefit from the month or more of focused training. However, not all athletes have the option to travel to warmer climates. I am in the second group but have found there are benefits to staying in Finland through the tough winter months.

My theory is that the harsh weather conditions where sun is rarely seen and warmth is only found in the sauna, help make you appreciate the beautiful summer conditions found in Finland later in the year. True, I do complain about the darkness when I wake up early to do morning swims. Yes, it is painful to ride your bike through blowing snow/rain long after the sun has gone down. But, when spring arrives, you feel more prepared to tackle the tough season of racing and training after surviving winter training in Finland.

Ironically, skiing is the best winter training you can get while training in Finland but this year is perhaps the worst winter ever for skiing. My only chance to ski this entire winter was on a brief trip back to my parent’s home in the US where snow was chest deep in most places. While it is disappointing that there is no skiing this season, it does leave an opportunity to train more traditionally with more cycling and outdoor running being possible. All the time building my strength and appreciation of sun and warm weather when it finally does return with spring.