Double trouble

The Simo Klimscheffskij muistoajo (Memorial Ride) was held just outside of Turku on a rolling 4km loop. While I can count on two hands many times I have ridden a bike during the past year, I was surprised to find my legs were still able to handle racing.

The first bike race of the year (or last two years) started quite well but unfortunately came to an abrupt end after about 50km. During the first 1/2 dozen laps I tried a few times to get up the road in a break away but was unsuccessful. I decided to hangout in the pack for a while longer to wait until the other riders were more fatigued, then try again.

Unfortunately during an easy section of the race, I put both my wheels into a rather deep and narrow crack in the road. The large bang the proceed told me the race was over as both tires were completely blown out. Luckily I was able to keep my bike right side up and avoid crashing as another rider was not so lucky in the same section of road earlier in the race.

Despite having to stop early, I was quite happy to learn my legs remembered how to race. Even if the rest of my body was a bit sluggish (sore back and neck).

The next couple of weeks I will focus on running more and also training my cycling base a bit in order to be ready for GP Rosendahl and SM duathlon later this spring. Looking forward to both!

Getting rolling

After about a year of time away from serious sports, I am finally back into some kind of rhythm again. I spent the majority of last year working on building a house for my family, which was time well spent, how ever, it left little time or energy for pursuing triathlon like I had been in the past.

The house project was completed in September and I quickly set about trying to get into shape for Frankfurt marathon. Unfortunately I only had about 6 weeks to prepare and because the house project had been incredibly tiring, I was mostly interested in getting recovered from that rather than any real training. I managed to do a few 10km races and a few long runs but that was about all the preparation I got done. The first 1/2 actually went quite well in 1:17 but that was short lived. Cramps and general lack of fitness finally got the better of me and I turned cruise control on to try and make it to the finish in one piece. The end time of 2:56 was slightly embarrassing but gives good motivation to get my ass in shape this year!

This past winter I tried to get into some new routine and build back my aerobic fitness. XC skiing was the focus of my training and it did make a big difference in raising my fitness from the low level it started at. Unfortunately the consistency in training was not really there as I took a new job, my wife and I got a 2nd baby in February, and there was a lot of general fatigue associated with the previous year's efforts building our house.

I did manage to get enough running fitness to do a few indoor track races, which turned out to be very fun even if I am not well suited to the speed of them. Managing 4:19 in 1500m and 8:53 in 3000m was quite ok for me and gave some new inspiration to improve my running.

Now spring has arrived and I am really getting motivated to work on returning my fitness to a high level again. I do however, need to keep in mind I don't have a huge base of fitness like I used to and my daily time for training is quite limited with a family and job. Adapting to this different training environment has not been easy but I am slowly learning what works and what doesn't.

Weekdays are mostly about maintaining fitness and not becoming overly tired from work and life in general. Then when it comes to weekends, then I really try to push hard. As my friend Tatu eloquently termed it yesterday, "hero training" is the core of my training strategy on weekends. This usually involves going to a local running race and punishing myself, then hoping on the bike and riding home, no matter how far that is. Last weekend the trip home from an 11km running event turned out to be 160km, hence the 'hero' title.

While my routine is far from perfect and I am enjoying being back on the bike and running a bit. My hope is that by summer time this routine is expanded a bit and refined so I can start to see improvements.

My basic goals for this year are: new PB in 1/2 marathon, good performance in Finnish 1/2 Ironman champs, and run 'A' level marathon in Frankfurt.

I will make an effort to post on this blog frequently and hopefully find something interesting to write about! btw... if you want to read real entertainment.. visit my friends blog www.iamtedking.com he has a special way with words that is hard to explain. Well worth reading regularly!