Inspired by Former Stars

During the rest days the other week I just randomly picked up a book from the bookshelf and ended up reading a Swedish version of every runner's ABC. I don't even remember how it exactly got into there but I'm happy I found it. There was great stuff about training and things around distance running but what amused me the most was the training diary of Anders Gärderud from the years 1972 and 1976. It was really interesting reading and I was impressed.

Anders has always been an active orienteer too (even during his top years as steeplechaser) and because of that I was fortune enough to get to know him personally during my time in Lidingö. When I lived in Sweden and ran for IFK Lidingö SOK Anders was actively involved in club's coaching. After that he coached even the Norwegian orienteering team for a while and I met him a couple of times at international events. For me he has always been a determined but gentle coach and mentor and an overall sympathetic person. I have always admired him and listened carefully his advices but I never knew how he actually trained himself when active.

He trained a lot, a lot more than you would expect from a steeplechaser. He could train over 200km a week even though his race performance was only about eight minutes or 3000m. That makes you wonder how much you should run if your race is 10K and above. A long distance for women in orienteering is around 75mins, so nearer to a half marathon in time. In other words nearly tenfold compared to those eight minutes. Well I'm not going to multiply my training tenfold but it was nevertheless interesting reading and an eye-opener. It would also be interesting to know how Lasse Viren and the Flying Finns trained at their times or how Paula Radcliffe or the Kenyans train today. Be that as it may, after reading that book I have barely felt myself as an athlete. But I'll try my best to be one, one day. At least the book gave me a great boost of motivation and inspiration! 

First Challenge

I just faced my first challenge of this training season. A small thing actually but a huge thing for me. A year ago when I got a small flu I started to train too soon and it took ages before I fully recovered from it.  For months I balanced between being sick and being somewhat lesser sick but without a day of being fully healthy. During that time I had at least five clear outbreaks with fever. In between I had slightly increased body temperature and resting heart rate and I felt abnormal most of the time. Finally I just couldn’t tell a difference between normal and abnormal as the tiredness and powerlessness became my everyday.

So when I woke up last Wednesday morning with a sore throat and a running nose, I panicked. "No, not again!" I thought. I had just felt superb nearly three months and I couldn't bare a thought of falling into that deep gap again. Luckily I had finally learned something and as contrary to my old me I didn't try my luck this time by doing some silly training on that day in belief that I'd be a super(wo)man and above all infections. Instead I stopped training immediately, took a day off and did absolutely nothing. And another day. And a third one just to make sure I felt okay again before I trained.

Last week was meant to be a top week with high amounts of training and I felt really frustrated when I thought about all the missed trainings and hours. A long run, a tempo run, intervals, and a hill session. All gone. Hill session that I've been waiting for months! Frustration, angriness, and disappointment. I didn't want to miss a thing. So, on Saturday morning (after three days of frustration) my impulsive me put on her training clothes, packed her bag and went out to the car ready to hit the hills (despite her somewhat lousy feeling). But then the more rational and thoughtful me backed up and forced the other me to take a second thought. A second thought that I didn't like at all then but a thought that probably saved me. I wouldn't have been ready for a hard training, not so soon after infection.

But to come up with the right decision I really had to think what I would advice other athletes to do in a similar situation. Deep inside I knew what to do but unfortunately I have a tendency to close my ears to that inner voice and act against it. I always tend to push my limits and ignore the signs of weakness. That's kind of natural thing for an ambitious athlete but makes it sometimes difficult to rest when you need to. You should go beyond your comfort zone to make progress but, at the same time, you should listen to your body. The signs are real. I'm so happy that I for once managed to do the right thing! If you need to get sick, it's much better to get well in a few days than end up counting weeks or months. And as a bonus, a minor injury in my foot also recovered during the rest.

By the way, I'm also in Twitter now: @RKuuselo

Who to vote?

Who to vote? That is the big question right now in Finland. 99% of Finns think about the upcoming presidential election but some sport fanatics are right now more concerned about who will be elected for the athlete of the year 2011. This is about to be announced tonight at the Finnish Sport Awards Gala. Last year our own Minna Kauppi won this title, which was a big step for the whole orienteering society. An orienteer stepping highest to the podium and people's minds in front of all other sportsmen. I think we all felt proud of Minna for putting our sport on the map a year ago. This time the trophy will probably go to some other sport, most likely to biathlete Kaisa Mäkäräinen, a world cup winner and a world champion, or a cross-country skier Matti Heikkinen, a world champion as well. Or it might also go to some team players as they did pretty well too. I guess my own vote would go to endurance sports. Knowing roughly what they have done to achieve their goals makes me to respect them.

Presidential election is hard too. It's not only about your performance on some special occasion or at a handful of events scattered through the competition season, it's about your daily performance and actions under continuous control by the public and the media and under high pressure. Of course the last weeks have been of highest value when evaluating their excellence as the candidates have been competing in their superiority over each other in polls, debates, and panel discussions. They've been inquired to show their maximum capacity, understanding and brightness but also their stamina. Their backgrounds have been thoroughly studied and they have been thrown to public with nasty little details of their lives and characters. It's brave to put yourself into that. So I kind of respect all the candidates for that matter. Wouldn't do it myself. While living outside of Finland I have missed all the hilarious discussions going on right now but on the other hand I've been happy to avoid all the unnecessary show around the whole thing. I've given my vote now and hope we'll get a decent president. The sooner, the better.

Last weeks' training has been good but I'm too exhausted to report about it. Training is at its highest right now and I'm enjoying it. Made my thus far best result at Midland's cross country league on Saturday and ran a great orienteering event in Shining Cliff on Sunday. Today I'm having a well-deserved rest day and going to follow the sports awards gala in one way or another.

Joy of Running

On the weekend my local running club Knowle & Dorridge running club arranged the Warwickshire Cross Country Championships in the Brueton Park nature reserve, a beautiful country park filled with small dog paths and a few islets of forest. The preceding week had been relatively rainy and the surface was fitted muddy and uneven for an orienteer. I cannot say I had my best day (I didn't) but I enjoyed the course and race as much as you can enjoy it when hit by tiredness and still forced to run fast. I tried to stick to the leading pack but after a while a lonely runner had made a clear gap to the rest of us (a world-class triathlonist as I heard afterwards). The first round went well but I could already feel the lactate filling my legs and I didn't recover from the steepest uphill (which wasn't really a steep one but felt steep enough) in the half way of the course. After that the joy of running disappeared and I was really struggling to keep my third place. On the last kilometers I gave up (according to my dear personal coach who was following the race it was really just my mental weakness) and let a few girls pass me. I felt a bit annoyed but wasn't strong enough to do anything. When I finally saw the finish line far up the hill I managed to take a small sprint and come closer the girls who had passed me a while ago but I still couldn't pass them. I finished 6th, 10 seconds from the bronze. 6th out of 89 participants wasn't that bad after all and to my big big surprise I was given a special piece of paper at the finish. I'm not even sure if I'm eligible to compete due to my nationality but I was nevertheless very proud to be given a letter where it stood that I am being considered to be selected to the Inter Counties Cross Country to represent Warwickshire. I have never ever been considered to represent anything in running so I was really honored by this. I really hope I will be able to participate this Inter Counties. Results.

New year, better year

Last year was rich in many ways even though it wasn't as bright and sunny as I had hoped. When looking back now I realize that it was nevertheless full of joy and happiness and I got to see and experience a wide spectrum of wonderful things. First of all we left our home in Finland and unpacked our stuff in England. Runs in the woods turned into runs in heaths, ice hockey into rugby, coffee into tea and right into left. I got my doctor's degree but became a housewife. This meant I got plenty of time to travel around and orienteer in foreign countries. I spent a lot of time here with wonderful company but enjoyed also lazy summer days here with my family. I got familiar with the British health & safety and learned to carry a whistle while I run. I found out that breakfast can be something else than porridge and milk but to my astonishment I also bumped into one familiar product in the breakfast board while far far away from home. I got to orienteer in terrains I've never been before and on maps I didn't knew existed. I fell in love with the Lake District and got astonished by the beauty of Northern Ireland and the English countryside. At the end of the year Sami's little brother got married and I almost made it to the Vogue.

Last year was great but I hope this year will be even better. To help out I've made some promises to myself that I try to keep. For example I've promised to rest enough (while simultaneously trying to train more and better). I've also promised to do some gymnastics on a daily basis to keep the body working and I will also try work on with my head to improve my performance level. Hopefully the future will turn out as this Chinese Coke bottle promises.