Too much too soon?

It's been a busy month and I've barely had time to absorb everything that has happened. After things started to roll, they've rolled really fast. I've just enjoyed the flow and at some point I lost the grip from reality while trying to reach for the sky. Ever since I started to run again (less than two months ago), everything has gone dancing forward so fast and smoothly that I believed to be a superwoman who would never get tired. But I wasn't. After some serious hammering I finally met with the wall. But let's back up a bit to the World Cup in Spain where I reached my personal best World Cup result.

So after good runs in the Danish Spring I got selected to run World Cup in Spain. When I got the call I had no idea where, when and in what kind of terrain it would be. Initially it wasn't in my calendar and I hadn't thought of running there because it was so close to the European Champs. But now that I wasn't in the EOC team, I had nothing to lose, and I was thrilled to get there. Then, just a few days before going there, Minna announced that she wouldn't run EOC because of her injuries and it opened up a new possibility to get into the team. Message was clear: do a good run and you might have a chance to get Minna's place in the team. Suddenly I was very motivated to run well.

The overlong long distance race on the hills of Murcia under the hot Spanish sun was one of the best and most challenging international long distance races that I've ever run. As hard as it felt while running, I really loved it. I could have taken a few more drink stations on the way and a few extra gels, but still, it was quite amazing race. I cannot describe the feeling when I opened the map and saw the first leg. After some consideration I rejected all winding route choices and went straight. I lost quite a bit of time by doing so, but managed to keep my head cool, hold my orienteering together and push hard until the end. As a prize I got my first ever top6 position at World Cup, and a reserve place to EOC as a bonus. Results

a masterpiece of a course

On the following day I was still too exhausted to race and I probably should have skipped the middle distance, especially if I wanted to recover in time for the European Champs. But once you're selected to run for your country, you're supposed to run.

After Spain I got back home for one day before traveling again to Portugal. And in the next morning I was already running the middle distance qualification race at EOC. My head wasn't really there and I felt a bit stressed but qualified safely anyway. In the long qualification I felt already better and did a good run except a leg where I got badly stuck in some brambles. But I saw from the splits that my speed was good and I felt fairly confident before the finals.

In the middle distance final I had a good run except two controls where I lost a bit over a minute all in all. Not bad but too much on such an easy course. I was 18th but only 30sec behind the 10th place, so it wasn't that bad. Just awfully many girls within that half a minute. "I can do better on the long" I thought. Results

I had a good feeling before the long distance final but once I had started to run I noticed quite early that the springy legs I had had before were gone and my running felt slow and ineffective. I tried to tell my legs to go faster but they wouldn't listen. I did technically a very good performance but physically I was really struggling. Because of the tired legs I used paths more than necessary and lost therefore even more on the long legs 6-7 and 11-12 because the straight route was always the fastest. I did my best on that day, but still, 19th place felt disappointing in the light of my previous long distance performances in Spain and Denmark. On the other hand, just making it to the team was an achievement for me so soon after the injury. Considering where I was two months ago, I guess I should be happy with my two top20 positions. Or as my aunt put it: you did pretty well in the disabled class. Results

It's easy to be smart afterwards but it was indeed a pretty tough combination to run both middle and long at EOC. None of the women who did this combination celebrated on the long distance. Signe Soes, who won the middle on the day before, was the best of us with her 6th place in the long final. Even fewer athletes ran first the World Cup events (long + middle) in Spain in the preceding week and then the same combo with qualification races at the Europeans. A few of the very best tried that, but even they failed. So it's no wonder that I failed. Take home message from the European Champs is clear: focus only on your main target and forget everything else. Don't be greedy!

One more thing. After all negative feedback, big thanks to the EOC organizers trying to solve everything the best way even if there was more hassle than usually. Especially pulling off two new long distance courses overnight and getting it all right was impressive. Finals were fair and the best athletes won.

All results, maps and tracking from EOC here

Season opening

Initially Danish Spring was supposed to be my season opening and I was quite excited about it. To be honest I took a bit of head start already in Portugal a few weeks earlier but it was still part of my recovery and I wasn't really racing there, well at least not before the last day... In contrast, Danish Spring was all about racing. I had told everyone so. I had even told our head coach in the Finnish team (when informing him about my pelvic fracture months ago) that if everything went well I would start my season in the Danish Spring and try to do well there. This of course meant that I suddenly had enormous pressure to perform!

I didn't have a clear execution plan before the middle distance but thought that it would be eyeballs-out-type mad racing. Everyone knew that it was going to be fast but no one seemed to care about the technical challenge. It turned out to be fast but at the same time quite technical with short legs, sharp turns and well-hidden controls. I was lacking confidence in my speed and felt that I needed to run a bit overspeed if I wanted to keep up with the other girls. This meant that I was a bit in a rush most of the time and wasted quite a lot of time and energy in unnecessities. But I am proud that I managed to hold it together even if I lost 15 seconds here and there. Some small errors, slight overshootings and hesitation but no major mistakes and as a whole a decent performance and a respectable 8th place. A result that gave me confidence for the long distance.  

Next morning I felt much more confidant before the start because I didn't need to worry about my speed anymore. I knew it was good enough and it would be all down to technical performance. Still, a few minutes before the start I was again very nervous and had butterflies in my stomach. But in a good way I guess. I didn't get the first control quite as beautifully as I wanted to but after that it started to roll. It was important to get the short legs in the beginning right and after that I accelerated and enjoyed the flow. I enjoyed all about it: the course, the terrain, and the feeling to push hard. At the end I was quite exhausted (the way you should be after a good race) and had some difficulties with the second last (contours getting more and more vague and amorphous in my eyes) but apart from that my run was near to perfect and I was very happy with it. My smile got even wider a while later when I realized that I had beaten everyone except Maja and Eva. Another hard-to-believe result after the injury!

Last but not least, I want to thank people around me (friends and rivals) for support and patting on the shoulder! I had some pretty hard winter months and it was great to see fellow competitors being genuinely happy for me for my comeback (I guess we've all been there and know how cruel life can be sometimes...). Sappy or not, I'm touched by the fact how supportive our competitive society is!

Interviews with the top3 women right after the race here

All results, maps and tracking here

Secret weapon of my preparation: searching toughness from the north!

P.S. There are many ways to the top. Those lazy athletes relaxing on a parking slot in my previous blog represent the very best athletes of their countries and you will find them all running European Champs. Go Lillomarka!

P.P.S. My good results were indeed noticed(!) and I got selected to run World Cup in Spain!! It's not EOC but it's still great!! :D 

Strålende Treningssamling

As soon as I got the result from the second scan I headed to Portugal. Sacrum had healed well and I got permission to start to run again, gently and cautiously with care. Doctor told me that I should still avoid contact sports and anything where I might hurt myself. I wasn't really sure whether orienteering counted as a contact sport or not but thought that it should be alright as far as I didn't fall or hit myself. Easier said than done.

I was offered to join training camps of Lillomarka OL, Halden SK, and Team Finland. Obviously I chose Lillomarka. First days we spent in EOC relevant terrains around Coruche before moving up to Viseu.

Lovely Lucy and sunny Sao Bartolomeu do Outeiro

I knew only a few from Lillomarka before the training camp but they were a wonderful bunch of fun and extremely friendly people and a fresh mixture of different nationalities. Most of them were Norwegians but spoke so good English that I got confused which of them were really Norwegians. I also tried my best in Norwegian language and they did their best to destroy my Finnish (by repeating a stupid Finnish word that sounds awful in English). Despite that, they were really awesome and I can't remember when I last had such a good time or laughed so much on a training camp. So thank you all!!

Lillomarka style sprint preparation

I must admit that I had my doubts when I travelled there with my inflatable round cushion and other special equipments for disabled and had my restrictions to drive or sit in a car. What would they think of me? Would they make fun of me? Luckily, they barely noticed my disability and I was treated like one of them. They even waited patiently for me after each training as I walked around courses, spending twice as much time as the others. Not a word of annoy. They just had this wonderful we-are-here-to-train attitude, which meant that everyone had right to train as much (or in my case long) as they wanted.

Lillomarka style strength training

Social nights with different games were a big hit but I'm not sure whether it is appropriate to write too much about them.. More details about the Lillomarka training camp with maps and pics by Ingvild Wang (in Norwegian) here and by Helen Palmer (in proper English) here.

After a week it was time for goodbyes and I was almost in tears when they left me. Nothing to do with the fact that I was dropped in the middle of nowhere with no good plan what to do next. I hugged a guy next to me so hard that I was afraid of breaking his bones. Sorry Helmut, I hope you're okay!

But no worries, my dear club mates Lotta and Tytti were already on their way to rescue me from the threatening outskirts of Coimbra. I had barely finished my espresso when they already wheeled their sporty Nissan in front of the cafe where I was sitting. Next four days I spent in Figueira da Foz together with my very best club mates Lotta, Tytti, Sonja and Suvi.

Their enthusiasm was infectious and I forgot my homesickness and tiredness immediately. On Wednesday they announced that they've entered us all to a relay competition. I hadn't thought of racing before Danish Spring but suddenly there I was, standing in the line with other first leg runners. It was quite extreme relay opening where I lost quite amount of time in crossing some lakes but still it was a victorious season opening for us.

Invincible

On Friday we made an attempt to get 5 persons, 5 big bags, 5 smaller bags and 5 bags of food into a small 4-person car and drove to Mangualde to take part to Portugal O Meeting. It became quite clear that we couldn't possibly do another trip like that, so we decided to send Suvi home earlier so that we would have more space on the way back to the airport. Suvi had some exams coming up and was happy to do so.

I had somewhat mixed feelings before Portugal O Meeting because it was supposed to be Finland's selection races for EOC but I knew that I shouldn't compete. Weeks before I had already made myself clear that I couldn't possibly try to qualify for the team. It was far too early for me to race and I should still take it very cautiously. But still, it felt weird to be there and not to race. First day I started very carefully, avoiding falling on the rocks, but increased the pace towards the end as the course turned more runnable. I was surprised by the result and felt more and more tempted to race. Fortunately the terrain in the second day made it very clear that I shouldn't. It was perhaps the most dangerous and most challenging course that I've ever run. I loved the technical challenge but it felt more like an obstacle race than orienteering. Third day was slightly easier but still filled with stones and reduced visibility.

My favourite terrain - but not for disabled

Forth and last day was a long distance race in a chasing start form. I didn't think that I could run a full long distance race after only a week of running but decided to start and then quit whenever I wanted. I ran more offensively than in the previous days and enjoyed the fact that it was more runnable. Initially I had planned to stop before the last loop but because I was still feeling fairly good by the time I got to the spectator control I decided to continue. In the butterflies I made a mistake on one control but apart from that it was a very good run. Still, I was more than surprised to catch so many girls in front of me. On the third last control I got along in the bronze fight but lost it in a downhill race to the second last control. My legs were filled with lactate and I was afraid of taking any risks. In the last climb I had no power in my legs to close the gap. I was just extremely happy with my run and I didn't care about the sprint. I finished 8th in the chase with a big smile on my face. In the day's results I was 3rd after Simone and Annika. I couldn't have wished for a better comeback!

Portugal O Meeting results, maps, tracking and photos here

More about second part of the training camp in Suvi's blog

And one more thing. Suvi and I both lost our trousers while we were running the POM. Suvi lost her dark blue Noname running pants and mine were black wind- and waterproof Haglöfs trekking pants. Both were very muddy. Please return them if you find them!

Idiot abroad

Time flies. During the past weeks it has actually stood still but the three years I've spent here in UK have gone fast and I'd like to sum it up before moving out. It's been wonderful time but also an eye-opener. I still remember those weird wondering looks from British orienteers when I told them I was going to move near to Birmingham and give a try to orienteering. Thanks for not saying it aloud but now I do understand what you meant. At times it has really been like tilting at windmills but I've had a good time too. I guess there are better places for orienteers but as a life experience it's been great.

It's funny how many regular everyday things can look very different from a foreigner's perspective.

Let me start with the left-hand traffic. You would think that it would be easier to do it like the rest of us do. But nope, Brits want to do it their way. There are a few other countries in the world with left-hand traffic, most of them however Commonwealth countries and thus under the British influence. Luckily, some of the streets have helpful directions painted on the pavement, helping pedestrians (that is stupid tourists) to cross a street. Adapting to left-hand traffic as a pedestrian took me much longer time than as a driver.

This opposite way of doing things is not restricted only to driving. Doors open to wrong direction, escalators go to wrong direction, and everything that rotates, rotates to wrong direction. Soon I learned to do things backwards, anti-clockwise and towards the natural way. That usually worked out the right way.

Talking about traffic, let's move on to traffic cameras. They work very differently in different countries. The camera itself is pretty much the same and the ultimate purpose is to reduce speed and accidents on the road. In Finland these cameras are most often skilfully hidden right after the speed limit change so that even the slowest drivers get caught if they don't panic brake right after the speed limit change. So it works more like a toll charge than a speed controller. In contrast, here people are warned about the cameras with camera warning signs just before so no one gets caught or you have to be blind to get caught. First I laughed about it but then I realized that it actually works much better. People really slow down where it's necessary (knowing that it costs £60 if they don't). What I still don't get are the "This one not in use" signs in the cameras that are not in use. That kind of kills the whole purpose of it.

Brits are old-fashioned and polite. My grandmother would appreciate that. I thought that those over-polite phrases from my English schoolbooks were dated and not in use in real life. But believe it or not they are. You face that pointless politeness every day - and you are expected to respond accordingly. When you go shopping in Finland you don't need to say more than a 'hello' (or be silent) and then just pay for the things you want to have. Maybe a 'thank you' and 'good bye' if you're really in the mood but that's it. Whereas here you should be prepared to have a proper conversation when buying something - what a nightmare! They will make you uncomfortable with questions like "Hello darling, how can I help you?" (hello what?! We just met and I don't think you can call me your darling!) or when paying for your purchase "Did you find what you were looking for today?" (What kind of question is that? I wouldn't be paying for something if I hadn't found it, would I?). Or when you go to gym, you can't just quietly sneak in but you need to tell them how you are feeling that particular morning. Mostly I just try to escape these awkward situations as fast as I can. They must consider me awfully rude and impolite. It's been a lot easier since I found this brilliant translation table

Unfortunately it's not just manners that is old fashioned. Cold and hot water still come from separate taps in most places, checks (a piece of paper which you put into an envelope, send to someone and that someone can turn it into money when he/she goes to a bank) are still very much in use, internet hasn't yet replaced phones (services available only by phone, not in internet), and people still use landlines (a form of phone that was used before mobile phones).

British health and safety is everything. You are not allowed to do anything without reading instructions and signing a healthy form. And not just signing, you also need to fill in your doctor's details. First thing you should do is to get familiarized with abbreviations such as NHS and GP (don't confuse with Grand Prix, has absolutely nothing to do with that). When filling first of these forms and not knowing what a GP was, I just filled in Sami's details (knowing that he's a big fan of Formula 1 and could probably answer to all GP related questions). Only later I found out that it meant a doctor. It took another year to understand the initials.

Age limits are fun too. At the age of 16 you are allowed to have sex but not to drink, go to sauna or cross a road. Health and safety.  

I tried to go to gym together with a 16-year-old athlete who I coach but was not allowed to do that. And why is that? Because I wasn't CRB checked. I had no idea what it meant so I googled it. CRB stands for Criminal Record Bureau. Really? Personally I think it's a much bigger health risk to send a 16-year-old girl alone to gym to play with heavy weights when she has no previous experience.

Another similar incident came across when I tried to join a local triathlon club. When I first contacted them and asked about their trainings I got really friendly response and was welcomed to join in their training sessions whenever I wanted. So I went to their swim training but because there was some juniors in the pool at the time it automatically meant that I couldn't join in. In other words I was welcomed to train with them as long as there weren't any juniors around. I must look really suspicious and dangerous.

Brits are wonderful sports fans and I love their enthusiasm. In summer 2012, when the Olympic torch came into town before London Olympics, people went crazy and crowded the roads early on Sunday morning just to be part of it. And it was just a torch. There are no words to describe the Games itself. Just incredible that we got to experience it while here.

What about orienteering then? Again, it's different. A typical Wednesday training here looks like this whereas a weekly training in Tampere looks like this. Also, here you need to carry a whistle while you orienteer. No whistle, no go. Health and safety. Another precaution includes cagoules on bad weather. Elite classes included. This rule was particularly hard to take seriously at the beginning.

My first visit to a masseur (who by the way was a woman) here went like this: we do the talk (personal details, injury history, what kind of treatment I need etc), agree to do the legs and I take my jeans off. She looks terrified and runs out of the room. I'm somewhat confused but then I hear her friendly voice from behind the door. She advises me to take off my jeans and to let her know when I'm ready. I wait for a while before calling her back. And the next thing she's massaging my glutes!

Visit to a physio went better because she reminded me in advance to wear a pair of shorts. It was difficult to get shorts to fit in under my jeans but I guess it was still better to look like a barbababa in a local bus than to show up in my panties in front of a physio. I have always considered myself quite conservative when it comes to mini-shorts etc but Britain has made me feel like an exhibitionist.

To continue with the theme, changing clothes can be a challenge too. In a gym you cannot change your clothes in the dressing room if there's another person of same sex. There is a separate space behind curtains within the changing room for that purpose. I had been going there for months before I realized what it was, so I continued not to use it.

But don't get me wrong, I love Britain with its particulars. Old-fashioned is cute, traditions are important, and good manners are underrated. I've really become a big fan of tea (and the whole concept around it), Her Majesty (and the whole concept around it), and Michael McIntyre (sure he's worth mentioning in the same sentence with tea and Her Majesty). I didn't stay long enough to understand rugby or cricket but I got to see a Premier League match in football - live. I'm sure I will miss the countryside, green pastures, canal paths and sheep. And people. You are the best!

A few more things worth mentioning:
-to rent apartment you need a UK bank account - and for a bank account you need a gas bill

-no bus stops (busses just stop in the middle of the street blocking all traffic)

-bike lanes that start and end in nowhere (haven't yet figured out what to do in those situations)

-it's normal to park on the wrong side of the road (facing the traffic)

-also it's ok to stop and park in a roundabout (not kidding, they really do that)

-schools closed when it's snowing (widely accepted that it's not possible for anyone to get anywhere)
-careful when wearing white O-pants, Britain is not yet ready for them!

-tea: always appropriate and a solution to everything

-toast to queen: a must-have in every party

Sporty highlights:

-JK2011 in Northern Ireland: my first JK, brilliant atmosphere, great terrains & courses, absolutely fantastic! (see the maps here) 

-Croeso & Scottish 6 Days: you should try!

-Maize Maze: what a puzzle! (see the map here)

-Fell running: indescribable! (read more about my adventures here)

-Inter Counties: yes, definitively worth mentioning! (read my story here)

-Public footpaths: oh I will miss them!

-Park runs: just a brilliant concept!

-Road cycling: thanks to UK and Wiggo (and Sami's meniscus) I found cycling!

-Triathlon: I doubt I would ever tested this elsewhere

Special thanks to

-Knowle and Dorridge RC: for great team spirit, support & company! (will never forget those painful track sessions...)

-Octavian Droobers: for being my home club here and introducing local O-world to me!

You should take an ambulance!

Just when I thought it can’t get any worse it did. I wrote earlier about a coccyx injury but it turned out to be a broken pelvis. A transverse fracture in the sacrum. S3 bone broken into two pieces with a slight displacement of the lower half. Coccyx got a hit too and at the beginning I was having so much pain that I couldn't really distinguish from which bone the worst pain originated. Therefore I wanted to have it scanned. To find out how bad it was and to minimize any further damage. Right from the beginning I felt that something was really wrong and that it was more than just a bruise. That's why I went to see a doctor right away to have it x-rayed. But the doctor I went to at Levi refused to do it. He just told me that they don't x-ray tailbones. As simple as that. All I got was a prescription for painkillers and an empty wallet (105€ for nothing).

A week later situation wasn't any better. I felt that the pain hadn't decreased at all and got quite concerned. At that stage I could palpate the tailbone end myself and understood that the worst pain was higher up in the pelvis. So I went to St Cross hospital to see if they could x-ray it. Nurse who took me in understood my concern but sent me forward to Coventry hospital to get it x-rayed because they could only scan limbs. So I called Coventry and explained my case. I told them that I suspected a pelvic fracture and the person in the other end told me that I should have an ambulance to get there. I agreed that sitting in a car was a nightmare but convinced her that I could take myself there without an ambulance. Big mistake. Had a taken an ambulance I would most probably gotten my pelvis x-rayed right away but I didn't want to inflate my case, so I asked Sami to drive me there instead. I went in as a pelvic fracture patient but got out with a coccyx fracture - diagnosed again without an x-ray or sufficient palpation (a young male doctor who was clearly too scared to touch me). Just more painkillers. I was really disappointed and made a bit of a scene as they refused to scan me (I actually started to cry but it didn't help).

Two weeks later I was still worried and went to see a GP at our local surgery. But there are no scanners at local surgeries. Once again I got prescription for some more painkillers and started to feel more and more like a drug addict.

Four weeks after the incident the pain had finally started to diminish and I could manage the normal life again, except sitting and lying. But I was really tired of it and wanted to get back to training. I had already lost four most precious weeks of my winter training and I didn't want to lose any more. I thought I could gradually start running again but just to play it safe I went to see my physio Sarah to get some advice how to start with. After several healthcare units and doctors she was the first person to really examine my spine. Soon she discovered the small bone displacement and sent me to an x-ray, which just confirmed what she had suspected. I was more than upset by the new piece of news (that I really had a broken sacrum with no signs of healing) but at the same time extremely grateful that Sarah had found it. Without her I would have started running and probably delayed its recovery even further. After the x-ray I was instantly told by all doctors and experts not to run for another 4 weeks.

Ironic that I had been free to do whatever I wanted the first 4 weeks with my broken pelvis but now that the worst pain was gone and I was feeling a whole lot better I was told to rest for the next 4 weeks. Then we'll see how much damage I've done during the first 4 weeks...

Status at day 40: Yey I'm able to swim! (at least a few hundreds..)

Restructuring

I've been struggling with this tailbone injury for over 3 weeks now and starting to lose my nerves! I guess it's already a little better but it's been a real pain in the ass, literally, and I'm quite tired of it. I'm tired of not being able to sit or lie down, tired of not being able to run and tired of trying to come up with new forms of cross training that I could do without pain. Everything involves your butt and there's not much you can do without one. I've been injured before but it's seldom you face an injury that prevents you even from swimming or aqua jogging. Those are the forms of training that you can most often do, even with a stress fracture. But when you hurt your pelvis (coccyx and sacrum included) then the options are rare. It feels really pathetic if you can't even swim!

So my first solution was to get a pull buoy. A what? Don't worry if you don't know. You've just been lucky and you haven't trained swimming. A pull buoy is not really a buoy but a floating foam thing that you hold between your thighs and it helps you to swim while using only your upper body. Swimmers use it to practice their arms whereas non-swimmers using one are most often injured athletes from other sports. Usually a pathetic sight. Well I've surely had some "fun" trying to learn to swim with that. My legs have always out-powered my arms, which means that when I swim or cross country ski my arms just come along and give a rhythm whereas the power comes from my legs. It works fine as long as your legs work but when the legwork stops then the movement seems to disappear. So my first training session wasn't more than five minutes (and I was all shaky after I had given my everything) but I've been able to train it up to whole 20 minutes now. What an achievement!

I have gradually added some other forms of training too, even some gentle running on grass, but nothing is yet painless. First I just wanted to get rid of the pain and didn't worry about all the undone training but after 3 weeks I couldn't help but take a look on my training plan and start to count the weeks. EOC was (and still is) my big goal for the early season and I was happy to notice that I've still got plenty of time to prepare for that if I just can start running in February. But the problem comes in delivering results over a month earlier. POM is announced to be Finland's selection race for EOC (middle, long, relay) but it is right in the beginning of March and I will really need February and March for some hard training. I'm not throwing in the towel yet but I've set myself another big target for April just to build up the base and to get the needed miles done (for the rest of the season). If everything goes well I'm probably still going to run POM but it will hopefully be in the middle of hard preparation phase. Whether I'll rock there or not I've got my big goal for April and I'll be working my ass off to get my ass work again.

"A strong butt is a key to a happy life" 

Another kind of Christmas

Happy New Year to everyone! My 2013 ended with fracture in the coccyx. A small hit onto a stone while sledging that has turned into a real nightmare and disturbed my winter training for weeks (hopefully not for months). So, a new year could have started happier but at least I know that there's only one way up and that each day will be better.

Usually we have had a habit of heading south to warmth and sun during the holidays but this year we headed north in order to enjoy a true white Christmas with close relatives in Lapland. We were amazed by all the snow and beauty when we got to Kittilä airport and I couldn't take my eyes off the snow-covered trees while we drove to Levi. We had hired an absolutely lovely cottage just by the ski tracks with Sami's brothers and their families and I was looking forward to all cross-country skiing I was going to do there. Everything was so idyllic and perfect that we could only expect to have a fantastic week ahead.

I was so thrilled about it all that I was among the firsts to run out and sledge like a kid but it didn't take many slides before my white dream came to a sudden end when I landed onto a stone. Spot on onto a stone with my coccyx ahead. That was it. I could still enjoy the atmosphere, lovely company, delicious food and beautiful scenery but it was all dimmed a bit by the constant pain I was having. I got some pretty strong painkillers that helped me through the worst and I think I would have got back home with mostly good memories if the travel itself hadn't been so horrible. After seven days from the injury I still couldn't sit without pain and having to sit through two flights and a drive from London was just too much.

I've had a few flashbacks from 2001 when I got several fractures in my pelvis and spine in a car accident and had constant pain for months. This is nothing like that but there are still some similarities. The affected area is anatomically quite close to what it was then and if I accidentally move my hip or back a bit too much or too fast the pain is about the same what it was back then. I can't understand how I ever got through it but having that horrible memory helps me now. This should be a piece of cake compared to what I went through then.

It's funny how relative everything is. Pain too. When running the last 15k of Florence marathon less than two months ago with cramping legs, big blisters and black nails, I thought I was in pain. But now I know better. I wasn't in pain. Maybe I was not having my best day as a runner but I was still having a time of my life, doing something I love. Blisters made me cry, cramping legs protested and tried to make me stop and all signals from my body said I should quit but I didn't. In the finish I was disappointed not to break the time I had set but I was still quite happy and proud that I had forced myself through the pain and finished the race. Sadly it took me over a month to realize this. The pain you have when you suffer in a race is the best pain I know. That's the pain I love, the pain I miss, and the pain I want to experience again!