X-Country Skiing

Top front row in a doubledecker bus to Kotka.

Cross-country skiing is one of the best cross-training methods in winter. However the weather in Helsinki wasn't great for that so we traveled east to Kotka. There we found everything just right: plenty of snow and sunshine, below-zero temperatures, and good tracks in gentle landscapes.

Fantastic sunrise from our balcony.

Fabulous skiing in Kotka.

Perfect skiing weather!

Following some animal tracks just before sunset.

Magnificent dawn.

Cross-training at its best.

Skiing in the shadow of big trees.

Clear blue sky.

Bonus video shot with GoPro Hero4 at 2.7K (please adjust settings for best quality).

Epic Day at the Office

Lots of snow and ice in the forest.

It was an epic day at the office today. 2400 meters swim, 26.1 km trail run and 111.2 km bike on indoor trainer in 13 hours 44 mins total time for everything.  Check out these cool pics from the run!

Pirunkallio (Devil's Rock) ice climbing venue. The ice seemed too soft for climbing though.

The trail up Pirunkallio.

Climbing up Pirunkallio.

Above the trees at Pirunkallio.

The view to the river from the top.

I hate sitting down, but couldn't resist trying since I found this office chair.

Bouldering up Pihlajamäki.

Stairway to the top.

Snow was easy to run with Hokas, but ice slowed me down a lot.

Urban jungle: can you see the bridge in the background?

Standing on the edge - looking down to the river about 7m below.  

Big pines.

Lunch break (had some food in my backpack).

Save the woods: the city plans to build houses in the forests marked red.

Top of Taivaskallio: the key WW2 air defense location.

Nice trails and views high up.

All this snow won't melt away in a week or two.

Bouldering crags around Taivaskallio waiting for summer. 

Ready to run TransGranCanaria

Today has been a great day. First my Medical Certificate for TransGranCanaria was validated, meaning I'm 'Ready to run' 125km with 8,500 meters elevation gain in 30 hours on March 6-8.

Secondly I did my personal winter triathlon test today. This 'Half-GRT' consisted of 1200m swim in a 25m pool, 55.6km cycling with Cervelo P3 bike on Taxc Bushido trainer, and a 13km run on the nearby 3km icy forest trail loop. The purpose of this personal test is that it allows me to observe the changes in my overall fitness over time.

Long story short, I set a new incredible PR today with 3h52min. This is a whopping 40-min improvement to my previous PR set in January - which had already been one hour and a quarter faster than my 5:47 PR posted in December 2014. For comparison my best time last winter was 6:51. I charted this unbelievable progress below.

So it seems I really am "Ready to run" as they state on the TransGranCanaria website!

Hoka Stinson ATR: Look At That Blubber Fly!

It's Hoka Xmas again: unboxing my new Stinson ATRs. ATR refers to All-Terrain Running (the one with a road outsole is Stinson Lite). This Stinson Trail update features the same full length  HIP-CMEVA midsole with a 'Late-Stage Meta-Rocker Geometry' and seamless SpeedFrame upper. With 26mm forefoot and 32mm heel the offset is 6mm, which hits the sweet spot for my ultra trails.

Hoka Xmas: unboxing new Stinson ATRs fresh from France (Made in China).

Just makes sure to exchange the pre-installed thinner insole for the thicker one. The thin one doesn't work for me at all - just looking at it gives me blisters. And as always, replace the in my experience unreliable Race Laces with the trusty normal laces (included in the box for free) - especially if you are going to do any steep mountain races.

With their million dollar marketing budget, Hoka came up with this: 'Keep Running'! But it actually works ;)

This is my fourth pair of Stinsons since 2012. All Hokas are durable, but I just threw away my old Mafates, Bondis and Rapa Nuis. However I'll never dump my beloved Stinsons. They are like family to me. These are probably the best shoes I've ever run in. The insole encourages to Keep Running,  and that's exactly what these shoes are doing to me. As soon as I finish running, I'm already looking forward to going out for another run.

With 359 grams, not the lightest shoe out there, but not the heaviest either.

Stinsons are pure trail running gold. Weighing a hefty 359 grams per shoe (size US10.5/UK10), their cost/gram is almost as high too. But as Homer Simpson so eloquently put it: "Woooo hoooo, look at that blubber fly!"

 

I'm obviously a huge Hoka-head, but I have nothing to do with the company. I've purchased everything reviewed with my own euros at retail prices. I used to run in minimal shoes, but after a PF-injury I tried 'crazy' Hokas and got cured - and hooked. Crazy does, as their new slogan says!

 

Swiss Irontrail - Beyond the limit

This week I lost in the UTMB 2015 lottery. That opened up a huge gap in my August race schedule. So I decided to enter Swiss Irontrail T201 on August 13-15. Their slogan isn't Beyond the limit for nothing. It's a 201 km (my longest ultra trail) Davos-Davos counterclockwise loop with +11,440m elevation gain. They give you 64 hours to run around it: from Thursday morning to Saturday night.

I know Davos and the whole Graubünden area quite well. I've participated five times in SwissAlpine by the same experienced organizer, Tuffli Events. I've also ran on my own extensively around Davos, St. Moritz, Lenzerheide and Arosa, so I know how gorgeous and challenging this course is.

I'm not going to lie: Switzerland is my favorite Alpine country and Graubünden (aka Grisons) is my favorite canton. I simply love running there so much I can't get enough. But I probably will soon! :)

Meanwhile the Swiss National Bank let go its cap on the value of the Swiss franc against the euro. This caused the Swiss franc to soar beyond the previous limit of 1.20 to the euro. As the euro keeps on struggling down the slippery slopes, this might well become my most expensive ultra trail ever. But hey we live only once, so let's take it beyond the limit in 2015! ;)