Riina Kuuselo

Portugal O-Meeting

2012-02-24T20:00:00.000Z

Many orienteers have been updating their blogs writing about Portugal O-meeting (POM) but it was such a great event that it really deserves some attention and I want to give my share to it as well. I spent roughly a week in Portugal and it was my first training camp of the year. Emphasis was more on technical part and quality trainings rather than training hours or miles. It was a fabulous training week with altogether 258 controls, 76km of orienteering and 33km of racing. My goal was to do some technical training and to find smoothness and fluency in orienteering. It worked well and I found confidence in my orienteering despite some small mistakes. None of my races were near to perfect but they were good enough so that I got overall good and confident feeling. Just what I wanted.

It was fantastic that there were so many international top orienteers taking part to POM so that I got a chance to see where I approximately lie at this stage. Although I was some minutes behind the winner at each event I was nevertheless happily surprised of my own consistency and my good overall result (5th). It was awesome to be able to compete against some world-class Swiss, Swedish, and Czech runners on the last day's chasing start. I was really happy about this great opportunity and I really look forward to get another chance to compete against those girls later on this season..

Overall the training camp with a mixture of British elite and lifestyle orienteers worked very well and it was great to make some new friends and learn to know better those I only knew by name before. My faithful travel mates Helen and Charlotte were just fantastic and I got them along to some crazy traditional Finnish things such as ice bathing. Rachel and Alex were brilliant company during our pre-POM-training camp and Mark & Co took really good care of us during the race days. It couldn't have been better.

We also had a good set up what comes to trainings. First we did some sharpening of our technical skills on rocky mountains before the race days and then some nice and easy chill out on sand dunes after the races. It worked well because we were excited and loaded with energy for hills and rocks when we came whereas after the races we were more or less tired and it was nice to get to terrains were you could run quite fast without major effort.

Necessities of the week: map book over Portugal, which we bought at a petrol station (it worked fine with some fancy iPhone app too but we really liked our old school version and wouldn't have survived without it)

Highlights of the week: villa in Ribeiradio, lobster lunch in Falca with a nice sea view, POM day 4 (all about it), ice bath in the pool

Scary moments: Helen's driving ;) and being stuck in the bushes unable to move to any direction

Things that impressed me:

-Kristin Lövgren's run on the 2nd day

-Rahel's sprint on the last day

-Charlotte's admirable passion for stretching

-Oli's choise of book

Pros and cons of Portugal:

+ Continuous sunshine

+ Posh restaurants with delicious food for crazy cheap price

+ RFM (local radio)

- Cold houses (even colder than in the UK!). Can't really come up with anything else negative..

Results

Maps

Race Report from Cheltenham

2012-02-13T16:45:00.000Z

Beautiful frosty morning, sunshine, and a clear blue sky. In other words a perfect day to go out for a run or just an average day for a cross-country league (it's been awesome weather every single time I've taken part). After some difficulties finding the event centre last time, I was this time fully prepared with a proper location map and event details (of course the fact that they were this time provided in advance by organizers made it a lot easier). It was the first time the organizers provided even a decent map of the course, helping the mental preparation. In addition I had checked the contours from the Ordnance Survey Map in the internet and sketched them to my printout to visualize the course and its profile in greater detail.

We got there in time to go through the regular routines but then a careful selection of a proper place to leave the bags during the race was laborious (informational notice to all orienteers reading this: British runners don't just dump their stuff carelessly wherever they happen to enter a field or a so called event centre). I pointed out the nearest possible location to start and finish (based on my map) and we went to warm up. We barely had enough time to jog around the whole 3k course, as we needed to stop by a stream and figure out tactics how to cross it. Basically there were three options: 1) go slightly on side and hop from stone to stone, 2) jump over it, or 3) run across it. First alternative was the pleasant one and the one we selected during the warm-up. Your feet stayed dry and you didn't get hurt but you would obviously lose some time. The second option contained some risks (falling over, getting hurt, spraining an ankle etc) but could be advantageous if you succeeded. A few men were testing that option with a 20% failing rate. Hmm... The third option would be safe and fast but quite repulsive. The water below the stream was frozen and the temperature was -1C, so you would probably lose sense in your feet after crossing the stream. And how would it be to run after that? Would it be good because you wouldn't feel the pain or would it be even more painful as you would need to work harder against the cold at the same time?

While we hurried back to change the shoes and leave the jumpers I noticed that they hadn't placed the start on the place marked on the map but in the farmost end of the field. Who would know that a pedant orienteer would turn out and be bothered about such a trifle? But it messed our timetable a little and we nearly missed the start. We just entered the start line still gasping when the signal came and off we went. You hang along those first hundred meters automatically without thinking and that was just enough time to clear your head and focus on your running.

Previously in Baggeridge I learned a new and perhaps more effective tactics to run a race. You don't need to rush off from the start as fast as you can just to reach the wall after 2k and then suffer the rest of the race while lactate fills your veins and makes your running harder and harder the longer you go. This way you will certainly get a first class seat to watch your co-competitors to pass you from both sides at the end of the race - if not earlier. The opposite tactics brought me much better result last time, so I decided to try it again. (By the way it also feels a lot nicer if you can enjoy the running on the first half and take the pain only on the second half).

So that was what I did. I just tried to run as relaxed as possible the first round concentrating mainly on the upcoming stream and a smart way to cross it. On the way there I summed roughly the runners in front of me and it didn't look too good. I ended up somewhere between 35-40, only 20-25 more than last time. "Ok I will just jump over a few of them by the stream and then I will sort out how to pass the rest of them on the second round when picking up the pace". Then suddenly there it was: the feared stream. I see other girls running through it while I try to hit towards a small overhang to make a jump but I'm uncertain about my marks. I'm counting my steps... "Will I make it to the edge with my right foot near enough to make a jump?" Not sure but there is no room for hesitation. Either you jump or you don't. I reach the edge, close my eyes and hope I can fly... I hear people cheering and realize that I made it. I even passed a few girls there. A short moment of joy and satisfaction but the race goes on. A tiny little hill and I realize that the jump I made wasn't free. I had just spent my spare engine on that and I can already feel the lactate in my legs. There's also a strange feeling in the foot I landed on. I didn't hurt it, did I?

We are reaching the half way and start the second lap. I hear a lot of cheering while passing the finish but something is missing. It's the voices of Colin, Jon and the rest of the guys (who were racing elsewhere at the same time). So I just have to take all the cheering I hear as it was meant for me. "It's time to start running" I tell myself as I pass the finish. I catch a few runners but I can see that the gaps in front of me are growing. Of course, everyone is running faster now. Great. My brilliant plan seems doomed, so I settle for keeping my pace and place for a while. On a downhill part I hear someone approaching me. It gives me a boost I needed and I decide to catch a bunch of runners some 50m in front of me. I attack on a climb and catch the last of them. Then down to the river again and I pass a few while they are slowing down. I feel confident and I know I can make another jump without emptying my legs totally. Some applause again after my jump (and my not so smooth landing). I notice that my co-competitors are more tired than I am and I manage to pick up positions one by one. It is great to have some energy left at the end and to be able to sprint into the finish confident that no one would pass me. I'm really happy with my finish but at the same time I feel that I could have given more on the first lap. It's never perfect, is it? Well, at least I am proud of putting myself through the pain and a series of events this winter. I feel that I've learned more about running during the past months than ever before in my career. The first experience was shocking but now I am honestly starting to enjoy it.

Creativity

2012-02-06T09:00:00.002Z

Wouldn't it be great to have perfect training conditions every day all year around? To have endless beautiful and hilly woods and a wide selection of detailed maps around you, bright weather and 20 degrees, fancy recovery facilities, and a masseur on hand 24h 7 days a week. Sounds great but the reality is seldom like that. In reality you don't have access to those endless terrains, and if you happen to find some nice woods somewhere, you don't have a map or permission to go there. Then the weather, I'm not going to go into that. All I can say is that it's never as you plan. You may even try to optimize the odds by travelling somewhere far to find better conditions and then face a snowstorm somewhere it hasn't snowed for decades or encounter only burned forests in a place that was supposed be like a paradise. Then you will need some creativity to make up new plans.

Back in Finland I used to have near to perfect conditions with good access to several maps and terrains from April to October but then there was a five months' period with less perfect weather conditions. On the other hand, in England the weather conditions are most often pretty good (well at least relatively good) whereas the possibilities for technical training are somewhat less brilliant. I have followed the shocking weather reports from Finland the past weeks and I've been grateful for the conditions we've had here. I've missed a little cross-country skiing but on the other hand I've been happy to run in a snowless terrain. That's the way I thought it was. Finland has its four seasons, with pros and cons, England has only one.

However, you can never be sure. On Saturday we namely faced our first snowstorm here. It felt surreal. It can't be snowing! Oh yes it can. It snowed and it snowed, some 15cm (or should I say 6 inches) all in once and forced us to cancel all our plans for the weekend, as we couldn't get anywhere. We were stuck at home and watched spellbound the snowfall. I had planned to run an orienteering race on Sunday but had to come up with a new plan. On Saturday evening (after realizing that our plans of getting somewhere were totally disturbed) we just ran out delighted and played in the snow like children. I don't usually go that crazy about snow in Finland but here the situation is totally different as it is something extraordinary. When the world goes crazy what can you do? To make the best out of it. We surely did that. On Sunday I continued the madness by running xc in the deep wet snow as fast as I could trying to find the biggest snow banks and combined this with a mental map training. No I haven't gone mad, I was just having a great time out there!

Inspired by Former Stars

2012-01-30T12:30:00.000Z

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

2012-01-23T13:31:00.000Z

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?

2012-01-16T15:47:00.002Z

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

2012-01-09T09:00:00.003Z

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

2012-01-04T09:00:00.002Z

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.

Christmas Relays

2011-12-28T18:56:00.000Z

OD had its annual Christmas relays this year in Rough Close. It was a four-leg relay with handicapping system, which meant that juniors and elderly started first whereas men in the age category 21-34 got the highest handicap (extra minutes) and got to start last. Our family team (Sami and me) got 30 extra minutes (2xW21+2xM35 as we planned to run two legs each) and started half an hour after the first start.

There were a couple of junior teams who got to start and finish far before the other teams but the system was nevertheless brilliant and equalised the teams in a fair way so that different age and sex categories got to race against each others in a fair way. The legs were of different degrees of length and difficulty (yellow, orange, light green and green) so that everyone could run.

Sami was supposed to run the first and the third leg but unfortunately he couldn't run more than one with his injured hamstring. That meant that I got to run the remaining legs nonstop without a rest. As usual I started aggressively and ran nearly full speed my first leg (orange) after which I had to drop my speed a little in order to survive the last two legs (light green and green) that were much longer. However there were some junior and senior men whom I tried to keep up with and had to keep on pushing (especially after a fateful mistake on the 14th on the last loop). The juniors were faster but the seniors I managed to keep behind. A total of 9.4km orienteering and a really fun race format!

Xploring Mexico

2011-12-19T08:00:00.003Z

We just spent awesome two weeks in Yucatan Peninsula and Riviera Maya by the Caribbean Sea in Mexico. Characteristic to Yucatan Peninsula is its unique geological formation comprising of numerous cenotes (sinkholes filled with water) and underground caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites through which you can walk, swim or paddle. This magical underground world was fabulous and it felt like being in a fairy-tale world as we paddled and swam through these beautiful endless caverns filled with clear fresh water.

Yucatan is also known for its Mayan culture and ancient archeological sites such as Chichen Itza and of course for its underwater life. Great Maya Barrier Reef, the second largest coral reef in the world, stretches 200 miles along the eastern coast of Yucatan peninsula and provides an excellent site for snorkeling and scuba diving. After hours of snorkeling and watching diving exercises in the pool, we couldn't resist testing diving ourselves. I had never tried scuba diving before but after a short demo in the pool I felt ready for a one-day course that included the basics in the pool and then diving in the sea. It was exciting to sit in the boat and wait for my first dive but everything went very well. It was amazing and a lot easier than I had thought. The coral was really beautiful and full of different kind of colorful fishes. I even got to see a sea turtle!

As much as I wanted to explore everything there was to see I also intended to train there as well. The problem was that running was restricted only to an enclosed area around the hotels if you didn't want to end up running along the highway or get lost in the jungle where it was barely impossible to get through without a cutlass. That was a bit of disappointment to me (as I had imagined running along imaginary footpaths in the jungle) but fortunately I found a nice 10km cycling route around the well-cared hotel and marine area. After the first ten rounds or so the route got quite familiar to me and I got to know nearly every stone and bush around it. I even learned a long list of boat names and got to know the gardeners that took care of particular streets or corners of the golf course. They also learned to know what time I was expected to pass them every morning and started to cheer me. It all made me feel more and more like a runner. You know exactly the route you're running, the distance of every street, the time you use per a distance, and the pace you are running. There's no room for feeling or imagination, the watch is accurate and tells everything you need to know. There's some attraction in it but I have to admit that I was happy to get home and get some variation in my routes again.

Another problem (when it comes to training) was the warmth. The only possibility to run was early in the morning. Evenings would have been fine too if it hadn't been that dark. Fortunately there were plenty of alternative training forms you could do during the day or evenings: swimming, aqua gymnastics, water polo, beach volley, ping pong, dancing, tennis, spinning, zumba, step, aerobics, treadmill, cross-training and gym. So even if I did only one "real" training per day I actually got a lot of all forms of recovery training as I attended daily to aqua gym and dance lessons, swam, played tennis and ping pong and took part to spinning, zumba and step lessons. Four to five trainings a day unnoticed and as a bonus I got more flexible hips after two weeks of all forms of Latin dances. That was so much fun and I really enjoyed it! Also zumba lessons in Mexico are far from what they are in Europe. If you want to do zumba, you should definitively do in the Latin America at its origin. I still need to work on my shoulders to learn to dance like they do (very unlikely).

Highlights of the trip in addition to scuba diving and stalactite caves were flying along zip lines, riding with dolphins and swimming with sharks, stingrays, and manatees. Manatees were brilliant. I cannot imagine any uglier creature than that. Did you know that they can weigh up to 590kg and swim so slowly than they get covered all over with algae?

Training is good

2011-11-28T12:58:00.000Z

Four weeks of training and I feel good. I started my winter training by a strength block as I've done previously prior my best seasons. As usual my legs were aching after the first training sessions but I recovered quite quickly and opposite to last season I have now been able to complete all sessions without problems. In addition to training at gym I've tried to do some hill intervals now that I've found a couple of hills here. My weeks have included 2-3 strength sessions at gym and hill intervals of varying length. Best was the one of 90mins continuous hill running up and down several tops with devilish 666m elevation in total. The longest climb was 1,7km and 140m. In other trainings the hills were only moderate. In addition I've done most of my runs in terrain or on footpaths to get some additional strength just as a bonus. Here's an example of one of my recent trainings:

10x2min hill intervals, total elevation 254m

In the middle of this heavish strength period I entered myself to a 10km road race in Stratford to get some variation and to run faster for a change. My legs felt a bit heavy and tight from the strength before the race and running didn't feel very easy but I managed to go under 40mins, which was quite ok at this phase. I was second woman and 15th overall, yay! Results

I also ran an awesome o-event in Sheffield just a day ago in beautiful landscape of Burbage Moor with some really fun and tricky orienteering (see the maps below). Terrain was predominantly open moorland but contained areas of complex rock details that offered great technical challenge. There were two micro-o sections on a specific 1:2000 boulder map on the backside of the normal 1:10000 map and you had to turn the map four times during the race. I really fancied the detailed micro-o parts but I also liked the course as a whole as it offered a variety of challenges from details to long legs and you had to adapt your speed at the right level and change your techniques during the race. Results

Now that I've hopefully got some power in my legs, I'll be ready to do more miles during the coming months. In a few days I'll be on my way to Mexico for some warm and sunny runs before skiing in Finland :)

Mental training

2011-11-26T07:00:00.002Z

Physical training is easy and technical training is fun but mental training is the hardest part. I mean to really do that. Of course every race you run is kind of mental training and the tougher the race, the better. You go through your routines, you give a few thoughts about what you're up to do when you get the map and you try to focus on your own race and ignore everything else. Yeah it works, but in order to do your best when it really matters requires great mental capacity. Some have it and others train it. Most top athletes actually put some hours to mental training and some even use mental coaches.

I've always been kind of lazy with mental training and raise my hand as a sign of weakness when it comes to that. Maybe I've been a bit arrogant, maybe I've seen it as a waste of time, maybe I've been always to busy with work or maybe it's just pure laziness. Surely I've done some mental training, but seldom of my own initiative. There's always been a teacher, a coach or a psychologist who has advised me to do something. Then I've conscientiously accomplished whatever I've been asked to. Just what a good schoolgirl ought to do. But that's about it.

However, it is not said that everyone needs to do the same to gain the same objective. We're all individuals and we train physically different too. Principals may be similar but there's always some individual variation. So the mental preparation may vary a great deal from person to person as well. I believe this reflects our personality and therefore the variation between individuals is even greater than in physical training. Or this is just me seeking acceptance for my way of doing things. Might be the truth but anyway I just had a kind of important presentation for which I used two weeks to prepare and once taking that time and putting myself through that pressure I realized how the process was like preparing yourself to an important race. You try to assimilate all possible information there is before the actual event, you go through your own plan in your mind, and you try to imagine the situations you may face during your performance.

It is actually quite seldom that I feel that nervous and anxious before any race. Usually I have some butterflies in the stomach before big races but it is most often a positive and waiting feeling whereas the feeling before a major presentation is seldom that joyous. But what I realized was that putting yourself through any situation where you're under pressure and you need to perform well can be compared to mental training. I think there is a clear gain-gain situation there. Growing in a competitive milieu (learning to compete at any sport at early age) gives you mental strength that you can use in your "normal life" and, vice versa, the situations you face at your work can train you mentally for your goals at sport. That's what I believe.

O-training

2011-11-20T16:14:00.000Z

I've had a strength block going on in my training but nevertheless I've tried to do some orienteering too every week. A few times I've been training in Cannock Chase, one of the best areas to orienteer around here. Training from Penkridge Bank was a new area and map for me, which made it all even more fun. I love to go to new places to orienteer, especially if it turns out to be as nice and beautiful as it did. I slightly missed the third control at the first glance as it was hiding below the brackens but otherwise it went quite smoothly as soon as I realized that the controls lay below the brackens and weren't visible from afar. Most of the terrain was however open and beautiful.

Another training was in Sherwood Woods in Nottingham on the map of Byron's Walk. I had hoped to get further into South but unfortunately the course just circulated around a somewhat limited area. You can't always win can you? Well it was at least nice weather and an easy way to do a longer training when I included some warm-up and cool-down jogging along the paths. And taking 25 controls forces you to do some map reading too. In addition I got some extra hill training without even noticing it. Some areas were nice but most of it was quite outgrown (observe also the very true notifications on the map: light green = slow run; intermediate green = walk; green lines = walk; dark green = fight) and therefore I used a lot of paths. I passed a couple of "walk areas" and one "fight area" where I really had to drop the pace to get through. As long as you kept yourself in the runnable areas it was okay.

On Sunday OD organized a color-coded event and WMOA Champs in Hay Wood, one of the nearest forests to us. I've been training there a couple of times but it's always better when someone else plans the course and you don't know what to expect. I chose to do the Brown, the longest course available. It was a fun course with a lot of turns and an excellent compass training, as you couldn't see much of the features due to overgrown brackens. I may have made a couple of stops and took number 14 on my way to 7 but otherwise it went nice and smoothly. White areas weren't as open as you would think (due to brackens) but it was somewhat runnable and a lot of fun anyway!

XC season started!

2011-11-13T18:30:00.000Z

Last winter I missed the whole cross country season but this time I took care to take part right from the beginning. It was the first race of Midland Women's Cross Country League and the event was held in Leamington. As it was my first cross country event I wasn't sure what to expect. When you run cross country in Finland it is mostly on sand roads, occasionally coated by sawdust but, based on the upfront information that I've got here, cross country in the UK means real off road running. So I was prepared to crawl deep in the mud but I luckily it wasn't that awful. It was just perfect for an orienteer and I loved it! The route went on grass, moorland, and slightly muddy paths. No road whatsoever. In other words very nice and gently surface to run with spikes for the first time in your life.

When we gathered to the start I still didn't know anything about my tactics and whether to stay in the frontline or farther back. I wasn't even sure about the distance (thought it was about 6km). We were a lot more (a few hundred or so) than I had expected and it felt a hundred times more exciting than in those regional cross country champs I've ran in Finland. I was waiting for the "on your marks" comment when the sudden shot surprised me. Without thinking I just automatically sprinted to take my place in the leading pack. First kilometer went to 3:35 (on muddy grass!) and the climb was ahead. "Too fast" I was thinking but unwilling to slow down. I remembered the warnings about the "killer hill" that was a steep 20m upwards and down again. So I slowed down a little thinking that running must feel easy on the first loop. Some of the girls were running really fast but I had to do my own race. I realized by then that I had underestimated the other runners. They were from university teams and clearly no amateurs. I just kept telling myself that I’d catch a few again in the muddiest and most challenging parts.

Running felt ok during the first loop but when I checked my split in about half way I had already ran 4km and realized that it had to be far more than 6km. There I had my psychological breakdown and my next two kilometers were really slow and heavy. When I came to the "killer hill" for the second time I was nearly half a minute slower than on the first loop and part of it was just mental tiredness. Realizing how much I had lost on those two kilometers I tried to find a bigger gear and the last mile I could run at decent pace again. The whole race was 7,53km and took me 30:47. Apart from the two slow kilometers from 5-6km my race was quite ok and a fabulous experience! What could be a better training for an orienteer during winter?! I also felt great to be part of a terrific team with excellent atmosphere and great cheering. Thanks Knowle & Dorridge!!

Sunday in Southampton

2011-11-06T22:12:00.000Z

On Sunday we drove all the way to Southampton to run orienteering. It was one of the major senior events in England as it was one of the three selection races for Interland 2012, an international cup against Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and France. Therefore my expectations were slightly higher than for an average regional race. It turned out to be great and definitively worth driving. A classic distance with a 10,1km course and a 1:15000 map in beautiful terrain of New Forest with wild ponies galloping around did not let me down.

The course was very runnable and I enjoyed it a lot. For most parts it was quite open and beautiful, with only little slowing vegetation. There were some really wet and flooding marshes but they were small and crossable with a few long jumps. To the first control I followed the path quite far but noticed then that the white forest was good to run and after that I went mostly pretty straight. The first three controls I hit well but on the forth I didn't see the control right away although I came straight to the marsh. Fifth and sixth all right. To seventh I had my best split. It was great, just speeding downhill and checking the bearing. Then it went pretty straight and smoothly all the way to 12th but on my way there I may have lost some seconds in the ditches. 13th okay again but then I lost some time passing the river on the way to 14th and again when taking a gel on the control. It didn't go too well to open the zipper at the backside of my tights. I both fall down and accidently stopped my garmin there. I didn't notice that at that point and continued my race to the finish. The rest of the course went well too although I didn't enjoy the last four legs as much as the preceding part of the course. I was happy with my run but a bit disappointed that I only got part of my gps-route :/

Results

Searching for hills

2011-11-02T23:08:00.000Z

After living and training here for almost a year now I finally start to know where to go to train. Simple things that I've taken for granted back in Tampere, such as O-training or hill intervals from your door, have caused me enormous trouble here. I'm used to have everything within 15 minutes from home but things are different here. I've learned now that it takes approximately an hour to get to forest and nearly the same to get to hills. I've been cycling and running around the neighborhood to find some hills without success. So I've learned the hard way that it really is flat here and the easiest way to train hills is by increasing the gradient on a treadmill. It would indeed be a bit strange if the canals were going up and down on hillsides.

But myths are to be broken and so was the myth of flatness. The hills didn't come to my front door one night, I had to go and find them myself. But still, a beautiful country park with mixture of woodland and heathland, steep slopes and high hills, and amazing view over the whole shire, just half an hour's way from us! The place is called Clent Hills. I went there for a nice and easy long run, climbed up to the highest point and got astonished by the magnificent panoramic view. I will certainly go back there again. The more often the better. It's a perfect place for tough and muddy hill intervals!

Birmingham 1/2 marathon

2011-10-31T12:05:00.000Z

Birmingham half marathon was held on October 23 in the city center under the blue sky and the TV-helicopters. It was my first big half marathon and an amazing event in every aspect. I don't know whether it was the magical lightness in the legs, the great weather, the crowds and cheering, the pipe orchestras, the banjo drums, or presence of the King of Distance Running himself but the event had an indelible impact on me.

The atmosphere was exciting already when approaching the city center and it was easy to recognize co-passengers who were heading to the same event. When we climbed out from the bus all we had to do was to follow the stream of runners. On the way towards the arena we saw people in their running kits sipping coffee in the cafés on the sides of the prom. It all felt kind of unreal. The streets were decorated with tapes, signs, marshals, and advertisers. Everything was ready for the big event. We were early and it was quiet as went in to the arena to leave the bags and get prepared.

Just a while later when outside again a few hundred people had multiplied into tens of thousands of people and the music and hyping was on. It was huge. I got worried about where to go and went to check where my start group was supposed to assemble. It was clearly marked and still empty. The rest of the warm-up time I spent in a toilet queue missing the supervised warm-up gymnastics and the good starting place. I ended up behind the masses and was far from the elite up in front. It took five minutes from the gunshot before I reached the start line but I didn't care. It was here and now, my first mass marathon and I was about to enjoy it!

The first two miles I concentrated mainly on avoiding elbows and kicks but then after passing a thousand runners or so it eased up and I could start to enjoy the running. To my surprise the first miles had gone far below the pace I had planned despite the folks and I tried to slow down. Running felt good and after a while I totally ignored my pace and heart rate monitor and I just ran. Like Forest Gump, I just ran and enjoyed it. After four miles or so came my biggest highlight of the day as Haile passed me. Oh yes he did, on his way back. The route did a short loop and came then back along the same road some miles or so. So Haile was only a few miles ahead. The leading runners came across one by one whereas I met an endless line of runners when running back myself.

Running was fun throughout the race and the atmosphere was fantastic. There were several bands, orchestras, high five zones, supporters and so much cheering during the run that it was almost impossible not to enjoy it. Miles from nine to eleven were uphill and less pleasant but after managing that far it was just sprinting into the finish. Two kilometers left and I start to run against the watch. But I forget that the last kilometer is indeed longer than the others and have to push a bit harder at the end. When reaching the finish line I feel awesome. 1:27:47. I go home and look for the next half marathon. It will be Liverpool.

Season 2011 in a nutshell

2011-10-30T14:46:00.000Z

After finishing my PhD just before the Christmas I decided to take a year off from my academic career and become a professional athlete. Before I realized I got over-trained and it took the whole season to recover. I was more or less tired throughout the season but did not dare to take a break. Legs were heavy and running felt awful most of the time. It had been better if I had realized to rest before it was too late but I didn't. After missing the World Champs I gave myself a longer break and it helped. Now I'm feeling much better than I felt during the season. I was very happy to run Birmingham half marathon to 1:27:47 just a week ago. It was a sign of recovery and gave me some faith and confidence for the coming training period. The highlights of the year were the victory at Tiomila, the second place at Venla, and the victory of 25-manna. I was happy to do well in these big club relays despite my problems. My first victories at Tiomila and 25-manna!!

Welcome to my new blog!

2011-10-29T23:50:00.000+01:00

I am a Finnish orienteerer based in Solihull in England and this is my new blog. I love running, orienteering and competing and the purpose of this blog is to share it with you. I am focusing now fully on orienteering and trying to improve myself in order to reach the goals I've been dreaming about. Being a professional orienteerer in West Midlands is challenging but I am coping with it the best I can. I hope you will have a good time following my blog!