The race actually was not bad at all but for sure it was not what I was hoping with my own hyped-up expectations going into it. I made a few mistakes tactically and the disgustingly ‘Finnish’ weather (it was about 10C and raining) threw me off a bit. But in the end I put in a top 3 run time and finished 7th overall, which is probably just where I should be this time of year.

I was particularly pleased with my run as I proved to myself I can really run fast after a hard bike. And that bike was HARD! 1600m climbing with two times up the San Salvador climb! It would have been spectacularly fun to ride that course if it had not been so cold, wet and slippery, but conditions were what the were, so I ended up being a nervous wreck coming down the super technical descent.

Back in Finland now and getting started on the 2nd phase of my season training program with a new round of base training. Only about 4 weeks away from 70.3 Austria where I am really excited to put my fitness, especially my new running ability, to the test of top competition!

On the training front, this is a bit of a funny couple weeks of training as I have to balance coming off a big block of tough training last month with the start of my first big race in a few days time. The result is a mix of faster training with quite a lot of rest and overall a low number of hours training. To be honest, it feels a bit weird to come to Spain for training camp and do such limited hours, but I trust my coach and I believe he knows what I need to go fast come race day. While I would love to be out hammering long hours, at least the time I have spent has been very productive in getting me comfortable on the tt bike again. The first ride I thought something was wrong with my bike because my balance and sensations were so off. But now a few rides done, all feels great and I am feeling much more ready to race!

The rest of the spare time I have here I am using to get a lot of work done for my normal copy writing job. At home I could never get this amount of time to really concentrate with two young kids around the house, so this is a welcome opportunity.

I have long been an admirer of the Newton concept of forefoot/neutral running shoes but never took the step to try them out for fear of change.   Newton is making a big push to expand outside of the US where they are most well known and needed an athlete from this area.  I jumped at the chance and have been incredibly satisfied with the shoes.  The Newton’s are crazy light and very natural feeling on your feet.  My lower legs took a bit of adjusting to the forefoot landing but within a couple weeks they are 100% in tune with the new running technique.

For those of you who don’t know about Newton running shoes, they are designed with a set of lugs under the forefoot that extend down an additional 1/2 cm or so to make contact with the ground a bit earlier than normal.  When your full weight comes down onto the lugs, they push up into the sole and are not noticeable.  It might sound a bit funny but once you see a pair and try them (or at least Newton’s website) you will understand how they function.   Anyways, I will come back to the subject of Newton later on once I put them to test in a triathlon, but so far, 1 min off a 10km PR is a good start!

Next up is a training camp in Barcelona for 10 days followed by my first triathlon of the year with Tristar Mallorca.  High motivation after such a strong start to the season!

Last autumn we selected Paris half marathon because it was very early in the year in order to give us a jump start on the season both physically and motivationally.   Maybe we are getting old but finding motivation over the tough winter months is getting pretty hard these days, so having this early season goal was needed.

At least in my case, setting the goal paid off and I trained very well over the winter with thoughts of Paris.  My wife got a bit overloaded with work and was not able to produce the performance she wanted but ended up being pleasantly surprised to put in a solid time despite very limited preparations.

Going into the race I had in my head a sub-1:10 time but I also knew it would be a pretty massive step up from my previous best of 1:12.56.  My  coach Jesse had prepared a race plan for me to do near 1:11 and I have quickly learned to trust his predictions because he is right 99% of the time.

Despite my coach’s strict guidelines, I started way too fast with first 5 km at pace for a 1:09.  Part of this was nerves and part was the conditions for the beginning of the course were super fast, so it felt easy.  If the course had continued like that I might have been able to maintain the pace but no such luck.  The 2nd half got a steady head wind and most of the elevation gain as well, which put a heavy dent in my speed.  Never mind the always increasing muscle pain coming from the first real tough run in many months.

Suffering through the final kilometers, I pushed hard to keep a respectable result and ended with 1.11:56, which was about a minute under my previous PR.  This is a very satisfying result as my previous best was done three years ago at peak condition in September on an easier course. Never mind that my training leading up to this race was tough all the way until two days before, so I was pretty tired just waiting on the line.  I can now rest assured my training over the winter is really making a difference and I am on track to make my larger goals for this season.

Next up is a tough block of training to be ready for training camp and first race in about a month’s time.

A few months later I did a bit too much heavy lifting on our landscaping project and ended up with a painful back for a few months.  My wife reminded me how quickly Mr. Karppinen was able to help her so we set up an appointment.  When I arrived, I stumbled my way through the first interview (in Finnish) to explain my current problems and long term issues as well.  Reijo seemed to connect all the dots immediately and knew exactly where to poke my back to test his hypothesis.  A couple minutes later his son arrived to assist with the ‘manual’ therapy, which is quite manual.  The two men did some serious adjusting of my hips and back with a series of accompanying pops.  Just like my wife experienced, my pain was gone within 24 hours.  Then 48 hours later I did a half marathon in near personal best time with admittedly poor fitness.

Now I make a routine trip to Helsinki to visit the Karppinen clinic every month as we continue to make adjustments to my back and hips.  The process will likely continue for some time as I have been training and racing for years with my back and hips out of alignment.  The muscles surrounding will likely take a while to adapt back to a normal position.

Hats off to my friends at Kuntotus Karppinen!  Those guys really have magic hands!

I am super excited to have the opportunity to do this schedule, although it has been a tough sell for my family that I will be traveling this much. I am currently taking care of our kids during the day, so when I leave for these trips it creates some tricky logistical problems. It seems as though we have found solutions to allow me to pursue my goals in triathlon, for which I am extremely grateful to my family for helping to make this happen. I only hope my results will come as I hope so I can in some way pay back for my family.

But today is a much needed rest day after four solid weeks of training. Finally an evening I don’t have to sneak away to finish my trainings!