Training Archive: chitownclarkIn the 7 days ending 2008-07-20:
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| M | T | W | H | F | S | S | |||||||
Saturday Jul 19 | ||
| City running 1:30:00 [3] 8.0 mi (11:14 / mi) +60m 6:50 / km | |
| slept:4.5 (rest day) shoes: NewBalance 426 | ||
| Stockholm, Sweden. Disembarked from the Tartu Ferry with Soupbone at 7am, after a great night of dining, drinking and carousing with the full ship. Tried to sleep with 3 fat strangers in a cabin for 4 at 1am. Awoke at 5:30, showered and got out of there, to find Soupie already on deck, drinking coffee and watching our arrival through the Swedish archipeligo.
Mary Jo and Carl Childs very nicely dropped us at our "boatel" on Lake Malaren in Södermalm. And we walked all over Gogaten near Slussen looking for an open coffee house in vain...even my favorite "Wayne's Coffee" was closed! By the time we got back to Rygerfjord Hostel we were able to check in to our little ship's cabin, change, and get ready to run. Soupie had finally purchased a pair of cleatless Jalas O shoes at the Fin5 at my insistance, so he had something to run in. And we set off, running through the deserted streets up to Tantolunden...the area of very small Swedish gardens and day-houses perched on the hillside. Then over to Långholmen island to see the old prision (now a hostel) and some old Swedish country houses. Then over the big bridge to Kungsholmen in the middle of a morning shower, to seek refuge in a bar in the lake-front park, then a very nice open-air restaurant, where I had the best small-shrimp salad sandwich, while Soupie huddled under a blanket, very thoughtfully provided by the restaurant. I'd run with a jacket tied around my waist, which proved to be very helpful. When the rain stopped the brilliant sun came out, and proceeded to warm Sweden for the next week, up into the 80's. We ran to an O store in Kungsholmen, the City Hall on Lake Malaren, and finally back across the Slussen bridge to our hostel, where we basked in the sun on the upper deck, enjoying the view, for a couple of hours...truly a spectacular day. Later we explored Gamla Stan and sat in a sidewalk café talking with a Swedish family (very attractive and informed daughter) from Götberg about Swedish history and customs. Soupie wearing "Bush's last Day: Jan 20, 2009" cap to their great delight. | ||
Friday Jul 18 | ||
| Orienteering race 40:01 [5] *** 2.36 km (16:57 / km) +80m 14:30 / km | |
| spiked:5/6c shoes: Black & Red Jalas Integrators | ||
| Fin5. Day5, Pajulampi map. I like this map. Slow and deliberate approach to each control, checking off features. Back to basics, as I should have been on Days 1,2 & 3. Only blew #3 when I misread a trail as a ride, and turned the wrong way at top of Kusiaismaki. Otherwise beautiful morning, map and course for last day of meet.
Later drove down to Turku ferry with Mary Jo Childs. Talked about mutual friends, impressions of Finland, and orienteering in general. Good conversation and time passed too quickly. Then on ferry with Soupbone until the wee hours. And then finally bed, in a cabin with 3 big Finns, snoring loudly all night. | ||
Thursday Jul 17 | ||
| Orienteering race 30:13 [5] 1.98 km (15:18 / km) +80m 12:43 / km | |
| spiked:5/6c slept:8.0 shoes: Black & Red Jalas Integrators | ||
| Fin5-4th day. New venue -- Pajulampi map. Ski area with terrain, instead of veg boundaries like the past 3 days. Really looking forward to this race, which hasn't happened yet. Just posting this hypothetical run in the SummaSaari Lodge before checking out. Will update later.
LATER: Good run. Cut my time/km in half. Always in contact with map. Only had trouble with second control when I tried too much fine O on a 150m leg...just run to the bag, Stupid! Last night we had another cozy meal at 7pm, our table right by the big windows looking out over the open forest sloping down to the lake. For all purposes, it looked like 2 in the afternoon, it was still so bright out. Sari's mother Tuovi was in heaven because a Finnish romantic soap star was sitting at the next table with his buddies. And when the Karoke started, he got up to sing! Sari's father Lauri actually started the whole evening, singing two Finnish songs. Later the DJ found he had one English set of lyrics..."It's Now or Never" the old Elvis standard. So Sari and I had to do it, with greetings to the crowd from Chicago. Tried for my best Elvis vocal, to the amazement of the crowd...don't think they see too many loud Americans at this forest retreat. | ||
| Swimming 25:00 [3] 0.9 km (27:47 / km) | |
| Swimming in the Saarijarvie HS swim pool. Took a real Finnish sauna before and after. Swam laps in a beautiful 25m pool with a bunch of slow Finns. Then into a "bubble tub" with a gaggle of nubile bikini-clad HS girls with that pure white skin...almost transparent, if you know what I mean.
There were maybe 250 kids in the 3 pools and related facilities. Lots of new equipment available for their use. Pretty much recreating unsupervised, even on the big pool slide that had a constant flow of kids zooming down from the rafters of the building. Why don't we see big recreational facilities in the US with this kind of equipment and participation? | ||
| C • I think we do, don't we? T... 3 | ||
Wednesday Jul 16 | ||
| Running w/ Map 1:41:00 [4] 8.0 mi (12:38 / mi) +310m 7:00 / km | |
| slept:9.0 shoes: Black & Red Jalas Integrators | ||
| Summasaari Resort, Finland. They have a nice 5km XC trail from the lodge out around the island, and Sari and I ran it while her parents recovered from the big Finnish breakfast in the cabin on the lake shore. Then I ran it again this afternoon by myself: 1 minute faster. The front desk even had an O map of the island, with all the features, trails, etc. The trail took us up and over many, many eskers, drumlins and moraines...very physical!
We ran right by the Stone Age Village, where they have recreated the stone age settlement that excavations prove were right here on the island 5000 years ago. They've done a fantastic job of recreating the environment that the early Finns enjoyed. At critical points in the running path you'd suddenly see a fur-clad figure emerge from the woods 3' away ready to run you through with a long, sharpened bone-tipped lance. Afterward we ran south down a long esker peninsula projecting out into the lake. At the very end we found a log book full of Fin5 people who'd logged over the past day or so. Lots of people here over the Fin5 "rest" day. | ||
| C • sounds like a blast 2 | ||
Tuesday Jul 15 | ||
| Orienteering race 1:21:30 [5] *** 2.57 km (31:43 / km) +80m 27:26 / km | |
| spiked:3/6c shoes: Black & Red Jalas Integrators | ||
| Fin5 - Day3. Dreading the inevitable, I started off very poorly, blowing 42 minutes on an easy first leg. Don't know why I don't use more care setting up my leg. Ended up having to make my way across a terrible area of slash, rocks and pits that was mapped as nice, orange open...at least I could see the hill where my control was located as I struggled.
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Monday Jul 14 | ||
| Orienteering race 1:03:12 [5] *** 232 km (16 / km) +80m 16 / km | |
| spiked:4/6c shoes: Black & Red Jalas Integrators | ||
| Fin5-Day2. Ahvenlampi map. Hit first control very well, with luck really. But then abandoned caution, and plunged into medium green and wandered on the wrong hill for 24 minutes before forcing myself to return to trail I crossed just after leaving #1 and trying another approach which quickly worked.
I´m noticing that even when I spike a control, my leg time is about twice what everyone else's is. These Finns can run through this junk (slash, moss, rock, deadfall, logged areas) at 2-3 times my speed. I guess that's what you get after 60 years of orienteering. I'm only sorry I signed up for H65AL rather than H65A...I think I could have handled the longer legs better than the fast, short sprint courses of H65AL. | ||