Gore-Tex Transalpine Run 2010

Day 8: Drink, Drank, Drunk

2010-11-17T15:04:00.000+02:00

Stage 8: Niederdorf im Pustertal/I – Sexten/I

Vertical distance: 1269 meters ascent, 1123 meters descent

Horizontal distance: 33,40 Kilometer

The final stage of the Gore-Tex® Transalpine-Run 2010 leads from Niederdorf in Puster Valley to the beautiful location of Sexten in the Dolomites. Before crossing the finish line in Sexten, there are again nearly 34 kilometers to run which are going to be quite intense due to a total altitude difference of more than 1200 meters. But the backdrop of this stage couldn’t be more beautiful and breathtaking, because with the Three Peaks, the symbol of the Dolomites, the field of participants will finish in truly inspiring surroundings!

Drink

What can I say - a beautiful day at the end of another great experience. The weather was perfect and the scenery was breathtaking - again. Just take a look at the pictures and enjoy.

"Drink" - this is the place to thank two of our sponsors, who went all the way with us this year. If you take into account, taht we had to drink roughly 8 litres of liquid every day, that's quite an amount. Our nutrition sponsor Peeroton provided us everything we needed, from mineral drinks, energy powder, recovery drings and beyond (BCAA's, gels, bars etc.). One thing I have to point out an recommend definetely further: liquid energy. It's quite a challenge to get all needed energy inside of your body during long days as we had at the TAR. Recommendation by Peeroton was to take mainly LIQUID energy, cauz it's difficult to chew and digest during the race. They provided us the Plus Kohlenhydratpulver (carb-powder), which we just mixed into our normal drinks. Wow. It worked 100% . Try it out, buy that stuff! If you don't know how to get it, let me know, I will help you! - and: Thanks, Andreas (and also thanks to Gerald for making the contact!)

The other great support was the finnish energy drink and lifestyle company Battery. We had the privilege to test-run a new product for them, which will hit the market in 2011. I can't write anything more specific about it here, as it is still "secret". Let's say it like that: "Battery-X" kept us really going. We mainly utilized it after the last food stop every stage and it gave us a real kick forward for the last 10k! Great stuff, cool stuff - and hopefully available soon also in Germany and other central european countries. Check out their webpabes or become their Facebook pal. They make pretty cool promos and activities via social media, believe me, it's fun! Sooo - thanks Heidi for the support so far. Looking forward to 2011!

Drank

Not necessary to write about the last stage too much, as mentioned. Let's talk about crossing the finish line... or maybe about Martin's and my talk while running down towards Sexten and the finish line. I asked Martin: "Next year again?!" - and his answer was "Yes". Ok, that was an easy discussion :-)

Well, crossing the finish line was just great - again. The whole setup and hospitality in Sexten was just great. The perfect weather did it's part, so we drank several beers with our "Team Polar Germany" mates Harald and Daniel, enjoyed delicious Pizza and cakes and had a hell of a time. The athmosphere in the finish area was thrilling - team after team came in, partied and enjoyed the achievement. As we were pretty fast again today, we witnessed several of our friend-teams coming in. Jumping up, running to the finishing areas, hugging them, high-fiving them, cheering with them. Just great. Some teams I would like to mention here - and I hope to see them again next year: Marika & Oliver from Team "SchmidtFit", Daniel & Harald from "Team Polar Germany", all the "Gore Merchi Runners", Gavin & Guy from "Team Israel", Chris and, and, and.....

Drunk

*hicks* drinking beer in the sun after a 8 day effort makes you - drunk, Correct. But smart me found the right time to stop the beer drinking at a certain stage, so it was not too rough for me. The rest of the story is easy to tell. Finisher party, receiving the one-and-only finisher shirt (which is handed out only to those teams, who completed ALL stages within the time limits) and a bit further partying. Then to bed and leaving back home soon...

Thanks Ruben & Martin for another great experience. An experience of friendship, nature, achievement, team spirit and fun. Ok. I will stop this now, before somebody starts crying...

Stay tuned, Janne

Day 7: Being Tolerant, Being Grateful, Being Happy

2010-11-17T14:22:00.000+02:00

Stage 7: St.Vigil/I – Niederdorf im Pustertal/I

Vertical distance: 1963 meters ascent, 1990 meters descent
Horizontal distance: 42,195 Kilometers

On the seventh stage from St. Vigil in Enneberg to Niederdorf there’s one highlight after the other. The first 13 kilometers from the town of St. Vigil through Tamers Valley toward Pederu are an ideal start for the runners due to its slight incline, but the first steep climb up Senneshütte is definitely something else. In an extreme climb, the course squirms in short bends up to the alpine plateau of Sennes, one of the most beautiful mountain pastures in the Dolomites. Via Seekofelhütte and Alta Via Dolomiti Nr. 1 we reach Pragser Wildsee, before another climb begins up Weißlahnscharte. Only now do we leave the Dolomites again toward the North in the direction of Niederdorf. At the end of the day we will have covered an altitude difference totaling almost 1700 meters and a distance of over 42 kilometers.

Being Tolerant

Well, well... being tolerant - *hahaha*, one of my nicknames in "Team Polar Finland - Inov-8" is "Toleranz-Hans". Why that?! Because I just love to get annoyed about whatever and bitch around a bit - and in the next second I am laughing out loud about it and me; Ruben & Martin just like this feature of mine. But why do I mention that here now?! Pretty easy... I've been tested - or better said - my tolerance threshold level (aka TTL) has been evaluated during today's stage... eat this:

Great weather, good feeling and everything was cool from the beginning today. Another stage with an easy start, 13k slightly uphill and after yesterday's experience, Martin and me decided to run that completely, even if there are some steeper uphill sections. Everything went smooth and cool and after approx. 10k, we were running in a nice, soft forest trail, overtaking quite many other teams. Then it happened! I was "flying" up the trail, Martin behind me and we overtook a dutch team, using poles. And then the inevitable happend - the first time to me now. The pole-walker did not control his arm-extensions and put it directly between my legs. No chance, I had to kiss the italian soil - luckily it was very soft and I did not get hurt at all. But: Adrenaline, upsetment and anger needed to find a way out and I was yelling really, really, really, REALLY bad words at the dutch fellow... he was very sorry, helped me up and after I let the shit out of my words, I directly apologized and said - "hey, no worries - nothing happened - and sorry for the bad words, I did not mean it. It was just pure energy, leaving the body in a bit offending texture...". We were both laughing out loud and continued the race. What has this to do with tolerance?! Well, I could have put his poles in his....uhmmmm.....wherever - or hit him or break the f*** poles. Nothing like that, hey - I am a sportsman. A tolerant sportsman :-) Even when it comes to Nordic Walking dutch fellows...

Being Grateful

Wow, wow, wow. After the wipeout and the first food-stop, the first uphill section began. I have to admit that this part of the Dolomites represent the most spectacular views in the entire Alps, as far as I know them. We were climbing up on old military roads, which have been built 100 years ago. Great weather, beautiful views and good mood made this day an almost perfect day. What was not so perfect was the fact, that Martin's nose started bleeding after him sneezing, while we were just reaching top-speed level on the first downhill. We passed team after team and then it happened. I heard him yelling "STOOOPPPP Jan!!!!!" and we had to take care about his nose. Normally, nose bleeding is nothing serious at all - but Martin is on medication, taking a blood-thinnener (is that the right word!? Well, you get the point) - so IF he is bleeding, it takes a while to get that under control. So all the teams, which we already passed, were passing us again now and we lost some time. Whatever, main thing was, that Martin was able to continue. We decreased our downhill speed a bit and enjoyed the scenery.

The next highlight was the Pragser Wildsee, a wonderful lake in the middle of spectacular mountains. It's green, clear water looked so tempting for a refreshment... but we were just passing it and tackled the final uphill - which really hurt, But we made it and surfed down again to our destination, Niederdorf.

Being Happy

Very happy, to be jonest. Despite our time-loss due to the nose-bleeding and the reduced downhill speed, we managed to finish with a very good time. We really have the feeling, that we are getting stronger and stronger... aftedr crossing the finish line today, we were just hanging out in the sun and enjoying our day. Ruben was not able to catch us up with the campervan, cauz the camping site had opening and closing hours... Nobody able to leave the site between 12:00 and 15:00. But no prob, as it was sunny and nice :-)

One more day to go, and it will be the most spectacular stage this year - passing the Drei Zinnen - looking so much forward to that!

Ciao, Janne

Day 6: We Feel Good!

2010-09-29T18:41:00.001+03:00

Stage 6: Sand in Taufers/I – St. Vigil/I

Vertical distance: 1512 meters ascent, 1193 meters descent

Horizontal distance: 39,70 Kilometers

With an altitude difference totaling over 1500 meters and a distance of almost 40 kilometers, the 6. stage on the eastern route of the Transalpine-Run 2010 is probably the hardest that has ever been run in the history of this stage race competition. Till the finish in St. Vigil, the route first leads along the eastern side of Tauferer Valley until Bruneck. After crossing River Rienz the seemingly endless climb toward Kronplatz begins, never allowing even a peak at the Dolomites in the South until reaching the summit region. The final downhill section into St. Vigil in comparison will feel like a relief.

We Feel Good!

Alright, quite a challenging stage ahead. When I saw the course profile the very first time, I thought that this will really be a shitty stage. A halfmarathon to start with, slightly going up and down and then an epic climb of almost 1400 meters elevation gain, passing the Kronplatz. Huh-huh.... but at the end, it was not that tough. Actually, we had the plan to run as much as possible until the real uphill action will start - and we surprisingly managed! Cool. That washed us into areas of the pack, where we never hang around so far. And a very important aspect: we learned, that we can be much faster, than we though! A very nice experience...

So already during this day's journey, we thought about the final two days - and that we will try to keep up with that plan. Running more, trying harder, even if it hurts a bit. What a great plan :-) Otherwise... nothing special during that day. Same old routines, the weather is clearly improving and the landscape is getting nicer and nicer.

The finish-line and event area in St. Vigil was pretty cool. It was a bit of an Octoberfest feeling, as there was a huge beer-tent built up for us. The pasta party in the evening was good and the camping site, which Ruben found for us was great. Well, what was great....the SHOWERS! Wow. This Transalpine Run experience is really bringing it back to your mind to enjoy even the smallest things. And a long, hot shower in a clean and quiet environment - unbeatable. I think I was taking a shower for 15 minutes ... don't tell the camping site manager, please :-)

Hey folks... only two more days to go and we made it - again. Feeling - just great! Even we don't look that great in the pic *lol*

Aloha, Janne

Day 5: The Yeti

2010-09-28T10:27:00.000+03:00

Stage 5: Prettau im Ahrntal/I – Sand in Taufers/I

Vertical distance: 1800 meters ascent, 2098 meters descent
Horizontal distance: 34,10 Kilometers

Always providing a view of the mountain chain of the Zillertaler Alps in the North, the 5. stage of the Transalpine-Run, with an altitude difference totaling 1800 meters and a distance of 34 kilometers, leads into the heart of the Rieserferner group of mountains in the South of Ahrn Valley. On this stage, too, the route expands into alpine territory and is second to none when it comes to scenic beauty. After a short downhill stretch to Durra Alm, the long cross way to the southern slopes of Rein Valley delights runners with perfect running ground. The unique climb along the Reinbach waterfalls toward Sand in Taufers wraps up this beautiful stage.

The Yeti:

"The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region,and are part of their history and mythology. Stories of the Yeti first emerged as a facet of Western popular culture in the 19th century."

So - nothing to do with that stage today, correct?! Well, almost. The weather conditions were very harsh once more today. Wet, cold, windy - not the most enjoyable circumstances to crawl over the Alps. But I can assure you - we did not see the Yeti! Come on guys, it's impossible - the Yeti lives in Tibet and not in the Alps. Be a bit more realistic! On the other hand... we are in Südtirol/ Italy now - which is the home of Reinhold Messner. They say. You heard that rumour?! That one Yeti is meeting the other one somewhere up in the mountains and is saying "Hey man, I've seen Reinhold Messner!". The other Yeti answering "C'mon dude - he REALLY exists?!".

Hmmm...oukei, very funny :-) The stage - where did we stop?! Correct, it was cold. Very cold - as you can see from the pictures above. Not much more to tell about that stage. It was originally planned to be a pretty easy and short one, but a landslide caused additional 5k and 300m elevation gain for us. In combination with the weather, this was the perfect set-up for another painful stage.

At the foodstop on top of the climb I was so frozen, that I was dreaming about something hot to drink - and the angels at the station had hot tomato-soup ready for us... WOW! I did not know, how happy one can be, just getting a hot cup of tomato soup :-) Thanks again, that was the party of the day.

Once we survived the peaks and the coldest sports, the final downhill was cool! We met - as almost every day - the team from Israel, enjoyed a scenic run down to Sand in Taufers. A real hot shower was the highlight, as Ruben managed to organize a good camping site once more. Pasta party, no briefing again (sorry *hihi*) and early to bed. Life can be so simple... it will be pretty hard to get back in the normal life after the Transalpine Run! And hey - only 3 moredays to go - and no doubt at all, that we will grab our second Finisher Shirt Satuday evening in Sexten! Cool!

Interview in English Language After Stage 2 in Kitzbühel

2010-09-23T21:12:00.000+03:00

What a media professional I am *hahaha* - I think I have to practise that a bit more before the next interview... promise: I will. [Altitude Never Never Ends]

Day 4: "I don´t like my porridge!", Suffering & The Opposite of Sauna

2010-09-23T12:54:00.001+03:00

Stage 4: Neukirchen am Großvenediger/A – Prettau im Ahrntal/I

Vertical distance: 1967 meters ascent, 1377 meters descent
Horizontal distance: 43,90 kilometers.

The 4. stage from Neukirchen am Großvenediger to Kasern in Ahrn Valley, at full marathon distance and an altitude difference totaling 1931 meters over the Tauern ridge of the Alps, leads over the highest point of the Gore-Tex® Transalpine-Runs 2010, the 2667-meter high Birnlücke. A unique landscape along the path and wonderful views keep the runners company on their way from Austria into South Tyrol’s beautiful Ahrn Valley. A bit of a relief on this stage should be the altitude profile, which only shows one single, but extremely long, climb.

"No, I don't like my porridge!"
Phew... once again getting up at 5:30 am with the need to eat something. It was a real struggle this morning to get something inside of me - and also to keep it there ;-) Very healthy, nutritious porridge - but the taste... at that time of the "day"... not good at all. Anyhey, I managed to eat something. That day was predetermined to become one of the real rough'n'tough days. A long horizontal distance, an epic climb up to the highest peak of this years route and bad weather ahead. All the needed ingredients to enjoy a day of pain, exhaustion, doubts and FUN! So we were shambeling to the starting line, got our backpacks checked - they were really serious today, as the bad weather has been announced. Every participant had to show the warm clothes, first-aid kit, rescue blanket, warm hat and gloves at the check-in gate for the starting lineup. I have to say and emphasize, that the organizers do really everything to minimize the risks of that race. At the end of the day, it's each participant's own responsibility, that you wear the right clothes and have everything with you... but it's excellent, that this is double- and triplechecked by the organization! Well... "Keep on Running" by Mathi Whoever, "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC, "BANG" and we started running again :-) Somehow a very interesting machine, the human body. My head said this morning "I don´t want to do this anymore. I don´t want to run again. No mountains." - but I perfectly ignored that and with the start of the race, I was all good. Same with Martin and the other lunatics around us :-)

Suffering

This stage was hard - the Birnlücke (2667m) was a tough verification of each and everyones fitness and mental load capacity. The weather did it's part. The higher we got, the worse the conditions turned. The uphill to Birnlücke was epic, especially the last 600m of elevation. It was only a very narrow, steep and slippery single trail. The higher we got, the more snow was there and the fog, rain and wind made us feel more and more uncomfortable and cold. Luckily our great GORE RUNNING gear did a great job in protecting us. Some other guys really struggled and had to give up. 15 minutes before the peak, we passed a spanish girl, packed into a rescue blanked, shaking and crying. Race was over for her - but the rescue team was there immediately and took good care about her.

Anyway - we managed the climb, even it was really hard. Passing the peak and diving into the downhill... we thought. But there was a participant in front of us, who most probably experienced snow the first time in his ( sorry: long) life. In a mountain stage race in almost 2700m altitude... congratulations. Maybe he managed to get down there alive, I dont know. But he was slowing us down dramatically for about 10 minutes, as he was crawling on his hands and knees, slipping and sliding - after a certain while I politely asked him, if we might pass him, please.... he was looking at us, like I ordered a Big Mäc from him.... but he allowed us to pass. And then yaaaa-hooooo! The downhill. We were passing lots of teams, due to our quite good downhill technique and the grip of our INOV-8 weapons (the shoes). But taking a look on our watches showed us, that we are in struggle with the time limit for the last checkpoint! And the same for all the teams around us and behind us! So we had to seriously speed up and realized at a certain stage, that we will be 10 minutes late :-( 7 hours was the limit, but the uphill in those bad conditions and the slippery downhill costed too much time. The last kilometers before the checkpoint/ foodstop was a wide gravel mountain road, slightly downhill... we speeded up again, even we knew we will be late and then it happened - I hit a stone and flew like an eagle... to the ground. But maybe I watched enough James Bond movies, I turned while falling, rolled over my back and got up immedately - and continued running. If there would have been a stunt price that day, I would have won that! Martin couldn't believe that I did not hurt... but we arrived at the checkpoint, asking immediatley "Are we out?!". And they cooled us down and said that they extended the limit for 1 hour, due to the harsh conditions. Phew.... that was close. Easy-beasy down to Prettau and then the freezing began. By the way - at least 20 teams did not make it in the limit - finito, no finisher shirt, not in the official lists any more. That must be tough... sorry for all of them.

The opposite of sauna

Look in my face - happy and comfy looks different :-) Arriving in Prettau after more than 8h and very cold and wet conditions - what's the first thing you are longing for (except food!)?! Yes, a HOT shower. The shower was not hot... but washing away the mud and freezing. Putting warm clothes on an: freezing. Rushing back to the campervan: freezing. Ruben parked it 100 before the finish line, so that we passed it. I tried to convince Martin to skip that stupid finish line and turn directly into the warm campervan ;-) Going straight into my bed with clothes on and the warm winter blanket: freezing... it took about 2 hours to get warm hands and feet again... huh-huh. Good pasta in the evening, skipped the ceremonies and briefing again, sleeping early :-) Why I called that chapter "the opposite of sauna"?! No idea. I thought it sounds nice and might give an impression, how much I was needing a sauna after that day :-) ok, promise: I will be more careful with my future headlines. Peace! And thanks o Martin for suffering through this day together with me! We look great, don't we?! This is the shot on top of Birnlücke. I think Martin looks even shittier than me *hahaha*

Day 3: Horror I, Horror II & Joy

2010-09-22T11:57:00.000+03:00

Stage 3: Kitzbühel/A – Neukirchen am Großvenediger/A

Vertical distance: 2252 meters ascent, 2130 meters descent
Horizontal distance: 46,90 Kilometers

The distance of more than 46 kilometers from Kitzbühel to Neukirchen am Großvenediger turn the 3. stage into one of the two king’s stages of the Transalpine-Run 2010. The start of this famously infamous “Streif” to Hahnenkamm alone would be a challenging mountain run. It goes on across Mount Pengelstein continuously uphill/downhill through the Kitzbüheler Alps, when after Mount Stangenjoch there comes the last climb up Mount Wildkogel. The only recompense for the subsequent, extremely steep, downhill run toward Neukirchen is the great view at the 3000-meter high Venetia glaciers of nature reserve Hohe Tauern.

Horror I

The longest stage of the whole race - almost 47km. Having that ahead, you forget all other issues and problems... I have to say, that I did not sleep to well that night. But as we had that great "camping site" next to the starting line - thanks Rubi, again! - we had the possibility to stay in the warm campervan for a long time :-) The starting time was 7 o'clock, huh..... not easy to get some food (=energy) inside of you in the middle of the night... So we lined up at the starting line, got our equipment checked, some trash-talking with the other guys... and off we went. The first climb was straight uphill the famous "Hahnenkamm" alpine skiing downhill slope. The fun part that morning was, that some cows seemed to like the big pack running and leaving the town of Kitzbühel - and they joined us :-) Unfair though, as they have 4 legs, no luggage and no timing-chip! Maybe I should write a complaint mail to the organization...hmmm...better not ;-)

Horror II
Well...I was thinking a lot if I should put that here - and I think: yes! So, why "Horror II"??? I think almost everybody loves the mountains, the nature and the beautiful scenery in the Alps. Many villages and towns are making most of their living out of the tourism, all year long, all seasons. Which is definetely ok - if some rules are obeyed and the respect for the nature is there. In Kitzbühel.... calling themselves "the top-hot-spot in the Alps", they are really fu**** the nature, the mountains and the environment. And why?! Cauz they want to have more and more ski-slopes, assure enough water for the snow-machines - they are cutting away the trees of a complete hill! And, this is not enough... the water situation is so bad, that they build up a huge water-barrier-lake, because they need that for the snow-machines. Huh, this looked so awful and bad, many of the fellow-racers had tears in their eyes and talked about nothing else but this cruelty against the nature. The whole mountain was one big, muddy construction site. On our first 6k uphill, at least 20 bigbigbig building machine trucks passed us and gave us another experience of the healthy mountain air...
I think that EVERY alpine skier should visit a ski resort like Kitzbühel in summer - and think twice then, WHERE to go skiing next time. I am an alpine skier myself - but I will never-ever spend my money in Kitzbühel, that's for sure. Well, that will not hurt them, as they are anyway more after the superrich clientele...
Every pinhead has heard, that taking away the trees from a mountain increases the danger of avalanches. Disturbing the water-household and balance of a mountain does the same. But I am sure that they have put enough money in putting concrete everywhere in and on the mountain, that nothing will happen. And in winter it looks soooo nice and beautiful. Yuck. So remember: Winter - Kitzbühel - NO!
Ah ja, there was this Transalpine Run... lets better get back to that... and I really hope, that the nature will not strike back one day.

Joy

The stage itself was not that bad and hard! The weather was quite good, the uphills not too hard - and the length of the stage did not hurt as much as we were frightened. After leaving the nature desaster in Kitzbühel behind us, we were flowing along some nice peaks and great trails. We were "stuck" in a group of maybe 15 runners, which is not too bad at all - as it's slowing you down a bit and also, in some cases speeding you up. The last uphill of the day went up to Wildkogel, where we found big mountain building sites agai - but not as bad as in Kitzbühel. Last downhill and a nice descent to Neukirchen - nice weather, good camping site with a nice shower. Great :-)
The pasta party in the evening was on top of a mountain, we were transported up to the Wildkogel (again *hihi*) with a gondola and ahad a good dinner, including a beautiful view over the Alps. And we also had a beautiful view and idea already, that we will have some different weather conditions for the next day...

So long, Janne

Day 2: Mountain Jam, Sun & High Society

2010-09-20T16:17:00.000+03:00

Stage 2: St. Ulrich am Pillersee/A – Kitzbühel/A

Vertical distance: 1810 meters ascent, 1907 meters descent
Horizontal distance: 33,20 Kilometers.

Right after the start in St. Ulrich, the route takes a steep climb up the Mount Kirchberg before the long downhill section toward Pillersee Ache begins. The second climb of the day leads up Mount Reisenberg Kogel and then, after a short downhill interlude, to Alpenhaus at Kitzbühel Horn, where the finale will be a descent toward Kitzbühel.

Mountain Jam

What on earth is a "mountain jam"?! Well, nothing else but a traffic jam - in the mountains. Right after the start in St. Ulrich, only roughly after 2km, there was a steep, narrow mountain trail... and the whole pack had to queue :-) as you can see in the picture. Not too bad at all, as it prevents from a too fast start :-) Do you see the rocky stream in the left part of the picture?! Some dudes were "short-cutting" the trail and passed a long part of the line and all they earned was a tremendous booing of all the other participants, who waited in the line... quite amazing, how unsocial and unfair people can be. I encouraged one of the cheaters, when I was shouting: "Yeah, sure - go ahead and overtake! We are just lining up for the bus here, don't even worry about us!" *hahaha* a good laugh and quite good mood in the field, after the enemies had been spotted and dissed!

Sun

The ascent up to the first peak was quite steep but ok, then a nice descent to the foodstop and another pretty long - but very sunny! - ascent up to the Kitzbühler Horn. We made quite some elevation gain today, I have to admit that it hurt... but that's just the opening for that, what is about to come during the next days... In the picture, you can see Harald (white cap) and Daniel from Team Polar Germany. And, as you can see - good mood :-) The weather was so much better than the day before, when it was raining like crazy and we had to do the final kilometers in the pouring rain, passing the Pillersee. But now - sun! Great... what we did not know at that time was the forecast for the coming days...

Anyway. We managed to pass both peaks of the day without bigger harm and it was me being pretty much tired when entering the finish-line town of Kitzbühel. The last 3 km I did not feel like running any more... too tired. So we were just walking... but no problem and maybe good - as we got stronger and stronger during the week. Maybe we saved the essential power here, when walking in Kitzbühel :-)

High Society

Kitzbühel is an odd place. And not my favourite place in the Alps, too. It's all about seeing and to be seen, posh & expensive boutiques and show-off. Besides that, the mountains surrounding Kitzbühel are suffering a lot, because of the winter sports... every alpine skier should be obliged to visit K is summer, in order to see the damage and harm, which is done to the mountains by mass-tourism-skiing. Not nice at all. What WAS nice is the fact, that Ruben parked our campervan directly behind the finish line :-) 10m from the line to my bed. Cool. Great job by our preofessional caretaker Rubi :-)

In the evening we went to the pasta party somewhere downtown Kitzbühel... and as we were so tired, we decided the first time (and not the last) to skip the whole winning ceremony haza-baza and briefing for the next day. In sum, that allowed us to sleep at least 1.5 hours longer. Not bad. And weatherforecast for the next day was ok... but for the following days it sounded already pretty bad... longest leg waiting for us tomorrow: 46km and 2300 Hm. Outsch.

Rock´'n'Roll,

Janne

Done! Pictures online!!

2010-09-17T15:14:00.000+03:00

Hello friends, we made it - Gore-Tex Transalpine Run 2010 is history! Unfortunately we did not have any web access during the race, so I was not able to cover the happening live, as planned. But I will try to look back and wruite some lines about every stage we did. The good news: Neither Martin nor me are injured. A bit sick though, as the weather was pretty nasty during the first week. But once more, our feet definetely do not look like we thought they might look like after 310km and almost 14000m of elevation gain...

I will put ALL pictures in a Picasa web album, that everybody who is interested, can watch them... here is the link to the Picasa Web Album: All the pictures here!!!

And now, the story of the 1st stage...

Day 1 – Pain, Rain and an Unpopular Lake

No posts for quite a while, as I had a very tight schedule during the past days. I was up in Finland and flew in directly to the Transalpine Run yesterday morning from Oulu. I took the very nice early bird, leaving Oulu at 6:00 a.m. – that means that I had to get up at 3:15 a.m. German time… not the best preparation for the competition, which was starting today (Saturday) at 11:00 a.m. in Ruhpolding/ Germany. Fortunately, Martins parents picked me up at Munich airport and gave me a lift to the starting village – they came down for the first few stages and also Monika (Martin’s wife) and Heike (Ruben’s spouse) came down to the start. What a fan-club!

When I arrived to Ruhpolding, our campervan was already set up and I just had to put my stuff in the right place and everything was fine. Take a look at our sponsoring board... I like especially the Battery sticker on the motor of our home :-)

Rain & Pain

Boy, it was raining cats dogs today. At the starting line-up it was raining and the first kilometers were quite wet. The course was really nasty for us today, as we had a long and not too steep 13k uphill section in the beginning. Not our strength at all… I was suffering, as my right ribs were hurting (I hurt myself last week, slipping on my stairs at home and falling really stupid…) – I had a feeling that my whole “system” was not operating properly yet. After the 13k, a real uphill session started, up to Winkelmoosalm and Kammerköhralm. Not too bad for us, but it was really steep – and very, very muddy. It was just straight uphill on a alpine ski track… after 45 minutes in that uphill, my legs started hurting quite a bit and some cramps came up… but as I am not a wimp, I continued… Martin was all good and had no bigger issues… well, finally we reached the top of the climb, Kammerköhralm. From there, a nice descent started, one of our strengths – normally… but as my “system” was not completely set up, I was also struggling a bit here. But only a bit! It was very steep and technical downhill and we overtook quite some teams. Our great Inov-8 shoes definitely were a perfect asset there! Others were slipping and sliding, we were running like railroad dudes… Cool.

The unpopular lake… no pictures abailable of that sucker :-)

And then the last 10 kilometers… sucked. A bit uphill, a bit flat a bit downhill – but we were already tired enough, that every step hurt. And it started to rain like crazy, we were soaking wet. And then the lake… St. Ulrich am Pillersee (Piller.lake) – we had to run all along the lake on a flat (!) trail, but we were so weak, that we had to walk, the rain and everything – so I started bitching on the lake *hahaha* Ruben got that on video, when I was shouting at the lake… bad German swearwords, I bet the lake is really, really sad now! I went down to the lake in the evening and apologized, luckily he accepted that ;-)

The evening

Shower, unpacking the wet stuff, pasta party, winner’s ceremony and briefing for the next day… and now very tired. Ah, winner’s ceremony… we will most probably NOT win here… we are in the latter half of the field, but we really don’t care. We had absolutely no issue with the time-limits and we are healthy – that’s our target for the week.

Shoes, slugs and more

2010-08-21T18:26:00.001+03:00

Hi folks, first of all a correction!

Martin visited our shoe-sponsors Inov-8 in Sipplingen, Germany last week - and when they realized, that I am planning to run the race this year with the RED shoes, they acted really fast... the red version of the Inov-8 roclite 312GTX is the last year's model; and Florian and Manuel decided that we should run with the 2010 version of this great shoes, in order to represent the brand in the correct way - thanks :-) So the decision is the same, the model looks a bit different. Instead of the flashy red version, we will wear the sporty black/yellow design...cool. First choice roclite 312GTX, spare pair roclite 295. May the games begin!

Last long training together this morning

Martin and me decided that we have to do at least one long run together, before we will gather at the line-up in Ruhpolding in two weeks. Due to our both busy schedules, we agreed to run today, early in the morning in Martin's playground, the Taunus hills north of Frankfurt. I already went there Friday evening and enjoyed the hospitality of Moni, Martin and Benjamin :-) We discussed all open points, which are still open and went to bed pretty early, as we already had to be on the road at 8 a.m. - we planned not only a training session, we also started the first serious tests with our drinks, gels and bars from our new sponsor Peeroton. We have only two weeks time, so we have to make sure that we know exactly what and when to eat'n'drink. Secondly - not less important at all - we both were wearing the shoes for the race first time. I plan to run around 60k before the race, that I can be sure that they fit as I am used to it :-)

So we started at 8 and met Sophie, a running pal of Martin, after 20 minutes. The weather was just fantastic and we were cruising through the forest with an easy speed, talking and smiling :-) The testing of the food stuff was perfect; we are very confident to have the right partner by our sides with Peeroton. Thanks to Andreas at this point! My personal favourite is the cherry flavoured mineral-vitamin drink! So we wre just running and having fun for 2:15h, enjoying this late summer morning. Thanks Dr. Sophie & Martin!

What else?!

Nothing. Easy going with Joona & Finn today - they will stay overnight at my place. Tomorrow another easy session for me in the local forest here in Darmstadt area. Ahhhhhh... the slug in the first picture of this post. I thought it's just a nice motive - let's hope that the shoes make me run fast enough to pass that speedy animal :-)

Aloha, Janne

Gary Moore: "And I still got the shoes for you..."

2010-08-17T21:03:00.002+03:00

Hey there, IF Gary Moore would be a trailrunner, he would have changed his famous song from "Blues" to "Shoes"... don't you think so?! Well, the perfect and right shoe is an absolute essential for an adventure like the Gore-Tex Transalpine Run. There are hundreds of brands out there, claiming that they have the best running shoe for everybody. Stop: Trailrunners are definetely not "everybody", as the requirements are very special and unique. The chosen shoes haves to be light, grippy, rugged, mud-resisitant and comfortable. Those shoes have to fit tight but not squeezing and protective without being debilitating. And, last but not least - as we are from Hessia (our home-state in Germany): "Optik zählt!" Which stands for nothing else, that the looks are definetely important ;-) Regards from that point to Hannes and Mario, the unique hessian sportsmen, who are always faster with their words than on teir bikes *hahaha*. How did I end up here?! Ah ja, the shoes.

This is the point, when Inov-8 comes on board!
We are working together with Inov-8 already the second year now and those guys provide exactly the shoes, which are needed for something like the Transalpine Run. There might be bigger brands with more marketing power, big stars and ballyhoo behind... but there are no better shoes to tackle the Alps in the right way! We know that from last year's experience already. Many other teams had big issues with blisters, spread ankles and other foot injuries on a daily base. Martin and me did not have a single blister (!) after last year's 240km race! Inov-8 [speak: "innovate"] is truly developping gear from runners for runners - especially trail- and fell-runners. It's an UK based company and many top athletes are running the Inov-8 gear. Because it's the best of the best. More about Inov-8 on their webpages, just click their link at the right sponsor column!

Imagine running up or down a very steep trail, rainy and wet conditions, loose rocks and greasy, loamy soil... very slippery and also very dangerous conditions. We experienced it in 2009 - our shoes had a fantastic grip in up- and downhill sections. And many of our competitors were slipping, falling and sliding around us. That was quite an amazing experience. Anyway, almost every participant is having some quite specialized shoes - those runners, who think they can handle the challenge with their fancy city sneakers - they will be out after day one - or, if they are lucky - they can buy some real shoes in the Transalpine Run Village in the evening :-)

My Inov-8 shoes for this year's Transalpine Run

Well, we were discussing a lot with our friends Florian and Manuel from Trentventure (the german Inov-8 distributor), which shoes would be the right choice for this year's adventure. We had our very positive experiences from last year with the roclite 312GTX, so I decided to go for it with a new pair of them this year. The GTX stands for Gore-Tex. This is a big discussion point - always. Whether you take a shoe with or without a Gore-Tex membrane. Take one with, no water will get into the shoe and harass the feet from wet ground. BUT: If you step into deeper water, the water goes in from top of the shoe and - due to the membrane - stays in there, which might cause blisters and pain. I had no problems last year, so I give it another try!

As a second pair, I will have the roclite 295 with me. It is without the Gore-Tex membrane and a bit lighter. The profile is as grippy as the profile of the 312GTX - should be perfect for the expected conditions. But definetely, my #1 choice and pair for the race will be the 312GTX in a flashy red design. I used those brandnew shoes for this year´s race first time today, in order to get used to them. Shitty, rainy conditions, perfect weather to make the shoes and feet feel comfortable together :-) The workout this evening was - ok :-) I can feel it, I am getting in the right shape just in time, I just did not eat properly today :-)

Big thanks once more to Manuel and Florian for your support - I am absolutely convinced, that Inov-8 shoes will become famous all over the globe soon! Tomorrow, Martin will visit Florian and Manuel in their premesis in Sipplingen and get the missing pieces of our equipment. So everything needed will be in our hands for the big race. THANKS!

Cheers, Jan

Breaking News: "Team Polar Finland / Invo-8" will be fueled by Battery Energy Drinks!

2010-08-16T22:00:00.003+03:00

Pretty cool day today, folks! First of all, the training intensity goes up and its getting tougher and tougher - but I had a great session today. Perfect weather conditions in Germany: Only 18 degrees Celsius, some rain showers... I love that - it's so much better than unbearable heat. Also great conditions to get the main pairs of running shoes ready for the big race - but that's a story for another day! So I did pretty fast 18k today, good start for a tough training week. Most probably the tomorrow's session will take place before work... looking forward, I have to collect kilometers and kilometers now!

The big hit today: We will be supported and fueled with the extra kick of energy by and with Battery, the leading Energy drink of Scandinavia, coming from Finland! And Battery is not just a drink, it's pure lifestyle - check out their cool Webpage. This is really something, as Battery is a perfect match with Polar. Both two global and very successful brands, based in the country of sisu, supporting us on our way across the Alps. And we will be guest in the home-country of that mainstream, uncool energy Drink called Pink Cattle or Cow or whatever :-)
It will be fun to promote the real no. 1 on their hometurf a bit *hahaha*! And as you can se in the picture - every can is full of sizzling energy and it "keeps you going". Well... "going" or "running". WTF, that's semantic - we don't care. It's smoking cool and we are proud ambassadors for Battery! More details to come, as that has just been agreed today.

For those who don't know Battery - yet - try to catch some whenever possible. Very tasty and the real kick to get you going. We are looking forward a lot to this cooperation, as it is adding a real cool and trendy spice to our adventure. You might wonder, what the picture abovehas to do with the Transalpine Run and our team or whatsoever. Well, nothing. But who cares?!

And: No - this is not our race-suit for the competition. Or maybe... just a sec, I have to check with Martin & Ruben :-)

Rock'n'Roll, Janne

Exact course decided & press release Polar Germany

2010-08-11T18:22:00.000+03:00

Exact course decided: 305 kilometers and 13,500 meters of difference in elevation at 6th GORE-TEX® Transalpine Run 2010

Finally, at the end of July: Course Director Wolfgang Pohl and his team inspected the newly designed eastern route step by step. With 305 kilometers it is the longest the GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run has ever seen, and the difference in altitude totaling 13500 meters does add some spice to the mix. What has most notably changed, in comparison to the original plans, is the difference in elevation, but that will probably be appreciated by most runners. "During the inspection of the route we have eliminated some of the difficult high-alpine portions in order to make sure we can carry out individual stages safely even under adverse weather conditions and guarantee our runners' safety" The result is an unbelievably diverse and extremely tough route with very long distances asking participants to give their all. And, just as the western route, it'll be on the most beautiful trails of the Alps.

Polar-Team beim GORE-TEX® Transalpine Run 2010: Zwei Teams, Herzfrequenz live und ein herzhafter Snack

Polar ist beim diesjährigen Start zum GORE-TEX® Transalpine Run gleich mit zwei Teams vertreten. Jan Mueller und Martin Constantin wagen sich nach dem erfolgreichen letztjährigen Finish für das Polar Team Finnland auf die neu gestaltete Ostroute. Daniel Conka und Harald Bajohr gehen nach 2008 zum zweiten Mal als Polar Team Germany gemeinsam auf die Jagd nach dem begehrten Finisher-Shirt. Neben diesen beiden Teams werden Daten wie Herzfrequenz, Position und Geschwindigkeit bei drei weiteren Teams aus dem 250 Teams umfassenden Teilnehmerfeld auf der Webseite unter http://www.transalpine-run.com/ zu sehen sein, so dass alle, die das Rennen online verfolgen möchten, immer auf dem Laufenden sind. Dank eines kleinen GPS-Empfängers in Kombination mit dem Trainingssystem RS800CX werden die sogenannten biometrischen Daten während des Rennens übermittelt und quasi in Echtzeit ins Internet übertragen.

Während die beiden Polar-Teams mit den anderen Trailduos um die Wette laufen und Gipfel erstürmen, steht ein weiterer Polar-Mitarbeiter während des Rennens im Expo-Bereich für Fragen und Informationen rund um die Produktpalette des weltweiten Marktführers für Herzfrequenz-Messgeräte und Trainingscomputer zur Verfügung. Nach den Strapazen auf dem „Highway to Hell“ dürfen sich alle Läufer, die täglich die anspruchsvollen Etappen hinter sich bringen, auf einen herzhaften Snack am Polar-Stand freuen. Als die optimalen Begleiter in der Vorbereitung und beim Etappenlauf über die Alpen empfiehlt die Polar Electro GmbH Deutschland die beiden Multisport- und Trainingscomputer RS300X und RS800CX. Beide Systeme sind sowohl mit einem Lauf- als auch mit einem GPS-Sender kombinierbar und geben über Laufgeschwindigkeit und Entfernung wichtige Informationen an den Läufer weiter. Beim RS800CX Trainingssystem handelt es sich um das Flaggschiff in der vielfältigen Polar Produktpalette, was sich insbesondere in der Funktionsvielfalt und in den Möglichkeiten zur Trainingsplanung und –analyse wiederspiegelt. Mit eigener Software Polar ProTrainer 5.0 Software überlässt man nichts mehr dem Zufall, das Training kann exakt geplant und analysiert werden. Selbstverständlich ist in dem RS800CX auch ein Höhenmesser integriert, damit kann man sich nach der Bewältigung der Etappen die absolvierten Höhenmeter im Ziel noch einmal deutlich vor Augen führen und bei Freunden, Laufkollegen oder einfach zu Hause den Gore®-Tex Transalpine Run noch einmal eindrucksvoll Revue passieren lassen.

Die Polar Electro GmbH wünscht allen Teilnehmern, Supportern, Medienvertretern und dem Orga-Team viel Glück, eindrucksvolle Erlebnisse, gesundes Ankommen und unvergessliche Momente . Und bitte nicht vergessen: Immer schön auf das Herz hören!

Cheers, Janne

Junior Extreme Sports Weekend

2010-08-07T18:22:00.000+03:00

Hi Fans,

this is and has been a pretty cool weekend so far. I am alone with my older son Finn (10y) and we do all the stuff which might be a bit difficult, when Joona (7y) would be around. Yesterday evening we witnessed the season's opening match of our local football club Darmstadt 98 - bad start, we lost 0-2 against a pathetic team from Pfullendorf. Once again, it will become a pretty dificult season, I assume...

Bright sunshine and warm weather today, so Finn and me grabbed the bikes, put the shades on our noses and went outside - we went climbing in the local "Kletterwald" (climbing forest) in Darmstadt - it's a pretty cool place, about 10 different routes with several levels of difficulty. Finn was pretty fit and we were speeding through the trees like monkeys :-) We did almost all of the courses, except the black, most difficult one. It's only allowed for adults or at least 1.60m tall kids... soon Finn will be tall enough, then we can tackle that one. We will!

Tomorrow, Finn will participate in a Triathlon competition. He will be active and I will be the speaker of this event - the "19th Mühlchen-Triathlon". The organizers of that neat event are friends of mine and I do the speaker-job as a hobby there since years. It's always fun and most of the times the weather is pretty good - same plan for tomorrow. Finn is a bit excited, he also participated last year - normally, he is not an endurance-dude, as he is playing field-hockey. But during the school summer holidays, there are no games and trainings... perfect time for a visit of another sports :-) And the main motivator is the finisher T-shirt... which Finn will wear very proudly after the event then.

I will keep you posted about Finn's results tomorrow - this evening we will have some carboloading and early to bed, as we have to get up pretty early for a Sunday morning then... but looking forward to that!

Swim, bike & run, Jan

Team intro: "El Loco Conductor", "Mad'In" & "Da'Myllylä" and: spectacular video animations of the TAR 2010 stages!

2010-08-06T16:05:00.002+03:00

Hello again, time is running!
Now it's only one month to go, until the Gore-Tex Transalpine Run 2010 will be started in Ruhpolding. Yesterday I had the big preparation meeting with the team, in order to make sure that everything will be planned and organized properly. We met at my place, having a spicy Thai-food session and discussing all the necessities... but WHO on earth is the team?! No need to write anything about me, if anybody wants to know more about me, just read the previous 50+ posts of this blog :-) But there are two more people on the team:

Ruben "El Conductor"

The most essential member of our team - Ruben is driving the campervan, taking care that Martin & me don't need to do and think anything else but surviving the running stages. When we leave in the morning, Ruben is busy the whole day in keeping the van in order, driving it from one stage village to the next one, refilling our food- and drinking inventory, taking care about everything. When we arrive in the afternoon at the finish line of the day, Ruben is already there, waiting for us with dry clothes, drinks and his great sense of humour. The whole thing would be impossible without him. Ruben was our "housewife" :-) already last year and it was just great. I can imagine that it's sometimes difficult, as Martin and me arrive sometimes quite destroyed and "mentally & physically done" after a stage. Then it needs some real sensitivity, when to cheer up or when to be quiet... man, Ruben knows exactly what to do. And besides that, Rubi is a graphical designer and good photographer. He created those cool hip-hop-style posters last year and I guess he will do that again for 2010... Looking forward to that great week again - thanks Ruben for joining us again on this adventure :-)

Martin "Mad'In"

My long-term friend Martin - and I've been the proud bestman at his and his wife's Moni's marriage 3 years ago. I can't really imagine anybody else as a running partner for this adventure, as it needs more than physical fitness and passion for running and big challenges. This whole thing only works, if the personalities of the team members fit together and everybody has a sense for the right actions and comments in every situation. This Transalpine Run is a big thing - every single participant undergoes a contrast bath on an emotional level. During one day you'll be cheered up and motivated up to the moon and same day you will go through several emotional and physical breakdowns. Not having the right partner then might be quite a burden then... also simple things like the running speed. If you don't agree or match with your partner, how fast or slow to run - this issue will kill and destroy the team latest after day 4. We have seen that last year, when the faster running partners in some other teams "killed" the slower partner. So they had a physical problem and also a psychological issue, as they were not fulfilling their own (single) expectations. SO: It's all about the team! And I have the best team partner, I can imagine. Let's see what we will do in the future, when we will get bored of easy stuff like the Transalpine Run *hahaha*

What else?! There are great animated videos of the single stages of this year's Gore-TexTransalpine Run available online on Salomon's Youtube Channel. Here are the links to the videos of the first two stages - the missing ones will be posted in the next posts:

Stage 1: Ruhpolding/ Germany - St. Ullrich am Pillersee/ Austria

Stage 2: St. Ullrich am Pillersee/ Austria - Kitzbühel/ Austria

So long, Janne

Heat record in Finland since weather recording started 1914!

2010-07-30T15:25:00.002+03:00

Oh-hoh! 37,2 Centigrades / 99 F in Joensuu (Estern Finland) yesterday marked an all-time record high for Finnland, since the weather started to be recorded in 1914. Do you remember that I wrote one day about the stereotype, that most people think that it's always cold and dark in Finland?! Hah! But... too hot for me, my friends.

Ok, I am not in Joensuu (the aborigines say "Joe" for Joensuu) - I am in Oulu ("Paskakaupunki" *haha*) - but it was almost as hot as in Joe yesterday. Look in my face and you get the point... sweating like a pig. I was at the Kempele track- and field stadium in the afternoon yesterday with some colleagues to do some intervall running session, for some testing... great idea. The stadium (see the picture) is situated in a kind of bowl and the heat was just concentrating in this heat-bowl with the dark red running track... We were running 1000m intervals and I have to say... it hurt. But it was fun ;-)

Due to the heat I decided to do my running very early, before work today. I was running from 6.45 to 08.00 am - a good decision, as it was already 23 Centigrade at this early stage...

Now weekend ahead. Let's see what happens, depending a lot on the weather. A great weekend to all of you out there!

Sweating J

Funny questions from all over the world!

2010-07-28T11:22:00.000+03:00

Ciao people,

this blog is really catching up some speed lately. I get some really good feedback from all over the world, I thought it might be fun to show two of those comments and answer them open :-)

The pictures in this post are all from last years race. The cow was standing in the middle of a trail in over 2000m altitude and couldn't care less about us sickos running across the Alps. What does that tell us?! Maybe we shouldn't take ourselves too serious :-)

Nick from New Zealand:

Hey Jan, just read about your psychedelic run earlier this week - that knocked me down, I am still laughing. My running buddy and me are seriously considering to travel to Finland next summer, because we want to experience that, too :-) My - not very sporty - best friend Rick asked me, if that works without the sweaty running-part, too..... just getting the psycho part. Then he would join us travelling to Europe *lol*

Hi Nick, great to read that you enjoy my blog! And great idea to travel to Finland for training... even I can't promise similar conditions every summer, if you are looking for the special kick :-) Anyway, I would recommend to drink enough - might be healthier... and your buddy Rick - he will find other options to have a good feeling in Finnish summer, I promise that to you! Lot's of music festivals and other happenings going on!

Dan from Canada:

Hello Jan, thanks for your great blog and sharing all that stuff! I read about the Transalpine Run in a Canadian Outdoor mag last year and got very interested in that event. I googled the Transalpine Run and "blogs" and found yours. Who knows, maybe I try to get in the race for 2011! One question: How many calories do you burn during one race day? And how did you fill up your energy during that long time, I bet you can't eat as much as you would need to do?!

Hello Dan, it makes me proud - as a non-native english speaker, that you follow my blog and that you enjoy the little stories in there! And it would be fun to meet in next year's edition - if I am doing it again... but I got kinda hooked... so most probably I do it again :-)

Your question about the energy consumption - on average, I burned 6000 calories per day (measured with my Polar RS800). Eating and drinking well at the right time is key to get through this adventure witout any bigger troubles. And you are right, most probably it's not possible to take in the same amount of calories, what you would need. Mainly energy bars, gels, energy drinks and water during the stage. After the finish line, a strong recovery drink (proteins/carbs) and lots of water, again. Sometimes there is some carbo-food (pasta!) served directly after the finish line and in the evening, there is always a big gathering with very good food; all participants are eating together! And in the morning - well... difficult. I am not a big "breakfaster". Just a breadroll with marmelade and an energy bar...

What else?! Training is going on well, the weather conditions are much better now, but it's still pretty hot and humid. I was training very early this morning, before work. Luckily we have this "drying closet" at work, a cool invention - which I have never seen anywhere but in Scandinavia: When you arrive completely soaked and wet at work, you just wash your stuff in the sink and put it in the dryer - after a few hours everything is try and you can use the stuff again. Especially important for those guys getting to work with the bikes. Imagine they are getting in a rainshower in the morning and need to wear the wet clothes when going home again later...brrrrrr. Not possible here :-) Very good service by my lovely employer! Thanks, Polar :-)

Oh - and I got also asked, if I could describe a bit more, how the days at the Transalpine Run look like. That's a simple one, just check out my last year's race coverage. I can promise you some pretty funny stories. About annoying mountain singers, trail-shitters, great experiences - just check it out; click the link here and enjoy! The blog is chronologically, so scroll down and start reading the bottom first.

Sunny greetings from northern Finland, Jan

Psychedelic run with Jim Morrison - "Is this the end, my friend?"

2010-07-27T10:37:00.002+03:00

Hi all,

what an experience yesterday! I was working normally all day long in my office in Oulu, getting things done pretty well. During the work, I was listening to the great music of the Doors, as the office is still quite empty, because of the summer vacation period. The office has an air condition system and when I left home in the morning, it was pretty fresh, windy and rainy. Taking a look out of the window, it looked like perfect conditions for a nice long run after work, as the temperatures were pretty much ok INSIDE the office. Cloudy, definetely not too hot, a slight chance of rain.

So I finished my work, got all my stuff ready and went outside....*BOOOOOM* It was so hot and humid outside, that I almost lost my breath! The weather was almost like in Hong Kong or Thailand at it's worst days! But as I am not a chicken, I decided to go for the run anyway... with no drinks and no money, clever me :-) Normally, I can easily stand a 2h run without drinking, but this conditions made a change... which was about to experience after a bit more than 1h. So I was just running easily, not too fast and enjoyed the flow. Thinking about this and that, what happened lately in my life - which is quite a lot. A lot of stuff to think about, so perfect set-up for a run. After 45 minutes duration, my tongue was already glued to my palate and all I was able to think about was water, drink, liquid - so no clear thoughts about anything meaningful any more. Then, once of a sudden, all those Doors songs came back on my mind. I am never running with music, but the songs, lyrics and beat of some key songs were playing in my head - without having any mp3 player or headphones with me. "Riders on the Storm", "LA Woman", "Roadhouse Blues" and very often "The End"..... My mind and thoughts were only flying around those songs and I heard myself repeating the lyrics, totally engrossed in my thoughts... "...is this the end? Is this the end, my friend?...." Boy, I never had experiences like that during a running session and I have to say that it was.....great. Just great. Maybe not healthy, as I went in a slight dehydration, but I really felt a bit like being on a psychedelic trip. Wow. Did anybody of you guys out there had those experiences yourself - in a similar or comparable way?!

Somehow I managed to get back home from my trip and I drank directly 2 litres!!! Most probably I needed it... This morning I had to run back to work then, as I left the car in Kempele - but I chose to take the shorter 12k route, in order to avoid to big suffering. The weather is still the same here. Quite odd for northern Finland, I have to say. I hope that it will cool down a bit and training will be a bit more easy - when it comes to the loss of liquids due to the heavy sweating. I don't like carring a bottle with me in normal training sessions. In the Transalpine Run it's something different, we are carrying backpacks with a drinking bladder with us and there are refreshment stops twice day. It's almost impossible to run out of water there...

So, my friends - this was a bit different story today :-)

Peace, Psychedelic Jan

Hard training, hard life - and our new sponsor: Peeroton

2010-07-23T13:13:00.001+03:00

Hello everybody out there,

another work-week is almost over and also the training-week is on schedule. I did already 60k this week, some more to come during the weekend. It's pretty tough right now, as I started my weight-reducing project this week. If there is one thing, I can improve and do better than last year: carrying less kilos over the Alps in this year. Of course, I am far away from being overweight, but I had around 90kg (being 1.95m tall) during the past couple of months. 88kg should be ok - that was my last year's weight for the race - but I decided to give it a try to go down to 85kg for the event, as I struggled last year in the light uphills and had to stop running too easily and had to walk instead. After I am done with my weight reduction project, I might look pretty skinny then - too slim most probably, but it's only for that time and then I can increase the weight again easily.

How do I do that - decreasing my weight 5kg within a pretty short period of time?! Well, it's all about the input and the output of the calories. Just create a clearly negative balance, that you consume more calories than you put in your mouth - et voilá: The weight goes down easily. Sounds easy - but especially when continueing the training with a pretty high volume, it's sometimes hard, because the body is just lacking some energy to perform as wished... but the speed doesn't play any role during the current period, it's all about long and easy runs, garnished with some intervalls and uphill sessions.

Most probably I will have reached my 85kg by mid of next week and then the RIGHT nutrition is needed to have the essentials available for the Transalpine Run. That's where our new sponsor comes on board!

PEEROTON - New Sponsor for "Team Polar Finland / Inov-8"!

I am proud to announce that we will be supported by the Austrian nutrition experts from PEEROTON this year! Peeroton is highly specialized in nutrition analysis and -advices, especially for sports purposes (Peeroton is also targeting the "everyday life", but their roots are in the sports. I am especially proud, as Peeroton is the nutrition supplier for the Austrian Ski Team since 7 years and a top brand in Austria. I am pretty sure, that we will hear about Peeroton soon all over Europe!

Peeroton offers innovative high quality products in the area of sports nutrition. The products are developed in accordance with the latest scientific findings. The product range by Peeroton supplies the competitive athlete, as well as the amateur with all important supplements.

The reason, why we were looking proactively for a new nutrition supplier are practical reasons. In a competition like the Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run, every athlete needs to take in a huge amount of calories during one stage - roughly 8000 kcals are needed. Everybody who has been competing himself knows, that it is pretty difficult - almost impossible - to properly chew anything, when your heartrate is hammering at +150 beats per minute. Many of the caloric bars, which would have a lot of energy to provide are just not possible to eat during the race, as the texture is too hard and sticky. Peeroton offers great stuff here, the POWERPACK - which is more like an easy to chew cake, than a sticky bar. Great stuff!

The other part of the nutrition requirements will be energy gels. Another challenge, but Peeroton will provide us the ENERGIZER - we will have always clean hands and enough power to go even harder! Last but not least, the drinking during long stages is key - the MINERAL-VITAMIN-DRINK will serve us perfectly, too.

Currently Martin and me are evaluating our nutrition habits together with the experts from Peeroton and we will get a precise and tailormade plan for the last weeks before the race and the perfectly personalized & matched nutrition for our big adventure. Looking forward to this great cooperation. Thanks to Gerald for making this great contact possible!

Rgds, Janne

Cult status among runners - GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN 2010 sold out

2010-07-22T12:43:00.000+03:00

Munich, 15 July – The organisers of the sixth edition of the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE RUN have announced that it is sold out – as it was in 2009. 500 runners from 24 countries will be at the start of the “Highway to Hell”.

Since the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE RUN was first held in 2005, the multi-stage event has become one of the greatest challenges for trail runners worldwide.

This year’s challenge is to tackle the new route in the east of the Alps. Even experienced transalpine runners are impressed by the statistics for the new course: 295 km and approx. 18,000 of elevation gain, one stage featuring the equivalent of a full marathon, and a calorie expenditure equal to that of riders in the Tour de France. 250 teams of two will spend eight days running through Germany, Austria and Italy.

Cult status among runners

This year’s course will make high demands on the participants. Nevertheless, the maximum number of participants will be at the start – just like last year. These will include last year’s winners from the UK, Andy Symonds and Tom Owens, who set a new record in the fifth edition of the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE RUN, and the winning team in the mixed event, Angela Mudge and her partner Ben Bardsley. In addition to attracting runners from the “classic“ TRANSALPINE RUN countries such as Spain, USA and Austria, this year’s run has drawn athletes from Israel, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia for the first time. “We are delighted that the interest in the run is as strong as it was last year. The GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE RUN has now achieved cult status which extends far beyond Europe,” says Uta Albrecht, project leader at PLAN B, the event organiser.

The sixth GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE RUN will start on 4 September at 10.00 am in Ruhpolding. Runners will start in teams of two in five different categories: Men, Women, Mixed, Master Men (teams whose participants’ ages combine to 80 years or more) and Senior Master Men (teams whose participants’ ages combine to 100 years or more). A maximum of 250 teams can participate. Every year the route alternates between a west route (from Oberstdorf to Latsch) and an east route (from Ruhpolding to Sexten), which is being run this year.

The stages of the GORE-TEX® Transalpine Run 2010

Date Stage Start – Finish

4 September 2010 1st stage Ruhpolding (GER) - St.Ulrich/Pillersee (AUT)

5 September 2010 2nd stage St.Ulrich/Pillersee (AUT) - Kitzbühel (AUT)

6 September 2010 3rd stage Kitzbühel (AUT) - Neukirchen am Großvenediger (AUT)

7 September 2010 4th stage Neukirchen am Großvenediger (AUT) – Prettau-Ahrntal (IT)

8 September 2010 5th stage Prettau-Ahrntal (IT) - Sand in Taufers (IT)

9 September 2010 6th stage Sand in Taufers (IT) - St.Vigil (IT)

10 September 2010 7th stage St.Vigil (IT) - Niederdorf/Pustertal (IT)

11 September 2010 8th stage Niederdorf/Pustertal (IT) - Sexten (IT)

For further information about the race, the teams, the stages, etc. visit http://www.transalpine-run.com/index.htm

Great news for the Transalpine Run!

2010-07-15T14:55:00.002+03:00

Hi fans, I just got some great news from our sponsors and supporters for the Transalpine Run this year and about the race as such. First of all: The final route has been released by the organization team of Plan B - looks like a geat challenge again, crossing the Alps. This time it will be the eastern route, starting in Ruhpolding, Germany (Biathlon fans might have heard the name of that cosy little town...).
Take a closer look at the detailed map! Just click it and you will have a better view of the whole thing and the facts. And: It's sold out already!

Team Clothing

I just got green light from our friends at GORE Running Wear, that we will get the prefect team clothing for "Team Polar Finland / Inov-8" this year. Jackets, shirts and shorts - great stuff! We will pick the stuff during next week and get the printing done and after that we will present the gear to you. Can't wait for that :-)

Hightech Polar support

This year, a few teams - of course, also "Team Polar Finland / Inov-8" and "Team Polar Germany" - will be equipped with the unique Polar telemetry system, which will deliver online-live-data, such as heartrate, speed and exact geo-positioning of the runners to the livestream, which will be available on the official webpages of the Transalpine Run 2010. More about the exciting telemetry story will follow, as soon as we have more detailed information. We will also get the top-notch Polar RS800CX with GPS to our wrists - it's like Xmas for us :-)

Nutrition sponsor

We are currently negociating with a new sponsor for our nutrition during the competition. We will need a lot of liquid and especially energy gels and bars - it would be really great to get the support of the guys we hope to get on board... more about that and the name of this great company will be announced, after we hopefully find an agreement! News about that as soon as we have sealed the deal!

Other news

Training is going well, nothing to complain. This evening we will visit Rotuaari Piknik, an open air music festival downtown Oulu - as whole Oulu is covered by w-lan, I will post some impressions live ffrom there then. We will see three finnish bands, Viikate, Yö and Popeda. I am looking most forward to see and hear Popeda :-) Yeah! Tomorrow we will escape to Kuusamo, visiting our dear friends Riika, Make, Aino, Leo and their funny dog.

Cheers, Janne

All-clear! Everything under control!

2010-07-14T10:27:00.002+03:00

Huomenta kaikille, this is a great day!Most probably you have read about my disastrous yesterday's training session and I have to tell that I did not sleep too well... I started thinking a lot, if I will be able to manage to be fit for the Transalpine Run in time. But at a certain stage, I just thought "WTF"!? I always managed to reach my big targets, at least in my humble sports career! Why not this time, too?!

So the alarm bell rang at 6 am and I went out of the door at 6:30 - yes, I learned from yesterday's defeat and ate and drank well before leaving (not forgetting the two plated of delicious pasta yesterday evening...). It has been raining heavily last night, but the temperatures were up to 20 degrees already that early and the air was fresh and rich - wonderful. To make the sports part short: I managed the distance on a decent time this morning, I had my heart rate under control (yesterday avg 166 (!) today 152) and I am feeling much better and have no doubts anymore, that I might fail to be fit on the sport. So @Martin: everything fine :-) The temperatures this morning increased quite fast again, the max was 36 Centigrades. Ok, measurement at my wrist, next to my sweaty arm, but still auite high. Remember, yesterday it was 40. But as I wrote yesterday too, this is also good practice for the Transalpine Run, where the temperatures might reach the same level. Let's see...

What I have to write about this morning is the beauty of the Finnish nature in summertime! It's really unbelievable, how rich, green, full, bright, mysterious, wild, juicy, flavorsome, unique and breathtaking this is. Minä rakastan suomen kesä! (--> I love finnish summer! If you agree or want to know more about it, check this link: KESÄ. Especially all those guys should check this out, who react to Finland with this clever stereotype: "Finland?! WHAT?! I could never live there, isn't it always ice cold and dark?! People depressed and only boozing?! Not for me..." Great thing about Finland is, that there are still the 4 seasons with all features. If I think about Germany... we don't have the seasons with all their beauty anymore. Most of the years, by all means. And this is only one part - I will keep you posted about many more great aspects and views about summer in Finland during the next days. Music festivals, boating on the lakes and sea, barbecuing, reindeers and mooses blocking the roads, fishing, hiking and nature, nature, nature...ok, and some mosquitoes *hahaha*.

So. Time to continue working after this coffee break! Janne

Crisis Day - Can I do it?!

2010-07-13T18:02:00.002+03:00

Man, what a shitty training today. I planned to run back from work to Pateniemi, a distance of roughly 20k. Not too much, taking into consideration, what I have trained this year already and how often I did this distance on my left foot. I took almost two weeks off from training and planned the big restart of the training with the target to reach my top-performance by the start of the Transalpine Run. And what happened?! I had to call Jossu to pick me up after 12k and drive me back home... what a desaster. Thanks Jossu for picking me up - she had to run to get to her workout then, because she had to pick up her weak ukkeli. Never happened to me before and this is really a heavy crisis now. Did I do something wrong?! Was the training break to long and I lost all my endurance?! Did I eat or drink wrong?! Am I too fat & heavy?! Am I mentally down and not able to run longer?! How will I survive only one day at the Transalpine Run, when I have to run roughly 35k for 8 consecutive days in a row, garnished with 18000 meters of elevation gain?! This minirun today was only 5m elevation gain! And I have to do 18000!!! Holymoly...

Brrrrrrrr.......calm down, Janne. This is and was the exactly right warning today. Already tomorrow, it will be better, I am absolutely sure. Ok, it was very hot today, my Polar RS800CX showed me a max temperature of 40 degrees Celsius. No problem, it might be the same temperature in the TAR, so this was a good remninder to be well prepared and eat and drink in time - before feeling thirsty. I did not drink properly, as I only carried a small bottle with me. no problem, at the TAR I will have much better possibilities to get enough liquid. My heartrate was going through the roof today, even when running a pretty slow pace. No problem, I just had a two week break from serious training. It will become better every day. I am not in shape at all for the TAR today. No problem, it doesn't matter to be not in shape TODAY. I need to be in shape when the TAR starts, not a single day earlier.

What can I do to support my efforts to be in shape, when needed?!

Here is the plan:

--> Proper nutrition, especially if long training sessions are planned.

--> Enough carbohydrates/ proteins after the training sessions for optimum recovery.

--> Strictly reduced alcohol, only once a week allowed - IF the training that week went well.

--> Never more than 3 glasses at that one day, when I allow myself to take a drink.

--> Reducing my weight down to 85 kg with the target to be exactlyt there, when the TAR starts.

--> Keeping the focus on the TAR and not too much of a single training session which might go wrong.

--> Increasing the strength training component week by week, in order to manage the up- and downhills better.

Ok, that should help me quite a bit. And very important - I should not be too worried, that this was a shitty training today. I will have the chance to perform better already tomorrow... And I HAVE to run to work tomorrow, no escape - as my car is standing at work :-) So, I will get up a 6 am and have a hopefully nice run to work then.

I will keep you posted, if I had a shitty or an excellent training then :-)

Hasta la vista, Janne

Go Gerald! Ironman Austria this weekend!

2010-06-30T10:55:00.000+03:00

Servus everybody out there,

this time only a short post, as I am still relaxing and starting my direct preparations for the Transalpine Run next week. Long runs and some severe uphill sessions will be included then.... But today I want to cheer for Gerald, my dear colleague from Austria. Actually - he is the General Manager of Polar Austria and he will participate in this year's Ironman Austria, taking place in Klagenfurt, Austria. Taking into account, that Gerald is managing the business for a whole country with his team 24/7, it's really a big thing to a) participate and b) finish an Ironman competition! And Gerald knows how to finish, as he already successfully participated in 2008...and 2009 he took the Ironman 70.3 in Austria - and finished in a good spirit.

So: ALL THE BEST, GERALD! I will keep my fingers crossed, that you will finish in a decent time and grab a new PB!

"Küss die Haaaand"*, Janne

*for my english-only-speaking friends: "Kiss on you hand", which is the synomym for the austrian gallantry :-) very important if you will ever get an invitation for the world famous Vienna Opera Ball. Which will most likely not happen *hahaha*

Training is absolutely supervalued!

2010-06-28T12:11:00.001+03:00

Hi people,

another weekend full of action is over, the outcome is garnished with one consolidated finding:

Training is absolutely supervalued

I participated in this year's edition of our local triathlon event in Darmstadt, Germany - the "Heinerman". One of the oldest triathlons in the country, taking place yearly since 1983. It's an olympic distance (swim 1500m/ bike 40k/ run 10k) and a real classic around here. And as the Ironman Europe will take place next sunday in Frankfurt, many top athletes are hanging around already in the greater Frankfurt area, training and having a good time in the secret German Triathlon capital. Look at the guy next to me! Who is that... have seen that dude.... aaaahhh: Chris McCormack! One of the best triathletes since years - starting in Darmstadt for his Ironman preps, too. Unfortunately, he had a dnf at the end of the day after having some technical issues on the bike ( he won last year). But: as the headline is telling - no need to train for an olympic distance anyway ;-) I posted it before, that I had zero swimming and zero cycling kilometers this year... ok, some running though. I make it short: I was only 3 minutes slower than last year - and last year I trained a lot of swimming and at least a bit on the bike. Final result: 2:57h. Absolutely fine for a "nonswimmer" like me. The weather was great, maybe too hot already again for me.

Two more pictures from yesterday's Heinerman. The first one shows my friend Dirk and me after the race. As you can see, I am already showered and changed the dress....and Dirk is definetely NOT pregnant ;-) Dirk is one of my oldest friends, one of the three owners of the bike shop I worked during the 90ies. He is also running his own bike-brand business with Cucuma. It's one of the hottest brands in European Triathlon currently. Needless to say, that Horst Reichel, a Cucuma Athlete won the Heinerman this year! So Dirk - thanks for your longlasting friendship all those years and all the best for Cucuma's future. And...ääähmmm....one more thing.....Dirk was much better and faster than me in the race, I was just faster with the shower :-) he is a much better swimmer. And he has better material. And he was sucking all the time on the bike split. And he cheated in the running. *hahahahaha* Tria-trash-talk!!! Can't wait for next year, Didi. With no training, of course - as we learned yesterday.

The other picture is the tribute to my two boys, Joona & Finn. They are always with me - even in a triathlon competition. Take a close look to the back of my helmet :-) unfortunately they are really crappy pictures of my dudes, but I got those foto-stickers one day and I thought it's a nice idea to have them always with me. They were allowed to attach the pics to the helmet themselves...and then they saw, that I have several of those stickers, and the stickermania started...I allowed them to put another sticker each to my bike. It looks like a kids bike now - but I don't care at all :-)

Germany vs. England 4:1

No additional comment on that. I can imagine, how much that loss hurts to my english friends - I don't want to twist the knife in their wounds... but: It was a great match by both teams. I assume it was maybe the best match of this Worldcup, especially for the neutral fan. It had everything...goals, passion, drama. Big sports!

"You'll never walk alone",

Janne

Oh, one more thing - I just got the information, that I made it in the local newspaper "Darmstädter Echo". In a report about the Heinerman, there was a section about me (sorry, in German but no time to translate now. But you can use google translate easily):

(...) Wie viele Darmstädter Triathlon-Jünger freute sich Jan Mueller auf den Start. Er arbeitet für ein finnisches Unternehmen und bereitet sich eigentlich für den "Transalpine Run" vor - ein Etappen-Marathon über die Alpen. "Ich bin für den Heinerman extra aus Finnland angereist. Schwerpunktmäßig bin ich gelaufen, dieses Jahr noch keinen Meter geschwommen, aber Heinerman, das muss einfach sein." Muellers Ziel war, in Darmstadt unter der Drei-Stunden-Marke zu finishen. In 2:57 Stunden leistete er Maßarbeit. Bei den finnischen Kollegen möchte er wieder Werbung für die familiäre Atmosphäre am Woog machen. "Nächstes Jahr, klar, da bin ich wieder dabei", freut sich Mueller wie viele Anhänger des Klassikers auf den nächsten Darmstädter Merck Heinerman. (...)

Hauskaa Juhannusta!

2010-06-25T10:39:00.001+03:00

Hi everybody, here is the June status update about the recent activities!

Junior athlete(s) on his (their) way!

Let's start with Joona - he participated proudly in this year's edition of the local City Run in Darmstadt. It was already the third time, he took part and he is improving every year. This year's finishing time for the 1300m round course was more than 30 seconds faster than last year! So he - and his proud coach :-) - was very confident about the 7:20 final clock! Right after the race, Joona received his reward, a cool compass, which will be used heavily in our one week-hideaway to the German Alps. Heavy mountaineering ahead and the boys will learn, how to use a compass and read a map - looking forward to that! And the other reward was THE T-shirt... every runner of the event gets that piece of fasion and wears it überproud. Look at Joona's face! I think the pride is visible!

The boys?! Ah ja.... Finn did not want to participate in the race, but when I asked him after the race, if he wants a compass, too - he said "of course, I want!". So I asked him what he will do, that he can get it as a reward and he agreed with me to do a triathlon early August. Wow. He did that last year once and was so done after it, that I expected that he will never ever try that again. But the compass seems to be a great lure for them :-) And in his yesterday's hockey training, I did the warm-up running with the whole team; I asked the dudes, if anybody else is interested in participating in a triathlon and almost all of them are! So - most probably there will be a hockey-team in a triathlon competition... it will take a while to explain them, that triathlon is a no-contact and no-bodycheck sports :-)

Football World Cup

THE topic those days, at least in football nations, such as Germany, Italy, England and so on. Whole Germany stands still, when the team is playing! I watched the first two matches in Finland, the third preliminary match (GER vs. GHA), I was able to watch with my boys in a public viewing event. I had a perfect seat, because Finn promised to reserve "an excellent" place for me... so it was. He was there 2 hours prior to the match and kept the BEST available seat for daddy. Good boy :-) And the result of the match was also great, Germany marched through in the elimination round. Now England is waiting for the eternal rivalry match with us... that will be a great Sunday :-)

Sports? Me sports?!

Jajajaja...no worries, I am still active and having the big target Transalpine Run on my mind. I took it a bit easier in the exercising, because the long runs with higher intensities will start in July. I am doing a small race here and there (JP Morgan run, Cup da Franco - the same run, Joona did, but the adult distance, of course), Frankfurt run) and sunday I will participate in an olympic triathlon. It will be quite a challenge, because it did exactly zero swimming and zero cycling this year! Seriously! But I will take that triathlon competition as a mental training for the Transalpine Run. NOT giving up is the target and everything below 3h would be fine.

Juhannus

Very important, especially for my finnish friends! So: "HAUSKAA JUHANNUSTA!" Enjoy the dance around the midsummer fire, have some drinks and great company! A special hello goes out to Aino, Leo, Riikka, Jossu and Make! AND most probably Marco L. is also hanging around with the bunch :-) HAVE FUN! We will see in a few weeks and I am looking very much forward to the great beachsauna at your place! And tell the mosquitos to fu** off, please - when I will be around. *hahaha*

Alright, enough for today! I will keep you posted about the triathlon and about the World Cup match, IF Germany wins. Otherwise you will not read anything about it here *hahaha*

Rock, Janne

New York? Boston?? Tokio??? Berlin??? Frankfurt!!!!!

2010-06-08T11:34:00.002+03:00

...at least tomorrow evening: The 18th edition of the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Run, a 5.6k run in the heart of Frankfurt city, will take place. The pictures are official pics from last year's run. Believe it or not - this run in Frankfurt, Germany is the biggest running event on this planet, with more than 70.000 (!) participants. I am going to take part with my colleagues from Polar Electro Germany; in the past years we were able to position our first men's and mixed teams in top ten positions several times, including the qualification for the big final event in New York. Let's see, what this year will bring... I will take my camera with me, that I can take some pictures and impressions of this huge event. My target is to run a "fast race" tomorrow. In the past couple of years I was not able to do so at all, as I was always stuck in the masses - the race starts at 19:30, the winner is crossing the finishing line at 19:46 and the last runner will pass the STARTING line at 20:30. This time I will get a front-position in the line-up, which means - or almost obliges me - to run a really good time :-) Let's see...

Otherwise training is ongoing ok, I did a fast 10k last sunday in Frankfurt and had some great training sessions while being at a hockey tournament with my boys in Bad Kreuznach. Wonderful scenery, steep and nice trails and perfect weather. Just great! I can really recommend everyone to stop by at Bad Kreuznach and the lovely Nahe-Valley, when being nearby. And a special thing there: They have salt refineries in this valley (long, high walls where salty water is running down and make the air "salty") - This is unbelievable: It smells like being nearby an ocean in the whole valley. Me like!

Thursday this week, I will return to Finland, can't wait to be back in the Finnish Summer. Everything is green-green-green, the air is smelling rich and fresh; swimming in the lake/ river after a good sauna and enjoying the midnight sun. Wonderful. And besides that, there are lovely people, whom I am missing always (ok, especially ONE "person/ people": JKA), when I am back in Germany. But that's a catch-22, as I am also missing my two loved boys Joona & Finn, once I am up in Finland. Not an easy situation, I can tell you...

Aloha, Janne

Collecting race kilometers is fun!

2010-06-01T14:15:00.000+03:00

Hello everybody,

the running-season is really taking off now. After the Oulu Marathon, I already did the next long-run last Sunday in Griesheim, Germany. I went for the halfmarathon distance, just giving it a try, how I will feel shorthly after a full marathon. And, what can I say - no problems at all. Even I am missing a bit the speed, but I finished without any pain with ok 1:51. I definetely can do it faster, but no need to hurt myself.

And the weather was quite...strange. Everything included, except snow. First it was cold and cloudy, then a crazy storm came up, followed by a mega-rainshower which was flooding the streets completely. This shower took around 30 minutes and after that, the sun came out... heating up the asphalt and making me feel like being somewhere in Thailand or so. But no worries, I enjoyed it!

[Picture left is from Oulu Marathon, same with the picture below]

In the afternoon of last sunday, it was hockey-time with my older son Finn again. His team had an away-game in Wiebaden and the boys were "killing" WTHC with a 12-0 sweep. Poor Wiesbaden fellows... Joona and me supported the team and celebrated the victory on our way home. Good sunday :-)

What's coming up?! Thursday will be a public holiday in Germany - and Finn and his team will have a hockey tournament in Bad Kreuznach, including a three-day camping trip. Joona and me will join the team and support them over there, I just hope that the weather will be ok... When being there, I will have a good chance to do some intesive training, including some track-interval-sessions. Looking forward to that!

What else?! Hmmm...oh yes - my friend Janne (playing football for finnish first division team AC Oulu) had a glorious away-win @ Inter Turku yesterday (2-0). Janne scored the second goal and was chosen as the best player of the match. Congratulations, my friend - seems like you really arrived back home to Oulu now :-) Hopefully ACO will start a good series now, that they avoid any relegation hassle at the end of the season!

Cheers from Germany, Janne

Finally, I am a Marathon RUNNER

2010-05-24T11:38:00.000+03:00

Hi people,

it took a while, but since Saturday I can call myself a marathon RUNNER and not walker :-) I finished the Terwamaraton in Oulu in 3:59 - first time below 4h. Now I know that I can make it and that really gives me a good feeling. I am training quite a bit, but so far I have not been successful to perform according the plan (<4h). That has changed now. The key was maybe, that I had no expectations beforehand. I just wanted to run a "controlled" Marathon. Not beginning too fast, building up some buffer for the end and NOT walking at all. It worked out perfectly: I kept my heartrate around 153 bpm, I drank and ate regulary and I did not even think about quitting at the halfmarathon-mark. Still fulfilling the plan until km 32 made me very confident, that it would work this time. I got some stomach-problems at km 35, which "culminated" in a throwing-up at km 42, 200m before the finish-line *hahaha*. But no problem, my buffer was big enough to even take that unplanned extra stop :-) I crossed the line at 3:59:00 ... and it felt really good. And the weather conditions were just perfect: sunshine, around 20 degrees and no wind.

The toughest part was walking back to the car after the run. It was about 2 km away and I really did not feel like walking any longer :-) The rest of the day was really cool and relaxed: Barbecue evening with Jossu, Riku, Kepa, Riina, Janne, Pipsa and Peppi at Ridges place. Excellent company, excellent food, very hot chili-testing (Ridge organized some real stuff: Blair's Sweet Death Sauce, Blair's Jalapeno Death Sauce, Blair's Sudden Death Sauce and - the icing on the cake: Blair's After Death Sauce...I hope I listed the right ones :-) check this for more informations: Blair's Chili) and some not so good sports results from the TV. German icehockey team and Bayern football team lost :-( But hey, it's just sports! Try some real chili and you don't care anymore! The picture above shows the sandy beach of Oulu (Nallikari)... for all those who don't believe that there is something like a beach up here in Northern Finland! The start/ finish of the Terwamaraton was taking place right here. Most probably I will get some action photos later this week - I will get back with those then.

I am still waiting for some feedback from Finn's hockey tournament, which is still going on - as it is a public holiday in Germany today. I will post the results from his happening as soon as I will get the info!

Well, what next?! Working in Finland this week and coming Sunday, I will participate in a halfmarathon in Griesheim, Germany. Let's see how I recover until then - it's all training for the Transalpine run... I also have to train to recover fast!

Rock'n'Roll, Janne

Summer season starts here!

2010-05-21T22:28:00.001+03:00

Hi everybody,

once more long time no hear - but the summer season starts here and I will keep this blog updated from now on on a more regular base. What happened lately?! Nothing special, travelling back and forth as usual, never getting bored. I am up north in Finland since Monday already and it's pretty amazing, how the weather is behaving this year so far: In Germany it used to be cold, rainy, windy - more or less always around or even below 10 degrees. Way too cold for May! And what's going on in Northern Finland?! Blue sky, sunshine, temperatures up to almost 30 degrees (jajajaja, PLUS degrees...)! Today is the first day this week, where I can see some clouds...

And something else is going quite wrong: The finnish icehockey team is out from the World Championships and Germany made it to the semifinals...weird world. So tomorrow, there will be first the semifinal of the hockey Worldchamps and then in the evening......YES! The football Championlsleague final, with Bayern München facing the "italian" team from Inter Milano. "Italian", as it might happen that there will not be a single italian player in the starting rooster. Strange. Hopefully Bayern will make it!

Also tomorow, I will participate in the Oulu Terwamarathon - without any expectations. Just finishing with a couple of colleagues. It will be Lauri, Jukka and some others - looking forward to that! It is a totally flat two-lap-course, pretty boring to be honest...but with the buddies around, it will be fun anyway. And I take it as another preparation opportunity for the Transalpine Run. When that starts in September, I have to run 8 marathons in a row, every single day, including some up- and downhill sections...so it's good to take some long-runs during the preparation phase :-)

Other bis sports-happening in Germany: TEC Darmstadt B1, the fieldhockey-team of my older son Finn is participating in a big tournament in Mannheim from Saturday to Monday. The picture on the left side shows Finn in front and his teammate Moritz behind.

All the best, Finn! And rock the field :-) I know that you will play, fight and score - also in the B1 team! Thumbs up!

I will keep you posted about everything,

Janne

Paris Marathon 2010

2010-04-21T11:37:00.001+03:00

Hi folks, again long time no hear! I was pretty busy again, lately. What happened in the meanwhile, since my last post from Vienna?! Well, I finished the Paris Marathon 8 days ago. After having some difficulties last year in Paris, I decided to give it a second try in 2010 - at the end of the day, I finished with almost the same time as I did in 2009: 4:18. Nothing to be proud about, I just don't get it, why I can't stay under 4 hours.

Weather conditions were excellent, a bit cold in the morning, though. During the day sun, sun and sun...great! This time I felt really good (and on schedule) until km 31. I was drinking regularily, eating well and held my horses, that I am not starting too fast. This is very dangerous in Paris, as the first 4 km are going slightly downhill... But at km31 - I had a serious discussion with the hammer-man, who insisted that I will not make it below 4h - again. But I never thought about giving up and "just finished" the complete distance. I have to say, that also the preparation was not optimal. I had a cough before and I was not able to train properly for two weeks :-( I better stop whining, otherwise I might start thinking, that I COULD have done the Marathon below 3h, IF I just would have been able to train right *hahaha*

Otherwise, Paris was great - excellent travel-company and after race-treatment... a bit of sightseeing in very nice spring weather conditions and good food. Also the Polar France guys gave me very good support, thanks to Ju, Pedro, Florian and all the others - always nice to meet you and to hang out together!

Oh and the Inov-8 301 were just great. No blisters, no pain and lightweight. Very good equipment from my friends at Inov-8, thanks a lot! Can't wait to try out the lighter version for the first fast 10k of the year...

What now, what's next?! I am not so sure about the next short-termed sports-targets. I think I will try to run a fast 1/2 Marathon end of May and then I will focus on the Heinerman Triathlon and some short & fast runs in the area. From July onwards, the focus will clearly be on the Transalpine Run preparations. Long runs, mountain runs and higher intensities than last year should be the key to success. For the 1/2 Marathon I will try out a Polar training plan from the polar.fi webpages. It has been created by my colleague and friend Toni Roponen, coach of world-class XC skiers Riitta-Liisa Roponen and Matti Heikkinen. Let's see how this will work, a lot of intervals and different training sessions - should be exciting! Today I have a 1:15 session 60-70% HRmax with 5 sprints á 10 seconds included. Weather is great and I am really looking forward to move my bones!

Regards to everyone, Janne

Back in Germany - and a nice box in my office!

2010-03-22T16:53:00.000+02:00

Ciao people,

long time no hear - but after the Tervahiihto I needed some recovery-time and had quite a bit of work and things to do. Last Thursday I went from Oulu directly to Vienna, where I participated in a press conference regarding Polar's activity technology. Very interesting people on the podium with me, two university professors from Salzburg/ Austria and Graz/ austria and as a fourth person, there was a former Austrian National football player, Toni Pfeffer. The event was well visited and I think we will have some nice impact to the Austrian media.

Arriving to Vienna was very nice - I started in Oulu in harsh Winter temperatures and arrived in the pure Spring in Austria. It was almost 20 degees plus! My hotel was directly by the Donau river (Danube) and I went for a very nice and long 23k run after my arrival. Wonderful... just following the Donauinsel, no cars, bright sunshine and blue sky. And because it was so nice, I went for another run very early Friday morning, before the event started :-)

When I arrived back home in Darmstadt Friday evening, it was also very springish - and I was looking formward to a great weekend with Finn. Joona stayed with his mother, so Finn and me had a special weekend... playing, talking, teasing, swimming-hall, movie-theater, spending time outside...VERY nice! Next weekend will be Joona-only weekend then, looking forward to that, too!

Arriving in my office this morning, there was this big box on my desk, and WOW! The new weapons from Inov-8 arrrived! Manuel and Florian from Inov-8 Germany sent me two pairs of road-running shoes, the f-lite 220 and the f-lite 301. The 220 will be my "fast" shoe for distances up to the 10k, maybe I will even try them for a Half-Marathon. The 301 is much better cushioned and should be perfect for a Marathon. That will be my shoe for Paris this year...only 3 weeks to go, by the way :-) The new shoes look awesome - if they also perform as expected, I will be more than happy. I will try the 301 already today after work, when I will go for a long jog... I will let you know, how the shoes felt!

In the meanwhile, all the best! Cheers, Jan

Complete report about: Mission accomplished!

2010-03-13T17:49:00.003+02:00

Hello again,

what were the targets for the Tervahiihto?!

1) to be faster than last year (= less than 5:50h)

--> Mission accomplished! Definetely faster than last year!

2) not to be caught by the leading pack, before I start the second 35k-lap

--> Mission accomplished! They did not get me, those amateurs *hahaha*

3) a finishing time <5 h

--> Mission accomplished! 4:58...that's what I call to be on the spot.

Boy, I'm happy now. Tomorrow more, the full report will come then. First we will ATH (After Tervahiihto Happening) at Ridges palace. And I will go to sleep with my new medal *ha!*

The picture shows me with the characteristic blueberry-beard, after having Mustikkasoppa (Blueberrysoup) after the finish line!

The full report:

Ok, now I am recovered and everything is fine - no major aches or aftermaths, I was just a "bit" exhausted yesterday. But after an excellent Fondue dinner with my dear friends in Villa Muhainen and a good night sleep, I feel fit and good. And - also already done today - a nice recovery walk with Team JJ on the sea ice in the bright sunshine :-)

How was it yesterday - as usual in long activities like the Tervahiihto, there are some stories to tell... The weather looked pretty much ok yesterday morning, maybe a bit too cold and cloudy, but no fresh snow, which was good. Heading to the starting line-up and at 10:00 sharp, we were sent on our way. There were about 1000 people tackling the short and long freestyle distance - so the first couple of kilometers was just trying to keep going and not to fall down, due to the many people on the track. Every now and then a short stop-and-go, but so far so good. After 5 km, I felt ok, I was in a good flow and thought that the conditions are really good. The skis were gliding and I was ready for more... but only a couple of km later, the first real uphill... and I got busted already. The speed of the group was too high for me, but I had to keep the pace, in order not to slow down the pack behind me... so I pushed hard. The result?! At the top of the hill, directly at the first food-stop, I almost threw up :-( But I rested for a moment, drank well and and tackled the recovering downhill. The sky opend and for the rest of the day, it was clear that we would have bright sunshine :-) So some kilometers passed by and I realized that the skis are NOT gliding too well... in the shadow sections, the snow was deep and cold (sand-effect) and in the sunny parts, the snow was deep and sticky (chewing-gum-effect). I had to work a lot with my upper body and thought already "wow, this will be tough today"... after only 15km....

Then, after kilometer 20, there was the biathlon stadium, a small round with some nasty uphill sections. I was in the middle of a pack there and it was a pushing and kicking...and Mylläri was kicked to the ground :-( but it took me only some seconds to get up again, but my heartrate was over the top. Somehow I managed to recover again and decided just to do my thing from now on, not caring about the others. I passed the point, were the second round/ finish-line track splits and I achieved my first target! NOT to get cought by the leading pack on my first round, as it happened last year... from that point I felt just cool. I had to fight the difficult conditions and decided not to take a single look to my watch anymore. I was absolutely sure to be faster than last year and I was also sure, that I will not be able to stay below 5 hours...

The conditions became worse and worse and it was a upper body fight, as the snow was not gliding at all... I managed easily to climb the spot, where I almost trew-up in round one and also the biathlon stadium was much easier to go without having the pack around. After that point, I just enjoyed and counted down the kilometers :-) At the last food stop, I asked the dude - "4 km to go, right!?" - and he said: "No, just one!". Huh, what a nice feeling. I enjoyed every single meter of this last kilometer and then I crossed the line... what a nice feeling! I pushed the stop button of my Polar RS800 and took a look on the watch....4:58!!!! So also the third target fulfilled :-) Cool.

It took me a couple of minutes to get a normal breath again, but no serious pain or damage done. And then, the BIG reward: Drinking a cup of Mustikkasoppa, the traditional finnish skiing-drink :-) Sorry that I look like a vampire in the picture!

Now I will enjoy the rest of my Sunday.... and in 4 weeks time, it will be Paris Marathon! Target there?! Being better than last year ;o)

Back soon, Janne

Only one day to go - time to get a bit scared :-)

2010-03-12T19:40:00.000+02:00

Hello again,

wow...just some more hours and the battle will begin. Since Thursday I am loading carbohydrates like a maniac and drink a bottle after bottle of liquids. I should subscribe for a permanent ticket for the loo :-)

Some impressions of the pre-event activites at Tervahiihto - as you can see, there is no big happening around the event, as we are used to it in other parts of the world... it's all about understatement. The premises for the organization aer an old army building, having the charme of a Warzaw Pact Barrack during the Cold War ;o)

Some lonely people waiting behind their tables, waiting for the participants to collect their bib-numbers and no big sponsor activities, either... but hey, I bought some DEXAL, a finnish sports nutition company... they had a special offer for some isotonic drinks.

Otherwise....the waxing thing, which I explained in yesterday's post. I was discussing with my colleagues Niina, Terhi and Mika this morning at the coffeetable, if this waxing will be a Brazilian Waxing or what *hahaha* very funny. Indeed :-)

What else?! Spaghetti Carbonara this evening, early to bed and then Rock'n'Roll tomorrow morning. Weather forecast sounds good... I will be back after the race :-)

Aloha, Janne

Two days to go...

2010-03-11T15:58:00.001+02:00

Hello again,

two more days to go, until the first big competition and challenge in 2010 will be tackled. The Oulun Tervahiihto is waiting for me, an epic 69k XC-Skiing Marathon around Oulu. I have three targets set:

1) to be faster than last year (= less than 5:50h)

2) not to be caught by the leading pack, before I start the second 35k-lap

3) a finishing time <5 h

...so lets see. I've been skiing Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon and especially Tuesday was amazing. Icy and very speedy conditions - maybe even a bit too icy. My limited technique is making it quite difficult NOT to fall or slip with every single step I do... yesterday, there was some fresh snow, so the conditions were a bit slower, but much easier to ski. So I will hope for similar conditions at Saturday's race :-) Today, I went for an easy lunch-break run, just to keep my bones busy - no sports tomorrow and then, Saturday at 10:00 am finnish time, the show will begin.

The last preparations will also start with tonights dinner...lots of carbohydrates and drinking, drinking, drinking...noooo, no alcohol! Just water. This one goes out to all my buddies, who are not so deeply involved in sports ;o) Tomorrow after work, I will pick my bib number and whatever else will be handed out by the organization...but most probably, it will be just the number. Being used to central european sports events, where you always find a huge tradeshow and Ballyhoo at the number desk, this is a bit different here :-) But one very good service: You can leave your skis already the day before the race and real specialists will prepare them on-the-spot with excellent waxing! And knowing about the importance of a "fast ski" in whatever weather conditions, I really appreciate this service!

Noniin....I will keep you updated! Cheers, Janne

Back in Finland!

2010-03-09T12:59:00.000+02:00

Hello friends,

I am already back in Finland - after almost two weeks in germany. Those two weeks were packed with work, organizational stuff and Joona & Finn. Quality time with them always makes me feel very, very good :-) Last Sunday we went outside together and play "Catch" with baseballs. And, what can I say - finally also Joona is throwing the ball "like a man". Hey-hey...before I hear any complaints about this, it's a fact that MOST women throw a ball different than a man. And Joona's technique so far was a bit...well....not correct. But he was really throwing and catching very well now. Finn anyway learned that already, but he is three years older! So I spent time in Germany, with pretty modest training. The first peak of the season is ahead just in a couple of days... The Tervahiihto! 69k XC-Skiing around Oulu.

Worst case scenario happened some weeks ago - my skis got broken. I was not too optimistic to get any suppport by the manufacturer "Fischer"; but I have to say that they were really fair: The right ski had a site of fracture below the binding. It was obvious that it is not possible to fix that. So I carried the ski (approx. 4 years old) to my local Sports Retailer (Sport Hübner in Darmstadt). They sent the skis to Fischer and I was just hoping to get a new pair of skis a bit cheaper. The surprise: I got a brandnew pair of competition skis for less than half price! Wow. And they were even fast enough, that I can use the new weapons in Tervahiihto this weekend :-) I will give them a first try directly after work today... No chance yesterday, because Finnair lost my luggage - *hahaha* "really?!" yes...but I am getting used to it. Unbelievable, how a top-end airline is able to completely ruin their excellent reputation within less than a year. Baggage handling, service, strikes, unavailability and poor complaint management.....they should really think about getting back on track.

What else?! Nothing much. Saturday is the big day for Tervahiihto, that means carboloading from Wednesday onwards and also drinking lots of liquids, in order to be top prepared at the starting line Saturday at 10 am finnish time. Eather should be ok, not too cold...excellent. I am aiming at a time around (pr better. below) 5 hours. Let's see. Depending a lot on daily shape, if I can catch a "good train" and if the skis are performing well. Worst thing, which can happen is cold weather (below -15), because the snow will be very aggressive and slow then. Also wind would be bad. But... I am positive, that the weather will be ok.

Rock, Janne

Good bye Finland - hello Germany!

2010-02-24T16:12:00.002+02:00

Hello friends,

time to say good bye again and to return back to my other home in Germany. It´s snowing like crazy up here, let's hope that the planes will be on time. But normally, the Finns are used to that... it's a bit different in Germany. Only a few snowflakes are enough and the airtraffic - and cartraffic - will be down completely. Well, leaving the real winter behind and being able to move outside without loads of clothes; not too bad imagination either. But I have to admit that it always hurts to leave Finland and at the same time it's great to be back in Germany. Mainly because of my two great boys, Joona & Finn. Can't wait to hang around with them again, I missed them like crazy. And when I am in Germany with them then, I will miss Jossu and Finland like crazy... The first picture shows the Finnair plane, which will fly me to Helsinki. There I will hang around for 1.5 hours and then head towards Frankfurt. Let's see if I will see some sun in Germany :-) maybe the barbecue season starts soon?! I will arrive this evening to a cold and empty appartment - no food, no nothing. So I will head over to my local Italian dude and fetch some "Pasta al Forno", my favourite :-) and I will watch some Olympic stuff.

Sitting in the lounge @Vantaa Airport now, waiting for the connecting flight to Frankfurt. Wow, they have fancy new Apple computers in the lounge now with sleek and cool keyboards... nice. What else?! Well, it was quite interesting on the flight from Oulu to Helsinki. Some people - especially businessmen - should really think before they talk their business stuff on the plane. I was sitting with eyes closed and my german neighbors next seats were talking really loud (German AND loud?! Really??? *hahaha*) about their work at Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). And they were talking stuff, which was a) definitely not for public talks and b) bitching on "the Finns" and how wrong "they" (the Finns) are doing the business and how "they themselves" (the Germans) would do the business... joking about Sauna and cold weather...boy. If their finnish superior would have heard that, they would be fired. Idiots..."those" Germans ;o).

Tomorrow normal workday in my German office then, doing this and that and trying to catch up with some stuff. Followed by some "Supermarketing" (=grocery shopping) and off to the spring-forest :-) I am planning to go for a 2 hour run... without gloves and hat! Let's see if that will become true.

Gute Nacht, Janne

Cool gear alert!

2010-02-23T13:20:00.001+02:00

Hi folks, what a great day yesterday! I received some new gear and the conditions in Northern Finland were well enough to give them a try immediately. I received new XC-skiing glasses from CASCO, new gloves from ROECKL and I had I first real try-out with my brandnew SALOMON 8X skies... I jumped in my skiing gear right after work and headed for the Inatti-kuntorata, the closest tracks nearby the office. Directly on the skies and the test began...it was excellent! Modest temperatures :-) (it heated up to -15 Celsius) and the tracks were in perfect and pretty fast condition. Perfect setup for a nice round!

CASCO Nordic Spirit Vautron XC-Skiing Shades

A few explanations first - I am having quite a bad eye-sight and have to wear either glasses or contact lenses. I prefer contact lenses while doing sports, which might become difficult in some conditions. Most of the times, exactly those conditions appear in Oulu, when I am skiing: It's very cold and especially dry - the eyes are über-sensitive then and sometimes it's pretty hard (and painful) to stay outside longer. "Well, just wear glasses then!", might be the supersmart advice for me. But wearing whatever sunglasses (with clear or light vizors) does not work at all, as they are immediately getting fog to the screen, as most of the glasses a pretty close to the skin and not very good ventilated...and what comes after fog in very cold temperatures?! Yes, exactly: Ice. And ice is not a really good see-though stuff :-) When watching the superheroes like Northug and Björndalen on TV, I saw them wearing those quite big glasses looking almost like ski-goggles and thought that those might be the solution for me. I tried to get them in many places all over Germany and Finland, but I did not find them for quite some time. Finally I found them... and I am superhappy! No fog, no pain and perfect contrast. I am really surprised about the quality of those CASCO glasses, well done!

ROECKL Grip Gloves Tobias Angerer

What a co-incidence :-) Tobi Angerer, the great German XC-Skier just won the silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics in the men's double pursuit and two days later I have "his" gloves around my hands *hahaha*. Maybe some of the olympic spirit comes to me, too?! Well, the quality is great, Roeckl is the premium manufacturer of gloves in Germany. The color...maybe a bit aggressive :-) but the grip and cushioning of the palms is great. And of course, the hands were kept very warm and smooth. Good stuff, too!

SALOMON Equipe Skate 8X

My new skies. The FISCHER skis, which I used before got broken...hopefully I will get new ones as a warranty, but this will take a while. And as Terwahiihto competition is coming soon, I definetely need skis. So I went to the local sportsdealer and got the Salomon Equipe 8X. What shall I say...they are ok. Not better and not worse than the Fischer's before. But maybe I can't really judge the quality of the skis, as my technical abilities and "the feeling" for different skis simply just doesnt exist at my end :-) I was satisfied with the performance of the new skis and that's the most important thing. And if I get in trouble in the competition, I can blame it on the new skis *hahaha*.

Oh - and by the way...great day at Vancouver for Germany yesterday...and shitty day for Finland. Again...

Rock'n'Roll, Janne

Lazy Saturday

2010-02-20T17:00:00.002+02:00

Hello people,

what a lazy day! Well, the temperatures are still not very inviting for any outdoor activities - so Jossu and me tried to go to Nallisport and play some badminton. But nice idea, most probably whole Oulu had the same idea, due to the bonecracking cold weather. No courts available. So we went for a walk on the sea-ice, looking like the Michelin man :-) Rest of the day?! Hanging around, having an extended nap, reading, doing this and that... and in the evening we will have our dear friends Minttu and Riku coming over for a yummy Raclette dinner. Looking forward to that!

The pictures show the scenery around Pateniemi, the frozen Baltic Sea and deep blue sky! Ice cold temperatures and clear sky...if we are lucky, we might see some Northern Lights (Aurea Borealis) this night. If so, I will try to get that nature spectacle on some pictures!

So long, Janne

It's official now: I'm a whimp!

2010-02-19T08:56:00.000+02:00

Good morning friends, nonono..... I DID my session outside yesterday and it was definetely the wrong decision. Due to the low temperatures, the snow was superslow and felt like sandpaper again. Anyway - good upper body workout in crystalclear and "fresh" air :-)

But this morning, the temperatures were even lower than yesterday. The car thermo showed -32 Celsius (for our Fahrenheit-supporters: -26 F) and I decided directly, that it will be day off for exercising Mylläri today! I traveled my way to the office and I saw the unbelievable thing (best understandable for the locals, of course): On the short 3k between the Airportroad/ Ouluroad junction at Rantavainio and the office, there were 3 (!!!) cyclists on their way to work. At -32!! THAT'S insane.... respect! But they were not that tough though, as they were all wearing thick clothes, caps and gloves. Not short-short, as the "hard" triathletes in Germany would do *hahaha*

Bottomline of this?! I am a whimp, because:
--> I went to work by car instead of bike
--> I wear long stuff, hat and gloves outside (no kalsarit!!! (=long underpants))
--> I will not train today

Have a great day, Janne

Back in Finland!

2010-02-16T16:18:00.000+02:00

Hello friends, I am back in the "real" winter! Well, we had a lot of snow this winter in Germany, too - but it melted away pretty soon or changed from snow in an ugly, nasty mud after a couple of hours after it has touched the ground. Back up north, we have real cold tempetatures again and real, white snow and winter landscape.

Today I went for a nice lunchbreak run, take a look at the pictures. Crystal-clean air, sunshine and blue sky... I like that! Unfortunately no skiing until Thursday, as my skies went nroken and I have to organize some new gear :-( but for the weekend, I will be literally back on track.

The Olympics...well, they did not start too good for my German/ Finnish heart. We hade many more hopes during the first days, but tonight the party will start :-) Women's Biathlon, Women's Luge... there should be some medals at least for Germany :-) and tomorrow Finland will start the operation "Medal" in Hockey. The Lions will have a great team on the rink. But that's the same for Canada, Russia and Sweden... let's see how the megastars Ovechkin, Crosby and the Sedin-twins will perform...

Cheers, Janne

First race in 2010 - it felt more like figure-skating but running...

2010-02-13T21:26:00.001+02:00

Back again, hi folks!

Yepp, it's done. I did the first 10k race this year, but the conditions were really challenging. The trails were snow-covered with packed and über-slippery snow/ice, so no attempt for any good time was possible. I arrived early enough at the race to check out the conditions on the trails and I immediately decided "safety first" is king today... in the race it was the right decision: The first three k were really slow and lots of wipeouts and crashes, luckily I was not involved anywhere. Anf the following 7k I had a good flow, stillwatching every step.I finished with 49 minutes...in normal conditions I woul have been really pissed, but today this was ok.

Some news regarding the Gore-Tex Transalpine Run 2010: We have a great new agreement with our friends at Inov-8, the UK-based trail-and fell running company! We will start in 2010 as "Team Polar Finland/ Inov-8"! This is really something, we will have great support by Trentventure (the German Inov-8 distributor) and Inov-8 from UK. We will not be able to complain about the equipment though ;o) No kidding - Inov-8 gear, especially the shoes are the dream for serious trail-and mountain runners. I did not run ANY other brand with grippier and more comfort before - I am absolutely convinced about the quality of your gear guys, THANKS!!!

Now watching Olympics and keeping my fingers crossed for the German and Finnish ski-jumpers...lets see, if I will celebrate "my" first medal already today *hahaha*.

And the best thing...tomorrow I will head up north, Finland is waiting. And I cant wait to see the lumipupu in Oulu :-)))

Cheers, Janne

Long time no hear!

2010-02-13T14:14:00.000+02:00

Ciao my friends, I am alive and kicking! I had pretty busy times last week, including a complete cut-off from internet access. I was around in my German home for quite some days, but lots of work and having my great sons Joona & Finn around kept me very busy. But thats a kind of being busy,what I really like :-) During that time I was not able to train too much, just a run here and there - in quite tough weather conditions. It's really a great winter this year here in Germany. I cant really remember the last time we had somuch snow for such a long time. Boys love it :-)

Then, at the end of last week, I went to a XC-skiind training camp with a bunch of people in Sonthofen/ Allgäu, Germany. It was quite tough but really fun and I did lots of kilometers in preparation for the upcoming XC-skiing marathon in Oulu, Finland. All the pictures are from the training camp, thanks to Martin and Moni for taking those. And thanks to all participants for having such a good time together - I hope that we can repeat that! Special thanks to Martin for all the organizing!

Then, from Sunday to Wednesday, I was attending the ISPO tradeshow in Munich (for all of you, who never heard about it,it's the world#s biggest sports fair, taking place once a year in Munich, Germany). I had all my training gear with me and had the plan to go for a run every morning or evening...well, nice plan. But hanging around the whole day at the show makes me sort of...tired. And I am in pretty good shape, so no need to force myself. I will catch upeasily after the show now :-) ISPO was good for me and my company - otherwise is was an ok show. Nothing skyrocking new, no megatrends to observe. Ski-helmets seem to be the buzz-product of last and this season,the companies in this business are doing very well. Also "Nordic-Sports" seem to fly, especially XC-skiing in all its variations is having a comeback. It used to be a sort of a "conservative best ager" thing, but now many younger people are discovering it.

I am back from ISPO since Wednesday night, having Joona & Finn now again - working and spending quality-time. This afternoon I will go for my first 10k competition this year. As it is very icy and snowy, no super-times are to expect...I dont want to get hurt. I would be absolutely ok with 48 minutes or so, I anyway did not run too much lately - my priority was XC-skiing. Sooo....let's see, what time I will take home, I will post it this evening then :-)

And then, in the evening...watching the first olympic highlights. Ski-Jumping and after that the Ladies Biathlon Sprint decision. Germany has 4 ladies, who have the strength to make it on the podium...but teher are also the Swedish girls and some Norwegian an Russians...let's see!

I will come back later, after the run in Gross-Gerau, Janne

Andy Newell explains XC Skiing - just great!

2010-02-01T13:24:00.001+02:00

A very well made audio-slideshow about XC-skiing. Good luck to Andy for Vancouver!

From: http://ping.fm/Xz21X

Faster, Higher, Stronger - Advice From an Olympian: Cross-Country Ski Racing - NYTimes.com

2010-02-01T13:21:00.001+02:00

Absolutely worth reading - thanks Andy!

From: http://ping.fm/NJH4p

Unbelievable Video...even it is from Sweden ;-)

2010-01-29T11:24:00.001+02:00

Watch this, I received it from my friend Per from Denmark - me like :-)

From: http://ping.fm/BU59n

Gore Transalpine Run 2010 (blog directory listing)

2010-01-28T13:12:00.001+02:00

What a success! My blog got chosen as "Editor's Choice" by www.blogville.us! Rock, Janne

From: http://ping.fm/HmZev

Tailwind rules!

2010-01-27T13:57:00.001+02:00

Hello everybody and thanks to everone who send me best wishes today! Highlight of the day will be the evening, when J2 will go to a nice dinner in one of the new restaurants in Oulu. There is this new place called "grill-it" - I am pretty excited to experience something new in Oulu, so let's see... reservation is at 18:00, I am already starving :-)

Otherways, this has been just a normi-päivä (normal day) for me, except the nice breakfast :-) After that normal work and instead of lunch, I went for a lunch-break-run. I will have enough food tonight, so only some fruits for lunch and massive calory-burning instead of that...

The run was...interesting. Pretty cold, something around -15 degrees Centigrade and a nasty wind out there. They anyway announced pretty tough conditions all over Europe for the coming days; hopefully my flights tomorrow will not be affected. I am sick and tired of that airport-hassle lately. Back to the run today: The first 15 minutes, I had a really bad headwind and thought something like "great idea to go for a run in this shitty conditions. Idiot...." but then, after half of the run, the wind changed to a nice tailwind and was pushing me back to office pretty nicely :-) For the locals: It was just great to run the part from Kempelehalli to Oulunsalon Shelli. It felt almost like flying :-) Then hot shower and back to my desk, cool.

Once more my Inov-8 Mudclaw 270 shoes did a very good performance. Not slipping at all, despite the very snowy/ icy conditions! Great stuff! Now work continues and I am looking so much forward to the dinner time :-) The pictures show me 1. after the run and 2. before the run... surprisingly my face is already soft and flexible again, after the icy temperature out there. But hey! It can only be good to exercise in very cold conditions, as the cold keeps the skin, face and whole Mylläri in shape and young. Höh...41....what the heck?!

Cheerio, Janne

No headache and a fantastic TV-Sports-Sunday

2010-01-26T10:25:00.003+02:00

Hello everybody,

do you remember - I was wondering IF Riku can convince the rest of the bunch to hit downtown after the great Raclette dinner, which we had saturday evening?! Well, yes - he succeeded, it was a big fight, though *hahaha*. "Let's go downtown!" - "Ok.". Quite finnish way in discussing a topic :-) Very target-oriented and time saving. So we went downtown Oulu to several places: Leskinen, Gloria and finally to Jumpru. The picture shows the crowd at Jumpru. But no big drinking sessions, no krapula (hangover) at all for Sunday.

Sunday was big sports day then :-) watching Biathlon, XC-Skiing (WC & Finnish Championships), Nordic Combined and Alpine Skiing. The highlight of the day was definetely Feix Neureuther from Germany winning the Slalom in Kitzbühl, Austria. He is around quite some years, but never succeeded to win A WC and now he wins in Kitzbühl, which is like the Wimbledon of Alpine Skiing...just great! Congratulations from here to him, wherever he is celebrating his victory. Beating the "Red Machine" (Austrian Ski-Team) in their own living-room... that's the stuff we want to see! Lovely day! And no own sports, after yesterdays cold workout, as it was -23 again and looked really nasty outside... in the evening, real atheletes food, Pizza from the local Pateniemen Pizzaguy. Now I must train Monday, that I dont gain too many calories *lol*

And that's exactly what I did yesterday, right after work. I went to the ski tracks of Inatti and had great 18k workout. As the temperatures were much better than the past days, it was real fun and the skies were gliding very well. Me like a lot, much more than the difficult conditions in below -20 Centigrades. And once more it showed, how much the conditions are determinating the performance in skiing: I don't think that it was a completely different me on the tracks yesterday, compared to Saturday. But I was unbelievable 20 minutes faster on the 18k than Saturday! That's what the right temperature and humidity do to one's skiing... hopefully the conditions will be the same this evening :-)

Take care and best conditions in whatever situation to all of you, Janne

Comeback after sick-leave & psycho-support for Finnish national skiers!

2010-01-23T18:23:00.002+02:00

Hi there,

I have to say that I am a very happy man today! With the exception of my boys, I have beloved people around me and I was finally able to be active again after a never-ending one-week break in my training. I explained it quite a bit in the last post, that I've been down with a flu. So today, I decided that I am NOT sick anymore and took my skies to the forest. My private serviceman Raimo - thanks a lot! (@Raimo: Paljon kiitoksia taas suksien voitelusta!) - did a great job in preparing my skies in a perfect way. Even we have brass monkey weather up here in Northern Finland, -21 Centigrade - the skis were running pretty well in the dry and normally slow snow at this temperatures. 18k, not bad. Only at the very end, the sandy snow was getting really slow - or was I getting weak?! This really keeps me motivated and believe, that I will have a good performance in this year's Tervahiihto (49 days to go!).

Well, how did it go with my rusty body!? Well, in the beginning I was quite sceptical. My heartrate jammed sky high in the first minutes, but after the first short uphill, I calmed down and got in the flow. And as it was that cold this morning, there was almost nobody else on the tracks, which of course is very nice: nobody is overtaking you or I don't have to pass anybody, which always takes me out of the nice'n'easy flow... so I was skating all along 18k at Herukka-latu and I felt really good. So it was definetely a good thing that I took the "sick-leave" from training. One can really harm and hurt your body, if not listening to it, if it is yelling for some time off. So I really hope to stay healthy now and that I can go for some more skiing sessions, while I am up here in Finland. After that, there will be the next period in Germany and most probably not too many chances to go skiing...and then, pretty soon the Tervahiihto will take place and it would be really nice to finish that one below 5 hours this year. A funny time for every skilled skier up here in Oulu, but quite a challenge for a german-flatland-tyrolian like me :-).

And - before anybody asks, why I am wearing a norwegian pipo (=hat) today - it's all about the Olympics. I try to motivate the finnish skiers up here: I make them think, that Northug and the other strong norwegians are training up here, as my pipo identifies myself as a norwegian national team member. The finnish athletes see me - and can really believe again to beat the norwegians in Vancouver, after seeing this pathetic skier (me!) in their forests...it's all about psychology :-) I hope that none of them has a bad wipe out, because they are laughing so heavily about me. And if I see that it works, I will give a another norwegian pipo to my colleague Keke from Malaysia, who is also skiing up here in Winter - on a comparable level as I am doing...Let's see if it works! You don't believe this stuff!? Well, I thought it's a nice story though :-) GO Ritu ja Matti in Vancouver! Ja paljon onnea Ritulle (Riitta-Liisa Roponen) for her title in Suomen Mestarus Kisat tänään.

And the evening...just great! We will have a Raclette with Riku at Jossu's place and plug in all the calories, which we trained away today :-) I love it! Raclette, accompanied with some red wine and who knows, maybe Riku will try (and succeed, you never know) to convince us to hit the town afterwards...IF so, I will have a good topic for tomorrows blog then. Nightlife in Oulu and krapula.

Hasta la vista until tomorrow, Janne

Sick-suck-f***!

2010-01-21T19:08:00.001+02:00

Hey there, long time no hear - but I've been sick quite a while. And being sick - sucks!
No exercising, just working and trying to get better. I cought a flu somewhere with bad sore throat and running nose, not my most favourite status. I am in Finland since last Monday now, after a great time with my sons back in Germany, the week before. When leaving Germany, I was so excited about meeting my friends over here and having the possibility to ski like crazy, but already Monday evening I sensed that something is not going well in my body.

So, what now?! I try to take it positive - it is a compulsory break for my training, and I think it's good sometimes, if the body prescribes a break for you. I just imagine myself that - despite the flu - my body is recovering much better now after the pretty hard training during the past couple of weeks. No need to get worried for my next targets. The Tervahiihto is still 51 days away, Paris Marathon will be in mid April... I am cool and think that this break will take me even beyond my performance level before. At least I hope so :-) "The real training affects in the breaks." - this quote is my favourite those days :-) But I really hope to be back on track for the weekend, as the tracks look just great out there... even it might get a bit chilly, temperatures predicted below -20 Centigrades. But what the heck, I'm a tough guy *hahaha*

Being up here in Finland in the latter half of January is just great. The daylight-hours are increasing with an enormous speed and the really dark period is over. And due to the fact, that there is enough snow and ice, the sunlight is reflected very strongly and makes the winter landscape look just great, almost like in a fairy tale.

Some of you asked me, how does your workplace look like in Finland, is it a big building or a small one, how does the environment look like?! I made some shots with my Nokia N900 this morning, just enjoy the winter mood! The picture top-up-left is out of the car, 2 minutes away from the office. The second shot from above shows the Polar building and the third one the sculpture in front of the building - which is explained below.

The sculpture's story - here it is:

The first edition of the "Last Meter" was commissioned by Polar Electro Oy of Finland for the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia by an artist called Eino. The sculpture depicts the 5000-meter final from the 1976 Games in Montreal, where four men raced stride for stride to the finish line. Sportshero Lasse Viren of Finland emerged the victory, gaining his fourth gold medal. The atelete falling to the ground is NOT Lasse Viren, it's Hildebrand from (West) Germany. Enjoy the original comments and Lasse watching his victory years later on TV - he still has tears in his eyes.

Keep on running - if you are healthy - Janne

Is it called "winter" or is it just an additional spice to the normal training?!

2010-01-14T11:08:00.000+02:00

Cheers mates,

isn't that great?! This winter outscores pretty much most of the winters I can remember! At least in Germany (living in Rhein-Main area, neaby Frankfurt), having quite a lot of snow since several weeks now! And due to my constant travelling back and forth between Finland and Germany, I am already enjoying real winter since more than 6 consecutive weeks! Temperatures more or less always below zero Centigrade, the snow is not immediately melting away, as we are normally used to it here in Central Europe... very cool. I couldn't believe it last weekend, when I went XC-skiing north of Frankfurt - would be great to have winters like that every year. Let's see what the summer will bring then. Normally the country saying says, that a hard'n'cold winter will be followed by a hot summer... looking forward to that! Even I have to admit that I am not a fan of too hot summer...but hey!!! It's still winter, and me and my boys enjoy like crazy!

Yesterday, during Finn was in hockey practice, I went for a 16k run in the forests around Darmstadt. It was snowing again and the trails are getting deeper and deeper - I have no problems with slippery trails, as I am really enjoying and loving my Inov8 Mudclaw 270 trainers. They really rock and they are made for conditions like that. Originally, I got them for the snow-running in Finland, but now I need them here, too :-)

What adds a real nice spice to the snow-running is the fact, that your muscls have to work much more than on a flat and dry surface. With every step, I am sinking in a bit and my legs have to do extra work; besides that, you never know what is under the snow, so every step is a bit "tipsy", training the ankles and joints in different manner, than flat surface ruins - almost comparable to barefoot running in deep sand/ beach. Me like a lot :-) All those runs in harsh conditions will help me to perform better during the season then.

By the way, talking about "performing": My Polar RS800CX PTE is telling me every day, how many days are left until the Oulun Tervahiihto 2010 - it's only 58 days, then I will tackle the 69k around Oulu on skis the second time. I am not worried at all. I think that I did very good training and preparation during the past 6 weeks. This Sunday I will return to Finland for 10 days then, having the perfect conditions to work on my skating technique and to improve my endurance performance.

Completely different thing - please click here ... There is a guy, trying to organize a big global online-event via the Polar Personaltrainer.com webpage. This is a free-of-charge webpage and everybody who is owning a Polar Sportscomputer with downloadability option, can participate. The big challenge is, that the whole thing will start, when 500 participants have signed in...so go ahead, participate! It's a pure fun event!

Weekend getting closer, sounds like quality time with my kids :-)

Take care, Janne

2010-01-13T10:46:00.001+02:00

One post, one world! www.ping.fm rules.

No Sports

2010-01-12T15:58:00.001+02:00

Ciao Raggazzi,

today is my official day off from any training, no sports today. Yesterday evening I went for a great run after work. It was already pitch-dark in the forest and it had been snowing almost all day long, so the trails were covered by quite deep snow. That was worth some extra heartbeats and made the whole thing quite hard. But I enjoyed the full 17k session. Especially at the end: I was running from the local swimming hall's parking lot into the woods and on my way back, approximately 4k before the end, I saw a bunch of runners about 200m in front of me. I thought "Great! Now I have a target, I will catch up with those amateurs and show them, what a tough guy I am!" Well.....I tried to catch up :-) Those buggers increased the speed steadily and my heart was hammering like hell - NO way that I would even get closer to them. They showed me, what a whimp I am... most probably those dudes were the first league team of the local Triathletes, as they finished their run at the swimming hall. And local Triathletes means Top-10 Ironman athletes (including Hawaii and other easy events). Ok. I understood. I am unworthy! I did not want to compare with gods! Mea culpa! *hahaha* that was a cool motivational thing for me. Just keep on training, maybe one day I will be allowed to clean their shoes after the training :-)

No, but seriously - it was fun to try to catch up and then to (painfully) learn, that they might be a BIT faster and better than me. But from training pov very good. Pretty slow and basic 13k, followed by a almost lethal 4k....I know why I take my resting day today!

Otherwise - I am happy. My two sons will stay the rest of the week with me, men's business... can't wait to hear their stories of the day and what happened the past weeks to them.

And Ristorante Pappa is open again, can't wait to collect their orders for the rest of the week. Let me guess... Spaghetti Bolognese, Homemade Pizza, Tortellini alla Panna and Sandwiches with the sandwichmaker will be the wishes. No vegetables, fruits or ather unhealthy stuff... I love them :-)

Aloha, Janne

Web 2.0 and social networks

2010-01-11T16:27:00.002+02:00

Hi there,

this is a very interesting, informative and eye-opening movie about Social Media. For all of those, who still do not believe that this is THE ongoing revolution in Marketing currently. If a brand does not act asap in order to be part of this, the train will leave without that brand.

Rock'n'Roll, Janne

...and no - I am not that blue-eyed, that I did not recognize WHO created this video. Nevertheless, it's an excellent explanation of the whole story for everybody.

Beerfelden tracks suck

2010-01-10T20:28:00.000+02:00

Hello all,

no long post today - I am still disappointed about the quality of the XC track in Beerfelden, Odenwald. I got up really early again, that I can try out this ski area. The webpage promised a 7k prepared skating track, starting from the parking. Reality check was a complete knockdown: I had to go in the classical track uphill for 1k in order to reach the skating "track". For those who are not too familiar with XC-skiing and the two different techniques (Skating and classical). In a classical track, you can barely use real skating skis. Only possibility is double-arm-no-legs-technique...uphill, as a warm up, thanks. BUT: if the following skating track is great, no prob. But the skating track was bull***. It was a 1.2k track on a wide-open field. Soft snow, not prepared well and: it is a corn-field in summer. And cut corn plants leave very stubborn and hard stump-alike barbs, looking out of the snow. And when trying to skate along there, you have no chance, you will get stuck in those damn things. I wiped out twice, after that I was fed up to my back teeth and went back home. Great, not even 10k....wasted day - from sports pov. But I take it as a resting day then and next time I will go to Hoher Rodskopf with Martin again :-)

Rock'n'Roll, Janne

XC-skiing in Saksa (fin=Germany)! YESSS!!!!

2010-01-09T21:08:00.004+02:00

Hi folks,

unbelievable! Team Polar Finland was training a XC-skiing session in Germany today! Me like übermuch, my friends... the low-pressure-area "Daisy" made it possible. The weatherman was warning since days ("...I don't care what the weatherman says, the weatherman says, the weatherman says..."), that we will get the Apocalypse with Daisy, that the mega-chaos will happen...but.....PERFECT skiing conditions in G-E-R-M-A-N-Y! Martin and me started pretty early, due to the...hmm...challenging road conditions. Around 10.30 am we arrived at Hoher Rodskopf, Vogelsberg (nearby the beautifiul village Schotten). Martin had to borrow the equipment, as he doesn't have his own stuff - clever me took my skiing gear with me from Finland. So - Martin got his gear and after some straying around and NOT finding the latu (=track) immediately, we finally suceeded.

There was a nasty, cold wind up there, which made the -7 degrees Celsius feel like -100 degrees......but no prob, the track was in the forest, protected and not too cold. There was a pretty well prepared 5k skating loop with a quite challenging profile - compared to Oulun Lääni *hahaha*. But seriously: I am not used to so much up- and down, so it was a really good training for me. Perfect preparation for the Tervahiihto :-) And Martin.....my friend, buddy, pal and.....sorry: Triathlete (hahahaha! I would love to see his face right NOW!) - Martin did very, very well. He hasn't got to much experience on the XC-skis. Last time he skated was 4 years agon on the sea-ice, when he visited me in Oulu! He is definetely having some talent for XC-skiing....

We had a great time on the track and went back home after 15k (250m elevation gain --> in Oulu I have a 20m elevation gain on a 20k trippi...max...); hanging around in Martins living-room, watching Skijumping, Tour de Ski and Nordic Combined... a perfect Saturday afternoon :-)

Tomorrow, Martin will most probably return to Hoher Rodskopf and I will try out the tracks south of Darmstadt, in Beefelden (Odenwald). Looking forward to that!

And: Martin created a great video about our power performace test this week. check it out in the previous blog on this site and PLEASE send some comments :-)

Now: Lounging in front of the TV, waiting for the next embarassing issue of German Idols....and relax!

Take care out there - and thanx Martin for a great day and Moni for the easy-going hospitality in your Burggraben Palace,

Janne

Performance diagnostics in Frankfurt

2010-01-08T13:41:00.004+02:00

Hello everybody out there,

yesterday was judgment day - I carried out my first sports performace test in 2010. The test took place in a track-and-field (for my finnish friends: yleisurheilu) indoor sports venue in Frankfurt and it was executed by our friends from iq-athletik, a company specialized in sports perfomance testing on all possible levels since many years.

Sebastian and Dennis from iq-athletik welcomed us in the arena - us, meaning Moni, Alex, Tobi, another runner lady, Martin and me - and we got the instructions for the following test. Martin and Tobi were not participating in the test, Martin was concentrating 100% on the documentation of the the happening with video- and photo-cams. Very professional, aren't we?! :-)

The mission was pretty simple: running 4 laps (200m each) with a default steady speed, starting with a very easy 10 km/h. After every 800m, we had to check our heartrate and a drop of blood was taken from our earlaps (for the lactate concentration after every 800m turn). After every "bloodstop", we had to increase the speed until we drop :-) And of course, the heartrate part was simple for me... wearing my highly sophisticated Polar RS800CX PTE... I had to write this here, sorry *hehehe*

I was in a pretty ok shape and the test went well. I took seven levels, up to 15 km/h - then it was finito for me, as my heart was hammering like a machinegun. I just received the analysis from Sebastian via email and it shows me, that I clearly improved my performance level, compared to last year's test. More important for me: I exactly know the right training intensity zones now, in order to further improve my shape and get set for the coming challenges. That's a pretty cool feeling - to get the message black on white, that you trained right in the past months and now to hold everything in hands to train even better for the coming months. And for the best possible achievemnet in my training, my Polar RS800CX will be my best friend. Cool.

In the track-and-field hall, it was really fun - it is a very well kept sports venue, a so called "Olympiastützpunkt" in Frankfurt. All the local top-level athletes - and those who want to be top-level one day - are training there. What I really find funny is the fact, that whenever I am in the track-and-field environment, I realize that everybody is just bugging around in the arena. Ok, some athletes are running, jumping, stretching - but most of them were just bumming around on the ground, pretending to do some stretching, looking really bored, especially all those potential future track divas... if this is the way, how to get in shape, I should try this out! Lounging on the floor, listening to some music with the iPod with a über-arrogant facial expression and judging every single person passing by with a "who the fuck are you, distracting my olympic gold efforts here??? -looks"... *hahaha* maybe I exaggerated a bit. But just a bit!

So long, Janne

Ice Age in Germany and Finns coming to Darmstadt!

2010-01-06T12:26:00.002+02:00

Hello friends,

I am back in Germany now since Monday and I thought that I might return in moderate temperatures, after the very cold weeks in Finland - but that was a nice thought. The winter has also arrived here and we have temperatures down to -15 degrees, during the days it is "heating up" to -5. And once more, I have to make the experience, that -5 here in Germany feel much colder and more uncomfortable, than -15 in Finland. The humidity here makes the cold feel really nasty. I experienced that myself yesterday, when I went for a run after work. It took me some 15 minutes to get really warm and after the training, I immediately started freezing. And no sauna at home :-( so I had to jump in the hot bath tub. But this is nothing, compared to the sauna, I have to say.

What else...yesterday I pre-sealed the deal with my friends Riina & Janne, that they will participate at the Heinerman, our local Triathlon competition in Darmstadt, taking place in June. It is an Olympic Distance Race and one of the highlights of the sports season here in my hometown. This is really cool, that Riina (upper picture) and Janne (lower picture) are on board - and maybe they will even bring another friend over. Riina is the sister of my best buddy Riku and Janne is her husband - they are both from Oulu, but Janne is a professional football player and he is currently playing in the first league in Belgium, so they are living in Roeselare, Belgium right now. They have been travelling quite a bit during the past couple of years, due to Janne's profession. If I remember right, they have been living in Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Spain and Belgium...very exciting to have them over here for the Heinerman :-)

Other news is, that Martin started his German blog now, check it out [Blog Martin/ German]. Martin will also post everything around his preparations for this year's edition of the Gore-Tex Transalpine Run. This blog will be written in German language, in order to serve our German speaking followers better. Tomorrow we will have the first orientation, how we did manage to recover after the last season and how we got through the holidays. We will have our first sports performance test in Frankfurt - after yesterday's training I am not so sure any more, if I am really in a good shape. It was really hard yesterday and my speed was almost pathetic...maybe it was just the slippery trails, but somehow I did not feel strong at all. Let's see, tomorrow I will know the truth!

Due to the good winter-sport conditions here in Germany, I am planning to go XC-skiing next weekend! I hope that it will stay cold and that it might get a bit more snow - then it should be possible to go skiing in Schwarzwald or Sauerland region. That would be so great! But it will be quite an effort, as it will include a pretty long car ride to get to the places - just for skiing a couple of hours. But hey! If we have enough snow, then it's definetely worth driving a bit - XC-skiing is so much fun and every additional training kilometer on the skies will help me to perform better in Tervahiihto this year. Only 66 days to go, until I try to set a new personal best in the 69km race in Oulu...

Bye for now - stay active and healthy, Janne

Totally stupid or a real tough guy?!

2010-01-02T18:52:00.004+02:00

Whatever! Couldn't care less!! I just came back from another XC-ski session in the deep-freezer of Northern Finland. The -23 degrees Centigrade kept my muscles and myself fresh and easy :-) But it was the same story as last week - the cold weather did not affect too much on my well-being, as I have the proper equipment to face temperatures like that. But the very cold and dry snow made the track once more terribly slow - but I definetely improved already and did the 10k much faster than last week in comparable conditions. Many friends here in Oulu tell me, that I am completely crackbrained, that I am training in temperature like that... I don't feel like that - just the opposite: when coming back home and standing under the shower, I feel like having accomplished a personal victory. That I went outside despite the conditions and did not use the freezing cold weather as an excuse :-) You never know, maybe it was exactly THIS workout, which makes the difference, when the big challenges are ahead in summer time...

Back home, I was watching the Tour de Ski - unbelievable, how Petter Northug is every time destroying the rest of the pack... I definetely do not like him too much - but he is a hell of a skier. Maybe a bit too much self-confidence. But everybody has to respect his abilities. I feel really sorry for Matti (Heikkinnen) and the Russian dude. By the way, Matti! A great race by him, dominating almost the full race - I bet that Toni (Roponen, his coach and my colleague) is very satisfied and feeling very confident, looking forward to Vancouver. And also Riitta-Liisa, Tonis wife performed pretty well today - a good day for the Oulun worldcup skiers! If you are interested in watching some training video about Matti, click here [Matti video]. This footage was taken during his summer training in Ramsau, Austria. Pretty cool to watch for everybody interested in sports, I think.'

Well, what else... nothing much to tell otherwise. The year started slow and easy, no major partying or boozing - which feels very good, especially the morning after :-) Just spending somke hangaround quality time up north, Good company, good food, good drinks, good everything. Tomorrow I will go and play some Badminton in the morning, followed by a last XC-skiing workout - before leaving back to Germany Monday morning then.

Next week, I will have a sports medicine performance diagnostics in running - I should be in a pretty good shape, especially after the past two weeks with a lot of good sessions. Let's see - I will document the whole thing. Martin will be there, he will be the cameraman - maybe I will push the limit until I drop down this time :-)

Stay tuned, Janne

2009 will be history soon! New targets for 2010!

2009-12-30T13:06:00.002+02:00

Ciao friends,

wow - this year is almost over now! Time to lean back and think a bit... kids, the beloved ones and myself are healthy - good. That's the most important. Myself, I continued my way to be a healthy and fit person - after some noxious years in my 30ies. Today I can say, that I luckily had this herniated vertebral disc with all the pain and suffering two years ago. The final kick to change my activity-level completely, was the cancer of my oldest childhood-friend in Germany. Seeing him almost dead at the hospital was a real shock for me. This opened my eyes, that I have to take much better care about my body and myself - not only for me, mainly for my two wonderful boys, Joona & Finn. I did and do not want them to experience to see their dad in hospital in near future, as I saw my childhood friend Heiko.

Now - two years later - Heiko is healthy again, I have fully recovered from my back surgery (actually I was recovered already some weeks (!) after the surgery) and I am as active as I've never been before in my life.

Some friends call it the midlife crisis and smirk at me...WTF - I dont care if it is called mislife crisis or just starting to use your brain. Having this light bulb moment, that you should change your life has been a stunning experience. And I want to encourage everybody out there, to target to find that moment, too... listen to your friends experiences, think about your future. Your beloved ones will be very proud at you, that you managed to make the twist from a "could'a'would'a'shoud'a'-active" person into a real active individual. How to get motivated?! Take a long look into the mirror, step on the scale and OPEN your eyes, make a reality check - if you really represent to yourself and outside world, what you THINK you represent... that might be a good first step :-)

And then, immediately sign in for a whatever event. In my case it was the Frankfurt Marathon. I signed in in June 2008 with 107kg bodyweight. And I know, that you can finish a Marathon 4 months later with a respectable time and many kilos lighter... JUST DO IT! The picture on the left shows me with my first beer after completing Paris Marathon in 2009... NOTHING beats the taste of a beer after a hard exercise! Even it is some Heineken-pee.

And after completing your first target, set a new one immediately! And so you keep going... My highlight in 2009 definetely was the Gore-Tex Transalpine Run. Unbelievable, that Martin and me managed to finish this whole exercise as a great team... without any major injuries or fights! By the way, Martin... time to say thanks from my side to you, too :-) As you have been one of my main motivators, to wake up the sleeping active person in me. But you know that. And I am sure, that we will wake up quite many people together in the future... cant wait for the 2010 Gore-Tex Transalpine Run, when we will rock the Alps again with our houswife Ruben *hahaha* - sorry Ruben ;o)

Oh - and one special thank you goes out to my friend Riku... thanks for bringing so much good influence into my life :-) You rock - and will rock forever, Ridge! Let's have a good drink together this evening in Villa P.

Another thing, just checked, how much I exercised in 2009... not bad: 2300k Running/ 20k Swimming/ 160k Biking/ 200k XC-Skiing...

2010, I am coming!

Maybe the right ski-wax helps?!

2009-12-29T11:02:00.001+02:00

Shalom to everybody out there,

welcome to another freezing day in Northern Finland! Temperatures yesterday were somewhere around -15C and it felt great. In the morning it was below -20 and the car was covered by a quite thick layer of snow - but as it is that cold, it was enough to open and shut the door, and all the snow fell of the vehicle, as it was just some dry dust. It took 15 minutes though, until the ice from INSIDE windows melted away...

Well, it was Monday and just another work day. It is pretty easy going, as not too many colleagues are around; but that's exactly whats needed, as I have to do a lot of things, which require some peace and quiet. And IF feeling bored or lonely, I can just walk over to some other offices and grab a cup of coffee...

For the afternoon, I planned to go for a skiing workout again. I bought some extreme-temperature ski-wax...lets see, if that helps, that I can really ski on that dry snow. The "normal" waxes are made for temperatures above -10C degrees; as we are having between -30C and -10C, there is some special stuff needed. I am pretty excited to experience, if it works better then. I will first time try out the Inatti ski track this year. One of my favourite tracks in Oulu region, one round is 8k and it is pretty flat terrain - perfect for the ground work, in order to build up strength for the coming season! And IF I feel like, there is even a short but dirty uphill section. But most probably not for me today...

Back from the ski-track and: Oh yes, waxing the skies helped a lot - on the first 8k round. Everything was cool and easy,. skies were gliding wonderful and it really felt like skiing...but the second round?! Oioioi, the ice-cold-sand-alike snow grinded away all the precious wax and it was a complete upper body workout again :-) But at least I finished the second round and showed some finnish "sisu" :-)

Anybody interested in the magic speed-wax?! [http://www.vauhti.fi/service.cntum?pageId=133282&show=859]

After the skiing I jumped directly in Sauna; heating up again, relaxing the sore muscles and having a beer :-) Suomi at its best!

Heippa, Janne

Top gear news: Inov8 Mudclaw 270!

2009-12-27T15:36:00.002+02:00

Hello everybody out there,

yesterday was a very relaxing day. Maybe a bit too relaxed, so I decided to test-run my new Inov8 Mudclaw 270 in real winter conditions first time - before starting the Glühwein-evening with some extreme-Wii playing at Haukiputaan Arvolan house...

The temperature was almost hot, compared to the previous experience...melting minus 15 Celsius, so I decided to run from Oulu to Haukipudas, while the rest of the partypeople decided to take the warm Audi of Juha ;o) It's a nice 15k run, pretty flat and easy - and if there is no wind, it will not be too cool. Now, when writing this, I know that there was some wind, but not too bad. No freezing at all.

I put on all my winter gear, including the Mudclaw 270. This shoe has been designed for harsh conditions, loose, wet - or snowy - ground. The profile is very rough and there is hardly any chance, that the mud or snow will make the "claws" stuck and slippery. What shall I say - those shoes worked even better than expected. I was running like on railroad tracks. The trails were fully snow-covered with either deep and loose or packed snow. I did not slip at all and during the uphill sections, the grip was just perfect. And when the snow got deeper, I did not have to worry about any parts getting into my shoes, as I was wearing those great gaiters, which are available from Inov8. I can "warmly" recommend that stuff!

When I arrived to Haukipudas, something quite funny happened...it was first time for me to run up there and it was dark night - accidentially I got mixed up, which is the right house. I was standing in front of the porch, just about to ring the bell and *ooops* the door opened and a strange woman was yelling at me "WHO are you?! What do you want?!" - it was the neighbors house of Arvolan perhe. And crazy Mylläri was wearing a completely iced pipo (hat) and whole face covered - only my dark, foreign eyes visible... I grabbed away my "costume" and aplogized: "Anteeks, anteeks - I want to family Arvola, obviously it's the next house...". I bet that lady got the Xmas shock of the year by me *hahaha*

The rest of the evening was just great. Mikko put on the Sauna and we had excellent food and company. Including a great Wii-Fit session... unfortunately the ladies kicked our asses in Skijumping. Those ganes are SOOOO unrealistic *hehehe* ... and by the way, if you want to learn something about Finland, please click here: [Finland]

Alright...time for some quality hours, doing nothing :-)

Janne

Minus 25 Celsius / minus 13 Farenheit

2009-12-26T11:54:00.001+02:00

Hello my friends and warm thoughts to all of you :-) I had a great Christmas Eve and Boxer Day. Obviously I have been a nice guy, as I received some great presents. and we had very good food, too - Christmas Eve, we had the traditional finnish food, several gratins, Xmas ham, Salmon and lots of other yummy things. Yesterday evening, we had a great Raclette evening - it was a first time Raclette for most of the participants and they really liked it :-) Good... even the whole place smells like a restaurant now *hahaha* and it is a bit difficult to get vfresh air in here, as it is freezing cold outside.

Freezing cold outside - that's a good bridge to my yesterday's training activities! Despite the low temperatures, I decided to experience some finnish hard-core XC-skiing... and I have to tell, that it was not that bad at all. I did not freeze during the one hour workout. Ok, I had good clothes and there was no wind, but normally I would have thought that -25C would be tougher. The only moment, when I got cold was, when I stopped skiing and went into the car - immediately my feet started freezing. But it was a great experience - I just met one lonely italian guy on the track. And I know, why the Finns did not ski in conditions like that...it's not the fear from freezing, it is because the snow is like sand. The skies hardy glide at all... so it was a heavy upper body workout :-)

And because I did not get enough, I went to a Health Club in the afternoon and participate some Les Miills Bodypump... to make sure that I can allow myself to eat Raclette in the evening like a maniac :-)

Alright, this should be it for now...it's still very cold - so I will definetely not go skiing again, today. I might go for a run and get the first test-results of my brandnew INOV8 Mudclaw 270 runners and the special snow/ice-gaiters. I will definetely write a test report then :-)

Aloha, Janne

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T14:47:00.004+02:00

Hello out there, merry Christmas to all of you and all the best for the coming year! I have been quiet for a couple of days, after my travel-adventure up to Oulu (Finland) last Sunday/ Monday. I finally arrived to Oulu Monday around noon, totally exhausted and without any luggage. I had to work until Wednesday then and - believe it or not - my luggage made it also at Wednesday! Luckily I have some clothes up here...but no sports activities, as my gear was not available. Who knows, maybe it was good like this, a couple of days without any training and good recovery. But... I have to say, that Finnair showed a desastrous trouble management during those past couple of days. Anyway, I am here now, it's Christmas and everything is fine.

Today I went XC-skiing the very first time this winter. The conditions were perfect: minus 10 degrees Celsius, which sounds very cold; but it is very dry air up here, so it actually doesn't feel THAT cold. Enough snow on my home-turf-track, the "Herukka Kuntorata" - but the track was not prepared yet, so I was skiing in quite deep snow - whatever, at least I was able to ski! And I have to admit it was pretty hard... huh, first time on skis this winter and pretty tough conditions...cold temperatures make the snow very dull and the skis are not gliding well at all. So I had to work a lot with my whimpy arms and shoulders - my heartrate was going over the roof. But I had to calm down myself, while fighting the conditions...the Terwahiihto (69k XC-Skimarathon) will take place in March: The conditions will most probably be much better, the skis will glide better and the speed will be much higher. Hopefully :-)

But despite the harsh conditions, it felt just great to be back on the skis... hearing the periodical sounds of the poles and the skis, listening to the own breath and being out there in wonderful nature, alone in the forest - wonderful. Even I did only lousy 12k today, I feel great and I am sure that I will feel my arms and shoulders tomorrow...but there is no escape - it's on my agenda for the next couple of days to go skiing more or less every day. It should help me to build up more confidence and performance, when thinking ahead to Terwahiihto. And 2009 I also participated there with only 10k (!) of skiing, and I survived...ok, the conditions were the best ever possible...minus 3 degrees, sunshine, no wind, perfectly prepared ski and "very fast snow". Hopefully it will be the same in 2010, that I can break the 5h barrier...my target for the 2010 race.

So once more - merry Xmas to all of you, wherever you are on this planet. And the merriest Xmas of all go down to Germany, to my wonderful two boys Joona & Finn. I miss and love you and I am looking forward, celebrating our own and very special New Years/ Xmas party! (...)

Gore-Tex Transalpine Run 2010: Team Polar Finland, die Zweite

2009-12-23T13:34:00.000+02:00

Sorry to my english-speaking mates - this is a text in german language. Maybe I find the time to translate it to english during the next days... this text has been sent to the official website of the Transalpine Run 2010:

******

Nachdem Martin Constantin (Burgholzhausen) und ich - Jan Mueller (Darmstadt) - im Jahr 2009 erstmals den Gore-Tex Transalpine Run bestritten haben, freuen wir uns bereits jetzt schon auf die nächste Auflage des epischen Alpenabenteuers in 2010.

Da ich bei Polar Electro – dem weltweiten Marktführer für Herzfrequenz-Messgeräte – beschäftigt bin, und Polar den Transalpine Run von Anfang an unterstüzt hat, liegt es nahe, das wir als „Team Polar“ am Start stehen. Der Zusatz „Finland“ rührt daher, dass ich in der Zentrale des Unternehmens, im Norden Finnlands beschäftigt bin. Ein Team „Polar Deutschland“ existierte in den letzten Jahren bereits, also stellen Martin und ich das Team „Polar Finland“.

Waren wir 2009 noch als Rookies auf der Westroute (8 Etappen von Oberstdorf nach Latsch) am Start, werden wir 2010 die Ostroute in Angriff nehmen. Dieses mal werden wir mit dem Transalpine Run Tross von Ruhpolding nach Sexten unterwegs sein. Wiederum 8 Etappen, 288 Kilometer in der Horizontalen und 18.000 Höhenmeter in der Vertikalen werden dafür sorgen, dass das Unternehmen auch 2010 kein Spaziergang werden wird.

Was hat uns dazu bewogen, dass wir uns wieder den zu erwartenden Strapazen aussetzen werden?!

Es ist eigentlich ganz einfach – allerdings ist Erfahrung des Alpencross Abenteuers nur schwer in Worte zu fassen. Ein Grund ist sicherlich die sportliche Komponente – die Bewältigung einer solchen Strecke zu Fuss, unter der ständigen Notwendigkeit, die Kontrollpunkte zu einer bestimmten Zeit zu erreichen, um nicht aus der Wertung zu fallen. Für uns ist und war ausschliesslich das Erreichen der Ziellinie der Massstab. Die Platzierung spielte für uns keine Rolle, wollten und wollen wir nur gesund durchkommen.

Neben der sportlichen Komponente ist das Naturerlebnis einzigartig! In Zeiten, in welchen jeder mit Lift, Gondel, Auto, Bus oder sonstwie – ohne eigenen Antrieb) fast überall hinauf kann, ist es ein fantastisches Erlebnis, unberührte Natur, Alpen-Gipfel, -Kämme und –Flanken zu überqueren. Atemberaubende Ausblicke, stille Momente des Glücks und teils fast als meditativ zu bezeichende Erfahrungen haben allergrösstes Suchtpotenzial. Der Faktor „Alltag“ und „Zeit“ verliert fast jede Bedeutung (...ausser dem zu erfüllenden Zeitlimit...).

Ein weiterer Grund für die erneute Anmeldung ist der Wunsch, die grosse Transalp Familie wiederzusehen. 500 Teilnehmer und das gesamte Organisationsteam sind während der Alpenüberquerung eine grosse Gemeinschaft. Teilnehmer aus vielen verschiedenen Ländern sorgen für eine internationale Atmosphäre. Eine stete Hilfsbereitschaft und gegenseitige Unterstützung während des gesamten Abenteuers führen bei sicherlich den meisten Teilnehmern für Gänsehautfeeling, wenn man an vergangene Erlebnisse zurückdenkt.

Und dann ist da noch die psychische Komponente: sowohl Martin, als auch ich haben schon verschiedenste Herausforderungen gemeistert: Ironman Triathlons, Marathons, XC-Skimarathons und ähnliches. Der Gore-Tex Transalpine Run ist für uns beide die bisherige Königsdisziplin gewesen. Man steht gemeinsam als Team am Start, das Reglement fordert (aus Sicherheitsgründen), dass man die gesamte Distanz bis zur Ziellinie, gemeinsam bestreitet. Die gesamte Distanz – das heisst, man geht gemeinsam durch alle Höhen und Tiefen, die eine solche Herausforderung bietet. Und über dieses Erlebnis zeigt sich, wie tief und aufrichtig eine Freundschaft sein kann. Oder auch nicht... und dies zeigt sich spätestens ab dem 4. Tag, wenn evntuell einer der beiden Teammitglieder schwächelt. Dann heisst es Charakter zeigen und durch gegenseitiges Unterstützen, das Tagesziel im Zeitlimit zu erreichen.

Von uns aus kann es sofort losgehen!

Finnair service,when its desperately needed...

2009-12-21T06:05:00.002+02:00

...Does not exist. What a poor perfomance,this really sucks. Nobody blames Finnair for the weather but their way of handling, servicing and treating tired customers is ridiculous

Vantaa Airport at Night...

2009-12-21T04:46:00.001+02:00

...Is wonderful :-( I am stuck here now - no service, no hotel, no nothing. I have to wait now (its 4:45 am) until somebody will appear to the service counter and then all 300 people hanging around here will try to get in touch with them... Merry Xmas. Jan

Weather-Chaos in Frankfurt

2009-12-20T21:24:00.000+02:00

Hello friends,

what a nice end for a beautiful sunday :-( after having fun and playing with my two great sons all day long, I had to say goodbye to them for this year and headed to the airport. But what happens!? We have a real weather chaos in Frankfurt and all over Germany. Flights are cancelled, delayed, whatever. So I am sitting in the fancy Air France Lounge at Frankfurt airport now and I dont know how this will continue. One thing is for sure: if -IF- I will get away from Frankfurt still this evening, I will definetely not catch the connecting flight to oulu any more.

This means a stayover at Helsinki Airport, most probably in the Vantaa Hilton Hotel.. Nice.

And its snowing, snowing, snowing...while hanging around here, I was able to see some winter sports stuff on the tv...I am really keen on starting my snow-training in Finland starting tomorrow, or most probably tuesday then. It's so cool to see the Biathletes and XC-Skiers in action and how easy it looks, when they are performing their sports...I think that I look so clumsy and slow, compared to them :-) And the pictures from the TV were just great - the WC was in Slovenja this weekend... amazing landscape and performance by the pack!

Well, what am I going to do, while waiting for more information about the flight here? Most probably I will fetch me a glass of excellent French red wine and try to forget the hangaround time here. Luckily it's really peaceful here and not too many people are hanging around with me... so its at least some peace and quiet here.

Packing all my gear for this trip was quite a challenge. I transport 14 bottles of wine/champaign, a complete Raclette-oven and lots of sports nutrition with me. Exactly 40kg of luggage - at least one good thing about being a frequent traveller...more kilos allowed and also lounge access in shitty situations like that :-)

I wish you a good night and enjoy the remaining hours of the last weekend before Xmas... Au votre sante, cheers, zum Wohl, kippis!

Jan

Night Running

2009-12-18T13:04:00.002+02:00

Hello friends,

yesterday's evening training session was really cool. It was dark night already, when I grabbed my sneakers for a long, quiet run. The conditions were perfect, some minus degrees, clear sky and the stars were shining already. And as it was dark in the forest I was absolutely alone out there.

In moments like that, I just dont get it, why people "need" their iPods, when running. There is nothing better, than the sounds of the nature and listening to your own steps. The crunches of your feet, when crushing the snow and ice on the trail. The steady sounds of the own breath and the sounds of the nature around. When passing a clearing, I passed a herd of deers, just some meters next to me. They were so much NOT interested in me, a human being running through the dark forest :-) obviously, I did not scare them at all.

I am still überexcited, that Martin and me have already signed in for the Transalpine Run next year. Hopefully, we will get our driver and COB (chief organizing buddy *lol*) Ruben on board again. He was one of the keys to success in this year's edition. Ruben was driving our campervan, taking care about everything, that Martin and me were able to concentrate on nothing else but running, sleeping and eating :-). And - his sense of humour always kept us smiling. I am already missing our nice and caring morning discussions..."Good morning, friends! Time to get up and start this lovely new day!" - "Hald Dei Maul!"...Wonderful :-) Looking forward to the continuation.

And I just read in an Outdoor magazine, that they are looking for 10 people, crossing the Alps on skies... I called Martin and asked him, what he thinks about something like that, should we apply and try to get in there. His answer was "Sure!". So let's see. I am pretty sure that there will be many applicants, but we will give it a try. Would be something exciting additional :-)

All of you, have a great weekend and stay healthy,

Jan

Transalpine Run 2010

2009-12-17T13:39:00.004+02:00

Hi all,

I just received great news - it looks like Team Polar Finland will repeat the last year's great experience and repeat the Gore-Tex Transalpine Run! For everybody who did not follow last year's blog about this epic adventure, feel free to read my TAR2009 blog, Just click my profile picture and then go to the older blog.

This time, I will try to write on a regular base about the training, the preparation races, the training camps, the feelings and hi's and lo's in the preparations for the big goal. If you scroll down in this blog, you can already see some of the events, I am planning to participate, in order to get in shape... First short term target will be the Oulun Tervahiihto, mid March.

But every single training session I am going to do until September next year has one determined target - the maximum perfomance possible at the Transalpine Run. The target will be to perform better than last year, but still and definetely the fun, pain, emotions, friendship and feelings around this outstanding event. Can't wait to meet all those crazy runners from all over the world again! We are definently lunatics *haha*

Last year- Martin and me did the Western route from Oberstdorf (GER) to Latsch (ITA). Next year, the route will be different and the distance and ascent evern more - starting in Ruhpolding (GER), the journey will lead us to Sexten (ITA).

Stay tuned, Janne

Winter in Germany

2009-12-17T10:59:00.003+02:00

Hi folks,

it's real winter in Germany - unbelievable. I am enjoying my runs in the white, frozen forest. One very nice side effect of the snow is the fact, that it is light enough in the normally dark forest, so no problem with running at night.

Running at night... well, soon I will head up north to Finland again and I will have the almost eternal night then. Actually I will fly up at Dec, 21st - which is the shortest day. That means sunrise in Oulu at 11am and sunset around 2pm :-) but I don't care. It will be very cold, around minus 20 degrees Celsius and the snow conditions should be fine. I will try to get on the "latu" (= ski track) on a daily base. It's a fantastic experience to ski in the dark forest, the track illuminated by soft lights. And the championsleage-conditions would be heavy snowfall and being active outside, cool.

And besides the snow activities, even more important - I am looking forward to meet all my dear friends in Oulu :-)

Oh, I should not forget to say thank you - again - at this place to Manuel and Florian from the German Inov-8 distributor (http://www.trentventure.de/ and http://www.inov-8.com/). During last year's Transalpine-Run competition, my teammate Martin and me were supported with the right shoes and other material (great backpack, runningwear and socks) by Inov8 already and I am absolutely convinced about this high class material! During the TAR, we have been using the Roclite 312 GTX trailrunning shoe and the performance of them was tremendously great. Not a single blister after 240km and always perfect grip and foot/ ankle protection, even during the most difficult sections of the course. Now they provided me the right running shoes and socks (!) for my training in harsh Winter conditions. Most probably, I will not be able to XC-ski EVERY day, so there is space for some running, too...
The shoe is complementing my trailrunning-shoe collection - I just received the Mudclaw 270 (see picture above), which has been designed for rough condition running. And the boys also sent me some special socks with integrated protection, in order to avoid dirt, ice or snow to get into the shoe. Can't wait to test the Mudclaw 270 in real winter conditions :-)

And Florian & Manuel, I will provide good pictures and a test report - thanks again!

Alright, that should be it for now - keep on running,

Jan

I am back!

2009-12-16T13:53:00.001+02:00

Dear friends,

I am back on track - I was not lazy after Frankfurt Marathon, but I thought I take it a bit easier. Now I have planned my year 2010 and I have specific targets, which challenges I will face next year:

March, 2010: Oulun Tervahiihto, a XC-skiing marathon in Northern Finland
April, 2010:
Paris Marathon
June, 2010:
Moret Triathlon (Half Ironman distance) and Heinerman (Olympic Triathlon)
September, 2010:
Gore Transalpine-Run

But the first thing this year will be the epic Oulun Tervahiihto - after finishing it this year first time, I know what is expecting me next year... I will face the challenge of the long-distance race again, taking the 69k track under my skies :-) Hopefully the weather is as great as 2009. For sure I will be in a much better condition than this year - last year it was just a fight for survival, next year I want to be faster...

Very soon I will do my first snow kilometers this year, cant wait!

So, you can see, that I have big challenges ahead... and I am already pretty well in shape. Since 6 weeks I am back in basic training, floating around in pretty low intensities, in order to build up a solid fundament for my performance next year. I am definetely not after winning in all those challenges - for me, it's just the "project" to finish those events! And, even more important - I want to stay motivated and enjoy my training.

Stay tuned, Janne