MAZSALACA

Out on skis today for an hour. It was -12 so my fingers did not enjoy it at all. I was on trhe tracks around Mazsalaca. they have huge potential witha bit of work. The skiing was hard because the tracks had been used when the snow was soft and melting and now the snow was iron hard and with lots of ice around. At least I didnt fall over, but close!!!

My technique needs some hard mileage to sort it out. I was really wobbly much of the time. Funnily my skating was better than my classic. It has been years since that was the case. perhaps the strength training is working at last. Tomorrow is set for -18 so I might not get a chance to go out. lets hope I can.

SLUSH SLUSH, GLORIOUS SLUSH!

The sun was out today so went on my medium length route through the park near the sports academy. It takes about 10 minutes along the road to get there but it is worth it. The forest there is on sand so there are lots of dune type ups and downs. It has been raining the last days so the snow was really slushy and heavy and in places huge 50m wide slush puddles had formed. Splashing through those was fun. Around the lake, and where people walk, it was completely blue packed snow like ice. Luckily though it was a bit soft from the rain and with my orienteering studs on I could run on that without too much worry of sliding over. Mind even on soft ice it is hard to turn corners without a bit of risk. There are lots of Tom and Jerry moments of feet moving but body going nowhere.

But I really enjoyed the run because the park was empty and I was often on tracks that were well trodden and firm but with clean sun sparkly snow on either side. It was absolutely beautiful. The only thing to spoil the day was that my feet hurt on the pavement on the way back. It is not often I look for ice to run on because it is softer!!

What is also pleasing is that with regular running and not too hard I am now running as fast on slushy snow as I was three months ago on firm tracks. I dont want the winter to end but I am looking forward to clipping round my courses in the spring

MORE CRUNCHY SNOW, AND MORE FORECAST

Well, another Saturday, and another super run in the cold and snow. Today was perfect. It was cold enough to keep my body temperature down, but warm enough not to get cold when running. I wore my orienteering shoes again too. Toes a bit sore afterwards. Funnily, there was an orienteering competition in my local wood too so there were loads of positive looking runners, and a few totally lost ones. I like orienteering in the snow. You can see how many people go the same way as you - and how many don't. Normally I would have wanted to have a map and compass too but lately I have had a feeling that I have to get my fitness back properly and that can only be done by lots and lots of repeated steady running.

I have that feeling that it will take me another 6 months of what I am doing now and more before I feel ready to launch into racing seriously. I can feel that my rhythm is starting to become stronger but I cannot hold the tempo for more than 30 mins yet. But I do want to race. I miss the excitement of competition. The youngsters round here had better watch out.

Anyway the weather forecast is for more snow, so there may be a few more Saturdays in the cold yet

CRUNCHY SNOW

It was a seriously crunchy sound when running today. I started out with my normal shoes for running in snow and then realised that the road was like ice. Back I went to the flat and dragged my orienteering shoes out of the back of the cupboard. They have got serious metal studs in them. Running was great once I had these on. It had thawed yesterday with +5 and last night it froze again so everywhere was either ice or crunchy snow. I really enjoyed my run in the woods. Loads of kids on sledges and plenty of good tracks to run on. I started at 1400, the sky was clear and the sun was up - or to be precise going down - thats one joy of living so far north. In places it had already dropped below the trees and the temperature was starting to get crispy (that's a very technical weather term for -5) I was surprised not to get any blisters from the shoes though as I haven't had them on since the early summer when I was training for Jukola in Finland. But the feeling of security when running on the icy bits was great.

I have been keeping my runs to around 30 mins most days. This is the longest that I can run day after day without overstress and being too tired to work in the afternoon. I know that I can run longer just by slowing down but that does not suit me at all. My whole running history has been about clipping along at a good tempo and I am not about to stop that now, whatever the training books say is most effective. I also don't get warm if I run too slowly so there is good reason on cold days like recently for getting on with it. I hope that this snow stays for a while because I want to get back out on my skis again.

RUNNING IN SNOW

I ached this morning. last night I went for a run in the snow around Riga (and -9) and this morning my legs told me that I had done something really different from normal. Today's run around the woods was equally hard work. It was still -6 and one finger on my right hand stubbornly refused to warm up. It really hurt for a while. Running in snow is a good reminder for all athletes that too much running on the road narrows down the scope of muscle usage and after a long period of only road running, muscle can become so narrowly defined in movement that any sudden slip or movement out of pattern can easily result in a painful tear injury.

So my advice is, use the snow for training as much as possible and run off road and tracks in the soft snow to strengthen the legs and hips. You will run slower of course but this does not matter because you are probably working harder than normal anyway. The more that you do this sort of work, the more robust you will be during the summer track or road races.

What snow running really brings home to you is how poor are most running shoes for this sort of work. Normal trainers do not have enough grip and many of the supposedly off road shoes are frankly useless. They are heavy and the tread on them is far too rounded to be of any use. I have a seriously good pair of Adidas shoes with sharp edged studs on the sole but their fault is that they are too thin underneath to give any proper support when there are clear road sections. The heel is also only the small studs so they have worn away far too soon. Now I don't mind Adidas doing this to make money, but since I bought this pair I have never seen any more of them. These have become rather precious to me.

The best shoes made for snow and mud were the Adidas cross country that many of us also used for orienteering. They were remarkably comfortable to wear and the studs gripped really well. They also had enough heel to give some padding when running tired. But again, finding these things is like looking for gold dust. I have no idea why the shoe manufacturers treat us in this way but as soon as a decent shoe appears like Nike Air Mariah, they change it or pull it off the market.

Whilst I am on the subject and going strong, the best spikes I have ever had were from Adidas in 1976. They had a soft blue stipple sole, very small thin spikes and soft leather uppers. Wearing them was like wearing a fine pair of gloves and they felt like magic. Just putting them on made my adrenaline rush. The beauty of them was that you could feel the track under your feet and could almost dance when you ran. Now most spikes have huge swathes of plastic underneath and very little heel of substance. The front is so large that it makes the centre of gravity of your body move and actually throws you backwards instead of helping you go faster. They may be good for sprinters but not for proper runners.

RUNNING IN THE COLD

Holidays in Finland this week. Two days I ran in the cold with Marcus and it it was hard work. The first day was -4 and the second about -7. My fngers really did not get warm for the first 20 mins each day. But the view in Turku was beautiful with snow and frost everywhere and the tracks there are wonderful to run on. Today was back in Riga and I ran for nearly an hour round the woods. The temperture was -7 again but today in the same amount of clothes I was not cold at all. Very strange! But it was much harder to run on the slippery snow here and I was moving much more slowly and with more effort. I felt really drained by the time I got back home. But the forest was again beautiful and it felt good to be alive. I was the only person running though. There were several old cross country skiers (where are the youngsters?) on some very good and extensive tracks. There were also loads of children on sledges and one ignorant parent who had taken his 4x4 right into the forest mucking up the tracks as he did so. Why do people do things like this?

Tomorrow it is likely to be very cold so we shall see what to do.