Eluding Tuonela

Yesterday I ran my first group trail run with a couple of dozen local runners. I found the event by accident when researching local running trails. The group meets every Monday around greater Turku area for an hour trail run lead by two experienced runners. It was pitch black but also really fun -- I'm glad I joined!

There were enough participants to have two speed groups so I opted to go with the faster group. I didn't really know what I was getting into but I assumed that I could keep a pretty good pace for an hour no matter what the route looked like. My heart rate went through the roof almost immediately, but it was really fun to try to follow the next runner in pitch black forest, on a somewhat technical trail that was a mix of high spruce roots, deep mud, and rocks.

We ended up running about 7k in 53 minutes. I was properly done after the run, but what I didn't expect at all was that my quads are properly feeling the yesterdays run today. I've been training pretty consistently and haven't been to the gym in a while so it's nice to feel "the good pain" for once. This was a great experience, will definitely join next week as well!

The continuous rain finally convinced me to get some new kit to protect myself better from the elements. Problem is, there's not very much to choose from here in our small city, and I'm not really interested in buying random clothes unfitted from the Internet. And as it turns out, even with plenty of research online, some things you learn only after the first proper run.

I was pretty pleased with my first purchase as I left for the first run. I noticed almost immediately, however, that the material was mush worse than my previous running jacket. And on top of that, the front pocket was placed in a way that when I put my phone in it (nowhere else to put it), it kept banging on my groins which hurt quite a bit after only few kilometers. What a disaster. Nice jacket, but not for rainy weather or situations where I want to carry anything other than keys. (To be fair, the materials / technical details were 100% my own fault. The store didn't have any information in view, and I didn't research it.)

Off to the shops again.

First run with the new shoes gave me two almost identical blisters, one on each foot.

I don't want to stop running just because of two small blisters so I popped and drained them immediately. Not sure if it was the right thing to do but they felt uncomfortable enough to be easier to manage when drained. I rarely get blisters so this is a chance to learn as well.

Got myself a new pair of running shoes! I took a long time pondering between full-on winter shoes and more trail-friendly shoes, ultimately went with the latter.

There's not that many options from where to choose from available in the shops here in a small city where I live. Salomon is a known brand that many runners seem to love so when I saw a good sale on their shoes with enough pairs in stock to go and test them out I went for it.

I like the feeling and fit of the shoe, but the quick lace system is pretty stupidly broken by design in this model. The last part of the lace goes directly over the lip that's meant for tucking the extra part in, so you can't really do it after you tighten the laces -- what an idiotic design! It's not the end of the world but I was surprised that a brand like Salomon could make that kind of a design error.

I hope these shoes will do better during the winter time than my old shoes that were abysmal in slippery and snowy conditions. Time will tell.

Today I had a very good 17k run that felt effortless all the way from beginning to end. The weather was pretty cold and it was raining most of the time, but I just kept an easy pace and let the body do its thing.

My deep interest in stats and numbers is clearly both a positive and negative thing for my training. Seeing the numbers accumulate mostly help me pushing forward but for example watching my VO2 Max dropping no matter what I try to do is frustrating as hell. I don't even fully understand the figure but I love the fact that the Garmin app compares me to a healthy 20-year old when it's good 😅

Despite the good rhythm, didn't get the start to the exercise week I wanted because my cat died yesterday. He was old, and I saw this coming for a while now, but you're never prepared to lose an important member of your family of 16 years.

My father drove me to the vet, 11k from my house. It took a while so I asked him to just go home. When I eventually came back out, I was so distressed that I just wanted to run, so I did. I ran -- in jeans and a jacket -- the 11k back home, getting a bit of chafing and properly wet as it was pretty cold and raining. The run messed up my Garmin training and VO2 data but at least I got some of the pain out of the system before getting back home.

I think getting some more proper training in this week will be super important. Not sure if I'm able to do that, though.

I shouldn't be surprised that the proper motivation to start being more active came from a woman.

But that aside, I finally feel like being (almost) on the track again and it's a great feeling. I've been steadily pushing the weekly kilometers in preparation for the 4x4x48 challenge and the leg issue has been marginally smaller now that I found a way to stretch it daily.

The weather has now turned proper cold. It was freezing this morning and only 3 C during my night run. Had to wear gloves for the first time this season. Cold weather is great for running as long as it doesn't rain. Unfortunately, it's also been raining every single day for many days now. But at least I'm getting regularly out of the door again.