I started the first week of the new year with a rest day. It was a good call as my legs actually feel a bit better now.
It's been hard to get back to a good rhythm as I've seem to lost all motivation and incentives to keep pushing. Still, I count this week as a positive as I got something done every day.
As I just bought a new pair of running shoes I was not very keen to purchasing yet another stutted pair for icy winter conditions. Yet, as I found out last year, you really need ice studs if you want to go out on wet and icy conditions.
As an alternative to 185 EUR pair of shoes I opted to purchase a packet of ice studs for 25 EUR. This particular packet came with 20 small studs, just enough for a pair of shoes. The studs are installed with a special tool that comes with the package and fits into a regular 1/4" tool socket.
The installation is easy but takes a little bit of learning to get right. I tried both power drill and hand wrench, and got better results without the drill. You need to just find a good spot, apply plenty (meaning a lot) of pressure and keep the stud at correct angle at all times. When the flat part is flush with the rubber, you're done. It took me about 20 minutes to install all the studs to a pair of Salomon trail running shoes. Had I had a choice, I would've opted for a shoe with more rigid / less rubbery soul but I worked with what I got.
The end result feels a bit sketchy indoors and on clear pavement, but works great on snow and ice. You really feel the extra grip and the shoes aren't at all wobbly. The studs feel like they will hold perfectly if I don't need to do any crazy full-on cartoon stops.
After a couple of runs, I'd definitely opt for studded shoes over regular ones with any snowy and/or icy conditions. That said, if you run on trails or pavements that don't have ice, regular shoes will probably work better. YMMV.
This was the last week of 2021. Not surprisingly I found it pretty hard to find the motivation to keep running at home after a productive week on a holiday far away. I only managed to get in two runs.
I also continue have issues with my right leg. I've tried to do more stretching and yoga but it really doesn't like even the very mildly cold weather at all.
The weather keeps changing from ridiculously cold to annoying warm. The trails that last week were almost perfect are now covered in 15 cm of wet snow and water, and next week will be frozen again. I cannot hate this part of the year more.
Feeling great after a full week of running in very cold but beautiful conditions. The small village didn't have many good routes for running as there were practically no pedestrian roadways, the ice on the lake(s) wasn't yet strong enough to safely carry a person without proper gear (full-body safety suit etc), and all the trails have been repurposed to skiing. So I mainly ran on roads / highways but luckily there were so few cars that it really wasn't a problem.
I did have a problem with my right calf, though. First time in my (not that long) running career I had to abort a run about 3k in and walk back home due to pain in the calf. I suspect it was due to two things; extremely cold weather (-14C to -20C) combined with relatively few running in past few weeks. I gave it one day off and it was pretty OK after that. I clocked a healthy 41k of running this week.
Most importantly, I'm feeling really good again after a week of active life!
Good hello! My name is Ville Säävuori aka
@Uninen and this is my health blog. I'm a
40-something nerd from Turku, Finland. My goal is to exercise or be otherwise active
every single day. I built this site to follow my progress and to help with
accountability. I'm training for running my first 10khalf marathonmarathon 4x4x48 challenge in 2022.
Huberman Lab podcast (YouTube) -
outstanding podcast by Dr. Andrew Huberman with a metric ton of scientific information and
practical advice relating to neuroscience and physical and mental training.
The Joe Rogan Experience (Spotify)
- you can say what you want about Joe Rogan but there's no denying that many of his
discussions with passionate people are 100% genuine and full of insight. I do not agree with
the man on many issues but I do appreciate the free content.
People
David Goggins (Instagram) - whenever
you need motivation, just go back and remind yourself what David Goggins does to keep his
demons away. Also, if you feel lonely on your run, no matter wherever you are on the planet
or what time it is, it's likely that he is training somewhere at this same moment. (Check
out these -
hilarious Goggins-anecdotes by Jesse Itzler) Stay hard!
Katie Spotz (Instagram) - amazig young
endurance athlete who is willing to do more than most of us for making the world a better
place. Listen
Joe Rogan #1635
for a deeper look into her story.
Jocko Willink (Instagram) - ultimate
dicipline and respectable morals. Jocko's daily 4.30 am clock photos on Instagram are a
constant reminder that the strongest men work for their success.
Books
Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins - superb
combination of audiobook and podcast that gives you lots of practical advices on taking
control of our life and stranghtening your mind. Definitely check out the audio version of
this book, it's amazing.
I haven't found that many interesting books relating to staying healthy / exercising. I'm
not at all interested in ungenuine self-help type books or pushy "just do
this" marketing books. If you have any suggestions, dm or email me!
Colophon
This site is a hobby project intended as a learning tool and a honing stone to keep my
skills sharp. It's a handcrafted Vue 3 application
written in TypeScript.
The exercise data is recorded with a Garmin Fenix 5 watch, and then pulled from Garmin
Connect by a scheduled Gitlab CI script using
garmin-connect-to-json
(that I also wrote and maintain). The notes are stored in a MongoDB database running on
MongoDB Atlas.
The CSS is produced by TailwindCSS JIT compiler. Local
application data is handled by Vuex, and
vue-router handles the routing. Development
server and bundling is powered by Vite. The production
build is rendered as a static output with zero JavaScript dependencies by a bespoke
Playwright script. The site is hosted and deployed by
Vercel.
All the images and other content on this site is created and owned by me if not stated
otherwise. No bullshit Terms Of Service and
Privacy Policy are available.