Hello all you X-mas elfs!
As the photo on the left shows, the real training has started also here in Jyväskylä. The sprint-intervals done on the University Campus area were far from "submaximal" and the spit reached all the way to the ground after finishing the last set - new PB!
I have now done over 300h of work for my Master thesis, and it means that from now on I will be ready to do some training-camps as well. Only 150h of work is left and that will be much easier during 4 months in the spring - compared of doing 320h in 2½ months in autumn. Next step is to book a last minute flight to somewhere warm after Christmas - hopefully we'll find a suitable trip!
17.1-31.1 I will be in Portugal and at the start of February we'll have this traditional TC with Team Finland in Vierumäki. The rest of the February I will spend working with the mid-measurements of my Thesis. Probably I will ski a lot then, and integrate my strength-training to these long and easy skiing sessions. In the mid-March Team Finland travels to Hungary for one week and in April the same gang will spend some 10 days in the WOC 2012-camp in Switzerland. These are the notes for this spring.
But yeah, I had some news about the current things. Polar's PPT.com has been slightly updated and as you might know, I have transferred my training diary to this web-based application. Now my coaches are able to check the training on-line. Time shows, when the training diary will be public for all. That is my dream.
On the right hand side there is an example of one session in PPT.com. I was running around Jyväsjärvi (partly quite slippery) at rather good pace (4.19min/km) and I felt good. But, as usual, now I am quite jammed and happy to have a massage today...
Integrating the new piece (strength) to other trainings has worked pretty well until now. In the sprint on Saturday I felt really strong and during that Jyväsjärvi-training I felt that also the running economy is at least at the same level as before. We'll see what happens when "the real strength-training" (max-, speed-, explosive type of strength training) starts.
One more picture from the PPT.com. I have used the Training Load -feature to objectively monitor my training state. This pretty simple feature seems to have quite a good relationship between your own feeling and the actual training load.
Lastly one photo by Touho from last Saturday's Terä-meeting, where I presented my training during the 2011-season. Nothing more about the training anymore, as you can find the already-published news about it here.
But on the last slides there were some competitive goals for the 2012-season. They are in right order ;-)!
Merry Christmas 2011 and have a Happy New Year 2012!