Training W36 – Overseas ventures

I was trying to get back on track with training this week, but time simply has not been on my side lately. I have been struggling with trying to find time even for a short run and it seem like time is flying so fast I can’t keep up with it. Normally my amount should be around 20 kilometers of some sort of running, but now I am struggling to get there. This week my long run was at Frankfurt, Kronberg up Alt König, but as my HR monitor was being repaired and my mobile ran out of battery around 2’ks before the end I did not get the full training recorded. Calculating that missing 2 k’s I did reach pretty close to the 20 kilometers after all.

The run at the top of Alt König was really good training and I felt like had for once done something strenuous but not too strenuous to wear me completely out. I have a tendency to run too fast when I get too excited and then few hours after exercise my ”battery” runs out like from an old winding clock. When that does not happen after a long run I know the pace was not too bad and the exercise was good and this is what happened in Germany on the route up and down the peak.

I also cycled more than normal. Neighborhood trails are getting boring so cycled to another forest close by with lots of trails. It had very good hills up and down so need to remember that for future uphill training.

Week, by week I feel like I am finally progressing all the time. Mornings do not feel so tiring anymore and on the runs high hills are easier than before. Generally I feel like I have so much more energy and at the gym I feel like a super woman! So people (read women) check your iron storage values, you never know as iron deficiency seems to sneak up on you in time.

I am also planning on adding some meditation/mindfulness/yoga or similar to my training plan to help on those long nights in the tent and controlling breathing. Now I know I breathe too superficially, not deep enough and it would also help with singing (and running and climbing in high altitudes). The more hectic life is the more you tend to just take quick breaths and not breathe deep enough.

All this of course is just a waste of your lung capacity so I have decided to see if I can improve it. Got this app designed for meditation on my phone which I intend to use in the evenings so let’s see!

Total

  • 3 times Trail running altogether 14 kilometers
  • 1 time Basic running 3.5 kilometers, this was my HIIT training for the week
  • 2 times Cycling altogether 14 kilometers
  • 1 gym session

Target

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Finding high places – Alt König, Kronberg/Frankfurt, Germany

Traveled to Frankfurt for work this week and already when I knew I was going there I started looking around the trails and high places around the city thinking I will go for a run. Found this peak called Alt König where you can find remains of Celtic ring wall and it was reachable by public transport on the west side of the city around 832 meters above sea level.

A Finn who is practicing for Kilimanjaro must take every chance she gets to climb anything higher than 100 meters so I decided to go for it. I had a really early flight so headed straight towards Oberursel/Hohemark from hotel with tram and two different trains, underground U and commuter train line S. I did not have to wait for the next one for two long so public transport worked perfectly.

There were so many paths going across the slope that it was actually hard to choose which one to take so I just chose random trails going up taking short cuts here and there. There were different kind of paths up either gravel, grass or clay/rocky path.

Once you get to the top it has soft and nice surface and birds which made quite a lot of noise. Saw one falcon flying so not sure if it was them or some other species as I am not that familiar with birds. Anyway the top seemed to have it’s own little world and the vegetation was a bit different.

Terrain was very soft bark and it smelled like it is about to catch fire any minute.

Throne ”Alt König”

Found the top easily as there was this ”throne” bench and chair and above it read on a plaque ”Alt König”. Assumed this was the highest point so sat for a while, had a drink of water and took a few pictures.

There was a lot of vegetation and trees on the slopes so I could not really find a spot to get a shot towards the city but managed to get a few pictures with nice view.

View with a little bit less trees

Because my HR monitor wrist band broke and it is being repaired, I have had to use my mobile and just HR belt to track my sports for a few days. It seemed that using tracking app, gps or something else drained my battery completely and had only 20% left at the top.

Celtic ring walls at the top

Decided not to take the same route, but ”shortest” so pretty much straight down. Managed to get really good speed here and there. Very good descent practice for Kilimanjaro! Then noticed my mobile battery had only about 5% left so quickly checked approximate location where I should be heading and then it died. I did not get the last 2 kilometers recorded, but kept my course and found my way back to the U train, S train and to the right tram and hotel. Who needs a mobile phone or a map anyway!

My stop at the mountain was very short up and down around 1 hour and 50 minutes and distance around 8,7 kilometers hence did not have time to enjoy the nature more. This was intended to be a clear mountain running exercise more than recreational visit anyway. From Hohemark U train station it was about 1 kilometer to the forest border where I put the tracking on so It would have been 10 kilometers altogether if you start from the station.

Altitude was around 383 meters where I started recording and top was 836 meters. Max speed was 5:08/km so I really sprinted down at and was afraid with all the rocks and fairly steep decline that I would trip on my own legs but managed to concentrate, core strong and concentrate even a bit more! Toes did hurt a bit as I should have tightened my laces so that my trail running shoes would not have slid down all the time…

Afterwards I could definitely feel the fast decline on my knees and hips, but the exercise itself was really good and I only felt it for the next day or so which is normal.

The paths up are really good in the beginning and you can choose one that is not so steep, but generally there is quite a lot of steady incline and at the end it is a bit rocky. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to challenge themselves a bit, but cannot do very steep inclines.

The forest is also filled with mountain bike tracks so if that is your thing this is your place!

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