Visita a Madrid

Este es mi primer post en español. Y el motivo es mi visita a Madrid.
El próximo martes, 11 de Mayo llego a Madrid donde pienso pasar una semana (la siguiente la paso con la familia en el pueblo). La razón de este viaje es la siguiente:

Se trata del documental que hemos realizados en los campamentos de refugiados saharauis, grabado el pasado Otoño. Hemos tardado un poco, pero ya podemos estrenarlo. Un estreno del que estamos muy orgulloso, ya que es bajo el fantástico Documenta Madrid 2010, el próximo 14 de Mayo a las 6pm en la Academia de Cine. Por supuesto, estáis más que invitados. El problema con la quedada del 15 de Mayo es el cómo acabaré esa noche, pero intentaré portarme bien.

Entiendo que este post es no sobre la razón de ser de este blog, el running, pero este documental es como un hijo mío y creo que necesito dar pocas razones por las que lo quiero compartir. Un adelanto del documental es la sinopsis:

Bubisher, además de ser “un pájaro que trae la suerte”, es un camión cargado de literatura en español en los campamentos de refugiados saharauis de Tindouf. Puede resultar paradógico ver cómo dialogan dos culturas a través de pequeñas historias y cuentos, pero también el contraste entre el esfuerzo de superación de una joven generación de mujeres y la realidad del desierto.

Fotografías y más datos en la página de facebook que creé hace unas semanas y que ya tiene más de 350 seguidores: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Lucia-del-Sahara/103721283000143

Nos vemos pronto, muy pronto.

Helsinki City Run 2010

For the Helsinki City Run 2010 (HCR) I decided to do 3 key workouts in the 4 weeks I had left. I am in the second week and things are looking good.

The Key Workouts are:

One Tempo Run: 5 to 7 km @ 5.05 min/Km with 2km warming up and cooling down.

One Quality Workout: Intervals on a track or Hills @ 5KM pace (on average)

One Long Run: From 15 to 22 KM @ 6 to 6.20 min/Km

Last week and this one are the hardest one: longer tempo runs, longer runs and more intervals but from next week, I will start to reduce for the race day. Apart from these Key Workouts, I do some easy runs or swim (last week I logged more than 45km!)My plan is to go finish under 2hours, trying to be on a pace around 5.30 - 5.40 min /Km during the whole race. I think I can make it (if everything goes fine)

So far, I have done a good work and I feel great. Considering my long shifts at work and these workouts I am loosing a lot of weight! This week, my "long run" should be between 20 to 22km. If I manage to do it, it will be my longest run on 2010, let's see what happen.

Here you can see my Registration Card for the HCR:

International Running

There are many reasons why somebody start running and also, many that keeps them running for years. For the second, what keeps me running is the opportunity to run in different places in the world. This include to participate in races internationally. So far, my running experience has taken me to:

Finland: Helsinki, Sonkajärvi and Orivesi. Races: Helsinki City Run
Sweden: Stockholm. Races: Stockholm Half Marathon
Denmark: Copenhagen
Spain: Madrid and Algeciras
France: Paris

In this picture taken last week, I am running in the Parc des Buttes Chaumon, Paris and I was able to log 8.30km in a sunny and warm day. We only spent 4 days in Paris and most of the time cycling and walking around the city so I could only go for one workout.

Nonetheless, last week I logged more than 30km on my nike+ but it was this week when I started the "counting-down training" for the Helsini City Run (HCR). Not being able to follow any program so far, I just decided to at least, practice three "quality" workouts per week until the HCR. I can tell you what this program is about in another post, but I would like to share the experience we had last Wednesday in the outdoor track in  Eläintarhan kenttä (Helsinki). 

They finally cleared the snow from this track and I invited some people to join me to a workout through facebook. We were four guys this time and had a great experience. The program we followed was similar to the one I did in the indoor track with the girls. The guys enjoyed it a lot and were talking about creating an International Running Club in Helsinki. Note that we were from different nationalities: two from Spain, one from South Africa and the other one from Holland! Here I introduce you the guys!

I will let you know how I am training for the Helsinki City Run soon as it will take place in 3 weeks!
And soon, I will let you know more about my trip to Madrid in May.

About Performance Enhancement

Performance Enhancement from Kenichi on Vimeo.

Demotivation or "How to become a Coach"

If there is something that can define my running during 2010 so far is DESMOTIVATION. There are many reasons to explain it:

A very cold winter
Running alone (most of the times)
Lack of a training plan
Pain on my legs and back
...and what can be more important; there is no running event coming that I feel excited about. I was supposed to register for the Marathon du Médoc but my friends decided not to join me on this and I didn't feel strong enough to go by myself.

This didn't mean I stopped reading about running, so I still buy Runner's World magazine and read a lot of blogs (in Spanish and English) and it was one of this blogs (Dirty Running) that gave me the idea of going back to the tracks! Reading it latest post, I learnt new exercises I can do on a track workout and challenged myself to create an event on facebook to invite my friends to join me.

So last Wednesday I went to a 200m indoor track (Liikuntamylly; Myllypuro) with Belinda and Elena, two beginners and we enjoyed a lot!

It was my duty to “coach” them and we did a great job:

Warm up and core work: lunges, twists, pillar bridge, push ups...
Running drills: High knees, Butt kicks and Grapevine
Main set: 1600; 1200; 800; 400; 400; 200 (in this case, the girls cheated a little bit)

Finally, Belinda and I had some strides and the three of us cooled down.

 

After the workout they were so happy that dared to promise to run with me at the Stockholm Half Marathon next September.

On Thursday (yesterday) Belinda asked for another training day and we went to Töölölahti to do some hills. I heard today Belinda is not doing so well with her hips and legs, but that pain must feel good! In my case, I am very happy to bring new elements to my workouts and hopefully the girls will come around some other time.

On Sunday I will be traveling to Paris, where I am going to be for 4 days (running shoes included!) so I will let you know my route and experiences there when I get back.

Para los lectores que se encuentren en Madrid, que sepan que estoy prepandando una visita a la capital en Mayo, si es posible después del HCR. Ya os iré informando!