Finnish Nationals.

Today the finnish nationals for 18-19 year olds started here in Savonlinna, and I competed in shot put. I finnished 6th with a new personal best at 14,84m. Tomorrow I'm competing in discus throw, and I must say that I'm very nervous for the competition since it's my main event.

Today, after the competitions, I went with my mother on a "guided tour", or cruise, by boat. It lasted about an hour and went by Olavinlinna and around in Saimaa and Vuoksi.

The "stadium" of Savonlinna.

Olavinlinna, the main tourist attraction of Savonlinna.

The view from our hotel's sauna.

Back in business!

It has been a stressful summer with little to no free time, which has resulted in my inability to blog as usual, but now, when I'm done with this summers' work, the blog is back in business!

Right now I'm in Savonlinna for the Finnish track and field nationals, so I'll be posting a few updates during the weekend when I'm here so stay tuned! 

Bags unpacked and packed.

About a week ago I went to Portugal for the european CanSat competitions, which I wrote about Here.

I came home from Portugal last monday, and almost immediately when I came home I had to go to the doctor. I had had a bad cold for a few weeks before Portugal but it all got worse when we worked late nights and woke up early next morning for the competitions. I had to stay home from work tuesday and wednesday since I was too sick to work. Now I'm on antibiotics and I'm starting to feel a lot better. I will make a longer post about Portugal and the CanSat competitions later when I have more time.

The reason why I'm a bit in a hurry right now is that I'm going to Gothenburg, Sweden, at 05:35 tomorrow morning. I'll be participating in Världsungdomsspelen which is a fairly big international Track&Field meet. More about that in the next post..

Now I'll just check that I have everything with me for Gothenburg and try to get some sleep before I have to wake up at 3 am.. Now that I've been on a few trips already I must say that it's a bit exhausting to travel, but it's absolutely worth it.

One of the most relaxing views in the world

Portugal!

Today I'm heading back to Portugal, but for a totally different purpose than last time. I'm participating in the european CanSat competitions there. You can find more info on our blog Cansatsptc.blogspot.com

 Our team while testing our CanSat with a drone.

Roadtrip

Unexpected roadtrip would maybe describe it better.. Yesterday we decided that we'd do a roadtrip to Haparanda with a couple of friends. It's about 5 hours each way by car, so me and Daniel is driving one way each. There's not much more to say now but I'll probably make another post when we're on our way home :)

The pictures doesn't really need much explanation. It's simply those who are coming with me on the roadtrip :)

Hard work pays off.

Today I competed in Karis Telefon Games, and it couldn't have gone better. I'm happy to say that I did my best competition so far in my life and that it really feels like all my work is paying off. I improved my personal best in Shot Put by 1.02m and discus record by 2.69m. My PB's are now 14.73 and 45.79.

Atleast in discus I am ranked third best under 19 with that result, which is the best ranking I've ever had. I don't have much more to say now, so I'll show you some pictures from today.

What I do regularly on competitions to help me concentrate.. Sounds weird but it works for me.

On the road again

Right now I'm on my way to Ekenäs by bus. Our track and field team has organised a "competition trip" to Karis Telefon Games, which takes place tomorrow in Karis. Tonight we are staying at a hotel in Ekenäs, which is about 20 km from Karis.
I'm competing in my first shot put competition and my second discus competition for the season. I'm a bit nervous since it will be the largest competitions so far this year.
Anyways, I'll try to get a long nights sleep now before the competition. I'll try to update the blog with the results and some pictures tomorrow after the competition.

Training, driving, and work

The last week has been really stressful to say the least.

 On monday I drove my father to the hospital in Oulu, so I got my first full day on the road, which was both exhausting and fun.
On tuesday I got the wonderful news that I'm gonna get a summer job after all. I get to work at the same place that I've worked at for the last 2 years, and I've enjoyed working there both years.
Now on wednesday and thursday I've been helping out as a trainer/leader at my track and field teams summer camp for the younger kids. Of course it was a bit tiring, but it was fun working with kids so I can't complain.

To make yesterday even better, I got a new personal best in Clean. I lifted 1x120kg for the first time in my life, and it felt great since it has been one of my goals for the season.

Summer break

Today we had the graduation ceremony for tge third graders from PG. congratulations to all of you!

Now I'm taking some time off school to fully concentrate on my training and competitions. I think it's gonna be a long and wonderful summer!

Drivers License

Yesterday I finally got my (temporary) drivers license! Yesterday morning I went to the driving school to have my last driving lesson, and after that I had my test. I was really nervous before the test, but once I got in the car it felt ok and I finished the test almost without any mistakes. It feels good to finally be able to drive a car instead of the motorcycle, especially after sundays accident. I love driving on two wheels, but it feels so much safer to sit inside the car.

I have to use this paper until I get the card.

On the right path

Today's competition is over and even though I couldn't expect much today, I had two throws over my personal best. The discus landed on 43.10 today which means that I improved my record with almost 1,5 meters. It feels like I have a good summer to look forward to.
It feels really good to see that all the work I've put in during the fall, winter and spring is starting to pay off. The training season itself had a lot of ups and downs, but with the help of my new coach Stefan and my mental coach Christoph Treier I'm stronger and more "secure" both physically and mentally than my previous seasons.

Today's trophy

Season Opening.

I've decided to participate in today's competitions and get my season opening today, despite the fact that I'm feeling a bit "stiff" from the accident.
Everybody who has the possibility can come to Nykarleby to see me and my coach compete at 7.15 pm (19.15)!

Motorcycle Accident.

Yesterday I experienced my first motorcycle crash/accident. It was when I drove on the highway that a car pulled out from a sideroad about 30 meters in front of me, and I had to brake as hard as I could. That resulted in that the backwheel of my motorcycle got "locked" and I lost the steering over the motorcycle. Fortunately, I managed to keep the bike upright pretty far, and I managed to slow down the bike to about 40 km/h before the bike tipped to the side and I fell off.

Fortunately, I got away with only a few bruises and sore muscles. The only real damage done was a few scratches on the bike and some ripped up clothes, so you could say I got really lucky.

Today I'm very tired and sore in my body from the shock and the minor injuries i suffered. Yesterday I had to go to the hospital to get checked for injuries after the people that stopped had called emergency. 

I'm really thankful to the people that stopped to check that everything was ok and those who cared enough to stop and help me. 

Returned to the scene after I got home from the hospital.

My motorcycle luckily didn't get any scratches on the fueltank, sidebags or exhaust pipes, so there shouldn't be too hard to fix everything.

http://online.osterbottenstidning.fi/Artikel/Visa/64382

(OBS! olyckan inträffade i Nykarleby, inte kronoby)

Stafettkarnevalen

Yesterday we began our trip to Helsinki by bus at around 11 pm. The busride lasted about 6 hours so I, who have pretty long legs, had sore legs and knees after that. Some of the people from our bus went to an amusement park called Linnanmäki, or Borgbacken in swedish, and the rest of us went out on the streets of Helsinki.
After a couple of hours out in Helsinki it was time to go to the hotel where we stayed the night. The hotel and the stay was great, except the fact that I overslept a bit.. Our bus was planned to leave the hotel around 7 am, and I was woken up  by my roommates 6.50. But even though I was about 50 minutes late I managed to dress, pack my bag and eat breakfast in 10 minutes, so everything turned out to be ok.

At around 10 am we ran the 4x100m relay and we managed to accomplish our goal, to get to the finnish line. Our place might not be anything to brag about (last in our heat..) but we had fun and it was a nice experience. After I competed I didn't really do anything else than look at the remaining relays and cheering on our teams.

What's left of this trip now is a 6 hour long bus ride with good people and sore legs.

 View of the stadium, plus some happy people.

We were really lucky with the weather. It started literally pouring down minutes after we had packed up and was leaving.

Home/recovery

Yeah so I've completely forgot to blog since I came home last monday/tuesday night. I've simply been too exhausted and tired since the training camp, but now it feels like I'm back on track.

Last tuesday I began my "home training" again with a couple easy throws after I held a training for my track and field teams youth. I've had about 3 "full" throwing practices since I came home and I must say that I'm feeling more confident in the ring than last summer. Sure the throws dont fly as far as in Portugal yet, but it's also about 20 degrees colder here.

Tomorrow I'm going with my school to an event called Stafettkarnevalen which is basically a competition between schools where different relays will be ran. I'm running the first stage of the 4x100m and I'm already a bit nervous about running on Helsinki Olympic stadium. It will probably be the first and last time I run there, but not the last time I'll compete there I hope.
Anyways I'm going to practice now and hopefully I'll remember to update the blog tomorrow.

This is what I've missed the most during the camp, my Golden Retriever Nadia. Of course I missed mom and dad, but I can't really talk in the phone with a dog.

First outdoors practice at home.

Back in the "homegym". and also my warmup/training where my sponsors are named is finally made and in use!

 

I really missed Finnish nature while I was in Portugal.

Last training.

I had my last training for this years training camp this morning and I must say it was the best one so far. My technique worked pretty well and the average length of my throws was the best so far. What also made it a lot better was the fact that I got to see two of my biggest idols, Märt Israel and Gerd Kanter, throw.

Here's the "progress" on my throws on the camp. The throw down to the right is my best throw from today.

Header

I finally managed to make a header for my blog, and I atleast think that it gave the blog a better look.

Best throw today.

There's still a lot to work on, but it feels like I'm atleast getting a grip on what I need to improve and how to do it. It can only get better from here.

Spain, complications, and throwing

The post I had planned on doing on tuesday got a bit delayed because of an unfortunate event that made my trip a bit complicated.

Anyways, our trip to Spain was pretty fun and "different" if you can say that. I didn't really find much amusement from the stores there, but it was fun to get to spend a day with my brother atleast. 

On Wednesday I couldn't really do anything because of some unfortunate event that I wont go any deeper on, but I simply had to take a day off from training.

Today I had one of the best training days in my life with personal records both in discus and snatch. I'm Really looking forward to the competitions this summer now when my technique is starting to feel more and more stable. I'll make a new post with todays best throw once I get it up on youtube.

 Cycling along the border of Portugal and Spain.

 Simon tried to get money from an ATM machine that obviously was made for ants.

 A picture from the ferry between Portugal and Spain.

 The Solvin brothers in action

This is a panorama picture from the throwing area. I think it's almost as close to heaven you can come for a thrower. 

One week done, One to go.

So now I've been here in Portugal for a week and I've got one week left. I haven't had the possibility to update the blog much since the poor network connection here, but I'll try my best today.
The first week has been really fun and I've already learned alot (including the fact that sunburns aren't really fun..) and especially my technique has improved quite a bit from my first throwing session here. So far I've had 8 practices so we will take a rest day tomorrow and go to Spain, since we live around 3 km from the spanish border.
 I don't really have much more to say right now, but I'll try to update tomorrow after we've been to Spain! :)

Atleast I can show you some pictures and videos from the camp so far:

 My personal record lift in snatch at 75kg

 A selfie from the beach at first of May 

 One of my first throwing sessions here.

My brother cycling down the road of hell, a 3km flat, straight and boring road from the hotel to the training center of Vila Real.

Monte Gordo

I've had some trouble with the WiFi here at our hotel so I haven't been able to update the blog.
Anyways we arrived at Faro airport at monday evening from where we took a taxi to our hotel here in Monte Gordo. I had my first outdoors throwing training yesterday and it felt really good. My technique wasn't really good yet, but I guess it takes some time to get used to throwing outside again.
Today I only have one practice on the schedule so I've had the chance to lay by the pool and the beach for about an hour.

Here's a panorama picture from the beach we live next to:

You'll might need to click on the image to enlarge it.

Vanda once again.

So now we've arrived at Vanda Airport, again. Our plane is leaving 13.20 for Düsseldorf and then we go from there to Faro. I'm so excited and nervous since this is both my first training camp abroad and it's also the farthest I've ever been from home.

On the road again.

Bags are packed, passport is in my pocket and I'm all ready to go. I'm really excited, stressed and happy that I get the opportunity to travel and see the world, but it's a bit stressful to come home from Poland thursday night and now to Portugal.
Anyways. Me and my brother is currently on our way to Vasa where we'll sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning we'll go to Vanda Airport from where we take a plane to Portugal.

I have a 2-week long training camp in Monte Gordo, Portugal and I'm really excited to get to throw the discus outside for the first time this season. I've been working on my technique all winter and now I'll finally get to see if all my hard work has paid off.

I'll probably update the blog now and then during the training camp with pictures and progress on my training.

Kazimierz - updated with more pictures

Here's some more pictures from our guided tour around the jewish district of Krakow, Kazimierz

 The old jewish cemetery in Kazimierz

 Old gravestones that had been destroyed during the holocaust had been incorporated in to the wall surrounding the cemetery. 

A monument built by headstones destroyed by the Nazis during the holocaust.

A monument and memorial for the Holocaust.

The inside of an old synagouge that nowadays is a museum.

The Corpus Christi Church in Krakow was also part of our tour around Kazimierz and it's one of the many beautiful churches in Krakow.

Wieliczka

On monday afternoon we took a bus to a little town called Wieliczka, about half an hour from Krakow. Under the city of Wieliczka lays a salt mine that has been active continuously from the 13th century until 2007 and is both one of the largest and oldest salt mines in the world. Nowadays the salt mine is a large museum where you get to know a lot of the history of the mine and how the mine worked before we had the technology we have today.
Beyond the exhibitions found in the mines there were a lot of statues and religious sites built by the workers during the whole history of the cave. The most famous part and impressive part of the mine were the large chapel carved in stone about 100 meters below ground.

The Chapel of St. Kinga. The chapel is regularly used for weddings, masses and concerts.

A statue of Casimir III the great (Kazimierz III Wielki in Polish) who was a polish king that lived and ruled during the 14th century.

A model of how the elevators lifting both the stone, workers and tools up and down from the surface. The horses lived, worked and died in the mines once they had been brought down there.

The Last supper was one of the beautiful artworks found in the chapel and it's naturally carved in to the stone wall of the chapel.