Suunto Blog

It’s been one heck of a year, to put it politely. The COVID-19 pandemic shook the world and pulled the carpet out from under our feet. All our plans, goals, normal daily routines were thrown to the wind before we could get our pants on. It’s taken us a while to get our balance back. This is especially so for athletes who, like musicians and performers, no longer had events to train for and travel to. The race calendar was suddenly empty. Yet, somehow training had to go on. We’ve all had to pivot and find ways to stay inspired. Suunto’s ambassadors all found ways to stay stoked this year, and continued to inspire others along the way. We caught up with some of them and asked what they’ve learned, and got nine timeless, and positive lessons all of us could do with. Be like water South African ultra runner Ryan Sandes had big plans for 2020, and they all went out the window. “It’s been really important to be fluid with life in general and with your training,” he says. “When I say fluid, I mean to be adaptive and move with the situation. It’s important to just make the best out of the current situation and find creative ways to mix up your training.” Ryan mixed it up by running a 100 miler in and around his home in Cape Town during lockdown in April. The total course length was 110 m, and he did it about 1463 times. The total elevation gain totalled 6000 m. His neighbours thought he was crazy, and stayed up during the night to support him. Hit play on the video above to watch his mammoth home run! Lucy Bartholomew published a plant-based cook book this year. Focus on what you can control This tip has been a big learning for Australian ultra runner Lucy Bartholomew this year. In July, a strict lockdown was imposed in Melbourne. Residents were only allowed out of their homes to exercise and to purchase essentials for no more than an hour a day, and could go no further than five kilometers from their homes. “It taught me to focus on the things I can control, like my effort and attitude and not overly stress and worry about what I can’t control,” she says. Instead of stressing, she focused on cooking delicious food and creating and publishing a cookbook, called Sustain your Ability. “I think the act of cooking and nourishing our body has been highlighted over this period as we have had more time at home so it’s really cool to connect with people around that.” Emelie Forsberg listens to her body, and knows when to push, and when to rest. © Kilian Jornet Accept where you are at It’s not surprising many of us lost motivation this year, especially early on. “I went through a struggle with motivation and then got it back and it was such joy!” mountain athlete Emelie Forsberg says. “Also becoming pregnant with our second child, I couldn't train because I was just too tired. So that has also been a mental challenge – trying to climb out of the hole of tiredness was interesting.” The takeaway is it’s important not to judge yourself if your motivation is low. It’s natural for it to wax and wane, especially in a year like this. Rather than give yourself a hard time, observe it, and accept that’s where you are at now. You might just need to give yourself time to rest, recover, adapt and find new goals. It will come back. Small goals make a difference When everything we normally look forward to has been cancelled, it’s natural to feel rudderless for a while. That’s why it’s so important to find new goals to get a sense of direction and achievement. “I set small goals every day, even as simple as ‘do a load of washing’ and saw that as a success and as an achievement,” Lucy says. “Sometimes we don’t give ourselves credit for just waking up and getting out of bed every day – that takes guts!” The highlight of 2020 for Courtney was attempting an FKT on the 805 km Colorado Trail. Run for the love of it For US ultra runner Courtney Dauwalter, who thrives on racing, her daily goal was simply to get on the trails near her home everyday. “I learned that I love training and running no matter if I have a race or not,” she says. “I loved getting out the door every day to explore our local trails even though I had no idea what I was preparing for.” Greg Hill got his own garden going, and supported his neighbours to do the same. © Greg Hill Care for your community With lockdowns happening across the world, and our usual social circles are disrupted, many of us have rediscovered the importance of local, even micro local, communities. For skimo legend Greg Hill, supporting his local community gave him and his neighbours a new sense of purpose. “I recognized the importance of community and how we really need to work together to weather this storm,” Greg says. “As an athlete with a voice, I used my voice to empower other ideas. I pivoted and started figuring out how to inspire people in other ways. We started a committee aimed at making Revelstoke more food secure. I brought in 100 trucks worth of soil to fill people’s gardens so we grow more food locally. It gave myself and others purpose while we were contained on our properties.” Investing in strength pays dividends long term. © Graeme Murray / Red Bull Content Pool Build strength Ryan Sandes and Lucy Bartholomew both spent much more time on strength and mobility training this year, and they say they feel better for it. Lucy also focused on recovering from an injury she ignored in 2019. “Usually training takes me two to three hours and it was almost refreshing to accept that this is what it is and to instead limit it to an hour of power (remember Melbourne residents were permitted out of their home for only an hour a day),” Lucy says. “I think it made me more efficient and then I spent more time in my home gym doing more strength work and yoga, which has been so much fun and really rewarding.” Family, good health, tasty food, fresh air – Emelie is grateful for the little things. © Kilian Jornet Be grateful for what you have Stuck indoors, and bombarded with bad news about the pandemic, it’s easy to overlook the positive. But for Emelie Forsberg this year has brought home to her how important it is to focus on all the wonderful things we have. “I think this pandemic has made us appreciate the small things in life that we sometimes take for granted, and that we value even more now, like being with family and staying healthy,” she says. Savour every hug Remember back in 2019 when people were hugging and high fiving all over the place? Ah, such fond memories. All of our Suunto ambassadors are longing to reconnect to their sport communities when the worst of the pandemic is behind us. “I will never take another hug from granted!” Lucy says. Lead image: © Philipp Reiter Read more articles 14 tips for backcountry skiing this winter 10 must-read Suunto articles from 2020 8 tools for tracking the weather with Suunto

Suunto ambassador and record breaking ski mountaineer Greg Hill has achieved some incredible things; skiing two million vertical feet (609, 600 m) in a single year, climbing and skiing over 190 mountains, his inspiring Electric Adventures challenge in which he has so far climbed 100 summits without using any fossil fuel. On top of this, add to the list being an awesome dad, and a voice for climate change action. Yet, behind every elite athlete, is at least one trainer who helps to keep the fire burning and things progressing in the right direction. This is true for Greg who has had the same highly sophisticated trainer for the last 21 years. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Greg had the time to sit down and reflect on this relationship.     Thanks to my trainer By Greg Hill As Covid hit, we all sat back and reflected on our lives. What I reflected on most was my relationships and their importance. Of course, there were family and loved ones which are the most important. Yet, there were also others whose importance in my life became obvious. Relationships with co-workers, neighbours and, now that I think about it, a long-lasting relationship with my personal trainer. I should introduce myself. I am Greg Hill, a super passionate backcountry skier. This passion has driven me to find first descents, push endurance records and explore places like no one else. My passion lies in pushing into the unknown; be it the physical or the mental landscape. I first met my trainer in a parking lot in Whistler in 1999. It was a moment fated by the stars. I knew I needed a trainer, but I never understood how important the relationship was going to be. This began right at the start of my obsession with vertical travel in the mountains. I knew little, but dreamed big. How could I push and evolve my skills without a proper trainer? Most likely I wouldn’t have accomplished any of my goals without this connection.     I had no idea how much this relationship was needed, but we hit it off right away. The moment I was told how fast I was moving upwards, I wanted to excel and push that number higher. With my days being diligently tracked I pushed higher and further for hours. Multiple summits, long, long days, bigger days than I had ever done before. Always the incessant qualifying of my efforts, always the numbers telling me how hard I was working. It was addictive being accountable. Our relationship developed into one of trust and commitment. I was pushed and driven to higher numbers and heights, always keeping track of my times, urging my vertical speeds faster and faster, always wanting me to go higher and further; 30 vertical feet a minute, come on you can do better, 50 feet a minute, that’s it … hold on… push and push… you've got this! One of my first goals was to max out how much I could do in a day’s effort. We diligently worked on getting my one hour vertical as fast and high as possible. My trainer coached me to a point where I could glide and slide my way uphill very fast for an hour at a time. He watched me hit personal best after personal best. Always keeping track and letting me know how well I had done. Or poorly depending on the day. Eventually with this coaching we saw the numbers get higher and higher, 10k, 20k, 30k, 40k in a day. Finally, my biggest vertical day ever, 50 000 feet (15, 240 m) in 23.5 hours. My coach kept those numbers and I was proud. Yet we knew we had more to do … lots more. For many years we worked at doing 3000 m days as fast as possible, pushing and working my fluidity until it felt normal to go out for four to five hours and log 3000 + meters of uphill travel. As a team, we worked up to one million feet in a winter, then eighty days over 3000 m in a season. Finally, we decided it was time for my biggest year ever. With my coach at my side at all times, I felt like we could challenge the world. As scared as I was of the audacity of the task, I knew that together we could make it happen. My drive and the constant progress reports would keep me motivated. The year was going to be all about getting out every day and moving up and down mountains. For 365 days I went to bed with my trainer beside me. Immediately on waking I was told how much vertical I had climbed up to that point. It took exactly 270 days out of 365 to push my numbers over the two million feet (609 km) mark but it was the endless support and drive of my trainer that kept me getting up in the morning.   Greg celebrates back in 2014 after completing his March Madness, skiing 100.000 meters of vertical in a month. His trainer played a key role also in this challenge!   In the last 10 years the information has changed and there is so much more that I get from my trainer: GPS lines that show the adventures with distances, apps that have all my efforts on them. I am even told how much time to relax between training sessions, though I find this one hard to follow!! These days my trainer captures all my efforts to stay off my “dad bod” and keep pushing my personal limits. High intensity training is key to pushing back against the effects of age. Now I am pushed hard for two minutes, then slow my heart rate down, then back up for two minutes, pushing hard into the 90 % of effort range. My heart rate is watched, recorded and displayed. I know if I am pushing hard enough to lose these love handles. By now it may be obvious the trainer I met in the parking lot in Whistler was my first altimeter watch. It has been an incredible time, using it for endless hours of quantified fun. I can honestly say that without the constant updates, and the evolution of these watches, I most likely would not have been as obsessed and pushed to excel in my life.   All images: © Bruno Long   Read more articles 14 tips for backcountry skiing this winter 10 must-read Suunto articles from 2020 7 tips for running in the rain

Just like training, a little reading everyday goes a long way. And reading about training, about adventure, and about how to improve your core skill set keeps the fire of inspiration and discipline burning. So bookmark this article, and next time you’re in recovery mode and feel like you need a boost, flop on the couch and peruse at your leisure. You’ll find yourself itching for your next big training session or adventure.   Pau Capell (above) went after his own record on the UTMB trail this year. Welcome to the season of the FKT It’s been one heck of a year. But despite the disruption and the tragedy caused by the pandemic athletes and adventurers, like most of us, have had to adapt, and find new ways to keep the show on the road. With races cancelled, many have turned to fashioning their own personal adventures, including going after fastest known time (FKT) records on the world’s iconic trails. Read on to find out about the 2020 FKT phenomena.   Professional Xterra triathlete Karsten Madsen on his Everesting attempt. © @matthew.tongue No races? Conquer your own Everest? Another way athletes, particularly triathletes, have kept themselves busy and motivated is by scaling their own Everests. We talked to one Suunto athlete about this phenomena and found out how cool it is.   © Kelvin Trautman / Red Bull Content Pool The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist This year we’ve spoken to DJs about music and movement, and how they find the balance. Each DJ artist or group put together a playlist on Suunto’s Spotify channel, with each playlist designed to support easy, medium, intense workouts, or to vibe with your mornings, evenings and nights. We also found out about the benefits of working out to music and how to make the pitch perfect playlist. Get Suunto's playlists to work out to here.   © Philipp Reiter Start your path to mountain navigation mastery here Aiming to spend more time in the mountains? Then make sure to study our series on wayfinding in the mountains. Put together by Suunto’s navigator-in-chief, Terho Lahtinen, an elite adventure racer, these articles look at the core skills needed to become a competent navigator in big terrain.   © Kilian Jornet Finding the balance: Emelie Forsberg’s 7 motherhood tips for running mums Suunto ambassador and skyrunning champion Emelie Forsberg has transitioned from full time athlete to full time mum. She’s had some trial and error as she’s tried to find a balance between training and performing, and being a totally present and awesome mum. We caught up with her and found out what she’s learned along the way.   William is the first person to swim underwater across a major channel. 5 steps to therapeutic breathing to combat COVID-19 Suunto ambassador and world champion freediver William Trubridge knows a thing or two about breathing techniques and caring for the lungs. Breathing exercises, whether from the yogic pranayama tradition or from physiotherapy, are key aspects of freediving training. Concerned about the impact of COVID-19, William put his considerable research skills to work and discovered therapeutic breathing can go a long way to help with the healing process. Read on for his five steps.   8 tools for tracking the weather with Suunto Knowing what’s up with the weather is a question of personal responsibility and safety for outdoor people. Even more so if you’re heading out with a group under your care. Fortunately, the days of having to poke around online to put together a picture are gone; now, thanks to smart tech and apps, high definition weather intel gets beamed straight to your device. Read on to make sure you have all the tools at your disposal.   Know your species of cloud A little like bontanical knowledge, knowing the various species of clouds is more than just a geeky fascination; it can keep you and your group safe. Each species of cloud is telling you something, indicating what’s going on in the environment around you. We talked to Sarvesh Garimella, the chief scientist and COO at MyRadar about cloud identification and what to look out for.   Michael Arend coaches ultra and marathon runners, as well as triathletes and ski mountaineers. How to adapt your training when the unexpected strikes This year has been all about doing our best to adapt to the disruption caused by COVID-19. Given humans are creatures of habit, adapting isn’t always that easy. Oftentimes we hold on tight to our previous way of doing things until we have no choice but to let go. We talked to professional running and ultra marathon coach Michael Arend about how to adapt training when life blows up and you find yourself looking at the wreckage of your well laid plans.   Planning a route from scratch is just one of the many route planning options on Suunto app.   Six ways to plan a route for your next adventure Whether Suunto or via our partners, we have ensured our users have a fist full of ways to plan their adventures. There’s something to be said for carefully planning an unknown route in advance and then going out to explore it. That’s what adventure is all about.   Lead images: Philipp Reiter    

It was an impressive attempt. Kilian ran 134.8 km in 10 hours and 20 minutes on a 400 m track in Måndalen, Norway. He didn’t achieve his goal of running for 24 hours, but he achieved his other goals; to push his limits and learn more about training. Scroll through the photos below and learn more about Kilian’s attempt.   When Kilian began his Phantasm24 running challenge on November 27, thousands of fans around the world watched Salomon’s live stream of the event on Youtube and expressed astonishment in the chat box that Kilian could run for 24 hours in that kind of cold.     It was -1°C in Måndalen, Norway, the location of the 400 m track, and the steam from the breath of Kilian and five Norweigen ultra runners competing was visible as they ran on a thin strip of blue track, with sparkling white frost covering either side. The track had to be de-iced to make it safe for the runners.     As always, Kilian wanted to test his limits, and to continue to develop his knowledge of endurance training. The main goal of the event was to run for 24 hours, and to see who could run the greatest distance in that time. Despite his impressive split times, it wasn’t to be.     After setting an impressive pace in the first 10 km (4:16 per km), and running the first 42.4 km in 3:02:23, Kilian decided to pull out of the attempt after 10 hours and 20 minutes due to chest pains and dizziness. “I was feeling pretty good, with the normal ups-and-downs of a long race like this,” Jornet said. “My body felt good, my legs felt good and then, suddenly, I felt two intense pains in my chest and started to get very dizzy and very exhausted. The medical people came to me and checked me out, and said it was best to go to the hospital.”     Earlier in the day, Kilian’s partner Emelie Forsberg and their daughter Maj were there supporting his attempt. The track is located near to their home in Ramsdal.     Norwegian ultra runners Sebastian Conrad Håkansson, Simen Holvik, Jo Inge Norum, Harald Bjerke and Didrik Hermansen also gave strong performances. Seb (Sebastian) kept pace with Kilian (pictured above), and broke the Norwegian records for 100 km, 12 hour running, and 100 miles before stopping. Harald Bjerke completed 232.28 km, Jo Inge Norum 219.45, Simen Holvik 208.13 and Didrik Hermansen 174.8 km. Suunto congratulates them all.     While he’s disappointed he had to withdraw early, Kilian says he learned a lot about training and nutrition in the process, which will help him tackle future challenges. “I got this idea about a year ago to run for 24 hours on a track so I went to Salomon to help organize the run,” he says. “I wish it went differently, but it’s still fun to explore different things and new projects. So I want to thank Salomon and Suunto for supporting the project and everyone who helped organize the event, from the track volunteers to the community in Måndalen and the people at the track club. I think it was colder for the volunteers than for the runners!” Read Kilian’s post about his Phantasm24 challenge!   All images: © Vegard Breie Read more articles Kilian Jornet starts initiative to protect mountain ecosystems 7 tips for running in the rain 8 tools for tracking the weather with Suunto

Ben demonstrates the classic running in the rain face. © Ben James After a long day at work the last thing most of us look forward to is getting drenched to the bone out on a run, especially during winter. Not so for Ben James, a Suunto athlete, who seeks out adventure in miserable conditions. Growing up in Cornwall, England, known for its Atlantic weather fronts, the outdoors was Ben’s entertainment. He began with navigation courses, then camping, hiking, mountaineering and eventually ultra running. On trips to remote and rugged corners of Scotland, he discovered he enjoyed both the remoteness and harsh conditions. Since then, it’s been his thing. “I realised I enjoy the cold, miserable stuff more than anything else,” he says, laughing. “So I started to do trips abroad in the cold. I was in Iceland in January doing a winter crossing. It was really unlucky timing. We ended up with the four biggest storms they've had in however many years. We got absolutely hammered. It was fun.” If you’re shaking your head, we feel you. If it makes it any better, Ben admits to occasionlly wimping out of runs just because it’s raining. But there is something to be said for accepting the challenge and heading out and getting wet. Read on for Ben’s four reasons you should embrace it, and three tips to do it well. “If you’ve run in the rain once, it’s a badge of honour,” he says. “After that you’re basically semi pro!” Click to learn about 8 tools for tracking the weather with Suunto Some rainy day runs turn into something magic. © Ben James It makes running at other times easier “The hardest thing about running is the motivation to go and do it,” Ben says. “Especially when you’ve had a busy day at work, and you come home and don’t want to go back out again. When it’s raining even more so. In winter it’s already horrible, dark, cold, wet. But if you can pick yourself up and push yourself to go out in the rain and in the dark, then every other run becomes so much easier to do.” The extra runner’s high “The additional challenge of heading out in the rain in some ways makes it more rewarding,” Ben says. “If I go out in horrible conditions I tend to feel a lot more alive. When you come back in, have a hot shower and warm up you get an extra runner’s high.” Embrace it “If you’re comfortable with it and don’t mind getting wet then it doesn’t limit you as much,” Ben says. “If you go out nervous about getting wet, and you’ve packed all your waterproofs, from the start you’re already weighed down. If you’re happy to go minimal and embrace whatever is thrown at you, it’s more liberating. Then you’re less likely to shy away from it.” Prepares you for race day “If it’s raining I just suck it up and stick to my plan,” Ben says. “Because ultimately if you’re going to go do a race or a trip, chances are the weather might be rubbish. It’s good to experience training in the same conditions that you might have to run in.” Set yourself a weekly running target “Knowing you’ve got to reach that target, there are only so many times in the week you can skip your runs,” Ben says. “To meet the target you’ll eventually have to run in the rain. Once you do it a couple of times, you’ll discover it’s actually quite enjoyable because of the extra endorphins you get from it. That itself encourages you to go out and just do it.” Adapt when necessary “If it’s really bad and blowing a gale as well, and you get battered, then there’s nothing wrong with adapting, changing your route, maybe heading inland, and doing some speed work along flatter trails, or doing some hill reps,” Ben says. “That way you can keep it short and intense.” Ditch all the wet weather gear “I’ve never worn any waterproof trousers or leggings,” Ben says. “I’ve always stuck with shorts, a t-shirt and a waterproof coat because as you get moving you warm up anyway. It also encourages you to keep going because if you stop you’re going to freeze. It’s good motivation!” Lead images: © Philipp Reiter © wisthaler.com Read more articles 8 tools for tracking the weather with Suunto Get key info at a glance with the new Outdoor watch face 7 tips for running in the dark

Transcendent Spanish mountain athlete Kilian Jornet, who climbed Everest twice in one week, is testing his legendary endurance prowess against an entirely different kind of challenge. Coming up this November, Kilian will step onto a kind of terrain that he’s unaccustomed to – a pancake flat 400 m (¼ mile) track – and run for 24 consecutive hours in a pair of Salomon’s new S/LAB Phantasm road running shoes. For the 33-year-old, who has won elite races all over the world and in four categories – trail, ultra, vertical, and skimo – the Phantasm24 running challenge will push him out of his comfort zone, something he looks forward to. “The motivation is to try different things and see what I am able to do, whether that is climbing at high altitude or, in this case, running on flat ground,” Kilian says. “It’s fun to discover different things I can do, and training on the flat is a good test and an opportunity to learn in terms of nutrition and pacing, and then try to apply those things to different activities, like even mountaineering projects.” Follow the event live starting at 10.30am CET on November 27, 2020 Going up against the Greek Kilian will track his progress and split times with his Suunto 9 GPS sportwatch to determine how he is performing against the times of Greek ultramarathoner Yiannis Kouros, who holds the record for the greatest distance run in 24 hours (303.506 km / 188.590 miles). While Kilian, true to form, won’t make any bold and brash predictions, we know that whenever he presses “start” on his Suunto 9 GPS watch amazing things tend to happen. “I’ve seen Yiannis’s split times so I want to keep up with that as long as I can,” Kilian says. “I know the speed I will need to keep every hour, and the pace for every kilometer and every lap. The first 10 hours will be a bit faster and then slowing every hour after. The big thing is to not have any muscle problems and be able to eat without having big down periods.” Preparing the body Physically and mentally accustomed to running elite mountain races like Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), Hardrock 100, and Western States 100, Kilian has sought out expert advice from coaches and physios to prepare his body for the repetitive motion of running on the flat. “It’s mostly working on the speed because my legs aren’t used to moving this fast,” he says. “To prepare, I’ve been doing three days of speed work each week at the track or on roads. The form you run with on the flat is very different from how you run in the mountains, where you run higher because you pass over obstacles and put your feet in different places as the terrain changes.” Kilian was forced to delay the 24-hour attempt in recent weeks due to muscle injuries that presented prior to his first 10 km road race, the famed Hytteplanmila race in Norway, which he finished in 29:59 in mid-October. “The training has been a bit frustrating the last few months going from injury to injury to injury,” Kilian says. “I have had good blocks of training and then I would have an injury and have to rest. After the 10 km race, I had to stop training to rest an injury. Since then, the plan has been to do one good week of training and see how my body feels, then rest the muscle tissues and recover for the attempt.” In his 24-hour attempt, Kilian will wear Salomon’s new S/LAB Phantasm, a super lightweight road racing shoes that will be released in the spring of 2021. He has been using the shoe for several months during his track and road running training sessions. “I tested the prototypes of the S/LAB Phantasm a year ago and now I’m using the same shoe that will be available in spring to the public,” Kilian says. “It’s a light, very reactive and well-balanced shoe with good cushioning, which is important when you are doing longer training on hard surfaces.” Add the date The 24-hour running challenge will be held in Måndalen, Norway, starting on Friday, November 27 at 10.30am CET. Fans will be able to watch the challenge via a live feed at www.Salomon.com/phantasm24. A web series previewing Jornet’s preparation will appear on Suunto and Salomon social media in the days leading up to the event. Suunto will serve as the official timekeeper of the Phantasm24 challenge. All images: @vegardphoto Read more articles Kilian Jornet starts intitiative to protect mountain ecosystems Six ways to plan a route for your next adventure 8 tools for tracking the weather with Suunto