SUUNTOブログ

If there’s one way to get athletes talking, it’s to ask them about their flow experiences. They sit up, smile, and recall incredibly vivid experiences they will cherish for the rest of the lives. In many ways, flow states are the big reward that keep us going. Kind of like the panoramic view at the top of a mountain that makes the arduous climb worthwhile. Flow states are a basic human potential. They are available to all of us, not only elite athletes, musicians and artists. With a little knowledge, dedication and practice, we can increase the likelihood of having a flow state experience. According to mental coach Markus Arvaja, flow states are thoroughly immersive experiences. In his work with top ice hockey, football and tennis players, he tries to put in place the conditions that make flow states, when performance becomes almost effortless, more likely. Markus is a certified sports psychology consultant and senior lecturer in coaching at Finland’s Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. Click here to read our article explaining the science flow states! No challenge, no flow “First,” Markus says, “you need to have a feeling of being challenged, but that you have the competency and self confidence to handle it.” It’s a delicate balance. If the challenge is too great, and you feel out of your depth, lacking the skills for an activity, then it’s unlikely you will experience a flow state. There’s simply too much mental activity happening. On the other hand, if the task is too easy, and the challenge is too low, then you are likely to be bored, also making flow state unlikely. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. So consider what might be a reasonable challenge for you, one that you feel confident in your skills and ability to take on. Feel positive The next essential condition for flow state experiences is motivation. “It helps if you can achieve your optimal arousal,” Markus explains. “You need to feel that you are really into the activity.” There’s another balance here. One extreme is boredom, the other is being too excited, almost nervous with anticipation. In the middle is relaxed enthusiasm. One way to achieve this is to remember the reasons you love your sport, what it gives you, a few minutes before you perform. Or maybe listening to music motivates you. Automate the skill set The reason top athletes and musicians experience flow is because they have put in the countless hours necessary to master their chosen activities. Whatever your sport, you need to have automated the skills required to experience flow. The action should come naturally from the body without any need for thinking or assesment. “If you don’t trust your technique, it’s hard to achieve the flow,” Markus says. “It’s important you train so much that you are well prepared and can get let go and let it happen. The moment you start to think too much, it’s hard to be in the flow.” One thought at a time Did we mention that thinking too much might obstruct a flow state? In the mindfulness movement, teachers talk about the “monkey mind”. Like we often jump from one thought to another, a monkey jumps from branch to branch incessantly. Constant thinking is tiring and distracting. “One good thing to do is to shift your focus to the activity at hand,” Markus says. “For example, if you are a tennis player, you could totally concentrate on moving your feet. It helps to concentrate on one or two things only. If you can do that, you might start to notice the flow. Just play the game and enjoy!” Have a plan Having a plan is very helpful, Markus says. For example, if you’re going to run a trail race, the plan might include having your own guidelines for pace, fuelling and heart rate. Well before the race, you might study the course, even train on it to get familiar, so on race day you know when to push and when to take it easy. “Make a plan at home,” Markus says. “That’s what we do in team sports. The less you think on the day, the better you perform.” Practice mindfulness “Mindfulness certainly helps,” Markus says. “If your mind is free of worry, and unnecessary thoughts, you can stay in the present moment. It’s good to learn to quiet the mind, to turn off the inner critic. Learn to simplify and focus on one thing.” Play! Yes, it’s important to have goals, to have a plan, to automate skills, and to be motivated. But if we get too serious, we risk getting too severe with ourselves and then the sport we once loved can feel like a strain. “Just play!” Markus always tells his clients. “It helps when you are positive and having fun. You can’t force the flow!”    

Race organizer Ulrich Grill explains the 2019 route at a press conference. © zooom.at / Red Bull Content Pool When the race organizers of Red Bull X-Alps announced the 1138 km route for the ninth edition of the race, many athletes felt it is the most challenging yet. Race veteran Paul Guschlbauer, for example, said crossing the Alps from Germany to Italy, while facing strong winds, will demand every bit of his skill and strength. “We still have so much snow in the Alps and there’s only four weeks to go,” Paul says. “It was snowing down in the city a couple of days ago, and we have to go up to 2500 m, crossing it by foot if we can’t fly. When there is so much snow in the high mountains the thermal uplifts we need to fly don’t develop. It could be tricky up there!” Click here to read about Paul and his quest to catch the Eagle! There are only 1138 Suunto 9 Baro Red Bull X-Alps Limited Edition pieces. One for every kilometer of the race!    The Red Bull X-Alps is an adventure race unlike any other. In the 2019 edition of the race, starting June 16, 32 athletes from 20 nations around the world will attempt to hike and fly across the length and breadth of the Alps, checking in at 13 turnpoints along the way. If the weather doesn’t play ball, they must hike insane daily distances with massive vertical gain.   With nearly double the number of turnpoints than in previous editions, and five zigzag crossings of the Alps, the athletes are going to be pushed to their ultimate potential. And fans are in for a treat. For adventure sports fans, this race is almost addictive to follow. The live tracking system allows fans to follow their favourite athletes in real time. The race crosses through five alpine nations – Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France – and whole villages come out and cheer the athletes as soon as they see via live tracking they are passing through. To give you a sense of the sheer audacity and scale of this race, here’s a preview of the route! Salzburg to Gaisberg Distance covered: 5 km It’s race tradition to start in Mozartplatz in Salzburg, Austria, surrounded by the classical and natural beauty of this historic alpine city. The first turnpoint is only five kilometers away, but don’t let that fool you. Athletes must race up Gaisberg (1288 m) carrying their paragliding packs. It’s important athletes pace themselves well here, and catch a good thermal to carry them onwards. Every race, fans assemble at the top of Gaisberg and wait for the athletes to cheer them on. Gaisberg to Wagrain-Kleinarl Distance covered: 59 km It might not seem like a long way, but remember the numbers alone don’t show the skill and precision this race demands. In this section, the athletes must navigate through a small flight path across a mountain range, while avoiding the Salzburg airport restricted airzone. At most turnpoints, athletes must sign their names on a signboard. The second turnpoint signboard is located right in town. Wagrain-Kleinarl to Aschau Distance covered: 148 km One a clear day some of the best competitors might reach this third turnpoint in Aschau (615 m), Germany on the first day. Most will reach it on the second, after crossing the Hochkonig mountain group. Consider this leg the quiet before the storm; next they must make their first crossing of the Alps, from Germany south to Italy. Aschau to Kronplatz Distance covered: 268 km Snow covered peaks, glaciers, the Italian Dolomites, fierce winds all put the pressure on in this leg. The fourth turnpoint is located at the top of Kronplatz, a 2275 m mountain, making careful flying incredibly important. Misjudge, and the athletes might land in a valley, and have to slog up to the top. Land in the wrong place, and athletes have to hike to a launch spot. © Felix Woelk / Red Bull Content Pool Kronplatz to Lermoos-Tiroler Zugspitz Arena Distance covered: 381 km After one epic crossing of the Alps, athletes must turn back, and cross north again. Strong northern winds are common, making for challenging flying. Adding to the challenge is the restricted airspace zone around Innsbruck, Austria, requiring a diversion north into Germany. The fifth turnpoint is reachable only after circumnavigating Zugspitze (2962 m), Germany’s highest peak! Lermoos-Tiroler Zugspitz Arena to Davos Distance covered: 483 km The meeting place of the world’s tremendously wealthy, Davos, Switzerland, gets tremendously exciting as the athletes fly through, landing by the lake to sign the sixth turnpoint signboard. From this point on, the weather begins to play an even bigger role. Red Bull X-Alps demands precision piloting. © Felix Woelk / Red Bull Content Pool Davos to Titlis Distance covered: 592 km Bad weather is every athlete’s worst nightmare in this leg. Unflyable, and they have to hike to the top of Titlis mountain (3238 km) to sign the board at the seventh turnpoint. Restrictions put in place by the race organizers make accessing the top even more challenging. There is only one village that athletes are permitted to climb to the summit by foot from. And that village is way off course from the most efficient flight path. Titlis to Eiger Distance covered: 630 km Famous for its intimidating north faces, Eiger (3970 m) is an icon of European alpinism. The good news for the athletes is there is no turnpoint to sign in at on the summit! Instead, they must prove they passed within a 1500 m radius of the virtual cylinder. Eiger to Mont Blanc Distance covered: 751 km In this leg, athletes must travel north from Switzerland into France, past Europe’s highest peak, Mont Blanc (4810 m). Like the previous leg, there is no signboard at the summit. Instead, they must traverse the northern side, keeping the mountain at their left. Mont Blanc to St. Hilaire Distance covered: 847 km One of the paragliding meccas of Europe, St. Hilaire in France offers easy take off conditions. The athletes can sail in quickly and sign the board at turnpoint 10, before launching again and setting off to cross the Alps again! Paul Guschlbauer power hikes to his next take off spot during Red Bull X-Alps 2017. © Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool St. Hilaire to Monte Viso Distance covered: 965 km Crossing from the north to the south-east, athletes head to Italy’s Monte Viso (3841 m), where they must again prove by GPS tracking that they passed through a 2250 m virtual cylinder. While not as famous as previous peaks, race organizers say turnpoint 11 might be the toughest because of the mountains and valleys athletes must navigate through to get there. Monte Viso to Cheval Blanc Distance covered: 1045 km This is a new, unexplored area to Red Bull X-Alps. By this point, the remaining athletes that haven’t dropped out will be exhausted. Cheval Blanc, a 2323 m peak in the French Alps, will be one of their last obstacles to navigate past. This time, they are required to pass on the west, either by foot or wing. Cheval Blanc to Peille Distance covered: 1136 km Here, at last, the clock stops. The ceremonial end is 2 km below on a float on the shore of Monaco. The Peille turnpoint (13) is located at a mere 709 m, a pimp squeak compared to the massive peaks the athletes have already endured. However, it’s small size is deceiving; because of the many hills preceding it, it’s all too easy to pick a bad thermal and wind up landing, and being forced to continue on by foot, losing precious time. Peille to Monaco Distance covered: 1138 km The landing float in the glistening Mediterranean Sea will be sight for the tired eyes of the courageous athletes that made it through the gauntlet. It’s time to pop the champagne! Red Bull X-Alps 2019 begins on June 16. Stay tuned for more of the action! Lead image: © Felix Woelk / Red Bull Content Pool

© Ulrich Grill / Red Bull Content Pool With the ninth edition of Red Bull X-Alps only a month away, Paul Guschlbauer is doing the hard yards to prepare. “I’m trying to get my body prepared,” the 35-year-old Austrian says. “I’m carrying my paraglider pack and doing long walks on the flat, then combining it with climbing mountains and flying. I’m always trying to keep it fun because I hate to have a schedule that is just about ‘training’. It’s not my style.” Conditioning his body for long days of walking with a heavy pack is essential to seriously compete in Red Bull X-Alps, a 1138 km hiking and paragliding race that spans the length of the European Alps. On average, athletes hike about 40 to 50 km a day, and when the weather conditions aren’t flyable, that can increase to 100 km, or even more. “Every day we have on average between 2500 and 3500 m of vertical climbing on top of that distance,” Paul says. “Your body has to be really resistant to this kind of punishment.” Paul’s long history in outdoor endurance sports gives him confidence he’s ready. Tracking his workouts with his Suunto 9 Baro also gives him confidence. “Having the right mindset for the race is very important and if you go there and don’t think you are strong enough it’s not a good feeling,” he says. “And sometimes I feel like I haven’t trained enough and then I look at the data my Suunto captured and I can see I did.” There are only 1138 Suunto 9 Baro Red Bull X-Alps Limited Edition pieces. One for every kilometer of the race! Growing up in Graz, Paul’s first adventure sport was mountain biking. He won competitions and became semi professional. But biking didn’t satisfy his longing for epic adventure. When he was 18, he got bored of mountain biking and decided to move on. He started mountaineering and paragliding, and felt he was on the right path. Then he found out about Red Bull X-Alps, and set his sights on it. Five years later, in 2011, he applied for a wildcard entry, and got it. “I came third,” he says, “surprising me and everyone else. Since then I’ve been focused on this. Now it’s going to be my fifth Red Bull X-Alps. I can hardly believe it.” Suunto is delighted to once again be a main race partner for the 2019 edition. Each of the 32 athletes from 20 nations around the world competing this year will be tracking his or her journey with a Suunto 9 Baro, helping to pace their efforts, and find their way. Paul is excited about using his watch for route finding. “I started using the Suunto app with the planning and then transferring the track to the watch so I can just go left and right, as it tells me,” Paul explains. “That’s pretty cool. It will be handy during the race.” © Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool Paul placed third again in the 2017 and 2015 editions, and ninth in the 2013 edition. Since 2009 one man has won every edition: Swiss legend Chrigel Maurer, nicknamed Chrigel the Eagle. Paul has got tantalising close to him, but the Eagle is a once in a generation talent, a kind of Kilian Jornet of the air, in the hike and fly scene. Beating him has proven impossible for everyone. But Paul isn’t giving up. Developed by Austrian pilot Hannes Arch, the first edition of Red Bull X-Alps was in 2003. The race starts in Salzburg, Austria and ends – after crossing five alpine nations – in Monaco. When the weather is permitting, the athletes fly as far and as fast as they can. When the weather is inclement, they continue on by foot. Each athlete is allowed one main supporter, who helps with route planning, cooking, health care and other things. The race has a massive following, with many alpine villages coming out to cheer the athletes as they pass through, and thousands of other who watch the race via its live tracking system online.  Stay tuned for more action from Red Bull X-Alps 2019! Lead image: © Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool

Photo by Alex Gorham on Unsplash Studies on flow states show when athletes are experiencing them the thinking part of their brain is offline. “The less you think, the better you perform,” quips Markus Arvaja, a certified sports psychology consultant and senior lecturer in coaching at Finland’s Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. “We’ve studied athletes, the best of the best, studied their brains when they perform, and they have less brain activity in their prefrontal cortex. Which means they have automated their skills so they can purely enjoy their sport.” When he’s not teaching at university, Markus, himself an ice hockey, football and tennis player, works as a mental coach for Finland’s national women’s ice hockey team and the national youth tennis team. He’s a board member of the Finnish Society of Sports Psychology. He’s passionate about people performing at their absolute best. “Studies show peak flow states are intrinsically motivating experiences,” he says. “People become so involved in an activity that they are on automatic pilot, totally absorbed in that experience. It’s a merging of action and awareness. Thing is, you can’t force yourself to go into flow. But their are elements that help you enter into the flow space.” Flow states, peak performance, being in the zone, runner’s highs; these are all interchangeable terms describing the transcendent experiences athletes, artists, musicians and creatives report having. Maybe you’ve experienced one yourself. Time slows down, you become totally immersed in the task at hand, it feels effortless, maybe the world seems more vivid, and you have sense of mastery. They are when athletes have their best performances and, according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote a seminal book on the topic, they are a key aspect of human happiness. It’s something we can all experience, not only elite athletes and artists. Neuroscience has revealed much about what’s happening in the brain during a flow state. Brain waves change from beta, more rapid waves underlying waking consciousness, to somewhere between alpha and theta waves, where we daydream and first enter into sleep. This is when many people have their best ideas. Neurochemicals associated with pleasure and performance – endorphin, serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and anandamide – are the raw ingredients of flow. Perhaps the most interesting fact is how different regions of the brain respond during flow; for example, studies have found the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain associated with self monitoring – and also self criticism – goes offline during flow. Instead of constantly analysing and evaluating, we do things spontaneously. “Sometimes coaches can interrupt the flow happening for athletes by giving too much information for the athletes’ minds,” Markus says. “It’s better to say only one or two things. “For flow, your mind should be free of worry and unnecessary thoughts. Stay in the present moment by quieting the mind and turning off the inner critic. Mindfulness certainly helps with this.” Stay tuned for the next article in our series on flow: the ingredients of flow.

When we crunched the statistics from all the training around the world during Suunto World Vertical Week 2019, we felt our hard work had paid off. It had given you all the excuse to chase meters outside, whether on behalf of your nation, chosen sport or for your own challenge – exactly our intention. There’s something about the sight of a hill or mountain in front of us that calls us to push ourselves. The challenge of the ascent is just as satisfying as the view from the top. That’s why we do it! Well done to everyone who participated. Top countries This year, we first report a major upset. In the previous two years, Austria has come out on top as the nation that achieves the most vertical gain by average. Not this year – the Alpine nation has been knocked off its perch. This year, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia, all mountainous nations, climbed more than Austria. But more surprising, Portugal also came in ahead of Austria. In the last two years the Swiss have also come in near the top, but this year they have dropped to the eighth position. What’s happened in Austria and Switzerland? Someone tell us! Honorable mention This year, Spain deserves an honorable mention. Spain came first in three divisions: totals per country, mountaineering, and trekking. It was also in the top five for four different activities: mountaineering, trekking, mountain biking and cycling. All up, Spain features in six of the nine country-related lists below, the only country to do so. Well done Espana! Here are the results by nation While these numbers might not seem so mind-blowing, remember they are averages, and a high average is indicative of many big days out in the hills. Italy 385 m Slovakia 360 m Slovenia 346 m Portugal 342 m Austria 337 m Spain 308 m Switzerland 288 m France 283 m Canada 276 m Norway 261 m Totals per country This year we also decided to look at the totals per country. In these countries, World Vertical Week participants have been really active and gotten out there to climb, even only a little, to add on their country’s total number. These little efforts have added up. Spain 645.000 m France 546.000 m Italy 379.000 m United States 377.000 m China 250.000 m Austria 216.000 m United Kingdom 183.000 m Japan 150.000 m Norway 142.000 m Switzerland 140.000 m Average ascent by activity At least as interesting as the country numbers are the activity specific stats. From these, we can see that skiers clearly put in the biggest average days. Trail running and mountain biking are probably under-represented because it’s winter in the populous Northern Hemisphere. Like Vertical Week 2018, ski touring, mountaineering and trail running came out on top this year. The question is, which nations did the most of each? Ski touring 830 m Mountaineering 594 m Trail running 474 m Mountain biking 355 m Trekking 311 m Hiking 213 m Nordic skiing 199 m Cycling 193 m Running 100 m Activity by country Ski touring France 1127m Italy 1085m Austria 864m Switzerland 828m Germany 776m Two countries pass 1000 m of vertical gain by average! Mountaineering Spain 1071m UK 947m Poland 798m USA 716m Germany 651m Trail running Hong Kong 1176m Japan 901m Malaysia 813m China 765m Portugal 713m Asia dominating, showing the growing popularity of the sport in the region! Mountain biking Italy 476m Slovakia 474m UK 437m Spain 422m Austria 394m Cycling Colombia 499m South Africa 485m Israel 446m Spain 438m Italy 363m These nations have favorable weather for cycling in March! Nordic skiing France 379m Canada 321m USA 285m Norway 243m Austria 212m Trekking Spain 566m Italy 527m Malaysia 363m Italy 362m Poland 304m Individual top performances While we can’t give away too much information here, such as who and where, we can share some insight in the individual top performances over the week: To be on the pointy end of the rankings one had to climb more than 10000 meters over World Vertical Week. And to stand out with a single activity one had to climb 4000+ meters in one go! Thank you, everyone, for participating! Read three inspiring stories from the World Vertical Week!

The fourth annual Suunto Vertical Week is coming to a close and we have selected three winners of the week’s photo contest on Instagram. Each of them will receive a powerful Suunto 9 to record their efforts! We received many other inspiring images and stories (#verticalweek) – thanks to everyone for their contributions! Keep climbing! Baby in tow in Norway We were very impressed by Hilde Hoff Nordskar in Norway. She climbed 3246 m in a week, while towing her seven-month-old baby boy, who slept through it all. Some have it easy! Well done, Hilde! “Vertical Week was overall very hard and fun and brought some new inspiration to my maternity leave,” Hilde says. “We live close to a forest and my daily goal was to summit the top of a nearby peak called 'Solobservatoriet' (580 m). With my seven-month-old son in the wagon behind, I started every morning skinning up the hill no matter the weather. The highlights was to experience the uphill in all these different winter wonderland conditions and finish every session with a big smile on my face and a very rested kid.” View this post on Instagram Punta di Terrarossa 🏔 3246 meters climbing in a week 🎿👶🏻 #VerticalWeek #Suuntoapp @suunto_norge @suunto @thule #thulebringyourkids #dæhlie A post shared by hildehoffnordskar (@hildehoffnordskar) on Mar 9, 2019 at 8:48am PST Big training block in California Eric Triplett in sunny California enjoyed a big week, climbing 3500m. This beautiful shot of sunrise from Mount Wilson illustrates the motivation behind the call to scale peaks; massive rewards for our hard work. “Suunto Vertical Week was the perfect way to finish up a three month training block for my upcoming race,” Eric says. “The race features 3000 m of climbing over 56 km so my primary goals for Vertical Week were to simulate the amount of gain relative to the distance of my race and to accumulate at least 3000 m of gain. I’m happy to say I was able to complete 3500 m for the week including a 33 km run with 2100 m of vertical. Thanks to Suunto for putting on this motivating celebration of vertical!” View this post on Instagram The sun rises on the last day of #VerticalWeek 2019 // It’s been a while since I’ve cracked 11,000ft of gain in a week so I made it a goal given both Vertical Week and that 9 Trails is coming in just two weeks. Admittedly going beyond 10,000ft seems to bring on the sore knees and other random leg pain but that only serves to highlight what to work on in the future // Been super excited about getting my hands on “Training for the Uphill Athlete” by House, Johnston and Jornet. I think it’s going to help take things next level. // I’m also very happy with where @Sagerunning training has taken me in the last 3 months. I’ve never thought I could maintain the kind weekly mileage that I have for so long. I was always afraid to put intervals into 20mi+ runs but I survived. It hasn’t been easy but listening to my body and making small adjustments has got me through. // #utlrarunning #trailrunning #runinrabbit #borntorunfree #rabbitTrail #RADrabbit #gotailwind #timetoplay #salomon #suunto #salomonrunning #9T #NineTrails #sagerunning #SanGabrielSunday #longrun #ANF A post shared by Eric Triplett (@fleshymutant) on Mar 10, 2019 at 9:08pm PDT New season in Finland Janne Korpela in Finland has begun a new training block now spring has nearly arrived. It hasn’t been in a walk in the park, either, on some days finding himself waist deep in snow. Keep going, Janne! “Vertical Week was surprisingly good, since it was only the third proper training week of the year for me with 19 hours of training,” he says. “The highlight of the week was the first day, when a six hour session was surprisingly easy. And last Sunday was a beautiful spring day! “The goal was 8000m in eight days, but we pushed it a bit yesterday to climb the height of Everest (8848 m)! I did all the climbing on an old ski slope close to my home. One lap is about 35 meters of climbing!” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Juosten (@juosten_) on Mar 10, 2019 at 6:02am PDT Lead image: © Dylan Totaro / Suunto