In it for the long run: Getting to the Finnish

I’ve written before about the pros and cons of indoor vs. outdoor exercise. The camaraderie and weather-proofing bonus of the gym has always appealed but nothing really beats exercising outdoors to get the heart going and senses sparking. Whether it’s walking, cycling, running or swimming any of these activities always seem hugely preferable in the open air compared with in the canned atmosphere of an air-conditioned room.

Not that outdoor exercise is problem-free. The battle to beat the bulge is often surpassed by the battle to beat the elements and this wipe-out-of-a-summer has tested that more than ever. We expect the cold and rain in the winter months but in August and September?

This summer I spent some time in Finland and was struck by the Finns’ all-embracing enthusiasm for outdoor exercise. I remember a similar desire to maximise time spent outdoors when I visited Sweden. At bars in Stockholm blankets are stacked by the entrance to terraces so you could still sit outside even as the evening temperatures started to drop.

Even in Helsinki in the south of Finland winter involves several months of snow and summers are brief and mild. But for that period the bikes are out in force, the parks and paths are teeming with runners, Nordic walkers (with sticks) are a regular sight and there are various interesting looking ways in which the cross-country skiers keep in shape in the snowless months. These ranged from bizarre moving cross-trainer contraptions to the more common roller blades and poles combination.

But what the Finns really do with gusto is sauna. No house or hotel is complete without a sauna and when we were investigating renting a log cabin in the woods for part of our trip the size, location and heat source of the sauna was as high up the list of facilities as the number of beds.

While you’d be hard pushed to list sauna as a sport it quickly becomes an obsessive part of your life in Finland and in the right location similarly connects you with the outdoors. So our evening ritual at the cabin involved sauna to work up a good sweat followed by a quick dash down the jetty to plunge into the lake…repeated as many times as you liked. I’ve never been much of an outdoor swimmer but I was totally won over by the invigoration of this alternating hot and cold.

But where the Finnish attitude to outdoor sport really won me over was watching the Helsinki triathlon. My friend Matthew, who we were staying with, was competing for the first time so we interrupted our sight-seeing to cheer him on.

We lined up on part of the cycle route and although we sadly missed Matthew because he’d completed his swim faster than we’d expected, it was great to watch other competitors. I have several friends in the UK who compete in triathlons who have often urged me to try one. Like many, the outdoor swim puts me off but so too does the range of equipment and specialist gear required.

I know you can spend vast amounts on running gear but one of the things I love about running is the egalitarian nature of it…all you really need are some running shoes and you can start. Triathlons have always seemed daunting and slightly elitist, not least because of the quality of bike required.

But in Helsinki, watching the 10km cycling stage, those prejudices were quickly banished. What a mix they were — from the serious and fit going for PBs, to those who looked liked they’d rocked up that morning because they had nothing better to do and thought they’d join the fun.

There were men on old fashioned, sit-up bikes (I’m sure they did have brakes but they looked suspiciously like the ones you peddle backwards to brake) and even one with his kid’s seat still attached to the back. Others were happily chatting to their friends as they cycled along.

Watching from the sidelines I was jealous of those taking part. It was a lovely example of how events of this type can spur on the fit and the not-so-fit to get out there, making it fun and competitive in equal measure so nobody is alienated.

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