And news it is

Since September I've no longer permanently resided where I used to. The reason is simple, I now study at Tartu University. Here's a map over the city's old town and Toomemäe park, where the EOC 2006 sprint was held. My school is also on this map and I don't live far from it.
For the past months I've been dealing with health issues, which I'd rather not discuss here. What I can say, is that the matter has been interfering with my trainings, so I can't really promise anything concerning the upcoming season. But I'm still actively moving, don't think that I've stopped preparing!
Since I live at a different location, my trainings have somewhat changed comparing to the previous years. I must say that I liked the training possibilities in or near Võru better, but the alternation will definitely do some good.Comparing Tartu with Võru:
Pros:
* training partners
* swimming pool
* alternative strength training program possibility
Cons:
* poor running possibilities in or near the city
* closest great running locations ~20 km away
* closest considerable orienteering terrain ~25 km away
* closest considerable skiing tracks ~20 km away
Maybe I forgot to mention something, but these are the main aspects.

During the winter holidays, with lots of snow everywhere, I've ran and skied in various locations in Sweden, Latvia and of course Estonia. Running in snow up to the hips is not unusual. Last week I was at the national team camp, right where the Winter Xdream took place two years ago (short article of it). The trainings went great and I really enjoyed the snow! Here's a fun night two-man-relay competition from the camp. The distance altogether was 1,9 km and my time was 19:14, can you imagine the amount of snow?

Photo: view from the tower of Valgehobusemägi (the one in the start on the camp relay competition map)

The week ended with two fun ski-o (training) competitions near Põlva. The sprint (routes) nicely filled my active resting day and on the long distance (routes) I tried to push more. Anyway, a cool twist to the trainings. In the near future, I'm planning to take part of the above mentioned Winter Xdream. Also, with great opportunities to ski, the Tartu- and the Haanja skiing Marathon are also in my calendar; what kind of effort I will put in them, is yet to be determined.

I hope this gives some overview of my doings and whatnot.