16.12.13-22.12.13: Post-Beamtime, Pre-Jul

Date	km	time	min/km
22/12/2013	2.5	00:11:48	04:43
22/12/2013	3.4	00:14:00	04:07
22/12/2013	5.15	00:21:00	04:04
22/12/2013	1.23	00:05:00	04:04
22/12/2013	0.23	00:00:49	03:33
22/12/2013	0.23	00:00:49	03:33
22/12/2013	0.23	00:00:49	03:33
22/12/2013	0.23	00:00:49	03:33
22/12/2013	0.23	00:00:49	03:33
22/12/2013	0.23	00:00:49	03:33
22/12/2013	1.15	00:03:30	03:02
22/12/2013	9.98	00:41:00	04:06
21/12/2013	10.06	00:41:00	04:04
21/12/2013	10	00:43:00	04:18
20/12/2013	10	00:41:00	04:06
19/12/2013	14.01	01:00:00	04:16
18/12/2013	16.15	01:07:00	04:08
17/12/2013	4.55	00:18:00	03:57
17/12/2013	6.18	00:23:00	03:43
17/12/2013	2	00:06:30	03:15
16/12/2013	8.8	00:35:00	03:58
total=	106.54	av pace=	03:51

Mon 16/12 - AM/PM/whatever time it was! Still coming off nights, so standard 'beamtime' run.
Tues 17/12 - PM: 5x400m intervals at CIP at around 80s/lap pace. Probably too early to do intervals, felt absolutely shattered still from nights at the beamline! Warmup and return back home of appx. 5k and 6k (extra loop in Papegojelyckan).
Weds 18/12 - PM: 16km\10miles up to Skt Hans and back via CIP, around 4/km pace. Felt a bit better.
Thurs 19/12 - PM: 14k along the Hardebergaspåret. Felt really tired again from work, couldn't manage the full 10miles.
Fri 20/12 - AM: standard 10k route down along the river past the sewage works and back via CIP and Stadsparken. Felt better than the previous night. Final day at work before Christmas.
Sat 21/12 - AM: hoped to do the parkrun in Kbh, but the weather was horrible - high wind and driving rain. So ran the same 10k route as Fri. PM: standard 8.7k route with an extra loop in Papegojelyckan to make 10k.
Sun 22/12 -AM: hill training at Skt Hans. Usual 6xlong hill, 5xshort hill and 2.5k lap of the extreme running route. Extremely muddy after the rain, which was fun! PM: same route as per Sat evening, just a bit quicker.

Summary - hard couple of weeks due to lots of work inc beamtime, which totally wrecked me for a week and a half. Now have a couple of weeks holiday over Christmas with a bit more time for running. Wll run the 1/2 marathon in Copenhagen on NYE, so everything will be planned to that. God Jul!

9.12.13-15.12.13: Beamtime!

Date	km	time	min/km
15/12/2013	8.7	00:35:00	04:01
14/12/2013	8.7	00:35:00	04:01
13/12/2013	8.7	00:35:00	04:01
12/12/2013	8.7	00:35:00	04:01
11/12/2013	8.8	00:35:00	03:58
10/12/2013	11.86	00:44:00	03:42
09/12/2013	11.06	00:46:00	04:09
total=	66.52		03:59

This week was essentially a write-off due to exhausting beamtime at Maxlab, including nights Thurs-Mon. Managed a single run per day on the standard 8.7km route through Skt Lars and Klostergården in Lund, with a bit extra if I felt up to it.

2.12.13-8.12.13: Recovery from DM Cross, Storm and Snow

Date	km	time	min/km
08/12/2013	10	00:45:00	04:30
08/12/2013	9	00:36:00	04:00
07/12/2013	3.61	00:15:00	04:09
07/12/2013	5.13	00:22:00	04:17
07/12/2013	2.5	00:12:00	04:47
07/12/2013	0.23	00:01:00	04:22
07/12/2013	2.76	00:12:00	04:20
07/12/2013	16.13	01:08:00	04:12
06/12/2013	8.38	00:32:00	03:49
06/12/2013	10	00:45:00	04:30
04/12/2013	16.38	01:08:00	04:09
02/12/2013	16	01:08:00	04:14
total=	100.12	av pace=	04:16

Mon 2/12 - PM: 10 miles (16km) along the Hardebergaspåret, fairly easy pace.
Tues 3/12 - rest day
Weds 4/12 - PM: 10mile (16.5km) tour up to Skt Hans in Lund. Added an extra loop round past Willy's and the Max IV site. Weather not so great, but not as bad as...
Thurs 5/12 - DEATH STORM II, 30m/s wind = no run!
Fri 6/12 - good pace standard 8.5km route down to the river south of Lund to survey the storm damage. Far fewer trees down this time, probably since Death Storm I took out most of the weaker ones last month. PM: 10k aroudn the centre of Lund, waiting for Katrine to arrive on a cancelled train!
Sat 7/12- AM: No chance of the parkrun in Kbh, since it snowed very heavily over Fri night! Thankfully this has been the only snow this winter so far. So went and did some snow-hills up at Skt Hans. Hard work in deep snow, but good training. Had to dodge the sledges of the kids coming down the hill :-) PM: easy-ish 10miles (16k) along the Hardebergaspåret; still quite snowy.
Sun 8/12 - tired legs after snow training. AM: standard 10k route along past the sewage works south of Lund. PM: easy 9k rounds Stadsparken and out towards CIP. Snow had been melted mostly by heavy rain by the evening.

25.11.13-1.12.13 - DAF Vinterturnering / Cross Challenge,  DM 10km Cross Viborg

date	km	time	min/km
01/12/2013	22	01:23:00	03:46
29/11/2013	10	00:42:00	04:12
28/11/2013	8.7	00:36:00	04:08
28/11/2013	8.7	00:36:00	04:08
27/11/2013	15.31	01:03:00	04:06
25/11/2013	8.7	00:36:00	04:08
total=	73.41	av pace=	04:04

Mon 25/11 - PM: easy recovery run in Klostergården, Lund after Nytårscup.
Tues 26/11 - rest day. Horrible weather, so easy choice.
Weds 27/11 - PM: easy 15.5km, up to Skt Hans and a loop back via Gunnesbo in Lund. Quite late after work, so hard going.
Thurs 28/11 - AM/PM: easy standard Klostergården route, as Mon.
Fri 29/11 - AM: 10km in Lund, past the sewerage works in Källby. Easy again - tired legs.
Sat 30/11 - rest day, before race.
Sun 31/11 - DM 10k Cross, Viborg: 35:08, 34th place

Photo: fra Herning Løbeklub,fb

I had pretty much zero expectations for this, other than to not get injured. But I was quite keen to do well though, hence the easy week of training beforehand. Race was at an idrætshøjskole, next to the lake on the edge of Viborg, which was a very nice setting with a good view across the lake to the cathedral (and some good changing facilities and somewhere warm to sit, an improvement over the last round in Roskilde). No train this time - went on the bus from Århus with the others from AGF and 1900. Weather was dry, sunny but not too cold at 8-10C but it was quite windy ~15m/s max. The course itself, although quite a nice 2k lap, stretched the definition of 'cross country', with 1/3 of the lap on grass and 2/3 on prepared hard trail paths. I thus ran in the trail shoes I won at the Himmelbjergløbet, which proved excellent for the job. Took a warmup of 2x2k lap at a decent pace; immediately felt some pain in my left ankle on some of the tighter turns. But "once you've come this far, you can't go back..."!

Race itself started off slowly for the first half a lap - I suspect some of those racing the EM cross next week were slowing the pace as much as possible (or tactically taking the first bit slow). Ran the first 3 laps at 6.20, ~13 and ~20.30 to 6k. I went off fairly hard, as I usually do now to maximise the amount of 'good ankle time'. On the 4th lap, it started to hurt quite a bit and I dropped in pace to finish in just over 35min. Took 5x2k laps afterwards at an easier 4.00/km pace to build up the distance to 22k total and for a bit of endurance work, and to stay warm while the women's race took place. Overall a race to be pleased with, a good improvement and my best cross performance since the DM 2011. A good haul of medals for 1900, particularly in the vet category - soon i'll be a M30 'veteran'; 'den unge gamle'!

This is definitely one of the days where Danish running can be very good. The VT is great since Denmark is small enough and the events prestigious enough to regularly have the best runners from the entire country showing up, from juniors upwards. This something which is very difficult in other places (such as England or Sweden) due to the size of the place, meaning local or regional races and leagues can often dominate the objectives of clubs and the race calendar.

Summary - easy week before DM cross. Next week back to regular training. Have no (major) races now for the rest of 2013, but I'll do a race on New Year's Eve. As yet undecided between the Nordea Nytårscup 10k in Århus or the Änglamark Nytårsløb in Kbh - 5k, 10k or even one very last half marathon of the year.....

18.11.13-24.11.13: To Nytårscup II

date	km	time	min/km
24/11/2013	16.14	01:04:00	03:57
24/11/2013	10	00:35:12	03:31
23/11/2013	6.47	00:25:00	03:51
23/11/2013	7.85	00:33:00	04:12
23/11/2013	5	00:16:58	03:23
22/11/2013	10	00:43:00	04:18
21/11/2013	16	01:04:54	04:03
20/11/2013	3.41	00:15:00	04:23
20/11/2013	5.15	00:18:00	03:29
20/11/2013	2.18	00:00:00	00:00
20/11/2013	1.23	00:05:00	04:04
20/11/2013	8.7	00:38:00	04:22
18/11/2013	20	01:30:00	04:30
total=	112.13	av pace=	04:00

Mon 18/11 - PM: 20km run along the Hardebergaspåret from Lund to Sodra Sandby.On a summer evening, this is a nice and pleasant run but in the winter, it's very hard going in the dark, wind, rain and cold! Very slow pace in the end, primarily due to having the wind against me on the way back to Lund.
Tues 19/11 - rest day, Sweden vs Portugal football qualifier on tv.
Weds 20/11 - AM: hills at Skt Hans. Standard training 5xlong, 5xsteep with appx. 3.5km warmup and 5k return back home. PM: standard 8-9k route in Lund along the river and back up via Lunds CIP.
Thurs 21/11 - PM: track intervals at Lunds CIP. 5x1km at appx. 3.30/km pace, with usual appx. 5k warmup and return from home. Ankles really were not happy - not sure if this was due to Weds hills or that it was a very cold evening just above freezing; they felt better after 2x1km but still not great, so I didn't push so hard.
Fri 22/11 - AM: 10k, usual route past the Källby ponds and sewage works. Took it at a bit of an easier pace; ankles better but still not great (and legs tired...)
Sat 23/11 - AM: usual Sat morning training in Århus - run to Hasle bakker, Brabrand parkrun, run back to Skejby. Still a dull pain in my left ankle, but felt quite up for it. Ran 16.58 for the hilly 5k, which is my best ever time after having run there first. This was probably not ideal preparation for the Nytårscup on Sun, but my 'building-for-spring-1/2' goal is more long term and in that respect it was ideal.

Image: http://spotted.stiften.dk/

Sun 24/11 - AM: Nordea Nytårscup 10k, 35:12, 1st. Same endurance training drill as last time: 10k Nytårscup as effectively a hard tempo running session, followed by about an hour in running in the woods down the coast. The route this time was an improvement over the last round, a 5k lap so that you didn't crash into the back of slower runners. This was at the expense of making the route very hilly and probably why (along with the DM cross) a number of the usual faster suspects for the 10k either didn't run or took the 5k instead! Decided to race with the 5k guys due to lack of competition on the 10k, so managed a fairly quick first lap. I really paid for this on the second round, especially up the long hill of Carl Nielsens vej, where the parkrun the day before also caught up with me. I had some difficulty running on the softer ground in the woods and esp. downhill, which produced a bit of ankle pain; a reminder that I still have to be very careful at the DM cross next weekend.
Last time I hung around a bit too long and got quite stiff legs, so I took the after-race session as soon as I'd finished. Ran all the way down to Moesgård strand this time and back at 4min/km pace, which I was quite pleased with although it was very hard training...

Summary - again less distance, but 4 higher intensity sessions this week which I think is definitely the right way to go at the mo. Major issue has been the ankles, esp. the injured left one, which have given a bit of pain this week. This seems to have been coincident with it getting cold = either reduced blood flow or more tightness = more tendonitis problems. Next week will the the DM 10k cross in Viborg so I'll rest ahead of that, but my expectations for it are low. If the course is as it was in Middelfart (i.e. - lots of sharp, steep hills) I'll not risk getting injured by hammering it.

11.11.13-17.11.13: Training and Spectating in Roskilde

date	km	time	min/km
17/11/2013	1.38	00:05:12	03:46
17/11/2013	2.43	00:06:00	02:28
17/11/2013	5.28	00:20:30	03:52
17/11/2013	3.45	00:15:00	04:20
17/11/2013	11.58	00:41:00	03:32
16/11/2013	15.7	01:10:00	04:27
15/11/2013	8.93	00:38:00	04:15
15/11/2013	6.75	00:27:00	04:00
14/11/2013	4.38	00:18:00	04:06
14/11/2013	4.39	00:17:30	03:59
14/11/2013	5	00:16:40	03:19
13/11/2013	3.3	00:15:00	04:33
13/11/2013	4.9	00:19:00	03:52
13/11/2013	2.5	00:10:30	04:11
13/11/2013	2.18	00:00:00	00:00
12/11/2013	15.31	01:01:00	03:59
11/11/2013	15.32	01:06:00	04:18
total=	112.78	av pace=	03:42

 
Mon 11/11 - PM: easy 15-16km along the Hardebergaspåret. This was a pleasant Monday run in the summer, but now it's dark, cold, wet and grim!
Tues 12/11 - PM: as Monday, but on a different route in Lund for some variety. Ran out along Dalbyvägen to Linero and then uphill along Utmarksvägen to the Hardebergaspåret, then right from that up through the uni to the Elite hotel and back via Kemicentrum and Victoriahallen. Nice to do a different route once in a while.
Weds 13/11 - AM: hill training at Skt Hans. Warmup run there the quick way past Stortorget appx 3km in 15min, then 5xlong route up the big hill and 5xsteep route up as hard as possible, followed by 1 2.5km lap of the extreme running course. Good workout in the trail shoes I won for the Himmelbjergløbet. Ankle(s) hurt on the first few efforts, but the pain seemed to subside as I went on - not sure if this was down to stretching myself a bit or just adrenaline from the hill efforts masking it. Ran back a longer route via Lunds CIP and Stadsparken.
Thurs 14/11 - PM: track intervals at Lunds CIP 5x1km at 3.18-3.20/km pace with jog 200m recovery. Ankles not too bad after hills, but still took a good 5km warmup and stretches before doing this session.
Fri 15/11 - AM: standard 8.5-9km route along the river and back up through Klostergården. River had overflown, blocking the path in the horse field near Källbybadet (as it regularly does in winter), so took a diversion round on the road. PM: good quick run to the recycling station nearby, then a loop of Stadsparken and the F&F arena before collecting gf from the train station - just about made it on time!
Sat 16/11 - Went with Katrine over to Roskilde to the second round of DAF's Vinterturnering, 6x1km relay. Just to watch though; no way I was going to do this after the same round last year in Odense, where I comprehensively wrecked my right ankle by a) running whilst already a bit injured and b) keeping going after making it worse on the 3rd km effort. Extremely glad I didn't do this round, since there were a good many rabbit holes and thick grass off the racing line; not something I want to run flat out through. The major downside was that watching was extremely cold! The men's relay was totally dominated by Sparta Copenhagen - unsurprisingly with 3 of their best runners racing. Katrine finished 16th, which was a good result.
Instead of the race, I ran an easy 16km when I got back to Lund along the Hardebergaspåret (to get some heat back into me!)
Sun 17/11 - AM: went up to Skt Hans in Lund for some hills - 5xlong in 50-52s, 5xsteep, max effort, while gf ran an easy recovery run on the grass. Standard warmup (3km) and return (5.5km) routes. PM: usual 8.6km route, except with an extra loop in Papegojelyckan adding another 3km on. I thought this would be 10km, but actually it was about a km longer than that. Ran at a good tempo pace of appx. 3.30/km. This was perhaps a little bit too much, as I felt a bit of pain in my left ankle after finishing.

Summary - another week back to training and a bit more distance, plus 2 interval sessions. Feeling significantly less tired now than previous weeks; I seem to be recovered from the autumn racing. Next week = much of the same, but with the 2nd round of the Nytårscup on Sunday. This is now (thankfully) a 2x5km lap route, but at the cost of making the route significantly more hilly. I have decided to enter the DM 10km cross in Viborg the week after (1/12), but with extremely low expectations - if I can finish without injury, I'd be delighted. But these races are extremely good for fitness building; I already feel the hill training becoming much easier, for example...

4.11.13-10.11.13: No more racing - back to normal training!

Date	km	time	min/km
10/11/2013	21.93	01:30:00	04:06
09/11/2013	6.28	00:25:00	03:58
09/11/2013	5	00:17:30	03:29
09/11/2013	7	00:27:00	03:51
08/11/2013	10	00:43:00	04:18
07/11/2013	4.51	00:18:30	04:06
07/11/2013	4.52	00:18:30	04:05
07/11/2013	4	00:12:30	03:07
07/11/2013	2	00:06:40	03:20
06/11/2013	7.04	00:29:00	04:07
06/11/2013	6.83	00:28:00	04:05
06/11/2013	2	00:07:08	03:34
06/11/2013	1.97	00:10:00	05:04
04/11/2013	9.99	00:43:00	04:18
total=	93.07	av pace=	03:57

Mon 4/11 - PM: 10k at easy pace. Standard 8.7km route through Skt Lars\Klostergården\etc... and a few laps on the track at Lunds CIP. Very very very very tired after racing + early train start.
Tues 5/11 - still feeling tired, so rest day. Not so keen to go to Skryllegården on Tues this year in the cold!
Weds 6/11 - Considered doing some cross intervals at Skt Hans, but my legs still felt tight - no sense in pushing too early and getting injured! Decided to do two, shorter, easier recovery runs. AM: shorter run rounds Stadsparken in Lund, down past the F+F arena, under the railway and a loop back via CIP. PM: similar route appx. 7km each.
Thurs 7/11 - PM: return to intervals! 5km warmup in appx. 18.30, then  16x400m with Bjornstorps IF on the track at Lunds CIP. Started off the first couple at appx. 80s pace, then 12x70-75s pace, then back to 80s for the last few. Doing the first few slowly I think helped a lot, just to stretch the legs and get back into it. Ran back via Stadsparken back the same way as I came, same pace.
Fri 8/11 - AM: 10km easy, along the river and past the sewage works south of Lund.
Sat 9/11 - in Århus. AM: Too tired for 1900 cross intervals so standard Sat training - run out to Hasle Bakker, Brabrand parkrun, run back to Skejby. I was a bit late this week, so had to run there quickly; I was still about 1min late for the start of the parkrun, but ran 17.30 on the slightly easier winter course. Good tempo session.
Sun 10/11 - AM: visiting gf's parents out near Horsens. 22km 'landvej' lap Vinten-Lundum-Østbirk-Vestbirk-Torp; nice and hilly route on small country roads and a former railway line. Lovely winter conditions - 10C, blue sky and sun :-)

Summary - legs starting to feel less tired towards the end of the week. Getting back into normal training now after a good few weeks of hard racing. I've decided to skip the VT round in Roskilde next week, partly to get back to focusing on road running training (which I don't think 1k cross intervals will help) and partly to play it safe after what happened at the same round last year, where I really destroyed my right ankle...

29.10.13-3.11.13: Week to Nordea Nytårscup

date\day	km	time	min/km
03/11/2013su	12.09	00:53:00	04:23
03/11/2013su	10	00:34:00	03:24
02/11/2013sa	5	00:18:20	03:39
02/11/2013sa	6.33	00:26:00	04:06
02/11/2013sa	7	00:28:00	03:59
31/10/2013th	8.7	00:38:00	04:22
31/10/2013th	1.6	00:06:00	03:44
31/10/2013th	8.7	00:38:00	04:22
30/10/2013we	8	00:35:00	04:22
30/10/2013we	7.2	00:28:00	03:53
29/10/2013tu	10.13	00:40:00	03:56
total=	84.75	av pace=	04:00

Monday in Skåne...

Mon 28/10 - SUPER MEGA STORM!!111! no run on account of tired legs and slightly adverse conditions: 35m/s winds, rain and flying tree branches. I know you should 'use the conditions', but that's just too much!
Tues 29/10 - AM: easy 10k to survey the storm damage; few trees down in Stadsparken and more branches down along the river. Weather far better, sun but still a bit of wind. Legs still very very stiff and tired; no hard interval training.
Weds 30/10 - AM/PM: easy laps of Stadsparken and the F&F Arena in Lund. Legs still stiff and tired. AM done slightly faster, PM much slower.
Thurs 31/10 - AM: easy standard 8.7k route Malmovagen-along river-up to F&F arena-loop to Central IP-back through Stadsparken. PM: same, but with 4x400m on the track at CIP. Legs still tired;  not near doing hard intervals again yet.
Fri 1/11 - rest day.
Sat 2/11 - Back in Århus. I'd considered going to the cross training in Mindeparken with 1900/AGF, but decided it was better to continue to avoid hard intervals and recover (plus NYC on Sun). Did the standard Sat morning of run out to Hasle bakker 6.4k, then Brabrand parkrun 5k in a very slow 18-something (this was part tiredness, part taking it easy and part mud), followed by a run back to Skejby on a longer 7k route. Hadn't done the parkrun for a while, so it was good to get a run out round there again. Final week of the summer course and rightly so, since the paths were quite slippery. Legs feeling a bit more alive after the session.
Sun 3/11 - Nordea Nytårscup: 10k, 34:02 (tempo training)
Signed up for this some time ago, vastly overestimating how quickly I'd recover from the Himmelbjerg and cross races. Therefore decided to take it as a hard tempo run session towards marathon training, pushing a bit harder in the first 5k and then trying to keep around 3.20-3.30/km pace, combining the race with an easier 13-15k Sunday run out along the coast to Moesgård afterwards.  This was the first NYC round I've done from Marselishallen (being injured for it last year) and it's a great improvement from the old start at the clubhouse, in terms of having somewhere inside to wait and more toilets!

My club (Aarhus 1900) have become more strict on club clothing, so far more people were running in club colours than previously. This is something I have mixed feelings about; it's good to see, good for the club's image and getting sponsorship cash but can also be quite excluding for those more casual runners who maybe don't wish to go to such expense (or get frustrated by very anal running rules&regs!). My opinion has always been that all you need to run is a cheap plain cotton t-shirt, a pair of shorts, any old trainers and a bit of motivation - not fancy gear!

The course was effectively a makeshift one due to AGF playing their home match on the same day, being 4x2.5k laps mainly through the woods around Tivoli Friheden (I  suspect that we might have shortened each 2.5k lap by 10-20m  (so 4x5-10s) by cutting a corner unintentionally...). This was far from ideal: 75% twisty, slippery, leaf strewn route and naturally after 2 laps us faster runners ran right into the back of the slower ones, thus making it a slalom. The winner Tom Wade, another (far faster) Englishman, slipped over and I came within millimeters of crashing full speed into the back of a girl wearing headphones who obliviously cut across me. A longer lap is definitely necessary for a mixed-ability event with a broad distribution of times, else chaos ensues and it can also causes a great deal of friction between faster & slower runners (I hate the Danish and Swedish distinction between 'Motion' and  'Tävling/Konkurrence' - a race is a race and a runner and runner to me!)

Despite this, the race was very enjoyable and a good workout. The Nytårscup is an excellent idea which for me really helps motivate myself this time of year, when it's getting a bit cold and horrible. It and other tilskudsløb really do make 1900 membership worthwhile.

Summary - Now it's time for a racing break and back to some more ordinary training!

21.10.13 - 27.10.13: DAF Vinterturnering and Cross Challenge

date\day	km	time	min/km
27/10/2013su	15.1	00:57:00	03:46
26/10/2013sa	8.5	00:33:00	03:52
23/10/2013we	8.7	00:36:00	04:08
22/10/2013tu	8.7	00:35:00	04:01
22/10/2013tu	8.7	00:37:00	04:15
21/10/2013mo	10	00:40:00	04:00
total=	59.7	av pace=	04:00

Mon - very easy recovery run round Lunds stadsparken and a bit of Klostergården. Heavy, tight legs - run helped a bit to loosen off.
Tue - AM&PM easy recovery, standard 8-9k route down Malmövägen, along the river and back past the F&F arena.
Weds - AM as Tues. Very tired legs still.
Thurs - no run, complete rest.
Fri - no run, complete rest.
Sat - DAF Vinterturnering\Cross Challenge 1: Hindsgavl Slot, Middelfart (8.7km, 33.30)
My first cross race since VT2  in Odense back in Nov 2012 where I managed to completely wreck my ankle and put myself out of action most of the winter. My expectations for this were pretty much zero other than to get back into XC running, to push on a bit with regards to getting past my ankle problems and building fitness - especially only 6 days after running the half in Vejle. Race was at Hindsgavl Slot in Middelfart which is actually a quite a nice peninsular jutting out into the Lillebælt, especially this time of year with the trees just starting to lose their leaves. Took the train there from Lund on Sat morning, meaning an early 6am start and 3h trip. I'd expected a fairly easy grass or forest course as in prev year's VT rounds, but instead it was a nightmare: 1/4 of the lap was on hard, spike-wrecking path and there were several extremely sharp ascents/descents; the course was also a good ~km longer than the 8k advertised :-(!

Started off fairly well, inside the top 20 for the first couple of laps, but I was really running with the brakes on up and down the hills, for fear of injury - I lost 2-3 places on every hill. Tiredness really hit on the 3rd lap. Body in Middelfart, legs still running the half in Vejle,  I started going backwards to finish down in about 50th in the sort of time I should really manage 10km in. Felt extremely positive though, since I got round the whole distance without any particular pain in my ankle, a real improvement from the last couple of months where any such training or racing on hilly ground has resulted in ankle pain and often 2-3 days of rest. Really good sign that I can now consider pushing a bit harder with off-road training. Some top performances as well by the other 1900 runners; 3rd indiv. place and 1st team for the girls and 1st vet. for guys.

Sun- Himmelbjergløbet (15.1km, 57.30, 2nd place) 
My favourite race of the year that I'd never miss, horribly tired after 1/2 and VT or not! Conventional wisdom suggests doing two races in as many days with little recovery  is not exactly good practice, but I think the exception to that is when you really need a motivational kick and are stuck in a bit of a training rut. Racing Sat also gave me a crucial lesson; that I could push it a little bit harder on the climbs and descents than I'd otherwise thought without risking injury. I also find sometimes that if I run the day before, I'm somehow more up for the second race - this is always clearest on the Isle of Man at Easter, where I always perform better at the hill race the day after a hard 10k on the road (or the 5k the day after that!).

A slightly later 8.15am start by bus from Skejby to Århus H, then to Ry and to the Himmelbjerg on the bike along with Katrine. The nice autumnal weather on Sat had given way to horrible autumnal weather on Sun, 12C with light rain beginning on the way to the race, but still better than last year, when it was <0C and frost. By the time we got to the top of the 'bjerg', I was really feeling tired and my stomach was churning over; not enough time to digest recovery food = major trots, which thankfully cleared up a bit before the start. Usually the view from the top is nice, but this time it was thick cloud and strong wind - most runners were huddled in the trees, which offered little to no protection from the elements.

I started as usual on this race, slowly on the descent down the Himmelbjerg. No sense in tripping or slipping here and the next 3-4km are pretty much all uphill, so you gain little through a fast first km. Some people always start far too quickly and are swiftly punished for it. I'd hoped I'd have no competition, but Nick Fridberg from Sparta in Kbh was also running: we'd run together for much of the first 12km of the Malmo 1/2 back in Aug and I remember him having won the nearby 12k Midjysk Bjergløb back in June where I'd won the shorter 6k. I gave it a good go for the first 8km, keeping within 20-25s, but I soon realised I'd never close the gap - as in previous years, those doing this race with fresh legs having missed the VT have a significant advantage! I had no real threat from behind, so I settled into a good stable pace from there. Conditions were difficult after 2-3 days of rain beforehand, with deep mud in places; I jumped one puddle, to promptly land ankle-deep in mud at one point.
I really felt the tiredness at around 11km after the HC Andersen bank climb and dropped off a bit between 11-13k, running through 12k at around 41min. (To diverge briefly, I somewhat regret not doing the Yddingeloppet out near Svedala on 20/10, Skåne's less hilly 12k equivalent of this race, where 40-41 would've been enough to win this year...unfortunately, this clashed with the half in Vejle). At around 13k I heard footsteps behind me - I thought I'd gone too easy and been caught! Fortunately, a quick 'Er du ti eller femten?!' at the bottom of the Himmelbjerg ascertained that this was a10k guy, who I swiftly waved through rather than mistakenly chase up the hill.

I heard a very apt comment from one of the spectators as I ran past up the Himmelbjerg: 'Han løb den halve sidste uge! Han må være træt!' - definitely so!
The rain which had largely held off for the race really came down just after I'd finished and I was soaked through by the time prizes came around; new pair of Innov-8 trail shoes :-)

Summary - excellent weekend of running. Ankle came through 2 hard races well; I'd hope for a far better placing in later cross races with proper rest. Now I can hopefully try and push a bit more with training. Start of w.c. 28/10 will be rest, followed by building up into regular training again after this period of racing. I shall decide my plan with the Nytårscup in Århus as well. I want to do it this year to build endurance for 1/2 or full marathon distance, so I must decide whether to run it hard then do an extra 15-20k slower afterwards or to sandwich it as a 10k tempo part of a longer run...

7.10.13 - 20.10.13: Vejle Ådal ½-maraton buildup

date/day	km	time	min/km
13/10/2013su	26	01:53:00	04:20
13/10/2013su	8.67	00:35:00	04:02
12/10/2013sa	3.65	00:14:00	03:50
12/10/2013sa	0.22	00:00:53	04:04
12/10/2013sa	0.88	00:03:32	04:00
12/10/2013sa	1	00:03:30	03:30
12/10/2013sa	7.95	00:33:00	04:09
12/10/2013sa	8.92	00:34:00	03:48
12/10/2013sa	1.71	00:00:00	00:00
11/10/2013fr	8.89	00:37:00	04:09
10/10/2013th	15.16	01:04:00	04:13
09/10/2013we	8.58	00:34:00	03:57
09/10/2013we	4.39	00:18:30	04:12
09/10/2013we	4	00:13:20	03:20
09/10/2013we	1.9	00:07:00	03:41
07/10/2013mo	13.83	00:58:00	04:11
total=	115.75	av pace=	03:42

7/10 Mon PM - loop up to Skt Hans and back. Took a few runs up the big hill.
8/10 Tues - no run. Rest day.
9/10 Weds AM - pre-work track session. 5km warmup, then 4x1km on the track at CIP, 3.20/km pace, jog back down the quicker way via Svanegatan and through the park. PM - late 10pm run along the Hardebergaspåret after a conference day, very tired and quite hungry - conf food is not enough!
10/10 Thurs PM - run along the Hardebergaspåret to just past the road crossing 3km from SS (appx 15km). Very tired again after another conference day at work, also felt slightly sick (too much coffee!) and had to pause briefly about half way.
11/10 Fri AM - standard 8.7km Klostergården route.
12/10 Sat AM - hill training at Skt Hans. 3.65km warmup run there, then 5xlong hill (300m/50s), 5xsteep hill with jog down recovery. 9km back via a loop up into Gunnesbo and back into town. Very good workout on grass, good cross prep. PM - 8km along the Hardebergaspåret; tired legs after the earlier session!
13/10 Sun AM - run up to Skrylle via the hilly route through Hardeberga village and past Rögle dammar; approximately 13km on a mix of road and trail. Returned via the bike path to Sodra Sandby and then the Hardebergaspåret back to Lund. Not great weather - started off with light rain and got steadily worse as I went along. Felt tired after the hard hill session the day before, but still kept a decent 4.20/km pace.

date/day	km	time	min/km
20/10/2013su	21.1	01:16:00	03:36
17/10/2013th	8.67	00:34:00	03:55
17/10/2013th	8.2	00:32:00	03:54
16/10/2013we	10	00:40:00	04:00
15/10/2013tu	10	00:40:00	04:00
14/10/2013mo	8.67	00:35:00	04:02
total=	66.64	av pace=	03:54

14/10 Mon - begin tapering. Standard Klostergården 8.7km route. Relaxed pace.
15/10 Tues - standard Klostergården 10km route past the sewage works. Relaxed pace.
16/10 Weds - as Tues.
17/10 Thurs AM - as Mon, PM - 8k along the Hardebergaspåret, progressive tempo ending at 3.20/km.
18/10 Fri - no run, rest
19/10 Sat - no run, rest
20/10 Sun - Vejle Ådal ½-maraton: 1:16:48 (9th place)

Image: http://www.motionsbilleder.dk

My final shot at the 1/2 marathon for 2013 in Vejle. It was a 1900 tilskudsløb, so went down on the club bus from Århus getting there about 40min before the start. Despite the days of rest beforehand, my legs felt quite tired and stiff - did an extensive warmup involving 1-2km of easy jogging and some 100m sprints plus stretches to try and get myself going. Little bit of pain from my left ankle while warming up, but not too bad (though I stupidly forgot to put my ankle support on). Felt fairly good on the first 10km and sat at around 3.25-3.30/km pace in 5th along with Lars Vels from Viborg AM. The route itself was excellent, as was the weather despite forecasts of heavy rain, running  mostly on fairly flat bike path with the only slight hills coming at 9-9.5km and just before the turn at 11-11.5km. Ran well up to around 13km when I started feeling quite tired and dropped in pace, allowing one of the chasing pack to overtake; I was still able to get to 16km on just over 56min, fastest I've managed for some time! Unfortunately, the final 5km was a horrible struggle - I really ran out of gas and started getting stomach cramps after drinking at the final water station. I was forced to stop twice just before 19 and 20km for 10-15s just to try and fight through it, allowing a couple more runners to overtake. I've no idea what time I managed for the last 2km, but it wasn't good! Still pleased to complete the full distance in a reasonable time - I could probably have run the alternative 5/10k in good times, but I really feel as if I should push it a bit more now.
Some success anyway when Katrine managed 2nd place on the 5km route, despite planning 'not to run hard' :-p

Summary - 75,79,77min for the 3 late summer\autumn 1/2s; not fantastic times, but considerably better than this time last year when I was struggling to run at all! For the first time in many years, it's endurance that is letting me down; I find I just don't have enough left to keep it going much beyond 12-14km. This is likely a product of spending May 2012-Aug 2013 running largely nothing more than 5k or the occasional 10k while injured or recovering from injury.
But I feel I'm stuck in a bit of a rut with running at the mo - not fast enough to be competitive on the shorter distances and without the endurance to do it at the 1/2 or full marathon. This is partly out of reluctance to do lots of high intensity training (due to the ankles) and partly due to lack of training motivation, esp. not having fast people to train with consistently. Very frustrating!

Focus will now shift to cross and trail with the Sat/Sun double of DAF VT1 in Middelfart and Himmelbjergløbet next week, with the Nytårscup 10km and other VT rounds in the weeks after. Hopefully doing some different races (esp the VT rounds vs really top runners) should give me the kick up the arse I need. I'll also start to rethink how\where\with who I'm training...

30.9 - 6.10.13: Illness and 1900 Training Weekend

	km	Time	min/km
06/10/2013su	20	01:18:00	03:54
05/10/2013sa	8	00:30:00	03:44
05/10/2013sa	5.62	00:00:00	00:00
05/10/2013sa	7.72	00:00:00	00:00
05/10/2013sa	0.97	00:00:00	00:00
04/10/2013fr	10.76	00:40:00	03:43
04/10/2013fr	8.67	00:35:00	04:02
03/10/2013th	8.67	00:00:00	00:00
02/10/2013we	8.67	00:00:00	00:00
Total=	79.08

Mon - no run, bad cold.
Tues - no run, bad cold.
Weds -still had cold. PM: very gentle run Malmovagen-Klostergården-Arena-Stadsparken route in Lund. Mistake, not ready for it yet...
Thurs - PM: same as Weds, but feeling a bit better.
Fri - AM:  same route as Thur, feeling much better.

Fri - Sun: Århus 1900 Training weekend in Nymindegab, Vestjylland

Fri PM- run from hostel out along the old railway line (or bike path next to it) from Nørre Nebel to the coast. Started off at a fairly gentle pace around 4.00/km, but ended at about 3.20-3.30/km pace. Covered some of the dunes and a run on the beach, but very windy! Felt quite tired having left Sweden at 10am and only got there at 5.30pm, plus having walked 5km from Nørre Nebel along to the hostel. 
Sat AM - 4min (1min pause) cross intervals in the forest near the hostel. This was on fairly rough terrain, mainly of deep sand in places - not good for the ankle, which hurt on the warmup lap! Managed 3x4min at a far slower pace than the other faster guys before deciding not to push it any further. Moved to the tarmac bike path and road instead and completed 3x4min on there, which was much easier on the ankle tendons.
Sat PM - recovery run in the forest. Did a lot of warmdown stretches and exercises after the morning session, which greatly helped. Felt little ankle pain during this run, although conducted at a more relaxed 3.40-4.00/km pace.
Sun AM - 20km long run. Started off with around 8km in the woods with everyone together at around 3.50-4.00/km pace, which was tricky but manageable on the same sort of terrain as Sat. There was then an unexpected tempo session of several km led by some of the fastest (shorter distance focused) guys in the club, going up to 3.00-3.15/km pace; I decided this was too much for a Sun run, and dropped 20m off them for a bit! A group of 6 of us then completed another 10km out along the same route as Fri PM at a fairly quick 3.30-3.40/km pace. A very good workout! 

23.9.13-29.9.13: Long Road Hills...

Date\Day	km	Time	min/km
29/09/2013su	16.86	01:06:00	03:54
29/09/2013su	12.9	00:56:00	04:20
28/09/2013sa	18	01:08:50	03:49
27/09/2013fr	20	01:30:00	04:30
26/09/2013th	15	01:00:00	03:59
25/09/2013we	6.08	00:24:00	03:56
25/09/2013we	0.56	00:01:57	03:28
25/09/2013we	2.24	00:07:48	03:28
25/09/2013we	3.98	00:17:00	04:16
24/09/2013tu	8.74	00:34:00	03:53
23/09/2013mo	15.22	01:05:00	04:16
total=	120	av pace=	03:59

Mon - in Lund. run up to Skt Hans, including an extra loop through Gunnesbo under the railway line and back via CIP
Tue - standard route through Klostergården and up past the F&F Arena. Very tired legs after racing at the weekend (tiredness never comes immediately - can still do a lot the day after, but not 2 days after!)
Wed - new workout:: cycled out to Sodra Sandby, 4km warmup, then 5x560m up the hill Almbacksvägen (1.50-1.53 up, recovery jog down appx. 2min). After 2x3km along the Hardebergaspåret from SS, then cycle back to Lund. A good hard workout!  This is the only substantial hill around which is cleared of snow and streetlit in the winter, so this should hopefully become a regular thing.
Thurs - urgh, pain in my left ankle! perhaps pushed a bit too hard the day before. Did a 5km warmup to Lunds CIP; decided it would be unwise to do intervals with the ankle hurting, so ran 5km of easy laps and drills, followed by a 5km run back home. Ankle got steadily better throughout the session. Frustrating!
Fri - 20km along the Hardebergaspåret. Decided to take it easy at the start and see how the ankle felt, and turn back if it was too bad. Thankfully, there wasn't too much pain - just very very heavy legs!
Sat - in Århus. Run to Hasle Bakker (6.5km) fairly quickly. I was still late for parkrun by around 3min, so it was 'pursuit-mode'; with 20km on the clock the day before plus a quick 6.5-7km there it wasn't a fast pursuit though! Ran 17.55 for the 5km (and caught Katrine, despite the head start :-p). Afterwards, ran back 7km home via Skejby Føtex.
Sun - tired tired legs! Decided to split the Sunday run into AM\PM sessions. AM: 17km loop of Egå Engsø, along Lystrupvej, Nordre Strandalle and then a loop of Riis skov, finishing uphill onto Grenåvej.  PM: 13km - one lap of the Engsø, then back towards Lisbjerg-Terp, up past the golf course and back through Molleup skov = 30km total.

Summary - still having problems with my ankles. It seems there's a limit to level of intensity in training, that if I work too hard - particularly up hills - then I get a lot of pain the following days. Unfortunately, it seems that hills and strengthening are the only way to get it better in the long term, so it's just a case of gauging when enough is enough.
Next week - try some more hilly runs, but at a bit lower intensity - poss up at Skt Hans or Skrylle this week. Fri-Sun is the Århus 1900 M/L weekend in Nymindegab on the west coast of Jylland, which should be good training.

Post Århus Half Recovery and Friløbet

9/9/13-15/9/13

date\day	km	time	min/km
15/09/2013su	16.41	01:15:00	04:34
15/09/2013su	2.18	00:06:00	02:44
14/09/2013sa	12.49	00:52:00	04:09
13/09/2013fr	8.74	00:35:00	04:00
12/09/2013th	4.51	00:17:00	03:46
12/09/2013th	9.51	00:35:54	03:46
11/09/2013we	8.04	00:32:40	04:03
11/09/2013we	8.74	00:34:00	03:53
10/09/2013tu	8.74	00:37:00	04:14
09/09/2013mo	8.74	00:34:00	03:53
09/09/2013mo	1	00:04:00	04:00
total=	89.1	av pace=	03:54

Mon - PM: run down through Klostergården and back up past the F&F arena at an decent pace.
Tue - PM: same as Monday. Quite tired legs still.
Weds - AM: same route as Mon\Tue. PM: run along the Harderbergaspåret to the outer bridge on the edge of Lund and back again. Quite tired still.
Thurs - 5x1km reps @ 3.20/km on the track, with 4.5km warmup/down to Lund CIP. Ankle not too bad, feeling a bit less tired.
Fri - same as Mon\Tue
Sat - run up to Skt Hans and back via CIP\Stadsparken. Felt fairly fresh.
Sun - cycle to Sodra Sandby, then run to Krankesjön, up the hill to Torna Hällestad and back down to SS along the ridge. Had hoped to do the Krankesjömilen, but it was raining heavily and bike was the only way to get there, so waited for the rain to stop and did a long run instead. Very heavy legs and quite slow, but good workout.
Summary - fewer km, mainly shorter runs localised in Lund after the half marathon. Tried to up the pace of the shorter 8km runs and work a bit harder, especially uphill, to build a bit more endurance (working towards doing them as tempo runs). Not so many intervals this week; legs felt very tired on Thurs. Ankles really didn't feel so great all week - I've decided to do a program building in more hill training to try and strengthen my lower leg muscles to try and help the problem. I've also decided to stick to around 16km (10miles) per day and to try and increase the average pace of runs I do.

16/9/13-22/9/13

date\day	km	time	min/km
22/09/2013su	19.94	01:18:00	03:54
22/09/2013su	10	00:34:18	03:25
20/09/2013fr	16.64	01:11:00	04:16
19/09/2013th	1.92	00:08:00	04:09
19/09/2013th	6	00:20:39	03:26
19/09/2013th	7.38	00:30:00	04:04
18/09/2013we	7.18	00:26:00	03:37
18/09/2013we	2.21	00:00:00	00:00
18/09/2013we	8.74	00:36:00	04:07
17/09/2013tu	15.52	01:00:00	03:51
16/09/2013mo	10.27	00:42:00	04:05
16/09/2013mo	8.7	00:34:00	03:54
total=	114.5	av pace=	03:53

Mon - AM: as prev week, run through Klostergården. PM: standard Mon 10km route, out along the ponds past the sewage works and back on the road via CIP. Ankles feeling very stiff and tight.
Tue - AM: new route, out to Hardeberga via Linero. There are very few good hills in the local area - 4 in fact: Almbacksvägen in Sodra Sandby (lit, road), Skrylle (part-lit, trail), Skt Hans (unlit, grass) and this one (unlit, farm track) - yet I've never gone up here until now. Hill is a long, gentle climb, followed by a brief downhill, then a hard climb gaining appx. 80m over 1.5km, not too steep but a good workout for the ankle supporting muscles.
Wed - AM: first trip to Skt Hans. Warmup run there 3.5km, then 5xlong hill (300m) 50s jog down recovery, 5xsteep hill continuous running. Definitely worked the leg muscles. Had the company of a cat at the top of the hill, which demanded attention on every rep! (so 5xlong hill, p10s stroke cat, jog down!). PM: standard 8.7km run as per Mon AM.
Thurs - training with Bjornstorps IF at CIP in Lund. 2km + 3x400m warmup, then 10x400m at 75s pace (30s recovery), 3x400m warmdown, then 7.3km run back via Varpinge and past the sewage works. Good hard track session, ankles not too bad!
Fri -  longer run following the route to Hardeberga as per Tues, but continuing through the village and back down along the road where it joins with the Hardebergaspåret bike path, then back along there into Lund. Progressive run - was up to around 3.25/km along the bike path after 12-13km (this was greatly helped by someone I'd overtaken earlier trying for several km to retake me - never going to happen as a matter of principle! :-p)
Sat - rest day.

Photo-Friøbet/Belingske/sportpicture.dk

Sun - up very early (6am) for a trip over to Copenhagen for the 9am Friløbet 10km from Østerbro stadium, which my plan was to then combine with a long run. I'd say my expectations for this race were fairly limited due to the early start and hard training  in the days before - I've just fancied a nice fast 10k for a couple of weeks. Not a great start when my stomach felt very bad jogging there and I had to dash round F-parken and find a toilet ('Vinterlukket' is a terrible thing- do Danish people hold it in all winter?!), but once one was found that seemed to help. Race number distribution was a bit chaotic: far too few people for the task and you needed to know your number (which a lot of people didn't); should ALWAYS be done by name! By the time I'd got it, only had a short time for warmup but fortunately, the race start was delayed 5-10min. Race was fairly ok, except for the bit through Tivoli - lots of tight turns and small hills = ankle pain. I thus dropped around 20-30s through there got overtaken by 3/4 others. Ran the first half in 17.15 and the second in 17.03 for a 34.18 -fastest time since injury and a negative split!Afterwards, I took a tourist-tour of Copenhagen back to Kastrup, passing the Lille Havfrue, Amelienborg (no queen) and the parliament and down through Amager Strandpark.

Summary - good 'opening week' of a shift in training to more hills and at least attempting some faster tempo or progressive running. Felt gradually less tired this week - approx 1.5 weeks for 1.19 half recovery is about right. 10k race was quite a good marker as to where I am in terms of fitness: my speed is good, but my endurance is crap - the opposite of how it's been for years! I felt very happy with that pace for 10k and could well have done more. Hopefully more hills and exercises should strengthen the muscles supporting the ankles, which in turn should hurt less and let me train at a higher intensity.