21.10.13 - 27.10.13: DAF Vinterturnering and Cross Challenge
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!).
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...
| 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 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...
