23.6.14 Broen 




Main Sessions: Weds: 5k warmup, 4x1km @ 3.08-3.10/km pace (200m jog recovery) on Lunds CIP track, 6k back home inc. 1x hard hill. Sat: Hills at St Hans, usual 6xlong, 5xsteep, jog down recovery + some of SHE course. Sun: 30km+ long run at easy pace.

Training summary: Another hard week of high hayfever levels, but not quite as bad since it rained a few times, esp. towards the end of the week. Track intervals on Weds were especially hard since the grass had just been cut at CIP (and due to the large numbers of greenfly around) , but hills were easier due to rain the night before. I had considered doing one of the parkruns in Copenhagen on Sat, but was too tired from work to wake up in time!

Decided on a long run Sunday since it was cool and I didn't feel too bad - 2 x loratadine tablets were enough.  Went for a different route than usual, running from Lund through central Malmø, along Ribersborg strand and following the cost to the Øresund bridge(29k), then back to Hyllie for the train (35k). The wind was coming off the sea, which helps with the hayfever. First 20k to Ribersborg were good, but I really felt the final 6k up to Hyllie, taking the long route round the chalk quarry. You get a great view of the bridge from there though, can definitely recommend it - it curves far more than you realise from the train!

Next week:  Considering whether to do the half marathon in Båstad for training (so slower than race pace), Screw that, not for 650-750SEK, far too expensive! however I may just continue with regular training...

Under the bridge from Swedish side (from http://wallpaperswiki.org/oresund-bridge-malmo-sweden/)

16.6.14 - Recovery and Hayfever

Training summary: Extremely hard going due to the high grass pollen levels. Despite taking the maximum amount of hayfever tablets, I was still finishing any run with red eyes and wheezing! Managed to drag myself through it though to 1x hill running session at St Hans in Lund, some (slower) tempo plus a long run out along the Hardebergaspåret at the weekend, despite it also being quite hot. Still felt tired from the Århus City half and races before, so total rest day on Tues, but still got to the 100km\wk target.
Main sessions: Weds: Hills at St Hans, 6x long, 5x steep. Run around the last part of the SHE course.  Sat: 3.40/km 11km tempo along the Hardebergaspåret; reduced speed due to hayfever. Sun: Long run (23km) at 4.10/km pace along same to Sodra Sandby and back.
Races: None, and happy for it! The MalmoMilen on Sat 14/6 would've been a disaster this year - I struggled with hayfever last time; this year pollen levels were 2.5x higher!
Next week:  Keep dragging myself through it...

Off the chart!

DMI's pollen count (grass) for Copenhagen

This is the price paid for a mild winter! Any running for me right now is pretty horrible, even with antihistamines. Definitely right to skip the 2014 MalmöMilen this weekend; last year, I struggled there with hayfever at a third of the pollen count of this year...

9.6.14 Aarhus City 1\2



Training summary:  week of easy recovery running around south Lund and the Hardebergaspåret, no hard sessions at all. Paced Katrine to sub-19min 5k at Brabrand parkrun as a pre-half marathon warmup on Sat.
Main sessions: Race only.
Races: Nykredit Aarhus City Halvmarathon, 40th, 1:17

Knackered at 20k! Photo: BS Sports & Media / Brit Sørensen

Very much a race too far! Recovering fully (or even well) after a hard 27km in just under 7 days was always going to be an impossibility, but I'd quite wanted to do this race (esp having watched injured last year) and I'd obtained a (semi-)free sponsored number courtesy of In Sport

So it was more a case of giving it a good go. I felt a lot better at the start than last week, although unsurprisingly quite a bit more tired. After warming up until 10 minutes before, I had to make a bit of a sneaky move through a gap in the fences to actually get in the front group - as is usual at big races, there are always a few 'excessively ambitious' runners who find their way to the front.
There were a number of people planning to run a steady 3:30\km pace, including many of the 1900 M\L group, so I stuck with them for the opening. The first 5km of the route were somewhat hilly and I thought I'd be done in by the top of the botanical garden, but even on the descent back into town I felt pretty ok. From 7-8km I even ran 10-15s ahead of the group, who dropped off the pace in the twistier sections through the town. Getting to the more exposed harbour at 9km, however, I felt the headwind and decided to sacrifice a bit of time and drop back into the group rather than expending lots of energy battling into it alone. We crossed 10km at around 35:20, not too bad on pace.
Past half way, up the hill back into town...and then it really kicked in...suddenly my legs were back on the hills in Silkeborg, finding it harder and harder to get back on the pace after every corner as we ran through the town centre. By the time we got onto Spanien, I was 10s down and dropped right off the back of the 3.30 group. I took on a bit of energy drink at 13k to see if that would help a bit, but no joy. Even worse, drinking gave me a stitch, which I had to run through going up the hill to the stadium. By now I was going backwards and it was really about running through it and getting finished. Being on such familiar territory for races certainly helped - imagining I was running the Nytårscup got me through the sections around the stadium.
I put on a good shift in the final 2km, nice, flat (slightly downhill) Frederiksalle, the good crowd and a few even more tired legs ahead of me a good incentive to push a bit.
Although not the greatest of times, it has to be a put in perspective. Last year, I couldn't have even made it through the first 5k with my ankle. This year, I ran the whole thing, in an ok time, after 2 weeks of brutal trail racing. June is also bad hayfever time, although thankfully this didn't really hit too badly (or too obviously at least). The race is very late in the year for a half marathon and a lot of those at the front wern't really going for it hard. For me, this was effectively the 'end of season' race, where now there are now few races until late Aug\early Sept (and really no very serious ones until autumn).

I don't plan to race again now until the Wallanderloppet in Ystad on 8th July - time for a rest! 

2.6.14: Midtjysk Bjergløb





Training summary: easy week after the SHE race the previous Thurs and before the Midtjysk Bjergløb on Sun. Mon was a run round the sewage works ponds south of Lund, doing a hard mile or so on the soft surface alongside. Tues, standard hill session at St Hans - except the shorter, steep hill is being dug up as part of the drainage works there, so that had to be done elsewhere. Remainder of the week was just 10-13km easy paced running around Klostergården in Lund.
Main sessions: Hills at St Hans (Tues) and , standard set. MJB (race, Sun).
Races: Midtjysk Bjergløb (27km, 470m climb) , 3rd, 1h47
I was particularly keen to do this race ('Denmark's Hardest'!) due to how analogous much of the terrain, the distance and the hills would be to the Lidingöloppet in Sept. Unfortunately, this race is in June and right in prime hayfever time. At this time of year I have a choice: take nothing and suffer through it (which costs me time) or take over-the-counter antihistamine (generic loratadine without the decongestant) and risk the sideffects of that. In this case, I did the latter, the result of which was a definitely nauseous feeling even before the race started.  In the case of pre-race nerves, this feeling disappears once I get going - in this race, it got steadily worse! It was also a fairly hot and humid day, around 22C, although not so bad once you were in the woods; I've certainly run in worse heat.

The race itself was led off by Jesper Faurschou, Denmark's Olympic Marathon representative and very good runner, who swiftly disappeared into the distance. For the first appx. 16km I ran with Lars Vels of Viborg Atletik, where we held a fairly good pace around 3.40/km. At this point I really started to feel sick and at past 17km had no choice but to make a pitstop into the woods, which helped somewhat. The final 6k of the race was extremely hard, beyond that which faces me in Sept, with some serious 80-100m climbs (the largest will be 45-50m). I really started to feel the distance, this being my longest race for around 5 years and being used to running half marathons as effectively 'run 10 good miles, then hold on for the last 3'. The final 3k was a real struggle to keep going. It's definitely the case that I need to do some more longer runs and build up the distance before Sept - but finding out this was very much the point of the race.

Overall a good 'testløb' and a good position, despite not being at my best. Certainly a nice course and well organised race that I'd definitely recommend.
  
Next week:  I'd committed to doing the Århus City Half Marathon on Sun 8th without checking when the MJB was - a week recovery after a hilly 27km race doesn't exactly lend itself to a good half marathon time. So I'll make the best of that race and take another easy recovery week beforehand. There is a 1000DKK bonus for running in the top 20 inside 1:14:59, so I might try for that at least the first half of the race!