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!
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!
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar