Lidingöloppet 2014: 1:57:55, 74th place

Well, all went well for 19k of the 30k...then I pulled a muscle in my back\right shoulder which pretty much finished it for me as a race :-( But meh, what can you do, that's life...! I think had it been a smaller race closer to home I'd have quit straight away, but after coming all this way I was determined to finish, although I think I've taught some Swedish kids a few new English swearwords up the last couple of hills!

This was actually my first Sweden race (or even trip) outside Skåne in my 2 years here, since it's a been a bit impractical given the Aarhus-Lund commute, so it was part-race, part-seeing another part of Sweden. Best way to get there was by SJ train, approx 4.5h from Lund, and best place to stay any Stockholm near tunnelbanan (metro), since this makes getting around much easier.  I collected the number from the stadium Lidingövallen on the Fri evening (recommend this - it's quite busy on Sat morning), where there was a free bus from the end of the line Ropsten metro station over the bridge onto Lidingö. I expected a major queue for this bus and a traffic jam up to the start on Sat raceday, so I got to the metro station about 10.30 on Sat morning 2 hours ahead of the start and half expected to have to walk the 4k there. However, after doing this race 50 times I think they have organisation down to a T,  the queue for the bus was all of 5 minutes and very little traffic up there, so I got there at about 10.45!

Start: 1A group in the front

Conditions for the race were pretty much perfect: about 13-15C and sun. There was a moderately strong wind, but that didn't really matter since it was a circular lap with most of the race in the woods. It had rained the night before, so some areas of the trail were muddy, but nothing serious. Trail shoes arn't necessary for this, in fact they probably give a disadvantage on the road sections.  The start was about 2k uphill from the stadium - you have to be careful to leave enough time to get up there and go to the right start for the race length (30k was at Koltorp). The start area has lots of toilets and water plus places to sit, so there's actually little point hanging around at Lidingövallen. Iit was clearly marked out where you should start from, except for my 1A group at the front, but I think we we expected to be able to work that out for ourselves!

In our 1A front group were about 300 people, then a 200m gap back to the 1B\1C groups, then about another 200m to the 15,000+ others. The start was a gentle uphill grass area, but with a hard path through it, so people tended to bundle\aim themselves towards that. The aim at the start was pretty much the same as any cross race with a mass start: whatever you do, concentrate and stay on your feet else get trampled! (at least you're not going to get a cross spike through your leg though!) After about 750m of grass the race turned onto a hilly road section, where it got a bit crowded - don't expect to set a fast time on the first k, but then it's a 30k race so it doesn't matter. The first 5k is very up and down, lots of small hills and quite a testing start. At around 5-6k you hit some serious downhill, where you have to keep your wits about you just in case someone behind comes down a bit too fast (I saw one guy run straight into the back of another...doh!). 5-10k is pretty flat; my first 10k split was pretty much bang on 36min, as I aimed for. After that the hills get going again, with some twisty woodland sections until you reach the other side of the island, where it gets back to up\down again.

I managed to pull my back on a hill somewhere on 18-19k; I think I just carried too much momentum into it, then tried to push on upwards too fast. I managed to keep going though, although by the time I'd got to 20k I'd had to drop the pace, which was somewhat depressing as a lot of people started overtaking. This was at Grönsta, where the finish was, so I could've quit fairly easily (as a few people ahead did), but I decided to carry on. The final 10k had the toughest hills, including the largest on the course (Abborrbacken). The hills however were not especially steep, especially not compared to the midtjyske Søhøjland races such as the Himmelbjergøbet or Midtjysk Bjergløb - there were no 100m high climbs at 10-15% gradient. Through here it was really a case of gritting the teeth and getting to it, despite it hurting. The worst I found was Karins backen at about 2k from the finish, one final nasty steep hill that you don't really see coming (except for the crowd of people at the start of it). I got passed by quite a few people through this final 10k - I think had I not injured myself, it would've been the other way round, since I was feeling pretty good beforehand.

End...

Just about managed to finish inside 2 hours (I even managed a bit of a final sprint), although just finishing was more than enough. Strangely, you don't see the finish until the final corner where you're about 400m from it, and there is a dogleg away from it in the final k - so you hear the crowd at the end, then seem to get further away, before suddenly you're there! My time was good enough for the silver medal they give for those finishing within 2.10, which was quite nice. I was quite hungry at the end - remember to bring cash: there are lots of places to get food on the way back to the bus at the stadium (I forgot and had to walk past them all). Overall, excepting the injury it was an excellent race and very well organised (as big races have to be). 

I think probably 30k was a bit too long for the distance of training I'm doing. I've been limiting myself to no more than 100km/wk since my ankle injuries, in fact closer to 90k during the summer; this race probably needed 130-150k+ over a good period of time. I certainly couldn't have gone another 12k to marathon length. The pulled back muscle, although not too serious in the long term, is likely a result of this lack of distance. I'd probably have been happier blasting it round the half (15k) distance, but this would've seemed a bit of a cop-out: that way didn't even include the big hills!

Training 8 to 14\9\14: Recovery, Hills and ESS-tur




Summary: start of the week easy recovery after Århus Half, Mon easy run round by the F&F arena and some jogs up the St Hans hills, Tues a rest day, Thus\Fri just easy running around Klostergården, Sun long run. Not so fast, but some quite hilly running, so quite a decent workout overall.
Main sessions: Weds standard St Hans Hills (6xlong, 5xsteep). Sat: race, Sun: long run 26k, out past Max IV and the ESS site in Lund, looping back round the country roads north through Stangby to Norra Fäladen. I very rarely run out this way, but I quite wanted to see how far they'd got with the ESS over the summer...(it seems a lot bigger than Max IV)
Races: Veberodsrundan, 7km (3.00-3.20/km pace)

15\9 to 21\9\14: Skryllegården and Krankesjön



Main sessions: Weds: hard session at Skryllegården, fist since the end of May somehow. Fast on the 5k lap (3:40/k pace), fast 3k lap (3:20/k pace), fast 1k lap, run up the final hill section of the 10k lap up the ridge Skryllemilens slutstigning, then one last slower 5k with a final hard sprint uphill for the final 1k and a bit. Lovely early autumn\late summer weather, great session! Fri: session back on the track, first since holiday - 10x400m at 1:15/lap pace. Also did a couple of longer efforts along Maskinvägen (my Strava segment Mean Machine) at around the same pace. Sun: race
Races: Krankesjömilen 10k.

Lidingöloppet Prep Races: Veberödsrundan (7km) and Krankesjömilen (10k)

In order to get sharp and build confidence after holiday for the LL, I decided to go and do a couple of local races around Lund in the weekends before the trip to Stockholm.

First up on 13\9 was the Veberödsrundan in Veberöd, out to the southeast of Lund. The race HQ was at the local farming club, which had lots of cute animals to entertain the poor injured gf. This is a place with some of the few substantial hills in the local area (I've been considering going here for some training for about 1 1\2 years, but havn't quite got round to it!). Unfortunately, the race was a fairly flat but fast course on a lap of the town, mostly on bike paths and quieter backroads. 

The main race was a half marathon of 3 approx 7km laps which served as the Distrikt Mästerskap (the 'other kind' of DM) for Skåne and so attracts a few good local sub-75 runners. As much as I was tempted however, doing this 2 weeks before the LL would've been stupid and left me too tired. I also felt a bit of soreness in the back of my knee, I suspect I managed to pull something getting up out of a chair too quickly at work :-p So I went for the shorter single lap, 7k version, racing the clock since the other fast guys were doing the half. I probably went out a bit hard (3.05 first k) but managed 5k in 16.15 and the full 7 in 22:40, not too bad. The route itself had quite a few 90deg bike path turns in it, which probably cost me time. They were also a bit scary, since you couldn't really see round the corner in a few places; I had a vision of running full speed straight into a kid or a dog...or bollard to the groin!

Overall a good workout, well organised race and a nice place to walk in the hills afterwards.

Second was the Krankesjömilen on 21\9, held out around the lake of the same name in Revingeby pretty much due east of Lund as a 10k or 5k option. I went for the 10, then did the 5 as a warmdown.  A lot of this area is run by the Swedish military (Revingefältet), where they practice driving the tank round sometimes. This is a race I've been 'attempting' to do for 2 years since I came to Sweden: in 2012, new to the area, I managed to go totally the wrong way on my bike and missed the start and in 2013 I was injured and didn't want to risk it on the trail.

So 2014 was the year! Armed with a map, I cycled out there (about 20k from Lund, straight along the Hardebergaspåret and then on the road). About 5k along, it started dripping...and then the heavens opened. I arrived at the race HQ absolutely soaking wet - I had to wring the water out of my socks! I tend to get quite stiff legged after cycling, so I took a half hour warmup jog (in the pouring rain) to get myself going. Despite being soaked, I was quite up for this...

First few k was on dirt roads, mud and slippery but not so many stones. I had a couple of guys try and keep up for the first 2k, but once we hit some smaller hills at around 2.5 I lost them. First 4k were pretty much nailed on 3.20\k pace. From about 4-7k however it was much rougher trail, lots of big stones and not so nice to run on (especially not in heavy wet shoes) which cost me quite a bit of time (5k in 16:55). There were a few small hills mixed in, which wasn't so much trouble but was a bit unexpected - I thought it would be pretty much flat all the way.

The rest of the race was a mix of this not so nice stone trail and fairly muddy woodland trail, up to about 8.5k when it became a very muddy grass track; the last k was tough going on this in normal trainers (3.40 pace). On the last corner, 200m from the end I managed to slip over and bang my knee which cost me 10-20s and was somewhat embarrassing, being right in the view of everyone at the end - thankfully I was far ahead, I'd never have lived it down had that cost me the race! My final time as officially 34:45, but I also forgot to scan the timing key right at the end, so I have it as 34:38, quite a pleasing time given the conditions (at least the rain had died down by the end).

I always love running good, muddy cross or trail races though, so this was an excellent outing. The organisers did a superb job given the rain and the race had probably the best toilet\person ratio of any I've ever been to, with the race HQ at the tank barracks. Some amusing squaddie graffiti there, I've forgotten what SNAFU stood for!

But I really hope it stays dry in Stockholm next week :-p

Target next week at the LL will be to average 18.00\5km pace - so 1h48 for the whole 30km, which should hopefully give me a top 30 finish. This is going to require quite a bit of self-discipline the first 10-20km and on the hills, since I'm probably going to concede places for the first 10 miles or so (which I should then get back). The final 10k concerns me. I've not really done enough distance work, especially over holiday time, so it may just be a case of running it like cross - grit teeth, aim for the guy in front, don't let anyone get past.

1.9.14-7.9.14: Back in Lund and 1900 Half in Århus



Main sessions: Tues: 4x0.8-1.5k intervals along the Hardebergaspåret, between the road bridges across the bike path at 3.00-3.10/km pace. Weds: 10xlong hill at St Hans backar. (I'd hoped that by the end of summer they'd finished with the rebuilding work up there, but unfortunately it seems to be carrying on another year...).

Races: Audi Challenge Aarhus Halvmarathon: 1:16.30 (10k split 35:11)

Urrrrrrrrgh at Brabrand sø. Simon Mikkelsen\Spotted.dk

Since flying back from the US, I'd not felt too well, most probably down to something I ate. During the week, I was unable to even finish an easy run without stopping and the interval sessions were horrible: bad stomach cramps (hence the slower 4:21/km average pace for the week). On a short run in Lund on Fri, I barely managed 6km before having to stop completely and walk home. Not good at all. I decided to do no running from Fri morning and have a day on Sat eating very little, in order to try and get well enough to race. This seemed to help, so I decided to go for the race on Sun. The weather was pretty good for it, 15C and slightly cloudy so I decided that I'd go down and if I felt bad warming up, I'd simply abandon the race - it's effectively the season-opener after summer, and not such a high priority. After a bit of a run round the football pitches at Viby stadium, I decided that although I didn't feel brilliant, that I'd give it a go anyway.

I decided to aim for a steady 3:30/km pace, which I largely managed with no trouble out to 10km. Out around the lake, however, I started to feel bad and was forced to slow down between 10-15km. The final 6 was a real struggle against stopping to be sick, with the cramps returning :-( and I think I lost around 4 or 5 places, including one in the last 200m...no way I was sprint finishing!. No drinks (that would've finished me) made it especially hard going. Very frustrating, especially since had I kept the pace I may have well finished 3rd, but I made it round in a half decent time. The aim of it anyway was just to get back racing again after the summer holiday ahead of the Lidingöloppet now just 19 days away.

Next week: some easy running to start with, just to see if I'm getting better. If so, I may do the Veberödsrundan at a bit of a slower pace, just to build some fitness ahead of the LL.

Holiday and Conference in the US

4.8.14-10.8.14

First half of the week in Lund, then flew out to Austin, TX for ICPS 2014. First thing that hit coming out of the airport was the heat - 35C on the day  I arrived :-S Decided to go running only once a day, early in the morning (5-7am) before the sun came up and it was 'only' 25-ish!
Like most US cities, it was impractical to run round the more urban areas of Austin due to the amount of traffic and also the junctions (since having to stop for lights every 100m is not such a nice run). Fortunately, there was a trail right along the river and artificial Lady Bird Lake right in the centre of the city, equipped with toilets and drinking fountains right round the route. This was very much 'the' place to run though for most Austinites, so the paths got somewhat congested in places. The only downside was lack of streetlighting, which again meant morning running only. Unfortunately it often tends to be in big US cities that such areas are a magnet for the local homeless and crazies, which can be a bit of a concern with regards to safety, but I never saw so much of this here - plus there were always a good number of others running at the same time, even at 6am. One has to watch out for the bats though!
I'd decided doing interval training on hol was a bit impractical due to time constraints (and not knowing exactly where to go), so I decided to mix some easy pace running with some hard local Strava segments round the lake as a single run. Many of these were the miles marked out around the lake (around 9 in total) - it's been a good few years since I did mile intervals, having stuck to metric ks since I moved over here. I also had a few trips up into the hills on the western edge of the city, which were between 4-10% gradients for up to 800m at a time.  It was pretty easy to get lost in the generic US suburbs however!
Particularly nice was the Barton Springs Pool only 1-2k from the lake trail, a swimming pool made by damming a local creek and fed by a local spring. A great way to finish off a very hot run round in the mornings, especially since it was free before 8am.



11.8.14-17.8.14

From 16.8 -  25.8 we travelled across the US South West, stopping at:

Carlsbad, NM - probably the worst place to run on the holiday. Very much a grim oil, mining and stopover town, with a great big busy road running straight through the centre. The only place I ran here was on the twisty paths round Carlsbad Lake, which was nothing to write home about.

Albuquerque, NM - running in the evening on some of the quieter roads down to the Rio Grande was quite an experience, for the sheer amount of noise made by all the desert insects, quite a difference from Sweden. The altitude really hits here. The city itself is about a mile above sea level and hills become a lot harder. Stayed close to the Intel fab plant (actually in the city of Rio Rancho), where there was an excellent desert trail running along the ridge bordering the plant that gave good views over the city and to Sandia mountain, plus some ok running in the suburbs. If you can find a hotel close enough (not easy), the mountains are definitely good for trail running, although the Sandia Crest trail itself becomes very rocky after 5-6miles (turn back where it says 'don't continue in winter' to avoid the rocks).




18.8.14-24.8.14

Durango, CO - great place for trail running. The town itself - which is very much what I'd expected for Colorado mountain tourist town - is somewhat blighted by a big busy road running though it. But there are many, many running and mountain biking routes up into the mountains on your doorstep. I particularly enjoyed this section: Skyline Trail Ascent with lots of twisty switchbacks. The altitude was brutal however, at 2km above sea level at the lowest, which is nearly 1km higher than some routes I've done in the past in the Alps. By the top, I was usually gasping for breath and tasting blood if I pushed hard. I also managed a somewhat painful fall on the trail: 2 scraped knees, the tip of my thumb taken off, bruised hand and elbow plus a lost big toenail :-S (I've done worse!)

Page, AZ - probably the most scenic place I ran on holiday, right next to Glen Canyon and the big dam there. The best place I found to run was to go into the northern suburbs off the main motel road to the dam. From here, you could follow the trail running round the town up onto the adjacent mesa for some spectacular views down across the flooded canyon. Alternatively, you could head down (N. Navajo Dr is a good hill to run up\down) towards the dam, then turn right along the edge of the reservoir. Down here were toilets and an area where you could swim, just a few hundred metres behind the dam. Swimming above a big, deep canyon was certainly quite an experience! (although I'd not go alone, lots of slippery rocks and a few big waves from speedboats...). I also took a run across the dam bridge itself (there is a footpath), although this is something to do only in the early mornings, given to get there it's necessary to run along the side of the busy interstate for a km or 2.

Hurricane, UT - quite a nice place, with some great scenery around. Lots of fairly quiet suburban roads in the mornings, plus quite a few trails, especially if you stay in the centre of town. Here I did some hill intervals, up a good 13% road hill I found (or Strava directed me to!) near the back of town. Hurricane is still 1km+ altitude, so it was again quite hard to run, but not nearly as tough as Durango.





25.8.14-31.8.14

Las Vegas, NV - bottled it. Didn't even try running here, stuck to the hotel gym. I think if you get up very early (4-5am), then it is possible to run, if you immediately head off The Strip. The evening - don't even try! With all the traffic and dust (you can see the pollution haze) plus the heat, I really don't think running outside is so good for you here in summer.

For the final bit of the holiday, I stopped over in NYC on the way back. Staying on Manhattan, practically the only place to run is Central Park - but it's certainly a good place to do so! On the road around the park was a separate running lane, so that all day people could run a 10km lap inside the park (with cars completely banned in the mornings and evenings). This was excellent, if a little crowded at times, to run round - and surprisingly hilly in places, such as at the Harlem end. I expected it to be a bit dodgy when it got dark in the evenings, but actually it wasn't too bad (if anything, the couple of blocks to get there were worse), with good lighting and a good few others also running. The main danger TBH were the bikes, racing each other on the cycle lane just inside the running one (one has to question why you need an 8 grand road bike and beer gut squeezed into full TdF cycle kit to take a morning ride round a park, let alone at 3pm with tourists and all there...).
 I stuck mostly to the 10km road lap, with a bit of running on the softer inner trails, particularly around the reservoir. On the final day, I also managed some hill intervals up the 'Harlem Hill' which were somewhat easier than those at altitude in previous weeks!

Overall some good running (and great to run somewhere different) - however, I didn't cover so much distance, averaging only 70-80k per week. This I think will probably hurt me, going into racing season again in Sept...