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.
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.
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