Malmomilen struggle, sportpicture.dk

Hayfever and holiday...

10\6 - 16\6
Date\Day          km         Time          min\km
16/06/2013 s     25.68     1:43:00     4:00    
15/06/2013 s     10.77     0:43:00     3:59    
15/06/2013 s     10           0:34:50     3:29    
14/06/2013 f      5.89       0:23:00     3:54    
12/06/2013 w    6.96       0:36:00     5:10    
12/06/2013 w    12.03     0:48:00     3:59    
11/06/2013  t     10           0:36:30     3:38    
10/06/2013 m    11.69     0:50:00     4:16
total:93.02km, av pace:

17\6-20\6
Date\Day        km         Time         min\km
19/06/2013 w  5.26       0:23:00     4:22
18/06/2013 t    14.91     1:00:00     4:01   
17/06/2013 m  8.73       0:36:00     4:07 

Mon 10\6- took a different run to the usual Mon route, down past the arena and round the ponds south of Lund before heading back via a lap of CIP. Very tired and a somewhat slow pace.
Tue- training at Skrylle. 5km warmup, then 5x1k. Could only just manage 3.25\km, tight chest, struggled throughout and felt very tired. Sore eyes after cycling back to Lund.
Wed- am: very easy run south through Klostergarden and back up through Stadsparken in Lund. Done at a very easy pace to try and rest the legs a bit. pm - run up to St Hans Backar via Tuna and back through uni. Bit higher pace, but still not feeling great.
Thur- decide to take a full day of rest, plus Nordic Physics Days conf kept me busy.
Fri - fairly easy 6km round the arena and Stadsparken ahead of the Malmomilen.
Sat - Malmomilen. Rubbish. See sep post.
Sun - definitely felt the hayfever during the night: sore throat, red eyes, horrible headache and blocked nose. Particularly bad due to the amount of pollen sucked in racing - I find it especially bad after hard effort. Took 2 loratadine tablets plus some over the counter nasal spray and eye drops, which reduced the symptoms. Fortunately, it was raining - nothing better than pouring rain to run in during pollen season! Took a long run with gf on a bike down to Lomma and back (after remembering Lomma has no rail station...doh) - rain and a fresh wind off the sea made 25km manageable.

Mon 17\6 - very easy run, late in the evening (9.30pm) to avoid the worst of the pollen, down through Klostergarden and back via Lunds CIP. Felt shocking - like a very bad cold; tired, headache, sore throat, etc...
Tue 18\6 - felt marginally better, primarily through a shedload of sleeping and anti-histamine tablets. Run up to Norra Fäladen, up what I term 'Synchrotron Hill', on the basis it overlooks the new Max IV and the motorway, and back via St Hans Backar (they'd just cut the fucking grass...arrgh!) and Lunds CIP.
Wed 19\6 -
Thur 20\6 -
Fri 21\6 - HOLIDAY!

Summary: hayfever season is here :-( and this year it's a bad one, probably a product of the long horrible winter. In retrospect, the signs were there before the race in Malmo, tiredness and a headache which I attributed to working too hard. Hayfever is something you have to just push through as a runner (it's like running with a permanent cold) - anti-histamines provide some relief, as does timing your runs later in the day, but neither is a complete cure. For me, mid-May (tree), mid June-early July(grass) and late-Aug (harvest, dust+stirred up pollen) are the worst times and I can definitely feel it in Sept when it passes; chest feels less tight and interval sessions become far easier. On the upside, both ankles have felt good these past 2 weeks!

Next week: Off on holiday to the Dolomites and northern Italy, hopefully leaving hayfever behind - training will thus mostly be hills!
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