Finnish Ultra Long Championships

Finnish Ultra Long Championships were held in tough and challenging terrain of Kytäjä, partly the same terrain as in Jukola 2010. I was doubtful whether to go there or not but after recovering from Lidingöloppet  (which took for about two weeks for my left glute) and a promising run in 25manna middle distance just a week before I thought why not. 

Before the travel I briefly discussed about the tactics with Sami and his answer was simple: just take the lead from the start and keep it until the finish. That’s pretty much what I did, except the “until the finish” part. It wasn’t really the tactics I had thought of myself but during the run I realised that it worked quite well for me. The more time you spend in front, the more you orienteer yourself. If I stay behind and follow someone, I lose focus much more easily. 

Anyway, I had definitively not thought of making a move right from the start but that was exactly what I did. To follow the story, you’d better open the map first. 

Leg to the first control was long and probably the best leg of the whole course and the only real route choice leg. As much as I appreciated having that leg in the beginning I would have appreciated having something similar closer to finish too to break the groups and to give competitors a chance to make a difference by a route choice. For instance, having a leg from #18 direct to #20 would have left much more room for route choices than semi-long legs that basically directed your going. Apart from that, and somewhat restricted gaffle, the course and the terrain were just terrific. Heavy but terrific. So back to the first leg. Start point was right there where we started and I passed it before I got my map opened. I was too focused reading the map to see where everyone else went and made my choice purely based on the map. I wanted to get to the road on the right as quickly as possible. So I made a 90 degree turn on the field and a shortcut to the road across some pretty horrible areas. No one else of the best women took that route. Quite soon I realised I was alone there with some junior boys. Oh crap, I wasn’t planning to lose the game this early. Well, I’ve made my choice, there’s no turning back now. It’s going to be a loooong lonely run…

I didn’t look back but was somewhat concerned about the fact that I didn’t see anyone in front of me on the road. They probably went left all the way. Well, all I can do is to do my own run and hope to catch some of the dropped runners later on.. Just before the first control I was about to run wrong side of a hill and had to turn back to go around it. After turning back I suddenly met all the others there. Kind of relief but kind of disappointment too. Without that wobble I could have been on my own.. On the way to control 2 I settled in to the pace of the line, orienteering myself all the time. From there to number 5 I took a lead and even got a small gap but just about 20m or so. Just before control 5 I was slowed down by a crag and then we were more or less all together by the time we got to the butterflies. For a short while I was alone when going to number 7 but climbed up a bit too early and met the others on the control. It felt that it took ages to get around the loops and I was surprised that no one wanted to go any faster. It was very slow terrain but I was still worried that the other forking would go faster. However by the time we got back to the centre control it looked like that all the best runners were still there. We couldn’t all have the same forking, could we?

Somewhere there I also realised that I had forgotten to take my first gel. We have been out for over 1h but I had been so focused on orienteering that I had forgotten the gels. On the road before number 13 I could for the first time take a brief look on the rest of the course. Nothing surprising and no real route choice options before the last control. I also tried to memorise as many codes as possible (they were not printed beside the controls) and almost missed the point where I had intended to climb up. On the way to 14 I pondered rounding the hills, but then again, hill tops were the best part of the terrain, so I ended up going straight, like everyone else. It seemed like a mutual agreement, no one wanted to take a risk or make a move. Pace was still very slow.

There was a drink station on the road right after control 15. I had planned to take my second gel after 1,5h but the drink came so early that I wasn’t prepared. I hassled with my gel for a while and when finally finished with the process the others had already disappeared. I had been first one in there but the last one to go out. Clearly I would need some optimising with that. Drinks and gels are really not my thing. I guess I could cut minutes off my marathon time just by skipping the drink stations. Maybe this was also a turning point of my race. Not because of the time loss but the way it affected my concentration.

Up to that point I had been very calm, focused and careful but after losing so much time on a drink station I lost my inner calmness for a while and just rushed madly after the others. I was quickly back in the line but instead of following the last girl in the line I wanted desperately to get back in front. I shouldn’t have done that. Tuulia and Sofia were pushing hard on the path and had managed to get a small gap to the rest of us and I just wanted to the close that gap. So instead of focusing on orienteering I focused a bit too much on catching them. After leaving the path we passed the first marsh as expected but climbed up the hill much more to the left than meant to and when up there, nothing made sense anymore. We were near to 17 when we stopped to relocate and it took about a minute to get back to 16. Four last runners in the pack had realised the error earlier and got about a minute advantage to us. They came across us on their way to 17 and realised that this was their chance to get rid off us. Saila led them all neatly to the finish and we never saw them again. We finished less than a minute behind but were not involved in the medal fight. Sofia was 4th and I was 5th. But it tasted bitter. We both knew we could have done better.

I’m still annoyed for losing it like that in a critical moment after 1,5h of good work but on the other hand quite happy about how strong I felt during the whole run. I cannot help but think whether I should have gone harder earlier since I felt so good? Go hard or go home. Next time I’ll do as Sami tells me to do…  

Results

Demonstration of so called double punching (photo: Suomen Suunnistusliitto)

Lidingöloppet

Lidingöloppet, the greatest cross country run in the world, is definitively worth a blog text. It’s a very special event because of its large scale but still incredibly friendly atmosphere. 30km long undulating course runs through the forests and beautiful nature of the isle. The altitude graph looks pretty gentle to anyone who’s done fell runs but the brutality of the course lies in the fact that it goes up and down all the time. Climbs aren’t that long but the gradient is quite steep from time to time. And descents take their toll too. So it’s pretty tough course for the legs anyway.

Route map of the course

Altitude graph of the course. Where are the flat sections?

Start. It’s awful. Too crowded and I’m running off the path most of the time during the first kilometers. I wish I hadn’t done that because jumping off and on the path takes a lot of energy. And a couple of full stops and accelerations to add. I’m putting all my efforts to it and still it takes me 5:30 to pass the first kilometre mark (well, the distance I've run by then is way over 1km too). I’m sure that I’ve overtaken hundreds of people by then but my position in the race at that point is 1720. This is obviously something you should be prepared for in a mass event with 20 000 people.

Start of the race from the air (Runners World)

5km - Already behind my "easy" schedule, calculated according to 4:30min/km pace. In reality I’ve run near to 4min kilometers after the slow first kilometer(s). However, time is not the point but the feeling. I had hoped to run the first 20k preferably just under 4:30min/km pace but effortlessly. The plan was really not to push before the last 10k. So whatever the time I was supposed to feel relatively fresh and relaxed up to that point. But here I am at 5k mark, already exhausted and feeling pain in my left glute and right ankle. Not good. But at least it’s rolling again and now I can run in my own rhythm. I hope it will get easier…(what are the odds? in a 30km race??)

10km - I’ve increased the pace and I’m almost in schedule now. But the start took definitively too much energy and I’m already struggling. Not very promising. I’m trying to stick with a girl who I ran with most of the course in Stockholm half marathon some weeks ago. Now it seems harder to keep up with her.

15km - My left glute is cramping now and I’m really struggling while trying to keep up with this girl. I really should have gone to masseur earlier in the week! I knew I’ve had some tightness in the glutes already before the race but had just ignored it. But in a race like Lidingöloppet every little niggle just amplifies and it isn’t getting any easier. I grit my teeth and try to fight forward. But I’m thinking more and more about retiring. The stretch from 15k to 20k is quite beautiful. You run along a small undulating path just by the northern coastline with views over the sea. I just can’t really enjoy it because it’s getting harder and harder and I feel like running on the edge already. This is just not working. Finally I have to let the girl go (but keep following from 100m behind). It’s taking awfully long time to get to Grönsta.

Running through the forests (Eddie Granlund)

20km - and the girl who I’ve tried to run with stops there. Can't believe she's actually retiring! Unfair! What the hell I’m supposed to do now?!? Forget her, gotta get going... I’m almost 4min off the pace in Grönsta when off to the final 10k loop. I feel that I’ve got absolutely no chance to make it in time now. 2:15 was my ambitious goal and 2:20 a kind of realistic one that I had really hoped to run. But in order to make it in 2:20 I ought to have at least 50min for the last 10k because it's brutal (those who've run that know what I’m talking about) and honestly much slower than the previous two 10km:s. Now I only have 46min for it, which is not at all comforting.

I remember vaguely that the climb from Grönsta is painful. But there’s so much support that I just dig in and run it up with a smile on my face. A smile! How rare is that? I really don’t understand what happened then but after Grönstabacken I get over the worst (or lose my consciousness?) and suddenly I’m lapping faster splits again. If I keep the trend I might actually make it…A guy from Lidingö Triathlon comes past, claps me on the back and says a few encouraging words. I find a new gear and after a while I catch him again. Again he says something but this time I don’t understand a word. Too exhausted for a conversation. I wonder if he knew me or if he was just being supportive. 

Suddenly I realise that I’m losing focus and my mind is somewhere else. I recognise a place from the past where an older runner took his last steps when I was involved in the rescue team. That’s one of those few spots that I actually do recognise from the time I lived in Lidingö. I get tears in my eyes but understand that this is not the time to get emotional. I have a race to run here. Come on, you need to focus now! It’s just a matter of willpower…Willpower, yes, and suddenly all I can see is a clip of Jim Carrey and his blue pen...

25km - Now, where’s the Abborrbacken?!? Is this it? I thought it was worse.. Maybe it’s still further ahead… Just in case I decide to be prepared for another hill..

26km - Abborrbacken is still not coming. We must have past it. So the worst is over, wohoo! Most runners are however slowing down and suddenly I’m overtaking people. My legs are killing me but I get a huge mental boost when I notice that I’m not as tired as my fellow runners. If only my legs can take it I might have a chance to make it to 2:20…A short steep decline and I feel a sudden sharp pain in my knee. Fuck. Just when I thought I could make it… I decide to run through the pain. It’s only 4km. How hard can it be?

28km - Karin’s backe. Ok this is the last one "kom igen nu!”. This is actually tougher than Abborrbacken (not a fact but just a personal opinion) at this stage of the run after you’ve used all your strength and power and your body is just a mess. But I try to push it as hard as I can to. Some runners start to walk but I’m not even considering dropping my pace now. Ok that’s it, now the last kilometer. Ruuuunnnn! 

2:20:... Done it! 10min faster than 10 years ago! Yay!


Tack för en härlig dag på ön och en fantastisk arrangemang!