Saturday 21 November 2015

Failed Attempt

I knew that the marathon project was a bit of risky business this year with so little running in the past 6 months but the fact that I survived Lidingöloppet kind of gave green light to the project. I admit having too few miles in my legs when I started off my marathon training, and yes, I was forced to increase my weekly mileage a little more than appropriate according to schoolbooks. But despite all that my legs felt strong enough for training after spending hours at gym and on the bike. The biggest problem was of course the long runs. I hadn’t run more than 15k at most and I needed to get a few 30k runs. So doubling the distance of my long run in a short period of time was a risk I had to take if I wanted to get in good marathon shape. Otherwise I was trying to follow a minimum input principle and do only the necessary. No more, no less, just what was needed.  My strategy was very simple and it was based on three key workouts: intervals, marathon pace runs, and long runs. Rest of the days I used mostly for active recovery. I trained only once a day and only 6 days a week. So it seemed like a pretty safe approach.

I took it very cautiously in the beginning, listening to my body carefully, and increasing the mileage of my long runs (as well as pace runs, and number of repetitions in the intervals) gradually. The fact that my build-up was just about 6 weeks made it hard to plan in an easy week in the middle. Ideal would have been a 2+1 week rhythm. Instead I used a gradual 4-week build-up, followed by 2 weeks’ tapering. It looked alright on the paper but meant three high-mileage weeks after each other and three 30k long runs in three consecutive weekends when I probably would have needed an easier week in between.

Accumulated fatigue or inadequate rest, that’s what hit me in my tibialis posterior tendon. The weird thing about it is that the injury came only after I had already overcome the worst. It appeared just when things started to look better and I was getting used to the increased mileage and long runs. In the beginning everything was hard and I was walking on a narrow line all the time but week-by-week I started to get stronger and more and more accustomed to my marathon specific workouts. The last long run felt almost ridiculously easy and I had no problems increasing the pace at the end of it. Finally things started to look good and I was feeling happy and confident. I had covered my peak weeks and it was time to taper. I was done with the long runs and had only two hard workouts left. But then, right then, at the top of everything, my ankle stroke back and put me aside. I’ve taken now 1,5 weeks off from running but there are no signs of recovery (at least not enough considering the time perspective). So at this stage the only smart thing to do is to throw in the towel. I hate to do that but it’s most probably the right thing to do.

Aftermath
It’s easy to say it was stupid or too much at this stage. On the other hand it’s sports and injuries are part of the game. It’s always delicate balancing between the training load and recovery. Sometimes you step over the line but that’s life. Would I do it again? Absolutely! (Obviously with some minor modifications). So what were the pros and cons about the project? Well the cons are quite obvious. It is very upsetting and frustrating to be injured and not able to race. Pros? There are plenty of them! First of all I found my lost motivation to train again. I also got much fitter during the process and found easiness in running fast. I was happy to see that my injured calf had healed properly and could handle the workload. And it was very encouraging to see fast improvement during the process. I believe I got quite near the fitness level I was trying to achieve. It will certainly be an advantage when I get back to training again.


Playing Supergirl has sometimes a high price…

Friday 23 October 2015

Training is on!

I’ve trained a few weeks now with marathon in my mind. That has meant a couple of marathon pace runs, track intervals, and a few longer runs. Long runs haven’t been that long yet, but I’m trying to increase the mileage gradually. Right now every kilometer feels like a milestone.

Anyway, after a few weeks of training I wanted to run a half marathon. More or less like a training run, just to get half of the distance covered at my target pace. I’m not too thrilled about doing long pace runs on my own, so entering to an organised event seemed like an easier option. Initially I wanted to do Birmingham half but after checking the price of the flights I chose to stay in Sweden.

Lucky enough I managed to find a half marathon on the west coast and hopped on an early morning train (6:50am) to get there in time to an afternoon start. From Göteborg I took to a local train to get to Varberg and from the station I walked to the event centre. Plan was to follow a stream of runners from the train but I saw none. After 20min walk towards the start I still hadn’t seen any fellow runners and got slightly worried whether I had looked the date wrong. But eventually I found some signs and got to the club hut. It was a local orienteering club who arranged the event and their club hut was a natural gathering place.

It was a small event with less than 300 participants but with a beautiful undulating course running through the parks and forests of a nice little town named Varberg. Route was only partly on tarmac, partly on gravel, which meant less impact but slower times. Fine with me. My favorite part of it was a path running along the coastline with views over the sea. It was beautiful.

My plan was to run at gentle 4:15 pace. However, first 5k was very easy and went effortlessly in 19:57. Then tarmac changed to a coastal path. View was great but maintaining the pace was getting harder. After 7k came a bigger climb and the pace dropped. 10k in 41:15. Still in schedule. After 11k came a few more climbs and I also got problems with my stomach. Was it the ryebread? Or the third cup of coffee at Espresso House? Whatever the reason I was afraid to take my gels or sport drinks. I had to go on paniagua, or merely just aqua. I also had to slow down a bit. After slowing down I wasn’t able to pick up the pace anymore and lost about 4 minutes on the second half. Gentle pace oh yeah… To my excuse the undulating course on soft trails was certainly not the fastest. I wasn’t too happy with my run but at least I got a good workout done and some prize money for the effort. Although staying there for the prize giving meant a quick warm down back to the station in order to catch a train home (had about 15min to cover 3km). That was tough.

At this stage I’m definitively quite far away from my goals and where I’m hoping to be in a month. I mean if I can’t run a half marathon at my marathon pace, how an earth could I run the whole distance at that pace? Luckily I’ve got a few more weeks to train. Although I think I may need to adjust my paces a little. But the good news is that my legs are doing much better and getting used to the increased mileage. After only a few weeks of training I’m recovering much quicker and barely felt that half marathon in my legs afterwards. It’s a huge improvement from where I was after Lidingöloppet!


Start of the race (FK Friskus)   

2nd woman (FK Friskus)

Thursday 15 October 2015

Minimum input, maximum output

Sounds like a lazy athlete’s approach to training or just lazy person’s way of coping life in general but there might be something in it. In business world it is a way to maximise productivity. Why to do more than necessary and strain yourself? If there’s a certain amount of training needed for improvement, why to train more? It just increases the risk for injuries. Or if you can achieve something by doing the minimum, why to bother to do more? Of course if the doing itself is more important than the outcome and it makes you happy, then go ahead, keep on hammering. As long as you can cope with the load mentally and physically and don’t get burnout or injured.

This year I’ve certainly followed the concept above, at least the minimum input part of it. I’ve trained absolutely minimum due to my long-standing injury but still raced reasonably well considering my non-existing input. Looking back the season with some perspective, my coming-back-from-injury-run at Venla was indeed quite alright at that point, I just compared it to my normal level and wasn’t satisfied. And the long WOC selection race in Kainuu, which was my most important race of the year in order to get to run WOC, was probably my best run of the year. I wasn’t in top shape but got the maximum output when it mattered. I was 5th in that race (if not counting Svetlana Mironova) – way better than in any other individual races in Finland this year.

Coming to Swedish Champs I was balancing with my input and output. I had just started to train again and maybe going to races a little too tired. I wasn’t able to reach my maximum of the day there, except in the middle qualification and in the relay. Well, I’m very happy that I got the best out in the relay. It paid off.

Only a week after Swedish Champs it was time for another kind of endurance challenge: Lidingöloppet. A 30km trail run. I had just survived Swedish Champs but felt that I was walking on a thin line. Running 2-3 races in three consecutive weekends was just about what my legs could take. My longest training run had been about 15km (the longest my injured calf could take). So going to LL I was very doubtful whether I could run the whole thing. How could I with so little training and practically no real long runs? Last year I had aimed for 2:15 but finished in 2:20. This time I didn’t have a time goal. I would just go easy and see how much my calf could take. After 15km my legs were all empty and I was sure to quit the race by 20km. Sami was cheering me there and shouting that I was ahead of my last years’ time and that I should continue. Nice try, I thought but then I realized that he wasn’t bluffing. I was indeed within that schedule. Oh crap, I guess I have to try... My legs were absolutely killing me on that last loop and I could barely jog the hills up but somehow I took myself around the whole thing with a very slow last 10km but still with a new PB 2:20:43. Time is no way brilliant but definitively a maximum output with my training background. I’m still amazed how I did it!

After seeing how much you can gain with very little training I've decided to try this same approach for a marathon. For a marathon?!? Have I lost my mind?!? Nope, I just try to get the best out again with minimum input. I mean I intend to train but I have to keep the mileage as low as possible to spare my legs (which I still think are injury prone). Running a good time on marathon without training is not possible, but after my race experiences from this year I’m hoping to find a way to reach my goal with minimum effort. Well, most probably I won’t reach it but stay tuned and I’ll let you know how it goes. Purpose is to blog about it even if it doesn’t go. Just getting around may be a challenge itself...
  


Tuesday 22 September 2015

Gold at Swedish Championships

We did it! Won the relay at Swedish Championships. Amazing. I still find it hard to find words to express my happiness. It just feels so big. It’s a huge victory for me personally after a miserable season. And also it’s big for the club since it was 12 years ago since OK Linné won the women’s relay last time. It’s never easy to win. Until you actually do it. Even if you have a good team, you all need to do well on the same day. We have a strong women’s team in Linné but we’ve been more or less unlucky in the relays this season, so it really felt good to get it right at the end of the season.

Swedish Champions (Photo: Peter Ridefelt)

I ran the first leg. Not my favorite but I knew it was the best set-up for the team. I remember running a good opening leg for Tampereen Pyrintö in 1999 when I won my first senior gold at Finnish Championships. I just don't recall much of that run anymore... Then I have vivid memories from running first leg at 10mila some years ago and taking my own route choice right from the start all alone while the main group and other top teams went straight. Not a good strategy in a big relay if you’re not 100% sure to be faster than the others.

Anyway, my tactics was to stay awake (that is orienteer actively all the way) and avoid idiocy (can be pretty hard when exhausted). I was seriously tired after the middle distance and doubted whether I could run fast enough. I could feel the two races in my legs already after the first acceleration on the field. Not going to be an easy day... I look at the map and want to go straight to the path on the right. Yellow-green area under the red line looks horrible and there’s no way I’m going to go there. I just hope some of the others would choose the same route with me. When we climb up to the start point I go through the options in my mind. Am I ready to make my own choice this early? Is it smart or is it stupid? Then I see one of the girls turning right at the top of the hill and I follow. I intended to cut it sharper to the path but end up running with the pack further north before reaching it. But no major time loss and now there’s good time to read ahead and get a smooth start.

I find a nice rhythm in my orienteering and take my controls without problems. Just before the arena passage the girls in front of me take a different route but I try to be in control of my own orienteering and make my own choice. After the passage the same scenario recurs. Those in front of me turn down to the hillside before reaching the top. My control is at the top of the hill and suddenly I’m alone. Following three legs I’m on my own but then just before the long leg back different forkings gather together. I see Järla, Lidingö and Domnarvet there. Looks like the main contenders are still together. I take slightly different route out from the control but we are nonetheless closely together the whole leg. Just before the control I hesitate a little and a few teams pass me. I just want to play safe. I know I’ve done a good job so I don’t want to screw it up at the last meters. On the last climb towards the second last we are all pushing hard but instead of rushing to the control I try to read the details carefully. Control sits high up in the open hill and is actually much easier than it looks on the map. For just a short moment I regret taking it maybe too carefully but at the same time I’m very relieved that I managed to hold it together and do well despite growing tiredness. Maybe I eased a bit too early and lost some valuable seconds to Järla on the way to the last control and in the run-in but I’m just incredibly happy to be able to send Cat to the second leg in such good position. She has a big smile on her face when I hand her the map. I just know she will do well. I have two most amazing teammates and have 100% trust on them. Cat does a solid run and comes in in the lead but Järla is right behind and it looks like to become a tight duel between Järla and us. There were some dramatic turns on the last leg but Annika kept her head calm and we were over the moon to see her come first to the last control and join her in the run-in. Unbelievable, we had really done it! Results

Läs mer på svenska i UNT eller orientering.se   
Suomenkielinen reportaasi Ruotsin mestaruuksista Kestävyysurheilussa

Picture tells it all (Photo: Mårten Lång)


Gold in the relay was really the best possible way to finish the season. But the whole project towards SM, starting in August after my calf finally got better, was successful. Gold at the end of it was obviously the best you can get, but also getting back in competitive shape in such a short time felt great. It was kind of necessary too if I wanted to be part of a winning team. At the time of my last blog I had reached a decent regional level but I was still far from fighting top positions at Swedish Champs. In the winter I may have dreamed about a medal but at the end of August I doubted whether I would even make it to the final. Top10 felt definitively unrealistic. And yet, at the time of the champs, it wasn’t out of reach. In fact in the middle 10th place was just 7 seconds away. I made mistakes in both finals and wasn’t too happy with either of my runs but two 12th places at Swedish Champs is not that bad after all…

In the long final I got really bad start to the race: I lost about half a minute on the first control, made an idiotic route choice to the second (losing over 3min there), and missed the third about a minute. So on the 3rd control, very early in the race, I was 30th and over 5min behind the lead. But after that I pulled myself together and turned it to quite a decent run finishing 12th.

In the middle final my expectations were slightly higher since I had a very good qualification run and a 2nd place in my heat (results). In the final I tried to find the same flow and confidence that I had had in the qualification but it didn’t really work out the way I wanted. I had a good start but then didn't see the flag on the second control, which caused some additional stress and affected my orienteering on the following legs. All in all it was a bit shaky run and I just didn’t find the same flow I had had the day before. On the long leg I missed a few features that I had expected to see after climbing up the big cliff and thought for a while that I had got lost. It took a while to relocate but then it went well until the map exchange. After the map exchange I wasn't focused enough and made a half minute mistake to the next control. The rest was fine and I finished 12th. Disappointing to lose 2-3min on mistakes on a middle distance but encouraging to be just 2,5min from the bronze. Certainly a proof of improvement! 

Monday 31 August 2015

Autumn is approaching

After summer comes autumn. It's an inevitable fact, happens every year. But autumn is not just the end of the summer, it's also a new start. Schools start, works start, and autumn season starts. I like to see it as a fresh new start to something better. 

After Kainuu I took a little break from orienteering and ambitious training. Instead I did everything else and enjoyed the summer the way normal people do: swimming, boating, cycling around archipelago, spending time at summer cottage, gardening, visiting friends and relatives, and sightseeing. How strange.

Anyway, the calf injury that had bothered me since March and destroyed more or less the whole season, was happy with the break too and started to co-operate again in the beginning of August. I gave it some hard time by running a half marathon and doing a 5h hike in Halden, much more than it could take, but after only some days’ recovery it was better again. Since then I’ve been smarter and not trained more than 60-90min in one go. I still don’t run daily and I’ve kept my weekly mileage low.

First week of August I spent in Halden. I could call it a WOC 2016 training camp because we did train hard in WOC 2016 relevant terrains but for me it was more spending the week in excellent company and having a wonderful time with good friends. Like mental recharging. Girls were in good shape and we pushed each other hard in intervals but outside trainings it was fun and relaxed. A lot of laugh, gossip, cakes, wine, chocolate, champagne, strawberries and candles. What else can you wish for? 

After returning home from Halden I was full of energy and decided to start a project called SM (Svenska Mästerskapen), a 3-week build-up to the Swedish Championships. Three weeks may sound like a short time in terms of getting back in shape, but the least I could do was to fine-tune my technics so that I could do my best at my current shape. The plan was very simple: 1 hard O-training during the week and 2 relevant races on the weekend. I have to admit that without a good base these three weekends with two races in a row were quite tough and included a fair amount of suffering, especially on the second day. But I made clear progress during the process and at the end of it got decorated with two medals at our district champs (not going to mention Helena Jansson or Stockholm in this context). Anyway, now I’m happily at the end of that block and looking forward to some tapering before Finnish Championships in long distance (next weekend) and Swedish Championships in long, middle, and relay (week and two weeks later). It will be fun!

Summer in pictures below. Answers to my tweet are found in them.

Määääh! (means 'me' in Tampere dialect) 
Dog catching a fish (yep, he's a bit weird guy)
Utimate and Domane on their way to Rindö
Archipelago round Vaxholm-Rindö-Värmdö-Gustavsberg



Hike in Höiås marka















Smiles & cakes

Boats & ice cream

Cycling selfie




Stockholm archipelago


Die games
Some runners are like quality wines...

Monday 10 August 2015

Tällberg half marathon

While most of the others are blogging about their big success or failure at WOC (mostly it’s about success or failure, there’s no room for a mid-thing there) we recreational runners can write about small idyllic summer events that no one knows about. One of these was Tällberg half marathon. During the WOC week I made a little road trip first to Dalarna and then to Strömstad and Halden, area where WOC 2016 goes. Nice to get started with preparations already before this year's champs were even finished. Early bird catches the worm and so on… But first to the run, then more about the training camp later.

Tällberg half marathon is said to be the most beautiful half marathon in Sweden. After running the race I find it hard to disagree. Well I’ve only run two half marathons in Sweden but this was definitively the prettiest half I’ve run. Tällberg is a well-hidden and incredibly cute little village in the hearth of Dalarna, by the Lake Siljan. Pretty as it is, the route is tough. You really need to suffer a great deal to explore all the beauty – but don’t worry, it’s definitively worth it!

I had a bit mixed feelings before the run because I had absolutely no idea if I would and could finish it. I mean who goes and runs a half marathon if your longest run in four months has been only 14km (at 6min/km pace) and if you haven’t covered any fast miles on hard surface?? No wait, I had done one sprint O race, but that was just about 15min. So basically no long runs and no fast runs in 4 months. I had run in terrain a few times but that doesn’t count really (impact and pace pretty far from road running). In other words I was terrified before the race. What the hell was I thinking about when I entered myself there?!? Okay, I can always run 5km and quit, I thought when we kicked off.

1km – I like to start gently and take the first kilometre easy. Like 3:40. Actually it goes downwards and it’s easy to get a fast start without pushing hard. I can already see groups forming. A few really fast guys up in front. Then a group of semi-fast recreational runners, probably sub3 marathoners. They are slowly pushing away from me. There’s also one woman amongst them. I should probably let her go...

2km – Around 2km starts the big climb. I try to keep my running relaxed (as relaxed as possible in that gradient) but to my surprise I’m gradually reaching people and closing the gap to the leading lady.

3km – Somewhere here I pass the woman in front of me and suddenly I’m the one in the lead. But I’ve done it all wrong. I hear Sami’s voice in my head blaming me for that. You don’t pass your rivals slowly inch by inch so that they have time to react and set themselves just behind you. No, you should accelerate and smash them (not literally) once you pass them so that you get a gap before they have time to react. But I follow the first scenario and the next thing my rival is breathing heavily in my neck and I can hear her steps as if they were my own.

4km – She’s still there, glistered in my back, and has no intension to let me go. Suddenly the climb turns steeper again, the second part of the big opening climb, and we are approaching the mountain prize point. I feel I’ve failed. I should have stayed behind her and attack if I wanted to win that polkadot jersey. Now I’m the one doing all the work and she has the advantage to sprint from me just before the mountaintop. Idiot.

5km – Near the finish of the climb now. Initially I had thought to take an easy start and definitively not to push before after the first climb. It would be essential to have fresh legs after the climb for the remaining 16km:s. The actual race wouldn’t start before after that climb. But when suddenly there, in a position of taking the glorious mountain prize, my legs refuse to listen to my brain and accelerate in order to win that prize. I explain to myself that this irrational attack is just because I’m not sure whether I will run the whole thing. If I’m going to quit early I should at least make an effort to win the mountain. I take that but I'm pretty exhausted at the top of the climb and start to doubt how I will survive the rest of the race. Just 16km to go…

5-10km – It’s mostly downhill and goes easily, we pass the arena around 9km and I get a lot of support and cheering. I feel pretty good.

11-12km - Starting to feel less great. Getting seriously tired and cannot keep up with the guys who I’ve been running with. My endurance is used. Also my calf (the healthy one) starts to cramp and running gets more and more difficult. (Actually it’s great news that it’s not the injured calf that is causing the problems. This pain is normal, part of the game.) Then I see David Andersson coming across, walking. I’m having my weak moment right there and seeing that David has dropped out doesn’t help. Just the opposite, it gives me an excuse to start to think about quitting. I’m deep in my gloomy thoughts when the woman who I passed earlier suddenly hurries past (fast and from distance, like a schoolbook example how to break your rival’s backbone). The only thing that had kept me going was my chance to win the race. No that it’s gone I don’t have anything to hold on to. The distance between us keeps growing and it’s over half a minute when we hit another major climb.

13-14km – One more climb. I’m dying but when a second woman passes me I get some extra strength and accelerate. By the time we reach the hilltop we have almost closed the gap to the leading lady. This second girl has run her race smart, saved her strengths and she’s able to push harder now. I have no chance keeping up with her – but I’m determined to catch the other girl. A moment ago I had almost given up and now I’m able to find yet another gear.

15km-17km – Tarmac turns into a path and I’m in my element. I catch a few runners, including the girl I’ve been fighting with the whole way. Just when I’m about to pass her, her personal supporter turns up with special drinks and stuff. Unfair. He follows us with his bike, giving her his support all the way home.

17-21km - We are running side by side and I get slightly irritated by the situation and decide to push away from her. I can’t remember pushing myself so close to limit but somehow I manage to accelerate, keep her behind me and finish as second lady. Also the time is quite alright. The course was seriously hilly and I didn’t think I could finish it in 90min. But I do, almost.


Results