Winter of compromises

It's been a different kind of winter with a lot of alternative training and compromises. 

Ever since the middle of November I've been struggling with a foot injury that has lately transformed from weird metatarsal pain to more conventional plantar fasciitis (don't really know whether to be relieved or not). First I thought it was good that the initial pain was more or less gone and the pain had proceeded towards the heel but nonetheless situation remains pretty much the same. I've still got pain when I run and it gets even worse afterwards. But hey I just read that most people recover completely within a year  so I've got no worries! (what?!? a whole year?!?) I also found out that it is often associated with high BMI (I should really get worried!).

So I've spent much more time in saddle, gym and pool than running and gradually I'm getting a bit bored to it. I was happy to be able to run the first World Cup round in New Zealand but in reality my foot was not yet fully recovered and running there didn't help much the process. On the other hand the whole trip was amazing and gave me a huge mental boost that I really needed.

When back in England I thought I could do some proper training again by cycling but then we got lots of snow and for a week or so cycling outside was not an option. I tried running in snow, which was much better than running on hard surface, but it was not painless. When the snow was finally gone and I was excited to get back in the saddle the first thing that happened was that my bike got punctured. I know it happens quite often but at that moment it just felt a bit unfair after all misery. The day after I got the tire changed and was just getting ready for a new ride when stomach flu hit me and put me to bed. I'm not complaining, it just hasn't been any dancing on roses lately.

Anyway, it's looking slightly better now (knock knock) and I really hope I will be able to run again in a few weeks time when heading off to Portugal for a training camp. Plan was to run both POM and MOC but we'll see how it goes. Adios!

World Cup New Zealand

World Cup start in New Zealand and the whole trip there was awesome. It's an amazing country and the races there were excellent.

When we got there just before New Year I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to run any of the races due to my injured foot but I was nevertheless determined to enjoy the trip (which wasn't particularly difficult). First week I still avoided running and concentrated on other stuff. We explored exotic forests, waterfalls, beaches, hot water springs, hobbit land, mountain bike parks, national parks, mountains, bubbling mud baths and other geothermal wonders. Model event just a day before the first World Cup race was my first O-training for a long while and gave me a needed wake-up before the first race.

It started with a middle distance on sand dunes of Waikawa Beach. First look on the map and I realized it was going to be a technically challenging race. "Just what I wanted" I thought slightly horrified because it looked really tricky and I wasn't sure how I was going to cope with it myself. But it was indeed really cool and I loved it! I tried to focus on simplifying things and picking features from a distance. It worked pretty well all the way to the spectator control where I forgot for a while what I was doing. My good flow was disrupted and I did a couple of small mistakes at the end of the course losing a few minutes there. But as a whole it was pretty solid race and I was quite happy with my 12th place. After all I hadn't been able to run or orienteer for a while.

World Cup 1 results

Next day we had a sprint qualification race on the Parliament grounds in Wellington. It was a typical city centre sprint course and a good reminder for me what sprint orienteering is. My sprint mode was totally off and I hesitated a lot but made it still comfortably to the final. Unfortunately my foot protested quite a lot after running hard on hard surface and racing again the day after wasn't very fun.

Sprint final started from the very famous Dunharrow (from the Lord of the Rings) by the side of Mt Victoria and zigzagged across the Wellington college area providing everything you can expect from a sprint course. After a decent start I messed it up on the long leg to control 5 where I wasn't able to execute the leg as I had planned but instead tried to run through some buildings (didn't succeed though). I lost over a half a minute there and after that did some additional smaller mistakes. I wasn't at all happy with my performance but quite surprisingly made it still among top 20.

World Cup 2 results

Third World Cup race was a combination of a prologue in the morning and a chase start in the afternoon. Both races went on open grassy hobbit hills with some steep climbs. I had an average run in the prologue with a few small mistakes. In the chase I went out as 17th with Venla and Outi just a few seconds behind me. We did a good job in the beginning and reached soon all the girls ahead from 9th place onwards. From control 10 to 13 it felt more or less like cross-country running but then in the map change (#13) we split. Lina & co who ran it around from the left were far ahead on the next control and we only reached them at the end of the course. Sprint to the finish started from the second last control before I had even punched it and I just felt I missed the whole thing. I don't know whether it was the heat or the fact that I hadn't done any sprinting for ages but I felt just helpless when it came to sprint and was unable to change the gear. It had been a good race for me but after such a faint finishing it didn't feel that good. I was 15th.

World Cup 3 prologue results

World Cup 3 chase results

Overall it was a great tour with some excellent races and I'm extremely happy that I was able to run them all. With respect to my injury and a break from running and orienteering I am quite pleased with my two top 15 results and my current 13th place in the overall World Cup standing.

World Cup overall standing

All maps are found here

Some random pics from the trip..

Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonderland

Beaches of Coromandel

Shire and its hobbit holes

Mt Doom looming behind the clouds 

Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro national park

Cape Kidnappers

Normipäivä

Now that I'm back in good spirits and well adapted to cross training I thought of describing my regular day, normipäivä, as it is.

6am Wake up and some gymnastics to wake up my foot while having a morning coffee. It's raining cats and dogs but luckily it's only a brief ride to gym.

7am Spinning. I'm still half asleep but the instructor seems to think it's a hard session and everyone should put his or her max effort into it. Aargh..

8am Swimming & sauna. I finally start to get off my morning stiffness.

9am Breakfast & newspapers. Sometimes at Starbucks, sometimes at home. I prefer coffee at Starbucks but porridge is better at home although I do like their Swiss-style breakfast pot. Today I want to have my homemade pecan nut oatmeal with cinnamon so I cycle back home.

11am Back to gym again for a strength session. I'm different from the other heavy-users there but fit well in by now. I used to get these strange looks when I went to the men's side (that is the side of the gym with free weights and bars) and lifted my pathetic 15kg bar but now they seem to know that there is this odd distance runner girl who attempts to lift weights but actually forgets to put weights to her bar.

1-5pm Lunch, nap, stretching, mails, papers, housework, gingerbread baking etc.

6pm Back to gym again. It's third time I say hello to the girl at the front desk. It's time for spinning. Only a brief 30min class, works as a warm up. When the class ends and others get off their bikes to start with stretching I continue pedaling with two bald +40 blokes. They always stay for at least two classes in a row. Typical mamils (=middle-aged men in lycra). They used to have their expensive sport cars but nowadays they are actually sporty and go on two wheels.

7pm Another class of spinning starts and before I notice I've done 90mins of hills and intervals. I'm sweaty all over but a tough session easily done. Just do what you're told to do and it's done.

8pm There's pilates in the scheme but I already feel pretty tired. But I should do that, shouldn't I? It's really something I should be doing now. Phew okay I'll go...

9pm Dinner, stretching and flexibility exercises. I keep some ice in my foot while watching TV.

10pm I go to bed and read a few pages of The Hobbit before falling asleep. Next I'm dreaming of adventures in the Middle Earth...

It's tendinitis!

I've been silent for a month now because there hasn't been much to say. I've been struggling with a metatarsal injury and haven't been able to do much of training. It's been nasty and disturbing and it hasn't gone away even though I've given it a lot of rest and kept off from running. After three weeks of more or less constant pain I started to get worried about it (that is my doctor got worried about it) and went to see some experts. Sharp pain was localized primarily to the first metatarsal bone and it was sore when tapped. In other words an obvious stress fracture (which is really no wonder after running a marathon). There was also some joint irritation, general tightness and reduced flexibility in the foot but the pain in the first metatarsal remained even when flexibility was regained. So a little bit of this and that but clearly some bone damage too. This was the initial diagnosis but just to be sure I went to MRI. I've done it twice before when suspecting a stress fracture and both times it has proven right. But this time it surprised me by not showing any obvious inflammation in the bone, only beneath it (wohoo!). I know I've already announced otherwise but luckily it wasn't that simple. So after going first deep down in despair for a day or two the actual statement of the radiologist was a huge relief. My two previous stress fractures took months to recover so any injury other than a stress fracture is good news to me. It's not that the foot is any better (well, it is a bit better) but the fact that I'm actually able to do things and don't have to spend next 8-12 weeks solely in a swimming pool helps a lot. It looks like I can do the trip to New Zealand but running the World Cup races there remains to be seen.

                                              

                                              Bye bye and Merry Christmas to you all!

Maraton Divina Pastora Valencia

It's done now. My first ever road marathon (mountain marathons are in their own category). And with a decent time too! While reading Helen Palmer's blog about New York marathon about a year ago I got this stupid preoccupation in my head that I'd like to do one too. I was stupid enough to tell Helen about it and so it was soon decided that we would do Divina Pastora Marathon in Valencia. The decision was made long before Jungfrau and I couldn't back off from it even if I wanted to. For those of you who haven't done a marathon but dream about it, I can only tell that do it once but don't try to do it twice within a few months. It can be pretty overwhelming, both physically and emotionally.

After Jungfrau I was really fed up with all marathon training and everything around it. I had no interest in gathering any more tarmac miles and I wouldn't have trained anything if I hadn't got back to trails and saddle. I had a relatively easy marathon program attached to the fridge door but I think I skipped more than half of the trainings. My weekly mileage was everything between 0 and 50. I was just too bored to do any more marathon miles. Instead I did everything I found amusing (like riding my new road bike!) and managed to do only a couple of real marathon trainings. Pace runs are said to be important, so I did one, the Birmingham half marathon. It went quicker than planned but it was an excellent training and mimicked the last half of a marathon due to tired legs from a long ride on the day before. And long runs are equally essential, so I did one long run too. But that's about it. Naturally I had more on my belt from the summer when I trained for the Jungfrau.

So to the race day.. I was feeling humble and slightly horrified but also cheerful. Helen was wonderful company and made me smile. I think that's important. To feel good when you're about to race for 3h or more. Leave the worries behind and try to enjoy it. There are a couple of other things a novice should pay attention to: hydration and nutrition. Do your homework and do a drinking plan. That's quite important. I didn't have one in Jungfrau and suffered therefore more than needed. And train how to drink too. Find out how much you sweat per hour and train how to drink when running. It's not as easy as it sounds. At least for me it's one of the hardest things in marathon. To stay hydrated. It's not easy to drink when running fast if you haven't trained it. So in comparison to Jungfrau my training was shit but otherwise I was much better prepared.

1K - It was very crowded at the start. We were somewhere in the middle of the masses and the first kilometre was quite stressful with lots of accelerations and braking. My first lap was nearer to 5min and I was running together with the 4:30 pacer (4h30min finishing time).

2K - "Don't get stressed, just keep it relaxed" I kept saying to myself as I passed the 4:00 pacer. "Finish is at the end of the race, there's plenty of time, no need to hurry!

3K - I get a glimpse of the 3:45 pacer. At least the hours are right now. There's a bit more room and I can smile again.

5K - Someone shouts my name and I turn to look back. How did he know my name? Only then I remember that it stands on my bib number. It's fantastic to hear the crowds to shout your name.

9K - I am just passing a random runner when she suddenly yells "Hey you, you're English!" Is she talking to me? "Ehm...not really but I do live there" I answer. Weird, how can she know? "I knew it, I've seen you" she says and continues with chatting. I remember Helen saying something about focusing on your race and not to talk with all random English or Finnish runners you may meet. So I wish her good luck, lengthen my stride and leave her behind. Focus, focus..

10K - 42:37. A few minutes ahead of my target but slower than in Jungfrau. It should be good. I take my first sip of sports drink and feel great. Now it's more relaxed and I'm running with people with approximately same pace. It feels mentally great to run just a bit faster than the folks around me. Somewhere here I pass the 3:30 guy.

12K - We've just come to the old town and it looks brilliant. I ingest everything around me and give a high five to a few guys with stilts. Only then I remember Helen warning me about being too enthusiastic and going along with all hype and high fives. Oh no I've done it again (broken another of what-you-are-not-supposed-to-do-when-running-your-first-marathon rules).

15K - 1:04:01. I realize that it's going faster than planned. But I've taken it really easy and feel great. I know I'm supposed to run smart the first two thirds of the race but as far as it goes fast without effort it should be okay. I pass the 3:15 pacer and take my first gel. It's one of those that can be taken without water. It's easy to swallow and it even tastes good. Why didn't I take more of these??

20K - I hear lots of "MUY BIEN RIINA!" and "ANIMA ANIMA!". The last one sounds funny. I have no idea what it means but they keep yelling that a lot. I cannot help but smile every time I hear it. It sounds like "animal" and imagine being a cheetah..

21.1K - Half way in 1:30:00. Oh my, it's 5min too fast and I'm running at 3h pace! A thought of breaking 3h hits me but I try to ignore it. Not possible, don't even think about it! Far too early to start to race! Just keep it relaxed, enjoy the flow and don't start to race before the final 10K!

25K - I'm getting nervous just before the drink station. I'm supposed to swallow this highly concentrated sodium gel that I've picked at 20K. I'm very near to vomit but also quite determined to get it down into my throat. If I fail in this my run will certainly fail at the end. I have to pause for a second to get it down with some water but I succeed. Done, now I can enjoy the next 10K before taking another.

27K - I feel suddenly amazingly good. Music is loud and drums are even louder when we accelerate down towards a tunnel. I had no idea there was a tunnel but it's exciting. I think I experience a marathoner's high somewhere around 27-30K. How can it be this easy?

30K - 2:08:20. I try to do some calculations in my head. It feels I've kept the pace pretty well. How much time I have? Can I still do it? I give myself a few kilometres time to do the maths and a permission to try it when at 32K.

32K - 3h seems perfectly doable. My legs are getting tired but I decide to ignore it and push forward. I'm feeling a lot better than I ever imagined feeling at this phase.

35K - 2:30:09. Elasticity seems gone now and I need to work to keep the pace. This can be suicidal but 7k in half an hour seems fully possible. It's the pace I've been running the last 35k (well, I'm skilfully ignoring a few vital seconds and not quite sure how long the last kilometre is). I swallow another concentrated gel and start to wait for a miracle..

37K - Oh my god, my quads are really killing me now! They've stopped working and running gets complicated. My try to break 3h was totally suicidal. I hope I can run the rest of the race but I'm having my doubts now. It's only 5k left but it's awfully long without working quads. Keep running, this is nothing compared to Jungfrau! (and that's true!)

38K - My first kilometre that takes over 4:30. Pace is definitively dropping now and there's nothing I can do. A few girls who I passed some kilometres ago overtake me. One looks like an Ironman, other is very anorectic. I'm nothing like either of them. They both seem so professional.

40K - The longest kilometre of all. Reality strikes, I know I've missed the magical 3h. I see many runners around me who've missed it too. Many of them plod forward like they had nothing to give anymore. I force myself to continue.

41K - My slowest lap but still under 5min. Okay, I've missed it but it's still going way better than I ever thought. Only 1k to go. It's nothing! Run run run, it's almost over now!!

42K - I feel dead and my legs are in agony but suddenly I see the finish line just in front of me and feel better than ever. I increase my stride, pass the line, and fall into tears. I get very emotional. My finishing time is 3:03:21. I never thought I could run this fast this far! I've totally smashed my target (3:15) and I'm extremely satisfied but it still strikes me: Oh my god, I have to do it again. 3h was so near that I just need to try to break it.

Once you've done it you're hooked, they say, and I start to understand why...

My time and splits

Results overall

Second Round

On Sunday I ran my second round at Birmingham half marathon. It was very different from the last year's event in many aspects but an equally great experience. It's an awesome event and a race that I really love! Running and atmosphere can't get much better. And I like the distance too. It's long enough so that the pace you run is tolerable but short enough so that you won't get any of those problems you might face on a marathon. 

Last time I was running in the masses with runners in their funny costumes and it was really entertaining just to watch people running around you. This time I got a small number based on my last year's time and started with the elite by a gunshot. It was very different from last year. No pushing or elbows, just flowing along effortlessly. And somewhere after half a way it was so scattered that I was actually wishing to have more backs in front of me to shelter from the wind. What a strange thought.

I had been ill and hadn't thought of breaking my PB but to take it as a good training to test my intended marathon pace (4:20-4:30 per km). To assure that I would follow this plan and not to run any faster I cycled 62km on the day before, which was definitively a long ride for me since I haven't done much of cycling. So not really by the book how to prepare for a race... On the race morning I regretted doing the bike ride because I felt really tired and my legs were aching. I was wondering whether I could even keep up my intended marathon pace. However starting with the elite made it difficult to run slow enough and keep the intended pace in the beginning. After having run the first two kilometers easily under 4min/km pace along with the wave I started to think what a waste it would be to slow down and so I decided to run along and enjoy it as far as it would go. If I hit the wall or got too tired I could slow down whenever I wanted. Nice plan!

So I just ran it with a big smile on my face. I never pushed too hard or struggled, just enjoyed the flow. After 10km (40:43) I could feel my legs getting a bit tired, but by keeping my running as relaxed as possible and avoiding to run too fast, I was able to enjoy it up to 17km. Then came the final climb, which felt pretty awful, but it was so near to the finish that after the ascent I could maintain the pace the final few miles. What an awesome feeling it was to reach the finish line with a new PB (1:26:55) after some lousy weeks and such a poor preparation! I was amazed!!! Results

Feet in the Clouds

It's not my line, I've taken it from Richard Askwith. But it fits well in the subject. After physical and mental recovery from Jungfrau I've had some great time on the British fells, spiced with this inspiring tale about fell running and obsession by Askwith (thanks to Tessa Hill who gave me the book). Everyone who's new on the fells should read it to get some comprehension of the history of this sport. 

A week ago Compass Sport Cup Final, that is British Clubs Orienteering Championships, was held in Teviothead in the Scottish Borders. On my way there I made a stop at Haweswater in the Lake District and went for a long run on the fells in stunning sceneries. I climbed first to Adam Seat, continued the ridge to Harter Fell, then down to Nan Bield Pass, up to Mardale Bell and further to High Street and High Raise, before heading down to the lake again along Kidsty Pike. The weather was windy but fairly clear and I could have spent a whole day on those hills if there hadn't been a race on the following day.

Next day the sunshine was gone and the weather did its best  to keep everyone away from the fells. Only sensible thing to do was to stay home but reckless orienteers went out and confronted the horizontal rain and gale force winds on open moorlands to score points for their clubs. 

Beginning of the course was worst because not only you had to beat the winds but you also needed to ascend 60m on soft marshy ground on the way to 2nd and 3rd controls. My legs felt tired from previous day's long run and I really had to fight to get anywhere. But then it gradually started to ease up and on my way to #5 I noticed that I could keep up the speed despite the climb and the wind. From #7 onwards it was more downhill and I felt like flying. I was determined to orienteer well and had almost a clean run with only a few 10sec bends on controls 7 and 11. When I passed the spectator control (#13) I heard I was in the lead and got some extra kick for the remaining legs and clocked fastest splits on them all. My first real victory here! OD came 4th in the club championship. Results Compass Sport Cup Final

A week later I found myself on the fells again, this time it was my first ever fell race in Britain: Coniston 15km trail race. It's one of the scenic trail races held in the iconic landscape of the Lake District. The course goes along bridle ways and footpaths and climbs only half way up the surrounding peaks (only 400m ascend). It was supposed be an easy start to fells.

It had been raining heavily but the race day was bright and sunny and the atmosphere was great. We gathered to the start and I felt excited. I look curiously around to see what people are wearing. Shorts and tops, of course. I'm happy I changed my long sleeve to t-shirt on the last minute. Old experienced fell runners have Walshes, younger pros are wearing light Inov-8 race shoes, newcomers who've read the instructions have some form of trail trainers and only a few lost road runners wear flat racers. After careful consideration I've chosen to wear Asics Fuji Racers.

The speaker introduces a Japanese runner, an expected winner, and gives some instructions before we start. First kilometer goes through the village and then starts the climb and we're on the trails. There's 100m ascend on the next kilometer and trail starts to get smaller and smaller. I've had an easy start and feel good. Path turns into a small rough mountain path and I catch a bunch of runners. However passing them in a narrow path is difficult. After 4km comes a section that has been described as "runnable only to agile mountain goats". I'm happy to see that I'm one them. I can fairly easily hop from stone to stone upwards while water runs downwards under my feet and between the stones. I gain several places. After a while we reach a runnable plateau (in the picture) and can properly admire the iconic scenery for a while before heading downwards.

 At the first descent I understand that descending on this scramble is not any easier than ascending, rather the opposite. I'm happy with my shoe choice. 6km and another climb ahead. I almost reach the girl on the second spot before the course turns downwards again after 8km. Rest was supposed to be easy but the next few kilometres are the most demanding part for me. Running downhill is usually easy but paths so rough and stony need 100% attention. High speed makes it much more challenging than running in terrain while orienteering. I've got the course map in my hand but there's no chance of reading it while dashing downwards. I have to watch out each step and there's barely enough time to make decision where to place your next step. One bad judgment and you're out of the game.. Those are long miles down and a few guys pass me. When we reach the 10km mark I know the worst is over. Rest of it would be nice and easy gently undulating paths and pastures.

We cross a marsh that looks like a muddy lake. I go slightly around but still wade in knee-high mud. Here O-shoes would be a better choice. A few more pastures and gates, then comes a marshal who warns about extremely sticky descent. Sticky it is, and after the mud comes streaming water and some more loose stones. It feels like running in a river. Finally we get down to the lake and the final spurt can begin. I'm feeling quite alright but notice that my legs are nearly empty after such a rough descent. This was supposed to be a nice introduction to British fells and it's taken all out. Somehow I manage to push the final kilometres and finish 5min ahead of my time goal in respectable third place (21th overall). Not a bad start to fell running. So I'm aiming at highs again!

Coniston 15km results