Kongsvinger skogsmarathon 7th of Aug Race report

Pretty relaxed before the race

Yesterday I was participating in my second forrest marathon this year(and ever). It's both a pleasure and a pain when it comes to perfomance. Pleasure because it's always enthralling to run in beautiful surrondings like the one I went through, and pain because I can't expect to achieve the same speed as in street-marathons.
The course consisted of two loops with the major ascent on the first 10 km. It was nearly all trail-good to run-some on gravel roads and a very minor part on asphalt and one minor on grass.
Being in the building period I didn't taper at all for this run. I trained as normal and treated it like a C-priority run. Because of that I was a bit stiff in my thighs and not fully rested. The fluea I experienced earlier on this week had faded away and I felt fresh before the run.

Winner of age-group K40-44

My strategy was to keep a pace just under 6 min/km. That would give me a finish time of 4h 12m. Anyhow, if things worked out differently I could certainly push more speed on. Encountering the first loop I quickly concluded that this was no course for a speed record. It is indeed a forrest marathon-lots of it on pure trails. In addition total verticals is just over 600 m.  Anyhow I kept my pace and gradually worked my way through the first 10km of the first loop. I only had to walk the last part of it. The second part of the loop is mostly on gravel roads with some parts on trails. I was possible to increase my marching speed again, but I strived to get into my running modus. I didnt' get that good feeling and concluded that I never would on this run. It was going to be a run where I had to work to maintain my speed at all times. It was a hot day with a high degree of humidity. I needed to supply with lots of water during the run. In addition I used Coke and energy drink.

The last 5 km of the loop consist of a pretty levelled part of 2,5 km and then it's down 2,5 km and a minor descend at the end before I entered the start/finishing area again. I finished the first loop just before the start of the half-marathon. It was hard to start another loop, but I consentrated on completing each km and by doing this I worked my through the second loop as well. I needed to walk more of the ascends though.
With just two km left of the loop I managed to increase the speed by 1 min/km and finished well before my targets. It was a hard run, but I'm very satisfied to have performed well under such circumstances.

Technicals:

Finish time(official): 4h 6m 26s
(11,2 % up compared to the winner: 3h 41m 39s)


Placement: 4th overall and first in age-group.

Split times(average speed):
1) 5 km:                 27m 55s (5:43)
2) 10 km:               29m 45s (6:00)
3) 15 km:               28m 38s (5:51)
4) 20 km:               27m 50s (5:37)
5) 21,0975 km:        6m 26s (6:03)  
6) 25 km:               23m 45s (6:06)
7) 30 km:               32m 06s (6:27)
8) 40 km           1h 00m 07s (6:06)
9) 42,195 km:          9m 47s (4:59)


Real average time: 5:50 min/km (total distance)

Verticals: 621 m


Calories: 2.906

The log-file from Garmin can be found at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43514200

Nutrition:
My enery intake consisted of energy-drink and Coke. I supplied with water at every supply station.
I didn't experience any problems due to lack of energy so I guess my intake was sufficient. I had 65 grams og energy-drink, and 1-1,5 l of Coke.

Equipment:
-Shoes: I used Mizuno Wave Ronin as my running shoes. They served me well during the whole race.
-Logging: I used my GF 205. No additional device for heart rate-monitoring. The watch measured a shorter distance than the one the race actually was. The deviation was 1,8 %. We were running mostly in the woods. I guess that explains why this deviation appears. Interesting experience.
-Clothes: I wore a singlet, short thigths and running socks-all from GORE. Wonderful equipment.

Mental part:
I was a though race. Again to have established a strategy in advance paid off well. I finished a good first loop (2h) and I'm very satisfied to have just used 6 minutes more on the second loop. Comparing to Nordmarka Skogsmarathon the 12th of June this year-
http://jannicke-athletics.blogspot.com/search/label/Nordmarka%20Skogsmaraton

I used 5 minutes less on the first half and 9 minutes less on the second half-all that in a more demanding track.
Every time I'm strugling I keep consentrating on keeping a steady pace and move forward to the next km.
When I'm 2-3 km from the finish I always make an effort to speed up a bit to ensure a finish time as good as possible. I managed to do so this time as well.