Monthly report: Sep-2010

UltraBirken-2010

In short this month has consisted of two weeks of tapering and an competition period of two weeks-the latter with one A-priority competition at the end of the week.
In the beginning of the tapering-period I suffered from a ligth stretch in both my hamstrings. In addition I was subjected to a virusinfection that put me off for a couple off days.
At the end of the tapering period I felt very fit, but experienced injury-problems. I had pain in my butt  right where the muscles of the feet is attached to the butt. I spent some time stretching and made use of ice and managed to reduce the pain. I didn't disappear, though.
First week of the competition period I participated in the race UltraBirken. I finsihed, but somewhat slower than I'd expected. I experienced again pain in my butt and felt a bit unfit on race-day. I endured a great deal of pain to finish the race. The race was nearly pure trail and I need to train more on racelike conditions to improve on my finish time.
Second week of the competition period I was just resting and trying to recover after UltraBirken which cost a lot of effort to finish. Anyway, I felt rather fit at Berlin Marathon and managed again to finish at PB under difficult conditions with a crowdlike race and lousy weather.

Evaluation:
I went through three, tough races in August-the last one at the end of the month-and I didn't recover properly before starting the tapering period. As a matter of fact I needed to start the tapering period a week earlier. I've been putting a lot of strain on my body both in July and August and I suffered from that in September. I have scheduled to many competitions on a limited time-range. In addition I'm not good enough to differ between hard and easy workouts. Further on my quality workouts is to lengthy. Not including cross-training in
the building period was a mistake. I paid the price with experiencing injuries in my hamstrings and butt.
Both the races taught me invaluable lessons. First I need to train more in the terrain to improve on my time. Second I'm able to endure a lot of pain allready and I'm sure that I can improve a lot on that area by including mental training in my programme. Thirdly, I need to improve on my nutrition-intake during my races-I have to establish a routine. Fourth, my core is weak and I need to improve on that in order to increase on my running pace and keep it steady over the whole time of the race. Fifth, I'm attending to many races. It wears me out and leave me less prepared for the important races. Sixth, I need to improve on my recovery routine-in general and after competitions.

1. Total activity:
-Workouts: 12, including 2 A-priority competitions
-Distance: 224,9 km
-Time: 25h 3m 4s
-Verticals: 2.948 m
-Calories: 14.805 C
-Days off: 18 days of 30(60 %, the whole month is in the tapering and competition period adn half a week in the transition period).

2. Running:
-Workouts:10
-Distance: 208,59 km
-Time: 23h 21m 50s
-Verticals: 2.836 m
-Calories: 13.919 C

3. Bike:
-Workouts: 1
-Distance: 16,34 km
-Time:  51m 14s
-Verticals: 112 m
-Calories: 886 C

4. Strength:
-Workouts: 0
-Time: 0m

5. Flexibility:
-Workouts: 1 (sportsmassage)
-Time: 50m

6. Shoes(as of 3th of Oct):
-Mizuno Wave Ronin (purchased 8.4.10)     : 512 km
-Puma Concinnity (purchased 30.4.10)        : 220 km
-Montrail Masochist (purchased 14.5.10)     : 415 km
-Mizuno Wave Aero 8 (purchased 28.7.10) : 146 km
-Saucony Kinvara (purchased 9.9.10)          : 56 km
-Puma Trailfox (purchased sep 2006)          : 40 km

Weakly report: 36/10

Sunset in Oslo

Finally, the end of the tapering period has arrived. The next week I'm entering the competition period with a race 18th of Sep and 26th of Sep. The former being an ultrarun(UltraBirken) and the latter Berlin Marathon.
Volume is down considerably. I'm also down on verticals. I had three sessions of running this week. Two endurance sessions and a treshold session. I'm certainly noticing that my legs and body are benefitting from tapering. Speed is up and my feet are fresher. I've had some light outburst of "Runners butt"-especially on my left side. That seems to fade as volume and number of sessions is down. I've also done stretching and used ice on a regular basis. My level of race readiness "Form" is increasing rapidly. Only uncertainty is the discomfort I've experienced in my butt. However, I'm pretty optimistic when it comes to the following races.
The most demanding part is to stick to my programme. It's very tempting to just go for a run when I feel this form, but I have to be disiplined.


Technicals: 

1. Total amount of training since 1th of January: 
222,1h/ 7,2h pr week(Running: 172,5h/1.627 km) 
Verticals: Not monitored before 6th of June 

2. Total amount of training since 12th of July: 
71h /7,9h pr week (Running: 64,2h/ 608,2 km) 
Verticals: 8.916 m( Running: 8.279 m) 

3. Total amount of training this week:
3h 10m(Running: 3h 10m/37,15 km)
Verticals: 292 m(Running: 292 m) 

4. Body weight: 71,7 kg
(Saturday morning) 

5. Shoes:
-Mizuno Wave Ronin(innkjøpt 8.4.10)     : 501 km (from the time of buying)
-Puma Concinnity(innkjøpt 30.4.10)        : 220 km (from the time of buying)
-Montrail Masochist(innkjøpt 14.5.10)     : 395 km (from the time of buying)
-Mizuno Wave Aero 8(innkjøpt 28.7.10) : 146 km (from the time of buying)
-Saucony Kinvara(innkjøpt 9.9.10)          : 14 km (from the time of buying)

Majorstua course: Treshold session

Copenhagen Marathon, May-2010

Time for another treshold session. Being the end of the tapering period I'm down on elevation and pace. My aim with todays workout was to run a long treshold session on low to moderate elevation. With three days since my last workout I was pretty eager to get to work again. Originally I planned on running a 10 km race this weekend. I thought the race was on Sunday, but it appeared that the race was on Saturday! I felt pretty stupid discovering the fact by reading the result a few hours before I planned to leave for the race. Seems like I have to much in my mind these days. Well, enough about that. Todays session went fine. I managed to keep a steady pace of 5:02, didn't have any more than a slight discomfort in the left part on my butt and it seems like my virus-infection is long gone. First session with my new running shoes bought on Thursday this week. So far the shoes serves me well, middle stability, very good feeling while running and low cushioned. A good session!

Tecnicals:
-Distance: 14,33 km (*) Measured distance on GPS-watch 0,24 km to long.
-Time: 1h 13m 01s
-Average pace: 5:06 min/km
-Working pace: 5:02 min/km, 11,97 km
-Elevation gained: 139 m(9,7 m/km)-below 10,ok.
-Calories: 1.017 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.
-Shoes: Saucony Kinvara-excellent shoes
-Weather: Sun, 20 degrees celsius, strong breeze, low humidity in the air

The GARMIN logfile can be found at:
 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48666199

Saucony Kinvara: new shoe

Saucony Kinvara, 208 g

I have several pairs of shoes. One pair for competition and speed-work, another for endurance-sessions and a pair for trail-runs. I've been using Mizuno Wave Ronin now since 8th of April this year, logged just over 500 km of running with those shoes. Lately I've noticed that the shoes doesn't provide anymore that just a slight response when hitting the surface. I guess it's time to grant retirement for use in the gym, season starting next quarter.
It's always nice to go hunting for a pair of new shoes. Allthough I think it's wise to stick to what works I'm always eager to try on something new. Saucony just brought a new model out for sale and I thought I'll try it on. It's an interesting shoe because it allows the pressure when hitting the ground to be more distributed on the middle- and front of the foot. Oh, and it's definately a shoe to compete with. Not much stability, provides a good felling when running and demands a skilled runner. By testing out I discovered that my running pattern tends to stay pretty close to that experienced when using Ronin. Overall, I had a good impression and bought a pair. First major test is a 10 km race on Sunday this weekend. I've had a good tapering period so far, and my aim is to finish with a new personal best on the distance.
Some has allready bought and had some testing done:
http://www.dailymile.com/blog/team/running-shoe-review-saucony-kinvara-vs-newton-gravitas

Movatn-Kjelsås course: endurance session

Maridalsvannet

It's pretty hard not to run these days, but tonight I was allowed to do so again, according to my training programme. I'm pleased to notice then that I'm getting fresher as time passes. I had a good session with an average pace in the working session of just below 5-without putting to much effort in to it. That's good news. The flip side of the coin is that I noticed some muscle tigthning in my butt-especially the left side. I'll have to continue my stretching exercises. If needed I'll have some more sports massage. 2/3 of the course is on gravel roads and some of it with demanding surface. I'm satisfied with the progress in my tapering period. Next session now is a 10 km race on Sunday.

Tecnicals:
-Distance: 15,13 km
-Time: 1h 15m 38s
-Average pace: 4:59 min/km
-Working pace: 4:55 min/km, 13,46 km
-Elevation gained: 90 m(5,9 m/km)-below 10,ok.
-Calories: 1.078 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.
-Shoes: Mizuno Wave Aero 8
-Weather: Clouded, 16 degrees celsius, breeze, low humidity in the air

The GARMIN logfile can be found at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48273583

Sagene course: endurance session

From Lillomarka

Two day since my last training-and running-session. Being in the tapering period the most demanding part is to back off. My aim with todays workout was to enjoy 45 minutes at a pace just a bit slower than marathon-pace without putting to much effort in to it.
Heading out my feet-and I- felt fresh. I had no problem pushing without feeling anything close to much effort. I backed off a bit and averaged at 5:17 in the working session. I've experienced a ligth stretch in the upper part on both hamstrings the last few days. To remove that I've done some stretching on a regular basis. I only noticed some minor discomfort tonight.

Tecnicals:
-Distance: 7,69 km
-Time: 41m 03s
-Average pace: 5:20 min/km
-Working pace: 5:17 min/km
-Elevation gained: 63 m(8,2 m/km)-below 10,ok.
-Calories: 549 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.
-Shoes: Mizuno Wave Aero 8
-Weather: Clouded, 16 degrees celsius, breeze, low humidity in the air

The GARMIN logfile can be found at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48021007

Weekly report; 35/10

Sunset in Oslo

Being the first week in the tapering period it's quite an irony that I seem to have a light stretch in both my hamstrings. Right now I'm working to removing those with some regular stretching exercises. Hopefully I'll be lucky in my efforts by the end of the week.
A total of 5 sessions this week of which four are running and one is flexibility-another irony for you there.
Just one quality-session, muscular endurance. I'll keep it that way through both the tapering- and the competition-period. The only exception is the number of endurance-sessions. I'm down to just three sessions in the former and two sessions in the latter-in total figures.
I experinced a good recovery on Monday after Saturdays marathon in Stavanger. After that I got infected by some virus and was ill for two to three days. I resumed training on Friday. That day I had a muscular endurance session that was very promising.. Saturday it was due for starting my swimming course, but learned that it was cancelled due to lack of interest. I went for a run instead. On Sunday I had a wonderful long run on trails in the wood in Lillomarka-my favourite course.
The most challenging in this period is to stay away from training and follow the training-programme. That means a substansial reduction in amount of training compared to previous periods. That is my approach to taper for Berlin Marathon the 26th of Sep

Technicals: 

1. Total amount of training since 1th of January: 
219h/ 7,3h pr week(Running: 169,3h/1.590 km) 
Verticals: Not monitored before 6th of June 

2. Total amount of training since 12th of July: 
67,8h /8,48h pr week (Running: 61,01h/ 571,1 km) 
Verticals: 8.624 m( Running: 7.987 m) 

3. Total amount of training this week:
5h 43m(Running: 4h 53m/48,54 km)
Verticals: 625 m(Running: 625 m) 

4. Body weight: 70,9 kg
(Saturday morning) 

5. Shoes:
-Mizuno Wave Ronin(innkjøpt 8.4.10)     : 501 km (from the time of buying)
-Puma Concinnity(innkjøpt 30.4.10)        : 220 km (from the time of buying)
-Montrail Masochist(innkjøpt 14.5.10)     : 395 km (from the time of buying)
-Mizuno Wave Aero 8(innkjøpt 28.7.10) : 123 km (from the time of buying)

Lillomarka course: Endurance trailrun

Movatn

Beautiful weather today and I was lucky enough to have scheduled an endurance-session on trails on my favourite course-in Lillomarka. The course is very technical, navigates along wooden trails in a forrest that consist mainly of pine and spruce. As you run along the trees the sun is intruding at different degrees.
In addition it's not much used by others and it's a good way to get some piece of mind as well.

Ormetjern

As always I travelled by train to Movatn and started the ascend towards Sinober-a cottage a couple of miles in the woods- right afterwards. It's just under 3 km and the elevation is somewhat over 100 m. Patience is the key word as I encounter a very technical trail that seems to go straight up in the beginning. It's a good feeling though to be in the woods again after running on streets for some time. It's excatly two weeks since the last run on trails.

After a short while the trail levels out and I continue towards Sinober. Soon I'm encountering the last, big ascend towards Sinober and I'm richly rewarded by the beautiful views when I reach the lake Ormetjern. Not much left then before I catch the first glimps of Sinober-an old cottage situated strategically in the middle of Lillomarka. A nice place to stop a couple of minutes and even for a light snack.

View from Granberget towards Oslo

Well, I'm just stopping today for a quick look and I'm soon on my way through lovely, densed wood towards the highest point of the trip-a ridge called Granberget. It presents some of the finest views over Oslo and the southern-east part of Nordmarka.

Maridalsvannet

My aim with todays run was to have a good feeling all the time. Most of the time I managed allthough I could clearly feel the ascends. But again, patience is what counts and I'm constantly improving on that. Mind and outer world seems to disappear as I slowly work my way through the beautiful scenery and I'm soon approaching Granberget. It's mandatory with a quick stop to enjoy the views before the run continues towards Kjelsås. The course is starting to descend right after leaving Granberget and I'm soon approaching a place called Solemskogen. This time I chose to run towards Maridalsvannet by following the skie-track towards Kjelsås. After some very steep descends I reach an open field just before the lake Maridalsvannet. Shortly afterwards I'm running on gravel paths along Maraidalsvannet towards Kjelsås. I had a good run overall. I could feel some discomfort at both sides of the hip. I noticed that Yesterday as well. Maybe it's some muscles that are over-stretched. Anyway, I'm off from running a couple of days. Next week I'm scheduling three sessions with running with a total amount lower than this week.

Tecnicals:
-Distance: 16,19 km
-Time: 2h 01m 41s
-Average pace: 7:30 min/km
-Elevation gained: 270 m(16,7 m/km)-above 10, well, it was a light session.
-Calories: 1047 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.
-Shoes: Montrail Masochist
-Weather: Sunny, 18-20 degrees celsius, breeze, low humidity in the air

The GARMIN logfile can be found at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47686696

Akerselva/ Kjelsås-course: Endurance session

Maridalsvannet, from Kjelsås

I wasn't going to run today. My plan was to start swimming again by attending a swimming-course in order to improve on my technique. I was contacted by the arranger a couple of hours before and told todays session was off due to low interest. I asked a few questions and after some thinking afterwards I find it highly unlikely that my course will ever be arranged as planned this fall/winter. I need to rearrange my plans when it comes to swimming. More on that on another blogpost.
My aim with todays running session was to carry out an endurance workout a bit slower than marathon-pace, keep the ascent-gradient below 10 and have a bit freshness left after the workout. I don't like running along trafficated roads so my favourite parts are north from were I live. I went up to Kjelsås to the southern end of Maridalsvannet, back again along Akerselva before heading back home. My feet were not as fresh as Yesterday and I lowered my pace after my warm-up trying to average on 5:30. The ascend towards Kjelsås went fine as I tried to execute patience when ascending. After reaching the top level I continued with an pace of 5:15 and felt good doing so. Along Akerselva it's mainly downwards and the scenery today was especially beautiful-sunny, quiet, still green after the summer.
I think 5:30 is as far down I can go on a slow run. Any slower than that and I'll get more exhausted than running at 5:30.
Marathon pace right now is 5-5:15. Treshold pace is 4:45-4:55.

Tecnicals:
-Distance: 11,88 km
-Time: 1h 05m 39s
-Average pace: 5:31 min/km
-Elevation gained: 108 m(9,09 m/km)-below 10, that's acceptable in this period.
-Calories: 847 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.
-Shoes: Mizuno Wave Ronin
-Weather: Sunny, 20 degrees celsius, breeze, low humidity in the air

The GARMIN logfile can be found at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47513333

Blindern course: Treshold-session

Operahouse, Oslo

I've been subjected to a virus-infection a few days. Sensing that it was fading away I went out for a treshold-session tonight. I was still a bit affected by the infection though. However, eager to get back in to running againg after four days I headed out for this weeks muscular endurance workout. My intention was to test what speed I could achieve while running just below or at treshold pace. I don't use a heart rate monitor anymore, and I guess I never will, but I know my body well enough to know how it feels at different efforts. Initially my legs felt fresh. I did the warm-up 30s faster than the previous ones. Beyond that my quality session started and I had decided to run approximately 10 km to se if I had made some progress since the spring. Establishing at a speed of 5 I could clearly feel that this was just below treshold. I had a good feeling and managed to keep a good technique. Before long I passed the 10km mark at 49m 37s(not monitored). That's 17s down compared to Sentrumsløpet this spring. At that time I was free of illness and had a bigger effort to produce the result. Anyway, I logged 4:59 on the session and I'm satisfied with that. In the weeks to come I'm doing the same session once a week. Next week the session will be a 10km race-Lørenskogløpet on Sunday the 12th of Sep.
I clearly feel that I'm in a good position now to further improve on my form as time is closing up to Berlin Marathon in just over three weeks. At that time I'm targeting at 5 as an average pace for the marathon.

Tecnicals:
-Distance: 12,29 km
-Time: 1h 03m 20s
-Average pace: 5:09 min/km
-Moving pace: 4:59 min/km
-Elevation gained: 106 m(8,62 m/km)-below 10, that's acceptable in this period.
-Calories: 876 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.
-Shoes: Mizuno Wave Aero 8
-Weather: Clouded, 13 degrees celsius, breeze, low humidity in the air, chilly-I need to dress up a bit next time.

The GARMIN logfile can be found at: 
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47397937

Flexibility: Sports- massage

Bellevueallee-Berlin

I've been scheduling some sessions with sports-massage the last couple of months. Initially it was just a try-out to se if it worked out well for me before I incorportated it in my training programme as a recovery-session. I started out in June and have completed just over half a dusin sessions. I can clearly feel the effect when it comes to recovery-time. I feel a lot more fresh in my legs at a spesific time after a race than without sports-massage. My conclusion is that I will include this on a monthly basis-carrying out 1 hour a month.
Today I had 1 hour of sports-massage working manly on the hamstrings(30 min), legs(10 min) and 10 minutes on the quads. Last time-a week ago-I had 1/2-hour and worked only on the hamstrings due to severe thightness expereinced after the 6h-race on 21th of Aug. After todays session I feel that the thigthness has loosened up a great deal. I felt some of it during Stavanger Marathon last Saturday, but now it's almost gone. The last three days I've experienced an outburst of fluea, but that's fading away now. Tomorrow I'm back on regular training again-tapering for Berlin Marathon in just over three weeks.

Technicals:
-Quads: 10 min
-Hamstrings: 30 min
-Legs: 10 min

Sandnes course. Endurance run

Stokkelandsvatnet-Sandnes

Eager to check out my recovery after Saturdays marathon in Stavanger I headed out for a short endurance session today. I went for a run with moderate elevation and aimed at keeping a marathon-pace throughout the whole session. My body felt fine allthough a bit worn. I managed to keep a steady pace at all times. I'm not yet fully recovered though. I need some more time to allow my body to recover. I had Yesterday completely off. Clearly there is still some need to recover from Saturdays race. Important to me is to run at targeted pace with as low effort as possible. I did struggle a bit today, which is expected. The two weeks ahead is tapering-period. I'm aiming at making a very good recovery from the building period in order to make as good preparation as possible for the competition period-ending in Berling Marathon the 26th of September. In that race I will strive to be as fit as never before-trying to finish at new personal best.

Tecnicals:

-Distance: 8,18 km
-Time: 42m 52s
-Average pace: 5:14 min/km
-Elevation gained: 141 m(17,24 m/km)
-Calories: 574 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.
-Shoes: Mizuno Wave Ronin
-Weather: Sun, 20 degrees celsius, breeze, low humidity in the air


The GARMIN logfile can be found at: 
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/46845428