A beautiful day to run in the woods today. Sunny, warm and a light breeze. Eager to get some dirt under my running shoes again I travelled by bus to get to my starting point some 14km(8,7 miles) from home. My plan was to run home again through the woods. The route starts from a place called Skar, ascends northwest to the lake Øyungen and turns south from there-ascending a hill(Kamphaug) and descends to the beautifully situated lake Skjærsjøen. From there it's a short bit on gravel roads and then navigating through a slow decend over the ridge Skjervenåsen towards Låkeberget. From Låkeberget there is a nice run towards a lovely little forrest before arriving the road again at Brekke. From Brekke i ran along the river Akerselva till I reached the main road-Ring 3. From there it's a short run on asphalt pavement before I'm home. The whole run is logged on my GPS-watch.
I was curious to learn if I would experience any problems with my knees during this run. It's pretty technical and there are a lot of ascends and descends. Well, I did. As a matter of fact it was more than a minor discomfort. I was in no pain, but I clearly need to adress this problem right away. For some reason I began to analyse my running technique. I've always thought my pronation was neutral-I even had some dude at a local running store(Løplabbet in Oslo) to check it out. Well, he was wrong. I definately over-pronate. Can't trust people like that. I need to have some professional look into the matter-an orthopedic-spesialist. This matter will be adressed in the week ahead of me. I don't want any breaks in my training.
Well, besides the knee there was more to learn from the run. I read something interesting in a book by Terry Orlick("In pursuit of excellence") about the importance of relaxing in muscles not in use when executing an athletic performance. By doing so economy is increased. In todays run it was important for me to encounter the ascends by running-not walking. By paying attention to the approach regarding relaxation I was able to run more than 90 % of the workout. To me that was an eye-opener. I'll work more with my economy in future endurance-sessions. Finally, it was enthralling to be out in the woods again-running, paying attention to the scenery and just be present in the moment.
Technicals:
-Distance: 20,5 km(12,73 miles)
-Time: 2h 23m 24s
-Average speed: 7,0 min/km(11,27 min/mile)
-Elevation gained: 369,7m(1.213 ft)
-Calories: 1.374 kcal
-Average heart rate(max): Not monitored.
The GARMIN logfile can be found at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40855915
A beautiful day to run in the woods today. Sunny, warm and a light breeze. Eager to get some dirt under my running shoes again I travelled by bus to get to my starting point some 14km(8,7 miles) from home. My plan was to run home again through the woods. The route starts from a place called Skar, ascends northwest to the lake Øyungen and turns south from there-ascending a hill(Kamphaug) and descends to the beautifully situated lake Skjærsjøen. From there it's a short bit on gravel roads and then navigating through a slow decend over the ridge Skjervenåsen towards Låkeberget. From Låkeberget there is a nice run towards a lovely little forrest before arriving the road again at Brekke. From Brekke i ran along the river Akerselva till I reached the main road-Ring 3. From there it's a short run on asphalt pavement before I'm home. The whole run is logged on my GPS-watch.
The workout on the bike this afternoon was excellent. It's been a while since my last ride on the bike-5th of May. It felt good to be cycling again-almost as good as running. In advance I had done necessary maintenance on the gear- and brakesystem. Crusing along the way in 40km/h at a cadence of 90 is just wonderfull when the bike and body functions well. I could be in there for hours. Cycling is a muscular sport-mostly the feet(thighs). The one being strong in the feet has a great advantage. Well, if I-Good forbide it-should have to give up running, there's always the bike to hang on to. My feet felt good. I had some minor setbacks since last time when it comes to technique, but I will sort that out in the time to come. I managed to keep up a good pace without to much effort. I also had a high cadence on average. Although the temperature was high I experienced some discomfort in my knees. I'll wear my knewarmers next time. In addtion I'll be working some more with my technique.
First hill run since the ultrarace in Thuringen. Still wearing my support on the knee. Moderate ascends, two in number and on solid pavement. My body is working better. This was my fourth workout since transition-week last week and the second run-first being an endurance run. I'm still a bit worn in my body after resuming training, but I can sense it's fading. Speed was good today-even uphills. I had a good feeling-that's even better.
