June 2 was the coldest day in June in Stockholm for the last 50 years, so it was not a good day for running a marathon. Wind and rain made the situation even worse. All those things made the 2012 ASICS Stockholm Marathon the most demanding race in the 34 years history of the race.
We are most impressed that you and almost 15 000 other runners managed to finish the marathon, concerning these cruel conditions. You and other runners were well prepared for the race, and ran wisely.
Kind regards
Athletic clubs Hässelby SK and Spårvägens FK
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Mamma Keeps Running
Just a short note for my very few followers: I have started a new blog, Mamma Keeps Running. See you there!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
42,195
The birth of my first child taught me a very important lesson: no matter how hard you try to prepare yourself for a big event, something can always happen that you are not prepared for (in other words: shit happens). I went to Stockholm bearing this in mind, knowing that I had done all I could and ready to face the unforeseen. Which indeed came.
When we left home, the weathermen were predicting 14℃ and showers in Stockholm on race day, so I didn't pack my winter gear. Already when we arrived there on Thursday we found out it was much colder than expected, and it got worse on Friday with 4℃, rain and wind. Foregone the sightseeing, I rushed to buy a long sleeves shirt at the expo, just like many many others following the advice of the race organization, which had issued a warning about the harsh weather conditions. I had the doubt of whether to wear shorts (well tested for long runs but obviously cold) or capri's (better suited for the weather but with a rough waist band not good on long runs) for the whole day, and then I had a brilliant idea: wear both! The shorts would keep me safe from rubbing and chafing under the waist band, and the capri's would keep me a bit warm.
When Saturday actually came it was only 3℃, very windy, with a persistant rain and with no hopes of it getting any better in the course of the afternoon. Out of 21266 runners who had signed up for the race, more than 5000 didn't even start, and I can't blame them.
Surprisingly, I didn't need to use the potty's before, during or right after the race, also thanks to the fact that the hotel was only about 500m from the start so we could leave our room with no worries just 40 minutes before the gun.
I wore a poncho which I made the big mistake of throwing away after 5km or so. The sleeves of my shirt got soaked in no time and it didn't take long before my hands were pretty much frozen so at 10K I had to use my teeth to open the second gel (and the same for all of the gels after that). My shoes had turned into swimming pools, because even if I tried to be careful and avoid the little ponds of water everywhere, it was inevitable to end in one now and then, and then there was also the splashing from people running next to me. There were quite a few careless runners especially in the beginning, zig-zagging like mad (one of them almost threw me off in the first or second kilometer), changing direction without any warning, throwing away their cups without looking... I guess this is what happens in such big events.
For the first few kilometers I forced myself to slow down even with everybody passing me, as the Garmin was telling me that my pace was around 6:30min/km while my goal was 7:06min/km, but at the 10K mark I understood that the poor device was completely off, thinking I had already run 11km. I sped up then, leaving the 5:15 pacer behind me (I had been wondering which of us was wrong, should've guessed earlier that it was me).
Not long before the end of the first lap (16km) I realized I couldn't go on like that and with a huge effort I took my phone from the belt, called my husband and asked him to meet me with another poncho. Overcoming the Nokia keylock was a serious challenge, luckily he's on speed dial or I surely would not have been able to dial his number nor go through the phonebook.
Things got better then, but of course I had to pay the price of running with a wildly flapping poncho. I will remember the sound of the flapping poncho's like I remember the sound of the slot-machines in Vegas: constant background noise.
The worst came at the half-marathon point: in a completely open field the wind reached 65km/h. Even the top runners report that one of them started laughing hysterically, so hard it was to run against that "wall of wind".
Around km 31 I took the one and only photo of the whole course:
I kept shaking for a long long time, even after I had taken a warm shower. I wonder what my body temperature was, I think it was one of the top runners who said that his had dropped to 32℃.
Here's me in my finisher t-shirt having a well deserved dinner, not the most flattering picture but you'll understand I was a tiny bit tired (and I badly need a haircut, didn't dare doing it before the marathon)
I am very satisfied with how it went, for what concerns the running alone I felt good the whole race and I think I could have easily achieved the goal of staying below 5 hours, if only the Garmin hadn't been so confused. Four days after the race, as I write this, my knees are the only part of my body that's still recovering but I can go up and down the stairs without any problem, I just still feel a bit of fatigue. Saturday night was the worst with knees, ankles, Achilles tendons and even a bit hips and calves hurting, but ice and ibuprofen did their job and already the following day only the knees were left still sore (muscular pain kicked in on day 2 after the race, as usual, and is now gone).
I'm still waiting for the full size marathon pictures, here's some thumbnails
And this email is just in:
(For more race reports and results, check www.StockholmMarathon.se)
With all that I went through during my training, I still can't believe that I ran the whole thing, walking only at aid stations because there was no other choice. Only a few months ago I was convinced it would not be possible, but thanks to a gentle and effective training program from MyAsics and most of all thanks to a wonderful medical equipe, I did it. I have to say that my daughter was the only one who never for a single moment doubted that I would make it, even in the worst days when my left knee kept me grounded for weeks. She was right!
Thanks also to everybody who supported me in this journey, I hope this will be a source of inspiration for somebody. There are still two weeks of recovery planned in my training program, then I can move on to the next challenge...
When we left home, the weathermen were predicting 14℃ and showers in Stockholm on race day, so I didn't pack my winter gear. Already when we arrived there on Thursday we found out it was much colder than expected, and it got worse on Friday with 4℃, rain and wind. Foregone the sightseeing, I rushed to buy a long sleeves shirt at the expo, just like many many others following the advice of the race organization, which had issued a warning about the harsh weather conditions. I had the doubt of whether to wear shorts (well tested for long runs but obviously cold) or capri's (better suited for the weather but with a rough waist band not good on long runs) for the whole day, and then I had a brilliant idea: wear both! The shorts would keep me safe from rubbing and chafing under the waist band, and the capri's would keep me a bit warm.
When Saturday actually came it was only 3℃, very windy, with a persistant rain and with no hopes of it getting any better in the course of the afternoon. Out of 21266 runners who had signed up for the race, more than 5000 didn't even start, and I can't blame them.
Surprisingly, I didn't need to use the potty's before, during or right after the race, also thanks to the fact that the hotel was only about 500m from the start so we could leave our room with no worries just 40 minutes before the gun.
I wore a poncho which I made the big mistake of throwing away after 5km or so. The sleeves of my shirt got soaked in no time and it didn't take long before my hands were pretty much frozen so at 10K I had to use my teeth to open the second gel (and the same for all of the gels after that). My shoes had turned into swimming pools, because even if I tried to be careful and avoid the little ponds of water everywhere, it was inevitable to end in one now and then, and then there was also the splashing from people running next to me. There were quite a few careless runners especially in the beginning, zig-zagging like mad (one of them almost threw me off in the first or second kilometer), changing direction without any warning, throwing away their cups without looking... I guess this is what happens in such big events.
For the first few kilometers I forced myself to slow down even with everybody passing me, as the Garmin was telling me that my pace was around 6:30min/km while my goal was 7:06min/km, but at the 10K mark I understood that the poor device was completely off, thinking I had already run 11km. I sped up then, leaving the 5:15 pacer behind me (I had been wondering which of us was wrong, should've guessed earlier that it was me).
Not long before the end of the first lap (16km) I realized I couldn't go on like that and with a huge effort I took my phone from the belt, called my husband and asked him to meet me with another poncho. Overcoming the Nokia keylock was a serious challenge, luckily he's on speed dial or I surely would not have been able to dial his number nor go through the phonebook.
Things got better then, but of course I had to pay the price of running with a wildly flapping poncho. I will remember the sound of the flapping poncho's like I remember the sound of the slot-machines in Vegas: constant background noise.
The worst came at the half-marathon point: in a completely open field the wind reached 65km/h. Even the top runners report that one of them started laughing hysterically, so hard it was to run against that "wall of wind".
Around km 31 I took the one and only photo of the whole course:
 |
| Södermälarstrand |
As I said, it was too difficult to operate my phone and I was also too focused on battling the elements to enjoy the view and therefore take pictures, but this was a good way to document the brutal weather so I decided to do it.
Strange but true, at that point I was really looking forward to crossing the infamous bridge the second time, because it was the last difficulty posed by the course alone and I knew that from a psychological point of view things would get much easier after that. And so it was, running the dreaded mile 20 (which included the bridge) was actually a relief and I felt like I was flying for the last part. Each of the last 5km was faster than the previous, and finally seeing the towers of the stadium with about 1km still to go was the last energy boost which pushed me all the way through the finish line.I kept shaking for a long long time, even after I had taken a warm shower. I wonder what my body temperature was, I think it was one of the top runners who said that his had dropped to 32℃.
Here's me in my finisher t-shirt having a well deserved dinner, not the most flattering picture but you'll understand I was a tiny bit tired (and I badly need a haircut, didn't dare doing it before the marathon)
I am very satisfied with how it went, for what concerns the running alone I felt good the whole race and I think I could have easily achieved the goal of staying below 5 hours, if only the Garmin hadn't been so confused. Four days after the race, as I write this, my knees are the only part of my body that's still recovering but I can go up and down the stairs without any problem, I just still feel a bit of fatigue. Saturday night was the worst with knees, ankles, Achilles tendons and even a bit hips and calves hurting, but ice and ibuprofen did their job and already the following day only the knees were left still sore (muscular pain kicked in on day 2 after the race, as usual, and is now gone).
I'm still waiting for the full size marathon pictures, here's some thumbnails
And this email is just in:
Congratulations to
a heroic performance |
(For more race reports and results, check www.StockholmMarathon.se)
With all that I went through during my training, I still can't believe that I ran the whole thing, walking only at aid stations because there was no other choice. Only a few months ago I was convinced it would not be possible, but thanks to a gentle and effective training program from MyAsics and most of all thanks to a wonderful medical equipe, I did it. I have to say that my daughter was the only one who never for a single moment doubted that I would make it, even in the worst days when my left knee kept me grounded for weeks. She was right!
Thanks also to everybody who supported me in this journey, I hope this will be a source of inspiration for somebody. There are still two weeks of recovery planned in my training program, then I can move on to the next challenge...
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Almost there
I just completed my last run (8km race pace) before leaving for Stockholm. I can't quite explain what it feels like to be almost at the end of this road, especially after all of the obstacles I found on it.
But I'm Italian, so I won't yet say that I made it to the start line! There are still 4 days and a 5km jog that separate me from that...
Butterflies are abundant in my stomach every time I stop to think about Saturday, I am already getting nervous and every time that I solve one problem bugging me there is always something new that comes up. I figured out a solution for the potty problem, the weathermen say it will be fresh and wet in Stockholm (14℃ with showers) so now what do I worry about? Chafing and blisters. Should I wear the brand new supercomfy superbreathable bra, or the old worn out and oversized but well tested one? The thing is... you don't notice how BAD something is until you try something GOOD... I sure don't have enough kilometers on the new one, but I think I'll risk it because I got almost allergic to the old one.
What about the heart rate monitor then? Wearing it with the new one may also be a risk, but I want to have the data...
And socks: I have two pairs exactly the same except for size, should I wear the (slightly) tight smaller or the (slightly) loose larger?
Last doubt is about the running cap. I have used one for the past couple of months, but I ran without it for the last few days. I like the cap because it keeps my hair under control and it protects me from sun and rain, but I also like to run without it for the better view and feeling now that I can tie my hair nicely.
I guess I'm just getting too nervous and seeing problems where there really isn't any. I've done what I could to prepare myself at the best of my current possibilities, I think I can reasonably be proud of myself for making it all the way here.
No blog entries until at least June 4th, so I'll see you on the other side of my marathon mountain.
ps: there will be live updates on the Stockholm Marathon website, the start for my group is at 12:10, they will provide updates every 5km and I expect to finish in about 5 hours... look me up! My bib number is 22469.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The training nobody talks about
Warning: This post may offend people who pretend they never pee and/or women who pretend they've never wished they were able to do it standing.
During these past few days after my last long run my mind has been preoccupied with things other than the running itself. The first of these is the weather: we've had such a cold "spring" (if we still want to call it so) that even the average temperature of 18℃ to be supposedly found in Stockholm on June 2nd would present a challenge. Luckily it looks like we are having a taste of summer this week. Last Sunday I went running pretty late in the morning on purpose to let the temperature go up a bit and at the end of my 16km run the thermometer was reporting 25℃. It was a good run, the weather didn't affect me at all so that gave me a bit of confidence about this first of my worries.
Now for the second thing... I could use many words more or less politically correct, but I'll just stick with the easiest, words that even my 22 months old son can say: pee and poo. I have always been very conscious of the problem that these everyday simple actions can constitute in the middle of a city marathon with thousands of people around you, even (especially?) when you can use a port-a-potty. Then came the story of this woman and the discussion about it with other female runners, and I realized I really needed to think about a solution. I'm lucky I don't have her problems, but I also don't have any natural device which allows me to pee standing.
Some friends suggested using a pStyle but I'm afraid it would freak me out too much and it surely wouldn't be practical to carry for the whole marathon. Other creative solutions with the same drawbacks include the use of a soft plastic coffee can lid or of a medicine spoon (if your imagination can't help you, google can, but be warned: it will not leave much to imagine). My husband then came up with a brilliant idea: a plastic bag. Not quite discreet so must be used in a port-a-potty, but otherwise easy to fold, carry and use while standing. Actually, I think I have seen once or twice some plastic bags dumped in portable toilets, without being able to understand why... I think I do now. And then I came up with yet another idea, possibly even better than the plastic bag: the paper cups they give at aid stations. No need to carry anything and much more discreet than a big white bag, I could even dare use it outside of a toilet if I'm desperate enough and if I can find a reasonably sized hiding place.
So that's my preferred pee-solution: paper cups in a port-a-potty. I'll carry a bag too, just in case... I surely don't want to end up doing what Paula Radcliffe did, and with every eye watching her!
Did this talk gross you out? Sorry, but I had warned you. All this is also marathon training and I want to keep track of it here. You can still go on pretending you never pee nor poo.
As for the actual running, all is good. My right knee still gives me some minor concerns but it should be fine for the marathon, we'll finish fixing it after that.
Eleven days to go.
During these past few days after my last long run my mind has been preoccupied with things other than the running itself. The first of these is the weather: we've had such a cold "spring" (if we still want to call it so) that even the average temperature of 18℃ to be supposedly found in Stockholm on June 2nd would present a challenge. Luckily it looks like we are having a taste of summer this week. Last Sunday I went running pretty late in the morning on purpose to let the temperature go up a bit and at the end of my 16km run the thermometer was reporting 25℃. It was a good run, the weather didn't affect me at all so that gave me a bit of confidence about this first of my worries.
Now for the second thing... I could use many words more or less politically correct, but I'll just stick with the easiest, words that even my 22 months old son can say: pee and poo. I have always been very conscious of the problem that these everyday simple actions can constitute in the middle of a city marathon with thousands of people around you, even (especially?) when you can use a port-a-potty. Then came the story of this woman and the discussion about it with other female runners, and I realized I really needed to think about a solution. I'm lucky I don't have her problems, but I also don't have any natural device which allows me to pee standing.
Some friends suggested using a pStyle but I'm afraid it would freak me out too much and it surely wouldn't be practical to carry for the whole marathon. Other creative solutions with the same drawbacks include the use of a soft plastic coffee can lid or of a medicine spoon (if your imagination can't help you, google can, but be warned: it will not leave much to imagine). My husband then came up with a brilliant idea: a plastic bag. Not quite discreet so must be used in a port-a-potty, but otherwise easy to fold, carry and use while standing. Actually, I think I have seen once or twice some plastic bags dumped in portable toilets, without being able to understand why... I think I do now. And then I came up with yet another idea, possibly even better than the plastic bag: the paper cups they give at aid stations. No need to carry anything and much more discreet than a big white bag, I could even dare use it outside of a toilet if I'm desperate enough and if I can find a reasonably sized hiding place.
So that's my preferred pee-solution: paper cups in a port-a-potty. I'll carry a bag too, just in case... I surely don't want to end up doing what Paula Radcliffe did, and with every eye watching her!
Did this talk gross you out? Sorry, but I had warned you. All this is also marathon training and I want to keep track of it here. You can still go on pretending you never pee nor poo.
As for the actual running, all is good. My right knee still gives me some minor concerns but it should be fine for the marathon, we'll finish fixing it after that.
Eleven days to go.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Last long run: 32km
Three runs after my last blog entry and before today: 12K on Sunday, 8K on Wednesday and 5K on Friday, and during all three I could feel that my right knee was not quite all right. My plan had a 5K jog on Wednesday and a 8K fast on Thursday, but other commitments lead me to switch distances (but not paces) and do a longer slower run on Wednesday, on completely unknown tracks. I saw water, for a change!
The hardest point was probably at 11km, my knees were unhappy and I still had such a long way to go... and, to say it all, I had to pee. Things got a lot better after the brief stop at my very private and very clean port-a-potty (read: "home"). I may really have to get one of those pStyle thingys to use during the marathon in not-so-private and especially not-so-clean port-a-pottys...
Last 3km were pretty fast (actually the fastest of all except for the first one) because I just wanted to be home and get it over with. How dramatic is the influence of the weather on our runs!
Knees are killing me right now, although I can already feel that there's nothing wrong with the left one, just fatigue. The right one does give me a few worries, so I have abundantly iced it and I also took some ibuprofen, plus the usual menthol gel. What tomorrow brings, we shall see.
Less than three weeks to race day.
This was a natural reserve, a long tongue of soil cutting deep into the bed of the river, as the river widens and twists around it forming a sort of lake. It was so deserted that it freaked me out and I turned around and didn't go all the way. Those trees right on the shore seemed like the perfect place for rapists and murderers to hide their victims once they're done with them... I know, I know, very unlikely, but the movie in my head was just like that.
On Thursday, it just didn't feel right to do the 5K fast, as my knees had not been happy for the whole run the day before and still weren't happy then. I ran on Friday instead, no real pain but still feeling not quite right.
And so we get to today and to the last real long run of this training program: 32km. I was really worried I wouldn't be able to make it, I could still feel the fatigue in my knees yesterday.
I was prepared with many gels and two bottles of electrolyte, plus had organized to meet with my husband at the end of my first lap (15km) to get more drinks, but it wasn't necessary as it was quite chilly. Clear skies but only 8℃ when I left around 7:30am, and maybe 13℃ at the end of my run, 4 hours later.
The hardest point was probably at 11km, my knees were unhappy and I still had such a long way to go... and, to say it all, I had to pee. Things got a lot better after the brief stop at my very private and very clean port-a-potty (read: "home"). I may really have to get one of those pStyle thingys to use during the marathon in not-so-private and especially not-so-clean port-a-pottys...
Last 3km were pretty fast (actually the fastest of all except for the first one) because I just wanted to be home and get it over with. How dramatic is the influence of the weather on our runs!
Knees are killing me right now, although I can already feel that there's nothing wrong with the left one, just fatigue. The right one does give me a few worries, so I have abundantly iced it and I also took some ibuprofen, plus the usual menthol gel. What tomorrow brings, we shall see.
Less than three weeks to race day.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Undo, please?
 |
| Floriade 2012 |
How nice would it be to have an "undo" function in real life? Going to the Floriade the day before my 28km run was really a huge mistake, it disrupted my training program and almost jeopardized my participation to the marathon itself. On Monday evening both of my knees were quite sore but less than they were two weeks earlier, after the 24km run, so I wasn't worried. The bad surprise came the following morning when I woke up to find out that my right knee was a bit swollen on the outside and so sore that I couldn't go down the stairs normally. It was the same kind of pain I had already mentioned to my doctor, only much stronger. He said it would be fixed as a consequence of what he's doing to my spine and that it wasn't necessary to do anything specific about it.
I had already planned on moving my weekly runs from Wed-Thu to Thu-Fri, to allow for two days of rest after the long run, I took some Ibuprofen on Tuesday and Wednesday, plus menthol gel and ice, but still it was a no-go on Thursday. By then the swelling was gone but it was still a bit painful to bend the knee so I didn't risk it.
This morning I went out early with a flexible plan: 12km easy if all was good, only 6km (or even less) if something still felt wrong. When I started to run the knee was so stiff that I thought it would be better to stop immediately, and I was even worried about the rest of my training and the marathon. Something in the back of my head though was telling me to keep going just a bit longer... and a bit longer... and after 2km all of the stiffness was gone. In the end I ran for a bit more than 7km, and now everything seems to be ok.
I have 12km planned for Sunday, we'll see how that goes. I really wish I could "undo" the walking last Sunday, but then I would also lose all of the pictures I took...
Monday, April 30, 2012
28km
Clear skies, not a cloud, sun shining bright and warm, not a breath of wind, 20℃. Ideal conditions for a run? Nope, not if you've always trained in much cooler conditions and you have to run for 28km.
Add also the fact that yesterday I spent pretty much the whole day walking up and down the Floriade (world's biggest horticultural expo, held in the Netherlands once every decade) and you get the picture of how hard this run was.
The alarm went off at 7:01am, when I was deeeeeeep asleep, I almost immediately put my feet on the floor but it took a while before I could actually stand and leave the bed. About one hour later I was ready to go with my capri's and one of my new bright orange shirts, a must considering that today we celebrate Her Majesty's birthday here. Everybody wears orange, goes out in the streets and gets drunk... I followed two thirds of the tradition so that's ok. Belt on: two bottles of electrolyte, 4 gels, cell phone, tissues, house keys... was I missing something? Oh yes, the iPod! Anything else? Hmmm... ooops! The Garmin! I went to get it and immediately upon switching it on I found out it had low batteries, so I had to plug it in and wait. Umpf.
In the meantime the sun came out in all its glory and I changed to my shorts, which was the only good thing that resulted from this delay. Oh and I was able to say good morning to the whole family :-)
I eventually left the house at 9am, and immediately realized how hard it was going to be. I could already feel my knees from the beginning and started to doubt: if I feel like this now, how am I going to run a whole marathon? It was a good lesson though, because I realized we can't go walking around doing the tourists in Stockholm on the day before the marathon, we need to find an alternative.
The heat wasn't helping either, I called my husband to ask him to hand me another bottle of electrolyte at the end of my first lap (10km) and so we had a cute aid station simulation with the whole family. But it was hard, boy was it hard. At 14km I felt discouraged at the thought of being only half way, but still I kept on running.
I was even attacked multiple times by flocks of black insects about half an inch big, I went through them with my mouth sealed shut and waving my arms like mad... and I was not the only one having that problem.
My husband and kids found me once more around the 20K mark, and I asked to go fetch some more fluids so they didn't stay with me. There was also a dramatic moment when the last (and much looked forward to) gel didn't open properly and wouldn't let a single drop out... but I somehow managed to squeeze it open. Shortly after that the Garmin beeped to signal again low batteries, but at that point I was in a well known area so I more or less knew how much longer I had to run and it didn't bother me that much. The Garmin though, like me, kept on going hanging by a thread until the end.
I drank two full bottles in the last 4km, I was dragging myself one step at a time and my pace went down to a ridiculous 8:51min/km in the last kilometer, but I did it.
Lessons learnt:
- The Nike new t-shirt is too tight, I prefer the Saucony (the one in the picture here).
- Do not walk all day before a long run, or even worse before the marathon.
- Bring as many gels as my belt allows.
- These Maxim gels bounce in the belt compartments, but the bouncing is the least annoying solution (as compared to carrying them in my hands or stuffing them under the belt instead of in the compartments, I tried all that today).
- Two bottles are not enough even with the drink gels, must organize family aid stations for my last long run. During the marathon I will take a cup at every station.
33 days to go and I finished today's run in 3:33:21, I'll take that as a good sign.
Friday, April 27, 2012
New trails and new gels
The 5km jog on Wednesday has turned out to be uneventful the last few weeks, but not this week. I had an appointment to change the car tyres (we were still driving on winter tyres) and the idea was to go for those 5km instead of just waiting there for 45 minutes. The original plan was to go 2.5km down the road and back again, but already after 600m I was so bored that I jumped on the occasion of a bike trail into the woods. I had never been there, it was much "hillier" than the woods in our immediate surroundings, which is good for my training. And then there was this nice sandy slope...
You can't really tell from the picture, but it was about a 40° incline and deep sand for most of it. It was short, less than 50m I would say, but hard! I think it's a good place to do some repeat hill work, I will definitely go back there. I need to prepare for this monster bridge
You can't really tell from the picture, but it was about a 40° incline and deep sand for most of it. It was short, less than 50m I would say, but hard! I think it's a good place to do some repeat hill work, I will definitely go back there. I need to prepare for this monster bridge
+30m elevation in 1km (and the equally challenging descent), which will be crossed twice along the Stockholm Marathon course, at 8km and at 32km. And the rest of the course is also continuously going up and down so I really need some kind of hill work.
Thursday was another early morning run, I was out at 6:40am for my fast 12km. My husband signed up for the Eindhoven Marathon and he's a fan of GU Gels, so we bought a big box of Lemon Sublime flavour with the intention of sharing it if I liked it. I took one with me on this run because I didn't want to try it during the 28km, and I'm glad I did. I just can't stand the thick texture of these gels, I can foresee myself puking if I should try to gulp one down 30km into the marathon... drink gels it is for me. I couldn't get the one I had already tried a while ago (Dextro Energy Liquid Gel), so I ordered a nice supply of Maxim Gel Drink hoping the taste isn't horrible. Sponsoring works: Maxim is one of the sponsors of the Stockholm Marathon, they will offer Maxim Electrolyte drink along the course and Maxim Energy Bars at one aid station and this is one of the reasons for my preference, the others being availability and price.
This weekend I will be busy with the celebrations for my daughter's 4th birthday, so I will move the long run to Monday, which is a holiday here. Just two more long runs before the marathon: 28km and 32km...
Sunday, April 22, 2012
More bone cracking, an early morning run and a race
Looking back at it, this has been a week full of things to talk about!
Monday, the day after my 24km run, I had another session of bone cracking which left me sore and with a bruised back. Ouch.
Wednesday, 5km jog, nothing to report.
I was supposed to run 8km on Thursday but I had to move it to Friday and I also had to go out very early in the morning in order to be back by the time my husband had to go to work. It was very nice to be out so early, and watch the sun come up.
We were cutting the hills back and forth, so the winding lines of runners created a nice effect with their coloured t-shirts as little bright spots in the green and brown countryside.
This picture only gives a faint idea of what it was like (and you must see it full size even for that), as there are only very few runners in just one line. I was out for the race after all, not for a photoshoot! I have to say though that I am getting better at snapping pictures while just slowing down to a jog :-)
Around the 6km mark I decided to speed up a bit and I progressively increased my pace all the way up to the finish line, which I crossed in 1:00:39 (Garmin time). All in all I am very satisfied with this result, I was able to tackle the hills, navigate through the mud and face the wind without being knocked out. My picture may even end up on the event's website because I noticed a photographer and waved at him with a smile, and he followed me snapping away for a couple of meters. I couldn't help but keep smiling also in the final 500m, which were lined up with cheering spectators and a very loud band. If this was so nice, what will it be like to run the final 400m of a marathon in an Olympic stadium in front of thousands of people?
Monday, the day after my 24km run, I had another session of bone cracking which left me sore and with a bruised back. Ouch.
Wednesday, 5km jog, nothing to report.
I was supposed to run 8km on Thursday but I had to move it to Friday and I also had to go out very early in the morning in order to be back by the time my husband had to go to work. It was very nice to be out so early, and watch the sun come up.
When I got home I found out that my daughter (who had had a fever the previous day) was now full of tiny red spots, later identified as chickenpox by the doctor. I thought this would automatically rule out the 10K race today, but luckily she reacted well and has only been suffering from the itching, so we all went to the race. I had no idea how many people would participate, I was expecting about a thousand runners but it turned out to be a much smaller event. There were various distances (2,5km, 5km, 10km, 15km, plus 500m and 1000m for kids), and the participants in the 10K were only 199. The speaker was very excited to see in the list "some very exotic names" he wouldn't dare to pronounce... and he was most likely talking about me.
The weather was crazy, just like it's been for the past two weeks. One moment the sun is out and it's nice and warm (though still talking about just 9℃), then the sun goes into hiding behind the clouds with the wind blowing hard and you wish you had a winter coat on. You can imagine how unhappy all of us runners were when all lined up and ready to start we heard that we still had to wait another full 5 minutes... there was a general moan of disapproval.
My plan was to just enjoy the race, start easy, see what happened and maybe try to break the hour but without forcing it anyway.
The course was full of ups and downs on muddy hills, we've had very strong wind for most of the time and even some heavy rain... not the ideal conditions I would say! It was clear from the beginning that breaking the hour was going to be difficult, so I completely put that aside and I just focused on enjoying the race and trying to stay strong, in which I succeeded.  |
| Just before it poured |
We were cutting the hills back and forth, so the winding lines of runners created a nice effect with their coloured t-shirts as little bright spots in the green and brown countryside.
This picture only gives a faint idea of what it was like (and you must see it full size even for that), as there are only very few runners in just one line. I was out for the race after all, not for a photoshoot! I have to say though that I am getting better at snapping pictures while just slowing down to a jog :-)
Around the 6km mark I decided to speed up a bit and I progressively increased my pace all the way up to the finish line, which I crossed in 1:00:39 (Garmin time). All in all I am very satisfied with this result, I was able to tackle the hills, navigate through the mud and face the wind without being knocked out. My picture may even end up on the event's website because I noticed a photographer and waved at him with a smile, and he followed me snapping away for a couple of meters. I couldn't help but keep smiling also in the final 500m, which were lined up with cheering spectators and a very loud band. If this was so nice, what will it be like to run the final 400m of a marathon in an Olympic stadium in front of thousands of people?
Monday, April 16, 2012
24km
Yesterday evening my knees were killing me and I was dreading the moment when I would have to come down the stairs this morning. To my surprise, it was not as bad as I had feared. In fact it was even slightly better than yesterday so I think I can safely say that I survived my 24km run without injuries!
Now... back to yesterday. I managed to get out of bed when the alarm went off at 7am even though the night had been the roughest in a long time: both kids sleepless and a feverish feeling in my throat, which all together meant very little sleep. This was breakfast, together with a cup of coffee:
It was again cold and overcast, and forecast to stay so for the whole morning so no new t-shirt... long sleeves and gloves once more. I had a difficult run since the beginning, probably because of the lack of sleep (I was desperate for energy) and for sure because of the strong wind, but my mind was in a good state. For the first time I was talking out loud to myself during the last 3-4 kilometers, I really needed somebody to cheer me on and as there was no crowd around me... I did it myself. Luckily this won't be a problem in Stockholm!
I had a moment of rejoice at 21.1km, and the final 2km were the fastest of all.
No complaints from my joints nor from my muscles while I was running.
There are many theories and many different programs when it comes to marathon training, but everybody seems to agree on a few things about recovery from long runs:
I can't believe I only have two more long runs (28km and 32km) before tapering down!
10K race next Sunday, still have to decide what to do.
Now... back to yesterday. I managed to get out of bed when the alarm went off at 7am even though the night had been the roughest in a long time: both kids sleepless and a feverish feeling in my throat, which all together meant very little sleep. This was breakfast, together with a cup of coffee:
It was again cold and overcast, and forecast to stay so for the whole morning so no new t-shirt... long sleeves and gloves once more. I had a difficult run since the beginning, probably because of the lack of sleep (I was desperate for energy) and for sure because of the strong wind, but my mind was in a good state. For the first time I was talking out loud to myself during the last 3-4 kilometers, I really needed somebody to cheer me on and as there was no crowd around me... I did it myself. Luckily this won't be a problem in Stockholm!
I had a moment of rejoice at 21.1km, and the final 2km were the fastest of all.
No complaints from my joints nor from my muscles while I was running.
There are many theories and many different programs when it comes to marathon training, but everybody seems to agree on a few things about recovery from long runs:
- keep walking for 10 minutes after the finish line
- drink
- eat something soon (a banana and/or easy to digest carbs, like a recovery bar)
- do not get a massage for at least 2-3 hours (so why all the massage tents at marathons?)
- take a cold bath, or pour cold water on your legs
- don't sit or lie down for the rest of the day, as tempting as it may be
- have a good night's sleep
I can't believe I only have two more long runs (28km and 32km) before tapering down!
10K race next Sunday, still have to decide what to do.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Bad run, new shirt
So good was the 12K run last week, so bad it was this week. So bad that in fact it deserves a blog entry of its own.
It started going wrong already before I even laced up my shoes, as I had completely forgotten about my intent of running early in the morning and so I had to go once more with my son in the stroller. It was getting late so I skipped my warm up core strengthening exercises and I also didn't bring my drink, thinking that I could live without drinking for 12km on an overcast and cold day.
While I was preparing the stroller in the garden, my son ran off to the slide and proceeded to wipe it dry from all the raindrops with his butt, which meant that I had to go back inside and change all of his clothes. To add to the bad start he even fought being strapped in the stroller, which hardly ever happens. Were these all messages from the universe telling me to forget about running that day?
Already after the first steps I was regretting not doing the exercises, and from km 4 on I was badly missing my drink. The fact that I kept repeating to myself "this is a bad run, this is a bad run" didn't help either. It seemed as if all parts of my body were taking it in turns to send me disapproving messages: left shin, right knee, right hip, lower back, neck... only my hands were warm and happy in the gloves I had not forgotten to wear. Still, I kept on running.
One thing I have learnt about listening to your body is that it's like with babies: you need to be able to distinguish between simple whining and real crying. Yesterday the early whining was about to turn into real crying by the end of the second lap, so I stopped fighting against an inevitable positive split and decided to just jog for the last mile.
Things didn't stop going wrong though. My son had just fallen asleep when we got home and was really not happy about being awoken and taken out of the stroller, which resulted in a temper tantrum like only toddlers can have (luckily he's a quiet boy and it didn't last long).
And you think that's it? Nope. The icing on the cake... was the chewing gum under my shoe.
Only good news is that everything seems to be fine today, just fatigue even after the PT session yesterday afternoon. And with my new t-shirt (and one more on the way) I am ready for Sunday's 24km, I hope the weather will be kind enough for me to wear it!
Nothing to report about the 5K jog on Wednesday.
It started going wrong already before I even laced up my shoes, as I had completely forgotten about my intent of running early in the morning and so I had to go once more with my son in the stroller. It was getting late so I skipped my warm up core strengthening exercises and I also didn't bring my drink, thinking that I could live without drinking for 12km on an overcast and cold day.
While I was preparing the stroller in the garden, my son ran off to the slide and proceeded to wipe it dry from all the raindrops with his butt, which meant that I had to go back inside and change all of his clothes. To add to the bad start he even fought being strapped in the stroller, which hardly ever happens. Were these all messages from the universe telling me to forget about running that day?
Already after the first steps I was regretting not doing the exercises, and from km 4 on I was badly missing my drink. The fact that I kept repeating to myself "this is a bad run, this is a bad run" didn't help either. It seemed as if all parts of my body were taking it in turns to send me disapproving messages: left shin, right knee, right hip, lower back, neck... only my hands were warm and happy in the gloves I had not forgotten to wear. Still, I kept on running.
One thing I have learnt about listening to your body is that it's like with babies: you need to be able to distinguish between simple whining and real crying. Yesterday the early whining was about to turn into real crying by the end of the second lap, so I stopped fighting against an inevitable positive split and decided to just jog for the last mile.
Things didn't stop going wrong though. My son had just fallen asleep when we got home and was really not happy about being awoken and taken out of the stroller, which resulted in a temper tantrum like only toddlers can have (luckily he's a quiet boy and it didn't last long).
And you think that's it? Nope. The icing on the cake... was the chewing gum under my shoe.
Only good news is that everything seems to be fine today, just fatigue even after the PT session yesterday afternoon. And with my new t-shirt (and one more on the way) I am ready for Sunday's 24km, I hope the weather will be kind enough for me to wear it!
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| Orange! |
Nothing to report about the 5K jog on Wednesday.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Exploring the woods
Looks like winter doesn't really want to give in to spring yet. This week has been quite cold, with minimum temperatures again below freezing. As a result, I arrived home today after my 12km run with a very, very, very cold right hand... for some reason we refuse to acknowledge the cold in April when it has already been warm enough to wear shorts and t-shirts, so I had gone out with capri's and t-shirt when in fact it would have been appropriate to wear long pants, long sleeves and even gloves.
Going back to the beginning of the week... nothing to report about the 5km jog alone on Wednesday, while on Thursday the 12km fast with my son in the stroller was interesting. First of all I realized that now I prefer to run alone so starting next week I will try to run early in the morning, before my husband leaves for work. As for the workout itself, I started slow and increased my speed in the second half, achieving a spectacular negative split and even my PB on the 10K, if we consider the last 10km (1:02:03, I'm a slow runner). Maybe I could aim at breaking the hour barrier in the 10K race on the 22nd, since recovery after this run was not a problem at all. And how much time is the combination "stroller + one kid" worth? The thing is... I am confident I have it in my legs to run a 10K in less than one hour, but at this moment it is not my primary goal and I don't want this to interfere with my marathon training. I still have time to decide what to do for this upcoming race, exactly two weeks.
Today I had a comfortable 12km in my plan and for the first time I decided to just go wandering in the woods without a planned route, after all I always end up taking a wrong turn so it's not really worth it! It was a lot of fun, I had a general idea of where I wanted to go and I just kept zig-zagging across the forest, with this beautiful view
Going back to the beginning of the week... nothing to report about the 5km jog alone on Wednesday, while on Thursday the 12km fast with my son in the stroller was interesting. First of all I realized that now I prefer to run alone so starting next week I will try to run early in the morning, before my husband leaves for work. As for the workout itself, I started slow and increased my speed in the second half, achieving a spectacular negative split and even my PB on the 10K, if we consider the last 10km (1:02:03, I'm a slow runner). Maybe I could aim at breaking the hour barrier in the 10K race on the 22nd, since recovery after this run was not a problem at all. And how much time is the combination "stroller + one kid" worth? The thing is... I am confident I have it in my legs to run a 10K in less than one hour, but at this moment it is not my primary goal and I don't want this to interfere with my marathon training. I still have time to decide what to do for this upcoming race, exactly two weeks.
Today I had a comfortable 12km in my plan and for the first time I decided to just go wandering in the woods without a planned route, after all I always end up taking a wrong turn so it's not really worth it! It was a lot of fun, I had a general idea of where I wanted to go and I just kept zig-zagging across the forest, with this beautiful view
very early in the run, a couple of dead-ends, many unknown paths and lots of sand between my toes. At some point I even ended up in an open field with a few horses... This was my route in the forest:
A bit more than half of the 12km were on paths and trails in the forest, I have to get there and back and even though it's relatively close it still eats up a big chunk of the distance. Next time that I have a short run on Sunday I will go with the car to another part of this forest and I will run it all on paths and trails. This will have to wait until May though, because I have 24km planned for next Sunday, the 10K race on the 22nd and 28km on the 29th. I'm busy!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
22469
Lots of info released today about the Stockholm Marathon!
I will be (as predictable, having no previous marathon records) in the last of the 6 starting pens, which is good because it will help me start slow. Not that I plan on passing many people anyway...
There will be refreshment stations about every 3km, which means I really don't need to bring any drink myself. I was considering bringing one bottle in my belt just in case, but with water and energy drinks every 3km it really is unnecessary.
They will also have "energy stations":
- 21km: Pickled gherkins from Brinks (who/what Brinks is and why on earth would anyone want to eat pickles during a marathon, I don't know).
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| Got cravings? |
- 28km: Maxim energy bars - interesting, but I don't think I'll want to try anything new during the marathon. Maybe I should buy some of these bars and try them while I still can.
- 32km: vegetable stock - again... why?
- 36km: a cola soft drink - caffeine, anyone?
- 39km: Dextro Energy dextrose - now this is good! I hope they will still have some by the time I get there.
- 17km, 27km and 37km: good old bananas.
Runners must be in their pens at the latest 15 minutes before the start. Those are going to be 15 VERY stressful minutes.
Top runners will start 10 minutes earlier. I need to re-do the calculations, but I think this means that they will pass me around the end of my first lap, close to the finish for them. Nice!
Every runner gets a sponge that can be used during the race "to refresh yourself at the sponge stations". By dipping it in a barrel in which thousands of runners before me have dipped theirs? No, thanks.
Every runner will receive their registration card by mail in late April, it's good they are not mailing them out at the last moment but I still would have preferred to pick it up myself.
And there's a lot more, but this is the most important stuff.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Half marathon!
There are many milestones in long distance running: the first 10 miles, the first race, the first bloody sock, the first black toenail... and on and on. I have already crossed out the first race 5 years ago when I did not consider myself a runner at all, I recently crossed out the first time I ran 10 miles and the first bloody sock, and I will happily pass on the first black toenail if possible. Today, I can cross out an important milestone: my first half marathon. Ok, it was not a race so I should say that it was the first time I ran the distance of a half marathon, but you will all agree that it would sound too cumbersome... right?
I had a 20km run in my program, and as I had already announced I would do, I added two walking stretches as warm up and cool down so that I could reach the distance. In fact I ended up covering more than 21.1km because again I took a wrong turn. Two actually. I wonder why I even bother planning these runs in the woods if I always end up taking wrong turns!
The Stockholm Marathon course consists of two laps around the city center: the first 16.6km and the second 25.6km. To get used to this I have decided to do the same for all of my upcoming runs above 10 miles: a first lap of about 40% of the total distance and a longer second lap to complete the distance, which is incidentally why it would be nice to be able to map each run and follow the plan. I also decided to follow my doctor's advice and include longer stretches in the woods, as a substitute for hill training (I live in the Netherlands, you know?).
Last night the temperature dropped below freezing again so when I went out this morning it was not warm enough to wear shorts, but the day turned out to be a very nice one and there were only plane wakes in the sky...
I drank some isotonic drink every 5km, except at 10km when I drank a new liquid energy gel. I liked it! You don't need to drink water with it as it's much more fluid than the standard energy gel, and it also had a nice taste so I think I don't need to experiment further: I've found my energy source for during the marathon. Maybe after this one I will try something new, but with just two months (and one day) to go I want to establish my long run routine and get used to it.
I had a 20km run in my program, and as I had already announced I would do, I added two walking stretches as warm up and cool down so that I could reach the distance. In fact I ended up covering more than 21.1km because again I took a wrong turn. Two actually. I wonder why I even bother planning these runs in the woods if I always end up taking wrong turns!
The Stockholm Marathon course consists of two laps around the city center: the first 16.6km and the second 25.6km. To get used to this I have decided to do the same for all of my upcoming runs above 10 miles: a first lap of about 40% of the total distance and a longer second lap to complete the distance, which is incidentally why it would be nice to be able to map each run and follow the plan. I also decided to follow my doctor's advice and include longer stretches in the woods, as a substitute for hill training (I live in the Netherlands, you know?).
Last night the temperature dropped below freezing again so when I went out this morning it was not warm enough to wear shorts, but the day turned out to be a very nice one and there were only plane wakes in the sky...
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| A different perspective on asparagi fields |
I felt great during the whole run, and the beginning of the second lap was made easy by my whole family meeting me there to cheer me on, all three of them on my bike. They couldn't follow me in the woods but they also found me in other places along the course, it was very nice.
The last two kilometers were the fastest of all and the average pace was faster than the recommended pace in my plan. I was a bit afraid the recommended race pace could be too fast (20 seconds faster than long distance training pace), but now I'm confident I can do it. Confidence is a good thing :-)
Friday, March 30, 2012
Cracked bones
Friday, two days before my first "half marathon", and I feel like somebody cracked every single vertebra of my spine. Oh wait, that's exactly what happened!
Yesterday I ran 12km 'fast' (5km jog on Wednesday) and for pretty much the whole distance I felt something wrong in my right hip, with every single step. It was not painful and I continued running, even though I did consider stopping to prevent it from getting worse.
I mentioned this at the follow up appointment with the sports doctor in the afternoon, and he agreed with me that we should fix this before it becomes a problem with the longer distances. During the visit he also realized that my neck is pretty much screwed (car crash 10 years ago), so he offered me a complete re-design of my spine. Ignoring my daughter's protests ("You don't write on people, you can only write on paper!") he proceeded to mark every single vertebra and then started the procedure, which will take another 5-6 sessions to be completed. He said this will even fix my neck... I will be forever grateful if it really does. I've been living with pain and limited mobility every single day of my life since July 17th 2002, I can't explain with words what it would mean to have a healthy neck again.
He had warned me I could feel dizzy and broken, and I certainly did. Let's see what happens on Sunday!
ps: I'm not a hunchback, I was bending forward for the picture
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| Body paint |
I mentioned this at the follow up appointment with the sports doctor in the afternoon, and he agreed with me that we should fix this before it becomes a problem with the longer distances. During the visit he also realized that my neck is pretty much screwed (car crash 10 years ago), so he offered me a complete re-design of my spine. Ignoring my daughter's protests ("You don't write on people, you can only write on paper!") he proceeded to mark every single vertebra and then started the procedure, which will take another 5-6 sessions to be completed. He said this will even fix my neck... I will be forever grateful if it really does. I've been living with pain and limited mobility every single day of my life since July 17th 2002, I can't explain with words what it would mean to have a healthy neck again.
He had warned me I could feel dizzy and broken, and I certainly did. Let's see what happens on Sunday!
ps: I'm not a hunchback, I was bending forward for the picture
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday: Half-marathon!
Looks like spring has arrived with perfect timing, it's been wonderful running weather the whole week with clear sunny skies and temperatures between 8℃ and 15℃ (at least during my runs). I also ran alone all three times, which is a rare bonus.
There's not much else to say about the weekday runs: 8km easy on Wednesday and 5km jog on Saturday.
Sunday on the other hand has been a full day: I went out early for my 12km, as my husband had to run his traditional half-marathon (it's the 4th year in a row) later in the day. Luckily I decided to wear my capri's instead of the shorts because it was not that warm after all! The sun was still pretty low when I went out and later on some clouds were veiling it, so in the end I had very cold and red hands, though the rest of my body was fine.
And then it was time for my husband's half marathon, which for me meant a lot of standing (4 hours with very few breaks) and a lot of walking (6km), I am very happy this didn't happen after a longer run.
He was aiming for 1:40 but it was quite warm when they were running, much warmer in fact than in the training days so his 1:42:20 is a very good time and most importantly he was not broken at the finish line. I'm very proud of him!
And next Sunday it's my turn for a half-marathon... almost. I have a 20K scheduled, but I think I will add a 500m walk warm up and cool down at the beginning and at the end, just to make the distance ;-)
Last piece of news: I signed up for a 10K on the 22nd of April! This will be my second ever race, the first being a 5K almost five years ago. I knew that inserting a race in the training program would have been a good thing to do, but after being immersed in the runners crowd on Sunday I realized it was something I simply had to do before the marathon. You can't simulate race-day adrenaline during training.
There's not much else to say about the weekday runs: 8km easy on Wednesday and 5km jog on Saturday.
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| Asparagi fields /2 |
Sunday on the other hand has been a full day: I went out early for my 12km, as my husband had to run his traditional half-marathon (it's the 4th year in a row) later in the day. Luckily I decided to wear my capri's instead of the shorts because it was not that warm after all! The sun was still pretty low when I went out and later on some clouds were veiling it, so in the end I had very cold and red hands, though the rest of my body was fine.
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| Do they know it's Easter time at all? |
And then it was time for my husband's half marathon, which for me meant a lot of standing (4 hours with very few breaks) and a lot of walking (6km), I am very happy this didn't happen after a longer run.
He was aiming for 1:40 but it was quite warm when they were running, much warmer in fact than in the training days so his 1:42:20 is a very good time and most importantly he was not broken at the finish line. I'm very proud of him!
And next Sunday it's my turn for a half-marathon... almost. I have a 20K scheduled, but I think I will add a 500m walk warm up and cool down at the beginning and at the end, just to make the distance ;-)
Last piece of news: I signed up for a 10K on the 22nd of April! This will be my second ever race, the first being a 5K almost five years ago. I knew that inserting a race in the training program would have been a good thing to do, but after being immersed in the runners crowd on Sunday I realized it was something I simply had to do before the marathon. You can't simulate race-day adrenaline during training.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Stress, spring, struggle
Tuesday: 8km, fast.
I really didn't want to go out. My legs were still paying for the race simulation on Sunday, and on top of that on Monday I had had a strength training session at physio, mainly with heavy resistance biking and squats with weights. Muscles were hurting that I didn't even know I had.
Still, I strapped both kids in the stroller and I went out. It was cold-ish, cloudy and a bit windy. For the first time, I was painfully aware of how heavy the stroller is with both kids inside it and I was having a hard time pushing it. Add to all this the contribution of my crankily hyper daughter who was either singing the same line ("shut your eyes and sing to me") over and over again or somehow annoying my son and making him cry, and you get the picture of a quite stressful run. I even had to stop twice to cross the road and twice to check what was going on in the stroller, and it surely didn't help.
Thursday: 8km, fast.
The second run for this week was scheduled on Friday, but I couldn't pass on the chance to run on a perfect spring day with only my son in the stroller.
Needless to say, it was a completely different experience. I really enjoyed this run and I am looking forward to more of the same kind.
Sunday: 16km.
Same weather conditions of Tuesday, with a much stronger wind. My average pace ended up being 10sec/km faster than two weeks ago but I don't think this is what made it so much harder. I took (read: "stole from the kids") two of these
Looks like my joint troubles have shifted from the left to the right side: for the first 3km there was something wrong with my right ankle, then with my right knee for another couple of kilometers. From about half-way on I could (already!) feel the fatigue in both knees. I suspect this could be linked to the route, as I ran on trails more than I'm used to and actually more than I had planned to do.
The sun peeked through the clouds for two vital minutes and its warm smile gave me a much needed bit of encouragement to finish my run.
I really didn't want to go out. My legs were still paying for the race simulation on Sunday, and on top of that on Monday I had had a strength training session at physio, mainly with heavy resistance biking and squats with weights. Muscles were hurting that I didn't even know I had.
Still, I strapped both kids in the stroller and I went out. It was cold-ish, cloudy and a bit windy. For the first time, I was painfully aware of how heavy the stroller is with both kids inside it and I was having a hard time pushing it. Add to all this the contribution of my crankily hyper daughter who was either singing the same line ("shut your eyes and sing to me") over and over again or somehow annoying my son and making him cry, and you get the picture of a quite stressful run. I even had to stop twice to cross the road and twice to check what was going on in the stroller, and it surely didn't help.
Thursday: 8km, fast.
The second run for this week was scheduled on Friday, but I couldn't pass on the chance to run on a perfect spring day with only my son in the stroller.
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| Asparagi fields |
Sunday: 16km.
Same weather conditions of Tuesday, with a much stronger wind. My average pace ended up being 10sec/km faster than two weeks ago but I don't think this is what made it so much harder. I took (read: "stole from the kids") two of these
instead of the energy gel, and anyway lack of physical energy has not been an issue thanks to a good breakfast.
Looks like my joint troubles have shifted from the left to the right side: for the first 3km there was something wrong with my right ankle, then with my right knee for another couple of kilometers. From about half-way on I could (already!) feel the fatigue in both knees. I suspect this could be linked to the route, as I ran on trails more than I'm used to and actually more than I had planned to do.
The sun peeked through the clouds for two vital minutes and its warm smile gave me a much needed bit of encouragement to finish my run.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Wind and shorts
This past was a "cut back" week, with mixed feelings and varied runs. The workouts were also scheduled in a strange way, on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. I was not sure about the two consecutive days, but I was thankful for an extra day of rest after the 16K.
Wednesday: 8km "fast".
I have never liked wind. When I played tennis I could stand any weather condition from hot to cold, even the light misty rain didn't bother me much (outdoor tennis doesn't work with heavy rain, you know), but the wind... I hated that. Made playing almost impossible, took control of the ball and of the game. And it even gave me headaches.
Well, Wednesday was definitely a windy day, and I found out that I don't like wind any more now than I did back then. Luckily the pace in my training program was very relaxed and not really reflecting my current ability so what defined "fast" there was actually quite comfortable, but boy was it mentally hard. I kept checking the Garmin to see how long I still had to go, with that anxiety (and frequency of the question) also typical of young children on long journeys... "are we there yet?"
Saturday: 5km jog.
Uneventful run, really. A bit boring even. I kept telling myself that this was just a warm up for Sunday's run, or I would have sped up too much to get it over with as soon as possible.
Actually, I have to report that this uneventful and boring run led to a milestone: my first bloody sock :-p
Sunday: 8km, race simulation.
This was supposed to be just "fast", but I decided to do a sort of race simulation and test myself in order to later recalculate the pace in my training program. It was a beautiful clear day, temperature in the double digits (just 10℃, but those are indeed two digits, aren't they?) already early in the morning and, most importantly, without wind. I put on shorts and t-shirt for the first time this year, and off I went. I was surprised to see that none of the other runners I met had opted for shorts, but I was glad I had. I tried to run reasonably fast, let's say half way between comfort and puking limit... it was not the ultimate race after all and I still need to be gentle with my joints.
Looking back at the data, I can say that I managed my energies pretty wisely: I ran with a negative split and the last km was the fastest of all, with a pace 25 to 39 seconds faster than the other segments.
And I still managed to smile :-)
Wednesday: 8km "fast".
I have never liked wind. When I played tennis I could stand any weather condition from hot to cold, even the light misty rain didn't bother me much (outdoor tennis doesn't work with heavy rain, you know), but the wind... I hated that. Made playing almost impossible, took control of the ball and of the game. And it even gave me headaches.
Well, Wednesday was definitely a windy day, and I found out that I don't like wind any more now than I did back then. Luckily the pace in my training program was very relaxed and not really reflecting my current ability so what defined "fast" there was actually quite comfortable, but boy was it mentally hard. I kept checking the Garmin to see how long I still had to go, with that anxiety (and frequency of the question) also typical of young children on long journeys... "are we there yet?"
Saturday: 5km jog.
Uneventful run, really. A bit boring even. I kept telling myself that this was just a warm up for Sunday's run, or I would have sped up too much to get it over with as soon as possible.
Actually, I have to report that this uneventful and boring run led to a milestone: my first bloody sock :-p
Sunday: 8km, race simulation.
This was supposed to be just "fast", but I decided to do a sort of race simulation and test myself in order to later recalculate the pace in my training program. It was a beautiful clear day, temperature in the double digits (just 10℃, but those are indeed two digits, aren't they?) already early in the morning and, most importantly, without wind. I put on shorts and t-shirt for the first time this year, and off I went. I was surprised to see that none of the other runners I met had opted for shorts, but I was glad I had. I tried to run reasonably fast, let's say half way between comfort and puking limit... it was not the ultimate race after all and I still need to be gentle with my joints.
Looking back at the data, I can say that I managed my energies pretty wisely: I ran with a negative split and the last km was the fastest of all, with a pace 25 to 39 seconds faster than the other segments.
And I still managed to smile :-)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Unknown territory
I went into unknown territory today, in every sense.
I was not sure I would complete the 16km I had scheduled, I didn't want to push myself too far and I knew that also 14km would have been good, since next long run is again 16km. I had planned on doing a 12km route and then just add one or two 2km laps in my neighbourhood, but around the 8km mark I knew it was going to be all right so I went for an unplanned detour in the woods.
I ran on unknown trails, discovered a place where they apparently train dogs, and went by a few of these piles of recently cut timber. They were quite high and I can see why somebody found it necessary to explicitly forbid climbing...
At 10km I had my first ever energy gel (Power Bar Gel - lemon/lime), and was surprised by how salty and sticky it was. Eeeeewww! Why did I buy three of those?
It's weird, as I think back now I can only remember very few things of today's run, I was so focused on listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that I didn't even realize I was running. I was fully aware though of the fact that this was going to be my longest run so far without regular walk breaks.
At some point around the 12km mark I was feeling tired and I was starting to talk myself into accepting that 14km was also good, when I realized I had started to hunch forward. I straightened up, tightened my newly found abdominal muscles and focused on keeping a straight posture and what do you know... 500m and it was like the tiredness had been wiped away from my body. All those core strengthening exercises are paying off!
I continued for the last km in my neighbourhood and ran into my family at the little park close to home, and even had my daughter run next to me for a few meters, which was sweet :-)
Another 500m or so of walking after having stopped the Garmin at 16.01km and then I was home, pleasantly surprised at how easy it had been and how good I was feeling, but nonetheless aware that there was still time for problems to arise. Ten hours have passed since then, and I am only feeling (rightfully, I would add) tired, knees a bit sore but it's not a worrisome tiredness, just the kind you feel when you've been on your feet for a long time (U2 GA, anyone?).
Let's see now when I will stop worrying about injuries and start enjoying the running again!
I was not sure I would complete the 16km I had scheduled, I didn't want to push myself too far and I knew that also 14km would have been good, since next long run is again 16km. I had planned on doing a 12km route and then just add one or two 2km laps in my neighbourhood, but around the 8km mark I knew it was going to be all right so I went for an unplanned detour in the woods.
I ran on unknown trails, discovered a place where they apparently train dogs, and went by a few of these piles of recently cut timber. They were quite high and I can see why somebody found it necessary to explicitly forbid climbing...
At 10km I had my first ever energy gel (Power Bar Gel - lemon/lime), and was surprised by how salty and sticky it was. Eeeeewww! Why did I buy three of those?
It's weird, as I think back now I can only remember very few things of today's run, I was so focused on listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that I didn't even realize I was running. I was fully aware though of the fact that this was going to be my longest run so far without regular walk breaks.
At some point around the 12km mark I was feeling tired and I was starting to talk myself into accepting that 14km was also good, when I realized I had started to hunch forward. I straightened up, tightened my newly found abdominal muscles and focused on keeping a straight posture and what do you know... 500m and it was like the tiredness had been wiped away from my body. All those core strengthening exercises are paying off!
I continued for the last km in my neighbourhood and ran into my family at the little park close to home, and even had my daughter run next to me for a few meters, which was sweet :-)
Another 500m or so of walking after having stopped the Garmin at 16.01km and then I was home, pleasantly surprised at how easy it had been and how good I was feeling, but nonetheless aware that there was still time for problems to arise. Ten hours have passed since then, and I am only feeling (rightfully, I would add) tired, knees a bit sore but it's not a worrisome tiredness, just the kind you feel when you've been on your feet for a long time (U2 GA, anyone?).
Let's see now when I will stop worrying about injuries and start enjoying the running again!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
8+8=16?
I had a big scare today. Last Thursday I had emailed the Stockholm Marathon organization to ask what my options were in case I could not run this year, and today I got a reply:
"Hi,
I have cancel you and i will refund 85 euro to your visacard that you pay with.
Regards
Pamela W."
[name edited]
Panic. No phone number to call, no personal email, just that "info" address. I sent three short emails in about 6 minutes, the first one sounding something like "hey, that's not what I asked!", the second one "HEY! I WANT BACK IN!!!", the third one "listen, please read my first email, I didn't ask you to be canceled". I was shaking head to toes. My name did not appear anymore in the marathon start list.
I had a phone number of another person in the organization, I called, she gave me the email address of Mrs. Pamela W. and promised me she would also call her. After 58 minutes of nothing from them, my name finally appeared again in the start list, and shortly after that Mrs. Pamela emailed me that I was registered again for the marathon. Note: my original question remains unanswered, but after today I will just assume that the only option is a partial refund, I will not dare email them again.
"Hi,
I have cancel you and i will refund 85 euro to your visacard that you pay with.
Regards
Pamela W."
[name edited]
Panic. No phone number to call, no personal email, just that "info" address. I sent three short emails in about 6 minutes, the first one sounding something like "hey, that's not what I asked!", the second one "HEY! I WANT BACK IN!!!", the third one "listen, please read my first email, I didn't ask you to be canceled". I was shaking head to toes. My name did not appear anymore in the marathon start list.
I had a phone number of another person in the organization, I called, she gave me the email address of Mrs. Pamela W. and promised me she would also call her. After 58 minutes of nothing from them, my name finally appeared again in the start list, and shortly after that Mrs. Pamela emailed me that I was registered again for the marathon. Note: my original question remains unanswered, but after today I will just assume that the only option is a partial refund, I will not dare email them again.
The training week: even with my sore knees after Saturday's 12km I had no problems standing (and jumping and dancing) for hours on Sunday at a rock concert. On Monday I had the second appointment with the sports doc, who took notice of the changes and proceeded to do some manipulation of knees and hips. Given the good results with the shoe inserts and the core strengthening exercises, he gave me the ok to keep training for the marathon this year, and see what happens. Happy me!!!
Before going out on Tuesday for my scheduled 8km I was afraid it would be too much, I was going to decide on the spot whether to run the whole distance or cut it short. And... it was a breeze. I have never felt so stable while running, and of course I had no idea I was so unstable before! I was able to keep a faster pace (following the indications of my training program) without any problem. I believe that running the last km slower to allow for a better cool down also helped a lot, so I will always make sure I have a cool down phase at the end of every run from now on.
Only thing to notice: after a few hours my right Achilles tendon was hurting quite a bit, and also the top of my left ankle whenever I flexed my foot (pulling toes towards leg). 24 hours (and some NSAID cream) later, it was all good again.
Another 8km run today, with no problems. All joints are good as of now.
So... this Sunday I have a 16km run scheduled. That's a pretty steep increase from last Saturday's 12km and it's going to be my second longest run ever, the longest one being the 17km that tipped my left knee over the edge in December (and that was with regular walk breaks). Wish me luck people, I feel this is an important test for me and it will have a big influence on my chances of running the marathon this year.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
12km
I knew there was a hammer waiting to fall after Sunday's 10km. My knee started acting up at night, when I got up to assist my son: I got out of bed and it was kind of stuck for a few minutes, and the same happened in the morning again. This didn't happen again during the week, instead I had a pinpoint pain behind the knee cap which on Thursday my PT attributed to irritated cartilage. If I'm not mistaken, this should be what's also known as "runner's knee".
I didn't run for the whole week but I got the thumbs up to do it as long as I stayed pain-free, so I went out today for the 12km I had scheduled for tomorrow with little hope of completing the whole workout. To my surprise, I had no problems and was able to run the distance pain-free, with just very minor signals from my right foot first and from my right hip later. Both lasted for about one km each, and I think this may be connected to the inserts. I now feel like the right one may be a bit too high under the ball of my foot, I'll talk about it with the sports doc on Monday.
Got home and everything was good, and it stayed so until I made what I now believe was a mistake: I spent some minutes on my knees while bathing my son. I can't say if it started right when I got up or shortly after that, but now both of my knees (left more than right) hurt in a new spot: inner side, below knee cap, on what I just learnt is called the medial condyle of the tibia. As always, let's wait and see what happens tomorrow.
This week I sent that email to ask the Stockholm Marathon organizers what my options are if I can't run it this year, but I got no reply so far.
I'll keep going on with my program as long as it works (and this week it got very close to failing), but I already have a plan B: half marathon in October and Stockholm Marathon 2013. Like this I should be able to increase the mileage very gradually, which may be what my body is asking me to do already now... I guess I just need to hear it one more time.
I didn't run for the whole week but I got the thumbs up to do it as long as I stayed pain-free, so I went out today for the 12km I had scheduled for tomorrow with little hope of completing the whole workout. To my surprise, I had no problems and was able to run the distance pain-free, with just very minor signals from my right foot first and from my right hip later. Both lasted for about one km each, and I think this may be connected to the inserts. I now feel like the right one may be a bit too high under the ball of my foot, I'll talk about it with the sports doc on Monday.
Got home and everything was good, and it stayed so until I made what I now believe was a mistake: I spent some minutes on my knees while bathing my son. I can't say if it started right when I got up or shortly after that, but now both of my knees (left more than right) hurt in a new spot: inner side, below knee cap, on what I just learnt is called the medial condyle of the tibia. As always, let's wait and see what happens tomorrow.
This week I sent that email to ask the Stockholm Marathon organizers what my options are if I can't run it this year, but I got no reply so far.
I'll keep going on with my program as long as it works (and this week it got very close to failing), but I already have a plan B: half marathon in October and Stockholm Marathon 2013. Like this I should be able to increase the mileage very gradually, which may be what my body is asking me to do already now... I guess I just need to hear it one more time.
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