Four weeks have passed since the last post - and at the time of writing it is just under four weeks until start number 24848 is pinned to the chest in Valencia! Time really flies when you're having fun! What has happened on the running front since the last time? Yes, there is quite a lot and which I will briefly share below. And like most things in life, not everything here goes 100% according to plan. But, but... there's a race then and I'm going to Valencia.
Competitions are something I really like, and this year there will be at least 18 of them! Competitions are fun in themselves - good atmosphere and lots of like-minded people with whom you can share good experiences. Furthermore, competitions are a very good opportunity to test your own form and especially if you train specifically towards some big goals. But competitions can also be used as part of a training plan towards a larger goal. In competitions, you get the opportunity to run in a field, you get trained to drink along the way and you get to experience the help of the adrenaline that pumps into the blood! Then a training session becomes very much like the competition you have to complete. It doesn't get any better! And perhaps the very best: you don't have to go to the basement either, as new PR is not necessarily the goal.
The competition chosen can be 1) a shorter distance where you run at speed (=faster than current competition speed) to provide good speed training, or 2) the same distance if training to stand the distance is the key. For the latter, you naturally run somewhat more calmly than the plan for the big day!
For my part, the 11 specific marathon training weeks against Valencia consist of the following three races:
I have participated in theHytteplanmila for several years and it is a race I like. So it just has to be included - regardless of whether it would have fit in or not. It provides a fun break in the training weeks, and is a "good session" at a good speed and to test your fitness well. The race was 6 weeks before Valencia. For a long time, I was a little unsure whether I should top my form up against Hytteplan, i.e. lower the number of km that week to be able to run for a PR. Alternatively, if it should only come as a good "interval session" on Saturday. I landed on something in between. Neither bird nor fish. Rather, I chose to see it as both bird and fish. Reduce the number of kilometers on Thursday and Friday. The target was 37:00, while the PR is 36:58 from the Record Run from May. The legs were surprisingly light, but I was unsure about that my legs were a bit heavy from training, but I ran reasonably controlled in 37:02. Super satisfied. Better shape made up for slightly heavy legs! But: a little stick out on PR, and even more stick out on sub37, BUT the most important thing was the signal that the form is good and especially in terms of. that I it went controlled. Sure! I was really tired, but if the goal was 15 seconds faster, I would have fixed it. So it was a good race and a very good session.
But the weekend before the Hytteplanmila, I ran the Record race Lier. Then the 5 km distance (they also had 10 and 21.1 km). The objective here was just to get some real speed in the legs again, and especially since the marathon training did not contain very much high speed. The time was 18:08, a long way from the PR, and it wasn't meant to go for it either... and I wouldn't have been close with so little speed training either!
The most important race during the run-up to Valencia is clearly Jessheim Winter Marathon on Sunday 13 November – three weeks before the starting shot hits the south. 10, 21.1 and 42.2 km are organized. After listening for many hours to NRK's podcast "I Det Lange Løp", I have noticed that a "golden rule" is to complete the last proper long trip (34-38ish km) approx. 3 weeks before the marathon. So the Jessheim Winter Marathon fits in perfectly. Have considered running the marathon distance, but at a somewhat slower speed than the finish in Valencia... naturally! But at Jessheim it still won't be 42.2 km, and that's because...
... after many good weeks of steady training of 110-115 km, and with good management and intensity control, I probably got a little high on myself after the Hytteplanmila. It went so well, so I guess I've got a good machine then, so just keep on enjoying it... But of course not... I should have known better! The problem (I thought) was that since I reduced the number of km in the two days towards Hytteplan', I felt so fresh (perhaps the coolest) on Sunday that I first went on a leisurely 5k morning walk and then a long walk on the afternoon of 23k. Calm enough. Went well! Followed up with a pace session to Bislett on Tuesday (10k) before 13k with intervals there. Went well! Still cool.
On Thursdays, I ran long intervals, so I finished with 10 x 2000m + a good up/down jog. Easy interval Saturday, still cool. Sunday is the day for long rides, and the plan was 30k progressive on Frognerkilen. Suddenly not cool anymore! The gait hoards almost from the start, but I hoped it would give way when they warmed up. Didn't do it! Gave me at 23k. And has been partially tired/tender/stiff in the hamstring since. Damn it! Not cool, just stupid! Thought I knew better! But – learning all the way here!
The rest of that week was calmer than desired, and no progressive long rides of or over 30k that I had needed. Sneaked in a good 20k session, and a quiet long walk in the forest this Sunday. This is the reason why I don't dare to drive 42.2km at Jessheim, but instead report 21.1km. Then I mill an extra round if the legs have recovered.
This week, and the following weeks, I am therefore adjusting my plans somewhat. Five days calm, one day long interval and one day long ride at pace. For me, there is clearly the most to gain from being able to stand the distance! Perhaps more correctly written: keep your distance as long as possible. Good threshold training to scare the threshold speed up 1 s/km, or at best 2, it gives a minute or so faster running time. Do I freeze completely on e.g. at 32 km instead of at 40 km... yes, then we are quickly talking several minutes of difference. So long trips become the most important - for me as for everyone else who is preparing for the marathon!!
This week there will therefore be no running today (!!) and a quiet short jog + some uphill runs on Tuesday and Wednesday to soften the legs. Then I'll have to hope they're not long-sour.
We're running, Nicco!