The Helsinki Sanomat ran yesterday an article on Alexander Stubb, Finland’s minister of foreign affairs, that he’s going to start in the Berlin Marathon in the front row next to Haile Gebreselassie. This was agreed with Haile apparently when Alexander visited Addis Abeba earlier this year. This way Finland has at least one runner in the front row. With the Berlin Marathon one of the best in Europe on several dimensions, there certainly are more Finns in the rows further back.
In order to get some visibility and support from the audience, you Alex could manage to get us some cool Finland running shirts. Finland’s brand value is quite high up in Germany (Pisa results, untouched nature and lakes, good looking people, individualism). I for instance was planning to run in the shirt of a former athletic club I was a member of, Hammarby Stockholm. It’s the most light-weight shirt I have. But a nice thin Finland running shirt would get higher prio. Then in the finish we could gather around and take a “Team Finland” picture, let’s say at around 3:30 - 3:45h after start.
Think it over. Finland’s long distance running scene could need whatever support it can get. Every small piece of visibility and cool experiences help. Btw, at the start, have a look around, we might meet there.
today’s training: morning 9,4km active relaxation; afternoon 6km, 4km (both 3:39min/km), 1km (3:18min/km) tempo runs, 18.5km including warm up + cool down, 28km altogether
Tags: berlin-marathon
13 degrees Celsius in the morning while on the way to work, just below 20 degrees during the day. While on the run on the standard training route some first trees had yellow leaves and then this street lamp, already lit at 6pm. Well, perhaps a tad early in the year. The nights are dark black again, the bright summer nights are gone, but at 6pm there’s still more need for sun glasses than street lamps.
The leg muscles got stiff, they hurt every time when standing up or climbing up the stairs. Last weekend’s race, the interval runs on Monday and the long run (29,5km) today left their marks. And the massage service I use to go to (EUR 23 per hour!) is fully booked out on all evenings this and next week. Of course…
today’s training: long run, 29.5km, average pace of 4:07min/km
Have some troubles to classify the race result, 36:08 min on a hilly course,
finished as 54th or so. Although it rained, the event was great otherwise, samba
and techno vibes at the start, over 20.000 people all in green midnightsloppet
shirts, nice late summer evening temperatures.
There are several extraordinary things with starting in start group 1A, right at thestarting line. There are reserved changing and showering facilities, there’s ample of space at the start and there are those damn fast looking other runners, several even with a darker tan that either motivate you or are frankly intimidating. I couldn’t quite decide on which side I was, my worst enemy seems to be the clock.
The start shot came and all started running - quite fast, too fast in my opinion.
This happens way too often, that the pace is too high on the first km. With paying attention to that were the first two kilometers in 6:45min and the next two in pretty much the same, found a good rythm. It was kind of flat up to that point (see the map). Especially compared to what followed. Found myself behind a continuously slowing running and km 5 was off, a 3:45min. Then the up and downs, left and rights started. The climb up to Sofia kyrkan (Sofia church), almost 50 meters in altitude, gave the thigh muscles a jolt. On top of the hill Malin Ewerlöf, a former Swedish female top long distance runner overtook me, I got a bit upset and tried to stay behind, which worked downhill, but the next uphill section was it then. She sped up, I fell behind, damn. Further on km 8 was a kind of a U-turn right after a downhill passage, so all the speed was zeroed out and one had to be careful not to slip on the wet street.
All in all, it was a difficult run and it’s difficult to say what the result really means. I’d expect to be on somewhere around 34:45min on a 10k right now, but a 36:08 doesn’t really tell that story in the race result list.
today’s training: recovery run, 19km
Tags: 10k race, Midnattsloppet
It’s 19:40, just above two hours to go to the start of this year’s midnight run on Södermalm in Stockholm. Friends are met, all pasta is eaten, presents for the loved ones at home are bought. There’s an awful wide variety on Knäckebröd (crisp bread) in the shops here. The football game is over. Hammarby lost, due to the mistake of the referee, “Ref. we know where your car is”-songs didn’t help. The race preparation (sleep+stretching+wild music) is done. Now it’s time to go to Zinkensdam IP. Wish me luck.
Tags: 10k race, Midnattsloppet
It’s happening on Stockholm’s Södermalm (southside) on this weekend and it’s gonna be big. According to the run’s official website around 21.500 runners are at the starting line. The race starts traditionally at 10pm to Brazil Samba rythms and a lot of spectators along the way. The place to be, the place for a new personal best on the 10k distance. Well, to be frank, it actually isn’t the best place for a new personal best. Too many ups and downs and changes of direction (see the route), but what the heck, we’ll try a new season best anyway. At least the starting position can’t be blamed for any disappointment in the result. With number 64 on the chest we’ll be pretty much in the front of the line.
Tags: 10k race, Midnattsloppet, Stockholm
It’s a training session you can really show-off with. There are surprisingly often some kind of runners or colleagues with a passion for endurance sports present at meetings in the office. Today I was quite sure I would get understanding and appretiating nods from all three participants, Mika, Kari and Marko, when I let slip it out at the end of the meeting “in 45 mins it’s off to the track, there are some 15 x 600m runs waiting”. The reply on Mika’s competent question “in what time are you doing those”, me in a casual tone: “well, in a 3:12 - 3:15min/km pace”. More appreciating nods from the present audience. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: interval training
The 12 weeks are divided in 3 mini cycles where this week, week 7 before the Berlin Marathon marks the first tough week in the second cycle. 110km, 8,5 hours of net running time in 6 training sessions. Still can’t manage to do 7, there’s always one tired day on which flesh wins over mind.
The highlight of the week were the 1000m intervals, sometimes it needs a kick from the environment around to get to those results. Overall it didn’t feel easy to run this week. The unsustainable sleeping hours (below 6,5h) during the week could be part of the reasons. The high amounts of km in the previous weeks might still play a role as well.
Next week, week 6 is front loaded with short intervals and fartleks until Wednesday, the rest is preparation for the Midnattsloppet, the 10k race on Saturday evening in Stockholm. Aiming for a new personal best, compared to race results so far. Wish me some luck, and 2-3 kg less…
Tags: weekly summary
Somehow it just doesn’t surprise me that this happened to me on a Saturday afternoon in the Finnish summer. I was just about to leave the athletics stadium in Nastola, a 15.000 soul community just east of Lahti (southern Finland), as two taxis shot into the large and abandoned car park, a bunch of rounder shaped men all about in their 30’s, early 40’s squeezed themselves out of the cars and came visibly alcoholized dangling towards me, “hey, we have a bet going that this one friend of ours here won’t be able to run 100m below 22 seconds…” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: drunk guy running
Already yesterday I was too tired to go on the track and did a slow 15km instead. Same indicators today. Yawning after lunch, hunger at 3pm, and general reluctance to go on the track to do 10 x 1000m in a kind of breath taking pace at 3:20min. The way from the desk in the office to the changing room was filled with considering the alternatives, going to that track and breathing out my lungs or continuing my walk right to the car park, drive home and take a nap on the sofa. I somehow tended to opt for the latter, if not, yes, if not colleagues appeared here and there and the brief conversations quickly turned to what training I was up to today. Well, saying “off home on the couch” isn’t relly an option, when maintaining a Super-marathon-man image. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: colleagues, interval training
Well, 93km is at the high end for a recovery week, but it felt quite good. First, it was a clear step down from 120 - 135km as in the weeks earlier. And second, the amount of training sessions was reduced from 9 or 10 to “only” 5. A mix of faster interval training and basic runs and at the end a really long one with fast elements inbetween.
The downer was the first interval session on Monday with planned 10 x 1000m. After five the times got really bad and after 8 they felt so difficult that I stopped there. It shows the weakness to keep a higher pace over longer distances, here beyond 5km in an interval training.
The highlights were two runs at the end of the week. Another long interval session, 5km + 3km + 2km in marathon pace. The long one, 5km, was in the end in 3:36min/km, and the last one, the 2km in 3:30min/km with the second km of those two in 3:27min. So some light at the end of the stamina tunnel seems to appear. The other highlight the long run, 32km with occasionally going towards marathon pace for one or half a kilometer, playing with speed all the time. It just felt good almost until the end. 32km was then quite long, but the music kept me going.
Tags: weekly summary
