Lidingöloppet 2009 medal

Two days after Lidingöloppet and my body is giving me all the signs needed to finish writing my race-day assessment of my 2:44:02, 2009 performance:

Distance Training- 8/10. Following a three month training gap, I began preparing for this event in August. I jumped right into the last nine weeks of my 20-week marathon schedule. 635km in 9 full weeks for an average of 70km/week; 10km/day. This may have been too sudden but the distance workouts all went well, including a slow-dry run on the actual course three weeks ago (30km/2:52:00). When I say slow, I kept an even 5:25/km pace and a heart rate under 140 bpm to preserve my legs, while adding endurance and mental stamina.

Adjustments for 2010: Foundation should have started at least a month earlier.

Speed/Hill Training- 3/10. I basically failed in this category. I normally allocate one day a week (Tuesdays) for speed work. This was simply not enough for the hilly demands of Lidingöloppet. But I didn’t even stick to that schedule and missed all but a few sessions which came toward the end of the nine-week plan. In hindsight, it was a bad idea to have done the last few speed sessions without having done the earlier ones; Too much late program body fatigue.

Adjustments for 2010: Not only for Lidingöloppet, I simply have to value my speed work more going forward. Specifically for Lidingöloppet, I need those speed sessions and hill-work. Also, I want to plan my daily routes to play more specific roles within my training plan.

Sleep- 4/10. Nothing I could have done to change this. My four-month-old daughter continues to bring us all the perfect joys and challenges of parenthood. We’re still doing feedings at 24, 03 and 06. Add work, home-improvements and 12-15 hours/week for running… getting proper sleep is a challenge. I manage to piece together five hours a day for sleep, which works for me mentally. Physically, the recovery demands my body requires have not been met. I know I would have performed better with eight hours sleep.

Adjustments for 2010: Obvious.

Nutrition- 7/10. I ran this race 5kg over what I planned for. Prior to the nine weeks of prep, I gained nearly 10kg during summer holidays and not working out properly. My diet over the last nine weeks has been fairly good, with a few indulgences (homemade ice cream) on the weekends. Out of respect for my lack of sleep, I should have been compensating with higher protein ratios.

Adjustments for 2010: Hmm. Don’t gain 10kg.

Race strategy- 5/10. My plan was good, it just wasn’t right for my current fitness level; Fail. A week ago I ran a routine 8km run at a 4:30/km pace while keeping my heart rate out of my upper zone and feeling like a moderate effort. I felt great and energized afterwards and thought I’d be able to keep, at least, this pace for the first 24km. Instead, zig-zag’ing, bumping and running off the trail pushed my heart rate up and my pacing down. Continued…

Race-day variables- 6/10. The event was spectacular, and so was the weather. Of the things in my control, my start group placement was pretty miserable; I was in group 4 of 9 and showed up late to the starting line. There is no “net-time” on this race, either. I wasn’t able to run interrupted until km 8, zig-zag’ing and bumping along. Soon after km 8, I fell on a steep downhill section, leaving me a bit battered and bloody. Bottom line: I need a better start group.

Adjustments for 2010: For my benefit at every large event, I need to find a good, flat and fast 10km race to nail down an excellent qualifying time. This year, Lidingöloppet start group “2″ qualifying time was 43:00/10km, 39:59 for ‘”1C”. Also, wear gloves in case of falls.

Next race: Tjur Ruset on October 17th is a 10km “tuff-man” event.

I suppose it’s a little bit funny that I’m so excited for this event after reading my “Urban or Suburban” post, but I am. The Lidingöloppet’s main race on Saturday is a 30km cross-country run on the picturesque island of Lidingö, a Northern suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. I lived here back in 2001 and I’ve missed it ever since I moved.

Lidingö has an area about 25% the size of Manhattan, but with only 30,000 inhabitants, leaving a lot of room for outdoor recreation. You’ll also find Sweden’s best sports training facility here, Bonsön, nestled on the island’s North side in the midst of Lidingö’s vast network of well-maintained trails. Many of these trails see race activity year-round; X-country skiing, running and triathlon.

I’ve been looking forward to this event for a number of reasons, mostly because I missed out on the majority of my intended races, thankfully due to the birth of my daughter now 4,5 months old and beaming with beauty. I’ve since worked out my time budget with my wife to allow 12-15 hours a week to train.

Lidingöloppet is a tough course which only gets tougher as you go. The first 20km are relatively easy, but it’s the ups and downs of the final 10km which puts strain on everyone’s threshold of pain. The killer for me comes around 25km with an uphill section that leaves you tempted to use your hands to help climb it.

No excuses for this race: I’ve done all the training I could fit in; Injury-free and feeling strong; Weight is… OK, I’m as lean as ever but all the extra hill work has added muscle all over. The added strength is much needed but I can feel that extra weight sapping efficiency from my stride on long distances.

Participants who finish the 30km race under 2:15 (4:30/km) receive a silver medal honor. Realistically, this is just out of reach for me as I predict a time closer to 2:30 (5:00/km). If the course was flat and the temperature fell to 14C, I could hit 2:07 for right now. However, Lidingöloppet will be crowded, forecasted at 20C and saturated with late leg-destroying climbs. Bottom line, I’ll be happy to remain under 5:00/km for the end tally.

My start number is 41257, in group 6 of 11 at 13:00. Lidingöloppet’s 30km race is Saturday, the 26th.

Lidingöloppet race profile image

In other news, this weekend is also the last of a two-week Stockholm Beer and Whisky festival. I’ll stick to melon post-race, my favorite recovery food.

I moved out of the city in June to be near my family after the arrival of my first child. All-in-all, it was a great decision. Grandmothers, parents and sister-in-law, all here to help out with my wife’s extended leave of absence to take care of our daughter, Amelia.

Running-wise, the conditions are ideal. Especially for our local network of well-lit and perfectly maintained walking/cycling paths.

However after a couple of months in, I find myself longing for the subtly-more-exciting streets of Stockholm. Yet I feel a bit guilty; Here in Åkersberga I’m on the edge of a vast wilderness. Kilometer upon kilometer of rolling trails, fresh air and no one to see or get in the way.

The problem is, I miss the city.  I miss the nightly stories I used to put together with all the sights I took in on my nightly runs. Be it a crazy panhandler, a rowdy group of party-ers, or simply the company of fellow runners, I just miss the aspects of the city which made the time fly by and the excuses to leave the earbuds out so I might hear what’s going on as I passed by.

Now, I get fresh air without automobiles. I get kilometer after kilometer of wilderness; Trees, horses and the occasional fox, deer or moose. So why does it sound like I’m complaining? I shouldn’t be. Life out here is billed as cleaner.

Stockholm Urban

Still, I long for my city runs. 24km of woods is a bore compared to the same through the heart of congestion, potential trouble and wear on the knees.

This is where I live and I’ll be happy here regardless, but I just thought I’d see if I was alone in my city running preferences.

Åkersberga Rural

Tomorrow’s run… A trip into the city for a lovely 25km jaunt around what I miss so much.