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.