First Half Marathon & first sub 60min 10k

Last sunday I ran a little longer than a half marathon. By accident. Initially the long run was planned for saturday at 20 km. But. I went out for a beer with a friend on friday. The one beer turned into something like eleven beers and 4 a.m. So it was a lot of fun but I was in no condition to run on saturday. We spent the day at the archipelago cottage and that is where I had planned my route. On sunday we left the cottage because it was windy as hell and raining cats and dogs. Staying at the island just for the long run would have been dumb and unpleasant. So we went to my in-laws. And so I had to re-draw my long run in unknown territory. I tried to measure out a 20 km course on google maps on my mobile phone.

The run felt good, despite the bad weather. Ok, the legs were sore initially. My shins were actually hurting so much at 4km that I considered aborting to avoid injury. I didn't and the pain faded away at approximately 7 km. I knew I hadn't stretched well on friday as I rushed away to the pub in a hurry. So my hunch that the pain would fade turned out correct. I had some really hard head wind on the Naantali road, it was like running uphill. At 9 km the run started to flow and I sped up a bit. I got really soaked because of the wind and the rain. My running clothes must have weighed around 5kg towards the end. Soaking wet and happy. I just ran my first half marathon, without even knowing. I measured the run afterwards. It turned out to be 21.8 km. A bit further than a half marathon. I had just finished my first half marathon without even knowing. Hehhe... Time? Who cares! Ok, it was 2:21:28.

Rest day in between. I used a nail mat on my legs to get the blood flowing and the recovery speeding. My wife tought it was a stupid idea. It sure must have looked stupid. Me having a nail mat in my lap and weights on it while slouching on the couch.

On tuesday I ran home from work. The nail mat therapy might have worked. My legs felt suprisingly strong. After the intital warm up and after waiting at a couple of stoplights I found a good pace. My mind drifted into oblivion. No unresolved issues. No stress. No toughts. No nothing. I was a passenger in my own body. Aware of the surroundings. Aware of the legs drumming away underneath. Totally aware, but at the same time in oblivion. I know now that I'm addicted to running.

Runners high? Funny feeling. Might have something to do with sleep deprivation from the previous couple of nights? Anyway, carried away by that odd feeling and stronger than expected legs I decided to do that tempo run now instead of later in the week. I realized I was going at approximately my half marathon target speed. So I kept going. Even the last two km when the pace started to feel uncomfortable. Ran without the hrm as I forgot it at my in-laws place last weekend. Nice, I did a sub one hour 10k at 58 minutes. Some real progress. I managed to get on a working scale during the weekend and hurray. I've lost 2 kg. Some real progress. I love it!

Where I come from

Running for the Alps. It feels good to be back on my feet out of the couch. With my heart and my head fully invested.

Three years of more or less sedentary life behind. Occasional swims, occasional cross country skiing, occasional tennis, occasional boxing, occasional golf, occasional gym, occasional biking, occasional snowboarding, occasional hiking, occasional kayaking. And the very rare and very O-C-C-A-S-I-O-N-A-L run. Recently I've been busy laying the foundation for a career as an investment proffessional. So physical fitness training has been very occasional. As it has, as a matter of fact, for the most of my life.

Now I have a goal - and milestones - that really motivates me.

That makes all the difference!

I can't wait to get my shoes on and get out. Feeling the gravel fly under my feet. Feels great!

When I was 16 I wanted to become a proffessional snowboarder. I had nowhere to train. I tried to build a hill in the forest behind our house. It's hard to build a mountain and I gave up after the first meter or so. At 18, after finishing school, I took my board and got me a flight ticket to the Alps. I didn't speak French. I had no money. I had no marketable skills. I just wanted to ride. And I did. And I did realize the talent just wasn't there. It took a LOT of crashlanded flips and spins to turn my head though.

I returned from the Alps without a clue what to do next. As a boy I also wanted to be an elite soldier. So I started to train to become a Finnish paratrooper. Running. Swimming. Lifting weights. Running. I got myself into great shape. But I failed. Because I didn't train properly. I trained loads. But I failed to train the right swimming technique. I aced the other tests but failed miserably at the swimming test.


So I did the next best thing and did my military service (we have a conscript army) as a coast jaeger. Turned out to be far from green berets or navy seals. At times it was tough and fun. Mostly it was just a joke and a caricature of an army. The most demanding part of the training was a 24h 70 km march fully equipped (40 kg of gear). That was tough. And fun.


After the army I entertained an idea to go competitive in triathlon. I couldn't afford the bike so I scrapped the idea. Went sedentary and occasional instead. Many years passed. Partying. Praying. Studying. Working. Living. And many more years passed.

Now I'm running for the Alps. With a plan and a purpose.

5K Race to Half Marathon Target

Today I raced a 5K. Actually it was a hard tempo run. Check out the specs. I wanted to test my running fitness/ability now that I have built a foundation of slow easy runs. I went for 25 minutes but finished in 26:23. So can I jump to some conlusions from this?

According to the McMillan Running Calculator a 5K race time (or any race time for that matter) can provide the runner with target estimates for other distances. You can use the calculator to determine target paces for your training runs as well. This is what it looks like for me:

  

Hmm.. 22:4 for 100 meters. I could do better than that. So it seems the calculator underestimates on the shorter distances and thus might overestimate on the longer ones. A marathon at 4:17:12 in my current state. I don't think so. Runner's World also offers a similar service. Let's have a look at my values:

 

Wow! I'm in better shape than I taught. Runners World is even more optimistic and believes I could finsh the half marathon at 2:01:09.  That's great news for me. As my half marathon is still eight weeks away, I'll have time to shape up and do a sub two hour half marathon at the 2nd of July. Hell. Theese numbers indicate I should beat my partner for the trail marathon. He just finished Helsinki City Run yesterday in 2:05:53. He looked a bit shagged at 15km, and I suspect he has spent more time training than me. So I don't feel that confident about theese numbers. Curiosity wakes up and shakes its head.

What is really neat about the Runers World calculator is that it gives you a training program if you register. So I eagerly registered for the half marathon program. This is what it looks like:

So, if I just slave to that program I'll beat two hours at the half marathon! Sounds simple. How convenient, my last long run was 16km (although way much slower). All right, let's put it to a test. I set my target for the Paavo Nurmi half marathon at a sub 2h finish, or more specifically at 1:56:18. 

Stay tuned to see how it plays out. 

I can't slave that calendar. I have already ramped up quite a bit and was thinking of next week as a step down week. There are some parties coming up in between as well... I'll make some adjustments and keep the targets though. It'll be fun to see this one through.

Maximum Heart Rate

I picked up another book at the library yesterday. Pulsträna by Jonas Gustrin. Finally I'm starting to really understand some important features of the cardiovascular system and muscular metabolism. I would recommend this book for everyone who wants to get more value out of a heart rate monitor. Sorry, it's in Swedish.

I made a maximum heart rate test on one of my runs. After a a shortish run I ascended a couple of hills at half speed. Then ran on a track inclining slightly upwards, slowly accelerating (for around 5-8 minutes) until I was going at full throttle for the last 200 meters or so. As suspected my mhr was higher than what an age based formula would indicate. Nine beats higher. That makes a real difference in setting heart reate target zones. Improved quality of training this means.

Someone might have noticed that I haven't been following my training schedule. I'm not its slave. I'm its master. I'm trying to get it to understand, and obey. It will succumb to my will! No, seriously, I've simply been paying attention to my body trying not to get hurt and trying not to let the running dictate the rest of my life. I didn't plan to go 16 km, it just felt so damn good to do while I was at it.

The training calendar pictures are so small anyway it's almost impossible to read the planned distance digits. In case somebody, some day, will try to copy this schedule - which I don't recommend and take no responsibilty for - I'll add the the training actually done to the calendar pictures in a bigger and brighter font. It will make it easier to get an idea of what it takes to make it, or maybe what it takes to fail on day five.

There are no guarantees for success. Advice from wiser lurkers has been sparse. Yoda told me I need to change my mind rather than my body - go figure. The more I've studied the subject of running the more impossible it seems to pull off this challenge. Give up? Never. It's too much fun - and I think I've lost some weight already. Might be wishfull thinking. I don't own a scale.

Well, at least I know my real heart rate zones - higher quality training.