Triathlon-Marathon-Ironman

Weekly summary

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:33:00 +0000

So last week was a very good week.

Monday 1 hour strenght training. With my personal trainer David. Started off with 10 minutes warm up on the bike got 5.8km so it was more of a sprint than warm up but it did the job. Going through lounges, squads and push-ups I felt strong and good throughout the whole training. Ending with 3x one minute sprints on the rowing machine.

Tuesday, pennants squash (that I lost, see previous post).

Wednesday 1km swim. Went to a swimming pool that is in 15 minutes walking distance from my house. It has a 50m pool and a lot of lanes all marked for different skills. Fantastic facilities, cant believe I havent been using it. Going in the water was a strane feeling. I have not done any swim training for a year or so. Did the first 100m lap and thought I would die! My breathing was irregular and my forearm strength was gone. I stuck with it and managed to finish 1km, but averaged about 2:20 per 100m which is veeery slow. But the feeling of swimming was so good, the lungs the muscles, the mind just all felt so good. Cant wait to get to my previous swimming form (which wasnt spectacular but at least decent).

Thursday In house squash competition. My opponent didn't show. Rather dissapointing. Played the same person I played last week. Got a bit complacent as I have beaten that person 6 times without dropping a set. This time it was two sets each and I ended up winning by a single point. Not exactly a stellar performance.

Friday 1 hour strength training. Another session with my trainer David. We usually do just one training per week but the lucky b****rd is going to spend this week in Thailand so we did two trainings last week. Everything was going well until a third set of a routine which had 20x squats with a overhead lift, 20x lunges while twisting weights and 20x pushups then 1 minute rest. In the third set I suddenly felt a sharp pang of pain in my left elbow. I tried several times but I could not get any weight from that side on my elbow. On the other hand we moved to reverse pushups and that was no problem. The pain dissappeared and never came back, I did pushups both Saturday and Sunday without any problems... wonder what it was, a nerve maybe?

Saturday 1 hour walk. I meant to go for a swim but somehow plans changed and I ended up walking along a beautiful beach. White sands, sun slowly receding in the sky, boats floating around the river. It was so beautiful. Ans although I did not get my excercise I ended up walking for just over an hour which is a nice rest day.

Sunday 2km swim. Went back to Beatty Park. Took the first kilometer and went for the showers, in the showers I felt this urge to do more so I jumped back in and did another kilometer. Not fast, not pretty but hopefully I will pick up my errors and fix them sooner than later.

2 weeks of training done and just today I had three seperate people commenting on how much stronger and fitter I looked, that must be a good sign (or a sign that I was really out of shape!)

Have to keep it up this week with my trainer away!

Tomas

Good week after an interesting weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Been a good week so far, started off Monday by a session with my personal trainer. The session was a really hard one, pushing muscles in legs and arms, but most of all the core. After lounges, push-ups, squats and reverse push-ups it was time for the rowing machine again.

Good workout all in all. It posed a problem the following day as my forearms were aching and I could not stretch them out properly. That would normally be a welcome sign as it shows the muscles are being stretched. Only problem was the timing. Pennants squash match on Tuesday night without being able to outstretch your arm is a pretty challenging one!

I lost my game 3-0 but thankfully my amazing team mates both won their matches so we won the night and retained our top position in the league.

Today I went to a swimmingpool for the first time in a year or so. I swam 1km in 100m intervals (50m pool). My times were not at all impressive, averaging at around 2:15-2:20 for each 100m. Have to work on that and get it under 2 minutes again.

Tomorrow it is squash again and on Friday another private training session. Then on Saturday I might be buying a triathlon bike. Just found a guy selling a bike in fine condition (according to photo and description) so will go and try it out.

Aside from training I spent last weekend scrubbing a former boarding school built in 1908 in New Norcia. The school (and the whole town) is built by and around a monestary still active. We went to prayers with the monks and slept in another former school (4 schools in the town, one was for white boys, one for white girls, one for aboriginal boys and one for aboriginal girls... so wrong but just the way things were before).

It was amazing spening the weekend with a group of volunteers having fun and contributing to keeping these beautiful buildings in proper order. I am all scrubbed out though, not going to scrubb any more walls for the next 6 months or so.

Tomas

Good start to the week

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:57:00 +0000

The week started off well.

Had my personal trainer come back from Sydney, full of new ideas and learning on positioning and weight distribution. So we did some interesting exercises that showed just how much I use the muscles in top of the knee instead of the glute. Something I really must focus on to relieve pressure of the knees.

Then he stepped up the intensity and after weight-squads and pushups it was time for 3X250m sprints on the rowing machine. I can feel me strength increasing every week so thats positive, I still need a fair bit of reshaping to do before I go back to triathlons or longer runs.

Today my team was playing in the pennants squash league. I played a player some 15 points below me and probably some 45 years senior, but if I thought I might have an easy game I was in for a surprise. After losing the first game 9-8 I fought back and won 9-1. Full of confidence (possibly too full) I went into the third set and got tought a squash lesson, lost 9-1 and didnt get to run at all as every single shot was dropped by accuracy I can only dream of achieving. Back to reality and I got the fourth game 9-5 and going into the fifth game I saw that he was finished, running wise. But again he started dropping the ball from most unlikely positions. Before I knew I was trailing 7-3 in the fifth set and the situation didnt look good. I managed to calm my self down a little bit and got some lucky shots on my side. At 8-8 he chose to play to 10. I got a point straight away but he won the serve back and from that one a point, 9-9. I won the serve back but lost it, he had a matchpoint serve but again I was fortunate enough to win it back. Back and forth it went 3 times until I managed to score the winning point. 10-9 and 3-2 in games.

The player (John) being around 70 years old played amazingly and showed that speed and stamina only takes you so far, he played with intelligence and accuracy that I can only hope I will have achieved and retained when I am 70. Good work John!!!

My team had a very good night and my two team mates both won their games in three sets. With our team being second in the league (6 team per league, double round) it will be interesting to see tomorrow the results from the other matches.

The plan for tomorrow is an early start, smash work so I can go out early for an hour on the bike. Then on to a Malasian cookery night, organized by my friends at Curtin University.

The summer is rolling in with Saturday reaching 37 degrees (Celcius), thats a little bit too much for an Icelander like my self but beautiful it was and a nice change from 6 months of rain (this has been the wettest winter for some 90 years here in Western Australia)

Anyways, I am back on track, putting my faith in David, my personal trainer to keep my injury free so I should be able to start doing short triathlons by the end of this summer.

Tomas

Back from dead

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:11:00 +0000

I'm back, maybe not quite back from dead, but at least back from the most annoying knee injury!
A lot has changed since my last post (one year old, or more). I have moved, not only between neighbourhoods but from my beautiful Iceland over to the land down under. Now I live in Perth, Australia.

I started playing squash again, playing in a pennant league and an inhouse weekly competition. In addition I have hired a personal trainer that has been working on my legs, stretching out my IT bands and trying to work out what has been meesing up my knees so badly without any apparent medical reason.

So far so good. I am not anywhere close to the physical shape I was in after I ran the marathon or the triathlons but I guess I have to start from somewhere.

Trying to keep a 4-5 trainings a week and that seems to leave my knees fresh, it is far away from the 12 trainings a week but at least it is training.

I have been doing some long bikerides on a gym bike, going to 60km but normally taking the olympic 40km distance. It is very different riding a gym bike but getting those muscles working again is the first priority. Next step is to buy a triathlon bike, they are just redicilusly expensive here and after the credit crunch (as you might know Iceland got hit really bad) I have decided not to buy anything on credit, not cars and definetly not bikes.

Not really running too much, started running 4-5 times a week after I moved (in end of Feb) but the knees didnt really feel good although the pain wasnt there which is good. I decided to build up strength and focus on biking for a while, anyway that was my weekest part of the triathlon and looking at the time you spend on the bike in an Ironman it makes sense to focus on the bikeleg for a while.

If there is anyone who knows good trails to run at around Perth, please let me know!

Anyways, good to be back! cant wait to start posting training logs and times.

Tomas the Icelandic Aussie

Triathlete

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:06:00 +0000

Well, it is official, I have finished my first triathlon. Although a very short super sprint it was a triathlon.

It took place last sunday and Ásgeir (Ironman and fellow swimmer) was in charge of organizing the event. The days before I had more or less not trained at all due to the knees and increased workload (hopefully temporary).

It was very interesting swimming with 6 people on each lane. Lots of pushing and kicking in the beginning and to my surprise I ended up being second on my lane. Even having to slow down on several occasions as I touched the front swimmer. I decided not to overtake her as to use her drag and to control my tempo. The time for the 400m was 7:47 which is under 8 but still not a great time. Transition took way too long and was partly due to the fact that I had to put on knee protectors that no one else had to put on. And believe me, putting on tight knee protectors on wet legs while trying to hurry up is not an easy task.

Finally I was ready and I ran the 100m or so to my bike (Pusi was very calm and acted like a pro). The bike leg was ok... 10.6km in 23 minutes... I would like to go under 20 minutes, but there were 6 hills, 3 of them big (the same hill three times). Also the front tire got really soft so all in all this is acceptable but still needs a lot of improvement.

The run was the part I was really anxious about. Would my knees handle the pressure. I went out slowly, partly due to the fact I was testing the knees and partly due to the fact my legs felt like led. After the first km my legs felt better and my knees were not complaining at all (maybe due to the ibufen I took before the race). So I managed to step up the pace and overtake Siggi from my swim team. Tried to sprint the last 200m to catch the next guy but I was to far behind.

12th place the result in 45:36 minutes. only 2:40 minutes from the 6th place. Next triathlon will be on the 1st of June, 1/2 olympic distance. I will not rain much as the specialist told me to cut down intensity for 3-6 moths!!! But I will definetly race and see how my knees handle the 5km run.

The organization was really good. The course was well marked (although I took one wrong turn on the bike), volunteers stopping traffic and cheering you on. Big thumbs up for this initiative and I look forward going longer and longer untill the Ironman in 2009

Good week!

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:46:00 +0000

Last week was fine...
2 swim trainings, doing a 1500m at 32:03 minutes which is on track for a sub-30 minutes this summer.

3 spinning classes, really putting the resistance up and giving those calfs something to work for... 3 strength trainings, admittedly easy this week.

2 runs, this was supposed to be a lot more... have to start picking up more time for this... the knee is healing and I did my first painless 3.5km run this week.

In 13 days I have a super sprint triathlon and then I will see if my knee can take the 1/2 Ironman in 41 days...

And a run it was!

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:01:00 +0000

The Boston Marathon is finished... Bunch of Icelanders ran the race, some were fast, others were not so fast but they can all claim participation in the oldest and the most respected marathon in the world... Also Frank, mentioned in a previous post ran, although still recovering from an ultramarathon. Jen improved her Boston time by 11 minutes and Scott Dunlap (see blog links) ran the distance although obviously not pushing for a time. But he runs over 20 races over 42km each season so they can't all be the fastest.

Inspired by this I started my short run recovery... Taking the advice of my friend Ásgeir I decided to run 1.5 km... if the knees would handle that go a bit longer and work my self up... I must work my self up to 21km by the 15th of June when I plan to race the 1/2 Ironman.
So I set out. I felt silly dressing up in my running clothes knowing I would only be going 1.5km. The preperation it self took as long as the run. I tried to run with knee support and that really worked well. I ran downhill for around 750m and then steep uphill for 750m. My knees held up fine. No pain, only a little tingling sensation that worried me for a little bit.

That night I was working a night shift and my knee felt a bit weak, but not in pain. So something is going right. I am using massage (credit to my aunt), omega-3 fish oil, voltaren, knee support... anything that will work, traditional or not.

I didn't time my run or check the pulse (as it was such a short run) but the speed was fine although I can feel that 3 weeks of not running really brings down the stamina... but stamina is easy to build up. 51 days to go!!!

Back from the start

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Yep... now it is back to the start...
Run 1.5km if there is no pain for two runs go to 2.0km, no pain... 2.5km etc... until it hurts... I am pretty sure this will work it self out... although I will go to the scan in may and see what the doctor says. But most triathletes injure them selfs at some point or another... and this is just minor...

Last week was good... 4 bike trainings, 3 swim training... (2 in the club, one by my self) and 3 strength trainings... all in all, well balanced.

The Boston marathon is today... How I wish I was there... one day, one day. I posted some of the races I plan to race (in my lifetime) but for some reason the post went down on the page. So it looks like the third or fourth newest post. But you can scroll down and check it out.

Good luck to you Boston runners, and the rest of you... I might be brought back to 1.5km but not for long :)

F**K!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:42:00 +0000

That kind of says it all...

yesterday and today have been the best and my worst days in training... yesterday was the best... I went through my 4 trainings without feeling any discomfort in my knee at all... even soccer went without any pain... and without loosing a game...

Then there is today... I felt a little weird in the knee but no pain... I decided to go out for a short late night run... running just 3.5km and see how it would feel.
I went out steadily feeling each knee bend every step, listening to any sing of pain. But I didn't feel any... so I kept going I was getting into my rythm and just feeling so good running again... then suddenly without warning after 2.5km I felt like a knive was being stabbed into my knee... and for the remaining 1.5km every step felt like having a knive turned inside of my knee... the weird thing is that this was the left knee... the knee that had recovered better and had been painless for longer...

I ended up finishing in 22:47 minutes way too slow... way too painfull... now I sit here with ice on my knee... cursing this incredibly bad design... how can one bodypart be so problematic... and conteplating about the duathlon this weekend... I really want to go...

The Doctor

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Went to a knee specialist today...
Well, after a short explaination and the history of the mess in my knees he asked my to lie down and he poked couple of spots, asked if that or that hurt. All in all around 15 minutes... then he told my they needed x-ray photo and MRI of both knees.
Fair enough, I had expected that. He told me to go downstairs book a time for that and then book another time with him couple of days after they have the results.
I walked out of the doctors office after this short chat. In which he could not tell me anything what was wrong or if it would be save to run again.
Well, fair enough I thought. He will tell me more after I get the pictures. But as I am walking through the reception the receptionist handed me a bill of 150 US dollars!!! 150$ for less than 20 minutes, where he did more or less nothing and didn't tell me anything!!! wow!!!

I walked downstairs to the MRI/x-ray part. They didn't have anything available untill the middle of May so a months wait and... they told me the bill would be around 300$ fantastic!!!!

They better have some answers after I give them 500$!!

Anyways... enough of me irritating my self over a stupid system... my knee actually feels much better so I am going for 4 trainings tonight. Starting with spinning class, going into weights, where I will again take light weights, on to swim trainnig where I plan to take 1500m on time. Then football where I will test my knee.

On a more positive note I got the bike today!! It is a Peugeot racer bike. Almost new, just abot 20 years old. :)
Fell of the first two times trying to get my feet into the pedals... I am so happy about the bike, can't wait taking it out for a rida... the plan is to do that tomorrow.
Also it has a name (has had it for years), it's Pusi derivative of Peugeot :)

Welcome Pusi!

Races I plan to do

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:29:00 +0000

Kiehl’s Badwater Ultramarathon
a 135-mile foot race from the bottom of Death Valley to the Mt. Whitney trailhead 8,360 feet above sea level
If not the toughest footrace in the world, the Badwater Ultra is certainly the hottest. The 135-mile haul goes from 280-feet below sea level in the middle of Death Valley to 8,360 feet at Whitney Portals at the base of Mt. Whitney--in the middle of July. Along the way, runners must deal with rugged highway, passing motorists and stifling temperatures, which climb as high as 130 degrees. The invitation-only race is limited to 75 runners, a field regularly filled with marathoners, triathletes, adventure racers and mountaineers who have proved their mettle elsewhere. Last year saw a 79% finishing rate, which included runner Dean Karnazes, the author of Ultramarathon Man, who not only captured first place with a blistering time of 27:22:48, but then shuffled an extra 11 miles to the top of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the continental U.S.

For more information, visit www.badwaterultra.com

Marathon des Sables
The Marathon Des Sables
Location: Sahara Desert, Morocco
When: April
Started: 1985
Factoid: mid-day temperatures of up to 120°F
Web site: http://xxlplan.ovh.net/~visiolog/uk/indexuk_ovh.shtml

The Dead Sea Ultra Marathon
Dead Sea Ultra Marathon
Location: Amman, Jordan
When: April 15, 2005
Started: 1993
Factoid: Finish line is 400 meters below sea level
Web site: http://www.deadseamarathon.com/

The Everest Marathon
Everest Marathon
Location: Everest Base Camp, Nepal
When: November
Started: 1987
Factoid: Race starts at 17,000 feet
Web site: http://www.everestmarathon.org.uk/

Great Tibetan Marathon
Location: Ladakh, India
When: August
Started: NA
Factoid: The start is at 3,800 meters above sea level and the finish is just 400 meters lower. In contrast, the Everest marathon starts at 5,340 meters and runs downhill.
Web site: www.great-tibetan-marathon.com/

Le Marathon des Chateaux du Medoc
Location: Medoc, France
When: September
Started: 2005
Factoid: The course passes many of the greatest chateaux in Bordeaux, where "runners" are expected to drink wine instead of water and foie gras instead of bananas.
Web site: www.marathondumedoc.com

Boston Marathon
Location: Boston
When: April
Started: 1897
Factoid: Since 1969 the Boston Marathon has always been run on Patriots' Day, the third Monday in April.
Web site: http://www.bostonmarathon.org/

65 days to go...

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:36:00 +0000

Knees, knees, knees, it's all about the knees... I read somewhere that guys mostly think about one part of their body... well... for runners I guess that would be the knees... at least in my case.
The knee update is that it feels pretty good... no pain... still weak...

Had a 20km indoor bike ride yesterday. My legs felt really good afterwards, kept a 32km/hr average pace so that was fine. Can't wait to start running again! But will try to wait until after I see the knee specialist next Monday.

I put up my race schedule for 2008 on the side bar as well as my times in the races of 2008 so far. Will be fun moving them down as I go through them. Those with sharp attention will see that I have a marathon on the 31st of May and a 1/2 Olympic triathlon on the 1st of June. No, I don't plan to do both. I just can't decide which one to take. Also, I planned to race 16 times this year so with the current plan I can skip three races. I decided to put a bit more races in than I will race due to the fact that I work shifts and due to work I will have to skip some of the races. Although all the big ones I have taken care of already.

My next "big" one. The next big step in my journey into this running/triathlon madness is the 1/2 Ironman. It is scheduled th 15th of June so 65 days to go and I am really looking forward to it. That race is one of the main reasons why I am considering skipping the marathon on the 31st of May. I jsut don't want to risk having weak knees going into the 1/2 Ironman.

Then after the 1/2 Ironman I have 27 days to recover, regroup and taper for the Laugarvegur XTERRA ultra marathon. It is 55km in the mountains. Something I really look forward to. So I want to feel as fresh as I can there. The summer seems to be more or less recovery and tapering. Not much time for regular training. Although I will put in as many km's as possible. Also the smaller races are thought as trainings and I will not taper or need to recover afterwards.

About photos... I have been searching high and low for the cable to connect the camera to my computer, without success. So right now I have a lot of photos from my first marathon but they are stuck in a silver colored metal box.

Also the Boston Marathon is in 10 days I have been reading blogs of people preparing for it... some of which actually travel there this weekend. I get so excited reading about it. For me The Boston Marathon is the same in marathons as Kona is in Ironmans. Maybe I am overstating its importance but that's how I see it and I definetly am going to qualify in 2010, the latest! :)

All the best to those of your running in Boston (or if you have other races coming up)!! enjoy every second but at the same time try to take as few of them as you can!

Gradual improvements... nahhh... boring

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:11:00 +0000

I´ll keep up the habit of writing a knee update in the beginning :) I iced it again tonight... but the whole day I felt ok, sore at most... tonight in trainings it felt great, absoulutely no discomfort. But after training as I cooled down I had a little pain so I decided to ice it again, just for the fun of it.

Well, spinning class was not very noteworthy, except I showed up a bit late... was working till five and the class starts fifteen past, I had to get to my car (parked around 10 minutes walk away from my work), drive through the city (probably town on American scale) :) Which should take around 20-25 minutes in the rush hour. Change into my gear, 5 mintues... so all in all around 35 minutes... I knew I couldn't be 20 minutes late as thats half the class so I rushed through traffic my pulse rising with every slow car or red light so that when I finally jumped on the bike, 12 minutes late I was already at excercise level :)

But the reason I am writing this is not to talk about Icelandic traffic... I have lived and traveled to too many countries so I promise never to complain about our tiny traffic delays. Go to Jakarta and you will experience a real traffic jam :)
The reason why I am writing this blog that I am totally elated with my swim training. I took light weights in the lifting/excercise class so my arms felt relatively fresh. Although it was kind of hard having the lightest weights of everyone in the class. But it sure paid off.

Up till now I have been swimming at around 2:20 sustained pace per 100m. I go faster for 2-300m breaking the 2 minutes. But never been able to do it consistently. And more importantly when I go around the 2 minutes I am really going all out, tiring my self immensly. My legs and arms tired.
Well... not any more!!
I have always been aiming for the 2 minute pace as it will give 30 minutes for the 1500m in a triathlon. I was getting rather worried because I have not been improving my swim times for over 3 months now. But this week I have been reading Total Immersion again. Great book and i totally recommend it. I had read it before, before I started taking the masters swim classes but it hadn't really helped. But this time it really clicked, putting together what my coach has been telling me (I have listened, but not been able to turn it into action) and what the book says I just flew. That, even though I was trying to go slower, I did more or less nothing with my feet that up untill now have been sinking the moment I stop kicking for my life. But by pushing my chest down and swimming "downhill" my legs just popped up and I started gliding through the water.

I also slowed down my armstroke alot, taking fewer, slower and with less effort my strokes. Just focusing on not raising my head as I breath. The first 100 meters were my slowest tonight 2:06 and I wasn't tired at all. So I managed to cut my rest time and for 1.7 or 1.8km (lost count) that is 17-18 trips I kept under 2:00 minutes for 11-12 of them and the others 2:01 and 2:02... just amazing...

I rested and pushed off the banks so it can not be transfered directly to triathlon time but my avarage time of 1:58 would give me 29:30 for the 1500m and now the 1900m in the half Ironman I plan to compete in June doesn't seem scary at all. I'll come out of the water fresh and in the middle of the group... YAY!!!

ps. was reading it over... well... lot of numbers... meaningless to most... but as most of you guys reading are triathletes or runners and I am just so happy, so I decided to post it anyways :)

Knee-changes-random rant

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:50:00 +0000

Seems my prediction about my knee is proving to be a correct one, I felt alright yesterday, couple of stings and rather sore. But nothing that brought me down... Then so far today my knee has been silent although I feel that it is not there yet... maybe 70%... but the pain is not constant and no major pains today... so that means spinning and swimming!! Woohoo!

Just wanted to give a quick update on minor changes I have been doing on the blog. Firstly I have changes the comments system so that you don't have to be a blogger user to comment. This I do due to some friends that use different blogging systems but want to comment. The word verification will still be there as I don't want spam comments about how to grow your love muscle (got to love spam).

Also I have added in the recent weeks three new links and just want to advertise them a bit. (I´ll do them in alphabetic order as I don't want to choose between these amazing people)

Bibba-Ironwoman. This woman is simply amazing! she and her husband are simply astonishing. She became the first Icelandic woman to finish Ironman. He has finished two... He is planning to climb Mt. Everest and when they go on vacations they do ultra events just to keep things interesting... Going on a cruise but the day of departure doing the Miami Marathon is an example. They will be running around Mt. Blank this summer (she will do half). Ahh... and did I mention she is around 40 years old?? (hope that I am not to far off... am horrible judging age)
Anyways... that is not the main reason why I add her on my list, the main reason is that she is such a nice woman. We swim in the same masters swim club and we always go to the hot tub afterwards. Often sitting there way to long, just talking about triathlon and running. Even though the rest of the guys are gone she still sits there with me listening to my random thoughts and giving me great advices from her incredible experience. She is the closest thing I have to be a coach and/or mentor. Really makes it worth while struggling in the water for an hour.
She blogs daily about her activities but it is in Icelandic so that narrows down the possible readers to the 300.000 habitants of this lovely country.

Frank-rundangerously. The funny thing is that I do not know Frank at all, I don't even remember how I first came across his blog or if he found mine. But on my web surfing I often go between running blog sites... seeing who posts comments where and just go to random peoples blogs. For some reason his blog really caught me and now is a daily stop as long as I go on the internet that day. Frank runs long! he does 100 miles runs and really writes about his experiences in a human way. What I like about his blog is that he writes about a lot of random things. Books, music, training, competing... It makes me feel like I know Frank although I have, like I said, never (yet) met him. He posts alot of photos and blogs very frequently (52 blogs in march).
But like I mentioned my main reason for liking his blog so much is the personal touch. His daughter runs in shorter races and he captures those sweet family moments with great photos.

Peter-The coach. Peter was one of the first person to post a comment on my blog... after I took up blogging on this page I had been doing it kind of for my slef, not telling anyone about it. Most of my post had 0 comments and my blogs had very few visits. Then visits started to grow a little and suddenly this very nice running coach from the US started posting comments on my blog. I started reading his blog and find it an essential stop on my blog reading circle. He is helping people reach their goals of running their first 10km races and/or half marathons. His experience and many years of running shine through his calm personal way of describing races and training and the pride he takes in his "students" achievements is obvious. He volunteers when is is not running him self and all in all seems to be an incredibly nice human being.

Although I haven't met Frank nor Peter I am pretty sure that in this world of opportunities that the opportunity will come along and I will enjoy a nice sunday run with them, race or not. Bibba I do meet all the time and will continue to do so for as long as we live in the same continent.

So at this point I should stop bloging, but I like disconnected random rants going from one to the other so I will continue and tell you about my bike situation. I own a bike, I own a one year old bike, I own a pretty good bike, I own a useless bike for triathlons. I bought a street bike just over a year ago. Not a mountainbike but not a racer. I might had used a street bike this summer for my first three triathlons but as I used my bike all last winter (I own winter tires for my bike) The whole chain and the pedaling has bacome heavy and energy consuming. I thought that was just the way biking was supposed to be and that I was just a bad biker, and I had to train super hard. But then I tried biking on a racer... and what a blizz! the ease and the speed! The comfort goes down, yes, but I am not racing or training to be comfortable. I have a very nice bed that I can be in to be comfortable.

Anyways... I became really exciting about getting myself a racer, but as I am still paying back for two years of travelling and living abroad I simply can't buy one untill next fall... so what to do, what to do... I have a half ironman scheduled in june and when biking 90km I really dont want to be slugging along on my ironclad horse.

Then the saviour appeared... well actually there are two of them... but it is kind of cause and effect... without the cause there would be no effect, but the effect is what brings the result... the cause is once again Bibba. As we were sitting in the hot tub, I was pondering on my bike situation and she told be about a bike that might be available... and that Gísli the organizer of my first marathon had it. She told me he had an old but functional racer and that she believed he wasn't using it as he had a new one. At least that I should contact him and check it out.

So I did, I sent him an e-mail, shortly explaining my situation and asked if he could borrow it to me, rent it for the summer or sell it cheap... I got the answer right away, and in the spirit of marathon runners he was more than willing to help. I can borrow his bike for a while, see how it works and fits and then we will see how it goes... A true champion there! I haven't seen the bike but apparently it is a 20 year old racer that has taken Gísli through many triathlons so I hope its experience can help me take me through my first :)

Will write more about it after I try it. The last random and totally unconnected thought that I will scribble down in this long and totally un-understandable blog is that yesterday I checket my blog and the tracker I have that tracks where people are coming from showed me that out of the last 10 people seeing my blog only 2 were in Iceland. The other 8 spanned 3 continents and 5 countries... that I find really cool... incredible how technology has changed the world. Only 20 years ago I would be wirting these thoughts to my self, but now anyone, anywhere, anytime can tap into this madness and probably feel much better about their own sanity.

Stupidity

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:52:00 +0000

That is most certainly the definition of my actions...
I had one day that I could walk without my knees screaming in pain and what do I do... I go to three trainings... and now I sit in front of the computer with ice on my right knee...

The good news are that my left knee seems to be alright... I started by going to spinning class... really hammered the bike there raised my avarage pulse from my usual spinning pulse and really made the bike pay. I felt great, endorphins rushing to my head which it had so sorely missed, knees feeling good, everything going according to plan.

We went to the aerobic room where we do some strenght training with weights but I decided to stop after three excercises as I wanted to feel fresh in swim training. I usually show up at swim training with my legs beaten after the spin class and my arms done by the weight class.

So I show up at swim training feeling unusually fresh and the training went great. I was keeping a 2 minute tempo per 100m which is my target tempo so I was very happy. I finally felt that my position in the water was improving... so my legs were not sinking the whole time and I managed to glide more... all very good signs... we had a lovely hot tub sicussions as usual and at that point I should had gone home, finished a great day, feeling fine. But no....

Of course with this very welcomed endorphine rush I felt I was invincible so I went to play soccer. My plan originally to stay back and be a goalkeeper... but no... when I felt myl knees were not totally ruined I moved forward playing as a striker... My left knee didn't complain at all, but my right knee became more and more sore and than just plainly hurt. But I kept going, playing on one leg... and on the positive side I won 4 out of 5 games... on the negative my knee feels horrible, and my best friend sprained his ankle and had to stop playing... bloody soccer...

But I am hopefull that my knees are getting better and that I will be sore tomorrow but then fine for a spinning class and swim training next wednesday... I am not going to run for this week... think that is the sensible thing to do... but I really want to...

Recovery-Active Recovery-Hyper Active Recovery

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:02:00 +0000

So... been just over a week from my first marathon... things have been rather frustrating since then. On Monday I felt good, although my knees were sore. So I went for spinning class, I skipped the hardest parts but felt really good. Afterwards there was the weightlifting class, skipped those legs excercises as they felt weak. Then on to swim training, swam just 1km because my knees were starting to feel really bad. Onto soccer but there my knees just broke down... I couldn't run a step. Stood in goal and had a less than convinvincing performance. Although we did win all our matches.

The next day my knees continue to bother me. I could walk but nothing else. Went for a bike ride at the gym. Took 15km and aimed to go under 30 minutes, finished in 27 minutes, so that was fine. But the knees continued bothering me. I feel alright by now, but as soon as I so much as jog, my knees just scream. What kind of engineering flop is this? Who designs a knee that way??

Well, was BBQing with my best friend and his girlfriend last friday and she is a doctor. She did a quick examination and told me I really should talk to a specialist. I have been told that for years but now I finally decided to do something about it as I can not miss more than a week of training after every big run.

So now I have got an appointment with a knee specialist next monday. I am hoping he finds something wrong with my knees that can be fixed. This has been a recurring problem for years and I just hope it can be fixed and I can continue my race plan for the summer.

My first marathon!

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:39:00 +0000

This weekend I ran my first marathon, here is my humble attempt to write a race report...

During friday it was very windy and cold, I left work looking at the sky thinking about tomorrows run and how I would cope with strong headwind... didn't like the thought...

I checked the weather forcast and according to it the wind should be about 7 m/s, and the temperature around 0°C. Not bad, not great

Went over my checklist (amazing how many things one has to consider) made everything ready and spent the night at friends house playing Risk (strategy game)... didn´t win a single game so I decided that in the spirit of karma that all my good karma was building up for tomorrow.

It was 1am when I got home and I decided to add some songs to the running playilist on my ipod... but then something horrible happened.... all the music had dissapeared from my ipod... no idea how that happened, but meant I had to start from scratch putting in music... not my favorite thing at 1:30... it might sound easy, but my problem is that I have such an extensive collection of music that it is hard to find the right music... Ended up creating 5 playlists, all very different in nature... I always like to choose on the spot what to listen to, according to my mood.

Went to sleep at half past 2, which gave me 5 hours of sleep... I had slept well for the two previous nights so that was fine. Uncharacteristicly (wow... is that a word) I woke up at the first beep of my alarm clock and started getting ready. Had my Herbalife protein shake for breakfast and started putting things in my backpack, making the sjake to dring at the half way mark etc...

When I finally looked outside the sight was breathtaking... clear sky, sun shining and almost no wind... That lifted my spirit immensly and I drove off to the race start. The race number were to be distributed there half an hour before the start.

Got my race number (955) and started snapping pictures of runners collecting their numbers, organizers setting up heaters, the tent, the finishline, the clocks, markings etc... incredible guys the organizers... so many things to do, so few of them, and all volunteering... My biggest thanks to them!! Had a great conversation with couple of runners and orgaizers, everybody being so supportive and encouraging. I turned out to be the onlyone running my first marathon there and those I spoke to were all very happy about having a young person coming in to the sport from the outside (not from the tracks or any sports club).

After a great pre race speach, we gathered at the starting line. I decided to put on Gavin DeGraw, lets make it clear that I am not a fan of his... just fitted the mood very well. Easy enough so that I would not go out too hard.

We counted down and off we were... at second 3 my first problem arised... my watch showed my pulse to be 0... fantastic.... as I was quite sure I wasn't dead yet, I decided this had to be a failure... so the first 300 meters I kept trying to re-adjust the strap, getting the sensors moist... the other runners looked at the new guy like he had gone mad...

The group split in two right from the start and I decided to position my self in the slower group as per my strategy to go out slow... but in that group I kept having to break not to run into the guys around me and I wasted alot of energy trying to go slower so I decided to go to the side find my own slow tempo and see where it would take me... well... it took me to the other group that now had stretched out quite nicely so I placed my self there... only one guy in front of me and he kept increasing the gap, so I didn't have to worry about him, then a group of 5-6 runners quite closely behind me.

At the 3km mark my hip started to hurt... great I thought... is this going to be the case today (sometimes I get these bad, bad, hip pains) at the 4km mark my left ankle started hurting (another regular) and I thought that at this rate I would be in pieces by the first turnaround... ahh... yes... better explain... the course was out and back two times... so each stretch was 10.5km and we ran it twice out, twice back...

Then at the 6km mark something very nice happened, all my pains just dissapeared... I looked at my pulse, steady 158... easier than my training runs... everything was going great... so I just kept running. The course took us to the sea, and it looked incredible in the morning sun, with a clear blue sky... I wish I had ran with the camera to share those amazing sights... well, I just felt so amazing running there and the music changed to a little faster 3 doors down but I checked regularly my pulse to make sure I wasn't going far beyond 165 and I wasn't, most of the time I was running a slow and steady 155-158. What did worry me a bit was that my splits were to quick... I was running at a 5:10 per km tempo and that was rather fast... but I was feeling great, relaxed, not in pain, lungs and heart felt fresh so I just kept at it.

My 10km split was 52 minutes... not bad, my turnaround split just under 55 minutes... pretty happy happy about that. At the 11km mark I changed my music into Bueno Vista Social Club- Rythmos del mundo where they play with some great bands like Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys etc... take there hits and make it into these latino swing songs... amazing stuff and I flew... the km marks just flew along, and I was running the same tempo and feeling good the whole way. On the way back there was a lot of running groups on the course and people taking a weekend walk... people walking their dogs etc. And while running past, especially the run groups they would step aside and cheer me on, that felt so great and I had a huge grin on my face the whole time, thanking every single person. Then I was told I was in third place after 16km. That really shocked me and started to try to slow down... these guys I was running with were the best marathoners in Iceland, many ultra marathoners and a group that was going to the Boston marathon... If I was going faster than them, I was doing something wrong.

I came to the finish line and turning point in 1:47 which is actually an improvement of my half marathon time by 5 minutes. Jumped into the tent to get my self a Herblife shake drank as much as I could and jumped out again, having lost one runner in front of me, joking with the volunteers... which were simply amazing... One of them, an experienced runner, told me to keep up the fast pace as long as I could, just go for it on the third stretch, because the fourth one would always be hard and there the real work would begin...

So I did, I managed to run around 5:10 pace to the 26km mark and there I saw something fantastic, my family was there, waiting, cheering runners on... it was so great to see them, my little brother came running to me telling me to keep going... it was so great, especially since at that time I felt my legs stiffening up... seeing them kept my pace up for a while but by the 27km mark I was slowing down considerably running a 6:00 pace. At the turning point (31.5km) I had lost a group of four runners past me and no matter what I tried I just couldn't keep up with them. At the turning point I saw my family again... that lifted my spirit again and I changed my music into a much more energetic and happy music in an attempt to get up some rythm for the last 10.5km... but my legs had had it, I increased the turnover but my legs were so stiff and heavy that my steps brought me only a tiny bit forward each step... not good... My family dropped by the course two more times and I told them this was going to be long, long last kilometers... they cheered me on and I kept moving forward, kept loosing runner after runner past me. Each time I tried to keep up, but in vain.

One thing I must say is that all the runners were so supportive as they ran past they would talk to me, tell me to keep going, that I was doing good etc. Really great, something you don't find in other sports (that I know of). When I got to the last drink station at 36km or there about. I asked for water (was going to have my last energy gel), but seeing the state I was in one of the volunteer (again, an experienced marathoner), shook a bottle of coke and gave it to me, probably 300ml of coke, but my god, those were the best 300ml of my life. I didn't get faster but I felt much better and my head got back into the game.

I knew I was well of pace from my first 3 rounds but I had been hoping for a sub-4 hour finish and I started calculating... with 5km to go I had 37 minutes to go. So I kept at it checking my watch at every km mark and clapping my hands like an idiot every time I saw I was on target. with two km to go I had 16 minutes, or 8:00 minutes for each km... sounds so easy and simple, but at that time my left knee was burning and the blister I had developed on my pinky toe of my right foot had bursted so I was limping on both legs.

When I could see the finish line, around 500m off, I just became overwhelmed with joy, grinning like an idiot getting tears in my eyes. I saw my family and suddenly felt like sprinting, and sprinting I did... I ran the last 100m all out and finished in 3:57:58 sub-4 hour marathon, my first marathon... and what an amazing marathon it was.

I could barely stand in my feets as I wobbled inside the tent getting my slef cheese cake and waffles. Chatting with two girls from my swim club, sitting down, trying to walk again, sitting down, trying to walk, sitting down etc. Then there was the award ceremony and some lottery awards. There were 40% chances of winning the lottery awards (there were so many of them), but I knew before hand that I wouldn't win because for me I had already won something much, much, much more important... something that goes well beyond any finisher medal, any trophy or prize. I had finished my first marathon, I knew I could do anything...

Now it is monday, I have already gone to two night shifts (had to work that same night) where I had to walk the stairs of a 8 floors high building, 3 times... That was really, really painfull but I believe it helped recovery greatly as I am now feeling ok, stairs are not my friends at the moment, but I am ok, planning to go for a bike training, swim training and soccer training tonight, although I will not be doing the standing sprints in bike training, not doing the leg drills in swim training and I'll probably just stand in goal in soccer... but I'll be there, two days after a marathon... that's a victory, and I can't wait for my next marathon where I will try to go closer to the 3:30 time...

Quotes to have in mind!

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:56:00 +0000

Life is not a matter of being dealt good cards, but of being able to play a poor hand well. —Unknown
Everything you do is your legacy. —Aaron Douglas Trimble
Blessings are placed within our reach, but they are not placed within our hands. —Unknown
No wonder experience is the best teacher. It has to teach us things we don’t want to learn. —Unknown
Every man dies, but not every man truly lives. —William Wallace
The crime is not to avoid failure, the crime is to not give triumph a chance. —H. Weldon
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. —George Bernard Shaw
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. —William Shakespeare
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. —Confucius
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. —Henry David Thoreau

Mother nature

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:43:00 +0000

Last friday I had that wonderful run in the amazing weather. With the stunning nature of Iceland all around me I felt good that the spring had finally arrived and I was certain that the marathon (now in 4 days!) would be an enjoyable experience. Then what happens...

Mother nature decides to step in... I don't know what it was... maybe to many people were enjoying the good weather... maybe this is some sort of a sick joke from mother nature, kindling hope and optimism and then crush it! Today it is snowing!!! it is freezing cold, temperatures below 0 (celcius), wind chill and snow... I can't even imagine what it will be like running in a weather like this. When getting to work this morning I couldn't stop shaking, out of cold!!

I am a very visual person, and I visualize a lot. So I couldn't help it but seeing my self dropping out of the race... not because of lack of stamina, not because of my knees or cramps in calfs... no no... because of over cooling (what's the word again?)... All the training, all the preperation... gone...

But then kicked in my conscious mind... I started recalling all those times I ran out in blizzards this winter... when I ran out, even though there were storm warnings and even on one occasion got blown off the track... And the time when the headwind was so strong with hail that my 8km took 1 hour 30 minutes... Especially I remember a time when me and my best friend went running and this insane wind started and I put out my chest and yelled in the wind, bring it on!! do you think you can take me down!!

My friend described that moment as insanity, a small person challenging mother nature... But that is the spirit and the nature of me, and I believe most marathon and ultra distance runners... in a sense we are challenging our bodies our spirits our existance every day. So no matter the weather, no matter the conditions, ee will all be there at the starting line in 4 days. Laughing in the face of mother nature.

Tapering..... sucks

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:40:00 +0000

So now the famous tapering period has begun (began earlier, but my first blog since then).
Tapering sounds so easy... take it easy, rest your body for the race... couple of short runs to keep you smooth and on the edge... As I read all the books on triathlon and running I could I always chuckled when I got to the tapering part and it stressed how important it was and how most athletes screwed this part up.

I thought to my self that I would have no trouble with resting... I mean... resting is nice, right?
And as it is so important, why on earth would some one not do it?
Then came Good Friday.... the sun was shining brightly, the sky was completely clear and uncharacteristically there was no wind.

I was working a bit in the morning but at 2pm I was home... looking outside of the window, arguing with my self if I should run or not... I soon came to the conclusion that arguing to my self in the window was a clear sign of madness and the only cure was to go out and run. So, that problem solved.

I decided to go and run around a lake that is just outside my neighborhood, there is a 11-12km trail around it, couple of small hills, smooth horse trail but most importantly breathtaking views. I hadn't ran there since last fall as you really can't run there in the winter with the trail buried in snow and ice. I ran out with a pretty up beat play list on my ipod. But as I got to the trail I was welcomed with wet mud! Yes, the snow and ice was mostly gone, but obviously it had melted and large pools of water blocked the trail everywhere and the rest of the trail was one big mud track.

At first this really broke my serene other worldly mood and I tried my best not running in the mud, not getting wet, which meant running off the trail, which was really rough and after almost twisting my ankle several times I finally gave up and started running in the mud. And Behold, nothing happened, and I actually found out that I really enjoyed it. Yes, my white shoes were not so white anymore, yes, my gay looking running pants got all dirty (interpret as you will) and yes my feet got wet... but ohh... what a blizz...

The other thing that annoyed me at first was that I wasn't the only one that had the idea of enjoying the good weather outside (imagine that!). The trail was packed with horses (imagine that, on a horse trail!). At first it really bothered me to have to break my automatic rhythm and go off the trail. But like the mud I soon decided to enjoy it instead and started exchanging smiles and greetings with the horse people (and couple of the horses as well). Anyway I am going to pass them, better make it fun, also, this people is doing what I love, being outside in nature, so I really should appreciate that and like them.

I finished in less than an hour and was pleasantly surprised, as that was my best time last fall, and then I was beat afterwards. Now I really felt good, my legs felt fresh, I had no pain or aches. And I knew i could do this over at the spot. Wonderful! The hard work is paying off... So although this broke my tapering plan, my legs felt fresher after the run than before it (does that make sense?) and with a week to go I am sure I will have recovered... now the plan is 2-3 short 4km runs on race pace (which is slow as this will be my first marathon) selecting my play list... creating a 4 hour play list is quite a task... any suggestions?

So tapering is proving to be more difficult than I thought, I really want to go out and blast the trails or the city.... but I must wait... I must be patient and I must finish this saturday...
all the best.

Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:05:00 +0000

Last Thursday I had my second Powerade 10km race this winter. Also the last race in the Powerade winter series.
In the January race everything went perfectly (see older post) and I improved my PB by 9 minutes. That in bad condition, dark, icy, snowy and the track has two big hills.

I wasn't really sure what to expect as the conditions were much better this time, no snow, minimal ice, and we started running in the dusk so we had light for the first 5km or so.
But as Lance Armstrong says, it's not about the bike... so I knew I had to nail it again if I were to improve my time. Especially since that time was a whopping 9 minutes improvement.

I finished work rather late, only half an hour before the race start, so I drove home quickly, jumped it, changed clothes, got my gear (Ipod, gloves, keys, race fee etc.) and had a sip of my High5 drink before I jumped out and ran to the race start (I live 1km away).

The stress proved to be a good warm up, my pulse was moderately high, sweat starting to form (in the -4°C frost) and I was ready to go. Conditions couldn't had been better, beautiful sunset, snow on the sides but a clear path. Almost no wind so you really didn't feel the cold. Beautiful.

I rather lost my self in the beginning running with the front group. I just felt so incredibly good that I didn't realize I was running way to fast for my pace. I am also very competitive so every time someone runs past me I make it my goal getting past them again. Normally a good trait as it keeps me running faster and faster through the race, turning in negative splits well beyond my normal ability. This time it was not so good, as the runners passing me were runners finishing the race in 35 minutes or so.

I did run in that front group for the first 4km, through the first big hill, then down again but on the flat after 4km they really went flying, no more warm up for them. Then it hit me like a wall. I got stitches in both the sides and breathing became very labored (which is normally not the case for me, my limiter is my legs, not my lungs or heart).

The next 3km were hell, 5 more runners ran past me and I didn't feel good at all, not even running down the valley looking at the beautiful waterfall that normally lifts my spirit at that stage of this route. Also the music somehow didn't fire me up and that got me annoyed.

Still I knew I was under the time that I ran when I set my PB in January so I tried to keep going and started gaining on the next runner. The last 3km I really gave it all I had, which at this stage was more or less running at the pace I normally do, but it was really hard in the physical and mental state I was right there.

As I approached the finish line it was like all those physical and mental nags just vanished and a feeling of great joy came over me, so through the finish line I ran with a huge grin, which wasn't really representing the whole run, but it was good to feel this way and also to be able to show it to others, especially the race organizers that did a fantastic job as usual.

The time really surprised me 44:02, breaking the 45 minutes barrier, which in December I wrote down to break by the end of this season... one goal down!!

The good things: I set a new PB, I achieved one of my seasons goal long ahead of schedule, I gave all the volunteers and the organizers a big smile and thanks. My legs felt good the next day.

The learning things: I went out way to fast (learning: go slower in the start), I had a bad play list (learning: prepare better, finish work earlier on race days), I felt horribly during the middle part (links to going to fast in the beginning, but also shows I must focus on mental training, getting my self out of these states).

So, I had a lot of positives and also a lot I learned... good race, good PB (hope it won't stick for long).

Next race is my first marathon in 13 days... That's the baptism... that's what it is all about...

16 days.....

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:58:00 +0000

16 days until my first marathon... getting excited... I am certain that I have the stamina for it... my concern is mainly about whether my legs can handle it. Running for three hours this monday my hips became very stiff and weird... I had some ankle soreness and my old knee injury flared up for a while...

On the plus side my muscles managed very well, no cramps or strings and the day after was fine although my legs felt a bit heavy.
Probably no reasons for concern, just don´t want to DNF, I am way to stubborn and competitive for that...

Tonight I have a 10k race. Will be interesting to see of I can beat my 2 months old PB of 46:18 That race really went fantastic and I want to see if my greatly improved time was due to a great day (a fluke) or due to a greatly improved fitness and running form... tonight we will see... at least I want to finish under 50 minutes.

Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:04:00 +0000

Well, been awhile... one reason, life!
Life has had the incredible baldness of interfering with my training and blogging... amazing... I got elected MCP (Member committee President) of AIESEC in Iceland. So I was facilitating at a national conference for them, then had/got to attend the International Presidents Meeting of AIESEC which was held in Macedonia... I had two bad weeks of training before Macedonia but in Macedonia I managed to run every day except two, so I am very proud of that.

I have moved my first marathon, one might think that since my training has been going slow I would move it back, but no, the Icelandic way is to push it forward. So I have my first marathon in 18 days...
Yesterday I had my 3 hour run to test my body. I had decided to use it as a judging run for the marathon. If I would be alive after 3 hours of running I would survive the marathon, or so said a person I respect a lot.

But once again, life was interfering, I didn't manage to run on Saturday and on Sunday I had hangovers that didn't make me feel like running (surprisingly). So on Monday I was supposed to have a spinning class, weight lifting/exercise class, swim training and soccer so I didn't see where I would fit a long run. But I had to work until 8pm so I missed all the trainings except soccer which starts at ten, so I saw a chance.

Run to football, which I knew would take around an hour. Play football for an hour and then run back for an hour...
Not the ideal three hour run, but hey, you have to be flexible and work with what life throws at you.
Yes you run shorter distances during soccer, but you sprint a lot more, so after the first running leg my hips and calves where tired, but after soccer my legs where ok (although powerles) but I had sprinted so much that my lungs where really tired.

But all in all the run went great, minor aches and pains but that's what makes it fun. I tried using gels and drinking water. Found out that I like apple gel much more. And what an energy boost you get... incredible...

Now I feel like I will finish, might not be pretty, might not be a good time. But I will finish and then I have 2 months for my originally planned first marathon, so there I can know what to expect and improve my time.

Weekly total

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:44:00 +0000

Events for the week : January 21, 2008 - January 27, 2008
January, 21
Bike: 18 Km, 0h35m00s hms, 1.94 min/Km -->
Weights: 0h55m00s hms -->
Swim: 1.6 Km, 0h55m00s hms, 34.4 min/Km -->
Run: 8.0 Km, 1h00m00s hms, 7.50 min/Km -->
January, 22
Bike: 42 Km, 1h33m41s hms, 2.23 min/Km -->
January, 23
Bike: 17 Km, 0h35m00s hms, 2.06 min/Km -->
Weights: 0h45m00s hms -->
Swim: 1.5 Km, 0h55m00s hms, 36.7 min/Km -->
January, 24
Swim: 1.1 Km, 0h30m00s hms, 27.3 min/Km -->
Run: 3.0 Km, 0h16m00s hms, 5.33 min/Km -->
Weights: 0h20m00s hms -->
Bike: 5.0 Km, 0h09m13s hms, 1.84 min/Km -->
January, 25
Run: 7.0 Km, 1h00m00s hms, 8.57 min/Km -->
January, 26
No Entry
January, 27
No Entry
Weekly Totals
Category
Distance
Duration
Weight

2h00m00s
Running
18 Km
2h16m00s
Biking
82 Km
2h52m54s
Swimming
4.2 Km
2h20m00s
Total
104 Km
9h28m54s

Slow run... not so slow... not a run...

noreply@blogger.com (Tomas) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:38:00 +0000

I had a great plan of having a slow run today after the super monday. But mother nature had other plans. A snow blitzard made any outdoor running attemt vain.
I decided to step on the indoor bike and see if I could stay on there for one and a half hour, which is well over my projected time in the London Triathlon this fall.
I started doing a 30 minutes program where every third minute was a hill from hell. Then two easy minutes. That went well enough, I maintained 90-100 RPM on all the hills, but it really drained my muscular endurance and as an afterthought I should had skipped those hills. I then went to a straight race, racing a computer, setting the computer speed at 30km/hr I lost by 1 km which put my avarage speed at 28km/hr which is not accepteble but as a first long run I can accept that. Also my avarage pulse was low (144) so my stamina/endurance is good. It´s the muscular endurance I have to work on...
The good thing is that I still have the time on my side. Now I have gone beyond my distances in all three disciplines for the triathlon. So I am feeling very confident, now it is only question of improving my times.