The entire region is just amazing and the only thing I can compare it to is a collection of national parks in the US, because of all the national parks I have seen not a single one matches this area.  The valley of Grindelwald is a river formed V-valley, while Lauterbrunnen is similar to Yosemite, a U-valley with sheer cliffs.  These cliffs are home to beautiful waterfalls and great climbing, base jumping, and paragliding.  There are several slot canyons similar to Zion NP that are worth a trip back.  Then of course the backdrop to it all is a moutnain range best comparable to the Tetons.  Then add in some high mountain trails with spattered with wild flowers similar to trails in Rocky Mountain NP and you have one beautiful place.  There is also kayaking, sailing, white water rafting, and thats just in the summer.

Overview of Jungfrau Region with Train Routes

After an 8:30 flight from Copenhagen to Zurich and a 2 hour train ride I was in Interlaken by 13:30 on Thursday afternoon.  Since I couldn’t check into my hostel until 16:00 I decided to lock my baggage at the train station to take a quick trip up the range close to town that would give me a view of the lakes, the mountains, and the valleys.  The trip up and down was on a gondola type thing on a track, which climbed 700m quick.  The thing I first noticed when I reached the top was how far up 700m was.  This was very concerning since I knew the race climbed 1829m total.  I tried not to think too much about just as I had the entire period of training.  I went for an easy 60 minute run along the ridge during which I stopped every 3 minutes to snap a picture of the ever changing views of the lakes and mountains.  After I enjoyed some coffee and cake at Helder Kulm an old resteraent at the top of the ridge and headed back down.

Only 700m up, but still a beautiful view

The hostel was really nice and I was glad for the informal setting in comparison to the swanky Victoria Resort across town.  On the first night I met 2 girls from Canada, and guys from Seattle, South Africa, Australia, and Scotland.  We played some pool and headed out to a bar for a couple drinks and some live music.  Two nights before the race a couple beers never hurts and sometimes helps.

Hostel Living - 6 to a room, only one snorer (not counting myself)

.  In the morning (after the free all you can eat breakfast at the hostel) I hit up the expo tent to get my number and look for any good deals.  As an “elite” I ended up with this huge bib number that had my name and country on it, both for the front and the back of my singlet.  At the merchandise table I picked up last years (or maybe last decades) jacket for 25 swiss francs, a steal compared to this years at 125.  Since the weather was overcast and not ideal to take the 172 Swiss Franc trip up to the top of Jungfrau.  Instead I opted for the cheaper yet also easy on the legs train plus bus ride up to Trummelbach falls.  These falls are the main place that the melted ices from the glaciers of the mountains travel down to the lakes, meaning that a ton of water is flowing through there.  A total of 10 “shoots” make up the falls, most of which are inside in the mountain side.  I also got to see pretty much most of the first half of the course so I was prepared for what the flatter section entailed.  However, I did note that the 300m climb in the second 10k was still significant and would be much slower than the first part as it was mostly grass and gravel paths.  After a bowl of pasta and an hour of reading I headed to bed early, but was still the last of the 6 people in the room to get to bed.

One of the 10 Chutes in Trummelbach Falls

On race morning I made sure to get up at least 3 hours before the race to get a little pre-race jog in.  After the jog I topped off the carbs at breakfast and was feeling as ready as I could heading into the race.  The starting line was about 400m from the front of the hostel making it a super easy and stress free morning.  I was also thankful to have the elite bib as the course is pretty narrow and with 4000 plus starting it would have been difficult to secure a spot up close to the starting line.  At exactly 9AM the gun went off and we were off.

Further Back at the Start of the Race

The first 1km I was immediately in a kind of no man’s land, far enough behind the lead pack for not much drafting advantage but in no real pack of our own.  Passing in about 5:30 pace I felt like it was super slow, but knew that I needed to actually slow down a little and settle in.  At about 3km a nice little pack formed and I found myself in a nice groove at 5:35-5:40 pace, eventually passing 5km in 17:25 or so.   This first part of the race is great.  You run a loop though the town of Interlaken where there are people everywhere, noise makers going off, and cow bells ringing like crazy.  Really a great atmosphere.

The next 5 km the pace lagged slightly and I started to pull away from the group looking to start to pick off people dropping off the main pack the next 5 km or so.  We went through downstown of a nearby town were there was plenty more noise being made and then ran along a field and through a super sweet covered bridge.  I was probably in about 20th or so at this time.  I did pick off a few people in that next 5km coming through 10km in 35 flat and feeling super comfortable.  Immediately after 10km there is a decent climb that I had not noticed the day before and shocked my system a bit more than I was hoping for.  Still I kept a strong steady effort on the rolling gravel and then constant uphill into the Lauterbrunnen where I caught a few more people and was in about 12th at the half-marathon coming through in 1:17 high.  According to my wrist band I was 5 minutes up on a 3:20 finish, right where I thought I needed to be considering my lack of mountain training.  The next 4 km is a loop in the valley with a slight up for the first 2 km and a slight down for the next two.  I was really flying down the valley headed into the hills when in hindsight I should have been conserving energy in preparations for the real racing.  As I hit km 25 I was in 9th and the climbing was about to begin.

Super Sweet Covered Bridge

About Halfway; Entering Lauterbrunnen and Crowds

Almost immediately I knew I was in trouble.  This trail was steep.  I hadn’t even hit the first of 26 switchbacks and both my achilles were burning, my calves were aching, and my quads were quickly becoming worthless.  By about switchback 3 I was walking, and I would spend much of the climb up to Wengen alternating between walking and running being passed by 6 people.  I knew my hopes for a top 10 finish were done and I was already in survival mode.  In hindsight this section was not as bad I thought and I still had the 29th fastest time on the section despite feeling horrible.  Still 500m in something like 3 km is steep and hard to run no matter how tired you are.

However, after Wengen the course “levels out” meaning it becomes a runnable pitch, but my body was having none of that.  I would start to run and feel okay and then my quads would just shut down and within 100m of starting I needed to walk again.  So I altered walking and running while getting continuously passed and becoming really annoyed with the fact that the km markers were every 250m, which only made it seem like I was running that much slower.  At the next aid station I walked through, taking an energy drink, coke, a gel, and yes even warm broth thinking that maybe I was just cramping from low sodium.  Nothing helped, but I decided that this was a method to continue to the finish in hopes something would change.  It didn’t.  From Wengen at 30.3 km to the next checkpoint at Wixi (37.9 km) I split a 54:12 (just under 8 min/km) for the 188th fastest time.

Unfortunately from there I was broken.  Feeling like I’d rather just walk the rest of the thing I slowed down even more stopping to enjoy the incredible scenery as we climbed further and finally were above the tree line.  Even though I was 8min ahead of pace at 25 km I was now about 8 min behind the pace I needed for a 3:20 finish.  I knew it was not the cards and so I took my time.  Still it was work as the climbing became more difficult again; approaching the steepness from the valley floor to Wengen that first crushed me.  Luckily I could enjoy the comical aspect of it all.  Thinking, why would any sane person have thought that just being fit on the flats was enough to be ready for a mountain marathon.  Obviously I was not sane.

The Last Climb is Brutal

This last section from 37.9 km to 42.2 km was covered in a blazing 39:15, good enough for 288th fastest on the day.  So the final stats were 44th place, 1:17:28 first half, 2:20:40 second half.  Ouch.  Yet I still enjoyed myself and I still felt a sense of accomplishment climbing this much, albeit even if most of it was walking. Jonathon Wyatt, mountain running pro, won the race in 2:58, and 10th ended up being 3:14:09.  I was still the top North American or Scandinavian finisher.

Garmin of Jungfrau Marathon Course

Glad to be done

The rest of the day I spent at the top of the ridge where you can see into both the valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen and are right at the base of mountains.  I took a nap, got some post-race food, and even hiked around for some better pictures and to avoid the crowds.  On the train ride down I stopped in Grindelwald and had a nice Weiss beer with a better view as well as some ice cream and cookies as a well deserved treat.  The night was pretty anti-clamatic as most of the people I me earlier were off and on their way (although I did see the Scottish fellow, Craig, cheering for me along the course, very cool).  I had a couple more Weiss beers, some excellent Thai food, and enjoyed watching the Swiss-Greece world cup qualifying match with other exhausted runners.

Beer with a view

The next day I woke up not really sore and only a little fatigued.  It was absolutely beautiful out so I decided that I needed to get back to the mountains for another run.  So I was up early, checked out, and up the mountain to Schynide Platte, an alpine garden with amazing views of the mountains and lakes.  It was also 1500m above the valley floor really putting into perspective how much climbing I had done before.  As we climbed the old cog railroad I was amazed as how high we were getting, and also getting a little nervous since I did not have a lot of time and I was unsure how I would feel I left myself plenty of time for the run down. Yes I ran down 1500m the day after running up that much.  I did a short loop up in alpine garden getting some nice pics with cloudless skies and then headed down the mountain by foot.

Ran A Short Loop in the Alpine Garden at the Top of Schynige Platte

I was originally planning on just running down to the train station where a 5 minute train ride would get me back to the train station at Interlaken.  However, when I realized that I only had 4 swiss francs left, an amount not enough for the train ride, I improvised taking a route down the mountain that put me closer to Interlaken so I could just run back.  While the top part of the trail was really steep and quite technical there ended up being a far amount of runable trail that I could make good time on.  I was probably 3/4 of the way down when the event I was waiting for finally happened.  I nicked a rock with my shoe, rolled onto my side, and then did a backwards summersault on the trail, glasses, water bottle, and camera flying in every direction.  Luckily my knee already had a big scab on it that protected it from the impact and I only scratched my elbow.  Unfortunately my knee ended up bleeding a bit and by the time I reached town I had a nice streak of blood down to my shoes.  I was however down about 90 minutes before I predicted and had a relatively stress free trip home to Copenhagen.

Ran Down to the Town on the Left

Overall although I am disappointed with the race result I also understand why such a result occurred.  If I do the race again I will be sure and be prepared specifically for this time of course even if that means dreadmill runs.  On the bright side I was not beaten up to much and have decided to run another marathon.  So on the 20th I will run the  H.C. Anderson marathon in Odense, Denmark.  This will actually just be a day trip with a 10 AM start and only a 90 minute train ride away.  I’m not sure how I will feel, but since it is a relatively low key race (top 5 in 2:25) and is super close, I decided why not see what it feels like.  Depending on the course I will probably try and run under 2:30

8/17 – AM ran to work.  6.25 miles easy after the long run yesterday.  PM- 10.75, ran home with extra Amager Field Add on.  All easy running.

8/18 – PM ran 65 min easy from work out to the Utterslev Morse.  9.5 miles.

8/19 – Quick 8 with 6x200m strides at the end.  Along Amager Strand.

8/20 – AM run into work 7 miles.  PM 9.5 miles back from work with Christianhavn add on

8/21 – Last big workout before the marathon.  Felt I needed a long tempo to solidify my fitness.  I’ve done some good long runs and some good short races so far.  So 14 miles at marathon effort – HR 145-152, controlled the whole time.  5:54, 51, 55, 47, 50, 52, 47, 48, 45, 43, 46, 44, 42, 48.  Felt really relaxed with that effort and the HR showed it. 17.25 total.

8/22- 10 easy, but my achilles was a little sore.  Not happy about that.

8/23 – tried to run, but decided against it.  Rest and recover now.

75-80 on the week with a last great workout.  Think I am fit, but am I mountain fit.

8/24 – off again rest the achilles

8/25 – 10.25 miles.  Went out to the track in hopes of getting a little speed in, but opted for an easy run with Christian, cool Danish masters runner who I hope to run with more in the future.

8/26 – AM – run to work 6.25 easy PM – Run home Amager Field Add on 9.5 miles – achilles is feeling better after massage and walking around in a lifted shoe.

8/27 – last real workout.  7,6,5,4,3,2 just substituted the 1min at 800 pace for 7 minutes at marathon pace.  Felt alright, but I don’t have that gear as both my 3 and 2 were the same pace (actually I think that always happens) and I was just not ready to run real fast. 13.25 miles

8/28 – off

8/29 – Long run through Amager Field, along Koge Buge, cut into the Field again and back through Amager field.  A real nice med-long loop. 13.25 miles

8/30 – 5.75 miles along Amager Strand.  Beautiful morning at the beach.

Week total. 55-60.  nice down week, dodged the achilles and now ready for the final taper week.

8/31 – DHL race.  This is the craziest race I have ever seen.  It is a 5 person relay, each person running 5k.  The course is like running in one lane of a road….and there are 4,000 teams…..on monday.  Over the week 19,000 teams or about 100,000 legs were run, or about 10% of the entire population in Copenhagen takes place.  It is opportunity for employers to bbq and employees to get some exercise and enjoy some company.  The course winds through these huge tents where people eat, drink, and generally live upto the moniker of the happiest people on earth.  The course itself is road, dirt, and a tarp over grass with probably 20 9o degree turns to ensure that you weave past each tent and the full 5k is accounted for in an area with a 2k perimeter on a normal run.  I was running anchor which meant that the entire course was pretty much packed with people and required much weaving, sprinting, and at times almost walking.  I forgot to start my watch but think I was around 17 or so, which at marathon pace was the goal.  As a team we were the 13th best 3 men, 2 women team, 2nd best on that day, and like 400th overall of 19,000 teams.  Crazy.  7.5 miles

9/1 – 6.25 miles with “hill” repeats (10 s hill sprints) at two different locations – much too little – much too late.

9/2 off – and then tomorrow off to Switzerland.

Tuesday: Biked into work.  Biked out the track practice.  Did a 20 minute w/u before the real warm-up which allowed me to actually be warmed up for the workout.  Legs were just dead tired and needed the warm-up.  Once they got going on the repeats they felt surprisingly good.  Just maintained a solid effort, never went to the well.  The course was a greenbelt that felt a lot like Duck Pond 1.5 mile loops, but I was only doing 800s (did run on the grass).  9×800 in 2:30-35 pace with 90s rest.  real short cool down running, but a 50 minute bike ride back to the apartment.  10.5 total.

Wednesday: AM:  Ran into work.  41 minutes 5.75 miles.  Then played football (soccer) for an hour indoors.  Damn I am going to be sore.  Was exhausted bu the time work started.  PM:  Ran home – with Amager park continued exploration add on.  Really like the park – soft surfaces, lots of options – and not a lot of stop and go like the routes in the city center. 68 minutes, 9.75 miles

Thursday: PM:  Was suppose to do a medium long before going to see Vampire Weekend, but by the time I finished work I had less than 80 minutes to get a run and shower in.  Was really, really, really sore from the football, all in my hips, abs, lower legs and my right hamstring is acting up again.  68 minutes or so 9.75 miles.

Friday: AM:  Ran to work with a little bit of an add on.  48 minutes, 6.75 miles.  PM:  Ran home with add on through city lakes and then some in Amager also with some hard charges up the small hills in the middle of the field/park.  Felt like crap.  79 minutes, 11.25 miles.

Saturday: Unmotivated, took it off, probably won’t kill me.

Sunday: Long run to the southern tip of Amager again, at 13 miles did a 6 mile tempo cut-down – 6:21 (strong headwind), 6 min (mixed wind), 5:44, 5:32, 5:25, 5:32 with HR moving up from 140 to 157.  Just wanted to get some marathon pace running done after 13 or so in the legs.  Wish it was more MP and more like 8 miles, but oh well, was just a little overzealous.  Ended up with 21.75 in 2:24.  After the run I felt pretty good, which is rare for a long run, so I know that I am getting in pretty good shape.  Did not need my gel on the run either.

Week Total: 92 on 9 runs with a day off.  I was looking for more like 105-110, but with the bike riding, soccer playing, and day off, it just was not in the cards.  Still know that I moved my fitness forward and I don’t think I put myself in the hole any.  Should be able to do another similar quality week to 10 days and then back it off.  Try to get some hill work in this week and maybe some MP work with rolling hills.

Tuesday: 2 mile w/u, 10 miles at marathon effort (5:45 average, with last two at 5:30 pace) on 75% dirt, 25% pavement.  HR 145-150 for first 8, 150-155 for last 2.  Felt controlled and pretty comfortable, a good sign.  14.5 total.

Wednesday: Ran around the lakes and windmill and basic city loop.  first 9 normal, and last 2 with a German guy I met one of my old dorm rooms, so a little slower.  78 minutes, 10.5 miles.

Thursday: On Wednesday I decided that I would a race today.  After the biggest track meet in Denmark (think D1 conference meet….not a good conference though) there was a 5k road race.  I decided sure, all the decent guys are running the 5k on the track, so maybe I have a chance to win. Did a 2.5 mile w/u.  Would have gone further but people were streaming into the starting corral about 15 minutes before the start to try and get a good spot and the last thing I wanted to do was pass a couple hundred people on a course about 4 lanes wide.  So I got nice and cold in that 15 minutes and was unprepared the shock of 5 minute pace.  The race started on the track so I knew people would go out fast, but the Danes kept it controlled and after 400m there were 2 guys about 10-15m ahead of me and thats it.  I slowly bridged the gap over the first 1k and then we hit the mile in a pack of 5 or so at 5:03.  The second mile had a couple of hard 90 turns, back onto the track, and a 180 degree turn (not cone style, but still pretty tight), it ended up being a 5:11 and everyone was still there.  I knew I wanted at least top 3 (finish in the prizes) and I knew that although I was comfortable I did not want to wait too long.  I moved to the lead somewhere in the second mile and held an easy effort, biding my time to drop the pace.  The first acceleration dropped one, and we were 4.  As we started “lapping” slower runners we took a hard left and I had to run to the outside of the course, while one of the guys hit the inside and went to the lead.  The pace then really dropped and I was hanging onto 3rd, but dropping fourth.  At this time we were weaving through the heavy crowd and as we came onto the track with 300 to go, one guy took off, no chance of catching him.  The other went also and gaped me enough that I could not make up the difference with such a crowd to weave through.  We finished within 2 seconds of each other and the guy in second and I had the same time.  15:32 for a course with several tight turns and also a fair amount of dirt.  3.08 on my Garmin (don’t ask me why I was wearing it, although I found out my HR max is ONLY 172).  Ended up with a gift certificate for a shirt at a local running store.  Apparently this Nike shift costs 500 DKK (just under $100), it better be a damn nice shirt. No cool down because I had a bunch of crap that I could not put anywhere and nobody to hold onto it for me.  5.5 on the day.

Friday: AM:  Ran into work from my new apartment – 5 miles 35 minutes, nice start to the day  PM:  Ran home and added on some beach running (nice views) for a total of 11.5 miles.

Saturday:  First run exploring Amager park.  Very nice park, soft surfaces, no roads to cross, and about 2 miles from the apartment (mostly on dirt trails).  Explored a little too far and got in 14.5 miles.

Sunday: Great long run.  I really needed a solid long run.  Ever since my 50k run from Helsinger I’ve barely got a 2 hour run in.  This week though was different.  I was set on exploring the island of Amager, which is my new home.  After the Saturday run I was hoping just to keep it easy, get in 2:30 – 3:00 and keep it at 7 min pace.  I wanted to try and make a loop of the entire island, but was unsure how long that would take. The run started running along the main beach on the east coast of Denmark (you can see Sweden).  Then past the airport for a few miles of pavement and industrial crap.  Eventually into the small town of Dragor, which looked like a great place for a weekend getaway.  Right at the town the trail turned to single track along the beach and continued that way along the southern coast of Denmark until it turned inland (see photos).  At that point I actually ran through some pine forest and shady vegetation.  Very nice.  I ended up making a mistake hitting a trail that turned into pavement and had to deal with that through the center of the island until I reached the soft trails in Amager park (where I ran yesterday).  Overall a very chill pace – averaging 6:50s, with a HR in the 130-135 (up at the end), and a total of 24.5 miles in 2:45ish.  Perfect.

800m from my apartment

Sweden and windmills in the distance

Single track along the southern coast

Pine trees in Denmark, who knew?

Somewhere in the Middle of the Island

24.5 miles almost all the way around the island

Week Total: Really a great week in the end.  Only 40 miles after Thursday and then rallied for 55 the next 3 for a total of 97 with only one double.  Solid workout, solid race, and solid long run.  Solid.  Up over a 100 again next week if I can.

Tuesday: Decided to do the workout with the track club.  It was 1 on 30 sec off.  They were doing them at 3k (6-10 of them).  I decided to do 20 of them at 5K pace.  Started at around 5:05-5:10 pace, down to 4:50-55 pace at the end.  Ended up doing a good job of keeping my HR up around 160.  9.75 total.

Wednesday: Med long run. Up around Gentofte lake.  I like this route, lots of dirt, not too many lights and the lake although small is really nice.  13.5 miles – 1:31.

Thursday: Morning run.  Got it in so I could enjoy myself at the going away party.  Went for an easy 60 min. 9.25 miles.

Friday: 2 miles easy, followed by 11 km at 6% grade.  Nice and chill, keeping the HR between 135 and 145.  9 total in 78 minutes.

Saturday: Easy run in the morning.  Really nice out – perfect no shirt weather without getting too hot.  Just a nice little chill in the air.  10.75 miles.  Keep the HR at 130 – pace was 6:35-6:40s.  The rest week helped I think.

Sunday: 5 miles easy, then on the treadmill at 10km/hr 7% grade, which puts the HR at 135-140.  Was planning on running for two hours on the dreadmill, but after an hour I just called it quits.  Ended up with 1:45 or so on the day, I’ll call it 12.

Week: 75 miles on the week. Felt very easy (as it should).  Ready to crank it up this week, but will have a couple of long days at work to compete with.  Hope to get in 85-95 with a couple of good workouts and at least one run on the dreamill again (maybe intervals to mix it up).

Tuesday: Thinking maybe its a hernia, day off

Wednesday: Feels better, but chalking this week up as recovery.

Thursday: Easy 5 miles.  Felt a lot better than Monday, still a little tightness now that I am hyper-aware of it.

Friday: easy 6.5 miles, felt pretty good, no real pain.

Saturday: 10 min w/u flat, 60 minutes at 6.4km/hr at between 15-20% grade on the treadmill, 10min c/d.  Even those this was walking it got the HR up to running levels, 135, without the stress.  Did the whole thing in the vibrams, think I may have some blisters.  Total of 10km.

Sunday: Biked about 50km on my cruiser like bike.  When I got back to the apartment did not feel like running, so I decided to take it off and be fresh and hopefully injury free for Monday.  Did see a nice modern art museum, Arten, and some of the coastal area around Copenhagen.

Week: Well, that 50k run kind of killed me, but I think I may have avoided serious injury and hope to take the next 3 week build up a little easier.  Probably did not hurt to have a recovery week after my two highest weeks in several years.  75-80, 85-90, 100-110 are the goals for the next build up.  Also 2x a week some hill training on the dreadmill.

Starting the trip on one of these

What will get me back from the castle

Obviously I packed light, but I needed to balance that with not looking like a complete idiot while riding the train, visiting the castle, and doing normal touristy stuff.  So I sported knee length North Face running shorts and a North Face fanny pack that I had won at the Wildwood Canyon 50K.  I was able to carry a water bottle, a candy bar (no gels for me), some cash, my nice camera, my iphone, and some wireless headphones.

lots of moats - walls - and cannons

The visit to the castle was pretty sweet.  There are a few major attactions.  One is that it is the home to a large collection of tapastries, or hanging rugs.  I learned and witnessed the different styles, subjects of some tapastries that dated back to the 1600s.  Kronburg also has a series of underground tunnels and rooms which were fun to explore and is also home to the Great Dane.  The Great Dane is suppose to come to life when trouble arrives in Denmark.
After visiting the castle it was off to walk around downtown.  Apparently Helsinger has a lot of liquor stores because of all the Swedes that take the ferry across to get some cheap(er) boos.  There were quite a lot of shops downtown also, but I stuck to a coffeehouse where I fueled up on a latte before hitting the road.  At 5:30PM or so, I left heading south.

Only 41 km to go

My mindset was to just enjoy the views, take my time, and not stress about how far or how long I had to go.  Easier said than done.  I was keeping the pace relatively easy at 7:10s or so for most of the first 90 minutes, stopping frequently to take a picture or check my iphone to ensure that I was not lost.  I had no choosen route since Google maps does not allow the level of detail needed to plan such a run.  However, I knew that I could follow the railroad tracks and did just that for much of the first 90 minutes during which I was treated to plenty of views like the picture right below.

Typical view along the route

As I started to get into the sections of the run that looked like there were forests or parks I slowly started weaving in and out of wonderful soft wooded trails.  These were a treat; soft on the legs, beautiful, and fun to run.  Of course I would often end up on a trail that weaved around and eventually faced a non-ideal direction.  This wasn’t helping me get back sooner, but I wasn’t really worrying about it.

The Running is Really Nice on These Trails

Lots of these guys on the trails

Every once in a while the forest would break and I’d end up in a nice little meadow.

More animals in the meadow

At about 2:20 I started feeling it a little.  Even though I’d been stopping frequently, had downed a candy bar about 40 minutes ago, and not really been going that fast I was tiring from the 46 miles the last 3 days.  I knew that I was getting close to Ermitagesletten park, where I’ve run to before.  I was tired of having to check the damn GPS and ready to start heading home.  So it was a welcome site to come upon the large open field of Ermitagesletten park. Normally I would head to the middle of this park where there are elk and deer everywhere, but today I took the shortest route through.

fabulous park with wonderful wildlife

I knew that I had at least 8 miles to go at this point – and being at nearly 21 miles was not making that realization any more pleseant.  But off I trudged.  As it was approaching 9PM I was treated to some really nice light, which made for a gorgous run around Gentofle Sog (lake).

From here I knew I was close…close to hitting the marathon distance.  So about a couple miles later I hit the 26.2 in just under 3:11, which is a Boston qualifier (had I not been stopping to take all these pictures).

Marathon Down - A Few Miles to Go

After that I tried to pick it up, but still was only running 7:10s and it felt a lot harder than 3 hours ago.  The run ended up at 29.55 from Helsinger, but added to that 1.4 earlier in the day to get to the train station and it was pretty much 50k.  I felt pretty wasted from the effort and my legs hurt bad enough that I had a little trouble falling asleep (second time that week).  There is a certain part of me that finds it very rewarding and primal to travel by foot.  We did after all evolve to become the only hominads with amazing running abilities.  So maybe I was just following my ancerstoral instincts after all…or maybe I’m an idiot.

Nerd Facts and Nerd Map

]]> http://mjrunning.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/a-good-idea-for-a-saturday/feed/ 4 mjlaye Train at Osterport Station My Legs Kronburg Castle 41 km Nice Flowers Forest Path Orange Banana Slug Sheep Ermitagesletten Gentofle Sog Garmin Pic GPS http://mjrunning.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/training-blot-713-719/ http://mjrunning.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/training-blot-713-719/#comments Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:57:40 +0000 mjlaye http://mjrunning.wordpress.com/?p=150 ]]> Monday: PM: My legs felt like shiate today.  Yesterday and the week caught up with me.  It was a major struggle to run 7s today.  1:17, 11 miles, HR 125

Tuesday: AM:  5.25 miles, easy prep for a VO2max test in the afternoon.  Legs still feeling like absolute garbage.

PM:  2.5 miles.  So the test went…at best okay.  For some reason I weighed 76.4 kg.  Not sure if that is correct, but oh well.  On the warm-up up at 10km/hr my legs felt horrible.  After 5 minutes the pace cranked to 1km/hr up.  At about 17 km/hr, not that fast, started feeling like crap.  Struggle and pushed to get past 20km/hr, and topped out at 21km/hr.  My absolute was an alright 4.95L, but when you correct for my (inflated) body weight it was a lackluster 65 mL/kg/min.  Somewhat lower than my alltime best of 74.  Several things I think lead to this.  1) my weight, I’m sure it was wrong. 2) the previous week of training – I was tired as hell and felt like shit, 3) the test itself was flat – a mild grade would increase the numbers slightly.  Oddly, my max HR, which was not captured due to an equipment failure the last stage, seemed to be about 170…174 tops.  Lower than even I thought it could be.  Oh well.  I will have to try another test right before I head off the marathon to see if much improvement (or weight loss) has occurred by then.

PM:  Off, a little depressed about the poor performance.

Wednesday: Well I wanted to get in a good longer tempo effort this week.  Feeling tired from last week I decided on the classic 4 mile, 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile tempo with 4,3,2 minutes rest in between.  I ran out to the Utterlslay Morse to the west and started the 4 mile conservative running 5:55, 5:42, 5:38, 5:31.  Felt pretty good.  The 3 mile in 5:29, 5:30, 5:31 and 2 mile in 5:25, 5:28, and mile ended up being only a half mile at 5:20 pace.  Very good effort over 9.5 miles.  HR was in the high 150s so I was certainly working.  15.25 total – 95 minutes.  Legs ached so bad couldn’t fall asleep.

Thursday: AM:  6.25 in the vibrams – really tried to keep it easy.  6:55s  PM:  10 easy, HR 126, 6:48s.  Tried to keep it easier again.

Friday: AM:  6.75 miles, in the vibrams again.  again HR 126, 6:53s.  PM:  Had to get it in a short time.  6:40 pace for 8.5 miles.

Saturday: Stupid idea.  Took the train up to Helsinger, where one of the famous Danish castles is, and decided to run home.  Will do an entire post on it soon.  Ended up getting 31 miles in on the day at about 7:15 pace.

Sunday: Well the weird part that hurt after yesterday’s epic run was my groin, hip flexers, and abs.  After a really slow first mile (7:40) settled into 6:50-7 min pace, HR about 126.  6.5 total.

Week: Well a 31 mile day will help make up for two days that totaled 15.  Ended up with 103.  Probably my 3 highest week ever.  Will try hard to get to 105 this week and then major down week planned.  Also figured out that I need to slow down on my easy runs.  The 6:20 pace that felt good last week will kill me at the beginning of this week.  Also going to try and get some major climbing in next week.

Tuesday: AM:  Stuck just to the park this morning – 3 loops – 5 miles.  PM:  First sustained hill run.  2 mile w/u, 50 minutes on the treadmill, going from 4-5-6 percent, adjusting the speed from 13km/hr down to about 11 in order to keep my HR about the same.  HR was 145, 145, and 150 for the three stretches.  Total 11km uphill, with about 500m of climbing.  1 c/d.  8 miles total, in 68 minutes.

Wednesday: PM:  11 miles, HR at 131, 6:30 pace.  Much faster than I was doing this last week. HR monitor is keeping my honest.  Legs feel alright after the solid workout.

Thursday: AM: 95 minutes – 14 miles.  HR 130.  Out to west with some exploratory that slowed down the pace a little.

Friday:  AM:  Ran in the vibrams again, just wanted to keep it chill, 7 min pace.  4.5 miles, HR 125 Ave. PM:  Another hill climb.  Easy 2 – then the goal was to run same effort as a recovery run.  Set the treadmill at 10km/hr, 7.5% grade.  Ran a total of 10k uphill, 1 flat at the end HR averaged 145, so harder than an easy day.  77 minutes – 9 miles.

Saturday: Easy city loop.  HR average 128, 6:40 pace.  10 total.  Legs feel pretty good considering the week.

Sunday: First long run with a hill transition at the end.  A little second day soreness in the quads, but still wanted to see what it felt like to climb following the 15 miles.  So I hit 15 in about 1:41, 6:35 pace, HR 132.  Then I headed the treadmill and put it at 9% grade and tried to go easy – which was about 9 km/hr and my HR was still 145 average.  The hills was 5k with 450 m of climbing.  Total for the run was 18.5 miles in 2:15.  This was the kind of run that when I got home I could not drink enough water, then I did not even want a beer with dinner, and finally I went to sleep with a headache.

Week total: About 95 miles on the week.  10 runs.  Had all those miles been run on the flats then I would certainly have been over a hundred.  Felt like I had a mini breakthrough in that my easy pace has moved down considerably.  However, I minor setback in realizing how stupidly steep this marathon is going to be and how woefully unprepared I will be.  Next week trying for a similar type week.  Will be doing a VO2max test on Tuesday (assuming I’m recovered) and trying for 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile cutdown workout on Wednesday.

1) Somewhere cool

2) Between the middle of August (should be in shape by then) and then end of September (Before Oktoberfest + trip to California)

Also among the considerations; could I get comp’d, could I win money? How often will I visit this particular place in the future? and How fast is the course.

My initial short list included the following:

1) Berlin.  Pluses:  Fast, cool city.  Minuses:  Going to Germany already, been to Germany already, maybe going to world champs, have to pay to get in.

2) H. C. Andersen Marathon in Odense Denmark.  Pluses:  Close so cheap, fast course, chance to win prize money.  Minuses:  In Denmark and in Denmark

3) Slight considerations for the following: Iceland marathon in Reykjavik City, Helskinki Marathon, or Hornindalsva marathon in beautiful Norway.

While the above were all fine choices, I ended up selecting the Jungfrau marathon in Interlaken, Swizterland.  Now maybe all three of you who read this are thinking the what marathon? and where the hell is that?

Well it is located in the heart of the alps and it looks beautiful (google map here).  Situated between 2 alpine lakes (Thun and Brienz) and at the foot of three famous mountains Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau it should be a beautiful setting.

However, with all that beauty comes a price.  Check out the elevation profile of the course.

Brutal Course

Part road, part trail, all uphill.  Starts at 1800 ft or so, and ends at 6800 ft.  As you can seen most of the elevation comes in the second half of the race where you go from 810m at 13.1 or so, to 2100m at the finish.  So ~1300m in 21k, or about an average grade of 6.2%.  Oh yeah, did I mention that Copenhagen is as flat of Davis, CA.

Here is another picture of the course for a little perspective.

Beautiful, but I'll be Running Ugly

So there are couple of cartoons that show the truly comical elevation of this race, but now for a couple of real pictures (taken blatantly from their website) showing some of the real drama on the course.

Crowded Mountain Single Track

I hope it won't be this foggy

I love single track

The Flats Before the Pain Train

Notice Zac Freudenburg in the orange

Will I Feel Like Enjoying the Views and Music?

Okay, so obviously this is not a PR course.  However, this is not going to be a race that I win either.  There is a decent prize purse and this race is part of some mountain racing series.

Men
1. CHF 10’000.-
2. CHF 5’000.-
3. CHF 3’000.-
4. CHF 2’000.-
5. CHF 1’000.-
6. CHF 700.-
7. CHF 500.-
8. CHF 400.-
9. CHF 300.-
10. CHF 200.-

So my goal is top 10.  Looking at the past few years winning time is on average 2:59, 5th place is 3:12, and 10th place is 3:18.  Of note, in 2007, one of the more competitive races Zac Freudenburg ran 3:14:58, which was good enough for 8th place.  Breaking down his race he ran the first half in 1:14:47, and then just under 2 hours for the second half.  My plan was to try and run the first half in 1:16-1:18 and then try and run under 2 hours the second half and hope that puts me in the top 10.    Okay after a 20 minute diversion remembering just how good Zac is I might have to revaluate my goals.  So an A goal of top 10, B goal of sub 3:20, and a C goal of sub 3:30.

Okay now that I have some goals how the hell am I going to reach them training in the flatlands of Copenhagen?  Hopefully all two of you that read this will be able to advise me on the types of run that I should do.  Due to the length of time that I will be running, I almost have to adjust my effort from marathon pace to 50K pace.  I mean I will be trying to run at a high level for almost an hour longer than in a normal marathon.  So I obviously need some longer long runs – probably in the 2:30-3 hour range, which may mean 26 miles.  As for the hills I am thinking there are several workouts that need to be experienced before this race occurs, unfortunately all on the treadmill.  1) Running uphill tempos at marathon effort, which will be based on my HR, 2) Running “easy” uphill for 2 hours straight or for 1800m – this sounds really crappy and will require some good podcasts, and 3) A mountain running brick, going from flat marathon pace to treadmill marathon hill effort for 75-100 minutes (half marathon simulation), and 4) just some easy runs where some or all of the miles are on some kind of grade.

I have 8 weeks to become a mountain runner.  Wish me luck and give some advice.