2013 Season Recap

Training

The 2012 Season ended up in running my first ever Marathon on 13th of October 2012. After the Race my legs were tired and hurt for three days. After one week of almost complete rest I enrolled to the local gym Mr. Mundo. I started strength training by following a program planned by the Director of the gym, Hernan Brisco. I went to the gym 4 times a week for 5 weeks, a total of 20 practices. Core and legs training is the most important for marathon runner but you can't forget the upper body. The idea of strength training in the gym for a marathoner is not only to get more strength, but to fix imbalancies in the muscle groups to prevent injuries when running. Triathlonists train more hours and get less hurt. Why? Because they have more balanced and versatile training than marathoners. The strength training program needs to be designed in a way that you do not cause more imbalancies but you fix the ones that exist and build strength balanced without building too much muscle.


November to December

Figure 1: 3:30-Program training progress.

19th of November (week 47) I started a 3:30-marathon training program. The Program included running six times per week. After I started to follow the Program I quickly noticed that I was kind of pushing my limit. I did not have energy to go to the gym for strength training anymore. I could follow the Program 4 weeks before I had to quit. In the fourth week my legs felt heavy going in to the practice. I had developed shin splints and my right leg hamstring bothered me as well.

I figured out that my Base was not sufficiently good for following this Program. I would have to cut back the intensity and go to low intensity Base Training. I was fine with that. I decided that I would run the Buenos Aires Marathon again in next October, so I had plenty of time to build my Base and then do a marathon specific training program. My progress of key workouts during the first four weeks of the 3:30-program is presented in Figure 1.


Second Off-season

Figure 2: Delicious food at the beach in Cartagena, Colombia.

After I had slightly burned myself out with the 3:30-program, I eased up with the training during our vacations in Cordoba, Argentina (Christmas) and Colombia (New Year). They say holidays are the best time for an athlete to train. But this year I had to make an exception. And I think I made a wise choice of giving up the 3:30-program, slowed down, rested well, both physically and mentally. During the second off-season I ran Recovery Runs and Easy Runs three times a week until the end of the year 2012. I tried twice running at altitude in Bogota, Colombia (2700 m elevation) as an experiment. And took completely off from training the week 2 of 2013. Just laying on the beach and spending quality time with my wife in Cartagena, Colombia. The best thing for me in Colombia is the FOOD! Someday I will return, and just run a lot and eat the healthy, unprocessed, natural food. The colombians are also great cooks. Every restaurant or kiosk I visited, the food was delicious, not to mention the meals that the locals prepare in their homes.

January to April

Base Training. The Summer on the southern hemisphere lasts from December to March. During that time the temperatures in the day are very hot for training. The best time to go out running is early in the morning or late in the evening. I prefer running in the morning.

I got back to training on week 3. I started an experiment in which I tried to add 3 kilometers of running every week. Starting from 37 km, 5 times of running in the first week. Next week I ran 40 km. The intensity level was low, just Recovery and Easy Runs. I was teaching my legs and body to get used to the pounding and weekly distance that would be ahead of me when I would start to train according to a marathon training program. But for now I had 4 months time to slowly build my Base, while trying to stay healthy and uninjured. I added sixth running practice to my weekly schedule and ran uninterrupted and without injury until week 14. At week 13 I already ran 71,9 km. I had added to my weekly schedule Fartlek (Speed play) and Long Runs. My Easy Run pace had increased during the Base Training from about 5:25 min/km to 5:00 min/km at the same effort. I was making great progress while constantly adding my training quantity. I was all the time kind of close to pushing my limit, but still steering clear from injury. "Training, not straining" goes the saying implemented by the late great distance training coach Arthur Lydiard.

Figure 3: Eccentric Achilles Tendon strength training.

But then it hit me on week 14. My right Achilles Tendon got sore, and I could not complete my daily runs without pain. I stopped running and started doing a so called Iron Strength circulation training designed by Dr. Jordan Metzl, who writes a column on Runner's World. Eccentric strength training is vital in treating and preventing the Achilles Tendinitis that causes pain to the Tendon while running. Without proper treatment the Achilles Tendinitis will eventually prevent running. I was less than one month away from starting 3-hour marathon training program and my priority was to get healthy before the program begins. So I took off almost two weeks from running and did a few times the Iron Strength practice and eccentric Achilles Tendon strength training three times per day.

Two weeks before the begin of the marathon training program I got back to running. My Achilles Tendons felt alright again. To treat this kind of injuries, resting is not an option. Resting will take the pain away temporarily, but it will come back when you run again. The key is to change something: get more strength, change the position of the feet, or both. The day before the start of the marathon training program I went out and bought new running shoes, Asics Kayano 19. I was consulted at Club de Corredores that I should go on to get my feet scanned and get me a pair of custom made insoles from a company called Sporthesis. I did and instantly my Achilles Tendon problems were over. I ran 736,4 km in total during the Base Training from January to April while spending 64 and half hours on the Road.


May to October

Marathon Training. I started training specifically for the 2013 Buenos Aires Marathon on week 18, 29th of April. I had 24 weeks to go until the Race. I had built a pretty solid Base during the previous four months. Running up to 72 km per week. Now was the time to add effort and intensity to the training. The first week of the marathon training program I ran six practices with Friday as a Rest day. I totaled 56,5 km running Recovery Runs, Easy Run, Long Run, Marathon Pace Run, Tempo Run and Hills. The frame of training every week is basically the same except some of the training circulate in different cycles. I ran Hills and Intervals every third week. Recovery Runs, Easy Runs, Long Runs, Marathon Pace Runs and Tempo Runs once every week. The most training I did 4 weeks before the Main Event, running 89,9 km, including 8 x 800 m Intervals, 8 km Tempo Run, 14 km Marathon Pace Run, and 32 km Long Hard Run.

Figure 4: Recovery Run progress.

Recovery Runs

Recovery Runs (PK1) are the lowest intensity running practice. The effort level is around 70% of the maximum heart rate. In my case I run the Recovery Runs at about 130 bpm average HR (my max HR is 185). The warm-ups and cool-downs are also included in Recovery Runs category in addition to the easy Monday when I usually ran 6K Recovery Run practice.

The Recovery Run progress is presented in the figure 4. As can be interpreted from the table I increased my Recovery Run pace during the 24 weeks from about 5:25 min/km to 5:10 min/km. Recovery Run is all about low intensity. The closer to 130 avg HR the better the practice!

Easy Runs

Figure 5: Easy Run progress.

Easy Runs (PK2) are run with slightly more intensity than the Recovery Runs. The effort is about 75% from the max HR. Still deep in the aerobic effort zone. I ran Easy Runs on Wednesday, which was another easy day of the week. The usual Easy Run practice was 6K. During the training program as I got fitter my Easy Run pace got faster from about 5:00 min/km to 4:40 min/km. The progress is presented on the right in Figure 5. My objective was running about 140 bpm average HR (75%).

Figure 6: Long Run progress.

Long Runs

The cornerstone of marathon training is the weekly Long Run. Long Runs are included in shorter distance training as well but in marathon training they are the single most important weekly practices. Most of the Long Runs I did with constant pace. When I got fitter I included some Long Hard Runs, both the 32 km Long Runs. The one Long Run marked with asterisk (*) is a Half Marathon Race. I did my Long Runs usually on Sunday mornings.

The progress is presented in the Figure 6. During the Long Runs I also practiced drinking while running and tested the sports drinks that they would be okay for me to consume during a race.

Figure 7: Marathon Pace Run progress.

Marathon Pace Runs

Average 3-hour Marathon Pace (VK2) is 4:16 min/km. My primary goal during this year was to be able to run sub-3 hour marathon. In the beginning of the Marathon Training I was not fit enough to keep up that pace without turning the practice in to a Tempo Run practice. Marathon Pace runs should be run under the Lactate Threshold effort level, that way keeping it aerobic, but close to the anaerobic effort level. By experiment and recent experience I have come to a conclusion that my Lactate Threshold is at about 160 bpm HR. Lactate Acid is always formed even at the lightest actions that you do. When the effort level is risen for example from walking to running, more Lactate Acid is created. When the effort is kept under the Lactate Threshold, the body is able to deal with the Lactate Acid without it being accumulated in the muscles. Marathon cruising speed is done at the effort just under the Lactate Threshold.

During the Marathon Training I first had to run slower than my goal pace. Later in the Program I could run at the goal pace and in the latter part I could even go under it without using too much effort. I ran the Marathon Pace Runs on Thursdays or Saturdays, once per week. The progress is presented in the Figure 7, where the one marked with asterisk (*) is the 2013 Buenos Aires Marathon Race.

Figure 8: Tempo Run progress.

Tempo Runs

The Tempo Runs (MK) are run at the Lactacte Threshold and over it. They are tough workouts that provide very efficient training stimulus to the body. The effort level is hard to very hard, almost the maximum that you can get out of the body in practice. But it is still important to remember not to sprint too much at the end. That would just turn the practice in to a Race and it is not a desired effect, because it takes more time to recover from that. That's why the gained benefit from sprinting at the end is lost, and you even risk an injury for no actual gain.

In the beginning I run shorter Tempo Runs starting from 5 km at about 4:00 min/km pace. My Tempo Runs got longer and I got faster at the same time when my fitness improved. The longest Tempo Run was 10 km at 3:48 min/km pace. The Tempo Run progress is presented on the left in the Figure 8. The one marked with asterisk was a 10K Race in Hämeenlinna, Finland. As you can see, you can get a lot more effort out of the "engine" when you have a number on the chest. That's Sports Psychology 101 right there!

Intervals

Figure 9: Intervals progress.

I've heard many marathoners don't like running intervals. Then I must be an exception. I love intervals. They remind me of the old days when I trained for 400 meters. The intervals are the bread and butter of milers and 5K to 10K runners. Interval training improves VO2max (maximal oxygen consumption) which is very important for milers and 5K to 10K runners. Marathoners also benefit from having a high VO2max, but it is not that dominating characteristic.

I haven't tested my VO2max at any training facility. I don't know how accurate the Polar VO2max test is, but the best value I have scored with it was 71 ml/kg/min. That is pretty good result. According to literature a typical elite marathoner has VO2max between 70 and 75 ml/kg/min, so I am right there with my oxygen consumption. That is probably one of the reasons why the interval paces McMillan has calculated are quite easy for me. Especially when I ran the 4 x 400 m intervals during the taper. 

I ran intervals once every third week. My progress was highly visible as can be seen in Figure 9. I was very content when I finished the 8 x 800 m intervals three weeks before the Race. I felt I was in pretty good shape to be able to run strong all of those repeats.

Hills

Figure 10: Hills training.

If you don't want to go to the gym to do strength training for legs, then run Hills! I ran 7 times hills: some of them as intervals, trying to hammer the 100 m hilly sprints repetitions. When I was practicing in Finland I could run hilly routes and hit the uphills hard to make a bit different type of Hills practice. Sometimes my hamstrings reminded me of their existence. The stiffness at my hamstring was the usual reason to cut short the practice before injuring myself. In a way there was no progress in my Hills training, but I am not training to run uphills as fast as possible. It is just a means of adding strength.


Summary

My 2013 Season is presented in numbers in the Figure 10. Compared to the 2012 Season, let it be that was only half year long, I increased significantly the kilometers (from 650 km to about 2600 km) and intensity. I was injured a lot less which is a sign that I did not try to reach too much at once. During the Season my fitness, running economy, speed and endurance all took giant leaps forward. I am looking forward to continue training in 2014 and I sure hope that a similar trend of progress goes on. I also learned what marathon training is about.

Figure 11: 2013 Season in numbers.

Racing

Figure 12: After 10K Race in
Hämeenlinna, Finland

I raced only three times during 2013. My first Race was a 10K in Hämeenlinna, Finland on 9th of July. Eleven weeks in to the 24-weeks Marathon Training Program. 42K and 21K Races were ran that day as well, but I took part in the smaller 10K Race. The day was nice, not too hot, temperature maybe 25 C, sunny, no wind, a very nice Finnish summer weather. The route had a couple hills but nothing big. A total of 150 runners finished the 10K Race including all the categories. I did not have any pacing plan, I just went with the flow, letting my brain dictate the pace and enjoying the competition without too much stress about the outcome. I started off too hard, running the first kilometers at about 3:40 min/km pace. I faded in the second part running the slowest kilometer at 4:10 min/km pace. I was 10th in the overall results with a time of 39:51 (average pace 3:59 min/km). There is a special atmosphere in the Races in Finland. Racing is hard, but fair. Giving up is not an option here. I think we, the Finns, are more competitive than the people in most parts of the World and take racing quite serious even though it is just a local competition with a few hundred participants. Or maybe it is just because of that. Anyway I hadn't felt that sensation in 10 years. It was good to be back.

Figure 13: Finishing 21K.

On 8th of September I raced in the Arnet 21K Buenos Aires Half Marathon. That Race was an important part of my marathon training just 5 weeks before the Main Event of the Season. I made my best result of the Season in this Race. I had a pacing plan to run about 1.26 (average pace 4:05 min/km). But I ended up running it 1.23:17 (average pace 3:56 min/km) and finished at position 197 of 14510 total finishers. I lacked discipline and was a bit reckless in the start but luckily it worked out great for me. This was a big confidence boost for me and after the Race I was quickly already eyeing the 42K, eagerly willing to go out and kill it.

The Main Event of the Season was the Personal 42K Buenos Aires Marathon. My Race Recap can be read here.

Special thumbs up to Aki Rissanen (the masseur of Finnish Athletics Team and my old team mate) for massaging my hamstrings and teaching me eccentric hamstring stretches that helped me to get rid of hamstring trouble and allowed me to start sprinting and generally run faster!