National Student's Championship 2009

This year's Student's Championship took place in Szombathely.

We decided to travel there one day earlier and stay there for some more time, read about that part in the kilo & fam blog.

Coach E decided not to attend the race, in fact he declared before the regionals that this race is not important at all. I do not agree with him on that, the kids represent their schools and regions in this race, and they can score full marks from teachers. In fact when it was the same race on ice, we were told it was very important. Then what about this one???

The race was to start at 9 o'clock, it started at 11:30 :( By that time the early morning good weather has gone and some enormous storm clouds came from the North. And the wind was high and pushed some very cold air ahead so it generally turned into an ugly, bad weather for racing.

What caused that delay? We will never know... There were difficulties with everything, start numbers, start lists, who came, who did not... aaarrrgh. Same story as ever.

Warmup

So at last the race started, with the amateurs. There were lots of them and as a parent of an oh-so-professional Peter sometimes it is a chore to wait all that time, but on the other hand it is good to see so many kids skating. One thing though - there seem to be 'real' amateurs and 'racing-as-amateur' amateurs, the latter move and race just like any pro. It is quite unfair for the real amateur ones.

When Peter's short distance came, we were well over noon. On the start list hanging near the directors there were 7 listed, he was put on start position #2. Then I saw 9 starters and the referee put him on lane #6. Why oh why??? These things can make him so nervous. Well Peter's start was OK until 20m, when a guy from TDKE decided to cross-skate just right before him, their skates clapped and he almost fell. Somehow he managed to stay on his wheels but dropped from #4 to #8 in a moment. As the distance was quite short (2 laps) and the track is very difficult for takeovers, I was quite happy to see him pass a guy clearly and fight and win over another one on the finish line. That put him in 6th position, which is good if we look at the circumstances, but he was very upset and sad and angry with it. Watch it here.

Then came - waiting again :D It is a pity there is no schedule put up and poor kids cannot be told 'You have 2 hours until the next race, take off your skates, eat something and rest a bit'. Instead they sit there listening to the speaker and guessing when it will be their turn. At some point rain came so we had to sit in the car and wait for the longer distances.

The 'long' one was 3 laps (500m I guess), Peter had a good start but stopped 'running' early and lost positions there. Then he got in turbo mode and skated fast and finished #5.

In the relays he teamed up with 2 guys from the other club in Szeged, Tornado (SzT & FB). He was the starting one and he did fine until he reached the relay zone and found noone there. The 2nd guy, FB then started, very very late and entered the zone, so according to the rules they had to touch eachother for a valid relay. But by that time Peter has already left the zone so it was over, DQ for no relay. I think it was FB's fault, if he sees he is so late he shouldn't enter the relay zone and let Peter go on for another lap. Interestingly Peter and SzT almost cried in frustration, but FB did not, he took off his skate and started eating pizza. I think that shows the approach clearly :(

Peter met with HÁ from KDSE whom he befriended last year, they talked so much during the day. And he made friends with SzT from Tornado, whom he fought so hard in April in Szeged. It is so good to see them this way, they fight during the race and then play and talk together. Sportsmanship practiced early.

The podium ceremony lasted for at least about an hour, in chilling freezing 7-8 C - and then came the mandatory visit to the McDonalds with the very exhausted kids, a quick shower and big sleep :)

X. Cora-run, Szeged

This last Sunday the 10th Cora run was held in our town.
I've entered the 6.6km race (in an insane moment) and decided to run the 3.3km with Peter as a cool-down.

We've arrived quite late, about 20 minutes before the race start so I immediately went to do some warm-up jogging. Weather was perfect for running, about 20C and cloudy. About 5 minute left and I approached the start line and found a comfortable place for myself in the middle of the crowd. I wanted to start a bit slow and then increase the pace in the 2nd lap, but then after the start I was quite amused to find I was running a good tempo at a heart rate of 97-98% - it was better than my expectations.
On the quay we head a light headwind so I went into 'head down and keep on pushing'-mode, taking care of the HR - if it rised to 99-100% I slowed slightly until it dropped to 97-98% again. Then at the end of the quay on the small uphill I caught up with two guys running side-by-side and it was quite relaxing to follow them for the next kilometer or so. At the end of lap 1 they increased the tempo a bit and I let them go - but I was satisfied with my tempo and overall state. I finished lap 1 (3.3km) in 15:14, that's a pace of 4:37.

300m from finishing lap 1

Then I ran alone for the next km and on the quay I managed to slowly overtake at least 4 runners. I kept on keeping my HR at 98% maximum and planned to do a flat-out last km. However when I had about 1.5km to go my side became stiff and painful and it took me a whole km to get rid of that with deeper breathing and easing up a bit. I was lucky though that those whom I've overtook before did not reach up to me. So the last 500m came and I started my so-called flat-out, however it was not a real sprint just a nice tempo :s The 2nd lap was 15:31 (pace 4:43) mainly due to my last 1.5km sufferings.

50 m to go

All in all I was very happy with my finish time of 30:45, it means I can run a 4:40 pace for half an hour \o/. Slow long distance runs show their strength at last. And take into account that I've only done very few interval trainings so far this year so the tempo should increase further later on.

Then there was about 1 hour left before Peter's run so I had quite some time to recover - I've done some cool-down jogging and thorough stretching. We've met some people from Peter's school or Moira's kindergarten, too.

We warmed up again with Peter and he was eager to find himself a good starting position so he went straight into the crowd early. At last when he stopped we were about 6 rows from the start line. We had to wait for 5 more minutes and then the gun went off.

As usual a lot of people started rushing ahead so I kept on telling him to keep a steady calm pace and not to care about the others. By the end of km 1 we started to take over those early birds and all I felt was it was hard to keep up with him. I've checked the time and saw 5:20 and the alarm started ringing in my head: it would be too fast. I told him to slow down a bit but you may guess how successful I was with that... he kept on running this pace and even increased it further. Then came the 2km right at the end of the quay and he told me he felt tired so we slowed down a (very) little bit. However after 200 metres he increased the tempo again. But nothing goes unpunished, he dropped down again at about km 2.7 so it was again time to slow down a bit. Then just before km 3 I told him to look right for a photo and that there is only 300m left to go - so he made a smiling face for Aniko and then produced such a sprint to the finish line I could not keep up with him :)

Peter just before starting his sprint for finish

I finished about 15 meters behind him but stopped the watch when he crossed the line - it stopped at 17:10! That's a pace of 5:13 / km - remember he is not even 8 yet!!! I was amazed with this, however after drinking a cup of water his first sentence was: Daddy I am veeeery hungry! :D:D:D

Then we went and searched for the girls near the stage, luckily Aniko has bought some scones so he had his CH refill soon. Small things that count for real...

Split

I've decided to split my earlier posts into different blogs. See kilo & TORCS for TORCS-related ones and kilo & fam for family-related musings.

The naughty left knee

Last Thursday I've noticed my left kneww was swollen quite a bit. It felt warm, however I did not feel any pain.
I couldn't decide what could have caused this. I've run 8km the eve before but - that is not much at all. Anyway I took some diclofenac before going to work and later, in the evening I've applied some ice to it, raised it during the night and had some more diclofenac.

No sign of getting better Friday, but then I could feel some very mild pain on the outer side of the knee. I've searched the internet for the anatomy and any probable causes and finally decided: I had a lateral collateral ligament injury. What could do that to me? I'm still uncertain & puzzled.
Anyway, I kept on icing and raising it while eating more and more diclofenac. By now it is not swollen anymore, only a very light breeze of pain remains if I push the ligament hard.

Question is: should I enter the upcoming Tour de Tisza-tó? 55 km of skating on the 9th of May. Hmmm hmmm hmmmmmmmm

BTW did you know that European rivers are all polluted with diclofenac? It seems to be the most commonly used drug here nowdays...

Building a base 2

At the end of the Base 2 period let's make a quick summary:

• ran 81.4 kms in 8h12m (10 sessions)
  
• skated 97.4 kms in 5h (11 sessions)

That is significantly lower than I've expected :( However often there are days when I simply do not feel strong enough to go training. I guess it must be some kind of spring fatigue?
Next period is about intervals. Insane...

Dom VSI Cup 2009

It has come at last, the first inline speedskating event of the year.

I particularly liked the idea entering as it was held here in our town Szeged, so travelling meant exactly a mile to cover :D Sadly enough only the young amateurs were allowed to enter so I did not have the chance to scare the locals with my vast amount of skating knowledge - however it also marked Peter's first race in age category E, those born in 2000 & 2001.

He had 3 distances to cover, namely 1000, 300 (on the 1st day) & 500 metres (2nd day). He was a little bit scared of the 1000m, as he has not raced this distance before. I knew he was strong enough but we knew nothing about the opponents. He was also scared of the fact he had to race with older ones. Both those fears were really baseless.

Our tactic for the 1000m was to ride on the wheels of the leader or 2nd and try to overtake him/them the last lap. He started hanging on to the 2nd guy but quickly recognised he was too slow so he jumped up to the 1st guy, SzT and followed him from then on. However he was not close enough and I guess he couldn't find his draft. Well in the final lap they both started to accelerate and Peter came in 2nd, seemingly not too tired at all. I was very happy to see him do exactly what we've discussed, it showed that he knew exactly what would happen and controlled himself all the way.

1000m

The 300m in the afternoon was a go-go-go kind of racing, and 'as usual' he made a bad start and used quite some time & energy to climb up the ladder, however he was able to get hold of 2nd place finish again. Later he told me the starter did not call out 'Ready' before blowing the whistle and it perplexed him a lot...

300m

Then came the relays but he could not start there not having any mates in the age category. That's just annoying, it means all the season would go like this :(

Next day the 500m was due. Analyzing the 1000m I found his main opponent only started sprinting hearing the bell, so I tried to make Peter surprise him by starting his sprint earlier. I think it will work - another time, as this time Peter had a bad start again, almost let everyone ahead of him and spent the first 300m fighting the rest, so it was clear he won't be able to start a sprint from there. Anyway he finished 2nd again so it was obvious he earned silver this weekend.

500m

We all were happy with this result, a really good start for the season. It showed us Peter is in good form physically and mentally he is able to cope with the older ones. I am sure he will grab a gold sometime later this year.
Weather was perfect, organization was quite OK, the only bad thing was the speaker (a coach) giving instructions to her own team members. Let's give a microphone to all coaches then :D

Vivicittá Run 2009

Choco after the race

We've done the Vivicittá Run Saturday. There were about 5.000 people running (well, half of them walking after the first few hundred meters...).
I ran with Peter and helped him to start slow, keep a steady pace during the first half and then increase tempo gradually. He ran a 21:24 which is quite OK for a 3.4km run.
He told me later he would like to do it again the autumn. Only 1 of his classmates was there but their proud photo now hangs on the wall of their classroom.

At km 2.5 on the quay

Bratislava

I've done it!

Arrived to Bratislava, Slovakia at around 7:50 and we walked to the registration, everything went smooth & professional.
Then warmed up a bit and put skates on.

The race started at 09:45, weather was overcast and around 10C, light breeze from south. All in all there were 271 starters and in fact I was a bit overwhelmed by that number. Following the slow start we rolled down about 400m to the quay of river Danube where we stopped, and following the gun started the race for real (map here).
It was here I made my biggest mistake in the race, I positioned myself way too back near the end of the crowd. After the initial 400-500 metres we had to climb up to the bridge 'Novy Most' which proved a bit hard for quite some people and I was able to overtake some. Then some more climb up to the middle of the bridge and from there whoooosh down in straight line onto Panonska Cesta, a 4-line road (2 lines closed). Fighting the small breeze I tried to hop from group to group, but it was quite demanding. My heart rate went up to 99% sometimes so I had to relax a bit drafting.
The road turned eastwards and climbed a bit for an overpass which I found very hard to cope with. Then onto a rough asphalt for 1.5 km and then down south again, following the dam.
This part of the route was shown as 1 km on the race map but proved to be 2.8 :) I could see the leaders racing in the opposite direction, on the top of the dam, and tried to catch glimpse of the others from our club (Szonja, Balázs and Dani) without any success. This section was quite OK, the asphalt was smooth and by now (we are talking about km #9-12) I was feeling OK and perfectly warmed-up. I could lead the group I was in long enough and bring them up to another group ahead.

Then came a short climb and turn back, and we started our way back to the finish. With the turn the breeze now helped us a little bit and it was much much easier to ride with speed. However sometime later my lower back started to signal it would become stiff soon, so I had to stand up and stretch it sometimes.
We were rolling on the bike routes on the dam all the way north back in the city, the road was OK with few hazards but all of them were signed with red paint. I was drafting a lot with #201 (a big thank you goes for Peter Cervinka from Vienna).
At around km #19 it started to rain, first only very slightly but soon enough water gathered to make the roads slippery. Unfortunately it was also the last kilometres that we had to climb up the bridge 'Stary Most', which proved very hard for me on slippery surfaces. I was not able to push long enough to the side and completely lost my speed in the climb. Then on the bridge I suffered to gain some speed again but the dilating elements and the surface errors made it too hard for me to cope with it :s In the last turn, down from the bridge & left, all the organisers showed us to slow down, I guess the turn was quite slippery and the crossing tram lines did not help either. After that it was a 500 m ride up to the gate and the clock stopped at 1:03:03!

I was and still I am very happy and satisfied with this result!!! I earned 155th place between the men (from 200 starting). I now think I could have earned about 2 minutes if I did not make that silly mistake at the start and stay with the rest of the team - but well, next time it will be better :) According to my HRM the first half of the race went harder, HR average was 95%, while it was only 94% during the second part.
Szonja finished 17th in the women's race (47:13), while in the men's race Balázs 133th (59:55, had a small crash), Dani 135th (59:57). Results here, photos I will try to find (Szonja here on Stary Most, #243).

(l-r) Szonja, me, Balázs and Dani

The race itself was very well organized, lots of police and race staff everywhere, chip timing, big screens; and friendly spectators, friendly racers, it was really fun to be there. I really hope to get back here next year.

Bratislava pre-race

22 hours left before the inline race in Bratislava will get started.

22.5 km to cover. That is a bit more than a half-marathon but I heard it starts with a slow start to lead the pace out of the zigzagging inner streets onto the new bridge (Novy Most) where the race can start for real.
Weather is not looking good. They predict 5-10 C, wind and... rain.
What do I expect? Last year I've done the HM distance in 1:29, now I'd like to finish under 1:10. I know I have the aerobic fitness but I haven't skated for a long time, only 2 short occasions. Hmmm... maybe a bit too courageous? We will see :)
We will get in the car at 03:30, drive along 350kms, run the race and get back home. Sounds like a perfect lazy weekend :)

Building a base 1

Sometime in October I decided to follow Rob Bell's periodisation tips on Inline Planet to build a more sportsman-like body shape in 2009.
According to those plans I've started a Base1 period at the 1st of February. Due to the weather it mostly consisted of doing running trainings, both outdoors or on the dreadmill. I just simply hate the stationery bikes in the gyms with their awful seats. I think spinner bikes are OK but I definitely do not want to take spinning classes. I should look for a gym where I can use the spinning bike for an hour or more, without a crazy instructor shouting around.
Anyway, Base 1 period ended last Sunday and now I can sum it up:

• ran 187 kms in 18h42m (23 sessions)
  
• did 1 indoor skate session

That is not too much :( 24 training sessions in 6 weeks, means I trained every other day. Running was at 6 min/km, that is OK I think, as long as one wants to do long, slow distance trainings.
So I am still undecided if I can call this Base 1 period successful or not. Time will tell.