http://video.mail.ru/mail/tersol/_myvideo/4.html
Link to video-yes that's ICE underfoot!
Boris Prokopiev, the editor of Бег и Мы (Running and Us), the top Russian running magazine, has put this marathon on since 2000. Although I have been running his half marathon since 98 (which sadly he no longer organizes but still helps out with), I have never given his marathon a try. When I lived in Alaska, I used to miss it by a day or two when I would fly in for Christmas break as it used to be the 3rd Saturday in December. Then, a few years back, it was moved to the first Saturday in December. This year it was moved back a week because of the elections on the 4th. Still, I never bothered running it despite hearing nothing but good reviews on it. Truth is, by the time December rolls around, it's the end of the season, it's friggin' dark, and I'm often suffering from severus assus dragus. Yes, my butt moves this time of year, just slowly as molasses. After a season of marathoning and or ultras, I just don'tt feel like going out and running an embarrassingly slow time in the middle of the winter. Conversely, by the time the winter marathon in St. Pete rolls around at the end of January, I feel more up do doing a marathon as a nice long training run to lay the base for the upcoming season.
Well, next year my main spring race is going to be a month earlier than usual as the 100K Worlds are in April and usually I train for Riga in May. That means I need to start getting in good long runs and moving my butt in December as opposed to January whereas I used to take November and December as easy mileage months post season. In December I would hit the indoor track once a week for maintenance and in January, I started the real work. So, after I ran the 50K in Chicago six weeks ago, I came back to Moscow and did easy distance with one serious hill workout per week and a baby midweek pickup session of short intervals 100-400m never more than 5k total in a session and often less.I honestly felt like I was doing nothing. I kept on a diet of hills because I had already spent a month on them in the US and need to continue the process for strength. Hills were my secret weapon workout back in Alaska and 1 hellacious hill session per week was all I needed all winter to stay in good form. Truth is the rest was needed in Nov after the very intense 7 weeks of racing at the end of the season. Soooowith my total volume as a paltry 487km for November and my longest "long" run being a wimpy 23km. I decided to use Boris' marathon as one of my December long runs. I signed up in mid November just before it closed too. My goal was to go out and run an "I Don't Care Race" (no pressure) and just have fun and take the "whatever" approach. Ironically, those no pressure "whatever" races often turn out to be some of my best probably because there's no pressure and I just go out and have fun. The course is all in the woods on trails and paths and the air is better in Zelenograd just outside the city.
Also, within our club here we have a six team marathon match and this year I got elected as one of the team captains. Based on the scoring system, women's times get more weight than men's times. Two of the women on my team were already on the list to run and things are really close. Doing my long run at home will not help the cause, but doing it at the marathon could very well make the difference in how we finish the season. With three of my four ladies running plus a few of the guys, things could be interesting. The day before the race, I ran in summer shoes and roads were clean. The weather went south in the evening and it began to snow, then dump, then stopped for the night. By the time I got to Zelenograd in the morning and went out to check out the course before the race, to decide which shoes to wear,it was obvious that it was going to be the INOV8s as there was nothing but a nasty thick layer of ICE under the snow on the trails we would be running in the woods. Murphy's flippin' law that course conditions would go to hell the night before the race. I decided against Yaktrax on my summer flats because Yaks suck on pavement and there were a few parts of bare pavement we cut across coming in and out of the woods. Icebugs are good but a bit heavy for a marathon.
This is Baba Raya (Raisa Nikitina). She is my hero and one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. I knew she'd be running here and had to wish her luck before the race.Her story is simply a miracle of life. She is 85 and still runs marathons in about 6 hours. She is also the 70-74 and 75-79 age group world record holder in the 100K. Yes, at 71, this woman ran a 100K in 11:23! She really didn't get into running til she was 69 after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and having 3/4 of a lung removed! She chose to heal herself via traditional medicine and so far, she is healthy as a horse! When she first told me her story several years ago I couldn't believe the woman was still alive much less still kicking butt in these marathons! And so she was off to tackle the ice rink of a course! Go Baba Raya!
Before the start....that is ICE under my feet!
Just before the start, we all placed flowers on the nearby WWII memorial to honor the veterans. Soon we were off
The course was 1 loop of 2k and change followed by 8x5k loops. There were several hairpin turns and they were slick as sh!t. You could see the ice under the snow and the volunteers at the turns were warning ppl it was really slick in those spots. Several people fell and more than once. After the first loop, my only goal was to finish this without breaking a bone. I had good shoes that grip well in snow but I could still feel sliding fron the ice underneath and in the spots were there was nothing but bare ice, especially in the evil turns, I just put on the brakes or I would have done a faceplant or an assplant. My strongest competition was probably Lena Simutina -we ran Belochka in the summer when the genius organizers sent us and the rest of the leaders in the wrong direction and we ended up running an extra 3k! Lena ran an 8:38 at the 100K in St Pete in early September and has had a really good season. She's on the Russian 100K team and we will see each other again in Italy at the Worlds in April. Lena went out about a minute ahead of me and I just sat back and ran even splits. I was sticking to 4.50-5 min km pace in the woods anything under 4.45 and I started feeling myself slide. 3 unplanned pitstops at about 20 sec a piece in the first half didn't help the cause either. So, yes I was relegated to training pace because of the conditions on the course. In the few bare spots I was easily running 4.15-20 pace but as soon as I got back in the woods it was like one step forward and two back! At the end of the 6th lap a couple guys told me Lena was tired (ha right she's a 100k and 24 hr runner, she doesn't get tired but runs smart and even).I did count only 20 seconds between us as the turnaround at the end of loop 7. A few meters up Coach was there to hand off a Vespa and a bottle of Vitargo and told me she was about 100m ahead. Honestly, where am I going to speed up and close a gap on this damn ICE?!
icy turn
snow and ice and everything that makes winter running less than nice....
finish
feeding-vitargo and a vespa for up the road
finish
My legs were good because I was running an easy pace and I had a lot of gas left in the tank, but it was near impossible to go fast on this course today. About 1k into the 8th loop, I started picking off a few guys and then I could see Lena up ahead. I used a bare patch of pavement to pick it up about 3k into the loop to close the gap. I passed her at about 35k and did my darnest to open a gap because she could always come back and get me if I don't try and open a big gap. I kind of felt bad I got her so close to the end-it just sucks when you get passed late in a race you have led the whole day. At the turnaround going into the end of that loop, I had only 40 seconds on her. This was it, one lap to go I still had to try and open it up in the less slippery spots. I passed several guys in that loop but my goal was to keep opening that gap. The course got worse with each loop as people packed that snow -ice making it slicker each time and it had been snowing all day to boot. I saw a few guys wipe out in the turns. Going into the last turnaround I did not see Lena which meant she was over four minutes back. I finished and Lena came in just over 5 min later and Irina Koval who was 3rd when we ran this summer finished in 3:38. That's impressive in the conditions we had and if you age grade her, she'd beat us all!
getting the job done
about to chick this guy heading into the last lap
Soon after the three of us finished it went from snowing to downright DUMPING!. It was just below freezing all day and I was seriously glad the snow did not turn to freezing rain or it would have been a nightmare. I never hit any kind of wall and my legs were fine I think mostly due to the fact that I ran much slower than I otherwise would have in normal conditions.
I got inside and got into my drys and Boris did the awards later. Same top 3 women from Belochka in the summer Lena and I just switched places this time. We have been taking turns catching each other like that for a good 10 or so years now. She had won this marathon twice before. After the awards they had a nice pelmeni dinner for all the runners so no one went home hungry. I'd have to give the organizers a big thumbs up on this one and a super big thumbs up for having ppl out on every turn making sure no one got lost because there were several spots one could easily make a wrong turn. Course was well marked too.
left to right-me,Lena, Irina, and Boris-race director-I've known Boris for over 13 yrs my how time flies!
Link to video-yes that's ICE underfoot!
Boris Prokopiev, the editor of Бег и Мы (Running and Us), the top Russian running magazine, has put this marathon on since 2000. Although I have been running his half marathon since 98 (which sadly he no longer organizes but still helps out with), I have never given his marathon a try. When I lived in Alaska, I used to miss it by a day or two when I would fly in for Christmas break as it used to be the 3rd Saturday in December. Then, a few years back, it was moved to the first Saturday in December. This year it was moved back a week because of the elections on the 4th. Still, I never bothered running it despite hearing nothing but good reviews on it. Truth is, by the time December rolls around, it's the end of the season, it's friggin' dark, and I'm often suffering from severus assus dragus. Yes, my butt moves this time of year, just slowly as molasses. After a season of marathoning and or ultras, I just don'tt feel like going out and running an embarrassingly slow time in the middle of the winter. Conversely, by the time the winter marathon in St. Pete rolls around at the end of January, I feel more up do doing a marathon as a nice long training run to lay the base for the upcoming season.
Well, next year my main spring race is going to be a month earlier than usual as the 100K Worlds are in April and usually I train for Riga in May. That means I need to start getting in good long runs and moving my butt in December as opposed to January whereas I used to take November and December as easy mileage months post season. In December I would hit the indoor track once a week for maintenance and in January, I started the real work. So, after I ran the 50K in Chicago six weeks ago, I came back to Moscow and did easy distance with one serious hill workout per week and a baby midweek pickup session of short intervals 100-400m never more than 5k total in a session and often less.I honestly felt like I was doing nothing. I kept on a diet of hills because I had already spent a month on them in the US and need to continue the process for strength. Hills were my secret weapon workout back in Alaska and 1 hellacious hill session per week was all I needed all winter to stay in good form. Truth is the rest was needed in Nov after the very intense 7 weeks of racing at the end of the season. Soooowith my total volume as a paltry 487km for November and my longest "long" run being a wimpy 23km. I decided to use Boris' marathon as one of my December long runs. I signed up in mid November just before it closed too. My goal was to go out and run an "I Don't Care Race" (no pressure) and just have fun and take the "whatever" approach. Ironically, those no pressure "whatever" races often turn out to be some of my best probably because there's no pressure and I just go out and have fun. The course is all in the woods on trails and paths and the air is better in Zelenograd just outside the city.
Also, within our club here we have a six team marathon match and this year I got elected as one of the team captains. Based on the scoring system, women's times get more weight than men's times. Two of the women on my team were already on the list to run and things are really close. Doing my long run at home will not help the cause, but doing it at the marathon could very well make the difference in how we finish the season. With three of my four ladies running plus a few of the guys, things could be interesting. The day before the race, I ran in summer shoes and roads were clean. The weather went south in the evening and it began to snow, then dump, then stopped for the night. By the time I got to Zelenograd in the morning and went out to check out the course before the race, to decide which shoes to wear,it was obvious that it was going to be the INOV8s as there was nothing but a nasty thick layer of ICE under the snow on the trails we would be running in the woods. Murphy's flippin' law that course conditions would go to hell the night before the race. I decided against Yaktrax on my summer flats because Yaks suck on pavement and there were a few parts of bare pavement we cut across coming in and out of the woods. Icebugs are good but a bit heavy for a marathon.
Just before the start, we all placed flowers on the nearby WWII memorial to honor the veterans. Soon we were off
The course was 1 loop of 2k and change followed by 8x5k loops. There were several hairpin turns and they were slick as sh!t. You could see the ice under the snow and the volunteers at the turns were warning ppl it was really slick in those spots. Several people fell and more than once. After the first loop, my only goal was to finish this without breaking a bone. I had good shoes that grip well in snow but I could still feel sliding fron the ice underneath and in the spots were there was nothing but bare ice, especially in the evil turns, I just put on the brakes or I would have done a faceplant or an assplant. My strongest competition was probably Lena Simutina -we ran Belochka in the summer when the genius organizers sent us and the rest of the leaders in the wrong direction and we ended up running an extra 3k! Lena ran an 8:38 at the 100K in St Pete in early September and has had a really good season. She's on the Russian 100K team and we will see each other again in Italy at the Worlds in April. Lena went out about a minute ahead of me and I just sat back and ran even splits. I was sticking to 4.50-5 min km pace in the woods anything under 4.45 and I started feeling myself slide. 3 unplanned pitstops at about 20 sec a piece in the first half didn't help the cause either. So, yes I was relegated to training pace because of the conditions on the course. In the few bare spots I was easily running 4.15-20 pace but as soon as I got back in the woods it was like one step forward and two back! At the end of the 6th lap a couple guys told me Lena was tired (ha right she's a 100k and 24 hr runner, she doesn't get tired but runs smart and even).I did count only 20 seconds between us as the turnaround at the end of loop 7. A few meters up Coach was there to hand off a Vespa and a bottle of Vitargo and told me she was about 100m ahead. Honestly, where am I going to speed up and close a gap on this damn ICE?!
feeding-vitargo and a vespa for up the road
My legs were good because I was running an easy pace and I had a lot of gas left in the tank, but it was near impossible to go fast on this course today. About 1k into the 8th loop, I started picking off a few guys and then I could see Lena up ahead. I used a bare patch of pavement to pick it up about 3k into the loop to close the gap. I passed her at about 35k and did my darnest to open a gap because she could always come back and get me if I don't try and open a big gap. I kind of felt bad I got her so close to the end-it just sucks when you get passed late in a race you have led the whole day. At the turnaround going into the end of that loop, I had only 40 seconds on her. This was it, one lap to go I still had to try and open it up in the less slippery spots. I passed several guys in that loop but my goal was to keep opening that gap. The course got worse with each loop as people packed that snow -ice making it slicker each time and it had been snowing all day to boot. I saw a few guys wipe out in the turns. Going into the last turnaround I did not see Lena which meant she was over four minutes back. I finished and Lena came in just over 5 min later and Irina Koval who was 3rd when we ran this summer finished in 3:38. That's impressive in the conditions we had and if you age grade her, she'd beat us all!
Soon after the three of us finished it went from snowing to downright DUMPING!. It was just below freezing all day and I was seriously glad the snow did not turn to freezing rain or it would have been a nightmare. I never hit any kind of wall and my legs were fine I think mostly due to the fact that I ran much slower than I otherwise would have in normal conditions.
I got inside and got into my drys and Boris did the awards later. Same top 3 women from Belochka in the summer Lena and I just switched places this time. We have been taking turns catching each other like that for a good 10 or so years now. She had won this marathon twice before. After the awards they had a nice pelmeni dinner for all the runners so no one went home hungry. I'd have to give the organizers a big thumbs up on this one and a super big thumbs up for having ppl out on every turn making sure no one got lost because there were several spots one could easily make a wrong turn. Course was well marked too.
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