Valmiera is a scenic small town 2 hours out of Riga not far from the Estonian border. There is an old church from the 1280s that still stands in the center of town and also at the start/finish of the marathon. It and some of the old fortress remain intact as fortunately they were not destroyed in WWII. Oh, and yes, Valmiera is a HILLY town!
Here are some shots from around town and the course:
one of many quad busters
13th c church at the center of town near start/finish
view from hilltop behind the church in old Valmiera
I first ran Valmiera in 2010 a month after the Daugavpils Marathon (before it became part of the World Cup 50k) as part of my buildup for 100k Worlds that yr in November in Gibraltar. I finished a paltry 5th on the hellaciously hilly course. I missed this one in 2011 because it was a week after 100k Worlds. This year, I had to fit it in my schedule. It is also the Latvian marathon NCs. This race is very well organized (unlike the pathetic event I did the week earlier as my final tune up going into this) and there are plenty of well manned aid stations roughly every3+k on the course.
Incidentally, thanks to the wanker who knocked me over the week before my right side was badly bruised at the ribs and my right leg good and effed up where I obviously strained the outside lateral of my right achilles and the area at tbase of the calf. I had never had issues with this area before the fall. Three days before the marathon, I had the area worked on in depth and still had a huge knot at the base of my calf my coach spent some serious time working out. It actually hurt to walk on for the first two days after the 10k. I wasn't pain free until about 36 hours before the marathon but who the hell knows to what degree this niggle that could have been avoided affected my performance.
One of the runners who knows me asked me why I chose Valmiera this yr and I very honestly said that a week ago in Moscow the weather was perfect 5C and rain, the course was flat and has now been confirmed 600m short (anyone who ran Moscow International got a free ride and a free 2-3 min cut from their time). Yes, this does not surprise me as another well known Moscow autumn marathon was 2KM short a few yrs ago! But...yes BUT, organization at Moscow International is some of the worst in Russia. I would have had crew had I run Moscow, but even with crew to hand you drinks and gels etc, you still have to deal with the craptastic air quality in the center and will be hard pressed to do super well. In Valmiera, there is CLEAN air, super organization, but, no, not a course to try for a PR on though it is a scenic course all the well. So yeah, I would rather schelp myself on a 16 hr train to Riga then another 2 hours to Valmiera than run Moscow International ANY DAY! There are no free rides in Valmiera and no short course(in fact in 2010 and 2012 my Garmin shows nearly 600m long and I wonder if it has to do with the hills). The course is 4 even loops and you will run in 2 directions along the loops: UP and DOWN most all of the way!
As of 4 days before the race when I last checked the list before I left, on the ladies side I had a shot at a top 3. Anita who won in her debut in 2010 was back and Irina- my 100K teammate was running. Anita would likely go for the win leaving a very even battle for 2nd and 3rd to Irina and I. Irina's 5k and 10k have been only seconds slower than mine this season and our halves just about the same. She can kick my ass in anything under a 3000 though. I had a feeling it would be a very good and likely close race with her much as it was when we first met in Riga in 09. Plus she was definitely fresher as this was her first marathon of the season and I was carrying baggage in the form of 2 marathons, a 100K,50K, plus lots of races up to the half nearly every week, and high volume training. Well, the day befoe the race, I saw Irina at packet pickup and she and her husband Maris (he crewed for us in 2010 at the 100k in Gibraltar) let me know that Dace Lina had decided to run. Hmmm... We guessed she was coming in to try to break her 2:50 course record from 2010. Dace is a 2:38 marathoner who just got back from the Olympic marathon in London! Soooo it looked like Irina and I would have to sort it out for 3rd and 4th.
Race Day- are you kidding me.....sunny and warm? This is usually a cold and rainy race aka perfect weather for me but I had no goosebumps at the start so it was warm- low 20s C. So off we were up and down the hills we went. I went out fairly sane not pushing the pace early because the hills would beat the crap out of my legs later on if I did. At the out and back turnaround between 6- 7k into the loopAnita was leading and Dace following with Irina in 3rd. I just let them go out fast. One lap later in the same spot Anita was far ahead and Dace and Irina were together. I was a good 2 min+ behind. Coming up on the end of loop 2 Andris, our 100k team manager and the guy who handles all the stuff realted to ultras told me I was 1:45 behind Dace and Irina. That's still quite a bit but it's way too early to push the pace and I AM FEELING the hills so I had better just focus on holding pace and not pushing yet.
At the end of each loop, we are treated to a nice climb in the final 500m on this gnarly, sandy/gravel/pothole HILL to boot. So I just got down to business and tried my darnest to make peace with the hills in lap 3. Midway through loop 3 it was time for the Vespa Jr in addition to the usual nutrition plan of Vitargo and Roctane with a salt stick every hour as it was warm. At the far touraround about 27-28k Dace and Irina were still ahead and I wasn't even thinking of catching up yet. Well just before 30k, I saw a familiar ponytail ahead-Irina? I passed her at right about 30k but figured she would catch me again in the final loop as she is quite good and my legs were beginning to get really tired of the ups and downs on the hills. Now just past 30k I saw another familiar ponytail ahead- Dace?! Ok I might try and stay with her for a bit I thought. Coming up on that gnarly hill at the end of loop 3 I caught her and we ran together for a bit. Going into loop 4 I was a little bit ahead but really didn't want to try and pass because I figured it would be futile. She would likely get me in the last lap anyway. I have major respect for Dace. She hasn't been running seriously very long and as recently as 2008-2009, had halves over 1:30 when she was starting out. She progressed very quickly getting her marathon into the 2:50s then breaking 2:40 this spring to get the B standard for the Olympics. She is awesome!
32k
starting loop4 (they say the race begins in the final 10k)
So, we headed down that quad busting downhill at the beginning of the last loop. The water stop was at the bottom of said hill just before 32 k. We were pretty much together there both grabbing our bottles and heading off. I could feel she was slowing just a little but really didnt want to try something stupid like try to pass and open a gap. I was pretty sure she could close even a decent gap over the last 10k anyways. There is a very short flat in the first km of each loop-I went. I just focused on the few guys ahead and picked them off. Now between 2 and 3k into each loop there is a long climb. This is about 34 k now and I continued working on this hill and picked off a couple more guys. Oddly enough most of the passing I had done all day was on the uphills where it's tough. I was running 2nd now thought it would be really cool to hold onto that but knew it was a longshot. Dace was about 100-150m behind now.
The thing is I used a lot of gas hauling up that last uphill and my quads were shredded and I was a hurting unit! I still had 7+k to go which isn't much from the mentality of a 100k runner, but it's not a picnic when it's all up and down and you are on shredded quads! At the last out and back turnaround with just over 3k to the finish Dace was about 45 sec behind and Irina about 2 min. Irina would probably not be able to make that up, but over the last 3 1/2 K or so Dace could. I really couldn't pick it up all I could do was tooth and nail hold onto my pace which was dropping to4.40km on the uphills. My quads were about to just go on strike.
Between 40 and 41K I glanced back and saw the guy on the bike that had been crewing for Dace and she was picking off the guys that were between us that I had passed earlier. She was less than 200 back now and that gap was closing just as I'd turned down the final stretch at 41k and was approaching the final dreaded climb up that gnarly hill. God, I just wanted to crawl up that thing like everyone else was doing but knew this was going to be a pretty close finish. That last hill kicked my ass but once I got to the top I had just 200 to go and went with what I had left to finish 2nd. Dace finished 24 sec behind and Irina 3 min back.
That was defnintely NOT the outcome I would have predicted at all. After looking at lap splits we were all hurting apparently going into lap 4 I was just the one who did the least slowing down and tried my damnest to hold pace although the last 4k was just a sufferfest and all I could do was autopilot -no more picking up but thankfully not majorly slowing down much more either.
Andris has been trying to get Dace to try the 100k and we all talked about it after the race. She would be really good , but is intimidated by the distance. I told her she'd be fine because in the 100 the key is running one somewhat sane pace all day whereas in the marathon you have to pace much faster and hold on which for me is actually harder.
Team Latvia- Dace(middle) Irina (right)
After the finish, I headed off for a quick shower. When I got back, Andris invited me to the VIP tent where the race director and other top runners and national team members were hanging out having a beer and bite to eat while waiting for the awards.
So choice has been made- Valmiera it is Chicago Marathon it is not this yr despite having the A start again. I could have chased a PR in Chicago and I'm in shape to do it, but I chose Valmiera as it's an NC and well, there was also a nice paycheck for my efforts. Also, I really want to take a crack at the Chicago 50K course record. In order to do that I need to sit the marathon out and run the 50 on fresh legs which I can do six weeks off a marathon but not if I run another marathon three weeks off Valmiera and three weeks before the 50K which is where Chicago falls. Incidentally, my overall pace was just about the same in Valmiera (garmin showed 4.30-same as Daugavpils but Daugavpils was an even 50k whereas Valmiera showed an extra 600...hmmm). Plus the Valmiera course is much harder than Daugavpils. My legs were fine after the 50k but my quads hated me for a good three days after Valmiera! I prefer to space long races(marathons and longer) six to eight weeks apart if I'm going for a solid performance. After a month usually the best I can do is just repeat the performance I turned in a month earlier. With six to eight weeks between long races, I can take a recovery week, build back up and train, then have time to back down a bit before the next long race.
Here are some shots from around town and the course:
I first ran Valmiera in 2010 a month after the Daugavpils Marathon (before it became part of the World Cup 50k) as part of my buildup for 100k Worlds that yr in November in Gibraltar. I finished a paltry 5th on the hellaciously hilly course. I missed this one in 2011 because it was a week after 100k Worlds. This year, I had to fit it in my schedule. It is also the Latvian marathon NCs. This race is very well organized (unlike the pathetic event I did the week earlier as my final tune up going into this) and there are plenty of well manned aid stations roughly every3+k on the course.
Incidentally, thanks to the wanker who knocked me over the week before my right side was badly bruised at the ribs and my right leg good and effed up where I obviously strained the outside lateral of my right achilles and the area at tbase of the calf. I had never had issues with this area before the fall. Three days before the marathon, I had the area worked on in depth and still had a huge knot at the base of my calf my coach spent some serious time working out. It actually hurt to walk on for the first two days after the 10k. I wasn't pain free until about 36 hours before the marathon but who the hell knows to what degree this niggle that could have been avoided affected my performance.
One of the runners who knows me asked me why I chose Valmiera this yr and I very honestly said that a week ago in Moscow the weather was perfect 5C and rain, the course was flat and has now been confirmed 600m short (anyone who ran Moscow International got a free ride and a free 2-3 min cut from their time). Yes, this does not surprise me as another well known Moscow autumn marathon was 2KM short a few yrs ago! But...yes BUT, organization at Moscow International is some of the worst in Russia. I would have had crew had I run Moscow, but even with crew to hand you drinks and gels etc, you still have to deal with the craptastic air quality in the center and will be hard pressed to do super well. In Valmiera, there is CLEAN air, super organization, but, no, not a course to try for a PR on though it is a scenic course all the well. So yeah, I would rather schelp myself on a 16 hr train to Riga then another 2 hours to Valmiera than run Moscow International ANY DAY! There are no free rides in Valmiera and no short course(in fact in 2010 and 2012 my Garmin shows nearly 600m long and I wonder if it has to do with the hills). The course is 4 even loops and you will run in 2 directions along the loops: UP and DOWN most all of the way!
As of 4 days before the race when I last checked the list before I left, on the ladies side I had a shot at a top 3. Anita who won in her debut in 2010 was back and Irina- my 100K teammate was running. Anita would likely go for the win leaving a very even battle for 2nd and 3rd to Irina and I. Irina's 5k and 10k have been only seconds slower than mine this season and our halves just about the same. She can kick my ass in anything under a 3000 though. I had a feeling it would be a very good and likely close race with her much as it was when we first met in Riga in 09. Plus she was definitely fresher as this was her first marathon of the season and I was carrying baggage in the form of 2 marathons, a 100K,50K, plus lots of races up to the half nearly every week, and high volume training. Well, the day befoe the race, I saw Irina at packet pickup and she and her husband Maris (he crewed for us in 2010 at the 100k in Gibraltar) let me know that Dace Lina had decided to run. Hmmm... We guessed she was coming in to try to break her 2:50 course record from 2010. Dace is a 2:38 marathoner who just got back from the Olympic marathon in London! Soooo it looked like Irina and I would have to sort it out for 3rd and 4th.
At the end of each loop, we are treated to a nice climb in the final 500m on this gnarly, sandy/gravel/pothole HILL to boot. So I just got down to business and tried my darnest to make peace with the hills in lap 3. Midway through loop 3 it was time for the Vespa Jr in addition to the usual nutrition plan of Vitargo and Roctane with a salt stick every hour as it was warm. At the far touraround about 27-28k Dace and Irina were still ahead and I wasn't even thinking of catching up yet. Well just before 30k, I saw a familiar ponytail ahead-Irina? I passed her at right about 30k but figured she would catch me again in the final loop as she is quite good and my legs were beginning to get really tired of the ups and downs on the hills. Now just past 30k I saw another familiar ponytail ahead- Dace?! Ok I might try and stay with her for a bit I thought. Coming up on that gnarly hill at the end of loop 3 I caught her and we ran together for a bit. Going into loop 4 I was a little bit ahead but really didn't want to try and pass because I figured it would be futile. She would likely get me in the last lap anyway. I have major respect for Dace. She hasn't been running seriously very long and as recently as 2008-2009, had halves over 1:30 when she was starting out. She progressed very quickly getting her marathon into the 2:50s then breaking 2:40 this spring to get the B standard for the Olympics. She is awesome!
So, we headed down that quad busting downhill at the beginning of the last loop. The water stop was at the bottom of said hill just before 32 k. We were pretty much together there both grabbing our bottles and heading off. I could feel she was slowing just a little but really didnt want to try something stupid like try to pass and open a gap. I was pretty sure she could close even a decent gap over the last 10k anyways. There is a very short flat in the first km of each loop-I went. I just focused on the few guys ahead and picked them off. Now between 2 and 3k into each loop there is a long climb. This is about 34 k now and I continued working on this hill and picked off a couple more guys. Oddly enough most of the passing I had done all day was on the uphills where it's tough. I was running 2nd now thought it would be really cool to hold onto that but knew it was a longshot. Dace was about 100-150m behind now.
The thing is I used a lot of gas hauling up that last uphill and my quads were shredded and I was a hurting unit! I still had 7+k to go which isn't much from the mentality of a 100k runner, but it's not a picnic when it's all up and down and you are on shredded quads! At the last out and back turnaround with just over 3k to the finish Dace was about 45 sec behind and Irina about 2 min. Irina would probably not be able to make that up, but over the last 3 1/2 K or so Dace could. I really couldn't pick it up all I could do was tooth and nail hold onto my pace which was dropping to4.40km on the uphills. My quads were about to just go on strike.
Between 40 and 41K I glanced back and saw the guy on the bike that had been crewing for Dace and she was picking off the guys that were between us that I had passed earlier. She was less than 200 back now and that gap was closing just as I'd turned down the final stretch at 41k and was approaching the final dreaded climb up that gnarly hill. God, I just wanted to crawl up that thing like everyone else was doing but knew this was going to be a pretty close finish. That last hill kicked my ass but once I got to the top I had just 200 to go and went with what I had left to finish 2nd. Dace finished 24 sec behind and Irina 3 min back.
That was defnintely NOT the outcome I would have predicted at all. After looking at lap splits we were all hurting apparently going into lap 4 I was just the one who did the least slowing down and tried my damnest to hold pace although the last 4k was just a sufferfest and all I could do was autopilot -no more picking up but thankfully not majorly slowing down much more either.
Andris has been trying to get Dace to try the 100k and we all talked about it after the race. She would be really good , but is intimidated by the distance. I told her she'd be fine because in the 100 the key is running one somewhat sane pace all day whereas in the marathon you have to pace much faster and hold on which for me is actually harder.
After the finish, I headed off for a quick shower. When I got back, Andris invited me to the VIP tent where the race director and other top runners and national team members were hanging out having a beer and bite to eat while waiting for the awards.
So choice has been made- Valmiera it is Chicago Marathon it is not this yr despite having the A start again. I could have chased a PR in Chicago and I'm in shape to do it, but I chose Valmiera as it's an NC and well, there was also a nice paycheck for my efforts. Also, I really want to take a crack at the Chicago 50K course record. In order to do that I need to sit the marathon out and run the 50 on fresh legs which I can do six weeks off a marathon but not if I run another marathon three weeks off Valmiera and three weeks before the 50K which is where Chicago falls. Incidentally, my overall pace was just about the same in Valmiera (garmin showed 4.30-same as Daugavpils but Daugavpils was an even 50k whereas Valmiera showed an extra 600...hmmm). Plus the Valmiera course is much harder than Daugavpils. My legs were fine after the 50k but my quads hated me for a good three days after Valmiera! I prefer to space long races(marathons and longer) six to eight weeks apart if I'm going for a solid performance. After a month usually the best I can do is just repeat the performance I turned in a month earlier. With six to eight weeks between long races, I can take a recovery week, build back up and train, then have time to back down a bit before the next long race.
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