Lidingoloppet

On Sunday 7th May I ran the Lidingoloppet (Loop of Lidingo) 10km trail race in Stockholm. 

Kata, Ruby, and I were visiting Rachel (founder member of Mostrunningist Year Ever) and Hector in Stockholm where they now live.  When Kata and I were deciding where we should see Depeche Mode on their European tour, the attraction of combining the concert with visiting friends was obvious.  And so it was that I ran 10km around an island in Stockholm. 

Depeche Mode at The Friends Arena - Amazing.

The race was on Sunday.  On Thursday (the day we arrived in Sweden) Rachel and I went out for what turned out to be a 11.5km run around the trails near her home in Lidingo, Stockholm.  It was a good run at a decent pace and I got some idea of the trails I would be running during the race.  We didn't run the race route on Thursday, but some of the trails we ran did follow some of the course of the race.

There were three separate races on the day.  the 50km ultra, the 26km, and the 10km.  Hector was running the 26km and set off at 09:30, half an hour before Rachel and I started the10km.  Kata and Ruby would join us later as unfortunately Ruby was having a rough morning (teething) and kata stayed in the flat with her to take care of our daughter and allow me to run the race.  Fortunately Ruby recovered well and more of that later!

I was asked by Hector on Saturday how I expected to do on Sunday.  I said that I could run 10km in 42 minutes or so and that it being a hilly trail (based on my Thursday run) I'd expect about 50 minutes or thereabouts.  Rachel scoffed.  It "wasn't that hilly" apparently and the terrain "wouldn't make that much difference".  Those words rang in my head during the race as I considered how I was going to confront Rachel regarding her alternative facts :-).  I didn't need to though as after the race, she mentioned it first! 

The race was a lot bigger than I imagined it would be.  I was thinking along the lines of the Winton 10k trail, but it was much bigger than that and much more of an actual race.  It started in a sports complex that was home to a running track and a football club.  The race started on the running track and was preceded by an organised aerobics type workout as a warm up.  I didn't bother, I had done my usual (for a 10km race) 20m - 30m sprints to loosen up my legs and raise my heart rate.

Hector leads the race.  They guy in the green top (in 4th) eventually won.

We set off at the firing of a starter pistol and ran a half lap of the track then out into Lidingo (pronounced Lee-ding-ah).  The first 2km was on pavement around the town.  This was quite straight forward and I was running 4:20/km pace which was fine.  My legs are a bit heavy from my marathon training (I should blog about that later) and my aim when I started was to finish in about 45 minutes.  Once we headed off the pavement and into the woodland trail EVERYTHING changed.  You could call the course "undulating" but that wouldn't really cut it.  It was "hilly".  I honestly can't remember a section when we weren't either running uphill or downhill.  so I found it Tough (capital 'T' intended).  I usually start to feel the effects of the effort at about 6.5 or 7km during a 10km race, but on this occasion it was at about 5km and I was just dragging a dead weight (mine) around for the second half of the race.  The course was very pretty, beautiful forest, blue skies, warm enough with a nice breeze.  It'd be great for a leisurely walk!

I changed my goal about 4 times during the race as each one became unachievable.  First to go was < 45 minute finish.  Then < 47 minutes.  Then just to beat the guy in front of me.  At 7.5km (I checked) there was a ridiculously steep hill that almost but not quite forced me into a walk.  I did push on, I did try my hardest, and when we finally came out of the forest and headed back for the last 1.5 towards the sports complex I dug in and tried to up my pace.  It was flat and on tarmac.  I may have been shattered, but I was in my comfort zone.

Some much appreciated bling.

In the end I finished in just under 48 minutes which is alright.  As I was on the home straight I could see and hear Rachel sheering me over the line which was much appreciated.  I was presented with a cup of lemon flavoured sugary drink by Rachel's friend Sarah-Jane which was VERY much appreciated.  Shortly afterward I saw Kata and Ruby standing at the side of the track, Ruby with a medal around her neck.  Turns out she had won her first medal under her own steam (she was carried around the Toddler Dash thingy in Cumbernauld) and I was ridiculously proud of her. 

Run! 

And.....relax.

Thanks to Rachel for inviting us along to the race.  Thanks to Kata for looking after grumpy Ruby and letting me run, and also for entering Ruby into her own race.  Well done to Hector for finishing 2nd in his race in an incredible 1:38:52.  He and the race winner were well ahead of everyone else with the finisher in 3rd nearly 14 minutes behind Hector.  Thanks also to Hector for giving Kata and I one of his prizes, and awesome 2XU running belt.  Thanks to the supporters that lined parts of the route  and shouted "Hey Ya!" a lot.  Thanks to the race organisers for such a well organised and marshalled race and for providing my first piece of bling in recent memory (and a bag of delicious bread rolls).  It was a good day and it's always fun to race abroad.  It's exotic!
 

Everyone's a winner.