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My Last Run
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I'm with you on not walking the hills. Shuffle jog is about right. I may well be doing my first ultra in June, though, so I'll probably have to rethink that.
Been bucked off myself, more than once. Nice way to get all the air knocked out of you. My best fall was in a little jumping competition though. The horse I was riding didn't fancy the fence as much as I did and dumped me in front of it. It wasn't a fast or heavy fall, but as he took a step back he caught me full in the face with his knee. I did get back on and finish but I was pretty dazed. Lucky my nose wasn't broken.
Absolutely perfect, sunny weather, and the park is nice with lots of flowers. They were on the winter course which is one small lap and then three big laps. It's mostly hard path but does venture into the woods, which can be extremely muddy. The winter course has less of the woods bit. There definitely was mud but it wasn't bad and my trail shoes were up to the task.
Huffed and puffed around in 28:02 (missed a bingo number again as I needed :00 or :03...annoyed!) which is two minutes better than my effort at Clapham last weekend. I was pushing a bit but not a lot due to the race tomorrow (Hampton Court Palace half) so HR didn't get into the 190s this time.
Anyway, that's venue number 97...three more to go.
The course is different to the Hampton Court half in February, which starts and ends on the village green in Thames Ditton. This one actually starts and finishes in the palace grounds, which is rather wonderful, especially on a sunny day like today as there are blossoms and daffodils in abundance.
The course is mostly a reverse of the other race but whereas the February race has a loop through Kingston, this one comes back for a second pass along the towpath by the palace (a three mile stretch) before turning back into the grounds themselves for the remaining two miles. I'll admit I was not a fan of the last two miles as it was on stony trail, which was rather uncomfortable to run on.
I got chatting to a nice woman at the start and we ran together for about six miles, and had a good chat during that time (though I think I did most of the talking). I ran 9:39/9:39/9:39/9:35/9:25/9:33 during this part, which felt slightly out of my comfort zone but also sustainable.
Unfortunately I lost her after the mile 6 water station, so I started chatting to another woman who stayed with me for the next couple of miles (9:27/9:29) before fading.
At this point we were heading back to the palace before heading down the towpath again and I did a 9:09 here, which was a bit quicker than I'd planned.
Once on the towpath I started running with a couple of young men, one dressed as Henry and one dressed in a tacky gold Anne Boleyn costume (it was his 30th birthday) and it was rather fun to run alongside them as they got big cheers from the spectators. I pulled ahead for a while, though they both went past me in the final mile, as did someone in a full Cookie Monster costume. My remaining miles were 9:14/9:22/9:11/9:11 and then just under 9 for the final run into the finish. Not bad on the stony path (the finish itself was loose gravel...yuck...but finishing right in front of the palace was fab) but I can't summon up the kind of the sprint the younger folks can, it seems.
Anyway, final time was 2:04:45 - quicker than the February half, and with a neg split, so reasonably pleased with that.
Managed to get underboob and armpit chafing again despite having smeared Vaseline on beforehand. I think I'm going to have to lube myself up like a Channel swimmer for Manchester.
John, Hope that injury is recovering ok.
Cal, great effort with the HM. Sounds like a nice route including the grounds. I remember walking those a few years back and it's really quite pleasant ! Neg splits are a good sign for Manchester as well...
I've had some sessions over the week. Parkrun was @ Aberbeeg which is closest PR to my home town. Finally managed to dip into the 20's @ 20m 50s which was surprising at the first 2.5k is solidly uphill which we were not expecting. Quite a cramped, narrow path though. Managed 16.5k yesterday as well with a quicker 10mins at the end. My legs feel weak today so gauranteed rest day for me...
Last full week of training for this last 4 month block of training and its taper/easy week for Weston this Sunday. Pressure is off to enjoy as managed my target @ Newport but aiming to get into the 30s...
Spring is absolutely my favourite time to run. I love it. Well done on the 15K. That's a great time with the hills.
Good luck at Weston, DH, and well done on the parkrun.
I gave up my running lights a few weeks back, so nice to be rid for another year isn't it !? I organised a club 10k race @ Cardiff Bay in May to get those summer runners out. I was hoping to see a few on our Wednesday night jaunts to get them started, nothing really yet but have around 10 signed up...
Last hard run complete yesterday. 20 mins of tempo with 15m easy either side through the park - by gum it was warmer ! Might have to test out my new Parkrun vest later
Anyway, after a ploddy four miler yesterday, I had a better, progressive 8 miler today. Went out around 9:30am and it was warm enough for a vest and shorts (first shorts run of the year, in fact). Got some chafing under my arm, though...that's not so good. Didn't think a run that short would warrant smearing myself in goop, but I guess so.
Just 4 again today...legs felt heavy.
I'm going to try one of those pyramid sessions at some point next month. They sound like an interesting way to get a long tempo style run completed. Well done Hazel.
Had a few lazy 5k'ers just to keep the legs turning over. Took doggo out with me today over into our walking field and he almost got to 5k but it was rather warm @ 17c and bright sunshine. He cooled off in the river afterwards...
Today's parkrun was Panshanger, a rural one lapper in Herts. My friend Rob lives up that way so he met me at the station and we jogged the couple of miles over to the start. The course itself is all off-road, rather cross country-ish with a mix of stony trail, gravelly trail, a bit of grass (thankfully firm after the recent warm weather) and some hard path that looked more like trail. I could see this one would have been very muddy indeed until recently so I was thankful to hit it when it was dry.
Not a fast course - two gravelly ascents before the half-way point and some lumpy ground underfoot - so reasonably happy to get 28:04 even if I missed a parkrun bingo number by a second again. (Grrr). Still, that's now my 98th venue...closing in on the 100.
I'll be doing 99 in Manchester next weekend but will stick to my home run the week after as my legs will be knackered.
I've not yet decided where 100 will be, but hopefully I can persuade a person or two to come with.
10 miles this morning...last double figures run. My right knee was little sod, though. I felt it going downstairs to the loo last night and it was awful when I started my run in spite of my pre-run exercises. Not the first time it's done this so I wasn't overly worried and it did warm up after a while. I might've jammed it a little on Panshanger's downhill stretch, but I suspect it's more likely because I spend too much time sitting in front of the computer. Need to makes sure I get on top of my stretching and walk around more over the next week.
Not much to do now...couple of short runs.
Hazel, that was a cracking run. I'm quite jealous of the long long runs by yourself & Cal but a) I don't have that in my legs currently and b) don't have the time at the minute. Still must have been a lovely run up and down the river and pretty gentle in terms of slope ?
Weston-Super-Half completed in 1.38... Happy with that but prep' work and rest the day before wasn't ideal. Didn't feel quite as ready as Newport but alas sub 1.40 was the goal. It's a far harder course than I expected but the event itself is great, plenty of support, different views and you know when to power to the finish as it's the length of the pier ! 2 hard sections with 2.4km of running on the beach, that was leg zapping and from 14km - 17km is all up hill which was nasty. Mentally that was the hardest section. The cloudless sky was beautiful if not ideal
Still a bit of grumbling today but not as bad as Sunday. Did 6 miles. Rather chilly now. I was planning to rest tomorrow and run Thursday but Thursday is forecast for sleet and wind so I think I'll swap them around.
Race wise I'm not so sure now, Cardiff Bay 10k in May but I seemed to have reached the limit on training plans on my Garmin. Problem I'm finding is they start you from scratch so are all 8-12 weeks long, I'm not starting from scratch now. Looks like I will have to plan my own sessions now which is going to be challenge.
I have 2 more HM end Sept/Oct so will aim for a 1.35 I think... I still want to achieve a sub 45m 10k which I should do at Cardiff
We've had that Sahara sand as well, made a right mess of the car. They've threatened snow for the next week here too. I just want the warmer weather back now.
Did 5 miles today...miles 3 and 4 at MP (well, it was supposed to be MP but it was about 10-15 seconds too fast. Hard to judge, really). Knee was OK initially but then got stabby when I upped the pace. But then it settled again. Definitely ITB. Since it does warm up I don't foresee any issues for the weekend.
MLR yesterday afternoon in snow/sleet/rain. Quite a lot of the fluffy stuff at the top of the hill where I live, so headed down the hilll to less of it. Pretty cold and it took me a while to get going. I was supposed to have been doing a few 2k efforts but it was the sort of day I decided not to force a workout - I was tired and the conditions not so great. Won't do any harm to miss one - will maybe put in a few miles in my long run tomorrow instead. 12.4 miles.
Terrible train journey up yesterday (overhead wire damage meant my train was cancelled and subsequent ones were heavily delayed...got into Manchester after 10 instead of half eight...but I was up for parkrun today. Alexandra is a nice flat one so while I was intent on taking it fairly easy, I couldn't resist a little push at the end and did 28:27 instead of 30ish. Eh well. Knee was OK but groin is still a bit niggly. Hopefully won't be an issue tomorrow, unlike my lack of training and overall fitness!
Obviously I've gone into this race with less mileage and more weight than I'd like, so I expected to fade, but set off at 4:15 pace and managed to keep that going until mile 17. Got a bit slower after that, and them considerably slower after 20 when my legs began to go. I was also feeling a little queasy and couldn't face any more gels so I didn't take any more on after 20 either.
No issues with the knee or groin, but everything got a bit sore (feet were the worst actually) and I was like Bambi for the final mile. Often I rally a bit for the last mile but not today, it was my slowest by far. But I feel proud I got around without walking (just as well as when I stopped at the finish, I could hardly walk at all...I was very slow getting through the race village to meet Colin).
Nearly collapsed on the tram too... I started feeling sick and closed my eyes and leaned my bum against the side of the carriage and my legs just started shaking. Col had to hold me up until we got to our stop.
But I'm OK now. Food and a non-drama train journey back helped. Just hoping I can sleep tonight (I always sleep like crap after marathons).
As for me, after weeks of ice, roller and stretching and a few false dawns I think I am just about OK. Resumed running with a Park Run on Saturday (Great Salterns, Portsmouth) in 22.07 (better than expected) and then pushed my luck with a Sunday 5k event in Bournemouth where we were staying. This went very well with a 21.17 and a VM60 cat win by over 4 minutes, despite having to stop to retie my shoe (amateur!).
The bad news was that I must have had a faulty chip (hey! the one on my shoulder always works perfectly!) and my result didn't come through. Oh well, at least it wasn't a PB.
Main thing: hamstrings and morale have both improved - and I'll try to get back into checking in on the thread.
Cheers!
I've seen so many good Manchester results come through I did ask our club who wanted a joint club Manchester next year, so far everyone is silent
John, Good to see you back Sir !! After a light push on those 5ks certainly seems like the injury issues are behind you
Hazel knocking the training sessions out of the park as usual but I don't envy the snow, sleet & rain you are having.
I didn't manage to avoid the Covid last week but only tested +ve for a few days. Saturday evening & Sunday I tested -ve so went out for a small 5-6k run to test the water after a week of nothing. Pace was higher than intended but worryingly my HR was also way lower than it should have been for that pace, 146 where I expected 160+. No idea what was 'wrong' but run felt hard and not really sure I could have run any further... It sounds like a good thing but something was iffy & not right...
Sleep was so so - did my usual waking up in the small hours thing so I had a cuppa and a protein bar and read for a bit before going back to sleep.
Legs stiff and sore today but got myself to the gym for an easy half hour on the elliptical followed by a bit of stretching.
DH...next marathon is Chester in October. I'm hoping to be a bit closer to my old form by then. But I'm seriously considering a 50K ultra the day after my birthday in June. That'll be something new for me.
Before then I have a 10K and two mile races...a bit of a change of pace, eh?
John, great news you are feeling better. Hurrah. Can the race organiser do something about your result? I've had chip fails but managed to get a time after submitting Garmin evidence.
Hazel, that's an absolutely cracking run, well done!