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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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MRI Letter is in!
Amazing. Yesterday they reckoned there was no trace of it in the system, and yet the next day I've got the actual date! How odd.
Slightly surprising is the day is Wednesday, 8.30am in Oxford. Just as well my boss is understanding, i'm not sure everyone can drop everything off 3 days notice!
It's interesting looking back at my training logs under the Moz.
One half marathon i did a lot of 16s and finished with a single 18, and a crunching 14miler with 3m MP/3m HMP at the end. I'm sure it was more than just chance that the 5.57 average of those HMP 3miles, came out exactly 5.57 on the race day.
Other times, mostly 13/14s max.
Both approaches have yielded good pbs, so sometimes I suppose it's managing v other races, and making sure the extra long runs doesn't ruck you up! The 75:41 for example I don't recall having many 16s, though I will check.
I haven't done more than 13 for ages now, but I am sort of doing "maintenance" running rather than building to anything in my circumstances, so it's a bit different.
Pete, have you looked at any plans like the P&D Faster Road Racing?
Tends to have a fair few, almost weekly LT sessions, maybe 8-10miles with 30-40 minutes quality. Also every 2-3 weeks the long run is a progression run that finishes at race pace. As the HM is pretty much LT pace,seems like a sensible idea to do a lot of the quality work at that pace.
Most of the other runs are recovery and easy. According to my HR that was 7:10 for easy and 7:30-40 for recovery. That's is probably with me in PB shape of around 78 mins.
I think my leg is improving, or better but I can't run as I have been ill. Was in bed for 24 hours. Currently I am experiencing the most horrific, how do I put this delicately.....shits, yes shits is the word.
That PB shape I was talking of is probably leaving me as fast as that spicy pizza I had for lunch. I knew it was a bad decision at the time.
Anyway, SG you alluded to my rather cavalier attitude to exercise being the reason for my injuries and you are probably right. That along with few inherent weaknesses that I lack the diligence to combat with stretching and exercises.
Hoping for a run later, all being well, short loops around house most likely.
You're the second person tonight telling me about their squits Andrew
SG - it's difficult to isolate what works with a general background of training that is generally aims at around half marathon anyway I guess. It seems that my training programme has accidentally hit on the P&D plan though
I bet you've given the 5-7milers at LT a wide berth though!
Remember this one SG? FB does!
Big up Dean
Simon, I imagine the pace of those 200's surprised many around here. The assumption seems often to be that 200's must be run fast - and - hard.
Further analysis shows that 36 seconds for a 200m isn't fast but add them all together with barely a blip for recovery and you're moving at well under 5 minute miles.
I tend to think that multiple 200's off short recoveries may just have the edge on pure tempos. One benefit is the average speed is faster than the wished for race pace.
Of course the limits can be explored simply by over cooking a couple, or more.
🙂
While you were sleeping, there was something else.
I discovered here in NZ that I've been inadvertently covering a hill challenge on Strava. I discovered this after an email informing me my record had been broken. Really! wonder where that was?
Investigations showed a nearby hill which I jogged up in around 5 minutes had been beaten by 30 seconds by one of several other runners unknown. Well I'm not having that. Sort it out. So I did.
I find it encouraging to discover the competitive urge was operating at full force; the hill certainly received full force, with the result being that I took off a full minute off the other guys time.
Only problem I have is that Strava hasn't seen this effort (so far). I may have to repeat the job just in case.
🙂
Pete, I'd also recommend your long runs are slow and around 16 miles. Although I never actually targeted the race when I ran my half PB I was regularly running 16 miles as my LSR and it was a very hilly route/off road.
I was targeting my 5k at the time so I was doing a 5k track session once a week and about 3-4 times I ran a 10 mile loop with over a 1000ft of ascent at around 6 min miling ave.
I had no idea what my target pace was as I didn't know I was running it until a couple of weeks before. It turned out 5.27 pace was the result. I doubt I could run a 10k at that pace at the min!
I've checked Strava again and I'm the fastest.
Considering that I allowed a good margin before the sector and a bit after it, I was slightly unsettled to see the official time was exactly the same as the finish time on my watch was.
I guess the satellite only picked up on me to the nearest 10m.
Now that I've mentioned it. I may well have another go in the next couple of days. It was raining and very humid when I pitched my effort.
🙂
good segment hunting, ric
Nice one Ric, put those colonials in their place.
Berkshire Cross Country Championships at Slough today. I was aiming to make the Berkshire team (top 9), but suspect that will be fairly borderline. It's 4 laps, and pretty muddy most of the way round, but without any severe hills. On a drier day it would probably be ideal for me.
A lead group of six or seven go off into the distance, but I'm not too fussed, as I know a couple of them are juniors who only do 3 laps and the others I would expect to be well ahead of me. I'm in a second group of about 6. Lots of swapping of positions on the first lap, but it's on the second lap that the group starts to thin out as one or two fall off the back. I feel strong on this second lap, so push the pace to make sure I'm in a decent position as the group starts to fragment.
Into the third lap, and there are now two others and me, with my main rival for the Masters title having dropped off the back. Towards the end of the lap, I start to open a gap over the other two as well (into 6th in the senior race, though I don't know this at the time).
I only start to feel much fatigue at the beginning of lap 4, but I know I'm in a good position. Allow myself a glance back for the first time, and there's a growing gap behind, and clear air ahead. Certain I have the Masters title sewn up, but wanting to ensure I make the team, I keep pressing. Only a KM to go now, and I notice a runner behind closing the gap. This is not good, because I know he's a 3:49 1500m runner. He's going to destroy me if he gets close near the end, and indeed that is the case. I don't try to outlook him, as that would be a complete mismatch, but 7th is still a good finish for me and 2 places better than last year.
I also win my first ever age group bling. Not sure why it has changed from V40 to V35, but never look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. Pleasing day, and nice to earn another stab at the Inter Counties.
12 w/ 4 steady (To HR) this morning..
So that was 8 @75% then 4 @80-85%
Chichester is looming
Great result Dachs. Puts to sleep your misgivings about running on mud. Fit runners can run on anything.
Mind you, the speed some front runners can generate across mud appear to defy the laws of physics.
🙂
Mud even did for Mo today, on the last turn almost falling over. How far would he have beaten Heath on a 10,000 track race? XC is very different.
Well done Dachs, great run and must be great to get the County vest again
Thanks for the tips AG; makes sense.
Ridiculously hard Bracknell parkun today, hilly and all off road at the best of times but like a mud-bath today as well and kept being brought almost to a standstill trying to lap slow runners on the 3rd lap. Scraped home 3rd in 19'47 and just glad to keep a very long run of sub 20's going!
Yay! Nice one Dachs! Good report too.
Good parkrunning Pete.
Off to Cliveden xc in a mo.
good result Dachs - will you go to the inters?
nice to get out for a parkrun for a change Pete
staffs county champs for yesterday. Since Xmas I have been falling apart, a hip pain and hamstring worries. Topped off this week with sickness and long late hours at work meant a bog fest mud bath of a Xc was a race I was not looking forward too. But I had a vet title to defend so I had to get out. 1st lap drained my legs, I felt like a boxer who had taken one punch too many. I had no strength and felt bad. A big gap opened up between me and people I normally am around. I was probably down in about 20th. I have a couple of vets on my shoulder all smelling blood. I dig in and get round the 2nd lap. I feel like pulling out but I'm leading the vet race and I'm still a counter that I keep in it. I decide it's a kill or cure on the 3rd lap so I try to work hard on the firmer bits and open up a lead in the vets race and start to overtake others. I concentrate on picking people off and work my way upto 11th. To give an idea of conditions that was a 6.40 mile!, I don't often do a 6.40 mile in a race! Young lad in front so I concentrate on catching which I do but I sit on his shoulder for a bit to wait for a chance to blast past. I get a shout that I have a 70m lead on second vet (who represented England Xc in nov) so I focus on this youngster. As we go through a boggy patch I see some firm ground so i burst out of the bog and put a hard 100 in before powering up a hill. This burst catches him off guard and gives me a decent lead. I concentrate on keeping the lead on him, the guy in front was too far in front to chase. Once I can see the finish I increase the pace but hold something back for a sprint. Which wasnot required. I coast in 10th and take county vet gold and am a counter for the men's team that wins gold. Not a great performance but considering how I felt after the first lap I was happy with the outcome. and a county vest for inter counties.
Great stuff Dean! Imagine only being able to do 6:40 pace in an xc
As for my own race today - after a somewhat patchy warm up with what seemed like a thousand re-ties of my laces, I caught up with a few old rivals on the start line, including former forumite Mee Meep. I started the race at a fairly steady pace with the aim being to stay comfortable and save something for the last mile, which has two very big hills in quick succession. First two miles were a shade over 6mM pace, then came the legendary Yew Tree Steps, which I took steady enough to be able to overtake a few people once we'd got over the top and back onto some flat, but also quick enough to get past my main rival of the day, Owen Byrne - who I haven't beaten for a long time!
Then onto the second, longer lap. By mile 4 I was starting to feel pretty tired, despite the relative conservative start and I felt a bit like I was going backwards. I could see the gap to first lady Sam Amend increasing and I lost a couple more places. Owen was still behind me at this point though, but after a steep, very slippery downhill and onto the flat path alongside the Thames, he caught and overtook me.
I was feeling fairly rough at this point and struggled to stay in contention along the flat, but then into the second big climb I had a second wind and went past him again. Immediately at the top of this long climb, the route turns back down hill to the river again, but I relaxed into it, despite a few slips, and held onto my position. Very shortly after this fast and technical downhill, we then turned back up to the dreaded steps again. These are both steep and long but also impossible to get into a rhythm on, being about 1 and 3/4 stride lengths between steps! I held my own until the top where I was overtaken by a resurgent local legend, Trevor Hunter. No real shame in that, but I did try to cling on with a vain hope of outsprinting him to the line to beat him for probably the first time ever. Not to be alas, but I did hold out to keep Owen behind, so will settle for that anyway!
Difficult to judge how today's performance compares with previous years unfortunately, as they'd tweaked the route slightly and it was 0.2M shorter. I think this may just have been an error when they laid the course out. I made it 6:50 pace for the 6.1M and 690 ft. I was 20 secs quicker on the longer course last year, but it was muddier today. Either way, I finished close to those I thought I should have been near so can't be far off my form of last year, which is promising as we head toward Wokingham Half.
Nice XC outings Dachs ,Bus & Dean. Congrats on the vest qualifications.
After 2 weeks of illness and injury I finally managed a run of more than a few miles. I have been told to only do 20 minutes but the leg feels ok so I did an easy hour. I have a very sore back though, picked up an injury going to 'Gravity Force' with the little one. It should be called Trampoline World to save explaining what it is.
Maybe it's age as I pulled out the old 'kick up' party trick I strained my back. It's surprisingly intensive bouncing around on trampolines for an hour.
can't take an event seriously than counts 35 as a vet I'm afraid!
well done to the XCers though. Unlike the road exploits that I envy you getting out at, I don't for a second envy these events!
Classic Bus race. I wonder if you have some masochistic sense to you sometimes. There's always some talk of pain, feeling sick or something
After a few weeks of just scuffling 60 together, just for pure "hit a round number" stuff I'm I'm honest, this week's was a 66.5miler, still only with a 13 long. 6.56 pace, and I think these are feeling more comfy on the breathing than they did.
Hopefully MRI Wed comes out relatively clear, and we can all agree it was the world's most long winded virus type thing ever, perhaps not helped by 60mile weeks for 6months of that
It'd be cruel if it came out there was a monumental problem now, as well as not making sense, as it all feels very comfy
Not sure how you keep knocking out the Parkruns Pete but well done!
That's my sort of rehab is that AG. If it feels ok then give it a good test.
It was my county champs yesterday but I've been struggling with a tight hamstring since Wed. 12 hour days working on a shit farm in Cumbria with a flock of sheep in the next field for company wasn't ideal. Fucking freezing it was. Got home and had a puncture and then walked through the door to water coming through my living room ceiling.
So a few beers wed, thurs, Friday night with a kebab and chips the night before the race meant I was going into the race in peak condition.
I was only racing to be a counter for the team which I was under the impression was at near full strength. Unless is start running 30 mins for 10k or running for england in the mountains then a county vest is prob out of reach anyway. Turns out we were nowhere near, not that it mattered as Salford harriers were there to scoop the Lancashire gold. Thought it was in Greater manchester?
Pretty much no warm up, I nearly managed a full lap before stepping off the course. Hamstring not happy in six inch of mud and felt like I was running and compensating for it.
Things can only get better!
Careful - that's what Blair said
Des sound a pretty shit start to the year though Matt, so fingers crossed for a bit of luck and a tail wind.....
66.5 SG? Should have done 66.6 - that would have been beasting it
Not just me likes Cliveden - not only sold out, but plenty of old geezers too - I was only 10th V40!!!
I really like reading the racing exploits around here, and well done for turning out in conditions I might one day consider getting around to the possibility of giving the idea of doing one (XC) some thought, perhaps.
Dean is it just me, but are you employing the same tactics in every race?
Why don't you try what us slow sods do and go out at full pace - blow a gasket in the first minute - hang on for grim death -
.
Talking of grim death, I'll be on the way home in a few hours, 24 hours of flying in two bits. See you later.
🙂
Good running over the muddy stuff.
Dachs, apparently you should feel worried, lots of talk on the Dashers forum about how if they had turned up at Upton Court they would have won everything. I think I may have to take up armchair racing as it looks a lot easier than really doing it. Think I would have finished just ahead of Trevor Hunter yesterday so 21st at Cliveden.
Dean - Yes, I'll be doing the Inter Counties, will you? We could have a good race! Shame you weren't where you expected to be, but still got the vets title and qualification, so no harm done, there will be better races again. You seem to have the ability to turn it on midway through the race even if you've felt rubbish to start with, and you've always got that finish to fall back on.
Bus - sounds like a pretty pleasing race for you, on those kinds of things you can only really measure yourself by the people around you, so getting one up on a local head-to-head is good stuff. I didn't see you mention any retching, where did that go?
Matt - sounds a rough week. You were best off dropping out, that kind of mud won't do you any good carrying an injury. You'll be back very soon no doubt.
SG - Here's hoping you get good news from the MRI. Feel free to not take it seriously, but I am nevertheless still officially County Masters Champion regardless
PMJ - ha ha, I shall take that with the pinch of salt it deserves. It would be a pretty wild claim, even if the whole Dashers team were fit, which they aren't. Unless there is some special secret to running around Upton Court that you only learn when you join Datchet, of course, like hidden springboards or something.
Ric - Interesting thoughts on the 30 x 200 reps. Good Stravaing!
Well done you racers over the weekend - the bling keeps coming eh, good reports. Sorry but mine is going to be a crap report as I am too busy at work, and it wasn't that exciting a race.
It was back at Biggleswade, 4 laps instead of 3.5 at the Southern Vets, came to 6.5 miles in the end apparently. Pretty windy again, went out fairly hard and had a bit of a bad patch on lap 3. Held it together to come 7th in the race (Beds & Bucks) and 5th Beds (even though they have me as 6th), so another intercounties to have a go at! Had a good sprint finish with my mate from MMK.
Won the V40 title again, so quite happy with that. Steady 14 yesterday. Got v wet this morning!
Good work Simon, solid as always. Hopefully we can have a threeway match up at the ICs.
My legs felt pretty awesome yesterday, surprisingly, so had a nice steady 13. Run to work this morning involved some 'puddle fartlek', i.e. speeding up and slowing down to avoid being right next to a giant puddle at the same time as a car ploughs through it.
Wish I could have had the same acceleration on my bike this morning Dachs - seemed every bloody driver was out to soak me
. Didn't get much sleep last night as I was up from 2.30 every half hour keeping an eye out in case our house flooded again! No retching yesterday - explains why Trevor beat me then 
Nice result again Simon! Looks like the ICs are going to be quite a thread smackdown!
6 miles very easy (but muddy) today. Legs felt OK.
congrats Simon
bad luck Matt
nice work Bus
Ric - it certainly wasnt a plan to go off easy on saturday its just that my body woke up half way through...i was about to step off the course. i was struggling early on.
Dachs, i have to make a decision between 3 races that weekend. if im being honest Inter counties is ranked third. but will make a call closer to the time as its a great event plus chance to meet up and race. (but i dont count head to head defeats on XC as its a stupid surface designed to annoy the heavier, ageing track runner)