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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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Just checked, and actually nearer 1:22 - 1:21:51 in 2011, so around 3 mins on a fast course is probably right. The flooded 2012 was nearly 3 minutes down on that. Ric held back just before the line so we both finished on the same time! Marlow was also my first sub 90 half back in 2004 - one of the most emotional finishes I've ever had and I remember actually crying!
My weekend was a 5 mile run and a 35 mile bike ride averaging 19mph. Just about to head out.
I can just imagine Ric shaking his head reading about Bus' knee popping.
Sounds like an accident to me. Good that it's nothing Bus.
Oh yes. Marlow 2012. One course where I lost masses of time on the steep downhills. I vaguely remember catching one S. Amend on more than one occasion, only to have her and some other guy, hurl themselves down leaf covered precipices, while I jogged down. Together at the top of one - out of sight by the bottom.
I gave up racing after the first really steep hill. Made no difference to my speed - maybe helped. Caught Bus in the latter stages, but I'm not competitive with others - only myself, so ran in with him.
Tough race. And my last HM.
🙂
I love the Marlow Half route and parts of it regularly crop up on my Sunday long runs but there is no way I'll ever enter the race. For me, there are races and events. A race has a fixed distance and you compare it to other races with the same distance so why pay £25 to "race" Marlow when you can pay the same for Wokingham? Events, on the other hand, used to be historic routes run annually over no fixed distance. Most of these have disappeared, so e.g. Cambridge Boundary Run is now the Cambridge marathon and the shadow of its former self.
Talking about race fees, Wokingham is advertising free places and that men under 60 looks soft for Bus.
Free places available for athletes with provable race times in the last two years e-mail us here
Men Under 20 – Sub 73 minutes / Women – Sub 85 minutes
Men Under 40 – Sub 70 minutes / Women – Sub 80 minutes
Men Under 50 – Sub 75 minutes / Women Sub – 90 minutes
Men Under 60 – Sub 85 minutes / Women Sub – 100 minutes
Men Under 70 – Sub 100 minutes / Women Sub – 110 minutes
The thing with the Marlow half course, is it often depended on which part of the route you were on. Where I marshaled, on 10miles, you were fairly high up, so saw none of the worst, whereas in some of those valleys you'd get what the chaps describe
Who would turn up at the Marlow half, and just not bother because it was very wet? Like Phil says, it's not going to be fast anyway!
And I can see how much of an epic experience it must be in ridiculous conditions. Like the thrill of a one of those horrible XCs where the massive rain makes it what it was. Sandhurst was often one for rain.
Wonder why Wokingham is offering so many free places? It gets good numbers anyway. I don't think they'll be dishing out many for that under 40 one!
Quite big gaps from 50 to 60 to 70. Probably logically based on numbers, but I agree, Bus, you've got free entry for a lot of years ahead I think!!
Ok, today was the biggest tempo on the schedule.
It followed sessions at Threshold like 3x10mins, 3x2miles, 15-10-5min and 4x2miles.
All of which I wasn't 100% sure I'd be able to do, but saw all of them off nicely.
(That's bang on what you want from coached sessions isn't it - rather than the tendency to go safe when you set your own)
So today was 20-15-10-5mins off 4-3-2mins.
Despite having today off, I kept to the usual routine, up at 6am, off at 7am and to the track.
Aiming for 1.28 lapping, went quite nicely. (As always, no roundings as per strava)
1.26x3, 1.27x2, 1.28x7, 1.29x1 (a 1.29.01!), 42sec 200m, and 16secs bits (didn't bother making that up to a 200)
2. 15mins - 10 and a bit laps
1.25x1, 1.26x1, 1.27x4, 1.28x3, 1.29x1, 22secs bits
3. 10mins - 7 laps
1.25x1, 1.26x3, 1.27x2, 1.30x1
4. 5mins - 3 1/2laps
1.25x1, 1.26x1, 1.27x1 , 42secs 200m
So quite a session, 12miles all in with the warmup and cool down! I'd have struggled to get to work anywhere near time today, think I left at 8.45!
You get a real lift when that 20min section is done, before realising a 15min is quite a section too. However, when that's done, another lift, and by the time of the 5min one you're smashing it!
One loss of concentration with a 1.30 on the 10min section, although followed with a 1.26, and a couple of other 1.29s, but a narrow difference really, with so many 1.25-1.27s in there too
Good sesh - off up north now to relax
After that, I'm glad tomorrow is a 4mile doddle
It's a tragedy how much of that level of talent goes to waste.
When I was a teenager, my club had a lad a couple of years younger than me who was consistently top 5 in national age group cross country races, winning the local leagues etc. Got to 15/16, just couldn't be bothered anymore. Looked him up on Po10 once to see whether he reappeared, and there's no record of him whatsoever.
I know someone else who was competitive as a teenager on a world level. Don't want to give details that make him identifiable, but he jacked it all in at the end of his teens. He still came back every now and then, chucked in a few weeks training and smashed the shit out of the field at a local race, then went back to normal life again. Great to be able to do that if you have the talent.
You've got to absolutely love this sport to persevere with it really, 'cos there's sod all other incentives to keep going.
Really, when you think about how much talent is out there, there is no way the likes of me in my 40s should be competitive even in local races. When those 70s and 80s runners on certain Facebook groups that I will not name drone on and on at punishing length about how runners in those days were so much better as they worked so much harder, they are directing their disapproval at the wrong target - it's not the people who are running, who in many cases are working just as hard, it's all the talented people who aren't running at all.
EDIT - I wrote all this after SG's post at the top of the page - just realised all the posts since then make it look like I'm burbling to myself about something totally unrelated.
Quick crewe check in for a coffee. For some reason i feel a little knackered!
Still, just less than 30miles drive left then some glorious food that im already fantastising about. And im no foody
There's a preponderance of hilly halfs around this neck of the woods - Marlow, Henley, Wycombe, Windsor (apparently). I never run any of them. What's the point? I will allow myself one hilly half a year, and for that I sometimes do the Frome Half Marathon, simply out of sentimentality since that where I grew up, but now I've won that I may not go back to it either.
Didn't know about those Wokingham times. I'm a man under 50, so my figure is 75 minutes. But, as a man under 50, I am also surely a man under 60, and therefore it's 85 minutes.
That's a helluva session there SG!
Dachs - probably more of a point in doing the local hilly halves for you than most I'd have thought. You've at least got a good chance of winning them
First head torcher of the season by the look of things tonight - first few each year are always a bit of a novelty, but it loses its charm pretty quickly!
Should be fine on 2016 tho as it is in the cat
That's the thing with Triathlon; especially the longer versions, it's the cost. The time training on one hand and the price of the races on the other.
Still, it's cheaper than motor racing, show jumping...ocean yacht racing.
🙂
Whether or not he can chuck a 'wheelie' on his road bike is open to question. I myself won't attempt such a stunt even on my mountain bike.
On the other hand, the other day I saw a kid come down a hill at speed doing just that - holding a phone to his ear!
🙂
Learn a language was another one, I did French lessons for a year before we had our first child. I was getting reasonable at it but now it's mostly forgotten again. It resides in a pile with 99% of my school education, a disjointed mess of incomplete facts. Occasionally something will resurface in the form of a blind guess whilst watching university challenge. If in doubt go for Mozart or cheese.
I agree riding a bike is easy but to ride one competently, in traffic, takes a lot of experience.
I found out I am 'at risk' of redundancy in my new job! Four months in is impressive going. Most of my department is going. This is when having running/Triathlon comes into it's own as a coping tool. Yeah that's shit but I'll have more time to train.
Either way how were they able to take you on? No foresight this might happen?
Oh that's positive thinking Reg. Bit of a bugger though! Wokey half - hmm, presuming my 73.50 at MK will be ok, but there's loads of 40-49's with sub 75's! About 100 in 2018 going on RunBritain, acknowledging it's UK wide.
So back at the windy rugby club last night - they started a bit early, and the session was 5 x 2k, so I had to do 1200, 4 x 2k and 1 x 800. Bit of a struggle, but the 2k's were 6.40 down to 6.25 and a 2.35 800, obviously with 100m of slope in each of the 2 laps. Had to get the bus home at 7.30 from Luton, which decided to go early too! So had to get dinner in a pub and get the 8.30
Long commute run a real struggle this morning. Decided to get the orange Brooks Mach18 xc spikes. Was going for the Adidas but they look a bit clumpy, the Brooks looked a bit more nimble..we will see. First ever Brooks purchase, big moment after going to watch my dad run in the 80's where they seemed to be so much more popular?
Still, it might get me out of Slough.
Nice session SC.
So in light of my predicament and the fact I have no work to do, I came in to work at 11am and then went for a run at 1pm. I decided to run to the end of the Jubilee River path at Taplow, then promptly turned round and cam back. 9 miles in total, maybe the last time I do that run though as I have a consultation meeting in a minute and I am hoping to get the green light to see out my time not working from home.
Wheelies seem to bethe thjng with yoofs these days. I can do a crap one, but not for any distance, whereas I see them cycling around Ayelsbury with the front wheel never touching the ground! Recently, a group of them saw me getting my bike out of the cage at work, and one of them, in a rather neanderthal tone, shouted "DO A WHEELY!" to which I repled "why would I want to do that, my bike has two wheels and I've paid for them both"
I can juggle 4 balls. Used to be able to do 5, but can only managae a 5 ball flash now.
No running today. Work and bad back got in the way.
Sorry to hear that news Reg. Where do you work / what’s your speciality?
Just recovering from my MLR with my 2nd Peroni. Happy days. Could be better through, I’m in Scotland and my new vaporflys are at home and I’m pining!
I am defo not recovered from Windsor yet but I’ve now gone and entered the glorious Slough HM. This might be the time to sneak the most unlikely of PBs (given the year of injuries I’ve had) so it’s worth a roll of the dice even if I’ll still have to pay for my Wokee entry.