Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
Moraghan Training - Stevie G
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Is anyone doing an East Midlands Grand Prix event? https://www.mkac.org.uk/east-midlands-grand-prix/
They've now put it the day after Marlow, making it an even bigger no go.
Bit of time away from the thread during the holidays, but it has been good to catch up just now. Did enjoy the decathlon chat. God it makes me realise how unathletic I am!
Superb efforts at the 10M Pete and SG.
Excellent pre marathon prep there Jools! Good to see lots of trig bagging down in Devon.
Absolutely loved your fell race report, Bus. Getting one in is definitely on the bucket list.
Good to see a running update, Phil. Look forward to seeing what gains some structured training will bring you.
Mostly easy running for me, a few slow hilly trail routes and a few strides thrown in.
Did have a rare hit out at Cheltenham parkrun last Saturday. 19:13, which felt slightly disappointing, but I seem to find the new, hillier course pretty tough (although others don’t). Next goal for the course is sub 19, I guess.
Have entered the Glos 5000 a week on Saturday (Jools, are you in?). At the time of entry I am guaranteed bronze and last 😆. Website absolutely shocking and nearly gave up trying to create an account, enter etc but got there in the end. Would love to target a sub 18 on the track which might be a bit of a stretch. Will depend slightly on whether there is anyone of a similar pace to run with.
Down to the folks in Poole on good Friday, I knew getting dropped off a few miles away and running to the folks place would be a bad idea and I was right, really tired after last weeks sessions! Saturday was Poole Parkrun's 500th event, dragged the lad around to 20.27, so he's nearly back to normal after Covid. The missus and brother ran too, so 4 Coombes's in the finishing list (perhaps more, not checked..)
11.4 slightly hungover miles down to the beach hut Sunday morning, then 9 before going to Coventry for football on Monday. Just a 5k with the lad yesterday.
Quietish week this week as the masters relays back at Sutton Pk on Saturday, more important than the national for me as we are trying to get gold medals.
Pete - nicely done on the AG win at Maidenhead. I do like a pint of Landlord as well.
SG - equally well done at Maidenhead. Good strong finish. I've (unusually for me) actually put a monthly race in the diary. No chance of 2 in 6 days here!
Jooligan - impressive back to back marathoning. I don't know how you do it.
Been pretty quiet since Manchester. A trip back to Ireland just after meant I only hit 29m for the first week after. Got a bit more in around diy last week to total 60m, but nothing more than steady. I've tried some quicker running this week (1m in 5:10 on the road in the middle of an 8m, and an aborted track session last night - 3 x 400m), but am finding hayfever is causing me all sorts of problems.
I've just kept it simple mileage since Maidenhead, so will need something tastier tomorrow.
Will probably do some mile reps, maybe 5x1mile, possibly progressive, which gives me license to start off more steadily!
Still need to decide on whether a Monday bank hol turnout is wise. Should be safe-ish before Sunday 5miler I guess.
Need to see which race gets selected as a summer series 5k first, but am hoping it's not the one mid July, as the Rose Inn 4 / Scenic 7 double over 2 days could be a nice Welsh race tour.
4miler should be a comfy pb, given my pb is 24:20 from 2008! And the 7miler is a hilly one, in the country park I got lost in, after the Murder Mile in 2019, so will be interesting to run it in a bit more light, and with a bit less stress of knowing the gates are closing!
5.48,5.45,5.44,5.41,5.37
Happy with that out on the road. Last 3 were similar loops, slightly different start and end.
I'm on first leg, couple of the other team members are known by the group...John K ran at Chichester and Reading half against Reggie and BenP (Reading RR).
So hopefully I can give us a good start. Another train fare paid. Two to relays in Brum, three London with work, Coventry for football, Just paid to Blackburn for football too.
Thankfully May is quieter!
Surge run for me today. 30mins easy either side of 2m @ 5:42, 2 x 1mins (4:57, 5:03) and 4mins (5:33). Recoveries were easy (not jogging) for 5', 2', 2' (avg 7:20). I'll look to build these up so the middle bit eventually totals 60-75mins. It's a good way to make a long run pass quickly!
Nice work indeed though.
I should have retired after that Bracknell XC as I won't be sneaking ahead any time soon again
On another note, I have a vague local footy club acquaintance, one of those you add to fb without having met.
It tickled me that he was proclaiming a 17.45 5k solo in training, and when the booze gang (the type who think 30mins is going some) exclaimed, he said he was pushing sub 15 pre pandemic!
To us types, we want a bit more info here, as this guy is a smoker, and has recently mentioned some personal problems I won't go in to.
So 17.45 solo would be pretty damn tasty.
No PO10 record...had to drop him a mail...does he race, how does he record etc.
2 words..
Smart Watch.
Case closed I think!!
Multiple marathons - I gave everything I had both Sundays but knew that Brighton was likely to be compromised being so soon after Manchester. It wasn't too bad in the circumstances.
Been pounding hills in N.Devon all week either running or biking. Back home yesterday for my local Parkrun's 12th anniversary today. The Event Director was running his 500th parkrun too & to mark the occasion he did 10 press-ups every 100m! He still completed it in 37 minutes. 19:56 on dusty trails for me
May is definitely no go, as I've a 5miler, 5x1k relay race and 10k over 8 days that week!
So most likely it's a June single trip, or the July double up with Scenic.
So as long as you're doing 1 from both of those, i'll most likely see you there
13 today. Surprisingly sprightly 7.07 average, when there was a few climbs in there.
One was a bit of a drag, on an offroad rutted path that seemed to go on progressively for ever.
Then still had a decent climb on road at the top.
However, the payback was the monster downhill later on.
Jools, I see you did that run a few weeks ago and you say six laps but the course says three laps. Do you know anything about that? The facebook page says summer course so maybe that explains it.
Masters relays on Saturday. Exactly the same course as 2 weeks ago, wind was in a slightly different direction.
They suddenly brought the M45-54 start time forward to 2pm, the same as the M35-44 race. Even then, there was only about 35 teams. I was on first leg, so having a race helped. Felt better up the first drag, but was a bit difficult knowing who was in which race. Was in about 7th going up the main hill, managed to keep my mate from Thames behind me and the Leeds guy. Got to the Jamboree Stone and had some company from one of SG's mob all the way down the long hill. Couple of rises and then up the main drag to the finish. Time 16.50, so 9 seconds quicker than the national and 4th fastest leg of the day. It's accepted that as the course is 5.1k and a real bugger, you can take 30 secs off for a flatter 5k. Brought us back in first place in the V45's which we kept until the last leg sadly! But silver medals and a great day out.
So a bit of a boost for Friday and the next Battersea 5K - I'm in the last race with the majority of the women and Vet men, so should be closer to the front. Will just try to stick to 3.12's as usual.
Hilly 11.5 miles yesterday.
No race report Jools? You are very mean to your legs!
Rather packed couple of weeks in the Lakes, with plenty of walking, running and paddle-boarding.
Yesterday I needed 14 miles to get to 40 for the week, and accidentally ran a route with almost as much climbing as some of my Lakes runs! 2200 ft, in the heat and on mashed legs - was very hard work! So last week, with running and walking combined, it added up to 78M and 21,000ft of climbing - no wonder my legs feel tired!
SG - re the solo 5k'er.... how inaccurate are smart watches? He could well be knocking out a decent lick though (presumably not sub-15, but still). I've run quicker solo 5k than my official pb. Get him along to parkrun.
Bus - I'm tired just reading that amount of climbing!
I had an 'interesting' run on Saturday. Short version is I got reversed into by a car on a pavement. Caught me square on, but luckily I was mid-air rather than foot planted, and landed on the other side of the car. There was no real damage (sore foot and sore wrist), but enough to stop me on a run yesterday. Freakily that's the second car incident on the same stretch of road (I was on the pavement the first time too) in less than 2 months (plus got clipped by a motorised bike around the corner from there recently as well).
I know he's done a triathlon or 2 in his time, so that got my suspicion up a bit, as it's an in joke how their 5ks are never 5k. But when you google how accurate smart watches are, you find a lot need precise calibration to be anywhere near accurate unless they are properly built on gps.
I'd equate it to being similar to our GPS watch predictions on times, which are always some way off, even for Reg who has had outrageous recent progression.
Saw something about an "incident" and saw you'd got knocked. Sounds pretty dreadful. Glad you've got away relatively unscathed.
Quality run at the Masters Relays Simon; as you say probably equivalent to a low 16 for a 5k and if you can reach that when you get to v50 soon not many in the age cat ahead in the UK.
Good to see the race bug starting to bite again for you PMJ; would be great to have you back in the mix in local events.
Quite a busy weekend for me running wise after taking a few days off last week trying to get over Maidenhead 10 and the hip and glute niggles that brought. Did Woodley parkrun Sat and in good conditions managed 8th in 19'20. Was a pleasant surprise to bump into Dachs, formerly of this parish, there and see he is running much better again after a bit of a lull by his amazing standards. He was 2nd in 16'5x.
Sunday was Thorpe Park 10k, a new event actually run in the theme park itself. Only entered as it included a free day in the park which appealed to my 16 year old (she has an annual pass so no need for her to race this time, but she wanted someone to go on the rides with and had to put up with her Dad as no-one else was available!). Anyway onto the race which was a Run Through event so brilliantly well organized, but fairly low on quality runners, as per most of their ones. It was still a UKA event though so results should go on Po10 and RB.
Was an early start for the race at 8:30am so meant getting there just before 8am to get the number and sort logistics and even that only left about 10 mins for a quick w/u. Luckily I only live 15 mins drive away so not a horrendously early start. A total field of around 300 across a 5k and 10k but all starting together so not obvious who was in which. Set off with the front group (apart from 2 real speed merchants) but was dropped within a mile and then ended up with a complete solo TT in what turned out to be 6th place the whole way round. So pretty odd racing round a theme park early in the morning all alone apart from some cheery marshals, but kept it going to end up in 39'50. Looks like that is my level now as commensurate with 10k's last year and recent club TT's, so can't complain. Splits were quite consistent, though a few secs per k slower towards the end as it was a very warm morning.
Thankfully they changed the original message that you couldn't leave the theme park and re-enter so could go back to my car and change and drop back kit before the day's rollercoasters! The rides were even more tiring than the run and I was absolutely knackered by the end and just slumped into a chair at home for the evening. Too old for that malarkey I guess. They are putting on another couple of these in June and Sept if any of you interested. They offer spectator tickets too at £25 which also allow a free day in the theme park for partners/family/friends etc.
8x600m, 2x400m,2x200m off 90s,60s and 30s.
2.04, 2.00, 1.58, 2.02, 2.00, 2.02, 1.59, 2.02
1.19,1.19
37,38
(estimated the last one as I'd sort of stopped before it beeped
You certainly feel the return to this sort of intensity don't you. Not that it felt "that" hard as such, but it felt plenty.
But on the road, in Adios 5, it felt a decent lick.
I think I have done the 600s in 1.54 and 1.57s before, depending if it was this session (the latter), and straight 8x600 (former), but that's track of course, and I think more when i was battling for sub 17.
So totally chalk and cheese all in.
Quality racing SC
You must have the worst luck going TT. Glad to hear it wasn't too damaging though.
Sunday was my 3rd marathon this month.
I'd had an active week with plenty of hilly running & cycling which 5 hours of driving Friday did nothing to mitigate. Parkrun blast on Saturday was probably less than wise - interestingly got my HR back up to 174 which I've not seen since 2019.
My number had failed to arrive in the post so a frantic email exchange Friday evening/Saturday morning confirmed that I'd be able to pick one up 1st thing.
Parked about just over a mile out of the centre then biked in to collect number, drop off my bag & lighten the load. This marathon has ample toilet facilities both around the start/finish & on the course. It was a 2 lapper with a half-marathon going off at the same time.
I positioned myself about 10 rows back from the timing mat & set off relatively easily. Was keeping a lid on the effort til about 10M (72:xx) but then the heat & headwind resulted in the HR climbing alarmingly. Halfway in 1:35:23 (again) We'd turned out of the wind now so I was able to maintain a decent pace, the HR dropped very slightly but not enough. The big hill at 30K saw me slow to 8:xx pace & although I dropped down the other side but at 10-15% it's a quad destroyer & from then on I was 8:xx til mile 23 when the pace slipped further to 9:xx. My legs were seizing up badly & it was a struggle to keep from walking. Finished in 3:27:02 for 58th place. The 2nd lap is quite lonely.
Recovery this week kicked off with 26.2 miles on the bike last night
I might take a look at that Thorpe park thing Pete, could be a good one for my girls, although I don't think they'd be up for the bigger rollercoasters. Solid run there and I am sure you have another level still.
Decent reps there SG and another bloody marathon for Jools!
TT nice running, sounds like you'e progressing nicely so good job no serious harm came from your incident!
As per Bus (nice going by the way) I have also been up and down recently. We've been on a cycling trip based from Minehead staying in the YHA. Arrived Friday afternoon for a short ride and then two full day rides, finishing with another short one on Monday.
Normally the weather ruins one of the long days on these trips but not this time, despite being very windy it remained dry and warm enough. The cycling around Exmoor is really good and all new to me. I did 102 miles on the Saturday with over 10,000 ft of climbing and then on the Sunday took on a ride from a book I have by Simon Warren, he's the author of the Top 100 climbs books, popular among cyclists. Anyway this route is the toughest one he's compiled in his book 'Ride Britain' in terms of climbing per KM ridden with 3,231 metres climbing over 120km. We did it from Minehead so increased it from 75 miles to 90 miles and over 11,000 ft of climbing and it was the most stunning route I have done in the UK. After 65 miles the rest of my group went straight back to the hostel as the final loop was a little too much but I then finished it off solo heading up Dunkery Beacon in the evening sunshine, this was a great climb with 70 miles in the legs!
All in all a great weekend with over 230 miles and around 26,000 ft of climbing. And yes I was tempted to round it up to 29,000 ft but I was getting a lift back so didn't really have the option sadly
Great racing PeteM and Jools...TT - Hope you aren't too sore. Luckily not been hit by a car in the last 20 years of running, although I've had a few close shaves..
Naturally progressive 5K in 24:42 on the track at lunch. I did have to consciously put in a little more effort for the final K. Glad I wasn't trying anything faster or further.
Having the half marathoners around for the first (shorter) lap was useful but when they all peel off and you have another bigger lap to go which is harder, especially with the bit where you carry on up the hill past the first lap turn off.
Any more marathons in the diary?
Nice work on the 10k Pete = I'd settle for a sub 40 as a good result and I'm a young man
Quality reps SG, as would be expected!
Most impressive cycling Reg - those steep coastal hills don't half add up!
Back to the flat for me yesterday, with a double commute. Despite tired legs, managed a half decent progression on the way in, averaging 7:11 pace for the 10k, with the run home (which is slightly uphill most of the way) actually being my fastest on that route at 7:26. I feel a bit battered today mind!
Still thinking about a road race at some point
Find a flat fast road one, or even something remotely quirky and I might join for an old fashioned threat meet
Will do a standard midweek 8-9 single tomorrow, then some sort of reps Friday.