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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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thanks for the sensible post Iron
Thursday is the standard rest day, have run 5days in a row, so probably isn't the time to start doing extra silliness
Quick question for all you running experts who provide such a interesting thread. How often do you think its ok to race? Specifically is it excessive to race parkruns pretty much every week, xc, a 10k about once a month and a few 10 milers and halves over the year? Should you do less races as you get older (asked as someone now well into v50 status!)? Would it be better to treat some of these (e.g. the parkruns) as training or tempo runs rather than for the best time you can do each week?
Hi Pete if you race at race pace every week you will be constantly recovering and sooner or later your quality training runs would lose consistancy and overall effectiveness will diminish.
IMO you are better with peaks and troughs with regards to training/races. many people do use park runs as glorified tempo runs though so as long as you use them at tempo pace that would be ok.
I think it depends on your goals. If you really enjoy racing and you're not after that A race PB there's no harm in it. If you want to work towards a specific peak then I'd do what Dean says.
I like to run to parkrun and back and use it as a tempo run. However I usually push a bit too hard getting involved in the racing.
I tried 1 mile yesterday and achilles was instantly sore but not that painful. I have booked physio but the lady I see is not available until Monday. Just under 50 minutes on the bike in the shed today. Cycling is boring when you have to do it more often!
Had my first job interview today, sadly I am down to the last 2, could my free life be over. Or will the other guy get it, so I can carry on living the dream.
Pete, I did about 60 races last year so in terms of strict numbers you are fine. You can't, however, do 60 "A" races a year: can probably target two good patches a year so maybe typically spring and autumn for road runners and winter indoor / summer track for the others.
- In a seated position rest the bad leg up so foot hangs over the knee. Grab and twist the Achilles into an S shape going one side to the other working up and down..
- Single leg squats or any other glute exercise. I did a fair amount of this once I figured it was helping
- walking on tips toes and then squatting then loading the Achilles down, again dont be tempted to lift yourself up on just the bad Achilles
- just loading the Achilles down on a stair, the tendon likes the down movement but never let your weight bear on just the one Achilles, I found this was better than eccentric loading where you would be going up often
- calf massage / release. Proprioceptive work too, not full on stretching
- Roll length of feet with golf ball. Hard
I'd also quit running for a week or so, it will suck but 100% help! And contrary to some examples I think avoid grass / soft surface and treadmill if you can. Achilles absorbs too much and doesn't respond
made me chuckle, well played.
I hope you get the job, not to ruin the dream obviously, but it gets to a point unlimited time off is a bit rubbish doesn't it.
The free time isn't wearing thin yet, I could easily win the lottery and do nothing. Not running though, that is making it more challenging to fill the day with purpose.
Good spot Matt! Missed the first 10 mins, but recording and will watch the beginning on i-player - cheers.
Pete - Dean and Philip are spot on about intensity and targeting races. Some people do seem to thrive on high numbers, but they tend to be the exception I'd say.
Philip - 60 races? Does that mean you finally accept that parkruns are actually races
Only managed a quick 4.6 tonight sandwiched between taxiing kids and work commitments. Tricky week to squeeze it all in this week!
Sorry Andrew - missed your post! Luckily, Achilles problems is one of the few things I've never suffered with (touching wood as we speak!) but can be troublesome to recover from what I've heard, so slowly-slowly catchy monkey must be the answer...
I know what you mean about cycling - especially this time of year! Good luck with the job - whichever way you want it to go!
Oh, and after today, I am NEVER going to Milton Keynes again!!
60mins easy in the plan today. Went for the 8 mile run with the club and settled into what I thought was about 7:30 pace. Turned out it was closer to 7:00 pace when I checked. That always happens with the club - everyone seems to treat it like a race...
I didn't know the route and so just had to carry on as wasn't sure how far behind me the next group was. All the runners with me or ahead are slower on recent race form too so they must have been pushing things a bit! The two I had settled in with buggered off at about 4 miles to take the shorter option leaving me stranded so had to push on uphill into a bloody headwind to catch the guys ahead (so I didn't get lost...). That mile was a bit of a fartlek effort as I chased them down!! Settled down a bit after that but still clocked a 6:37 mile 7...!! Overall the average came out at 7:12 so a bit swift but it was quite good fun
Sterling effort CC82!
I don't know what the prog was that Matt recommended, but I recorded it anyhow. Did you get lost in MK Bus?
6x3min (3min RI) intervals on the turbo this morning. Ouch.
Pete - I agree with what the others say. I also know it's hard to keep a lid on an effort at parkrun.
The wind has decided to come back with a vengeance today. I'm glad that my threshold effort for today has been tamed a bit due to racing XC at the weekend. Instead of reps, I'm going for a progressive 15mins easy / 15 steady / 15 threshold / 15(ish) cool down. That probably means that I'll land up running all of my threshold effort either with the wind or against it rather than back and forth like normal.
Hopefully it will be wind assisted
Pete - I'm yet to do anything other than "race" in a race, but I don't run 60 races a year like Phil. Last year I think I did about 10 including Parkruns. I did do 6 in 7 weeks from end April to early June though. I suppose I didn't treat the HM in the middle of that as an "A" race though as it was in amongst 10k training. It was treated more like a progressive training run and it was good fun. It was always going to be a PB though because I was in way better shape than my PB time from a year previous.
So, I'm still yet to go out and intentionally not run a PB. I think it would be hard not to get caught up and go as hard as you could, especially on something short like a 5k. Something a bit longer would keep you more honest probably...
I generally race parkrun but just because I am racing someone else does not make the event itself a race. A lot are never going to be A races, so I have 4 midweek races open to me each month and 2 make it into po10 but 2 don't, so like yesterday, I am not going to go balls out over 2.36 miles for the fun of it.
So, yes. The wind out there is brutal...!
Glad to be back inside enjoying the central heating...
15 easy came out at 7:35 pace (generally downhill and generally with a strong tailwind though some crosswinds as well just for fun)
15 steady was uphill (nothing extreme) and brutal headwind for most of it. Where it wasn't headwind it was crosswind. 7:09 pace (usually down about 6:40 for steady pace!)
Doubled back on myself for threshold 15. Pretty easy stuff with the slight downhill and tailwind most of the way. 6:21 pace.
Slow trot home, uphill, headwind - 8:55 pace - total of 8.12 miles in 1 hour.
Foff tomorrow, 30 easy w/ strides on Saturday then XC on Sunday. Hope the wind buggers off by then!
Wind dying overnight apparently. Not much help to me heading off for some form of speedwork in a moment though!
Can't think what to do - may just have to focus on effort rather than pace. Pointless heading to the track.
So wikipedia has 9 possible explanations for stotting but I think I have invented a tenth. At lunch-time I as out for a gentle recovery run and over the first half mile I gradually caught up with a slower runner ahead and then passed him. Bugger me if the cheeky sod didn't pick up pace and try and follow me. The Thames Path is very muddy at the moment with big puddles all the way, so rather than avoid the puddles and skirt round the edges, I took them head on and jumped over them, but for some odd reason, rather than do a normal jump, I did an exaggeratedly high one. Seemed to have the desired effect and after a while he fell off pace and I was able to continue my recovery run without a puffing shadow.
5 miles at 7:37 pace so 40 over 4 days at about 7:45 average pace.
Best story so far this week...
Having just been out on the bike, I think you should all stop whinging about the wind. 30 miles done at 17.6 with some hills. There were some tasty cross winds, at least when you're running you don't have to worry about being blown over.
Philip you have to admire the competitive spirit. I have only ever been overtaken once whilst out running when I was out for an easy one, didn't like it. I have in the past changed my route to follow someone I wanted to overtake
I can't be the only one.
Thanks BUS, on the job front, my Wife wants me to get it, so doesn't matter what I think. First time achilles problem for me, it's very annoying.
I had a similar race with an old bloke on a bike today - finally took him on an incline over a canal bridge
Andrew - who says the wind can't blow you over when running? Damn near did today and almost blew me in front of a car too! Probably the first time ever I've noticed the wind at my back speeding me up in one place too!
All in, no proper speed-work, and felt hard, but 6:52 pace for 7.2M will have to do. Was supposed to be 8, but ran out of time.
Did a race in Rickmansworth when it was blowing a gale. I'll never forget the mixture of alarm and horror on the face of Derek Brown (the leader) when a cross wind hit him so hard that it spun him around almost 180 degrees.
I ended up second, mainly because the guy behind me got hit really hard by a wooden mile marker (2 miles).
🙂
Did anyone catch you do it?
IC, the mile market had blown over. A marshal picked it up and it was ripped right out of his hands. It missed me due to a well timed side step.
You can imagine the rest.
No one uses me as a wind-break and gets away with it.
🙂
no offence Ric, but you wouldn't make much of a windbreak!
Need someone a bit lankier for that! Like me at the Great South Run in 2012.Last 2miles were running into a gale. Clever guy I was running with tucked into behind me, and when it calmed down, strolled out in front effortlessly, and held on.
Clever running.
SG - That reminds me, I ran the GSR in 2000 I think it was and there was a gale blowing at the same point. The seawater was breaking over the wall and spraying us.
I was working really hard in the final couple of miles turned around and there was about 10 people tucked in behind me in a line. A minute or so later they all pissed off up the road leaving me behind, shattered. Lesson learnt.
That happened to me in the Gosport HM once. The wind being what it was meant I'd gone through 10 miles in 57:13, turned on to the seafront and spent 2 miles fighting the breeze.
When I first hit the wall of air I wasn't aware of anyone being around. Two miles later I turned around only to see a line of runners behind me. F...ing ponces! I put the boot in and dropped the lot. pb by 3 seconds in 76:33 as well.
🙂
Think they might have changed the Gosport route now. Used to be a couple of laps of the airfield, but from alternate angles. Think I read they've cut that stage out now? Anyone confirm?
Can be quite a soulless stretch if you're unlucky enough to not be close enough to anyone.
Thing I most remember about that course, apart from the glory of the last mile or 2 stretch down the riverside, was having to battle to beat a 14year old and his dad!