The Middle Ground

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  • Dr.DanDr.Dan ✭✭✭
    edited September 2018
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    Alehouse, that's sounds like a very stressful and difficult period. Glad you seem to be on the way back up. 

    Andrew, I agree with Alehouse. My mileage has increased by throwing in a few 3 milers when I might otherwise have thought I'd not had time. It's an easy way of increasing without eating into family time or even feeling like you've done anything. At 20 miles a week, 2 x 3 miles at very easy increased your mileage by 25%. 

    10 yesterday went very well. Followed it today with 7 with 5 at mp. Target is 6.45-6.50. With legs feeling heavy I didn't have great expectation but it felt pretty comfortable coming in at 6.42 average for 157 hr so comfortably in range. Followed up with a sports massage. 
  • I realised I made a schoolboy error thinking we would get to 30,000 at the top of page 1000 - it will of course be the last post on page 1000 (sorry JGav!).

    Tempo session went well tonight, the 2.5 miles were covered in 7:08, 7:11 and 3.35 for the half. Again, this compares very well to the first run of this length in each of the last two training cycles (a good 10 seconds per mile faster).
  • JGavJGav ✭✭✭
    It's ok @AndrewD I owned that 30k post
  • JGavJGav ✭✭✭
    11k lunch run at 4.29m/km (7.13mm).  Glorious weather today.
  • Sounds very sharp JGav, good running!

    Couple of easy runs the last two days to keep the miles ticking over. Got a rest day tomorrow, then I’m going to tackle a long run (well, long for me) of 6 miles on Sunday.

    Anyone racing this weekend?
  • HM for me on Sunday ... haven't run since last Sunday as have tweaked something in the back of my knee.
  • 13.1 miles of pure misery today. Not very run fit and I felt really rubbish all week... but stupidly still went out at an over-ambitious pace. HMP turned into tempo. Decided to abort at 6 miles and do an MP session... then at 11 miles even that became too hard. Result was just under 1:38, almost 8 min slower than last year.

    Next race is 1 mile on Saturday.

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    Promising stuff, Andrew.

    Decent lunch run, jgav. 

    Bad luck, Dr Dan. Need to get your self back together now for Yorkshire.

    I did 20 Thursday night. 8.05mm for a very low 139 average hr. it was a bizarrely effort less run. Friday 5 recovery. Today was my local 10k route at steady effort. came in 41.11 which is a decent effort for 450 feet of elevation. Feeling fairly rested already with a taper week to come. Will prove very difficult to hold steady this week!
  • Unlucky Dan - better perhaps to get the bad race out of the way prior to the main event!

    DT - you must be chomping at the bit now! Running an 'effortless' 20 bodes very well for you!

    I managed the 6 miler yesterday afternoon in a touch over 56 minutes, so just over 9.20 pace. Was a bit slower than I would have ideally liked, but it was good to get the first longer run under my belt, hopefully it will feel easier and be run slightly faster next week.

  • Sorry to hear about the bad day at the office, Dan! Lots of lessons learned I suspect!

    That pace is fine for a longer run, AD: no rush to speed it up. I'd rather see it gradually extended to 75 minutes initially. The pace will come down over time. What terrain/surface are you running on? More training effect from off-road and undulating!

    Nice LSR there, DT!

    parkrun on Saturday was run well within myself, as intended. Started off gently and gradually passed people until I caught a friend at 3k so ran the next 2k chatting to him. He's an ultra runner so rather short for him; for me that is currently the long run of the week!
    Progress is rarely a straight line. There are always bumps in the road, but you can make the choice to keep looking ahead.
  • Nice one DT! I am struggling to find a slot for one more 20/20+ as I have another 3 races this month... may have to be 2 weeks before the race, which is not ideal.

    Reflecting on yesterday... I actually ran the first 6 miles at 7 min/mi which was stupid as, based on best parkrun, Jack Daniel's vdot predicts my 10Kp to be 7/mi. I think my 10Kp is probably a little faster, as I wasn't destroyed at 6 miles, but I was probably running at tempo which is only really sustainable for about 7-8 miles max. If I'd paced it sensibly, I think I could have got 1:35-36. Last year's 1:30:24 converted to 3:22:56, so using the same Riegel number, 1:35:30 converts to 3:34:22 ... so Yorkshire marathon pace will have to be run at 8:10/mi with a target of sub-3:35.


  • Alehouse - yesterday was a mixture, road at the start and finish but the middle 4 or so miles were along the river on a mixture of grass and track - quite uneven in places, so that probably slowed me down a touch (as did slowing down to avoid being bitten by the numerous dogs I had to get past - obviously Sunday at 6pm is prime dog walking time!). Where we live is actually surprisingly undulating for the home counties, so there are always a good couple of hills in whatever route I take!
  • Took the advice of a couple of you and added in an extra run for this week by running this morning. Only 2.5 miles to start with, but will soon extend to 3 or 4 and this will hopefully allow my weekly mileage to get up closer to 25/27 in a few weeks.

    Tempo session tomorrow night.
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    Dan.. well battled through on Sunday, nice to see you before the start.  You did finish ahead of me (1:41:20 here) but my excuse is the windy conditions which are always my worst enemy.  I did run an extra 5.5 miles up & down the runways afterwards which meant I avoided the car park fiasco.  Hopefully see you at York before/after or out on the course. :)

    Alehouse.. sorry to read of your injury & illness scares of late; great to see you back in action though.

    DT19.. you sound in good nick, just avoid stubbing your toes on a door frame or similar ;)
  • Wardi - that wind was grim int he last couple of miles! I hope it's  calmer in 32 days time as there's nowhere to hide on those roads.

    Well done Andrew - sure it will pay dividends.

    Just cycling so far this week - I really should try to squeeze in an easy run this evening.
  • JGavJGav ✭✭✭
    No running for me, had family stuff on Monday/Tuesday. 

    But more importantly it's new shoes day!!!  Got a pair of Asics GT2000.  Needed a pair of shoes for long runs, my current ones leave me feeling a bit beaten up.

  • Same tempo session as last week, paces came out slightly faster at 7.09, 7.04 and 3.33 for the half a mile. Don’t want to push it faster than this until I have a race time that produces a VDOT to support faster paces, even though I feel I could have comfortably done slightly quicker without completely busting myself.
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    wardi, I've done that the night before a half once. Didn't feel it when running but afterwards my toe was purple and throbbing.

    I like the gt range for my general mileage. I use the 1000s which are a neutral version of the 2000s.

    Good stuff, Andrew. It is amazing how you can increase mileage by 50% just sneaking a few 2-3 milers like that.

    I have ticked over this week. 5 at very easy Monday then 8 mlr Tuesday. Yesterday was 5 at planned mp. Came out 6.45 average for a very low 154 average hr. Possibly my best ratio to date. I am would usually push the pace more to get my hr closer to 160 but I am trying to practice running at 6.45-6.50 pace. Yesterdays splits were 6.46, 6.44, 6.43, 6.45 and 6.44, so slightly the wrong end of the line but consistent all the same.

    Rest day today with a sports massage, a light 4 miles with strides tomorrow and then a rest on Saturday before Sundays half.

    I have also entered the Milton Keynes half at the end of September as a mp session. I was going to run Cheltenham which is 9am on the Sunday morning. MK is 1pm Saturday, was £12 less and a lower key affair. I didn't really fancy another 6am sunday start just for a training run and the chaos of thousands of runners.

  • Sensible choice on the race DT. Reminds me, I need to actually pull my finger out and enter that 5 mile race at the end of September!

    I also run in Asics GT1000s - probably need to buy a new pair over the next month or so, as my oldest of the two pairs that I currently rotate are starting to feel and look a bit worse for wear!

    Talking of toes, I managed to smash a cricket ball down onto my left toe whilst batting in a match on 4 August (!) and it is still slightly bruised and very sore when pressure is applied to it!

  • JGavJGav ✭✭✭
    Sounds like it hurts @AndrewD

    Popular shoes!  I tried the GT1000 but I was landing really flat in them. They were also aa bit too similar to my current pair NB Vongo.  The GT2000 feel like I can roll all day in them.  Will take them out for a spin tomorrow.

    Good running @Dr.Dan and @Wardi

    Work run club was called off last minute due to lack of people, so went out to do mile(ish) repeats.  Basically run hard until a natural break from roads/pedestrians.  First block was 4.15m/km (6.45mm) for 7 minutes, then 6 1/2 minutes @ 4.05m/km (6.34mm), final block was 5 minutes at 3.47m/km (6.05mm).  Felt like work...that last block finished me off!
  • JGavJGav ✭✭✭
    First outing in the Asics...comfy shoes.

    I still have a left calf niggle which won't seem to go away.  No idea how to deal with it, resting doesn't seem to do anything.
  • Not sure JGav - if rest isn't helping then maybe you need to have it looked at?

    Just felt some significant pain/stiffness in my left knee walking up a couple of steps in the office! Came out of nowhere and I'm hoping it will disappear just as quickly!

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    looks like a decent session, Jgav.

    Andrew, I get that in my right knee sometimes. Never amounts to anything.

    4 with strides this morning. This taper week is worse than being full on. I feel if anything like I've stiffened right up.

    My new vaporfly flyknit 4% arrived today. Will be wearing them on sunday then packing them away until Yorkshire.

  • JGavJGav ✭✭✭
    DT19 said:


    My new vaporfly flyknit 4% arrived today. Will be wearing them on sunday then packing them away until Yorkshire.

    oooh fancy (and rare) 
    Hope they help
  • Well it didn’t seem to impact me at all on this evening’s run, so fingers crossed it feels ok in the morning. Rest day planned tomorrow anyway though.

    4 miles with some fartlek bits in the 3rd and 4th miles as a light introduction back into intervals. Another couple of weeks of the same and then I’ll fit the proper interval sessions back in and my training will be back to resembling a proper plan with tempo, intervals and long run sessions each week.
  • Dr.DanDr.Dan ✭✭✭
    edited September 2018
    Post 30,000!  B)
  • I have a 1 mile race today. Last speedwork was last year's race. 🤨
  • Good counting Dan 😉

    Good luck in the race too!
  • JGavJGav ✭✭✭
    Come back and tell us how you did @Dr.Dan

    Got a 10 miler in this morning at 7.55mm, harder than easy but didn't feel like hard work until near the end when I upped the speed for the last couple of miles.  Looking good for my HM in next month.
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