Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
The Middle Ground
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
Ilkley Tri was as grim as expected ... enjoyed it and feel fit but too hilly for me in current weight state to be competitive. But a 9:45 500m was worth turning out for (10:50 last time I did it).
Berlin marathon has been something I had been trying to run since 2017, missing out 3 times in the ballot, then having a charity place in 2020 to be cancelled for covid of course, then eventually with the passage of time to age 45, a GFA place.
The training went well and I no doubt benefitted from two spring marathons. It became apparent that we were going to luck in with the weather, which was the biggest concern and when you have the world record holder publicly saying he was hoping for a pb then you know it’s fast.
My journey to Berlin was rather stressful having opted for the connecting flight out of Frankfurt. I was delayed over an hour leaving Brum and landed in Frankfurt with 45 mins to spare. Ended up sprinting across the terminal to make it. I eventually made my hotel at 8.30 and had a dinner reservation for 9.30, so quick shower and out. Decided to take the edge off with a pilsner over dinner then back for an early night.
Saturday was spent at the expo and a casual wander around the finish area, just getting an idea of the last 1k, then an afternoon in bed. Saturday night was the usual anxious and disturbed sleep then down for an early breakfast.
My stand out observation for Berlin over London was the truly international feel of things. Huge groups of Americans in particular all in Boston jackets, but also Mexicans and Argentinians etc. And they were all obsessed with the souvenir kit, in particular the race jacket.
I followed the crowd from the tube to the start and it was a pretty long walk around the park. The weather was perfect. So still, overcast with the odd break and cool. I made my way to the start line and sat on the periphery as I was an hour before the start. About 25 mins before, I applied my foot cream, chafing cream etc then needed the toilet. Following the comment by Ouch ouch I had toilet roll and wet wipes so just went into the woods. It was somewhat bizarre with people kneeling down everywhere, without shame doing their business. In fact I shared my wet wipes with a guy trying to use a leaf!
I then walk the 25 metres back to the start line and it’s about 9am and it’s suddenly carnage, queueing to access the pen. I eventually get in, in the middle section and can’t move. There’s no prospect of me making it further forward. Pen B was for 2.42-2.59 runners, so guess what happened, the sub 3 pacers joined the pen right at the very front! Surely they needed to be at the back or the front of pen c, where the aspiring sub 3 runners who needed them would be.
9.15 and we were off, taking about 1.40 to cross the line. Initially there was reasonable space then after 1k there was a big roundabout and the left and right starts merged and there were now 4 sub 3 pacers in front of me!! I struggled with the early pace, it just would not come comfortably despite running down a long straight road. However I’d done my research and I have never run an opening mile in a marathon faster than 6.34mm. Not being my first rodeo, I had prepared myself to be patient and let it come as the same thing happens every marathon and trying to force the pace or let doubt creep in are not the way forwards.
Mile 1 popped up in 6.31mm so not too bad, but of course I am chasing a bigger number than previously. The first 4m were spent dodging people, eventually passing a the sub 3 pacers in mile 5. To my surprise mile 2 popped up at 6.20, then 6.21 and 6.20 so average pace was coming down. The course just kept going with long flat straight roads and not knowing Berlin I cannot provide any touristy analysis of where I was, it was just roads.
There was then a marked difference in my space from mile 5 onwards and I was able to spend huge periods of the race on the blue line, albeit I was still eating up runners and I just longed to get to a point where there were runners at my pace. The water stations were chaotic, largely because water was given in cups so there was a degree of throwing it at your face and hoping some went in. At mile 7 I hadn’t realised that at the end of the station they were giving out maurtens drink. I didn’t need a drink at this point so grabbed a large cup and tipped it over my head with somewhat regrettable consequences! It could have been worse, I could have grabbed a cup of tea which was also routinely available!
I had discussed with Lewis pre race about 5k splits and he said as long as I am 19.30-19.59 I am in the zone. First 5k split in 20.10 therefore was annoying, however I knew I could make it up.
There was a change in pace from mile 5 due to the new found space with 6.14, 6.13, 6.10 (slight panic now I’m performing a schoolboy error), 6.20 (just in case!) going though 10k in 39.58, pulling me back in to the right zone.
My head was now focused on the halfway split, which we discussed as being around 83.30. A 6.16, 6.16, 6.10, 6.11 and 6.09 got me through in 83.40. OK, so to get anything out of the day I need a big 2nd half. I’m chasing 3 times all in a very narrow margin (sub 2.45, 2.46.07 (club v45 record) and 2.47.08 (pb)) and I am on for none right now!
I was however in cruise mode now, comfortable at 6.10 pace. The roads kept coming, long straight and flat and I was beginning to find myself with others at a similar pace. I was just working to 5k points now and counting down the 1k markers (which I quite liked as they kept appearing and being ticked off every few minutes). In a sense of vanity I knew people would be watching the tracker and what they’d see was my 5k times so I was determined to keep that data solid.
The course seemed to continue interspersing flat long roads with some long gentle downhills and I was lapping it up now. Through 20m in 6.08 and that was my queue to let go. The crowd support was picking up and the field had thinned significantly so I had a clear blue line run. The next few miles just flew by with a 5.58, 5.58 and a 5.55. By this point my average pace was faster than my overall average pace for London and I was going through the km markers with my gps much closer to actual distance.
This was now just about managing out the last few miles, I didn’t even need to run faster than 6.20 to get my goal. The last few miles has you back into the central area and at this point the sun came out. It was hurting now and my left hamstring was tightening, nothing of concern but my rhythm was harder to maintain. It was 1 mile at a time just trying to stay under average pace and getting to the 40k marker in tact.
A 6.03 and a 6.02 for miles 24 and 25 took me through 40k and I was only measuring 400m over on my watch, in contrast to the 26.90m in London. I was trying to do some maths but it was futile at this stage, I just had to keep pedalling as we zigzagged around the centre hoping each time we turned a corner it would be the road with the Brandenburg gate. We pass 41k and we still haven’t made the left turn. Having walked the road the day before, through the gate to the finish I begin to panic as it seems I’ve more do than I thought.
Finally we make the left, I feel like I am just shuffling now, mile 26 comes in at 6.12, I’m relatively pleased as it’s not as slow as it feels. The gate is like a mirage on the horizon, it just doesn’t seem to get closer. Suddenly we are under it and I know it’s a gentle downhill for the last few hundred metres so I just keep moving, waiting to release the sprint finish that I normally make after that final right on the Mall. I can see the clock ticking through 2.45.xx, I know I have chip time on my side but don’t look at my watch as I can do anything about it yet, eventually I judge that I am close enough to go, look at my watch and see it on 2.43.xx and I know there’s no more than 200m and I’ve got the legs to sprint (relatively) so the stress levels reduce considerably, I know I am soon to be a sub 2.45 guy so I relax and enjoy the run in, posting 6.06mm for the final 0.6m on my gps for 2.44.32. The 80.52 second half would be my 4th fastest half.
I was buzzing and at the same time borderline emotional about it all! I managed to get myself to the massage tables before any real queue developed and had a pretty decent 10 ish min free massage, then grabbed 2 of the alcohol free beers and sat on the grass in the sunshine.
I then headed to the u bahn and as I arrived at my stop (which was 120m from my hotel and a road I had walked several times a day since arriving inc that morning) I was somewhat surprised to see the marathon running up it as the 4.15 paver went by. I asked a marshal and she told me it was pretty much the 35k point. I don’t understand how I never noticed it in the race!
I went back to my room and had a shower, stretch and a massage ( I took my massage gun) and my recovery drinks all with one eye on Chester this weekend then headed out for beers. By the station was a currywurst stand that I had promised myself one of them as soon post mara as I could, so I stood there in the sunshine with a wurst, a beer in my finishers t shirt and medal watching the race go by. Then headed back towards the gate and met a mate and we sat in a café just down from the gate watching the race end, including the sweeper buses slowly edging closer to a group as the final 1k went on.
I haven’t felt I’ve been able to train quite bang on this year, starting with the hamstring tear in January. With foreign holidays in February, June and August, plus recovering from Milton Keynes, plus an illness in March and covid mid-May, I’ve felt like I have been back pedalling all year. I go away for half-term in 4 weeks then after that my next holiday is when I travel to Boston to run a marathon so feel (injury and illness permitting) this could be a really promising 5-6 month block.
That said I had 4 targets this year being a parkrun win, 80% wava, England masters vest and a sub 2.45 mara and all have been met so I can’t complain.
Longest run of the year on Monday: 82 minutes. Have passed a thousand miles for the year and should make 200k this month, which is fine for me these days.
Busy helping organise the uni relays and had the article below in AW online, albeit under the editor's name!
https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/university-of-manchester-relays-honour-ron-hill-1039961069/
Physio tomorrow: still having problems with arm, shoulder etc. But a little better.
Just bike commuting this week with Wednesday club swim. Was supposed to be a 5K race Wednesday but I'm cooked. Weekend off for me.
Easy progressive parkrun this morning in 25:40 ish.
Dr Dan, take it easy!
Yep, Lewis wants me to go out at 7mm for first few and see what the body says and let it regress or progress naturally. It's kind of nice have a zero pressure mara, particularly as well with the England masters set up as I have an indoor space and toilets right by start and we have our own pen at the very front so no panics around that element and getting a bad pen position.
Weather looks pretty decent save for a risk of some rain. Cool, Cloudy and pretty still.
Chester went a little off plan. Went out with sub 3 pacer. At 4m we were averaging just under 6.40mm which seemed insane.
I thought if I can do that I'll just pedal on. Half way in 84.10 with a 41.12 and 38.57 first 10k splits.
Then got really going with a 38.19 to 30k. Legs started protesting at around mile 20 during a never ending out and back and miles 25 and 26, with a few nasty climbs that floored me cost me a good 40-50s. The final 10k split was 39.11 and finished in 2.46.24 with 82.14 second half.
Would have been a pb but for Berlin last weekend. I suspect runbritain will actually rank this as a better performance. I certainly feel more tired than I did last Sunday.
Today's run brought up 50k for the week.
Good work alehouse. Any plans for a race any time soon?
Rest well DrDan!
Two much better weeks from me - both 70km. The first week I did a hilly half as my long run, this week a flatter 24.5km run. Will extend that hillier route to 24-25km next week. Also managed to fit in a session and parkrun last week. The s was alternating 2km at HM with 1km at 5km effort off 2 mins jog: 8:23, 3:52, 8:23, 4:01 (had to come to a complete stop for a dog walker), 8:22. Eerily metronomic pacing considering I was not looking at my watch and running on varying terrain. Also did Crystal Palace parkrun on Saturday, squeezing under 20 mins on a hilly course (albeit 30m short according to GPS, though the same course has come up long before, too, and I think the start/end points are quite consistent).
The odd thing I'm finding at the moment is that easy/steady paces, up to HM kind of effort are coming out faster than they ever have done, and for lower effort and HR. Yesterday's long run for example I finished up around 4:30min/Kms (7mm) and was still a way off threshold HR. But I'm really struggling to run faster than that threshold kind of effort, even though aerobically I still feel I have extra gears. I'm sure it will click into place soon - perhaps this week I'll do something like 10x2 mins to sharpen up.
Good going, Alehouse.
Muss, I wore the AF2 at Berlin then alpha 1 at Chester. Setting aside the first 10k, I was only 30s behind my Berlin time at half way so I made up half of that minute.
Quite bizarrely my legs felt both yesterday and today much better than last week.
That's not unusual after a more base running period. I get that quite a lot and it's often only in the last 6 weeks of a cycle that I suddenly click with higher paces and intensities.
10x2mins off 1 min on Wednesday. Managed to hit much better paces without feeling I was forcing it - a change from gravel path to tarmac probably helped, but I think fitness is definitely coming fast now. Having said I wasn't forcing it, this was a very hard session. 1 min jog became 1 min walk from half way, which definitely helped, but I was very ready for each rep to be over by the end! I had planned on 12x2mins, but I think 10 was enough. 9km recovery yesterday felt very good, no soreness and feeling surprisingly fresh.
Will have a crack at parkrun tomorrow, but not sure which course.
Hope all is well alehouse, Dan?
I'm in Peak district with family this weekend, drinking and eating too much. I go to lanzarote two weeks Tuesday for a week, back 01 November when project sub 2.40starts. Lewis feels I've got it in me if I stay fit and healthy.
I've been trying to persuade Lewis for a while now I recover from sessions quickly I should be doing 2.5 sessions a week. I'm hoping the back to back mara success will persuade him as I've not got time to add many more miles and something has to happen to take the next step.
2 weeks tomorrow its a very local half that's also county champs. It's a really hilly course so going there to race for age group race and county medals not times.
I think later in November I'll have a smash at a parkrun. As a 2.47 runner I thought 17 50 was soft, but as a 2.44 runner now I must be the only person sub 2 45 who isn't sub 17.50! Theres also a 10m pudding run 2 weeks before Xmas I always do, again age group prize at stake.
Have had a cutback week since, 50km and almost all very low HR (4/5 runs were low 130s BPM).
Kicked off this week with a tempo run: 5 miles continuous, alternating between HM+15s/km and HM effort. 7:12, 6:45, 7:08, 6:40, 6:55. 3.5km warmup and cool down to make 15km. I felt very good on this one - fresh after a recovery week, but it felt much easier than any other time I've done this kind of session, with longer intervals and more total volume.
May look for a race mid November - I really fancy another crack at a half, but something in the 10 miles kind of region might be more realistic. Might also have a go at LFotM next week.
A half in a month or so seems doable after that session I'd say.
I dived back into a session today as got a local half on Sunday. Its county champs so thought might be a medal opportunity. Its a hilly race so no point chasing times, just going there to race.
4 x 1m off 2 min easy came in 5.47, 5.50, 5.46 and 5.46 so 6.12 average for just under 5m. Surprised by that as done nothing like it since about 10 days prior to Berlin.
Had e mail off England Athletics yesterday confirming my masters selection for next years team back at Chester mara.
Just here for a long weekend. Didn't know the race was on. A very good city for running. 20 degrees or thereabouts for the race. Very flat. Just easy runs from me. Calves very tight from the harder surfaces. Usually run off road of course.
Just off to the beach. With my bottle of cava.
Splits:Kibiwott
Then 13:53 so 27:50 for 10k
Then 13:26 and 13:52 for the next 10k in 27:18, then 1.1k. Average 2:45 per km
Klosterhalfen:15:29, 14: 40, 15:38, 15:29 plus 1.1k, average 3:07 per km
Shame about the race, DT. Will you run Chester next year?
Good that you've kept up some consistency while you're busy Dan.
I'm not really seeing any races that are inspiring me to enter them for November - may have to run a shorter distance instead. Also unsurprisingly didn't get a place in the London ballot - will look for another marathon on the same day instead!
Did 1, 2, 1, 2, 1k on Tuesday down in Somerset. 1ks @ 5k pace, with 90s jog, then 2ks at HM effort, with 3 mins jog. All on quiet, flat, straight roads with farmland either side. And then 15km easy on Wednesday with moderate hills.
Last Friday of the Month 5k today - didn't really know what to expect, but imagining I'd be in the 19:30 kind of zone. I felt very leggy on the warm-up, so suddenly wasn't so sure if I'd have a good run or not. But the first 3km felt pretty good, with plenty of runners at my level for shelter from the occasional gusts of wind. I knew at this point that sub 19 was definitely a possibility if I kept things going well, with splits of 3:46, 3:44, 3:49. Just after 3k, things started to feel very tough and I was a bit exposed. 3:44 for km 4. Looked at my watch at about 4.8km and saw 17:50, and wrote off my chances of a PB, and sub 19, so decided to cruise it in. But after a few seconds realised it had said 17:50, not 18:50! Big sprint for the line, gained a few places, and over the line in 18:46. Not far off my PB of 18:39, which I had not really expected. This race also came up on my watch as exactly 5.00km, which restored some faith in GPS, as I'm sure the measurements for this course are accurate, the Serpentine Club guys are pretty serious.
Hip flexors on both sides are feeling quite sore, and 3km cool down was very slow and hard to make myself do. Probably a good sign that I gave a good account of myself today - a few times when I've run 5ks I'm left with a feeling that I could have done more as I haven't been that sore, and cooling down has felt pretty normal and comfortable.
I still wasn't feeling great yesterday - not really physically sore but quite drained and lethargic. But woke up today feeling much more normal. I did 13km yesterday, and 10km today, both very easy. May not do a session this week, but just keep the volume up with easy running.
Reasonable run at LFOM!
Hope that you are less busy, DrD!
Just over 200k in October: had to run 6k with the headtorch on Monday to get over the 200 barrier. Felt like I was racing until I looked at the watch!
Dr Dan, was the 10k a race?
Muss, that's a pretty good outcome for the LFOTM to be pushing a pb. If you're targeting nothing imminently then worth going easy this week if not quite with it.
I got back off hols about 3am yesterday morning then up for work at 8am. After a week of wall to wall sun, this weather has not gone down well. Managed 4 runs on hol, all 5 or 6m and generally much faster than usual.
6 x 1k yesterday in pouring rain, feeling quite tired proved white a slog. 6m easy today felt much better. Mostly easy rest of the week as I get going again. A day in Cardiff for the rugby Saturday.
Muss, yes I'll do Chester again. Have no other plans heat Oct so will take the England masters experience again. They do their own awards for top 3 in each age group and third in mine was 2.43 do my aim next year is to get myself on that podium! Booked the holiday Inn express right by start already so I'm not wandering around Chester pre and post race and can basically stay in my room until 8.50 so not having to join toilet queues!
Cancelled half now scheduled for 20th November.
Your Chester hotel situation sounds ideal. That's a race I would like to do at some point, I gather it's very well run and all organised with the runners at the forefront of all decisions.
I'm thinking of doing Manchester Marathon next year instead of London. I'm weighing up between that and doing a Dorney marathon. Obviously Manchester is the more attractive option as a race and experience, but I don't know how work will look yet, and I may have to work either the day before or after Manchester, which would make the Dorney option more straightforward.
I was in Leamington Spa overnight, so kicked off today with a 14.5km run along the river and then the canal towpath, followed by some good country running. The weather was absolutely perfect: not a cloud to be seen, hardly any wind, and nicely cool. Feeling much better after two very good nights sleep - not having to get up at 6:15 to run in the dark and rain helps a lot.