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The Middle Ground
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I've done both, Dorney is great if you can just get your head down and effectively sole time trial it almost.
I really liked Manchester, I'd like to get back one day and have a proper go at it. Lots of long straight roads well supported. Really enjoyed Chester as well, big enough to have company but didn't feel like a big event. Good start and finish area at race course also with lots of space.
Leamington is lovely, done the 10k there couple of times.
I went out first thing for an easy 12, just because it'd be a squeeze Sunday. Cardiff tomorrow gor the rugby.
I thought that was the race of my life, not to be repeated but there's been a few more since then.
Session Tuesday (2k, 90s, 1k x 3) hitting paces quicker than previously gor the effort. 8m easy Wednesday, spin Thursday then 6m tempo yesterday (10m in total) averaged 5.58, first session (beyond shorter intervals) ehrte I've averaged sub 6mm.
Popped along to parkrun this morning for a social jog. Ran it progressively with 6.07, 5.55, 5.51 then 5.40 for scraps for 18.31 and 6th place.
Easy 13 tomorrow, weather looks set very pleasant.
Progressive parkrun here albeit rather more slowly! Not the quickest of courses so 24:34, for just over 70% age grading. Not flat out and most people reckon the course is worth a round a minute at my pace.
Have struggled the last three weeks with running; could be linked to being back at work!
Ticked along this week, decent session Tuesday and 6m today. The half that was called off 3 weeks ago is on Sunday. Forecast looks solid. Given elevation of course I'll be pleased if I can be sub 80.
Go well on Sunday!
And I won't mention today's race, DT!
Really tough course today which I knew so targeted racing for places particularly as was county champs. Further I woke up Friday with a tight chest and chesty cough. Woke a few times last night with that rattling in my chest as I breathed and felt pretty tired and flat when I woke. My hope was sub 80 and get some prizes as there was a v45 cat and it was county champs.
Looking round start line, the speedster I was aware of was there but beyond that it looked short on talent that I would usually recognise. Went off with speedster then after 200m he pulled away. I was conscious of 2 other lads 10m or so behind. At about 1m a bloke came on my shoulder and stayed with me. I was feeling really crap and didn't think I could stick the pace. Bizarrely though a couple of successive climbs at 3m marker and just after woke me up. We exchanged chat and he said his best mara was 80.xx and we were averaging 6.05 so I knew he was on his limit and I noticed the two hills had damaged him as he had gone from conversational to working hard. I decided then to attack the next couple of hills to put him under the cosh. Albeit I was risking similar but felt I had it in me and ultimately if my time suffered I was in a race now not a time trial.
Anyway that worked well and by about 6m I'd opened a comfortable gap but not one that allowed error and it stayed same until 10m when a few hills , which hurt me also, hurt him a bit more so by 11m I was coming off quite long drags up as he was starting them so I knew 2nd place was secure.
Saw the rest of the race out on my own and was really battered from the constant undulations coming in 80.52 on my watch. He came in about 50s later and 4th was another 90s behind.
I was robbed of a podium presentation however as they gave me an envelope immediately on crossing the line with an Amazon voucher (no idea of value though). No double bubble allowed though on the v45 prize. County awards not made either but that does allow double claim so I'll have open silver and v40 silver.
Felt really rough post race, coughing lots and wiped out. Did a covid test when home but negative.
Feeling a bit better now I've settled and got fluid in.
Parkrun smash coming this Saturday.
Hope all is well Alehouse!
Have had a couple of decentish 70km weeks, feeling less tired now, but pace Vs HR has been off the mark - perhaps some kind of low level bug. Anyway, things are more back to where I'd expect now. Will take an easy week, then have to decide whether I'm doing a mara in the spring or not, and time to get started on that training!
Interestingly though, if you get a minute have a look at the Walsall parkrun results from Saturday. Looking at strava it looks like it was some kind of organised midlands smackdown. I think top 30 went sub 17.
Session of 16 x 400m yesterday. Still coughing a bit so not sure how successful a parkrun will be on Saturday.
Looks like the Brighton marathon has been taken over by new organisers, that could be a shot at redemption for you if you feel like you've unfinished business there?
Not sure about the Brighton marathon myself: too much risk with the weather on the sea front!
Just been ticking over the last week or so. Steroids and antibiotics seem to have stopped the infection getting to my chest, but definitely not 100% yet.
Managed to just creep over 100 miles for the month (165km) which whilst short of my aim of 200km was reasonable given the circumstances of work plus illness.
I'm at the dreg ends of a minor chest infection cough that started just over 2 weeks ago.
17.28 this morning for 4th place and 22s pb this morning. Pretty even splits of 5.35, 5.41, 5.42 and 5.09 for the scraps.
Really pleased to have gone sub 17.30 and hr data suggests I had a bit more in me. I was 50s ahead of 5th and 40s behind 3rd so largely a sole effort.
Just ticking over here as still not 100%. Just passed 500 days of the current streak!
Excellent streaking alehouse and good to hear you're recovering.
No surprise to find DT posting super-fast race times - that sub 17:30 must have been a great WAVA % too.
Mus - 70km weeks sound pretty healthy!
Bad luck DrDan, but I'm sure you'll regain run fitness quickly with the cycling still in the mix.
Work plans have unfortunately scuppered a spring marathon next year, I'll now be working on all the weekends that I'd identified. The good news is there seem to be more autumn races within convenient travel range.
Just bought a new pair of general mileage shoes, Saucony Triumph 20s. They're very light, especially considering the fact that there's a lot of foam on them. They're extremely comfortable and quite bouncy too... If anyone is looking for another pair then I'd highly recommend trying them!
Yes new wava high of 81.xx. I'm a month off s birthday as well so if I can repeat that in January it'll be 82.xx.
Muss, shame re the work agenda. Autumn is definitely the best time to race a mara, just a hard one to train for over summer.
10m race tomorrow. Organisers say the course is good, so no beers gor me tonight with the footy.
Im sticking with Leeds in May. The aim is to get around slowly in one piece and use it as a platform to become a runner again over 2023/24. Aim 1 is to carefully get to January with basic run fitness, ready to start building up the mileage in 2023.
How was the race DT?
Good to hear from you DrD!
Just ticking over here: can't get rid of the bug that I have had for around three weeks now, plus the weather is hardly conducive to much more than I am doing. Today's 35 minutes with my M77 neighbour were treacherous in parts.
It's ticking over time of year Alehouse!
I went out for my first "proper" run yesterday after a week of 1.5-2 milers. Aim was a 3.65 mile circuit but I managed to fall over my ankle on a very bad bit of pavement. Luckily it was less than half a mile from home, so I called it a day and walked back. Hopped on the bike and did 23 virtual miles at 19.3 mph.
Skinned my knee and elbow and have a very stiff shoulder/arm today but, thankfully, the twisted ankle is fine so should be able to run tomorrow (pavements permitting).
Alehouse - maybe time to consider letting go of the streak? A day or two rest might be all you need...
Bad luck DrDan.
I did 24km on Sunday, bitterly cold and without gloves, my hands were frozen stiff by the end, as was my hair due to the sweat! Frozen ground did open up the possibility of using some summer routes that would otherwise be far too muddy to consider, and I was grateful for the nicer scenery.
71km last week, I was fearing I wouldn't be able to reach that this week what with ice and snow, but the pavements are in a better state than I had expected. I came down to Somerset yesterday, and had a mainly pleasant run this morning. The second half of the Strava route I downloaded was very off-road, so I was grateful again for the mud being frozen solid, although the more churned up bits did present a real risk of twisting an ankle!
Looking at Half Marathons for next March as an A race. It unfortunately looks like I'll be doing some kind of run-through event, but at least they're convenient. Will look to put a 10km and 10 mile in the mix, too, but nervous about 10km as it's my best result by some way!
Muss, those runthrough events are great in a sense but I also fear they are now becoming too dominant and are killing smaller local events. They've found a great niche with the multi distance, closed circuit courses.
I removed pretty well and had a decent training week the peak being Wednesday session of 5m at half pace off 2 min at 6.40s. 6.8m at 6.02mm average and a new pavement 10k pb of 37.21.
I've got a 10k on 27th do hoping not yo have too many Xmas cobwebs. Both my parkrun and marathon times indicate a sub 36 is possible, so want to give it a good go.
I'm ignoring your streak comment, Muss! You seem to be training well!
DrD: hope all is now well!
Not a good week here as everywhere seems to have been treacherous for the whole week, in addition to still not being 100%.
And not the best experience today: went to one of the few parkruns that said they were on with the aim of just jogging round. Got there at 8:35; at 8:38 they cancelled. Right decision but poor timing: at 8:02 they had messaged to say that they were good to go. Ran about half an hour with a couple of others; one had quite a bad fall which backed up the decision to cancel. All of the Greater Manchester parkruns were off I believe, with one cancelling even later!
Had icy rain today on top of the ice; may well delay tomorrow's run until later in the day.
Great session DT.
The combination of ice and a cold limited me to 41km last week.
I was lucky that work brought me to Gran Canaria for the last couple of days, so the singlet has been bought out again this week! I managed to get two runs and a swim in before coming back today. It was quite surreal suddenly being in hot and humid conditions after that cold snap.
Yesterday was a tough mornings work. Trying to race a 10k in the midst of Christmas over indulgence, with a continuing chesty cough was at best optimistic, as was trying to pb and run sub 36.
Went out well enough with a 5.42 and 5 42 but chest tightness was making breathing hard work (chest muscles quite sore today from the added strain) I was also conscious that the first 2m had a tailwind and a slight net downhill. Mile 3 came in 5.52 and through 5k in about 17.48 so perfectly paced for sub 36, however it being a big looped course the second half involved a few tough stints of stiff headwind that coincided with some gentle meandering more upwards. Splits of 6.02, 5.57 and 6.07 and 5 53 for scraps left me with 36.46 giving me a 2s seasons best and 2nd fastest 10k time.
Disappointed to have capitulated like that but looking at other runners in and around me on strava we all seemed to suffer in exactly the same way. We all essentially ran the same race splits wise. Nobody passed me after first 800m and those I was chasing in the second half didn't move ahead of me further.
I know I'm better than that but not an optimal situation with the race date and my chest. Got a nice big block now through to Wokingham 26th February.
Out first thing for an easy 10m this morning.