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How about inventing and marketing a new sports drink based entirely on beetroot and red wine?
Moof - nice target, Abo is 2.5X friendly although remember the slight sting very near the end with a shallow climb towards the stadium and the bizarre chicane before hitting the track.
Lorenzo - City Lodge is a good location for the expo and start line, one hears good reports of it too. It's just a couple of blocks from the sea so prob only worth changing if you find somewhere with a seafront view at similar price. There will be plenty of runners at CL.
SJ - the cornea is a very good healer, I was told 95%+ of people have complete recovery from this sort of injury so it's looking good for you. (I was one of the unlucky 5%). Makes you realise how precious eyes are though.
5m jog this morning, can't quite believe it's another 26.2 on Sunday but looking forward to this one more than most.
Yes indeed Poacher. Good luck for Sunday - you are a relentless machine!
Minni, maybe you could do some serious swim training and have a crack at a tri when you've recovered..... or write a book......
Minni - I'm a great advocate (née, bore) of pool running when injured. I can't claim it's a particularly fun-filled pastime (mind you, neither is road running) but it does keep your limbs tuned in a vaguely runnerly direction.
Certainly, it's a lot less tedious than the turbo. Cross-trainers are generally good, I suppose, but they usually involve gyms, soundless televisions and eye-wateringly awful music.
Minni - when I was on the bench I became a pool running, barre class devotee. The rest is history (as they say). Whatever that means...
(On a more helpful note, find company to pass the time. It is a time to gossip. The Pfitz interval sessions are good but chatting is far more fulfilling I found).
So, Pool running.
Are you pegging it around the kiddies pool just making a nuisance of yourself? Or are you up the deep end tredding water in a running style, looking a little bit of a berk?
Minni, you could learn to play the banjo or learn to speak a foreign language... Flemish?
How many hours a week do you normally run in a week? 10? 15? More? That would be a significant investment in a new skill during your time on the bench. Granted it's unlikely to be as much fun as running (depending on what you choose
)
Learn Afrikaans?
Poacher -
I tried the learning Afrikaans thing when I was out there and it's not that difficult actually apart from the pronunciation but I would skip the grammar and learn the swear words, as they might come in handy come Polly shorts......
My splits from the GNR- I might have gone off a tad fast
5k time 00:18:28 10k time 00:37:45 15k time 00:57:10 20k time 01:17:04
Things Minni Could Do Instead of Pool Running:
1. Learn a new language e.g. Afrikaans in anticipation of Comrades 201[ ]
2. Learn a musical instrument
3. Take a pottery / life drawing or similar class (think Ghost?)
4. Do all those home DIY jobs!
5. Cook Miss Minni even more home made meals for her freezer at uni
6. Take up weight lifting and become really pumped up (think Miss Universe Weightlifting all glistening and bronzed)
7. Others?
Feel free to add to the list to help our Minni out here.
Lorenzo - good up and down miles.
Abbers - you're being very patient. I'm just trying to make sure I don't do anything silly at this stage and not thinking too much about targets.
SJ - hope the eye continues to improve.
Poacher - you are one crazy guy - legend.
OO - certainly an enthusiastic start!
Minni - right now, I'd say sleeping would be a good alternative.
11 easy miles this morning including some weight training carrying two 4 pint cartons of milk home from the supermarket
Thanks for the Suunto link GM. I'll have a look. I'm sending the forerunner 210 to CRC today for inspection.
Someone went aqua jogging in the Serpentine a while back and I swam over to ask them what was up cos I thought they might be drowning.
Gul Darr - 2x4 pints - you must be ripped
Gul - I'm surprised there were any shops open at the time you were out running!!
I'll have to give some thought to alternative suggestions for Minni. How about athletics coaching of some sort?
Intervals session this morning(courtesy of Marrows?): 1600/1200/800/400/200 with 1 min recovery. Tried to focus on shorter strides and higher cadence. Felt good having done it so I may convert to loving interval training over time although I'm not holding out much hope!!
There isn't a deep end at my local pool, so the water's about chest height all the way. I just run up and down the length of the pool (25m) for as long as seems sensible. As Moof suggests, it's not a particularly good look, but you soon get used to the sneers of encouragement from fellow pool users.
I know that good TAR but I bet your get bored pretty quickly...
Dabbled with a bit of TAR's gym-based x-training at lunch. As previously stated, pretty tedious, but I needed a change from splashing about, so did some S&C work in combination with a nod towards some CV fitness.
Good to see Gul and Lorenzo flying the training flag!
I've done a bit of training, Abbers (well, running at any rate)
10.5 Mon, 8 Tues (each easy, steady), 9.5 today inc 2 x 800m, 2 x 1400m, 2 x 800m
Not done any gym or pool work, or heaving around of dairy produce.
Ah, good man Birch
Happy with your build up to date?
Yes thanks; getting to the start line is paramount now, so I do less than I used to in total volume eg at the end of this week will complete a 10 week block of around 543 miles, inc 7 x 20 - 22.5. This was preceded by a 6 week period of 222 miles (avg just 37mpw, but inc 2 x 20 & a 21). Most weeks I include a session similar to today's, and latterly have included longer sections of harder running within the long run. This approach got me round Manchester in April, and with 3 weeks left to Mable my legs are holding up OK (notwithstanding the odd reminder from my old knee "war wounds").
I admire your dedication to your cricket (esp knee-unfriendly bowling) . . . . .
marrows - no, I am a puny weakling. I thought I was going to strain a muscle.
Lorenzo - definitely sounds like you're starting to enjoy those intervals! Although the 24 hour supermarkets are about 3 miles away, fortunately there's one which is only 1.5 miles away and it opens at 6am.
TAR - sneers of encouragement - lol!
Abbers - keep plugging away.
Birch - another good session. Are you starting the taper next week? I'm going for just a two week taper.
10 steady miles @ 7:31 m/m.
Birch - sounds like you're bringing your years of experience to bear on this marathon campaign lark. That's decent mileage, a good number of 20+ long runs, and speedwork covered too. Looking good; 3 weeks to make sure you make the start line rested and raring to go. The cricket is just something I've always done, from starting playing competitively at about 13. That's 26 years ago, and I can't imagine a summer weekend without it! Running in secondary, but has taken over from rugby as my 2nd claim sport (the rugby got knocked on the head when the little Ms As arrived; too many trips to casualty made me consider the wisdom of carrying on playing!).
Gul - I aspire to runs like that at the moment! Good work.
More or less, Gul - this weekend will be final long run, and total mid 60's, but will still log around 50 miles the following week (with longest run around 12/13, maybe inc parkrun); then 30/35, with final week 15 or so + Mable
another good 10 for you this morn ( 8 here) - are you feeling confident?
x-post - I too am a cricket fan, Abbers - but not played since my pre-running days. My son played for a club from age 8 until he went to University, so I spent many pleasurable hours at his games. On the topic, the White Rose boys are closing in on the title . . . . . .
Birch-great mara training there !
Gul-nice fast 10
3.5 miles for me at gul "o" clock well 6am so probably later
Booked a "race" well a 2k fun run with my 7 year old, we got some run/walk training in yesterday
Great weekend running from Poacher and OO-51 (who once again does stuff I don't even dream of - I think my flat out 5k is 20:xx). Top ultra swimming from SJ too.
I am trying harder to be less rubbish at running, and indeed I am getting back to some sort of level of capability, but nowhere near the level I want to be. There is of course a reason for everything. I came to realise I was at the beginning of metabolic troubles - weight gain despite high volume running, always hungry, foggy thinking, bonking in long runs, and other symptoms. After some research I began to focus on the role of dietary carbohydrate and am currently experimenting with severe reduction in carbohydrate consumption and replacement of that with fats. Overall I want to improve health rather than improve my running
There has been some success so far in the outcomes. My clear thinking has returned, weight has plummeted, hunger eliminated, etc. Running remains slow as the body takes at least 3 months to adapt to the new source of fuel. Time will yield useful conclusion, but at the moment even getting to 8 miles is challenging. In fact it falls completely in line with the concept of only training for the last third of a race as all my runs felt like the last 6 miles of a marathon. Things getting easier so far and can only be hoped would return to 'normal' one day.
Anyway I can say my Comrades training is going well. All runs incorporate hills and are slow and I generally feel like in the last third of the race so all good training adaptation.
Happy Running all. I'm off to scoff some butter
Hope you enjoyed the butter BI!! What would be a typical day's set of meals look like under the new regime?
Good early morning running going on out there at the moment. Not quite Gul o'clock for me but it won't be long before the head torch gets brought out of hibernation. 9 hilly miles including taking a wrong turn as a result of trying a new route which meant that I took a bit longer than anticipated and had to drag elder Lorenzito out of bed to give me a lift down to the station.
Does anyone have any experience of doing VO2 / lactate threshold assessment tests? I'm thinking of asking for one for a birthday present but would be good to know whether they're a. very useful to help optimise training b. an interesting snapshot of fitness at a particular point in time or c. a complete waste of money.
Birch - can't see anything other than the Yorkies being Div 1 champs this season. In Div 2 however, it looks like Worc might be imploding at just the right time for Hampshire to pip them to top spot
Should be at the Ageas on Monday afternoon.
Leslie - must be great to get Leslie Jr involved
BI - interesting diet change. Like Lorenzo, I'm intrigued to see what a day's menu might contain as I can't imagine eating without the usual doses of cereal, bread, pasta, rice, etc.
Lorenzo - no clue on the assessments I'm afraid. Think there was an article in RW a little while back about them, and how they predicted mara performance? Not sure of value for £ though.
Close to another hour of CV work at the gym at lunch, mixed between bike & x-trainer.
I'm trying to imagine a life without carbs and failing, too, but whatever works for you is best for you, BI and it sounds like you've got your mojo back.
Birch: great to hear you sounding pretty positive about your training. Fingers crossed for you!
Easy running so far this week for me, as I've had a touch of man flu. Last night's 10 miles appears to have kicked that into touch, so will tackle club session (12 x 400m) tonight to get a bit of speed back in the legs ahead of next week's Bristol half (also starring MsE, who on current form will be breathing down my neck the whole way round!).
Glad to see you out there Leslie. My 7 year old is not so keen on running but my 9 year old always wants to join me so I take her if it is less than 6 miles. The 11 year old is more of a sprinter and the 5 year old looks like a decent runner but time will tell! I hope at least one of them will be with me in the future like the Lorenzitos!
Sounds promising Bike It! As I get older I have to move away from the carbs and am playing with the balance of carbs to protein. Keep us posted with how it goes.
Jools - hope to meet you in Bristol! Not sure of pace really. I am running naked these days to focus on form and not injuring myself. The time is secondary to that. I may be able to chase you if I am lucky!
Decent enough tempo today after 2 days off to recover from three speed session last week (stupid idea). 13.1 av 7:34m/m with 9@6:34-6:58m/m. Garmins can really mess around with you can't they? I assume the actual pace was somewhere in the middle as the effort was the same throughout.
Lorenzo, seems like a comprehensive look at VO2 max here: http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2009/12/fallacy-of-vo2max-and-vo2max.html
My (ineptly remembered, probably) recollection is that Noakes doesn't like it because it's an inconsistent test.
So probably a good snapshot and maybe something to influence training paces.
Alternately, would a serious gait analysis be interesting? In the US, there's an assessment program called 'runsafe'; I don't know if that's made it over to your side of the pond. (I'm doing it in October and will report back... it gets mixed reviews, so I'm cautiously optimistic.)