Sub 3h15

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  • OO54OO54 ✭✭✭

    Good effort VTR- very good progress, sub 40 is sure to come and will give you a nice focus- try 4*1 mile reps in the build up, works for me.

    I managed 16 this morning for a 42 mile week. Felt good after the poor run y/day. Also treated myself to some XC spikes- my first ever pair can you believe. Might give it a go next w/end. 

    Minni we are lining up to help image....take care.  

  • GM - thanks. Just had a look. Birch was race number 79

    Look forward to hearing the reports.

    5 miles easy this morning to take me to 50 and a bit for the week. First time over 50 since the beginning of April - looking to increase the mileage a bit more for the next few months as well.

    BTW, I've just joined the queue behind OO - no pushing or queue jumping from those not in line yet! image

  • Hi folks, Thanks GM, I couldn't find the results on-line but now I've seen them on PO10. Just quickly reporting in to say, I got my C target - i.e. get round in one piece! But had a massive +ve split, 1:33 and 1:57 for 3:30:46 image Started fading after first half and went seriously downhill from about mile 17. But on the +ve side it was really great to meet Birch and some of his fellow Steel City Striders - it was a real pleasure. And of course, I still got a 2 hour 50 min PB!!!! It turned out a really sunny day, which didn't help, but can't blame that. I'll post a full report later.  

  • moofmoof ✭✭✭
    Phew, you made it Gul. Well done, Looking forward to the race report.
  • GerardMGerardM ✭✭✭

    Lorenzo - Thanks. My eye must of slipped when I skimmed over No.79 runner. Nice weekly mileage there.

    Fab day of running here. I took part in the Jsy marathon relay and was elected to do the 2nd leg, which is 6 miles up some steep hills. Not my speciality I might add but I surprised myself and ran well given my current condition. 39:33 for the 6 miles with 120m's of elevation and topped it up with a 6 mile run back to the car so a 30 mile week for me and that's nothing compared to folks on here but I'm very happy with that with a fair bit of quality running too. The men's race was won by some Non African who took 5 mins off the course record. The women's was won by an African in 2:47 I think so that record still stands. It was a beautiful sunny day with little or no wind and there were some fast times on what is not a particularly fast course.

  • GerardMGerardM ✭✭✭

    Gul - Well done and delighted you finished in one piece and in a respectable time. Look forward to the report.

  • GM - well done on the relay  - that's a very decent time for steep hills; showing some good form.
    I don't know how people do such detailed race reports - I can't remember that much at the moment, so it might be quite a short report!

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    Gul - just make it up!  Well done.  My running partner had to pull out yesterday as he became ill.  You nailed it - well done.

    GM - sounds like a great day out. 

    TR wrote (see).

    SJ - doggy paddle with a pull buoy, so no kicking and it makes you pull with two vertical forearms, I swim with a horizontal forearm on one side. breat every 3 strokes to keep it balance. I reckon I'd be 75min + in an IM at the mo. you'd be ahead of me.


    I've been doing a bit with a pull buoy too and I like how easy it is!  I figure this will be one of the first forms of exercise I'll be able to do after surgery.  

    When swimming I breathe on the same side as I find I can relax more whereas if I am bilateral breathing sometimes I forget and this gets me into trouble.   But, what happens if the water is choppy on an OW swim making it difficult to breathe on the side you're used to?  Or does this not really happen? 

    I'm so terrified of drowning I don't know if I'll ever get brave enough to do OW but I've now decided I want to do an IM!  Can you conceal little floats in a wetsuit? image

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Gul - congrats on a massive PB and good to lay a number of demons to rest. Sounds as though the second half of the race was pretty tough. Look forward to the report.

    Birch - ditto for the report from you.

  • Well done Gul. That's a big improvement and a platform for further improvement which you are obviously capable of. image

    Minni, a wetsuit is a full body float so you'll be fine. As for breathing during OW swimming - I've never had a problem swimming in lakes and rivers breathing on one side. I guess the sea would be more of a problem with actual waves but the salt water puts me off anyway so I'd choose my event accordingly. If you do Outlaw as your first IM then there are no waves or currents to worry about. Idealimage 

    1500 hard effort in the pool today followed by a long walk in the woods.

  • SlokeyJoe wrote (see)

     If you do Outlaw as your first IM then there are no waves or currents to worry about. Idealimage 

    Just the blue green algae and the goose poo!

     

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Can I get an IM tattoo after Outlaw?? Is the water there not manky?
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Gul -oh poo.



    Minni - I only breath one sided in races and havnt drowned yet. Look at a lot of the info on swimsmooth, the videos etc..........and no IM twattoo"s !!!!!!
  • You can get an Outlaw tattoo if you like.....

    Personally, I'm satisfied with a tshirt and a hoody image

  • The water at Outlaw is fine. Trust me, that is the least of your worries on an IM race day.

  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭

    Can I get a 5k tat after a 32 minute park run? 

  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭

    Seriously though:

    Fishy - nice work

    Gil-galad: knew you would post a massive PB, and you delivered big time. Bit of work on the splits but there's loads more to come and it puts any previous injury-affected mara to bed. You've persevered for so long for this, WELL DONE very pleased for you

    VT - hmm, remember that the opposite is not always true!  It's a tool for asking questions and thinking outside the box.

    My current thinking has been: I can knock out 3 decent maras in 5 weeks without really training.  However it turns out the opposite is true image

    Minni - looking forward to Sunday, mine's a pint.

  • So the promised report:

    After driving up to Lincolnshire on Saturday, I stayed with the rest of the family about 5 miles along the coast from Mablethorpe, right on the edge of a nature reserve. Really beautiful setting and very relaxing evening. Got up this morning at the disgracefully late time of 6:15 to make some porridge so it was well digested before the marathon!

    Then we drove down into Mablethorpe and got to the start area for about 8:55. Just time for a quick warm-up along the prom. Then spotted no 79 and introduced myself to Birch. Top bloke. Deliberately hung back a bit from the start line hoping it might help me keep a lid on the pace. We set off and headed up and down a few streets before heading out of Mablethorpe - the promenade wasn't used till the near the end of each 13.1 mile lap.

    I felt very relaxed and comfortable. After a couple of minutes I caught up with Birch and remarked to him that it seemed like a really steady start. So I was surprised to see the first mile marker pop up at 6:41. Not as silly as last time, so just tried to ease up a bit. By the time we headed out into the wilds of Lincolnshire, the second mile was done in 7:06 which was much nearer my target. I had decided to use Lorenzo's 7:20 = 22 mins per 3 miles, which is about 3: 12 pace. I couldn't believe how easy it felt - obviously not used to this tapering malarkey! Mile 3 = 7:02.

    I felt like I was out in the Fens; very similar. So nice and flat; just had to keep an eye out for potholes and a bit of adverse camber. The support along the roads in Mablethorpe was good; friendly peeps these Northerners. But out in the sticks it was a bit sparse, although we did pass through a few villages.

    By now I had settled into a nice rhythm and although it was a bit faster than planned, I just went with the flow as it still felt very comfortable. Mile 5 in 7:02; mile 6 in 6:53; mile 7 in 7:19 (maybe a misplaced marker for 6?); mile 8 in 7:13; mile 9 in 7:14; mile 10 in 7:11; mile 11 in 6:38 (definitely not in the right spot); mile 12 in 7:20.

    Somewhere around this point we went up a slope onto the promenade and I had the first warning something was about to go wrong; just that quick rise up a slope really knocked me back a bit, but rather than ease up I dug in a bit and carried on down the prom. My family were enjoying the sunshine near the end of the promenade - it was really a gorgeous day - but not ideal for the runners! Could it really be October?

    We came down the slope at the far end of the prom - mile 13 in 7:16; so far clocking up 1:32:18, so somewhere around 1:33 for the first half.

    There was a half marathon which started at the same time, so the runners thinned out quite a bit at this point. I didn't feel I had slowed down, but mile 14 popped up at 8:08. I was loosing a bit of consistency now. Mile 15 in 7:27, so felt a bit re-assured. But then mile 16 in 8:15. I felt quite hot by now and I was devastated to see the time creeping up and up to 8:58 for the next mile (17). I was a bit isolated at this point, so didn't feel too embarrassed shouting out, "Back off central governor, I'm in charge here!" But it didn't do much good.

    Part way through the next mile there was a drinks station, and I decided I needed to try and do something about the way things were going. So I stopped and had a drink and some jelly babies. I am rubbish at drinking and running and figured it was worth a quick stop. I set off again and had a quick prayer as I passed a Church!

    9:48 for mile 18, which included about a 1 minute stop. By now I wasn't quite so lonely as I was passed by quite a few people with a better pacing policy! 9:11 for mile 19, so that obviously didn't work! It was getting really tough by now, and had to work hard to keep moving. 9:13 for mile 20 and then managed to pick it up a little

  • Fish52Fish52 ✭✭✭

    Gul - Top running. That truly is a massive PB. 

    VTR - Good 10k progress - soon be sub 40

    TAR - Old and infirm - that's one way to describe me I suppose

    Leslie - Looks like I need to find 15 minutes to be properly competitive then. image

    Gerard - That relay sounds great. Nice bit of variety for your training.

    7.5 steady miles this morning. Legs ok

  • Fish52Fish52 ✭✭✭

    Gul - Cross post. Can't wait for the next bit

  • Arrrgggghhhh!!!!! Where's the rest of it gone?! Phew it's still on the clipboard.

  • 9:13 for mile 20 and then managed to pick it up a little bit - 8:38 for no 21 and 8:39 for 22. We came to the slope again, but the marshalls directed us away to the right just before we reached it and took us around a housing estate. It was really demoralising heading off in completely the right direction, but there were a few of us struggling together and the encouragement we gave each other really helped.

    On the home stretch now and thought there was a chance of getting sub 3:30. Mile 23 was slower again, 9:11. I maybe paid for those 2 8:XX miles and had one or two short walk-breaks. Next mile (24) in 9:45 image Sub 3:30 was slowly disappearing out of sight. Walked up the slope to complete mile 25 in 10:03!!!

    I pulled myself together to try and make a half decent finish and ran along the prom for the final mile. My younger daughter ran alongside me for a couple of hundred metres which helped and nice to see Mrs GD (still enjoying that sunshine!) 8:42 for mile 26. Back now to the college where we started and to the finish in 2:23 making 3:30:47 by my watch.

    Not a great time, but there's always another day and really pleased to still be able to walk even though the legs were rather sore.

    Great to see Birch finishing and have a chat with him again. Really made the day. By the time I got home around 5pm, the legs had loosened up bit and don't feel too bad. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Then time to decide on the next target!

  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭

    Biggest pb ever, Gul.  I know it wasn't the time you wanted but to finish took a lot of mental strength today.

    Looking forward to hearing from Birch.

  • Gul- sorry you didn't get what quite you wanted but 3:30 is still a very decent time image, my pb is 3:27 so close to yours now image Great report and I'm sure you will learn from this one as they are all experience to build on . If anything you really need to hold back like a metronome at the start no matter how slow and easy it feels but we have all done it image  With your training  sub 315 is definitely only a matter of time image

    Birch- how did you get on ?

    9.5 mile started of easy to near max at the end progression today was fun but resulted in my knee feeling knacked again image

  • GerardMGerardM ✭✭✭

    Gul - That's a lovely report of how your comeback marathon went and even though you and I and everyone else on here knows you will run a much faster one in the near future, you somehow managed to put a very positive light on it and that's just brilliant. Must have been great to meet up with Birch and run with your daughter at the end and sounds like Mrs GD had a nice day out too! It's not always about the finishing time at the end of the day and you certainly proved that today.image Rest up now and recover well.

  • Great report Gul - you've got to take heart from the way you battled through at the end to get a top 50 finish.

    It'll definitely stand you in good stead for the next one and don't forget that it's not too late to enter next year's Comrades! image

  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭

    Good work Gul.  You're a great example of perseverance and keep going.   That's quite an improvement in the PB you've made. Probably you've learnt a lot for the next outing.  It sounds very similar to my first marathon - first 5miles too fast and paid the price from 17miles too.  Hope you recover well and take time to think about the next one.

  • Leslie  - sorry to hear the knee is bad again.
    Lorenzo - you can't train for Comrades in King's Lynn!image
    Thanks for the comments, guys. Hamstring DOMS this morning but nothing too bad. With one eye on VLM 2016, I am considering whether to try for a GFA which would mean running the next one in the spring. Mrs GD enjoyed the weekend away too and even mentioned about getting a GPS watch to help with the pacing!

  • How far did you run this morning Gul?

  • Oh gawd help us, Minni.  If you get one of those silly tattoos of a company's logo, then..... well, something or other, that's for sure.

    I had adopted the same approach for Abingdon, Fishy.  Until it transpired I'm even more infirm that I feared.

    That marathon was a long time coming, Gul.  So it's understandable that you'd be a little over-eager in the early miles.  With a steadier start, you'd have been much closer to 3:15.  How much closer, do you think?  I'm with Mrs Gul on the watch suggestion, by the way.

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