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Sub 3h15
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OO - good parkrunning and long run.
GD - nice unplanned 21 miler!
Jools - you're allowed a "slow" (for you!) 18 miler after that week!
Leslie - nice faster miles there.
Birch - I'd already added an extra mile or 2! Well done on getting another 17 miler bagged.
Poacher - hope the footballers make way for other guests today.
Jason - rather you than me.
Lorenzo - excellently paced racing - very encouraging for London. Handy local race for you too!
VTr - great way to end an excellent week of running.
Bike It - good vlr - bet you enjoyed that breakfast!
PMJ - never say never.
GM - sounds like a sensible decision.
9 slow miles to start my cut-back week.
Lorenzo - it was great to meet you too, sorry we couldn't chat for longer but almost as soon as we met up I was tapped on the shoulder by my brother in law (by marriage) who I hadn't seen since the same race last year so we got gassing. Excellent run there, great pace. And I agree a sub-3 is a do-able goal
. Which parkrun do you do out of interest? I've done a couple round your way when I've been visiting family (Banstead Woods and Nonsuch - the latter takes me back as I went to the school of the same name which is right next to the park).
Good LSRs PMJ, Jools (after a tough week), OO and GD. Not to mention BI's VLSR
I really like the Cranleigh 21 for all the reasons Lorenzo said, and would recommend to anyone. And although my time was somewhat slower than in the last few years (2.51), that was deliberate as apart from a couple of 7.45s towards the end I ran a very even paced race, with everything between 8.10 and 8.20. I felt really strong the whole way round, and I even managed to pick the pace up on the final hill. So all in all I would say job done.
All that said, I could feel my achilles during the run, and it is sore again today particularly the right. Like last week I am not too worried about it, but I think it will mean pretty much no speed work again and I am coming to the conclusion that something closer to 3.30 than 3.15 will be my goal for VLM, given the time left now. To be honest I am OK with that - I might actually look up and enjoy the sights for once rather than be in head-down-race-mode.
GM, what pace was your MP section in your run?
Glad to see Leslie is motoring on and is a shadow of his Xmas self.
Ramping up here too but low run miles still
Hi Folks, please can I introduce myself. I have GFA entry to London 16 and have enjoyed following your exploits on this thread. I find marathon training somewhat isolating although I am a member of Skipton ac so reading of your own experience has kept me out of the clouds since Xmas.
I have a Po10 listing if you are interested in my form but briefly I am targeting sub3h at London having missed in York 2013 (3.01) and Edinburgh 2015 (3.02). Happy with my training so far totalling 78m last week with speed and tempo in mix. 23m yesterday incl 10 at 8.07s then 10 at 6.49s. My 11 LR's since Xmas are 18,17,15,17,20,20,13,21,24,14,23. Some incl 9/10 MP blocks plus a 10k and two 95% HM races. My concern now is to not burn away a sub3 in over the top late training...
Now those entered for London have reached last 5 weeks of training, does anyone else have a lemming like urge to pack insane volume plus intensity into the last 2 weeks before taper? It is like the urge to gorge on Xmas dinner whilst knowing 1st Jan is time to start losing weight. You all seem experienced at sub3 campaigns so I wonder if anyone still plans really long hard blocks of HMP/MP running in their remaining Tempo or LR sessions?? Is it too late for instance for an 18 w 14 at MP??
Hi and welcome, Neil
opinions will vary, but 18 with 14 at MP should be fine with over a month left. I often used to race a half 3 weeks out - imo that leaves plenty of time to recover , for someone with your mileage and the number of long runs.
EG, prior to last year's VLM, the two weeks before taper were my highest volume of the campaign, inc , 4 weeks before the day, a 23 miler inc 4 x 1K, and 2 x 5K tempo segments. The race was my fastest mara for 5 years.
Good luck.
Glad you enjoyed Cranleigh Freemers. Sounds like you took a sensible approach on the day. Fingers crossed everything is OK for VLM.
I've got about 4 parkruns within easy striking distance - Nonsuch, Banstead, Woking and Guildford but Nonsuch is the one I've done most often (including on Saturday). I'll be down in Bristol over the Easter weekend so hoping to do either Little Stoke (nice and flat) or Ashton Court (not flat from what I've heard).
Welcome to NM3 - as Birch says, 18 with 14 at MP should be OK; sounds like you've had a good build up - how does your training this time around compare to previous campaigns? If you're based up near Skipton, you've got one of the most beautiful parts of the country to train in. 3:01/02 is mightily close to sub-3 - what do you think you need to different come race day this time?
PMJ (and NM3?) - sounds like a 2:59:59 bus might be in the process of being formed, although I've got no idea which start I'm going off this year. I'm sure all will become clear in the next couple of weeks.
I have been injured and not done enough training but think I can probably still manage a 2:59. I recommend letting forum superstar and official pacer PhilPub be the bus driver. He is going off the blue start.
NM3 - Welcome on board. I did 16 with 13 @ MP on Sunday but I am running Manchester which is 2 weeks before London, so I don't see why 18 with 14 would do you any harm. I had a gawk at your po10 profile and you've got some fast shorter distance times. Very close in your previous two attempts. Your training looks to have gone very well since xmas, I'm sure your experience will get you under the mark this time.
Lorenzo - Didn't take much persuading to get on the bus.
SJ - MP section was a disappointing 7:21mm on Sunday. Had hoped to be a bit quicker but realistically I can't really expect too much. Is your campaign back on??
Freemers - Good positive outlook and well done on the controlled 21. Much have been nice to finish strong? Not something I've ever managed to do in an endurance foot race!
Lit - Hey there. I was wondering if you would be doing London again. Sorry to hear about the injury but good to hear you are still up for another sub3 attempt. That will be impressive should you manage it off the limited training. I have no doubt you will. How long have you been out and what is the injury??
Hi Gerard, I twisted my ankle in a pothole while running in the dark in mid-November. I thought it was fine after a bit of rest, but then my foot started hurting (I think not a coincidence) and I had to take 5 weeks off. I was able to build back up really gradually throughout January and have managed about 5-6 weeks of 'proper' training. So I thought I'd just turn up and try and run sub 3 anyway. What could possibly go wrong?
Lit - That was unlucky and in my experience, ankle injuries are slow healers. I wrecked mine about 8 years ago but the bl00dy thing took about 6 months to heal. Snap! I've managed about the same but for totally different reasons. Ah sure you might as well and as you say, what could possibly go wrong!
Haha, all joking aside, you've got lots of experience and plenty of speed, plus others have done it off similar short build -ups. TR who used to be on here, is one that springs to mind. Well, I wish you good luck with the rest of the training and the big day itself.
Surrey Runner - P&D seems to work well for most and hopefully your training will yield a reward and you get your GFA. Like you, I have not done any racing in the build up but not out of choice, I would have liked to have put down a few makers in the shorter distances.
Gul - I see you are still going well. How many miles is a cut-back for you? Mine is about 20!
Has any of the Manchester crew received their numbers yet? I haven't.
BI, really nice VLSR. Glad to hear you are mended!
OO, well done getting the 20 in. Hope you hip feels better this week.
Leslie, that's impressive weight loss. Well done.
Well Birch, go slow then!
Poacher, was reading about how to pace Boston and it seems everyone says to pick whatever pace you'd normally do on a flat course and just stick to it in the first half. Then perhaps slow a bit on the hills. Then after Heartbreak, motor if you still can. I was kind of thinking I'd do 10-15s faster over the first downhill miles as my HR would be very low. But do you think this would shred the quads? I have a fair amount of hill in my running, but have not gone out of my way to do downhill sprints.
Well toughed out LR w/MP in there GM. I like the idea of a casual marathon under the conditions you describe.
Freemers, nice pacing in that race. Sorry to hear about the niggles as they seem to have stolen a fair bit of your training window.
Neil, welcome. I say go for it provided you don't pick up an overuse injury. Plenty of time to recover. Stuff the barn with hay while you still can!
I took yesterday off and got little sleep last night. Felt pretty drained today and was very tempted to bump my subLT session. But no way my conscience would allow it. So 13 with 10 in the middle averaging about 6:50 m/m ave pace. Surprisingly my legs and body felt very good, despite the LR and high miles last week. Not as much energy as last week's breakthrough session, but not too far off either. Quite comfy and then let loose on final mile up the hill. I'll take it (and don't have to live with any guilt now!). I don't think I've every managed to nearly peak right on the final week of a build before. Usually seems to happen too early. Will see what it all means in a month...
Welcome Neil - sounds like good training but it's the attention to detail + concentration and nerve on the big day that will get you across the sub3 line. Good luck.
Nice work Freemers and well executed.
VT - hard to say. I think it was Bill Rogers who said it took him several tries before he worked out how to pace Boston. Your plan sounds good - I don't think the early danger is in quad-shredding, but in going too fast and not leaving enough in the tank for later. As for motoring after Heartbreak, well the 5m or so to the finish ain't exactly flat. But don't listen to me, I have only done it once. I'm sure you will have a successful day. Which start wave are you in? The earlier the better IMO in case it's hot.
GM - not checked post lately but hadn't got a number by last Thurs.
Lit - nothing can go wrong, nothing at all. Ankles are a bit of a s*d aren't they.
Footballers gone home. Gym to myself. In fact off there now.
Freemers - good job done at Cranleigh.
Neil - welcome to the thread. Sounds like you're in a good place to go for sub 3.
Literatin - hi. Good to hear you're on target for a sub 3 too.
GM - probably mid to high forties for my cut-back week. P&D says 59, but I'm being cautious.
VTr - cracking 13 miler there. Looking on top form.
Poacher - nice early start. We're all waiting for #gymfail.
P&D said 9M with 6x600m @ 5k pace today - so it would have been rude not to! Didn't want to be tempted to push it so I didn't take any splits for the reps, but just over 7m/m for the intervals and recoveries (around 550m) combined.
Some great running, team. seems things are ramping up nicely.
Managed a 5 miler yesterday lunchtime, 7.09 pace. Would have been quicker but the final mile is all uphill.
Had a good gym session last night. Got annoyed with the tough guys doing boxing practice, one had the gloves, the other had the pads. Glove boy was prancing about, punching his mate's hand pads whilst simultaneously making loud shooshing noises and taking up valuable floor space so others couldn't do core work. I wouldn't mind but he was crap! Punching from the arms and not the shoulders to get his body weight behind (a mate knew Frank Bruno and we used to go to his training sessions, so I know how it's done!) This fella couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag.
Anyway, I managed to get a decent session in to prep the legs for a 10 miler tonight which will include some MP.
GD
NM3 - welcome looks like you are ready for sub 3 anyway, don't think lots of further training now would be too much benefit would it.
Lit - 2.59 off injury and no training!!! life is not fair.
G-Dawg - got to love some of the people you encounter at the gym...
Did a 8m yesterday at 7:30 average, then went to my first ever HIIT session last night. It was much harder than I expected, but great fun. Aching in places I had forgotten about this morning which made todays 12m a tough affair at a 7:45 average. 2 days work now before a 22 miler on Good Friday which I think will be my last long run before tapering for Brighton. Park run on Saturday and club run Sunday morning to round out the week.
Have a good week everyone.
I've not done it yet, Jason! Though you sound like you are going for sub 3 too judging by your training paces?
PMJ- 2:59 to 3:07 is a huge gap. Have you really made your mind up- maybe things will look different a 2-3 weeks?
Literatin- loving the confidence!
I've got a 10K showdown with junior OO this weekend. I think she could be on the podium at the North Tyneside 10k.
Welcome Neil. Nothing really to add except don't blow your sub-3 chance with an OTT training session in the last weeks
GM - My longest training run will be around 50km (32 miles). I have done a 60km training run previously for Comrades and it ruined me. 4 course breakfast - a plate of fried eggs, bowl of cornflakes, an orange then 2 slices of toast.
10 miles to work this morning with heavy rucksack. No running yesterday as I was too tired after spending 6 hours on the install of a gate motor which involved a lot of digging and concreting.
No, wouldn't get anywhere near 3.00, I will be delighted to get around 3.15 - 3.20. Its just that I really struggle to run any slower than 7.45 pace when training on my own. The long run on Friday is with a group so will be a bit slower which will be good for the legs.
Thanks for the comments and thoughts all and well done on all your great running.
Birch, sounds like you hammered it last time in the 2 weeks before taper. Is that when you ran 2.46? I am guessing time only from your login picture.
Lorenzo, thanks yes Skipton has some lovely countryside around. I live in a village just on edge of Yorkshire Dales so great for scenery and hills and offrd with dog. Hard to find flat ground for intervals though. Re your question, last two attempts I got all the detail wrong like food and water and resting up the day before plus a v.windy Edinburgh last 6m didn't feel fair last year. I am learning that marathon is really hard to get right. Also, I was too ambitious last year, I ran 6.36s to 20m then turned into a bag of potatoes. Bus sounds good, happy to be a passenger...
GerardM, thanks for vote of confidence and well done on your 16 with 13 at MP
Literatin, my sympathy on your ankle. Sounds like it is much better now but treat it gently still. I started road running about 4 years ago after many years of fell and hill running cos my ankle had weakened having rolled it so many times. I am impressed that you can contemplate sub3 on limited trng!
VTR, thanks I will keep stuffing the barn with hay. I am impressed that you have energy to run 13 with 10 at 6.50 at start of the week. Sounds like the stars may all align for you to peak just at the right time fingers crossed
Poacher, I love your comments. Attention to detail is spot on based on my v.limited experience. I also like "nerve on the day", for which I understand Toughen Up and take the pain and discomfort over the last few miles. Last year I got to 20m in ~2h13m then ran the last 6.2m in ~49 mins. Silly me.
Jason, well done on the HIIT sounds fun and well done nearly through to Brighton taper.
BikeIT, I have enjoyed reading about your Comrades build up. My mind has flickered a few time to after the London Mara to running a 69m route from Carlisle to Newcastle, test my stamina. It also makes me contemplate why no one runs a few overdistance LR's in marathon training. I guess risk of injury and time to recover diminishing subsequent training.
I managed a slow 6m on Barden Moor with dog yesterday morning and an even slower road 6m yesterday evening. Hoping to manage 8*800m at 10k pace tonight but feel lazy so need to have a stern chat with myself.
Has everyone bought new shoes to breakin for race day?
Good running all...
VTr - things coming together perfectly it seems . . . . .
BikeIt - excellent 10 with weighty payload . . . .
Neil - ha ha, no that pic is from my PB in 1991, when ADTLM finished on Westminster Bridge ! Last year I ran 3:18, but of course, 24 years later . . .
To reinforce Poacher's "nerve on the day" & concentration points ; the last 4 - 6 miles, when tiredness really sets in, is when concentration becomes key - pace can easily drift, not necessarily due to lack of miles/endurance (which from your training seems not to be the case), but simply from the tiredness affecting concentration. Don't yield to the "voices" - trust your training, keep your focus, and you'll get the job done .
9 for me today, with 5 x 1K tempo, so a satisfying 4 day block of 40 miles. Knee continues to improve - time to plan my year, maybe !
Birch, thanks. Will keep my mind on the job and positive. Mainly I want to say I bow to your PB whichever year it was achieved. 2h46m WOW!!!
I just rang VMLM entry team re an email I got last month saying so many GFA entries this year that some have been moved to a different start. I am on the GFA red start which they confirmed is 3h05 qualifying time. Balance of GFA entries must be on another start.
Does suggest that VMLM could tighten GFA qual times next year? I noticed Berlin GFA for a forties age male starts at V45 in 2h55min which is much tougher than London.
Apart from concentration and nerve over the last few miles, there's that stupid underpass not too far from the finish, really hateful, where there always seems to be someone puking their guts up. Very noisy in a confined space.
#gymfail: slim, reasonably fit looking guy, some years younger than me, walking on the neighbouring treadie at 2.5kph, effectively downhill at 0% gradient. Why oh why?
Poacher - do you just attract these kind of people? I never seem to have that luck on the rare occasions I'm in a gym.
Gul - I guess we must be on the same plan although I've had to postpone my intervals session until tomorrow morning as I had a early morning trip up to Glasgow. 4 miles easy along the Clyde with a work colleague - the hard work starts at about 6am tomorrow!
Nice gymfail Poacher!
Same as you Birch, I'm also 40 in 4 days. Will hit 60 to 65 by Friday. That's loads for me (standard for some of you).
10 miles tonight at 7.14 pace (MP). Felt very good, chatted with my mate for large parts of it. We both had tired legs as he did the Cranleigh 21 on Saturday. A satisfying effort.
GD
Howdy Partners! Quick drop in to see how everyone is shaping up for London (and other marathons
). Looks like some great training going on. I'll drop in over the next few weeks and enjoy the taper madness from a nice distance.
Great photo a few pages back Poacher. I'll be visiting that bay quite a bit over the coming summer but unfortunately for swimming rather than running. Its now almost 3 months since I last ran. I tired a very short and slow jog off road last week (like 10 minutes) and the shin felt fine (hurrah
) but the next day the pain was back and is still there 
. MRI tomorrow. On the plus side I'm now very much into swimming (but only as a last resort). By the end of the summer I might not be the slowest in the club. 
Do you have anything exciting planned for the big birthday GD?
Soon be taper time for you all
7 with 3x3mins last night. Feel the speed!!!!
Poacher - I hate that underpass, mainly because they put up "inspirational" quotes but by that time I'm just thinking where's the f***ing finish! Mind you, in 2013 when I ran a lot of the way with Minni we managed to put in something like a 7.10 mile at that point so we must have been inspired by something!
Excellent pace for your 10 miles GD. I'm going to do something around that distance today, but it will be a lot slower! Achilles felt OK on the treadmill yesterday at around 8m/m but don't want to push any quicker than that today.
GD - nice 5 and 10 milers. Nearest thing I've ever done to a gym session is a school PE lesson!
JT - HIIT sounds tough and I haven't even got a clue what it is! Nice running. All the best for your final pre-taper long run.
OO - all the best to you and OO jnr too.
Bike It - lots of strength work going on.
NM - yes, that's a lovely area to live in - not so easy to find somewhere for intervals though as you say! Hope GFA times are being tightened up!
Birch - sounds promising about the knee.
Poacher - perhaps he couldn't work out how to make it go faster?
Lorenzo - hope the intervals went ok. I'm only using P&D as a very rough guide.
Minni - nice to hear from you. Hope the MRI is positive and there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
SJ - sounds like you enjoyed that 3x3mins!
Freemers - hope the achilles is OK.
7 slow miles d&d.