Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
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
Good half there OO, impressive a week after London.
BB, mad as ever, but impressive all the same. Do you have a big target for this year?
Got to the track at lunchtime: the need for speed calls. Did 5x1000m with 200m jog recovery. As it was my first track session for a long time decided that 4 minutes per km was fine as that is what I did at parkrun on Saturday (20.00 on the nose). My, isn't a solo track session way harder than a parkrun! Even with the jog recoveries it felt like a hard session and that is 96 seconds per lap. Need to get that down to 90 and then under 90 by some way.
Poacher - good advice. I think I'll see how I feel after the first 30 miler (planned for a week on Saturday) and then make a call as to how many more I do.
We're flying to Krakow but then picking up a car and driving over the border into Slovakia (a place called Zdiar) for a few days before heading back to Krakow (including the parkrun there!) - very much looking forward to it.
11 miles worth of commuting runs for me today - good practice for running with a backpack.
Great marathon Badbark - I loved your report - the benefit of experience is good pacing. Your picture shows that big miles equals big smiles. There is certainly a lot of quality in that 107mi week as well. Although I have boosted my mileage recently into the 80-90mi per week mark it is all easy paced by comparison. My body has progressively adapted to the volume so it has become more normal. Now I'm trying to add a bit of quality and consequently I am suffering.
Very good half OO - and great position too.
Coincidentally I ran the same session and paces as PMJ yesterday, although my recovery was 3 minutes. This week the mileage will drop a bit and the quality will increase. I spent the night with cramps so need to take a rest day today.
SlokeyJoe - currently in Levens, near Kendal (but we're in the process of moving back to Scotland)
Apologies for the lack of posting since Friday and flying visit now, but I'm still away from home and no internet until just now ( back at work
) A much bigger surpise(s) than I first suspected! Anyway, great race on Sunday. 1 min PB of 39:30 and 9th MV50 - perk of being a FOGIT! Report might be a few days coming though.
great FoGit debut - 1 min is a big PB over 10K, Gul - well done
nice HM also, OO
not much to report here - last week's "benchmark" parkrun after week on week of easy/steady running seems to have triggered calf issues, which caused me to abandon Monday's run and I'm now sporting compression bandage !
Excellent run Gul. I am afraid, really afraid.
No, really really afraid.
Lorenzo - lovely part of the world. Alpine, but without really massive mountains. Looks good for trail running. Go to the salt mine outside Krakow. I'm assuming that you already like pickled cabbage
.
Careful now Birch. Just driven over Woodhead pass and it seems the sun has arrived in Yorks! Hurrah.
Wow Badbark - that is a fabulous result at Belfast, and mega mileage over a couple of days!
Started new job yesterday, and joined a gym right opposite the office. Expensive (this is Canary Wharf after all) but it is absolutely huge and very well equipped (about 30 treadmills I think). It even has the tallest climbing wall in Europe - never given that a go but I could be tempted!
Gul - Wohooo! I'm delighted you finally got a decent return on investment. Well deserved after all the great training and a fab b-day w/end by the sound of it. .
It's quite warm over her today and it's supposed to get well up in the 20's in a few days so decided to do my 1st barefoot run along the beach opposite my office today. Lovely 7k along the shoreline, I've had the lurgy the past few days so that was just what the doctor ordered.
Nice 10k there Gul, but not well planned to now be in no-mans land: 39:30 is well under 40, but a way to go to get down to 39. Speak to Jools and learn how to get a 39:59, then 39:58
Superb running, Badbark. Brilliant work after an 'interesting' couple of months. You must be so pleased!
I've still not run since London as I'm trying to rest long enough to fix the hamstring issue I've had all year in time for the Berlin campaign start next month. Itching to do something, I went for a 28 mile bike ride on Sunday, Loved it! Nice to be back in the saddle and averaged 17.5 mph which isn't bad for the first ride of the year.
On the down side I came back with man-flu and a pulled calf muscle. Happy to report the calf is now OK and the cold has almost gone. Won't run until next Monday but I can feel improvement in the hammy department.
GD
Rodeo - we are neighbours. I'm in grange and ride through levens several times a week either turn left to go through brigsteer around to lyth valley road or turn right to do a loop round silverdale
I'll keep an eye out for you!
Gul, yes!!!!!!!!!!!!
So happy for you. You seem to build so well then suffer bad luck before the races so really happy to see this one work out so well for you. I broke sub 40 last fall for the first time and it was a sweet so know how you must feel. Now let's keep wheels on the bus for that marathon!
OO, not sure how you or some of the others managed to race so soon after but I'm really impressed with that result. Congrats!
Badbark, what is there to say? You are mind boggling. You must have the regenerative powers of the wolverine. Seriously, I just threw some striders back into a run in my 3rd week post marathon and my Achilles was a little sore today! I am jealous how much you can seemingly push w/out breaking. Happy for you and may the success continue!
Legs feeling pretty good this week. Have some decent runs in and energy doing well and HR staying nice and low. Don't think the Achilles thing is really a thing but it has reminded me to be careful so soon after the race.
Had to pop in to say huge congrats to Gul on the PB! OO on the super fast HM. And superb marathon time, BB. Lots of awesomeness all round.
VTr - I too am a little jealous of BB's teflon coating. Perhaps he could video record his gait and we could analyse?
Great stuff Gul - fully deserved!!!! Greatness in the White Peak Marathon thread smackdown beckons.
9 and a bit hilly miles for me this morning - lovely running conditions.
Great FOGIT running there. Sub 40, a PB and top 10. Superb!
I'm just down the A6 from you in Bolton le Sands. Beautiful running around Levens though - do you use the park and scars for your training?
And the superb thread results just keep on coming! Big congratulations to BB, OO and Gul, especially the latter for finally nailing a long-held target. Great stuff.
Doing a bit here, and felt so left out of the spring mara madness I accidentally signed up for the Brighton mara next April. Woops!
BB - well done on another inspirational performance and great report as well!
OO - Great HM race so soon after London - I haven't even been for a run yet! Though I am itching to get out the door again, so hope to sneak in a very slow parkrun on Saturday
Lorenzo - very jealous that you're doing the Wall as I would also like to do this one year. Though having never run further than 26.2M, I would also be terrified!
Thanks for all the congratulations and good to hear people are thinking about where to go next. Has anyone done 80-100 mpw without doubles?
Jools - glad to hear you're on the mend.
Bike It - good stats and looking very promising.
OO - congrats on the cracking time in Keswick.
Badbark - congrats on going sub 3 in Belfast - I bet that was sweet! Great pacing.
PMJ - you will smash sub 6. Nice return to track work. I'll just have to continue to knock 1 min off each time.
Lorenzo - enjoy Poland and Slovakia!
Birch - take care now! Officially I wasn't a FOGIT till Tuesday, but looks like the results must have based age on month only?
Poacher - you're afraid? I'm petrified.
Freemers - was the gym a major factor in deciding on the new job?!!
GM - sounds tough out there
GD - rest up and get well soon.
VTr - recovering well. The final few weeks lead up to the marathon has not been ideal - a couple of times I've taken 2 or 3 days off; then a mini-taper for the 10k; this week will be very light as it's a surprise holiday from my wife. A bit worried that I won't have done a proper long run for several weeks on end - still better than over-training!
SJ - yes and we all know how over optimistic the calculators are when it comes to marathons! Don't be greedy is my motto for this one, I think.
LB70 - White Peak is 2 weeks on Saturday!
My wife had arranged a whole weekend of surprise for my 50th. We stayed in a 9 bedroom 17th century farmhouse with 21st century indoor pool, sauna and hot-tub. Close family were waiting there when we arrived and nearly gave me a heart attack. They stayed for the weekend along with a close French friend of mine and his wife who fly in and surprised me too! More family turned up for a celebration on Sunday afternoon. Just when I thought I was safe to relax, more friends joined us on Monday. We're staying till Friday morning, so going home from work to the hot-tub in the evening is really tough. Mrs GD started planning this week last May! She is a real gem.
Managed to sneak out for a 12 mile run this morning up through Marham village and back. I will try and post a race report very soon!
"Mrs GD started planning this week last May! She is a real gem "
You're clearly worth it, Gul
!
GEAR 10k road race Sunday 1st May
Report - Part I
The timing of the race didn't seem ideal. 21 days before White Peak would normally make it the first day of the taper! So my plan was to do a bit of a lighter week with a sprinkling of 10k pace work and then do my final long run early in the following week (this got rather scuppered but in a very enjoyable way!) I wasn't expecting great things, but was definitely going for it without holding anything back.
Two weeks ago, I stopped drinking any caffeine (except one cup acccidentally!) and then drunk plenty on Saturday and Sunday morning. No idea if this helped or not but the only adverse reaction was 24 hours worth of muslce pain a few days after withdrawal. Going back onto the caffeine and racing was fine, so might repeat this for the marathon. It was to be my first race with a GPS watch, which I was hopeful would also be a bonus when it came to pacing.
On the negative side, it was a bit stressful driving into town and finding somewhere to park. The roads and car-parks were heaving. Normally, I have a leisurely morning at home and jog down to the start (1 mile from my house) ready to complete my warm-up. Then my GPS watch wouldn't pick up a signal. Fortunately by the time I got to the starting area, it had finally sorted itself out.
Met up with a couple of friends, one at the back of the sub 40 pen with me and one near the front. Unlike last year, the weather was almost perfect. I was feeling good and still on a bit of a high from all the excitement of the birthday surprises - adrenaline levels sky-high no doubt! We started a few minutes late, but didn't really matter as we weren't soaking wet and freezing this time!
I ran the first km with the friend who was gunning for sub 42 which would be a PB. The great thing was that I didn't have to wait to finish it before I knew what kind of pace we were doing. 3:55 would do nicely. My friend said it was too fast for him and dropped off the pace a bit. He told me to try and hold on to our other friend who has done around 38:xx in the last couple of years, but was still recovering from a virus which made him collapse and hospitalised him a few weeks ago!
I have run this 10k about 5 times before (the only 10k I have raced actually!) and being just up the road from my house, run lots of it regularly, so there would be no surprises this morning on that count! It's well supported and every now and again someone shouts out to me. Another advantage of a local race in a moderately sized town.
I glance at my watch every now and again and adjust my pace accordingly as I occasionally, but not too frequently, let the pace slip a fraction. I switched auto-lap off and decide to take splits where I think the km markers should be rather than the official markers which tend to be on a convenient tree or lamp-post in the rough vicinity. My GPS watch didn't agree with either me or the course markers!
We head out of town along the river up the huge 2 metre ascent onto the cyclepath on the bank. The wind is a bit of a hindrance but nothing to worry about. By the time we head back into town through the old south gates archway, we have just passed halfway. I seem to remember the official LED display at the 5km point was reading 20:01, which obviously would be gun time.
First 5 splits I took (and the GPS measured distances were):
3:55 (0.99km)
3:57 (1.04km)
4:05 (1.02km)
3:48 (0.93km)
3:58 (1.01km)
---------------------
19:45 4.99km
Steady as she goes!
GEAR 10k road race Sunday 1st May
Report - Part II
The course then heads into the park where the local parkrun is held and I hear some cheering and then spot my family. I called out in French in honour of my visiting friends - gutted to learn later than they didn't hear me! After a lap of the park, I have had time to think of something else to call out in French on passing them again. Still they didn't hear me
And my other mate got his sub 42. Everyone was made up.
By now there is just under 3km to go and I am finally starting to realise that sub 40 is within my grasp. We now run the start of the course in reverse. The start and finish is in the main market place on the west side and we pass through it again on the east side just under 2km from the start/finish. So as I come back onto the market place, I hear the announcer commentating on the top ten finishers! Nice timing. Just 7 mins to go.
The only bad point of the race was near the start of the final km, as I pass a runner down on the ground. He is in the recovery position and 2 marshalls are with him. Looking at the photos and the results I think it was a guy who I have seen at parkrun. No mention of this in the local press reports, so I am hoping it was not too serious.
Now heading into the final stretch and I am as happy as Larry. I am starting to celebrate as I come onto the market place and the time is reading 39:3x!!! I think I was shouting, laughing, crying and pumping my arms up and down as I came to to the finish line. If you want a good laugh have a look at the video on the race website (grandeastangliarun.co.uk) That moment was worth waiting for. It was a few days short of 10 years!
Later on in the week when I finally got to check the results, I was only 12 seconds or so behind the sub 39 friend. I now have a new target
Second half splits:-
3:55 (0.98km)
3:59 (1.00km)
3:55 (0.96km)
4:03 (0.98km)
3:51 (0.98km)
---------------------
19:46 (4.96km)
Oh, I forgot to say, although mentioned it yesterday, official chip time was 39:30 and I finished 103rd (close!) and 9th MV50 (even though I was 49!)
Lovely stuff Gul. You have worked so hard to get yourself to this level of fitness, that if you even vaguely fancy another go at VLM in 2017 or 18 it would be crazy not to go for 3.19.59 at WP. 7.30mm would be GFA pace, that should feel as comfy as a favourite pair of slippers after that 10k.*
(*when a chap become a VOGIT50, his thoughts often turn to carpet slippers)
Definitely worth a shot. I feel that on a flat course and in suitable weather conditions (assuming training and racing went more or less to plan), I should be capable of around 3:10. Now where are my slippers?
Found this photo on-line:-
Brilliant, running, report and photo Gul! Well done Sir! Enjoy.
Thanks BB.
When I was on the 'back' leg of my out and back run this morning, at around 5:45am, a car stopped and the driver asked me where the Village Hall was. I hadn't noticed it on the way through so couldn't help unfortunately. It seemed rather odd to me and then I realised sometime later that it was probably someone on their way to staff a polling station! I then suddenly remembered that I was the key-holder for our local polling station!!! Fortunately, my wife had it all in hand. Phew.
Lunchtime turned out to be 4*800m and not 6*800m. After Monday and 96 seconds per lap, I should have paced these at about 93 per lap but the attraction of 90 seconds per lap turned out to be too much to resist and after 4 (3:00, 2:58, 2:58 and 3:01) then I knew the 5th would be slow so pulled the session.