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
Jools - good to hear from you again. All the best with the come back.
GD - that's an awesome session. I don't think I could hit those faster paces even with a longer recovery.
Birch - No racing on the horizon unfortunately. In fact there'll be no running for a few weeks come the end of March as we're off to Ghana for 2 weeks before our silver wedding trip to the Lake District.
Nick - good running. Enjoy the long run.
Andy - shame you won't even be able to enjoy the scenery. Good luck!
11 slow miles this morning.
P.S. Forgot to say I bagged a pair of running shoes from Lidl for £14.99. They don't usually last as long as more expensive branded pairs (I end up with holes in the uppers and the sole breaking up but generally get at least 500 miles out of them) but great value if you're not prone to injury.
Well done on getting the 20 in G-D - the last 4 sound like they were fun!
Good early miles Gul and nice bargain from Lidl.
Hope Gerard is off the bench and welcome back Jools.
10K Park Run today. The Black Park course is almost wholly through woods- so great shelter from the wind and an ideal course for today's conditions. There was no escaping the snow but little had settled on the ground by the time of the race. 5K w/u and then a solo 5K in 20:35, swiftly followed by the official 5K in 19:51 and then a 5K warm down. Given the conditions, pretty fast for me and just happy to get round in under 20 minutes.
Fingers crossed for the races scheduled for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to my long run! Only 17 miles scheduled but I may make it 20 given the conditions!
14 with daughter this morn - very cold, but enjoyable - surprisingly, legs ok after 13 on Thurs and a 4 mile easy yesterday. Snow flurries, but none on the ground.
~
on that subject, loved this weather update on the English Schools XC Champs website -
"The weather forecast is brrr... with strong cold winds bringing maybe about 20mm of snow...perhaps...no more. This is normal cross country weather in England and the Championships will go ahead as planned. This is your chance to decry the increasing perception that kids nowadays are 'snowflakes'! Turn up. Run. Get cold. Get muddy. Enjoy getting warm again! This is proper cross country weather . . . . .
GD – Great 20 miler bagged in tough conditions
SBD – Well done on the nippy 5k’s!
Birch – Glad to read you had an enjoyable 14 miler with your daughter.
Good luck to all the weekend racers!
Today I ran my toughest ever road marathon. Well it was supposed to be a road marathon along a coastal path but we had to go cross county at times, due to 10 foot waves crashing over the path!
I had tummy trouble from about 8 miles in and spend about 10 minutes on the loo at one point. The course was out and back 6 times with winds over 50 mph. It was absolutely brutal. There were times we couldn’t avoid the waves and got soaked through and nearly knocked over with the water force! We also had to run through inch deep puddles freezing our feet. Real feel temperature was -4.
I couldn’t run faster than 11 m/m at some points working hard. It was actually a 6 hour race with the option of stopping after 26.2 miles. With my Belfast to Dublin ultra in 13 days I planned running 26.2 in about 3:30 but must have taken about 3:50 including the toilet break. I ran for 3:42 but stopped the watch in the loo. I was never more pleased to finish a marathon. We got a nice medal and can of guinness for our efforts. That's my 62nd marathon or ultra completed and certainly one I won't forget!
I look forward to reading the results as anyone running for 6 hours deserves massive respect.
Took a wrong turn on my planned 17 miler so it ended up being 19.7 with the last 11.7 at MP. Wasn't as cold as I expected and was sheltered from the wind for most of it. Need to work on pacing a bit but happy with the effort!
Badbark that sounds brutal, congratulations on getting that done .I'd say anything under 4 is impressive in those conditions, enjoy the Guinness!
DT - looks like droitwich half is on tomorrow so good luck!
Arghhhhhhhh! I only f $#king entered an hour ago. Out for a solo 20 it is then! On a us point the cancellation may well have saved me from myself in that I was bound to get caught up in local rivalry, run it too hard and impact my target half next weekend......if it happens.
Birch - love that weather forecast. Being a frequent mountain visitor it always annoys me how just a little snow makes half the population give up on their plans.
Badbark - that sounds horrific but what an amazing experience to make it to the end. Enjoy the Guinness!
Weston "Super"Mare half cancelled as well tomorrow, despite weather here not being too bad.
Had a goodish 20miler this morning; ran 2 miles to the station, jumped on the train to Bath and ran back to Bristol along the canals and the old railway path - not too windy; few snowflakes in the air. 20.5 @ 7:50 / mile plus the 2 warmup to get to the station. Brings it to 50ish for the week with maybe a 10k recovery tomorrow.
3 20s to go then taper time!
Sounds like a bit of a challenge AndyLid, congrats on getting out there and getting a new PB for the race.
Well done on the time improvement AndyLid - conditions sound interesting!
Commiserations to everyone else that had hoped to race today. Clearly, Grindelford was the place to be!
Good long runs from Nicko and StevieWh.
That sounds pretty brutal Badbark - hopefully the Guinness provided some comfort.
An interesting quote Birch - you have to feel sorry for the Race Director's of events like Reading!
A couple of centimetres of snow first thing but conditions on the roads and tracks were not too bad by mid-morning so the Yaktrax stayed in the box. A biting wind, so gloves (one pair) and hat needed but still a shorts day. A progressive 20 miles at an average 7:34, bringing me up to 79.9 miles for the week but I'm not tempted by the jog down the road.
Only 4 weeks to Brighton and I'm sure the race day conditions will be a little different to today!
AndyLid - great going. Sounds a tough one but probably good fun.
Jools - good to have you back on here. Presume that you're still planning to toe the line at London?
G-Dawg - well done for getting out for the 20 miler yesterday. It's one thing having the snow on the ground; another when it's falling and windy at the same time.
Badbark - as you say, brutal. At least you've got it out of the way and hopefully things will be better in the big one.
Birch - younger Lorenzito was up in Leeds for English Schools and can testify to that description. Cold and muddy, but having finished in the top 50 he had a big smile on his faces while he was warming up in the coach on the way back down.
SBD - impressive running this morning on the back of another big week. What sort of pace were you finishing the run at?
Inaugural Mole Valley parkrun for me yesterday after the previous week's test event - I'm sure when they were planning the date of the first run they were assuming mid-March would be bright Spring sunshine with a freshness in the air, rather than the snowstorm, but 350 turned up including 50 from our club so a great start to what I'm sure will be a fantastic event. I can proudly say that I am currently the V50 course record holder, but suspect that I won't be holding onto that accolade for much longer.
19.3 miles in the snow and mud this morning, heading out to Leith Hill along the Greensand Way this morning on one of my top routes - hilly and pretty challenging in places but enjoyable for the most part, except when my hands got cold despite 2 pairs of gloves and the snow turned to cold, muddy slush for the last few miles.
Just over 50 for the week, so that's not too bad.
Jools - sounds like a sensible decision to me.
Snowing here again so might be a rather cold commuting run tomorrow.
some good long runs bagged despite the conditions, and great 80 mile ( we'll not split hairs) week, SBD
well done on the series win, Gerard - I take it your recent niggle not bothersome ?
day off here - bit of a sofa day watching footy - 44 for the week in a rather unbalanced fashion of 17 over 3 runs & 27 over the other 2 . . .
Welcome back Jools- shame we won't see you in London though.
Sounds brutal BB, you did well to stick in there.
Well done Gerard great racing, well earned series win.
I've had a quiet week, only 40 miles. Parkrun was brutal yesterday with icy gale force winds so not unhappy with 20:40. Then today was more of the same- gave up after 17 @ 8:45 pace. Hoping next week will be better. Three weeks until Paris.
Gul I've never risked cheap trainers like that- will be interested to hear ow you find them.
Ok, just read back! Been every eventful on here recently. I like eventful!
Sorry
if I have missed out anyone.
G-Dawg – You are in fine form but do be careful not to overdo it. Maybe I should listen to my own advice!
Well done on getting your 20 done in adverse conditions.
Sorry to hear about the weather affected racers. It’s been a bad winter this year but chnaces are it will be scorchio come London, I hope not, for everyone’s sake.
Jools – It’s good to have you back. I hope you can put the injuries to bed and get an Autumn marathon in.
Gul – What’s going down in Ghana?
SBD – That’s a very good work out with a good parkrun and excellent long run as well. It’s coming together very nicely.
Birch – That’s a classic quote! Re my troublesome knee, it’s not 100% but a few days rest meant I could run and it felt ok today but a bit stiff when I decided to run a 20 min 5k this afternoon after that trail race. I was pining for a road run.
Crazy huh? Thank you
too.
Badbark – Kudos! That sounded horrible.
DT – Very frustrating! A few friends flew to the UK this weekend to race only for the events to be cancelled. Expensive and not happy days at all.
Andy – That’s impressive! Well done.
Stevie – Glad I’m not the only one who took a detour.
11.7 at
MP is very good. Well run.
Lorenzo – Well done to Junior. He’s very good! And, well done to you also, that’s a good long run banked in the awful weather. 50 is a good weekly total too. Thank you. No trophy per se but a medal with No.1 on it! Lol.
OO – Thanks. Parkrun sounded grim. Well toughed out for your 17. Roll on spring!
Birch, tgats a great quote. I did wonder a few times this weekend, would xc cancel for this!
Lorenzo,cwell done to junior and also being the current local parkrun v50 supremo.
SBD, good work on the 4 x 5k and the 80 mile week.
Well done everyone else getting long runs in, in the conditions.
Andy, well done on your race improvement.
We had much more snow last night than forecast. I went out and did 16 this morning. Bitterly cold when running into wind, still shorts weather though. Disappinted not to bag a 20 but 16 was enough for me. Thats 56 for the week plus 2 x spin and 2 x bodypump so still a big training week for me. I'll have a very restful week this as I need one anywAy plus I want to have a good crack at Liverpool My last 4 races have been cancelled so I have some pent up race aggression!
A few hours later we were all enthused and decided a run in the snow was the way to go... Why? - The movie we'd been watching was Rocky IV!!! lol
Anyway - no such luck with respect to cool weather here, humidity remains pretty high and thermometer is steadfastly sticking the wrong side of 30C during the day. As a result my running is staying slow and I'm finding it very difficult to put any kind of tempo run together. 3km a marathon pace seems to push me over the edge overheating wise and I have to slow down to cool off.
I have no idea whats going to happen when I get to Canberra in 4 weeks time. I'm definitely in good shape fitness wise (running in heat and humidity will do that) - but once I drop in to the cool crisp Canberra conditions, will I be able to keep the leg turnover going for 42km? Who knows!!!
I had a strange week this week. I'd finished last weeks 95km pretty cleanly, but was suffering from a bit of a sore back. When we rocked up for the tuesday morning speed session I figured I'd losen up a bit once I got going, but 1 x 1600m rep was enough to make me realise any kind of quick running was not happening. I jogged one more rep - but pulled out of the session to avoid doing any damage.
Wednesday I ran a good solid 20km before breakfast, but my schedule suggested 24km - so I was a bit naughty prioritising an extra 25 minutes sleep instead of getting out at 4am.
By saturday, my back was feeling a bit better and I was ready for the weekly long run. The rest of the crew (training for Gold Coast in July) were doing 24km, but I needed 37km. I hate finishing a run alone knowing everyone else finished earlier - so I arranged to put in my extra km's early. I started at 3:45am (??!!! WHAT???) and put in 20km beside the peaceful Brisbane river before getting to the agreed tap to meet everyone. I knew they'd be there at about 5:48am (based on 3 km gentle warm up pace from where they were starting @5:30).
However, I must've been a little ahead of myself. I got to the tap at 5:41am and decided to sit and wait.....
..I waited.....
...then I decided to lie flat on the bench to rest my back....
...then Amelia, Andrew, Jason and about 20 other runners from my club gave me a tap on the shoulder and woke me up!
I lept to my feet and in no time was back running... another 17km added, this time more sociably. By the time we ended, it was getting hot and we were dripping in sweat again - but that didnt stop me finishing with 4km@race pace to burn off the other guys for a bit of fun.
Ended up being a 87km week (slightly shorter due to the earlier in the week failures) - but my back is now feeling good, and I think I may be the first person in our squad to have successfully executed a "mid-run nap!"*
Another 95km week planned this week - and then I can taper and try and increase the amount of sleep I'm getting.... I'm SOOOOO tired!!!!! After saturdays exertions I ended up sleeping 10hr30min on saturday night!
*Probably ill advised for those in freezing snowy conditions!!!
More sleep sounds like a good idea Dad Again- I'm sure you'll feel the benefit.
DT19 I can't remember a period with so many races cancelled- a lot of people have missed key build up races for their Spring marathons.
SBD - excellent weekend to finish a good week's running. You are in great form.
Birch - nice run on Saturday by the sound of it.
Badbark - amazingly well done in such atrocious weather.
Stevie- good long run. How did you get on at Lidl?
DT19 - noooooo!!!!!!!!!!! You must be so frustrated.
nick - sounds like a good way to do a 20 miler.
Andy - great going! That can't be an easy run in the best of conditions.
Lorenzo - course record holder, eh? Well done. Nice long run too.
MrSoft - probably a good move.
GM- congratulations - a tough one to finish the series, so well done.
OO - don't worry, Spring starts this week! I've been wearing only Aldi and Lidl running shoes for quite a number of years without any bother. Must have saved a small fortune.
DadAgain - lol! The sleep will have done you good.
10 miles today. 2.5M to the 24hr supermarket, quick shop, and back home (8:15m/m) and then another 5M @ 7:03 m/m.
Gul - I brought a running backpack as I want to start running to the gym after London and also may be a way of me carrying water for long runs in Summer. Was a bargain at £6.99
I'm hoping the snow and ice will clear by tomorrow so I can get out for a 10 mile tempo, otherwise it will have to be the treadmill. Will do some sort of speedwork out on Thursday but haven't decided what yet. I'm open to suggestions!
Landed in Paris, which seems just as icy as UK. Planning a plod with a colleague in the morning but another rest day today...
I hate treadmills but I'm thinking of getting one just as a back up after all this crap weather.
They announced my retirement at work today- very strange feeling. If another person asks what I'm going to do when I retire I'll have to think of an original answer...