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Jools - sorry to hear about the cat, our neighbours housecat has gone misso g too, hope it turns up.
Small varied track session last night, managed to get a 300m PB in 48secs which was probably the only good rep. Killer PT session at lunch followed by a struggle of a 6 miler in the wind up the hills.
Jools sorry to hear that but there is still some hope yet we had one cat was away for a week before , came back about half the weight as she probably got locked in somewhere. We had 5 cats then down to 4 but a young passing stray saw a vacancy sign last month and has setup home and we are back up to 5 again !!!
Nicko nice to get a pb no matter what !
SBD cracking month think I had 341m as a max ever so fair play.
5m easy yesterday and up today after nights for 6 x 400m reps along the road paces about 6:10m/m with a 5:55 to finish , felt like a hard session but need to get more of these over the next few months.
Makes sense PMJ - so definitely no more marathons?
That's a lot of swimming in the week Gul - will you switch to running for the London campaign?
A good 10 miles DT - it's never easy returning from holiday!
Hope the missing cat turn up Jools.
Good speed work and a nice PB nicko.
Nice turn of speed on the 400m reps Leslie.
Intervals for me tonight as well, five sets of 1K with 500m jog recovery. Splits of 3:45, 3:45, 3:45, 3:45 and 3:40. It's been a while since I did any intervals so it felt like hard work but the HR only got up to 173 so I may need to push a bit harder next time!
I wouldn't say definitely no to a marathon but unlikely.
London changed the GFA rules this year so I'm 53
GFA 50-54 was 3:15:00 (73.5% WAVA aged 53)
GFA 50-54 is 3:12:20 (74.5% WAVA aged 53)
GFA 55-59 was 3:20:00 (73% WAVA aged 55)
GFA 55-59 is 3:17:20 (74% WAVA aged 55)
so maybe I need to catch that age group change when I turn 55, so that would mean running a qualifying marathon when I have turned 55 (so spring 2021 after I change age groups in Sep 2020) and then use that to enter London 2022 and that would be 10 years since my 2012 race so a nice anniversary.
Having said that, it is a bit of a faff. I ran the Chiltern Marathon two years ago and it is a Sunday start. I left home at 08:00, drove 4 miles, paid £5 registration fee, started, finished, drove home and was bathed and changed by 13:30.
For the London marathon, it takes longer than that to visit the Expo.
Glad to hear the cat is back, Jools. I recall when mine were younger and would disappear like that.
Leslie, 5 cats!! We peaked at 3 and that often felt like too many!! Nice session!
Nice 300m, Nicko. Thanks, but I can barely get up for parkrun when it is on my doorstep let alone 70 miles away. I shall enjoy a leisurely start Saturday (that's a runners leisurely start not a couch potato) and go to spin at 9.30.
Nice intervals, SBD. You are certainly putting some graft in!!
PMJ, I find that I need 1k-1m reps to max my hr out as shorter reps don't give enough time to build the intensity. Perhaps I am not doing out and out proper shorter reps then?
Interesting looking at the wava calcs above. At 43 and needing 3.02.20 that gives a 71.97 wava. At the top end of the open cat (39), 2.57.20 only gives a 71.59 wava. When I move to the v45, 3.07.20 trequires 71.26 wava. Odd that, that isn't a factor and using that scale clearly discriminates against older men.
I binned off last nights easy 4 as I was on my arse with fatigue. Was sleeping by 9.30 and feel much better today so hopefully 6m over lunch. Need to start entering some Autumn races.
Jools - oh no, really sorry to hear about your cat. Hope they are back now. He is! Hurray!
nicko - very fast 300m - nice one.
Leslie - good reps.
SBD - excellently executed interval session. I am curious as to whether continuing with 3 swimming sessions will get me back to the same level of fitness or not, but will almost certainly introduce 1 or 2 recovery runs over the next 2 or 3 months (assuming I can squeeze them in somewhere). I would like to keep the swimming going but will have to wait and see how it goes.
PMJ - thanks for reminding about Expo
12 miles this morning gradually moving through the gears, although not strictly progressive, from 9:12 to 7:08 and averaging 8:06.
Jools really pleased for you , should put a spring in your step again.
PMJ You were proper fast in your 20's but those GFA times make my head spin I could barely scrape 3:12 when I was going really well and I was only 45 not the 54 you have to be now to qualify ! GFA is more like mission impossible for an average to half decent club runner , Out of our little club marathon group there is only 1 person from about 50 could get in with a GFA .
DT they sleep most of the time and I always was around cats growing up from no age , I didn't want 5 either but a couple if we didn't take them in they wouldn't be here now . 3:07 at 45 is faster than I ever went (3:10) not sure I could make that sort of time either really you have to be in the top 3000 in the uk now which is quite a feat ,not sure how many of each age group but say top 500 in your age group for whole of the uk , quite an ask ! Sometimes rest is better than training .
GUL nice progressive 12 slotting back in where you left off .
5m easy( 8:55 av) after nights again.
Back in February the HR was getting as high as 180 on the 1K interval sessions. If I race a 5K, it'll usually be in the 175 to 180 range. I decided not to check the HR during yesterday's session, but clearly I wasn't pushing hard enough!
Interesting reflections on the London GFA times. I ran my first marathon as a V45 hoping to achieve the 3:15 GFA qualification time to run London the following year. With the right training this seemed achievable whereas 3:07 would have felt out of reach.
I try to avoid max HR tests and intervals less than 1K, but I would expect the HR to reach 185.
So no interest in Comrades or something like the Bob Graham Round PMJ?
Good recovery miles Leslie.
Nice progression through the gears Gul.
Sounds like you need a target race to get you motivated DT.
Good to see the cat has returned Jools.
8 recovery miles on the treadmill this afternoon. HR very low (avg 123 at 8:20 pace) - not sure if that was the new shoes or a sign of improved fitness! Got a bit bored after 6 miles so increased the pace to 7:55 which helped to pass the time.
SBD - if you want a low HR, get an optical / wrist HRM - mine is rubbish. Today, it measure the average HR for my swim as 62! In your case, I think it's definitely a sign of improved fitness
Jools - nicely executed interval session - should give you a confidence boost.
Swim day today, as mentioned. Let's see if I can wake up a bit earlier this Saturday!
Solid 12, Gul.Enjoy the swim.
SBD, that is pretty low for an 8m run at any sort of pace.
Easy 6 yesterday and 4 this morning. Just easing back into miles slowly so no session until later next week. My target half is 4 weeks sunday, though I've not entered it yet. Want to get a confidence boosting session in before i do so i know the 80m drive won't be a complete waste.
Jools/Nicko- Sunday i might try and run in Bristol before setting off (dependant on how messy Saturday is). I need 12m and staying on Anchor road. Logically running up portway to shirehampton and back seems sensible, however i suspect that'll leave me a good bit short of 12. Any suggestions on loops to bulk it out?
Alternatively, if you want to put in some hills and get a really nice route there's many options that will take in some sights of Bristol, I can do you some quick strava ideas if you want.
This one has almost 100ft of elevation, but takes you past SS Great Britain, Ashton Court Estate (including the Parkrun route), over the suspension bridge, around the downs, through Clifton and down Brandon Hill back to Anchor Rd. Lots of great views:
https://www.strava.com/routes/21565576
Some easy recover miles Weds after another killer PT strength session and 9 miles with 1K intervals last night; managed 4 @ 3:30 and a cruisy one at 3:45. Peak HR hitting 198 as I pushed the final straights; mine always runs high.
Jools - just read your post - were you at Keith's harbour session last night too? Yes it runs a little short but I allow the bends and cobbles to make up a few seconds!
Thanks for your input both.
I think I would want to keep it flat as if it does happen I will be hungover to some degree. I am not too concerned re the sights as I lived there for 7 years so seen plenty of them all, albeit I never ran when I lived there. The tow path option sounds decent if I do get out though.
DT - towpath definitely the nicest option then if you want to avoid any hillage; alternatively Bristol to Bath cyclepath is an old classic.
Nicko impressive hr you were working hard !
Jools good consistent reps there .
DT Id agree on the facebook link won't be much craic outside here lol
5 slow ones today struggling a bit after nights but there is a little local 10k on sunday I will give a lash so will have a rest tomorrow .
Looking in good shape for Sunday's 10K Leslie.
Good reps from Jools and nicko.
Getting back on the miles nicely DT. Which HM do you have in mind?
Good luck on the early start Gul. I have take my son to rowing for 8am so an early run is not really an option.
A steady 11 miles this evening just catching the last of the daylight. A bit sluggish to start with but picked it up after 6 miles and went through the gears from 8:00 to 7:00 m/m pace and then threw in a last mile of 6:15 for good measure. It always amazes me how a run can start off as a real grind and then you find a bit of speed at the end to finish on a high.
PMJ it would be great to see you back at VLM but do get your lack of motivation to make it happen.
DT I guess you didn't enter Brass Monkey this week- I'll be back for another visit in January.
I hurt my hip mid week and have mainly been swimming. A total of 7k this week.
I've also picked up a late entry for GNR. If I can get round without hip trouble I'll aim for sub 1:25, starting from zone B which is behind 3000 runners. Should be fun either way. I'm pacing 22 mins at parkrun today.
SBD - that's a decent 11 miler there, nice when it comes together at the end.
OO - that's a decent target for GNR, with your speedy summer you should be in good form for it, nice to spend it passing people as well.
Bad parkrun this morning, set off behind the guy I wanted to stick to and finally get the sub-20 at Ashton Court but by the time I got to the top of the first hill my legs were shot - progressive 5 last night was probably a bad idea - so limped up to the top then spotted a mate who had arrived late so waited for him then we blasted down the hills; picked up some PRs on the way down so not all bad.
15 planned tomorrow should bring me to a decent number for the week and 10 days in a row, need some rests before Bristol Half though.
21:55 for parkrun, 5 secs inside my pacer target. Pacing is surprisingly difficult!
Easy 15 of mixed terrain and hills this morning @ 7:55 average. Lovely run and rounds off 55 miles for the week which is pretty big for me. Few rest days needed next week.
Good luck OO, look forward to hearing the result
0054 sure you will be past nearly all 3000 by the end !
Nicko maybe pushing a bit too hard with 2 speed sessions in one day but 10 in a row sounds like you are going the right way.
Clady community 10k:
The field was much smaller than I thought and was well under 50 runners in the 10k, there was a 5k as well (its only ran once before ) It runs across the border between northern Ireland and the south of Ireland on very quiet roads .
We were off and it was flat with a little bit of a climb starting after half a mile , I knew the first half had plenty of climb but things were going well and a 6:58 was posted ,2 young girls were passed up the hill and mile 2 became a lot more uphill than Id have liked but a fairly hard effort saw 7:24. For another 0.6 of a mile till we hit the summit things got steeper and steeper with every little hill and there was no letup in the climbing and pace when I looked at the top was a disappointing 8:30m/mile ! Really struggling by the time I reached the top !
From here it was down hill and I pulled mile 3 back to a 7:23 and passed a runner at the top as I hurled myself down the hill , mile 4 was mostly down thankfully and some time was clawed back with a 6:53 average for mile 4. The guy now in front had walked all the steepest parts but could fly downhill and although I caught him on each up ,he left me on the downs . On mile 5 the gap was a consistent 50m or so but I couldn't close it at all despite a 6:24 mile 5 and a 6:49 mile 6 which had another slight climb but every hill now winded me and 6:31 for the last 0.2 to give me a time of 43:14 , a full 1 min 15 faster than 2 and 1/2 weeks ago on a harder course and with a half in my legs from last week.
Jools is right its like getting new pb's all over again when you have been a bit sh*te for a considerable time and at the current rate of progression my 10k pb of 40:07 from years ago could be in danger next year lol ...
16 here. Legs are a bit creaky, especially right hamstring/calf, so my cut back week to let the legs freshen up for next week's half is well timed!