A marathon in 4:15 (or maybe less)

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  • I did intend to finish posting on this thread after the race report but it feels really strange not to do it!

    Over the past few days I have caught myself at times wondering whether I should have carried on after all.  Seeing this picture of me just after 11 miles looking so good was one thing that made me wonder

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    However last night I saw this post from a clubmate who was supporting on the course:

    Pipes wrote (see)
    Popping by as I felt my ears burning image OS - we saw Bridget at the halfway point but not on the 2nd lap. She didn't look like things were going brilliantly (couldn't quite catch what she said, though, as the music was a bit loud!), so it wasn't a huge surprise that she didn't pass again. Hope you get back into it again soon with a healthy ankle, USB.

    To shift to someone thinking that in the space of 2 miles made me realise that things definitely were going wrong.  I can put my paranoia back in the box.

    I have been very good so far this week although I did slip in 5 miles on my daughter's bike which I 'borrowed' as she was in after me yesterday image

    I am also in the process of steaming Christmas pud number 2 (Mr USB made them), have put a chili in the slow cooker and got a load of washing on.  Since Tuesday I have felt really quite awake at the end of the working day and I can't remember feeling like that for ages.  Clearly some downtime is a very good idea and I need to build that into my training year from now on.

  • After 6 days of rest I went for a run today image

    The plan was to do between 3 and 4 miles at a pace of current MP + 90/120 seconds.

    I drove the two miles up to Stowe so that I could at least enjoy the scenery instead of wandering round the town.  The loop came out to 3.5 miles and took me 40:43.  The average pace was 11:38 which is MP+89 sp almost right!

    The ankle felt a bit tight to start with but loosened up and has been ok since (I've been over to the shops in MK).

    Next run will be Tuesday.

    I've volunteered to be tailrunner for parkrun next Saturday so may dig out my witches hat and broom so I can be a Halloween Sweeper image

  • Good that your ankle felt OK Bridget.image

    Might be interesting trying to run while astride a broom - pictures required!

  • I just came across this thread and read your report about the Abingdon marathon and it made me really sad. I ran a different marathon on the same day and it went well for me, knowing that someone had to drop out was sad to hear. Sometimes things don't go according to plan as I remember from a disastrous Ridgeway Relay last June, I felt really bad letting down the clubmates who worked hard to make the time that I later lost. You can only learn from it and for it to make you a stronger person. Good luck and I shall be hovering here as 4:15 is my aim tme for Berlin next year. Take care.
  • elspeth - I may try to finish astride the broom but will mostly be waving it at the backmarkers!

    acdcgirl - Hi!  Which marathon were you doing?  I did a leg of the Ridgeway Relay a couple of years ago - the one from by the M40 to beyond Watlington.

  • I did Poznan, my home town, in Poland. My leg of Relay was hilly but the reason it was disastrous for me was that the night before I did a half marathon and went balls out pace and on the way to the relay I was travel sick and vomited all my dinner out, didn't have any energy left. I felt awful but have learnt my lesson. If they let me take part in the relay next year I shall make it up to them.
  • acdcgirl -  Forgot to ask what time you did for your marathon image  Also which club are you with?

    I did the bike pinching thing again this morning and did 6 miles.  I'm sure all the regular cyclists would have called the route undulating but for me it was hilly.  On the way back I tried to pop into our local bike shop as the gears aren't changing very smoothly but found he closes on mondays (he does open Sundays though which is good).  I shall try to take it down in the morning before A wakes up as it will give my game away if I tell her there is a problem with the gears image

  • Did another 3.5 miles yesterday on a roughly similar route but going anticlockwise with a start across the fields (clockwise means hopping down into the haha to get out of the gardens).  Managed to stay disciplined about the pace and was only 3 seconds quicker overall.

    Also took the bike in and he adjusted the gears for free image  We may need to get the cable cover changed for something a bit thicker though so I had to tell A so that she knows to tell me if there are problems.  The way he described it to me was that the cover supplied would cost £2 a metre whereas the stuff he uses is twice that.  What you save at Halfords comes back to bite you in the end!

    Proper rest day today as I was in work for a day of training and it was dark when I got back.  Tomorrow is going to be club with the first week of our beginners group.

  • Nice bit of rain as I drove over to club last night but by the time we set out it was a fine drizzle so really quite pleasant.  We had 3 people for the development group, they'd all done a bit of running before but were a bit out of practice. 

    3 miles were duly run with a couple of walk breaks and pauses for pelican crossings.  Took 37 minutes so no risk of me being told I was going too fast image

    I've been firming up my plans for the spring but need to get on and print off an entry form as there's an online entry that demands my EA number.  As I have put it in a very safe place I don't have it!  The organiser has kindly said that I can send it in on paper without although I really ought to have it.  The online bit did have a link to email someone at UKA about problems with the number - did that on Wednesday night but no reply yet image

  • Took my broom and pointy hat over to Milton Keynes this morning but left the hat at the start. It kept falling off! As it was a cheapo Tesco one I should have known to bring some hair grips really.

    Another really slow run as we had some back markers needing encouragement so around 39 minutes for the 5K. Had to go back to collect the 2k marker as we forgot it while making sure people went up the zigzags properly image

    Tomorrow I will be at our ladies only 10k - first marshalling and then helping at the finish. There are always yummy cakes because the organising committee is mostly ladies too image
  • Boo image

    I dressed all in black tonight for my 4 miles around the town and waved my arms in a spooky manner whenever I met groups of small children in fancy dress image  I refrained from doing the same to the teenagers in case they retaliated!

    It was harder to keep an eye on my pace in the dark so I'm wondering whether I should finally try out the training partner bit on my Garmin.  First miles was ok but then I found myself going faster despite an uphill and sort of had to show myself I could run a mile starting with a 10.  Then it was hard to slow myself back down but I did manage it by the 4th mile with the help of poor lighting through the park.

    Splits were 11:26, 10:49, 11:00 and 11:36.  That gave an average pace of 11:13.

    Yesterday's race was fun to help at.  Bacon butty before hand and a lovely squidgy piece of choc brownie to follow.  All the racers got a tiny orchid in a pot as their memento and as there were left overs the helpers got them too image  The winners got a trophy and a box of 4 cup cakes each - I told you we like our cake image

  • image

    I have to confess to getting really rather bored on non-running nights when I would usually have run.  However the lack of exhaustion at the end of my working day is a rather nice pay off.

    Tonight I've potted up my orchid into a nice china pot tonight to replace an old one that has never done very well image

  • Just 3.15 miles tonight. The intention was 4 but that was before I remembered that A needed a lift to panto rehearsal. Bit quick again overall (11:19mm) but after doing the first mile in 11:00 the rest was steadier with 11:29 and 11:25.

    Spotted a hedgehog scuttling across the path in the park. Nippy creatures.

    It was starting to rain when I went out and I very nearly knocked it on the head because after all it was 'only a short one'. Luckily I have the structure of alternate days to keep me motivated.

  • Right, major catch up time.

    Thursday
    With it being a non-running day and rather a long time since I had been to give blood I trotted off to the community centre after work.  Hadn't been able to book an appointment and was told I would have a bit of a wait so settled down to play games on the iPad.  Eventually I realised everyone else had been called - they'd lost my form!  That will teach me to be patient.

    Anyway, they were all very apologetic and nice to me so I duly gave them a pint and received a pen and a badge in return as it was my 50th donation image

    Friday
    I couldn't remember what I had done previously after giving blood but happily planned to do 4 miles in between work and shopping.  I very quickly realised that my pace was dreadful and then started to feel quite image too.  Also realised it was actually less than 24 hours after giving the blood so should have stayed home.  Took a loop back home so only ran for 19 minutes.

    Saturday
    Rest day again on the running front but plenty to do what with taking the MiL shopping and then helping scouts sell food at the fireworks in the evening.  Afterwards we had our own display in the backgarden and scoffed some mussels in cider.

    Today
    Finally got 4 miles done around Stowe again.  Had a brisk wind in my face for the first 2 miles and it was quite chilly too.  Took me 46:31 which averages 11.38 min miling so right on target again.  Still didn't feel quite up to par but did like watching the autumn leaves falling like snow.

  • Some people might think that this is a good time of year to be doing vastly reduced mileage because it gives more time to sit inside in the warm.  I'm obviously not some people as I am getting heartily fed up with trying to work out slightly different routes from my house that don't come to more than 4 miles. 

    Tonight I looped up into one of the industrial estates (none of them are very big) and discovered that the nice wide footpath past the Indian cooking ingredients factory doesn't have any lights!  Thankfully the lights on the side of their building were enough for me to see and I knew there weren't any potholes so I went for it rather than turning back.  After that I was back onto one of my normal routes.

    3.9 miles, average pace of 11:18.

  • I got home from work tonight with a head/face/earache on the right hand side. Given a choice I would have wandered off to bed but I was down to shepherd the development group at club so downed some meds and off I went. I don't think I've ever worn a hat this early in the autumn/winter but figured my ear might hurt less that way.

    Second week for the group as last week was a social with a handicap run and there were 3 newbies plus another runner returning from injury.

    Took them round 4.36 miles in 50:20. Splits were 11:49, 11:45, 11:16, 11:23 and then 11:24 pace for the last bit. The early stuff might have been quicker but I didn't stop my watch at some junctions with cars in them.

    Most enjoyable run in a long time. Lots of chatting and very little looking at the watch except to let them know when we had done 2 and then 4 miles image

    I feel like a religious convert and keep wanting to tell people it is ok to rest!
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Great work USB. Nice to be chatting and not notice the miles ticking by. What kind of mileage are you doing at the moment?
  • Hi Minni.  Total mileage for November is 17 miles spread over 5 runs (I lost a couple of miles the day after giving blood).  I've been doing up to 4 miles on alternate days with the intention of adding in one extra run from next week but still keeping the mileage low and slow.  I think tonight's run is probably a good omen for that. 
  • Tailrunner for parkrun today and I deliberately got there in time to park in the free car park which meant a 0.44 miles jog to the start to warm up.  Dumped my fleece under the stairs at the gym and joined everyone at the start.

    I hung back while everyone headed off and then realised that the last 2 people appeared to be walking already.  One in trainers and carrying a water bottle but the other was wearing walking boots so I asked if they were with parkrun rather hoping that the answer would be no.  Obviously not my lucky day so I resigned myself to a 3 mile walk.

    Had they both had trainers on I would have had a go at getting them to run-walk a bit but the walking boots rather precluded that.  One had done the route the previous route but her companion was new.  Their husbands were somewhere up ahead running.

    Started off by chatting with them a bit but they seemed happy talking together so I just followed behind.  Got a little jog in to catch up each time I collected a sign in but apart from that it was a walk.

    I am pleased to say however that we did a negative split image  18:03, 17:45, 17:09 and the last bit was at 16:16 pace!

    Going to do some shopping with Mr USB now and then run about 3 miles later on as still need to do today's run.

  • I decided on Saturday to deal with my OCD about running and didn't do the missing 3 miles.  I did think I'd run on Sunday instead but woke with the warning signs of a migraine and although I diverted most of the headache by taking meds and going back to sleep I still felt grotty so we just went for a walk at Stowe instead (free entry till the end of December, usually about £8 for an adult if you go in the paying way).

    The last 2 days have been really rather crap image

    My car decided it was going no further than 7 miles towards work yesterday morning so I hadto be recovered.  Garage not promising to even be able to look at it that day and no loan cars available.  I had almost decided to use up another day of leave when I realsied I could get a bus into Bletchley, walk to the station and take Mr USB's car.  Luckily he gave me an idea of where it was parked and I found it before I got asked why I was wandering around the car park.

    That of course meant I had to collect him so I stayed late at work making up a bit of time before driving to meet the train.  Less wasteful of time and fuel than going home first.  No news from the garage.

    I was really glad to get out for 4 miles last night and it was helped by a new game we are playing on Fetch which meant I varied the route a bit.  Aveaged 11:18 mm.

    This morning meant an early start to get Mr to the station, home again to make sure A (14 years) got out of bed and then into work.  Phone call from garage to say repairs would be over £900 image  No choice though as we can't keep this up for long.  Various crap at work but I spent most of the day feeling like I was on another planet.  Then back to the station tonight before spending time together in Tesco and going home.

    Very tempted to go out for an extra run to get more points in the game but resisted the lure.

    Tomorrow I don't have to go to work but as the day's leave is so that I can take A to the orthodontist at 9 and then to school it won't be a rest.  The only positive thing is I might manage a nap between getting back home around 10.30 and the gas engineer arriving somethime between 12 and 2.  The plan is to run in daylight after that.

  • Had another lovely run today.  This game on Fetch is very addictive and had me doing 6 miles instead of the intended 4 :-0  Could have been a bit more but I stopped the watch at 6.1 miles and walked the last bit. 

    Average pace of 11.05 without working too hard either image

  • Well I seem to have survived my first 2 consecutive days of running since tapering for Abingdon.

    Tonight I did 4.18 miles at an average pace of 11:18 min miling.  The splits?

    11:18, 11:18, 11:18, 11:18  image

    Legs were a wee bit achy this morning after yesterdays run which was the longest since Abingdon but better tonight.  I have been getting a little bit of soreness in the ankle but I am putting it down to having to use a clutch pedal alongside doing a lot of driving as we are sharing one car at the moment.  That essentially means that I am driving lots and Mr USB is getting chauffered to and from the station.

  • I had another lovely run today image  Not parkrun as I was in charge today but I went out at lunchtime instead and did 5 miles.  Splits were less steady than Thursday due to the route I took but still pleased with it.  I've stopped trying to run quite as slowly but am not pushing it and averaged 11:03 min miling.

    The splits were 10:33, 11:20, 11:11, 11:09 and 11:00

    I've run 4 times this week and increased the mileage to 19 from just 9 last week (plus 3 walked) and 13 the week before.  No matter how I feel or what the weather is like tomorrow I will be taking a rest day.

  • Whoops, been neglecting this a bit this week image

    Excuses?  Well the lack of a car meant that time for internetting got somewhat curtailed as I still needed to find time to run and watch professional Masterchef.  I also found the whole car thing and the associated financial hit were rather the final straw emotionally and when feeling down I tend to avoid coming here too.

    I have also been a bit bad as sucked in by the collecting game on Fetcheveryone I ended up running 4 days in a row image  

    Monday was 4.57 miles averaging 11:21 mm

    Tuesday was 4.65 miles averaging 11:33 mm (forgot my headtorch and went down some dark ginnels rather slowly)

    Wednesday was intended as a rest day but having spent the previous 2 days working with 3 snotty kids I was fully expecting to feel crap by the end of the week.  That morning I felt a bit carp but decided to run in case I felt worse on Thursday and couldn't run.  4.44 miles averaging 11:29 mm

    Then on Thursday I felt a little worse but still not too bad.  I really did intend to take the night off but then Mr USB asked if I was going running and I found myself moving from 'No' to 'Maybe' to 'I'll go and get my kit on'.  3.46 miles averaging 11:36mm.

    All felt pretty comfortable.  I'm watching the clock less now that it is colder and I am in long sleeves.  The collecting game means that I am varying my routes quite drastically and hitting various hills but that is no bad thing.

    Will run tomorrow and take Sunday off.  

  • Did you take the day off? Glad you are enjoying your running! what is next on the horizon for you?

    I did my first park run today and really enjoyed it...

  • Day off is tomorrow - we are taking the MiL Christmas shopping as well as to Sainsbury's so will be having midmorning brunch before losing the rest of the day.

    Glad you enjoyed parkrun, it is such a good idea.  I decided not to do the drive to MK to run this morning as I knew we'd need to go over there later to replace the eldest's phone.  Did 5.9 miles around the town instead but was never more than about half a mile from home as the crow flies.  When the 2 miles came up I had just passed the point that would be 1 miles by my normal route.

    I have entries in for the Wokingham Half in the middle of February which is nice and flat and will help decide on target pace for the Milton Keynes marathon in April.

  • Sitting here tonight sniffling and snuffling but also counting my blessings after we had a sudden deflation of a tyre in the fast lane of the M40 on Sunday!  I'm very fortunate that Mr USB is such a good driver that we didn't even realise he was struggling to control it. 

    3 runs done so far this week but the lurgy may have knocked any weekend running on the head.

    4.91 miles (Monday), 5.24 miles (Tuesday) and 5.68 miles (Thursday).  All run around 11:30 mm.

    I was hoping to start the increase to a 10 mile long run this weekend by doing about 7 but shall have to wait and see.  Definitely not going to do cross country though.

  • Hi USB good to see you still training well, keep at it. Set a nice pb for5km and a mile yesterday and a nice day off work. 23 min five kms and 6 something for a mile which was awesome. Have a good weekend.
  • Well done Mark. 

    Doesn't look like I'll get any running done this weekend.  I thought I might try a short one today as the cold is staying off my chest but feeling very wishy washy today image

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