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Congratulations to Little Miss Skinny.
Good report Marrows, well done again, I'm sure sub 40 will be there for the taking next time particularly if there are more people running at that pace.
Good session Lit. When's your next race?
Just thought I'd give my two-bob on this. I'm a massive fan of spinning, partly because I like to stay cycling fit anyway but I also think it's a great complement to running. I'm regularly doing 2/3 classes a week, and the Monday lunchtime spin in particular is something I look forward to, and really seems to loosen the legs up nicely after a big mileage weekend. DT's right in that you can give it a good welly without it putting a great toll on the body, so to my mind it not only serves as a reasonable substitute for easy mileage, but it actually provides a more intense aerobic stimulus because you can effectively work out the heart and lungs with additional "interval" intensity exercise. Plus it's just a nice change of scenery, which I think makes it easier to face than constant running.
Dean - Are you up for the BMAF XC this year then? I thought I'd throw my hat in and see if they want me. It's about time I raced in Nottingham!
I did spin once. I have never been so sweaty in my entire life.
Stirling 10k on 14 September, Tommy.
PS: who is the 'pilates princess' Skinny?
Dean - Understandable decision. You've had a string of things to throw your momentum off since your cracking string of races around June time. Illness, overseas trips, holidays. If you don't feel you're in shape to get back to at least that level, racing below it is just going to leave you frustrated. I'm sure you'll be back stronger and faster next year. But yes, other way round for me, bugger with the Cup Final timetable. Currently looking like I might be left all dressed up with nowhere to go just as I'm peaking. Might have to wait for Derby on the 14th if I don't make it to Oxford, though Watford on the 10th is another similarly ridiculous distance to travel for a midweek 800m. Enjoy your long jumping.
Skinny - Congrats to the young 'un.
Probably an attempt to slow your reps down you loony.
Another fine session.
Phil - Quick question for you on cross-training whilst you're here . We've got an exercise bike up in the loft conversion which is now knackered, and rather than get that repaired or replaced, I'm thinking of getting hold of a rowing machine instead. I'm not really a gym person, but want to strengthen up ahead of the next track season, as looking around most of the competition at Brum, it's clear I'm pretty puny compared to most of the middle-distance fellas. I know you've got a history of hammering the rowing pretty hard for cross-training, and well enough to pick up a national medal along the way on a static! Any thoughts?
P.S. Didn't you race at the National XC last year in Nottingham?
Saw physio. He believes I have damaged My tensor fasciae lata. Not majorly but enough to irritate. Did some dry needle work and massage. Feels a touch better already.
I think the class I went to was the opposite, DT, as we did so much warm-up and cool-down that there wasn't really time for much 'hard' stuff and I ended the session thinking 'was that it?' and didn't bother going back. I might give it another go at my new gym.
Shit - you've got a whole brand sorted out!
There's a T- shirt, a notebook, a coffee mug even an online book or summat.
phil - assume you mean england xc selection? probably not as i havent raced on the road since last yrs selection, had a poor XC season and havent raced in any BMAF races. so other than i raced reasonably well in last years international i have no reason to be picked. im not sure my recent 800m and 1500m pbs will be enough to get selected for a 5m XC. shame as a home international would be well supported. I should have raced a 5k in may where i could have PBd but i was all eyes on the track season. So cant complain! If i can get fit on xc i might race the open race (over the same courrse afterwards) to see if i could beat anyone from the international race!
good luck going through the selection process...(belated congrats for the bmaf medal on the track, sounds like tough race conditions).
One of the regulars at my spinning classes wears what appears to be a plastic bag under her top! And yet she doesn't seem to be able to generate anything like the puddles of sweat that I leave on the floor. Not trying hard enough! (I can wring out my socks after a good session. Fact!)
Bob - I think the rowing machine is the single best piece of cardio equipment there is for all-round conditioning. (I sound like an infomercial.) I've not actually been on one since May but that's because I suspected it was exacerbating a dodgy knee, which itself was brought on going a bit hard in a spinning session, I think!* Anyway, I'll probably play it safe and stay off it now till after Berlin, but I think it provides a great combo of aerobic and core/resistance exercise. Given correct technique (a lot of the drive being in the quads) it has a lot of similarities to cycling, but the stroke is a complex movement involving so many more muscle groups, since you're transferring power from the legs, through the trunk, to the arms. Glutes, back, abs, triceps, all getting a good work-out.
I didn't do the National XC as I was still injured with PF. (*ahem* If you're getting some info from a reference site, this may contain erroneous athlete information.
)
*This was a schoolboy error on my part. If done properly, I think risk of injury in a spin class should be minimal. However, I've noticed some instructors getting you to do stuff which really isn't very clever; the biggest no-no is ramping up the resistance to almost max and then trudging to a ridiculously low cadence, as if you're doing a leg-press with each pedal stroke. This has to be the best way to fcuk up your knees, and I was guilty of putting the resistance up too high. IMO you shouldn't drop below about 60rpm for a hard effort, i.e. what you'd actually be doing if you were cycling out of the saddle up a steepish but not impossible hill. Anyway...
Dean - Cheers, maybe still see you there then. Yes, I was quite happy to have my race head on in Birmingham, definitely not PB weather. The medal will look good on the application though, and conditions were a lot nicer on Wednesday just gone, where I managed to smash my PB with a 15:46. Huzzah!
Hopefully some decent 10,000m, HM and V40 road relay performances between now and selection will help as well.
Skinny - bored generally, not with you old son! I feel your pain, and can't wait until we're cooking again.
Lit, don't have your exact pace zones with me right now, but your 17.55 5k is 5.46 pace, and a rough x2 +1min calculation would give around a 37min 10k, which would be 5.57 pace.
So 5.56, tailwind or not isn't unrealistic. The steady recoveries are to allow proper momentum, and it's amazing how steady can feel such a doss pace when the reps are 10k pace.
Cheers, Phil. Sounds good - will see how that idea goes down with 'er indoors.
And yes, I may well have been getting said (as it turns out) erroneous information re: XC from a reference site! Good luck with your pursuit of selection for Eng-er-land, and let us know if you're successful. There is an indoor meeting in Sheffield that day which I might consider to stay in touch with a bit of MD speed across the winter, but if not, I'll come down and give you a shout.
Oh good, I'm not in trouble then? The pace zone in the plan is 6:00-6:05..
I take it you will be rewarding her further with hikes up the mountains around Wasdale Head and Ennerdale then? Character-forming!
How high we go is a bit weather dependent - no fun slogging up Gable if its pissing it down and zero visibility although it would be very character forming.
Even on a nice day I think Great Gable will require all my motivational talents!
At least Great Gable sounds like a proper, sturdy mountain that she can later boast about. Haystacks, for example, lovely though it is, just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Re lit's 10k session: I think I may have to give it a try sometime, with drastically reduced paces of course! Do I take it that "steady" is between "easy" and MP?
I have climbed Great Gable with my dad.
Phew- go for it. Although just remember for max effect, it's part of a series of 10k based workouts. I don't want to ruin the surprise for Lit though!
Pete - Steady is between Easy and MP - see SG post at 20:02 yesterday.
Indeed. Was always a Big Daddy man myself - 'erm, we were talking about 80s wrestling weren't we?
Ah...Dicky Davies...World of Sport...Saturday afternoons when they're showing horse racing on Grandstand...jumpers for goalposts...isn't it...hmmmm?
There you go. Even lit isn't immune to boasting about GG.
SG - point taken. I've built up to 5 x 1k so far. Looking back at sessions I have, ahem, liberated from this forum, I have a shrewd idea of what you may have in store for lit. I'm sure she'll enjoy it!
Skinny - thanks. This thread is moving so fast it's hard to keep up - in more ways than one
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What are you talking about, Pete? I love boasting.
Bob - going back a bit...I know it's not the track but have you thought about the Derby RonHill Derby Midweek Races (running with David)? I think I might go down to the first one on 10th September and do the 5k. However, they do have the mile race 20 minutes before. It's meant to be a fast course, looks like it attracts some speed merchants including some from your second claim club?
Tommy - aye, I've got a note of the dates of those. They're no longer UKA/Po10 however which reduces the attraction a bit, but I wouldn't rule it out as a possible sharpener for a final run of track races in the second half of September, particularly if I don't make it to either Oxford or Watford.
Thought you would have them noted Bob as you're considering races in Oxford and Watford. Didn't realise they were no longer UKA, that's a shame, although as you say, can use them as a sharpener.
Have a good one at Beeston, will be interested to see how you get on.
Have a good long weekend everyone.
Morning - busy weekend, so might not be back on for a day or two, but a brief call in for a prompt report.
Heady and throaty last night and this AM and nearly didn't bother. As I was up decided to go anyway.
3 and a half mile warm up from Wilford down to Beeston, and as per something I'd picked up on Bookface, there was plenty of Long Eaton runners there, including what I thought were probably the 2 most likely to give me a tow round, Tim Baggs and Patrick Fitzgerald.
Off at the start with a bit of a tail wind, and soon settle into what I think was probably about 7th, with Paddy pulling clear, and Tim and another LERCer just in front, with one more young fella between us. Determined that I'm not going to let the elastic break between Tim, his mate and I.
Through Mile 1 in 5:51, a bit sharp, but not daft. I sense the young chap in front is beginning to tail off a little, so put in a spurt to get back up with Tim and his pal. We're into a stronger than hoped for wind now, and this is hard work, so have to keep repeating my surges to stay in touch, but find I'm able to do so. 6:12 for Mile 2.
Back up along the elevated section above the canal and with the wind behind us now, and current mile pace is back into 5:5x. Good, will need to be as I know we'll have to double back into it again soon enough. Passing the finish line is a bit of an unwelcome tease with a mile or so still to go, but block it out, and concentrate on staying in touch with my unwitting pacemakers.
Round the 180 turn point, and struggle initially to regain momentum along some very uneven ground - this uneven ground that you cover twice is actually the only bit I don't like about this course.
Eventually get the pace back up, but I'm feeling like sh*t by now (as you'd expect at this point in a 5k if you're doing it right) and clinging on to the pair in front by my finger nails. 6:03 for Mile 3.
Try to raise a final sprint to get back in touch, but it's only in the last few strides as I'm reeling them right in that I finally get into 4:xx pace. Finish a stride behind the two in front who finish together, but fail to stop my watch properly.
Thank them for dragging me round, and ask what they've got on the watch.
18:49.
Might be 18:50 or 18:51 I guess when result finally comes through, but definitely sub-19 for the first time - turns out it's the same for Tim as well.
Newstead monkey firmly off my back.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/571523658
Another 3 and a half mile cool down back to Wilford for a total of almost bang on 10 miles for the morning.
Good going Bob
Even quicker post from me - seen that a lot of activity has passed me by on the thread while I was on the (nightmare bank holiday weekend) drive up to Linlithgow. Can't keep up !
Falkirk park run done on a groggy head and heavy legs. Quite an up and down one, a nice friendly bunch of runners and a lovely course, reminiscent of Newstead Abbey actually. Didn't push really hard (saving that for next week) and blew up a bit on a very short section of steep hill that wiped out my momentum. Finished in 19:02/03 -ish and 5th place.
Sounds like a damn fine effort, Muddy.
Confirmed as 18:51 for me. Settle for that.
nice one Bob. Out did the size of my report as well, which takes some doing