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My current stretch goals are sub 80 half, sub 60 10m and sub 30 5m, the latter I did go through in sub 30 in my last 10k. Sub 80 half would probably be the ultimate goal I think. I'm 10s per mile on a windy day off that so it doesn't seem beyond the realms of reality anymore.
I also want to go sub 18 at parkrun and sub 2.55 mara, which isn't really a stretch goal like the above as I can't be too far of those numbers.
To bring the conversation full circle it was always when I started thinking about my stretch goals that I got injured :-)
I think there is still plenty of upside for Skinny by end of the year as I mentioned in my previous post, and Mace too on a slightly longer timescale. We should all look to McFlooze for an example of a comeback after a serious cruciate ligament injury to see that it can be done.
Thanks for the tips on the metatarsalgia DT and Mace. I've been following the anti-inflammatory strategy along with icing (i.e hanging out in my kitchen in bare feet) and reduced running so far this week. The left foot seemed to hold up to a 5m progression run this lunchtime averaging 6.15 min/mile. Going to run recovery later and see whether it hurts.
Another fine hmp tempo run DT.
Mace, I wonder was there an unbroken stretch where the metatarsalgia turned into PF ?
Listed in the results now for Warwick as 1.24.03 ... would be happy with double that for the marathon given how average the training has been the past couple of months.
Fingers crossed regarding injuries, I do some stretches but mainly if an injury flares up, typical.
Had a few days of running in better weather this week without much rain, aiming for a run tonight and 18mls hopefully this Saturday.
Got a touch of Coronavirus
18 mls yesterday in a 3hrs, bit of a grind but 1 more long run to go.
Nice 18, Kevin.
2.16.52 today in my 20 so 6.51 pace. Was a tough morning as it was an exposed and undulating course. First lap (3 x 6.6 ish laps) at about 7mm then i pushed on towards mp ish. Average hr for the 20 was 158 so pretty decent given course and wind, particularly as it was my first 20 of the campaign. Feel a bit tired now.
Well done on 18, Kevin.
That's a good paced 20, DT. Nice to have another one ticked off.
An ill child on Saturday meant we didn't head up North en famille so I headed up to Retford on my own. This was the one I was going to run to see where my fitness is. My best on that course was a PB in 1.31.06 in 2016 but although getting fitter I still don't think I'm quite there. However, I gave it some welly but the constant cross wind wasn't helpful and I feel like I lost it a bit in the middle miles. And I think my hormone situation not quite optimal for racing either. But came out as 1.33.39 which is a post-injury PB. So quite happy although I think on a better day there might be a bit more in me.
I might have a crack at Coventry in a few weeks. Especially if London ends up cancelled.
The fear of a mass, loosely organised freedom run.
Like with swine flu in 2009, it gets to the point where it's declared too widespread to control so all measures are lifted.
I'd be keen to have a crack at Coventry if London is cancelled as feel ive more in me given the conditions my pb was in. However it's day after national rd relays which we usually qualify for.
Tommy, will you or bob be at Midlands? Im on leg 9 by looks.
Well done McF, looks like you're closing in on PB shape, great to see
Sounds like a very solid run, DT. I will be at the relays for our B team, might get the pleasure of the opening long leg or more likely the first short leg. Bob is on the comeback but he thinks the relays will come a little too soon for him and he wants to be fit for the track season so doubt he'll be there.
Well done, Skinny, you're well in to your comeback now.
Cambridge HM for me yesterday, training in January went pretty well, February was not very good at all, so I really didn't know what to expect in terms of a time, thought I'd start off at 1:30 pace and see how I got on.
It's a massive event with about 11,000 people but it's extremely well organised so dropping off bags and toilets etc were really easy. Due to the number of people the race is started in waves, I was in the first wave and we were called into the holding pen about 20 minutes before the race started which made getting a warm up in a bit tricky, me and my club made decided that the first mile of the race would have to do as a warm up.
The gun went off and it was pretty crowded and a bit awkward to run freely for the first few hundred yards dodging people who'd clearly started in the wrong place etc but soon enough hit settled down. The first 3 miles the route works it's way around the edge of central Cambridge, pace was right on target and feeling pretty comfortable, although there was an annoying nagging wind at some points.
The next couple of miles involves winding in and out of central Cambridge including some of the medieval colleges, which was quite novel albeit as there was several 90 degree turns it meant a lot of slowing down and speeding back up. I was still feeling pretty good at this point and me and my club mate were working well together.
The next few miles took us out of the city into the countryside, slightly uphill and into the nagging headwind along a fairly soul destroying dual carriageway. I resolved to keep the effort level the same but not much about pace and hope that when we turned at about 9 miles the wind would be behind pushing us back towards the city. I managed to keep a pretty even pace despite two short climbs (can't really call them hills), at some point through this section, my club mate dropped off a little bit, but I latched on to a small group and we were working our way passed plenty of runners. I was feeling reasonable but certainly not as comfortable as the early stages.
Turning back towards the city shortly after 9 miles the road went slightly downhill and with the wind behind us was joyous. I struggled my way through some mental arithmetic when I went passed the 10 mile marker and figured I was on for 1:28:x if I continued at current pace, the group I was running with had splintered a bit and I was desperately trying to keep pace with a guy who was 'tempoing it' and finding it disgustingly easy. Coming back into the city at around 11 miles, the support was great and there were people from the later starting waves coming in the opposite direction which gave me a bit of a welcome lift as I was starting to develop an annoying stitch.
We started to work our way in and around the city streets, with plenty of twists and turns, cobbled streets and random cyclists to negotiate. I was still catching and overtaking people but the stitch was getting worse and pretty painful. The last half a mile or so seemed to take forever and coming up the finish straight any determination I had to push on vanished.
Final finish time of 1:29:29 which I'm pleased enough with as I hardly ran in February and hadn't ran further than 11 miles since the end of October. Might try and squeeze another half in over the next few weeks before looking towards the shorter stuff.
Well done McFlooze - getting there - quite exciting - as Muddy said a few posts ago you've done really well to come back from the knee injury.
DT a nice casual 20 mile race - everything seems to be ticking over nicely still.
Finally good 18 Kev - 3 hours is optimal running time so will have done you good - do you feel like you are getting fitter or more tired?
Glenkiln 12
Always a bit of a Cock & Biscuits race (to the extent that I won it in 2015 when 25 people ran it) this year they had moved the start and had a huge field of 57 doing the race. Some pre race research had identified I had no chance of winning this time irrespective of my fitness but I wanted a good hard run to gauge where I'm at as I'm targeting beating a friend over 10 miles at start of April.
Weather was reasonable with just the odd cold shower being blown through by a strong wind but the course is a tough one with constant ups and downs plus a really steep 0.25m uphill at about 6.5 miles and then a proper hill climb for about 1.25m between 7.25 and 8.5 but then it's 3 miles downhill to finish - so needs careful pacing.
Aim was for 7 min miling but without a garmin I was just running to feel so this would be an end result rather than an effort paced by looking at my watch constantly.
Off we went and pretty soon I was getting passed by lots of people and counted up to find myself in 12th place - bit concerning but maybe the field was just a lot better than previous years. By time I went past the 2 mile marker my watch said 12:50 but I was still only in 11th place so I was worried about my position and also that I was going too fast - I just hoped the mile marker was in the wrong place which was confirmed at 4 miles which was 27:10 by which time I had moved up to 10th and was running with the first lady who was faster than me on the downhills and flats but slower on the uphills so we kept passing each other.
At about 4.5 miles she got a water (plastic cup) at the drink station, asked me if I wanted to share which I refused as I can't drink out of those plastic cups and this must have offended her (not really) but she dropped back and I never saw her again until the finish.
By bottom of steep 0.25 mile hill I had nearly caught the next target, looked at my watch and put my head down and pumped my arms for 2 mins and by the top he was behind me and I set off for next target. I hadn't caught him by top of the proper hill but whilst I had the energy to really push down the hill he was free wheeling and I caught and flew past him around 9.5 miles. He finished 1:33 behind me so obviously underestimated the course difficulty. Interesting though how much you can still gain on the downhill.
Next guy was out of reach and gave myself a break on the flatter final half mile to finish in 81:33 for the 11.7 miles (it used to be 12.2 miles before a course route change) and 7th place.
About 6:58/mile so hit pre race target.
As a comparison I ran 79:18 for the 12.2 miles in 2015 when quite well through marathon training so I'm 2:15 slower for half a mile less distance - about 30 seconds a mile slower.
Still work to do but some progress I think.
I'm off to Seville on Wednesday morning for a few days holiday providing nothing Corona related gets in the way - looks like a beautiful place to get stuck if something does happen whilst I'm there!
Cheers, Skinny
DT another quality albeit 20 miles session
Tommy well done and some longer miles will definitely see you bettering this time.
Skinny race reports.... im usually to gubbed to think or remember what happened in races
9 miles tonight with my wife for 6 miles, last 2 miles of the 18 was a chore but definitely feeling fitter with the miles over the past 4 months Skinny. Hopefully can look at some 10km May/June.
Tommy, good effort at Cambridge off the less than ideal training! What other halfs are in your view?
Skinny, great stuff on the race given your woes. Must be nice to be racing again with ambition. Enjoy Seville.
Going well, Kevin.
I was initially a bit disappointed that I felt a bit tired in the later miles of sundays 20 but then I thought about it and the course, conditions and the stage in the cycle I am at and the fact my two fastest miles were 18 and 19.
Recovery 4 yesterday. 10m MLR planned over lunch.
Casual sub-1:30 is impressive, Tommy!
I don't know what "cock and biscuits" means, Skinny. But it sounds fun. Well done on your race.
However I can see that it is something that has its attractiveness for some runners and non runners
and skinny too, i read "cold shower being blown through by a strong wind but the course is a tough one with constant ups and downs" and i had to go back and check it was you and not muddy posting
DT - i agree with McF, i can't remember ever running 20M without feeling tired
My 5+3 on the spin last week ( that was my lot for the week ! ) was 'backed up' with a solitary 5 this week
Today was left for shopping and a second trip to Plaza de España but everywhere shut including all public parks, churches and tourist attractions and most bars - like a ghost town - been in our apartment tonight packing and making up and listening to a Corona playlist.
Flight looks like it will leave tomorrow as planned before Spain is locked down completely on Monday morning - if so we have been very lucky and out holiday has been brinkmanship to the extreme.
Tommy, I think doing all the extra long stuff gives you a more maintainable base somehow, so stopping or slowing down for a while doesn't massively impact on shorter runs - great time off not much training.
DT, I really don't think you have anything to be disappointed about - you're flying at the moment. Though I guess the challenge now is to maintain it for an extra 6 months...
Mace, 5 is better than none!
McF, great racing - it sounds like you would have been pretty close to PB time without the limiting factors there.
Kevin, good to hear you positive about the mileage and improvement in fitness, well done.
I'm grumpy, I hate summer training so London postponement is bad news, and I have a chest infection and can't run, not to mention everyone looking at me like I have the plague, which I don't...
Glad you managed to escape from Spain just in time, Skinny. Enjoyed your report, sounds a bit of a toug hcourse. My repotr was a bit misleading, the route did include a lot of the nice bits of Cambridge; the narrow city centre streets, the college greens, the canals etc, althoug hit did also includ esom eof the less salubrious areas (and the road out of the city into the head wind was fairly unpleasant).
Hope you're recovered from your chest infection, Madbee.
Shame to see all the spring marathons being cancelled but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
As of yesterday I am a home worker. Theoeoteically this means I should be able to get out for runs during daylight hours which will be a bit of a novelty.
Yes will be nice for you running in the light. My 10 miler got cancelled this morning - no surprise - I'm just concerned that we will finish up all locked up inside and won't be able to run at all but again in the grand scheme of things no big deal.
I'm getting frustrated as all the kids activities which usually limit my running are cancelled, however I am still too injured to run. Though not having London drawing closer takes the edge off. I just have 10 hours a week on my hands and not even any sport to watch!
Looks like the schools will close this week as wales and Scotland announce theirs are.
I went to chiro this morning. I had to be scanned by a thermometer before entering (smashed it of course at 35.5). He is still happy it is just muscular in the glute/piriformis and impressed on me that I am in no rush and to just give it 7 days this time.
Bloody hell, not sure what happened there! *Theoretically
How's the injury, DT?
Have managed to get a few runs in whist social distancing. It's a very strange world we are living in at the moment, hope everyone else is coping with it ok
Very strange! And approaching hysteria with some people whilst others ignore the risks completely.
I've managed 182.25 miles in last 8 weeks at an average of 20.25 miles a week including ten runs of 10 miles and above.
More importantly I've only had to stop one run and walk home which was about 4 weeks ago in my cutback week where I got to 3 miles out of a 5 mile run and my foot said ouch.
It's starting to look like I might be doing the next 180 miles running round and round our very small back garden but it was lovely being out yesterday doing a 12 in the cool sun on a pretty quiet route where minimal crossing the road to avoid breaking anyone's 2m personal safe space was required.
Hope you are all well and managing to get through this. Lit hope your wedding plans are not affected yet.
Cheers, Skinny
So I had a fortnight with no running and the foot started to feel normal, then I did a 5m easy run and it flared up again. It's looking like I might be able to run every other day on it if I wanted to risk things. However it's reached a point where I should see a physio - two weeks of rest and my body feels worse for it. The foot pain even kicks in on a long walk. Such a shame to be injured right now as I don't have any commuting to do and that gives me oceans of time that I could slot runs into. Ah well, I will have to put it all into the gardening.