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Good to see you getting back into it Ali...
Nell - excellent PB on a hilly course, will you be targeting a 1:29 at some stage ? Sounds like a lovely day with the family too. I used to work in Edinburgh and lived in Leith and ran along thre coast at Portabello.
Ali - how are you feeling after your week of rest ?
Carl - sounds like you've had a good first week of P&D, how are you coping at home on your own ??
Ricky - dont forget to run on the right side of the road when you get to France !
I've had a few days off from running since my visit to the physio. Mrs C and I took the mutt out for a 10 mile walk yesterday at Chatsworth Park, through the Haddon estate and over to the Monsall trail at Bakewell. It was a bit hilly but both Harvey and Mrs C managed it fairly easily. Mrs C's fitness levels are certainly improving since she started the C25K. I've decided to follow the HADD training plan and run purely on heart rate. I hope to build a nice base over the next few weeks which will hopefully see the knee fully recover and get stronger, that's the plan anyway.
Andrew - it sounds lovely running along the coastal paths. HADD training plan has you running at certain heart rates (as a % of your MHR) for a number of weeks. In that time you should see your pace increase while still working at the same heart rate. Then you increase the heart rate at which you work and repeat the process. It's all about increasing your lactate threshold. After a few weeks of this HADD then introduces speed work in to the plan. There isnt as book on this so I've just been reading stuff on the internet and will be asking questions on a HADD threrad to make sure I've understood things properly
Hi all.
Long time no speak. I'm going to catch up with reading through the thread so bare with me if I don't pass comment to anyone just yet.
Slightly random few weeks for me the week before last I felt rough and lethargic and for days couldn't muster any desire to run, baring in mind this is weeks away from my marathon. Mentally I just wasn't up for it, towards the end of the week I forced myself to do a 5 miler on the friday and Parkrun Saturday as tailrunner and this got me in the mood for 22 on the Sunday.
I still wasn't in any frame of mind for my marathon on the 24th, the whole travel, accomodation thing was becoming a stress, the fact I wasn't pursuing a time was effecting my motivation and my plans for the weekend around it had changed.
Anyway this week I was runningwise right back at it but still not bothered about the marathon which was becomingto my mind a bit of a chore.
Long story short (thank god they sigh) a good weeks running including a 1:49 half marathon training run on Thursday before setting off for a LSR on Sunday of somewhere between 18 and 20 miles all the while still churning over whether to run the Marathon in my head when I have an eureka moment after 11 miles.
If i just want to do the distance and am not bothered about a fast time why don't I just do it now?!
So that is what I did
26.2 miles in 3:54:13 ran on my own and finished with a crowd of one yawning cat on a wall. That includes popping into shops to grab drinks and fruit jelly sweets here and there.
So I've done my planned sub 4 marathon (4 days after a sub 2 half), freed up my Bank Holiday weekend, saved myself money and am available to run a 10 mile race on 25th with friends. The general consensus is I'm a bit mad but I'm feeling quite pleased with myself.
Now I'm going back to read two and a half weeks of this thread.
Nell - great PB from you on what sounds like a really tough HM course. You just confirmed that you are the speech one on here. Great report.
Ricky - enjoy the hols and I suspect you won't need to worry about which side of the road to run on.
Ali - good to hear that you are getting back into it.
Carter - great to hear that you have a solid plan and that you are getting stuck in. You have always shown some resilience and you will win this battle.
Oirish - had been wondering where you had got to. Only you could take it upon yourself to run your own marathon and then write about it as if it was no big deal. Hats off to you. Top effort and sub 4 as well. Looks like you will be competing with Ricky in Dublin and I will just need to follow on behind.
Ricky- brilliant mileage. I've very rarely done 50 miles in a week. Only if I'm on holiday and have lots of time to run. But you are admirable in that you obviously make the time no matter what
Andrew- enjoy your holiday running- it is the best. Running without pressure.
Carl- admire the attention to detail with your plan, and your determination to get through your P&D plan. Yes it will be tough but by all accounts works so well. Think how satisfied you'll feel after getting better and better times.
Nell- well done Mr 'Och I'm just going to see how I feel...' 5 min PB is smashing!!! Also you look far too composed in your race photo. I take the WORST race photos ever.
Oirish- well done, a great achievement to do yourself. I could not do that, as I feel I need the pressure of a race to perform my best. This may or may not be all in my head!
I had my first run tonight after a week off. I am so glad I took a week off. I had spring in my legs tonight which I haven't felt for a while. I just planned to go out for a half hour jog and see how I felt but I made it a decent progression run ending at roughly my 5k pace.
I am looking forward to my first park run (and first ever 5k!) on the 24th. This week I will be getting back into marathon training with my long run on either Thursday or Sunday (haven't quite decided yet what works best). Aiming for 20 miles.
Hi Carter - Yes I think if I got a flat course I may just be able to challenge for 1:29. Mind you that feel a big 3 minutes! I am going to see how the training goes and see if another local HM comes up before the October Marathon. I know the Glasgow HM is on Oct 6 but I think I would prefer another like the Haddington, that was so enjoyable. Yes, I remember you saying you lived up here for a while, well I had a nice walk down the Portobello promenade yesterday for you
Glad to see you have got a plan going and hopefully you can get back to where you want to be.
Hi Carl, Thanks yes the first 5 or 6 miles were pretty tough and I did think in that period 'why am I doing this to myself?'...lol!
I can see you and Ricky are getting into the P&D schedules. I just find that the sessions are quite a high mileage and with me running first thing in the morning I don't think I could fit in the miles. I do like the idea of running a block of the long run at MP and I am incorporating that into my schedule.
Hi Ali, Yes I know with all the club runners around I couldn't resist the temptation of giving it a good go. Glad to hear the rest has done you good, remeber to ease back into things...btw, there were worse photos, I am sparing you...lol!
Hi Oirish, If you ever write a book let me know, as I am sure it would be very entertaining. Superb, well done!
Rest day today and paid a visit to the physio, legs seemed ok and ITB was not proving any problem. I didn't have any problems from it on the HM and the physio just informed me of a couple of areas that felt strained but she put that down to the HM and I wasn't feeling anything from them. So looking good at the moment. I have been easing off the heavy weight squats and lunges and using lighter weights and more reps and have been working with stretch bands to maintain the glutes etc, as well as building in a hill rep session every week on a Tuesday. So off to the hills in the morning.
Hi all,
I'm catching up fast with the thread, as always it is a right mixed bag of fortunes but then I suppose that is running in a nutshell isn't it?
I'll finish reading it all and post tomorrow although I imagine everything that can be said has been. I can also bring you up to date with my tales of life as a Parkrun tailrunner which, and I promise this is true on my kids lives include an incident with a blind runner in a rose bush and also a "runner" and her 47 minute 5k that included being overtaken by someone out walking their dog.
Oirish - I look forward to reading full reports of your latest adventures !
Ali - good to see you back on the road and feeling more positive about things.
Carl - how is P&D week 2 going ?
Nell - hope the hill session went well today. What race is up for you next ?
So, I've done a couple of HADD sessions and it's basically very easy running so this approach will hopefully keep me ticking over wile getting my knee stronger at the same time. Running to a heart rate range is quite strange; going down an incline and you can get some speed up but going uphill I'm practically at a standstill. You have to be fully awar of the gradient you are running on as the slighest change can have quite an affect on your HR. You are plodding along nicely with a good rythmn and normally you would keep going if it's a slight change but on HADD you have to change your pace/effort to bring your heart rate into the required range. Practise makes perfect and all that. Still, comments from other people following this method say it really does work but it can take quite a bit of time so I will need to be patient and stick to it.
Finally up & running on French campsite wifi!
Nell- stonking PB! Very well done sir ... my suspicions confirmed that you are certainly the "Mo" of this group!
Carl - good to see you are enjoying the P&D and have successfully picked up the reins of the 12wk plan.
Oirish - hello Stranger... just about to put an APB on you as the used to say in CHiPs! So a DIY marathon and sub 4 too without much of a fuss - well done sir also! Are you still targeting Dublin at end Oct?
AliB - Good to see you back at it & enjoying it.
I had the guts of 2 days travelling at the weekend (left 11.30am Sat arrived @ French campsite 3pm Sun anoon) so no running.
Ran 7mls GA with 6x100m strides on Monday morning & then a 12ml MLR this morning.
The 7mlr was a trail run around the many trails, paths & tracks in the area followed by strides on the cricket pitch to finish.
This morning started badly... I had a 12 mlr to do but unsure of a road route I elected to do an out & back. However 10mins into the run I realised my garmins battery had died. I had my phone with me for tunes so knew roughly when I left so thought I would just estimate when I had run 6 miles going on the time elapsed and then turn & come back..
It was only as I was about to turn I realised I still have runkeeper app on my phone - so I fired it up at the turn. Amazingly runkeeper clocked me as 6.07mls coming back meaning I had estimated the outward leg almost bang on! (0.07 over) .
Early morning Running weather is perfect - early mornings are sunny, bright and quite cool.... however temperatures have been building to 25deg+ from midday into late afternoon. I'm back before 9am and the family are still snoring so mu running has no impact on the family holiday which is great
Rest day tomorrow then 10mlr with 6mls LT which will be a toughie on the undulating French roads!
Busy few days on here for everybody. Cartrr its quite busy without the kids as it is giving me an opportunity to catch up with some folk. That said the house is a bit quirt.
Wll read back tomorrow to see what each of you are doing. Still getting over the marathon on ones tod by our very own suprrman Oirish.
Managrdf a 12 mile GA run at just over 9 main mile pace today so that is a good start to the week.
Well hello one and all. I had to take notes as I was reading through to catch up with all the comings and goings.
Carter and Alibali - sorry to hear about your woes, pretty much everything that can be said has been. I do admire you Carter in the pragmatic way you dust yourself down an readjust your goals so quickly, you don't seem one for moping about, I think your attitude will help no end in your recovery.
Ali - Hopefully the enforced rest has done you the world of good, it sounds that way. I am a great believer in listening to your body and not your head if you can, it's a lot easier said then done but as runners we're naturally quite driven and I think sometimes we push ourselves too hard. An average run or missed training session doesn't make us bad people!
If there is one thing I have improved on over the years it is leaving behind disappointments and work forwards to acheive goals and not to try and right past mistakes. It's important to remember we do this for FUN. Housework is a chore, meeting work deadlines is a chore, listening to my eldest learning to play the Trumpet was a massive chore but our running is fun. At the end of each day forget about it and move on to the next.
Carl and Ricky - That is some serious mileage you are both putting in there, I still haven't gotten around to looking at P&D but it seems to be working for you. Can you both have something interesting on the back of your tops for Dublin so I have something to read as you disappear over the horizon please?
Nell - Kudos on the PB, not sure a 2 pm start would be my cup of tea I have to say, a top performance sir.
As promised here is my last two weeks of Tailrunner duties including, although I say so myself a pretty decent effort last weekend with not a single casualty.
So a fortnight ago I take my place at the back of the pack having vowed to redeem myself after the sheer insanity of the previous week and hoping for less carnage and trot off behind the families running together and I think "Ahhhh this is more like it" as we go around the bend past the ornamental fish pond and approach the Castle.
Not 200 yds in (I've measured it) as we turn only the second corner I espy two young female runners off to the side of the path stood in amongst the rose bushes (Beautiful scenery, we're blessed) and as I am thinking it is shame they don't know about Parkrun one says "Excuse me are you a Marshall?"
"Yes" I reply omitting to add "Was it the hi visibility vest with Parkrun marshall and Parkrun logo on it that was your clue?" as that would be sarcastic and I'm never sarcastic.
"My friend is not feeling well" she says nodding in the direction of her mate bent double looking a bit wobbly. Now both of these ladies are probably 20 max and without being laddish fit in the athlethic sense as well as being just the right side of bloody gorgeous. So with thoughts of calf rubs and other essential first aid needs I ask "What is the matter". Now her friend has already ran off to resume her run so she stands up an announces "I can't see out of one eye, I've gone blind"
Now I'm a first aider but a plaster and some TCP is not going to cut it here so I'm feeling a tad out of my depth but she seems quite calm about it all.
It transpires she has a migraine and that although it has happened before never to this extreme, we walk slowly back the admittedly short distance to the start where I make amusing smalltalk to reassure her and keep her calm that only a cynic could mistake for flirting, after all she's not totally blind and lost all her senses so why would I bother?
Having safely delivered her to her Mother at the start line( yes she is young enough to be watched by her Mother I reiterate it was definitely NOT flirting) I head off to catch up with the next runner. BUT I am learning and this time I take a short cut to catch them up and there is a mother and 10 year old daughter who I had noticed the week before running around one of the grass areas but not actually taking part so I'm a little unsure whether they are Parkrunners or not, a cheery hello and we establish they are and in no time at all establish that "runners" is stretching the definition. Basically Mum is wanting to run, her son is waaaay ahead and clearly the runner amongst them the daughter however has a face like thunder and clearly is not enjoying it and has adopted a run/walk strategy of 5 yards running, 5 minutes walking with sulky pauses inbetween. It is horriffic. Now there isn't a bigger advocate of Parkrun and children exercising than me but this girl clearly doesn't want to be there and at one point I have to loiter whilst the mother picks her daughter's nose as she was complaining about being blocked up, eventually I cajole her to run the last 150m it is downhill, people cheering, you get your picture taken, we steam through the line in 47 minutes, it was so painful I even managed to place my order in the Cafe as we completed the last section (they don't do adrenaline shots, I asked)
This week I ran with the mother and coaxed a 34 minute time out of her and get this, the daughter who wouldn't run more than 10 meters last week came bounding along the riverside stretch to deliver a water bottle. She ran further watching than taking part! My Tailrunning is now taking on a bit of a legendary status among the Colchester Parkrun community and they want me to do it in perpetuity.
Oh and the following day on my run I bumped into the whole family in the park when I was at about 22 miles.
I paused briefly to say hello and was bent double and breathing heavy and she asked me "So what do you run? About 3 miles everyday?" and to tired to explain nodded and said "Something like that"
I imagine after I ran off she turned to her husband an said "Did you see the state of him? And he was giving me advice"
Oirish - just another routine parkrun then !! Did you get the girl's phone number ? (not the one who didnt want to run 10 metres but the one who was blind)
Hi all. I've been a way for a while, and haven't caught up on the recent goings on yet.
My wife and I have just come back from a great 10-days holiday where we did lots of 'non-running' related stuff and really had a great time away (lots of eating, drinking, relaxing, etc etc). I did manage to get a few runs in too, so I'm pleased that I managed to keep things ticking over. My plan purposefully didn't show any sessions whilst away, so I'm happy to have got 5 sessions in totalling around 30 miles.
For those that may not know, Annecy is in the Alps and is on a lake that shares the same name. The lake is fantastic and very clean (it is the cleanest lake in Europe). There is stunning and inspiring scenery all around and I got three runs in (two 7-milers and one 5-miler), including one with my wife which was great! Here's a pic of me with my Trotters shirt on, with the lake and some mountains in the background
On another day, we took a walk up into the mountains which was hard work. There were a handful of runners up there too, but it's not something I'd contemplate as the paths are very steep and narrow! There were some great views on the way up though, and my Garmin shows that we peaked at over 2200ft which wasn't too bad.
Whilst in Annecy, I took the opportunity to read Chrissie Wellington's 'A life without limits'. Chrissie is a British Ironman competitor and turned professional fairly late (late 20s). It's a great read and charts her progress to various world titles and records in that gruelling sport.
We caught the train back from Annecy to London and headed to York for a few days, again by train. York is a great city with lots of things to do, and the food and beer are very good! I got two runs in along the River Ouze (a 6 and 5-miler) which I enjoyed. So although I haven't been doing massive mileage I am pleased to have kept things ticking over, and I always enjoy running in new places to keep things fresh.
On the way back from York I started reading the Brownlees' 'Swim, Bike, Run: Our Triathlon Story'. I haven't finished it yet, but it's good so far.
I'm still on holiday from work for the rest of this week, and have a few plans but the full training won't resume until next week. I need to kick start things for Dartmoor Vale in October! Logistically it's going to be a bit tough for a week or so as we're getting our bathroom done and we don't have a second loo/shower, so that may prove interesting!
You would think with the family sway that I would have note time to spend on herte but been busy with my jobs.
Oirish as I am plamning to do my first park run this Saturday I am tempted to hang around at the back to see if the sweeper is half as talented as you. Sounds like you really enjoy this so well done you.
Snuck in a cheeky 4 miles at 9 main milling today which was not on my plan.
Big G - great to hear from you and sounds like you had a good break. You will be fine as you have loads in the bank. October is sgrs away or at least tghast is what I keep saying to myself.
BigG - great hol... sounds like its done you the world of good! Great to keep the running ticking over also
Oirish - you should write a book "Life & times of a tailrunner" .... hilarious
10 mls with 6mls @ LT done this morning. Wasn't really up for it and 1st mile @ 9.40 pace felt laboured (although on a trail) and didn't fill me with confidence for the 6 @ 7.30pace ahead. However I pulled it together, splits as follows:
9.42; 9.11; 7.40; 7.30; 7.32; 7.20; 7.38; 7.04;8.36; 8.52
A much more undulating route than my normal LT route at home so happy enough - avg pace for the 6mls LT was 7.27
Off to do some swimming
Hi Guys, Been busy this week at work and the running has been a bit all over the place unfortunately.
Hi Ricky, I do enjoy getting up early on holiday and heading out for a run getting back just as the family are stirring. It has a really special feel and it is funny I never have a problem rising early on holiday unlike I have this week! Good splits once you got into the groove...enjoy matie!
Hi Big_G sounds a great break you had, when I was away along with a few fiction books I read Keep on Running by Phil Hewitt, which was quite entertaining and Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, which was also a good read. I am currently reading The Perfect Distance (Ovett and Coe) which is also very interesting.
Hi Oirish, You certainly live an eventful life! You should seriously keep notes of these events as there is a book there somewhere..lol! Smashing stuff..and yes, the 2pm start was not ideal, but things worked out ok in the end ;0)
Hi Carl, You and Ricky are certainly eating the miles up!
Hi Carter, I have the Alnwick to Bamburgh Marathon on October 27th but would like to get in another HM before that if I can, hope the HADD sessions are going well...?
Well so far this week;
Monday had a rest day and went to the physio for a massage, found it hard to get up early Tuesday and ended up doing my Hill Reps on the afternoon 6 miles. Wednesday couldn't rise myself again and ended up in the afternoon got it in a steady run of 8 miles 7:34,7:26,7:49,7:57,7:50,8:14,7:24,8:47. Legs felt a bit tired from the hill reps the day before and I think still hanging over from the HM last Saturday. Today I went out this morning and got in a run of 6 miles 7:45,7:34,7:32,7:37,7:38,7:39 felt a lot better and legs felt stronger. Played football tonight and manged to pull my calf but I think I just caught it before I did any proper damage
feels ok now. Rest day tomorrow so I will take a glass of wine to aid recovery!!
Great holiday G- would love to visit that part of the world.
Otherwise in this thread I have been extremely entertained by oirish- I agree that a book would be a hilarious read... I'd buy it!
Monday night I had my first night back to running as previously reported which was nice and my second run of the week was today, around 7.5-8 miles (not totally sure) quite steady. I was staying with my parents in Linlithgow so ran from their house down to the centre of town then did the Linlithgow 10k route, then back home again. My parents house is extremely high up elevation wise and the 10k is on a very undulating route so all in all it was a hilly run!
I didn't feel great to be honest, but had planned a 7 mile session on my marathon plan so was happy to have completed it. Was just pretty tired but I am going to try and get a good sleep tonight and be ready for tomorrow's run after work!
Ali - great to see that the weeks rest did you some good. With your busy workslife it seems like your body has just been plain tired and needed a break.
Ricky - 10 miles with 6 at LT before breakfast. You are turning into a machine. If you keep this up you might need to buy Oirish a pair of binoculars so that he can see that t-shirt disappear out of view. I will probably be joining you. Anyway as you have just knocked out a sub 4 marathon with no supporters, I am expecting you to be doing quite well in Dublin.
Oirish - I am still laughing with your recent fun and games at parkrun. You are an inspiration to many. You will be drawing a crowd next
Must ask you a question about registering on the day later.
Nell - That is some mileage and quite speedy too. You are setting the bench mark n this area. Really jealous that you can just drop into your physio whenever you want and not get fleeced.
Nellie, that's a fantastic PB! My wife had to call through them the kitchen to ask what I was on about when she heard me shout wow as I read your splits! I consider myself to be quickish when fully fit, but your mile splits were about the same or faster than my best 10k time. Very impressed!
oirish, love the personal marathon story! May have to give that a go one day (or not)
i didn't get to run for most of the last week on hol so headed out this evening for 7 miles. Quickest run I've done in a while (have slowed down somewhat with all the injury fun) but splits were 7.19, 7.42, 7.48, 7.44, 7.44, 7.33, 7.34 sore Achilles when finished but seems ok after a bit of rest
off to France next week so more relaxing runs only this time in insanely hot weather. My folks live there, and sat this time of year it's usually about mid 30s, so altar evening runs are the only way forward.
So having read Ricky's post on his 6 mile LT run I approached my LT run with some trepidation tonight.
My plan said 8 miles with 4 at LT pace. That is 15k to HM pace for those you are not familiar with P&D. When training for my spring marathon I only ever did 3 miles at pace as part of my tempo runs.
And yes they were tough out there tonight. Not sure if I can get up to 6 miles (as you did this week Ricky) at this pace. It is brutal keeping it going. I was aiming for 7:20 to 7:30 for the LT niles.
My splits were : 8:59, 9:01, 7:22. 7:19, 7:13, 7:16, 9:23, 9:31
Overall my pace was 8:16 / mile and my avg speed during the LT miles was 7:18 / mile.
I was dead at the end of the 4 miles so adding another mile or two is going to be a real hard challenge. Having just scanned ahead in the plan I see that thse become V)2 max runs later in the program (which are speed sessions on the track - Really looking forward to these.
So a really hard session done.
I am meant to be doing a 5 mile recovery run on Saturday but I will be making my debut at parkrun. I will probably do a mile warm up before hand amnd another mile mile and a half after to cool down to make up the 5 miles.
I follow this with a 15 mile MLR on Sunday.
Happy running everyone and for those on holiday make sure you get some rest and enjoy yourselves.
Andrew - great that you are back out running and those are good fast splits from you. Hopefully you will be able to manage the achilles for a while and that it will evenytually settle down. Running in different scenery for a week or so must be very refreshing as it breaks the monotony of the same routes back here.
And you are right, Nell ran a fab HM. Enjoy your break.
Sorry Nell, stupid autocorrect made it Nellie!
Lol Andrew- I thought you had a nice pet name for Nell.
Off topic for us- but has anyone been watching the World Championships in Moscow? I have been loving watching what I've caught so far. And us Brits have done not TOO shabbily with lack of medals but some brilliant fourth places and PBs from our athletes.
Andrew - that's none too shabby for 7 miles mind u.... I'm en france a ce moment ... early mornings are nice and cool and as Nell says its great to be back showered and ready for the day when the family are just stirring!
Ali - the hills will do you absolutely no harm.. I enjoy a good hilly run! No TV on hols so no WC's in Moscow for me - how are the GB athletes doing? Any notable performances?
Carl - that's a great LT session... you will find they get easier... by that I mean you will be able to sustain your sub 7.20 pace in the longer LT sessions ahead. Its the one session I dread but once finished gives great satisfaction.
Recovery run this morning - supposed to be 5mls but in holiday adventure mode I headed off around some unfamiliar French country roads & tracks and ended up with just over 6mils clocked... avg pace 9.07 with a record low HR for me of 130BPM avg
20 miler tomorrow - first of the campaign and longest run since Limerick back in early May... yikes..
Hi all,
Looking at all your posts I might be doing the mileage at the moment but I really need to be more thorough with my speed work if I am not to embarass myself in Dublin.
I was chatting online to a friend in America, I might have mentioned her can't remember but next year she is running across America like a good looking Forrest Gump and I have agreed to do a fortnight of it with her like an uglier, less energetic Forrest Gump. I would sum up my emotions right now as excitement tinged with bowel rumbling trepadition, post Dublin the endurance stuff will have to really kick in
Carl - If you are doing Parkrun if you haven't already you just need to go to the website and register parkrun.org. Takes a minute and you'll receive an email with a link to print off your personal barcode, take ithe barcode with you and at the end of your run (never a race) you'll be given a finish token, someone will scan both and job done. You;ll receive an email and text later on with your time and place etc
I hope you enjoy it.
Morning all. Hope everyone is keeping well.
Big_G – it sounds like you had a lovely time in the Alps and a great picture too. I would love to go there and attempt to run up a few hills and swim in the lake. And not forgetting to sample the local wine of course ! I suspect that York isn’t quite as hilly as Annecy !
Carl – good luck with the parkrun this week but be careful of the tailrunner, I’ve heard some pretty bad stories about some of them ! A great LT session from you too. During the brief P&D plan I followed I ran 4 (I think) LT sessions and each one, whilst very hard going indeed, they did get easier to maintain the pace over the longer sessions. I’m sure you will be fine once you get in to it
Bonjour Ricky – make sure you don’t use Oirish’s app when in France or you may end up running 26 miles when the plan as only for 4. What are the trails like out in France ? Good luck with your 20 miler tomorrow, I’m impressed you can fit a long run in on your holiday. I’m hoping to persuade Mrs C to take her trotters when we go to the Algarve in November but I’m not sure she will be up for that. I will still be taking mine though J
Nell – do you find that playing football helps or hinders your running ? It sounds like you have recovered well from your race, do you follow any training plan for the marathon or make your own up as you go along ? The HADD sessions are ok, still early days of course and I believe it can be a number of weeks before you see any significant results. It does feel strange having to slow down and speed up to keep in a certain heart rate zone though but I guess I will get used to it.
Oirish – I doubt very much that you will embarrass yourself in Dublin, after all you have already run a marathon under 4 hours in a training run. Do you know what your target time is for Dublin yet ? What sort of daily mileage are you expecting to cover when running across America ? (Make sure your friend is the one with the directions, you just follow her !)
Ali – you sound positive again after you week of rest. Hilly sessions can obviously be hard going but some rest and I’m sure you will be raring to go again today.
Andrew – some speedy splits of your own there, take it easy with that Achilles. Enjoy France too and have a nice bottle of wine for me, after one of your runs of course !
I’ve not done much the last couple of days as I’ve had a pain on the underneath of my foot which was giving me some gip. This morning, however, it feels a lot better so I think another rest day and I will be back on it tomorrow.
I have, however, started looking for my new road bike. The only problem with this is that I'm getting it through the Cycle To Work scehme and our company only runs this during March and September. I will apply in September but they dont process the requests until the end of the month and then it takes 3 weeks until I receive my voucher then I've got to order my bike etc etc. So, I doubt I will get it until the end of Octoberish by which time the weather will probably be rubbish again !
We have just taken delivery of our new tent. Obviously, MRs C and I need a 6 birth tent dont we !! I think we are going into the park over the weekend (one of the highest points in Sheffield that will be very windy no doubt) where we will be having a trial run at getting the thing up. Then we have got to get all the other equipment we need to go with it, that should keep Mrs C quiet for a few weeks while she trawls through eBay.