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Sub 50min 10k/Sub 1h 50 half marathon
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you kind of have me there Bob... however my first mile was 7:32 vs race average of 7:41, so not too bad - I appear to be getting more and more suicidal these days!
Local 10k booked after realising my last 10k was 18 months ago! Wondering if starting with my shoes tied together is a viable option!!!
Did you get in to Boston Bob?
Yes thanks Rich. Everything went very smoothly and got my confirmation e-mail on Monday. There are a lot of very nervous people awaiting an announcement about the cut-off time, if there is to be one. I would hate to be in that position.
Great news. Have you decided on Stroud Half yet?
I had a moment of madness last week and entered the "Full Monty-cute" on the 4th December - a 10.5 mile cross country race (in)famous for it's 10 hills. One of which has a rope for assistance!
That sounds horrendous! I really should do some cross country. I think it is a great way to improve fitness. Just scares me though.
Still thinking about Stroud.
I don't know what I was thinking! Looking forward to not running to any time pressure though, I'll be more than happy to just get around in one piece and collect my prize of Christmas pudding!
Great news Bob, that's so exciting! You will love Boston
Flying out to Berlin tomorrow. Managed to pick up a glute med injury last week, not to mention a touch of PF on left foot - arrgh! Only managed 2 x 3 miles in last week and a half. But things seem to be settling down a bit. Also my daughter has just come down with a cold, so I'm going mad with Vicks First Defence and Dettox, trying to avoid!
So not quite sure what to expect on Sunday! It also looks like it's going to be pretty hot, 23C.
Thanks Nicole. Just thankful that I didnt have to suffer like you did this time last year. All the indicators have been for a near zero cut off due to the conditions you experienced in Boston and the affect on the number of BQ's from that race. However, it now seems that there may be a cut off up to about a minute as the numbers registered in Week 1 were higher than expected.
Sorry to hear about your 'issues'. Hope all is sorted by Sunday and once you get going you dont give them a second thought. The marathon weather Gods certainly seem to have a very warped sense of humour. Hopefully it will change by Sunday. I'm sure it will be a great experience whatever the eventualities and wish you all the luck in the world for a really strong run. Take care.
I surprised myself with a 43:25 in today's 10k. Pretty pleased but it means I have to have a rethink about my target for Stroud half in four weeks.
Thanks Bob!
Berlin went much better than expected. Unfortunately the plantar fasciitis flared up quite badly before the race. We were stuck on the plane for an extra couple of hours before takeoff, with zero legroom as all the overheads were full so had to jam rucksack under the seat. Then a day at the Expo/a touch of sightseeing being in my feet all day - my left foot was really painful/seized up and could hardly walk! Did what I could with ice from the hotel bar and resting as much as poss on the Saturday.
So the big day arrived and I must say I've never been more nervous/unsure! No idea how everything would hold up. I'd bought some compression shorts at the Expo to try to hold together glute med/hip muscles. Spent the last few hours prepping mentally by reading lots of Scott Jurek 'Eat and Run' (a fab book by the way!) and his tales of running amazingly hard ultras with various injuries!
Berlin was massive, really busy/hectic at the start. Got there early but had to queue so long for the loo and then got directed the wrong way for my pen. In Berlin there are 8 pens, A-H. It's graded solely by your previous marathon time. If you've never done one or if you were 4:15+ then you're in H. As I'd done 3:52 (3:50-4:15) I was in G. Tailgated a very determined lady also fighting her way through the hordes of H. Only to realise that we should have been sent down the side, so had to scale the barriers to escape! Just made it into G in time but glad I did as guess H would have been a real free for all
Set out, it was pretty crowded but I was able to run fairly freely, passing quite a lot of people. Had just decided to run totally on feel to try to get myself through this in one piece. Had to adjust my running to land on mid/forefoot (I'm more of a heel striker) to save my foot. First 3 miles were good, I felt comfortable and started to gain confidence.
Then hit the first aid station! Chaos! I'd already decide to run with a camelbak as personally I like to drink a few sips every mile and knew it was going to get hot. So didn't stop, but it was quite difficult. The water tables were not very long so there was much cutting in and out. Also all drinks provided in plastic cups which were just thrown on the road (not to the side). This became pretty treacherous, particularly with the stickier sports drink stops. Especially with my foot issues I had to slow significantly at each stop, to carefully pick a path through the cups where possible and to avoid slipping as I could feel my shoes sliding around for some time after! Annoying but better to slow a bit than be taken out!
As the race went on it started heating up. Aware of the problems I've had in the past with hot weather, I then started taking the water at stops to throw over myself to cool down, which worked really well!
Everything carried on well, I tried to hug the blue line as much as I could except around the water stops. Pain levels ok, just focussing and trying to flow and zone in!
At 20 miles was amazed how good I felt. I must have got the fuelling right as I never hit the wall and managed to keep my HR steady. Started to get some sharp pain in my left quad but just tried to relax into it. Now I kept seeing seas of tempting massage couches at the aid stops but just told myself no, keep going or you won't get started again! Everything getting very hard now, each km marker suddenly seemed to take miles to reach. But knew now I could do it.Thankfully had been prewarned about the 'fake' finish line -a giant beer arch so no nasty shocks there. On about and then the final fun of a short stretch on cobblestones! Finally, the finish! Crossed the line and literal
4:13:01 which I was really pleased with. Originally had been aiming to beat my PB of 3:52 (readjusted to 3:54:59 after Manchester mismeasuring!) but that had long been off the cards. My only real hope was to at least beat the 4:20 from Boston, but was worried it might be 4:30+ depending on how everything held up, which would have been disheartening.I knew I'd slow during the race but also pleased with my splits as this was gradual, no major crashes after 20 miles. Very encouraged as I know I ran well within myself, so can definitely do more once I'm fully fit/injury free!
For now though, my foot is pretty severely trashed so no more running for a bit! Rest,rehab and wait for the inevitable London rejection to arrive soon But all worth it, had a great weekend and now half way to that Marathon World Major medal!
Brilliant Nicole!
It's strange isn't it how injury worries can disappear once you get started but return once you stop?
Oh yes, I'd forgotten about the imminent arrival of the rejection magazine. Having said that I'll probably get in this year with Boston 6 days before!
Great running Nicole. Sounds like you really have the measure of the marathon distance now. Rest up, and wait for that London acceptance letter, then come back twice as strong!
Well done Nicole, a very decent effort in the circumstances.
Rich - great 10k time too!
I haven't run for a couple of weeks after experiencing some excruciating pain in my left foot a couple of weeks ago which lasted about a week. Not sure if it was pf or if I had just bruised my foot badly, but the heel and also beneath the outside of the fifth metatarsal felt like they were broken with every step I took for a good few days. bit apprehensive about restarting running later this week, hmmm ......
sounds painful Andrew - was that as a result of some kind of trauma or just your usual running?
That's been the annoying thing Rich, I don't know! It didn't come on straight after a run or anything like that, nor straight after some kind of trauma (although I do recollect tripping over a basket of toys on the floor a few hours earlier, but I don't remember landing particularly heavily or awkwardly and it certainly didn't hurt at the time) so it has left me a little confused.
I don't know how but I completed my first half marathon in 1:44. First 10 miles went like a dream. And then I hit the wall. My thighs felt like they been loaded with lead. I could and nearly did start walking when thankfully I inadvertantly saw my little support crew and that got me through the last few miles.
I started in the 2hr band, would have been pleased with 1:50 so my time is good for me. Something to beat anyway!
How did Stroud go Rich?
I've finally managed to string together a good block of consistent training without getting injured... I got round in 1:36:05, over the moon!
That is an amazing performance Rich. You must be absolutely buzzing. Surely the marathon debut is now just a matter of when not if? And when it comes you can seriously target sub 3:30 as a starting point.
With all sincerity, your progress is stunning. Extremely pleased for you. Very well done.
Thanks both,
Yeah, really pleased - I'd been targeting around 1:37/1:38 so the extra minute came as a bit of a surprise.
I do still have marathon aspirations... however I got rejected by VLM this year, and if I'm honest I don't really have the time for a marathon campaign at the moment. I'm pretty content to see how far I can get my 5k/10k and half time down.
What do you both have on the horizon, I'm guessing more marathons?!
Valencia Marathon three weeks Sunday.
I can understand that the marathon training must be extremely hard to complete when you are working. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to make it the priority event of my day (is that somewhat obsessive/sad?).
Also rejected by VLM, still harbouring hopes of a sub 3:45 and a Good for Age qualification for 2018.
Not sad at all, if I have a run planned I spend the day looking forward to it... I just can't prioritise it above work unfortunately!!
How has the training for Valencia been going? Is 3:45 on the cards then?
Training has gone really well. No injury issues. If I have a good taper, get the pre race fuelling right and there are no extreme weather conditions I may have a chance. The key really is getting as close to the 26.2 distance as possible and not run the equivalent of 2-3 minutes over distance.
Having said all that, I would still be very happy with anything around 3:50. First marathon as a V60.
Congrats on the milestone birthday!
I ran 13.2 on Sunday, but it wasn't on closed roads so I'm guessing it might be easier to run the racing line without having to worry about cars! Bet it still takes some concentration though.
Good Luck for Valencia at the weekend Bob.
Geoffrey Mutai is running. If I followed him at the start it would be like running with you at Minchinhampton Rich!
Looking forward to it but, as always, you just cant tell until the day.
Really appreciate your kind wishes. Will report in tomorrow.