Manchester Marathon 2017

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  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Brilliant, Daz! You're going to nail that marathon.
    Looking forward to hearing how everyone's races went today.
    I was marshalling at Thames Riverside 20, which was rainy to start with but eventually the sun peeped through. I was kind of glad I was only marshalling, though, and had got my 20 done yesterday on paths and pavements, because it was pretty muddy out there. Having done Thames Meander on a very wet day I know I don't much enjoy those conditions.
    This was my first time marshalling outside of parkrun and I quite enjoyed it, aside from being a bit cold and damp. My legs felt not too bad at all after yesterday (just a bit of tightness in the calves and sore glutes). I got a goody bag too.
    I was posted just beyond 6 miles (although it was an out and back, so I had to stay put for a few hours) and the first place runner was a long way ahead even then. Not sure what time he did but I'd imagine it was fast.
    Also very interesting to see how many runners shuffle along like I do, hardly picking up their feet. A lot of them are faster than me, too, so I guess I'll be able to get faster without changing my style.


  • Si CSi C ✭✭
    A 13 mile for me today. Absolutely torrential downpour for the first 8 miles then a bit of snow followed my some more icy rain, freezing cold and had to use all my will to keep going. Pleased to get that one out of the way a 20-22 for me next sunday then start to taper, I still dont know if ive done enough but at least i'm still injury free.
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    Bideford half marathon (North Devon coastal)

    The aim was under 85 minutes, the more the better and mission achieved with 82.25. Decided to run at an uncomfortable pace which turned out to be around 6.15 mpm which went up a bit for the up-hills and down a bit for the flat and down-hills.  The main drama was the weather which was 2C and hailstoney around 10m/ one hour from the start to a barmy 6C and weak sunshine for most of the run with the last 6 miles into the face of a constant wind blast.  Really pleased as race evidence, the mileage is working and more confident than ever of a good sub 3 time now at Manchester in 4 weeks time.

    I will try and post a picture of the massage handthingy later - when I find it.

    Good 20m done and dusted Daz, great you felt strong, not always the case at this stage.
    Welcome MartinU and I hope your races went well Little Nell and Aber Snail.
    Cal - very difficult at this stage to work out what MP is, but clearly your on an improvement curve, so ride the wave.
  • Well done on getting out for those long runs Daz and Si - especially in rough weather! Daz, at this rate you look nailed on for an excellent Manchester time.

    Good for you, Cal - giving something back to the running community. I really want to volunteer to marshal at some point - and I'd like to run as a pacer too (maybe for those looking for a sub-2:00 or sub-2:10 HM somewhere).

    OuchOuch - that's an excellent HM... really well done - you're also looking like you should be well on track for your target sub-3:00 in four weeks!

    High Legh 10K this morning was excellent, as ever - it's such a great race! Had torrential freezing rain and impending hypothermia, like many folks seem to have had today - but, in spite of this, I managed 46:16 with an average pace of 7:21/mi., which is a 2:22 PB. This was completely unexpected due to my missed running and work travel last week, and it now means I've achieved both my race targets in the great god "The Plan" for Manchester: run a sub-1:45 HM (did 1:43:52) and run a 46 min 10K (did 46:16)... 13th lady home too - I'll take that :smile: Just need to complete the marathon now!!!
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    That's brilliant, Nell - it's hard enough running a PB, let alone in those conditions.
    I'm assuming pacers need to be able to run faster than the pace they're, uh, pacing. The slowest pacers in the race today were 10 minute miles. That's a bit quick for me at the moment - maybe next year! Oh, and I found out the winner got home in 1:54. That's faster than my best half, fer chrissakes!

    Great running, OuchOuch. I better the hailstones were a bit ouch too.

    Si - that sounds horrible. I'm really glad I did my 20 yesterday as it sounds like everyone's been soaked and frozen today!
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    4 lovely relaxed miles at sunrise today. Could have gone longer but need to be in for the Sky engineer. Ah well.
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
     Welcome to the new posters. Sounds like some good running going on from everyone and good racing from Nell and Ouch.

    I felt like I was falling apart a bit last week, thankfully it was a cutback week so I don't feel I've missed out on too much but I only went for 1 run! As I said before I hurt my back somehow on Monday morning, managed to deal with it but pain didn't completely go away until Thursday/Friday, then on Thursday night while playing squash I got cramp in my right calf quite badly (but managed to hang on for the win ;)) which has been very tight since, causing pain when I put too much weight on my right foot (at least, I think it's related to that - the alternative is I've strained something in my ankle). It's been getting better every day but I didn't feel I could run on it until yesterday, so went out for an easy run in the evening to test it out, fully prepared to only run for about 5 mins if it was painful. Got completely soaked to the skin in the first 2 miles but after that it brightened up and I ended up doing 10 miles at 8:15s so was happy enough with that. Calf/ankle didn't really hurt on the run, could feel it every now and then but the same at the end as the start. Hoping it goes away soon, am not running tonight so it should get a bit of a rest.
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Hi all again,been absent for a while but lurking away.My original plan was for Manchester to be my A goal,but I really wanted sub4 this spring but I was training at 3:45/50 pace so wanted to go at that pace,but then thought if I blow up I could lose sub 4,so I had a change of plan and done a track marathon last week,got 3:59:14 so got my sub 4 :smiley::smiley: It now means I can go to Manchester and go aggressive and not worry if I hit the wall as I have done my main target now.
    Recovered really well though and done Parkrun on Saturday just 15 secs outside my PB,and a nice easy 10 miler today that felt really easy yet was faster than normal.
    Goof luck to everyone on the last few weeks of training.
  • Pete HoltPete Holt ✭✭✭
    Hi Ian what is a track marathon? well done on the time btw.
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    It's a marathon run around a track :wink:
    105.5 laps,not the best fun but done the job I wanted it to.
  • Very happy here - finally cracked the 2 hour barrier for HM!  1:57 and it was really windy (but we were lucky that the torrential rain stopped).  Did 6 miles this morning.  More than I would usually do the day after a race but I'm not doing a very long run this week as I will do a club cross country on Sunday, so I feel I need to do a few extra miles here and there.

    Ouch - excellent half marathon time!

    Nell - excellent 10k!

     Nick - hope the injuries disappear.

    Ian - you have some stamina doing 105 laps of a track! Great time though.

    Cal - well done on getting your long run done. Great pace.  Do you have a target time in mind for Manchester?
  • Thanks Cal! Hope the Sky engineer got to you when promised.

    Thanks, Nick, as well! As I said on the 1000 mile thread - take care of yourself... are you planning to carry on with squash right up to Manchester - might be a recipe for disaster?

    Hey - Ian, good to see you back! Fantastic racing by you... really well done on getting your sub-4:00 marathon. Let's hope you dip ever further below 4:00 in four weeks :smile:

    Well done Aber... great HM race - congrats on breaking the 2:00 hour barrier! All these long training runs seem to be helping everyone with PBs!!!

    I took the day off work today to get in my LSR since I raced yesterday when it was actually scheduled. Did 22.21 miles then checked the great god "The Plan" and found it only required 21 miles (for some reason I'd got it in my head that all my long runs were even numbers: 18, 20, 22, 20, 18 - but turns out I was wrong - LOL!) - so I had done 1.21 miles extra. Started out very sprightly and accidentally did miles 5 and 6 at goal mara. pace. Slowed down a lot from mile 14 and the last 1.21 miles were a bit of a death mark at 10:29/mi. pace - but still managed to average 9:44/mi. for the whole run. Happy with that - I'm certain I could have done a further 4 miles - even though the pace would have been slow. Hopefully will be OK after a taper and not having raced the day before! :smiley:
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Nell-That's great after a race the day before, the taper will certainly help to make those last few miles easier.I always went off a bit faster in the first few miles but really make an effort to slow for the first few now and it makes the end of my long runs so much easier.
    Aber-Well done on the sub 2,that's such a big milestone to hit the first time,you'll probably keep lowering that now you've done it once.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017
    Way to go, Aber Snail! Not really a snail now, are you? :lol: (I've always described myself as the club donkey, but I think it's time to upgrade myself to mule now I've got a few sub-2s under my belt). I'm shooting for sub-4:30 this time around.

    Nell - bonus mile! Knowing you can get the 26 is good for the confidence. I'm still not sure how those last few miles will go for me. I certainly don't want to have to take as many walk breaks as I did last year - I'd really like to not have to walk at all.

    6 miles this morning. Two to warm-up and four that were meant to be MP (10:15). Did the first in 10:15, then 9:59, then 9:31 when I told myself to calm the hell down and did 9:58 for the last one. I jogged another quarter mile to cool down.

    Left foot had some pins and needles again and I've figured out that it's down to tight calves, specifically the soleus. They were very grouchy for the first couple of miles. I have a tendency to sleep on my front which means my toes end up pointed all night. Need to get myself out of that habit.

    Oh and Sky is fixed. I had to do a planner rebuild after the engineer left as the box was grumpy after so many failed recordings (due to no signal) but it's all good now.
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    Ian - good to see you back, well done again on your sub 4 warmup marathon, sounds like you are going really well.

    Aber - congrats on sub-2 half, especially in the wind. I hate running in the wind, even easy runs are not pleasant (unless the wind is behind me of course!).

    Nell - brilliant long run, the day after a PB as well! My best long run so far was the day after a parkrun PB, maybe there is something in doing a short hard effort the day before? Not a theory I'll be testing on 1 April though...

    I do plan to keep playing squash up until the week before, have played it most of my life and have only had one injury that I remember that stopped me playing, a groin injury that kept me out for 2 weeks. I'm feeling a lot better today after a rest day yesterday (was on my feet more than usual for work as I had to go out of the office for once, which seems to have helped) so am hopeful that I'll be back to 100% soon.

    Cal - you sound like you're running really well at the moment too. I'm sure you will easily achieve sub 4:30 based on your half times and the fact that you seem to keep going faster than planned MP without realising. Glad the Sky is fixed too, sounds like a right ordeal!
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    You know, Nick, the worst thing about losing my satellite signal wasn't missing the shows. I managed to watch them all on my PC (though, obviously, it's nicer to watch on a 42" flatscreen, but at least I kept up with everything). The thing was, to do that, I have to sit in front of the PC. And after a long and/or hard run, even sitting at my desk is too exhausting. :lol:
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    Heh, I do like a good lie on the sofa after a tiring run. Though I have found I recover badly if I stay there too long!
  • Good work everyone on the runs over the weekend. Neil, I admire the dedication of taking a day off for the LSR! I would probably try do it late at night and just laze about on the day off :-)

    I haven't any tester races coming up before the big day. I kind of dont think I am mentally strong enough to do something like a half or 20m race and for it to go crap and try to convince my brain to forget about it before the big day! 

    I struggled with the long run on Saturday, I managed to do 16 miles before just heading for home. I was very stiff and slow and lacking energy for some reason. Took it easy on Sunday, but went out last night and done a hard 10 mile run with a few friends so that has brought my confidence back up. Strangely I always seem to find it easier to run in the evening after work (or just a saturday evening race) than the morning ones....might be just by body!! Maybe I will have to get up at 3 am on the day of the race and put in a few hours work before the marathon!!
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Don't know if anyone still needs to book trains but i believe virgin will be having a sale on thursday-Sunday and trains are valid from March 24th
  • I was going to ask for opinions on whether doing my long run tomorrow would be too much after my HM on Sunday but Nell did hers the day after a race so I guess it's okay!  I will probably skip club on Thursday night then in favour of something easier.

    MrPotatoHead - I did a really bad HM before my last marathon and went on to run my best race ever!
  • 18 miles this morning. It was slow and very hard work but training on tired legs reminded me how the last few miles will feel on 2 April. Hope everyone else's running is going well.
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Aber-That's a very good effort with tired legs,well done.
    Was hoping to go for a nice run today but my calf was twinging and after a mile it felt a bit too sore so decided to give it a miss and walked home.
  • Daz BromsDaz Broms ✭✭✭
    Aber snail- great 18 miles on tired legs, I'm sure these long mikes in training will help on the day.  
    Ian- sympathise with your injury, hope by walking and not soldiering on it will be ok. Ice and rest I guess. 
    4 yesterday and 8 today off nightshift so ticking over. Last long run this weekend for me. 
  • Ian - good plan not to risk the calf.

    Daz - talk of last long runs... it's getting close, isn't it?!!!
  • Daz BromsDaz Broms ✭✭✭
    Aber snail- very close. Guessing we will receive race pack soon also. Been reading about taper and thinking about race day plans, getting quite excited to be honest, strange to be excited about putting your body through pain though. 
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    Looks like we are all still in one peice getting the lsr done and thinking about our last one this coming weekend. A few days of doubles for me each about 15\16 miles inc a 5k time trial in 18.53. Try and do a further 70 miles this week then taper time. Just wish this weather would improve, very unspringlike in Cornwall.
  • Well done Aber - good 18-miler.

    Very wise move Ian - best not to risk an injury this close to the big day!

    Daz - I've still got a 20 and an 18 to go (the 18 will have a HM in the middle as I'm racing again on 19th March)... until that final HM is put of the way Manchester won't feel quite real to me.

    Ouch - your training seems to be going really well... great 5K time, well done! I don't know you're Cornish (or are you an emmet? :wink:)... where abouts are you in the beautiful Kernow? I'm an ex-pat Cornish maid originally from Saltash... roight moi aaansome!?

    4.97 miles (annoyingly... should have paid more attention and run the extra 0.03 miles) for me today - Fartlek at the track near work - followed by a really good sports massage after work... my very tired legs/hips were ready for that! :smile:
  • Nell - annoying about that 0.03 miles!

    I was going to do 4 easy miles this morning. Lying in bed, I was thinking I need a rest day. Now, at 7.15, thinking I could do it. Really need to be more decisive!
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    MrPotatoHead - I don't think you need a race in the build up by any means, though personally I find it does help me when I'm trying to figure out what a realistic goal is. Don't worry about struggling on your 16 miler, it's a good amount of miles in the bank and you're clearly no worse for wear if you did a solid 10 miler afterwards.

    Aber Snail - well done on your long run! I'd certainly expect the half to still be in your legs so no surprise that it was slower than usual.

    Ian - hope you're resting up well. Having already done a marathon recently it doesn't sound like you need too much endurance, just keep ticking over and stay healthy! Well done for walking home, I always find it's a hard decision mid-run.

    Daz - hope your last long run goes well.

    Ouch - impressive mileage. Weather is improving here (just north of London) the last day or 2 so hopefully some better weather for you soon down south.

    Nell - If you are racing the half then I really don't think there is a need to make it up to an 18 miler just 2 weeks before. I feel like you don't really gain anything from the extra 5 miles and there's just the risk of injuring yourself. If you do it then make sure you take it really easy on the extra 5 miles!

    My niggle is almost gone so I went with the 8 mile club run last night, instead of a tempo pace as originally planned I took it easier, except for giving it some effort up a mile long hill in the middle. Ended up a shade over 8 min miling on average. Squash tonight then planning to do the Finchley 20 race this Sunday as my last long run, then it's taper time! It's a 4-lap course, current thinking is to aim for 8:15-8:30 pace laps 1 & 4, with 7:45-8:00 pace (target MP) for laps 2 & 3.
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    By the way - does anyone know what energy drinks they will have on the day (if any)? For example I did London last year and they had lucozade sport every 5 miles I think it was (and water every mile).

    I guess this info will probably be in the race pack but would like to try out what they have on my 20 miler on Sunday if possible.
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