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Manchester Marathon 2018
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I needed to get some speed work done so went for a 10 miler this afternoon with the plan being to stick 8 miles in the middle at some kind of pace that felt hard (for me). Scores on the doors were 8 miles @ 6:47/mile. Have to confess I fudged it up a bit by setting off too fast - rallied and finished strong so not too annoyed.
Plan to add another couple of miles on next week building up for Wilmslow on Sunday week. If I run that at 3 hour pace then I should be able to get 15 mile tempo in during one of my last 20's which could bring me close come race day.
I'm slightly annoyed with myself. It's extremely rare for me to turn down a run but I feel a bit knacked... and I've been completely engrossed in following a footy match on the internet tonight. Vital win... then I put on my running kit... then took it off again. Hardly ever done that before... and often go out at this time of night. But not tonight. I will HAVE to get a double figure run in tomorrow evening, or I really will be annoyed.
NE - that's why I try to go out early morning. Once I settle in for the evening it's almost impossible to get me to go out again.
I had a rest yesterday too. Wasn't planning on it but I felt tired when I woke up and my legs were still sore. Just did a yoga class.
Felt good today, though. It was raining but I had to fit the run in before my massage so I didn't allow myself to make any excuses. Rather enjoyed it in the end. I wasn't planning on doing a MP tempo but it turned into one after I got into a race with an elderly Chinese man I passed in the second mile and then kept the pace after we went our separate ways. So, 8 miles with 7 at around MP, and I felt strong which is good.
Northender, don't beat yourself up for missing a run, best to rest. hope you feeling better and out today.
SJ well done on the 10, going out too fast but managing to hold on can only be a positive thing surely? As for half pace, i had no idea what mine was when i did mine this weekend, just picked a number out the blue and gave it a bash (and it worked)
colin, you cant be nervous due to the cones in 2016, well done on the recent half.
rest day yesterday, more forced than choice. legs were still achy from sundays half, even todays 8 miles felt crap, just need to shake it out the legs with 16 miles on fri and 20/22 miles on sunday. roll on tuesday for a massage
Jason, thanks for your advice. For my one and only previous road marathon I also overdid a 20 miler in the build up so I know it's a danger and a trap I'm very susceptible to falling into. I am also now of the view that a 20 mile race is only really necessary if you're a complete newcomer to marathon distance, looking to build confidence. In hindsight, I would have been better off racing a hard half marathon 5 weeks out. However, in further hindsight, that half marathon would have been Bath, which obviously didn't happen!
I gave this some thought whilst out doing 11 easy miles yesterday and I like your suggestion of breaking into 5 mile chunks, rather than 2 x 10, but I don't think I want to start as slow as MP + 90s so I think I'll start off with 5 at MP+1 and then knock off 20 secs for each 5 so I finish with 5 at MP. All of this is with the caveat that my wife has been in bed ill for a few days shivering, with a very sore throat and headache and I am now starting to feel a tiny bit of soreness in my throat. Might be being paranoid but if I get same as she's had, I won't be doing 20 at any pace.
Nice and easy for me now until Sunday. Rest day today, recovery with a few strides tomorrow and recovery Saturday.
At the same time my previously rock-solid left leg has developed some sort of hip/groin issue which leaves me having trouble walking when I get up in the morning so it's back to the physio at the earliest opportunity.
This is all getting me down a bit but at least I've got some time to recover before race day even if my preparations are not going to plan.
I hope everyone else is doing better than me.
Rest day yesterday due to the boilerman coming (though I did Hot Inferno Pilates in the afternoon, which featured a lot of core work as well as burpees and mountain climbers). But I did 6 miles today. It was meant to be an easy run but I was concentrating on my form and it turned out to be rather quicker than intended. Cadence stayed the same but my stride was a bit longer.
Cal, I know exactly what you mean. With one boy at school and one at nursery, our house is a germ breeding ground.
18 here today instead of the planned 20. Hamstring tightened towards the end of the session and had slowed down significantly due to running with some friends possibly too quickly oops!
Ankle has now stiffened too so will check how both issues settle over night.
Onwards and upwards.
a brilliant run Friday 16 miles with 4x 2 miles at sub marathon pace (8.20) average pace overall 8.30!
Was on the piss up in the evening and stayed over, couldn’t resist a little jog round the city, hungover and tired legs but got a slow 4 miles in.
Long run planned tomorrow somewhere between 18-22 miles depends how the legs are feeling, bit of stiffness in the calf’s but got massage booked for Tuesday.
4 weeks to go, taper is in sight
Robert, well done on the 20, and congratulations on becoming an uncle!
As for me, I touristed Finsbury Park parkrun yesterday and wore the wrong shoes as I didn't realise it was hilly. (I have yet to figure out how to run downhill in the Zoom Flys as they kind of throw you forward, which is not what you want on a downhill if you're dyspraxic. Safe to say these will not be the shoes I wear for Liverpool). I had to check my speed on the downhills as a result, so I only managed 27:20 and age group 4th. It was a good workout though.
I was wondering if I should do the hilly Brockwell route for my 20 today after a hilly parkrun, but I did it anyway (in my Frees) and it went pretty well. Averaged 10:37 with a neg split. Slowest mile was mile 5 (11:00 dead) which is an unrelenting slog up a big hill on the way to the park, and fastest was 16, (10:15) where I was coming down the same hill on the way home. Mile 20 was only 2 seconds slower than that, and probably would have been quicker if I hadn't dropped my water bottle, but never mind.
The good thing was that, while I had a few aches and grumbles and I definitely felt tired towards the end, I wasn't at my limit. I remember the 20 I did before Manchester 2016 where I hated every moment of it and swore and cursed my way through the last couple of miles. This was nothing like that.
Oh and, luxury, I was able to have a nice Epsom Salts bath after, as my water is back to normal. Yay!
Not so for me, unfortunately. Last you heard, I had an achilles issue which surfaced at the end of a long run. I've been missing from this forum for the last 2 weeks now, first resting for a week (but with no time to see a physio) and then I was struck down with the worst case of flu in my adult life!
Well, I went out on Saturday for an easy 6 miles, which went fine. Yesterday, traditionally long run day, I only planned for 10, which I duly went ahead with. In the final mile I did notice some tightening of the right calf, maybe some discomfort in the achilles area. I stopped, walked for a few minutes before continuing and completing uneventfully. Might have been something or might not. When you're trying to listen so intensely to your body, any little ache will become a 'OMG, injury!' At any rate, after 2 weeks off, that 10 mile easy run felt like 20! Both during and after, muscular fatigue was extraordinarily high.
Physio appointment this evening. Not sure to what extent I believe their abilities to heal injuries, (I cannot directly ascribe successful return to full functional health from any previous injury to any physio or any specific program of stretching, strengthening, orthotics, etc.) I do, however, trust them to diagnose the problem and point out the right direction. We shall see...
Time's fast running out! The final training week! Keep at it, all!
Cal, I remember booking Elle onto a womens running race at finsbury park, on their page they had described it as flat. By the 2nd lap Elle didn't look impressed! Well done on the 20, always good to have a bit left in the tank after the 20miles.
Colin, clothing mistakes isn't a bad thing as long as you learn come race day, loads of hints and tips the one I believe is best is start in the clothes you want to finish. You don't want to be running after 5 miles too warm and not wanting to throw your jacket away and boiling in it instead! As for the gels, it's an odd one, I cant find anywhere you can buy these gels online, defeats any guide of not trying something new on race day. Always best to carry your own if you can
Sol sorry to hear your troubles, done the right thing resting, hope the physio can see what the problem is and advise on what you can do. Wouldn't read into yesterdays run as could be down to illness as it may not have fully left the body. Sol also something to consider if you are able to run, the fact you haven't trained much over the last couple of weeks means you may not need the 3 weeks to taper as your legs may not be as tired as they would have been if you had a full bank of training giving you another week to train.
Easy few days just a bit of core gym work today, massage tomorrow and a light jog on Wednesday, legs need a few days to recover, couple of sessions thurs/ fri before final 20 miles on Sunday.
Shuka, sounds like a logical explanation to me, have all the benefits of the long run without the physical strain of the last few miles. I have felt I have peaked before 4 weeks out and cut the last long run down to 18 rather than the 20 planned.
One factor to take into consideration, I don't think you should be surprised or worried that the second twenty miler was tougher. Until you taper, you're accumulating fatigue, and it was your second long run in 14 days (new to that distance too, I think??). So I agree you should step back from that... maybe 17... which should be a good balance between keeping up a good long run, but not doing too many twenty - milers too close together.
Sounds like you've done great.
I should have mentioned that although during the run on Sunday I only felt minor twinges towards the end, it was afterwards whilst stretching and the following day that I felt it more strongly. Hence the worry.
The physio confirmed that this is a light achilles tendinitis, but where the achilles attaches to the calf muscle (soleus). Which is a good location to have tendinitis (if you're looking for a silver lining), as muscles receive much higher blood flow than tendons. The cause? Looking back over my training, he can't point to anything wrong. He puts it down to a previous injury to this soleus muscle 2 years ago!
He massaged the area, spent several minutes with the ultrasound machine and left me with the expected eccentric heel drops and calf stretches.
He strongly feels that I should run, which will assist recovery more than anything else. However, until next week's appointment, I should only run easy, avoid hills and only run upto the point of pain. Which means relatively short distances, up to about 8 or 9 miles.
He does agree with you Robert, that I can get away with a 2 week taper (perhaps even less), giving me two more weeks to try and claw back some fitness.
Has anyone trained for a marathon on 8 miles a day with no long run!??
Speaking of which, I've had to take two rest days rather than one as my right calf got tight and my hip wasn't right. Actually still isn't. I've found a sore spot that is more in the groin (actually realised it was more groin than hip when it ouched during yoga yesterday).
I did 4 miles today and concentrated a lot on form. It was neither great nor awful. My calf got a bit tight during the fourth mile so I decided against trying to extend it beyond.
I was rather cursing the timing of the Prague/Vienna trip my friend booked me on to (I'm flying tomorrow) but actually I think the break is pretty opportune given my body's general grumpiness.
It's worth noting that last year I did my 20 four weeks out, then buggered off to Dubai for five days to ride rollercoasters. (But it was my second 20...I'd managed not to get injured that cycle).
I have yet to discuss this development with the physio, but I'm beginning to feel that my marathon aspirations for this year are unattainable and unsalvageable. I might just have to bow out of this race. Looking forward to 2019!
Best of luck to all the rest of you!
Some positive news from my side, I'm recovering from the cold I picked up last week and my hip "injury" wasn't anything too serious according to the physio. I'm planning a short run tonight to see how things feel with a view to getting back up to full speed by the weekend, I'll keep you all posted.