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P&D Autumn Marathon 2017
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Good luck to tomorrow's racers, looking forward to hearing the results John, SQ and RSR and anyone else ?
I think a cheeky ultra might have slipped under the radar today If I'm not mistaken ? (Not one of mine I hasten to add).
Well done on the PR Jooligan. I marshalled one myself this morning.
I ran my first LT session in about 5 months earlier this week. Tough, but only about 16s per mile down from
peak I was pleasantly pleased.
Nice parkrun Jools. Sometimes it only takes one good run to feel like you're back.
John - not particularly confident about 2:30 but feel like I'm in a position to give it a crack. We'll see how the half goes next week. Good luck with your half tomorrow.
Good luck also with the rutland half SQ and with the pb attempt Spoon. Was just thinking that the original hour of power was 60s HMP/ 30s MP but I switched the on/off time to make it suitable for a second session of the day.
No running today but the kids have worn me out. Got out for a nice 13 miles on the trails yesterday. Was still a bit sore from Wednesday to start with but felt really good when warmed up.
Good luck to all racing tomorrow
Also really proud of my nephew who completed his first race. He’ll be keeping up, and then beating me, soon enough
Scott - sorry to hear the injury is still bothering you. Hopefully the exercise will sort it out.
John: sounds tough towards the end but still are really good time!
21 miles this morning @8:37/mi - that's the last 20+ miler done before Abingdon. Solent Half next Sunday then it's taper time! Have really enjoyed the 12 week plan and I think it works well off the back of an ultra race because the endurance is already there and doesn't need as much building up.
Thanks Tom big PB yeah - 1:35 faster than March, and over 2 minutes faster than the same race last year!
Great LRs Tom & AWC.
Congratulations Spoons - I was fully expecting you to dip under 37 given your training & the conditions today but that's a massive chunk off. Vaporflys too I presume?
Did the Mic Morris 10K today & surprised myself with 37:50. 37th of 991 finishers. Really happy with the race especially after my 17.5M day yesterday. It's an all time 10K PB but unofficial since the race has a net drop of 600ft from start to finish & only has 100ft of up on the way.
Spoons, what's your thoughts on the vaporfly's? I usually use Adidas but thought about trying these. How do they come up size wise?
10 hours done this week with 7h30 indoor cycling, 1h30 running and 1 hour strength. Pretty pleased all things considered.
Nice HM John, sounds like you didn't fade as much as you thought you could, which is a good sign.
Nice long runs out there Tom, AWC & Millsy ;-)
Solid week Philip, nice easy run in there too
Bit of a taper week for me, plus been a bit busy. gone from 21 hours 4 weeks ago to 18,15 & 11 this week. Maybe it's taper madness but my legs feel shite this week.
Last day at work tomorrow and then off to Italy on Wednesday, race is on Saturday. Easy 10 miles today and just a few easy sessions this week. Weather looks good in Italy, 22c and sunny with a risk of thunderstorms, sorry Joe.
Despite feeling like you fell apart John you still held on for a solid time
Things coming together nicely Tom
Fantastic PB RSR, much more to come i'm sure!
Good to get that last big one out of the way AWC
Definitely a PB course Jooligan
Nice work
43 miles on the bike this morning out and back from Southampton to Gosport. Legs are in bits now after leg day at the gym yesterday so lots of rolling tonight
Scott.. good luck with getting fully fit.
John.. it never feels great going backwards but the clock is the clock and it's still a great time. Maybe the guys who were overtaking you went out too slowly in the first half.
Jooligan - yes, it's downhill... but it's downhill for everyone, and you can't argue with a top 40 finish out of a thousand runners.
Nice LR Tom and AWC. I know what you mean about the 12wk plan. I didn't have time for that, so I've been taking bits and pieces from that plan.
This week, I only managed to get in 3 runs but I've rolled the dice by focussing hugely on speed stuff - hoping I've enough base endurance. The 1 mile race last Tuesday. Then 10 w 5 x 1200m at 5K pace and tonight, mostly in the dark, I did 19 with 13 at MP. Went really really well (intended 12@MP but just kept going and probably could have gone again for a 14th, as per the book. My confidence has been up and down like the proverbial... but these last two runs have been a big boost - so right now, I'm thinking that 3.2x is in reach. This time next week it will probably look an impossibility again!
Sounds like you're a bit disappointed John but looking on Strava, your pace doesn't drop much really so you must've held on pretty well. I think it's a good sign if you can hold onto decent pace when it feels tough. On a good day you'll be even faster. Still definitely on for sub 3 with that time.
Nice 10k Jools. Sounds like you're getting your mojo back. I'd just keep quiet about the elevation.
Great long run NE. That's a tough one and sounds like you did it easy. Always a confidence boost. Good long runs from Tom and AWC too.
Reg - Not long now. Really hope everything goes well and you can give it a real crack. It seems like it's been a really good build up.
Nothing for me over the weekend. 10-11 mile tempo planned for lunchtime.
Thanks everyone. Yes HA amazing to think two years ago I hadn’t broken 40 minutes for 10K! The support and inspiration from this thread has definitely been a big help in that transformation. Hope the tempo goes well.
Nice work on the 10K Jooligan, congrats. I agree with Tom, take the PB - we won’t tell
Good luck for the weekend Reg.
Philip I’m pretty happy with the Vaporflys as a race shoe. They are nice and light, and feel very fast, but the cushioning means my legs don’t feel as beaten up as they might after a 10K in my Adidas Takumi Sens I wore previously, which are much less cushioned. I imagine that will be a big help over HM and marathon. Size wise, I wear 10.5 Adidas, I went with 10 for the Nikes which fit well, although I could probably even get away with a 9.5.
Some great runs there NE sounds like you are in good shape.
Three weeks until my half now, so one final big 100+ mile week this week then a two week taper. My plan has a track session on Thursday, but I think I’m going to shift it to Saturday so I will be a bit fresher, and can use the local track.
Met up with SQ this morning for a nice recovery catchup run around the river. There was a beautiful foggy sunrise over the racecourse, one silver lining to the colder, darker mornings.
NE - impressive LR, nice way to bounce back after your mile.
Tom- strong LR as well in a big week.
Scott - really hope you get back to 100% soon.
AWC - like you I've enjoyed the 12 week build up more and sounds like you're well prepared now.
Reg - looking forward to hearing how it goes, are you going to tell us your targets?
Spoons - I was going to say unbelievable but your training doesn't lie and it's a well deserved PB. Have a feeling that sub 80 is just the first of a few targets that you'll smash. Surely it also brings sub 2:50 well into range?
HA77 - yes you're right about the slow fade, maybe it was being overtaken regularly that was on my mind. I could have been smarter with my pacing as well, so will have to make sure I stick with the pacer in 4 weeks time. Considering my 10k 2 weeks ago was at the same pace I should be happy with it.
Where's Millsy to report on his latest achievement?
Am also anticipating a great race this weekend in Berlin. Anyone know how I can watch it online?
Fantastic PB Spoons! Also interested if you'll now revise your marathon targets. Your run date with SQ also sounded beautiful and romantic. Jooligan too, nice one.
Well done holding on John, always nice to realise you haven't run as badly as expected.
Good luck this weekend Reg, jealous of that weather report. First run in long tights this morning. Bleugh.
I had my first outing as a pacer yesterday. I came home in 2:14:55 so super pleased with my efforts. This is all especially so because I came to London without my garmin, had to borrow my sisters, which, turns out, is not accurate, and topped with questionable and missing mile markers around the course. It was rewarding and stressful in equal measures.. glad I've done it, but not sure I'd do it again.
Sorry to hear about the injury, Philip. I must agree that increasing my mileage has correlated with an increased percentage of slower miles. Hopefully just tipping the scales in favour of improvement over injury. 7h30m indoor cycling – impressive! Not sure whether you or Joe is thread turbo king.
Good parkrun time on a hilly course, Jooligan. And a good 10k time to top off the weekend.
Good 13M trail run, HA. Excellent five days in a row there.
Great half time, John. And as you say, sub 3 game on!
Great long run and a great week, Tom Looking good to peak for Abo.
Nice relaxing recovery run with Spoons this morning. A brilliant 10k PB from you yesterday – what a leap. Looking good for Oxford Half.
Hope the taper week goes well, Reg. No doubt the magic juice will return to the legs by the weekend.
19 with 13MP is a great effort, MP. Go for the 3:20!
Well done on the pacing, JCG. Five seconds under has got to be considered perfection. Missing garmin and dodgy mile markers would have played mental havoc with me.
At the tail end of last week I listened to Marathon Talk. They interviewed Liz Yelling about some of her harder marathon specific workouts. The two keys she said were a BAC-style tempo sandwich and an ‘hour of power’-style alternating MP and HMP. Looking good for the thread on that front.
Rutland Half Marathon yesterday was a brilliant morning. 750 half marathon runners leaving 90s after 150 or so marathon runners. My fears about overtaking were allayed fairly swiftly as the front group of 10 or so of us had passed most in the first mile. There was room enough to the side of the path over the dam. The route went 4.5M out and then back to the start/finish, then another 2M out and back in the opposite direction. This had the nice benefit of splitting the race up into sections other than miles and before I knew it we were over half way. I was in fourth at the turn around, and gradually pulled into third about mile 6. The chap in fourth sat right on my shoulder for about 5M. I gave a few choice words about working together into the wind back over the dam, but he said he was giving it all he had – fair enough I suppose. The mile markers were well out, and my manual watch lapping brought up 6:22 at first (oh well, just treat it as a training run), 5:05 next (game on!) etc. It wasn’t a fast course with several undulations, wind and more off road than I expected. Really happy to hold on to third place, finishing in 1:22:49. 2 minutes off a PB. Really need to enter a big flat, fast course (that guarantees nice conditions!). So, another podium – and with a prize… of a horseshoe with Tippex written 2017, 3rd. You win some, you lose some…
Hope to have a big week, but a fairly sudden and imminent house move will put paid to it at some point. Will just have to rely on the previous month’s solid work to see me through. Definitely no quality until Thursday – some recovery required.
Nice MP run NE, 13 is a good chunk at MP.
Nice pacing JCG, watches are for amateur pacers, tights already though. Almost time for the annual debate about whether men should wear tights! I steadfastly refuse to run in anything other than shorts.
John - My minimum hope is that I break 10 hours.
Swim 1:05-1:10
Bike 4:50-5:00
Run 3:10-3:30
Transition 5-10 minutes
I guess that's a range of 9:15 to 9:50 assuming nothing significant goes wrong. My last one was nearer 11:40 so I do doubt myself.
have seen some great PB's flying around, AWC, Jools, and Spoons (hope I haven't missed anyone off)
Phil, sorry to hear about your injury woes. As many people that follow me on strava comment, I do my easy runs a lot slower than race pace so, for me, slowing these down has made a massive difference to the amount of days lost to injury in the last 3 years.
JCG, that was masterful pacing. I get anxious doing it a parkrun where people are getting it for free!
Tom, sounds like an impressive long run at the end of a 75 mile week. Looks like you are coming into form at the right time.
Reg, enjoy Italy, I hope that the forecasted for thunderstorms is wrong and you are the right side of 10 hours.
SQ, great 2nd place. A good time on a difficult course
I was also lucky with the weather at the weekend for my last long race of the year. Centurion Running's Chiltern Wonderland 50 miler.
It felt really autumnal at the start and it was a the first outing for a base layer and gloves for months. Although threatened heavy showers most of them seemed to have happened before the start as the ground was quite wet and slippery in certain sections.
My targets for the race (based on a few people's results from last year) was a top 20 finish and and hopefully within 8:30. The first 18 or so miles were relatively flat and was ticking along at about 8:30 mile pace and then the hills started. My summer of trail races had given me a great deal of pace and endurance but what I had neglected in my training was adopting a decent speed hike technique for the steeper hills. Miles 20-26 were tough going and had a few bad patches where you wonder why you are even doing it. At least I wasn't being overtaken. From the 26 mile point I got into a great group of 4 (the 2 leading ladies and a chap with loads of experience at the really long stuff)
Being in a group really helped to lift the spirits and also meant more pairs of eyes to spot the directional arrows and tape. We only made 1 wrong turn adding about 1km to the total but it looks like a lot of others made this mistake as we were not passed. Getting to the 32 mile aid station made things a lot easier mentally for me as it's only an 18 miler to go. We all got into a disciplined pace which ensured we were all motivated to run he flats and downs and then for the hills agreed to walk until an agreed point and then push on.
The last aid station was at 40 miles and we were all feeling good so went for a strong push to the finish and with the last 3 miles downhill it felt like a sprint. The last 400m we all decided just to have a go for it and the 2 ladies had a proper battle for the trophy with only 1 second separating them. I was one second behind and the other chap about 10 seconds behind. I finished in 8:41 which I think was fair enough in the conditions but was absolutely delighted to get 14th place. My highest ever in a Centurion race.
Legs and feet were fine. It's just my back that's really hurting but I think that's down to not enough practice with full race kit in my pack. A learning for next time.
No long races for me until next year now but have a few Road Race League fixtures in November and will have a go at some more parkruns.
Excellent targets, Reg. Best of luck and I really hope the weather is kind.
Really strong run again Millsy. I too chuckled wryly at "only 18 miles to go"
Impressive HM SQ. You've got to be confident of a good run at Abo after that.
Cracking LR NE. Bodes well for Chester.
Impeccable pacing JCG. Sounds really stressful though.
That's an ambitious target Reg. Good on you for sharing. What's the course profile like?
Thanks for the support folks. Good job I didn't mention the elevation of my 10K PB in public
I'd like to give it another go when I'm really fit (& maybe not run 17.5 mountainous miles the day before) as pretty sure I could break 36. Went through 5K in 18:50 which is slower than several parkruns pre VLM. It's also got to be good practise for Snowdonia as after the climb from Llanberis to Pen-y-Pass it's mainly downhill to the halfway point at Beddgelert before 2 more big climbs & a final 900ft descent in the last 1.5M!
Legs felt a bit heavy today so just a trot around my river route at recovery pace before picking it up a bit over the last 5K
And don't tempt me, SQ... regarding going too fast. For every P&D based marathon, I've always done great in the MP long runs but always end up 6 or 10 minutes outside the time that they might predict. This training run averaged 7.48... so points to a real race around 8.00 pace.
This marathon was supposed to be a 'holding' race, to maintain a good base from which to attack 3.20 next spring - and I really wanted to relax a bit and get an even pace through the race and have been planning to do the first 20 miles at 8 minute-pace. But now, with such a good MP run in the bag, I know I'll be tempted to head out a bit quicker, to give myself a chance of sneaking a PB (7.47 pace), which will almost certainly be a mistake!
Spoons - I think you're turned into a thread inspiration yourself (one of many). Dare I say it, very close to a 35:xx off HM training.
SQ - great podium finish for what sounds like a tricky half. Repeat that performance for the next three years and you'll have enough prizes to shod a horse. Good luck with the house move.
Millsy - to get within touching distance of a top 10 placing at one of their events is a great result. Sounds like a well executed race.
AWC - well done on the 10k PB earlier last week, hopefully a pointer of more to come.
Jooligan - a great time whatever the course profile. I'm sure my quads would have exploded before the end.
Well done on the pacing JCG and the long runs Tom and NE.
Reg - good luck for the IM. Hope you are not flying with Ryanair. Having thrown in a longer ride (for me) once a week recently I'm starting to appreciate the effort required for that bike speed. I'd struggle to maintain it for one hr never mind 4 or 5 and I'm a regular bike commuter.
Not much to report here, week 2 of P&D commences just to get some consistent mileage in the legs as I was finnding the couch just too easy to sit on without some structure.
Great race report Millsy, brilliant effort.
Reg good ambitious targets for the ironman, I hope you nail them. where are you racing?
I got in a 10 miler and then an afternoon 4 miler yesterday, all at 6.45 pace which felt really comfortable and no niggles from the calf so I hope all is well there. I'm thinking of doing alternate run/bike days to give everything chance to recover, so 3x run days (approx. 15 miles per day) and then 3x 1h30/2h bike days and see where I end up. The major events calendar for 2018 came out yesterday and the 2 National duathlon champs are the 17th and 23rd March, which are 4 weeks before London marathon, which might make it interesting, if I decide to be a Jack of All and Master of None again next year.
http://www.watchathletics.com/schedule/watchlive/2878
Hopefully it works.
Great racing SQ. At least a horseshoe is a bit different from the standard medal.
Great ultra Millsy. Top effort. I should look at doing that next year as it's just down the road from me. I keep saying I should do an ultra but never do.
JCG - can't get better pacing than that. They'll be sure to ask you back again next year now.
Tempo went alright yesterday, just an easy one today. With the Windsor half on Sunday I'm starting to get nervous. I've got much higher expectations and I'm putting much more pressure on myself than in the Spring. Yesterday I purposely didn't look at my watch the whole way around so I wouldn't get worried that my pace hadn't improved. The goal is to run under 72 min. With the hills at Windsor that should suggest that sub 2:30 is possible. It would also mean a 22 year PB. I can't actually remember my PB but I think it's 72:1X at the 1995 Gold Coast Half.
Maybe I just need to smoke a bit of weed and chill.