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P&D Autumn Marathon 2017
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Macca - Did my 100k this year, which will give me a qualifying race for a 100 miler should I wish to do one at some point. However after the 100k I kind of feel that is a bit of a stretch, but do plan to run one of there 50 milers in 2019 (SDW or CW).
Thanks for all the target advice. As for me I'm not racing a spring marathon, but will be doing the P&L HM plan to race Bath half instead.
Will then race an autumn marathon, but not decided on race yet. HM PB was set this year (1:24:52) and current marathon PB is 3:10:15 (this year). So ideally want a 3:05 GFA which I feel with an 18 week build up is achievable, but not sure if I am reaching too far if I target a sub 3?? Although I guess Gold=Sub 3, Silver=GFA and Bronze=PB are decent goals considering the time frame.
Lets see if I get shot down as a sandbagger or not!!
Stevemac - I did a 1:24:04 HM just before my sub 3 so I think with the right marathon training you should definitely be in sub 3 shape!
Cracking effort at GSR Spoons. I'm sure you would have nailed sub 60 if the conditions had been in your favour. Sub 2:45 is well within your compass with the rates of improvements you are making. Perhaps in the Spring, but if not pretty soon after.
Steve-I think an attempt at Sub 3 (providing training has gone well) would be the next logical step based on your half time.
HA-I enjoyed reading your blog post-brought back all of those wonderful moments! I've got no idea what went wrong for me so hardly in a position to comment on yourself. It was probably down to a combination of factors that added together to make things go as they did. When running at your pace over long distances the margin for error is very little and you need everything to go right. I'm sure it will work out for you at VLM. Thanks again for the support and help with getting me to the finish. Much appreciated!
I'm not injured and have had a few very pleasant easy runs over the last few days including 9 miles (6:15s) this morning feeling pretty good. Even more baffled as to what went so badly wrong at Abo. Just one of those things i guess.
Hope everyone has a good weekend. Good luck to Jools and anyone else racing.
Spoons - echo other peoples thoughts, you've definitely got at least a 2.45 in you with your levels of training and dedication. Keep pushing those boundaries.
Tom - Glad to hear you're still running again and enjoying it. Dare I ask, what the plan is moving forward? I think you're owed a bit of good fortune in the near future after the rotten luck you've had.
Had a pretty encouraging LT run yesterday morning. Couple of miles to warm up, then 5 miles @ 5.55mm. Decent progress as just 2 weeks ago I did 2 x 3 miles and could only muster 6.05mm, and that was with a break in between.
Going to do my standard 'give parkrun a crack' tomorrow and then a 22 miler on Sunday. Just the 3 weeks until Valencia now.
Joe: good luck at parkrun. Sure you will nail it! And enjoy/endure the taper - its definitely my least favoured period of running.
SQ: well done for making it on to the MT podium this week. You have officially taken Joe's crown as MT tart on this thread I reckon with all your recent appearances
4 miles this morning and legs felt surprisingly good given I was walking down stairs backwards on Tuesday!
Plan from now until London 18w P&D plan starts is to go to club training on Monday evening which is mainly interval/hill/tempo work and I'm starting a 6 week RunCamp course on Thursday mornings at 6.30am which is a strength/technique running course at Southampton Athletics track. I'm aiming to increase my speed over short distances before marathon training with the hope that this can translate to a faster marathon combined with another P&D plan. I'd also like to finally run a sub-20min parkrun - current PB is 20:00 so not much improvement required
Good luck at parkrun Joe, and then hope you enjoy your last(?) long run before Valencia. You'll miss them once they're gone.
Your plan sounds pretty solid AWC - the running course sounds interesting, let us know how you get on!
I have a track cycling taster session next week, then will look at joining a new club once I'm down south. Trying to decide between triathlon clubs and running clubs in the area..
Been popping into the thread on and off to see whats been going on, and see what the regulars are up to, as I had a rest from an autumn marathon this year....Looking forward to training for a spring one after a few months off.
(some of you might remember me as the tortoise)
Joe - All sounds promising, that "training" marathon seems to have sparked you back into good form. Have you considered your target, you must have a good idea post Amsterdam where you're at. Is sub 2:40 in your mind?
Tom - Well done for getting back into it already, I haven't even considered going for a run yet. As you say it's difficult to know what went wrong. Are you still thinking about focusing on HMs or have you got unfinished business with the marathon?
No running for me yet. Busy tomorrow so I expect Sunday will be my first run. I am not sure what to do for London, I suspect I will not follow a plan as it's hard to blend it with cycling and swimming. I think I am going to target a 10k in December, looking for sub 35. I'll then start my London training around Christmas time. Maybe with a Christmas day marathon Joe. Not.
Cheers guys. Jooligan I’m hoping to do Berlin next year, if I don’t get a place then either Munich or Frankfurt are the backup plans. I’m under no illusions - highly doubt 2:45 will be even a consideration for London, but it’s definitely my long term target whether it takes 1 marathon or 10!
Steve a sub-3 attempt doesn’t sound unrealistic at all based on your HM time, and as you say if you miss you always have GFA to aim for. That’s what I did at Frankfurt last year, and having GFA as a secondary goal really helped keep me motivated when it became clear sub-3 wasn’t going to happen.
Glad to hear you are already back running Tom and your experience at Abingdon hasn’t hurt your motivation.
Sounds like the fitness is kicking back in at just the right time Joe.
Good plan AWC, I’m sure a time well under 20 minutes will be yours soon enough. I have similar plans, looking forward to spending a bit of time at the track.
I’ve been enjoying my break from running, although starting to slightly miss it now and couldn’t resist a spin on the bike yesterday to at least get the heart rate up a little. Definitely looking forward to getting out again on Monday. I’ve been eating like a pig and have put on 6 lbs, which isn’t quite a PB so I must try harder…
Good luck at Snowdonia Jooligan, and anyone else racing.
Spoons, I noticed on Strava that you joined a 2:45 group. I reckon with the mileage you are consistently putting in that you are capable of getting there.
No racing for me this weekend. I'm RD at the Halloween fancy dress parkrun and then trying something different for my Sunday run. Approx 15 miles with 3x 3 miles at MP.
Good luck to anyone racing.
Reg - I doubt I'll be anywhere near 2.40, or a PB for that matter. I rinsed myself for 5 miles @ 5.55mm yesterday, and 2.40 pace is 6.05mm, so I don't think I'm quite there. I'd take a sub 2.45 right now if you offered it to me, but fear I might not even have that. You'll go sub 35 no trouble, I'm sure of that. And of course I'll be doing my annual christmas day mara.
Good luck Jooligan!
Great goal, spoons. As ever, your long term planning means you make great progress. Think I’m challenging you for the weight gain states. Feel rubbish for it! Beer festival and curry tomorrow then back on the wagon!
Reg - yes I have a place for London, and sub 2:50 is a very sensible (and meaningful for me) target. That said, I am seriously considering going all guns and following the P&L half plan for Wokingham and not worrying about doing any mega long runs.
Best of luck tomorrow morning, Jooligan. Snowdonia is still my favourite marathon. The scenery, atmosphere and all round epic ness of it is hard to beat. Enjoy yourself but pace it!
Tom, I’m really pleased you’re running again and enjoying yourself. Fancy jumping on the P&L half bandwagon?!
Very sensible planning, AWC.
Smash the parkrun, Joe.
I’m heading off to Jooligan territory - Forest of Dean parkrun (buggy) before a morning of fun at Puzzlewood. Might nip out in the afternoon for something random - possibly even tyre flipping at the local rugby club. Sunday morning: a hangover
Tom - that's annoying that you can't put your finger on what was wrong. It seemed quite a specific issue in your hip so I was sure you'd injured yourself. Glad you're back out enjoying it.
AWC - Really like your plan. Improving form can make a huge difference.
Steve - good plan for sub 3. Anything else would've provoked sandbagging accusations.
SQ - could be good to target a HM for a change up.
Will be out again on Monday and see how the legs feel.
Good luck Jooligan.
Joe - We're moving to the sprawling metropolis of Didcot. You have some kind of link down that way don't you? Or was it Katie? I remember something about a run on the thames path nearby..
Good luck Joe with the PR.
Hi ya Wenty ?
Good to read people are getting back on it or are thinking about it, no rush though. I went for an easy 4m today which I had been looking forward to for a few days.
JCG - I'm doing WW50, I can't lie, it is brutal if (like I did) you don't respect the course but with the laps you're never far from an aid station and it's a fantastic location to spend the day running around.
Caution incoming report.
The 4th and last race of the Grand Slam. I looked forward to the format of this one as you start and finish in the same location, with 4 out and back spurs returning to HQ at 25m, 50m, 75m and finish with access to drop bags and the buzz and supplies of HQ. There were also aid stations on each spur and at the turnaround point of each spur. I have to say that each aid station was so well stocked you could throw a rug down and have a bloody good picnic. Unfortunately I was on a gel / tailwind strategy so had to pass up but the welcome and help you get everywhere is something else.
Leg 1 was about 12.5 miles up the Thames and back. I recognised a couple of runners from a local club ahead who I knew were better pacers than me so I resolved to not pass them which helped a conservative first leg, completing approx 25m in 66th place, 4hrs 3m.
Leg 2 was east up onto the Ridgeway and back. The field had thinned out now so I seemed to run most of the out leg on my Jack Jones. The two aforementioned locals caught up with me and we ran the downhill back section together which seemed to make it fly by. I stopped for a bit of "me time" at the 46 mile AS whilst they pressed on. On leaving the AS it got dark and I felt cold very quickly. I was a bit concerned with this before halfway but pressed on to try to sort myself out back at HQ, mile 50ish, 49th place, 9hrs 6m.
A field
Leg 3 A volunteer prepped me for the next leg, a couple of miles uphill and a few miles into the 40-50mph gusts of storm Brian up on the western section of the ridgeway. I was happy to walk these uphill miles and make time back, up on the top. I felt better on the top of the ridgeway but I couldn't run into the wind it was that strong. I'll race in a vest even in winter but up there I needed two layers and a waterproof, zipped up to the chin. At the turn around with the wind now behind, things changed completely and I think I ran most of the 12.5m back to HQ moving from 43rd at the turnaround to 38th at mile 75 in 15hrs 5m.
A trail of beautiful head torches on the Ridgeway - you had to be there !
Leg 4 Coming back into HQ at end of leg 3 a member of my running club who I'd forgotten was volunteering surprised me with a hello. Then a core member of my local PR appeared which further surprised me, then I heard "Macca" and turned round to see Millsy. Always good to bump into friendly faces at 2am in the morning when you have 75 miles in the legs. A brief congratulation to him on helping his mate to victory and it was on my way for the last leg. This was a fairly flat section down the Thames to Reading and back which I had run on the Thames Path 100 back in April so had a comforting familiarity about it. Short running sections were interspersed with increasingly longer walking breaks and at maybe 83 or 84 miles I started to feel spent. I resigned to walk for a long chunk but for some reason, soon changed my mind and ran, albeit slowly to the turn around at 87 miles. A quick cup of tea, some mars bars (fun size) and I was back off up the path I had just come down. Within half a mile or so it seemed like there were 20 or 30 people going the other way, so not far behind me. Not wanting to drop 30 places at this late stage I was spurred on to run most of the next 9 miles back to the last AS leaving 4 miles to go. My torch ran out of power around here but a back up kept me going until sunrise. Sunrise always seems to give me a lift and the last 2 miles were quite pleasant. I passed one person, exchanged places with another a couple of times, had a random blubb then managed to compose myself for a zombie impression for the finish photo. All done in 21hrs 31mins 43 secs, 34th place.
Brief reflections, another fantastic event by Centurion Running. I'm chuffed to bits to have finished all 4 100milers, and all under 24hrs. This felt like the best of the 4 runs in terms of pacing and control. Its been to the exclusion of all other races these last six months (1st time I've missed Abo in 5 yrs) but definitely a price worth paying, despite a wistful lament a few weeks back. Its been one long fantastic journey. Bladerunner's Roy Batty sums up the whole experience better than me, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe......All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
macca - great report and well paced throughout, you almost make it sound like anyone can do it! I showed my wife the buckles as your reward for finishing 4x100M and she thought it was madness
First bit of speed today since the marathon and struggled around to a 19:45 parkrun, although it has a steep hill you go over 3 times. May do a few more in the next few weeks to see if I can get faster before Christmas and then ramping up the longer stuff.
Nice work on the parkrun John. I volunteered for my local one this morning, was about time I helped out after running 15 of them. Took my nephew along, and he’s really keen to run one himself now. Nice to finally have someone in the family who also enjoys running
Looks like Jooligan is going well so far at Snowdon.
Good luck to Jools
A record mileage week here on hold in Gran Canaria ...85m so far with another run and sea swim for later. Rest day tomorrow.
Coop - Katie is from Reading way. She grew up in the middle of nowhere but it's sorta near Didcot maybe.
Macca - thanks for the report, it sounds absolutely immense as ever. I like the idea of the four 25 mile out and backs, splits it up quite nicely. Saw someone at parkrun this morning with one of those grand slam tshirts on. How many did all 4 this year do you know? Fantastic achievement regardless. Really, really want to give one a go at some point.
Nice parkrun John and great work with the volunteering spoons.
Big mileage OO! Tapering from next week or a slightly shorter one planned?
Gave it a nudge at parkrun, ended up with 17.27, fairy happy but would definitely have liked to be closer to 17. I think I'm slightly less fit than before London, but may have a stronger aerobic base. Not really sure how Valencia is going to pan out.
Going to do a longy tomorrow, haven't decided on the distance yet but may well do up to 24. Haven't decided on pace yet either.
Macca- Well done. I am in awe! Mentally, what stage of the race is hardest? As mentioned, I am quite familiar with the area and while the ridgeway is fantastic, it's also tricky to run on, especially in the dark!
No running for me at the moment due to a knee niggle (let's avoid the word 'injury'). Trying to be sensible and rest up properly to avoid prolonging it. However this is also making me very grumpy (poor old Joe is having to be very patient..)
Volunteered at parkrun and saw Joe do a very speedy run, only 7 seconds off a course PB. On another note- it's quite disconcerting how rude a small minority of runners are to parkrun volunteers. I think people forget it's a free event and that people give up their time to help!
Rant over- most runners are lovely!
Well done parkrun heroes Spoons & Katie (& Millsy if memory serves me). Great you've inspired your nephew Spoons. Hope the rest sorts the knee out in double quick time Katie.
Great parkrunning JB, JO & bog buggying from SQ too
So Snowdonia marathon.
Preamble: I went into it knowing the long runs had been conspicuous by their non-existence during my training so was fully expecting to suffer. Running'd felt pretty rubbish all week too & my knee was painful again. On the other hand I had done more miles over the last 12wks than before my 2 previous visits & my runs were consistently coming in around 1080 beats per mile so I was heading into the unknown. I drove partway Thursday, stopped with a friend, stayed up til 12:30am then slept poorly as we'd drunk a bottle & a half of claret between us - oops! Drove up in leisurely fashion on Friday stopping for supplies in Oswestry & a gentle 5K along the river nr Llangollen. I thought it'd be flat but it wasn't as the lane meandered up & down the hillside away from the flood plain. Stopped again in Betws-y-Coed for a fine steak & chips then on to Llanberis to pick up my race number & T-shirt before settling down with a good book in the Hotel Passat by the shores of Lake Padarn. A reasonably good night's sleep ensued & I was up at 7:45 to head for Penrhyn parkrun to stretch the legs out. A lovely course but not flat! I managed to rein myself in finishing comfortably in 20th with 22:02 then a short walk back to the car & to Llanberis to find a parking spot. It was tight but I managed a legal spot about 2K from the start so jogged that & arrived at the front of the throng about 10 minutes before the hooter. Disappointingly Saturday's glorious weather had been replace with 12-13 degrees damp, misty & drizzly.
Race: I knew I needed to pace this carefully but with the profile it's hard to work on pace. Mile 1 drops 100ft so a 6:50 didn't alarm me at all. I settled into a comfortable rhythm from there as the climbing begins - gently for Mile 2 then averages around 5.5% for another 2.5M before topping out at Pen-y-Pass youth hostel. I switched the display to HR & kept it below 150 which saw me to the top in 36:46 at an average pace of 7:58 from the start.
The course then drops over 900ft in 3.5M. First 1.2M on tarmac then 2.3M on a gravel landrover track which is tough on the feet & quads. I let myself go here as I figured I'd do more damage braking than pounding. Had my first gel around 55 minutes in. It was a Gu double espresso & certainly gave me a boost to carry me through to halfway reached in 1:36:37 which was pretty much bang on target and I'd felt like I was cruising really comfortably. Miles 14 & 15 climb 500ft & as I tried to push the pace a little towards the top I felt my right hamstring rebel so had to ease back as it was threatening to cramp. Unfortunately this meant I was unable to stretch my legs out properly on the gently descending 6.5M before the final killer climb: 800ft from Miles 22 to 24.5. My pace and motivation dropped together & once we hit the climb I was soon reduced to a jog/walk strategy to mile 24 when the track turns to loose mud and lumpy uneven rocks. The legs were so battered that I was barely managing to stay below 10 minutes/mile by then. The final descent is brutal 850ft in 1.6M. The first half of which is on slippery grass/mud/wet rock which I couldn't bring myself to let go on in the road shoes before you hit the tarmac. Here I was able to let the legs go again knowing I was almost home. The tarmac has an average gradient of 10% but ranges from 21% at the start to flat for the final 200m along the high street. The crowds here were phenomenal and having Forrest on my vest had brought a lot of extra support all the way but it was mental here & I managed to come onto it at full pelt & sprint my way over the line in 220th position (gun) with a time of 3:41:05. Chip time was 3:41:02 & position was 244th of 2253 finishers
Reflections: 13 minutes away from my course PB so a bit disappointed as A goal was to cut 13 minutes off it, B was a PB. Hadn't really prepared for a C but at least to do better than my worst time here (I did). Parkrun beforehand was probably too much given my lack of long runs in the build up. I need long runs to succeed in the marathon. My glute & hamstring rehab work is far from complete. Maybe I could have been psychologically tougher & pushed harder.