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P&D Spring Marathon 2018
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Weather not great here either-very windy-making my run this morning a bit of a struggle in places. 15 miles at 6:30s was harder work than it should have been.
I'm much better at drinking than running at the moment so will be going to the pub this afternoon!
Main change seems to be the HR and speed of a lot of the workouts compared to Hadding be interesting to see how my body copes with it.
Speedy long run Tom.
Hope the calf clears soon John. Same with your cold AWC.
Good to have the weather reports back Westy. Well done to your daughter.
Great xc win Phil. Great pace.
Managed a win myself today in the low key Thames Valley XC league. Tough course with a few solid climbs and a mix of deep, sloppy mud and heavy, claggy mud. Didn't feel that great but maybe it was just that the course was hard work. Was a 2 lap course and even though I was leading at the end of the first I felt spent and expected people to come past me. They must've been buggered too. One guy nearly caught me up one hill near the end but I put in a fast downhill to move away again and take the win. Good fun.
Congrats to Phil and HA77 on their wins. It sounds as though you're both in great shape. Fantastic pace Phil.
I did my trail run today. It was a small local event organised by Ashford tri club. 6.66m, it measured well over 7 though I expect the gps got lost in the woods. The course lived up to it's reputation - very hilly, muddy and plenty of off-trail running through the woods. I was through 3 miles at road 10k pace + 5%, which felt ok, but was obviously too rich, as once the going got tougher, I felt myself dying. I had a crap warm up (stuck in traffic) and a poor night's sleep, which obviously didn't help. The last mile and a half was a death march, and I was overtaken by a couple of runners I would usually beat.
I was annoyed afterwards, but have cheered up since. I always suspected it would be too much of an assault course for my tastes, and to some extent I entered as I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, which I certainly did. I guess it's good training.
I expect I'll change tack next weekend and have a go at parkrun.
Very impressive wins Phil & HA.
Sounds gruelling Andy but regular XC will make you stronger for the road.
Another classic Forrest w/e for me. I decided to visit an old mate in London as I realised I had no races on but after arranging it I was reflecting on how well Sutton Benger Flyer had gone last w/e & realised I didn't have a road 10K time for 2017, other than my downhill PB, so started looking for one before the end of the year. Lo & behold I found the Sri Chinmoy Grizzly 10K in Battersea Park this w/e! I wanted a flat, fast, licensed course so this was perfect & even better was EOD as I didn't want to spoil my w/e with the pressure of a race entry rather play it by ear & head over if I was up for it in the morning.
Arrived in Leytonstone at about 6pm stressed after Friday night M25 rush hour so after a brief chat & foam roll I headed out to recce the route to Valentine's parkrun for the morning. Was planning to run for about 15 minutes then double back but was enjoying it so much I ran all the way there & back so that was 7M done. Got back & straight on the Aspall's recovery cider, then a steak dinner washed down with a few more & then rounded off a late evening with 3 single malts.
Needless to say I was less than fresh first thing but parkrun wasn't going to wait so jogged over to Valentine's park. Having recced the route the day before I knew it was about 30 minutes at Easy effort so I was nice & relaxed on the frosty jog over. I had a good feeling on arrival & for some reason thought "I may even win this" The route starts in the middle of the park & after 250m follows a 2 lap circuit before a 250m sprint back to the start. I set off hard & by the time we reached the lap I was just behind 2 youngsters. I got round one on the first bend as he was fiddling with his T-shirt (think he was contemplating running with his hands inside it as it was frosty but thought better of it) & gradually reeled the other one in. By 800m I was in the lead & running hard but relatively comfortably. A mile in we crossed 2 little wooden bridges which were slippery with ice but 2 paces apiece & they were done. I could hear someone just behind so kept pushing & the sound diminished then at 1.4M the route went 90 degrees right but there was also a path heading off at 45 degrees which I took then had to run back across the grass losing a couple of seconds & the breathing was back on my shoulder so I pushed on holding & slightly extending the lead over the 2nd lap. Then I came through a gateway lapping people & hesitantly turned up what I thought was the return path but I was 30m premature & had to brake & switch direction again allowing my pursuer to come up on my shoulder again as we turned for home. At this point I dug in hard finishing at 5:18 pace over the last 200m which was marginally uphill too. Unfortunately my shadow had far younger legs, put in a burst to go past me & open up a gap which I was closing as the effort had cost him. Unfortunately home advantage had allowed him to time it to perfection & I finished a second behind him. He was no more than 16 or 17 & had run in the VLM mini-marathon in April. I was a little disappointed he took advantage of my navigational ignorance to steal the win (especially when I found out later he didn't even have his barcode!) & even more disappointed by my time 19:38. On reflection I think I allowed myself to ease off a little over the 500m between 3.5 & 4K as the heavy breathing behind me was inaudible. Still it was a good run after a very alcohol disrupted sleep. My mate picked me up & we then had a welcome Full English. He had to work for a couple of hours in the afternoon so I decided to recce the 11M cycle to Battersea Park so I'd know what time I could leave in the morning should I be up for it. Glad I did as I got lost a couple of times & had to stop to check the map several times. Got back having done over 28M. Meanwhile my mate had found an Open Mic night in Stratford so we bolted a couple of frozen pizzas washed down with Aspall's then jumped on the bus. 5 hrs in the boozer then walked back with a couple of bottles of Guinness Foreign Extra so I didn't get to bed til 2am.
I'd set the alarm for 6:45 but was only 50:50 about actually getting up however in the event bodyclock woke me at 6:20 & as I felt surprisingly OK I decided to go for it. Flask of coffee made whilst stretching & foam rolling then I hopped on the bike & rode over. Once again grateful of the previous day's recce. I arrived in good time, registered changed & jogged down to the start which was conveniently situated by the toilets (thankfully!) I still felt OK & after a couple of strides I joined the throng 2nd row back. At 8:35 we were off. I let the legs loosen up & work their way into a decent pace whilst others tore off ahead of me. I was then able to pick people off one at a time & immediately I was past one person another target would present itself. I carried on on this vein going through 5K in 19:32 then 7.4K in 28:30ish. I tried to wind it up on the final lap but about half way felt like I might have overcooked it. Just past 5M my most recent victim came back past me. I hung on to him trying not to let a gap grow then, at 9K, 2 guys I'd not seen since soon after the start went past both of us. I then consciously relaxed which allowed me to come up alongside my nemesis as we passed the start line meaning we had just 500m to go. We were side by side for 200m but then he unleashed his kick for home & as ever my response was lacking. Still pleased with a 39:09 finish. I think he may have dipped inside 39. Not the PB I felt I was in shape for but then given my completely unprofessional pre-race prep 24s outside it is more than I deserved.
Loads of Clapham Chasers there so half-expected to see JB out supporting. Very supportive atmosphere amongst the club with most staying to cheer in every finisher. One took this pic after I'd finished.
Well done on the win HA-excellent stuff!
Sounds very tough on the XC Andy but still very good training.
Welcome Davey.
Just a typical weekend then Jools?!
Ghastly weather again here this morning. Blowing a gale and pouring with rain. Decided to get up and out into it to plod out 6 miles instead of having an extra 45 minutes in bed........
Crazy weekend Jools, although a good life/sports balance which is sometimes difficult.
Pacing is always difficult Andy with xc as there is no garmin telling you if your on target pace!
Jools - sorry I wasn't down there, had planned to be, but unfortunately other things cropped up. Sounds like you had a another successful/crazy weekend. Keep up the good work.
Welcome to all the newbies - you're going to love it here. Looking forward to following your exploits over the spring campaign.
Had a really sensible week for me, only run once or twice, done a bit of swimming. I'm taking a couple of weeks of downtime before I start to build again next year.
I did run a parkrun in jeans and hawaiian shirt on Saturday though - sort of a club annual tradition now (the jeans bit anyway). Was surprised to find that jeans aren't awful to run in; ended up finishing in 18:04.
Great first placings HA and Phil. Well done too Andy. I'd agree with others, xc is hard to pace so chalk it up as a good training effort.
Jools - I really dont know how you pack so much into a weekend. It sounds like with a bit of course familiarity you would have got the PR 1st. Decent backing up with a 10k too.
Theres something reassuring about reading your early moring efforts Tom whilst sat in my dressing gown with a bowl of cereal.
Wendover Woods 50 for me on Saturday. I did it last year and have never felt so wrecked after a race, it was brutal. This years target was to simply manage the course better and let everything else take care of itself. Its a 5 x 10m lapper with nearly 10,000ft of ascent/descent through a mix of traditional broad leaf woodland, some wide chalk trails and a few short sections through fields. Most of the climbs are so steep they are unrunnable but for the few at the sharp end. On the flip side, some of the descents are long and sweeping. To devise such a diverse 10m loop in what I'm told is about a 2m x 2m square is a work of genius. Anyway, it was freezing at the 8am start, good job I never get anywhere early, but I soon felt warmer once on the move. You could really feel the difference between south and north facing sections, some bits stayed frosty most of the day. The previous year I had wrecked my quads on the downhill sections shortly into the second lap, about 13m in and regretted it for the remaining 37 miles. This year I took the downhills much more carefully, making up places on the climbs and in the aid stations in the later stages. End of lap placings were 51st, 44th, 47th, 49th and 37th finisher with splits 1:42 (shorter flatter lap I think), 1:50, 2:04, 2:12, 2:15. For camparison, last years first laps were similar with a 2:50 last lap. Make no mistake, it was tough, I think there was a 25% drop out rate, and I was shivering almost uncrontrollably at the end when I stopped and body temp dropped like a stone but it was a fantastic day out. My only tiny regret was coming in at 10hrs 6mins, I would love a sub 10 on that course and I tried to push it on the last lap but I gave myself too much to do. Most pleasing over the last 12 months is I think I've learned a few things in these ultras and how to apply them on the day, still loads more to learn and hopefully improvements to make and no doubt a mistake or too along the way but its been a fantastic experience.
Jools.. thats some serious facial growth....would take me a decade to get that!
Crazy fast paced forum. cant keep up
Good to see some new faces arrive and some familiar ones return. Normal service has resumed with Tom burning through speedy miles before most of us have woken up!
Congrats to your daughter 15West, and on the XC wins Phil and HA.
A nice quiet weekend in London for you Jooligan. Nice results especially considering the alcohol intake! I used to love those Battersea Park races, perfectly flat and usually a pretty good standard of runners too.
Well done on the WW50 Macca. Quite a year of ultras for you! I vaguely know the winner who also set a course record in the process!
I’ve had a good weekend of training after getting over the bug I’d picked up. 6x1000m at the track on Saturday morning, it was freezing and the track was frosty but thankfully not too slippy. Stayed nice and consistent for the first five reps, between 3:27 and 3:28, but lost concentration a bit in the final one while negotiating other runners who were walking in the inside lane and slowed to 3:33. A good session overall though.
I then had an easy eleven along the canal yesterday and a 16.5 mi long run this morning. Pace still a bit slower than I was at my peak a few months ago, but the heart rate has at least seemed to return to “normal” for how the effort feels. Still not sure whether I’ll be in PB shape for Telford in two weeks, but more hopeful now than I have been for a while…
Great MLR Ramjet. Sounds like legs and motivation are nicely returning.
Great racing, Phil! Rapid pace on a standardly tough XC route.
Excellent win, HA, and really pleased you enjoyed it. Strong weekend of results for the forum!
Classic early morning, Tom. Hope the pub was good.
Well done, Andy. Bad sleep certainly affects running for me, too.
Classic Forrest weekend, indeed. An impressive amount of boozing, so not hugely surprised the PBs didn’t come your way. But more importantly, it sounded a lot of fun.
Haha Joe – that sounds like far too many clothes for you in fancy dress.
Cracking effort at the WW50, Macca. I must admit I would find 5 x 10M laps tough going, mentally and physically.
Quite enjoy reading the boozing plans in amongst all the running. Perhaps next year’s title should reflect this.
Nice start to the P&L plan today with 10M GA at 7:30 average, starting at 8:15s and gradually speeding up, but no extra effort, to 7:10s. Takes the diesel engine a while to get warmed up these days. Tempo planned for tomorrow.
I was tempted to wimp out of my lunchtime run as really not very nice out there....but after reading all that I'm going to have to do it.
Enjoy lunchtime Westy. Just think of the post run smugness back at work.
I backed up Saturdays race with a bit of cyclocross yesterday and then a 21 miler this morning. it was pretty windy but stayed dry and the pace was decent for a lumpy road/ grassy route.
Results for the 10K are in. As you say Spoons a quality field: top 3 were low 33mins & 22 finishers sub 37. I was 35th of 187 but more importantly my sprint rival was only 6s ahead. You'll have plenty of people to work with at Telford. Tried to get in myself recently but it was only accepting elites (sub 31)
FBT: beard is 3 months old, hair about 2 years
That's an impressive parkrun in your everyday clothes JB. The rest must be doing you a power of good - supercompensation in action.
Jools - in 3 months i might get a bit of stubble...Hair grows slow on us tortoises!
An interesting variety of beverages is being consumed.
Congratulations for the wins Phil, HA77.
Well done Macca, Andy and Jooligan also.
Hope you are feeling better AWC and JohnOz.
MLR for me yesterday; 21,2km avg 5:35/km. Tried to keep that nice and constant which on a route with around 300m of upping and downing meant going slower on the downhills and flats and working harder on the uphill bits than I might normally do. Couldn't resist rushing down killer hill at around 4:20 though, sorry quads...
Must get my major races for 2018 sorted out - hurry up ballot results Berlin...!
Jools - pretty ho hum weekend for you I suppose which is equivalent to a crazy weekend of racing and drinking for anyone else. Great time for that 10k. In pb shape no doubt given a better pre race.
Joe - what's the world record for a marathon run in an Hawaiian shirt?
Good to see the use of metric units Hazelnut. I've been trying to educate this lot for ages now to no avail.
No running for me today.
Any chance you could stick to miles Hazel?
Nice to see preperation for the thread showdown (Wokingham HM) has begun SQ! Hope the tempo goes well tomorrow.
Very impressive weekend of training Spoons. If you get good conditions you should be there or therabouts for a PB at Telford.
Seems a lot has gone on whilst I've been away. Well done to the racers; Jools obviously, who must be the fastest Wookie in his age-group; Macca, making 50 milers seem like a short race; Phil for obscene pace over the country and HA, for getting a TVXC win. Best I've placed is second in that series at Handy X, which is next week's race I think.
Anyway I won't be threatening the podium for a while as I my training has been erratic at best. I only did one run in Devon and my newly acquired step-brother I suppose is what he technically is, tagged along. Ended up off the trail fairly early on and ran up some random hills, sinking in boggy ground and just generally trying to head to the top of something. My companion stopped after a while, as he was feeling sick so I just ran to the top of what turned out to be Branscombe's Loaf and then headed straight back so he could get back to the hotel. Shame as it was a beautiful morning and I could have gone on for ages.
So training starts today, managed a 12.5 mile lunch run, I planned 14/12/10 minutes at LT, but my hammy was tightening up on the third interval so I abandoned it a few minutes in. The wind was pretty savage out at Dorney but I think it was generally just sub 6 minute miles.
Welcome Davey.
Crazy weekend Jooligan and nice 10k time. With a bit of taper I’m sure you could smash that PB.
So JB beats my 5k PB wearing jeans... Well done!
Impressive ultra as ever Macca.
Good running Tom, RSR, SQ, Hazelnut and Reg (and Westy if you made it out!)
6 miles recovery for me yesterday and 10 mile GA after work. One week until the plan starts!!
Nice lunchtime tempo Reg.
Looks like you are in a good place to start the plan Ramjet.
4:30 start for me this morning. A steady 11 miles (6:28s) felt reasonable. It was a bit icy/slippy in places so take care over next few days as temperatures drop!
10M averaging 6:55s for me, including 16 min LT effort (6:07 pace), 4 jog, 13 LT (6:05). Happy with the times at the moment. Conditions pretty good. Ditched the jacket and headtorch for the LT bits - nicely cool 4C or so.
I am taking a nasal spray steroid at the moment, to help with a problem with my ear/throat. I assume it is the kind of thing pros would need a TUE for - perhaps that helped me along today.
Has been a mixed couple of weeks from me. On the plus side, I got an unexpected parkrun PB 3 weeks ago but it's gone downhill from then. Did a hilly XC race the weekend after which completely destroyed my calfs and stupidly I have tried to run too hard on them. A disappointing 1:31 at the Gosport half and then a DNF at the Hayling Island 10. Will be giving things a rest for the next 2-3 weeks and then look at a sensible build up.
For 2018 I'll be basing training on the 12 wk 55-70 plan but trying to keep the weekly average near 70.
Targets will be
Wokingham 1/2 - Sub 83
7th April - South Downs Way 50- 7:59 (3rd time lucky)
22nd April - London - 2:59
probably not a lot of running updates from me rest of the year but looking forward to getting back on track in the new year.
Like Tom early start for me for 12m @ 8.50 pace, these Midweek medium long runs probably going to be the biggest challenge as I an early morning runner and have to be out the house for work by 8 at the latest. Up at 4.50 this morning suspect ill have to be 4.30 or so once these get up to 16 miles in the weeks in the future at least I get a relative lie in tomorrow for the recovery hour.
Congrats on the wins HA and Phil!
Superb result at WW50 Macca! Surprised the Kenyan dropped at 30 miles, expected him to get a win, but clearly a different kind of running for him compared to running a fast road marathon.
10 miles for me Saturday and then 7 this morning. My last week on 4 runs a week, then back to 5 runs a week, think I have 2 easy weeks then P&L HM training starts.
Reg: sounds like a nice trip to Devon, shame you had to cut the run short!
Macca: brilliant racing at WW50 - that's some elevation gain even by your (ultra) standards.
davey: good to see there is another early riser to make the rest of us feel lazy. My wife thinks I'm mad getting up at 5.30 for a run!
Millsy: good to see you back. What happened at Hayling? I take it you aren't doing Victory 5 this weekend? I gave Gosport a miss as it was to soon after Abo to give it a proper crack.
Hazel: those kms fry my head! My mind always wants to convert to imperial and I know that 8:00mm are 5:00m/km but that's as much as I can handle.
With plans starting soon I'm glad the London plan is still a few weeks away as I'm enjoying a bit of a break from following a specific plan. Mona Fartlek night at club session last night on Southampton Common. Wasn't feeling great with a cold and everyone shot off so I just let them go and then by the end they'd all blown up and I'd pulled myself back into 3rd place which felt rather good!