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P&D Spring Marathon 2018
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Glad you’re getting back into it <b>HA</b>.
Really rubbish news about the gineau pigs <b>NE</b>, hope that has a happy ending.
I have been been following the thread and looking on in envy at some of the training, but my posting has been poor.
I did the Lydd 20 mile race today. I didn’t want to lose miles to taper and recovery as cold, snow and work means my mileage has only really been back where I want it for the last 10 days. So MP was never really on the cards. Aim was target MP + 15 secs per mile (2:45) and to get to the end without feeling totally trashed.
Chip time was 2:46 but I paused the watch for an impromptu pee stop after 5 miles, and I clocked it at 2:45:03. As it was a training race i’m taking the lower time so more or less to plan. I was having to push bloody hard the last 5k, though I would probably back myself to have maintained that pace for 5-10k longer if i really had to. Fine margins though, and god knows where the extra 15 secs per mile are coming from. Plus my legs are pretty knackered tonight.
Rest day tomorrow then really want to get comfortably over 60 next week.
Philip... great pace in you twenty. Good luck in finding that pace for another 10K from somewhere.
Great pace from you too, Tom... and John - Hope you feel good when you wake up tomorrow.
Anyway, the guinea pigs. John, I didn't just plonk them in the middle of the lawn and instruct them to 'STAY', like you would a dog! They were in a proper all-surround run but some idiot (me) left a small gap at the door. I was out every half hour searching the garden to near 1am. Went to bed imagining them all to have been eaten by morning. But when I got up at 8, I saw one at the door of a shed. Cutting a long story short, it was after 2pm before I'd located, and more to the point, captured, all three of them.
Thankfully, an understanding wife took on some of my responsibilities and gave me enough time to get 17 miles in, which took me to 51 miles for the week - very rare for me. Honestly, my legs were knackered pretty much throughout. Hard to see how I'd have gone on to twenty, even if I had the time. Hope for fresher legs after a rest tomorrow.
It didn't quite work out like that.
The first half felt fab. The pace was around 7:40 and I felt like I was jogging. However I hadn't checked the course profile beforehand. The first half is downhill and the second half is up.
After halfway I increased the effort a bit and gradually reeled people in, still feeling good. However the last 6 miles are mainly uphill and after 20 miles my legs started getting heavy and I was ready for the race to be over.
By this point the 20 mile and Half Marathon races had merged with my race and overtaking the back markers in the other races was a welcome distraction.
At one point I thought I might go sub 3:15 without too much effort but the hills at the end put paid to that dream. I managed a respectable pace though, with all the miles sub 8 minute. In the end I finished in 3:21. This is quicker than I had planned but it was also harder than expected.
I guess a marathon is a long way even at a steady effort. At the end of my biggest week ever it ended up being a slog at the end. But my goal of doing a marathon as a training run was achieved and it was much more fun than doing a 24 mile run by myself.
90 miles for the week.
Well done on the training marathon Ramjet. 26mi is a long way, too long really.
Well done on your 20mi races Andy and Phil.
Impressive running and mileage Spoons.
I'm doing some intervals today, 6x1000m.
Mini beast from the east next weekend.
Westy: good luck with the intervals
Nice racing Andy and Phil
NE: good work capturing the escapees!! Good job on the 17 miler and the 51 mile week.
Went out for a long run last night but binned it and did 5mi instead as I just wasn't feeling it. This cold is hanging about longer than I'd like.
NE - I think there's something wrong with me as I thought you were going to go on to say you forgot about the Guinea Pigs and started mowing the lawn! Hope you find them.
Nice long run there John. Good to see you getting back into the swing of it Scott. You've no right to feel strong at the end of a quick 24 miles like that Tom.
Top racing there Phil, you've set yourself a tough target so it's not going to be easy but mentally you'll be in a different place when you've got 26 ahead of you.
Cracking long run Spoons, what's a taper week going to look like then, 80 miles!
Took a wrong turn on my 8-10 miles yesterday and ended up doing 14 miles. It's as hilly as f*ck where I was so what I thought was a reasonably flat run had 2000ft of elevation. Pace was reasonable considering the hills and the niggle was mildy annoyed rather than really angry.
Good to hear from you Andy, well done on the 20 miler.
Glad the guinea pigs survived NE! I imagine trying to catch them is good cross training
Impressive marathon at the end of a big week Ramjet.
Good luck on the intervals Westy. I better not have another race cancelled due to the beast!
Funnily enough, Reg, I have been thinking about my taper this morning. If I stick to the traditional 25% drops it’ll go 90/60/30ish. A 90 mile taper week sounds a bit mad I know, but I suppose it’s all relative. I still have a big final session for that first taper week planned, but given it’s 18 days before the marathon and with less mileage in the legs I think it should be ok. I’m keen not to over-taper, but it’s hard to know what the right balance is. Will take it as it comes I suppose. I might even take a day off on the Thursday before the marathon - I did that last time due to circumstances beyond my control, but it seemed to work well.
Nice work on the accidental MLR, sounds like hard work.
Nice 20 mile race Andy-well done.
Great Guinea Pig news NE!
Excellent training Marathon Ramjet to top off a massive week-excellent stuff!
Cracking race Phil....glad you have kept the niggles at bay.
Super long run Spoons-3 week taper then-90 mile week 1!! Should be a doddle for you. I'm only having a 2 week taper for Manchester but my 3 week out will still be lighter than your 1st taper week by some margin!
7 miles on very woody legs this morning.
Just been busy packing the miles in with my last few weeks before tapering.
Managed 2nd place at the Larmer Tree marathon yesterday. Was planned as a last long run on terrain similar to the South Downs way with an ideal opportunity to practice speed hiking the steep uphills and good downhill technique. Found myself in 2nd place at halfway so decided to push on slightly harder than planned to hold onto the place.
Will now be starting the taper a week early as need to get some life back in the legs ahead of Eastleigh on Sunday. Have averaged 70 MPW since Jan 1st so it’s been my highest mileage spring build up ever.
Afternoon all.
Jooligan, unfortunately Hereford is a little far more me to justify at the moment, but thank you anyway. You’ve got form with missing the start for that reason. Nice work though.
Huge runs from Westy (scary), John (painful), Tom, PM, spoons (incredible consistency - going to smash the target!), Andy, Ramjet (cheeky marathon and a huge week) and Millsy (another cheeky marathon and great podium).
Nice to hear from you HA and Reg. Hope things get back on track soon.
The knee has been truly painful over the week, especially when going from sitting to straight leg standing. Thankfully, the last 36 hours has seen a marked upturn. I decided to try out 10 x 1 min jog, 1 min walk yesterday, which was ok at best, but the lower leg was very swollen after. I had some not especially tight rugby socks on half way up my shin. When I rolled them down after about half an hour, they left a 3cm indentation in my leg – a bit worrying. Pleasingly, this morning the swelling had gone down and I seemed to be walking downstairs well. I tried a 5M run at recovery pace which was fine – and a merciful release after not running for a week! No swelling since. Had the stitches out an hour or so later and was relieved to see no signs of infection, although still a noticeable hole in the knee.
So thinking about London target now. It hasn’t helped that my food consumption increased when going from 75M to 0 in a week. But the rest will definitely do some good on a macro scale. And it is not as though I have had, say, a pulled calf, that will then require a gradual increase in mileage. We’ll see what this week brings before deciding. Forest of Dean Half at teh weekend will be a useful test, although not really comparable with last year as I ahve done only 2 x 20 milers. Genuinely toying with running with the 3 hour pacer and enjoying myself to the max. I am raising money for my uncle who recently passed away, so a time goal isn’t my only reason for being there. Interesting to read about spoons' thoughts on the taper, I am thinking about some kind of 20 miler two weeks out this time.
SQ: glad the knee is healing and you are back running. I guess you'll know where you are after a week or so back at training properly again.
Got an email from Centurion Running this morning that a reserve place has opened up for the North Downs Way 100 Ultra in August. So obviously I signed up! Bit mental the thought of doing a 100 miler but then doing 54 miles last summer seemed a bit mental. Going into ultra training after the back of a spring marathon seemed to work well least year. I'll have an extra 6 weeks this year with the race being in August. I think I'll do Race To The King as a 'training run' this year
Will need to get some good advice from Macca as I know he has done this race at least once before.
Great to see you back HA, really hope things continue to get better.
Congrats on the 2nd places Millsy and Phil
Monster long run Tom, at a pretty rapid pace as well.
Training marathon sounds fun Ramjet, maybe not so much the second half being uphill though!
Glad the guinea pigs are alive and well NE.
AWC - very exciting about the NDW 100. I’ve got a host of ultras on my bucket list, need to start getting involved.
SQ - glad to hear things are improving, don’t see any reason while you’ll have lost any/much fitness.
Jools - great racing, as ever.
Loads of club mates there, so it was a good social if nothing else. Decided to go out at PB pace and see what happened.
Was on pace for first 4-5 miles but already knew it was a bit too rich. Ended up slowly leaking seconds but managing to keep it fairly consistent, finishing with 1:17:37 which is exactly 30 seconds slower than 3 weeks ago at Wokingham. Probably a slower course to be honest with a few sharp inclines. Still don’t understand how I managed to run 1:19:30 in the 2nd half of a marathon but can only manage this flat out in a half.
Been travelling ever since, flew out of Heathrow 8pm last night to São Paulo and then on to Punta Del Este in Uruguay (just arrived). Out here with work, annoying strava posts incoming over the next few days.. ?
5M is very encouraging SQ. I'll look out for you Sunday.
Glad to hear that familial harmony was restored NE & you still managed to get out for the 17M.
Exciting & frightening AWC. Don't think you ever feel ready for the first mammoth event but the fear is useful as it makes you train - although I ran my only ultra 3 weeks after Brighton on that. 52M over the Malverns & back: that last 10K was torture!
Solid HM off very little running & lots of bike-beasting JB.
I'm imagining a 2 week taper with 60M then 30M in marathon week but who knows what'll actually happen.
Not been out yet & it's not looking appealing - wet n windy.
Well done to the weekend's racers.
Good to hear the guinea pigs are back NE. My neighbour is recovering well - thanks for asking. Minor stroke but he has a bunch of health issues which aren't improved by it.
Good news SQ that you can run again.
Enjoy your trip Joe even if it is for work.
Didn't do any running whilst away - the only day I would have had time post-skiing I was too knackered and I was too lazy to get up to go out pre breakfast. Actually it was good to have a break from all things running for a couple of days as I was getting a bit obsessed with it all again.
4 miles recovery today to start the new week. A couple of tougher runs coming up with some intervalls on Wednesday, my only pre-marathon tune up race on Saturday and a long run on Sunday. Back to the one-run-at-a-time approach I guess.
Have a good week everyone.
Would have needed some decent refuelling after that 24miler Tom
Not many people could run a 20 miler that quickly Philip let alone after all the niggles
Looks like you're in a decent place Andy
Good running NE but more importantly you found the guinea pigs
Completely missed the fact you were doing a training mara Ramjet, hope the legs are feeling alright today and you got the right level of effort
Started to string the miles together again Reg but a shame to hear the illness is hanging around AWC
Another training marathon from Millsy, this thread's gone mad!
Pleased thing's are on the mend SQ
Enjoy the holiday...I mean work trip Joe
Lucky bugger!
Glad you enjoyed the skiing Hazel
30 mins easy today, avoiding the rain that was the real achievement
Interestingly (for anyone who looks at runbritainrankings.com) Wrexham marathon was given a high VSS of 4.8 which suggests it was a very hard course. I think it also partly means many people were using it as a training run as well but I'm comforted to know I wasn't the only one to struggle.
15mi today. Legs tired. Yesterday's intervals went ok, managed roughly 5:40min/mi pace for each of the 6x1k.
Temperatures going to be like spring mid week, and then like winter on the weekend. Infact could be some snow and ice around this weekend, I wonder if any races will be cancelled?!
Joe, you seemed to be living some charmed, exciting life. Half marathon on the weekend, and then off to S America. I jogged 7 mi and then went to Morrisons.
NE - good work to find the guinea pigs amd still squeeze in your LR.
Joe - quick HM with little recent running. Enjoy the balmy runs in SA.
Ramjet - impressive time even for a training marathon and a tough finish. Definitely won’t lack endurance on race day.
Millsy - congrats on the podium and another big run. Macca has some catching up to do to regain his ultra crown.
Reg - “accidentally” running 2000ft must be a goid workout and maybe a sign you’ve turned the corner
AWC - hope the cold clears quickly and you get back into it. And congrats on entering a big one!
SQ - glad you’re on the mend so quickly, sounds like it’s still tender though so take it easy. Plenty of time to VLM and you’vve got bags of fitness.
Westy - nice quick reps. Did the same today but indoors as couldn’t face the drizzle (sounds a bit lame in the face of the beast from the east weather you’ve had). All around 5:50-5:55 pace with a quicker last one as it felt easier than on the road.
You need to lube up to avoid that chafing.
Treadmill intervals are hard, last time I tried it I couldn't hold the pace I could outside, probably cause you can slow down when outside!
Great long runs John, Westy, Tom.
Great racing from Jools, Joe and Ramjet.
AWC - NDW100! Impressive and scary. Lol'd at you using RTTK as a training run!
For me, did 6 miles on Thursday but HR was high, should have realised something was up, but we ignore these things don't we (well I do!). Decided I was going to race parkrun on Saturday, so just over 2 miles to get there as a warm up. Started well with a 5:52 mile and held pace for about 1.5 miles. Stopped after 1.6 miles as my stomach wasn't feeling great, rested for about a minute and then ran on, but at HM pace instead and finished the next 2 miles in 6:35 and 6:20 which felt comfortable, actual time 20:29...way off my PB. Tagged on another 8 miles as a long cool down. Ran another 8 miles on Sunday to hit 42 miles for the week, starting to build mileage back up for the ultra now.
Stomach now feels better and did a 6 miler this morning at 9:30s with an average HR of 125 (much better). Can still feel the post tib after the faster running at parkrun, so going to run REALLY slow for the next few weeks. If I need to stay away from speedwork while training for this ultra then that is fine. Like Spoons says it's the speedwork that causes injuries, which seems to have been the case with me, so going to take it easy.
John, you need to get some Vaseline or wear some compression shorts under your regular ones.
Bloody Putin.
Millsy: I've never been on the NDW so will be doing some recces over the summer, especially on the night stretch. I know Box Hill is in there so that's something to look forward to!
Westy: Reading HM is going to be difficult to call - as you say the snow is forecast for late Saturday/early Sunday. But when we had it a few weeks ago the snow came 3/4 days later than originally forecast so here's hoping!
Back to RunCamp tonight for some squats and lunges. Will combine it with a 12 miler to get some early miles in this week with (hopefully) Reading on Sunday.
Solid HM there backing up Wokingham, BR.