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P&D Spring Marathon 2018
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Macca - incredible that you’ve done another 100 miler so soon, you’re a machine!
hazel - great run, you’re maintaining good consisyency from your marathon training.
Decided to enter a low key HM today, 3 laps around a bay with a small field of around 80. Ran each lap progressively, from around MP down to a bit slower than HMP. MP felt great, but couldnt quite get down to HMP. Still pleased with 1:27:38 and had fun overtaking a few runners. Probably in better marathon shape than HM shape, maybe I should just enter one and see what happens!
Jools - glad you had a decent race even if nursing the injury.
John - that’s a decent time for a hm starting at MP. I’ve toyed with the idea of a marathon but it’s squeezing it in somewhere and a few weeks of speed work. Best of luck if you do.
Scott - as others have suggested, more to come with a decent training block behind you.
As mentioned, South Downs Way 100 for me yesterday/today. 21hrs 40mins 8secs for 49th out of 300ish. Good to see AWC out on the course. Stomach went on strike around mile 45, legs went out in sympathy shortly after so for 20 miles it was an object lesson in stubbornness until they rejoined the fight. Lots to chew over so I’ll try to pen a few brief lines. Nonetheless, a fantastic event in a beautiful location.
Happy Birthday Ramjet.
Glad to hear the physio worked Millsy.
I loved that book AWC, agree it’s really fascinating. I think a big part of how I managed to keep the pace up towards the end at Manchester was thanks to paying more attention to the mental aspects of racing.
Congrats on the HM Hazel.
Scott - next race is the Stone 10K in 2 weeks. Hopefully the speedwork will start to have an effect by then, at the moment it feels like I’m not really getting anywhere. Nice speed session yourself.
Good work at Man v Horse Jooligan.
Very solid run there JohnOz.
Awesome work on the SDW Macca, great stuff. Look forward to the report.
Managed to knock out my long run in vaguely progressive fashion yesterday, with a hard final 3 miles. Despite being net-downhill though, I only managed 6:38/mi average for that bit! Looking back, it’s pretty similar to a run I did at the start of August last year, so at least I’m a few months ahead this year!?
Everything must be alright considering you managed a big ride like that Jools
Good progressive half John
Fantastic result Macca even if not exactly what you wanted
Based on the results of that run things look promising Spoons
Rest day today but did do a leg session at the gym. Solo session tomorrow morning
In better news, grass track session with SQ this morning. 15x200m then 4x100m, with equal distance recoveries, 50:50 walking and jogging. Averaged 35.9 for the 200s and 16.3 for the 100s, and stayed pretty consistent throughout. Those 200s are faster than last time I did 200s on a proper track, and inside the McMillan prescribed paces, so happy with that. To answer your Strava rounding query SQ, it seems to round down regardless so 35.9 becomes 35! My averages above come from the more accurate (but sadly less favourable) Garmin splits.
Jools - superb as ever mate, sounds like a tough one. Always wanted to do that race. What exactly does 'winding down' consist of for you?
John - nicely executed HM, always fun going past people later on.
Macca - you absolute legend mate. I have no idea how you back up these races again and again, so impressive. Slightly cooler temperatures this time I guess? (Although not by much..) Look forward to the report.
Nice session today Spoons. Don't worry about the numbers in the longer runs for the moment, plenty of time for that to change drastically. Can't be expected to be hammering it all year round.
I had a hard run session on Sunday that I was nervous about for quite a while beforehand on Sunday. Alternating 3 miles ironman pace (3 hour marathon) and 3 miles tempo to trash the legs before going back to ironman pace - simulating running well on tired legs.
Hit 6:45mm for the ironman pace and 6:10mm for the tempo pace, but was fairly goosed by the end of it all - 15 miles total. Really pleased to get it done though.
Landed yesterday lunchtime and was out on the bike within 90 mins. 5 hours & 91 miles later, went straight into a 4.5 mile run off the bike, again at target ironman pace. Needed a lie down after all that.
Got a 'recovery' week this week, before the final big 3 weeks of training.
Day off for me yesterday JB - had a family funeral so used it as a good reason for a full rest day. Dropped the car off for some necessary work & a pre-MoT check before work so a leisurely 5K bike-commute today so far.
Jooligan I would love to do that race but unfortunately it clashes with a French trip. Sorry. And finishing in a top CAMRA pub with a BBQ sounds incredible. Well done on Man vs Horse, it sounds great. When do entries open for next year?
Great way to celebrate the birthday, Ramjet. I consider myself not bad downhill, but couldn’t believe the speed of some in the only proper fell race I’ve done.
AWC great book isn’t it. I need to return spoons’ copy! Good mental tactic really going for the penultimate mile – I try that in a half marathon frequently. Great long run.
Nice speed work, NE.
Great racing, Hazel, especially with the forgotten head torch!
Nice controlled racing, JohnOz.
Macca more immenseness!
Great session Joe. Looks a lovely place for training. Very impressive commitment with the brick post travel as well.
A good few days of running for me. A rare parkrun at full gas effort (minus the buggy). Equalling, to the second, my course PB of 18:08. Happy with that on an undulating and off road course. I did get overtaken by a handful of runners in the last 100m or so – at considerable pace. I am not quite sure if I was slowing rapidly (likely) or if they significantly sped up. One bloke overtook with 10m to go, swerved in front and then came to a dead stop a metre before the finish line. I am never one for the barging in parkrun, but I couldn’t help but brush the shoulder there…
Sunday morning easy miles at 7:17m/m pace for 12.5M, then a lovely foray into the Wyre Forest (my first time) for 3.3 very slow miles in the afternoon whilst on a school visit. The parkrun there has a brutal hill to finish. Recovery double on Monday including the Boy’s Race for Life.
This morning saw a really enjoyable return to the short sharp stuff with spoons. 15 x 200m fast (34.x – 37.x, mostly 36.x) with 100 walk, 100 jog recoveries. Then 4 x 100 all out (16.x). Interesting what spoons says about the rounding – I also think that I am inconsistent with when I press the button so not focusing too much on the odd half a second here and there. I am in the habit of pausing my watch for complete stationary rest or walking. I now realise this makes me a strava wanker of the highest order, especially when my average pace for the session is about 3m/m faster than spoons’! And I miss out on a valuable extra mile for the weekly log… Legs felt pretty buggered on the return. Have a window for a long run tomorrow afternoon; not sure how happy the legs will be about that. Might have to summon my inner Jens Voight.
Interesting discussion about parkrun on the fetcheveryone.com soundcloud link if anyone fancies listening. https://soundcloud.com/user-228302802/tom-williams-interview-part-1
I was surprised by the scale of the event, tents everywhere and we had a nice little set up. A ring of tents, gazebo, firepit and a blanket that became a foam rolling centre. Having arrived two hours before the midday kick-off, I set up my tent and felt very relaxed. Being the fast one in the team, I was comfortable knowing I could take it easy, whilst still making a good contribution.
Lap 1 – 32:05 (Started lap 13:50)
I took the band for my first leg and exited the rather congested transition zone, populated by various inflatable objects to help identify the incoming runner to the outgoing runner. We had 4 men and 1 lady in the team. First leg, Darren, organiser and captain was a solid low 40 minutes a leg runner, followed by a faster guy called Nick who opened his account with a 30:31. Handing over to me was Becks, she put in a 38:xx. I protested that I wasn’t going to listen to my ego and challenge Nick’s 30:31 but secretly I did have an ambition to chuck in an outlier sub 30 if I felt good. It wasn’t happening in leg 1 though, I felt lethargic and heavy legged. It was hot and humid and the course was undulating and even technical in places. I’ve been avoiding running on trails due to my ankle and I started off nervously.
I ran to feel and was happy enough to post a 32 and felt it was something I could maintain for several legs. I handed over to Brendan who posted a 35:xx.
Lap 2 – 29:59 (16:49)
In between legs was about 3 hours, I didn’t eat much between legs 1 & 2 as I still had breakfast onboard but I planned something more substantial between legs 2 & 3. It was still hot but I felt a bit looser and planned to head out the same effort as before. Looking at the pace for the first section I could tell I was going quicker, the course is slowest over the first couple of miles, it starts with a hill and it’s not until you get to the third mile that you go downhill with another and steeper 6% climb in mile 4, before a downhill final mile, albeit with some technical sections through the woods. I made sure I kept my HR below threshold but was still able to sneak a sub 30 lap in and partly keep my ego in check, thinking of the long-haul.
Lap 3 – 32:13 (19:51)
Prior to lap 3 I’d had a good bit of lunch but I was already on the foam roller with IT like pain and my ribs/abs were sore too. Otherwise I felt good, despite regular visits to the portaloos, which were kept as clean as such facilities can be. This is the point at which I just settled into a routine and rhythm. This was my last lap in the light until the morning, I kept it comfortable. Three laps and I hadn’t been passed once too.
Lap 4 – 32:04 (23:43)
We now had the firepit roaring which was keeping us nice and warm and hopefully the mozzies away. Various club members had visited us throughout the day but now we were left alone to get through the night as a team. I should mention at this point we were two teams, the other a 6, well 5 and a bit and they’d go on to do really well finishing 23rdout of 226 teams despite only having 5 for most of the day. Ironically we were struggling to cook our sausages on a disposable BBQ right next to a roaring fire so the decision was made to lift the BBQ on top of the fire logs to rather predictable and comical effect. I thought I’d slow in the dark but if anything I found it easier. I just kind of got in the zone and stuck to the same pace.
Lap 5 – 32:08 (03:01)
Between laps 4 & 5 I got an hours kip as we moved into a routine of waking the runner due next-but-one. I woke, inserted my contact lenses and crawled out of my tent. It was still warm even at 3am, the headtorch was an unwelcome adornment but it was certainly a necessary one. The atmosphere changed out on the course, it was more intimate at night. For the first time I went past someone from the other TVT team who’d settled into a small group, some banter broke out as I tore passed them, her new found friend shouted “it’s a marathon not a sprint,” apparently he thought I was just speeding up for show, Liz happily informed him this was my marathon pace before I retorted that it was actually an ultra and not a marathon.
Lap 6 – 32:38 (05:41)
Still dark I repeated the routine, took my hours kip but started lap 6 in daylight, as it was before 6am, I still had to wear the headtorch for some bizarre reason. The change to the daylight made it more difficult in my mind and my pace started to drop for the first time. We’d been aware since about half-way, where we’d covered about 100 miles that we were doing quite well. Last year’s winners had done 200 miles and I estimated we’d get to 180 minimum and possibly 185. As Darren returned from his leg we were apparently in second place in the mixed 5s out of 141 teams and ahead of all the other teams apart from some of the mixed and men’s 8s. What made this more impressive was that we had been down to four runners since 2am with Nick, the faster guy, cycling home to move house! Somehow we’d acquired a whiteboard and we started to do the maths to speculate what it would take to maintain second place, with first out of reach, as were a lap behind.
Lap 7 – 34:02 (08:25)
Post breakfast everyone was beginning to slow, I dropped over a minute from my previous laps and the hills were becoming hard work. The team behind still had 5 going strong and were closing the gap. I worked out we should still have a good 8-10 minute lead given the current progress but Brendan, due to take his last leg, was suffering. As he returned to camp after lap 7 he was looking pale. This is a guy that sweats like a hose and has been in the medical tent and on a drip after all his three ironman races. His wife Liz, a runner on the other team, knew instinctively that another lap would see him once again in the medical tent. The maths said that as forth runner I’d be coming in about 11:50, as long as you finish before midday you can start another final lap. Brendan would then have to do the final lap with the captain Darren out on his feet and Becks handing over to me, the only option was for me to finish with a double. We agreed that if I felt ok on lap 8 I’d give the thumbs up and carry on.
Lap 8 - 35:42 (11:16)
Lap 8 was ok, I felt tired but ok. I deliberately dialled the pace back, I could have put a 33:xx in I suspect but I needed to save something for another lap. We would have no idea whether the team in third would get onto their extra lap until we’d commenced our final lap so it was a case of having to do it just in case, fourth were also in contention so it was possible we’d end up out of the top three and out of the prizes. I got a real buzz as I came through transition, I looked at Brendan and gave him the thumbs up and headed out again.
Lap 9 – 38:50 (11:52)
This was the lap of death, I passed a solo female though on the first hill out on the final lap. I knew I had to keep going at a reasonable pace, the other team were lapping at 36:xx at the end so I needed 45:xx minimum. Should be doable. Pace had dropped now and I was more around 8 minute miles. I was still passing people and the course was quieter now. There were a few whole teams ambling around doing a glory lap of honour. The last time up the hill was tough but I was determined not to walk a step having run every step to that point. I entered the woods for the final time where the exposed tree roots had posed a constant danger placed as they were on a downhill section. I looked down and thought to myself, don’t do anything stupid now, at which point I stubbed my toe and began to fly head first. Just save your legs I thought as I tucked in one arm and landed rolling over my forearm and shoulder finishing sat upright. I got up immediately trying to avoid the embarrassment of those ahead who’d stopped and turned. “I’m ok” I said as I inspected my arm, just dirt and a small bump. Never trust legs with 45 miles in them I thought. I took the last few turns easy before I was out into the open and back to the finish area where my team were waiting to join me to cross the line together.
They kept reminding me to slow down as I was still thinking about my final lap chip time and looking over my shoulder even though I knew the other team would be at least 10 minutes back! It turns out they missed the extra lap by a few seconds so I could have stopped after 8 laps! We crossed the line in arms, celebrating an improbable second place from 141 teams. I was pretty unsteady on my feet but totally satisfied with what my team and I had achieved over the last 24 hours. I’ve probably sabotaged my chances of a PB and Eastleigh but I really couldn’t care less as it turns out, this was my ‘A’ race.
You can tell who just ran 2 laps from that photo
Think it was Jan 4th this year SQ. Follow this FB page for updates.
Thanks for the tip, Jooligan. Have just done as you advised.
Snowdonia adventuring looks fun, Hazel. Enjoy.
Just reread something Jooligan wrote about never having DNS or DNF. Incredible, especially given the number of races you do.
Had a window post school and pre ridiculously late school evening do yesterday. Headed for an out and back on the canal. 20M at 7:12 m/m. This is definitely a bit faster than normal easy efforts which is interesting, especially given the speed work the day before. I wonder whether going later in the day made a difference, or the long warm up in the gym beforehand. Or perhaps it was the tailwind first half with the marginal uphill, and then headwind second half but with a marginal downhill. Very enjoyable either way and enjoyed listening to some Desert Island Discs and the Human Performance Outliers podcasts.
Thanks for the epic report Reg. Sounds like an awesome event. One for the bucket list.
Some amazing training there Joe. You seem to be in great shape.
Well done Macca on the 100. 21 hours of activity is hard to comprehend.
Nice progressive HM John.
Seems like your training is ticking over quite nicely now Scott.
Still a good long run at the weekend spoons and nice 200s.
You do seem to find these unusual events Jooligan! Man vs Horse sounds fun though.
Great HM time in the dark Hazel. Yes the DOMs was from running down hills. I kept on being reminded of SQ!
The DOMs didn't go until Sunday but managed to plod through my runs and then did a weary 13.
Yesterday was a local 5 mile trail race. Time of 32:20 was nothing special but there was a nasty hill that we had to do twice. Just trying to make the most of the mid-week races through the summer.
Sounds like my idea of an ideal holiday Hazel!
Cracking long run SQ.
Ramjet - I do love a summer mid-week race, especially if it's a good club turnout.
Nothing special going on with me, in a recovery week. Long swim/run tomorrow and long bike Sunday but all at easy effort.
I’ve finally found my next target race - Gold Coast marathon in 2 weeks. It’s basically the reverse of the comm games route and about as flat as you’ll get so am hopeful of a sub 3. No marathon specific training since VLM though so should be an interesting experiment...
Keen to see if Kipchoge finally gets the WR in Berlin and rupp vs mo in Chicago should be a cracker.
Nice work on the parkrun course PB and long run SQ, obviously the speed/endurance are both good
Hopefully the weather is a bit kinder at the Gold Coast compared to the commonwealth games John
Nice racing Ramjet
An easy week for you is still a massive amount of work Joe!
Very consistent laps at Endure Reg, only really slowed last couple and that was to be expected considering the big mileage you had already done. How have you recovered from it?
Solo session on Tuesday was terrible, dropped the last 2 reps. Legs were dead, told to take Wednesday and Friday off and just did 40mins with strides Thursday. Absolutely knackered after clocking up around 1200miles in the car this week!
Eastleigh 10km this morning - 41:35 which is about a minute slower than my PB. Wasn’t going to rinse myself with RTTK on Saturday so it was nice to be able to pull a smile for the cameraman at the finish line, rather than the usual look of death!
Like the last minute marathon entry John - best of luck.
No running for me today as I'm in bits after yesterday.
Triathlon X Full 2018 16:43 53rd of 111: 87 finishers & 24 DNFs.
There were also over 50 DNS!
Swim 1:20 - Water was warmer (came out cold but not hypothermic) but much choppier & distance was almost spot on.
T1 11:45 including a bogstop as 4:30 start is just too early
Bike 8:57 - I have never come so close to a DNF: wet & windy for the first 100M. Numb hands, stinging eyes, uncontrollable shivering. Almost lost the bike over the cattle grid at the bottom of Wrynose but managed to save it - couple of others were less fortunate
Run 6:01 - cut down to 24.3M due to adverse weather - also 1,200ft less elevation. The extra 3.2M took me 1:23 last year so 52 minutes quicker, The cooler weather helped on this bit though I was in a fleece & waterproof jacket for the second half of the mountain which is a first.
Great report Reg- and well done there too.
Scott.. even your car must be tired.
Looking in very good shape AWC
Sounds a nice race John.
Nothing to report for me. Taper has been a bit quieter than I'd planned... but I've been stocking up really well on my sleep... to the point where I've slept so much this last few days, I've got out of bed tonight as I can't sleep!
Anyone got any recommendations for a nearly completely collapsible running hat - one with brim? Needs to pack in my running vest - and very little room to spare. Cheers. Back to bed now.
Great report and effort Reg. In my half dazed state ladt week I did wonde if you were doing it solo. Great effort to run, stop, sleep and go again.
Fantastic effort to finish Jools. Circa 1/3 didn't turn up - what did they know in advance ? "No running for me today" tells me how tough it must have been, recover quickly.
AWC - decent time for a less than 100% effort, agree with Jools, you'll smash sub 40 with a decent prep.
Sensible decision Scott to have a few days off, time to watch a few matches.
SQ - great midweek LR, and good luck with the Gold Coast John.
Recovery phase here, a couple of short runs to help recovery and a few more bike rides than usual. I can now see the bones in my foot again, they were a bit swollen for a few days so getting hungry to go again. I must put some thoughts down before I forget, funny how the memorys of the really tough bits are starting to fade first, a bit like bringing up children.
NE - cant help with a hat recommendation, I find they make me feel warmer. Good job on getting the sleep in.
Jools - love how you just casually drop tri x in. You, sir, are an absolute legend. Conditions sound ridiculously tough, so huge kudos for getting it done. How you feeling today?
Can't wait for the report Macca! What's next?
I did some endurance swim/bike/run training this weekend but recovery week so nothing too drastic. By far the highlight was out supporting at the Richmond 10km (2 laps, along the river, relatively flat but quite twisty). Katie is well and truly back in the game, and she ran a huge PB of 39:63 (40:03 if you're going to be particular with the detail
Less than 4 weeks to go for me.
That's a fab run from Katie. Loving the 39:63
Great 15 mile session there Joe. Amazing run from Katie too, so impressive how well she has come back after such a long lay-off.
Great report Reg. Superb performance, and sounds like quite an experience!
Solid long run SQ, very speedy after that track session.
Good luck for the Gold Coast marathon John.
That TriX is insane Jooligan, even by your standards! The profile on that bike ride gave me elevation sickness just looking at it. Congrats on finishing, incredible stuff.
Glad to hear you’re slowly recovering Macca, the brain is good at only remembering the positive bits isn’t it.
I had a reasonable week last week overall. Hill session on Friday was the best yet, definitely getting faster. And yesterday I had a similar 15 miler to last week, with the final 3 miles “hard”. Managed 6:20/mi this time, so a good chunk faster, and overall was just under 7 min/mi which is the first time I've done that since Manchester. Nice to see some progress after feeling a bit stuck the last few weeks. Recovery week this week ahead of the Stone 10K on Sunday, although will still hit the track with SQ tomorrow.
JohnOZ – excellent to pick a race so close. Stops months of fretting and you are definitely fit enough to go sub 3. Should it be a bit cooler than the Comm Games?
1200 driving miles, Scott? Ouch. My left glute would not thank me for that. Hope you recover soon.
Well controlled AWC. Good luck Saturday!
Bloody hell, Jooligan. That is savage. Not sure how you look so happy in that photo of you on the run. Very well done, certainly an epic race. A small part of me would be keen one day…
Great work to Katie, Joe. And good to see you still racking up the hours and miles. Not really sure how an ironman taper works. Any vO2 sessions on the cards?
Sounds like the fitness is starting the come, spoons. That hills and strides session you do has a lot of climbing so will definitely take it out of you.
Managed another 70M week – quite a few now since VLM. Did the beastly Three Hills of Cleeve solo challenge on Friday morning and very shocked to get a significant segment PB. Finished off with a bit of tempo-lite at the end. 10M with strides yesterday, felt knackered after some heavy socialising on Saturday afternoon and evening. Recovery this morning was in full shuffle mode.