The Thousand Mile Club - 2018

Hobie 1495

JT, well done on smashing the 1000 miles, 6 months of resting for you now I guess  

Thanks for all the good wishes for my attempt at Man v Horse...how was it? Hot and tough. For Mid Wales the weather was unbelievably warm & dry (last year it was monsoon conditions) We were started by the legend that is Sophie Raworth...with a host of other running heroes (Ewan Thomas & Susie Chan).

I won't go into detail...there were hills, a lot of hills...there was mud, but not as much as last year...it was tough...marshalls were awesome...lots of water & feed stations...there were a lot of stunning horses...I love this race.

BBC were filming, I believe for the One Show so keep an eye out for it.

I finished in 4hrs 4minutes...quicker than last year but the course was slightly different so really shouldn't compare.

Oh, Horse won again...by 23seconds over the first runner in a time of 2hrs 33mins...epic effort.

717miles YTD

Harmander Singh 2

Well done Hobie1495 and JT for getting the 1000 miles out of the way.
Did 7.08 miles yesterday and 10.19 just now before going up North
YTD = 1203.19 miles

lilly61

Thank for all the good luck messages.. 

So a little update on how today went. Woke up at 5am, couldnt sleep again so got a nice early breakfast in! Got down to the start line 30 mins before and and had a really small warm up and stretch as really worried about aggrivating my calf further.

Off the line and get off to a really easy 11min pace. Just wanted to try and finish and didnt want my calf to totally break down having only run 2 miles in last 10 days.

Kept that pace nice and steady until mile 6 where I gained a bit more confidence and opened up a bit. Then 7 miles and bam calf felt like it had been stabbed... literally stopped me dead and had to stop, gave myself 5 mins and massaged best I could. Thought I would give it a few minutes and see if I could continue at about 12 min!! Was painful but just kept with it.

Finally managed to get myself to 10min and saw the 2.30 pace in the distance so just foccussed on that to try and motivate myself on. I caught them at mile 11 and passed and hobbled over the line with a time of 2.24 which all things concidered I am happy with, happy to just finish it! But I fear a few weeks on the sidelines now.. On the plus side it was a nice course, really flat and a great chance for a PB. I will be doing this again next year.. I really think I woukd have broken 2 hours if not for this injury.. Onwards and upwards!

Hobie hopefully you faired better today. 

This puts me on 335.8 YTD

AndrewD

Oh dear Lilly, sounds painful! Hope your recovery is quick!

I’m on 402 YTD now, and really hoping this week will see a return to semi respectable mileage ?

David Charman

Afternoon all,

Thank you all for the best wishes for a speedy recovery, still not right but it is now starting to feel better, especially after Thursday's visit to the sports therapist as well.

JT141, Congratulations on the magic 1000 mile mark.

Hobie, Wow, sounds like a very tough race well done. I would have thought the horse would have won by a much larger margin than 23 seconds!

Lilly, So sorry to read about Sunday's outing, sounds like you were very strong in the first part of the race, a massive well done for carrying on and completing the race, I think many would have just given up and gone home, anyway lets hope the calf soon recovers.

As for me last week I did manage to get out for two small outings, albeit only walking or very slow jogging (65 mins for 5 miles) but at least I got out.

07.06.18 - 5
08.06.18 - 5

YTD = 574.20

This week I have a marathon booked on Thursday, my mum is coming along to do the half, so I probably will drop back and join her unless a miracle happens.

Also forget to mention, I have been banging on about a race called "The last one standing" based in Suffolk, this was run over the weekend and the winner managed 36 laps/hours totaling 147.6 miles, with 9 runners managing 25 laps/hours to get the 100 mile mark - I am definitely up for that next year. 

Steven Morrison 2

Hey all,

No miles to report for me ... feeling a bit 'meh' again but final 10K of the year (for me anyway) is on Sunday so I'll get back out before then.

Just wanted to drop in and say Congrats to Hobie on Man v Horse, although I still think the Horse is cheating - its got a human navigating ... not to mention four legs!

And also to say well done to lilly for completing what sounds like a horrible afternoon ... That type of mental toughness doesn't come cheap, top effort!

Hobie 1495

ToughRunner, I've entered the Brechfa Trail Half Marathon...pretty close to home and reasonable price with early bird discount. Looking forward to a November run in the woods.

AndrewD

4 tonight to get me up to 406 YTD. About 40 behind the pace now, which will be hard to make up!

Dubai runner

Andrew there's plenty of time to make up the miles!

11.6 4.8 miles
12.6 2.2 miles - look it was damn hot!

YTD 857.73 miles

David Charman

Dubai, I don't think anyone on here would judge, even half a mile is an achievement in those temperatures.

Donnie2

Ytd: 520.0

Lily: enjoyed the report,  maybe not exactly what you wanted but well done,  great application and,  I'm sure, successful times are around the corner. 

Hobie: man v horse that's crazy. Hopefully I'll catch it on the one show. 

Steven: good luck Sunday,  looking forward to the report,  you've set a high bar. 

lilly61

Its gone a bit quiet in here, me included..

So I have a grade 1 tear and cannot run for a few weeks now. Which is very frustrating.. But what you gonna do aye?!

Nearly a week up already so hopefully out again soon. Worst of all I have been off work this week as well so was really looking forward to a few run outs.

If I dont get in again before good luck Steven for the 10k Sunday and any others racing this weekend! 

AndrewD

Bad luck Lilly - hopefully it will heal quickly.

I managed another 3 miles on Wednesday, then promptly buggered up my Achilles at cricket training Wednesday night. So no running since.

409 YTD

Steven Morrison 2

Howdy folks,

lilly: Ouch that sounds bloody awful, hope it heals as planned (if not better) and you're back even stronger than before.

AndrewD: You have to be careful of these high impact sports like cricket - they're a minefield All joking aside you weren't bowling were you, there's a lot of load on the planted foot.

Dubai: Keeping a nice healthy lead on me ... even in that heat - well done sir.

Harmander: I meant to say earlier, it's good to see you back and posting miles again, good lesson to us all when we are managing a niggle/injury.

Work is very busy at the moment and finding the energy/motivation for training has been a challenge if I'm honest. It's 2 weeks until my hols (a whole fortnight away woohoo!) and a much needed recharge.

I'll let you know how this Sunday goes,  I wasn't feeling any pressure on my race reports until Donnie's comment. But, if you find yourself reading an account of how on Sunday I was dodging zombies or leaping over waterfalls you'll know the pressure to write a good'un has overtaken me.

Thanks for the wishes all - its much appreciated.

12 Jun - 11.6m

15 Jun - 4.0m

YTD: 814.38 Miles

Dubai runner

Afternoon all

Sorry to read about the injuries. Try and play it safe, easier said than done I know!

Steven - good luck for the 10k, where you going on your hols?

No running the last 2 days. Was on a course, then had my annual medical, then a night shift. Now in the middle of four days off which has worked well as my kids are off school for the Eid Al Fitr holiday at the end of Ramadan. They're then back to school for 9 days and then off for 9 weeks!

Got out at 0630 this morning for 10.7 miles, was 36 degrees when I finished. So had an electrolyte tablet.

YTD 868.43 miles

Harmander Singh 2

Lilly61, Yes it had gone quiet.
Steven Morrison2 - thank you. Since coming back from Darlington late on Monday night, I decided to take this week off too and intend to start slowly again tomorrow.  
By my caculations I am still 108 miles ahead of schedule to reach 2018 miles by the end of the year having missed two marathons and nearly three weeks of proper running.
Oh I got the Dartford Midnight Marathon on 23 June but intend to take it real easy.

Dubai runner

Not so quiet now Lilly!

Hobie 1495

Sorry to hear of injuries, rest & get better Lilly & Andrew.

Have a great one on Sunday Steven. 

Bit quiet this week for me, kind of recovering from last weekends race. Just a club 7 miles on Wednesday and a few miles yesterday while waiting to pick up my Father in Law from a hospital appointment. 

729 miles YTD. 

lilly61

Thats better!! Haha

Donnie2

YTD: 526.0

I'd seen the comment earlier today about the thread going quiet and thought I'd make an effort this evening, looks like everyone had the same idea!

My plans for the next few months. I have the Walkington 10k in mid July (a Friday night), The Vale of York half in September and building up to the York marathon in October where I'm hoping again for sub 4 hr. I wanted to move away from the marathon being the 'everything' of my running year, although I think I'm failing. 

Steven: Please don't feel any pressure when reporting back. I enjoy all the reports, you write very well, I'm sure the story of Sunday will be hugely readable.

Dubai runner

7.34 miles this morning

YTD 875.77 miles

Donnie2

YTD: 531.1

Parkrun at 10 secs off a PB and 4 miles on the gym thread mill whilst OH was in the swimming pool. 

Harmander Singh 2

10.19 miles including Parkrun makes
YTD = 1213.38 miles

Dubai runner

7.63 miles this morning

YTD 883.4 miles

 

Dubai runner

Just the 330 miles ahead of me Harmander!!

Steven Morrison 2

All,

Well here goes, I woke up feeling sluggish and unwilling to get out of bed, after watching nearly 30 minutes go past on the bedside clock I dragged myself out my pit. I was catching the train to the start of the race so I really couldn't afford to be late - sunday service and all that - so I was catching the train BEFORE the one I needed, just in case.

Trains were perfect (of course they were) and I arrived at the start line of the Glasgow Mens 10K, with a good amount of time to kill. I've not really got a pre-race warm-up procedure I go through so it was join the toilet queue that'll kill some time. It's a race I have a lot of affection for as it was my first race (back in 2012 ... my time was an agonising 1:08:05) and it's the race where I set my PB last year of 53:52. So, I spent some time soaking up the atmos and then made my way to my start pen.

When I filled in the predicted start time, my ambitions were to run sub-50 so I put 50 minutes down as my estimate and that put me in wave 3 of 5. However my recent times and the fact that I'm not racing again until September had made decide to be bold and go all-out for Sub-45 ... I had already achieved more than hoped for - if I blew up after 5K whats the difference?

Eventually the wait was over and we were under way, there's a very short incline to start and then a gradual downhill, so I had decided to boost up the hill and then just try to hold pace. Mission accomplished, I settled into my running very quickly, albeit that the pace felt ambitious already. Just as I was starting to wonder what kind of pace I was running, I felt my watch vibrate on my wrist. I looked down to see a power save warning on it ... I had failed to start my watch at the beginning (I was sure I pressed it) anyway no point moaning, start it now and press the lap button at the 1K marker. Which I did - 2:46 it read ... damn I thought it's gonna be about 2:00 to 1:30 out.

This made my mind up that I now had to run as flat out as I could because I had no way to judge where i was in the race. So, thats what I did - pushed as hard as I felt I could all the way - by 5K I was struggling my HRM was telling me 182bpm and I was breathing like broken steam engine. I knew I had to be running under 4:30 for each kilo to get under 45 mins and up to the 5K point I had managed it. but 5K to 6K saw a 4:45. Uh-oh I thought I've not got this pace, gone out too fast - I'm gonna fade now.

I stopped looking at my watch, after all it wasn't telling me much now except my heart rate was too high and I was slowing down. In the distance fluttering away was the yellow flag of a pacer ... that's gotta the 45 min pacer I thought. Right, whatever happens keep him in sight. I could feel the feint hint of reflux and wanting to wretch but I told myself less than 20 minutes to go, you can keep running for 20 mins.

At 8K I wanted to quit, my legs felt like jelly, my stomach was cramping and I was still gulping down air.

No 9K marker (that I saw anyway) just a buzz from the watch told me I had less than 5 minutes of this agony to endure. The course gets quite turny from here ... lots of 90 degree corners through the centre of the city so I kept losing sight of the pacer.

When I stopped thinking about how wretched I felt and took the time to look up the road I saw the 45 min pacer was now much closer than I had anticipated. How close can I get to him? - who knows maybe I can squeak under 45 here. There's a few more corners to be negotiated, but I know the streets well I'm close - just give it everything. I glanced at my watch to see how hard I was working already 192bpm looked back at me. Well that made my mind up, I can't run any harder than that - just hold on. at 9.5K (ish) I had a serious mental wobble, what am I doing here? This is stupid I could pass out, fall over and badly hurt myself on these flipping paving stones, you should ease up, you're not going under 45 anyway. But I knew I was 2 minutes from the end ... I can't quit now.

Another corner, then another - there he is 20 yards up the road 400m to go. He's not racing, he's pacing I thought ... chase him down, you can do it hard as you can. I necked passed him on the timing mat as he applauded runners in, and stopped my watch. Much as I had after Stirling I leant over the railing, just sucking in air, the urge to puke was quite strong for a moment but thankfully it didn't happen (Lots of kids there - wouldn't have looked good). My watch said 42:26 ... was that enough? It's gotta be I thought I've caught up with 45 min pacer it's gotta be enough.

I know that there is text message quite sharpish after the race, so all I could think about now was getting back to my phone. All the way back, I just kept repeating to myself "It's gotta be enough, it must be!" and then arguing with myself "What if he had a bad afternoon?"

Eventually I got back to my phone, there was the text message right enough. 44:10 it said ... I'd hoped I would be able to squeeze under 45 but a new PB of 44:10 - I'm delighted, absolutely delighted. I just might forget my watch in future races ... it's a flipping hindrance

17 Jun - 6.21m

YTD: 820.59 Miles

lilly61

Wow - Steven what a write up!! You took me on your journey there!! I felt like I was there with you ?... congratulations amazing PB

Harmander Singh 2

Steven Morrison2,
Fantastic write up, like Lilly61, I too felt I ran with you.  Yes a nice little hill at the start there, remember it well. Great job on the PB.  Glad the pacer did his/her job.

Dubai Runner, thanks for reminding me lol
13.71 miles this morning making
YTD = 1227.09 miles

AndrewD

Well done Steve - sometimes it is just better to run entirely by feel and to forget the watch. I bet the 45 minute pacer was unpopular though if he actually got round in about 44 minutes!

Dubai runner

Well done Steven, what it was like when I started racing in the late 80s before all today’s gizmos. Going by perceived effort is always the best and never mind what the thing on your wrist says.