Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
P&D Autumn Marathon 2019
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Good going at the relays SQ. The post-race dip looked nice.
Those Normatech boots seem very popular with the pros John, shame they’re so expensive! Look forward to the report.
TR yes to be clear I’m totally relaxed about those missed few days now, I was just referencing they were the only blip in an otherwise great block of training. 24, 12, 15, nice work! Isn’t marathon training all about running on tired legs!?
Winding things down now, just eight miles along the canal this morning. I almost forgot to stop, as I was on total autopilot. Weirdly, having discussed being stung by wasps with SQ on our recovery yesterday (as he was stung at the weekend), today a wasp (at least I think it was) flew up under my sunglasses, got trapped, and stung me just below my eye. Luckily I’m not allergic, but it does feel rather sore. Must be the first time I’ve been stung in about 20 years. Serves me right for being the wanker wearing sunglasses at 6:30am
SQ
Great North Run - 8/9
Hamo
Berlin - 29/9
RunSpoonRun - NAZ/BAC/P&D hybrid - 2:44:59
Chicago - 13/10
Blue Horseshoe
Abingdon - 20/10
TR
Macca
Frankfurt - 27/10
Joe Blogs
Dublin - 27/10
Hamo
Northender
Valencia - 1/12
Hydeparkrunner
Joe Blogs
dct
Macca - nice, are you still running Abo?
Saw a nice improvement in my 10 inc 6 tempo commute today despite the recent miles. Im heading back to whete i was a few years back, at last.
SQ - sounds like the relays were a really good day out. I couldn’t have written the script for this year, I even found time for a couple of dot weeks through injury, probably not a bad thing in hindsight.
Hamo - I’ll look out that programme. I found myself in someone’s video on Youtube. My kids will be more impressed I’m on YouTube than having run the UTMB.
TR - xpost Yes still intending to do Abo. I mainly entered so I wouldn’t be tempted to enter another 100 (got a 50 in Nov) so I’m fairly relaxed about a time, will see how the next few weeks feel, 8@6:37ave yesterday felt like “hanging on” a bit too much so hopefully I’ll be sensible. A good sign with the tempo, especially with the recent mileage in the legs.
RSR - sorry to hear about the wasp. I’ve had so many flies in my eyes this summer I was thinking about getting some running sunglasses, might have to go for the full goggles ones. I’ve had a few decent results but ones where you feel there might have been a bit more, use that feeling to get what you deserve from Berlin. If 2:44 is still the goal I think that 10k was a good marker (with some tough sessions in the legs).
SQ...good going at the relays, sounds like a brilliant day all round.
John...the 2 courses are much of a muchness really, Belfast slightly flatter if anything i suppose, but GNR has an overall drop. Glad your legs are feeling good, looking forward to the report.
TR...tired legs are the staple of marathon training, no?
Macca...Oh yes, youtube is the be all and end all
10 with 2 at HMP and 8x100 strides for me this morning. Usual race week fare, before the onslaught of recovery miles from now to Sunday.
Hamo - looks like you are good to go again then.
Well done on the 10k, spoons, hope taper goes well and good luck with race to you and Chick.
Had a slight foot tendon issue which happened during my highest mileage weeks on P&D plan which I guess is not too unexpected but a bit frustrating not fully get through all he training - hoping the taper period in final 2 weeks or so removes any lingering issue here. Physio didn't seem to concerned which was confidence boosting.
No rest for the wicked then Macca! Yes, 2:44:xx is the goal.
Great news on the tempo improvement TR, always nice when you see progress.
Getting overexcited on the pace seemed to work well before GNR Hamo! Have a good one.
Great consistent running as usual Steve.
Bad luck with the foot BH, but at least the physio is happy. Better to get it sorted now than have it flare up during the marathon.
Like Hamo I had to dig out the gloves this morning, for a chilly final BAC session - 10 mins @ MP, then 8x2 mins @ 5K. For some reason I’d gotten in my head it was 5x2, so I was a little disappointed when I loaded up the workout on my watch and discovered I had 3 extra reps to do
The MP section went well, legs turned over nicely and it felt a bit better than how I remember it feeling pre-Manchester (although that’s admittedly now quite a distant memory!) Running that for another 2.5 hours seems preposterous, but then it always does! 6:16/mi so bang on target.
The 2 minute reps were a bit more of a struggle. My breathing felt a bit tight from the cold air, and the legs were a bit flat - they probably still have the 10K in them. The first one came out at 5:22/mi pace, so a bit enthusiastic, the next one was the other extreme, down to 5:54/mi, although I suspect that might have been a bit of a GPS blip. The next four came out between 5:34 and 5:46, and didn’t feel that great, so I considered cutting it short. In the end I pushed on, and was glad I did as the final two were 5:29/mi and 5:33/mi. Overall an average of 5:37/mi, a bit slower than the 5:30/mi I averaged pre-Manchester, but I didn’t have a 10K in my legs back then.
SQ
Great North Run - 8/9
Hamo
Sydney - 15/9
JohnOz
Berlin - 29/9
RunSpoonRun - NAZ/BAC/P&D hybrid - 2:44:59
Chicago - 13/10
Blue Horseshoe
Abingdon - 20/10
TR
Macca
Frankfurt - 27/10
Joe Blogs
Dublin - 27/10
Hamo
Northender
NYC - 3 Nov
JohnOz
Valencia - 1/12
Hydeparkrunner
Joe Blogs
dct
TR - must be encouraging to feel the progression as you near the peak weeks. What's your PB?
Hamo - tapering nicely, are you having another all out blast at Belfast or more of a workout?
Blue Horseshoe - I'm sure taper will mend up any niggles. You may want to try applying Voltaren to where it feels sore, it seemed to work for my tib ant tendon in the lead up to Sydney.
Spoons - it's all in the bank now, certainly sounds like you're ready to go.
Steve - yes well spotted, and all my PBs have been set in the last 7 weeks! I think you can definitely go low 38 mins with your HM times. When is your 10k?
Aiming for a report tomorrow, still not started it yet as I'm trying to recall what I've done differently to make the jump. Still no running either, may try a short jog tomorrow.
Macca - had been waiting for the report for ages and thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely got more than one eye on a transition to long-distance running in the future and UTMB is very much at the top of the list. But just in awe of your performance mate, absolutely incredible stuff. Chapeau.
John - huge congrats - awesome run, really happy for you. Look forward to reading about it.
Spoons - that's come around quick! Good run in the 10km, doesn't always turn out exactly how you hope, but in good shape for Berlin.
Hamo - blown away with your GNR performance.
I've just about reached rock bottom fitness wise, but finally feeling a spark to get things going again. I've signed up for Ironman Wales which is a years time, I've done it before, and really looking forward to going back.
It's a long road from here though. Over a stone heavier than my normal self and training paces are vastly different from normal, but got to start somewhere!
Frankfurt and Valencia will most likely be enjoyable long runs, hopefully be able to keep up with Katie as she's absolutely flying at the moment. My prediction for her this autumn in 3:02.
Joe - good to hear that you are getting some support. You are an all in kind of guy, hopefully you can find ways to balance everything.
John - pb's are 35.5X, 59.09, 78.15 and 2.51.0X all from 2012 and 13, but i was more multisport then. The 10m and 1/2 was set of around 100m per month but after a summer of 1/2 IM training. I had a long time out with injury in 2016 though snd am now over 50. The best i can be on the day is the Abo target.
12m today, 93 for the past 7 days which must be a record, need to ease up for Sundays 1/2 now, although its probably a bit late now. But Abo is no 1 target anyway.
TR - that's some great times off tri training, even with age the speed will still be there and you've done a huge block of mileage. Looking good for Abo in my books.
Long report coming up...
2019 kicked off with me getting a few niggles in different places and they never really went away completely. I had already decided to focus on the shorter distances in the first half of the year and followed P&L for a decent 7 weeks, getting up to 95 miles. However that was the tipping point when I overdid it and ended up getting shin splints, which knocked me out for a few weeks in April. It's my first real injury in 5 years of running and whilst I knew the advice is to back off and get it treated early, I still stubbornly didn't do it.
BH...Hope the taper sorts it out for you, good news the physio isn't too worried,
Spoons...good final session and sharpener. Looking good for Berlin, cotton wool time is right.
John...I'll give Belfast a go and see how i get on, i wouldn't be able to help myself anyway, even if i tried to do it as a workout.
Joe...Good to see you back and that you had a nice holiday. Really glad to see that you're getting support, hope it all improves quickly. On the fitness side of things, it'll not take you long to get back to where you where, and i wouldn't worry about the weight, nothing a hard week or two wont shift.
TR...Big, big week, all the best for the 1/2. Have you times in mind for it?
7 mile recovery for me this morning, followed up by booking my flights for the London Marathon, as easyjet so kindly emailed me to say they'd released their new Spring/Summer schedule this morning as i got back from my run, meaning i got them for next to nothing. Good morning all round
Hamo - nice, good to be all booked in. Solent 1/2 is not Gosport fast but is decent. Did 1.25.1X last yr. Not sure i can repeat my 3mins quicker than last yr i recently did at Harting 10 and IoW 1/2, but some sign of sub3 readiness woyld be good. Always tricky to predict without a taper. I did 1.25.4X at fleet 4 weeks before Brighton when i though id be lots quicker, although to be fair life issues were starting to peak then.
Joe - Croatia looked great from your Strava feed, especially that trail marathon. Cracking stuff. Maybe we should have a fat guy challenge, weekly weigh in, see who can get back to fighting weight the quickest ....... actually that doesn't sound like a healthy idea. I think you'd probably win anyway, I'm about 17 pounds over now, and gaining. Good plan for IM Wales
AWC...Sorry to hear about the chest infection, glad its cleared up now. Good news that you are adapting to the technical stuff.
6M recovery this morning
Croatia looked amazing on Strava Joe. Glad to hear you are getting the support you need. Be patient and I’m sure you’ll be back to fitness soon enough. Remember how quickly things turned around earlier this year for you.
Good luck for Sunday TR.
Fantastic report John, it’s got me really excited for my own marathon. Congratulations again on the massive PB, superb work.
Good luck at parkrun if you opt to do it Steve.
Nice work getting flights sorted early Hamo, I made the mistake of leaving Berlin a bit late. It ended up being cheaper to stay for two more days than fly when I originally wanted to. Every cloud!
Good to hear you’re over the lurgy AWC.
I’m now in that weird purgatory where I feel like I’m barely running/training but the marathon still feels quite distant. Getting quite paranoid about getting ill… this morning on the way to a client meeting I changed seats on the train 3 times to avoid people who were coughing/sneezing
I did another post-run sauna yesterday in a bid to be prepared for any warmer weather. Forecast is creeping down slowly but looking a bit breezy. Plenty of time for it to change, so trying not to obsess too much about it
I was expecting to have had “taper legs” in at least one run by now, when they feel wooden and rubbish, but so far so good. 
Hamo - ha ha, we'll see.
Spoons - maybe the taper legs arnt apered enough yet.
My legs are most confused as i only did 5m again today. Going to be a wet and windy affair Sunday.
A busy week at work, not much time to catch up on the forum until today.
Hope the eye sting is now ok, spoons? Very strange coming straight after we were discussing mine.
Haha hamo, a couple of keen HMP miles don’t seem to do you any harm . Good luck tomorrow and enjoy.
You might feel you’ve hit rock bottom fitness wise, Joe, but you are off the back of a tough off road marathon. I always feel a bit rubbish after time off following a race, especially when i put some weight on. You’ve got such an incredible base of fitness, which, when combined with two more autumn marathons, could enable you to have a brilliant Spring race/build up to Tenby.
You’re going well TR, good luck tomorrow.
JohnOz, couldn’t agree more that if you are feeling good, it is worth going for it in a race. I tend to find that’s how breakthrough performances come about for me. Hell of a few months you’ve had, especially of an injury disrupted start to the year. Two pacers to two runners is pretty good provision! I’ve never seen 2:50 pacers in a race, to my frustration.
10M easy on the canal on Tuesday, having to use someone’s bike to shield myself from feisty swans.
13M on Wednesday including 2 x 2M at tempo (just over 6m/m) with 5 minute jogs, then 3 x 400m in 1:28.
Double recovery Thursday, then another workout yesterday late afternoon. 13.4M including 3 x 2M at rough MP effort, then 6 x short hill sprints. Really enjoying the racecourse laps at tempo/MP effort, although didn’t have much in the legs for the hill sprints. Have sacrificed a couple of miles here and there for further squats, deadlifts, lunges, cleans etc in the gym.
parkbuggyrun this morning, except my daughter refused to go in the buggy. I hope this is not the beginning of the end, I love our chats and bonding time on a Saturday morning.
Joe - you dip in as and when you feel like. You would love Chamonix and I'm sure Chamonix would love you, especially if you finished the UTMB in your swim shorts. I dont think you would need any help transitioning to ultras with your endurance background but if there is anything I can do, just shout.
TR good luck with the half today, fingers crossed the weather is reasonable. Your running pedigree is, as I had my suspicions, very impressive.
Hamo - all the best for your half too.
AWC - thanks, I think you'd love the whole experience of UTMB too. Good luck with the ballot. You'll have the base, experience and confidence from SDW & NDW so wont need to do too much before A100.
SQ - well done on registering some sessions without a goal race in mind. Hopefully theres a few more park buggy runs to enjoy, theres been a few displays of wilfulness this end too.
BH - hopefully the taper works its magic.
RSR - good luck with the germ avoidance, I reckon the taper is working its magic on your legs as I type.
Steve - hope the PR went well yesterday.
Up to 69miles for the week and in calorie deficit so shouldnt be surprised to find things are starting to feel a bit of an effort but in a good way.
Macca - good to see you getting the miles back up.
2m, solent 1/2, 3m for me. Intended to do 5m wd but my legs were shot. If i need to practice warming up and standing on the start line in the pissing rain for Abo then im good to go. Plenty of splashing through puddles in the race too.
Couldnt match my recent run of 3 mins quicker than last yr, but managed around 2m 30something.
Started off 6.20ish and thought ok thats 1.23, but got going a bit better and had a sniff of scraping under 1.22 at one point, i felt strong but my legs started wrapping it in by 10m, and were a bit wobbly in the last mile. Hung on for 1.22.3X. A better course like Gosport would be 60 to 90sec quicker, so with a taper im heading back to 80min ish. After lots of personal worse performances in the last 2 years im actually starting to improve a bit. Wasnt able to really push but i guess thats all the miles, and i knew that in advance, plus side should be a quick recovery. Kind of wished i was a bit fresher so i could have gone faster but Abo is the priority.
Double it and add 10 mins for Abo?
Nice to see Mills a few times today, it took him a moment to twig who i was.
Macca - amazing that you are already back up to 69 miles. Yes you're right, my first HM was 2013 and first marathon in 2015, hopefully a few more years of improving still to go! Interesting that rather than gradual improvement this year has been a significant step up, I put that down partly to the physical side but definitely I was much more confident about going into unchartered waters. Also yes I will have done Boston, London and NYC and hoping to tick off Berlin next year if I can convince the OH. Not sure how long it will take to get into Tokyo, I've missed out 4 years in a row now. Maybe I should have looked at my watch at 40k however I've run all my PBs this year without looking at my watch. I've enjoyed not chasing times and a few seconds here don't matter as long as Ive enjoyed the whole buildup and race (although I'm sure it will come back to bite me at some point when I miss out on a meaningful target!)
SQ - it's common to have 2:50 pacers in the larger Australian marathons, they have been in all the ones I've done. Maybe you should start sowing the seeds for your next family holiday over here... they certainly made a huge difference for me, I was just able to focus on running. What's next for you?
TR...Excellent half, really well done. Must be a big confidence boost for Abo? Rapid.
SQ...Good work over the week, some more than decent sessions in there. Junior parkrun on a Sunday is where its at, if the buggy running does end,
Macca...69 miles is a big week, fair play to you getting back at it so soon.
4 mile with strides on Saturday morning for me, as a last run before the Belfast half on Sunday. Wasn't sure how the 1/2 would go, as i just wasn't 'feeling it' and wanting to hurt during the week, but as always happens, when a number is pinned on the mindset magically clicks into gear. Decided to set out hard and see where it got me, delighted with a new pb of 1.12.43 and 7th place overall in a fairly stacked field. So cant complain one bit.