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P&D Spring Marathon 2020
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Blimey John, i cant believe you run on a treadie so much when you can do runs like that.......i had my usual few beers.
Great news spoons
Steve - as shades tells you, you need a chest strap (or give up), you are trying to work with wonky data.
AWC - youve had a good few days then, nice. Fitness is coming back.
15m here, last 5m approx +10%.
Congratulations on being tapped up Hammo, should be a massive benefit to be surrounded by more runners of your ability.
Haven`t managed to post for a while, work has just started getting back to pre-covid levels so been busy fitting that and the start of P+D in. I managed 72 miles last week including the 18 w/ 8@MP. MP came out at 6.53 so for my first solo session in months I was pretty happy with that. Have the 4 at LT tonight which will be my first solo LT effort for a few years so dreading it.
Steve,as TR says, a chest strap is much more reliable. i`ve been using mine again this year for a few runs and it seems very consistent.
Millsy - Nice MP miles.
AWC - Sounds like good progress.
TR - Nice 15 miler.
Anyway, my experiment with HR is over. I did 12*400m with 400m recoveries today aiming to hit somewhere between 5k-10k pace. 1:31/30/31/27/29/28/28/30/29/33/31/26. With 2m warm up and same to cool down, that's 10 miles for the day.
Good to be back on it millsy.
AWC - to complete the experiment you have to do the next LT run in the old shoes. You might have just stepped up a level. But i hear you, you need to be comfortable. The flynits are a bit too atiff for me and make my feet ache, I'll probably keep my 4% for short distance racing, as i think they are too unstable for marathons, we'll see when racing comes back.
8m easy this morning. Im not doing the LT run myself as i did the long mp run saturday.
John, it must be lovely to see whales. I've actually never seen any, aside from captive orcas (which I don't terribly approve of).
Steve - so was it a good experiment? I've not been tempted to try as I know I'd end up having to walk a lot. And I run because I love to run.
Millsy, solid work there - good to hear things are getting a bit more normal for you.
Dodgy groin has been kicking off a bit - feels alright for a while and then I'll get a twinge. I did an easy 6 miles today (no exploring, just local routes, alas) then had a short walk later as I was feeling rather stiff, and did a bunch of rehab.
Bad luck on the camping weather. I’m in a tent Saturday so fingers crossed the forecast is accurate.
SQ - I've recently got a cheap pair of Peg 36's. Different to the 34's I have, but still decent. Might have to try some NB at some point as they get good reviews on Inside Running!
Cal - Yes, it was a good experiment. Like Shades/TR say though to do it properly I'd need a HR strap for accurate data. But it has helped me run easy for a good 2 months. However from a personal perspective, I think I need the mix of paces in training to keep my interest. While my runs did get slower, my 400s yesterday were a bit faster than the last time I did them, so I didn't loose any speed.
Anyway an easy 5 miles today.
Speaking of which, while it might have been sensible to rest or go easy today with my hip being grumpy (along with the other bits), I actually did a 10 mile run with some of Streatham's finest hills thrown in. I've run up the common numerous times, but several of the hills I ran today were new to me (I have walked up them - I often use my walks to recce new run routes). There were some real bastards in there too - up to 15% in places. I didn't push the pace - I just ran to the top. My breathing sounded like someone sawing through planks on a couple of them.
Grumpy bits don't seem to be any grumpier than before and I actually enjoyed the run a lot more than yesterday's. So I guess that's good.
TR - well done on the MP session, that’s 3 MP miles ahead of schedule.
Great to read of continued recovery Spoons.
SQ - that’s a decent 14m and a good weeks total. Just spotted a very good TT on Strava too.
AWC - proof positive of no benefit from Nike clown shoes - I’ll take that 😛 Great progress.
Jools - the enjoyment shows in some of those climbs, long may it continue.
Cal - rest or hilly 10 miler ? Glad you enjoyed the 10 miler.
Millsy - hope the LT wasn’t too bad.
Good work on the LT macca, esp after a few tough days. Im going to try for 2 x 14m too, esp in lieu of build up races.
13m here, 8 av 8:1X, 5 av 6.59. So around the 10% mark as scheduled.
I find optical HR very hit and miss Steve. For me it’s generally ok for consistent pace, but with intervals it’s all over the place. Great 400s, nice consistency.
Sounds like a lovely cliffside run AWC. Interesting about the much faster LT run in the Altras. As you say hard to know from one run, but having a shoe you’re comfortable in definitely helps. Even if it’s just the mental boost of feeling good.
Nice MLRs TR.
Hope the hip is ok Cal! I gave my elbow a whack on a wall last week, and I don’t even have the excuse of it being a narrow gap
Great 10 miler, those hills sound tough.
Great mileage and MP run Millsy.
Only advice I can give with switching to low-drop is to do it slowly TR. I tried switching very early in my running, and ended up injured because I didn’t give myself any transition time.
Pre-Covid racing does indeed feel a lifetime ago Jools!
Superb LT Macca.
Quality 5 miler SQ. Very rapid for a solo TT.
After Sunday’s 10 miler went well, I couldn’t resist returning to my classic out and back along the canal. Got out early (for me) at 6am to ensure it was nice and quiet. The pace was a lot slower, and the HR higher, than I’m used to for that run, but it was great to be back out there. My legs continue to feel stronger, with more pop, rather than flat, which is positive. Will probably start to try some strides and short efforts next week.
Good news at your end spoons, good to see.
I did 9m easy today.
SQ, I once ran on the greenway in Stratford during the Marathon that got reduced to a half due to flooding. the whole section was ankle deep in water the whole way
AWC, your run around Portland looked good, i may have to start visiting that area when I start the ARC 50 build up over the autumn.
Macca, nice LT session I`m already thinking about the one on my schedule in 11 days
My LT session went much better than planned, picked a slightly downhill start to help the legs turn over and managed to average 6:12 for my 4 miles which i was delighted with. definitely felt the effects on Wednesday`s MLR. I think my shoe choice made a difference. mentally I feel much faster in my Zoom Streaks but they are only good for 10 miles before the feet feel battered. For MP efforts I used the Zoom Fly which seem to feel better in the latter miles (possibly the carbon plate). It`s looking very likely that my next race will be the CW50 so will put some hilly trails in for Sunday.
Macca - Yeah that was a fun session, did 400 recoveries which was probably a bit too long though. Nice LT pace there.
SQ - Super TT there. Likewise I can never get close in training to race paces!
TR - Nice change of pace.
Spoons - Nice run.
6 miles yesterday, 3 warm up, 2 at MP (too fast at 6:41 for both) and a mile cool down.
Good LT there, Millsy. I guess the Streaks are pretty minimal? Not one of the shoes I've tried.
Good one spoons - my HR is quite high (150s typically, for an easy run - can get much higher on a fast run) and I often wonder if it's because I run early, after imbibing strong coffee. I'm not worried about it as I don't use the HR training method. If I did, I'd spend most of my runs walking, and I run because I like to actually run.
Rest day yesterday - spent an hour on rehab and did a bit of walking. Groin gave me a bit of a stabby pain when I was crossing the road and sped up to get out of the way of a car...it doesn't seem to like it when I open up my stride.
Anyway, 6 miles easy this morning (didn't feel all that easy though as it was very humid). Usually body grumbles but nothing I couldn't deal with.
The good news is I was able to get an appointment with my physio who spent most of it digging his elbow into my sore bits. He said he wouldn't give me any more exercises as I am doing everything I need to already.
Feel a bit better now.
Steve - 2m mp is like taper week!
Cal - im sure the elbow will have done you good
SQ - probably a bit similar to some of the smoother New Forest tracks. In the NF10 or 1/2 you think you are going well then hit a stretch of tarmac and it feels like you're racing along for the same effort. Easy miles here today too.
8m inc strides. Long run tomorrow.
I had a brief bit of respite before the next hill I'd set my sighs on. However, the route I chose went down a road that turned out to be quite a steep downhill and I found this quite unpleasant (I could feel my toes hitting the end of my toebox) so I was a bit gingerish about that.
On a bit from there was the next challenge, Fox Hill. This one has a nice 20% sign at the bottom. It starts off fairly gently but gets steep fast. Again, the steep part isn't very long but...oof.
I turned right at the top and made my way to Crystal Palace Park and did a circuit there - downhill first, but then a short uphill after the dinosaur lake. From there I made my way back past the bottom of Fox Hill to the next bit, Stambourne Woodland Walk, which is more or less parallel although a lot windier. I'd done this last time I ran around CP and somehow managed to bag a Strava top 10 trophy, so wanted to see if I could beat my time. It starts off uphill before there's a bit of respite in the middle, but then the next bit of uphill hits 18-19%. This was the only hill I pushed on, rather than just trying to survive, and I did beat my time (although I'm still 10th).
I then went through a park that I'd not done before, which had one steepish downhill bit, but I'd wanted to avoid having to go down Grange Hill again so it was an improvement.
I wasn't quite sure of the route from there - I did stop briefly to ask a couple which direction Streatham was and they obliged (which meant running up another hill, not to steep but I was tired by that point so it felt like hard work).
I came out along a main road and realised I was - it runs across the top of Streatham Common so I carried on until I reached a road called Biggin Hill. Ran down that and back through the little wood then along to the bottom of Norwood Grove. I decided, against my better judgement, to run up Gibson's Hill at the side of it, and then realised I didn't have anything left, so I just did the steep bit at the bottom, cut back through Norwood Grove, down Streatham Common and home from there.
14 miles in all. Garmin made it 290m of elevation, which is probably more sensible than the 1,207 feet Strava estimated (Strava always overestimates) - still a lot for 14 miles.
Hip survived OK and hammy was less grumpy than it could have been, though both hams were pretty much jelly by the end. Achilles was the grumpiest today but can't say I'm surprised with the hills, so I'll take it a little easier for a while.
And now I'm tired.
21m, last 11m around the target mp +10%. Last mile was quickest so felt strong. Was a bit of a warm one, will have plenty of fluid to replace later.