P&D Spring Marathon 2021

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  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Cal - well thats a starting point to getting healthy.

    Jools - as crackers as ever. What a tough weekend!

    13m run home, mostly into the wind, legs were toast from the turbo, glad to finish.
  • Cal - hopefully that explains feeling rubbish and the drugs do their bit.

    Jools - I can imagine any wind on top of a ridge in a fell race making challenging conditions even more challenging.  Well done on backing it up with a 14 into 18.

    TR - 18m/turbo/windy MLR commute - good work on toasting the legs.  I’ve thought the same tracking people on ultras - even going to bed, waking up and they are still at it.  I suppose I would say that all you have to worry about is moving forwards (with maybe a few little add ons eg eat, drink, wc etc.

    So, Thames Path 100 done in 18:45:03 for 24th.  A goal was a 17:xx, B goal was to challenge for age cat win.  Conditions weren’t too bad but not perfect so A goal wasn’t a hard target. Starting in the rain it stayed wet for a few hours but on decent paths that wasn’t a real problem.  I probably set off a little quick 8ish mm, pace naturally slowed to around 11 mm by halfway.  There were a few exposed windy sections but I just walked them, not wasting any more energy than necessary.  I passed a few people and a few passed me but with staggered starts it didn’t mean much.  The. 2nd half was fairly uneventful, pace inevitably slowed but not too badly. The 7m leg to mile 85 was tough and I was entering just get this over with mode.  I knew from the tracker that I was first in age cat (subject to someone starting later and having a storming finish) and with a sub 19hrs in the balance I was quite pleased to be able to pick up pace from 14 mm to 12 mm for the last 2 sections of about 10 miles.  It did the trick on both counts getting me home in 18:45 and 1st in age cat.  So a good day out, as ever really well organised.  A bit of a drag getting home from Oxford at 2.30am but I would have loved the chance of doing that in lockdown so count my blessings. A few hrs sleep around lunchtime was just enough to keep me going to bedtime.  A few blisters from damp feet (my nemesis) but otherwise not too bad.
  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    Fantastic time Macca.  How much have you progressed in the last 3 years?  Seen some other really great marathons and races on the last couple of pages... but I'm not going to try to read back further than that!

    Thought I'd call in and say hello again -  maybe try to frequent these pages again. I've not been a big runner since I last checked in, after my own big ultra last September - in fact I had a really big dip for some months. I was lined up and entered for the Pen Llyn Ultra again for July and had just started picking up the mileage through March... but my wife broke her leg 4/5 weeks ago... and that ended my chances of doing Pen Llyn :(  So nothing in the diary until October when it will be either Manchester or (more likely) the local Newport marathon.  

    As I'm not able to get out as much at the moment, I dipped into eBay and picked up my first treadmill yesterday. Never really liked them, but if I've any chance of getting into shape, it could make all the difference. Anyone else used a treadmill for relative serious training? 
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Welcome back NE
    I’ve did several midweek MLRs of 16M a few years ago on the TM & plenty of hard interval sessions too but not used it much in the last 2 years.
    JohnOz has used one a lot & Steve Way trained successfully for Comrades on one so they definitely work.
    6M easy tonight which wasn’t as easy as it should’ve been.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Fair play to you macca, you are a steely legged fella, a humble one at that too. Great running, well done on the AG win.

    Nice to see you NE, shame for your wife to break her leg. There are all sorts of tales of folks in cold and snowy places training entirely on a treadie for months at a time.

    8m easy, legs slightly less ruined. Bridging the gap back to normal training ready for 5 weeks on the car bonnet ready for a sub 255 in Goodwood part 3.
  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    SQ...I agree with the others, try and hold your mate back to 3.15/20 pace until 20 mile, then slowly up the pace afterwards if he is feeling good...and point out everyone he is overtaking in the last 10k (subtly :lol: ) that will really boost him.

    Jools...Good work on the fell race, that sounds brutal, so even finishing is a good effort. Your "recovery" the next day sums you up rightly, completely mad...love it :lol:

    TR...You are back to your usual level of consistency and not too far away from being able to hop on the bonnet again...really excited to see what chapter 3 of the saga produces. Hopefully a still day for 1 thing.

    Macca...TR sums up just what an awesome run you put in when he can describe a full day of activities all while you are running :lol: Proper class running, really well done and huge congrats on the win. Lovely way to frame teh struggle getting home at 2.30 am, by counting post lockdown blessings. Inspirational stuff.

    Millsy...Hope you are still checking in here, but as said to Macca...That was some run from yourself over the weekend, clean mental distance, but a brilliant effort and result. Class work.

    Cal...Sorry to hear about your teeth and hammy. Now you have the antibiotics that should be you on the road to recovery though, so that's a good sign.

    NE...Glad to hear from you, but sorry to hear about your wife. Hope she is ok, and on the mend? Best of luck with building back into it, looking forward to hearing all about your progress.


    The 5000m track race our club put on, on Satruday didn't really go to plan. I had my first ever DNF, though i am more proud of myself than anything else, for recognising a bad day and pulling the pin to save any damage. Rather than being my usual stubborn headed self and battering on and knocking my recovery back. In hindsight, 3 things conspired to make it a bad day; 1) I hate the track :lol: , 2) my calves went a bit like concrete, marathon still in them i reckon, and 3) I got my COVID jab at the end of the week, and while i didn't feel overly bad after it, i was really really tired the day before, and the morning of the race (it was like having a "fuzzy/light" head is the best way to describe it). So all in all, not great, but nothing lost. I am not a 5000m runner really, and i enjoyed watching the 9 other races that where on (fastest was won in a sub 14 time).

    I took Sunday off, bar a 2 mile shake out, and felt fine by Monday so decided to run a steady hour and see what i felt like; 10 mile all in so cant be bad to that. Easy 8 yesterday and a 13 mile MLR this morning, and i am back feeling decent and like i could start to build up to a new block now.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited May 2021
    Hamo - sounds like the jab ruined your 5000, but youve got your head round it nicely. Onwards and upwards. Whats the summer and Autumn plans?......those Goodwood maras are exposed pretty much solo TT affairs, but are a good test and itd be a quick surface/course if the wind stopped for a few hours. July could actually be a non social distanced race, although there'll only be a small field anyway. Probably be 30 degrees by then.

    14m home tonight
  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    TR...Lovely 14 miler. London is the goal for me, so the training block for it will start at the beginning/middle of June, until then, just enjoy running and build back up. I have a few races booked from last year that have been postponed to this year but if i am honest i have no clue which, when or what they are, so i will sit down and figure it out and try and plan them into the block if its possible.


    8 mile easy running this morning.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Drizzly 8m done. Birthday today so a few frothies later. 54 now, so 2.54 (or better) is the aim for the year now.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Wise move on the 5,000m Hamo. No real loss & sounds like you enjoyed the evening more with the pressure off.
    Happy Birthday TR - does that mean staying sub3 till you're 60 is the goal ;)
  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    Thanks all for the welcome back. 
    Jools - did you do anything different on the TM? Same shoes? And did you record your TM runs separately. I am intending to record miles done at incline-setting 2 (not completely clear if that’s actually 2 degrees - the manual doesn’t say). 

    Happy birthday TR. 2.54 @54. Age-graded that’s 81.2%. Not bad!  To go sub3 at 60 would be 83% - so quite an ask - but doable for you perhaps!

    Looks like the jab Hamo. Been a fairly common story. 

    I am 57 now. I managed to achieve 76.3% age-grade at 5K  and 71.7% at marathon last time I seriously trained in 2019.  I just calculated that I need 77.2% if I want to achieve my stretch dream of 3.09.59 next year. 79.2% for 3.05 or 81.4% to go sub3 so I think I can forget 3.05!

    I would have to find some proper big steps in trying to get 3:10 but doesn’t look completely impossible. A-target for October is 3:15 but I remain relaxed about it and sub3.25 would still be gr8 

    6 miles yesterday- 2 indoors and 4 out. 

  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Jools - ive hopefully got a few years yet, but im not sure i can keep 3000m a year up for another 6 years. I dont have much of a sub3 buffer so it will get harder.

    NE - ive done low 8Xs at most distances but not mara. Got to keep the goals alive, so go for the sub 3.10 and see where you get to. Consistent mileage for a year or 2 and see what happens.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    NE Same shoes & my default incline was 2%. I recorded them as TM(2%) followed by the distance & session. I found recovery/GA runs really dull on there so mainly did progressions, intervals or LT sessions. Not great for training the body to run downhill but if you're doing Newport/Manchester then I reckon it's be ideal since you need to be able to maintain a consistent effort.
    5M progression at lunch then a 9.6M commute back to the car 2 hrs later as I couldn't face biking in that  :D  
  • Happy birthday TR.  I’d join you in a few frothies but I need a clear head tomorrow for work.  Cheers.

    NE - good to hear from you.  Zwifting on a treadmill seems quite popular and I guess a good way of alleviating the boredom.

    Hamo - sounds sensible to sack off the 5k, on the bright side hopefully the jab is doing it’s stuff. Agreed, keeping track of postponed races is a bit of a job.

    Jools - well done on the double, can’t have been much fun running in weather to foul to bike in.

    . 4,4,6,7 so far this week.  Head wants to run but feet aren’t so keen (blisters), just ticking over feels better than doing nothing though.
  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    TR...Belated Happy Birthday, hope you enjoyed the frothies.

    NE...All i would say about the TM is don't wear your best shoes on it, they shred the bottom of shoes i found. And the TM provides enough protection/bounce to not cause injury wearing older shoes. Nice 6 miler, build up into it easily, and good that you have your targets in sight already....as TR says consistent, quality training and you never know what can happen.

    Jools...Lovely progression run, i really like those kinds of runs. 

    Macca...Fair play to ticking over this week, your legs are bound to be feeling it after the weekends work.


    6 mile easy/recovery with a few strides this morning.


  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Any evenrs this weekend jools?

    Macca - cheers, i only had a couple, i also had dog walkies and 8m run this morning to knock any rust off before work.

    Last years bday treat was my Garmin, today i ordered some Next% ver 2, i could be a fully modern runner by the time im 60.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    NE I'd agree with Hamo - you can get away with pretty much any old shoes on the TM. The Continental rubber of my Adidas Bostons is so durable that I've never noticed any extra wear. Bear in mind I did over 2,000M in my last pair & the current one's are on 800M.
    Steady on TR - you'll be joining Strava next :D
    No events this weekend just a 22M LSR in the mountains tomorrow. Recce of the SWT route between the 2 sections I know reasonably well.
    Progress on the swimming front continues with a sub 20 K last night. 
  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭

    Welcome back, NE. Hope the treadmill running goes ok (fan?) and your wife has a smooth recovery.

    Lovely to read the TP100 report, Macca. A massive well done to you on the AG win. It looks like you had a day off?! Hope the recovery is going well.

    Dipped my toe back into the water with a light grass track session on Tuesday. The surface wasn’t in great shape after the rain, and I think it gets mowed later on that day.

    4 x 200 (43-44s) against the wind

    2 x 400 (89, 89)

    4 x 200 (41s) with the wind

    All with 200 jog recoveries. Great fun to let rip again. Will pop back next week and slightly flesh out the session.

    Another 15M medium long canal yesterday afternoon. Slower than last week at 7:28s, but a slightly niggly calf and general poor sleep fatigue meant that was more than enough.

    Nine days until I pace at Peterborough and my mate just ran a 5k TT in 18:26 in a new pair of Endorphin Pros. Said he found them so much for comfortable than 4%. Fortunately, he is very on board with relatively conservative marathon targets.


  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited May 2021
    Jools - youve bounced back nicely, 22m in the mountains today sounds tough. Well done on the swim progress, used to frusrate the crap out of me.

    SQ - youve bounced back nicely too. Your mate defo has sub3 potential. I toyed with a pair of the Pro, they are well recommended gor shorter races, but most reviews favoured the Next or Alphafly over the mara as they protect the legs more. I should notice the difference as i use training shoes for maras.

    Back to it today with 10m easy, 10m approx mp+10%, legs creaked a bit, but felt good to be grinding the bigger gears again.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    That’s a strong 20 TR. FoDrunner rated the Pros for speed & comfort but ran his Mara in the Next% as the HR was lower for the same pace.
    Wet, cold & windy up top today. We’d all had enough after 8M so cut back early to make it a dozen with 3,300ft of ascent.
    Got another mountain run tomorrow.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Sounds a wise call jools, dont suppose it was much better weatherwise today though.......well that review sums it up nicely. I noted he didn't have a good day at Shepperdine, but i dont suppose it was shoe choice related.

    Turbo day, 80min. 10min wu, 12x4min/1min, 10min stdy.
  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the advice.  I feel so far behind nowadays.  
    Doing a lot of pretty regularly deep core work as part of caring duties. I can genuinely feel benefits having done it a few weeks now - but a little niggly side curtailed my weekend running. Only a dozen miles last week. 
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    32M across the Brecons yesterday & weather was mostly fair. Got very wet crossing a few swollen rivers though. 

  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    TR...All the best with the nxt 2's, they are some boot. Lovely long run, 10 mile at +10 to finish is good going, and nicely backed up with a turbo session. 

    Jools...Nice to see the progress continuing with your swimming. Serious running over the weekend from you, lovely photos, bound to have been good for the soul that. Love the one of you crossing the river, class.

    SQ...That is a good session to get you back into the faster stuff, and then well backed up with a 15 miler, lovely work. That is a sharp 5k TT from your mate, the speed is definitely there for him, hopefully the endurance is too, and he enjoys and smashes his marathon. 

    NE...The core work will do you good, it is something i am going to try and do a bit more of for this next block.


    Took a small leaf out of Jools' book and decided to run up Black Mountain, which is just outside Belfast on Saturday for a change of scenery, when we where up visiting the Mother in Law. 8 miles all in, with over 1000 feet of climbing over the 1st 3 miles.

    There was a marathon that i had a bib for in December that was postponed due to Covid, which announced 2 weeks ago that it was going ahead on Sunday as the restrictions are easing. I had wrote it off and wasn't even thinking of doing it, but something in the Mountain air on Saturday when i was up there must have gotten to me, because i decided to give it a go as a steady long run rather than a race. Why not? Not a lot of racing opportunities at the minute and it would, hopefully, get me my confidence/mojo back after Chester, and as Macca said, being able to do it after lockdown is a blessing.

    So, completely untapered, not fully recovered and not properly fueled (could also read "a few lb overweight" :lol: ), i was stood on a start line yesterday feeling really good and under no pressure at all. In the end i came 4th in a time of 2.39:04. I aimed to run at a steady/hard but not MP pace of 6 min miling, which i did ok until 22 mile, when the legs started to tire (Black Mountain wasn't a great idea at this point :flushed:  :lol: )and the pace dropped to 6.20/30's. I could have pushed at this point, and kept the pace higher, especially as 3rd place was coming back to me slowly, but i didn't feel the need or want to bury myself 3 weeks after Chester, so just let kept an even effort. I had got what i wanted out of the race by that stage, but I did up the pace to 5.22's to finish strongly over the last 1/2 mile or so to prove a point to myself.

    I wore my nxt %'s as well, instead of the Alpha's, and not a cramp in sight. Admittedly i wasn't on the limit like Chester, but that has proven to me that the Alphas and me just don't get on. Shame, as they really are a class shoe. Just one of those things i guess.

    All in all a good day, and as i said on Strava, strange how running the same time (2.39, give or take a few seconds) can feel so different depending on how its framed in your mind. I was properly annoyed at running it 3 weeks ago, but more than happy with it yesterday. 

    81 mile for the week too which is a surprise, but nice to be back at that level of mileage.

    Haven't run today yet, but that has more to do with the recovery grape juice i had post run :lol: :wink: rather than the legs, which feel fine thankfully. Might get out for a recovery run later.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited May 2021
    Blimey jools, thats a big day for sure. You could do with a rope to cross that.

    Hamo - your report made me smile. On one hand it shows Cheshire was the one that got away, on the other hand it shows that you have a lot more potential than 2.39. But id take it as a positive and a pointer thats theres more to come. So im pleased for you to get that reminder. You could do with a bigger more local marathon sometime.

    Shoes arrived, initial feel is they are more comfy than the 4%. Ill use em for my 13.1m tester 3 weeks before Goodwood.

    13m run commute home on turbo tired legs. Copped a sosking for the first 3m, but then it dried up and i could warm up a bit.
  • SQ - nice reps.  All the best with Peterborough, hopefully nice and flat, hope it’s a good day out.

    Jools - great photos, I’d be worried about being washed away or breaking an ankle on those rocks, I like my hills with nice dry smooth paths up them.

    TR -  strong 20 a few days back , you do seem to cop your fair share of soakings.  I just missed a decent thunderstorm today by about an hour.

    Hamo - made up for you.  I knows it’s a similar time but as TR says, shows that for whatever reason Chester wasn’t a true reflection.  I love those impromptu events that turn out well.

    NE - keep the ball rolling.

    After a week of wooden legs it was nice to have at blast at a solo 5k Sat and followed up with a pleasant 13m Sunday.  Another taper week now for North Downs Way 50m. It will be an interesting experiment in seeing at what stage I start to run on fumes.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Blimey macca, that will even be a test for your steely legs.

    Quick turnaround for 10m inc 12x3mins/30sec. Legs were still achey from sundays Turbo so the pace was way off, but i tried hard enough. Might need to review my sunday Turbo as it affects my running for a couple of days.....or just suck it up.

  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Macca: well done on the TP100 - I was tracking you on the day and could see you were smashing it. Fantastic to come 1st in your age group. Great time and fantastic 1st place. Great race too with the winner breaking all sorts of records - loved his shoe choice: some sort of DIY Vaporflys with a vibram sole glued on to the bottom for grip! Those NDW hills will certainly test the legs so soon after a 100 - good luck with that
    Hamo: glad the marathon went well! Amazing how the same result can feel so different
    Jools: stunning pics as usual and 32mi is a big shunt in one go. Great stuff!
    TR: very consistent training as always
    NE: good to see you back and still at it
    I had a good race at Country 2 Capital the other week - 20min PB on last year although the lack of mud certainly helped and nicked under 6hrs in 5:59 with a few seconds to spare
    Was up in the Lake District end of last week to recce some of the LL100 course for the summer. Was really something special with the sun out on the first day heading over some of the highest mountain passes. Legs were in bits afterwards but I was still running well at the end of the 2nd day's 23 mile run so thats a good sign
  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    TR...That's it, it was a positive outing on Sunday. Nice half mara commute, shame about the soaking. You know you are in a good place when you start smashing out the 3 min intervals. 

    Macca...Nice 5k hit out, that will have loosened your legs for sure. Events are coming thick and fast for you alright, fair play to you giving the 50 miler a go, best of luck with it.

    AWC...Congrats on the Country 2 capital pb, that is a cracking time, bet it was nice to be back racing? Lake district looks a lovely place to run, good work on the recce.


    11 miles this morning for me, with the last 2 at +10 pace, and legs felt good. Even better news though, our Junior Parkrun starts back on Sunday, kids cannot wait. 

  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    AWC - nicely done, good to maximise decent race conditions.

    Hamo - your legs are obviously feeling ok again already.

    13m run commute home, legs were heavy as expected after ydays session.
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