P&D Autumn Marathon 2022

Cal Jones

TR - yes, Chester. I'm also weaker on the left, notably the left hip. You need strength stuff as well, like side planks and whatnot.

I don't know what is going on with me at the moment. Sometimes I get anxious about things like running downhill or crossing wide roads. Not always, and in most cases it's fine, but today I wanted to do Brockwell parkrun (train strike meant I had to stay local), got as far as the South Circular and couldn't make myself cross. It's a dual carriageway with an island in the middle and a downhill on one side which all added up to a nope in my addled brain, rather like a horse refusing to jump a ditch. Had to turn around and leg it back to Tooting parkrun, which I only just made the start of. First time this has ever happened and I'm very disappointed with myself.
I say first, but a couple of weeks ago I had a wobble crossing the wide road at the bottom of Streatham Common. I was on a walk and went halfway to the traffic island (it's one of those where it's not green for the whole crossing - you have to go half way and wait as there are multiple traffic lanes) and was starting to feel panicky while I was waiting in the middle with traffic moving on either side of me. Had to hold on to the post. Weird and horrible feeling and I don't know why it's happening as I never used to have this problem.

Anyway, Tooting parkrun was very busy and therefore congested. I wasn't going for a time but, even so, lost around 30 secs on the first mile due to the slow start (splits were 9:45/9:13/9:04, plus 8:10 pace for the finish). I don't particularly care that I was over 29 minutes as I'm still annoyed with myself for the road fail. Ugh.

TR

Cal - nice one on Chester. Sounds like anxiety as you say, dont try to overthink it and try to avoid future issues by using pelican crossings and tube stations that give easier crossing points. You'll hopefully break the anxiety issue then.

4m easy here

Cal Jones

Thing is, TR, this was a crossing, so it was perfectly safe and there was no logic to it. I think I need to mediate on it a bit and figure it out.

TR

Oh i see, maybe you need to find a buddy to cross the road with then, wether thats a stranger or going to the  event with a club mate.

Cal Jones

I had a 16 miler pencilled in for today, with some faster miles. P&D (which I am very very very loosely basing my schedule on) says 10 miles MP, but that's a bit much at the moment so thought I'd try for 8. Three miles easy, one mile ramping up then 8 miles that were supposed to be at 4:15 marathon pace followed by four easier miles going home. However, I didn't quite hit the target paces: mile 5 was bang on target but then 6 and 7 were too slow (even though they felt the same as 5). Mile 8 was a little better but not quite quick enough; mile 9 had a traffic stop which cost me 20-30 seconds, then managed another couple of sub-10s (but still not quite quick enough) before fading. Had to grind out the four remaining slower miles - legs were tired.

The positives: no road crossing anxiety despite crossing several big roads, and no GI issues.

The negatives: could not manage target pace, even though it was fairly conservative. However, we'll see how I manage The Big Half in two weeks.

TR

Cal - you're going well, see what the 1/2 brings

IoW 1/2 for me. Neck, hip thing was manageable, but tummy was a bit off and I felt a bit weak, maybe due to 11.30 start. So took a gel at start and one at 6m. In 2019 i did 1.27.38 and went on to run 2.55 at Abo and 81 at Gosport, so 1.27 seemed a decent target. With loads of hills and about 3m of stone paths this race comes out around mp and is tough due to all the hills, so whilst you could run quicker at times, im not sure it'd improve your finish time.......anyway 1.26.45 for 16th and 1st M50 (and m55), 3m wu and 2m wd, so decent run.

Cal Jones

11:30 start would be tough - good job it's cooler than last weekend. Why on earth do they start it that late in the middle of summer? Madness! But that's a fantastic result - congrats on the AG prize.

TR

Its to allow travel time from the mainland, today it was warm, it can get hot.

Cal Jones

Right...I see. Risky though...could be running in over 30 degrees these days. They should put it on in the Autumn or Spring maybe.

Cal Jones

I was wiped out yesterday but still managed to go to the gym...today, though, was marginally better and I did 7 miles comprising of 6 at ultra-slow recovery pace (13 min/mi plus) and then a mile with some strides in it to finish. The strides felt quite quick after the very slow recovery miles but actually weren't...some were more than 9 minute pace. 

TR

You're doing well Cal, and listening to your body well too.

5m yday and legs were feeling ok so declared it time to get some marathon work in with 15m today but the legs did groan in the last few miles, dont feel smoked though so hopefully Sunday was nearer mp.

Cal Jones

That's a good effort, TR. 
I did 10 miles this morning. First 5 miles were all over 11 pace...I decided to push on on the return leg and did sub-11s on the way back. I'm not unhappy with the run (given I slept poorly and it was horribly humid) but it does strike me that the pace I did on the return leg used to be my normal easy pace and now actually requires a little effort. I've been running pretty consistently for over a year since I returned from injury and yet my pace has not gone back to where it was, nor has it even improved. I did at least manage a couple of sub-27 parkruns last year, yet I've not got close this year. I'm at a loss as to why.

TR

Cal - keep ticking the runs off and see where you get to.

8m yday, 12 today inc 10x5min, supposed to start mp ish and progress a bit. Same time last yr i averaged 6.28 for the 10, today it was 6.33 but i started a bit slow with a 6.48, 39 and then 10 av 6.30, so comparable esp as av and max Hrs were a few beats lower. Slow start might have been due to the pissing rain that kept up all run.

Cal Jones

Sounds decent, TR.
I had planned to do a medium long run yesterday but it absolutely threw it down all morning. I don't mind a bit of rain but this was biblical (plus thunder...not really keen to get struck by lightning). I did go for a walk in the afternoon but the humidity was jungle-level. So decided I'd run today instead. 
Not sure why, as yesterday was quite restful and I slept 7 hours, but my legs felt heavy and rubbery on my run so I only did 6 miles. Hope they perk up tomorrow.

TR

Cal - yes, it was pissing down when i ran Thursday.

Chugged out a slow 21m today, found it a shock as expected due to a big week and missing a few recent long runs. Probably be my lowest amount of long runs before a mara, but ive raced lots so we'll see what happens on race day. 3 of my running days this week totalled 20m, the other 4 totalled 66m. 4 good days with an easy day between each.

Cal Jones

Yeah my last 20 wasn't pleasant either. Well done for grinding it out - that's a decent total for the week.
I'm supposed to be doing another 20 tomorrow but today was a bit more than expected, really. 
Had a couple of clubmates celebrating birthdays at Wimbledon Common parkrun today so I decided to do the sociable thing rather than tourist elsewhere. The parkrun starts a good way away from any station so I decided to run the 5 miles there (which includes a couple of big hills), and then ended up running the 5 miles home as well. The parkrun itself was a bit shambolic - the start was delayed by 20 minutes due to a couple of hornets nests on course which meant switching to an alternate route which comprised of one small lap and two bigger laps, rather than the usual single lap course (so I'd thoroughly cooled down from my 5 mile warm-up). 
First lap was very congested too so my time wasn't much under 30 minutes, but with the runs there and back I did cover a half marathon. 
The other thing was I did that all fasted as there was no time to eat and digest a breakfast before I set out - I just necked a SiS gel when I got to the common. Unsurprisingly, I was starving when I got home and am hungry again now!

Cal Jones

Original plan for today was to do 20 but after yesterday's 13 mile parkrun sandwich, I figured I'd be lucky to make 16 (even took my Oyster card with me just in case!)

Turns out that despite that, missing a meal yesterday (breakfast) and only managing 6 hours sleep, my energy levels weren't bad at all and I had a quite enjoyable run, mostly around 11 pace. Ran down to the Thames, along the river, up the Wandle as far as Mitcham and then home via Streatham. I was almost tempted to do the full 20 but once I got up to Streatham and a few aches had become more noticeable, I decided 18 would be good enough and any more would just be a case of diminishing returns. Even managed a relatively quick (just under 10) final mile, though that did include a downhill. 
However, I feel alright now - a little long run sore but not exhausted as I often am. Sometimes I'm too tired even to sit in front of the PC. May do a recovery run tomorrow as it's a bank hol...will see. Anyway, 54 miles for this week. Next week will be a cutback as I'm racing on Sunday.

TR

Well done cal that's a good couple of days. You shouldn't be finishing long runs exhausted though. Do you take fuel with you, i take gels and a drink on longer runs, i see it as recovery before youve even finished.

6m easy today

Cal Jones

Yes, I had three gels today. Which reminds me, I need to order more.

TR

So is 3 different to when you finished wiped out?

Been a bit under the weather, but of lurgy and dodgy tum, so only 6m Sunday and 5m yday. RHR was normal today and felt ok ish after a few miles so aimed for 10 and felt ok so ended up with 15m.

Cal Jones

I usually have three for a 20 mile run (one every 5 miles)...I think the wiped out feeling is more to do with other factors - heat, sleep and so forth.
Hope you're OK now and that run doesn't put too much strain on you. 15 is quite a bit for a midweek run, though we know P&D love their long MLRs.
As for me, I'm in recovery/taper mode for the half on Sunday so I did a very lazy 4 miles (legs were a bit sore after the gym yesterday so took it easy).

TR

Well it can't be lack of nutrition then when you feel wiped out, as you say. The lurgy left me a bit ligtheaded (bit like earlier in year) but might have been due to the tummy issues. Started off a bit slow again today on my commute home but improved and did 10m. Should hopefully be back to normal pretty soon.

Cal Jones

Yeah I definitely eat enough.

Had my share of tummy issues this year too. 
6 miles today. Felt a lot faster than they were. 
Anyway, rest tomorrow, parkrun Saturday and race Sunday. I will likely do the half at MP - it'll be too warm to attempt a good half time anyway.

Cal Jones

My plan today was Edenbrook Country parkrun, out near Fleet in Hampshire, as it was event number 20 for them and I needed a 20 for one of my parkrun challenges (aka the wilson index, but you'll probably only know what that is if you're a hardcore parkrun tourist so I won't bore you with it). Anyway, the journey was a little longwinded...train from me to Clapham Junction (it's about 6-8 minutes, not far) but then 48 minutes to Fleet, then a bit over a 2 mile jog to the park. 
However, I was just over half a mile into the jog when I got honked by a car and it was my friend Tunde. So I ended up not doing the to and from runs at all, and just the parkrun.
The parkrun itself is two laps in a nice country park on dry gravelly trail - pretty flat. Funny thing was that there were a lot of tourists there including several people I knew so it was good to catch up. 
I ended up running 27:24 which is my second fastest time this year, though somehow that is horribly disappointing given I've not even gone under 27 this year. Only two years ago I was able to run under 25 minutes on a course like that and I even managed a 26:20 a year ago.
But I did enjoy the parkrun and am a little thankful I didn't have to run back to the station. Maybe I'll get some speed back once the weather cools down and I don't have a lot of miles in my legs from marathon training. 

TR

Difficult  to mix 5ks and mara miles, cal. Havnt heard of that place, but im south Hants so a bit away from there.

11m inc reps and 5m double Thurs, 5m Fri, 22m yday, 5m today. 4 weeks til the b of the bang.

Cal Jones

It seems we're the only two here, TR.
Big Half...not good. Came close to a panic attack in the tunnel section (this is my fourth time doing the race and first time this has happened) - no idea why these anxiety attacks have appeared out of nowhere recently. Not like I'm stressed. Anyway I managed to get through that section but it exhausted me mentally (and a bit physically too...definite HR spike on my Garmin readings) and I didn't run the race I wanted. 2 hrs 9:40. 
I need to figure out this anxiety thing before it gets worse.

TR

Cal - others will probably come back at marathon time. Agreed, good to get on top of that anxiety, you  might need to find someone to run with at each race, May be the paces at chester.

Very tired and achey 10m last night, which made me wonder about this mornings session, but got going a bit as it went on and 12m inc the standard 14x3mins. Legs were very achey in the wd,  i can tell its nearly marathon time. Will defo get a good freeing up by the fizz lined up.

Maccatheknacca

Apologies, I haven’t posted in ages, thanks for keeping things ticking over. I’ve done nothing approaching marathon work so had little to post.

TR - belated congrats IIRC on a prize at the IOW half. Volume should be reducing in the next week or two ?

Cal - sorry to hear of the anxiety issues.  Strange that they should come on when running as you are a decent and experienced runner.  Good time on feet even if not the time you were hoping for.

Still recuperating here.  12 miles today was the longest training run since April, no pain but a few “sensations”, possibly phantom fingers crossed.  I’ve run/walked a couple of ultras, slow seems to be the way to go atm.  London will be a training run but still looking forward to it.

Cal Jones

TR, my legs are ready for a break too. This is my last big week, then taper time. 
Macca, that's progress though eh? You're probably paying for that huge year you had last year, same as my body made me pay hard for doing 2020 miles in 2020 followed by an elevation challenge in January 2021. I've not been right since then. But onwards and upwards.

Yesterday I got out for a 6 mile recovery run. Today was 13 miles (well, another half, in fact) run mostly around 11 pace but with some faster intervals in miles 10-12. I had a couple of jittery moments on both runs but the longer I run for, the more relaxed I am, so I think it's just a case of pushing through. 

TR

Macca - good to see you,  i guessed you were still compromised. It good yo be on the mend, are you still getting hammy nerve type issues, i took some magnesium supplement to help with mine. Good dedication to run/walk some ultra. Good that you'll be at London.

Cal - i used to get a bit anxious in lake swims in triathlons, it's easy to get spooked in open water swimming with others trying to swim the same route. I used to calm myself by saying even if I stop im in the middle of a lake and need to swim back..........

Slow and easy 6m today