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Shades Marathon Training
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Didn't run today but some of our club were in the nationals,mens didn't medal but never expected to with some of the top clubs in the country there but our kids done amazing,the u15 girls came 2nd and the u15 boys came 1st so a great day for the club.
Starting to feel a little better today. I was run director at parkrun and the weather was glorious. I had another little walk later on. And in other news, one of my horses won the National so I'm £60 up. That should keep me fed for another couple of weeks...
Big G - lovely photos, hope the weather is clear today so you can enjoy the views from the other side of the estuary while running.
There seems to be plenty of fish and chip shops in Wales
Cal - congrats on your win, good timing as you're in between tenants
Ian - a promising future for the juniors in your club
I was going to take another rest day today but woke to hear the sad news that Callum Hawkins collapsed and DNF'd the Commonwealth marathon with only a mile to go, apparently he is OK, weather too hot for him I guess.
I assume he's been doing some warm weather training but as a Scot he may not be able to adjust as easily as someone who lives further south. I remember one year doing Lochaber marathon, weather was perfect and warmed up gently to 14 degrees. Quite a few of the Scottish runners on RW couldn't cope that day with the conditions as just not used to it whereas us Southerners enjoyed the conditions.
But a lesson to us all that the marathon can be a cruel and unpredictable beast.
So I went out and did a gently 4 miles, no real improvement in injury, and after a day off the ibuprofen, back on them for another couple of days and my guru friend has advised cancelling all my classes this week
I did 4 miles this morning, too. As the cold seems to have gone (it was a dry cold - no snot, just sore throat, sneezing and a general feeling of malaise) I thought I might do 6 but my calves thought otherwise. Lord knows why, but both soleus feel sore as hell. I still have some swelling in my lower legs from the marathon so I'm by no means recovered. Plenty of time left before Liverpool, though. I've had an Epsom Salt bath and will go to Yin yoga at midday.
I read about Hawkins - terrible luck. I agree it's likely the weather. I had a rubbish few races during the summer last year simply down to it being warm - I certainly wouldn't want to run a marathon in anything more than 15 degrees.
Maybe all that walking has caused your soleus muscles to be a little sore? Do you normally have swelling in your lower legs after a marathon? Good that you're feeling better though.
Afterwards I was swaying a bit but sausage and chips at the finish sorted me out, as did a bath back at the airbnb.
steven - I couldn't agree more. I've just finished watching the marathons and that was heart breaking to watch. The officials at the finish would have been watching the same coverage we were and the first time he fell they should have sent an ambulance out if only to shadow him, that was only 2km from the finish. But they should know a runner doesn't collapse and then get up and finish OK. I know the spectators can't help him but it was disgusting that they then took photos of him, I wonder if any of them phoned for an ambulance.
But well done Robbie Simpson to finish in 3rd place, he paced his race well.
Big G - well done. I did say it was a tough course in the wind and the rain especially that last section out to the coastal apartments and back. I usually have a sausage sandwich at the finish, very good food there.
Great that the ribs caused you no discomfort.
Finished in 4:04.59. Pleased I sneaked under 4:05.
Although it wasn't the time I was hoping for, it was probably my best Brighton experience for many reasons, not least that the toilet queues were not as epic as in previous years so I actually made it to the start line with my wave.
Went through the first half in 1.57ish, so on track but I got a stitch from mile 15 which proved very difficult to shake off and then the wheels fell off a bit from mile 18 onwards. My quads were threatening to cramp up so I had to stop a couple of times to stretch them out and avoid full on cramp. It did work fortunately and I managed to get through to the end.
On another day, I think it would have been a pb but I'm actually not disappointed in the end.
BigG - well done - those conditions sounded really tough so to get a sub4 is really very good. Wind plays havoc with your pace. And I'm really glad your ribs are fine. Those photos were amazing - almost makes me want to go to Wales!
Jelly - sorry you didn't have a good race, fingers crossed that you recover very quickly.
Cal - sounds like you need a longer recovery period.
I'd heard about Callum Hawkins - haven't seen the pictures but I can't believe they didn't have help on hand given where he was on the course.
Looking forward to watching London next Sunday from my armchair.
Tough on Hawkins,Just going to 25 hurt me in GC.
Big G-Well done on toughing it out,hard day by the sound of it so great effort to get sub 4 again.
BBC Sport has a video of Hawkins if you're curious. It looked rough as hell. Glad he's OK.
Ian - well we're adults as seniors and I guess don't want to be told what to do
Callum Hawkins prepared for the conditions down to a daft routine of changing his hat every 5k but I think he made a mistake running on in front when he did. If he'd assessed his competitors around him there was no need to make a break for it when he did. But it's easy to say that in hindsight and you never know how the heat will affect you. I've done a few in 30+ degrees, not recommended.
Jelly - I did think you were going to defer as that was a very tough half, but well done for getting round. Unfortunately racing with an injury will happen again, that's just part of our sport.
OTB - how did you get on at Brighton?
Rest day again for me, fed up of all these rest days. Feeling a bit restless so will direct my energy towards a bit of housework this morning and then watch Boston marathon on telly this afternoon
I can't believe any idiot would criticise Shelly for passing Hawkins when he'd collapsed, it's a race, Shelly got it right, Hawkins didn't. And Hawkins wasn't on his own, there were spectators there although they did nothing. The CEO of the race organisation should be shot, he did an press interview yesterday saying the reason it took so long for medics to treat Hawkins is that Hawkins said he wanted to carry on, I'm not medically trained but I could see he was delirious. Still no excuse for not having an ambulance sent out straight away. You should watch it although it's terrible to see, he collapsed and then got up and ran on for a couple of minutes before collapsing again.
Good to hear you got your recovery run in, it's a lovely area for running.
Re the DNS's the entries opened early last year with Early Bird prices and then Newport marathon was announced so that's maybe had some affect on starters. I expect the DNF's were weather related and I saw from the splits that the DQ had taken a short cut as one of the splits was out of sync with her pace. Good to see they were on the ball with that as it's very difficult to go wrong on that course.
Big G - Fab photos, really is beautiful there. Wouldn't like to run there in the wind mind you so a big well done for braving that AND sticking your head down to get your sub 4 too. Enjoy your walking (and refuelling!) today.
Jelly - Sorry to hear you didn't have a good race.. what happened?
Shades - Your house is going to be spotless.
Saw that clip of Callum Hawkins, was painful to watch. Why did he change his hat so often.. sweat?
Got my first long run in yesterday and it went very well, all things (ie lack of training) considered. If I manage to do one a week up until the week before Blaye that will be 4 long runs so hopefully that will be just enough. Words "teeth" and "skin of" leap to mind
My house won't be spotless, I've gone off the idea of housework today, it can wait
I think Hawkins hat changing was copying another runner's system, I think Steve Cram said Galen Rupp, not sure. The other farcical part of the race organisation was that to avoid 'contamination' they didn't remove the tops from the water bottles, not even the seals. We all know how hard it can be to open a bottle of water when running, some of the runners were using their teeth. The danger of that is that some runners may not have been able to get enough water especially when they were tired and already suffering.
Big G - Well done on getting another sub 4.
MF - Nice long run.
Shades - Ultra is 20th May.
22 miler for me on Saturday. Planned to do 6 at long run pace and 2 at MP twice and then 6 easy to finish. Plan was to run with hydration pack to get used to that again. However went too fast on the 2nd MP mile and it turned out to be closer to LT. So did 6 easy, 1 MP, 1LT, 6 easy, 1MP, 1LT, 6 easy, with 0.25m walking breaks every 10 miles!!! Finished with 22 miles @ 7:55 average. first section was 6:56 (MP)/6:33 (LT) and second was 6:51 (MP)/6:27( LT). Was an interesting run and defo different to just doing 22 miles at long run pace.
Sunday was an easy 13 miler @ 8:17s to finish off a 60 mile week.
Steve-Great mileage from yourself as usual.
MF-4 long runs should do you fine as you've done some good mileage.
Usual slow run from me last night,done 1 half decent km uphill just to turn the legs and it felt Ok but hurt a bit at the top.
Many thanks for all the well wishes before the race. Congratulations to Big_G and Louey with your great results.
A new PB for me 4:09!
I had a great weekend and really enjoyed the race even though it didn't quite go the way I wanted it to.
Stayed in a lovely Airbnb right next to the start at Preston park, so that took away any morning stress.
Felt really good reaching the start line, training had gone faultlessly and I had kept good tabs on my nutrition and hydration. All seemed perfectly aligned along with favorable weather conditions.
Decided to go with my 8:45 min/mile pace. This worked perfectly up to 18 miles, every mile glided by. I was relaxed, soaking in the atmosphere and chatting to a few runners along the way. Heart rate stayed comfortably below 140 bpm and I went through halfway at 1:55, so I really felt like I had it in the bag.
After 18 miles my quads started to stiffen. I slowed to 9:00 min/miles but quickly deteriorated. By mile 20 I was starting to nurse the dreaded calf cramps which stopped me in my tracks in both previous attempts. The last 6 miles were hell, stop-start desperately trying to jog and push through the cramping.
As I approached the finish I could see that sneaking in under 4:10 was possible if I sprinted. So I did!
I stumbled across the finish lines, both calf's locked out and I went down in agony! Next thing I knew I was being stretchered off to the medical tent. I blacked out with the pain and awoke to both muscles spasming like made. Not the graceful finish I wanted.
I received some basic physio and then got on my way once I felt back in the real world. Luckily the post race massage tent wasn't busy so I checked myself straight in. £20 for 20 mins was amazing!
During the race I hydrated well and took Gel's at Mile 2, 7, 12, 17 & 23 (all approx 45 mins apart after mile 2).
I am happy with the result. The first 18 miles were my best experience to date. But it'll be back to the drawing board to understand where i'm going wrong. Maybe my 8:45's were too ambitious...? Or maybe my body just isn't cut out to endurance running. I would love to finish a marathon start to finish without having to stop. So maybe that should be my focus from now on. However following Shades plan has made a decent improvement on my previous results:
1st 4:17
2nd 4:45
4 weeks till my first Trail race
Thanks everyone for your support leading up to the race. I have learn't a lot being in this group.
Not come up very well but it's changes in GFA for London.
Mens is slightly harder in most categories,ladies is slightly better 45-49.
And it's going the same as Boston now where it's only an application to enter rather than a guarantee.
https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/how-to-enter/good-age-entry/