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Shades Marathon Training
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http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/9/1/4/914d73c4895a3ff7/MT440.mp3?c_id=21552268&cs_id=21552268&expiration=1529003307&hwt=0229601bff117f1af44fbd9751fa8c0c
Steven-We had a hit of the storm this morning but nothing too major luckily.
Jelly-Good luck on the Tri. We've been debating doing a relay Tri in work as one of my staff was a semi-pro cyclist in South Africa,so we need to find a decent swimmer.
Re Medals,I usually wear mine on the way home,it still feels like a massive achievement for me knowing where I've come from so happy to show it off for a couple of hours.
Very easy 4 miles after work today with the wife,just to keep both our legs ticking over.I am doing Rhyl half next weekend I think as long as the wind isn't too bad as it's an out and back along the front.
That's a good idea, and if you can find someone that did the event last year they might be able to give you some info on the event.
My friend that's doing her first Ironman at Bolton has booked a weekend where you get a chance to see all the transition areas and recce the route including running a half marathon distance of the course, such a good idea.
Big G - that's a great result, well done, can be tough in high humidity. Good to know your legs are back to normal now.
Thanks for the MT link, I'll listen to that later.
I think you've probably got Comrades on your wish list now! If so, you need to start running marathons in warmer conditions, you can acclimatise yourself to running in hotter conditions. and the more work you put into that the better.
I'm really not sure about Comrades. It is a lot of money, which is what is off-putting (let alone the distance and heat but as you say, you train for those). I was thinking of the heat and of course heat chambers etc are out for me, so I guess it would need me to do marathons in the middle of the summer here or go abroad and do some, which is more money, or get out running in the middle of the day here which is basically something I avoid. In one of the RW mags you gave me there was a really good article in it about Comrades which went through some of the history and how the race has changed, and how important it has been to SA, and I love all that side of the race too. I do feel I am particularly rubbish in the heat, so would need to look at that a lot, as you say. I wouldn't want to go all that way and risk being in danger of the very strict cut offs due to heat or being under prepared. I'm really not sure though - I think if money was no object, I'd be there definitely.
Still not decided about these LDWA events. I'll do a short run soon and decide from there I think. I'd like to do them if feeling okay but doing at least one of them on my own is a bit worrying, although I expect I may find a group to run with. I really like the fact that the time is no consideration really - it'll take as long as it takes! I was way out with my estimate for that Devon Dumpling race as I remember thinking under 5hrs seemed a reasonable estimate, but it ended up taking 7hrs!
It all got a bit tetchy on the 100MC Aspiring with talk of moderation etc. It's left a bit of a bad taste for me, as I asked what I thought was a fair question (and I asked it in a polite, non-offensive way) but didn't get a straight answer, and worse got a bit of stick from a prominent 100MC member. I asked if someone had a negative comment about a race of a popular RD, and the RD complained, would the original comment get "moderated". There was no straight answer, except that the issue would be resolved to the satisfaction of the person making the complaint. Bizarre, and unfair in my view. There was loads of stuff going on and I generally keep out of that side of things, but I see the forum rules have been changed today and I think it would be very easy for someone to get moderated off the forum if they have a view which is against the prevailing one of the group, which I think is a real shame
I watched the last hour of comrades on you tube and it looked great,they sounded surprised when Steve came 3rd near the end.
I think you should put Comrades on your wish list and when you feel you are ready then that's the time to do it. By ready I mean comfortable with the distance and the conditions that you might have to endure.
I hate the sun and hot weather but amazingly I've found that physically I cope quite well in hot conditions. By hot I mean in excess of 30 degrees, I've done about 7 or 8 events in that sort of temperature. I did Boddington 50k in 30+ degrees, the race was being used as a test/qualifier for the English Ultra team and a third of the field dropped out because of the conditions, it was very hot and humid. The worst was when I went to Ireland, they were holding a 10 marathons in 10 days at Sixmilebridge, I entered 3 of them. As it's usually a little cooler in Ireland I wasn't too bothered about not being able to get a hire car with no aircon as my drives were short, but did I regret that.
You shouldn't worry about doing the LDWA event on your own, it's the navigation and the checkpoints that take the time, plus stuff like stiles/hills/tough going.
I think there were about 75 runners at Dorney Lake when I did it last year and they had quite a few DNS's too, which I think on that day was because it was baking hot.
Good luck with FB 100MC aspiring group, looks like they're just as bad as the 100MC group, part of the reason I left, all the bitching, slagging folk off etc. I'm afraid that a lot of them are not very nice people and also have no idea how to behave. Best thing I did leaving that club, certainly not the club I joined. You can always join the Irish club, much nicer kit, much nicer people and you can join once you've done one marathon.
Another disadvantage with people doing so many so quickly on those popular courses is that I often hear people saying "once I get to 100, I'm done". I know priorities change, and maybe injuries etc come into play, as well as the time/money required, but often I get the feeling some people do them too quickly, on the same courses week in/week out, and just get bored. Don't get me wrong - I can see why a break would be good. For example, if I get there, I may decide to focus on halfs or whatever else for a few months, or maybe the Club Champs, or maybe decide to try and focus on one or two marathons for a good PB effort, but I hope I don't say "I'm done with marathons" as soon as I get to 100, as I think that would be a shame. That's all a long way off anyway for me.
Ian, yeah, I have been talking to my friend about visiting, but there's no plan at all. You're right that I could try and tie it in with Comrades. I'll see. I think for now I'll just stick it on the long list of "possibles". Steve Way talks a bit about how he came through the field on that interview.
I don't think I ever had a 100 badge, my other 2 badges are pinned to the wall with my medals, sewing is something I don't get round to doing
I stopped doing races I didn't like including off road when I got to 100 and also stopped chasing numbers.
I think if I was doing 100 marathons going up and down and round short lap courses in Surrey/Kent/MK I'd give up marathon running too. Sad really as they are missing out on the enjoyment of travelling to new places and trying out different courses, meeting different people. Of course some of them might have to do some training for that too and that might be a shock, but sadly there are those that want the rewards without making any effort.
That's good that you are able to deal with the heat better now and that will improve in time. If you were going to tie Comrades in with visiting your friends then a couple of weeks acclimatising with them before the race would certainly help.
Good luck to all racing at the weekend especially OTB at South Downs marathon tomorrow.
The Chasers lady who drove me to Richmond for the relay was telling me horror stories about her feet as she'd just completed SDW 100 (her first 100) and she reckons the reason her blisters were so bad was because her feet had barely healed from Transcanaria, where she was running over hot volcanic rock and it was literally cooking her feet with each step.
I mean, I like running, but running long distance is hard enough without heat and other awful conditions.
Anyway, took a rest yesterday, which I needed as I felt pretty shattered. I didn't even leave my flat until about 6pm when I forced myself out for a short walk.
I felt much better today so I did a 6 miler. It was nearly 10 when I got going so it was around 20 degrees and I got pretty thirsty. Good practise for my summer races, though, and (achilles aside) my legs felt pretty good.
Ian, sorry to hear you had a bad run. Fingers crossed the next one will be better.
I did aprox 3.5 miles this morning and felt fine, with no ill effects from yesterday.
Taper week has gone fairly well. I developed a strange numbness in my right leg yesterday, feels like a trapped nerve. Popped a few ibuprofen and feel much better already.
Pre-race nerves/excitement is kicking in. I really have no idea what i'm in for tomorrow, I haven't even walked South Downs way, so no idea what to expect. I do know it's going to be a tough challenge, so I feel mentally prepared to run/walk and i'm expecting some serious calf cramps from 16 miles onwards. Expecting it to take somewhere around 5hrs.
I'll be running with water in my camel back, 5 SiS gels, 1 energy bar, Hydration tablets and maybe some jelly babies. Feels like over kill but at least I shouldn't go hungry! Believe water stations are limited due to vehicle access, so I best be prepared.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Ian- Think I was the same as yourself today. Set out hoping to do 15 miles, it was windy when I set off and pretty early on I knew I had nothing in me could feel my chest playing up so think I have the start of a cold coming on. Decided to cut the run short at 8 miles and will take it easy over the weekend.
OTB- Good luck at South Downs.
Good luck and safe running to all who have events this weekend.
Sensible to listen to your body, steven.
Steven-Better to shorten it if you're not quite feeling right.
Shades-Yes I think I'm a bit tired,worked quite a bit recently but off for 3 days now.
https://www.strava.com/athletes/7122315/posts/2231222
Good luck OTB - I haven't done the event you're doing, but I know when I've done other off road events the time is almost irrelevant, which is refreshing in some ways. Obviously, we want to do our best, but the course/conditions dictates to some extent what the finish time will be. Best of luck.
As for me, I've printed out the Langport LDWA instructions, so I guess that means I'm travelling there tomorrow then. I have a habit of saying this, but I'll decide about Sunday's event depending on how I feel tomorrow
Good results for your relay.
Big G - well done on the recovery run, is your knee OK?
Good piece on overtraining, thanks for that. Funny, the pics are more of Lagat than the author, Lagat is a favourite track runner of mine.
I'm assuming you'll do one at Langport then, good luck and just enjoy the day
OTB - sounds like you're well prepared, look forward to your race report.
Ian - enjoy your 3 days off, I expect there'll be some running
Hilly run for me today which I really enjoyed.
Cal-well done on the relay.
Shades-Not as much running as I'd have liked as I have the 10k tomorrow so an easy day today and it's also the wife's birthday.
Happy birthday to your wife Ian.
I did the LDWA event this morning, and was fortunate to be taken under the wing of a running club that had come down from Colchester to do this event. There were 5 of them doing the marathon, so I tagged along with them and we had a good time. We didn't mess about (i.e., we ran when we could and we didn't loiter too long at the Check Points), and also didn't get especially lost (just a couple of wrong turns that probably cost us 10mins max) but it still took us 6:43.
It's a great course, picturesque, and pretty flat, but it was brutal under foot for much of it. I know I said yesterday that I was pleased it was dry, but it meant the ground was rock hard and very, very tough going in places, including hacking through brambles and climbing over numerous (it must have been 30+) stiles and gates. We saw lots of very, very inquisitive cows (I never knew cows could run so fast as they came hurtling up to us to see what we were doing....!), horses, geese and even a deer at very close range, which we scared before he ran off. There were lots of rivers and streams etc, so it was very nice being out there. Much of it didn't seem to be actual paths, although it was obviously public land.
I've been cut to shreds by the grass and nettles though, and have come up in a rash on my legs, plus ankles are hurting quite a bit from the terrain, so I'm not going to do tomorrow's event. A shame as I'd like to really, but I probably need to be sensible. I did enjoy the event a lot, but I just think another day like that may be asking too much. I have a bit of break from marathons now, with the next couple not until end of July (I don't think I can sneak another one in before that....
Obviously no medals for these events, but for the two I've done I've pinned together the race instructions, map, card with the stamps for the check points and the event certificate, and I think it makes quite a nice memento. For the one I've just done the route instructions are a bit battered, with mud etc, but I quite like that
Ian - hope you're OH can celebrate her birthday weekend with a PB today. Hope you have a good race too.
Big G - well done, sounds like you had a great time yesterday. Fortunate to team up with the Colchester lot, I laughed out loud at the vision of the cows hurtling towards you. Runners/walkers are their entertainment
Dry hard ground is really tough going, I'd rather a bit of soft mud than that, I expect OTB has had the same issue with the chalky hard ground on the South Downs. You are forgiven opting out of a recovery run as you are obviously a bit battered and bruised, but you'll recover quickly.
Glad the knee is OK, maybe the way you were sitting really was aggravating it.
13 miles for me this morning, took a drink with me as wasn't sure how far I was going and what the weather was going to do. Very humid for the first hour then freshened up a bit and overcast most of the time, didn't really need the drink. Took one of my cereal bars to try out, I stopped to eat it, I didn't need it but wanted to try it out. It was coffee and peanut, probably wouldn't be the easiest to eat when running but lovely flavour and I got a great hit from the caffeine and ran really well for the last 5 miles home.
I survived and thrived!
I will do a race report in the week, but I just wanted to say thanks for all the well wishes. I had an absolutely amazing race. Loved the trails and scenery, enjoyed pushing up the hills. I finished well below my target of 5hrs. I finished in 4hrs 37mins. No cramps and if I wasn't starting to feel abit sicky, i think I could had kept going a little longer.
Legs feel fine today .
I'm feeling on top of the world with my achievement!