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Shades Marathon Training
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I had a rotten night's sleep too, but that won't affect our respective races today.
Ian - sorry didn't mean to pressurise you with my wording. Good to hear conditions are good, just see how you are on the start line and run what feels right for you at that time. This is only A of your A to Z plan so enjoy it.
Had a nice journey to the start so nicely chilled now.
Good luck to you both.
Big G, bespoke furniture sounds expensive, full of people taking photos... who'd live in a house like that! Hope its going well.
Ian, hopefully the trackers working, I see they have a staged start this year, something I hadn't seen before.
Woke up felt crap full of cold, so not going to consider a run.
Big G - At least you gave it a go.. those last 6 miles must have been fun
@Big_G brilliant attitude - you’ve inspired me to go for 4:30 at Paris even if it means risking a death march at the end
10 miles for me today. Since it’s a week to my marathon every tiny twinge feels like my race is over before it begins
khani taper terrors will do that to your head, also alinclusives do that too lol
It’s ok though. Lesson learned and will be making a concerted effort to lose weight AFTER Paris. Now is not the time.
I did lose a stone between back from Holiday in June and september but no running since october I've put it back on
Yes, you're right re Taunton Although there is a lot of traffic for half of the route and the 2nd lap is a lonely affair, the 900 odd half runners having finished. But it's a well organised event, nice course and easy drive and easy close parking and a very friendly event, only £25 entry fee and that includes medal and shirt.
Ian - hope you enjoy the pub and meeting up with your friend. Hope you're not too disappointed, that's still a great time.
Big G - well done, you're probably not in a pub but having some lovely food.
YT was 2nd in the half at Taunton today, cracking time he did though 1:09:49.
Khanivore - 2 pounds is OK, you know that it could have been a lot more. Now don't pig out this week
Honk - are you planning more marathons now or sticking to the shorter stuff?
Well I had a really good run at Taunton today, my 8th running of this event and I managed a course best of 4:51:55. My previous CB was 4:53 and that was 15 years ago!! The weather was better than expected as the chilly wind changed direction and it warmed up to about 15 degrees so that really helped me in the 2nd half. I had to work hard for that time but I felt strong and legs feel good.
Really nice weather and course,atmosphere seems to be better than when I last did it,even the Carrington stretch had people supporting. 3:10 was the goal(7.15 pace) started well got to 10k at 7:08 pace,was it too fast?didn't feel like it at the time but who knows,we had the wind behind for a bit then also.At 8 miles I realised I had slowed and had to kick myself to get going,and didn't feel like I was running too good,got to halfway in 1:34 so still on pace,this section was 7.12 pace but was harder work than GC.half to 30k came out at 7:18 and it was feeling really tough here,I knew it was gradual downhill to 35k but I was still losing time,as I got to 23 miles I realised I was now behind target and would struggle to get it back,confusing as I was overtaking lots of people by now.The last 8 miles hurt like I haven't hurt for a long time,tried to push but I had nothing left,crossed the line and was gutted,really thought I had a good chance,don't know why but it felt really hard all day.
Am I still disappointed? Yeah as I thought I had done everything right and finished 3 secs slower than GC,which was a much harder course and day.I know it's still a great time and if you'd offered me it 6 months ago I'd have bitten your hand off but...
Had a few beers which helped,I was 1726 at halfway but finished 1422 so I was right that I was overtaking a lot so looks like a lot struggled today.
Big G-At least you gave it a crack,enjoy the rest of your time there.
Shades, well done on a CB. That’s fantastic, and brilliant for YT too. Shaping up nicely for London for him - 3 Half PBs and a 5K in the space of a few weeks. Also, Allen T today did his 95th marathon at Manchester and went under 3hrs for the first time. Inspiring to see someone who does quite a lot of marathons (and longer) getting quicker.
As for me, I was staying quite close to the finish area and bag drop so made my way over there for around 9am (10am race start). As usual at the bigger events there were no way near enough loos, but also the bag drop took me 15mins! Lots of people moaning and also people not reading the instructions beforehand - the bag number wasn’t the same as our race number so people were queuing in the wrong queue and there were loads not using the correct/official bag, so were getting turned away. Eventually got to the start pen around 5mins before the start, and they were very strict turning people away.
The start was a good one - straight over the main Erasmus bridge and I got straight into 8s, which were needed for a sub-3:30. It was about 15deg at the start and I’d applied loads of sun cream and was wearing a vest, which I don’t often do. Temperature peaked at 21 and a lot were complaining but I found that ok really. I’ve raced in hotter, anyway!
There was loads of support and OH got around and saw me 5 times, which is superb effort by her! The course is flat (Strava shows 437ft, although it seemed flatter than that to me!) and although there was loads of support, bands, music etc I can’t say the course was a superb one. Ok, but not superb. We went past Feyenoord’s stadium, past the cube houses (twice), back over the bridge (highlight for me....superb atmosphere here) and that was all fine. But there was a 10k section towards the end that went around a park, which wasn’t that inspiring.
I took water at each station (every 5K) and took a small amount of their drink, but it was too sweet for me. I saw something new for me today - their water cups had a sponge in the top, with two cut outs to keep the water in the cup whilst running, and making it easy to drink out of. Really good idea. I also had about half of my mint cake in total.Anyway, got to 20 miles at approx 3:30 pace and was hoping to push on and maybe get 3:25 or something, but the reverse happened! Check out these splits for how not to run the last 10K! I did my best but it just wasn’t there at the end today - it’d be easy to blame it on the sun and maybe that played a small part, but really I think this is pretty representative of where I am at the moment.
Would I do it again? Hmmm, I wouldn’t necessarily rush back but if I’m in the country again when it’s on I would, if that makes sense? I do like the bigger events and this one was ok.
Apart from the bag drop (it took 10mins in a queue to get my bag at the end too) it was well organised. Minor gripe is that the New Balance shirt, although well fitting, is white so I won’t use it for running as it will go very see through, which is a shame.
So that’s it!
Driving to Dunkirk tonight for a morning ferry tomorrow - hoping to get to committee meeting on time tomorrow night.
Here was my post race meal....
Health, but it was closely followed by a burger
If running it will be Marathons I'm aiming for rather than anything shorter.
Cautiously building back up my long runs whilst doing lots of cycling at the moment. (Never got injured, just got lazy but enjoying my return to regular exercise)
Did you need to use the vinegar?
Jelly - well done, I'll add your race to the list. As you're in the results the marathon counts, but finishers after 4:30 are not eligible for prizes. It's a tough marathon on the 2nd lap as quite lonely. Doesn't matter that you've been AWOL from the thread for a while. I saw a picture of your puppy on Facebook, he looks gorgeous.
Big G- a good day for the Trotters then at various races.
Nice medal you got. I don't understand your comment on the shirt as to why you won't use it.
If that was your first race of the year in warm conditions it could certainly have had an effect especially for the last few miles
Nice food, I like a meaty burger after a marathon.
Ian you left everything out on the course and couldnt do anything more on the day, no beating yourself up but it's only right to feel disappointed! Any cramping issues? Maybe something to consider in training is practising some faster final miles/ neg splits on your long runs?
Big G not sure bout that post race meal, glad it got followed by a burger. Its regarded as a flat fast course which is why it comes recommended as scenically not all that inspiring? Very honest of you to call the drop in pace due to where you are at the moment. If you manage manchester next year although route has changed its a great one for spectators up and down the tram line, Elle spotted me 5 times and could have done 6. Have a safe journey back.
well done Jelly! Hope the pup doesn't pull too much!
Shades/Rob-Had a cramp at 12 on the hill and a little at 24,took the vinegar both times and worked again,it didn't taste as horrible this time,could be because I was expecting it and last time it had an extra day in the bottles.
Thanks for the comments,I really did give everything,even felt like I was in a daze for a few minutes after while I regained my composure,just not good enough on the day.Thinking work hindered me this week with 3x12 hr days and little sleep Mon-Wed,just need to plan my next course of action.
Ian - I don't think the potency of vinegar would alter because of the time it was decanted, great that it worked though. You could try different vinegar next time to get a different taste, so different shock to the taste buds. But good that the cramps were brief and didn't make that much difference to your run.
I'm sure your heavy workload this week didn't help plus the tiredness.
But also maybe Manchester is a bit of a nemesis race for you, and for an unidentifiable reason. There are many good marathon races - good organisation/good course, perfect conditions etc., where I've prepared well but never done my best or been able to run comfortably on that course.
5 mile recovery run done, legs are fine, hip flexors are a little tight as are my leg abductors, the abductors I put down to that killer Pilates class I had on Thursday. Lovely morning, birds are singing.
Honk, good to hear you’ve got some goals in mind.
Robert, Manchester sounds similar to Rotterdam in terms of the transport for spectators. For Rotterdam there were 2 metro lines that covered most of the course. Still hard work spectating though - I did it once at London and was shattered! A big part of these foreign trips for me is seeing a bit of the city too, and I did enjoy Rotterdam from that perspective.
Ian, how about possibly doing one more for fun with no real time pressure and then build up for an autumn one? You’ve got DD too, so plenty to focus on, especially if you do some shorter races too.
3 mile recovery run done in Dunkirk (not that inspiring!). Legs feel ok and I’m hoping for a good trip home. Should be in Dover for 11am and then it’s the drive back to Devon.
youve got DD to look forward to focus for and no need to give up on gfa, always great to PB and gfa just happens to be close. Anyhow nothing special about London less water stops, no goody bags and they’ll probably try dressing you in a cape and make you look silly 😝
jelly hope the shin is nothing serious!
big g and shades well done squeezing the recovery runs in!
Weather is awful here, still unwell and concerned I’m going to nod off in court!
Hope to get a docs apt soon, have asked for a letter from my physio to confirm what we’ve tried as some proof and try to get foot sorted.