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Shades Marathon Training
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If this works this is one my best considering I think it's near the end
I can see you've lost weight too.
Early start for me, have to get up at 2:30 am
Think my hotel only has limited wi-fi, I refuse to pay for it, so wishing everyone good luck for their races this weekend, especially Steve and Cal hoping for well deserved PB's
Got to B&B fine and it’s nice to be back actually. I was a bit delayed as I just missed a bus from the airport and the next one wasn’t for 45mins, but got here with no problem.
Best of luck to everyone racing this weekend.
Good luck to Big G and Shades this weekend and anyone else racing this weekend. I will be setting off to be tail walker / runner at my local parkrun in a bit, taking it nice and easy for a week or so but doing more cycling.
Ian - fortunate that you have a cold now so plenty time to get over it before Frankfurt.
Big G - I arrived at the Expo as the parkrunners were going round the field.
See you later, looking forward to the fish and chips.
Collected my number and managed to negotiate the Hoka, Brooks and 2XU stands without spending any money. Not so successful with the Garmin stand, after long deliberation and helpful info from the French salesman I decided to buy the 235 only they couldn't find one, sold out. Opted for 45 instead, a good price I think at £136, especially as they gave me the chest HRM FOC, which I think is worth about £60.
Meeting my friend for lunch soon. Weather is perfect here today for marathon running, heavy and prolonged rain still forecast for tomorrow.
Shades, the 45 is the one I have, and that's £30 less than I paid for mine, and I don't have the chest monitor. So that's excellent value.
I felt ropey/run down again yesterday - fortunately it was a rest day and I did nothing more stressful than go to the cinema.
Bexley parkrun today for my 100th run (and on parkrun's birthday, no less - good timing). Mostly paved course, and mostly flat but had two inclines that seemed innocuous but took a toll on the second lap (2 lap course). Time was slower than I expected. I saw the 25 minute pacer come past and mentally shrugged but when the 26 came past and I couldn't stay with him I realised I was still not 100%. Time was 26:05 which is a bit poor for me (I don't mind doing over 26 on a tough course, but Bexley isn't that...and given I did under 26 at Westmill, I am now concerned about how I'll perform at Kingston tomorrow). Ah well, guess we'll see. Anyway, another parkrun ticked off.
There are some finish line photos of you at Barnstaple, you look better than I did at the finish. The photos are a bit muddled ie not in finishing order.
Congrats on your 100th parkrun. Hope you're feeling better tomorrow morning for your race.
Honk - thanks for that, I'll have a trawl through the photos when I get home.
Had a huge and very good lunch and nice to catch up with my friend.
How do you know if you have a running obsession?
When you lock your new Garmin in the hotel safe first and only lock away passport, cash and cards an hour later.
I happen to be on the same coach to the start as the guy who came 3rd last year. He did 2:26 I think, and everyone gasped and then a few applauded
Poor weather but not torrential rain and not too windy currently. I’m not ‘feeling it’ at the moment though so I’ll see how I feel on the start line. First few miles are downhill so if that’s a slog, I’ll just ease right back. I’m not feeling 100% well so just want to try and enjoy it as best I can and not necessarily chase a time, but I’ll obviously play it by ear as the race progresses.
Bring on Yorkshire!
I made my way towards the start line and took those clothes off and, remarkably, the rain eased and when the race got underway and we were down off the top the wind was fine too. It stayed more or less dry all race, so we were very lucky in the end!!
But, I still wasn’t feeling 100%. Just sluggish, so I’d already decided not to push too much. However at about 6-miles I could feel my left hip and unfortunately that slowed me down a bit more and did impact my race today. I took some pain relief and just got on with it - it’s hard to DNF this race, as it’s a point to point course so you’ve just got to get back to Inverness, and running is as good a way as any (not that I was thinking of DNFing)! The hip was kind of ok on the flatter bits, a bit worse on the downhills and worse again on the uphills. So any thoughts of a decent time were firmly out the window at that point and I just did my best in the circumstances.
It’s a stunning course and a great race but I suppose my hip did put a downer on it for me a bit, and I finished in 3:51:52. I did 3:27 here last year so it’s a big drop off. I’m not sure if I’d had got close to that time (I was telling Shades last night that I’m still tired after Berlin), but I reckon if the hip had behaved I’d have been 10mins quicker or something like that.
Like I say it’s a great race, but just not my day today.
I’ll see how I am tomorrow about a recovery run. If hip is no good I may give it a miss, and have a couple of days off entirely. I’ll see how it is.
Very well done on the PB. You did well to hold it together after the fast start and then the stomach issue. Your training has gone well! Fingers crossed for the marathon!
Not a great run from me today. I woke with a sore throat and raised RHR and didn't feel good either. As Big G said it was bitterly cold at the start and despite all my extra clothes I was thoroughly chilled right through by the time we started. But within a half mile the wind had gone and the temperature for the rest of the race was good. But I didn't feel good for quite a lot of the time and it felt quite challenging at times. Pleased to finish in 5:07 and the soup, pasta and live music made me feel good again. Back at hotel now, throat very sore so bath and early night for me.
Shades/Big G-Sorry your races didn't go aswell as expected,hopefully your next one is back to usual.
I forgot to say a couple of things. Me and a runner in his 60s were kind of overtaking each other all the time along the course. I was aware of the main hill but evidently he wasn’t as he just said ‘ohh, f***’ half way up. It levels out before going up again, so it’s deceiving. Anyway, it really made me laugh and I tried to reassure him that at the top it’s then more or less downhill/flat to the finish, but I don’t think he believed me. I’ve just looked him up and he was 9th in the V60 category in 3:52.
I’ve forgotten his exact forum name, but Steven R was there today (posted on here) and did a PB with 3:45 dead. He overtook me and I think must have recognised my Trotters shirt and we had a chat. I was struggling at that point (around 16 miles from memory) but he was looking good.
The Welsh guy I met on the airport bus finished 5th yesterday. He was very modest but I told him I thought he'd get a top ten finish.
Every time here the race participants seem exaggerated compared to the number of finishers. I remember before them saying 4k and there were less than 3k finishers. Not sure how they count them but I suspect the info is provided by active.com so not reliable at all.
I don't have a cold, I have this throat/tonsillitis thing again. My RHR is lower this morning, still a bit raised but only 2 or 3 beats higher than would be normal for me the morning after a marathon. So I may go out for a little run, I feel I need some fresh air, I might not go very far as I can hear the wind howling a bit.
Anyone had any news from the VLM ballot yet?
One of the guys from my club came third in around 2:37 - we do have some fast people, even if I'm not one of them.
As for me, I slept really well last night. woke up around 7am and I got dressed to go for a run, but within a few steps knew I shouldn’t really be doing it, so turned back. I think the B&B owner thought I’d lost my mind
I think I need some rest for a couple of days and just hope I’m ok for next weekend.
I was tempted to enter Loch Ness again next year but it’s the same weekend again as Chester. I’ve not done that one yet so will hopefully do that one instead. There’s an early bird offer for both at the moment.
Cal, you mentioned maybe doing Loch Ness. Just letting you know that accommodation does hike up in price on Marathon weekend so maybe have a look
at booking something soonish that is refundable, if you’re fairly sure you may do it. I know it’s a long way off, but if you find a better offer nearer the time you can always cancel whatever you book but at least you’ll know you’ve got somewhere sorted.
I booked my accommodation as soon as the flights came out for here and had to look quite hard to find what I wanted but very pleased with hotel. Room small but very comfortable and quiet at night, amazing shower and a big bath too.
Flights were very good price, I booked the day they came out and paid £80 including a hold bag. It's significantly colder up here so needed extra kit and clothes. There were so many runners at the start yesterday, some had only a light jacket to keep them warm at the start, I spoke to a couple and they hadn't room in their cabin bag for more and thought with a bin bag they'd be warm enough.
I'm not doing Loch Ness next year, will be doing Frankfurt and maybe Budapest or Florence, we'll see.
Big G - sorry to hear you had to abandon your run today. Do you know what is the problem, joint or muscle?
I had a fab run along the river, only did 3.5 miles, enough to freshen my legs but not enough to make my throat any worse. I felt a lot better after the run and just eaten a big cooked breakfast.
Did you eat your tin of soup yesterday or does it need a lift back to Bristol?
Lots of choice, though. How do you rate Loch Ness in terms of PB potential? I know it's a bit of a lottery, weather-wise.
My 5th fastest time ever is on this course and I had a bit of an injury at the time.
It is a great race, stunning scenery and so well organised, and a lovely experience so definitely worth the trip up to do it.
Ian brilliant even splits at Berlin well done, Always nice to run well at a race like Berlin, so mnay memories I'm sure.
Big G, another great run at Berlin, sub 3.30 is a huge achievement from where you have come from a few months ago. You look very happy running in that photo and happy with your bling at the end.
Honk well done on your marathon, Prosecco not my tipple but always nice to have a drink at the finish. Great plan with MK and off road runs, enjoyable and local runs no stress of the big events, but fingers crossed for London.
Mamafox, well done for being able to get out running long again, spose good news about the money that comes with the job, won't be as tough on your feet without the pf now?
Cal congrats on the pb, you're running well and enjoying it, hopefully niggles stay away for 2 weeks time.
Shades/ Big hope you had good trips to Scotland.
For the last week I have made a big effort with my food consumption, had a couple of bad days but thats better than it has been, seen the scales tip under 14 stone for the first time in a couple of months (7lb loss) If I can lose another 10lbs by the end of Oct I'll be happier as I'll be at my heavier end of my running weight.
I did manage a parkrun on Saturday, another post fall PB 33.29 2 mins faster than my previous, even managed to run a mile with no walking.
Hospital dressing clinic don't want to see me again, so more good news, just last bit to heal fully then can go swimming. I have messaged my physio and hope to get booked in next week and go from there. I hope to be able to return to comfortable light jogging by December.
Shades, it feels like something that I can stretch out, so I’m hoping it’s not too serious. But a couple of days off is needed. I kind of ran through it last week, which in hindsight may not have been the best idea. At the time though I felt it was getting better throughout the week, but it came back at 6 miles yesterday. It’s a bit odd as at the start I’d forgotten all about it, and only remembered it when I felt it again. At that point I thought ‘Uh oh, this could turn into a bad day!’, so with that in mind I’m pleased with my time.
As an aside RK and his wife did 4:53, which is a PB for her and also quite a good time for him. They both loved it and said they’ll be back. The Head of Claire’s school did 3:26 - she was hoping for quicker and had told me she’s going to find me at the airport to have a word because, and I quote, “Beautiful views - not sure I would describe it as ‘flat with one significant hill’. You might need to explain that to me at the airport tomorrow” In my defence I’m pretty sure I never said it was flat, but I stand by that there’s only one significant hill
Regarding the tin of soup, my mobile network, Three, have some tie up with easyJet so I can put my bag in the hold, so I’ll do that I think.
Cal - Congrats on the 100th and the HM PB, you really are in great form.
Big G / Shades - Good runs from both of you.
Easy 3 mile shakeout on Saturday then the Basingstoke 10k on Sunday, first time putting this event on, running alongside the established half marathon, it's an out and back course. I knew there was a hill going out, but it was steeper than I thought, so after my opening miles of 6:10/6:14 I noticed on the out that only 2 people had come back on the other side of the road, both moving quickly and I was running behind another 2, so looked like I was 5th going up the hill, my third mile clocked 6:50, but I'd caught up and passed 4th place and at the turnaround point I had caught 3rd. Ran alongside him for a while, then took 3rd place at the 5k mark which I passed in 19:52, put my foot down on the downhill to take advantage of the free speed! 4th mile clicked by in 5:58 and no one had come passed me, head down and pushing on solo, got the 5th mile done in 6:04, passed a spectator who told me I was 3rd and that 4th was 100 meters back! Entered the park hit a bit of mud on the turn and thought I would fall over, but managed to get some traction. Up another incline which felt tough and the 6th mile clocked a 6:28, was hurting, but didn't want to be caught.....sprint for the line over a grass field which felt like I was slowing rapidly, but managed to cross the line in 38:38 for a second half 5k in 18:46 (Parkrun PB is 18:40) for 3rd place! 2 seconds slower than my PB, but on a tougher course, so very happy with that, only looked at my watch after 5k for the splits, wish I would have paid more attention, could have maybe sneaked a PB if I'd pushed a little bit more!
Steve, excellent result! You'll definitely PB on a more favorable course.
Read on Facebook that Bournemouth will no longer have a marathon from next year, so that's one less option for all of us. Shame, but to be fair it wasn't on my list of marathons to do.
Steve, well done! Third place is brilliant. I saw the route profile and thought it looked quite tough, but hadn’t realised about the mud at the end which would have made it tougher.
Cal, I saw that about Bournemouth. I’ve never done it but it wasn’t on my list either.