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Shades Marathon Training
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Big G-Havent been on the scales myself for a while,tend to know how I'm feeling now.
Shades-Today is the quietest day of the year for us.
9 miles after an easy day in work,calf was a little tight after yesterday but eased after a couple of miles and feels fine now,will have a good stretch for a change.
Stretching,
Big G - that's great that you've done your first 'proper' run since being ill, especially with no coughing. That's a long time to be poorly.
9 miles today for me, lovely weather for running, mild, no wind or rain.
Back to the gym today
I was up early and made the drive down to Mount Edgcumbe parkrun, which for me requires a trip on a car ferry over to Cornwall. I've been over there a few times and it's stunning, with views over to Plymouth. Today was a bit misty, but still really nice, and it was mild too so T-shirt and shorts were fine.
This is generally quite a small event, and today was no exception as there were 62 of us there today. Having a look at the summer results it very rarely goes over 100 runners, so it's a small event but really nice and friendly. They're doing New Year's Day too, but I'll be going elsewhere I think.
Anyway, the course was quite muddy, with a few hills thrown in for good measure, so I just took it really easy at the start to see how the breathing was. Everything felt a bit laboured for the first mile or so, but I got into it and really enjoyed the run, finishing in 28:03 for 17/62.
I drove back via the ferry, and I'm heading out with friends this afternoon for food and a few drinks etc.
I suppose with Xmas and NYD parkruns maybe not so many runners today, or maybe some have forgotten what day it is. I keep forgetting it's Saturday.
Must feel good for you to be getting out and about again.
Right, better head to the gym.
Shades-Even allowing for the days we are closed,this week we only take about 65-70% of a normal days sales,everyone just gets top up shops until the kids go back to school.
Very short shift today then 9 miles after,gives me 56 for the week,my 2nd highest of the year and 4th highest ever actually,still fell fine and strong so hopefully a couple more weeks around that area now.
I went to Walthamstow - I wasn't particularly looking forward to this one as it's three laps of playing fields and was called off last week due to waterlogging. But as it's one of two London runs I have left to do, it had to be done (and I was meeting Nessa there, who used to post on the forums a while back).
Run-wise it was pretty disastrous - very muddy and my light trail shoes were not up to the job, so I ran my slowest parkrun ever (excluding the one I tail-walked) - 29:55. But it was friendly - the RD gave me a shout-out and despite my crap time I was 6th lady and 1st in age group. Plus, it's done, which frees me up to finish Lon-Done on NYD. Hurrah!
Cal - well at least that's the muddy one done.
Enjoyed the gym yesterday, it was nice and quiet. But reception were getting quite a few enquires about new memberships and as I passed through I heard them saying that inductions were fully booked up at the moment, so I guess the usual influx of NY resolution folk.
6 miles this morning, undulating for the first half and hilly for the 2nd, total of 545ft, one lung busting hill at 3 miles that I thought I'd never get to the top. Can really feel the difference in my legs when I've done a leg gym session the day before, really depletes the glycogen in my legs.
Another 20 in the bag, but quicker. More or less the same route as last week (couple of minor variations) and still a fairly slow start but not quite as slow (only four miles over 11) and once I got to Dulwich I picked up a bit. Last week's run was pretty slow - just over 3:37 - but once I'd got within two miles of home I realised I could get under 3:30 if I pushed on. I didn't get up to MP but the last mile was my pre-Yorkshire MP (a smidge under 9:30) so I finished in 3:29:47.
Most of my bodyparts behaved pretty well, although I did get some twinges under the arches of my feet - mostly the left one. It's probably a combination of low-drop shoes and mud yesterday making my calfs and post-tibs rather tight, but in any case, this was the last run for my current pair of Epics, which have now exceeded 700 miles. They're meant to last 600 but I always squeeze another 100 or so out of them as they don't really show any wear. I'm rather curious to see if a fresh pair will improve my speed any (there were no 11+ miles during my 9 miler in Manchester, when I wore the Zoom Flys I'd taken for the parkrun).
Right, I'm now going to marinate myself in Epsom Salts.
That's a good long run done. Great mileage on the shoes, I use my shoes that are near the end of their life for short runs only and can get another hundred or so miles out of them even when I feel they're not supportive/cushioned enough for long runs.
Been busy this morning, flight, hotel and entry done for Frankfurt
Nice 20-miler there Cal, and good to hear the speed was more like what you want. Regarding Mount Edgcumbe it wasn’t too hilly - probably about 1/3 was flat, 1/3 up hill and 1/3 downhill. The start is lower than the finish though so overall uphill. I’m hoping to do Tamar Lakes on NYD - heard very good reports about it and it crosses the Devon/Cornwall border so a bit special from that perspective too.
I did 6-miles this morning. Nice and gentle, but a) felt I could have carried on and b) felt I could have gone a bit quicker, so things are definitely pointing in the right direction.
Shades, good news on Frankfurt.
The Polish marathons seem to get really good reviews, didn't one get an award for best European marathon?
They're now doing flights from Bristol to Frankfurt again, Lufthansa now. I had thought I may have to travel to Heathrow.
I went to the gym and on the way home I popped into Asda and ended up buying a turkey, it was half price. My freezer is full so it's in the fridge for a slow defrost.
Gym was quiet again.
Cal-Great long run again,boding well for next year.
Big G-Touch wood everything keeps improving.
Took a rest day today,felt like i could run but wary of doing too much.
Maybe your flight price might drop in a few weeks.
Feel OK now - may hit the gym later.
We've got freezing fog here too, I did a loop of the town first and it was getting colder and could feel the fog, not pleasant. Then I headed out on the Torquay road and once I was a mile from town it was like someone had flicked a switch and the temperature was a good 5 degrees higher and the fog had disappeared and it was nice for running. On the way back at exactly the same place I ran into the freezing fog again and I was quite cold for the last mile. But a good 10 mile run done.
Started new training diary today, I always get a small fission of excitement starting a new diary
Gym later.
Shades, that's funny as on my run (probably 3hrs later than you) it was good running conditions. Shorts and T-Shirt, although I did have some gloves on.
I went out hoping to do between 8 and 10 today, and ended up doing the 10. Again, nice and gentle all the way, and I had an enjoyable run out. No coughing at all, although it was hard work on the few hills. I think that's just lack of fitness (and extra weight!) as opposed to anything else. I did run it all though, so I'm pleased.
I've ran 4 days in a row so will take a rest day tomorrow, in preparation for the planned parkrun double on NYD.
I was looking at flights to various places yesterday - Lisbon, Prague, Warsaw, Krakow - and had kind of settled on Lisbon as the flights were dirt cheap (I'm talking £50 return). But then I went onto the race website and remembered it is a Rock N' Roll one, which put me off as I didn't love Liverpool, plus the price is going up on NYD.
Another good run from you today.
Re Lisbon, it's no longer a RocknRoll event, and I believe much improved plus you won't have to risk your credit card as no longer Active either doing the entries.
I had a long conversation with some runners while I was on drink station duty at Plym Trail, they went last year and said it was really good.
http://www.running-portugal.com/lisbon/marathon/en/register.html
On Sat/Sun I ran my final event for 2019 which was the Canary trail event’s “third 1st annual headtourch marathon”. All I can say is it was my slowest and hardest marathon yet but I loved every second of it. It was also a test to see how my new trail shoes felt. I got a pair of ON Cloudventures and I couldn’t fault them. Comfortable, loads of grip and water proof which ment i had dry feet which was a really good thing..
I got home from work and we headed down to Dorking where we had booked a travelodge. I tried to get a little sleep in the car but never really relaxed enough to drift off. We checked in and I got my kit ready to head to the registration, making sure that the mandatory kit list was checked off..(foil blanket ✅ waterproof jacket ✅ 1ltr hydration bladder or bottles ✅ Canary ✅) If you didn’t have a canary, there was a £20 charity donation “fine” to the Kings college hospital charity. Mark Thornberry has terminal liver cancer and this event was to help him with his fundraising.
At 19:25 we had the race brief and then headed to the start and at 19:30 we were sent on our way. The course took in some of the NDW path so as you can imagine, there were a few hill and less than a mile in, we encountered our first one, which i thought was quite steep, but I’d soon find out that they were easing us in gently. The course wound its way through trees, across fields and through some fairly thick, sticky mud.
After about an hour and a half, which felt much much longer, I glanced at my watch and got the shock of a life time when i saw we had only done 5.5miles. I knew then why they gave a rough time of 7hrs for the event and we were going to be in for a long night.. thankfully i was in good company so it wasn’t all bad..
By mile 10 i could feel the terrain taking its toll on my calves and quads as they were starting to ache, specially going downhill. I was quite grateful for the short walk breaks we took to allow the slower runners catch up. We continued to work our way through the mud and hills until mile 14 where there was a pop up aid station with mulled wine and mince pies. We all gathered for 10 min and then set off to tackle the rest of the fun the organisers had in store for us..
We climbed Box hill, Reigate hill and then we found ourselves at the bottom of what can only be described as the hill from hell.. they call it ”hands and knees hill” because it is so steep that you can only climb it on all fours. It was almost vertical and had to make sure the person in front of you didn’t kick you in the face, but when you got to the top, the view was spectacular.. only problem of being so high up, is the wind was blowing quite strongly and with only one layer on, i felt quite cold so we had to move quickly to get to shelter, so i could put my windbreaker on, which helped..
we continued on and when the guide said we had one more climb left and about 1.5 miles to go, we were all quite relieved until we saw what the climb was.. It was called “Satan’s staircase” and OMG the stairs went on forever and there were several grunts as people slowly worked their way up. We reached the top and down the other side and through a cemetry where one of the guides made me laugh.. I was wearing a chest light, and in the darkness the guide couldn’t see i was a normal sized person so when i got closer and he saw me and he laughed and said to me, “i thought you were a fu***ng midget” which tickled me...
I could see the village hall and we knew we were done. I have never been so happy to get back to the warmth of the hall and some food. Total time taken was 7:32:48 but felt like 20hrs.
there was a spread set out for us when we returned so we could eat And drink the rest of the morning away.. I gave my OH a call at 5am cause i was beginning to feel very tired so i said my goodbyes and went back to the hotel for a few hrs sleep.. All in all a fabulous night and I,ll be entering it again next year, but I,ll try get some more trail training in cause it certainly wasn’t ideal for the inexperienced.
my next adventure is 1/1/20 at the SVN NYD mega challenge. A good way to start the new year.
Well done, Ian. I've managed to hit just over 1900 - I'm going to try and target 2000 for next year.
Not like you to mention a half mile in your running distance but precise counting required right now, congrats on making your target, which you'll do today.
Iain - well done, that does sound a really tough event. And most folk never realise just how much harder it can be in darkness, so you did really well.
10 miles this morning, good running weather, no nasty fog. But much harder run for me after leg session in the gym yesterday.
As for this year it's been great,mainly kept injuries under control.Pb's at every distance,1st major and DD.
Only disappointing time was April-may when I had a couple of poorer races but 7 marathons all under 3:30 feels amazing.
Undoubted highlight was NYC,from the crowds to the finish with a tequila at mile 17 the whole weekend was amazing.