Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Shades Marathon Training
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Hope you all stayed safe with another weekend storm putting a dampener on things..
Yesterday I took part in the SVN mods v rockers marathon which was ment to be 90% on trail but due to the weather the park was closed to the public. Thankfully they allowed us to still use the park but we could only use the dedicated cycle track so it became a road marathon and thankfully I did have my road shoes with me. It was 13 laps of the track plus a little bit to make it Marathon distance.
The first quarter of the lap was with the wind and I thought that this should be ok today, then I turned a corner and was greeted by Denis in all his glory.. spent the next 1 mile attempting to run straight into the wind or with the wind blowing from the side so put us all into odd positions as we battled to stay upright. I almost cried hen I realised I’d have to do this another 12 times.. I tried to use the racing line as much as possible which made the route relatively straight forward. With 3 corners to go we turned and had the wind behind us which was great and blew us across the line to start the next lap..
I decided that because it was a road marathon, I would see what speed I still had left in my legs so set out at marathon pace and took the lead.. got to HM distance at around 1:33 ish and then realised that the faster pace and wind, rain combination were sapping the life out of my legs so I slowed to a more comfortable pace.. the laps seemed to get longer and longer and when I started my final lap I knew it was approx 2 miles to go. I had to deal with Denis just one more time.. as I ran up the final straight I could see the line and I knew I was still in the lead but wasn’t sure how far the second placed guy was so I gave one last push.. I crossed the line in 3:13:25. I was really pleased I had won and that it was over so I could go get dry clothes on.. I stuck around to see the 2nd placed guy finish (just over 4 min behind me) and congratulate him. I think he was just as glad to be finished as me..
I hope you like the route for the 100 miler, I think I'd rather not know beforehand.
Cal - that's good that you took out separate flight insurance to cover this sort of situation, hope you get a prompt payout.
Cal, it's a way off, but are you doing a parkrun at Manchester? I'm planning on doing Stretford parkrun.
7-miles for me this afternoon. It was quite nice running conditions, and I managed to dodge a shower that came in shortly after I got home. I was going to go to club, but decided against it - it's the AGM tomorrow so I'll make the trip over tomorrow evening.
Easy 5 miles after work,bit of a hail shower at one stage but passed quickly enough,legs feeling nice and fresh now.
Ian, I don't own a credit card, so no.
Another reason for popping in is to say to BigG that Stretford is becoming ridiculously popular: it starts on the track which struggles to hold the 700 or so runners and has a couple of turns around cones. I would expect more there on marathon weekend. I have been to Alexandra Park quite a few times since it started and to me is a much better option: less runners, much wider paths. Nearer the time let me know where you are staying, BigG! Alex Park is about a mile and a half from Stretford.
Since I had my credit card scammed by those crooks at Active I've never used my debit card on the internet. I saw how distressing and difficult it was for others that were scammed when their bank accounts were emptied. Even before then I would always use a credit card especially for anything over £100, worth it for the guarantee. There are no longer any additional fees for paying by credit cards, was abolished a few years ago.
Hi alehouse
6 miles today, ILTHR run. Good conditions, bit chilly but no wind which was a pleasant change and the birds were singing.
Pilates and gym this morning
alehouse - thanks.
Ian - Quality parkrun time there.
Shades / Big G - Awful weather you are having!
Cal - As said, sorry to hear about Tokyo.
After feeling crap on Thursday a few good nights sleep helped massively and I felt much better on Saturday, did a few different routes to get the miles in, 8,5,6,3, but could bail out at different points if I needed, but all 22 miles done at 8:48 average, with HR in the right area then a nice 6 miler on Sunday to finish off a 66 mile week.
10 miles with 5*600 this morning, reps were 2:11/2:09/2:09/2:08/2:05. Happy with that, all under my target 6 min/mile pace and felt strong.
7-miles again today. Back to my usual route after not being able to do it for a few days due to the flooding. There were quite a lot of runners out today, and again I managed to get back before the rain came, which was good for me.
A few Trotter friends who are teachers are planning a longer run tomorrow. They're doing 20, but I don't want that many with a marathon coming up on Saturday, so if I can I'll meet them for 12-14ish. But if it's raining heavily or I'm up a bit late, I'll just do a shorter run on my own
Nice one Big G.
A rather disturbed night's sleep resulted me going out later for 10 miles, which I did at easy to steady pace (what I class as steady is faster than easy but slower than MP). I won't do anything longer until next week as I have Hampton Court on Sunday (the good thing about not doing Tokyo is I can now give HC a proper punt - it's a PB course). Was happy with the run, apart from a bit of a groin niggle which started then stopped again. It's probably tight due to a lot of sitting around at the weekend.
Cal sorry to hear about Tokyo, another one of my friends has non refundable accommodation as well as paying the charity money himself. He's a polish chap who wants to run the 6 majors and decides his best bet is to go for charity places and donates the money himself. Your taxes on your flight is refundable so least can get that, if not is there any availability around the Olympics to swap the flights for a fee? The training for Tokyo wont be wasted and will probably do HC some good, silver linings and all that.
Shades, if I ever got to choose my last race, down the flooded river path and through a dreary Ware Town centre is not the way Id plan to retire on. but hopefully wont ever plan my last race. Not putting any pressure on my return to full fitness, however if I get back to where I was I know I can turn the 1.35/3.32 half and marathon times a good 5/15 mins with the correct training and diet.
Well done Iain, great run in those conditions, good idea getting an idea of the terrain for the 100.
Big G I did stretford parkrun in 2018, it was busy but was only taking it easy before the marathon, 2 loops which meant 2x 180 turns with cones but dead flat. It's about 1/2 mile walk from the start from stretford tram.
Calfs are a bit tight after Sunday's run, may try and go for an easy run this evening, have been looking at a couple of races end of April, one at Wendover but its on London Marathon day and was probably going to volunteer, the terrain would be good for NDW50 training as well. The other race was a mid week race, localish about 50 min drive but flat. Has anyone used https://www.runningmiles.co.uk these for races before?
Robert - ouch for your friend having paid out for flight and hotel un-refundable. Of course we never know what's going to happen in this world.
I didn't know you could reclaim the taxes on a flight if you choose not to fly, how do you do that?
I agree re the last race. I know a few that have planned their last marathon but never their last race.
Yes, you know that there are PB's ahead of you, when you're ready.
Big G and I have done Running Miles events, they are really well organised, lovely chaps too and a really good atmosphere. I've done the Dorney Lake one, good, except the laps are quite monotonous but that's not the fault of the organisers.
Cal - I am really sorry about your trip to Tokyo, like me you budget carefully for these trips. Glad you're now thinking of the positives, doing well at HC etc.
It's made me think though that if I ever fork out for an expensive long haul trip for a marathon I think I'd pay the extra for refundable costs as even if I got injured I wouldn't want to go if I wasn't running, I don't care for sightseeing. My club had said they were planning to do a trip to Tokyo this year, I don't know if any of them had booked as I said a flat no at the time we discussed it.
Amazing what we can learn on these forums
Heard BA had offered 40% back at one point yesterday, would be great PR for BA if they do something especially given the tight margins airlines have.
Big G, I'm looking at the Rickmansworth course, either 40 min drive or 2 hours on a bus but its as good as door to door.
Shades, this forum usually ends up costing money so a nice change.
Speaking of mud, the one I'm doing this weekend is on the Thames Path too and can apparently get muddy in parts, so if it's really bad I'll just get around it as best I can. Bearing in mind I'm trying to get a few different parkruns in, there is a parkrun (Hazelwood) very close to the marathon route, but sadly I can't do both.
Big_G - I’ve run both of Rik’s routes along the path. Not sure if is marathon only or a timed event but if it’s a timed event the route will be the shorter 3.2 mile out and back route which does get muddy at the beginning but the footing gets better the further along the path you go. You’ll have to contend with the rowing clubs and the notorious “blue bridge”. I’ve seen enough of that part of the tow path for a while. I will however be there on the Sunday but in a marshalling capacity while my OH takes part in the 100HM AGM. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it...
Cant believe how stiff I am today considering I only ran a marathon. I did get to the gym yesterday and did 40 min on the watt bike and then an easy 3k on the treadmill and then headed down to the pool and I swam 750m and mucked about with Aiden for a while.. decided to take today as a rest day and I’ll run the 10 miles to the gym tomorrow before swimming again..
I listened to a podcast that a couple of friends run and they talked to James Elson ( centurion RD) and he was explaining how best to prepare for a 100 miler and I realised I have got a lot of planning and hard work ahead but I’m getting excited.. haven’t even done this and I’ve already thought about a second one... the only issue I might have is pacing, I realise that I can’t run at MP so to get the time I’d like, I’d need to run @ between 10 and 12 min miles but that actually hurts me running that slow so I have no idea what pace to run at. I’m comfortable at around 8:30/mile but I dont think that’s a sensible option either so I’m stuck at deciding exactly what pace I need to run at. Thankfully there is enough time to practice and experiment..
Trotters AGM tonight and I was elected back onto the committee unopposed, along with the other committee members.
Iain - that DOMS that you've got just shows how you had to tense your muscles running into that fierce headwind.
Re pacing for your 100 miler. 10-12 m/m is far too slow for you.
You should be looking at 60-90 seconds slower than you would race over the same terrain, so about easy to long run pace. Many will schedule a walk break, say a 3 to 5 minute walk every hour, use this time to eat as well. Walking uses different muscles and can help avoid painful muscles later on. You need to plan your food too.
You will slow later on, that's normal and if you have to finish in the dark, I assume the course is unlit, then even with a headtorch your pace will be slow. Factor in stoppage time, loo breaks, kit change, and that's what makes the average pace seem so slow.
I had a great circuits class this morning followed by a good session in the gym thrashing my quads
12 miles for me today, on the Wray Valley out-and-back trail. I was meant to be meeting some friends but for one reason and another they were late which caused me to wonder if I’d missed them. I then set off to catch them up but only saw them about 7 miles into my run, about a mile after I’d turned to make the run back to the start. We had a chat and we must have just missed each other by a matter of a minute or two. Never mind. I had a nice run out though, but got soaked feet again!
Well done on the miles Big-G, I keep thinking of joining a running club and I know I'd benefit from it but I really do struggle for time in the evenings (hence my 5.30am midweek runs!)
I also feel I just come on and moan about not having time a lot on here! Apologies, I am actually a very cheery chap!
Anyway, 4 miles yesterday and 8 miles this morning! I've still not really worked out my easy pace, I feel very comfortable at the pace I ran at this morning but I have a couple of long steep hills that I'm breathing quite heavy on, I feel the only way to remain at conversation pace would be to pretty much walk.
Big G-You've done some good work there by the sound of it.
Rest day yesterday and today,well 22 hours in work across them but a rest day from running,finish tonight then off to meet a load of friends tomorrow,hopefully avoid too much drinking,but I have my hydration tablets to help recovery,then off to seville on friday.Race weather has warmed a bit now but still just ok to race in.