Shades Marathon Training

Rcouture

Brighton now confirmed postponed to Sunday the 20th of September. I am meant to be in the US that week for work and landing on the Friday morning which isn’t ideal. At least there’s clarity now. 

SHADES

Rcouture - well at least you know now.  If you handle the jetlag right then you can still run a good race. 

SHADES

My key Spring event also postponed, no new date yet.  Will have to pay for flight transfer unless Aer Lingus match easyJet's offer

https://www.connemarathon.com/

SHADES

Aer Lingus are not charging for flight changes.  Might have trouble changing as AL has locked me out of my account so might have long wait on the phone, never mind.

Big_G

I don’t want to get political but it seems the government are now planning to ban public gatherings. I know this isn’t a u-turn as this has always been on the cards and they’ve been considering the timing, but it seems strange to me that other bodies (football, marathons, etc) have acted first as it appears the government are now playing catching up - it feels to me it should have been the other way around.  As you know I organise the Club Champs for Trotters and I wonder if that will be impacted. Taunton Marathon (April) is in the competition as is Torbay Half (June) and are both over 500 runners, but I wonder if some smaller events will also decide not to go ahead?  I wonder if EA’s advice may change?  Who knows!

Anyway, I’m up. Toe isn’t looking great but I’m planning on making the start line, which after all is only a few hundred metres away today. I have been in two minds as it’s a bit sore even walking around, but I can always stop if it gets too much. Hopefully I can get through it but I guess I’ll know more in a few hours! 

SHADES

Big G - limiting events was the next stage but looks like they are bringing it forward.   It's not to do with the number of people being in one place but public services that are required, even Taunton has police control on the roads and ambulance services.  Football has been cancelled to protect the players not the fans plus a lot of public services required at big matches.   Several high profile players now have the virus and you can't expect athletes to put their short careers at risk.

I think you're right and a lot of smaller events won't go ahead.   For me I'm no longer looking for replacement events but pulling back.   Apparently some races last weekend had a 40% DNS so I'm not the only one that is feeling disinclined to race.

My Spring Infinity event for next weekend is in jeopardy too.   They're awaiting permissions from the landowners plus the majority of the Welsh Coronavirus cases are in the Neath area which is where the race is.

I see Southampton are waiting on government advice re numbers, but looks like they might postpone to 21st June.

All the hours we have spent putting our race logistics in place, back to the drawing board now.


Good luck today, if the toe hurts pull up, you've already had a great race there and your first win.  

Had a really awful night's sleep, a little feverish but that's fairly normal when I have a cold.   RHR is up this morning but I actually feel better than I did yesterday, that headache has gone thankfully.

Cal Jones

I've been feeling a bit ropey as well, Shades, not helped by the SI joint pain. I often feel like this when I've been running a lot of miles but it usually goes after a rest day, and I still don't feel great today. Even though I'm usually raring to get to parkun, I've decided to bin it off today. Better safe than sorry.

Big_G

Shades, I’ve been thinking that after this weekend I’ll get home and not really travel much for a couple of weeks at least, just to see where we are. With the prospect of Manchester being postponed I was initially thinking of entering some smaller/lapped events as a back up plan to keep the numbers ticking over but I now don’t think I will do that. I had a very rough plan (heavily dependent on injuries etc etc) to get to 100 this year, but this virus is another added complication that’s for sure. 

SHADES

Cal - maybe you need a bit more rest, have a nice duvet day.   Incidentally re parkrun, the only info I've seen is that they don't want to cancel individual parkruns and thus encourage runners to travel to another, thus inflating their numbers.   Of course with parkrun they can't really control how many turn up on the day.

Big G - yes, I can understand your thinking.   However, looks like there will be plenty of autumn road marathons to do, surely we'll be over any restrictions by then.    I'm ditching my plan to do my 400th at the IOM it's unlikely to happen.   And I don't really want to scout around for those lapped events that I just wouldn't enjoy so much, after all we do this as we enjoy it, don't we? 

Keith M Stuart

Been in several meetings at work on the virus this week. Mostly covering what we can and can't do if it gets more widespread. Naturally as its a science lab and HQ generally thinks the entire company are office based the corporate stratedgy isn't overly useful. We think 90%+ of lab staff will be unable to work from home not least as most dont have laptops.

I have been looking at the difference between mcirosoft and openoffice which i use in terms of word and excel stuff to see what i can do. Word was a no cos formatting gone to pot excel transferring looks fine but it fails on some of the coding which i'll try and figure out over the weekend as i hae a printout from work with the numbers i have on the file i have here at home.

Local races are disappearing slowly altohugh Carlisle half tomorrow is still on currently i think or was last night anyway.

As for Manchester they cant state a date until football knows what it is doing as they are by Old traffford iirc. No way can they clash with a utd game as be far to many people. THey can ask FA to fiddle fixtures however to stake a claim i suppose but prob not asked yet.

Was pondering park run this morning but whilst at games night last night i spent most time sat on floor so leg aches this morning and my hip. Probably go out on my own later as i also forgot the important part of shopping on way home to get the essentials aka milk coffee tea bags and bread. I forgot tonic for my gin stock so i may get some later on.

Big_G

Strange times indeed Keith!  My OH’s a vet and there’s a real concern in her area what will happen if vets, nurses etc go off sick. At the zoo, there is an army of zoo keepers too.  Obviously non-urgent stuff can be postponed but emergencies still need to be dealt with by actual people. She also locums at a vet practice and she’s said there are reports that people are bringing their pets in to be euthanised because they fear the pet has the virus!!  And other cases where pets are just being abandoned because of it. Currently there’s no evidence to suggest it can be passed on by pets, or even if pets get the virus. There is apparently one case in Hong Kong where the dog has been quarantined but tested negative, and is awaiting a retest, so I’m not sure where this small number of people are coming from with abandoning/euthanising pets. 

SHADES

Keith - working from home can be a lonely affair and doesn't suit all even if it's possible.   It's nice if it means you can nip out for a run when you like but it can be hard to stay motivated out of normal working environment.

Yes, think lots of races will be canned now.

Big G - that's unbelievable that folk are asking for their pets to euthanised or are abandoning them, people do behave strangely at times.

But I do wonder how folk can manage if they are self isolating as they are not supposed to go out for a walk, so if you have a dog what do you do?  I suppose OK if you have a sizeable garden.

SHADES

My marathon next weekend is now postponed, no new date as yet.   Too late to cancel hotel booking but it wasn't expensive, £31.

another one off the spreadsheet 

Keith M Stuart

I'm meant to be going to London on the 26th for my spring break. Not entirely sure what will be open by then in theory museums obviously breach the common thresholds for people allowed in however you are not generally in the one spot. The zoo is also a interesting one as its broadly out doors. It could end up being a non busy many day shopping spree if they remain open. Only thing i have booked to do is visit parliment on the saturday which is currently still open for visitors. Not sure on what i can cancel or move train/hotel wise but as things stand i dont need to look into that. Would mean if i cant go that i cancel my leave and then technically breach my max leave carry over but thats usually allowed.

Cal Jones

Well, just to cap a perfect week, my crown's fallen off. I don't think my dentist will want to see me if there's the slightest chance I might be sick - in fact, I have no idea how dentists are going to operate at the moment since they prod around in people's mouths. What the hell do I do?

Rcouture

 Cal - Coincidentally I saw my local dentist this morning for a routine check up and he said there is no reason dentists wouldn’t be operating as normal. They are used to operating in an environment where they risk disease transmission eg they wear masks. 

I think I will do my long run tomorrow then take a break from running for two weeks or so to get my ITB and plantar fasciitis in order and do some strength work. I can then ramp up mileage again slowly which is what I didn’t do initially which led to these injuries. 

Ian5

Very spooky here,been for a walk along the beach and on the way back they are closing all restaurants and cafes,seen police pulling over and telling people to shut.Only seems to be supermarkets and pharmacies open now.

Cal Jones

Good to know, Rcouture. My dentist isn't even open until Monday so I've got a few days chewing on one side of my mouth, minimum.

SHADES

Keith - I did hear comments about stopping visitors to Parliament but I'm sure they'll let you know if they do that.

Cal - oh no, that's the last thing you need.  Your dentist may waive any short notice cancellation charges to stop sick folk turning up.  You may be better in a day or so if it's not Coronavirus.

Rcouture - that's a good plan and to get rid of those niggles will be worth it.

Ian - that's not good news.  Some flights have stopped travelling to Spain from the UK too and even turned back mid flight.  Hope your flight home is not affected.

SHADES

Just had an email saying that Taunton marathon is cancelled, would have been my first road marathon of the year.  They're still working on where they go from here, no mention of postponement but possible deferrals and/or refund.

Another one off the spreadsheet 
 

Cozy1504

So like everyone else, Edinburgh postponed, no new date as yet.

My half tomorrow still on so I guess that’s now what I’ve trained for so hopefully I can get a pb! 

Big_G

Well, that didn’t go so well!  After the comparative high of yesterday, today was definitely a low point.

First thing this morning the legs actually felt pretty good, and once the toe was bandaged up I was hopeful I’d be ok. This event is 7-and-a-bit laps and I got through half way in 1:57ish but already knew I was slowing, and could also feel the toe. It wasn’t just that though - I just felt I had nothing there and was feeling weak, despite eating regularly. (Mini Scotch eggs, and red grapes in my bag....yum!  Plus the usual Kendal mint cake). I also had electrolytes in my drink so felt I was doing everything I should be doing, but there was no energy. 

I plodded on, resorting to a run/walk, which then turned into just a power walk, and then ultimately just a quick walk in the final lap. With 2 laps to go I very nearly DNFd, but I carried on knowing that with 1 lap to go I’d be bound to finish. So not very pretty and all of the last 2 laps were walked, as was most of the one before that. But I got it done in 4:53-something (I’ll check later for the official result), so getting on for 3hrs for the second half.

Not my finest effort then. I did feel a bit weak yesterday before the start and it really took it out of me yesterday, so although I thought I’d done all the right things in terms of rest/recovery, today was still not great. Maybe just a follow on from yesterday. 

Toe is looking worse again and because of that (regardless of anything else) I reckon it’ll be a DNS tomorrow. I’ll decide for sure in the morning but I reckon it’s 80% likely I’ll not start. I could walk/shuffle around but I don’t really want to do that just for the sake of it. I suppose if I make a miraculous recovery overnight I may reconsider but it seems unlikely at the moment.

Obviously that’s not what I wanted when I entered these events, but I’m not too despondent about it.

I was hoping for a quicker time at Manchester but based on how I felt yesterday I’m not entirely sure that would have been possible either. I do feel a bit fitter compared to Marrakech, but I’m not sure I’d have got the time I would have hoped for. I suppose we’ll never know, and in any case there will be other races to find out

Ian5

Big G-Isnt that 4 in a week or so? No wonder you had a poor one if that's the case.
Went for 6 miles this afternoon and it was like a ghost town,very few people around,nice and easy to get going again after 9 days off.

SHADES

Cozy - good luck tomorrow.

Big G - that was a tough day for you.   You did well not to DNF, so, so tempting with the laps.

From what you've said a DNS seems to be the sensible option for tomorrow.  You've maybe pushed that toe to it's limit and you don't want a nasty infection especially as it won't be easy to get antibiotics or see a doctor right now.

Don't be despondent about it, you got your first race win. 

I'm sure that faster time is there but maybe you need a bigger event to fire up the blood on race day.

SHADES

Ian - will you be able to get home OK?

I hear Spain is on full lock down from Monday

Ian5

Looking ok at the minute,luckily I booked us on sunday evening,there are delays because of a shortage of air controllers but hopefully ok.

Big_G

Shades, since writing that previous post I’ve put all my running stuff in the car and cancelled the hotel for tomorrow night. So I’m a definite DNS now.  I need some time off for it to heal properly, as basically I’ve done 4 marathons on it now.  Fingers crossed a week or so of resting it will see a big improvement. The danger was that I’d have started just to see how it went, but then ended up trudging around making it worse (basically as I did today, but tomorrow would have been worse again).

Ian, yeah, 4 in 8 days. Maybe the regular back-to-backs just aren’t for me!  Must be odd going around Barca like that.  

SHADES

Ian - that's good, hope you get home without too much delay.  I don't expect Spain would be much fun in a lockdown.

Big G - I think that's a good decision.  Have a decent night's rest and a leisurely drive home tomorrow.

Robert OHara

Been a lazy week for me, haven’t felt that great myself so decided not to run.

looks like a lot of race plans in turmoil!

yesterday was a weird day, even for Friday 15th! Thought my MOT expired yesterday and had it booked in for Monday, decided to look round to see if I could get it done anywhere earlier and realised it has expired on Thursday! Had a bit of a panic but found somewhere and took time off work and had a 3 hour wait.... thankfully passed with just a few advisories.

Went to 4 different shops to get shopping, only short of loo roll, pasta and mince.... then Elle got a call, her brother had been talked down from a multi storey car park.  Had to go to the hospital to pick him up last night, his landlady has thrown him out so had to pick up his stuff today, his wife is supportive but doesn’t want him round until he is in a better place (2 young kids) so will be a tough few weeks for us, will be even tougher if still here in 3 weeks as we only have a small 2 bed house and Chloe comes back from uni! 

Got a supported club run tomorrow, unsure of what distance I’ll run minimum 8 miles and depends how I’m feeling and where my head is 

SHADES

Robert - well that's good news on the MOT, after the stress of finding out it had expired.   Another of the joys of being a car owner.    I now get mine done early to avoid that panic.

That's a tough time that Elle's brother is going through, hope his situation improves soon and he starts to feel more positive about the future.

Yes, seems we've all had our race/running plans decimated but in reality a small price to pay in a situation that for many will have much more serious consequences.

I think there is panic buying here again, but from what I hear the shops have plenty, just not so quick to get it out on the shelves.   However, the streets are definitely quieter and apart from essentials like work and food shopping most people seem to be staying at home.

Had a better night's sleep and my cold which hasn't been too bad seems to be getting better.

So domestic day today for me today.  Hopefully I might be able to get out for a little run tomorrow.