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Shades Marathon Training
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TR, I’d love to see it happen but I'm not optimistic about London's chances either.
I agree, knowing how crowded London marathon is I can't see it going ahead with 50k runners. Wonder if they'll cut the numbers and do it over 2 days and those that don't run will be offered virtual.
Cal - I'd just assumed you'd entered, as your 'local' marathon. Well at least you're not disappointed not to get a place.
Big G - FB is better on a phone than on a PC, IMHO, since they changed the look/format of it. It's much slower on my PC. It's still crap though.
Did you see Plym Trail has moved their winter marathons to 13th/14th March. I think that's a bit optimistic.
I normally do my 8 mile hilly run on Tuesday so despite the weather decided to do it today as if we did get a bit of rain I wouldn't be too far from home if it started to freeze and I could take a shortcut home. Really strong gusty wind, -2 with a feels like of -9 but I wrapped up warm. I remembered that I had lurking in my wardrobe a windproof sports jacket that I bought from Lidl many years ago, I find it too heavy for running but I put it on today and in these conditions it was fine, kept me nice and warm and it is 100% windproof. But going up the hills wearing all the extra kit did make it feel much harder but better than freezing to death. Halfway through my run it did start to rain, very light, but it stopped thankfully. By the time I'd got to the final hill which is the steepest my legs were refusing to work so I walked up that hill, walking up it is tough enough so not really an easy option.
Southampton have postponed,it was due April 18th,we were doing the half but they have said we can have a refund so doing to ask for that.
I had considered Southampton, the full. I don't think they'll be much left of the spring marathon calendar soon.
TR/Ian/Shades, I think I put 3:14, which is also probably a very popular time. I think when I got in via the ballot I also put something like that time as well - I know I was way up the field as I was over the start line in under 1-minute, in wave 2 I think.
Went to to the GP today and got checked over. Basically, he's sure nothing is broken and although he said I have definitely suffered a concussion, ultimately he doesn't think it's anything serious. I said I was concerned about the dizziness but vitals were all fine and he basically just said that it takes time to heal fully. He said it's 2 weeks minimum but it can take longer than that, as in my case. He knows I'm a runner and without me asking he just said "you'll know when it's the right time to restart, but do so gradually" and I think he's correct in that; at the moment I just know I can't run. He did say gentle exercise is recommended and I mentioned gentle indoor cycling and he said "fine" to that, but again at the moment I just don't feel like it. I did ask why it seems to have got a bit worse in the last week, rather than better, and he just said it's one of those things, and it's the healing process. Glad I went and he has reassured me that ultimately I'll be okay, which is what I had thought myself too.....basically I just need to be patient!
I walked down there and there was snow in the air and it was very cold. I was glad to get back home and I'm now not moving for the rest of the day!
Hopefully we'll have more info after Feb 22nd when there might some info on getting back to sport and events.
Not so sure 3:14 is too bad a choice unless it coincides with a GFA time.
Well at least you know now that you did suffer a concussion when you fell. Good to get checked out though and reassured that all is well and what's required is a bit more patience. Unfortunately you've had a lot of practice at the patience bit with your previous injuries etc.
It is cold out there, I've got to pop out later, not looking forward to it.
But remember how quickly you regained your fitness after your last long spell off, so you know you can do that again.
Right I'm going out now, was going to go this afternoon but it's clouded over here. Looks like snow so want to get out and back before anything might last and freeze.
Shades-I agree about spring,I was really hoping to be racing again by then but not many left now,looks like DD might be the best chance.
Well it's proper snowy in London now. I really didn't want to go out but I stuck my trail shoes on, bundled myself up in layers and got out just before midday. I started walking up my road but the pavement wasn't that bad so once I'd crossed the first road, I ran the rest of the way to the common. I figured it would be safest to try and stick to the grass/dirt but ended up running on a mixture of that and hard paths, since my shoes seemed to cope. The problem with snow is that it hides a myriad of hazards such as water, lumpy bits you can roll your ankle on and mud. The worst bit was the mud through the woods past the railway line - I knew it was muddy but I figured it must have frozen solid. It hadn't, so I ended up skirting around it at walking pace.
A very slow run but I did cover 5 miles. It was sort of enjoyable, but it also felt like hard work. I guess the concentration combined with not having run offroad for a while, plus wearing low drop shoes, tested the old legs in ways they are not used to.
Still, at least I know I can run on the snow, even if I have to slow down.
I only popped down town, I'd forgotten the 50mph winds that were forecast. I had to walk home into a headwind and there was a shower of hard fine sleet which felt like I was being pelted with grit. So glad I'd run earlier in the day as no chance of me going out in that. Town was empty, everyone staying in the warm.
Cal - I guess we don't usually get the chance to run in snow often enough to get used to it. Sounds like an interesting run.
My plan was to do Thanet Roadrunners 20 mile spring race, or Brett Lydd 20 mile (Kent's two bespoke marathon training races) but they're obviously not going ahead.
Thanks so much for the encouragement on my 18 miler. I must say though, my feet really hurt and was pretty tired and if I'd have been in a marathon I would've been reduced to walking before much longer.
I didn't feel too bad the next day though, but think I will need a few more similar distance or longer runs to manage a marathon without stopping. Hope some races go ahead this year, if safe, of course.
Linton - could it be your shoes, or shoe/sock combination that contributed to the sore feet? If you have that in an 18 mile training run then it will be a lot worse in a marathon as you'd be running faster. So if it's a problem that can be resolved now is the time to do it.
You've done a few virtual races, VLM is no different but I would say don't run it if you haven't run a marathon before. It's just another training run that you pay for and doesn't count as a marathon. If you are going for a GFA then do it but you'll need a real half marathon time to support it.
See if you can find a marathon to enter, Chelmsford are taking entries and gets good reviews. We should know in a few weeks about races, hopefully.
5 miles this morning. It's warming up, it was -1 with a feels like temp of -8. Still that cold wind, but not gale force now thankfully. Was snowing a bit too. I don't think I'll run any further than 5 or 6 miles in this weather as although my legs feel heavy in this cold weather they don't start to become really unresponsive until 6 miles. i do have a couple of niggles, caused by running in the cold I think, sore left calf and sore right knee. Felt them both in the last mile of my hilly run yesterday and in the first mile today, after that eased off but I can still feel the calf niggle.
Food shop this morning, better take my car for a lap of the town to warm it up first.
I wasn't feeling enthusiastic about today at all but once I'd forced myself to put my tights on, I was OK. Getting into my running kit is half the battle - once it's on then my head's in the right place.
It turned out to be cold but sunny - it actually looks lovely and I had enough layers on not to feel too cold. Less snow than yesterday and some pavements were decent but others, not so much. I did a few miles on Tooting Common and the paths are rather icy there so I ran alongside them where I could. I did venture into the woods again and it was slow going there but at least the mud has frozen.
After that I hit the side roads and found most pavements OK to run on. I was able to gain more confidence in my footing as the run went on and the last two miles were at my normal easy pace.
I did 8 miles in the end - not the usual MLR I'd do on a Wednesday but actually further than I thought I'd do in these conditions.
Not sure whether I will run tomorrow or not - it's going to be -5 tonight so it could be very icy, or it could just be cold. I will have to wait and see.
You did well getting 8 miles done. We've now got a yellow warning for snow/ice for tomorrow morning as showers expected early tomorrow. However, the warning covers Cornwall too and we may get nothing here, will have to wait and see. It's so cold that anything that falls freezes on the road surface immediately. At the moment all the road surfaces are bone dry here so fine for walking/running and driving.
Linton, I did the virtual London last year and although I did enjoy it, for me personally it felt like a one off thing in what was a strange year. If I was closer to a GFA time I would consider it again this year but I'm hoping real events will have had a chance to restart by then.
Shades, it really is very cold out there. I went for a walk to work with OH and it was bitterly cold with a strong wind along the sea front. But it was nice to be out for a shortish walk (about 5 miles) after really not doing much at all the last few days.
25th Feb @ 6PM: Prof. Andy Lane discusses the application of sports psychology in the field of ultra running:
englandathletics-org.zoom.us
22nd Mar @ 6PM: Q&A with Hoke One One athlete, and LEJOG world record holder Carla Molinaro. We will be discussing training for multi-day ultra races, her LEJOG world record, her recent 100km race, and managing the ups and downs of being an ultra runner. englandathletics-org.zoom.us
12th Apr @ 6PM: Alex Hutchinson Ph.D. author of Endure talks "The Curiously Elastic Limits of Endurance"
englandathletics-org.zoom.us
Rcouture - well that's a promising postponement. You can ease up on the long runs now if you want to.
Sorry to hear you're iced in, thaw this weekend?
Cal - which is the other marathon you've entered in May?
You can do marathons on consecutive weekends. You've already made a breakthrough doing recovery runs.
I can remember when I did marathons on consecutive weekends for the first time, I thought it would be awful but I ran normally in the second marathon and I only noticed a little additional tiredness in my legs for the final couple of miles.
That's a good idea to alternate a longer run with a shorter one the following weekend. You could also do some of your weekend runs on hillier routes, all good training.
If we can get back to racing fairly soon then if you could find some shorter races to do too, that will help your marathon training.
So not on consecutive weekends, that's what serial marathon runners call 2 in 2 weeks. 😮 So you'll have 13 days, as MK is usually on the Monday. You would be fine doing both.