Shades Marathon Training

Cal Jones

Shades - unfortunately I still have it although it's not quite as bad as it was. I have gone through a bottle of cough mixture this week. (I did test for covid but it was negative). Worse still, good ol' shingles decided to take advantage of the fact my immune system was distracted to reactivate itself, and the chemist won't give me acyclovir without a prescription so looks like I'm also stuck with that over Christmas. FML.
I'm still determined to do parkrun while I'm at Colin's though it may be parkwalk.

Big_G

Wasn’t sure whether to go or not, but ended up being glad I went. Drove down to Totnes and 4 of us caught the bus to Dartmouth and ran back. 

It was 12.5 miles, and probably about 80% off road, a lot of mud, a lot of hills, steps etc.  IE, it was slow, but very picturesque with various views of the River Dart. 

Got me thinking actually as I could do the same from home. IE, bus to Dartmouth and then run back to Totnes on this route, and then run the John Musgrave Trail home. That would be a hilly 20 miler(ish), but in the summer it could be a nice route out for me and I do like a good point-to-point course. 

SHADES

Cal - sorry to hear you're still poorly and that bloody shingles reoccurring too doesn't help. 

I hope it doesn't spoil your Christmas and that a few days away from home with plenty of rest and good food gets you well again. 


Big G  - that's equivalent to a decent long run today, sounds like you enjoyed it too.   Nice pic.

Cal Jones

Blue skies, Big G - nice. Rain up here...

Big_G

Shades, yes, it was a good morning out. We had coffee and cake afterwards, and I bought a pasty to take home, which was still warm when I got back.  

Trotters are meeting up tonight in Teignmouth for drinks and I was going to go, but I think I’m going to give it a miss as it’ll be a late night. I want to do a couple of hours on the bike tomorrow to kick off the challenge I’m doing, and will need a relatively early start with other things we’re doing. 

Big_G

X Post Cal, yes it was really nice conditions generally.  It was the shortest day of the year the previous day, which feels like it coincides with poor weather, but it was really nice, even though it as very windy in the open parts.  

SHADES

Cal - hope your journey wasn't too tiring and you're feeling a bit better today. 

Big G  - that's reassuring that you had the coffee and cake post run.  You omitted it from your original post 😉  Pasty too 😋

I guess if you don't get a decent start to your Zwift challenge it could mean you spending all of the final day on the bike  🥵

Just finished breakfast, off to the gym now 💪 

Big_G

Shades, it was Ruth (Worzel’s sister) who had organised the run and as she lives in Totnes, she knew the best place to go for cake She’s a strong runner off road. She’s done quite a few 50, and a couple of 100 milers now I think. She also recently came back from a cycling trip where she cycled from south to north in Vietnam, off of no cycling training, but she said she was fine and in the front group. She was essentially an elite ruder when she was younger, off road. I ‘interviewed’ her once for the club magazine, and she rode all over the place - Canada, Italy, France, Spain, etc. She said she’s still got lots of bikes at home, but doesn’t do much now. She has many tales from those days and I think her husband was a mechanic, but a bad accident finished her career as she lost her contract, although she was hoping to make 1996 Olympics prior to the accident. 

SHADES

Big G  - I've seen over the past few years that Ruth has done some long and some very challenging ultras.    Nothing seems to faze her and she's always smiling in the photos. 

I'd forgotten about her history as a professional cyclist, most impressive. 


Gym was nice and quiet, as was the town. 

Cal Jones

Well I actually managed a parkrun and it wasn't too bad despite not running for 8 days. I still have a bit of a cough and some snot but it's not so bad now. I picked a small parkrun called Chadderton Hall, which is four laps with a hill and lots of twists and turns,  but it's all on good surfaces. I ran all the way although not quickly...it felt fast enough though. But I was delighted with 33:44 as 44 was one of the two remaining numbers I need for my stopwatch bingo challenge (just need 00 now). (Shades, don't ask  ) Funniest thing was meeting a couple from  London who live on the road where I spent my childhood. Small world.

Big_G

Well done for getting it done, Cal. 

OH was off today and we went to Haldon Forest parkrun, which is one 2km lap, and one 3km lap, with a different steep hill each lap. Nice course on forest paths, and about 30mins up the road from me, so not too bad. This is the forest I visited on Wednesday with the 13 that ran that morning. 

Afterwards we went for a walk with Tigg. Quite cold today but decent running conditions.  

That’s 31 for the week.  Fully expecting the next week to be a lot less.

Whisper it, but foot is feeling pretty good….

SHADES

Cal - good you felt well enough to run, sounds like you're on the mend.

Big G - a very good week for you...whispers "and the foot "

My sciatica was really sore this morning, particularly walking to and from the gym.   But eased off now and enthusiastically just washed the floors without a twinge 🙃

Big_G

I hope you manage to get to out for at least a trot tomorrow Shades. 

Just about to jump on Zwift to get this challenge underway. It’s going to be about 15-16hrs or so I think, over the 8 days. 2hrs a day average does sound doable (it won’t be 2hrs tomorrow so need to make that up), so we’ll see how I get on. No racing, all in Z2, so let’s see. Zwift have organised a lot of group rides and other things in the game to tie it together, and it’s all tracked in a Strava challenge. Seems Zwift is collaborating quite a bit with Strava.  Also, NYRR collaborated with Strava and the medal that posted out even had Strava on the ribbon. 

SHADES

Big G - Thanks.   I will get out tomorrow even if it is a walk/shuffle.   I've resisted going out today, saving myself for tomorrow 🙃   

2 hours a day doesn't sound too bad, but miss a day and suddenly it will seem really tough.    Just as well you don't drink, at least you won't lose a day or two due to hangovers.   🤢

Robert OHara

Just popping in to wish everyone a happy Christmas! More troubles with the knee, so not much running will try and get out tomorrow.

saw a few jokes on twitter 

Christmas eve the only day you can sneak anything into the house without Elle knowing, just yell ‘dont look, don’t look!!!’ As you sneak a years worth of running stuff in the house! 

Will remember this for next year! 

Welshpoppy

Hahaha I so liked that-I could sneak running kit in the house past Alun.

Sades: Hope you get out for a run.

Merry Christmas xx

SHADES

Robert  - that's brilliant.  Hide it all in the garage and  move it into the house on Christmas eve. 

Sorry to hear the knee has been troublesome again.   


WP - I'm  going out tomorrow morning, come hell or high water.  


Merry Christmas to all Shadies. 

Ian5

Big G-Good to hear you're on the mend.
Shades-Good luck for the morning.
No running for 3 days for me,work was just mayhem and I was too tired,we are planning a run in the morning though.

Big_G

Sounds really busy Ian. 

Merry Xmas, Shadies. I’m up and ready for parkrun  

SHADES

   I have run, 4 miles, had to walk the inclines up and down as that niggles but I ran most of it.  .   

So good to be back out there again, especially on Christmas Day.

I am aching a bit now but OK.


Hope everyone has a lovely day. 

Ian5

Happy Xmas all.
Glad you got out shades.
We managed 7 together this morning,nice and enjoyable.

Big_G

Well done Shades. 

7.5 miles for me including a busy parkrun. Had an enjoyable run out. 

Big_G

386 there today. Well over 100 more than usual. 

Rcouture

Merry Xmas all. Good news on the run Shades. 

Cal Jones

Nice one, Shades.
Happy Christmas, all. Another Manchester run done today - Woodbank (well, technically Stockport). Big hill in that one which was harder going down than up, and had to do it twice so not a fast run either. But as I'm still dealing with cold and shingles, it wasn't going to be fast anyway. 

SHADES

Good to see most/all Shadies managed to get out for a run yesterday.

No run for me today, I was quite sore yesterday after my run.   That's eased off now but I think consecutive days aren't feasible right now.    Tomorrow or Thursday for my next run fix 

Big_G

Nice to read of the runs that people did. 

We had a good day yesterday. I was up for parkrun as I mentioned, then we took the dog to the beach afterwards. Tide was out, and it’s a mile long beach, and he loves it, although he seems to have tweaked his hip, so OH gave him some pain relief. Lots of other dogs enjoying it too. Then went over to Dad’s around lunchtime for a couple of hours, and then we came home and prepped our own meal, and whilst the beef was cooking I jumped on Zwift for an hour, whilst OH was calling family in NL.  We then ate in the evening, before watching a film.  Feeling surprisingly fresh this morning, and just having some food before jumping back on Zwift. 

A local mate of mine is doing the 500km, outside!  I mention ‘local’ as people in some states in USA and Australia have far better conditions for it, so my mate has the potholes, rain, short days, wind, hills to contend with. He’s done 200km over Xmas Eve and yesterday, although yesterday was ‘only’ about 90mins. Good on him. 

Zwift is definitely far, far easier than outside. Far quicker, certainly, as well - I’ve been doing group rides and the speeds are quicker such that I think it’s going to take me less time than I’d originally thought! It’s still a challenge for me though, and I’m not at all pretending I could do this outside. Zwift and outside are very different - heard it mentioned the equivalent outside would be riding around on a smooth banked track, in the middle of a large group to get sucked along. I treat zwifting as basically a different activity compared to outside, but I still like it - probably I prefer Zwift to outside actually, which I don’t say about running!

Robert OHara

Shades glad you managed to get out for a run, hope you’re not too sore!

Big G sounds like a good Christmas best of both worlds, food and burning it off.

Ian not surprised you’ve been busy at work! We never seemed to be out of supermarkets.  Assume you’ve got today off as well? Can’t believe so many supermarkets are back open again today.

Cal hope you were able to enjoy Xmas and the shingles and cold weren’t too bad.  I’m up in Manchester in a couple of weeks time, may try a parkrun.

6 miles yesterday morning, lovely quiet roads then back up the river and loads of runners around.  Well fed and drank yesterday, feel surprisingly okay this morning other than aching muscles.  Work tomorrow then off till the new year 

SHADES

Big G  - hope Tigg is OK.   How old is he now?

Maybe next year for the Zwift challenge outside 😉.   Weather has been good so far for your mate, tomorrow's rain and strong winds might change that. 


Robert  - good to hear you managed to get out for a run too yesterday. 

When is your next marathon/ultra?

Big_G

He’s 6 in a few days. He turned quickly and got his rear foot caught in the sand a bit. He’ll be fine but just a bit sore yesterday and today. 

Just done a couple hours on Zwift with mince pies for nutrition…..