Shades Marathon Training

SHADES

Big G - sorry to hear you're still poorly, has OH recovered OK?

I've still got the last 2 highlight programmes of Paris-Nice to watch.

I won't be watching the Giro this year unless they've moved it to the ITV4 filming and commentary team, can't face the awful filming and commentary of the previous Giros.

XC World Championships on tomorrow morning too.

Big_G

Shades, she’s feeling a lot better. My issue is that whatever I’ve got is going to my chest, which always seems to be a risk with me. Hopefully I can shift it myself without extra meds but we’ll see. 

SHADES

Big G - hope you can avoid the dreaded chest infection.

Got ready for my run today, calf was feeling a bit tight.   Dressed up warmly despite the BBC forecast saying it was much warmer than it actually was.   But when I went out it was very cold and I could feel my calf tighten so I abandoned run.   A day's rest will do no harm as I've been cranking up the gym work.

Cal Jones

That's a crazy amount of congestion, Big G. Hope you feel better soon, too.
Shades, hope that calf is OK.
It was warm down here. I went to Peacehaven (near Brighton) with Tunde for a run there. Unlike most of the others it's not on the coast but in a park. Nice and friendly run, all hard surfaces which is a bonus (I can't risk slipping on mud with my hip).
Did another sub-30. Hip ached, but that doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
Bracing myself for a stupidly early start to get down to Brighton for the 10K next Sunday. 

Ian5

Shades-Hope that improves for you.
Just 7 today after work in the relative su shine.
Nothing to report as it was all good,just ticking over now until next weekend then see how this starts to translate in race.

SHADES

Cal - that's a pretty good time for your parkrun considering your hip injury.

Better an early start next weekend than forking out for an expensive Brighton hotel pre race.


Ian - I can feel you're itching to race and try out those new shoes.  

Calf is feeling much better today and only the faintest twinge, I'm giving it another rest day just to be on the cautious side.  

SHADES

March mileage 121 miles, 5 miles less than February.   As well the last 2 days I also lost a couple of March training days due to ice.   No too bad but would like to get it back up to 180-200 a month but my back is still niggling, maybe by the summer.    But for now I'm happy to be back training and I think my gym work is starting to see results too.

Body analyser at gym booked for 8th April, hoping to see an improvement in fat and muscle %'s.

Ian5

Shades-Nearly wore them yesterday,just to test them 😉 
Should go over 200 after today,that's also my sweet spot,hit 210 in Jan but with taper and recovery only about 130 in Feb,guess the same in April.

SHADES

Ian - you'll just have to be patient, only a few days.

I've just noticed that Brighton Marathon doesn't have a race permit showing on RunBritain yet, cutting it a bit fine.   I know London leave it late, their permit isn't showing either.

Don't worry, Manchester is on there and has been for a while.

Ian5

I think they were very late with Brighton last year for some reason.
Was planning 16 in the park today,but could feel a slight tension in my achilles so cut it to 14,need to check but I think it's my fastest longer run for a few years and even at the end HR was still well under control and not slowing down.

SHADES

Ian - that's a good run and plenty time now for that achilles tightness to disappear. 

I can't remember if Brighton were late last year with their permit.    I'm not sure on the rules on when they have to pay the full amount of the permit costs, which I think can be quite pricey for the bigger races.   They might be scraping up the necessary cash.  🤔 

SHADES

I now remember about Brighton and permit last year. 😲

Ian5

Shades-The achilles feels fine now,I could just feel it tightening and I really had nothing to gain by an extra 2 miles.
I felt great running,feeling strong and fast then 2 of our 2:30 guys went gliding past me like gazelles,suddenly felt slow 🤣

SHADES

Ian - you know you're running well.

The gazelles may just have been showing off a bit  😉

Ian5

Yes I'm happy with how the last few weeks have gone.
Just had a look,they did 22m,20 averaging about 6mm,crazy speeds.

SHADES

That seems a bit fast even for 2:30 runners.    Are they doing London or Manchester?

Ian5

Pretty sure they are doing London.It was a progressive run,started around 6:10 and went down to 5:50's.

SHADES

Ian - obviously in the  British marathon championships then😮

Ian5

Just had a look at the 10k results,and the last few years I'd have been around top 20,gives me an idea of where to stand at the start.

SHADES

Ian - sensible pre race to assess your correct placing on the start line.   Nothing worse than having to weave your way past other runners that started to close to the front, especially in a short race when you're looking for a fast time.

I take it the rest of the family are running too.


Rest day for me today.   Calf seems OK, will find out in Pilates which is fairly challenging for me. 

Ian5

Shades-Yes we are all racing.
I see Marc Scott ran his warm up HM in Gloucester yesterday,hope it wasn't all out for him.1:03:40
Just checked,he did a 2m warm up,the 5k in 15:40,then the half so makes it more reasonable to not be super fast(for him)

Ian5

Very wet today,looks similar all week.
4.5m and drenched after it.

SHADES

Ian - I just looked at the Glos results and he finished the half 3 minutes ahead of the 2nd placed runner.   So all in all probably the result and time he was looking for. 

I walked to the leisure centre in the sun, cold but sunny.    Had to walk home in the pouring rain, cold too. 

The upside is that our reservoirs are nearly full, we had a hosepipe ban last year 🌧

SHADES

6+ miles today, better weather this morning.   Calf was fine but I had a bad night with my sciatica and that made for a difficult run, but it's done 

Gym later, legs and glutes again 

Big_G

I am starting to feel a bit better. Went for a short walk yesterday into town, which is the most I’ve done for a few stays, and we stopped for coffee and cake which was nice. By the time I got back home though, I was coughing a lot from the exertion so obviously no running or cycling yet. 

SHADES

Big G - well at least you are on the mend and dodged the potential chest infection.    No point in trying to rush back into training until you're ready.   Hope that foot is appreciating the rest.


Forgot this morning's wildlife watch....2 cock pheasants.  My first thought was that you don't usually see 2 cock pheasants together as they fight.  At that moment one of the pheasants went for the other and they had a little scuffle, the older pheasant with the more pronounced white collar saw off the youngster and territorial battle was over.

The only other time I've seen cock pheasants fight was at Windermere when I was running the 10 in 10.   Can't remember what day it was but I was on a narrowish stretch of road, running on my own and two pheasants started fighting and it stopped the traffic.   First vehicle was a PO van and it stopped and waited patiently until the fight was over and he could pass.

Big_G

Shades, I did do an eConsult with my GP and he said to up the dose on my steroid inhaler for 7 days, which is something I’ve not done before. Then if no massive improvement in 7 days to contact them again, and they’ll give me steroid tablets (although they’d rather not do that, hence trying the increased dose of inhalers first). 

1SteveMac

Did 23 miles on Saturday and 8 miles on Sunday to finish off a 69 mile week, my legs were tired after the last 3 weeks, got 290 miles in March, which I think is my highest ever. Will cut back now to try to get fresh legs for the half.

Ian5

Big G-Did you have anything planned before NYC?
Steve-Brilliant month there,must be in a great place now.
Shades-Don't blame you for not getting in the middle of them fighting.
Went for 5 miles and tested my new shoes.Very impressed by them,even for super shoes they seemed fast,looking forward to Sunday now.

Big_G

Ian, I’m supposed to be doing Riga in May…. I also have a couple of local marathons entered for later in the year. All booked before the PF flared up again.