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Trying to work out a schedule for next year. Much as I loved Barcelona, next year's is the last weekend in March I don't really want to do one so late, as the whole point is to do it when I'm still XC-fit. So might find another one end-Feb/start-March, then amble round the VLM, then do the South Downs one.
Or could try the Nagano one again, but as I found this year, there are too many things that can go wrong when you spend that much on getting to a race (although hopefully not on a scale of ghastliness that led to this year's cancellation). Or could try and do Comrades at last, but same problem as Nagano really. Can't really justify that much time away from the family, job and dog just for a race.
Hmmm... Sent off my GFA letter again anyway. 15th July deadline - don't forget.
Forgot to mention your off road heroics yesterday Tmap, well done indeed.
Congrats on the PB FR, great stuff in the wind.
Actually Marders is scoring points in the media whore competition. I got an email flyer from the Leeds Abbey Dash people and look who's in the promo pic.. (No.14)
No running today as I just couldn't face more rain.
MtR - they are black with yellow tips... Big plastic things. SPD SL?
Great stuff on the off-road marathon Tmap, and well done in windy conditions FR and Keir.
A lot of big cycling going on, though I'm a bit disappointed Gobi didn't get home pedalling one-legged...
Quite pleasing running for me in the past few days:
1. was planning rest day on Thurs but a delayed appointment gave me a couple of hours spare, so I did a nice 16.3M off-road run in fair weather @ 7m/M.
2. Some reps yesterday: 6x0.5M off 0.25M form drills/jog recovery, avg 5:12/M but getting progressively faster as I went on after a rather mediocre start. Last one 4:56/M.
3. Very tired this afternoon after a big party last night and 5 hour return journey, but went for a coro style 10M blast in the wind and rain and felt much better for it (61.5 min). Two competitive stretches: one to overtake a guy who was just ahead for some time, and obviously pushing it to try and hold me off, and then again when a women's training Bumps crew did a race start and pratice just as I went by.
Amazing stuff from marders. He's broken two long standing club records in the last week.
Are you sure you had your shoes on the right feet LD?
sorry - meant to say Filthyrich - storming effort there.
I missed the prizegiving the only time I've ever won an individual prize. One of those big BUPA great whatsit 10K races - I was 3rd V35. I mean, who would ever suspect they awarded prizes for V35 categories? They had to send it to me in the post (a nice Nike sports bag that my son uses for his PE kit).
My legs today feel right as rain - it's really odd. I even took the dog for a fairly strenuous walk last night. I'm once again intrigued as to quite why I'm so much better on hills than on the flat; it's basically because I'm aerobically quite fit but the legs just can't take the faster pace. I also really struggled on downhills yesterday, especially (interestingly) compared to the fast women, who were really skinning me down them. Those were the only times where I felt badly out of shape, and some of them were like running down ski slopes in the Swiss Alps summer.
Wrote a long post last night and then computer crashed, so this one might miss some people I'm afraid.
Keir/FR - great runs at Southend. Not a usual time of year to be running HM PBs so that bodes well.
Tmap - sounds like a lovely run. I've done a few long off-road races - my favourite races as there's no pressure, you can just enjoy running and looking at the scenery.
LD - I have to admit I did laugh at your post about falling off several times, sorry! Since I got my road bike (with cleats etc.) in 2008 I've never actually fallen off and have ridden at least 10,000M, although I've had some close calls with unclipping. Clearly I will now fall off on my next ride.
We were in Ringwood on Saturday morning so went for a long run where the people are doing the Deca/Quin/Triple/Double Ironman. I did a lap of the bike course and was keeping up with some of the cyclists on slight inclines, although to be fair the Triple guys had been cycling for over 24 hours straight at that point. Being there brought home how tough it must be, although there is always a part of me that wonders whether I could do it....
Anyway, 16M at around 6:25s (missed training on Friday due to work so was feeling a bit frisky).
Then 4M at 6:50s yesterday. (Tom look away now - this was preceded by 80M on the bike in just under 4 hours, including our 50M TT loop (hilly) in a PB by 3 mins. Got absolutely soaked and was getting cold as the wind picked up as well. Pleased to get it done though, and although the legs didn't initially feel good on the run, the pace was surprisingly fast.)
Been a bit super busy with cricket the last few days (apart from y’day which was washed out).
Tmap – nice one on the South Downs mara, I was out that way on my bike early Sauturday and never saw any runners (or any signs), where does it start and finish ? I saw your post about next yr too and your planning to do a mara around your XC season. IMO you should separate the two, as I seem to remember you focussing a lot on XC this yr and it might take a lot of menthol and physical investment away from the mara. Then again if you just ran the XC as mara prep……….
Nice ½ from FR and Keir with another sub3 pointer.
Padams – nice work there, how many weeks to go now ?
MtR – are you sure you’re not training for Forestman rather than the ½ IM ? 5+ hr bike rides and 2 hr runs !
LD – you should be able to simply twist your foot out by turning your heel outwards. Are you trying to pull your foot out ?
I bagged another 5 bike rides last wk (all outdoors too !) inc 61.5M in my 3 hr window on Saturday ,a few swims and a 12M run. My ribs still ache but I’m going to try and ease the running up a bit again…………….and so bagged 8M real slow early doors today.
have read some great training as per from Padams/TR/MtR/CW and some fine racing from some foreign bloke, Tmap's lets just decide on thurs to do a marathon on the weekend.. nice PB half marathons FR and Keir and more fast running from Gobi. Great to see some consistent consistency from Tom too - u got any races in ind now to start targetting? Also nice to see Jools getting some KM's in - maybe u will graduate bak to miles soon? Dids - unfortunately i had exactly the same problem when i got a bike a few years back - falling off in front of pedestrians/stopped at lights 3 times on the way home from Docklands after picking it up on my first ride of it. no damage, just to my pride... couldn't blame the equipment either, it was the indian not the arrows. luckily someone stole the bike a few months later....
i could lurk now and again last week while away - but i didn't fancy paying the £20 per day internet access... i friggen hate that about so called 5 star hotels that take the p*ss with what they charge for internet access....
anyway, Abu Dhabi in June - HOT. meant i "escaped" to the gym every day and got some running done on the dreadmill. 10 miles 6 days in a row at various speeds from 6:30 average to 7:30 average. Hard work in the heat - even in the airconditioned gym, by the time i finished each day i was so soaked right down to my laces/shoes, that i took to just walking fully clothed with runnig shoes still on into the shower afterwards to rinse off the sweat. only took a couple of hours outside in the 40+ heat for the shoes to dry anyway! means i have averged 55 miles a week for the last 11 weeks since i started up again following hip injury. I'll need to up that now for Amsterdam though if i want a PB.
Selbs - good dedication to run every day on holiday, sounds like you are in a good place for Amsterdam training.
Tmap - loved the report, sounds like I need to add South Downs to the todo list.
Kier/FR - great PBs's in the wind.
Joolska, glad you got some tickets, I am still empty handed but out-laws got some tickets for the tennis and have promised to take the kids so at least they will get to go.
Anyone had the GFA forms back for VLM?
11 hilly miles for me on Saturday at 7.25mm and 16 very wet miles on Sunday, average was 7.15ish with last one at 6.45mm, brought up my first 50 mile week since last years autumn mara campaign. 18 weeks to go till Amsterdam, need to put a schedule together.
Tmap - nice run at Sth Downs. I did it last year and it nearly finished me off.
Padams – thought it must be about 3 weeks, must be a great feeling to have finished all the real long hour training. You’ve got to be a lot stronger than you were for Barca, especially without a Spring marathon campaign too.
I’ve spent a few weeks on the MTriton plan – or maybe even a more bike biased version of it – if it can get more bike biased. But I need to run a bit more often from now on.
Selbs – so you are healthy-ish after a holiday ?
I only applied for my GFA form last wk so I havnt got it back yet. I need to decide upons next yrs targets yet. Theres a Swash/VLM clash next yr.
Padams - top efforts in the rain mate.
CW - I am lazy enough on a good dat damn sure I wasn't going to do that in crap weather.
Didn't do a run in the rain yesterday as couldn't be bothered. Ran today though so all is good.
I have also been blogging again.
FR - nice running, you're flying at the moment. 5k and HM PBs so close together shows you're doing some good training. Are you doing much speed work or is it mainly down to the high mileage you seem to be doing?
Selbs - sounds like things are going well for you too, your 11 week preparation for the preparation for Amsterdam had more mileage in it than I managed to get into the last 11 weeks of my full preparation.
Murph - I sent my form off but haven't heard back yet. Sounds like you're in a good place to start your campaign from too.
Interesting to see Tmap and FR speaking about being absent for prizegivings as I have won one race ever (unless you count beating my nephews in the garden which I do but most people wouldn't), which was run on a time trial format and they had a problem with the results so I didn't have any idea that I'd won until I'd got home. What is the general etiquette for organisers distributing the prize if the winner isn't there? I've emailed 2 of the organisers as this is the only way I have of contacting them and neither of them have even bothered to reply which even if people tell me that generally if you're not there then tough, they just keep it, makes them grade A w***ers in my opinion.
Glad to see Joolska has tickets for the athletics although I did get quite excited and check my bank accounts again only to be disappointed once more that I've missed out.
I'm going to do a proper weeks running this week, having got back to 40 plus the last 2 weeks and started off with a nice 9m this morning. Pace was late 7s.
TR: It's base work until my first triathlon on Sunday 3rd July. Then I have 12 weeks to get more specific for the new forest race. Plus I had the time slot booked for a long ride. And the running was deliberately nice and slow (8:00-8:30mm per mile), so I only covered 15.5 miles in my 2 hours +
My running plan is to up the miles this week. Next week has a big Glastonbury shaped hole in my training plan, then the week after I'll be in Bristol for my tri.
Not sent off for my GFA form yet. I must do that before I forget.
TR - well..... actually i had a crook neck all week - hurt it the first day swimming!! only managed 2 laps! and then after that every night/sleeping it got much worse. but running was about the best thing for it. it will sort itself out - usally does after a few days (once back in own bed at least) - its the remnants of being hit by a car and screwing my back on in my drunker yoof. could have been that it wasn't the smartest thing heading to "ferrari world" and the roller coasters and F1 simulators the day after i hurt it.... saw John Terry and his missus (the wife that is) and kids in tow there.
so anyways... yeah healthy ish. its been no gadgets like HR monitors or anything so be interesting to see where i am at when i strap one back on this week. ate and drunk too much though, but with the running hopefully stayed about evens!
LJ - yeah its a reasonable block (for me), given i averaged 20 miles week in 2008, and 2009, and then 40 miles a week in 2010. but i now if i want a PB in Amsterdam, i'll need to back this up with a decent block of 12-16 weeks averageing 70+ to have a chance. probably more if i want my A target... the difficulty for me this campagin is going to be going to NZ for RWC for 3 weeks in September and the amount of socialising/seeing family/friends involved... and the travel which is a fair old hike. not the best timing as should be my biggest 3 weeks then but never mind.
i sent off my GFA request letter a while back, havent got anything back. no drama if i dont, spring marathons seem to be a problem for me anyway, and Barcelona or Paris could be nice for a trip anyway!
Murph1 - 18 weeks is it? wow. my non schedule schedule says time to start upping the miles!
Nice to see selbs, Tom and Joolska getting nicely back into it.
I know nothing about and have no interest in cycling but even I can see that some on here are doing some serious training at the moment - TR, MtR and Padams amongst others spring to mind. That will be my cycling comment for the year (apart from possibly the occasional rant about inconsiderate cyclists on towpaths...).
LuckyJim - my PBs at the moment are largely because my current ones are out of date. A big improvement came from increasing from 40mpw to 60mpw over the course of last summer. I only started doing regular speedwork a few weeks ago having previously done next to none (just a few races really) so I'm not sure whether there is any benefit yet. In any case I think any benefit at the moment is outweighed by my tired legs resulting from introducing doubles and regular hard sessions rather than almost all steady and easy running. Planning to maintain mileage at 70-ish this week and then increase sharply next week... Running a good marathon one day is my main focus.
I have previously failed to collect 4 prizes, all of which I got hold of reasonably easily (one after a few reminders). Looking again at yesterday's results it is possible that I may have missed out on 2 prizes but it might be 0 (possibly 3rd team prize and possibly V40 depending on whether V45 was a separate prize). The golden rule seems to be that if I do wait for the prizegiving then I don't win anything and if I don't wait then I do...
Anyone at Richmond next Sunday?
Thought I should pop my head in before my time gets any slower... 14:20, come on Padams, I was a good half second quicker than that
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14:19.50!!
Really really pleased with that, obviously. 19 second pb and km splits were pretty even, something like 2:51 2:51 2:52 (8:35 3k) 2:53 2:51. When I first applied to get in to the 5000 I was put on hold as there was a lot of interest and I simply wasn't fast enough. The entry standard had been lowered to 14:20 and last weekend I got emailed saying I was denied entry. So I went on my merry way and started the week with some decent miles with the intention of racing Southend Half hard. I then found out that I was given a spot so I quickly backed off Wednesday onwards (except for my Wed/Thur Crisis race/session!). I was just lucky that my previous 2 weeks were a lot lighter than usual due to life getting in the way, so a bit of a taper in a way.
Funny thing is (ha ha), I've not really done any specific 5000 training and my only track sessions have consisted of 2x3000m and 2x5000m races. Something seems to be working though, maybe it's all down to the racing haircut?
What I find most encouraging is my potential increases at the longer distances. Traditionally, I have converted up the distances quite tightly (last year ran 14:38 then 29:46 so double + 30s) so it all points towards being faster over the real distance. My master plan seems to be coming into fruition, which is basically to get really fast over the short stuff and then top up later with some endurance (which is the easy part for me).
...you know it's been a while when you have to split your post...continued...
Nice run in those conditions FR, you should expect to be a bit faster next time round. I think you probably made a good call not hanging around for prize giving too. Started to rain a little, took an age so by the time you wanted to leave the entire field had finished and were already queueing up to get out of the car park area, oh, and it was actually a "trophy" giving. At least the impressive goody bag (medal, water, no bag though) made up for any lack of real prizes. It's not too bad though when entry is only £11, I can name worse races that offer similar ie £21 entry, 4000 people, £6 prize fund for 6 (3 men, 3 ladies) x £1 trophies!! Could be worse though, if I were on a postman's wages for example and needed the odd £20 voucher to top up my earnings
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Last few weeks of racing (lots of tempo/session substitutes in there though) has looked busy to say the least...
12/6 HM 67:56 Southend Half11/6 5000m 14:19.50 Watford pb + club record
09/6 ~4.15M 21:35 Crisis Square Mile run - around crowded river paths by St Pauls/Black Friars/Southbank/Tate Modern etc
08/6 2x~2.1M 10:40ish Crisis Square Mile relay - 2 legs around crowded river paths by Tate Modern/Blackfriars etc - saw Nick the Stick who is back running!
05/6 5k 15:39 Manchester
04/6 5k 14:56 Manchester pb (road)
02/6 2.95M? 14:05 Assembly League Victoria Park
30/5 10k 30:46 London (pretty sick 3 days before and nearly a week after!)
25/5 3000m 8:30.79 pb + club record
impressive stuff Marders! when's the next marathon (and where?) or will u plan that later in the year?
marders - really sorry that I didn't congratulate you yesterday on your 5000m. Before Southend I'd seen a post hinting that you'd run sub 14.20 the night before, but when I saw you lining up and winning the race I assumed that it must have been someone else's 5000m. I was half way home before it even crossed my mind that you might have done both...
Brilliant few weeks you've had by the look of it. Well done. Awesome.
Sadly at my level of running I am happy to accumulate cheap shiny things
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