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Pug - rest up! When are you travelling out? We're flying on the friday night.
Get well wishes to Padams and Pug.
SC -- no I didn't talk to the winning MV45 Scot; I thought the EA official said I was just on the cusp for next year (i.e. 5th V45) and so thought I was in no danger of prizes, and skipped off to the pub as I had to get going anyway.
Mennania -- well done on the Berlin run -- if you enter the VLM (champs start for you of course), this place goes mad in April.
And thanks guys! Now I don't like to crow about my performances, but sometimes there is a stand-out moment in one's athletic career that it is only proper to reflect upon. So here I am on a work trip in Munich (Oktoberfest already closed I fear), room on the 4th floor, and without thought this morning I chose to eschew the list and skip lightly down the stairs. Alternate stairs. Forwards. No hand-rail. What's happened to me?
Sunday was cold, overcast, occasional showers and a sprightly breeze. The plan was to run 2:48:30 with a slightly faster first half to bank a little time and give me confidence/ a cushion to keep it going, around 4 min kming, especially from km 35 when it seems sub250 is won or lost. The race starts and finishes at the impressive 1974 Olympic Stadium, runs clockwise via key city's landmarks, its English gardens (the lovechild of where Bushy Park meet St James Park) a very historic city centre full of magnificent gothic churches, state buildings and opera houses, and beer halls. To banging indie pop music the 5,800 runners went off and at 3km I started running with Kevin a Worcester runner, ex-ultra marathoner and 2.42 PB guy who was aiming for sub245 and whose plan was similar to mine, so we ran together for the best part of 30 km - jusy chatting and taking in the scenery - 10K in 38.50/ 20K in 1.18.50, 30K (where we ran through the crowded city centre to be introduced as 2 runners from Great Britain and met with a loud cheer and hand waving as in turn waved back with vim - slightly surreal) in 1.58.49. All looking good, but no you can't take marathons for granted and our pace started to drop to 4.05-4.10 min km and my left hi started to ache. So by km35 I was just 20 seconds up on where I needed to be. But I felt good and 35 km was my real half way point for me and the place were I was going to kick-on and hang-in. I repeated my mantra 'get it done, get it done' and picked-up the pace, dropped Kevin and started to aim and catch the runners strung out ahead of me as my pace quickened to 3.55 per km, but I felt strong, calm and in control. Some great crowd support really raised the spirits and brought lots of smiles. 40K came in 2.19:20. I just had to keep it together, ran another 3.59 km and at the 1 km to go marker put the hammer down and probably ran my fastest km as I entered the stadium and overtook the 9th runner I had overtaken since the 30 km marker. Saw the timer saying 2:48:5X and eased back. Crossed the line and felt the energy drain out of me, a few deep breathes and felt great again.
I had a few recovery drinks and thanked Kevin for his support - he finished in 2:50 his PW, pointing to the headwind which seemed to be a feature of the entire course and a 43 km course. Felt absolutely fine afterwards and feel I might be able to shave a few minutes off that. Part 2 Munich carbo-replenishing to follow.
Pug.. your call on the day but you know yourself running a marathon with a cold in your system isn't recommended. My clubmate ran Chester as 62 year old with a sore throat and sniffles. He would normally run about 3:50 for a marathon but his condition found him out and he struggled round in 4:24. FWIW my approach at flushing out cold symptoms is to go for a run with one or two too many layers on then sit in a hot bath for 30 mins. Then have some of Jools' curried grapefruit.
OO.. marvellous stuff, great report and result. Looking forward to tales of frauleins in lederhosen proffering multiple vessels of beer. BTW my eagle eye at work.. I assume you mean 2:39.20 at 40k
Munich Marathon - 8 October
I slept ‘OK’ and quickly got to the start at the Olympic Stadium. Sunday was cold, overcast, occasional showers and a sprightly breeze. The plan was to run 2:48:30 with a slightly faster first half to bank a little time to give confidence/ a cushion to keep it going so just under 4 min kming. Key would be to keep this going especially from km 35 when it seems a sub250 time is won or lost. The race starts and finishes at the impressive 1974 Olympic Stadium, runs clockwise via key city landmarks, its English gardens (the lovechild of where Bushy Park meet St James Park) a very historic city centre full of magnificent gothic churches, state buildings and opera houses, and beer halls. To banging Brit pop music, me and 5,800 others were off and at 3km I started running with Kevin a Worcester runner, ex-ultra marathoner and 2.42 PB guy who was aiming for sub245. When we got talking whose plan was similar to mine, so we ran together for the best part of 30 km - just chatting and taking in the city and the scenery - 10K in 38.50/ 20K in 1.18.50, 30K came quickly (where we ran through the crowded city centre to be introduced over the tannoy as 2 runners coming through from Great Britain to be met with very loud cheers and much much hand waving, so in turn we beamed back and waved at them too - slightly surreal but good for international relations we thought). Got to 30K in 1.58.49. So far it was all looking good, and now running through the jaw-droppingly beautiful city centre. But you can't take marathons for granted and our pace started to drop to 4.05-4.10 min km, as we hit some more headwind and my recently problematic left hip started to ache. So by km35, I had lost 40 seconds over the past 5k, so only 20 seconds up on where I needed to be, a thin cushion indeed.
So took a deep breath, closed my eyes had a good reflective moment as 35 km was my real half way point and this was make or break time so now I had to speed-up, kick-on and hang-in. I repeated my mantra 'just get it done, get it done' picked-up the pace and dropped Kevin. I now started to catch the runners strung out in a line ahead of me a we all ran along a long and wide strasse back to the stadium and I started kming around 3.55 per km. I felt calm, strong and in control. There was some great crowd and some high fiving with some of the kids on the course really raised my spirits and brought lots of smiles. 40K came in 2.39:20 so I was gaining a ltime again which as great. I now just had to keep it together, not push too hard and pick up a silly strain or injury which would stop me running. I ran another 3.59 km to get to the 1 km to go marker and put the hammer down and ran my fastest km as I ran through the stadium tunnel and into the light as I entered the stadium and was met with a roar and lots of noise from the crowd that was there. I picked off another runner, the 9th I had overtaken since the 30 km marker – none overtook me and I kicked-on again. As I entered the finishing straight I felt light, elated and out of breath and saw the timer saying 2:48:5X as I eased over the line. Immediately, I felt the energy drain out of me, took a few deep breaths and felt good again. For some reason I then thought drinking a half litre of isotonic drink, choc milkshake and lager in a minute was a good idea.
I saw and thanked Kevin for his support - he finished in 2:50 his PW, pointing to the headwind which seemed to be a feature of the entire course and a 43 km course. I felt absolutely fine afterwards, running along to support my mate doing the half marathon in the afternoon. A new PB for me but feel I could – all going well with the recovery - shave some time off that in Valencia in 5 weeks time – we will see. Finished in 2:48 28th overall, 2nd Brit but first Vet 50 – prizes unknown as I disappeared back to my hotel for a shower and some food.
Nice report OuchOuch and definitely sounds as though there’s more to come.
Feeling back to normal now so will try track later. Session is 3k, 2k, 1k which sounds like a decent one to me, although I might be at the front on the longer reps which always makes it harder work.
Nice report OO - CW - Nipping off to the pub is always a sensible thing to do, in any scenario
SC -- actually I had an email from BMAF today, I missed out on picking up a medal -- completely forgot it was the BMAF champs in my eagerness to get to the pub (and thence to my return train). So I maybe left a bit too swiftly after all!
GBRM -- oh no, I will be disappointed if there's no Cambridge race this year. I've really enjoyed it the last two times. I haven't heard anything either way but you're right, they're not listing it on their website right now.
Charlie W - Thats a great run on a not particularly fast course ( Its my local Mara)
OO - Enjoyed your report ona perfectly executed run.
Pug - I now Dave quite well, that was a great effort after Berlin from him. Im a Buckley Runner btw
Im just starting back with some light xtraining on a bike and think im still a couple of weeks off any form of loadbearing exercise yet - I have a couple of weeks in Sicily end of the month so may take my boots with me to there. I am virtually pain free in every day life now
OO - nice report; funny you were running with Kev M. I've known him for years (was at uni with his brother - a 2.33 guy) and we ran much of VLM together this year, and Florence too a few years back. 2.50 certainly isn't his PW (we were 2.57/2.58 in Florence). Any prize update for winning your age group? Reckon you, me and Joe could be close in Valencia.
G-Dawg - Go for it, what have you got to lose? Too many of us, hold ourselves back and don't back ourselves. On a good day, your friend could well do it on those times and he will be thankful to you forever.
Wardi - More mutter than fraulein and plenty of smoking jackets.
DanA - Ahh, he may have said in the past 2 years? Have emailed the Munich people to ask. Hopefully win this fox-eagle-reindeer thing of course smoking a pipe!
WHAT THE HELL IS THAT
hahaha... well with a few days to go... cold, suddenly starting to go... so fingers crossed as will try a little run tomorrow evening around the Vondelpark as I fly out tomorrow... praying legs start feeling fresher. Reesting Heart Rate is down to 45-46 which is still around 4bpm higher than normal but as this wouldn't drop below mid 50's all of last week looks like cold on the way out.
BTW, normally I wouldn't do this, as not sure on rules, however my missus had breast cancer earlier this year and had 9cm of breast removed and treated etc. All is thanfully ok now, however I'm running Amsterdam for Breast Cancer, already on £1,100 as of today which is amazing, however if anyone would like to sponsor PM me or something or find me on facebook (Mark Dodd) and I'll share linky as not sure allowed on here. It's kind of one of the reasons for the big comeback and to push way beyond what I've done before... you never know what is going to happen in life... and life is too short for being fat and getting old! Hence here I am again :-)
OO - that is a very strange amalgamation of various animals.
Track on Tuesday went pretty well after 3 days off due to the tummy bug. 3k, 2k, 1k off 3 mins and 2 mins recovery. 3k was done in 9:56 (a bit quicker than recent about 10k pace), 2k in 6:27 (about 5k pace?) and 1k in 3:07 (3k pace?). They felt hard but not all-out, main problem being tight calves, which is usually the case when I haven't done much track stuff. I also spent a lot of time in lanes 2 and 3 on the longer reps as I was lapping people within 2 laps each time, so would have run some extra distance.
6M yesterday pushing mini-Padams and will do 6M at lunchtime today.
Pug - Good luck on Sunday and with the fund-raising, and pleased to help. Don't be tempted to thrash yourself on Sunday as its going to be a bit warm, see it as a key stepping stone from which you will get a great training and endurance boost. Last year, this weekend I ran a 3.19 marathon (training had been a disaster) but loved the race as run the first half slowly and picked-up in the second part, overtaking lots and lots of runners.
Good luck to you Joe. Have you decided on your 'hard' training plan/ time aim.
I've resumed running a few slow 4m canters with the dog and will keep it easy for a week or so and then start to crack on again with Valencia approaching on the horizon.
Pug - safe travels out to Amsterdam. Might see you out there? Most likely heading to the expo Saturday morning. Forecast warming up nicely..
OO - definitely not going to run flat out. Will look to build into it and then maybe throw some MP miles in during the second half. Was speaking to DanA and he said to deliberately set off really slowly so I'm not tempted to get caught up in the excitement. May try and ensure each 5km is quicker than the last or something fun like that - will try and enjoy the crowds as well. The main aim is definitely being able to train next week and all the way through to Valencia.
Padams - Good sess and love that your getting mini-Padams used to travelling fast at some an impressionable age.
8 miles with some strides for me this morning. First cross-country race of the season tomorrow.
Dan -- I wouldn't say Chester is a slow course, but it's not the fastest, either. I was about 25 sec slower in the first mile (wiggly and hills in town), there were a couple of more significant hills later (especially a long climb back into town), and several hundred horrible metres on the racecourse grass which will only have got worse once it started raining. I might give myself a good minute compared to VLM -- which meant it could have been a PB if I'd flown to Berlin or something and had the same weather (I was 23 sec outside PB). But hey, it was a great event overall for me, so no regrets on that score.
I was away Tues-Thurs at a conference (with endless free food) and didn't even take any running kit (unheard of), given post-marathon recovery. Now about 3-4lb heavier (in 5d!). Ran 4M to work at 8m/M and my calves were feeling it...
Anyway, good luck, Pug, Joe and any others!
I enjoyed a bot of recent Sunday night stalking to see how LMH, Wardi, CW and OO all got on. Very pleasing results all round, very inspiring to see such strong running from some of the older thread members.
LMH - great job there. Very impressed as ever.
Wardi - insprining to see you still marathoning at 60 ! great stuff, puts me to shame.
OO - very pleased for you, a strong comeback in recent times. I was a bit worried Sunday night as your name took a day or so to make it into the results, but your post settled the matter.
CW - again, cracking strong run. However, please please please please pleas please move the 2:54 run forward a couple of weeks before VLM (and then dont run the full distance again). 23 secs outside a PB ! you could have been 1/2 Mile up the road ! A cracking run, but you could have PB'd by a few minutes.
Pug - post your fundraising link up, you have always been good fun on here.
My body is groaning and I'm not sure that I'll get back to being able to race as I have discomfort from the longer runs, but time will tell, I'd like to get healthy enough to do the Gosport 1/2 in around 5 weeks as a fitness test..........I dont think I'd be graded very well on the Pug Scale a the mo, but then I bet Pug is regretting setting the Pug Scale levels so high as he (and I) must be somewhere around "fckn rubbish" as we never were much higher than somewhere below average at best.
Good to see you popping in TR. Would be good to hear of an outing for the lummox in the orange singlet again, hope you make the Gosport start line in reasonable fettle.
Similar to OO I've just done a couple of easy 4 milers during the week but managed a 4+5m double today. Legs seem to be almost recovered so hope to crack on next week with 5 weeks to Valencia.
Good weekend for me. 6.5M inc. parkrun on Saturday morning with mini-Padams. I used the lighter running buggy for the first time and managed 17:43, nearly a minute quicker than with the heavy buggy. I was in about 20th place after 1km and gradually moved through, overtaking 4 people in the last km to take 2nd place.
Then 15M yesterday done, each mile faster than the previous, from 7:12 down to 6:01 (except for the last mile done as a cooldown). That was on my own, obviously!