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Joe -- nothing serious planned for me. Well I'll probably do the local county champs 10M race next weekend now, and I have the St Neots HM booked in which is a good club meet-up, but nothing serious.
Good luck anyone racing this weekend!
Good luck anyone racing this weekend, hope it goes well. Had a really good session last night; 16, 12, 8 and then 4 minutes at tempo pace. Best I've felt for a long time. Legs seem to have recovered remarkably fast.
Have done my write up on the Amsterdam race - it's here if anyone fancies a read;
https://spragginsblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/amsterdam-marathon-15102017/
Pug - Any immediate aims for you after Amsterdam?
Good luck to racers - DanA at Abingdon? - this weekend, looks like a windy one.
OO - Amsterdam is a great course (assuming no wind as the Amstel section is exposed).
TT.. I meant to say sorry to hear you're still struggling with IBS, must be a nightmare. A workmate of mine with the condition decided to grin & bear it in the end as he wasn't willing to give up the things he likes. Then again he's not an athlete!
Good to see you on the start list of the BM Charlie, worth getting up at 05:30 for I hope. When I started doing that race back in the 90's it didn't even fill up!
I'm loosely following a P&D '6 weeks between marathons' schedule which suggested around 11m today so 11.6m duly completed. Plan is to put a couple of decent mileage weeks in now with another longish run and some sharpening up, then a gradual 2 week taper to Valencia.
For me now need to nuckle down... right upto New Year as I've got Disney Marathon in Florida to do and that for me was the first serious marathon of the comeback really... so, wanted to go into the new year down around 11st 7lbs ish... so I need around 19lbs off before then, so from tomorrow will be back in the zone again. As for races... I've got a few low profile ones really, and will be trying to get some solid 10k's in before December and a couple of half marathons... time targets, haven't got any really, more this year was to get fit and get down to the lowest weight I've been since I was 18... just need this final phase... that way instead of yoyo dieting into 2018, I can concentrate on the running instead of eating lol
Wardi - I am on some sort of plan too. 2 weeks recovery now finished, now 2 weeks training (and going to copy what I did for Munich 1 LR, lots of 10K doubles at variable speeds and a 5K fast tempo run, 2 weeks taper.
As the 3 guys I am going to Barcelona with in March all have better 2.48 times than me, think I will shoot for 2.47. Off to Gran Canaria today for a week - 'warm weather training' yay.
Sorry to hear of the IBS issues TT - hope they improve for you.
90 miles last week. Started with Manc half last Sunday which was a (tbh) slightly disappointing 81.02, mainly due to a way too fast first 5k of 17:40 which meant I had to drop to MP for the remainder. Got a couple of long runs in during the week (13 on Tuesday fast, and 17 steady on Thursday). Then topped it off with the Abingdon marathon y'day. Picked up a cold on Friday, so was debating whether it was worth it, but in the end it didn't bother me too much.
Very easy first half chatting away with a friend in 1.35, then picked it up a little overtaking constantly for a 1.32 second half. Not quite Joe's standard of -ve split, but a very satisfactory 3.07 for last proper long run of campaign. Legs fine today. Already run this morning, and will play 5-a-side later.
Good to catch up with a few familiar faces, including Tick Tock from these pages who ran a 03:00:03!!
Dan - Massive week there, some great runs. What does easing down look like, in terms of weekly mileage? Sounds like a very sensibly day at Abingdon, I probably just ran too hard to be honest, although the legs have felt awesome this week, so hoping I'll get the positive training effect.
Went to Wimbledon common parkrun saturday morning and was quite happy with an 18.11 on a very muddy, wet course, but there's definitely still work to be done. Had a wedding up in Loughborough on Saturday so headed out in the wind and rain along the canal the following morning. Turned off pace and just ran 'easy', hoping to bank some aerobic miles. Was pleasantly surprised to see a 7.05mm average for 20 miles which includes lots of gates and styles as well as falling over numerous times in the mud. All good fun. Then enjoyed stalking all the Abingdon results.
I did 12M on Sat with some feeble attempted efforts, then another 10M including a few reps of Parliament Hill as we were staying with friends in London. Day off today, after that I should prepare for the county champs 10M race next weekend -- but I suspect I am finally going down with a cold, so that may scupper my plans. Pleased it managed to hold off until after the Chester marathon if I have caught it, though.
Joe - what kind of wager did you have in mind?
OO - enjoy the warm weather training.
Nicely done at Abingdon Dan.
Last week ended up being decent all told. Stopping trying to do marathon specific workouts means I'm putting my body under less strain. Got 82m done. Longest run was only 12m, and all very relaxed pace wise, but I did get 3 x 1600m @ 5km effort in (5:18, 5:16, 5:16 - 1 lap jog between), and a parkrun + 5minute effort, both @ 10km effort (17:00 for the parkrun, 5:30 for the 5 minute effort, solid in the wind).
Cracking training run Dan at the end of a big week.
TT.. a very decent week with a mix of paces there, nice one.
Cheers Phil
Sounds as though you've had a good spell of training Dan, hope Valencia goes well for you - and everyone else on here who is going to enjoy some winter sun.
Congratulations Wardi, I'm not jealous at all! I definitely think a celebratory drink or two is called for.
Race entries are going mad - we are used to Brass selling out now (I didn't get up early enough) but Ashby 20 entries opened at 1900hrs yesterday and it was full in less than an hour - I'm on the waiting list.
Welcome PM2, I think Charlie on here did that race. You must be looking at sub 2:45 with that sort of time?
Welcome Phil, running times I can only dream of.
13m todaytoday, 8m at 7.30 on the beach at Maspalomas finished off with a sea swim (24c) and a faster 5m this evening. Now a rather rough though complimentary bottle of cava.
Recover well Joe, DanA and T.
There isn't a day now when running where I don't get some sort of "stinging" in muscles... or pains like straining muscles etc. And when I get up in the morning, everything is just so stiff. Legs just feel shot basically.
Now, obviously I've done 20 mile race and two marathons in 7 weeks... so, yes of course it may have caught up with me. However this started before I got to these races where EVERY SINGLE RUN felt like hard work... I've not felt a fresh run in months now.
So back to my original query. How do you all feel leg wise day to day? And if I'm the anomoly here which I think I could be, what do you guys do to freshen your legs up? I just can't seem to get the zip in them or run and feel fresh or "injury" free if you see what I mean. There's just this constant feeling of shattered legs!
You also need to stretch a bit more as you get older (guilty as charged here) as muscles lose their elasticity.
Also might be worth getting your iron levels checked via a blood test - anaemia makes you feel like you're running on empty and very sluggish. Hope that helps.
Since there's a lot of race entries going on, I got the credit card out for Chicago '18 yesterday. Very generous with their GFA times: 3:40 for 50-55, and unlike VLM that's open to overseas runners. They do also have 'American Development Program' entries, with a qualifying time of 2:41 for over 40s which also accepts overseas entries. Tempted by the kudos of being 'on the program' as it were, but they don't open those until December with a limit of 300, so I played it safe and just went GFA.
I don't know the answer Pug, but I share your pain, or rather your lack of freshness. By which I mean your runs feeling like hard work, not general whiffiness. Although we're runners, that goes with the territory I suppose...
Cheers guys. Funnily enough around 5 weeks ago started going for sports massage every single monday so currently having one per week and it's the only reason my hamstrings haven't gone boom I think. I'm training around 5 days per week and having two days off so it's not like I'm just constantly boom boom boom.
However, yeah good point on the Iron levels and it could explain why I feel after 1-2 mile on some runs like I'm going to collaspe... you know that suger depletion feeling you can get sometimes where all forms of energy are gone... never thought of Iron tbh... but that could explain some of this. I assume this just take a blood sample at doctors or something... MMmm, you know what that could be half the problem.
However on the leg soreness... yeah just don't know... basically 100% of the time my legs are just sore and not right and then I run it feels like I'm forcing them to move... they're just shattered... maybe two weeks complete rest would sort, but as runners, taking two weeks off with Disney Marathon less than 11 weeks away... don't really want to... but think I'm not getting benefit of training at moment due to pace right down... i.e. 7 weeks ago I was runnin and could throw in some 6:00 m/m miles or less... now I can't even go quick than 6:30's for couple of mile efforts... it's like I've gone backwards
CD: I ran off American Development at Chicago last year and it was really nice. Better than Champs at London (although for $210 it should have been!). Big tent, tables and chairs, snacks, loads of toilets. I think I was just allocated automatically, but it sounds like they may have changed entry procedures recently.
Dan - your 1/2 mara pacing made me smile, apparantly some sportswear firms do pacebands nowadays too ! shame about Tick Ticks few seconds, but to be so close shows that he has got back to it well. I noted that MrB went sub 2:45 as a V50 so very strong running still.
Wardi - congrats on the retirement, there is a place going for someone in silk pyjamas at the playboy mansion !
Pug - you are doing well to not be properyly injured given what you are doing, give it time for your body to adapt, maybe some spin bike might help too.
Jools - did you do GSR ? I ran to the seafront Sunday (~8 to 9M mark) and the wind was wild!
12M sunday and 10M y'day, slowly slowly crawling towards health and fitness. Gosport 1/2 entry has gone in. Might have to locate my safety pins yet (last used VLM 2015).
Congrats in advance on the retirment Wardi!
Pug -- you could have got yourself into a properly overtrained state, which I did long ago as a student, and it was horrible. My legs just got progressively slower and crankier until I stopped for a good while. But on the other hand, my legs are beaten up the whole time in marathon training too so long as I'm doing consecutive days... and one day off is not enough to clear it... but two days are. So I don't know if your 2 days off a week are consecutive at present, but try having 2 full days off with no running at all (not even a recovery/easy run, I mean zero) and see if that gets the Shake n' Vac, freshness back. I have to have a break like that (or at least 48h) before doing big quality sessions, which is why I end up doing my speed work in long runs so I can do the whole lot with those once-a-week fresh legs.
Speaking of which, my legs were feeling less than sprightly this morning after a rather stodgy tempo taper tune-up yesterday (which admittedly I extended to 10M with some steady). I don't think I'm going to be too quick at the weekend for my 10M race.