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Off to York for a booze cruise on the Ouse!
Surprise 40th for a running mate. Fits in nicely with me being on the bench at the mo.
Good luck to the racers, especially Blisters. Hope the birthday boys enjoyed their days. 46 is a good age.
Blisters, you old bugger, when were you 46? 8/8 for me. Special one next year for me.
TR, You get the training right for FLM and the pb's will come in your build-up races, without tapering.
Ache all over from yesterdays PJ's and now I feel pretty goosed. Was going to fish for 10 in the morning - may have to make do with 1 or 2. Where's the sofa ?
Re Gosport, my 10 yr old came 2nd in the teens and unders last year and wants to go back - my little lad wants to race too. So if footie is in the afternoon, then I'll come and cheer you and the nippers on.
WW
Enjoy the booze !
Happy birthday to the gentlemen and good luck to this weekends racers.
I have been doing some light plodding this week (about 55miles), my plan is to keep this up with no speed work until xmas (maybe one 10K)…and then start to build for FLM.
Tried measured my max HR today (this was the only exception to the weeks plodding) and only got up to 158, which seems low for a 34 year old, but this is the second time I have tried with similar results. So it looks like I am already running marathons at max HR – 20 as my marathon pace is around 145.
No Tergat races on the horizon now.
Reporting in from Cheddar Half.
Hadn't run since Tuesday's efforts as trying to rest my sore calf /knee and tapering now anyway. Ran first 6 miles with Blisters at 6:20s (83 -85% mhr for me), then picked up the pace to race home from there. Plan was only really hampered by a stiff head/cross wind on the return leg, but it was the same for all of us and I caught a good few on the run in to finish 9th in 1.22.00.
Pleased with that as a workout, although worryingly my calf stiffened as soon as I finished - will need to get it looked at this week I think.
Won a prize too - except they wouldn't let me keep it as I failed the sex test. Administritive error meant my number was still allocated the the lady I had bought the place from (we had done all the proper informing the organisers stuff.) She would have had a clear victory in the females class if I hadn't put the organiser right before they announced the prize winners!!
Just popping in to say hi to Sue C. Is this where the Hard Training lot are hiding out?
Sue - I read back and saw that you are following MG's schedule from 2:09. What sort of mileage are you planning? Would be good to compare notes again for our sub 3:15 attempts.
TR - that's filled up frighteningly early. I hadn't even thought too much about filling in the entry form yet - it's months away. Perhaps I better start signing up for a few:
Jan - Fred Hughes 10 (just entered online)
Feb - Great Bentley HM (?), Ashford 10km
Mar - Reading HM and Eastleigh 10km or City Pier City HM
Apr - Must remember to take my passport into work on Monday to send off my FLM entry.
Nice run D02 - unusual to have a race on a Saturday; wish they all were like that.
Decided against Stebbing tomorrow; felt pretty bushed on a short run today, so not likely to produce anything special tomorrow. Just too far away for a ten miler. Will go for a longish run round Richmond Park instead. Will have to let Dull and JeJ battle it out for honours instead.
Many happy returns for those of the coffin dodger variety.
PS. What a result for the Hammers. 5-0 away from home! Beginning to like chavball again with results like that.
Take care of that calf- you'll need it in 2 weeks.
Couldn't you have stuck your chest out and gained one more second though ?
Come in Blisters
JEJ
I knew it was filling up, thats why I sent off. They advised me to enter in August next year. Funny thing is I got offered 3 numbers for last years and I don't even belong to a club ! So they'll be lots of no-shows.
I'm off for a beer and to watch Kylie's backside.
Same as Chelsea and Arsenal though I guess.
Hello?
Reporting in from my first ever hill race. Our club turned up en-force in memory and respect for our late hill-running captain, victim of heart attack whilst out running couple weeks ago, so an emotional day. And so a lot of hill-racing-virgins (including myself) turned up, our club captain told us that if we wanted to walk it, just make sure we enjoy it, and if we wanted to race it, give it some welly. I went for the latter.
My expectation was I'd race quite well up the hill, get to the top (1500ft ascent), then get passed by about a dozen crazy fell-runners on the way back down. What actually happened was I pushed myself really hard on the way up, struggled badly, got passed by about a dozen crazy fell-runners, went anearobic, hung on to the top, then came downlike a rabid animal (including foam at the mouth) at about 15mpw, passing about half-a-dozen crazy fell-runners. I guess the adreneline overcame the inhibitions. I pushed really hard to the line and nearly got see my breakfast for the 2nd time, finished about 20th/350 I think, not bad for a hill-racing-virgin giving it some welly!
I've also now committed myself to doing some XC over Winter - something else new to me. I know I get my ass whipped at anything < 10k so would appreciate ANY advice on improving speed in the shorter stuff (besides giving up the booze I've been enjoying since the marathon - drambuie at this precise moment).
JEJ - I recall you advising others about 25 x 400m or something like that. Presumably that's something I'd have to build up to, what sort of pace/recovery period should I look at? I'd estimate my current 10k-pace is 33:30. I've read there's no benefit to
pushing reps above LT pace, is that still true for 5k < race distance < 10k?
DoT - Nice training run fella, you're definately back to the 2:50 ballpark now and more to come no doubt.
Happy birthday gobi & nichs2, celebrate and enjoy! Guess we should celebrate every day really, but how easy it is to take this all for granted! hic.
Do2 looked around the start and said "What do you reckon, top 20?" "No way, says I, this race is full of the cream of the South West. If there's 300 here, I'd call for top 50, 30 if I'm lucky." A quick shoe check proved that were were indeed some grubby looking thin soled examples on display, worn by anaemic looking baby whippets.
Today's motto: Fortune favours the brave.
Course profile: Crossing the Somerset LEVELs 4 times, with minor elements of interest at each excursion out of the peat bogs. Downhill start.
Weather: Near perfect, save for a light breeze.
Organisation: Top drawer, marshalling excellent, mile markers a little wayward, but within the Garmin error profile.
GPS 305 armed and ready with Virtual Partner set at 1:23:30 for 13.1 miles. Head set for 1:23:00. PB logged at 1:23:44. Target is 6:20 m/m.
Mile 1. Held it back with Do2, as much as we could, but 6:10 recorded.
Miles 2-6, shoulder to shoulder with Do2, a fantastic pacing exercise. I'm working very slightly harder than expected, and compare breathing patterns. He's nice and smooth, whereas I'm having to snatch a few extra ones once in a while. This is a tasty pace for me, but I'll take it. I'm having a whale of a time.
Boom
D02 takes off, as per plan, onto 6m/m.
I have monitored my lead over the VP to slowly achieve 300ft, and note the one constant guy ahead of me.
At 7 miles 2 others appear on my shoulder, but drift out. I try, but can't latch, pace comfy.
8 miles and open country. VP gets a bit of a move on, despite the nagging breeze. 300ft, 250ft, 180ft, 60ft, 1 ft, then negative. I am trying every trick I know, but there is no shelter on a causeway that's 2 miles long. And it's lonely. Concentrate on the patter.
10. 11. 12. Finally I take another place or two from folks dropping out.
Please finish, I'm hurting.
Onto the school field and around the pitch, where I get some valuable abuse from Do2.
Finish
1:25:35, and 20th place. Spot prize a round of goats' cheese. Memento a mug. Special offer cups of tea in last year's mugs £1, keep the mug.
Forgetting the time, I enjoyed this race. Thanks to Do2 for the pacing job.
Lunch? 2 mugs of tea, 1x banana, and 5 slices of cake.
Good effort Blisters and Do2.
I didn't do too well on my mile reps this morning. I was aiming to do 10 miles with 4x1 mile reps at 10k pace off 90 secs recovery. Only managed 2 1/2 miles though as calves cramped up. Finished the 10 miles though and hope to do around 18 tomorrow.
Gator - sounds like a Gratton session - from memory he has a 20 x 400 (100) @ 10km pace as the first track session of his hard training programme.
The only session of 25 x 400m I may have mentioned is a continuous 10km session alternating laps at 10km and HM pace (or 1km @ 10km, with 2km 'recovery' @ HM etc). Sounds incredibly tough, but my training partner uses it to good effect - he says that the HM stuff feels like 'floating' when you're on the track and motivated. You need to get there by building up through 1200's / mile reps, 2 x 2km, 3 x 3km, all with short recoveries.
Last year I went from the low 34's to 33:18 by running 1200's at 80s per lap (only 5 - I'd run home from the session feeling that I could have done a few more, and I was fine to put in a decent couple of runs the following day), but was rebuilding mileage at the time. Following my breakthrough (33:18) I dropped the pace to 78s per lap - still pretty comfortable but, except for running 16:18 for a 5km track time trial which felt more like 8 - 10km pace at the time, my race times showed little or no improvement for a few months, though I was a little unlucky with weather conditions for a couple and illness for one.
To drop from the 33's to 32 flat this summer, I ran lots of 12 x 400m @ 67 - 68s sessions with very short (often under 30s) recoveries, 4 x 1600 in 4:56ish with short recoveries and regular 5000m races around the 16 minute mark followed by a steeplechase. I think you have to train well below LT when targeting these distances - it helps you get through a large chunk of a 10km thinking 'when is this race actually going to start?'.
Padams - I see from race photos that you were stalking a clubmate of mine in today's met leage - did you manage to beat him?
Gator - above should read 4 x 2km, not 2 x 2km (the later is very easy - I did it on Thursday night as my first session back from tonsilitis.)
All this race talk is getting me excited!
I had a quick look at the Stebbing race tomorrow as I'd be keen to see what I could do having gone through the 10 mile mark in my half last weekend at 59.54, maybe 58 would be on the cards on a good day?
Anyway, it's way too hard to get there without a car so might settle for a nice long 20 miles instead. Need to get rid of some of the extra calories from all the sweet sweet chocolate I've been eating of late...
Speaking of which, anyone read the article about BMI and weight etc from front page? Reckons if you lose 4.5 kgs then you should knock nearly 9 mins off ya mara time! Now there's something I can add to my FLM training plan to improve my time if I don't do enough training! Ha, yeah right.
JEJ - thanks for the detailed advice. I think the common thing in all of those reps is "short recoveries". Maybe I should start with the 1200s and work down to faster 400s (since I'm more used to longer-slower than faster-shorter). I'll use Macmillan Calc. to tell me what speed to run the reps at based my 10k.
Marders - yes I read that, and I'm trying to ignore it tonight.
well run Blisters - better result than the (very) recent marathon.
Good job Blisters - not sure on using a virtual partner though.
My HRM said I was running with a HR of 57 again today - after 6 miles. Gadgets - folks can keep em.
Well played Gator - I like your attitude to life and running (and boozing).
Hope the calves make the 18 Hilly.
Gatorade - sounds like you had a great time, 20th on your first run of that type if great going. Sounded like hard work
Padams - I hear that the N&EB boys did well at the Met league today (1st and 2nd?). How did you do? I've become a pariah at GCR for not running any XC so far - with work being intensive at the moment any weekends I do have free are family time.
JEJ - re Luton leg, I don't mind. Seeing that I'm by far the slowest, you may want me to have the shortest leg so I don't impact our overall time too badly.
The satellite launch I was supposed to be supporting last night was called off 6 hrs before lift-off; it’s been rescheduled for Monday. I've come home until then, but I could really do without the driving up and down the M4/M25 and the general disruption it causes to my/family life. Hopefully it will go ahead on Monday, but I'm not too hopeful.
sorry to hear about that calf Hilly
mmmmmmmmmmm racing !!!!!!!!!!!
So, I reckon 12+ miles today, and 12 (over 2 runs) y'day, 5 of my favourite peaks bagged too - that'll make me a strong boy. All just about in the nick of time too.
Superceded the 8's as my lomgest recent run, and just in the nick of time too.
20 miles at a comfortable 7:40 for me this morning. Felt pretty good, but had I been wearing a functioning HRM I reckon it would have been running a bit high for the last 3 miles - certainly felt like I was working.
Relxaing bath, and then I'll take the littlest one to the cinema for a snooze.
Well run at Cheddar Blisters and DO2. Good times, good placing.
Nice to see all the Luton relay boys thinking of reasons why they should run the shorter 1st leg
2nd recovery week post-Dublin...
Monday - 8 easy
Tuesday - 3 easy
Wednesday - 11 including 2 x 3.5 miles @ 165-170 HR (6.30-6.37 pace) / 4pm
Thursday - 4.5 / 7.5 easy
Friday - 4.5 / 10 easy
Saturday - 10 including 3 x 2 miles @ 165-170 HR (6.18-6.25 pace)
Sunday - 18 @ 141 HR (70%), 7.34 pace / 3.5 later
Nice 84 miles for the week. Dublin cannot be felt in my legs - must have been 13 miles at marathon effort and a 13 mile cooldown
My training for the week was
Mon - 8 miles in 62 mins
Tues - 3 miles recovery run around 9m/m as felt very tired
Wed - am 3 miles easy / pm 10 miles including 3 @ tempo pace 6.30 m/m
Thurs - am 3 miles easy / pm 10 miles 8 m/m
Fri - 7 miles
Sat - 10 miles with 2.5 @ 10k pace 6.15 m/m was supposed to be 4 x1 miles, but trouble with cramps
Sun - am 18 miles average 7.40 pace that's marathon pace + 60 secs / pm 3 miles recovery
Total for week - 75 miles. Very pleased with this as it's my first week over 60 for quite some time. Need to stay injury free and keep the training consistent to get back in sub 3 shape.
Do2 and Blisters,
Good going yesterday. Great report Bilsters; I can only dream of a 1:25 at the moment.
A second week back for me.
40 miles spread over 7 days.......16 successive days of runs.......consistency will be the key.
The aim is to average 12 miles a day from december to march.