Abingdon Marathon

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  • Mee meep just got a 10k planned for 21 August in birchwood which is pretty quick, so it should give me an indication of where I am compared to this time last year.

    Easy four this morning and club night tonight so an easy six turned into a steady six and a half. Got a decent fifteen miler planned for tomorrow but it's the first single workout day of the week so looking forward to a lie in!!

    Fraser good session there it's always hard to hit the times when it's windy so take that into account.

    Chillis have a great race tomorrow image
  • Hi everyone,

    Just sneaking on here, hope you dont mind?!  I've managed to get a spot in Abingdon, after a couple of years of entering too late.  Hoping to get a PB (currently at 3:48 at Brighton last year) but my recent ultra running has left me seriously slow - i appear to have lost around 40sec per min/mile for my longer runs - although my 5k pace has improved, hmmm...

    Some great running going on here - what are your thoughts for warm-up events?

    Also am looking at how to get there, is it possible to get to the start from London on the day via public transport?

    Sorry if these questions have already been asked - there's a lot of pages to read!

  • Welcome Katie,  I'm planning to do a couple of HM's before Abo, one at the end of Aug and one 2 weeks before the main event.  Sorry can't help you with the transport. Not sure if there are some details regarding public transport when the race packs are issued.

    Fraser -   Good quick running.

    Good luck to tonight's racers Luvsa and chillies

  • FW - good hard session there

    MG - hope you enjoyed your lie in.

    Welcome Katie - as BB suggests it is wise to get at least a HM in a few weeks before Abo, this will give you an idea of your projected pace for Abo. If your 5K pace has improved, you may well find your pace for all your race distances has also improved. However still lots of time to sharpen up. As regards transport, the Abo website has some details, although I expect you might find you will have to get a train to Oxford, and then a bus to Abingdon

    Luvsa and chillies - fingers crossed for 10k tonight.

    BB - hope the knee is better.

    My toe blister was still painful this morning, so turned my planned steady 11 miles into a 5 miles easy run. May attempt the 11 miles tomorrow morning instead.

  • Also-ranAlso-ran ✭✭✭
    Aching Calves wrote (see)

    A-R –welcome and good run on Saturday.  What are you hoping for at Abo?

    Hi AC - Hoping for a sub 3hr time at Abo. This will be my second Marathon;  I'm slowly upping my training for this one by doing slightly longer mid week runs. Not in  the same league as most on this thread though.

    My first 26.2 was on a hilly course, so I'm interested to see how I go on a fairly flat route.  

    Hope the blister is sorted soon. I still have some after effects of the last marathon with lost toe nails after some steep decents.

  • Welcome Katie if you scroll back to the first couple of pages there's a fantastic race route explanation which will be ideal for prep plus spectator points!!

    Also ran what was your last marathon? When was it? I bet with this course you will knock a big dent in it!

    Aching won't do you any harm switching runs round so long as there's not too many sessions in a row

    Today's 15 turned into 15.85 due to under estimating the route but that's no bad thing I'll take a mile off another run from this week. I had to run at 12:00 which was far from ideal as that is normally lunchtime for me and I think it showed on my run. Felt ok to start but was pretty whacked the last couple of miles and was quite hungry and thirsty managed an average pace of 7:01 which is fine for a lumpy course but not so good fro my OCDimage

    Groin tightened up after but it seems to have loosened off a bit now. image
  • Hi All - just caught up with all of the activity since my last post a week and half ago. Lots of really encouraging sessions. Hi to all of the new joiners as well.  

    Uncertainty over the family's accommodation from Friday onwards still dominates everything and means I don't get to the web at home very often. I'm having to continue to do sessions at anti-social times/locations - an 11 miler at 5:50 am today, run at 7:10 pace. Surprisingly pleasant - my body clock might be adapting.

    Everybody seems to be progressing well, with some impressive longer sesions. Longest session so far was completed weekend before last - 17.6 miles at 7:12 pace. Session was done with my son, who has managed to get a number swap for Abingdon from a fellow club member. It makes the build up to the race a little more interesting. He's 20 and has long distance off-road experience, but no previous marathon time.

    Was amazingly lucky to get tickets in the original ballot for the whole family for the athletics finals session on Saturday night. Really looking forward to seeing Farah, Ennis and Rutherford all win gold in the same sesion ! Just a pity that it has to be scheduled for the day after we get made homeless !

    Old injuries seem to be niggling as well now that my weekly mileage is creeping over the 50 miles/week consistently. Hope I can hold the body together for another 80 days or so.

    Looking forward to hearing how tonight's racers got on.

    Apologies for the length of post.

     

  • Ok, so at the 7K marker I was all *shall I start my post with Wohoo I got a PB, or Yay, I got a PB?* Then Kms 8, 9 & 10 came along! No matter, I ran as hard as I could all the way, and although it turned out to be my slowest flattish road 10K since 2009, at 43:54 (provisional) I was also only 51s outside my PB. Felt pretty bloody hot at the end, but it was only about 19 ºC, so no excuses there.

    My third time at Yateley, and the course is terrific in my opinion, with enough gradient upwards to make you really dig deep, but not so much that you have to back right off the pace. Equally there are plenty of downhill gradients where you can run strong without over running (if that makes any sense!)

    Good marshalling on open roads that were sometimes busy. All in all Sandhurst Joggers put on a great event here.

     I'm struggling with a couple of pounds overweight so I refused the free Twix at the end. Which sounds a bit loopy

    Luvsa, how did you go?

     

  • At last, a half-decent race performance from me!image

    Did Yateley 10k in 38:49. My first sub 39 of the year. Race went well in that I felt good throughout.  No breathing out of my ars* from 3k onwards!  Conditions seemed ideal.  Had cooled down from earlier in the day, with a slight breeze, and no rain.

    Decided to use the HRM.  My max is supposed to be 174, & in the first 5-6k I was in the 150s.  Peaking between 158-160 when I got to 8k. I was breathing heavy but feeling strong & so decided to push a bit harder to see what would happenimage

    I managed to retake 2nd & 3rd ladies who bundled past me just before 8k, & then a couple more before getting to 9k.  Heart rate was 165-167 & I decided without too much persuasion to just keep it together to avoid possibly blowing up so close to the end.  Managed to hold it & did a final 100m sprint to pick off another couple at the death. 

    Beginning to get the belief back that my speed hasn't left me for good!  Now just got to keep up the interval sessions along with the longer stuff, and might be in with a shout of improving on last year's Abo time.  Had a slight tightness in one of my quads since Sunday{probably a present from last weekend's 40}, and I'm feeling it more now, so will have to wait & see if there's any repercussions.

    Chillies-Well done!  Yateley's course certainly isn't flat & that last climb around 9k always gets me having to dig deep to not slow down too much!

  • Chillies -  Good result, but not sure about turning down the Twix.

    Luvsa - Impressive racing, good to see some of your training speed showing in your races.

    Dart -  Bit of family rivalry will help the training/race.  Keep an eye on those niggles.

    Speaking of niggles, still no running for me, plenty of stretching going on but leg nowhere near 100%.  If still no good tomorrow will have to hit the x trainer.image

  • Also-ran wrote (see)
    Aching Calves wrote (see)

    A-R –welcome and good run on Saturday.  What are you hoping for at Abo?

    Hi AC - Hoping for a sub 3hr time at Abo. This will be my second Marathon;  I'm slowly upping my training for this one by doing slightly longer mid week runs. Not in  the same league as most on this thread though.

    AR - don't worry about being in the same league as most on this thread, I am not in their either either, and still slower than youimage

    CFB/Luvsa - well done both of you. Sounds like a tough course. 

    DM - hope you get the family accommodation sorted soon. Very envious of you having tickets for the athletics finals.

    BB - hope the knee is better, and you get back running soon.

    MG - good fast 15.85 miles. Yes, I am going to be switching some runs to next week, as my toe was still bothering this morning. Cannot feel it barefoot, but painful with running shoes on, so did not run, but did some core stuff this morning instead.

  • Training going well for Abo but question on a training aid issue.



    Anybody have any opinions or good results from using the KT type tape (for either running or recovery).



    Particularly interested as to whether you use as and when or if it is advised to use all the time if you start. My area of concern is my achilles (Feels ok but grumbles post hill sessions !). I do a range of physio advised pre and post running exercises.
  • I have a dodgy achilles and I would not even consider hill sessions so I would bin those before considering tape. Abingdon is flat so maybe focus on marathon pace running instead.

  • Thanks for the encouragement folks. As some of you have pointed out, there is still plenty of time so I'll probably only have an idea of target on the morning of the 21st of October!

    Stevan - I have had a dodgy knee since April and I ran Comrades this year with my knee taped using that Kinesio tape (I assume that is what you are referring to when you say KT?) The knee gave me no hassles for the hilly 56 miles so I can definitely recommend the stuff. The proviso though is that is the only time I have used it so not much else to go on.

  • Great racing Luvsa

    SJ - I had a physio show me how to construct a tape support for a bit of achilles tendinopathylast year. I gave it a few goes, but didn't feel it was doing anything so I gave up

  • mee meepmee meep ✭✭✭

    Good 10ks Chillies and Luvsa, is that the end of the series?

    Hope everyones niggles ease up asap, my partner has just found out today that she will be having a back op just before Abingdon, so if anyone knows someone, or someone reading this that would like to use the number, we can contact the organisers and swap it over hopefully.

    Dart More, sounds like you and family deserved that bit of luck with the ballot, and with that 10k line up, what a night you will have, if Mo wins that stadium will be unreal!

  • Meep - bad news for your partner - is that something she's been waiting for?

    & yes, that was the end of the Yateley series, a week after the end of the Broadmoor series. Signifies the beginning of the end of the summer for me - holiday next, then back to longer autumn races before the muddy winter fun of Hellrunner, Turbo X and the like.

    Slow 10 tonight - around 9:00 pace. Shook out last night's race quite nicely after about 3 or 4 miles

  • Thanks for the advice folks, kinesio tape is exactly what I have been suggested so may see if my physio can assist.



    James - I can't give up the hills I'm afraid (as I quite like them and am en route to Comrades so hill training is on the cards) !
  • AC-Hope the toe isn't preventing you from training that much!

    MG-More good miles at a pretty good clip!

    BB-Hope your leg probs don't impact too much either.

    DM-Still managing to train with so much other stuff on your plate. Great stuff!

    Warren-You did Comrades this year?  I'd be interested to know if you did any specific training for this.  I read somewhere that you're supposed to do a 40 mile lsr?!  Did you?image

    Meep-That's a real bugger about your o/h's op & the timing with Abo.  Entries for this race are like gold dust, so shouldn't think you'll have probs finding a replacement 2 months beforehand.  I would e-mail organisers for clarification on rules & regs just to cover yourself.

    Chillies-Straight back on the horse then!image  Afraid I played cautious & took a day off to let my quad settle down a bit more.  Hopefully, the rest of the week will look like:- Fri 15, Sat 15, Sun 24, making another 60 for the week{includes 6.2 yesterday}.  But that does look a bit mental, doesn't it?!image

  • Luvsa - er, yes it does look a bit mental! - my weekend is thrown again by family - get rid of the kids and two years later we start caring for the olds - (mainly for Mrs C) weekends now involve  caring for post-stroke mother-in-law, especially as her 85 year old partner has gone to spend a month at his rural hovel in France.

    Still, I'm hoping I'll wake up with fresh enough legs to fit 3 hours on the mountain bike in (not working tomorrow) then 15 on Saturday and a 3 mile shuffle which I will call a rest day on Sunday.

    Slight twinge on the inside of my right knee after yesterday's race - it felt fine in running tonight, but twinged a bit when I was playing darts at the pub image

  • Katiecom wrote (see)

    Also am looking at how to get there, is it possible to get to the start from London on the day via public transport?

     

    Oxford Bus Company run a bus from St Aldates which will get you to Abingdon in time check their website for proper times, X3 service I think.

  • Meep - Sorry to hear about your partner's op. Hopefully it's something that they have been waiting for and will be positive for them. Shame about your race, but there's always next year. Fairly confident that swapping numbers is legit as my son's just done it with the organiser's blessing (I think!)

    Luvsa - yes I agree with Chillies, it does look a bit mental - will be very interested to hear how you get on - that's somewhere near my max weekly mileage at them moment, in three days. I'm sure you'll be fine for the three days, but will be interesting to see the effect on the follwing week's sessions. Yes, I'm still managing to get out. Forewent my temporary 'flat road only' policy this morning. Last day in the temp house, so was straight onto Dartmoor by 5;15 this morning, for an 8 mile head clearer. 250 m height gain in 4 miles then leg it back down again ! Day off tomorrow for Olympics trip, then staying with mother-in-law until can, hopefully, move into new place back in Devon on Thursday - then hopefully some stability and training at a normal time of day !

  • mee meepmee meep ✭✭✭

    I will still be running Dart More, she is the one a little angry image.

    Will email the organisers Luvsa, so anyone reading this, place up for grabs!

    15,15,24, image

  • Very nice 10ks chaps. I always find them really tough to race and never sure how well I do at them during mara training since the focus is so different.

    Careful you don't blow up with such tough days in a row Luvsa

    Hope your other half gets sorted OK Mee Meep - I'm sure her place will be snapped up

    Enjoy the Big Events DM

    Katie/Postie - sounds like quite a challenge to get there in time for you guys !

  • Luvsa - yes, I did Comrades this year. Training was going great from December to March. I fitted in 2 x 50km training runs and 1 x 35 mile race (although took it easy as it was just a training run with a number). My knee then went bang at the beginning of April and I had planned all my big mileage and my 40 mile run for April. I couldn't run for 6 weeksbut managed to get in 2 weeks of light training just before the race in order to shake the rust off. End result was 7:20 for a silver so although not the 6:45 I wanted, it was still a silver which was the big picture goal.

  • Great 10k's Luvsa and chillies especially when you consider you're bang in the middle of marathon training.

    Warren I've always fancied comrades myself and it is a toss up between that and an ironman for my 40th I think the ironman is going to sneak it due to costs but I'll definitely get there one day. Silver medal.........respect!!!!

    Back to training, an easy 7.5 yesterday and a double today. Four this morning at 8 m/m and 13 this evening done in 1:27:22 ave 6:41. No niggles for once with any lick I may finally be on track. Fingers crossed anyway.

    Tomorrow is an easy day just a 4 and 6 double both at easy pace.

    Luvsa was it you doing the 15,15 and 24?? If so firstly nutter, secondly if you take one of the 15's easy then you'll be fine you're obviously comfortable with the longer runs!! Good luck either way image
  • Mee Meep you have mail.

  • DM-That 5.15am start for a run made my eyes water!image

    FW-Are you some kind of clairvoyant?!

    MG-Your 13 this evening is only a little bit slower than my half mara pb.  Seriously quick training my friend!image

    Warren-You have my huge respect for succeeding in completing a 56 mile race in one go!  I suppose the odds are stacked against you to get some kind of injury because of the sheer volume of training required & time spent on feet.  How do you get to doing a 40 mile lsr?  Do you just keep adding small chunks of mileage on to your longest weekly run, and over what period of time?

    Chillies-You've got a darts playing injury, not a running one!image

    Well, I went out with best intentions of doing a 15 miler this evening, but the quad that's been giving a bit of grief since last weekend, is not choosing to cooperate.  What started out as a minor sensation at the start of the run, became a real concern of discomfort around mile 9, and I raised the white flag just after 12.  Don't know yet if this is going to be my next major lay-off.  Will just have to play it by ear.  There's still time to do some decent mileage weeks, so I'm not going to throw all my toys out of the pram just yet!image

  • Luvsa - 12 is still a pretty long run, and quads are always the ones that make the most fuss when you're running, and there is a long time to go - personally I think your target mileage this week is crazy when you have run a sub-40 minute 10K in the middle of it.

    I know how it feels when you abort a planned run - you go out the next day and try to push even harder & occasionally it works, but mostly that set of muscles just complain even more. Spend tomorrow watching olympics while lying on the floor doing the odd cursory bit of core training, do a 3 mile shuffle on Sunday, and come Monday those quads will hopefully feel better.

    Meanwhile, my quads were looking at me like I was mad this afternoon when I made them pedal the mountain bike around the lookout in Bracknell for 2½ hours.

    Warren - huge respect on the Comrades run - I'm still trying to work out how to prepare for something like the Jurassic Challenge 

  • Oh, and I got a bit of an extra workout today by pushing my mother in law round Wisley in her wheelchair - Mrs C told me to slow down about a dozen times, because I naturally took every uphill run as a challenge, rather than as an opportunity to smell the flowers image

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