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Thames Trot 50 Training
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Is that on page 9 of the map? Around Basildon CP? So go to Streatley and run from there? (Sorry, but I really don't know that part of the country at all).
That all sounds a lot more complicated than I expected. I haven't studied the map yet or ever run the parts of the path for much beyond Abingdon so a recce might be a good idea!
Lemony, its not much more complicated - I'm a hopeless navigator but if you go by the points I made earlier, the rest is plain "sailing" (Thames pun :P)
DB, Yep, top of p9 is the start of the hill, then the top of p10 is the off-river part which is worth doing at the same time. Let us know what you think when you get back
slaneuk: okay; I'll try to get there for a recce run.
lemony and LLB and anyone else local what about scheduling a recce run together like you suggest from the tricky bit to henley one weekend soon? i reckon i can get the other half to drop us off, maybe someone else pick up? or i can ask him to do both !! what do you think? i am slow though - that sort of distance i would be happy to average 10kph... havent dared try the oxford - sandford bit lately after the mud warnings...anyone else been down there? i will try north of oxford this weekend and see how muddy that is. The path in oxford is flooded in two places on fiddlers island, passable as only shin deep...
I think the only bit where I would have welcomed a recce was pangbourne (ort maybe goring) to reading. Its not that it isn't well sign posted but after 30 miles by the river confidence is a bit undermined when you leave the river and have to trust to the sign posts.
Hi Laura,
Sounds like a good idea, though the next few weekends in November are a bit too busy for me. Perhaps in early Dec?
The Oxford-Sandford (and on to Abingdon) stretch is where I ran last Sunday. Very muddy and the field going past Kennington (ie if you don't take the cycle path which was itself a bit flooded) was like a swamp. But it had been raining a lot!
Just realised the Winter 100 goes through that tricky bit for its second leg on the 24th Nov, ughh. Well theres a treat I had hoped to avoid
!
On page 6 of the route map (http://gobeyondultra.co.uk/downloads/Thames_Trot_Map.pdf) there seem to be two different routes from CP2 to Wallingford. Which one do we use? Or is the more roadified version in case the towpath is flooded?
I think we had to do the one on the left as there was an issue of access following the river so it was a diversion of about 600m or so. It was pretty obvious the direction tho!
This year the towpath was closed due to work going on at the lock so the path was diverted along the road (map on the left). That work should be complete by now (no diversion listed on the nationaltrail website) so in Feb you should probably follow the map on the right.
List of diversions on the trail is here:
http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ThamesPath/downloads.asp?PageId=98
Note there is a small diversion at Abingdon lock, but that i just to use the other lock gate. All other diversions are not on the TT route.
Many thanks for that. [Until I looked at the route map I had no idea there was even a crossing at Abingdon Lock! I've always gone along past the park and crossed at the road bridge.]
hi Lemony and Laura, im happy to try and meet up in December (early or late) and do a recce. after yesterday on Druids ultra i dont care about any amount of mud!..how far were you thinking of going
Hi LLB,
For Dec my plan has alternate weekend long runs of 20 and 27 miles. I haven't really planned anything beyond that yet so would be happy to fit in with others' suggestions.
Emily
Navigation on the TT is pretty straightforward. BTW without questioning the course measurement, be aware that on a Garmin it comes out at about 47.5m.
Enjoy the training everyone....
I second that Poacher, did the TT last year and doing it again this year and very nearly ran the final two miles so I could say I'd run 50! It caused us problems as we'd arranged to meet people at one of the later cehck points and we got there way ahead of schedule as there were two miles less than we'd expected. Looking forward to doing it again and will be running up and down between Marlow and Henley on the TP over the next few months so if anyone passes me say hello!
The official 50 training plan gets very brutal doesn't it? I will be well off that, despite best efforts. This week should be another 50 miler week, planning a LSD 3.5 hours tomorrow am, and then a 1 hour Sunday. I know if I plan for a longer BTB run Sunday it ain't gonna happen!
What's the "official 50 training plan"? After I've got Luton marathon out of the way on Sunday I'll be following the 50-mile a week plan in Relentless Forward Progress, which usefully has a long 31-mile run in the xmas break, when I'll be off work.
Was going to do a long run today but drove back to London from Manchester last night, got to bed at 2.30 and got up at 6.45 to go sort out my parkrun, so I scratched that idea! Hopefully will manage to roll out of bed tomorrow morning and go on my club run, then extend it to reach 20+ miles, and I'll see if I can fit a 10-miler into Monday lunchtime, if I start work early. Managed 5+, 12, 5+, 4+ during the week.
I've entered! EEEK!
Did Amsterdam a month or so ago and have Manchester at the end of Apirl so figured it would be a good way to get an endurance base and raise some money for charity (Parkinsons Trust).
Any advice on ultra training much appreciated - my plan is to get back into marathon training with lots of long slow runs.....
Hi Karla, (FYI, last year I did London Ultra 50K mid-February, then M'cr marathon). Basically ultra training is like marathon training but with less speedwork and more long runs.
I suggest you go and look at http://www.trailrunevents.com/ul/schedule-50m.asp - we've got 11 weeks to go; with your recent marathon training and race you should be able to jump into this schedule okay. There are others - one on RW USA website for example. Following a schedule exactly isn't necessary of course, but they do give a useful indication of the training volume needed. Also if you think you only need a two-week rather than three-week taper then you've got an extra week for building.
In summary, you want to fit in some back-to-back long runs (I did 26.5 today and intend to make time for 10 miles tomorrow), but have an easier week every 3-4 weeks (you know what your body can cope with in terms of training volume) for extra recovery. Also a mid-week semi-long run is useful, with a couple of shorter/recovery runs.
For those of you hoping to recce the route - the Goring to Whitchurch stretch of the TP was diverted this weekend plus we had to divert our route between Sonning Lock and Shiplake as the path was also flooded.
What we managed to run of the TP was rather sodden - at the mo I would most definately recommend trail shoes rather than road ones.
Hi all,
I will be doing this one to.
Liz - thanks for the info. I had planned a run between Reading and Henley(and back) this week but have had to put it off until next week anyway - hopefully it will be drier next week!
I've just ordered myself some Inov8 mudclaw 300s, just in case things don't start to dry up soon.
I can't even begin training for another 2 weeks at the earliest, as I was hit by a car a couple of weeks ago - throwing me right over the roof and writing off my poor mountain bike. Not sure it's long enough to train for a 50, but I working on the theory that the worse it is the better training it is for the SDW100.
I hope everyone else's training is going more smoothly.
Liz EE: thanks for the info.
Tiago: sympathies, and I hope you're feeling better soon.
I -was- fine, but my left inner ankle bone just started hurting today (a bit during the run, but rather more several hours later) and is puffy, so that nixes my idea of a three-hour run tomorrow (I only did 14 miles today rather than my planned 26+ because I was feeling really tired, and I have a few days vacation so I -had- intended to enjoy a nice long run).
Time to RICE and hope it's not heading for a stress fracture.
Thanks, Debs, recover well and good luck.
Evening all,
TF - sorry to here that, heal strong...
Debra - sounds like rest is the way ahead, give it a couple of days? Good luck...
"official training" - sorry was meaning the RW 50 miler plan this one: http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/ultimate-ultramarathon-training-plan?page=single
The problem with doing a training plan is, IMHO, you inevitably end up falling short then thinking you're in trouble. I'm doing the best I can given work/home/kids/weather. Delighted to have bagged three 50-mile weeks out of the last four, but its still way less than the RW says I should be doing. Managed a 4hr 15 min, 24-26 miler at the weekend, mostly running - and felt better the next day than I ever have doing that distance, so glass full, not empty this week.
Plan this week is 3 x 2 hour runs, and 1 x 3 hour run, all at stupid o'clock in the morning, with the last 3 runs consecutive. 5am tomorrow won't feel great after a work dinner tonight, I suspect I'll be ordering pasta!
NiceIronDad. Thanks. Yes, I'm resting and hoping it will feel much better in a few days. I think I was so tired yesterday that my running form was really bad which will have put extra stresses on everything. *sigh*.
Good luck with your training schedule. It's worth looking at more than one plan, so you can see it's not cut in stone and don't get too bogged down in "must do X" - e.g. the schedule at http://www.trailrunevents.com/ul/schedule-50m.asp is somewhat different from the RW.com schedule, if I recall correctly.
I've lost my mojo. I came down with flu last week which put paid to any training for a few days. Not a problem. But now I'm better I just can't get motivated to go out early in the cold and dark. Hopefully things will improve at the weekend and over the Christmas holiday or else 50 miles is going to be impossible.