Halstead marathon

12122242627

Comments

  • Jason we're gonna have to make this a handicap competition so I have a chance- perhaps percentage off ur pb? Though I still think you'll easily win that one!

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Yes, but it's not like you are running all that fast in a marathon. Running 10k feels uncomfortably hard from the first few strides and gets worse!

    I'm never breathless in a marathon but on the limit throughout a 10k!

  • Then slow down and it won't seem so hard... and people like me could catch yaimage 

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    Jason, should you be doing such hard training?  Have you been given the OK to race 10K?  Don't want you keeling over or anything, someone might trip over you and hurt themselves image

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Ha ha minks! I thought the same.

    Jason - when will you get the scan results?

  • Great, so whilst Minks and DS2 are complaining its too hard, Susan's on the sidelines and Jason's keeled over, I can proceed to 10k victoryimage imageimage

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Sounds good to me Angela. Standing on the side sounds good to me! I actually set my 10k PB and then equalled it in the same half marathon! Never been that quick since and never will be!

    i've only ever entered one 10 k race!

  • It seems a mystery distance and many good marathoners seem to hate it.  I quite liked it, though its been a while since I did one, the same as rowing in terms of energy systems I think, so I get a huge endorphine rush out of it!

  • Look at me, late to the party as usual image

    At the moment I've got

    Olympic Park 5 mile on 21/07

    Pleshy Half Marathon 22/09 (come on Angela make it a hatrick of Halstead threaders)

    Snowdonia Marathon 26/10

    I am also tempted by the Mersey Round the Island race and will probably add in a few last minute. 

    Having never done a "proper" 10k perhaps I should see what all the fuss is about image

     

  • Minks/DS2- haven't got a date for the scan yet image so I'm guessing its good.

    10k for me is such a challenge and also fun at the same time. It's very popular in my club and a lot on the calendar seems to prove it.

    HBO is up there with the best I've done as its nearly sold out year on year! 

    Although saying that my favourite distance so far is 10m so looking forward to the choice of 3 this year image

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Where is Pleshy? Is it a decent course? I could be tempted because it's 4 weeks before my marathon at Abingdon and I wouldn't mind racing it.

    Very tempted by the Mersea round the island as well.

     

    Hope to see you at some races!

    Jason - with your previous 10 mile PB being around 71 minutes (I think) then running Sub 3:15 for you should be possible but you will need to be disciplined about getting the long runs done.  I did so many this year - probably close to 20 of 15 miles or more - and it made a massive difference.

    Sounds encouraging about your health but don't be complacent.

    Are we all doing Halstead again next year? I will target London as my A race, but will still run Halstead, perhaps as a long training run. Luckily there is 4 weeks between them next year.

    Angela - I have a place on the London/Surrey 100 mile ride. The sponsors have kindly given me a place (I give them lots of business!). I'd better get on my bike this weekend!

  • Hello all,

    Hmm, the timing of Pleshy is a bit off, I would rather have a half to do after my autumn marathon, than 3 weeks before.

    Glad you'll be doing the bike ride DS2.  My OH has planned our 30- 40 mile route for the weekend, we'll be exploring north east of where we live, so mainly in Constable country, should be pretty image I'm making a fuss that there must be a pub stop though!!

    For me, I'm not sure about doing Halstead next year- it will be 2 weeks before our wedding, which on the face of it shouldn't be a problem, but I would rather my spring marathon, if I do one next year, is quite a bit earlier - I've entered the ballot for London, not that that means anything, and I will probably enter the asics competition as well, given Paris and London marathons are fairly ideally timed.  The beauty of Halstead though is I can wait until March next year to make that decision...  

  • I've got Thunder Run (team 24 hour event, 28/7), the Robin Hood HM (29/9) and York marathons (20/10) booked in. I'm on the lookout for a decent 10k, but the kids' many and varied activities at the weekends seem to be conspiring against me. The Lea Valley one (14/7?) looks great but I think we will be on holiday by then. Or there's an off road one in Trent Park (23/6). I'm in St Albans so Herts/Essex are good for me.

    The Ware 10 sounds brilliant, my brother lives in Ware and whenever I've seen Ware Joggers at races they often seem to be together and a cheerful bunch. Just a shame it's the week before York for me. 

  • I forgot in my list that I'm doing TR24 too!!! clearly the most crazy race on my calendar!!image

  • I'm really excited about it Angela, never done it before, one of my team mates did the test event and said it was quite a challenging course. And that was in the day time.....

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    Sue, one of my running buddies says the Lee Valley 10K is really good and not too crowded.  I've done the Trent Park one before (is that the Triffic Trail?)  - it's actually quite tough and hilly, and can be very muddy if we've had a lot of rain, but it's a nice run.  Definitely not a PB race though.

    I'm thinking about doing the Ware 10.  Not sure about anything else - can't seem to find any near-ish HMs in September or October.  Ideally I'd like a nice flat one so I could race it and see where I'm at.  I'm in Goffs Oak so not too far from St Albans.  I did the St Albans HM last year; now that was a tough run!  Warm day and very undulating!

    DS2, yes, I will do Halstead again next year.  Obviously I don't have a GFA for London so it makes sense as it's not too far to travel and I quite enjoyed a smaller, quieter marathon.  Other options are Brighton or Edinburgh but both involve travelling and the logistics associated with that, and Brighton is hellishly expensive at £70 if you leave it quite late.  However, realistically I don't think Halstead is a PB course unless I improve massively between now and next May!

  • Susan,

    I got roped into it by another forum on here... its the week before my 100 mile bike ride, so the team have said I can choose to just do 2 laps, though I think I could probably stretch to doing 3 laps, though not flat out...

    I got a pb in Halstead Minks image   I think the fact that Halstead is a bit later than the others is a huge advantage - I at least managed to get some training done when it wasn't icy cold anymore, so the conditions on the day weren't a shocker!  Whereas, I think had I been in London this year I might have really suffered!  I sweat very salty sweat, so any hotter than it was and I would have had a horrible horrible time of it...

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Downside Angela is that the past two years have been really hot at Halstead. Two years ago it was 20 degrees before the start

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    OK, so perhaps I should have said that for me, I don't think Halstead is necessarily a PB course ... image

    I've just printed off my London 2010 and London 2013 marathon schedules, for the purposes of a comparison exercise.  I know most people advocate high mileage as being the way to improve at the marathon distance, but if high mileage is to the detriment of proper recovery and quality training then I'd rather run a few miles fewer.  I'm probably in danger of entering into analysis paralysis actually - I've had so much advice from various quarters over the past few days.  I need to take a look at what was different in my training when I ran my PB compared with what I did this time round.  Two factors are that I lived in a different area in 2010, which was still quite undulating but had much better, wider and well-lit streets which allowed me to get a decent tempo run in each week without fear of breaking my neck.  And my son wasn't at school so life in general was far less hectic.

  • DS2-http://www.springfieldstriders.org.uk/pleshey-a-essex-half-marathon.html

    i havent competed in this one but heard its a very nice P.B potential one image. Also on the latest 10 mile time i think im quicker but ill see when it comes to them image. Makes me want to smash Halstead next year (obviously if tests go o.k)

    i also have entered the dreaded ballot image

    Got so many races to choose/do so its going to be a fun year me thinks image

  • DS2 - I did Pleshey last year as my first ever race! 

    Obviously I don't have a lot to compare it too but I'm going back this year and hopefully will be sniffing around for a new PB image

    I think you're spot on with the long runs, i think I really need to make them my friend and as I don't have kids and the missus works often enough on a Sunday I don't really have any excuses either!

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Minks - I found when I was trying to run 55 miles per week earlier in the year I was too tired. I actually went back to 4-5 days per week and felt fresher and performed better.

    I'm convinced anyone can run a decent marathon on 3 good runs a week and the odd recovery run. Probably not Sub 3 but under 3:20 for you and me! To me the two really important sessions are a long run and a tempo run at HMP each week.

    Thanks for the link Jason. I have entered the ballot as well - which will most probably mean I get allocated two places. What a shame I can't transfer the spare one to someone I know!

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Kandinsky - changed my view of the marathon to be honest. Never felt so good at 15 miles! I'm going to keep the long runs coming this summer!

  • DS2, now you're doing the bike training as well, long run, or long cycle??? or both per week??  I'm trying to get 3x 20 miles in this time around, but also think those long 4-5 hour bike rides are gonna help.  Trying to do 1 run midweek now until sometime in June, then shift the focus again, so its more running than cycling.  

    What are your plans?

  • Minks  yes the Triffic Trail - I agree Trent Park is surprisingly hilly, might be good training for the Thunder Run? If you want a flat HM, Maidenhead in early September is meant to be pretty good (though not super close to you). I meant to enter this last year, and accidentally entered Marlow instead. Which is not flat and involved torrential rain, high winds and wading through knee deep floods. Idiot! Was a brilliant HM though.

    I've never done the St Albans HM, mainly because it's my usual long run route - some lovely little inclines there. It's always, always hot that weekend - definitely a day to book a wedding!

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    I'm intending to do maidenhead Susan!

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    I'd forgotten about the Triffic Trail actually, I might even do it.  It's definitely neither fast nor flat so no pressure to try for a good time!

    I've already noted from looking at my 2010 training that as well as running 4x per week instead of the 5x I did this year, my runs were all around 8:30 pace except for the long run, which I tended to do faster (around 8:10 average) and a weekly tempo run where I ran about 30 seconds per mile faster than MP.

    Need to check this year's schedule now to see the relative paces of this year's runs but this already confirms that much of my training this year was done too fast.

     

  • Minks even us slow pokes who can get a pb on a course like halstead because previous races were soooo slow, benefit from doing training slower image.

     When I was training for NYC last year (race didn't happen) I tried to do way too much, and way too fast.  I did my long runs at 9:30 pace, and as a result was thoroughly thoroughly exhausted after 14 miles - when I had got as far as 14 miles I got 2 injuries, one in each leg, and had to rest so much that I was going into the marathon with my longest run at 14 miles at the end of July for a November marathon- stupid- quite lucky it was cancelled.  

    This time around, following Hal Higdon, and the advicec of the forums, pretty much all my running has been either at 10:40ish pace, or at Marathon pace in small sections.  I didn't believe that i would be able to run at my marathon pace for longer than the 8 miles I had practised, but instead managed to maintain it for 17 miles, before losing mental focus :-S

  • Doesn't fast training help with a faster marathon time? image

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Combination of both, but much of the LSR's at a slow pace teach your body to run on the right things and make the marathon easier.

    Being able to run fast makes the slow pace of a marathon feel relatively easy for the first half at least.

    Sounds like Minks' plan from 2010 was better than this years. The hardest thing is having the confidence to trust in the training.

Sign In or Register to comment.