ASICS Target 26.2 - 2013

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  • I recieved my train tickets on wednesday (highlight of my 12.5 hour shift) and an information pack yesterday telling me all about my day tomorrow. It starts at 10:30 at st marys near the strawberry fields tube station. My trains booked at 7 am so its going to be an early start and a long day. Lunch isnt until 14:45..its gona kill me waiting that long to eat. It did say that there will be lots of lucozade to have throughout the day but im not sure how that will sit on my stomach. The day finishes at 16:30 and I have a train booked at 18:30 to take me back to York. I get to speak to Martin Yelling and train with him on the track and then I get to speak to a few other people eg sport nutritionist, physion so it should be a good day...I just hope that it stops raining. Im guesing the day will photographed/videoed and used somewhere but im not sure where yet, will let you know after tomorrow though.

    Yesterday I decided to do 14 miles on the TM after work but after stopping to go to the loo at 10.5 miles my calfs tightened and I struggled to get back into it so I stopped at 12 miles. Went home feeling like a failure "because I had only managed 12 miles", when did 12 miles become a short disappointing run??? My legs/calfs have been quite tired today despite doing little except house work so it was probably a good thing that I only did 12 yesterday (half slow @8:34 m/m and half at MP 7:24)

  • I read Womens Running, I think I explained we advertise in it occasionally, it is a reaaly good read, Mens Running is more of a lads mag by comparison!

    I have had a bad back since my teens, I injured it lifting a desk, but it is usually manageable and running has helped immensely but I think it flared up after my 20 miler and trying to do some squats.

    Clive re the taper, looking at my two midweek runs, this week was really hard, after running on Sunday; last week's was comfortable and restrained, and I had Not run the previous Sunday, so I take the point. 

    We've been invited to a party tomorrow night, so I think I will try to get my run done tomorrow rather than Sunday. I wil miss the fun of the organised run but the party sounds like it will be enjoyable.

    Malcs, I think you're being very sensible, I would want to take part, it is the inaugurual (?) race and s going to be amazing, I think if you get up to 20 ish then go for it. If you start really slowly so you absolutely scupper any time targets, you can just enjoy the day.  Something tells me you won't want to be watching from the sidelines.

    Sorry to hear you're not well Angela, I have rather reached the conclusion that I prefer the winter for running, especially after my recent hydration monitoring. 

    Have a great time tomorrow Sarah, full report please! 

     

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Sarah - it all sounds very exciting! I'm sure it'll be absolutely fantastic. Agree with Mr P we will need a full debrief when you return.

    Mr P -  hope the back eases off soon. Definitely the right call to do the run before the party image

    Thank you both for the sympathy, advice and reassurance. I think I just have to take it a day at the time now and see where I am at the end of next week.

    I've written all this on the iPad using the dictation facility - it was surprisingly good! image

     

  • Where is Sarah? Lying on the edge of a track somewhere?

    I've lost my post again grrr. So, 22 miles today , but it was hard work and I did 9mm miles, fine if you are comfortable but i had to work for every stride for some reason.   party was good, we were invited by a young woman who does mrs p's nails to her 30th birthday party in a social club in the next village. Tey had a cracking band on, great food and it turned out the club manager was a guy I used to work with a few years ago, so a good evenimg all round, glad I am not runnig tomorrow though.   I dont think I can dictate to my ipad, but I swear at it a lot lately!  

     


     
  • I think I might start getting womens running as I havent bought a running mag for a while now. I was getting runners world but my subscription was only for a year and when it ran out I havent re subscribed as ive been that busy with the house and things. I really fancy getting the 20th anniversary edition though.

    Hope your back was better for your 22 miler Mr P, I really cant wait to get that run out of the way, its the one I didnt really enjoy in March, by 20 miles I just wanted it to end....but then the 26.2 miles a few weeks later went fantastic so I shouldnt be to negative about it I suppose otherwise I will struggle again! Glad you enjoyed the party, its good to let your hair down once in a while. I love my ipad but when I use it to go on here it sort of freezers so I cant write anything in this box every now and then!

    Morning Malcs have you managed a run this weekend?

     

  • My day yesterday;

    It has to go down as one of my top ten days so far in my life. I had a fantastic time and learnt so much...but I do have tight hamstrings this morning to pay for it!

    I was up at 6am to get the 7am train down to london. I arrived at london just after 9 and then had to get a tube to Vauxhall and then a train to strawberry fields station as the training was taking place at St Marys university college which had a fantastic track.

    I arrived just after the 10:30 start but they were understanding and I wasnt the last one to arrive. There were three guys there, one from liverpool and two from scotland. One hour later the 5th person arrived, a lady from London who was also a free lance journalist who was more there to write a piece on the day.

    The first session consisted of us talking about where we are at at the moment, what training/races we are doing and what we want to get out of the day and in the long term. The three guys there were so quick...made me feel so slow in comparrison. One was looking to get a 2:30 marathon! During this discussion Martin was giving training tips and advice.

    Next we spoke to a nutritionist. He explained about fluid loss and replacment, the affect of caffiene, the calories burnt during a run, energy stored, fat/carb burning, nutrition pre, during and post run, salt replacement, beetroot, etc. It was an informal talk so we were able to fire questions at him as and when rather than being lectured at.

    Next we were told about our training session on the track. As we had all had a quiet week he said that he would be working us hard. The session consisted of

    15 min warm up (5 min slow, 5 mins quicker and then 5 mins at MP) = 2 miles

    100m strides - starting at 70% effort and ending at 90% effort. x 4

    Warm up stretches

    10 mins at tempo pace - (roughly 75% effort ie HMP - MP) turning round at 5 mins to run in the opposite direction = 1.5 miles

    6 x 400m at 85% effort ie VO2 max/speed fom with 60-90 sec recovery (walking)

    1 mile at tempo pace.

    c/d

  • I ran my 10 mins at tempo at my hopefull HMP for next week (well slightly faster but almost) 6:43

    I then did my 400m on average at 5:43 m/m...I managed to do my first one the slowest and improved with each one except the last one when my legs felt like they were about to drop of. I thought initially that these laps were supposed to be at 5k pace however Martin said I could run much faster than my 6:22 5k pace...which I did.

    When I came to the last mile Martin told me to run faster than I did for the 10mins. He said to aim for 6:30 m/m, I thought that was going to be impossible but I actually managed to maintain 6:22 m/m and finished quite strong. As we were running Martin was giving tips on how to improve our form, like head, arm, hip position etc.

    The session was excellent but my hamstrings have felt tight since...a bit similar to after running a fast half. After this session I have come to the conclusion that I dont think I push myself enough. Looking at my paces from saturday I should be able to do far better than I have been doing and I think I have been opting for the more comfortable race rather than a PB race if that makes sense. Dont get me wrong, I do push myself in races but I think I could push myself more than I do, I tend to run more on the cautious side! With my paces I have been told that a sub 40 min 10k  and sub 1:30 half should be well within my reach!

    After the training we had lunch when again we sat and talked to Martin and the nutritionist, firing questions at them and having a general chit chat.

    Post lunch we discussed out training plan and what was good and bad about it and what we would like to include in it. He then told us what he would tweak it to make us faster, with tips on long run speed, interval training, taper, rest days, number of days to run, rest days, cross traiuning etc. 

    Following on from this we then had a session with a sport scientist and he explained how to so strectes and poses, drills etc to strengthen our core and work and strengthen individual muscles.

    The day finished at 5pm and I was bavk in York by 9.

  • I had the most amazing of days. I learnt so much and really enjoyed it. Martin Yelling and the rest of the team were excellent, so friendly, helpful and fun. I feel so privilaged to have had the experience and will always remember the day as being one of the best days of my life so far.

    So what take home messages did I learn?

    nutrition wise;

    1. caffiene and beetroot are good and will make you quicker (it has to be the concentrated beetroot however thats disgusting). 

    2. You use roughly 1cal/kg/km but as you run more that will be reduced slightly as your body becomes more efficient. Doesnt matter what pace you run..you burn the same (goes on distance and not speed)

    3. You roughly have 1500-2000kcal of carbs stored in your body.

    4. slow runs you burn fat, fast runs you burn carbs. Your body gets better at burning fat howecer at the pace you normally train at....reason for doing MP miles in your schedule. You train your body to burn fats rather than carbs by running carb deplete (but this isnt recommended all the time as this may jepodise your training due to less enegy/effort) and through training.

    5. fluid wise - weigh yourself before and after a run. 1kg loss in weight = 1 litre of fluid. Advised not to loose more than 2% of your body weight as then your run will be jepodised due to a loss in cardiac output.

    6. Salt loss; shouldnt really be a problem for quicker runners if they dont sweat excessively. For slower runners eg 5 hour marathon then they will probably need salt replacement. He went on to say that there is plenty of salt in the gels and sport drinks so no one should need anything more than this. Advised wearing a black top to run in. Leave it drying overnight and then in the morning look at how much salt is visible to see if your a sweater or not!

    7. Eat healthily - fruit veg, well balanced diet, reduced alcohol and fats.

    8. pre race slow release carbs a few hours before (said my cheese toastie probably contains too much fat thats not needed, but it works for me) and fast release carbs during (jelly babies, jelly beans, shot blocks, gels, energy drinks etc. Did say one of the best things to have is FLAT coke).

    9. post race eat within 2 hours. To have something with protien...one of the best things to have is milk/milk shakes that contain about 10% protein.

  • Training tips.

    1.  Before you go for a run ask yourself if/how it will benefit you, if it doesnt dont do it/change it.

    2. if you have any doubt about running one day (eg tight muscle, tiredness, illness etc) dont run and have a rest "if in any doubt dont run"

    3. for marathons you need to run at least 3 times a week but he would recommends 5-6 times a week is ideal.

    4. the more you run, the better you will become (but you do need rest days to recover)

    5. He didnt think that cross training was that beneficial. "Running will make you a better runner". All the good runners just run. If however you do cross training to aid recovery and it doesnt leave you exhausted for your run jepodising your run then its ok. Advised not missing a run to do cross training...if your injured and cant run then it is a totally different matter however as cross training will help to maitian fitness.

    7. Long runs; recommended doing these slow early in the programme but then putting an increasing number of MP miles in as you work through our training plan (This is for experienced runners, first time marathoners he advised just going slow). Suggested;

    16, 18, 20 slow then dropping back to 16, then 18, then 20 with some MP miles, then 16, 18, 20 with more MP miles in them. He advised doing the MP miles in sets eg 2 MP miles 1 mile slow or 4 MP miles, 4 slow, not 10 miles slow then 10 miles at MP. Said that nearer to the marathon he advises people to try 21 miles - 7 miles slow, 7 miles at MP 7 miles at 5 secs quicker than MP.

    8. speed/interval training - longer reps eg mile reps, KM reps are better at the start of the training plan but then "proper speed training" like what we did on the track yesterday is better at the end of the plan, nearer the marathon.

    9. Recommended temp running (roughly holding a HMP-MP) eg for 10 miles.

    10. Recovery runs are good if they are short and slow. Have to be 11. Advised to not always train in your comfortable zone. To challenge yourself on some runs and to run at varied paces. Try not to do more than 2 hard runs a week though.

    12. Reistance/core training is good to try to help you maintain form later on in a marathon which will then help you to maintain stride lenth and speed. 

    13. Resistance training is better pre run if you dont want to build muscle (post run if you do)...that was from the sport scientist.

    14. beginners 4 week taper. experienced 3 week taper. 

    15. slow 22 miler 4 weeks out, 20 miler with MP miles and MP + 5 secs 3 weeks out. 

    16. recommends 16 week plans. 

     

  • Just thought I didnt ask anything about what to do post marathon! image

    Most of what we did with the sport scientist I cant really put on here as they were stretches and drills so difficult to describe correctly, but I hope all the above helps

  • 10. above is suppose to say that recovery runs have to be less than 40 mins long, otherwise they stop being a recovery run. (not sure what happended to the rest of the sentence)!

    The nutritionist also recommended a 48 hour carbo loading pre marathon!

  • Morning,

    Sarah- sounds like a fantastic day. did you take notes? I think Chris might get bored next week if I end up picking your brains about the day image Sopunds like there is so much to learn- I think my programme has got a fair bit of that, but I do have a tendency to do early morning no breakfast meals ('carb deplete') This is a matter of necessity rather than choice ie work/family balance.

    Are you going to race next week then? I'd like to but my heel is still sore, and I think may be worse in racing shoes... Mind you I was out a 5.30am today (see above) for my 20 miler- went well and managed it at 8.04/mile pace. I think I should be capable of beating 1.35.19 though which is my current pb.

    Mr P- impressive run yesterday. Still plenty of time before the big day to recover. Sounds like a good party too image

    Malcs- sorry to hear about ongoing ailment image Have you managed to get out at all in the last few days? Been thinking about what i'd do in your situation... Still mulling it over, might message you

    Jen- how was the hilly long run?

    Off to football with number one son now, so maybe try and pop on later...

     

  • Bacchus half marathon was awesome! So much fun! I wanna do it next year but do the full marathon- dressed as a bunch of grapes!!! David dressed as a banana image

    will give u photographic evidence as well as catch up with y'all tomorrow x

  • Clive the day was brilliant, Martin was so nice and helpful, I still cant get over how lucky I have been to have won something so priceless (well priceless to me).

    I would be happy for you to pick my brains and im sure chris will not mind...he might learn something too. Running carbo/energy deplete he said was good as it gets you burning fat stores but he just advised not doing it for every single run. Its sounds like variety in everything is key!

    Im hoping to race next week. I was a sub 1:30 but I keep feeling quite nervoud about it when I think about it.

    I wish id had that training yesterday 2 months ago as I would have written my training program slightly differently. I just hope that I have done enough now to get me my 3:14 marathon. After yesterday I now realise I could have done so much more to make it easier on the day. 20 miles at 8:04 m/m is fantastic, im jealous. My last two have been so much more slower. Need to start doing some more MP miles I think now.  Hope football went well. Looking forward to meeting up next sat image

    Angela I cant wait to read your race report. David looked great dressed as a banana...think chris is tempted to do the same now! Love the idea of dressing up as a bunch of grapes for next year to.

  • very interesting Sarah that is why I love Marathon Talk he is just so motivating. i have a friend I think he is/was in Knavesmire Harriers who ran flm several times in a banana suit, I can probably put you in touch image.

    Well done Angela, good to see you back on your feet. How are you Malcs, any update?

    Clive I ferried Puffy Junior round to matches and training for twelve years, did wonders for my running, regular hour-long sessions while he was training midweek.  

    Weve had a great weekend, good to get back to work for a rest!

     

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Mega busy weekend here - just didn't seem to get a window big enough to get on here and comment.

    Sarah - many thanks indeed for talking the time to share everything you learned. I can see why the day was in your top 10, though that does lead to the question what were the other 9? image  

    Some really interesting stuff about long runs and pacing. Also speed work too. Good to hear what they had to say about not running if you had any doubts. I fear that I'm one who would always err on the side of running rather than being sensible and sitting a session out. 

    Those little tips and ressurances you get from experienced coaches and runners are what I find really make the difference. It was the same when the 26.2 comp was running. The little nuggets we got from Sam, Steve and Ruth were just priceless.

    Really glad you enjoyed it.

    Mr P - well done on a huge 22. Decent pace too. Sounds like it was hard work but I bet it'll be worth it. If you're going by Sarah's hints and tips from the Yelling day then next week should be 20 with some MP no?

    Good to hear the party went well too image

    Clive - wowsers that was some 20. Keep an eye on that heel. My problems all started with some achilles pain that I could run through no problem. Then it just slowly got worse.

    Are you doing GNR next week too?

    Angela - well done on the Bacchus. Looking forward to the report too. How much wine did you get through? Impressive you even ran given you felt a bit dodgy this week.

    Jen - how'd the weekend training go? How are the calves - pain gone now?

    Thanks again to all of you for asking about progress. I did two hours on the bike on Saturday (about 28 miles). Not quite the really long ride that Angela had suggested but it felt like a decent endurance session for me given I'm new to the cycling.

    Injury was fine during the cycle so that's good. I'm continuing to roll and massage that muscle in my foot I found was hyper tender. Rugby training started again on Sunday so I was back coaching the minis. Running around keeping up with them I did feel it in that foot area. However, it was more of a healing kind of sore than a breaking kind of sore, if that makes any sense. Like when you rub a sore muscle, it's painful but feels like you're doing it good not harm.

    More cycling today. Until the foot is a bit better I'm not doing any proper running on it. Aim this week is to keep the massage and stretching going and let it heal a bit more.

    Naturally I've been thinking more about the race. Last year I did the Kent Coastal marathon at the start of September. For that I did hardly any training but I went back to look at my records and was quite surprised at really how little I did.

    We were on holiday for the two weeks before the race (not ideal prep especially on the alcohol front). I did one 13 mile run while we were away plus a number of small runs. Prior to that I did one 14 miler in early june and one 12 miler in July. I also had TR24 at the end of July and did 6 laps. Apart from that I did nothing over 6 miles. 

    I ran 3:59 for that race. It was a painful last few miles but looking back it was quite a decent result given the lack of endurance training.

    So now I'm thinking that as long as I can get rid of this pain and get at least one 13 miler in I shouldn't be any worse off than last year. Also, hopefully York will be colder. Kent Coastal was boiling hot last year. Just need to get this damn thing healed image

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Oh my goodness... so much to read back on! need to spend bit of time on tips from Sarahs day!

    Calves fine again image but a rubbish 18miler on sunday, felt nauseous, it has knocked my confidence a bit. Will catch up properly with all your posts when I get a bit more time. image

  • This race was amazing and I would commend it to anyone.  Much of the week leading up to the race, I had been suffering from ibs, something I had never experienced before, nor want to again!  On the drive to Surrey on Friday night, the dartfford crossing on the M25 was closed for 7 hours due to a security scare, but we weren't aware when we left home,  so ended up sitting in a tailback for 4 hours. Our expected arrival at 8:30pm became 1:30am.  All in all, not the best preparation for a half marathon.  All of this, together with the fact I have two 'A' races in the coming weeks meant I was going to use this race as a training run.  I would take the first 8 miles steady, with 4 miles at half marathon pace (8:20mm) and then I would take advantage of all the fun part of the race after- wine drinking whilst running!  This was a copycat of the famous Medoc marathon, so everybody was encouraged to wear fancy dress, and wine was served from the Denbies estate, which is the largest vineyard in England, established in 1986.  David dressed as a giant banana... I dressed as a TR24 competitor, as my name was on that shirt image

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    The race started at midday, so there was plenty of time beforehand to potter around the gift shop and have a second breakfast, of an iced bun.  David tried on some yellow sunglasses in his banana suit and the man selling them took a picture and said it would appear on the bloc website/Facebook page.   I started with David and enjoyed looking at all the costumes.  We all know I like elephants, so I was particularly pleased to see a man sized elephant,
    https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cph28gIK0kw/Ui7cyC1ZMEI/AAAAAAAAAOs/TyWL9ec68Sw/s640/blogger-image-301431029.jpg

    but David wouldn't let me go and give him a cuddle, so I had to stick to cuddling bananas (who cuddles bananas? Weird, right?).  I started toward the back of the field with David as I wanted to ease into it.  A third of a mile at 14mm pace and I got irritated and ran off- clearly lots of people ahead of us were planing on walking this one.  I managed to get ahead of most of them in the first mile or so, and got up to a 10mm pace, which with averaging was probably more a 9mm pace after the 14.  This was nice, we were going steady and I got into a rhythm.  There was a slight uphill around 1.5 miles, but everyone around was running steady, then there was a downhill on a slightly rocky path clearly someone ahead who doesn't like downhill had stopped to walk, and as the path was so narrow, this held everybody up.  I was thinking why aren't you using gravity, surely running downhill is much easier than running uphill, but I guess I've had a lot more off road experience than a lot who were doing this race.   Eventually got past them and joined a footpath running across a field.  This is when I decided to up the pace for 2 miles.  At times it was difficult to keep up as the path wasn't conducive to overtaking, but I managed mile 3 at 8:15 and mile 4 at 8:33, given the off road and overtaking issues, I was very pleased with this.  I think the rain that started at mile 3 and continued for 20 minutes really helped this.  B
  • .  Back down to a steady pace, and some of the people I had overtaken started to overtake me, I wondered if they were thinking (she went off too fast) as I often do if I catch someone up who's passed me so early in the race... Little did they know that was my intention!

      5 and 6 were steady again, and I did stop to take on some electrolyte drink.  I really struggle to drink from that bottle at the half marathon pace, so I need to find a good drinking strategy for Ipswich.  Hopefully it will be that much cooler that I don't need to worry about drinking so much.   7 and 8 and back up to pace.  I managed 8:15 for 7, then my garmin started bleeping at me that it was running out of battery.  Mile 8 and I blew up.  The course started going significantly steeper uphill and I just couldn't maintain pace.  Now I look back at garmin connect, and the first 8 miles were pretty much all uphill, so no wonder I was tired by this point.   I switched the garmin off when it clicked past 8 miles and took it easy from here, stopping to take photos of the beautiful scenery.   At the top of this very steep hill, I guess it was 8 and 3/4 miles, I stopped at the fuel station, first to fill my bottle with water, then to gorge on some orange slices- there was an amazing selection of food! And finally to sample some wine.  
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    This was the rose hill Rose and I had 2 of the sample shots. I waited up here for quite some time, hopefully I could meet up with my giant banana, and do the rest with him, but up on the hill, exposed to the wind and having done a hard 8 miles, i started to get pretty cold, so decided to get on with the rest of the race.  Before this, I had been thinking about running hard for the whole thing, but I hadn't prepared by taking on extra fuel, plus, with my illness and tiredness, I thought it best not to push it.  I took the next 5 miles really really easy, walking when I felt like it and rehydrating, as well as enjoying everybody's costume.  I really started to find it difficult on mile 10 and 11.  This is certainly the point where a strategic energy gel at miles 5 and 9 would have helped me.   The fuel stop at mile 10 had red wine- I didn't take notice of anything else.  This was not great to run on, and with my slightly dehydrated running self, I didn't enjoy it as much as I normally enjoy a red wine, so only had one taster.  The last drinks station at mile 12 had sparkling wine. This was absolutely delicious! I wish I could have had lots more of it, but as I had said David could drink as much As he wanted and I would drive after, I decided not to.  I wish I had remembered the name so I could buy some.   Much of the last mile was downhill.  After some nice dirt paths you came out to a hard concrete road alongside the vineyard.  The steepness meant it was very hard on your feet running down hill, soi jumped onto the grass.  I started winding up for the finish now, and had loads in me.  Wish my garmin was on so I could see pace, but I went flying past everyone I saw in this home stretch, and around the corner for a sprint finish.  At the end, I was greeted by superman (a grey haired superman)- i think he must have been the race director.  This was a really nice touch- he shook our hands as we finished.  Then I went to have my timing chip removed and the lady who removed it noticed a lot of pieces of plants attached to my socks and started r
  •  attached to my socks and started removing them for me- how lovely.  Next was picking up the medal, a nice chunky silver medal with giant 13.1 on it, and the t shirt.  Bright yellow technical T.  Unfortunately a man's t, so another night dress for me rather than running top.  Then wow, what a spread!  All sorts of fruit-I had a chunk of pineapple, my favourite.  There were lots of cakes too, which I think were homemade.  It had become quite overcast so I went for the hot drinks stand and had a coffee- free tea and coffee!  Again a really nice touch.  I finished in 2:21- given I did up to 8 miles in 1:16 you have some idea of how easy I took the last 5 miles image

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      I was getting really cold now, so went to get my baggage, and put on David's joggers and my waterproof ride London top.  This helped for a while but then it got really really really cold and started pissing down with rain.  Some of the full marathon runners were starting to come through the finish, but there was no sign of my giant banana and I started to get worried.  Eventually after about an hour, he started running through the finish chute.  It was really raining hard now, but the top of the banana costume was keeping him dry and warm.  We got in the queue for the hog roast, and a full glass of wine and gorged on that.
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    This was a fantastic event and great value.  At first I thought £46 was a bit much for a half marathon, but with free parking, as much food as you want, as much wine as u can drink on course, and free hot drinks, it was really good value, especially with that hog roast lunch.  I think the cost to enter the full marathon was the same, and I will definitely go for that next time.  The course was challenging, but not as impossible as off-road races can be, so I think it would be a nice one to amble around in 5 hours, enjoying the food and wine along the wayimage
  • Hi Sarah, Barely your claim to fame, after the weekend you’ve just had, and RW bootcamp!  I found out about it by responding to a tweet they put up on twitter.  The stuff you have learnt from Martin is invaluable!  Amazing detail, and I can’t believe that there was a 2:30 marathoner with you! That’s amazing!  Incidentally, on the nutrition stuff, You can always ask me stuff about this- I’ve done a nutrition for sports and exercise course recently- not yet got my results, but should be able to help you all out if you have specific questions.  A friend of mine has requested a blog post about fuelling for long runs, so I will be blogging about it shortly J

     

    Mr. P- Impressive 22 miler!  Its annoying, sometimes long runs are fine, and sometimes, even the shorter long runs can be a real struggle.  I think perhaps because we know its most important for a marathon we battle through, whereas if we were struggling that much with a shorter session we might give up, as we could easily fit it in in the next couple of days.

     

    Malcs – I didn’t drink very much wine- I was worried about my tum, and I let David take full advantage of the wine drinking on the way around, so I would drive.  That said, I think next time we do it, we’ll do it with taxis – it was only a 10 minute drive from where we were staying.  There were a couple of guys who were on their 33rd mini cup at the last drinks station.  Plus there were a whole group of triathlete girls on  a hen party, who apparently kept my banana company image  (even more annoyed I wasn’t allowed to cuddle the elephant now I remember this!)

     

    Jenf- like you said to me the other day, forget the bad runs!  I struggled with hitting my half marathon pace on a mid-week run last week, but managed 3 miles at that pace in an offroad mainly uphill half marathon, so try to stay positive for the race, afterall, you will take things like nutrition and hydration that much more seriously pre-race, as well as being well rested from the taper J

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Great race report Angela! It sounds an amazing race..and what a cracking idea for a hen party! but I dont think i'll ever get my daughter to go for it though!!

    Sarah, thank you for posting all the info from Sat. It was all good sound stuff. image 

    One question to throw out to you all though, on the 'if in doubt don't run', which runs of a week plan would you sacrifice if you felt ill?

    Malcs, If you can get yourself pain free in the next few weeks I'm sure you have the base fitness to race. But don't try and kid yourself..any twinges at all and I'd say don't do it, you could do more long term damage. I say its worth while shelling out for sports massage.

  • If you feel, ill, I would sacrifice all runs!  I have asthma, so typically the 'if its above your throat still run' doesn't apply to me, as anything to do wiht the respiratory tract always seems to affect my chest.  What I think works is being able to train well consistently, so during my last marathon campaign, illness made me take over  aweek off, but I could come back into the programm as if I hadn't missed anything.  Whereas if I had continued to train, I would have been ill for longer, and the sessions would have been lower quality.  This is why after my tummy issues last week, I didn't run after that bad run on Wednesday as I was clearly lacking energy for exercise!

    We could do it for my hen party, but would have to be after I'm married nowimage

     

  • Great report Angela- sounds like a fun day out. Photos were good too, especially TR costume image

    You mentioned 'A' races coming up- which ones are they? How are the intestines now- hopefully settling down? How are the plans for running across Essex shaping up- see you've done a few of the long runs on garmin.

    Jen- good question about the 'if in doubt don't run' issue. I put it to Greg McMillan who designed my programme a few weeks ago whhen my thighs were sore after Tr and the hilly 10k race, and he reckons a lot of people don't get all the way through a 16 week marathon programme without some glitches. He says let the session go, and carry on. Never try to make up missed sessions as this is how you get injured, and fail to recover. I sadly don't practice what I preach and have a tendency to go out, especially when in the middle of a training programme, but I am getting better for this.

    How your injury Malcs?

    Had an awesome track session today- sloped away from work, and did 10x400m repeats, then 3x200m at Don Valley stadium. Felt tired but nicely so, and managed to hit all the times so a real confidence boost as I didn't think my speed was too good right now. The ibuprofen is keeping the heel as a discomfort only so actually looking forward to GNR this weekend rather than dreading it. It will be good to catch up with sarah on Saturday for dinner too image

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Thanks Angela/ Clive, so do you think you could go from a long run straight into another long run if you were ill during the week, or would you cut back the mileage? and yes there is ulterior motive to this question, I'm image image

  • Puffy, I keep meaning to listen to marathon talk but I never have the time. I've heard so many good things about it. Does your friend still run for Knavesmires now? 

    the others in my top ten...you have me thinking now Malcs! I would always eyre on the side of running rather than resting too but I think I might be more sensible in future. I really can't believe that you managed to run a marathon in a good time with so little training, that is so impressive.

    jen, don't worry about the 18 miler...not every run can go perfect. You rs till managed it  and will have benefitted from it. If I missed a session it would be the empty mile runs. I would Andy and do the long run and/or speed work even if they did end up being consequetive but with an illness inbetween.. What are your symptoms/ill with?

    thankyou Angela...might be picking your brains soon for more nutrition advice! Haven't read your race report as I'm just at an after work meeting that's about to start, but I will read it later and am looking forward to it. 

    Wow Clive that's one hell of a speed session the week before a race, I'm impressed. I'm having an easy one/little taper, although its been more of a taper than I had hoped. Had planned to do 8 miles yesterday with 4x0.5m at HMP but due to tight hamstrings I just did a 3.5 mile recovery run instead and lots of stretching and foam rollering. Their feeling much better today so hopefully I will have a more productive run tomorrow. 

  • Silly predictive text...that's supposed to say I would try and not i would Andy!

  • Jen, what is wrong? Are you injured or suffering from something else? I would echo Sarah, and try to look at positives- you did the run and the fitness benefits will have been logged. I think if you have rested up all week then going to another long run is ok, as long as you are well hydrated/nourished/not tired before hand . I would probably go slower as well but this is only my thoughts and not based on science/experience.

    sarah- hope the meeting not too dullimage thanks for the encouragement about track session- have to say I raised my eyebrows when I saw the session in the training plan, but really enjoyed it especially after long run felt comfortable at weekend. I suppose the proof will be how I do at GNR.... Haven't decided on a race or pacing strategy.. 

    Any tips anyone?

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Good advice Sarah/Clive. I am pleased to report that I am suddenly feeling a LOT better. Whatever has been causing the nausea image has now left my body with explosive force!! ( I'll spare you the details) I plan to take another full rest day to refuel and rehydrate, then perhaps do short easy run before I tackle another 18miler at weekend, depending how I feel.

    Clive, my best tip of strategy is to pick someone just in front of me to pass!!

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Jen'ster - I agree with the others. I think it's fine to do another longy as your next run after you've beaten the illness to a pulp. I also think you should rest rather than run if you're feeling dodgy. And I also completely ignore this amazing advice just like Clive image

    I think I may need to go down the pro massage route at some point. This foot muscle has clearly been damaged at some point, I just couldn't get at it before. It's only since I got one of the kids little bouncy balls that I discovered it. Might need to let that heal a bit more first. More rolling and icing.

    Thanks for the reassurance about the race. I hope you are right image

    Angela - thanks for another stellar report! Sounds like a great event. A half is fine with a bit of wine but a marathon with a sauvignon, that's really not on!image 

    How was your banana after all that? Keen to do it again? Has he caught the bug yet? Will we see him at TR24 next year? 

    Clive - that was a mighty track session, nice one! Are you tapering at all before the weekend or just treating it as part of training?

    Did a threshold session on the bike today. No complaints from the foot. As I said earlier there is still more healing needed on this foot muscle but it is improving. I kind of feel a bit stronger on the lower leg as a whole but it could be just because I'm not running on it.

    There's also some clear tenderness in my pereoneus brevis (at least I think that's what it's called). It's 2-3 inches above the ankle bone on the lateral side. Feels like this needs some TLC too. 

    Overall I'm getting more optimistic. I reckon even if it takes this week and all of next I still then have 4 weeks and can do some targetted training to get me race fit. I won't be in PB form but that's already been thrown out of the window. I'd be very happy just to be on the start line pain free so fingers crossed.

    Sarah - Thanks. I don't know about impressive. I was described as "looking like death" by Mrs Malcs at the end.

    Say hi to Andy for meimage

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