Auviour Paris: So long and thanks for the cobbles

1145146148150151

Comments

  • SB - not run since last thursday and still don't feel 100% but getting better very slowly.  Did my spin class this morning which was just ok.  The hills you are doing will be good for Cyprus.

  • oscarr : And now...?

    Just goes to show how fatigue accumulates - have been in yellow all week just by carrying on training (though I've been good and taken it easy).  Should be back in green for parkrun 2moro.

    And ooops just discovered there's a 10k in the next village next weekend so slipped that in as a training run at the end of my rest week image

    So who's up to what this weekend? 

     

  • Light interval session on Weds at track (max pace HMP), rest thursday then very slow 9 miles today - felt a lot better yesterday and today so will race on Sunday at Maidenhead Half.

  • YAAAAAAAY that's good news oscarr!  Have a good run - don't beast yourself too much (ok well not so much that you can't walk... deal?)

    25:25 ish for me this morning (4th lady, 2nd FV40 tbc) - and happy with that - tried to hold myself back a little at the start and felt good speeding up.  At the end of a toughie week too so a teenie bit proud that I didn't cop out image

     

  • Good luck Oscarr; well done SB....

    I have the Overton 5m this afternoon - late decision, after a couple of glasses of wine last night, so we'll see!

  • Go Mike Go - usually the best time to hatch plans image

    Hope you're settled in for the evening Mr O and not out gallivanting image

    Folks - advice please.  It occurred to me today that actually doing a parkrun on a Saturday and then a 10k on a Sunday wouldn't be a bad idea since the 1st 2 days of Cyprus are 6k then 11k.  I have the opportunity to do just that for the next 3 weekends - and will do my half and other 10k  in the middle of the week thereby allowing a bit of extra rest if needed.  What thinks you all???   I know I might not be exactly fast in any but no doubt I would run faster than if by myself... and thereby happy to treat and use as training runs and not push too hard if feeling tired image

  • SB - great plan. I think the coaches call it "race specificity" which is a difficult way of saying training in the later stages should mimic race conditions. So well done for making that connection.....I think that is a great idea, and if you can throw in the odd hill (per Oscarr's timely reminder) then you have it nailed.

    As for my Overton 5m race - what a thoroughly enjoyable event with a high calibre field including marathon star Louise Damon who broke the women's course record today. If I have it correctly, this is the last of a series of 12 league races for Hampshire clubs. To give you an idea of the standard, a local (Newbury hot shot) barely scraped into the top ten......no, not me! Lol! 

    The race: a challenging 2 lap undulating, course which was a bit congested at the start, but soon cleared....splits: 6:33; 6:29; 6:17: 7:00: 5:56 Total: 32:17 and a PB; 2nd V60; 101/427.

    So that should set me up nicely for next week's 10k in Portsmouth...

  • Ran the village fell run up Longstone Edge twice on Friday night having returned from Spain in the early hours of Friday morning so a bit tired. Got round okay in about 39 mins for the tough race about the same as last year not sure of position yet waiting for the results to go up. Beat a guy I see in training quite abit who is a club who beat me last year and then on chatting to him at the end it turns out he is 68 years and has been running all his life, fit as a fiddle what a gent respect with a capital R he only looks in his 50s. Need to get a bit fitter me thinks. Over a hundred turned up which was great considering the weather wet and cool. Great NOt to be back in Blighty!! Loved the sun nothing ached for the whole time I was there!!

    Enjoy your Sundays all. Happy training you pros!!

  • Just caught up - I completely agree with race specificity and also with Mike's 5K formula.



    My brother came over for a week during which he had a horribly debilitating lurgy assisted in its heralding by a marathon followed by ONE rest day, and including the usual 20 min ParkRun in the mix.



    I have had the tired tired tired thing, have got to get on the traffic light system.



    Did Lingfield Dey Hill 10 last Sunday, awesome fun, didn't do so well at 93:34 and only 5th for age but the course is murder and I didn't blast it, well you can't really in that terrain.



    Had an interesting time on Wednesday night trialling a new OarjRun that's about to launch - brother was recovered enough to come 2nd in this but I got lost twice, ending up on a road with cars at one point, so over 27 mins for 3,5 miles.



    Working today & tomorrow then off to Llanelli for the PSUK 10 on Wednesday. Just finishing 2nd easy hour on the bike rather than jog to work as left Achilles is a little twingey.



    Good luck Oscarr for today!



    Ten take it easy!!!!!



    mcs I am depressed already about the weather.
  • Ok - thanks guys - I guess it's still a couple of months to Cyprus so plenty of time to recover if I overload too much.  I'm holding you responsible if I feel the need to gorge on copious quantities of icecream in between image

    Great running as ever Mike.  image

    mcs - you too  image - you have to watch out for those oldies/mountain goats - shedloads of mileage in their legs!  It reminds me of the old dudes on a cycling club run - you think 'awww what a lovely old guy' and then they go rip your legs off on some monster climb without breaking sweat!

    reiki - listen to your body - best traffic light there is - take it easy ya hear! Can't believe how tough you are on yourself - the clue's in the name - Hill!!!!! Personally I would say that's a very respectable time! image What's an OarjRun - good job there's not an i or y in the middle of that - sounds a bit dodgy image

    Easy one for me just to finish off this week's mileage but waiting for news of Ben's Cardiff 10k - should be just about to finish....Wonder how oscarr's getting on....

     

     

  • Hey folks, race report from Sunday's Maidenhead Half (been away for a few days out of internet access).

    Brilliant weather for racing, 14 degrees, mild breeze and sunny.  Flat as a pancake, 2 lap course and they had sorted out the underpass bottleneck from last year. About 1600 took part with the winner doing about 71 mins so not an elite field.

    For me it was a hard run after my illness - in fact, had the race been on Saturday i would not have run - started quickly to get beyond last year's bottleneck (needn't have bothered) then settled into a steady pace after the first mile.  Went through half way at my planned 8mpm average pace.  Slowed a bit in the second half but kept a strong pace going to the end.

    Finished in 1:46:33 with an average pace of 8:08 (8:04 on my garmin).  Did it 2 mins quicker last year but that was an exceptional run and bearing in mind my prep for this year means i am very happy with the time.  Recovered quickly and although i feel a little tired at the moment, overall i feel ok.

    With 6 weeks to Abo, if i look after myself then i should be ready.

  • One other encouraging stat from sunday was that my av HR was only 85% which is at the low end of the typical range and slightly lower than previous performances at that pace.

  • Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay - I'd be happy with that too! Good work and excellent news on the HR - obviously getting more efficient image

    How many weeks' taper are you doing?  (Sorry book's upstairs and I'm not...)  Am I right in thinking you'll have your longest run still to do?

    Our zipvit protein stuff came today - it's so expensive (£3.25 a serving) that our plan is only to have it once a week after our hardest session.  We might go with cheaper options or just plain old dairy the rest of the week but our thinking is that it will be a useful boost a la Mike. 

    Enjoying my easy week so far - I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I was a bit tired last week in the third of 3 build up weeks.  The time it takes me to replicate the exact Cyprus mileage (29.93 miles) though is coming down nicely. 

    What was the combined time of all your races last year oscarr? Please, thank you - time to start thinking of my goals. Gold = at least one PB at 10k or ½, Bronze = start and finish all 4 days.  Silver - I'm provisionally thinking = complete the 4 days at 9 min/miles or less but I don't know how realistic that is cos of terrain... image

  • I missed a week of training due to illness which included an 18 mile LSR.  Means that i will only be doing 2 long runs of 20 and 22 miles plus 3 MP medium length ones - it feels much more like the sort of plan that Sam would use.

    Taper will be 3 weeks so i've got 3 hard weeks to go followed by the taper.

    Cyprus stats for me were (from my garmin);

    6k flat timetrial - 28:05

    11k hill race - 1:19:40

    21K up and down race - 2:02:28

    10K flat road race - 51:18

    Total - 4:41:31 so an overall pace of 9:23 mpm

    The terrain, hills, temperature and the fact that it is 4 consecutive days racing means you will be hard pushed to do 9 mpm overall.  This should help you set your targets.  My recommendation would to target to - HAVE FUN !!!!imageimageimage

     

  • Seriously, you will definately finish all the events, that is in no doubt.  Day 2 is such a hard hill run followed by a tough terrain Half on Day3 - means you will not PB on those 2 days and will not PB in the 10K road race on Day 4, although its flat and on tarmac you will have tiredness in your legs from the previous 3 days.  

    So, the only PB you could realistically target is the Day 1 (6k) time trial - this is basically flat and on tarmac.  But, you may want to leave a bit in the tank for the other days so may not go all out, although it is short enough for a quick recovery.

    Maybe a good idea to think of targeting where to finish in your age category??? They are very good at putting up each days stats plus the rolling stats on the notice board in the hotel each day and these are all split up into male and female age categories (it was either 5 or 10 yearly).  See where you are after the Day 1 timetrial and target to stay in the same position after each race thereafter ?????   That's what I ended up doing.

  • Well done Oscarr on that HM performance after a slight off-colour period beforehand.

    As for missing an 18m for Abo I wouldn't worry over much as the ultra training will still be in the DNA even if you can't sense it right now.....

    That Cyprus schedule looks much tougher when you set it out like that.....good luck to all those taking it on.

  • Mike - doesn't it???!!!! image 

    Maybe I'll target just running in a straight line after one too many fizzy pops the night before imageimage  It IS a holiday after all LOL 6k PB is in the bag - never run one before image  but your concerns were mine too about the 10k and ½.  I suspect not very likely but ya just never know.  We might be the freak year when it snows and get a tailwind all the way image  THANK YOU for the data - have written it down to take with me so I can remind myself - will use them as guidelines to keep myself reined in a bit if I get carried away cos I'm not usually as nippy as you at the shorter stuff.

    The placings sound like a fun game!  Will certainly be worth checking the daily lists out.

    ps oscarr - I'm with Mike - wouldn't bat an eye at not doing that 18.  It's only 18 miles afterall -  you can do that with yer eyes shut! I've seen ya image

  • Thanks Mike - I really am concentrating on getting to the start line refreshed so lowering the intensity and accepting fewer LSRs

  • Oscarr I am getting happier by the day with your approach to Abo!



    SB I'm wondering what's so super about the ZIpvit product compared with others.
  • hee hee good job we're all keeping an eye on him eh reiki!

    reiki - it's got colostrum in it so meant to give your immune system a boost as well (arrived a bit late as Ben's in bed with man flu today - hopefully he'll shake it for Sunday - Bristol ½)

    Good luck today in your 10 - have a good un image

  • oh right i remember that, so much so that i bought a spray, have used it a few times, not sure about it yet, and still struggling with the concept.
  • Hilly & strong winds along the coast today in Llanelli, 85:18 was good enough for silver in the WV55s, must check what time the winner ran...
  • Well done reiki, a podium finish

  • Yaaaaaaay reiki - nice work imageimageimage

    Total day off for me today - calves are kind of tingly - taking that as a good sign - nice bit of adaptation going on.... image

  • Great time on the half Oscar well done considering you were under the weather. Congrats. Enjoy the rest SB for a day anywayimage

  • My knee is kind of tingly today!



    I did a pilates class first thng that worked wonders, and went for a Tui Na afterwards.



    I may do a ParkRun in the morning [see knee], and am really looking forward to a full weekend of action from both Gateshead and Hyde Park, even dragged myself shopping on the way home so I will be fully stashed and not requiring to go out.



    Might have to do a long bike whilst watching on Sunday.



    With Cabbage coming up on October 20, I'm determined to get into better shape by then if niggles will permit.



    Speaking of which, Sam is doing one of her Running well workshops that day but I'm going to have to miss it - what a day it's proving to be with so many clashes.



    There will be the usual Master the Marathon day at Eastbourne on 24 November though, does anyone fancy joining me in that one?
  • Managed to creep back by another few seconds in the right direction on a drizzly Park Run this morning - 25:16 & no major effort. So enthused was I that I eneterd the Ealing Half for 29th. Not sure why as I did it last year and it was boring, hilly, and chaotic.
  • Well end of my summer speed work methinks.

    Counting down to a HM next and finished the speedier stuff with Victory 10k in a windy Portsmouth.

    This was run at the same time and on the same course (plus a 2km loop) as the famous Victory 5m which has been continuously run since 1946 - or so it says on my medal.

    Anyway, with a lot of swift  5 milers to follow along the sea wall and downwind, we had a fast start and I managed to keep going when we peeled off right for our loop.

    Rejoining the main course I was faced with the slower 5 milers who couldn't help me as I faced the wind along the sea wall, but after clearing my own 5m in 32:08 I thought I was on for a time if I could keep the intensity going....

    Back into the stadium and onto the track, 400m to go, push....200m and again, and then I saw the clock 39:12 when I was about 100 metres out. I emptied myself and didn't take my eyes off the clock until it was beside me....39:57 gun; 39:47 chip.

    For the first time in my "new" running career, I had to head for the sidelines as I was retching with the effort, but I recovered with my dignity intact (just) and recovered rather slowly, but with a huge grin on my face.

    This summer's targets were sub 20 5k and a sub 40 10k - double check, and yesterday was my 64th birthday so happy bunny! 

  • Whoop whoop reiki imageimage Can't do Eastbourne sorry - I'll be in sunshiny land image

    And double whoop whoop for Mike - that's extra awesome!  Very Happy Birthday - you can't really get a better present than ticking off your goals imageimageimage

    Excellent weekend for me - parkrun on Saturday (25.38 -  13 seconds slower than last week but better performance according to runB) and 10.22k off road race on Sunday in 54.18.  Think I got the intensity about right - I certainly ran faster than I would have by myself but I'm up and my legs are fine today.  Sunday only put me in yellow which I suppose is down to last week being a half volume, no pace work week.  Will see what next weekend's double does after normal training this week.

    But first... pilates class to stretch and dekink image

    Happy Monday all!

Sign In or Register to comment.