The parkrun I was going to to got cancelled because of the chaos in Glasgow last night. Shame they only announced this on Facebook at 9, by which time I was in the park as I could have got to one of the other Glasgow runs. Nevermind, more important things than parkrun.
Got a few miles ran, 4 in total I think, plus been to the gym. That's good enough for me today.
Thats a great HR Stuart on your 11 miler…..at least you got 4 miles in today - even if it was nota parkrun !!
Good luck with your race OH,
Stewart, hope your LR went well today….
Mace -= enjoy the cutback week - if it were me I would have a pop at the 10 miler just to clear cobwebs - regardless of what the speed turns out - Good luck !!
IJ - good man for doing your bit at Parkrun !…Well done on 40 for the week
HM - go for it with the 5 miler
Fiona - you got your Garmin sorted yet?
A 15 Miler for me today. Brrrr…. cold out there even with the sun out and blue skys. Glad I am in the warm now with a cuppa and a Digestive
Hi all, I'm back. Patches are off at last, and at some point I might stop itching. It looks like I'm allergic to loads of things, so some drastic diet changes are required...
I've had 3 days off, feel in a better mood, and went out for a 5 mile run this afternoon.
finished the 50k, paced back in by the sweeper, but at about 7h, well over an hour shorter than last 30 miler. Weather dry and mostly calm. More later ...
Teknik sounds like you got a lot of decent feedback from the tests.
MG1 another one doing long miles!
Stuart that was a real shocker about the Glasgow crash.
AGF more long running from you - Saturday must be the new Sunday!! The garmin is still not talking to the laptop. For some reason it now says I do not have the communicator, I have tried so many times to download and run it - all seems to go well then it goes onto the garmin page as soon as the wizard is finished and says it is not installed - just go round in circles so I give up! Also broke the garmin strap again today!! 7 miles fartlek.
I've had a lot of problems with my Garmin on the Fetch site recently however everything else has been fine. It did seem to improve once I'd updated the communicator.
AGF, nice run in the cold, and I'm liking your refuelling strategy
MG, great run yesterday, good pace too
NN, another good run, I haven't had any chaffing issues since switching to the polar strap
Tek, hopefully the diet changes will make the difference, good run yesterday,
OH, well done mate, looking forward to the report
Fiona, well done with the fartlek, not so good about the garmin though, my usual approach is to uninstall the garmin drivers from the laptop and reinstall
-------------------------------
rest day on Friday our dog managed to cut her side while out on Friday afternoon, so a trip to the vet to get her fixed up was the order of the day, she fine now enjoying all the fuss.
13 miles yesterday was going to be 14 but the top of my foot was hurting I think the shoe laces were to tight, will be going out later for a short recovery run this afternoon
SM, shame about parkrun yesterday, a real shock to hear about the crash yesterday, well done with the 19, and I'm with you much prefer to give the Xmas shopping a miss
Sounds like some good running going on and some awesome distances, well done everyone!
I ran from home to the club today (2.0 miles each way) expecting to join the group doing the 15 mile loop - to give me 19 miles. Ended up running with a different group and ran a more sensible 12 with them. 16.0 miles total, 8:46 pace.
Beer and Wine, Tek ??!! OUCH Yes, i did the race this morning ; target was 67:30 and i did 66:40 so very happy. No time for a report now as i'm off out but will knock one up later.
Stewart - Good running, nice total for November. Hope the dog is ok
Mace - That's a cracking time, well done
HM - Hope the hip clears up quickly, well done on the run all the same.
Tek - Nice easy 8.6, nice low HR too
Fiona - Looks like you're getting back into the swing of things
OH - Well done on the 50k
NN - Nice long run
MG - That's a good pace for your 18 miles.
AGF - Well done on the 15
-----------
Bit sore after yesterdays 19. Done the first 2 hours easy then kicked on a bit for the last 7 miles. HR went nuts but didn't feel too bad. That gave me 51 miles for the week. Happy enough with that. It also gave my a couple of stiff achilles this morning, so just an easy gym session for me this morning.
Not a good preparation – up 5:30 for work on Thursday morning; up 5:10 Friday morning to see if 6:30 boat was sailing (it was but was only boat to get out that day); choppy crossing followed by a long drive down then wakeup 5:30 for race.
We drove up lower Glen Lyon then over the lonely Ben Lawers road on way to B+B in Killin. Road clear and snow line at about 2500 feet.
Bar meal and gear sorted before early night. Landlady had left breakfast out for us and we left at 6:30 in the dark. Tech t shirt, Merino long sleeve and another long sleeve top. ¾ tights and oiled legs. 19 miles drive back over the single track mountain road to the race HQ at Glen Lyon dam. Registration and briefing as dawn broke. Weather cool (2°C), dry and calm, as forecast.
Only about 80 of 96 entrants started so about 16 DNS but we met 2 familiar faces.
The route was straight into 300 feet of sharp ascent before an undulating rough landrover track around the reservoir. After the bag drop at 14 miles, it crossed over the dam then up a tarred but potholed private road to 1600’ and down into Glen Lochay. There it looped 7 miles up the glen along a rough track before returning to the tarmac for the 1000’ climb back up the pass, finishing with a nice easy 2 mile down to finish back at the Glen Lyon dam.
Lovely views with some sun on snow capped hills as we set off. I walked (as most) up the first incline then settled into steady pace. First river at 6 miles - water up to just below knees. Coming out, feet felt like blocks of ice and slowed up by foot muscles not working as well as usual but OK again after 5 minutes.
I remembered this time to keep refuelling as I went around (snack Mars Bars, Jelly Babies …)
Overtaken by Elspeth who had now got warmed up. 2nd River, 3rd river … Curiously my top half felt a lot warmer after each crossing (perhaps a survival reflex kicking in?). 3rd marshalled river crossing done – all done or so I thought – they lied! There was one further river crossing at least as deep as the previous three!
At 12.3 miles, catastrophe struck – I hit a fixed stone with my right foot, stumbled, failed to save myself and landed heavily headlong. Oh S&&t! I thought, race over. Cramp then kicked in left leg. However I slowly picked myself up and assessed the damage :^ : Right knee bruised and grazed, left chest bruised and fairly sore. Didn’t think I’d broken a rib. So after a couple of minutes I tried running again. Proceeded gingerly to the drop bag station before the dam at 14 miles at just under 3 hours. OK so far ...
Dry shoes, new socks, long tights. Banana, Rice pudding, 2 cups tea (straight down the hatch and some other “fuel” and off again.
Last runners and sweeper were back by then 7 runners finished their race prematurely at this point.
Continued across the dam itself and now onto tarmac albeit potholed.
My chest was now aching quite a bit - so I took some paracetamol and slapped on some voltarol gel as I walked up the long hill. Just one girl and the (fresh) sweeper behind me now.
Passed an orange sheep (no, I was not hallucinating!
Meeting and greeting the front runners coming back now
I was now up the worst of the hill but it was a further undulating mile or so until it started going down. Down to a welcome cup of tea and large chunk of “Tablet” at second station.
Left the station ahead of the sweeper and last girl onto a rough track contouring round Glen Lochay, quite cool now and a head wind picking up. On to the loneliest marshall, before turning to drop right down into the valley and heading back. I was now walk/running. The girl and sweeper were within earshot.
Back onto the tarmac and began the thousand foot ascent (walking).
More tea and tablet at Aid station at 26.5 miles. Shortly before the top of the hill, I was overtaken by the girl behind who had obviously got her second wind. However, I was well ahead of my personal target and certainly wasn’t up to chasing her! Over the brow of the hill, back into a slow run, now encouraged and accompanied by my personal pacer (AKA sweeper) – Thankyou Michael!.
I managed to keep the slow run all the way from then to the finish including the short incline a few hundred yards before the end. Wave from Elspeth (who finished in 6h11) and shouts of encouragement from finishing line which I crossed at 7h03. Last but still an hour and 20 minutes faster than Dirty 30 .
Finish line was fortunately only a few yards from car. Soup and chillie at race HQ half a mile back down the road. Nice meal that evening in Killin before long drive and ferry back home on Sunday.
Stewart - Nice running, especially into the wind. Looks like it's going to be really breezy later in the week. What P&D schedule are you going for?
MG - Nice run last night
OH - Great race report. Don't fancy those river crossings much!
Tek - Good to hear that you're on the mend.
--------
Achilles a bit iffy still, so I'm going to take a recovery week. Makes sense as I've ran 40 miles+ for 5 weeks in a row (4 of those over 50) which is a lot for me. Also means I'll maybe be semi-fresh for a 5k thrash on Saturday, somewhere
Stewart well done starting P & D - that really puts the timing for spring marathons into perspective!! I hope you dog has recovered.
Stuart that sounds sensible, good long run by you at the weekend.
Well done OH!! Particularly impressive is the amount of actual food you managed to eat whilst running! They'd never get me away from the tablet!
I hope that is you better now Teknik.
mace very well done coming in below target.
HM4 shame about the hip, I hope it is ok now.
Good long run IJ.
MG1 sounds like one of those good runs last night! Nice and mild here last night and today but that won't last long.
Did a 10 mile run on Sunday and the blister on my right instep was giving a bit of bother so decided to do body balance last night instead of a run to give the blister time to heal then back to it tonight. On a mission now to find suitable shoes other than racing ones.
keep safe folks, sounds like some beaten bodies out there!
Off work this week, so Monday's recovery turned into 8 miles, which in turn included 5 laps of Steep Hill. Hmm! Garmin showed each rep to be 42 metres gained in 320 metres (sorry for mixed units!)
Bowls match tonight, so can't run with the club; gives me a chance to do some Yasso 800s. Hope to get all ten in, with say, 3:25 as a target pace? Ouch!
After 6 weeks of base training before moving onto 18 weeks of P&D, the purpose of this race was to confirm a marathon training pace and to test out if the recent big long runs had done much for my endurance which I suspected was lacking a bit over the summer. So, if the wind was to be as savage as it can be in these parts I wasn’t going to bother and I’d base my mara training on my last race which was a half at the end of September
So I was happy that the wind was relatively mild in the morning with a North Westerly 20mph and , based on that half McM predicted 6:47 pace for 10M. Target was therefore set at 6:45 pace and a time of 67:30
2M warm up and a handful of strides – yes, me doing a proper warm up WITH strides which is a first.
A minutes silence for Ricki Savage, a 27 year old runner from my club ( Thanet Roadrunners AC ) who sadly died after collapsing at the finish line of this year’s Dublin Marathon. RIP Ricki.
Lined up at the start on the Westgate promenade in my usual (ish) area about 30 places from the front
Off – and what seemed like 100’s of runners steam past me as I concentrate on hitting target pace and let them go. Plenty wearing woolly hats and dressed as if they were off for an expedition up Everest. Along the promenade for 2 miles to Margate
6:44 6:43
Around this time I became aware of one of the benefits of running for a club as plenty of support from Marshalls and spectators. Easy to get carried away with this support though so had to check back after hitting 6:00 pace briefly. Gradually picking off some of the runners from the cavalry charge, a stiff uphill and then a gentle down.
6:48 6:37
Felt quite comfy at this stage and shortly after the 4M marker the leader was making the return ( he finished in around 55 min ) Had a brief chat to a lad who I see out some mornings and he told me he’d had PF and been out for 6 weeks. Hit the halfway mark and turned into the wind. Not as strong as last year but immediately had to work harder. Starting to feel good as I was still passing runners and started to worry a bit that I may be overdoing it.
6:34 6:36
Started to look for somebody to push with now and eventually got to a likely suspect but when I asked if he wanted to share the wind he didn’t seem keen and muttered that he would if he could keep going. Alas, he dropped back and I concentrated on the ....
Comments
The parkrun I was going to to got cancelled because of the chaos in Glasgow last night. Shame they only announced this on Facebook at 9, by which time I was in the park as I could have got to one of the other Glasgow runs. Nevermind, more important things than parkrun.
Got a few miles ran, 4 in total I think, plus been to the gym. That's good enough for me today.
Thats a great HR Stuart on your 11 miler…..at least you got 4 miles in today - even if it was nota parkrun !!
Good luck with your race OH,
Stewart, hope your LR went well today….
Mace -= enjoy the cutback week - if it were me I would have a pop at the 10 miler just to clear cobwebs - regardless of what the speed turns out - Good luck !!
IJ - good man for doing your bit at Parkrun !…Well done on 40 for the week
HM - go for it with the 5 miler
Fiona - you got your Garmin sorted yet?
A 15 Miler for me today. Brrrr…. cold out there even with the sun out and blue skys. Glad I am in the warm now with a cuppa and a Digestive
Mace was pretty windy up here this morning, hopefully a bit calmer down south for you.
OH good luck on the 50!
SM6 good swimming, ages since I swam in a pool , shame about the parkrun
Fiona great to see your nicely back into the swing of things
AGF nice 15, certainly was cold out there , like the sound of the digestive
18 m this morning @ 8.44 bright with a cold wind and a good challenging run, longest run for about 7 weeks but a nice move forward
Quick post as just off to bed to recharge batteries for tonights first of 3 night shifts
17 miles in 2 hours.45 no HR data as it been rubbing a bit lately...but felt nice and easy
catch up tomorrow ...... any racers ?
Hi all, I'm back. Patches are off at last, and at some point I might stop itching. It looks like I'm allergic to loads of things, so some drastic diet changes are required...
I've had 3 days off, feel in a better mood, and went out for a 5 mile run this afternoon.
Hope that 50k is going well OH
I'll catch up properly tomorrow...
AGF,
The run is going to be timed with the power cut.
Tek
Hope the changes aren't as drastic as you think.
---------
Well done on everyone's training.
Well done OH!!
NN that's a long run, great that it felt easy.
Teknik sounds like you got a lot of decent feedback from the tests.
MG1 another one doing long miles!
Stuart that was a real shocker about the Glasgow crash.
AGF more long running from you - Saturday must be the new Sunday!! The garmin is still not talking to the laptop. For some reason it now says I do not have the communicator, I have tried so many times to download and run it - all seems to go well then it goes onto the garmin page as soon as the wizard is finished and says it is not installed - just go round in circles so I give up! Also broke the garmin strap again today!! 7 miles fartlek.
F
OH,
Well done.
Fiona,
I've had a lot of problems with my Garmin on the Fetch site recently however everything else has been fine. It did seem to improve once I'd updated the communicator.
AGF, nice run in the cold, and I'm liking your refuelling strategy
MG, great run yesterday, good pace too
NN, another good run, I haven't had any chaffing issues since switching to the polar strap
Tek, hopefully the diet changes will make the difference, good run yesterday,
OH, well done mate, looking forward to the report
Fiona, well done with the fartlek, not so good about the garmin though, my usual approach is to uninstall the garmin drivers from the laptop and reinstall
-------------------------------
rest day on Friday our dog managed to cut her side while out on Friday afternoon, so a trip to the vet to get her fixed up was the order of the day, she fine now enjoying all the fuss.
13 miles yesterday was going to be 14 but the top of my foot was hurting I think the shoe laces were to tight, will be going out later for a short recovery run this afternoon
19 miles in just over 3 hours. Think the distance reading is low. Off Xmas shopping now. Think I'd rather run another 19 instead...
SM, shame about parkrun yesterday, a real shock to hear about the crash yesterday, well done with the 19, and I'm with you much prefer to give the Xmas shopping a miss
Steadily moving forward FionaC
Well that's it for long runs in 2013 for me.
Waves to Fiona_C and StewartC as we head north again ...
Sounds like some good running going on and some awesome distances, well done everyone!
I ran from home to the club today (2.0 miles each way) expecting to join the group doing the 15 mile loop - to give me 19 miles. Ended up running with a different group and ran a more sensible 12 with them. 16.0 miles total, 8:46 pace.
HM thanks. Given the "no-no" list includes beer and wine, I can't see myself being that rigorous diet-wise
OH congrats on the 50k, super running
Fiona well done on the fartlek. I hate it when I get Garmin / PC issues - hope you get it sorted quickly
Stewart well done on the 13m. Poor doggie, hope she's ok now...
Stuart nice 19 miler, hope you survive the Xmas shopping
IJ well done on the unplanned 16m !
mace did you do your local 10m race?
AGF well done on the cold 15m yesterday
MG great long run, well done
NN nice easy 17m, hope you survive the 3 night shifts ok
---
Easing back into it - 8.6m at a pace of 5k+3mins, happy with the HR print of 71%max.
Stewart,
Hope the dog is okay now.
--------------
Well done on everyone's training. My 5 miler ended up as 2 miles as a hip problem has re-surfaced. I guess I need to up the stretching of it more.
Good long runs Stuart and Jim
Beer and Wine, Tek ??!! OUCH Yes, i did the race this morning ; target was 67:30 and i did 66:40 so very happy. No time for a report now as i'm off out but will knock one up later.
HM4 - sorry to hear, hope it buggers off quickly
Waves back at OH
IJ, well done with the club run
Tek, great running the streak has restarted
HM not good, plenty of stretching required
Mace, great time looking forward to the report
---------------------------
easy 4 miles tonight making it 37 for the week and 193 for November
Mace & Stewart,
Thanks.
Stewart - Good running, nice total for November. Hope the dog is ok
Mace - That's a cracking time, well done
HM - Hope the hip clears up quickly, well done on the run all the same.
Tek - Nice easy 8.6, nice low HR too
Fiona - Looks like you're getting back into the swing of things
OH - Well done on the 50k
NN - Nice long run
MG - That's a good pace for your 18 miles.
AGF - Well done on the 15
-----------
Bit sore after yesterdays 19. Done the first 2 hours easy then kicked on a bit for the last 7 miles. HR went nuts but didn't feel too bad. That gave me 51 miles for the week. Happy enough with that. It also gave my a couple of stiff achilles this morning, so just an easy gym session for me this morning.
Tigh nam Bodach 50k Ultra 2013
Not a good preparation – up 5:30 for work on Thursday morning; up 5:10 Friday morning to see if 6:30 boat was sailing (it was but was only boat to get out that day); choppy crossing followed by a long drive down then wakeup 5:30 for race.
We drove up lower Glen Lyon then over the lonely Ben Lawers road on way to B+B in Killin. Road clear and snow line at about 2500 feet.
Bar meal and gear sorted before early night. Landlady had left breakfast out for us and we left at 6:30 in the dark. Tech t shirt, Merino long sleeve and another long sleeve top. ¾ tights and oiled legs. 19 miles drive back over the single track mountain road to the race HQ at Glen Lyon dam. Registration and briefing as dawn broke. Weather cool (2°C), dry and calm, as forecast.
Only about 80 of 96 entrants started so about 16 DNS but we met 2 familiar faces.
The route was straight into 300 feet of sharp ascent before an undulating rough landrover track around the reservoir. After the bag drop at 14 miles, it crossed over the dam then up a tarred but potholed private road to 1600’ and down into Glen Lochay. There it looped 7 miles up the glen along a rough track before returning to the tarmac for the 1000’ climb back up the pass, finishing with a nice easy 2 mile down to finish back at the Glen Lyon dam.
Lovely views with some sun on snow capped hills as we set off.
I walked (as most) up the first incline then settled into steady pace. First river at 6 miles - water up to just below knees. Coming out, feet felt like blocks of ice and slowed up by foot muscles not working as well as usual but OK again after 5 minutes.
I remembered this time to keep refuelling as I went around (snack Mars Bars, Jelly Babies …)
Overtaken by Elspeth who had now got warmed up. 2nd River, 3rd river …
Curiously my top half felt a lot warmer after each crossing (perhaps a survival reflex kicking in?).
3rd marshalled river crossing done – all done or so I thought – they lied!
There was one further river crossing at least as deep as the previous three!
At 12.3 miles, catastrophe struck – I hit a fixed stone with my right foot, stumbled, failed to save myself and landed heavily headlong. Oh S&&t! I thought, race over. Cramp then kicked in left leg. However I slowly picked myself up and assessed the damage :^ : Right knee bruised and grazed, left chest bruised and fairly sore. Didn’t think I’d broken a rib. So after a couple of minutes I tried running again. Proceeded gingerly to the drop bag station before the dam at 14 miles at just under 3 hours. OK so far ...
Dry shoes, new socks, long tights. Banana, Rice pudding, 2 cups tea (straight down the hatch and some other “fuel” and off again.
Last runners and sweeper were back by then
7 runners finished their race prematurely at this point.
Continued across the dam itself and now onto tarmac albeit potholed.
My chest was now aching quite a bit - so I took some paracetamol and slapped on some voltarol gel as I walked up the long hill. Just one girl and the (fresh) sweeper behind me now.
Passed an orange sheep (no, I was not hallucinating!
Meeting and greeting the front runners coming back now
I was now up the worst of the hill but it was a further undulating mile or so until it started going down. Down to a welcome cup of tea and large chunk of “Tablet” at second station.
Left the station ahead of the sweeper and last girl onto a rough track contouring round Glen Lochay, quite cool now and a head wind picking up. On to the loneliest marshall, before turning to drop right down into the valley and heading back. I was now walk/running. The girl and sweeper were within earshot.
Back onto the tarmac and began the thousand foot ascent (walking).
More tea and tablet at Aid station at 26.5 miles. Shortly before the top of the hill, I was overtaken by the girl behind who had obviously got her second wind. However, I was well ahead of my personal target and certainly wasn’t up to chasing her!
Over the brow of the hill, back into a slow run, now encouraged and accompanied by my personal pacer (AKA sweeper) – Thankyou Michael!.
I managed to keep the slow run all the way from then to the finish including the short incline a few hundred yards before the end.
Wave from Elspeth (who finished in 6h11) and shouts of encouragement from finishing line which I crossed at 7h03.
Last but still an hour and 20 minutes faster than Dirty 30 .
Finish line was fortunately only a few yards from car.
Soup and chillie at race HQ half a mile back down the road.
Nice meal that evening in Killin before long drive and ferry back home on Sunday.
Walking but stairs problematic today.
HM ouch, not the hip again...hope some stretching clears it up
Mace that's a fantastic 10m time, well done fella.
Stewart nice easy 4m, and congrats on a good month's work
Stuart well done on the 19 miler, great week's total and I hope the Achilles is ok now
OH super report. Loved the orange sheep !! Glad to hear you're up and about today.
---
Easy 3m for me at 70%max (plus a few beats uphill). Feeling a little better...
Some photos on:
https://www.facebook.com/peterjfay/media_set?set=a.635374286509041.1073741837.100001094259583&type=1
and
https://www.facebook.com/mikenowicki1978/media_set?set=a.10152759935210656.1073741865.560220655&type=1
including the orange sheep!
Tek well,done on your two runs,,that diet will be tested in the next 3 or 4 weeks
SM6 hope the legs are good after the nice LR
Stewart great months mileage for Nov
A brisk 9 m @ 8.11, nice conditions out there tonight
SM, Hope you've recovered from the Xmas shopping, the easy gym session would have helped
OH, great photos and a very detailed report, the views look stunning, enjoy your recovery I can't believe the orange sheep never seen that before
Tek, good you're starting too feel better
-----------------------------------------------
started the P&D plan tonight with a LT run 9 miles with 4 @LT, a tough session especially when windy, probably a mile and a half against
Splits 8:26, 8:27, 8:18, 8:25 @83%AHR
Stewart - Nice running, especially into the wind. Looks like it's going to be really breezy later in the week. What P&D schedule are you going for?
MG - Nice run last night
OH - Great race report. Don't fancy those river crossings much!
Tek - Good to hear that you're on the mend.
--------
Achilles a bit iffy still, so I'm going to take a recovery week. Makes sense as I've ran 40 miles+ for 5 weeks in a row (4 of those over 50) which is a lot for me. Also means I'll maybe be semi-fresh for a 5k thrash on Saturday, somewhere
Stewart well done starting P & D - that really puts the timing for spring marathons into perspective!! I hope you dog has recovered.
Stuart that sounds sensible, good long run by you at the weekend.
Well done OH!! Particularly impressive is the amount of actual food you managed to eat whilst running! They'd never get me away from the tablet!
I hope that is you better now Teknik.
mace very well done coming in below target.
HM4 shame about the hip, I hope it is ok now.
Good long run IJ.
MG1 sounds like one of those good runs last night! Nice and mild here last night and today but that won't last long.
Did a 10 mile run on Sunday and the blister on my right instep was giving a bit of bother so decided to do body balance last night instead of a run to give the blister time to heal then back to it tonight. On a mission now to find suitable shoes other than racing ones.
F
great report OH!
keep safe folks, sounds like some beaten bodies out there!
Off work this week, so Monday's recovery turned into 8 miles, which in turn included 5 laps of Steep Hill. Hmm! Garmin showed each rep to be 42 metres gained in 320 metres (sorry for mixed units!)
Bowls match tonight, so can't run with the club; gives me a chance to do some Yasso 800s. Hope to get all ten in, with say, 3:25 as a target pace? Ouch!
Happy Tuesday folks, be good!
Alan Green Memorial 10M (Thanet10)
After 6 weeks of base training before moving onto 18 weeks of P&D, the purpose of this race was to confirm a marathon training pace and to test out if the recent big long runs had done much for my endurance which I suspected was lacking a bit over the summer. So, if the wind was to be as savage as it can be in these parts I wasn’t going to bother and I’d base my mara training on my last race which was a half at the end of September
So I was happy that the wind was relatively mild in the morning with a North Westerly 20mph and , based on that half McM predicted 6:47 pace for 10M. Target was therefore set at 6:45 pace and a time of 67:30
2M warm up and a handful of strides – yes, me doing a proper warm up WITH strides which is a first.
A minutes silence for Ricki Savage, a 27 year old runner from my club ( Thanet Roadrunners AC ) who sadly died after collapsing at the finish line of this year’s Dublin Marathon. RIP Ricki.
Lined up at the start on the Westgate promenade in my usual (ish) area about 30 places from the front
Off – and what seemed like 100’s of runners steam past me as I concentrate on hitting target pace and let them go. Plenty wearing woolly hats and dressed as if they were off for an expedition up Everest. Along the promenade for 2 miles to Margate
6:44 6:43
Around this time I became aware of one of the benefits of running for a club as plenty of support from Marshalls and spectators. Easy to get carried away with this support though so had to check back after hitting 6:00 pace briefly. Gradually picking off some of the runners from the cavalry charge, a stiff uphill and then a gentle down.
6:48 6:37
Felt quite comfy at this stage and shortly after the 4M marker the leader was making the return ( he finished in around 55 min ) Had a brief chat to a lad who I see out some mornings and he told me he’d had PF and been out for 6 weeks. Hit the halfway mark and turned into the wind. Not as strong as last year but immediately had to work harder. Starting to feel good as I was still passing runners and started to worry a bit that I may be overdoing it.
6:34 6:36
Started to look for somebody to push with now and eventually got to a likely suspect but when I asked if he wanted to share the wind he didn’t seem keen and muttered that he would if he could keep going. Alas, he dropped back and I concentrated on the ....