Sub 3h15

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Comments

  • TR - I realise I may have lost a sense of perspective here, and maybe the trouble is that as I live abroad and don't get the chance to come over and see the family that often, I put too much importance on VLM. I would be lying, in fact, if I said the VLM weekend wasn't the highlight of my year. Is that a bit sad? Maybe, but it's the truth.

    I know very well there are always people a lot off worse off (on this thread, I mean - that there are in the real world goes without saying) but this is like a kind of sounding-off board -better to moan on here than take it out on the wife.

    All I was saying was that being injured is a p*sser and that I do have very real concerns about whether I'll be able to leg it round London on 13th April.

    Good luck to you and anyone else who's struggling - I hope we all make it in one piece.

     

  • TR- getting some good miles there! also great news your calf is holding out! 

    PMJ- Thanks, misread the timing on the shedule, had another 8 mins for my 9! was supposed to run at 7:45mm? oh well it's done now and felt great, good practice for the half marathon in June.

    Poacher- That run gave me a lot more confidence that's for sure! that woman was maybe heading out to the pub straight after the workout?? classy!

    5 easy tomorrow and a GUL 18miler Sunday morning! think that might catch on..

  • TRTR ✭✭✭

    Ant - agreed anything that gets 16 weeks of focus tends to take over folks lives, let the steam off here. Trust in your Fizz, you have more than 3 weeks yet, thats a long time in calf injury world.

  • GerardMGerardM ✭✭✭

    Ant - Better out than in I say. You've pushed your body hard the past 3 months or more and you're nearly there. Not sad at all how much VLM means to you, I'm sure you will have a blast and run well. Wish I was doing it now as I am getting excited at the prospect of hearing how all of us forumites get on. Some will smash it, most will have a tough a day, given the high standards we set for ourselves, but the most important thing is hopefully all will come through it unscathed.

    R26 - Great run there, well done!

    AR - Hanging on in there!

    5 miles tonight, legs felt very flat, bit soft at the mo, will toughen up soon!

  • Load of old crocks. Most of them younger than me. (*PMJ excepted, but he's no crock).

  • Gul DarrGul Darr ✭✭✭

    Ant - feeling your frustration. Don't give up hope yet.
    Lorenzo - bet your 23 miles weren't as slow as my 20 - i.e. m/m
    AR - hope your team can fix you.
    Rich - excellent 9 miler. Don't think I could go that fast without a good warm-up first.
    Poacher - are you sure you're just not hallucinating everytime you go to the gym?
    TR - good calf management.
    Time on feet run today - 20 miles @ 9:10 m/m. Mr Plodtastic.

  • Blisters wrote (see)

    Load of old crocks. Most of them younger than me. (*PMJ excepted, but he's no crock).

    No, you are way older than I. VLM 2016 will be my first V50 marathon (I turn 50 autumn 2015) and will shoot sub 3.

  • Fish52Fish52 ✭✭✭
    Ant - You've got 13 great weeks of training in + an optimistic physio. Trust your training and the phys advice - what about some cycling to help maintain the fitness?



    Menn - Nice trainers!



    Lorenzo - Young legs and after burners - I miss those. Good luck with your early 23.



    Also-ran - You've got a marathon team?! Hope the Saturday and Sunday runs go ok.



    Rich - Great 9 miler there. Must have given you a good confidence boost for your marathon target.



    TR - Glad the calf is holding out. The 2-3 day blocks of long runs sound pretty hardcore and must be helping you to catch up.



    I'm old, but don't count myself as a crock - just yet. Have lapsed into a bit of unusual taper madness. My 2 sons (26 and 21) have lost a team mate for the Cumbrian Commotion, next Saturday and I have accepted their invitation to fill the gap. So, 10k running, 25k biking and some kayaking on coniston should set me up nicely for Manchester, a week later.



    9 miles last night, with 8x800. Legs weary this morning.
  • Thanks PMJ for putting me back in my box. I'll just leave the nails and hammer outside so you can fix the lid properly.

    Big question.

    Are there any 50+ on here who are comfortably sub 3:15 and seriously shooting for sub 3? (For Wimmin, you can add a gracious 15 minutes, but don't let on about your age).

  • She hasn't posted on here for a while due to having her own thread, but Doppyashton is a V50 and was only just outside 3 hours at Barcelona last weekend.

  • Blisters, Poacher went sub-3 over 50 and got onto marathon talk to tell all about it. He was ranked 51st V50 that year and 95 went sub 3:00. I damn well hope to cruise sub 3:15 aged 50 and have a pop at sub 3 as well. OO51 also was close, sub 3 at 49 and easily sub 3:15 as a V50 and the speed he has this year at parkrun is amazing.

    9.5 miles at 9:43 average: parkrun tail runner. 52.45 for the week and 20 tomorrow to make a new biggest week ever.

  • Nice parkrunning PMJ. I'm very happy to marshall but being the tail runner always seems to be a really tough task just to resist the temptation to inject a bit of pace.

    Yhsif - Cumbrian Commotion sounds an interesting one, but what kind of state will it leave you in for Manchester?

    Just over 23 miles for me this morning at about 8:05 pace. Flattish route but there were stretches that scored zero out of ten for their scenic appeal. Ran totally to feel and knew that I needed to run for just over 3 hours, so job done.

    SB - that wasn't you out on the Old Woking Road around 7.30 was it?

    Think I might be investing in the Sayonaras before YLM, rather than after. If I get them this afternoon it'll give me plenty of time to run them in.

  • SlokeyJoeSlokeyJoe ✭✭✭

    Blisters, a friend of mine knocked out a 2:58 (PB) aged 59 a couple of years ago. I use that reference point to not let me use age as an excuse.

    Injuries on the other hand - bah. From experience, an enforced rest at this stage isn't a big problem physically. It just messes with your head. Stay focused, believe it can be done and keep the determination. Don't let a few missed sessions morph into an excuse for not giving it everything on the day when it gets tough and everything turns out just fine.

    Bike planned for after the footy today.

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭

    Ran my last sub-3 (2:57) at age 47. Was in shape (1:24:xx half) at 50 to attempt sub-3, but DNS'd (the year of the bag). Downhill since - LM 2008 3:15:50 (age 53), LM 2010 3:17:46 (age 55), Nottm Sept 2011(age 57) 3:20:19.  Now 59, aiming for sub 3:30 at Manchester in a fortnight.  
    To which end 15 done today; 5 to park, parkrun, 7 home, where a £10 voucher awaited me for 2nd M55 at last week's half mara - ah, the joys of  big-time racing image     -  now for the 2 week taper . . . . . . . .

    Great long 'un btw, Lorenzo, and Ant, you will be fine (not just saying this, I'm a "go on the evidence" chap, and you've done the training, you proved you have the nads (notwithstanding bath pics), so look ahead with confidence); finally TR - the diesel engine is gaining momentum nicely, and will be primed for full throttle on the 13th! 

    Regards, all

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭

    SJ - x-post - yes, injuries play their part - I had knee arthroscopy in Nov 2008, and problems with other knee later (which effectively kiboshed Boston 2012), but they can be overcome, and I'm grateful to be back wearing a number and having goals again.  

  • Leslie HLeslie H ✭✭✭

    A local guy   ran 2:50  london mara for 2nd in the v55 at 56 years old a couple of years ago so sub 3 at 50 is possible with the proper training.He has ran about 30 mara's though with around 25 sub 3 image

  • I appear to have injured myself this morning doing the hoovering. I knew housework was evil. My shoulder hurts. 

    Oooh, two week till Manchester! I'm excited already. I love reading marathon reports just before I run my own. It's like extra motivation image

  • Speedy - "Be proud of your dirty house!"

    Thanks for all the good wishes and reassuring words. I am feeling much more positive. I did 6 miles this morning with no problems although I was so scared of the leg that it was probably the slowest I have ever run. Talk about treading on eggshells!

    Tomorrow I'm going out to run on feel, as far as I feel able, but probably should keep it to 10 max. I'm also doig some work on the spinning bike, 20-30 mins here and there, while keeping up the stretching and icing. It has to work!!

  • moofmoof ✭✭✭
    Best of luck to all those carrying niggles, Ant, AR and TR. I think that's it at the moment. I can feel the tension and madness rising, keep the faith people you're all pretty well trained for the big day.



    I'm really enjoying this stress free running at the moment, makes me wonder if I'll bother running another marathon, but when the day comes for all the heroic race reports I'll realise again what it's all about.

    It's great to set yourself a tough goal and have the guts, life skills and dogged detimination to see it through.



    Marrows- So you're a fast lady rather than one of us average blokes. The nickname sounds a bit phallic which causes a bit of confusion. Same as if someone introduced themselves on here as cucumber or big banana!



    Parkrun for me this morning in 18.29, a little slower than last week but there was a fair gale blowing. I seemed to be surrounded by fast kids that I had at least 30 years on.
  • moofmoof ✭✭✭
    That's the spirit Ant.
  • Blisters - not posted on here in a while, but I started running at 49 did my first sub 3 at 54 (2:58:xx) and my second at 56 (2:57:xx).

    58 now so probably unlikely to see sub 3 again and just aiming for a, hopefully, comfortable GFA/FGFA time this year

  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭

    Ant - the VLM w/e is not the same when the Spanish train fails to arrive on the London platform. So you really do have to turn up

    PMJ - you will be comfortably the fastest of the sub3 at 50 contingent on here. I did it the counter-intuitive way, but you are sensible and will be sub3 for years to come if you retain the desire.

    Careful now CC
    A tasty LR Lorenzo, cooking up nicely

    9m on the treadie tonight.  Recreated that muscular memory session by doing 6m @ 5% uphill fairly slow, then suddenly going down to 0% while raising the speed by 25%. It felt just like cresting a long, long uphill then legging it downhill to get some time back. 

    #gymfails: LauraAshleySmock Woman was at it (getting a bit whiffy, needs a rinse) but the highlight was the guy doing a treadmill pyramid. He walked for a bit @ 4kph, then raised briefly it to a bone-shaking 5kph before gratefully laying off the speed work and going back to 4kph. Can't see the point really unless he has a medical condition or is in serious rehab.

  • TRTR ✭✭✭

    retaining sub3 status as a V50 is easier if you were well under it to start with (not me !). I like to think that I'll be a sub3 V50 in 3 years, but this campaign has been a chore at times due to work/life etc and I'm not sure I'll want to keep it going for another 3 or 4 years. However I'm enjoying the current salvage mission a bit more.

  • I have a gym tale to rival Poacher's today. Chose to do my second recovery run of the day indoors as I nearly blew away this morning. There was a fella two or three treadmills down who was doing some sort of comedy dance. He was walking quite slowly, picking each knee up and crossing it over in front of him as he marched, lifting both arms up and down, crossing them behind his head. This was clearly quite difficult because he was concentrating so hard he had his tongue sticking out and actually touching the tip of his nose. The result vaguely resembled a slow motion version of MC Hammer's video to You Can't Touch This but without the baggy trousers.

    Then he moved on to exaggerated marching with very high arms like the Acid House dance of the late 80s. 

    To fuel this madness he had one of those massive plastic milk bottles with a handle (2 litres maybe?) filled with water. 

    I had no words.

  • I ran 3:07 in 2012 aged 49, and was all geared up for a real crack at sub 3 in 2013 until I got injured and missed best part of 18 months. I still think I have a chance of sub 3, but it's always going to be right on my ability limit and is never going to be easy. Everything is going to have to be pretty much spot on for me to achieve it. I do want to give it a really good go though, and then I can retire from marathons happy that I either achieved it or at least gave it the best chance I could. The club record is currently 3:01:06 which is also a nice target, and it'd be nice to hold that for a couple of years until PMJ grows up or until our 1987 (2:19) & 1988 (2:16) Helsinki marathon winner finally gets himself fit.

    At VLM this year I'm going to struggle to do a GFA of 3:20 simply because my training started too late and from a very low state of fitness, and because I've been struggling mentally with knowing I was training for something where I was never going to get anywhere near my ultimate goal. I'm still not 100% decided on whether I'm even going to do it, but if I do I'm currently leaning towards just running round at what feels comfortable and not worry (too much) about the time. This would probably give me somewhere round 3:30 assuming the wheels don't drop off. Then hopefully I'll have a good summer of training and be ready for a crack at a sub-3 Abingdon in October.

  • BOTF, you have a clear run at the V50 marathon and 20 mile records until VLM 2016. I reckon I have a decent chance at the rest if I stay in this form except for the 5k which is 17:48 and that needs a lot of work.

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    image  Not sure if I'm going to make it to the London start line.  I've hardly run this week due to feeling unwell but any I have done have been off road.  I'm feeling back to 100% today, well almost, so did 5 miles on the road but my whole glute area ached from the first step.  I've been rollering and stretching like mad all week but it doesn't seem to have helped yet.    I'll give it another couple of days and try again but if it feels the same as it felt today I couldn't run 26 miles on it.

    I have a couple of options if London isn't going to happen.  I could just ditch marathon plans for this Spring and do shorter stuff over the summer then York in October or I could go for Edinburgh, which is 9 weeks today.  That would give me a couple of weeks off just now then a good month of training.   I have negative feelings about Edinburgh because I've done it twice before and hated it both times but its always been after London so I would probably enjoy it more as a stand alone.  Speedy you took this option last year?

  • Minni - Don't make any rash decisions just yet!! ((()))

    My boyish, film-star good looks belie it but I will be 50 next year and I fully intend to have a go at bagging another sub-3. It won't be easy, but then when was it ever?

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    No way you are knocking on the 50 door Ant! You're just attention seeking!image
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