Sub 3h15

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  • 5x18 in 12 days? Ouch! Have you ever done that? 

  • PMJ - Many happy returns. Hope you had some cake!

    SJ - I'm surprised you've never gone sub 3. What's your pb?

  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    SJ - it was my saving grace this year after flu and a calf strain. Something like weds, fri, sun, thurs, sun the sundays were 20s finishing 3 weeks out. Not text book I guess.
  • GM, my PB is 3:12 at Manchester in 2012. Could've either gone quicker or further on the day but that was effectively a training run when coming back from injury and haven't had a decent run campaign since due to injuries. (Hence all the swimming and biking malarkey).

    TR, did you put any quality into those sessions or do any additional quality sessions during that period? Do you think there was significant benefit?

  • Apologies for the flying visit - must say happy birthday to PMJ, you perfect square!
    11 miles with 9 @ MP (7:16m/m) this morning.

  • Happy birthday PMJ.

    Slokey - I think almost all of your runs are off-road, in a bid to protect your failing joints etc?   Same here.  The slight problem with this cunning training regime is that our marathons will be run on the road.  I had planned to become concerned about this, but then I changed my mind.

  • That's an excellent plan TAR. It just makes race day a bit livelier doesn't it?

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭

    9 at MP (at Gul o'clock (must have been dark also))  - that's some session ! 

    Did a bit of a "back-to-back" here - last evening 10.5 inc 1 lap of my 5K loop at "semi-hard" pace, finishing at 7pm, then 8:30am today out for 9 inc 6 x 800m "cruise" intervals in the park. 

    Jools, MsE - how are things shaping up for Sunday?

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    Tra la la la la! ::fingers in ears:: image

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    I am in denial I am racing a road HM for the first time in 2.5 years despite the fact I know I am liable to come unstuck racing on anything harder than a soft dirt trail...

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭

    you will fly on the lovely road - repeat after me "the tarmac is my friend, the tarmac is my friend " . . . . .

  • SJ/Marrows/GM - sandwiches not involved, but dinner out with Mrs A on Friday night should make up for that!

    PMJ - many happy returns for yesterday.

    TR - sticking at it. Out on the MTB for an hour this morning. How are your ribs doing?

    Gul - another very solid run.

    Birch - looking strong. Nearly 20 miles in just over 12 hours can't be bad.

    MsE - I'm sure you'll be fine; enjoy the thread smackdown with Jools!

    So, after blood work, an ECG, head MRI, etc. a few weeks back, I had the all clear from the hospital this morning. Party on! image

  • Gul - Excellent run there, it's looking promising for you. Fingers and everything else crossed for you for what is a little over two weeks now.

    MsE - Are you willing to reveal your target? Please don't say finish.

    Abbers - That's good news and enjoy your meal out tomorrow night.

    1st hard (relatively speaking) session for me today in 5 weeks and boy did it feel hard. It's still very warm out there and quite muggy too.

    5k in 21:20 - Average pace 6:52mm. Starting huffing and puffing a bit from 3-4 but there was a headwind all the way from 2.5-5k so not too bad I guess. It's a start but there is some work to do. I'll repeat the exercise next week and see what happens with a bit more mileage under my belt.

     

     

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    GM - I shall say only this:

    The Tarmac Is My Friend The Tarmac Is My Friend The Tarmac Is My Friend The Tarmac Is My Friend The Tarmac Is My Friend ... ::wobbles::

    And this is NOT a thread smack down and whoever said it was is very much mistaken.

    Nice comeback, GM (says the expert in coming back again and again and again...) image

  • TRTR ✭✭✭

    Abbers - ribs are nearly there, as long as I dont get a kick in them Sunday or go over the handlebars I should get round without too much discomfort. Its probably more about the training they cost me a few weeks ago now.

    SJ - I think I did one of the BAC sessions within the first or 2nd 18M, but then I focussed on getting the miles in and just did a couple of MP miles at the end of the odd long run. I was going to do 3 long runs in the 2nd week as well as the first but had to cut it short at 14M due to calf tightness. I had missed a fair bit of running and knew I needed the miles to bag another sub3.
    Fwiw, I think you could run a strong 1/2 off what you are doing (I did similar last Autumn), but not sure about a marathon. Marathons need impact (ie pavement.road) miles, so think that although you have some long races under your belt across may disciplines you risk your running legs failing on your later on. Who knows though ?

  • TRTR ✭✭✭

    MsE - its ony a 1/2, you've been through childbirth a several times (IIRC), If you get to 1/2 way wondering where the hell another 6.X M is coming from then you are where you should be !

  • Hi Folks,

    Sorry for the silence...been buried at work and just barely finding time to train, let alone keep up here. Had a great training week last week...some good MP sessions including Saturday's 18 w/10 at 7:05. Felt really strong. Then got sick and am just slowly bouncing back. 14.5 yesterday about did me in so will go easy rest of week. Also having my groin looked at as it's been cranky lately. Only one more full week of training next week before the 3 week taperimage.

    Hang in there everyone...good luck to those racing this weekend and big congrats to the many fine performances I have been seeing here lately, esp. Badbark's epic podium finish!

  • Looking good VTR! Nearly there eh? Exciting!

    Good news on getting a clean bill of health Abbers.

    MsE. - SMACKDOOOOOOWWWWWNNN!!!!

    TR, that's a good reality check. I know I'm taking a liberty and I do have some longer runs planned (with quality) over the next 3 weeks - I'll supplement these with some extra time on feet runs as the body allows. Currently coping well so I'll push it a bit further until things creak.

    Tonight's sesh was 1k easy, 2x5k at 20min pace off 1k easy then 400m at MP for fun. Bike and swim tomorrow! 

  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    SJ - I forgot to say earlier that I cant decide if your current hard running or slower long runs would be harder on your body anyway. I guess that you will find out the answer for me.
  • I'm sure that just long running wouldn't get me sharp enough, soon enough to get me to where I want to be. I've upped the quality dramatically and have coped (thanks to grass, tready and hoka combo). I'm prepared to give this campaign (albeit a short one) everything I have and I trust in your experience so will add in volume as and where I can alongside the quality sessions. Onwards!!

  • Good to hear of a positive outcome Abbers.

    Belated happy birthday PMJ.

    Tried to run 13miles today.  I progressive sped up in the middle third and was at the redline by 11m and had to take a sit down at the foot of 'bonking hill', which is 2 miles from my house and if I've run out of energy then the body stops there.  Melinda Messenger, who lives in that village,  drove past and had a good look but didn't stop to ask if I was alight.  Probably she heard already I do a lot of bonking there.

    Things are progressing slowly to rebuild myself as a runner.  I've found that my red-line is actually quite low at the moment but getting higher all the time.  Maybe another month or so for the adjustments to happen.

  • Been abroad for a bit so...

    Badbark - woohoo! podium is what you deserve, and there must be more to come

    Nice boozy lunch GM

    Nice longevity Lorenzo

    Happy belated birthday to the fast whippersnapper PMJ

    MsE - piece of gateau - you can do this

     

     

     

     

  • Anyway, mara/ultra no.54: I made a complete pig's ear of it, but have a novel excuse for hopeless underachievement...

    The "In Flanders Fields" mara in Belgium seemed like the right thing to do 100 years after WW1 broke out. Lots more people felt the same, and the usual field of 400 swelled to 1000+. The route starts at Nieuwpoort on the North Sea coast where the  Belgian/British/German trenches met, and traces the front line down to Ypres which was one of the principal battlefields from 1914 to 1918. It passes memorials, cemeteries, pillboxes etc...a history lesson while running. Training was laughable as I completely lost the mojo after Comrades in June and only got it back in the last few weeks...the only LR was the previous Sunday with that gruesome off road mara in the Peak District.

    Having done a fair few back to back maras I thought this would be an easy sub 3.20, esp. since the course was dead flat and allegedly had a permanent tailwind coming off the North Sea.

    In fact it was mainly an irritating headwind, but the going was good and I was in no trouble most of the way. Over the last few miles it became hot, the perennial cramp appeared in the calves and I began to slow down. Sub 3.20 was still on...normally I am good at running down the clock and hitting targets but it got tighter and tighter. The high point was always going to be near the finish, entering Ypres through the Menin Gate. This is a giant war memorial bearing the names of tens of thousands of British and Colonial dead from the war - and these are only the ones who never had a proper grave.  Various of my distant cousins died locally and I was deep in thought while running through the gate when something flashed in front of my eyes.. I flinched and veered aside, stumbling on the cobbles..trying to avoid being hit by...

  • ...the slidey bit on the back of a trombone!  image  image  The fella I was trying to overtake had been handed the instrument and was trying to play the Last Post while sprinting through the Menin Gate. 10/10 for sentiment, but 0/10 for athletic and musical achievement. I stumbled aside and nearly went into a wall. Then the course turned right on rough cobbles and I knew it was touch & go. Coming up a slight incline on cobbles into the the town square I know the plot was lost and lurched over the line in a frustrating 3.20.02.  That's 3 sec outside Comrades B seeding. Aaargh...

     

  • Outcomes:
    1 never, ever think a mara is going to be even "relatively" easy. There are no easy ones 
    2 if you don't train, you will come unstuck
    3 Ypres is a lovely place, and the Belgians do the finest beer
    4 They all count
    5 Never trust a guy with a trombone
    6 On the plus side, formal Comrades qualification is d&d and upgrading to a better seeding should be no trouble*

    (*see above for excuses for failure)

  • Well done Poacher. So close to your target but sounds like a memorable experience. 

    Trombone..... That's a first..

  • Bike It, you are certainly a hard core fella. Have you thought about just doing aerobic, easy effort stuff for a month or two to get your volume up and then add the quality back in? Seems you are pushing pretty hard to be bonking in training runs.image I admire your grit thoughimage

    Poacher, nice race report and good effort done basically on natural ability. Never imagined the scene you painted featuring the trombone, but I guess you have to be prepared for everything, brass included!image 3 seconds...haunting. What else are you planning to enter that can count for qualifying (and when?)? Hope the DOMS don't strike too hard...rest well.

    SJ, I have to say, I like your attitude. You're in a unique state of fitness this year. I think you'll do whatever it is you think you can. Sky's the limit my massively xtrained friend.image

    So got 8 miles in tonight. Feeling much stronger one more day removed from the illness. Fizz thinks groin will be OK...just need to refocus my normal strength stuff (I think I started doing one particular exercise wrong and led to this). You'd think PT moves would require less technical precision.

  • Birch - yes, it was dark still - posted an hour after finishing. Another couple of good sessions there from you.
    MsE - don't worry - I'm sure you'll be fine.
    Abbers - good news.
    GM - nice 5k.
    VTr - training sounds like it's going well.
    SJ - that's a pretty hard session - well done.
    Bike It - steady progress.
    Poacher - frustratingly close. Bizarre incident with the trombone.
    4 mile recovery d&d.

  • TR - good news on the ribs. Looks like you might actually get some decent weather for a change too, if a little breezy. What time do you start? Saw the "Caution - Cyclists" signs up on my way in this morning.

    VTR - hope the groin is nothing too serious and you're able to get through the next 4 weeks unscathed.

    SJ - I continue to be amazed and inspired by your training and racing exploits, given the hand that you've been forced to play with. Really hope you nail this one.

    BI - sounds to me like you're making steady enough progress, it's a road to nowhere if you try to do too much too soon. Easy does it...

    Poacher - excellent race report (and effort) on what must have been a very moving and emotional event for many. The trombone incident is just uncalled for though!

    Gul - How's the taper looking over the next couple of weeks?

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