Sub 3h15

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Comments

  • Take care Fishy

    Sounds like a tough day BI. Well done for seeing it through.

    Excellent PB Moof image 

  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭

    Yay!  Well done on the pb, Moof

  • Great stuff Moof - sounds like the conditions weren't ideal out there today so to get a big PB is something to feel pretty chuffed about.

    Well battled BI - we've all been in that position so great that you didn't throw the towel in.

  • Bike it - we ll done on getting to the finish, many would have sacked it image

    Moof- A nice shiny new pb and another sub 3 whats not to like image and birthday cake.?. is it your birthday as well, plenty of carbs in that  image

    Fishy- bloody knees eh,I know all about it  !

     

  • OO54OO54 ✭✭✭

    Bike it- indeed we have all been there- remember mine like it was yesterdayimage..

    Moof- must be the story of the day, huge Congrats!

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭

    Great effort, Moof - well deserved PB
    kudos, Bike It for seeing it through  . . . .

  • marrowsmarrows ✭✭✭

    Terrific run Moof and well done for grinding it out BikeIt!

    Well done PMJ too on the 10-miler - I snooped. I excused myself (wimpily or prudently, you choose) from racing it and used it for 3 tempo efforts separated by 1 easy mile each time.  That made 1:10 for the 10 and I made it up to 19 miles with getting there and back, so a decent day's training even if I was indeed wimpy.

  • Bike It - sorry to hear it didn't go to plan. Well done on battling through to the end.
    moof - excellent PB - sounds like you finished stronger than those around you!
    Leslie - nice progress at parkrun.
    OO - good parkrun by OO Jnr.
    Lorenzo - nothing definite yet, except I straight training for whatever it might be on 3rd November! Yet more great hill work.
    Fishy1 - hope you're fully recovered soon. Oh no, just read about your injury at the weekend. Take care.
    Rennur - hope the mara was enjoyable this weekend.
    Poacher - you need to ask for a refund.
    GM - you have been busy!
    marrows - that's a very decent session there; not a bad decision on the 10 miler. Will wait for PMJ to report back.
    Wanted to do something that was vaguely like hills this morning and so headed to the other side of town to run up and down a railway bridge. Exciting stuff. So 7 miles @ 7:44 m/m including 2 miles up and down the aforementioned road.

  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭

    Great result Moof.  You put a lot in the preparation and got a good reward. The conditions were a little tricky with the mud in the footpath stages and the wind on the southern legs and not a cool as we would have wanted which must have cost you a bit.  Good to meet you before the start, even if briefly.  

    Nice to see that different session Gul.

    Lorenzo - you are running well at the moment and I don't see any problem to get your B seeding.  I think you can do either A-C of your options but probably better not to stress yourself with a hard 10 miler, so I would go for Parkrun or Easy run.

    There is more to be learnt through failure than success many times in life and I got many lessons yesterday.  Most importantly I didn't get an injury* and in particular no return of my periostitis. I made a brief report as follows.

     

    * Except I left my plasters at home

     

  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭

    It's been a long time out of 'proper' running for me. Ongoing periostitis, originating in June 2013 has caused me to abort marathon campaigns in autumn 2013 and spring 2014. I've only really been able to return to running in August 2014. In the meantime I had grown very fat. The main goal of my running since August has been to get back to a basic level of fitness and shed at least 7kg by adopting a high fat diet – which also makes it difficult to run at pace anyway. I have made very limited long runs (16, 18 and 20) and minimal running at pace since August.

    For the marathon itself, I ran the first miles at paces in the region 7:30-40. I knew from the start that I would be unable to sustain the pace but kept on anyway – not like me as usually I have a very good idea of what pace I sustainable. At around mile 8 I dropped out of the small group I had been running with and dropped the pace slightly to 7:50-8:00. I went through half in 1:42, but was already flagging and getting into a running debt.

    In an attempt to plug the holes, I had sports drink at mile 14 and some jelly babies. I felt a bit more energetic, but the pace is plummeting from 8:00 at mile 13 to 8:45 by mile 21. I'm getting increasing wobbly. Somehow I'm down on the grass verge for a minute or so. I get going again, but short lived and down again. I can get up and start again. I try to run at 10:00, but I'm struggling at even that pace. Run a bit, walk a bit. I get worse and worse. I keep getting asked 'are you OK 440?' I always reply 'yes'.

    It is increasingly ugly, I just focus on moving forward, but I'm also stopped at times with hands on knees. There are others around in a similar condition, but they still overtake me. The race finished on a track and a few metres before, one guy pats me on the back and says 'let's finish this together'. The ultrashuffle seems inappropriate and I run at tempo pace once I get to the track. Mostly I am relieved I finished and can count another one done.

    So what happened? Obviously I only put in very limited training and really was under-trained to run longer distances and at pace. Firstly I ran the early miles too fast and I knew it when I was running them, but didn't do anything. I also think my lower back and hips don't have enough flexibility and this is giving me fatigue there. I'm not convinced with what I am eating suits marathon running either or if there is some further metabolic issue below that.

    Anyway, I'll be back. Onwards and upwards. Next one possibly Pretoria on March 1st. In the meantime there's a lot of work to be done.

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭

    Seriously, BikeIt - well done again - when things are falling apart to that extent, with several miles to go, getting yourself to the finish shows great fortitude.
    As you say, onwards & upwards !

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    BIG congratulations to both moof and Bike It for their respective marathon performances. Both impressive in their own way.  I heard it was a windy day but saw some fast times so well done!  

  • G-DawgG-Dawg ✭✭✭

    Another brief visit to see what's going on.
    Bike It, that's gutsy to keep going, You seem pragmatic about it all and will have learned loads in that race to take into the next campaign. I've only done 6 marathons but have learned a lot from each one. So far managing a PB each time. However, I've done around 12 half maras and some of my best PBs have come from what felt like a failure in the previous race but turned out to be a lessons learned session.

    I'm currently training just to train at the moment with the Brighton campaign commencing in December. My goal is to have decent endurance in the legs before December, so I'm going longer than I normally would for tis time of year.
    Knocked out a 13.1 miler on Saturday. really didn't fancy it after a big dinner with wine etc the night before but it was only going to be a slow run.
    Sounds stupid but I sometimes find it hard to run slow on my own, so on Saturday I just gave up and ran at comfy, metronome type pace.
    Finished in a shade under 100 minutes which is pleasing as a few years ago that would have been a race PB yet I'm now able to do it at comfy pace and slightly hungover. image

    SB

  • Bike It, condolences, but you've got the right attitude of onwards and upwards.

    moof, nice pb. I was just telling someone that I could die a happy man with a sub 3 under my belt.

    Race report: Humboldt Redwoods Marathon, October 19.

    Capsule summary: small, friendly marathon in the redwoods of Northern California. Very scenic and more rolling than expected. Not a PB course because of the roll and the fact that the tall trees played havoc with the garmin signal, resulting in wildly inaccurate pace cues.

    I ran 3:37, which seems on the face of it to be unworthy in this thread. However, I was pleased because it was a "comeback from injury" run for me (average 15 mpw in the month prior; a few weeks of no running before that because of a hip flexor).

    This was an odd race for me because I had no goal going into it. (Other than, "don't re-injure yourself", I suppose.) I couldn't race it on such low recent mileage and *no* long runs in the months prior. (I think 10 was my longest!) I had considered going around at 10:20s with my brother-in-law, but that seemed like it would hurt me.

    Although I'd been toying with the idea of a run/walk experiment, on the start line I decided to treat it like an easy LSD. The first half was pretty steady around 8:20. That felt good, with no obvious hip pain, so when the second half turned slowly grindingly uphill, I wound it up with 8:03 average for the 3rd quarter. (I always feel a tiny bit bad about it, but I find it very motivating to pass people in the latter half. And since I started slow, there were plenty of people to pass.) The last quarter was mostly downhill; my hip was feeling good; my hamstrings were aching and occasionally threatening cramp, but I was pretty sure I could survive, so brought it up to 7:48 average. When doubts started to creep in, I started counting to 12 (every third step), which does wonders to clear my mind.

    So, my second-worst time. But I'm feeling good about it nonetheless.

    I experimented with carb loading, an it seemed to work pretty well. Instead of the more traditional "couple of days of higher carbs" (~7 g of carbs per kilo of bodyweight) that I've done in the past, I did a short hard workout the morning before and then launched into what felt like constant eating (10-12g/kilo). It didn't feel bad during the day, but by the end, I was a bit gassy and felt like I'd eaten, well, 700g of carbs. To answer Lorenzo's question earlier about spreading out all that excess, I think (but am no expert) that you need to push most of the carbs in after you've activated the storage mechanism by sprinting. So no joy in spreading the carbs from the night before, probably. Race day felt perfect, stomach-wise and energy level-wise. I'll repeat this process for my next race.

  • GerardMGerardM ✭✭✭

    Bike it - That sounded like a real mental and physical struggle for you and once again, you have proved that you are up to the challenge. Seriously well done on finishing and I look forward to seeing your progress over the winter. Are you based in SA now?

    Moof - Comfortablly under the 3 hrs. Great new PB, am envious here!

    SB - That's a soild 13.1m training run there.

  • Moof, sub-3 on a windy day is a good result and after a few weeks it will mellow and seem fine. A look at the results show you placed well but a mall field on a windy day is not helpful.

  • AbbersAbbers ✭✭✭

    Moof - great PB in less than perfect conditions. Super effort and well deserved reward.

    BI - and talking of great efforts, it's always harder to keep grinding out the miles when things are going wrong rather than breezing along without a care, so a big well done to you too for sticking at it. You've come a long way given the problems you've encountered.

    Rennur - a very solid comeback mara from you too after impaired build up and a less than fast course.

    Some other great training and racing going on, as usual. Still biking & gyming here, another week or so to go of self-imposed non-running before a little test trot. Meanwhile, interview time on Thursday for the first time for 11 years, which will be a novel experience in itself!

  • Oooh, good luck Abbers. Both with the test run and the interviewimage

    I've been confined to the bike for the past 3 weeks - 1 mile test run (after an hour on the bike) tonight and the toe wasn't bothering me, my legs felt fast and bouncy but now my shin is aching again! image 

    Good comeback marathoning Rennur! And that's nowhere near as slow as my second worst time (it begins with a 4!).

  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭

    Moof - decent run in the wind and a PB not to be sniffed at. You had trained so hard....was it easy to readjust when you realised the weather was going to prevent an even faster one?

    Bike It - better a tough one now than next May. Kudos for grinding it out on what was clearly not an ideal day

    Take care Fish

    Rennur - good work, there is no concept of "unworthy" round here.

    Abbers - good luck with the job thing

     

  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭

    The #gymfails were back tonight with two new ones: (1) middle aged guy on the treadie...thinks long and hard, then sets the speed to 2.5kph. which is slower than walking really, what's the point? (2) lucky he walking so quietly, as there was a bloke asleep on an adjacent multi gym, must have had a tough day.  10k for me, no sign of CG so no strange dances

    Anyway the Yorkshire Marathon...seems like ages ago. Mixed feelings about this - the organisers have done really well to create a race which in its second year already feels established and like a "big" event. York is a great location to stage a mara as the northern calendar is fairly thin.  People seemed to enjoy the day and it was pretty well staged.  Very good and loud support for a largely rural race,  repeat to locals and others who were terrific

    However I have reservations about the logistics - using York Uni as the start/finish looks like a good idea on paper, but it has no parking which means most people have to use park & ride at an airfield a few miles away.  There was thick fog and slow, heavy traffic...this, and the need to get back to the same place afterwards, lengthens the day. The campus itself has useful facilities like shelter and toilets but it is just too big and confusing. Baggage tents were a ridiculous distance from the finish for a winter race after which people are going to cool down rapidly and simply need to get some kit on. The race takes in the middle of York briefly and it was good to run past the Minster as the bells rang out, but other than that it's country roads and could be anywhere.  The course is subtly undulating with several tedious out/back sections and I wouldn't go for a PB attempt there, there are faster maras.

     

  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭

    Aim was simply to go sub 3.20 for Comrades B Seeding. It was the 3rd mara in 5 weeks, and working nights is tough; it was clear from the start that the whole thing was going to be a struggle. Nothing much in the legs and no point busting a gut, I'm fairly good at running down the clock for miles on end and hitting targets accurately (except when brass instruments intervene) and although the finish time of 3.19.19 sounds very tight, I don't think sub 3.20 was really in doubt.

    It was great to have support and lots of shouts from Minni and friends, that was the icing on the cake which even outranks a namecheck in Tony's Trials on MT.  Sounds like Tony had a good run too.

    So, 12 ultras + 43 maras = 55 painful tests of mind and body. Aiming to take it fairly easy in the gym from hell for a few weeks, then might knock off a couple more back in blighty before the end of the year if time allows.

    Good running all, enjoy the cooler weather before winter bites

  • OO54OO54 ✭✭✭

    Rennur that's no disgrace at all, you are on the way back and followed a sensible strategy for the race.

    I'm in Switzerland for 2 weeks. Looking forward to Lausanne this weekend. I'm entered foe the Half but will probably switch to the 10km so I can run with junior OO. My form has slipped a bit the last few weeks so I'll wait a few more days before setting a race target. 

  • GerardMGerardM ✭✭✭

    Rennur  - Well done!

    Abbers - Good luck with the interview.

    Poacher - Nicely done there and target achieved.

    VTR - How did yours go?

    PMJ - How was CP10?

    5 mile run for me tonight and my legs didn't want to know. Still think Saturday's 23k and lots of hills were in my legs as 7:01 pace didn't feel comfortable but an enjoyable run nonetheless, bl00dy warm out again with vest and shorts on this time of year is just fab!

    Jools - Nearly there!!!!! Bet you can't wait. When do you fly out? Two of my Jsy friends are doing it. One guy aiming for sub 2:35 and his wife around 3hrs. Is it being televised or do you know if there is an online link?

  • Cabbage Patch 10 report.

    Numbers: 62:23 for 80.12% Age grading. Target was 62:30 (6:15 pace).

    Splits pretty much tell the story: 5:56, 5:57 6:15, 6:02, 6:15, 6:09, 6;24, 6:26, 6:34, 6:18

    I started out fast but felt easy. Tucked in behind a big group and then realised it was the 6 minute bus and I knew I couldn't hold that all the way so I dropped away from it and held steady from 2 to 5. (The GPS drops out in a tunnel so mile 4 is not as it seems). I was feeling a bit negative at 4 miles but when I got to half-way and saw 30:30 I knew I was 45 seconds up and so dug in and mile 6 was another strong one and got me more time in the bag so it just needed bringing home at that stage. The hardest bit of the course is miles 7 and 8 along rough paths and towpath and then a pull up over Richmond Bridge. The 9 mile marker was in a silly place (don't know why, has always been way out)  and I passed that in 55 minutes (GPS had me do 9 in 56) so I thought 7 minutes for a sub-62 but no magic and a long last mile had me dip just under the 62;30 target.

    First 80% WAVA for 2014 so very happy. Need to do another at Brighton 10k in a few weeks time.

  • moofmoof ✭✭✭
    Renner- great effort, and drop the I'm not worthy line.

    I'm pretty sure we all put in the time and dedication to be the best we can be. We are all equals on here.



    Bike it, loved your report and the way you toughed it out. Takes courage to dig deep.



    Job done Poacher, well done.



    PMJ- a really strong gutsy run from you as always, I wouldn't expect anything less.
  • moofmoof ✭✭✭
    Abingdon report.

    I decided to give the P&D 70-85 mile plan a go for Abingdon but with a couple of changes as I felt running all the long and medium long runs at mp + 20/10% was a little too much as I usually prefer a nice plod, so on alternative sessions I followed P&D style or just a 8mm max time on feet run.

    All recovery runs were at a pace of 9 to 8.30mm pace.

    I think this slightly cautious approach helped me cope with the higher mileage and I was able to achieve a decent run in the quality tempo/V02 max sessions.

    Rather annoyingly I picked up a calf strain midway through the first week of taper. So much for the cautious approach!

    Unfortunately my taper became a vertical drop due to this calf pull, my momentum faltered and panic set in with the best part of a week of minimal running and a few very wet bike rides to try and keep the endurance ticking over.

    Being a bloke I sulked and lost a bit of focus on my goal. As I know through past experience this endurance training is full of ups and downs with a fair few hurdles along the way.



    Race

    I set off at a steady pace making sure I ran at no more than 6.40 mm. I deliberately avoided getting into any groups as I didn't want to get dragged along at anything but my goal pace. After maybe 4/5 miles a couple of guys in the group in front dropped back to me complaining that the pace was picking up too much. The three of us tapped along together at a controlled pace and reached half way in a comfortable 87.30.

    At 15 miles the wind had picked up a fair bit and it was full on for the next couple of miles up a steady incline, I was conscious at this point I was working a bit too hard and could no longer share the burden as the two other runners had dropped off the pace.

    The rest of the race I was on my own, still feeling strong and continually picking off runners that were having a harder time than me.

    The last four miles I was really feeling it, I didn't hit the wall as my energy levels felt fine but I just struggled to turn my legs over at a sufficient pace. It really felt like a solo time trial with the lack of runners and support, my pace dropped into 7mm pace and as much as I tried I couldn't speed up.

    I'm not really sure how to cope with those last four miles as it was a tough physical and mental battle at this point.

    I managed to pick off quite a few runners and wasn't overtaken at all from half way so there was a fair few feeling it.

    As I approached the final 400 meters I realised I was cutting it close for a pb and made a final agonising surge around the track to cross the line in an official time of 2.57.49.

    I crossed the line and felt emotionally drained and I could have blubbed!

    It's the second time I've run Abingdon and that will be the last as I found it uninspiring, running on my own from about 17 miles with little crowd support makes it all the more tougher.

    The way my quads, calfs and glutes feel today I'm sure I gave it my all and I'm quite proud of my effort and commitment.

    But not satisfied, so I'll see you at London.
  • Haven't caught up on all that has been happening here but did want to congratulate the marathoners!

    Bike It, what a gutsy effort. I agree with others...much easier to go at it when feeling good. Much respect to you!

    Moof, awesome running in poor conditions and after having to take the time off. I know you were mentally worried about the interruption in such a great build up. But you rocked it and I'm sure London will see you healthy right up to the line!

    Rennur, amazing race on such little training. You've got a solid engine there.

    PMJ, really nice 10 miler.

    Abbers, best of luck in the interview.

    SJ, glad to hear about the toeimage, but sorry to hear about the shin.image

    My report to follow...

  • Marathon report:

    The day leading up to the event was not ideal. The race was 3+ hrs away and near my in-laws place (we stayed w/them the night before the race). Had a hard time finding the start on Saturday afternoon as my Garmin couldn't recognize the address and had scrambled the streets. But saw some landmarks and figured I'd be OK on race morning. Dinner plans w/my wife's family that night went wrong and I ended up eating something questionable and not getting to bed until late. Then my father-in-law got calls starting at 2 am (he was on call w/the hospital) and I ended up with about 3 hrs of sleep (maybe). Arrived at the race in pitch black darkness and in a massive traffic jam of racers (and I was lost!). Ended up just barely making it to the start line. No proper warm up and I have to admit was not in a great state of mind in the corral.image

    Race day weather was a mixed bag. Temps were in the mid40s (good) but winds were 16-20 mph (not so good). There were about 1500 runners total and the course was a double loop.

    I set out at a very steady 7:15 pace. HR surprisingly was not too high and the pace didn't feel taxing. Despite this, my calves felt weird (tight/tired?) and in the back of my mind I wondered if I'd have some problems later. I ended up partnering with another runner in the second mile and we basically paced each other and talked to stay loose. Miles 4-8 were directly into the wind and uphill, then we looped back the way we had come and got a nice break from the wind. Came through the halfway point at 1:35:56, so about a minute off 3:10 pace. Because this was a double loop course, I kept seeing the later miles on the first loop (e.g. mile 10 also had mile 20 shown). I remember at mile 10 thinking I would be hard pressed to simply finish (if it really were 20 already) and wondering how I’d feel in 10 more miles when it actually was the 20 mile mark. But I kept checking my HR and it stayed in the upper 150s (79-80% max) through all these miles and that gave me confidence that I could feel better later (and I knew my training should hold).

    I lost my partner at mile 14 (he just disappeared after looking so fresh) so joined a new pack that came surging up to me. Then the pack eroded to myself and one other from 16 to 18. We were just cruising by people by this point. When we made the final turn (out of the wind) at mile 18 I had a huge mental lift. My new companion was running his first marathon and was feeling wildly euphoric. I have to admit this is when I really started to feel good, but knew I had to be careful as everything can change so quickly. We now started slowly dialing up the pace. Mile 19 was 7:09, miles 20 and 21 were 7:10 (yet my HR was still sitting at 160!). Mile 22 was 7:01 (and my last running companion hit the wall). I remember thinking that I may still have a shot at 3:10. Then I turned into the wind again. At mile 23 my legs finally began to feel heavy, but I knew the only thing that could get me now would be cramps. My mind was still focused and amazingly I felt like I was on a fast finish LR (as opposed to the end of the marathon). Racing now…Mile 24 7:12, mile 25 7:02, mile 26 6:59. Rounded the final corner at 5:50 pace and was howling. Saw the clock at 3:10:10. Could I have missed sub-3:10 by 10 seconds?!! Took me a minute to figure it out, but had forgotten about the staggered start!

    Chip time: 3:09:56

    Final stats: 1st half 1:35:56, 2nd half 1:34:00, HR ave 160 (80%). And an 11 minute PB to boot.

    Boston 2016 awaits!

  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭
    Moof - top cojones to bring that home and you have the confidence of knowing you can handle fairly heavy miles



    PMJ top wav-ing on a busy course with some annoying narrow and turny bits



    VT. - huge neg split, huger PB and a BQ that so many people spend years just dreaming of. Excellent day's work off the back of a stressful start



    Lots of good/gutsy racing lately - who's up for it next w/e?
  • Lots of great reports, guys!
    Bike It - great determination needed to finish that one - well done, indeed.
    SB - good progress.
    Rennur - good controlled return and showing promise.
    Abbers - all the best with your interview.
    SJ - pleased to hear the toe is improving.
    Poacher - interesting to hear your view on the York marathon. Perfectly executed target by yourself. BTW what is a multi-gym? I presume you're not meant to sleep on it.
    GM - not quite so warm here!
    PMJ - great effort and well done on sneaking under your target.
    Moof - some real guts there battling through on your own. Congrats again on the PB. More to come, I'm sure.
    VTr - fantastic! That's a really strong finish. Congrats on the sub 3:10 and massive PB!
    7 miles again this morning with another 3k effort. Slower than last week's in 11:47 (3:49, 3:55, 4:01). Probably still recovering from the last two sessions.

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