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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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Definitely!! There are undoubtedly some physical health benefits to periods of abstention (difficult for me to quantify, as the longest I have given up alcohol since my mid teens was one week, when I was in hospital - funnily enough I didn't really feel the benefit after that week
) but the mental health benefits of sensible drinking are immense for many people.
Mind you, checking my training log, I did give up for 6 days before the Bramley 20 once and that was one of my best race results
Anyway - like alcohol, illness is a funny old game! Felt fine and dandy running this morning, if a little queasy after, so stupidly did the longer run home tonight. 7.2M hilly xc at what ended as an exhausting 9:40 pace!! Feel like absolutely shite now and fully except I'm an idiot!
Looks like reps tomorrow might be off the cards......
Way too much booze talk for what's supposed to be a bunch of athletes
Just another form of obsession I guess! Actually, we could try a control experiment SG, where you drink for two weeks before a key race and see what happens
track tuesday - abandoned the idea of 400s as was far too windy. So coach gave us 5*600 but we sprint the first 200 drop pace over next 200 in about 40 secs into the wind then accelerate to full out sprinting for the final 200. We had 5 min rec.
all the group were very wary that this session would be hard enough but we needn't have worried. We were all all on our knees at the end as the wind was unforgiving on lactic heavy legs towards the end.
they came out:
27, 37, 31 (too fast as the first 400 was 64s)
28, 42, 31
28, 43, 29
28, 48, 29 (the wind was really picking up now so took the middle section easier)
28, 48, 28
Nice session in the wind Dean, and an interesting one that will hopefully help you with those mid race surges of pace that can sometimes ruin that middle third.
Nice session SG, that sounds like more of a headache on the track, too much number crunching to ensure pace. Good outcome never the less.
RE alcohol, I find when I drink I go mad and get so drunk I'm desperately ill for 2 days. It then takes me a week to feel ok (running wise) again. I just can't manage it now, try to keep up with the lads and end up a jibber mess. I'm worried about going on a stag to the Leeds festival a month before a proposed marathon! I try to stay off the stuff as much as possible but being quite social it's tricky!
Track Tuesday:
20 x 200 off 30 seconds. All in 36 apart from a couple of early 35s. Good stuff. Was nice after feeling half dead on my LSR on Sunday, but a 9.5 last night eased things up a bit. Track race planned a week today! There will be an end of school year Watford road trip in July too!
Good sessions Dean and Ss.
Dean, I like the way your coach adapts a session to overcome adverse conditions.
Ss, 200's off short recovery, fast but not sprinting. I could break 34 minutes for 10k when I averaged 36's in this sort of session.
Re. The booze. It isn't so much about feeling shit after a binge, its all the other stuff you never even consider.
If you go so far as to type in 'Effect of Alcohol on Athletic Performance' into Google, you can read it for yourself.
Whatever I do; where I have a choice, is ask this, 'Will this course of action help me be a better runner or not?'. My decisions are based on that question alone.
🙂
Ric, I don't doubt that having zero alcohol will make you a better runner than having even modest amounts. The question as ever is life balance; we are not pros and most of us like a few drinks now and again. The question is what is a reasonable amount to have only a minimal impact on performance and that's where I value your views as someone who knows and has researched the subject more than most. My take is I don't worry about a couple of beers/glasses of wine any day, including the day before races as long as I have about half my days alcohol free.
I normally don't drink from the Sunday before a race but in February I was excited as staying in the big smoke, the Sun was shining and I thought I was on my hols.
I planned to have a couple but that turned into a session !!
I did regret it as I ran 16.25 which was about 3-4 secs outside the V50 course record which has stood for 10 years I think and when I realised I was annoyed with myself.
I will be back to rectify that issue late summer hopefully!!
That is definitely unfortunate Rob!
What killed drinking for me was having kids. There's nothing worse than being woken up, nursing a hangover, by a child or two coming in at 6:30 and bouncing all over you. I guess some people might have understanding partners who shield them from this, but my wife has never been a big drinker, and is wholly unsympathetic to hangover sufferers.
Pete, good run at Battersea Park, hitting your target nicely there.
Dean, fast session as always, but surely legging it into the wind is excellent resistance training?
Nice 200s SS.
Just had a look at my June & July race calendar. Think I might have overcommitted to stuff. Never mind.
big pimping training from the usual suspects.
Always interesting what factors add up to affect performance. I do my best to minimise negative stuff, get plenty of rest, no drink, not much junk etc.
I've a minimal commute at the moment, so i'm not liking the idea of a minimum extra 30mins each way next year. Stuff like that probably adds up.
What you got loaded Dachs?
Usual Medium long Wed for me, 10miles this time. First half felt drudgery, second half was shirt off, feeling sexy as heck, and a joy. Had a false dawn with the ribs recently, so will only whisper it, but hopefully the stage where every single breath seems to be a high effort is over now.
Embracing the gap until Friday's so far unspecified hard session with some good old fashioned refuelling.
Future racing wise, ideally would like to slot another 3 5ks in, and a couple of 3ks over the next 2-3months. Would probably make one of the 5ks in the local summer series, rather than them always be 2hour round trip jobs! That was super worth it for the 16.59, but the 17.26 crap conditions/amended route/day off job was perhaps a little less so!
Good stuff all. Alcohol talk means proper runners!!
Dachs - Overcommitting races? 1500m tonight - Eastern Vets, 5,000m on saturday (BAL), 800 & 3000m Monday night (Southern Vets).
Yes I know, that IS plain stupid. the 5,000m is the bonus race
(not my fault)
SG - couple of trail relays for the club with legs between 7 and 10 miles, some vets track meets (800/1500/3000/5000), an open meet or two, a 5,000 and a road 5K, a couple of 10Ks. Plenty to be getting on with.
Fingers crossed your ribs are fine.
They're only short things though Simon - surely you'll be recovered within 30 minutes?
Are you pot hunting the Yateley meets again?
Seem to remember some epic battles with a chap called Dick Chadder or something similar?
Yes Pete, life balance. Something I was made aware of thirty years ago. Work, family and leisure. It's like a triangle. Get one aspect too far out of kilter and something could go wrong.
Personally, unless I'm convinced I'm finally chasing down the very last 0.25% of fitness, I'm unlikely to forgo every tiny aspect that might work against me.
The stress of doing so, might well negate the benefits anyway.
Planning a speed session tomorrow, and no matter how hot it might get, the shirt stays on. Apart the the overtly exhibitionist aspect of running around half naked, there's also the reason that in a race a shirt and number must be worn.
Just get used to the heat.
🙂
Lunchtime session was 6*800m in 3:13, 3:08, 3:07, 3:08, 3:05, 3:13. Did them without looking at the watch so just let the legs roll over. Real aim was sub 6:30 pace so happy with the middle 4: first one was a bit slow and last one was plain hard.
June looks like Marlow FM on Sunday (10k ish "race" with 4 bridges, 1 stile and a load off off-road on uneven surfaces), 3xsummer 5k , City of London mile and a few more.
July starts with track 3000m at Watford and Yately 10k (which is the second Wednesday in July and not the first Wednesday in July) and Vets Inter Area match.
It's not pot hunting, you cheeky bugger. There is no village fete attached to the Yateley races, therefore not proper pot hunting. Plus a course record under 30 minutes! Yateley is a proper runner's race. No scenery, few spectators, no fancy dress. Turn up, run 10K, go home, eat dinner. Job's a good 'un.
Anyway, I'll tell you tomorrow whether I'm running it
yep true Dachs. Just as well for your sake that I have nothing to do with the club who put the race on
I did used to love a low key event.The Marlow champs were almost entirely built on them.
I'm certain i'll go back to that style one day, once I've decided i've 100% reached the peak of my own mountain. Could be 5 years, could be tomorrow!
I'm a typical binary drinker, all or nothing. I can spend weeks without a drink and it doesn't bother me. Or days like today where I need to reward myself for still being alive. I normally stay dry for the week before an A-race and the day before anything else. I do seem to be softening with these rules as I age though. Actually I find that I seem to be getting soft about the midriff too. That's the biggest long term effect I find with alcohol; weight gain too.
Yesterday's progression run was delayed until the evening, at which point a miscalculation with the car's keyless entry system resulted in no run and a locksmith's bill. Lumpy XC 12km about the Usk hills this morning - very Bus-esque.
It just feels nice to run shirtless in the sun Ric! To be fair, I have the decency to only do so when I am off-road and away from the hoards (not like that guy with the glasses who seems to turn up and run virtually every local race topless, no matter what the weather
)
SG - might be yesterday
. Don't knock those local low key races - they can be the most fun. It's not ALL about times!
Phil - was that the legendary Goose Shit track? Have you done the Marlow FM one before?
Iron - those Usk hills sound nice to me
. Agree re the alcohol and weight gain though!
Day in bed for me today after a night of fever. I'm feeling a bit more spritely now so hopefully coming out the other side - those bloody viruses!
You jest Bus, but always every chance you're right there!
2 years without a pb, rushing into mid 30s, a lot of years of training, am definitely pushing against the tide now.
I suppose a certain victory is continuing to enjoy it and stay active on here. Despite a few mutterings about occasional disappearances, we're 5+ years in now, and I've probably made 75% of the posts at least on this thread. (Phil, count em for us when you get a second will you? )
Many, many a runner has passed through these pages and dropped off the face of the planet.
If you're one of them....I hope you're doing well...and feel free to say hello and update us how you're doing
Patience young Jedi! Your time will soon come again. Look at the likes of Dean and Rob T- mid 30's is nothing! At least another decade of PBing potential ahead
9.5 miles - sober.
Mid 30s is still young
...hate to think of the times I could have hit back then. What you might have to do is change your training plan. If you keep doing the same training you will keep getting similar outputs. Maybe training for a marathon would unleash some new life 
I've always been a bit uncomfortable that some runners are so utterly beholden to a coach and their methods that they get really upset when it's suggested that they might be wrong, some of the time.
It's worth holding back a couple of % just in case. Proves at least there's some thinking you can do for yourself.
That was why I never put myself in the hands of a coach. And why I never lashed out at a coach (behind their back) when the results didn't come. I didn't think that fair when I could do the job myself.
A strange experience listening to successful (by our standards) ex internationals stating that their coach didn't really know as much as others thought they did.
It took a few years of personal experience doing their own training to work that one out. Worse, the thought they succeeded in spite of the methods rather than because of them.
I'm spared all that. Thankfully.
🙂
Ric, my policy with your posts is to try and ignore your bitter poison, despite your constant fishing for reaction, but monitor regardless, in case you're stating inflammatory nonsense.
We've stepped into the latter again with your snide implied, indirect style of niggly comments, so i would like to very swiftly point out that I have never for a second "lashed out" at my coach, and certainly not behind his back. I have full faith in his skillz, and appreciate massively his willingness to give me free coaching for so long, despite life often taking him out of the country.
My suggestion, is that you set your own thread up, where everyone who appreciates your style of advice and anecdotes can party, and leave me be here.
ps Dean, I can understand why you say that for sure, but if you saw the training laid out, you'd see that it's never quite the same anyway. 5 years in, and there's still sessions that are new. And quite often.
However, as much you jest, maybe one day the marathon may be an option, rather than a 100% never
Jamie - sorry to only come to you third after the unpleasantness above.
I thought that was an epic post pal. Very honest, and am glad the ultras have given you a possible new angle.
Feel free to post though as often as you like, I've made a career out of posting with nothing to say
Besides, when Ric sets his new thread up, I'd imagine there will be an absolute stampede over there!
I hope my post didn't come across as me in any way implying that my coach is wrong or I doubt his methods, that most definitely isn't the case. I'm just having a extended dip in motivation, confidence, enthusiasm and form which is entirely me.
Personally I benefit from having a sounding board for my training and having someone with far superior knowledge on hand to plan out my training and answer any questions I have.
I hope to pick up again with him when I've got myself in a place where I have a clear goal in mind.
Stevie G - No problem. I was a bit worried my post came across in the wrong context but glad it didn't.