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The Middle Ground
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However the feeling now developed into a pain which meant I wasn't able to lift up my right leg. I knew plenty would be tracking online and would be wondering what had happened...oh he's hit the wall, ran out of steam whilst in fact it couldn't be further from the truth. There was simply nothing I could do other than man up over the last 4 and a half to 5 miles with a run limp sort of style. It was uncomfortable but manageable and knew I'd be able to finish without running myself literally to hell and back such as when both knees went at Brighton in 2012.
Miles 22 to 26 came out as 9:35, 9:49, 9:21 and 9:47 reflecting my significantly reduced pace and limp. I decided to milk the crowd more and only managed a short glimpse at my family not long after Blackfriars Bridge. Luckily they gave good video coverage of this limp! Plenty were passing by now as I hobbled to the finish. I recall the sub 3:15 pacers passing at roughly 23 miles (?) and it didn't look a particularly fast pace, but there was no way I was going along with that now. I sort of went through the motions passing Big Ben, through Birdcage Walk and into the Mall as apart from the knee, felt relatively fine for the final stages and had decided not to take any gels or water once the knee went.
At this final point I'm able to muster a bit of form from nowhere and unspectacularly passed through the finish in under 3 hours 25 minutes (last 0.69 mile on the GPS recorded at 6 minutes and 2 seconds). For a few hours I was extremely disappointed and kicking myself but in all honesty, the Great Manchester 25.98 mile rip off from the previous two years with faster times (including if 26.2 which would probably have resulted in 3:16 and 3:17) got to me more. A week is a long time in politics but in my case a week is a long time in marathons....so here I am with a shiny new PB of 3:24:50!
Has this disappointment put me off marathons? No
Do I feel the training for for it has been a waste? No
Do I regret targeting just this as the only A race in the end? No after being ill a week before the Cardiff half in any case.
Do I think that I run a decent marathon in line with my other times again? Yes and possibly faster with more miles and lower weight Could I have done anything differently on the day? No based on two successful now ill fated attempts in 2014 and 2015...if truth be told my time I'm told at checkpoints was predicting 3:12 and 3:13 but realistically think 3:14 would have been the outcome without the knee problem.
Should I have tried a newer pair of trainers in the last few weeks in some of my final training runs? (same make and type as my current ones) - possibly not?! But it's nothing different again to any pre race issues and decisions in the past.
Should I have reigned it in a bit from going under 7:10 mile pace at any point? Probably yes but again I didn't feel like I was accelerating or pushing the effort up.
However, the whole thing has made me paranoid about any future marathons and as WP has suggested, it might be best to see a physio before embarking on another. Two runs including a Parkrun yesterday seems to show the knee issue (probably with the other too as felt it last Sunday evening) is a weakness rather than an injury...and with my dad having arthritis in both is perhaps something I need to carefully watch? I might do some squats for now on to see if that can strengthen any weakness.
And being week after the race, I appreciate that you win some and lose some and just need to put it into perspective. It was still a great day out regardless! It's now time to focus on some shorter stuff for a while and am looking forward to it.
An autumn marathon in future marathon might offer a fresh challenge too.
I did say it was long....apologies to anyone if you've actually sat down and read through all that!
....Good return and improvement with the heart rate Dr Dan. Sounds like we have similar 5k targets at the moment!
Fab report WJH
Miles makes smiles.
Progression
I had a slow week - was really feeling tight in the hamstrings/glutes. It's very annoying. Did about 6 miles on Monday and then 4 very hilly miles (over 700ft ascent) yesterday - 8min miles, which I'm pleased about given the steepness. My god, I was huffing and puffing though.
Anyone got any recommendations for 10ks in the Yorkshire area?
Great report, WJH! Re the knee, the exercise I found most useful in a previous life as a frequently injured steeple-chaser was to sit on a dining chair and then lift the leg from the knee to a horizontal position. And repeat. This, of course, is too easy, so I would simply tie one of those brick with holes to my foot. More sophisticated equipment is available in a gym, of course! The point is to build up the muscles above the knee. Worked for me.
WP (and anyone else over 40!): worth looking into joining your local vets club first claim. Always cheaper than an ordinary club and you still get similar benefits. The Northern Vets put on a range of low key and fun races. British Masters:
http://www.bmaf.info/
DrD: nearly there! Sub 20 should be just round the corner!
MYOX: I use the links below to look for races and results. Where are you?! I also use local clubs' fixture lists.
www.ukresults.net
www.race-results.co.uk
MYOX - where and when in Yorkshire?
8 miles at "MP" for me today ... legs were working and came in at 7:17/m at 81% maxHR.
Good session, Dr Dan.
I did 8 yesterday. Today my legs felt great for first time since last weekend. It's my local 10k this Sunday. Planning a fairly quiet week to continue with recovery and attack that as fresh as possible. Its a very hilly course so not pb potential, however for years I've always said if I can sub 40 thrre then I can on any 10k course, so....im targeting sub 40.
Will certainly look into doing that Alehouse....how often would you recommend I do that?
Certainly take your point DT. I also didn't mention that I did no attempted mp at the end of my long runs this time and that in hindsight perhaps I should have as it's worked before? Always willing to listen to any constructive cmoments if anyone does have any.
Also did a steady 8 yesterday after a rest Sunday and likewise aiming to run mostly easy this week.
Great report WJH and so frustrating to have an issue like that when you're still able to push on. Good 5k too Dan. I've managed to get mine down to 20:28 from 22 over the last couple of months at my local parkrun, want to get that under 20 soon too.
In the throes of taper madness for the Mallorca 70.3 on Saturday. No parkrun or long ride this weekend, just a short spin on the TT bike to test out the new drinks bottle and a trip over the water walking round Gunwharf yesterday. Obviously plenty of aches and pains to distract me! Leading the weekly training session tonight at the local track so will run the intervals at target race pace which will hopefully feel very easy (~8m/m). Haven't swum for a couple of weeks which is worrying me at the moment but i'll get out on the swim course once or twice when I arrive, familiarise myself with the wetsuit again!
Alehouse / Dr Dan: I'm in Sheffield. I suppose I'm not overly bothered exactly where the 10k is, but I'd like to race before the autumn to give myself a baseline.
How hard do people think a sub 40 10k is, relative to 5k? I've managed a sub 19 parkrun pretty quickly and I think shorter stuff might turn out to be my thing; having said that, 5 miles at 6:26 sounds pretty damn tough!
8 easy miles today, albeit legs felt really heavy.
Suffering a bit here. Not run for a few days as I have developed a pain in my foot. It would seem to be located on the bone/metatarsal about an inch above the big toe. Painful when I walk and when I bend the toe upwards towards the foot. Hoping it isn't some form of stress injury.
Take care Andrew.
MYOX ... Leeds 10K is 10th July. Fast course which is now based on most of the Abbey Dash route (that race is in November). Sub-40 should be a formality if you're sub-19 at 5K.
5.35 miles with 6 x 400m (av 1:29). That's the last session of the 16 week plan ... just a 3 mi easy run on Friday and the usual bike commuting. Looks like it might be a tad warm on Sunday.
Andrew: Please be careful with your foot!
I had a good week, 8,6 and today was to be 14 miles but it went all wrong as I bonked felt dehydrated so got to 8 miles then walked a mile then ran a mile to get back to car and my post run food which never touched the sides.I am feeling a lot better but took a few hours!
Miles makes smiles.
Progression
MYOX: this may be of interest, although it won't be a very fast course, I suspect...
http://pfrac.co.uk/club-races/penistone-10k/
"Boring foot update alert" - things do feel quite a bit better over the past 24 hours so I'm debating what to do. I have my running stuff at work, and only have a 30/35 minute window for running this evening anyway, so am wondering whether to chance a 3 or 4 mile easy paced run, or to leave it another 24 hours to let it settle down even more.
I've decided to knock the 10 mile race next Sunday on the head though. My training has been far too disrupted since the beginning of March for me to do myself any justice in it, so I would rather focus on getting over this foot niggle and then get on with some 5/10k specific training over the summer.
Feels ok today after a short recovery run last night. Will try something similar tonight and take it from there.
Good news Andrew.
Just as easy 2.3 mi for me straight off the bike commute (which did have some fantasy Le Tour fast bits in
). Just need to get home in one piece and that is the end of 18 weeks of training for Sunday's Leeds HM
. Only 24 miles per week running (
), but lots of quality and supplemented by 46 miles per week cycling and about 700m (28 lengths) front crawl per week. Targets A=1:32:xx, B= 1:33:xx, C=1:34:xx. The recent 10 mile predicts 1:32:45 but this is a much tougher course, so A is probably not realistic.
Best of luck in the HM, Dr.Dan!
Busy this week, but ran just under 6 miles at 7:23 pace overall this morning. That included a slower first mile building to some bursts of something like 5k pace. Bit of a sprint at the end, which always feels good.
Planning to run the parkrun tomorrow, hoping for another sub 19.
Great news on the foot Andrew
Dr Dan: Good luck for Sunday's HM I really would not under sell what cycling can do for you
I look forward to race report unless there is a follow you online thingy?
MYOX: good luck with parkrun tomorrow
I lost 3lb's this week which is a miracle and on this morning run 2 @ 8mm I have not seen those cheeky little numbers in a while
Miles makes smiles.
Progression
Another short easy run this evening went ok. Cricket tomorrow is the big test of the foot.
Good luck on Sunday Dan!
Take it easy with the foot Andrew. Hopefully no mishaps with the cricket tomorrow.
Excellent WP sounds like you are over the injuries now! Nice to see those sort of numbers on the watch if not seen in a while.
Good luck with the sub 19 attempt Myox, alot of improvement to come being relatively new to things so its encouraging to be at that level already.
Likewise Dr Dan good luck for Sunday, hopefully it's not too warm as it looks quite sticky on Sunday..,.who would have thought that after the previous week or two!
No dramas here with very steady running this week. Have entered some races now and renewed club membership following some queries and unsurprisingly, the fact I entered London and put the club down on the entry last October means I had to renew for the current year as not doing so could have invalidated my result and those of the club (?). However, I highly doubt Run Britain would be knocking on my door querying a lack of registration with my non stand out result some way down the results list of my club let alone overall. At least it's sorted now but certainly not cheap!
Good luck tomorrow Dan, hopefully see you there.....
Ran parkrun in 18:54 yesterday - PB by 3 secs. Felt a bit tired from Friday's run so think I can possibly go a little faster next time. Think I might benefit from some proper intervals to get used to what the effort required for sub 6 min miles feel like.
Good luck both. Unbelievable that a week ago I was wrapping up in winter gear to run. Its due to be 20c at 11am for the start of my 10k. More than anything it will probably just leave me wiped out all afternoon.