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Wardi - I'm sure there is lots of carbon fibre I could buy for the buggy, and potentially disc wheels...
CD - good point about the TUE. I expect his dosage is low enough not to need one though?
Done some reasonable training this week with some track work on Tuesday and a relatively hard lunchtime run yesterday (21 minutes out, turned around and ran back in just under 19 mins, and I think it was about 5k each way). Probably won't get much training done over the weekend as we're very busy (doing fun things like a birthday party, going out for lunch with people etc.).
I've now got a 10k next weekend - Mrs Padams had entered it but has been injured for a couple of weeks. They allow transfers and I couldn't think of a good excuse not to run - not particularly looking forward to it!
Midlands Road Relays for me on Saturday, and managed the 4.3km course @ 6.22m/m (sorry to mix my units): 17.03 is 40s slower than my best on that course, so I'm slowly catching up fitness. At least I've now done a race faster than marathon pb pace, even if half marathon pb pace is still reserved for speedwork... 16M yesterday afternoon and hadn't fuelled properly so the last few miles were a bit ugly. Still, another 50M week chalked up and I have finally managed to string together 5 weeks of proper training without getting ill or injured, so fingers crossed the comeback can continue
Well I finished Lochness... in... 03:23:00 with a pace of 07:45 m/m. 173rd out of around 2617 finishers.
Well, here we are and here's the summary. This was the end of my 18th week back training... so, wasn't expecting fireworks... however I'd kinda set myself a plan A and plan B...
Decided to try for 3.15 (Plan
even though I knew after driving on the Saturday it is a tough
course and not my kind of course at all. I do suffer on anything that
knocks me out of my rhythm. However, went through half way in 1:37:03
(7.24 m/m) so was smack on where I wanted to be. However incredibly hard
to pace due to the undulations and you can see from the below splits
how they're all over the place 
Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 6:50(6:50/m)
2) 1m - 7:13(7:13/m)
3) 1m - 7:19(7:19/m)
4) 1m - 7:18(7:18/m)
5) 1m - 7:38(7:38/m)
6) 1m - 7:35(7:36/m)
7) 1m - 7:19(7:19/m)
8) 1m - 7:35(7:35/m)
9) 1m - 7:20(7:20/m)
10) 1m - 7:25(7:25/m)
11) 1m - 7:34(7:34/m)
12) 1m - 7:31(7:31/m)
13) 1m - 7:32(7:32/m)
14) 1m - 7:26(7:27/m)
15) 1m - 7:31(7:31/m)
16) 1m - 7:25(7:25/m)
17) 1m - 7:27(7:27/m)
18) 1m - 7:24(7:24/m)
19) 1m - 8:19(8:19/m) BOOM
20) 1m - 9:14(9:14/m)
21) 1m - 7:47(7:47/m)
22) 1m - 8:31(8:31/m)
23) 1m - 7:58(7:59/m)
24) 1m - 8:29(8:29/m)
25) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m)
26) 1m - 8:10(8:10/m)
27) 0.31m - 2:19(7:34/m)
Even though, there's alot of descent, in theory this should be mega fast course as it finishes lower than it starts... Ascent 351m and Descent 649m....
Went out really easy and didn't get carried away. Went past the missus at 6.5 and felt easy even after the couple of climbs at 5 and 6 mile. My breathing and heart rate were all good and it felt like I was out for a jog. This continued and started feeling easier as the race went on. Went through half way pretty much bang on where I wanted to be and from 8-13 passed quite a few who's gone off way too quickly.
From 13 mile onwards dug in and found a nice little pace that felt comfortable and all was good. People just started coming back to me faster and faster and probably took around 10-15 people over the next 4-5 mile.
Then, 18 mile... from 18 it's a smaller climb into the Dores village/outother side and then it's the killer hill going from 18.5 up to around 20 mile and quite frankly this killed me off... cadence dropped through the floor and had to walk near the top so lost at least a minute throw walking. Head just got messed up here... then I got going again.... but once into the 22nd mile, legs had gone... and now it was damage limitation... and moved to Plan B which was in my head around 3.21...
The last 4 mile were very hard... heart and lungs still not too bad but nothing left in the legs I'm afaid... which was a shame... and a possibly just lack of miles...
So, Pro's and Con's....
Pro:
1). I Managed to complete my first target marathon of this comeback.
2). I didn't give in apart from at the top of the hill and walked for a minute to get head together
3). Happy to know that if that was flat course I'd have managed 3.15 quite easily.
Cons:
1). Left Glute is shattered as are legs now.
2). Hamstrings and Glutes still very weak and were plaguing me all througth the race.
3). Died too much on the hill at 19 mile... thought I'd be alright here so lacking strength.
4). Lacking speed stamina... badly over longer distances.
5). Still way too heavy but that can be fixed.
So, am I happy? Yes... overall, made up really as I knew it would be hard... time to target Amsterdam in 3 weeks... but need to sort this glute and hamstrings.
Jools - good effort in the relays. Did you have a decent team out?
Pug - sounds like a tough run but I still think you should be pretty pleased with that considering where you started from 18 weeks ago.
Managed to fit in 15.5M on Saturday morning - had to drop the car to a garage for service and figured I could run back with a parkrun on the way home. So 3M to the parkrun (6:5x pace), parkrun in 16:59 (was over a minute ahead of 2nd place so just a time trial on a reasonably fast course), then 9.5M home all in 6:35-6:55. My legs felt terrible straight after the parkrun and wondered how I was going to get home, but felt good a couple of miles later. Pleased to get that done as it was my longest run for several months, and putting a hardish 5k in the middle always seems like good training, particularly as I didn't eat/drink at all.
Only downside was the 5k felt harder than it should have. I felt really tight for the first mile or so and gradually got quicker as I loosened up. Maybe this is just what happens when you get old! I'll need to do a decent warm-up before the 10k on Sunday.
Pug - excellent comeback @ Loch Ness, I'm sure the improvements will keep coming at a rapid rate.
Jools - nice relaying, glad to see the pace is coming back.
Padams - always feels harder when you have to run on your own, I'm sure if you had company it would've been different. Where is the 10km this weekend?
2 weeks since IM Wales and I've been doing far too much activity although most of it unstructured. Was away in the Italian lakes this week, managed to coerce the girlfriend to cycle a loop of Lake Garda (85 miles), and when we finished she couldn't resist tacking on another 15 to make the 100 (her previously longest ever ride was 55 miles so this was a slight stretch..) Did lots of hiking and running also as she's been on an 18 week build to Amsterdam in 3 weeks time. Managed a 1st place finish at Milan parkrun on Saturday, although 18.30 odd felt much harder than it should have.
Copious amounts of pizza and ice cream means I've put on a few pounds since Wales, I've now got Amsterdam in 3 weeks and then Valencia in November (sounds like they'll be a few of us), so I need to decided how I'm going to approach those - I'm sure I'll probably just give them a crack off IM fitness.
Pacing for Xempo on Sunday @ the Kingston half so hopefully will bump into DanA unless he's got one of his minions doing the work for him.
Thanks Joolska - it was pretty lonely after about fourteen miles. Great to hear that things are still heading in the right direction for you. I'd need to overnight to manage on the trains to Abingdon I'm afraid.
Pug - nice photo! Good assessment of where you are and what you need to do to get to where you want to be.
Padams - nice long run. Just the four miles for me this morning:-)
Joe - sounds as though had a good break and that your gf is going to be racing long with you next year! Now how about that IMW blog?
Jools: good one in the relays, glad to hear you're getting fitter.
Pug: a major signpost on the comeback trail!
Well parkwon, Padams.
I'm now two weeks out from Chester and have started tangibly tapering. As we were away for the weekend I brought my long run forward to Sat, and skipped Friday as I wanted to have freshish legs for my traditional T-2 week reps/tempo session, which I use as a bit of a fitness assessment. And it went encouragingly well (a total of 10.5 miles speed at paces from 5:32 to 5:57/M from memory, so all faster than MP). I extended that to make it my last full training marathon (honest guv) in 2:54. Rest again yesterday, overdressed plodding around today as my last bit of heat training; I want to get a bit more quality in mid-week, then do my final MP trial on Sat or Sun. If I can just avoid the lurgies going round, I just might have a good one...
I shall just have to get fat and unfit in Florida:-)
CW - "started tangibly tapering" and "last full training marathon in 2:54" with 10.5M of it under 6m/m shouldn't really be in the same paragraph for me! Easy for you though I expect - you must have done literally hundreds of marathons by now if you include your training runs!
Pug - it's a good marker, so well done. Bit of work to make your own scale though
I hope you got away on your break Wardi? Sounds like a solid 10m!
Sounds like you're putting together some good training Padams!
More good progress Jools! Great stuff!
I have finally, after a rather long time of searching, found my mojo again.
Went out Friday not expecting much (major IBS flare-up last week), but hoping for something longer and easy. Ended up doing 20m (70:33/66:34 splits) feeling like I was absolutely cruising. Turned up to parkrun on Saturday and ran 16:30 there (with some hillsprints afterwards), before taking the win in a local 10k with some big climbs in 34:34 yesterday (reckon that was about a 34-flat). Didn't do any harm having my personal cheerleader marshalling on both occasions (she's currently injured and can't run herself unfortunately).
Back out for a primarily easy 12 today (though miles 9-11 were a steady 6:17) tired legs but again very cruisey.
Pug - good to see it hasn't damaged your enthusiasm. Keep on keeping on.
CW/TT / Padams - good training / fast running going on.
Joe - yes, I'll be there on Sunday. I only live a mile from Kingston town centre so easy for me to get to that one. I might have a run as my 1h25 pacer has broken his foot. Will do a long run on Saturday (about 23 miles) then decide on Sunday morning if I fancy it.
Knocking out regular 70-80+ mile weeks. Will be doing the Manchester half in a few weeks to test the state of things, then Abo the week after, before setting a plan for Valencia.