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Commiserations on the post-Birmingham niggles, muddy. In the circumstances, I wouldn't have considered a 5k race, even at 10k effort. But then I seem to have lost the desire/haven't got the fitness to race. I also have a head cold but, apart from motivation, it doesn't seem to affect my running.
Speaking of McF, if you're out there, how's the recovery going?
I'm not doing London, I'm doing Antwerp, which is the same day. I've also entered Edinburgh as a back up so will drop down to the half if Antwerp goes ok.
Good to see you Madbee, congrats on the new arrival!
Yes, my London is booked as well as a hotel. I also managed to bag an Ashby place last night despite it selling out in a huge record time of 32 minutes. There needs to be at least 5 of us to guarantee at least one makes it to the start line!
I've been ticking over and generally abusing my body this last 10 days. Bizarrely on my first weigh in for 2 weeks I was my pre carb load weight. Plan is now to have one more lazy week then follow a 10k schedule until end of December. No race goal, simply to receive a different stimulus before Mara training starts again.
Well done on the first baldy 'slow' 5k, Muddy. I mentioned separately to Muddy on the weekend that I noticed last week that I came first v35-45 in a 10k in April, however muddy cofirmed that race doesn't do V prizes.
All very quiet on here...
I have continued my jogging around including a few days warm weather training in Malta. Not sure that's good practice for XC in England but never mind.
I've little to report at present. Despite not training much, I still ran 30 miles last week and did some spin and pump classes. Got a 10k next sunday.
Will do a tempo session midweek to see if I've retained my pre-mara fitness for a pb attack. Hopefully turning up to a 10k race in a tapered situation, on a flattish course which measures the right distance and with decent conditions, I might get somewhere.
Booked myself in for the 3-1-5 Lancaster half again on Dec 3rd. I got this one mixed up with the other Lancaster half that happens this weekend coming, so if any other threadsters fancy a long run in company for some pot hunting that weekend ... there was a foot spa and an fm radio on offer, along with the obligatory Echo Falls last year.
I had a nice easy effort 13 mile long run last night. It was tough to get my kit on and get it done after a hectic day of child activities and a big lunch, but once I got going, the going was good. 37 miles for the week and back on the up after 2 low weeks. Despite my aerobic fitness "trending upwards" at the moment, with reduced mileage, I am still unsure whether it's worth making the trip to the Leeds Abbey Dash this weekend.
I would have loved to do that 3-1-5 half, muddy, but the mighty Tontos have a gig the night before and several people are staying overnight at my house so I'll be on breakfast chef duty on Sunday morning.
Last week, I did a session of 3x 1km at 10k pace (off 2 mins) and a 4km session in which the first 2 were at MP and last 2 at HMP.
Today, I combined my "quality" session and long run for the week into one outing with 7km at MP in the middle of a 17km run. Pretty pleased with how it went.
Hope the 10k goes well, DT.
The briefest of readbacks, sorry if i've missed anything ( couldn't see any pb's )
Congrats Madbee
No sign of Skinny ?
Hope everyone is doing ok
I'm plugging away at the running - been a struggle over the last 6 weeks as a lot on at work and at home, plus a couple of sodding colds have hit the mojo a bit. But i have got some sort of consistency going and have averaged around 30-35 miles/wk in that time. And this week i hope to hit 50 with a 15m long run. Still a bit of weight to lose but that will come.
Glad you are going well again, Mace. I've had 2 half mara pbs (taking your silver cell) and a 5k pb since you last posted. Skinny popped in briefly a few weeks back.
Couple of good sessions, Pete.
Lit, the only issue with that responsibility is that you generally have to be at every xc event. Out team manager has resigned and the club are seeking a volunteer. I would have no issue doing it save that I already know I cannot make the first 2 fixtures of the 4.
Conditions looking decent now for sundays 10k.
Well done DT, I remember that HM being very painful (chasing Lit's gold cell at the time ) and nearly fainting after crossing the finish line.
I'm on a 9-day streak, started last week badly with a cold and didn't run until Thursday and have ran every day since. I think you could say my mojo is finally back.
My clubmate (and sometimes training partner) is on a 50 day streak. He's just turned 31 and has been running for 4 years now but hasn't been particularly consistent until recently. I'm always telling him what he'd be capable of with some serious training. He had a 2:58 mara pb which he did off about 35 miles a week a couple years ago but recently has upped his game and had 8 weeks of around 70 mile weeks which culminated in him winning the recent Maidstone Marathon in a course record 2:48 ( and a negative split ) !! Pretty much nailed on for champs qualification if he keeps it up.
Good running Pete, the marathon effort sessions are my favourites. I did two of them this week. Shame about the half - the breakfast offer might tempt me away from the half now
I am not doing Abbey Dash, so will jog round parkrun tomorrow morning and run the local 10k Sunday instead. If the legs hold up I may post in excess of 45 miles for the week ! No streaks for me, I like my rest and recovery days.
Came in nonetheless at 38.18 on watch so official time may knock something off that but a decent pb eitherway. Then had the pleasant surprise of the v40 prize which was a £25 voucher for a running shop.
that's 6/6 distance pbs now this year. I did 7/7 last year. I just have a 10 miler to go.
Well done again DT
You have a good memory, muddy ... i won't be doing the local 10 ( beginning of December ) at this point as i have no interest in racing at the moment, just trying to get some miles in and some consistency. My streak is 11 days now and i'm going to try to keep it up - that will motivate me towards the consistency i need.
Hope yesterday went well.
Last week's 53 miles was my biggest week since April 2016 and Sunday's 16 miler my longest run since VLM16. I was quite pleased with that run which was at mid-easy HR for 8:16/M and after the final mile slog of a climb i recovered quite quickly and i felt like i could easily do a couple more miles but left it at that. It has resulted in some 'fat-bloke-upper-inner-thigh-chaffing' though so i left it this morning and will continue the streak tonight if the E45 cream does its job !!
Well done on the mileage, Mace. I tend to apply some barrier cream to my upper thighs before any run these days.
I managed 32 miles last week to follow the 30 from the week before. Pretty decent for me so soon after a marathon. Hope to push that out towards 40 this week.
Official time yesterday remained at 38.18. Sadly that only equalled my wava best. 5k recovery run at 8.45mm over lunch was quite enough for today.
Interestingly (including me) 3 of the top 8 yesterday had the same magic trainers on, including the winner.
In other running news, I entered the ballot over the weekend for the Berlin marathon. You certainly do then gain an appreciation for what a complete bargain London is. My application cost if I get in is 148 euro. You have to pay 30 euro for a finishers t shirt if you want one!
Well done again DT. Fingers crossed the weather holds for the 10 miler.
Yesterday was supposed to be a continuation of last years quest to improve on my 10k best. However a dip in form and fitness centred around Birmingham half (probably viral in root cause) then an utter failure to get myself into the Brass Monkey in January meant my plans needed some adaptation. I would have to pin my hopes on some December races before hunkering down for spring races. So, Abbey Dash was abandoned and the aforementioned overload week was gingerly placed into the schedule as an attempt to deliver a good training stimulus in plenty of time for the December races. I still needed to know where I was fitness wise and the local Conductive Education 10k was a good place to find out.
On the flat of the park, it was a case of settling in and not blowing up with the anxiety of being in second place with chasers. I'd already planned to pitch the effort a touch above half marathon effort with the option to pick up through the last 5k, so I kept a careful eye on heart rate through the first kilometre as the leader drifted further ahead. The route had a few sharp turns as we were directed out of the park and back in through a service road, before a longish out and back section where a bit of a breeze made its presence felt and a few spots of icy rain drops prevailed.
At the turn around point of this section I estimated the leader had around 15 seconds on me, but was surprised to see I had around the same amount on a group of 3 behind me, and DT was not far behind that group going very well. With that gap it was easy therefore to relax and focus on maintaining the same significant but not gasket blowing effort that had sufficed so far. After negotiating a sharp kink in the course we headed back into the park picking up an uphill taking us past the bandstand, then back on to the downhill section to start the second lap, where the race timing chap called out 17.32 for the first 5k.
The second lap was mostly uneventful, with the leader increasing his lead to the extent that I was starting to lose sight of him, though some dog walkers provided some diversion as they meandered along the out and back section, with their dog making a move into my path on both the out and the back to add some evasive action to the mix. On the return section I could see the group behind me had broken up and an orange vest was the nearest to me. It seemed like he might be able to offer a bit of a challenge through the last 3k, so I kept the effort decent. However once the kink in the route was negotiated I was able to glance back and see that there was still a significant gap so I could relax through the final kilometre or so, totter around the sharp bend into the finish footpath with a final stretch of the legs, stopping my watch at 35.35 as per the official timing, as I crossed the line.
I was quite happy with that time, considering the course was fairly twisty and my effort level was measured - a couple of heartbeats per minute lower would've put me in true half marathon effort territory. Also the pleasing thing was that pace and effort were stable with respect to each other - no downward drift of pace; no upward drift of heart rate, an indicator that I stayed pretty much aerobic throughout. I think with a bit more volume over the next six weeks and some more race sharpening I could be in really excellent shape for both 10k and half mara. Unfortunately while hanging around for the prize presentations, I ate a load of cake. Oh well, there is much to be said for instant gratification
DT - I've never had any problems with chaffing before and i'm sure i must have ran such a distance carrying more weight. What's the success rate for Berlin ?
E45 did the trick and i got out for 6.2 last night and another 6 this morning without any problem to keep the streak alive
Hmmmmm, I'm not sure I had the most cake!! It was essentially an eat all you can cake and tea buffet for the price of a donation.
Mace, I dare not go out without applying my udderly smooth or putting compression shorts on.
First session of my 10k schedule today, being 8 x 400m. It's been a while so will reduce the speed from that which my schedule dictates.
Mace, I understand the chances of success are around 50/50 for Berlin.
For the HM i mentioned above to DT ( my pb HM ) i averaged 167. That was the hardest i've ever raced and no wonder i nearly passed out considering my threshold runs i used to aim for 160-165 and all my marathons have averaged 155.
Streak goes to 14 days with a 10 miler and the runner's OCD is firmly bedded in ...
Be careful with the streaking, Mace. Personally I find them dangerous places to be as the desire to retain it can often override common sense as to when you need to not run, especially the longer the streak is.
First session of my 10k schedule yesterday of 8 x 400m. First time since July i've done intervals. Spin/pump tonight then hopefully a 15 miler tomorrow morning as i'm away on the weekend. Still maintaining the press-ups as well, ticking over at 70-80, 3 or 4 times a week.
The fastest halves I've done have been at 160 and 162 (Wilmslow 2017 ~77 and Brass Monkey 2017 - 76.31), indicating there's some wisdom to staying below threshold effort in a half. I've read that your max heart rate drops a beat per year approximately, so perhaps the 162 and 165 are about equivalent.
Those HR numbers are rather intimidating at the moment muddy. I haven't done a session of any description for a long long time.
Good to see you fully getting back in to the swing of it, mace. There's a few runstreakers at my club who are up to thousands of days, no way would I be able to manage that!
Nice work on the 10k from both DT and Muddy.
I am now back from Malta and it's blinking freezing. Long sleeves required tonight I reckon