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OO - great news about Berlin, fantastic race and city, you're going to love it. Sub 2.40 with the right training and prep I reckon..
Padams - enjoy the footie, don't do yourself any serious damage!
I'm off to Dorset tonight for the CTS race tomorrow morning - was entered into the 'half' as a birthday present. It's actually about 16.5 miles and 3,600 ft of climbing. Can't remember the last time I ran up a hill, so that could be fun. Will go for the give it a good crack but ensure to enjoy it approach (which equals crumpling over the finish line, completely spent, probably).
Padams - I've entered the 10k already, it's quite a popular race and will probably sell out tbh. My dad's mate might still give away free bottles of fizzy wine at the end too. Still doing Stopsley tomorrow I presume? CW - We'll see on the times. Could well be slower, with the xc a day before!
TT - I would have thought with Brighton being so 'right on' and liberal they would have classed Irish as British for these purposes. I've always thought that race was more hype than anything - comparing it to Manchester for course and PB possibility etc etc. Not that coming from Bournemouth makes me anti Brighton. Honest
Had a look at the course JB-BR. Gods own country! - should be great conditions and hopefully decent views.
Good luck tomorrow Joe sure it will be special event with some amazing views, especially the bit around Lulworth cove.
Note to self: add marmite to the WMD list.
Pug - we both only need a few more miles to be over 200/month which is more like proper training.
7m today, 53 for the week which is a new record for rhe year beating last weeks 50. I have run every day since gosport too.
Good luck everyone else racing today.
TR - Great to see the cake is taking shape.
Gentle plodding here as taking it easy for a month post-Valencia before I step up again for the Gran Canaria marathon end of Jan. So 9m with the dog yesterday making it 36m for the week - a really good run and made me appreciate the great sense of well-being I get from just being outdoors in nature.
TR - nice work, but yet again you pipped me (I did 14.5M) and if I'd known I might have done a bit more.
PM2 - haven't done it but as others have said I've heard it's pretty fast. Marders has won it a couple of times I think.
Xmas footie was fun, we didn't do very well but I managed to not get injured.
XC on Saturday went pretty well. Basically flat for 4M, then a big downhill and a big uphill in the last mile. As usual it seemed to start pretty fast and I was working hard to stay in a group which was positions 18-24ish. The middle felt a bit more comfortable and I moved to the front of the group and we picked off a couple of people dropping back. I held position down the hill and then back up (even though I think I might have been better off walking at some stages, it was so steep), and then managed to take one more person in the 400m off the top to come in 15th. My best in this league is 11th, so fairly pleased with that.
Then 14.5M yesterday - 3M with the dog, 2M on my own and then the rest with some clubmates, all pretty slow (av. nearly 8m/m). I felt pretty sore at the start and much better by the end, so probably sensible rather than running faster and/or further.
I did the CTS Dorset 'half' marathon down at Lulworth Cove on Saturday. I measured it as 16 miles and 3,700ft of climbing. It was absolutely one of the hardest races I've ever done, some of the climbs were just ridiculous.
My clubmate won last year (and he's slightly faster than me) so I made sure to be behind him to help with pacing. Moved my way from 6th at 10km up into 3rd with 5 miles to go, 90 seconds behind him. I was slowly reeling him in but eventually ran out of road, and he beat me by a good 25 seconds in the end. We were both inside last years winning time, but some mountain goat turned up and beat us both by a good 10 minutes!
Some absolutely stunning views which I probably didn't make the most of as I spent a large amount of time cursing to myself and staring at my knees, vowing never to do anything like this again. In the cold light of day, I'm just waiting for them to announce next years date.
Nice to see things progressing well, TR.
Well XC'd Padams, and your podium in that tough race JB.
I had the novelty of a very informal Xmas mile race on the track on Sat -- I managed 5:13, compared to 4:56 five years ago -- and totalled 8M for the afternoon by the time I got there and back and paced one of the earlier races. My calves certainly felt it, not exactly the kind of thing I'm used to (or trained for). Then another 20M yesterday starting with some hills -- getting my retaliation in early for some likely non-running days this week due to work trips -- but my cranky R ankle started to give me jip, and I've biked today to give it an unplanned rest. Feels OK right now in fact.
JB - it's the Chiltern League, pretty good standard although not quite as strong as the Met League that we used to do. I see SC2 was there, although I didn't bump into him. Great effort in your race - the guy beating you by 10 mins must be pretty handy!
CW - always a laugh trying other distances like that. I'm surprised you couldn't go a bit quicker though, that's not much faster than your HM pace! But I guess that reflects your strength at long stuff and the type of training you do.
Joe.. great stuff hanging in there for a podium place, particularly as there wasn't much opportunity for hill training in Valencia.
Padams.. a well earned and decent position in the XC, sounds a tough course!
TR.. good to see you getting the consistency back.
Sherwood Forest trail race for me yesterday, approx 10k. Apart from the first & last 50 meters the whole route is in the forest so without the marshalls you be lost within 2-3 k! A mixture of hard trails, muddy sections and undulations, it is certainly the most picturesque off road course I've run. Popular sell out race with around 600 runners - I snuck into the top 100 with 95th & got a mention at prize giving for 2nd V60 which was a pleasant surprise. The first old codger was a good 2 mins in front but it turned out I'd only got into 2nd in the last k and 'triumphed' by 9 seconds.
5.1m easy run, might as well while the sun is out.
PM2.. when I last did the Barca marathon me & the Mrs totted up what it had cost us in total over 3 days and TBH it was no more expensive than the same time spent in London for VLM including travel costs!
Yes good running there Padams - had a quick look for you after but I presume you would have probably gone by then. Was looking after my kid so couldn't warm up bar a bit of jogging about, so was quite happy with my 31st..saw you and your group during the race. Was about 50th after the first lap and picked off a few on the 2nd.
On the strength of leagues in the South, Met is definitely the strongest, although the Surrey league I did last week is getting there - the guy I know, Ryan was 2nd at Luton and he was 10th running 2nd claim for my club in the last Surrey race. Chiltern needs more of the Bedford lot to turn up I think to get it stronger again.
Some ghreat running and racing from everyone this weekend. For me, an enforced rest day Saturday which was annoying... followed by the Borders Leagure interclub race in Birkenhead Park on Sunday. Swore I'd not race and stayed true to my word... so 1 mile warm up, 5.5 mile "race"@ 6.38's and then I decided to run home with one of the club runners which was 12.6 so all in... good for 19 miles yesterday and 58 for the week, highest recorded in 7 years and actually 3rd highest I've ever done...
TBH, only reason I'm going over 50 at the moment is for lard movement... once I'm down to where I wanna be, will top out around the 40-42 per week again which is more like my old self... never needed big miles in the past, doubt I need them now...
Was well looked after on race day and I loved the experience of being an 'elite' for the morning. I was hoping to run sub 2.30 but after the first 5 miles I was running on my own for the next 21 miles. I passed two people around the 8 mile mark to move into 4th then that was it until the finish. Nobody anywhere in sight ahead and a big gap behind. There's a little hill before 10 miles then a gentle rise about 14 miles before a hill just before the finish. Quite a few quiet stretches on the course and even though I ran a pb, because I felt terrible from before 10 miles its prob skewed my view on it.
Blimey did a tough 10 miler yesterday and ended up with a "short" nightmare hahaha... the shorts underpant netting digging into groin from 5 mile... is there anything more annoying than this and including nipple rubbage. Was in proper pain actually and drew blood.
Weird thing was, used this shorts for years... possibly the crux of the problem... however gone right in the bin now, they've been good friends... thank god I wasn't on a 20 or something lol.
Anyhow, was a hilly run and felt really strong for first time in this comeback. Not bouncy or anything... feeling heavy and fatigued but you know when you can push on hard and know you can... nice feeling that so think I'm on the cusp of going up a level/gear... hopefully this remaning 3 weeks of training before the 24th remains injury free and I can then rest up...
For once in my running life... even though I'm not where I wanted to be at this point, I'm a happy chappy... and only going to get better hopefully... we shall see.
Infact was so happy today, just ordered a pair of Vapor Fly 4%... for Disney Marathon... so, expect to see a Sub 2 hour of me now...
https://www.wired.com/story/do-nike-zoom-vaporfly-make-you-run-faster/ Of the 92 photos Greenberg took, 138 runners have both shoes and bibs visible. Of those, 21 are wearing a version of the Nike Zoom Vaporfly—either the $250 4% or the $150 Zoom Fly—and 117 are not.1 We looked up the data for each of these 138 runners, and, interestingly, the Vaporfly runners finished much better. Of that group, seven, or 33 percent, ran negative splits. Of the others, 17, or only 15 percent, ran negative splits. The average Vaporfly runner ran the second half of the marathon a minute and forty seconds slower than the first. But the average non-Vaporfly runner ran the second half five and a half minutes slower. Both groups of runners had faded, but the people in the new shoes had faded less.
Joe - Top bombing, amazed as only a few weeks from your top bombing in Valencia.
Ticking over, first double digit run, post Valencia planned for later fueled by first mince pie of the season.
Joe - nice run at Dorset; it's a great place to run in the summer when the conditions are a bit more conducive to enjoying it. Hills are relative until you start some mountain running, where some uphills last for over 3 hours!
I'm injured for the first time in 3.5 years. Not serious (I hope), but haven't been able to shift the achilles injury post-Valencia. Took two weeks of no exercise, then tried a parkrun on Sat. Was hurting from the start so should have backed off, but managed 18 flat though I was struggling. Then the run home ended up being reduced to a walk. Nothing since, but it's still niggling away. Probably not the worst month to be off considering a big couple of years without break, but when you've run most days of your adult life, it's v frustrating to say the least.
Pub quiz tonight again then it is
Sorry to hear that Dan - not being able to run always seems to leave me with a lot of time to fill but hopefully you'll find that easier at this time of year.
10 miles battled out in the wind, rain and dark last night - not fun especially as forgot to use plasters for the old nips. Rest day today as feeling slightly aged.
I've been thinking about primary running goals for 2018 and would be interested in what people are targeting.
Mine
OO - 6 sub 3 marathons (Gran Canaria, Barca, Berlin and 3 others tbc)
DAN - Sorry to hear that however would say bit like Kelvin you've been nigh on indistructable over the years so maybe this is an enforced rest that will freshen you right up. Just don't hit the pies or you'll end up like me.
OO - Hahaha, looks like we've both suffered with the ole "rubbage"... this weather just seems to cause mayhem on the nips and other parts hahaha
Targets for 2018? Mine are the usual insanity... however has to be done or it just wouldn't be me would it. My main aims are...
OO - 6 sub 3 marathons (Gran Canaria, Barca, Berlin and 3 others tbc)
PUG - 2:54 Disney Marathon 2018, Sub 2:00 20 mile Trimpel 2018, 2:42 Rotterdam Marathon 2018, 2:36 Chicago 2018 and also drop 10kg between now and 18th March 2018.
Good luck with the achilles, Dan.
I've had a few more ankle niggles, but it tends to come on when I'm idle, and I suspect it was caused by driving, so I'm being careful with that now (which shoes I wear). I got out for a decent 10M run on Tues evening and did another 8M this morning OK. Sadly my race entries ineptitude means that while I missed the Bedford Harriers HM last Sunday in ideal conditions, I'm now entered into the Milton Keynes HM this Sunday with a yellow weather warning for heavy snow...
Bad luck Dan, not great. Those ones are always the most frustrating, when you don't really know how long it will take to clear and you only find out by trying a run. I've had some minor ankle and calf issues on and off since the spring, which alongside my search for a new race shoe to replace my long-since discontinued Mizunos, prompted me to take a look at Hokas. Lovely shoes, lighter than adios and definitely less next-day niggle after a long run.
Shame you missed Bedford, CW. Definitely one that needs good weather though, a bit exposed at the high points as I recall.
I only have 2 running goals for 2018: sub 2:40 London (it'd be nice just to get one more but I fear it might be a long shot now), sub 2:45 Chicago. Maybe not as insane as Pug's but then again if he can run sub 3 with 10kg excess luggage maybe his targets aren't so mad after all!