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Leslie - Cripes, 81.5kg's, weren't you 6X kg when you raced?
MsE - You always post interesting reading matter, keep doing it please but obviously I would prefer if you were back running.
It always amazes me how some folk can put on huge amounts of weight when not running and shed huge amounts when in full training. When I was injured in 2016 and was out for 11 weeks I think I put about 3 kg's on max. I seem to have plateaued now at around 73-74kg . Would like to get down to at least 72 for PH.
4.5 miles on lunch today along the promenade in what I can only describe as perfect conditions. Sunny, light wind and a nice tide. It felt like spring out there today. What a difference a day makes.
The lightest I've been in the past 2 years is just over 82kg, around 12st 11lbs
Currently just over 83kg (13st 2lbs), Lost a pound since last week, I'm tracking my weight in my training spreadsheet (Nerd!)
I like to dip under 13st on race days but it's rare. I'm 6ft 1in and people reckon I'm a slim chap but I would like to lose a bit more to gain some speed.
I've got below 11 a couple of times but it's not sustainable. Whilst I'm only 5'8, I have proportionately quite heavily set legs which carries a lot of weight.
Gdawg its all relative you are a lot taller than me and it doesn't seem to hold you back at all. At this weight id be very slow .
PMJ you lightweight ,my coach was always just sub 60kg never changed in decades but he rarely dipped below 60 mile/week either in 35 years !
DT19 fair to say I showed little restraint over Christmas as I was injured ,it won't be so easy got off again I guess.
2 mile walk will make a start soon....
OO - that's an aggressive target for Sunday; go for it! And what's the secret to eternal middle-age?
Jools - feel for you; you've not had much luck lately.
GM - I'm fortunate like you in not putting on too much weight (although my weight does seem to fluctuate a lot during the course of the day from 11st2 to 11st9, unless it's just dodgy weighing scales! I'm 6'3" or thereabouts)
GD - you're very nippy for your weight then!
Leslie - soon, hurray!
I had to be back home for 6:00am this morning and had some church stuff to do first, so only managed 4 easy miles. Did a bit of core strength work at 8:00 before heading out to work though.
Gul Darr- I managed hmx2 plus 12 in London last April, however the half was hilly and windy so I was probably in shape to run a minute quicker.
Joolska- My mates mock me for never liking anything on FB. I am of the view that it is a lazy acknowledgement and you should say something instead. Much the same on strava. I think the general tendancy is just to click through your thread and give kudos to everything.
PMJ- That is very slim. I recall the lightest in my adult life was being 67 kg in about 1999 so I was early 20s. I was tiny then so couldn't imagine being that or lighter now.
OO- Its not so much I struggle, but in the thick of training, I like to let my long run pace come to me naturally. Sometimes that has ended up 8.30mm and other times 7.45mm. Good luck sunday at York (Brass Monkey I assume?).
I was due to be running a local 10 miler sunday, which was postponed when it snowed in December. Whilst my leg is feeling much better and I have some physio again tomorrow, I doubt it's in the best interests of the bigger picture. Plus I have strava premium and it comes with race insurance so I can claim back the entry fee.
Continuing to stick to bike and strength work this week with a bodypump and local tri club indoor threshold session last night.
Anyway, I'm a long way (literally and metaphorically) from such concerns, but continue my "return" with a 6 on Tues, and 15.5 yesterday to follow up Monday's session of 8.5 with low=key "efforts".
I'm considering spectating at Parliament Hill - my son is running, so a good opportunity to at least attend the venue, as running there remains an unfulfilled ambition, for one reason or another . . . . .
Birch, doing high mileage for the marathon is absolutely the key. I tried a few marathons when much younger and faster and never converted well simply as I did not do the long runs. It cuts in really late: I could do 20 miles at 6-minute pace but 26 was the killer.
I had planned to do day 1 of the Towpath Challenge (https://nationalrunningshow.com/the-towpath-challenge) on Sunday (London to Birmingham via canals over 5 days to end up at the running show) but it seems to be organised by the same people who offered a piss-up in a brewery. All the details I can get are:
The Start point is going to be the Orbital in the Olympic park, starting at 10am. The team will then follow the grand union Canal stopping half way and then finishing somewhere near Rickmansworth
This was announced as a "come along and share" but looks to now be more "we'll do our own thing". I'd like to run 30 odd miles on Sunday but if it is 15 miles and 15 miles it is not the same and I'd like to do it in under 5 hours and am worried this may be a bit slower and the forecast is cold. I may go and stat and run halfway fast and catch the tube back.
Birch - That's great re your son. Has he taken part in the National's before? Is he very quick friend the marathon runner also doing it? 15.5 miles is good going. Haven't gone over 10 myself since late October.
Gul - That might be the 5 course breakfasts?
Felt like hard work compared to just one month ago when I was quicker but the whip is still out and those grumbling bar stewards will be in shape this time next week.
On, and on some more!!
Well I’m about 12,stone and height 6:1. Bizarrely before Xmas I dropped to 11:8, the lowest I've been for years. The Xmas pounds are proving difficult to shift but the mara campaign should take care of that.
I ran 1:22 last year Gul so 1:23 is possible. Unfortunately weather looks a bit windy for Sunday whereas last year conditions were perfect. I've run every day this week including a club GP Tuesday and a hard track session yesterday. The race (yes the Brass Monkey) will get me to 50 for the week, so no easing back.
Good luck with 30 miles PMJ- that's way beyond me at the moment.
DT19 - wise move to not race on Sunday. Even my best conversion, an unofficial one at that, was only (HMx2)+21.
Birch - putting together some good training so far this year. (Just welcomed a visitor named Birch - your son isn't called Paul, is he?!)
PMJ - I hope they're not charging for that "event".
GM - yes, my weight does seem to increase by quite a number of pounds after breakfast!
GD - nice work.
OO - yes, I realise it is well within your capabilities! 1:23 would be an excellent result still, I think.
10 miles today with 10 x 200m efforts. Probably the last run of the week for me, as I'm away Saturday night with Mrs GD and falling asleep in the evening because I went out early for a run doesn't seem like a good idea.
I have a PB from Dec 2017 of 3:29, and 3:15 is GFA for me. However, the time goal is a secondary goal in some ways, as I want to continue doing more marathons - I did 20 in 2017, and want to do similar in 2018 (or maybe a few more). When I say I "did 20", the majority of those were around 4hrs, I did an offroad one in 5.5hrs - so they're not racing as such. The 3:29 came as a surprise - I started off easy and did a negative split and generally found it pretty comfortable; everything just came together as the conditions were cool, no wind, no rain, etc etc. 2016 I did a Half in 1:33 but I didn't race a Half in 2017.
I know these times are slow for many on here but I'm just chiming in to ask if anyone on here does several marathons a year, and if so how they balance their training? Looking back at my year, in July 2017 I did about 60 miles per week (with no marathons in that month), but in October/November I did 7 marathons in 6 weekends but my weekly mileage was only 31, 42, 44, 47, 49, 64. This stretch included a then PB of 3:42, which again wasn't really a planned effort.
Haven't been sure whether to post this here really as I know this approach isn't really 'normal' and a lot target maybe one or two marathons a year, but I thought I'd give it a crack to ask if anyone has advice - if your advice is "not do as many marathons", that's not going to happen
DT19 - I'm similar to you in that I rarely "like" or "kudos" on Strava. I've recently discovered "Reddit", which is a very good social media platform, in my view. It promotes more debate on pretty much any topic you're interested in, which I prefer.
Went back to physio this morning. Decided that in order to provide decent feedback to him I would do a short easy run last night just so I could accurately explain current issues. Despite feeling much better all week, the run was atrocious. Hip/glute stiffened up very quickly and I turned round after 800m and hobbled home. Frustrating that after a week of no running, 2 x physio and lots of foam rolling, ice etc it appears worse. Physio this morning with some needle work and manipulation. He doesn't think it is anything more than muscle/tissue damage.
My question is, at what point do I start changing goals for London? I ran and properly trained for 2 marathons last year and then after my Autumn marathon I maintained my mileage at 40 (I usually only peak at 50-55 anyway) and my long run at between 15-17 miles. This is my first week of not running. My thought is as long as I can be running at latest by early Feb I should be able to pick things back up without too much damage. I'll do a lot of high intensity spin bike work whilst I cant run so wont just be sitting back.
Big_G- Not being a seasoned marathon runner in the context you refer to I'm not well placed to advise. I think though most people would tell you that to maximise your time you need to focus on 1 marathon and putting everything into that. It seems you've heard that before though.
Big G - never done more than 2 mara's a year (mostly just the one), but one or two on here are adept at multi-marathons - some even in, shall we say, non-traditional running gear . . . . .
DT19 - if you can start "proper" training by Mon 5 Feb, you have 11 weeks until London. You can do a lot in 9 weeks, with a 2 week taper. However, not ideal if you can't run at all in next 3 weeks. Did the physio indicate how long you could be out? As for goals - I'd see where you are at the end of March, after hopefully a good 2 month block, then assess. Good luck.
rest here yesterday, after the 15.5, heading out soon to do "summat" . . . .
enjoy the weekend off, Gul - everyone else - enjoy the weekend's training/racing
Birch - Great running from John and his mate Steve.
G-Dawg - Good pace for your 5 miler.
3 miles for me on lunch today out and back along the prom Foggy out and a bit of a headwind coming back. Wanted to test pace zones and run 8:00/7:00 and 6:00. Turned out to be 7:57/6:57 & 6:11.
DT19: Take each day at a time before making a decision on tomorrow. Your body will tell you what it can do and you will be best placed to listen to it then if you are not looking into the future. Stay in the present and listen for the signs as to what is achievable. Chain those days together and see where it leads.
Physio said I could start running again today. No more than 1K at a time. So I huffed and puffed my way for a bit. I'll be taking my own advice to see whether I can make the spring races.
Gaining a bit of confidence but really need to pick up the mileage - just nursing some achilles issues so avoiding doing too much.
Rest day tomorrow to be prepared for some track work on Monday; so just going to go out on the bike for a nice 30-40 miles in search of a good place for coffee and cake.
@MsE good news you can start the running again and hope it goes well for you; should be enough time to get back slowly for spring maras.
@DT19 agree with Birch that 11 weeks should be a good amount of training time - I think I had only 7-8 weeks to get back after a ski injury in 2014 and knocked 20 mins off the PB. Though that may be a total fluke; and I am far from an expert - just my experience.
Gerard - pleased you report your run "at lunch" - there seems to be a tendency round here to describe such outings with the awful, clunky, jarring term "runch" aarrgh !!!
Nicko - nice 14; btw, there's no such thing as "fluking" a marathon result - you get from A to B via 26.2 miles of road under your own efforts, no-one else's . . .
MsE - pleased to hear you're back on the road , I do hope there are no more mishaps lying in wait . .
your "Your body will tell you what it can do and you will be best placed to listen to it"
made me smile - if I listened to my body these days, I'd never get out of the door !!!
11 this morning (legs a bit heavy after some legwork on the gym machines yesterday, which followed 5 miles on the treadmill) , but takes me to 46 for the week, with tomorrow to come.
I'm not a great injured person as I've had over 3 years uniterrupted training so it's a situation I'm not used to.
When I'm normal training I spin twice a week and that often leaves me wanting to do more. However I've just done my 8th spin class in 9 days so feeling a little bored.
Nicko- There are many reasons not related to lost fitness for a bad performance but only 1 reason for a good performance.
Good luck to racers tomorrow. I'm hoping to go out on the road bike for first time in 20 months, for a couple of hours. Though if it's too cold I'll be back in spin.
BiG_G
It’s great to read about someone who runs like me! I ran 18 marathons (or ultras) last year and intend on something similar this year. My advice would be to continue doing what you are doing but make a few races ‘A’ races. If your body can handle it, there is nothing wrong with churning out a marathon every 3 weeks at a slower pace. We are all different and some can handle a lot more mileage and long runs than others.
Personally, I believe that our bodies adapt to whatever we throw at it. However, we need to up things gradually and ensure all the other pieces are correct. We need to eat healthy and get enough sleep every night. We need to supplement our running with weight training sessions, core work and drills. We should try to run our fast sessions on grass, and never go a week without something like 8 x 10 seconds hill sprints within an easy run.
I do all these things and have never missed a single days training due to injury in almost 9 years. Despite turning 48 last year I PB’d over every distance attempted. This included my only two fast attempts at marathons when I ran 2:49 in London then 2:48 in Chester in October. In between these I managed 133.7 miles in the 24 hr World Championships.
Forget what all the so called experts say. Learn what your body can cope with, then push it to the max!
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Yikes, I’m currently having my first drink of the year after a sneaky marathon today. I’m a bit tipsy already after 2 glasses! I ran a steady 7 m/m pace throughout and finished in 3:03:40 with plenty in the tank. This was good enough to pick up the win.
I follow the London marathon advanced plan running 5 days a week for both my last and current marathon. Although I regularly run 35-45 miles throughout the year, I can get lazy and neglect speedwork and threshold runs it I don't have any races, so now I'm 4 weeks into my plan, I'm a bit off my target paces trying to get back some speed.
Im planning to tweak my plan slightly and do more miles at MP at the end of my 20 milers, as I held back a lot when doing them last time.