P&D Spring Marathon 2018

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  • Nice double 8 yesterday Jools

    Good to get that 15 done on tired legs Ramjet

    You stuck it out though John, that's what counts!

    You obviously seem to be doing well on the high mileage Spoons, wouldn't work for everyone but you seem to suit it

    Good luck for Sunday Joe

    Glad you're feeling better AWC  :)

    No wonder you feel wiped out Westy, you're still posting so the lorry incident can't have been too serious

    Rest day for me today before a long run tomorrow and session on Sunday

  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Well done Westy - great run at this stage
  • Tom13Tom13 ✭✭✭
    Great long run Westy. Just poured myself a stout and looking forward to hearing the lorry incident story!
  • 15West15West ✭✭✭
    Cheers - just opened a beer too, and eating a scotch egg. Let the good times roll.
    So, part of my route goes along a short stretch of road that doesn't get used much, and has no footpaths. A lorry carrying an empty skip came bombing along there towards me, beeped horn but didn't slow down, and I had to quickly step off the road. I held my arms up as if to say "what the hec" as he went past and then stepped back into the road. He suddenly braked and put lorry into reverse and started heading back towards me. He then stopped again as a cyclist came up to me, he opened his door and shouted something and then sped off.
    Cool huh?! I should have taken his reg number and/or company name but I was at mile 21 and was a bit tired. If an altercation had started I would have been useless.
    The End.

  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    edited March 2018
    There ain't half some arsey fuckers out there Westy. My commute has a K with no footpath & it's a major road so I regularly have to curse an inconsiderate would-be murderer. Fortunately the vast majority are fine but it only takes one . . . Glad you lived to tell the tale unscathed.
    Another massive week of quality work Spoons further demonstrating your awesome progress. Wish I'd been a bit more serious when I was younger.
    Just a swift 5.8M at lunchtime today to pass 60 for the working week. Big race tomorrow. Forecast isn't great with 14mph winds & heavy showers but should still manage a 20M PB as it currently stands at 2:25. I've gone through 20M in 2:15:xx in the last 3 marathons I've targeted! Even went through VLM16 in 2:23 the week after Brighton  :D
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Joke that Westy - what sort of problem has he got when he actually stops a truck and backs up!
  • Westy - I hate that sort of stuff, I dwell on it for ages after.  I hope it didn’t detract from your enjoyment of the LR.

    Good luck to this weekends racers, Jools 20, Muddys half, Joes half, anyone I’ve missed ?

    Well done to the LT ers, I’ll add my 6m into the pot,  continuing a trend of about 10s slower than where I’d like to be.  I think I’m talking myself into a result 10s / mile slower than I’d like.
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭
    Hey everyone. Haven't been on for a while. Working an extra 10ish hours a week and my wife is busier too so I'm getting squeezed from both ends. Calf issues have been on and off and really limited what I could do but it's been ok for a almost 2 weeks now so will try to build up as I can. 

    I've been meaning to do the run commute and managed it for the first time this week 12 miles home yesterday, then the return trip this morning. Didn't feel great either way but calf was ok and my pace wasn't terrible without really pushing hard. Will see how it goes over the weekend and might try a few strides, then if all's going well do a couple of faster runs next week.

    Hope you're all going well with your prep. I noticed Reg and SQ have been struggling too. Hope you can get back to it soon enough. I'll have to read back to catch up.
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭
    Just read back about your knee SQ. That's really annoying. Hope you're back soon.
  • Like Macca... I'd probably be dwelling on that for a couple of days, Westy. Good run though. Anger management should be part of the driving test... especially for lorry drivers!
    Welcome back HA... sounds tough. Hopefully life calms down once you're more into the routine.
    Well, I did 12 with 7@157bpm again.  My progression stalled, so my series of 4 runs at that HR in the last 6 weeks reads 7.45, 7.40, 7.13 and now 7.17 (although the last five averaged 7:14).  Actually really happy with that because I've not slept enough this week and was knacked. Also it tipped it down with rain throughout and I had thought it possible I might have slipped back further.  It's a decent path, like a poor cinder track surface but with a little more mud, so I reckon the conditions must have added a few seconds per mile.  Whatever, it was a good work out.  Depending on how I manage to manage Mothers' Day, a rare fifty mile week could be on the cards.

    Happy racing Jooligan, SQ   and others.
  • RamjetRamjet ✭✭✭
    John - doing Wrexham marathon on Sunday. It is a pretty low key race so hopefully I will be able to rein myself in. Nice LT session.

    Amazing mileage as ever Spoons.

    Glad you managed a run AWC.

    Great long run Westy and I'm glad you survived that crazy lorry driver. How brave of him to take on a runner in his lorry!

    Good luck tomorrow Jooligan. I guess you are racing it then rather than an MP run?

    Macca - I wouldn't worry too much about the pace. The main thing is to get a hard effort in. All kinds of factors can affect the pace.

    Good to hear you are getting back at it HA.

    Another 7 @ LT from NE! I thought this session was supposed to be last week but everyone seems to be doing it this week! I would say that looks like a very nice progression from the first two to the second two. I couldn't get my HR above 155 for my LT. My heart must be as laid back as I am.

    6 and 4 mile double today, as well as an easy cycle and easy swim session. Pretty pooped now.
  • Tom13Tom13 ✭✭✭
    Welcome back HA-great to hear from you mate! Sounds like you have been very busy on all fronts. Good news that the calf has improved. Hopefully you can right back on it now.

    Good luck Joe, Jools and anyone else racing this weekend.
  • 15West15West ✭✭✭
    Morning. So tired! Mixture of 24mi, booze and a snotty, snoring woman in my bed.
    Good to hear from you HA. Have you revised your goals? My work is moving a bit further away and I'm going to try the alternate run/cycle commute. It's about 7mi if go via roads, and about 12mi if go via trails along the mersey...so not a bad distance. Just means a bit of extra planning, carrying stuff etc.
    Well done on your 2nd LT run NE!
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    Nice long run Westy, unlike the others I have a habit of being a smart-arse prick when I get into an altercation, it's satisfying but obviously carries its dangers, although I've never been in a fight if we discount the time I pulled a guys head out of his car window having grabbed him by the tie whilst on my bike  :D

    Nice to hear form you HA, sounds like life is busy and I recall you struggling to find time before.

    Nice LT runs elsewhere. Good luck to those racing.

    I am down in Wales at the Mother-in-laws so it's all very hilly so I am enjoying, if that's the right word, a few scenic runs. 8 tomorrow will give me a second 30 mile week in a row, which is nothing to most of you but progress for me.

    Reading Half for me next week, not sure whether to race it or not, maybe try and hang on to Spoons ;-) It's also the Club Champs but unless a decent >40 year old has joined without me knowing, that should be an easy win.


  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Sounds like a busy time HA! Glad you are getting back on it. 

    Sounds like a few of us are now doing Reading next week - Spoons/Reg/me anyone else?

    That truck driver really was an idiot - obviously had other anger issues like the cyclist who attacked me a few months ago. You gotta wonder where that anger comes from!
  • That lorry driver sounds like an absolute arse Westy!

    Look forward to hearing about the 20m race Jools

    Solid LT runs from Macca and NE  :)

    Good to hear things are coming along nicely again HA, likewise the mileage is building up again for you too Reg

    Tough group long run along a very muddy Meon trail this morning. Garmin messed up massively (had me doing a 2:42 first mile) but think the whole run was probably around 11.6 miles at 6:28 pace. Lets see how the legs cope with the session tomorrow

  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Nice long run Scott - hope the knee feels ok. Love the Meon trail although not in the mud!

    Did 3x2mi at LT pace this afternoon. Still not feeling 100% and with reading a week away didn’t want to do anything too drastic. 6:43/mi for the LT sections which is a bit slower than normal but to be expected with how I’m feeling. 
  • Yeah the guys I was with couldn't believe how muddy it was, worst they've seen it. First time I've been there

    Decent speed session to get back into it AWC, any targets for Reading?
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Scott: sub 90 is the plan. The way I’m feeling at the minute Id take 1:29:59  :D
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    edited March 2018
    Great to have you back HA. Does sound like you did well to make hay while the winter sun shone. Hopefully the calf behaves & you can get to VLM in decent enough shape to enjoy the day.
    20s over 7 miles is neither here nor there NE. Was that along Hadnock Rd to Saracen's?
    Commuting possibilities sound perfect Westy. Not surprised you're a little wiped after 24M & sleep deprivation.
    AWC/Scott: Good sessions. Ran 10M along the Meon Trail last summer whilst at Wickham festival after some biblical weather.
    Wondered why you'd been taking it so easy this week Rammers  :D:p:D Have fun tomorrow.
    60M for me Mon-Fri including a 10M with 10x800m@6m/m/400m@8:45m/m on Wednesday & commuting 8.6M doubles either side meant I certainly wasn't fresh for today's 20M race & the forecast was ominous with heavy rain & 14mph wind on an exposed course. The deluge came down a bit earlier fortunately so apart from a shower around 8-10M we managed to stay reasonably dry on top. However the roads were badly flooded so feet got very wet & heavy which definitely cost me time. I also managed to miss the start due to the toilet queues/flooding & poor communication: they delayed the start but by a bizarre 8mins25! I heard the gun go as I was putting my socks & shoes back on after wading through the 1st flood so set off far too fast, spent at least a K weaving through slower runners & jumping on & off the verge. Not part of the pre-race plan at all s 
    That's me just before deciding to take the plunge rather than the queue. Start was by the 2nd big tree & we had to run through this at 19.8M on the way back as well as 3-4 similar floods on each of the 2 laps. I held 6:3x for the first 11M then a 6:4x another 6:3x then held 6:4x apart from a 6:5x for mile 16 which was slightly uphill & also included the deepest & longest flood.
    HM went by in 1:26:31 which is my 2nd quickest ever :)
    Finished in 19th of 449 & won the MV45 prize too. B) Official time was 2:15:39 but watch was 2:14:31 (which would've been 17th) & the 68s handicap was confirmed by Stava Flyby. My watch measured 20.15M too but most had 20.06/7 so I guess my watch was just misbehaving. The puddles must've cost me at least a minute & not being able to find a group meant it was harder work especially into the windy sections.
    Unfortunately my HRM battery packed up Wednesday & the replacement only arrived this morning after I'd left so my average HR of 122bpm is meaningless.
    Refuelled with a nice bit of rump & some roast tatties. Time for a beer now.

  • 15West15West ✭✭✭
    Well done in those silly conditions Jooligan. That's a great pic.
  • Westy... I see what you did there, you rascal!
    That's a great performance Jooligan. More so after a big week. Well done on the MV45 win - which I guess is done on gun time. But did they also have start/finish timing?   Plenty of our club did that race and many have said they were unable to run through those long puddles. BTW...  of course I use that stretch along the river a lot, but these LTs have been done in Newport... it's about 0.9m long bit of the Welsh Coastal Path and I just leg it from one end to the other and back repeatedly.
    Sounds like you're going well, AWC and Scott... super long run and great pace in that first mile!
    You can't beat Wales, Reg (well, apart from Lancashire maybe)

    Bit of a panic on for me tonight.  I'm all lined up to do 20 miles tomorrow to take me to around 55 for the week... but it might not happen.  I put our 3 guinea pigs on the lawn whilst taking my smaller one for a swim.  Went to put them away just before dark and they weren't there... escaped and still not found.  I can hardly just abandon everyone for hours tomorrow if they're not back. And Mothers' Day things block out the day after 4.30pm.   Hmmm.   Very slow stiff muddy 6m recovery for me today but it burnt some calories and loosened the legs.
  • RamjetRamjet ✭✭✭
    Very speedy LR Scott! So much easier in a group though I guess.

    Decent LT session AWC.

    Great photo Jooligan. I don't think I've ever run through a puddle that big! Great time in those conditions.

    Hope you find your guinea pigs NE. That randomness of life sure can be frustrating at times when you are trying to stick to a plan!

    Just an easy 8 for me this morning.

    At least one race around here has been cancelled due to all the rain but my little marathon seems to be on. Conditions look perfect as well.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    NE: Good luck finding the Guinea pigs. It was gun to chip. With a 20K & a 20M race starting at different points (but finishing together) & being open roads I guess it's not possible to do a chipped start. Saw lots of SoM runners.
    Ramjet: That was only the 2nd biggest! We only raced through this the once.
  • JohnOzJohnOz ✭✭✭
    Well done Jools, great to win despite soggy feet and dodging your way through. 

    NE - what were you thinking leaving them out in the garden!? Never had any but I’ve always thought they run around like rabbits. Fingers crossed they turn up. 

    Ramjet - good luck, nice way to get in the longest LR. 

    HA77 - good to see you back into it. Am sure once the work routine settles down you’ll be cramming in the miles again. 

    Westy - well done on getting the 24 miles done even with the weather and crazy truck drivers

    Scott and AWC - nice sessions, both in great form. 

    Joe - good luck, wouldn’t be surprised to see a PB with all the hard cycling you’ve been doing. 

    20 miles today speeding up gradually and finishing with 3 miles at 6:30 m/m. Same pace as my LT workout on Friday, surprised but happy with that. Quad a bit sore from going a bit too quickly yesterday on the trails, feels like a bruise rather than muscle damage. I also ran straight into a tree branch (again) as I was looking down at the trail. I literally saw stars but fortunately managed to stop my garmin before bending over in agony at the pain. Hobbled back home and had a lie down but all good today. 
  • An eventful race Jools and that was before you'd even started. Considering everything that's a very good run and gives you a solid marker of where things are

    Any news on the missing Guinea pigs NE?

    Good progressive long run John

    I see Joe had a good half this morning, look forward to the reports later

    Session this morning was 8 x 200 (45), jog to the hill, then 8 x 30s hill sprints with the downhill as recovery. Was wading in lactate for the last few reps. Now for a roast with my girlfriends parents before heading back to parents house for a carver for Mothers day  :)
  • Tom13Tom13 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2018
    Morning all.

    Super performance in the er soggy conditions Jools. Congrats on the PB and the win.

    Cracking sessions from AWC and Scott.

    Excellent progressive long run John-nice to finish so strong.

    Hope you sorted the guinea pig situation NE and were able to get out for a long run.

    24 miles in 2:38 this morning keeping a fairly consistent pace throughout. Would be lying  if I said i felt strong at the end but I'm glad to have got it done to bring up 82 miles for the week which is as much as I think I can manage!

    Off for a big Family Mother's day lunch now. I will be eating and drinking plenty to refuel!
    Hope all the mums have a lovely day!


  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Some seriously good running from forumites today judging by here/Strava.
    Great progressive LR John.
    Sounds like my sort of brutal Scott & perfect refuelling arrangements.
    Not surprised that was hard Tom after such a big/tough week. Bet that lunch went down well.
    10.6M plod through the mud n hills for me to bring up 91M for the week which is my biggest since the week before Christmas & almost certainly peak pre-VLM.
  • Philip Melling 2Philip Melling 2 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2018
    Just popping my head up guys. I've been following the thread but the last few weeks have been a jump from niggle here to niggle there and I didn't want to complain.
    A mix of fortunes it seems with some flying and some with bad luck and injuries. 

    I had a mini taper this week and ran the Milton Keynes 20 miler to see how close to my target I was. It was a fairly flat route but lots of twists and turns and short sharp up and downs with the underpasses. My heart rate was higher than i was expecting for the 5.40 miles I was hitting but carried on with 2 other guys in the front bunch. By 15 it was biting and one guy dropped off and by 17.5 I was losing a little ground. The last 2 miles were very tough and I lost more ground but was comfortably in second which was just as well as I was nearly reduced to a walk up the steep climb! 
    I finished in 1h53m48 I think which was 5.40-5.41 pace. Happy but concerned as there was no way I was running another 6.1.
  • Thanks AWC. I do two S&C sessions a week - I've been pretty good this time around and haven't missed one this year I don't think. Nothing fancy - just stuff like squats, lunges, deadlifts, planks etc. I think another key is that I run my recovery runs very, very easy, and also (as per Pfitzinger) only do one “fast” session during the week. I think often it’s speed rather than mileage that causes injuries. I feel much less fragile these days compared to when I ran less mileage but would do the typical Tues & Thurs tempo and intervals sessions. 

    Nice work on the long run Westy. Lorry driver sounds like a right dickhead (surprise surprise!) I agree Macca and NE, that stuff can stick with me for a while afterwards too. Although like Reg I can be a mouthy twat in those situations. It must be the adrenaline of running as I’ve never been in a fight in my life and would be useless if anyone became physical!

    Good to hear from you HA77. Glad you seem to be getting back in to things.

    I wouldn’t worry about that LT NE, those conditions are definitely worth some time. Hope you found the guinea pigs?!

    See you in Reading Reg and AWC. I’ll be running it as a final MP session.

    Great running Scott.

    Nice racing Jools. I tried to get hold of a place for that race after Bath was cancelled, glad I didn’t looking at your picture!

    Great finish to the long run John.

    Speedy long run and solid mileage Tom.

    Congrats on the 2nd place Phil, very rapid!

    Today it was time for the last big long run before Manchester. Normally I'd do this 3 weeks out, but I'm running Reading HM next Sunday as an MP session (replacing the cancelled Bath Half), so today it was. The legs felt surprisingly good, and I was slightly worried I was overcooking things when the first two miles came out at 6:40/mi, but thankfully they held up and I finished strong with a couple of sub-6:40/mi miles, for an average of 6:45/mi.

    That pace equals my current marathon PB pace (not deliberately, just came out that way), and I definitely could have carried on to 26.2 if I wanted to. I was tempted, but per earlier discussions in this thread decided there was too much risk and little reward. To manage that at the end of another big week (8th 100+ mile week in the last 9!?) is a nice confidence booster, and shows how much progress I’ve made over the past year! One more big week now before the taper kicks in.

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