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P&D Spring Marathon 2018
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Well done for salvaging a decent marathon from your training Hazel. With another consistent block of training you should almost certainly be in PB shape for the Autumn.
Woohoo Millsy
Great report Macca. Interesting that in spite of the ridiculously fast early miles you managed to recover & keep going. I guess having done them all last year you have a massive psychological bonus.
Smashed that bike JB & quality LR AWC.
I've had a busy weekend (for a change
Saturday was a gentle bike from Chepstow over the bridge to try out Thornbury parkrun. Ran a lap to warm-up & only just made the start in time! Ran a hard (95%?) effort to finish 4th in 20:33. It's 3 laps mostly on grass with about 25% tarmac, lots of tight turns & undulating with one sizable climb each lap. Forgot I was doing county champs in the afternoon so did another 2 laps
I then drove down to Bristol for a friend's birthday BBQ & beers before jogging 3M to a gig in Bedminster. Drank another 4 pints, danced til almost 2am then walked back & rejoined the party which was just starting to wind down. Managed about 2-3hrs kip before getting up & heading to Abergavenny for my first Triathlon of the season: 800m (pool)/32.5M (3,000ft)/9M (1750ft).
Had a cracking swim 13:24, a reasonable bike 2:02 & a shocking run as my Rt calf/hamstring was cramping pulling on the back of the knee within the first mile so had to walk early but managed to jog OK once the ground levelled out & was able to descend OK passing people the whole time - many of whom were in earlier waves so had had a massive headstart.
Finished 18th in 3:52:17 which is a good 6 or 7 minutes slower than last year (I think)
Time for some R&R now
Hazel - well done on the marathon, sounds like you had a good day. Look forward to the report.
Macca - really enjoyed the write-up. Katie and I loved coming out to support, and sounds like you had a top notch performance. When's the next one? I'm still trying to plan my ultra-running debut.
Millsy - congratulations mate, what a run! Absolutely nailed it. Very impressive; and such a close finish at the end. Were you ever tempted to have a sneaky look behind/were there any out and backs where you could see how far your lead was?
NE - I'm back in, so we're all good!
Decent training weekend for me; we were in Norfolk so 10 miles and then Sheringham parkrun tacked on the end for a longish run. Had a session on the turbo last night, starting to feel really good on the bike.
Another incredible weekend of racing Jools. Well done on the V45 prize!
Joe, I looked back a couple of times but just decided to run my own race. I knew he was struggling a bit so I just concentrated on moving forwards. I was a little surprised when he crossed the line as I had thought I’d put a bit more time between us. Probably better that I didn’t know. Managed to sprint the last 400m just to be sure. Had a quick look at 2nd place guy and he’s got a 1:15 HM and a 2:50 marathon. I suppose at the longer races a bit of experience really helps.
Fallen a bit behind, but lots of great training and racing going on.
Great report Macca. Congrats again.
Well done on the win Millsy, amazing work.
Congrats Hazel a great result especially considering events of a few weeks ago.
Ridiculous weekend even by yours standards Jooligan
Well done on the PB and win.
As SQ said, we had a fun track session on Wednesday. Very strange doing such short intervals, and only 1600m of effort in total. Definitely felt like hard work though!
Unfortunately on Friday I had a bit of a sore throat, and generally felt a bit rubbish. It’s the kind of thing I would have trained through if I was in good form, but combined with my post-marathon slump I decided I was best to bin the run. This turned in to a weekend off, partly to get better and partly just through lack of motivation. Had an enjoyable weekend though, and feel refreshed both physically and mentally so I think it was the right decision. Even if I did feel like I was back to square one on my recovery run this morning!
Nice quite weekend then Jools! Congratulations on the PB and the win.
Millsy-Epic performance and a winning one also-fantastic stuff!
Hazel-I'm so pleased you were able to use all of that hard work you put in to good effect. Fantastic result particularly after the less than ideal build up.
Macca-really enjoyed the report. Sounds like you got the pacing pretty much spot on as you finished so strongly. 100 miles!! Still don't understand how folk can run that far!
Sorry if I have missed anyone out but I have had very little time recently with all the testing going on at the moment in School.
I'm currently not running due to a foot injury but hope to get back to it in a few days.
Joe - next up South Downs Way 100 in 4 weeks. This was my favourite last year so the goal is to enjoy it as much again. Given your IM background I think you would slip into this sort of stuff quite nicely.
Hazel - well done in the marathon. With 1500ft of climbing that looks like a great result, well paced too.
Great result and performance Millsy. Really admire how you execute your plans to perfection. I was a bit worried when I read in the report “I did something I’d never done before in a race” - I was relieved when I got to the bit about the iPod !
You’ve made the right decisions before Spoons, I’m sure you made the right one this time.
Good luck with the taper Steve.
Hopefully nothing serious Tom. Sats week eh - my lad has his this week.
I’ve a low key10k this midweek, should be interesting/painful to see how much speed (relative) I have lost.
Lovely report Macca. Good luck with your 10k.
Congratulations on your win at the 50+ miler Millsy and thanks for the great report. Enjoy your trip to Italy.
NE I run hills by feel not by pace in races. I don't generally hold back on the flat sections of a race because I know that there are hills involved but on getting into a hilly bit try to sustain rather than massively increase the effort so that I can get back to pace quickly again afterwards. Even if that means some walking if its really steep. If it is a final climb to the finish line then I obviously put in all I have left. I run any downhill bits as quickly as I can whilst retaining some sort of decent running form so as to not overload the feet, knee joints and the quads.
Very busy weekend Jools - Well done on your track PB and the V45 win. I hope the leg issues in the triathlon were just an on-the-day thing.
Sounds like the weekend off was what you needed Spoons.
Bad luck on the foot Tom I hope it gets better quickly.
I will get stuck into writing a race report soon. I feel quite good today suprisingly - none of that backwards down the stairs stuff due to seized up calves. Legs (and the rest) are tired obviously but no real niggles and my feet are in good shape (no blisters and all toe nails still present and happy). Did a very gentle 3 mile recovery at lunch time as I find that helps one day after a long and/or tough race. Less DOMS as of day 2 especially if I spend a good part of the first day sitting at a desk working.
All things considered, looks a good run Hazel. I'm glad you managed to get a marathon in!
Do you ever have a quiet weekend Jools? Great work on that PB
Looking in good shape Joe!
Sensible decision to rest Spoons and sounds as if it did you good
Hope the foot problem clears up shortly Tom
Quite a drop down in distance Macca, will be interesting to see about the speed for sure
Motivation levels are very low here, laziness is creeping in so no running since last Thursday. Got out in the warmth for 9 miles at 6:50s this evening though
Spoons; detraining is all part of the process and will make you a better athlete in the long run. Your body definitely needed the break. I'm sure you'll be back up to speed in no time.
Macca - Good luck with that. Annoyingly, I was planning to also come and spectate that one, but I'm Zurich with work. From 100 miles to 10km; might be a bit of a shock to the system!
Hazel, glad to hear the legs aren't too bad post-race.
Scott, I'm sure you'll find that mojo soon enough.
Speaking of mojo, I've definitely found mine. I think it's been a case of watching everyone train for their A races with envy, but now realising I'm slap bang in the middle of the hard training myself now, with the big day now less than 9 weeks away.
I'm in a 'recovery' week, but still had a pretty long track session this morning; 16x800. It wasn't about destroying myself for the 800s, more building up good strength endurance. I ran them all within a second either side of 2:50, setting off again when my heart rate had recovered to 120bpm (this turned out to be about a minute). Enjoyed the session, last few reps it stung a bit. 10 miles total.
Easy 40mins this morning before it warms up, will do some gym work at lunch. Off to Nottingham tomorrow for a work conference on Thursday so hoping to get a nice run along the canal and River Trent
Tom, good luck with the foot.
Macca, the 10k will be interesting. I got a decent 5 mile time in between 2 ultras last summer so it may not be as bad as you think.
Steve, I wouldn’t push the parkrun too hard before the ultra. What I did before VLM that seemed to work well was 1 mile easy, 1 mile MP, final bit pick off as many people as possible. Gets a bit of speed in without trashing the legs.
Im back to some very easy and short runs. Will just be ticking over before my weekend off.
Great training run, AWC. I am kind of jealous of these ultras but also kind of not. Impressive either way!
Macca a few 7:xxs is a punchy start on a warm day! The distances you talk about between landmarks are mind blowing. Amazing endurance and especially so in the heat. Great placing.
Brilliant result Millsy. 8 laps sounds mentally tough. Incredible pacing to run that far, off road in sub 9m/m. In awe. To combine that with sub 18 min parkrun shows what a broad ranging athlete you are.
Well done Hazel - really pleased it worked out for you.
Jooligan that is the most mental weekend I have heard of. How do you do it?! Great result on the track.
Hope the foot clears up soon Tom.
Great track session Joe, and others say you’d tear up an ultra.
SteveMac if your goal is the ultra, take parkrun easy.
An emotional parkrun on Saturday saw a huge turn out of 750 (500 or fewer normal) to mark the sad passing of Rich, one of the core team. Quiet, but loved a beer. Had completed loads of endurance events including this year’s Everest Marathon. It was also my 100th and the wife’s 50th. I donned the centurion cape and helmet and had a jolly albeit moving time.
Sunday was supporting duties at the Shakespeare Half. The wife ran an impressive 1:50 off the back of one run a week and a max of 5M. Don’t know how she does it. Great place to support with a toddler: packed town centre start with a friendly atmosphere, big ferris wheel to see the sights and a very good playground right by the finish line. Oh and a multitude of ice cream opportunities.
Somehow I clocked up 70M for the week, mostly by virtue of squeezing in extra recovery run in the afternoon down to Games. Great weather for it. This week has seen a short track session on Monday: 2M tempo (meant to be at 5k pace but ended up with 5:53, 6:03 - how did I run a half at 6m/m?!), then 2 x 400 at mile pace. Could only manage 1:21 but all good fun. Then an enjoyable 10M on the trails today. With so little rain all the trails are in great nick.
Considering doing Worcester Half this Sunday. On road but hilly. If I do it I won’t look at the watch but just give it a good lash. Conveniently it is next door to a kids party we due at at 11. Race starts at 9.30. Poor form to literally go straight there without a shower? Might also do Wells 10k the following week.
I know I've said congrats already Millsy... but it really must have been a moment when you caught the leader. Did you talk to him on the way past?
I wouldn't do a hard park run the day before a long race Steve
Hope you're nearly back Tom.
Good to see Scott and Joe back on it.
I've swung steadily back into action post marathon. Nice 14m on Sunday with a couple of tough ascents thrown in for a 36m week. Last night I took coaching at club then went off for my own little 25 minute LT session.
Great short and sharp grass track session with spoons this morning. 3 x (300, 200, 100) all at a decent lick. The 300s were in 59 down to 57s, 200s in 39-37 and 100s in 18-17 for me. Great to have a blast but know it is only a short session. So different to some pre marathon mid week beasts - although I enjoy those in a different way.
Good to see you straight back into it NE.
90 minutes (25 miles) on the bike last night to flush out the legs. Pretty tough swim this morning, 4km with 20x100 efforts. Pace was faster than I was expecting. It's going well (famous last words).
Well done on the parkrun milestones SQ, and a nice turnout in memory of Rich. Good HM by your wife. Could be a bit of a close thing on Sunday with the HM and the party. Is there a river or even a fountain you could jump into post race to save the shower? Then jog over and dry off on your way. Nice track session with spoons.
Sounds like you are getting back into it nicely NE.
Recovery is going great for me, no general niggles no DOMS. I will be out for a few gentle miles tomorrow again. Surprised I am recovering so fast - maybe I didn't try hard enough on Sunday!
My race report:
Aargau Marathon 2018 (Aargau is one of 26 swiss cantons - it's next to Zurich..)
Low key event with 321 men and 98 women finishers in the marathon, in addition a HM (from half way point of the marathon course and 2 team events covering the whole marathon course (teams of 2 or of 4).
Course included tarmac, forest roads and well maintained riverside paths.
Published ascent – 278m, descent - 263m, GPS registered a lot more ascent but likely inaccurate due to tree cover, buildings etc.
Having got my number on the previous day I had no stress at all on race day just a reasonably early start getting up at 5:15. I travelled by train arriving in plenty of time to get orientated, warm up, toilet, give up my spare clothing (one way race) etc. OH provided excellent calming services. Warm up consisted of a bit of jogging at various paces, some moves (butt kicks, knees ups, side shuffles) and a couple of restrained strides. During my warm up I found a convenient and unoccupied portaloo in middle of an accessible construction site so made good use of it rather than joining the queues at the start.
My hydration and fueling plans: use almost every water station i.e. every 3 miles, gels at 6, 12 and 18 miles with one for emergencies. I carried my own gels as those on offer had caffeine which I don’t get on with. I did take the gels at 6 and 12 miles but only a piece of banana at around 18 miles and took water or energy drink as I felt. The drinks were offered in paper cups which I don’t normally get on with but for once I gave myself enough time to drink and got the hang of the technique of squeezing the top together and tipping the contents into my mouth rather than throwing most of it up my nose.
With the small field there were no issues about getting into the appropriate start sector – I lined up next to the 3:45 pacers with the intention of sticking near them and seeing how things went and to ensure I set off at a sensible pace. I didn’t see the pacers again at close distance until after the finish line.
Weather conditions were good, overcast and grey at around 13 degrees with a bit of wind. I was surprised how few people were in vests and shorts. For me it was the perfect setup.
The first mile or so was through the town but we were soon out onto the first stretch of flat riverside path taking in both banks which I found very pleasant, though it did require some concentration due to some pot holes, gravel and occasional tree roots. Pacing was mostly around 8:10 m/m and I was feeling great. Seeing OH at around 4 miles was nice. The first hill as of around 5 miles came as a bit of a shock, meaning I had to drop down to 9 m/m but I had done my usual thorough study of the profile and ran it by feel, returning to my previous pace once having reached the top and recovered well on a bit of downhill. The first gel + water at 6 miles went down fine. More undulations followed taking in a couple of villages then a longer downhill stretch to halfway. (01:47:27) and an encouraging high-five from OH. The second gel at this point was probably a mistake as the course immediately entered another steepish climb and I had trouble breathing and dealing with the gel / water in my stomach. A quick diversion behind a tree dealt with that issue though leaving me much happier. The ascents were more or less dealt with by that point and I enjoyed the cruise back down into the river valley with the feeling that there was plenty left in the tank. I was starting to feel thirsty though and had to visit all of the remaining water stations. Over the last four miles things began to get quite a bit tougher and I had to drop the pace down a bit and fight that little voice asking if I really didn’t fancy a walk. It wasn’t the hitting the wall feeling I had in Frankfurt though. The wind had also picked up quite a bit. Into the last mile (relieved!) and I dug in to put in a bit of extra pace and a final “sprint” to the line. 2nd HM in 01:49:07. Over the line to a welcome foil blanket and some drinks then meetup with OH, shower and home again on the train (with a nice beer…).
Overall race time: 3:36:36, 4th in age category and 15th overall. 2nd fastest marathon (previously 2 flat road @ 3:34:xx, 3:37:xx, and 2 alpine @ 5:34 and 6:45 (47km))
Very pleased with the result after the shock of the DNF in Zurich. I felt no pressure to achieve a time as my A goal was to simply get round. I did most of my pacing by feel rather than by the watch, just keeping an eye on not going too fast on the first half. Once I had established I was having a good day I did push myself a bit. I didn’t forget to look around a bit –I enjoyed a quick chat with another woman who was out on her first marathon – was very pleased to find her in the results with a time of 3:31, high-fived the kids, exchanged some brief bits of banter with the volunteers on the water stations, appreciated the scenery etc.
I can now look forward to rather than dread the idea of doing Berlin in the Autumn. No regrets on having another try.
Nice session SQ.
Glad to hear you're back in to it so soon NE: Ultra training now so need to keep the mileage high.
Not even I would do a flat out parkrun the day before an ultra Steve! Best of luck for the main event.
Macca - finishing 100 miles is fantastic, so soon after a couple of marathons is amazing but to finish as high as you did is awesome. You're definitely suited to long distances, you should enter WSER or UTMB and see how you go
Millsy - congrats on the win, goes to show that it's the mental rather than physical side which makes the difference on ultras. Nicely paced and great to finish strongly.
Hazel - well done on the marathon, amazing how enjoyable it can be when the pressure is off. Glad the winter training has paid off and you're in great shape to go sub 3:30 in Berlin.
Jools - that's a bonkers weekend but well done on the win and even finding the time to fit it all in!
AWC - massive LR and you're in great shape.
Joe - good to see you're building up nicely, do you have any races leading up to IM UK?
Tom - hope the foot clears up, sounds like it's not too serious if you're hoping to get back into it this week.
Just a couple of short runs this week for me, saving myself for 100km with 4400m of vertical this weekend! Gear is packed, weather is going to be cold but sunny, and readying myself to run throughout the day and into the evening. No idea how I'll cope in the second half but will just keep moving. Should be fun, it's a massive and well organised event with 6000 runners over 4 events. If nothing else it should be a massive report to go with it!
Cracking report, Hazel. So pleased that you enjoyed yourself - and it sounds like a lovely run.
Best of luck with this weekend's ultras, SteveMac and John. Cold but sunny is my ideal running weather!
Indeed it was cold but sunny here this morn, 4C certainly felt chilly. 5M recovery breaking my golden rule of not purely based on feel as I left a little late.
Morning all.
Great report Hazel-I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and am so pleased that it went so well for you. Enjoying marathons is definitely the way forward!
Joe-Looks like things are coming together very nicely. Any races coming up before the big one?
Best of luck for the weekend Steve. Take it easy Saturday!
Good luck with your Ultra John-sounds like fun (if you consider running 100km up and down mountains fun!). Weather sounds ideal...
Glad to see NE, SQ, Spoons, and others no doubt, back at it after recent marathon exploits.
Thanks for the well wishes re. the foot.
An Inflamed tendon or nerve on the top caused a fair bit of swelling which has meant I haven't run a step since last Friday. Lots of RICE treatment has led to It being much better now so I will try something short and easy tomorrow as a tester. Unlikely to be racing my planned 10k on Sunday though.
Good luck from me too for John and Steve for the Ultras.
Short and easy for tomorrow sounds very sensible Tom. Hope it goes well for your foot.
All this ultra talk is making me drool a bit as well. If Zurich had gone to plan then I would have had a go at the local 56km one in 3 weeks time but I will save it until next year.
5 miles recovery for me this morning. Was itching to get out yesterday already but decided to give the legs 2 full days off post mara. A bit tired in general but the legs were fine at that pace. Will keep it slow and short for the next few days.
Sounds like the perfect training AWC. Mine's been very polarised all year but not quite to that extent. Works well though.
Have you seen this 10K Tom? June 17th. I'd be there myself but after doing TriX on the Saturday (18hrs30 last year!) not sure I'll be able to walk 10K let alone race it
https://sites.google.com/view/summer-speedway/home
Steve & John; best of luck! Looking forward to hearing all about it.
Tom - glad to hear you're on the mend. Sorry you won't make the start line for the 10k. Plenty more races to come though.
AWC - sounds like you're getting plenty of good quality work in. Like Spoons, I see you continuing on a positive upward trend in the next few years.
Jools - I wouldn't at all be surprised if you did that the day after TriX to be honest.
Had a really decent bike session this morning, hitting numbers I've not ever seen before. I've got the green belt relay this weekend, and I'm organising our 4 teams. Getting 44 people around the M25 across 24 stages is always a bit of a struggle. Have given myself early morning legs so I can get them out of the way and then concentrate on logistics.
Blog on last weeks triathlon is up, it's only a brief one;
https://spragginsblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/16/thames-turbo-triathlon-07-05-2018/
Good luck with the ultra John. IIRC you posted some amazing photos from one last year, the same one ? I’d love to do something like WSER but if I ever found myself in Cali I think the lure of surfing Malibu would be too much.
Good luck too Steve, good decision on the easy PR imho.
Joe - as others have said, some impressive sessions in a recovery week - look forward to reading the blog later.
AWC - mileage looks good and looks like a good mix of fast and long stuff. Not based on any expert opinion but I think fast sessions are still useful in ultra training.
Scott - still posting some quick sessions I see.
NE - you posed the question about ultra pacing - you are correct in that I still haven’t figured it out yet. Unscientifically I think MP + 2 mins is about right for me with increasing walk breaks from maybe 20m onwards. Anecdotally I have heard that almost no one negative splits an ultra so expect and factor in a slow down. I have seen analysis of around 40% slower 2nd half for a 100 miler. I’ve managed around 20% on a good day.
I had my 10k yesterday. I’d write a report but it would be no more than gun goes, a bit of manageable discomfort then it’s all over - was that it (deju vu moment there) . 40m 16s, sub 40 would have been nice but I was reasonably happy all things considered, more pleased with the splits, last one apart, which were fairly consistent. Followed it up with a 10m mainly canal side trot from the Olympic Park to West Hampstead. The canal wasn’t as pretty as the one SQ and Spoons post pictures of.
Macca, that’s still a decent effort after a 100 miler. I noticed that one of my (faster) club mates was also in that 10k.
all the best for the Ultras John & Steve.
Im having a well deserved weekend off for the traditional FA CUP Final BBQ. A group of us have been doing it since we left school. It’s less about the football these days and more about a catch up over a few beers and this year we are off to Italy as one of the gang is currently living out there. No running for 3 days will probably be good for me.