Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
P&D Spring Marathon 2018
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
I did a classic NE last night. There's a 5m night race over the Severn Bridge in November - with two date options of the Wed or Friday night - and it's a club championship race so when I was told that the Wednesday was sold out already and the Friday night was three-quarters gone, I rushed to enter. Once that was done, I looked at the start list to see who else from my club was running and found that my name was there on the start list for both the Wednesday and the Friday. I'd entered the Wednesday race back in March when our fixtures first came out and had completely forgotten about it! At least with Rogue Runs, they make transfers easy, and it's sure to be a sell out, so I'll be able to shift it... but what a blooming idiot!
I've been ticking over nicely and getting into triathlon training.
Did a Sprint Tri on Sunday. As always my swim was slow, cycle OK and run decent. It was fun though and have actually gone and bought a road bike so I can do some serious cycling this summer. I spent last summer doing 60 - 70 miles per week running but didn't seem to get much benefit from it so will try shaking things up a bit this time with more cross training and slightly less running.
20M cycle commute, 2K swim & 7M run today.
Sorry to hear about the foot Tom, hope it heals quickly.
Hope the mojo returns soon Scott.
Sounds like things are starting to come together nicely Joe. Great report as usual.
I’d be wary of going too hard at parkrun Steve. Millsy’s suggestion seems sensible.
Great report Hazel, sounds like a very well judged race.
Sounds like solid training to me AWC nice work.
Impressive 10K so soon after the 100 miler Macca.
Enjoy the weekend off Millsy.
I did the same thing with the Bupa 10K one year NE, didn’t realise until I got sent two bibs lol. Could have been an expensive mistake, but luckily they offered a full refund.
Good luck for the ultras John and Steve!
As SQ said we had a fun track session on Wednesday. Nice to mix things up, and while I’m definitely not where I was aerobically at the moment, my legs at least seem happy to turn over at a decent speed for short periods. Today I faced my fears and did a hill session - 10x60s uphill, followed by a 45s recovery and then a 25s stride on the flat. I was quite pleased to maintain roughly the same pace for all the reps.
Sounds painful, Tom. Take it easy.
AWC the run camp stuff will come into its own in the latter stages of a hilly ultra. Good stuff.
Jooligan I’d really fancy that although we’re away that weekend. That said, we’re in Cowbridge, so not a million miles. I 100% expect you to do it post TriX.
Well done, Joe, on organsing the logistics for the green belt relays. Without people like you these things would never happen. Also seems like you’re getting some great training in, with a reasonable diversion on your way to work this morn. Enjoyed the blog – the whole traffic/lights/7 minute float sounds frustrating but I guess it isn’t an A race.
Hell of a 10k time so soon post ultra, Macca. Very impressive. I had kind of assumed all canals were picturesque, guess not.
Enjoy the weekend, Millsy. Lads trip to Italy sounds incredible!
Haha classic, NE. What’s it like running on the bridge?
Great you’re into the tri training and racing, Ramjet. I reckon it’ll set you up well for later in the year and next spring.
Good hill running, spoons. At nearly 1000ft that must be more than you’ve done in a long time. No doubt it’ll pay dividends. The question is, did you enjoy it?
Another easy 5M in the sun this morn. 4C so nippy, but lovely. Have bitten the bullet and entered the Worcester half. Looking forward to it. May even stick my watch in my pocket – no messing round with splits whilst running, but get some strava geekery after.
I reckon on a faster all road course you'd have been easily in PB shape Hazel. Great report and good use of the builders portaloo!
Good luck in the ultra John, fair bit of vertical ascent in that
Fingers crossed the RICE did the trick Tom
Looks like all is going well AWC
Must have felt odd for it to all be over so quickly Macca compared to the ultra, strong running
Hope the move into tri's brings some good results Ramjet
Just over 50mins at 6:38 pace done here whilst in Nottingham on Wednesday along the canal/river, however due to work commitments haven't managed anything since
Macca: great 10km time after the 100 miler!
Steve and John - hope the ultras go great this weekend. Good luck!
Back in N.Ireland for a wedding this weekend later today. Did a 31 miler in 4:49 this morning but due to where I am roads were the only option. That’s a lot more painful than running on trails. Quads feel a lot more beat up but equally it was slightly faster than last week I guess because tarmac is quicker to run on.
Now for some some serious food and alcoholic rehydration!!!
Will write it up a more detailed report but overall was over the moon to finish, especially off zero trail or stairs training. I doubt I’ll do it again as it’s just a completely different type of race to road running, maybe I could be tempted by other 50k and under races though. Legs are battered this morning, far worse than any marathon and I was only going at 15 min/mile pace!
The ultra training really suits you AWC, hope the quads aren't too beat up this morning
Wow thats a brutal way to end a 100km, well done on toughing it out in the second 50km John.
Yes Nottingham looked like it'd be good for both runners/cyclists alike, loads of canals/rivers and cycling lanes....perfect!
Was meant to run yesterday but instead got tempted to drink beer on my gf's parents boat instead
Amazing watching the giro go up the Zoncolan though, Froome right back at it
Good 10k Macca so short a time after that 100 miler and not far from sub 40.
Hope you are enjoying Italy and your weekend off Millsy.
+1 to running both events NE.
Well done on the Tri Ramjet
Nice training mix with cyle, swim and run Jools.
Hills are nice things spoons - unless I have to sprint up them that is..
I hope work gives you a break to do the running you want to soon Scott.
Lovely 31 miler AWC - good recovery plan with the food and drink.
50 minutes at that pace is good going, Scott. I was at uni in Nottingham although was a long way from a runner then. Looking back to where I lived shows some lovely routes of the type you are talking about, right from my doorstep. Agreed the Giro was exciting Saturday – and Sunday.
Blimey, AWC, you are powering out the solo ultras. Food an alcohol definitely sound legitimate!
JohnOz 100k is mental anyway, but that course sounds beyond extreme – especially the finish. Great work to finish.
Hazel I think the race sounds too good not to do it, but I would agree there is injury potential that close to the marathon and with that much downhill. Perhaps you could limit yourself somehow – pace a friend?
The Worcester half was good fun yesterday. It felt really hot, but put London into perspective as it was still nowhere near the heat of a month ago. Easy logistics from the Warriors rugby club and nice quiet country roads. With 533 ft of climbing it is never going to be a quick course, but did manage to sneak in one sub 6 min mile early on. I finished 12th in the end, but with no one insight ahead or behind, I didn’t manage to truly push myself (not for want of trying). 1:23:20 in the end so a solid hit out. Massage at the end was nice too. Thank you Hazel for the washing suggestion of a fountain or river, unfortunately to only water nearby was the canal – and there was no way I was going in that. Overall a good atmosphere and nice to be racing again. Despite wearing the very aggressive Asics Piranhas, my recovery run this morning came out 35s or so quicker per mile than usual – not sure why. However, I do feel pretty wooden and stiff today.
Enjoy the sun everyone.
AWC - not too shabby for a training run.. Food and drink very much deserved.
Hazel - I'd give it a go, at the very least as a nice social outing. You don't have to race it flat-out if you don't want to, maybe build into it as a tempo effort?
SQ - didn't know you went to Nottingham. I was also there. Great racing yesterday, 12th place is awesome, and a great time for a race you weren't targeting in any way.
I had the green belt relay this weekend; it really is a bloody brilliant event - so much fun. 220 miles around the green belt of London over 2 days with 22 stages of varying difficulty. For the second year I'd taken on the task of getting our 44 runners to each start on time and sorting hotels, meals etc etc, but thankfully it all ran really smoothly.
I did stage 2 on Saturday, 10 miles from Staines to Eton Dorney. Lovely route along the river and through Datchet, avoiding going through Windsor itself due to a certain wedding going on. Went out with the lead guy at a punchy pace (5:45, 5:51 for the first two miles), thinking he might be going too hard and bluffing, but he wasn't.. I however, was, so slowed and let him go, knowing that I couldn't hold that was 10 miles at current fitness/fatigue levels. Realised there wasn't anyone behind me so slowed and saved something for day 2, finishing 2nd with an average pace of 6:13mm.
I was doing the opening stage of day 2 (11 miles), but unfortunately so was Ben Reynolds, a V50 who's still running low 2.30s in the marathon. In a way, this worked quite well, as I could just relax and let him go and the pressure was off a bit. Ended up in a solo TT for 2nd again, but ran a much more even, controlled effort. Was surprised to see I was only 30 seconds off the lead at mile 8, but I think he was just doing enough and fairly certain if I'd have pulled up to him he'd have kicked on. Ended up averaging 6:18mm for the stage, but a much easier effort level which hasn't destroyed me going into another big training week.
Very long weekend, starting at 6 on Saturday morning at home at 10 last night after more than a few beers once the minibuses had been dropped back off. Best part of the weekend was Katie getting a stage win on the Saturday and 2nd on the Sunday. Fingers crossed she's nearly back to being pain free; just hope it continues.
Hazel: I'm with SQ & JB - run the thing as a social workout rather than a flat out race effort.
Quality VLR AWC. You should be in great shape physically & mentally by race day.
Ouch John. That is one brutal race: an 800m staircase to finish a 100K. WTF! Well done on getting round in one piece.
Great stuff JB. Fantastic that Katie's able to run again & obviously still in such great shape too.
Another busy w/e for me for a change
4hr drive Friday to Cardigan for 4 hrs of dancing followed by 4 hours sleep but only 2 pints so 4 less then last w/e. This was the warm-up for Saturday. Another 40+ minute drive to Llanerchaeron parkrun for only its 14 event. Lovely trail course following a nant (brook) with a short 650m loop then a 2nd much longer one to make up the 5K. Legs were reluctant to get going which was disappointing and despite running hard I finished 4th in 20:18. Though it felt pretty flat on the way out there was 200ft of climb on the way back which definitely slowed the pace whilst increasing the effort. I then carried on up to Dolgellau for my 2nd crack at Cader Idris fell race. Last year I was ill & carrying a very crook knee so was looking forward to giving a better showing this time around.
The race starts at 1pm from the town centre & the atmosphere is fantastic. There are junior races & a fun run in the morning so loads of locals involved too. It was roasting hot with barely a cloud in the sky though still 3-4 degrees cooler than VLM. I set off steadily as I know that the climb just gets tougher & tougher. 800ft in the first half then 2,300ft in the second! The first 1.5M is on tarmac then it flattens slightly for a lovely trail run through woods alongside a lake before crossing a bog. Then the serious climb begins up rocky steps & loose scree fully exposed to the sun. I was overtaking people all the way up this & hit the summit in 77th position just inside 70 minutes so 10 places & 2 minutes quicker than 2017. You then turn & descend along the same path dodging slower runners still ascending, trying to gain a few places, pick your line avoiding ankle breaking rocks whilst still staying upright. All at high speed! After a couple of miles of descending like this my legs started to give out due to the serious lack of proper hill racing over the last year or so & a few people went past as I slowed on the more technical aspects. Once back in the woods though I pushed on hard as I'd heard someone congratulate a female rival who I'd overtaken just before the summit then thought I'd got away from. Once we hit the tarmac i really opened up & regained a few more places to finish 83rd overall in 1:58 which was 16 minutes & 80 places better than last year.
Yesterday I wound down with a tri-training day: cycled 30M to The Lake outside Bristol, an hour's swimming with drills to improve sighting, buoy turns & race starts then after lunch some running form drills & glute activation stuff before doing 3x 1K efforts on a trail round the lake.
We then had some transition practice - confirmed as my weakest discipline by far before heading back out on the bikes.
Taper week now
Congrats on the HM SQ, bringing through good form from VLM.
Great racing Joe, seems you have both the speed and endurance developing nicely. Good news on Katie too.
Jools - crazy racing, puts even my ultra in perspective!
Appears you've recovered quickly from the marathon Hazel, if you do decide to do the hill race make sure it's really easy
Good work on the hot half SQ
Sounds an absolute nightmare logistically Joe and thats before you throw in the fact you did 2 legs as well, massive well done on both fronts. Good to hear Katie is back at it too
I would expect nothing less than that from you Jooligan
Yes really exciting Giro, up and down weekend for Froome but Yates is on fire
Definitely enjoyed the sun at the weekend but meant no running. Did keep up the stretching/strengthening though. 9 miles this morning with 6 x grass strides averaging 6:52. Best the knee has felt for ages
31 miles really is a long run AWC, nice work.
Congrats on the 100K John. Putting steps at the end is just cruel!
I’d definitely be cautious with that race Hazel.
Enjoy is a strong term for hills SQ, but I didn’t hate it. Nice work in the half, it was pretty warm yesterday! Wise decision not jumping in the canal
Impressive organisational skills Joe, sounds tougher than the running! And looks like you didn’t do too badly with that either. Great to hear Katie is managing to get back in to things, fingers crossed for her.
Honestly don’t know how you do it Jooligan. Sounds like you’re in good shape post-London.
Glad the knee is feeling better Scott.
I feel like I may at last be making a little progress. Did 16 miles yesterday, and while the pace was 30s/mi slower than I was doing before Manchester, I was at least able to keep the heart rate in the right place. Similarly, my heart rate during my recovery this morning was much closer to where it should be, if still a touch high. My legs felt more beaten up yesterday after 16 miles, and a 70 mile week, than they did after 24 miles at the end of a 120 mile week. Strangely though today they feel the best they have for a while.
I have the local Pitchcroft 10K on Sunday, could be interesting given I haven't run under 7:00/mi for more than a minute or so at a time since London! No idea what pace to head out at, will attempt to treat it as a hard tempo blast as I’m certainly not in PB shape.
No excuses for getting lost at the Pitchcroft 10k, spoons! Very solid 70M week there and good if you felt recovered the next day. Looking forward to tomorrow’s session, although I sounds quite the step up.
John a 220m stair climb after 100k is still horrendous. Tell me you don’t have to walk back down it after?
Great stuff, Scott. I seemed to join this thread once you had the injury – how long have you been struggling? Hope it keeps progressing.
Sneaked in the second stage of a recovery double yesterday afternoon. I know I’m stating the obvious, but this weather really is incredible for running. The trails are in such great shape. Also then had a quick 400m dip in the lido. Very refreshing post work.
10M trail along the west side of the river this morning. Almost like a safari at times: peacocks, baby geese, baby sheep. Great underfoot although a few gates. Really nice running for this time of year – ie no real training plan.
Another great LR AWC - is that about peak mileage ? Anything pencilled in before NDW ? Comrades is on my bucket list but I think it will probably stay there.
Joe - sounds like a fun weekend with a couple of decent 10milers thrown in. Well done Katie too.
SQ - tidy performance and placing for an impromptu half. Completely agree it’s a great time of year for running. I made up a 12m route yesterday on country lanes, bridleways and fields all within about 1.5 miles radius of my front door.
Jools - I think I need a recovery week after reading about your weekend. Love the sound of that fell race but I wouldn’t be up for a 60 mile bike ride the next day, a great read though.
Spoons - easy to forget its only a month since London. Sounds like you are heading in the right direction.
Scott - good to read about the knee and tidy pace all things considered.
Looking forward to hearing about another ultra that I spotted on Strava ?
After reading all the exploits above I’m almost embarrassed to offer up a park run as my weekend effort. Having said that it was a course Pb whilst wearing a Prince Harry mask but on the other hand I was beaten by a V60 - I’m not sure if that makes me feel young or just slow ?
I'm going to throw it out there that you'll surprise yourself and run a good race on Sunday Spoons, despite lack of fast miles. May be a tad warm thiugh
Been an ongoing thing for about 18months now SQ, has been periods I've been able to get back to full training but no consistency. The trail runs sound lovely btw
Can't be disappointed with a course pb Macca
40 mins this morning, felt sluggish but was a sprightly 6:45 pace so not too bad
Good opportunity to give the legs a small rest, ready to crack on next week!
Jooligan... that is seriously mad stuff you've been doing these last few days. Definitely tougher than an ultra.
Nice PR PB Harry
Joe... quite some logistics there... sounds a fun event.
Great result John - even to complete a hundred K, let alone in that time. SQ... great result for you too.
Only managed 2 runs last week due to family stuff, but they were quality - on being last Tuesday's LT. Friday night I went for nearly 5 hours... setting off at sunset, back near 2am after a long hilly route... and got 5 other club mates to join me so that was good.
Off to a better start this week. Tonight was a league road race (6.1m pretty hilly route). I got there early and ran the route as a reccie, then ran it again in the race. Race went as expected... pretty well but not spectacular. Then another 3m of hill work so 15 miles.
Sluggish into 6:45s is not bad, Scott.
Nice work with the lanes exploring, Macca. Perfect time of year for it - both in terms of weather, underfoot and (for me at least) in between plans).
Great grass track session with spoons this morning. 10 x 400 with 100 walk, 100 jog recoveries. Really pleased with consistent 1:18 - 1:20 reps (on a track that is, I reckon, 1 - 2s at least slower than a 'proper' track). Had a bit of fear going into it, as it sounded so much longer that previous sessions, but really got into it, especially in the second half. Managed to push myself so much more by having some company, so thanks for that spoons.
In the biggest bit of news, just had some delicious black pudding.
It's good you can still get along AWC, will be watching the game with my mate in London after going to the Rugby Final at Twickenham and he's a Liverpool fan, he's promised champagne if they win
Yes, pace was good but felt terrible SQ, was odd! Decent set of 400's those, sure you'll find later in the summer you go lot quicker as it's finding that line on the shorter stuff whereby your hammering yourself but still have enough for the next rep. Very jealous of the black pudding!
5 miles easy this morning with 8 x grass strides. Going to text the coach tonight with a view to getting back into sessions with the group soon
Well done on the Worcester half SQ - sounds like a nice race. I like the way you are enjoying your running at the moment. Hmm - not sure about the black pudding.
Amazing work on the logistics Joe for the relay and 2 great 2nd places on your legs. Good to hear that Katie is doing well again.
Busy weekend for you Jools. Good time for the trail PR. The ascents and descents on your fell race sound amazing. Most of the hill races I do just go up (the downs I do post race and gently or by a shuttle bus). It's the downs that tend to trash my legs. Enjoy your taper week.
220 rather than 800m of steps is still massive John.
Good to hear things are improving for you spoons and scott.
A PB is a PB macca - well done.
Enjoy Kiev AWC. A break from running will do you good.
Hope you and your family are ok NE. Nice night time running.
Standard 6 mile Tuesday trot yesterday evening - took it easy to save the legs for this evening. Massive thunderstorms in the region but they missed us fortunately.