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P&D Spring Marathon 2018
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Really hope the 800 goes well, Scott.
Felt absolutely knackered yesterday and this morning. The 20M run then track session definitely took it out of me. Binned a planned easy 10M for 6M trail recovery this morning. Will try to do a further 4M later today. All at a very sedate 8:30m/m pace.
Enjoy Zurich Joe. Have been reading about the race in the press a bit.
Good luck for your race Scott.
I do like my hills, it was joining the Tuesday group a few years ago that got me into those as they almost all run regular hill races and have been doing so for years. I like all the changes in pace (and often terrain). I rarely do a really flat race.
6 miles for me yesterday evening with the group, feeling well recovered from Sunday's race now.
AWC - good to hear you're feeling good.
Hazel - we always get mixed reviews wherever we go, always manage to annoy some locals as we shut down the roads for a few days.
I've posted my blog from the weekends race if anyone wants a read/something to help them sleep;
https://spragginsblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/06/chester-middle-distance-triathlon-03-06-2018/
Joe... legend! Must have been so satisfying picking off your competitors on the bike and on the road, one by one.
Jooligan... I'd been looking at that Worcester mile. Think work will stop me.
I had a few days off after my fall... partly because of work though. Didn't run till the Friday, but still managed to put in (for me) a big week. 5 on Friday, 18 on Saturday and 22 on Sunday. That's me peaked, and taper off a bit now. Just over 2 weeks to go to my next challenge.
Good session, AWC, sounds like you are sharpening up nicely. When is the big race?
That's a huge weeked, NE. Remind me what your race is?
Recovery double for me yesterday. Feeling pretty tired so think I probably won't do tonight's mile, perhaps some strides instead. Wouldn't mind having a rare crack at parkrun on Saturdya instead.
No point doing the 10m just for the sake of it if feeling knackered SQ, sensible decision to change plan
I reckon you'll have me on that segment soon AWC, certainly running it plenty
Look forward to reading the blog later today Joe
Wow you certainly caught up on the miles over the weekend NE, how did the back to back 18/22 feel?
So last night was my first race for around 19months, no pressure as only just got back into sessions and we were using it as part of our session. Set off fast and behind the guy leading, no idea if I was going to be able to hold it. Went through the bell in 62 and a guy flew past so I went with him round the bend. Picked it up in the back straight and gradually began reeling him in. Hitting the straight I gave it another push but he just held on.
Final time was 2.04.5, absolutely over the moon, only 2seconds off a PB off very little training. After about 15 minutes rest watching the race after, then went into 6min tempo (90), 6 x 90s (60), which felt horrible!
Well done on your winnings Joe. Reward for a great race. I’ll have a proper read later whilst waiting for the physio.
My niggles are feeling a bit better but my head is telling me running 100 miles on them is not a great idea. Have also been considering the very patchy training that I have had since the middle of March. A couple of great race performances but have never given my niggles a chance to heal before hammering them again. If I do miss the 100 on Sat I’m on holiday for 10 days and then on a work conference for another 2 which will give me (including the last week) a total of 23 days of total rest which is probably a good thing in the long term. Especially with some late summer and autumn races.
Congratulations on your 800 race Scott.
Sounds like you have as good as made your decision regarding the 100 miles Millsy.
8 miles for me yesterday with 6km (a bit short of 4 miles) at around LT pace which despite the warmth and high humidity went well. I'm running in a half tomorrow evening, planning to set off at 8 min/mile pace and see how it goes. The race doesn't start until 10:30pm so I'll need to dust off the headtorch. Then off to Wales on Sunday for two weeks before starting autumn marathon training. Will hopefully get in some decent running and cross training whilst away, I will certainly be packing for it.
I think you know the sensible option, Millsy. Doing 100M if you're not fully up for it/in race wouldn't be the greatest option in my opinion. Nothing wrong with a bigger break on a macro scale.
Decent LT, Hazel. Good luck in the half. Why does it start so late? I love the amount of light we have at this time of year!
Good luck with RTTK, AWC. Make sure you recover well enough before the next block of training pre NDW100M. Again - unimaginable distances!
Sacked off tonight's mile race in favour of sneaking in a day time 10M with 10 x 30s fast. Enjoyed it and it came out at 7:10m/m average.
Sensible decision Millsy, better to recover get another block of training in and target another race later on in the summer/autumn
A race starting at 10:30pm Hazel? I'd struggle to stay awake!
Yes that hill is perfect for your ultra training AWC, really starts to bite at the end when it gets steep
Nice 10 miler SQ
Certainly was great to get back into a race, I think this photo sums up how much it hurt
If anyone localish (NE, Muddy, SQ, Spoons) fancies a cheap (£6.50/£8.50) low key Tuesday evening 10K on July 17th I've just opened entries for Blaisdon & they're flying out. Not a PB course but starts & finishes in a top CAMRA pub with a BBQ in the garden afterwards. Entry LINK
Sensible decision to switch to recovery SQ.
Nice hill session AWC. Good luck for the 30 miler.
Great race report Joe. Impressive you came 1st in the run despite not feeling like you’re in top running shape.
Congrats on the 800m Scott, like SQ I’m in awe of that speed! Bodes well you’re already that fast after little training. Great picture too!
Sensible decision about the 100 miler Millsy.
Good luck for the HM Hazel, that’s a late one!
More hills for me this morning, 10 reps of the same circuit I’ve done previously of a 60s hill, 45s recovery, then 25s stride on the flat(fish). Hard work and wasn’t quite feeling up for it, so had to play the mental game of “just get to 5”… “get to 8 and see how you feel”… “well there’s only two to go now”. It worked and I got all 10 done. Hoping to do Sunday’s long run as a progression - on my plan several of the previous ones should have been but I just didn’t feel up to it. But I need that tempo work so going to make the effort to get it done this time hopefully.
Millsy - made a final decision yet?
Hazel - have fun in Wales. Might be slightly cooler than it is over here in Switzerland at the moment! Good luck in the half tonight.
Spoons - my favourite game that one. Tell yourself it's not your day and you're only going to do half of them. Then I might as well do a couple more.. etc. Always get there in the end.
Doing some cycling and swimming out in Zurich. Feeling pretty good after the weekends efforts.
Good luck with the HM tonight Hazel. Quite an unusual time to have a HM!
Enjoyed your blog Joe. Looking forward to tracking you in Bolton.
Celebrated my birthday on Wednesday with a 7 mile fell race. It was great fun although I did manage to waste 2 minutes going the wrong way. I do love these scenic races but just can't seem to sprint downhills like some people can.
Bad DOMS today. If I can manage 9 min miles on my lunchtime run I'll be happy!
Been ticking over with easy easy runs and a few sessions but they’ve been a struggle, I think I need more of a focus over the next few weeks or I’ll just take the easy option and sleep in.
Also all the best to Macca for the SDW 100.
Physio has worked some magic on my hips / TFL which has made a big improvement but will take his advice of having a week off.
I have plenty of important races coming up which I can train properly for if rested.
Missing the 100 is disappointing but it’s not the sort of thing to attemp when not 100%. Will definitely get one in the diary for next year and really give it my best effort.
away on holiday from Monday for a week so will be a good chance to rest and get ready for starting back fully fit in a couple of weeks.
Really sorry about your decision Millsy, as you say get another in the diary next year and go for it.
Worlds briefest catch up (apologies) loved the race report John, great photos Ram and Scott. Sorry recent races didn’t go the right way Jools and Spoons. Some decent performances in there SQ and Hazel. Great blog Joe and fantastic tri result, oh and begrudging well done to Katie for beating my park run time last weekend?
AWC - I’m 151 - 6am start from Chilcomb.
Nice racing ramjet. Never easy having to backtrack on a fellrace!
Hazel... you must be out there in the dark, as I write... hope you're HM is fun... then it's welcome to Wales! Are you north, south, east or west?
SQ... it's the Pen Llyn Ultra I'm doing... Llyn Peninsular in NW Wales... absolutely beautiful place.
Scott... good photo. Good quads! My back-to-back long runs were ok. the 18 had quite some hills in, then flat the last 6m and I tried to push the pace a bit. Then the 22 included some breaks and sandwiches it... an lots more hills. The last 3 miles were getting a bit tough though.
Jooligan…. thanks for the heads up... great that you're putting on a nice race for a good price. I've entered. This is on our club's Championship calendar - so there will be plenty of Spirits there.
Bit of speedwork tonight. 8m with 5x1km. I was wearing a different watch and couldn't see my pace, so just had to do it by feel. Average pace 6.36/mile ... 15s slower than last time I did that session, before my marathons. But I guess I could have gone a bit faster if I'd known I what pace I was doing. Still, it was probably sensible. 2 weeks tonight, I'll be in a tent, hopefully asleep!
I was on an out and back back with a total of 31 miles in 5:15
Thats me done now till RTTK in 2 weeks
Time: 2nd fastest HM so far in 1:39:50, 9th lady overall out of 177 and 3rd in my age category of 21. 58 seconds off of my PB of 1:38:52 which was better than I had hoped for - my main aim was to go sub 1:45.
I got a bit carried away at the start and it took me a couple of miles to settle down into a sustainable pace which did wander around a bit. The hill (a long slog of a about mile) took it out of me, I had to drop down to 8:34 pace for some of that but was able to speed up again on the down and the subsequent last few flat miles, though not as fast as before the hill. Was tired on the last 3 miles or so but felt mentally strong - enjoyed picking off a few half-mara people in front of me and was passed by only 2-3. The half-mara runners were wearing an additional number on their backs and were easily identifiable (also by their speed in comparison to the ultra runners).
It was an interesting experience to run and particularly race at that time of day - below the neck was willing, above the neck was more interested in going to bed. There were a lot of people out spectating in the villages and towns - running past groups wafting nice smells from beer glasses was sometimes difficult, if I hadn't been on for a decent time I might have stopped and exchanged some banter for a gulp! Left my headtorch hanging on my bike at the train station (dohhh) but I could see enough and didn't stumble anywhere.
Getting home was also fun as the 100km course goes through my village and the roads were closed. I had plotted a route to avoid crossing or using the race route but mixed up a junction and had to dump the car and walk a mile home finally getting in at just before 2am. Saw quite a few of the ultra runners in my village - some of them will still be out there now.
You won't be feeling great in all runs AWC, those are the ones that will build the character needed for the ultra. Strong long run this morning
Good luck today Macca!
When's the next race Spoons, will be interesting to see the effect the speed orientated work has had
That picture is spectacular Ramjet, must have taken the mind away from the pain even if just for a minute
Pleased to hear the physio work did some good Millsy
Yes, I just need that consistency to get those PB's. Already running decent times considering the lack of training so fingers crossed
30 minutes on Thursday was followed by a rest day yesterday. Today was a session of 5mins, 2 x 3mins and then onto the track for 4 x 400m and 2 x 150m. Tough! Garmin is Playing silly buggers and saying the files are invalid so hoping someone on the Garmin forums can play around with the file and fix them
That PB is sure to tumble Scott if you can keep up the consistent training.
Top LR AWC & good photo of a ridiculously composed Macca. Going well 41st after 100K atm.
More quality training NE - that's a good pace after last weekend's double & plenty fast enough for ultra training. Glad you'll be running Blaisdon.
Better race for me today: my 5th time at Man v Horse. Was really worried about how it would go after the Dorchester debacle, 125M on the bike this week & worst of all had to bail on a hilly, but steady, club run Thursday evening when my calf/hamstring tweaked again. Aim was always to keep it steady & nurse the injury early by walking anything steep. A hot & humid day but mercifully no sun til 20M in. Stopped at each water station (every 3 miles) to down 1-2 full cups & pour another over the head. Ran with some familiar faces after catching them around 5M in & was happy chatting away but they ran a gentle incline that I opted to walk around 16M in so did the last 10K solo. Was feeling the heat & hills in the last couple of miles so I lost about a dozen places but happy with 162nd of 726 finishers (101st of 527 solo runners). Beat 19 horses too. It was the closest race for years with just 27s between the 1st horse & the 1st runner. Bet he's kicking himself as he'd've been only the 3rd man to manage the feat in 39 years not to mention the £3,000 prize!
Considering everything sounds like you had a decent run Jools. Gutting for that guy missing out on the prize. Can't say I would advise something like that with a slight injury however, hopefully you got away with it
Legs were not happy this morning but got 40mins done at 6:47 pace. ACHEY!