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P&D Spring Marathon 2018
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Joe - congrats to Katie, so close But she should smash through 40 mins in the next one
well done Steve, hope the recovery is quick.
GC should be fine for the first 30k but then it goes past the finish line and you hit an exposed part of the course when it starts to warm up. Hoping for around 15-18C by that stage so still much better than VLM. Yuki will be running again so will stalk him for a selfie!
Last tune up race yesterday, 10k on what must be the hilliest route for any road race I’ve ever done. My PB was last year in 40:40 and the last 2k has killer hills. Small field but the prize money always attracts a decent standard at the front, including one of the Aus marathon team who finished 5th at the comm games. He went on to win in 30:15 but has a 28:12 PB. First half was fast with a few downhills and small hills, going through in 19:25. Pretty lonely after that but kept the pace around 4min/km or below up to 9k. Then the last brutal 1k which seems to go on forever, legs were treacle by then and overtaken by 1 runner. Realised near the finish that the course was going to run long so put in a sprint and stopped watch to find I had just sneaked under in 39:57. Very satisfied with a 43s PB and sets things up nicely for Gold Coast. Added a long cool down around the harbour to make 28km for the day, followed by the 2k fun run with my 5 year old - most fun of the day!
Training seems to be going well Joe, good times on that 20 x 100 swim on Strava too. Great to see Katie doing so well again.
Nice work at Endure Steve.
Thought you'd run 1200km for a moment there Scott.
Great 20 miler SQ and glad things are starting to improve Spoons, it feels right to comment on you two buddies together ;-)
Good work at Eastleigh AWC. I was also at Eastleigh, legs were still jaded from Endure the previous weekend. Almost didn't bother but I felt a marginal PB may be possible (35:11) but fresh I was thinking 34:30ish. Felt hard from the beginning and despite going through 5k in 17:30 I knew I was going to slow. Finished in 35:19 in the end so not a disaster considering the build up.
Hoping to get a bit of speed back now I'm done with the monster endurance events for the Summer.
Some great 10ks Reg and John although it looks like Katie has trumped you both? Surely a sub 40 on a road course.
Joe - hope the 4 weeks doesn’t feel too long. Next up for me is the Lakeland 100 end of July. It’s my A race but the goal is to get round in one piece.
Sounds like you are getting back into shape Spoons, it was always just a question of when.
Strong run's at Eastleigh from AWC and Reg
The tri sounds horrendous Jooligan, you sure are one tough cookie!
Good to hear Katie is back on it and already hitting PB's
Nice to hear the calf has eased after Endure Steve
Huge PB John and on a hilly course too!
Need to get back on it this week after last week's disaster and considering I'm down for the 1500m at Watford next Wednesday. Started with 30mins easy yesterday and have a session tonight
Strong work on a hilly course, John. Although I reckon you’d knock that out the park on a flatter faster course.
Also a great 10k from reg. Very good considering a taper that included a 40M run. Tempted by an autumn marathon post ironman? Sub 2:45 got to be on the radar.
Jooligan hard core as ever, back on the back and in the pool already. Mind you it all must feel very luxurious compared to the weather, terrain and distance you faced on Saturday.
How much elevation in Lakeland 100, Macca? Not a small amount I can imagine. Fingers crossed for the weather.
Track with spoons this morning. 10 x 400m on this plan, with 100 walk, 100 jog recoveries. And for once I parked the ego at the door and left the garmin running during walks. Spoons made the good point of being able to more accurately compare recoveries down the line. Paces ranged from 1:15 – 1:20. Spoons wasn’t feeling it and so wisely bailed after six. The remaining reps were tough – it made me realise how much more you can push yourself with company at the track. It’s been good to get consistent weekly track sessions in this term. Talking of reps, Joe did a few this morning…
Considering a last minute entry to a hilly trail 10k on Sunday: the Nailsworth 10k. Jooligan fancy?
Thanks Reg - I'm never going to be a fish, just need to get out of the water not having given away 20 minutes for free. Top run @ Eastleigh, especially considering the previous weekends efforts which would've undoubtedly played a part.
Glad to hear the calf is getting better Steve.
Well done for parking the ego SQ! As you say, I think it's good because you can get a proper time split for recoveries; all good information. This is important for me as for my strength endurance reps my recoveries are based on HR (go as soon as it gets back to 125bpm), so I can see how quickly I'm recovering over the reps. The shorter the recovery, the fitter I am. Seems like you were laying down a tasty pace this morning though, very nice. Agree on the company as well, I didn't enjoy being solo this morning..
Thanks for all the messages re; Katie. To see her back running again is an absolute dream.
As SQ mentioned, quite a few reps this morning. 20x800 to be precise. The aim wasn't to run them flat out, but at around HM pace. Sounds not too bad on paper, but after 10 or so, it starts to get pretty tricky. However, felt strong throughout, and hit 2:51 or 2:52 for nearly every rep. Was a really hard session, so I was happy to put a big tick by that one in the training plan. Only one more tough track session to go now.
SQ - nice fast reps, you’re lucky to be able to have a track and training partner in spoons. Look forward to seeing how all that speed translates in your next race.
Spoons - sensible to save it for the weekend. How are you feeling it will go?
Reg - great run to back up your ultra. It always takes me weeks to switch paces between the 2.
My hard longer runs are done alternating goal ironman pace (3 hour marathon) with tempo pace. The tempo pace doesn't matter too much, just enough to leave the legs pretty battered. The most important bit is being able to get back into ironman pace straight away even when pretty exhausted.
The 125bpm recovery is just a number me and my coach opted for, based on my max HR (very individual I guess - my recovery run HR is around 130 so once it drops below this). As long as you keep that figure the same session by session, you've got an accurate comparison. Today's recoveries started at 50 seconds and ended around 70. I've been lower than this in previous sessions but I think the humidity was causing my HR to be slightly higher for longer.
SQ - Lakeland has about 22,000 ft of climb - plenty of opportunity for walking! Going back to timing recoveries, I leave the watch running so it gives me a longer recorded mileage, I guess that makes me a Strava ***ker as well ? (good reps btw and hope Spoons is ok)
AWC - I didn’t wear long socks or guards on the NDW and can’t recall anywhere where I would have needed them. I know people post pictures of impassable sections sometimes but I believe the trail has a manager who can clear sections if needed. It’s less open/exposed than SDW but still all decent runnable trail, if the legs are willing. I tend to drink coke at the aid stations and fill bottles up with water and tailwind for in between. I think the coke gives me more than enough caffeine, in fact I can’t always sleep when finished there’s so much muck sloshing around.
Great to hear the calf is better Steve
Being able to push harder with other's at the track is so true SQ, makes a massive difference
For what it's worth I always time recoveries and leave watch running
I can imagine those 800s would lure you into an 'easy' mindset until they start to really bite at the end Joe
Tough 1500m specific session tonight ready for next Wednesday. 2 sets of 4 x 400m. 75s between reps and 10mins walk/jog between sets
Rep paces: 65, 64, 65, 65/ 65, 66, 68, 76 (As you can see completely fell apart at the end)
Impressive session JB & thanks for the detailed explanation/description of the recoveries. CRAB did a similar session a few weeks out from Yeovil. Presume 20 is the peak?
Have fun at Nailsworth SQ - no way I'll be joining you as nowhere near recovered yet.
Did a freedom parkrun round my local course in 26:26 which is my usual RR pace however HR was around MP effort. I'll have a go at a parkrun Saturday but other than that I imagine I'll be plodding til the Cotswold Way Relay on the 30th. You doing it SQ?
Guessing you're not NE as imagine Pen Llyn may take some recovering from. Best of luck with it.
Jooligan... I did that Cotswolds relay a couple of years back and we've got a team in from the club... but of course you're right... I'm not going to be doing it this year.
I had a great HM on Sunday. The Freckleton HM always starts at 2pm and last year the heat (26 degrees) almost killed me. This year it was a much more comfortable 16 degrees with a breeze.
The plan was to get a course record (sub 1:28) as I have never performed well in this race. Started off at a comfortable effort and was very happy / worried to see a 6:25 mile on the watch. Still the HR was pretty low and the effort felt right.
A guy in front of me was running incredibly smoothly and at the right pace so I decided to stick with him. He basically pulled me along for the next 10 miles as we gradually worked through the field. There are a few undulations in the middle which passed without incident and then miles 10 to 12 are slightly uphill and very boring, on the side of a main road. In the past I have faded miserably here but not this time. The 6:30 miles kept on being ticked off.
I had a brief conversation with my pacemaker who asked what time we were on course to finish by and was shocked when I said 1:25. Apparently he was doing the race as part of a longer run and had never gone sub 1:30 before. I want some of what he is drinking!
At a drinks station on the 12th mile my pacemaker got away and gradually drifted off. I still kept going though and overtook two more runners, including one on the final straight. I was so chuffed to finally have a really good race that I punched the air as I finished (show off I know!)
1:24:42 is a course record by over 3 minutes and only 30s off my PB. It feels like a long time since I have surprised myself in a race so I am going to dwell on this for a bit longer. 17th place was nice as well.
2pm start!? Not sure I'd be keen on that! Very impressive run Ramjet, always great when you surprise yourself in a race
Looks like it's going to get warm again next week
30 mins easy this morning
Quality HM Ramjet nice one.
Here's my finish pic from Tri X - safe to say I was happy to be back in one piece.
Jools - cracking photo, love it.
Deep into the first of 3 weeks of the last hard block of training. Long swim then big run tomorrow morning with some alternating 5kms IM and tempo pace; will be around 20 miles total. Nervous about that one.
Great work at Endure24 Steve.
Congrats on the PB John, great time on what sounds like a tough course!
Very speedy on tired legs Reg, great work.
Sorry to leave you for those final reps SQ! Top session.
Amazing session Joe, reminds me of the 20x1k @ HMP I did before Manchester. Starts off deceivingly easy but soon gets tough doesn’t it! I really felt like it was a key session for me, will definitely be doing it again before Frankfurt. Nice work.
Great session Scott, despite the tough final one.
Take it easy Jooligan, you’ve been a busy boy! Great finish line photo.
Congrats on the massive course record Ramjet.
As SQ said, I had a poor session on Tuesday - first few 400m reps came out well, but after that I just had nothing in my legs. I felt ok in myself, but they just wouldn’t turn over as fast as I was telling them. Gave up after 6, didn’t want to flog myself with the 10K on Sunday. Not quite sure what was going on, just an off day hopefully.
To answer your question John, really not sure how it will go! I’m definitely in better shape than before Pitchcroft, and my legs are feeling nice and fresh from cutting down the mileage this week. However, the forecast is looking warm. A PB definitely isn’t on the cards, I just want to put in a solid effort really, and hopefully at least beat marathon pace!
Anyone else racing this weekend? Will be time for an autumn thread soon I imagine?