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P&D Autumn Marathon 2018
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I was considering a crazy visit to Heartwood before it closes Macca but not sure I can justify the 250M round trip
Well not quite sure how that happened but managed 2 Silver Medals for MV45
Ran a respectable mile in a controlled manner 84, 88, 88, 85. Relaxed after haring off in the first 150m then held on comfortably enough for 750m, could feel I was having to work harder to maintain pace going into the back straight on Lap 3 but managed to hold on for another 400m before pushing on with 300m to go. There was a stiff breeze blowing which unusually for this track was with us on the back straight but a nasty headwind on the home straight hence the early kick. Final result: 5:45.9
Followed that with the 10,000m. We'd had just over 30 minutes between races while the 4x100m relays took place so I had had a reasonable recovery with just a single lap jog 10 minutes before the start. It had been advertised as 2 races but with only 20 starters they combined them so there was lots of lapping slower runners whilst also being lapped by quite a few myself: the top 3 managed it twice. Finish times ranged from 34-48 minutes.
With a sub-40 in mind I was looking to stick to around 95/96s laps. By now the wind had died down to a zephyr & the air temperature was a pleasant 15 degrees so perfect running conditions. I set off at a reasonable pace and wasn't too worried when the first lap was 93 as I felt good. I was running with 2 others but after 3 laps we'd dropped one guy & I could tell the other chap was starting to push a bit harder than I felt comfortable with so after a mile I was on my own but I was in the 93s pace zone - 12 laps in I heard 18:36. As the laps kept ticking down I realised I was on for a PB (39:12.6) if I could maintain this & even had a shot at clocking a 38:xx which gave me a mental boost as did the shouts of encouragement from clubmates each time we passed beneath the stands. The laps continued & with just 7 to go the time was 28 flat so I needed to do 2,800m in under 11 minutes so 94s a lap. It was getting harder but I stayed strong & each lap ticked off successfully brought that PB closer to reality. I stayed patient then kicked with 150m to go clocking 3:30/km for that final push. Finished in 8th with a 38:55.0, a substantial track PB & a surprise Silver. The chap who'd gone on after a mile finished 44s ahead in 7th & picked up the MV45 gold whilst the 3rd member of our initial group was 9th in 39:52 so I did the right thing going solo.
Will do a proper read back and update later, but anyone at the Chippenham half tomorrow? I’m chief bag carrier for Katie - PB attempt.
Spoons - glad to hear it sounds like you’re turning a corner. Really hope it continues.
HA - nice long early tempo mate. Any races in mind?
steve - sorry to hear about the car, hope you get it back soon.
Hazel and Chick - you’ve both done an awesome block of training - this time next week it’ll be time to go and get the results you deserve!
Jools - cracking couple of results there. Obviously a summer of festivals is the perfect training regime.
Yeaterday saw my first 3 week block of training come to a close and I’m absolutely exhausted! Really looking forward to a ‘recovery’ week.
Friday saw a 4km continuous swim followed by a 17 mile run in the afternoon. Yesterday I ticked off 100 miles on the bike in exactly 4 and a half hours and followed that with a short, 4 mile run.
Racing Brighton Olympic distance triathlon next weekend so will look to go into that semi-fresh.
Now currently waiting at the start of the Chippenham half to see if Katie can bag a half marathon PB..
Macca - great result, you’re becoming pretty decent at mastering the 100 milers and I’ve lost count of how many you’ve done this year. True sign of an obsessed runner when you are registering for the next one as you’re running the current one!
Muddy - strong run and I like the way you finished. Much higher mileage this time round so you must be confident of a great run.
Chicksta and Hazel - very consistent sessions, last one in the bag now so wrap up well! Good luck next week, will be watching the race with interest.
HA77 - looking in great shape, anything on the horizon?
Scott - nice sessions to build your XC strength, those paces are impressive
Spoons - good to hear it’s improving. Still time to get in a good block and salvage Frankfurt
Jools - congrats on the medals and PB. Looking good in the photo!
Couple of short sessions this week: 3x1600m and a parkrun, neither particularly fast compared to previously but good enough. I’ve also finally decided to enter Sydney marathon next Sunday. I’ve only run the half before and it’s not all that flat but I’ll give sub 3 a go. Will be touch and go though as the lower miles this time round have made my legs feel heavy so not sure how they’ll cope in the last 10k.
Scott - target for Abingdon is sub 2:50. Great open topped tempo sandwich from you.
Hard luck about the car Steve, but great to hear you’re running and cycling. Super news about the cardiologist report.
Speedy speedy chicksta. Cotton wool time now.
John - I’d agree with Macca’s suggestion. You’re in great shape. Awesome that you’ve entered a marathon on a week’s notice - testament to your consistency.
Haha Macca - excellent admin running skills. Great commitment but very funny. And what an excellent result - very well done.
Excellent speed, Hazel. Bodes well.
Wow - speedy long run from HA, especially given the terrain. Good going. Have you decided on Leicester or anything else?
Great progress spoons and super attitude. Yoga for the win by the sounds of it!
Excellent track racing, Jools. And good use of zephyr!
Impressive training Joe. Excited to see what you can do next weekend after a relative rest.
Ummed and ahhed a little about what kind of long run to do today. In the end, plumped for a hilly road route to the east of me, taking in some Cotswold roads I vaguely knew through cycling. With 2000ft of climbing, mostly in the first half, I was quietly surprised to average 7:45 m/m over the 24M. Saw lots of wildlife: the ubiquitous sheep and cows, but also pheasants, and in the words of HA, a deer having a sleep by the road. Adding a few hills today certainly helped mix things up a bit and makes the consideration of Snowdonia Marathon at least a possibility. This caps an 85M week, albeit with only one ‘session’. Easier week coming up, before Worcester 10k next weekend.
Good luck with Sydney, John.
Good call re Sydney John.
Another mammoth LR SQ.
I had my 4th race of the weekend today: Oldbury 10M. Wasn't sure whether to race it or incorporate it into a LR with decent MP segment considering this was day 12, my weekly mileage has gone 20, 33, 41, 47, 61+whatever I managed today & I was pretty well raced already. The stiff breeze & far warmer than anticipated conditions, 18 degrees & sunny, also made a PB improbable.
I did a 5K warm-up then a few strides right before the start. Legs & engine could feel the weekend's exertions but nothing too worrying. On the basis of nothing ventured nothing gained I set off to try & shave a second or 2 off my PB. After a stupidly fast surge at the start I settled in to 6:30 pace. 5M in 32:20 was bang on PB pace but it started to slip away from there. Lost a few secs grabbing water & drinking about 6.5M then we turned into the wind after Mile 7 so lost a few more then during Mile 8 guts started giving me grief after a half mile back on track & I had to ease back. Really annoying as legs/engine felt well capable of picking it back up & although probably not quite enough to recover the PB certainly coming close & possibly managing a course PB. In the event I lost a further minute but without enduring an embarrassing accident I had no choice. I had to laugh when the marshals at Mile 9 said how relaxed I looked since, whilst my running was, my innards were anything but
I see from the results that Tom was there too banging out a tardy training run. Unfortunately I failed to spot him at either end of the race so didn't get a chance to catch up. I noticed he did Cardiff 10K last Sunday too.
No racing now til Half X in 3 weeks, just plenty of miles.
Good session SQ and long run ... I thought I’d better pick up on the heart rate thing as when I first ran a marathon I used heart rate for guidance. Although I ran steady state, pace dropped off gradually (and there wasn’t much I could do about it either).
Macca - were you not tempted to scream into the phone “yeah, no ... I’m doing an ultra ... nah, it’s rubbish ... I’ll call you back .. ” ? Congratulations on the win.
Steve - Good news (not the car), take it easy though nevertheless with a gradual return.
HA - Impressive that you can just knock off a run like that without logging the miles. I’m the opposite. Endurance is the first thing to go, so long runs feel dreadful when I’m starting back up again.
Glad you’re feeling better now RSR. Fingers remain crossed.
Good luck with the marathoners for next weekend - John, Hazel and Chicksta, I believe ?
My week was cut back (starting the taper) and didn’t manage a medium long run at all. I thought that might leave me fresh for Sunday’s half, but I just seemed to feel the big mileage of the week before catch up with me. Nevertheless I committed to the effort and with a nice flat course at my disposal ran 1.19.01. I ran purely off heart rate and rehearsed taking drinks at each water station. I felt fatigued (every thing a little tight) but comfortable with the effort level. The last 3 or 4 miles was into a pretty strong headwind and the effect was to knock my pace back by around 10s per miles (though I’d had the benefit of it on the out section). I’d like to say I was happy when I finished but that would be a fib, as not only did I have another few miles to add on, the airfield venue was teeming with wasps ! I managed to clock up a few miles but it was tedious as the cooldown area was restricted to an 800m loop due to incoming planes. Headed out for a recovery run when I got back to bring it up to around 21 miles for the day. Now to start my two week taper...
Need to find a good running buggy...
Interesting about your HR in your first marathon, muddy. I expect a bit of HR drift towards the end of a long run/marathon, especially on hotter days. I mostly use it to inform training, but will race a marathon largely by feel. Impressive half there on what must be a very exposed course. Well done also on the day's mileage. I think these sessions can be a killer, but really effective marathon training.
Congratulations on the new arrival AWC! Sorry it has been so stressful, but really pleased to read things are on the up. I have a Thule Glide, in go faster red. We graduated to that when our little one was about a year old. Before that it was some more generic all terrain thing. Fine for parkruns from about 5 months onwards, I seem to remember. I only use it for parkrun now, but in the earlier days, did manage to get her napping in it whilst I did an easier few miles. Choice of running surface is critical!
A very enjoyable recovery 7M this morning, 5 of which with spoons. Great to see him back in action and slowly building things up again. I began with my now customary slower than 9 m/m miling, but then eased into a lightening fast 8:35 pace by the end.
Forgot to say that I'm definitely living up to my name this morning. The (down)hills of yesterday have definitely ruined my quads.
Another great training HM Muddy. I quite like the long tempo type runs on Friday and it feels like it works well with the low mileage as I'm pretty fresh going into it, then I usually run very little or not at all over the weekend anyway, so can recover.
Jools - standard weekend then? Great stuff.
SQ - Great long long run and great consistency. Must be thinking of getting down towards 2:45 by April next year.
Still no races locked in yet. I'm pretty hopeless really at organising anything (much to my wife's dismay). I feel like I'm running ok at the moment but wouldn't be anywhere near my PB.
Joe - Only a bit over a month now. What does the taper look like? I seem to remember you were knocking out good sessions quite close to Bolton. Anything happening on the work front?
Scott - I was thinking 5 years or so down the track for your fast marathon. After your long injury lay off, I'm sure there're still some big improvements to come in the middle distance events.
Good luck Hazel, chicksta and John. I love race week. Hope you're feeling good.
Fartlek this morning 8x laps of the park, Hard on the tarmac section, float the offroad (approx 2 min on, 1 min off).
Good luck for Sydney John. I like the idea of entering a marathon a week before hand. Less time to get nervous.
Hope Katie's HM went well Joe. Enjoy your "recovery" week.
Well done for getting up and doing your long run at the weekend HA.
Nice session Scott.
Great news from Spoons. May the comeback continue well.
And also good news from Steve regarding the heart.
Chicksta I'm in block F, 1 behind you as my PB is 3:34 (from 2016). If you happen to notice me storming past after a couple of km then please tell me to slow down.. I will be travelling on Thursday already as we (+OH) are travelling by train. OH works for a railway company here in Switzerland and we have access to a limited amount of free European travel. Expo on Friday, a bit of minor sightseeing and relaxing on Saturday, race on Sunday and travel home on Monday.
Nice long run SQ with the additional bonus of some wildlife to look at. And great to see you out with spoons again.
Good luck for Berlin too dct.
Excellent HM time muddy.
Congratulations AWC! Hope Archie settles in well.
I just want to get this week over and done with now as I am getting too nervous. Running at the weekend wasn't so good - sluggish 4 mile recovery on Saturday although I did do a decent set of strides and a crappy 10 miler yesterday. Having done a good weekend of running last week I was far too relaxed about a 10 miler and went out on not enough food and drink in the midday heat and struggled to do anything more than a few seconds faster than recovery pace. I wasn't intending to do much quicker anyway but I didn't expect it to feel that hard and to fade so badly on the last couple of miles. One to forget about as I otherwise feel fine today.
Sure the legs will quickly come back to you Spoons
Great to hear the readings were 'normal' Steve
Well done on the new PB Jooligan, certainly can go alot quicker too when tapered, specifically trained for it and not having run a mile beforehand
Fantastic run from Katie at Chippenham!
Based on some of your runs SQ I'd imagine you'll be a fair bit under 2:50
Look in a good place with that half time Muddy, be interesting to see what you do in a few weeks
Congratulations AWC, pleased to hear both mum and baby are well now, all the best to you all
Runs always seem to feel crap during the taper week Hazel so don't worry about it too much
Saturday saw us tackle a cross country loop, was all going well until went over on my ankle badly so dropped the last 2 reps. Was worried it may keep me out for a while but luckily I got away with it and survived a night out with plenty of drink/dancing! Was able to do 70mins on the Sunday and a steady run with 3 x 10s hill sprints yesterday. Session planned for tonight
Muddy: Brilliant HM result and wasp dodging.
AWC: Congrats on the family addition. Glad to here everything is ok now. Whilst a common occurrence in new-borns jaundice is always a bit distressing for the parents. I love it that you're already making plans for buggy running.
SQ: Good to see that some of you are knocking out 8 and 9 mm
Ouch Scott! And phew there's no damage to the ankle.
Hazel: Typical taper run indeed. I had a few of those stinkers last week. Safe travels
I'm expecting you to thunder past me around the 20 mile mark
Thanks for the good wishes all.
Great news from the cardiologist Steve, glad it’s all ok.
Congrats on the medals and PB Jools, great work! I was hoping to run Oldbury as an MP run, but not to be this year.
Sounds like things are ticking along nicely Joe, and congrats to Katie.
Need to have a serious think about Frankfurt John, the way it’s going I could probably get in shape to get around, but not sure if it’s worth the risk and the recovery afterwards. If things continue to improve I’d like to perhaps train towards the Telford 10K which would hopefully get me in decent shape before training for London starts. We’ll see. Good luck for Sydney.
Good luck Hazel, Chicksta and DCT for Berlin. I’m looking forward to seeing what Kipchoge does, although I can’t find any TV coverage info for it. Looks like I’ll be practising my GCSE German on the local feed
Great HM Muddy.
Congratulations on the new arrival AWC, glad to hear mum and baby are doing ok now.
HA, like Muddy I’m impressed with the big runs you can knock out on low mileage.
Don’t panic Hazel, we all have runs like that during taper. Just think back to all the quality training you’ve put in, and trust the process.
Glad the ankle is ok Scott.
I seem to be continuing the slow improvements. Ran back-to-back days Sunday and Monday without issue. Was good to catchup with SQ on our usual river recovery loop. Felt fine this morning, but don’t want to ramp things up too quickly so decided to have a rest day.
Will try three days in a row starting tomorrow, then I can have a rest day Saturday ahead of the Worcester 10K. I had dreams of another big PB, as I’ve not properly raced a 10K at full fitness since the same event last year. Instead, I’ll be happy if I finish before SQ laps me on his warm-down
SQ really appreciate the feedback on Chester, it'll be invaluable. Especially the overshoes advice, would never have thought of that!
AWC, we have the Babyjogger Summit X3. It was quite expensive (I think they all are sadly!) but we've had it 3 years now and it's still going great. We only have one car which i take to work Monday to Friday so the wife uses the babyjogger a lot to get around and it's also regularly at parkrun. I highly recommend it.
Good luck to the Berlin runners this weekend, hope you smash it!
DCT, Hazel and Chicksta, all the best for taper week. 7 with 2@MP tomorrow ? (Possibly my fave session).
I'll add John to the best wishes, you've certainly got the speed.
Muddy - well done on the half and especially well done on the extra miles, I really dont like adding those on.
SQ - great 24m at the weekend, bound to feel it in the legs. Agree with HA - your're setting yourself up for a great result in the not too distant future.
Scott - good news on he ankle. A session planned for tonight ? Beer or reps ?
HA - as per Muddy, impessive session off lower mileage.
Jooligan - well done on the medals. When you said a busy weekend I feared more than 4 races:). Theres only 3 more Heartwoods left, I hope to run the last 2, shout if you think again about it.
Good to read of the continuing improvements Steve & Spoons, it sounds like you have done all the right things.
Great 100 miler Joe, hope the half went well.
I blew out a snow cancelled rearranged half Sunday just gone. Within a few minutes of watching the GNR on the tv I regretted it but with no recent speedwork and the previous weeks efforts in my legs, realistically there was more to lose than gain. In an effort to make speedwork less painful I've cut the "in between meals" crap out of my diet and am about down to half/marathon PB weight, shame I've got no races featuring speed in the foreseeable future.
Certainly was lucky with the ankle. HAHA the session was reps Macca, the beer session was done on Saturday night
Said session was 1km, 2 x 800m, 3 x 600m, 4 x 400m all off 90sec recovery.
Times for reps were:3.10 - 2.32/2.30 - 1.47/1.49/1.49 - 69/66/68/63
40 minutes steady this morning, legs dead but tends to always be the case on Wednesday's run. Telford 10km number came in the post yesterday
Careful on the off-roading Scott - good that you didn't do anything nasty to your ankle.
Have a good journey Chicksta. I am hoping that I will cope ok with the crowds on and next to the course.
Have a good parkrun on Saturday SteveMac.
Sounds like good progress spoons. Good luck for the 10k - hope the feet continue to stay quiet.
Is the no race around you can sign up to Macca? Well done on the diet improvements.
Good luck to DCT, Chicksta and John for the weekend!
I'm feeling much better in the meantime - enjoyed a 6 mile recovery yesterday morning in perfect conditions. Then the dress rehearsal today - I'm off work today already and I deliberately went out mid-late morning to get in some more heat (re-)acclimatization - 27 degrees according to the car but it had been standing in the sun.
3 miles warm up with some drills and a couple of strides then the 2 miles @MP and 2 miles CD. MP (or a couple of seconds faster) felt fine. Legs feel fresh and ready to go. Starting to feel excited rather than just nervous which is a good sign.
- HazelnutCH - 12 week P&D - A goal PB (sub 3:34), B goal sub 3:30
- Chick - 12 week diy P&D - 3:45ish - the closer to 3:30 I can get, the better
Chester Marathon - 7th October 2018- Sorequads - 13 week P&D/BAC - goal sub 2:50 (need to actually get a race place)
- Jooligan - no training schedule & no target (as yet)
Snowdonia Marathon - 27th October 2018- Sorequads - P&D/BAC - goal sub 3, depending on Abingdon
Frankfurt Marathon - 28th October 2018Edit: Forgot JohnOz's impromptu Sydney entry.