Shades Marathon Training

Cal Jones · October 2018

Those blogs are good reads, Big G. Although I'm nowhere near the same league as those two, it sounds like I had a better Chester, personally!

Not such a great run today, though. I wasn't too worried about the rain - I actually wanted to run, and I had plans to do 6 miles. Unfortunately my legs were less keen. I felt tireder today and felt I was making more effort to run at a slower pace than I did on Friday. My calves were still niggling too (I even had a niggle on the inside of my left ankle, which is the one I rolled a few times - why it is acting up now I don't know as I've not done anything to it).
I decided there was no point pushing through that so I just did 4 again (albeit a whole minute slower than on Friday). Garmin data indicates my cadence was the same but stride was shorter. I suspect doing my first hot pilates class for two weeks yesterday may have created more fatigue than I expected - at least, that's the only logical explanation I have. I'm not going to worry about it - I'll be fine by the end of next week I'm sure.

Anyway, good luck to today's racers. I hope you smash it.

Iain Love · October 2018

Robert - I’ll definitely be doing the cardiac challenge next year but with a little more training...my last long run before that was 6 weeks prior when I did my double. I’ve got to get a few long runs in before my next event cause I want to try sub 3 Remembrance Day marathon.. well done on a good parkrun time...

Ian5 · October 2018

Get my run in before the real reulsts come along.5 mile club race today,no idea how it would go so set off at 10k pace,faded at the end and finished in 31:57,definitely feel chester in my legs with a couple of miles to go and slowed quite bit,overall though pretty happy a week after.

steven renton · October 2018

Loch Rannoch Marathon today. Finished in 3.59.30 which I’m happy with. Absolutely loved the event, it was a small field about 100-150 participants I would say however I think that played its part in making it a great event everyone talking to each other and giving each other encouragement when needed.

Report time- got up this morning about 5 due to my OH snoring all night I never got a single bit of sleep all night, so I was already tired before I even run. Great start to an event I thought although I wasn’t going to let that put me off starting. Got to the start line to be told by the organisers that the route had changed. Originally the route would head out along the North side of the Loch and return along the south side. Due to all the rainfall yesterday it was deemed too dangerous due to all the water covering the roads that it was changed to doing a couple of mile loops at the start then head out north to about 14 miles then another couple of mile loop then head back the way we came.

Got started about 10 mins late which was not a problem. As I said in previous posts I just wanted to finish and not bother about time. Set off and felt very comfortable so quickly decided to run at 8.30 per mile pace. All the way the Loch is to your left with the mountains behind it and what a stunning sight it is such a joy to run along with that as a view.

The route was very undulating although no big hills to speak off but you were always climbing or going downhill. The only hill to speak of was at mile 14 which was quite a little test then you take it again at mile 18. As I say I set of at 8.30 pace and got to halfway on target for a 3.45 finish time still feeling good. A couple of miles later I began to feel my toes starting to hurt. These were the same toes I damaged when on holiday to Tenerife. A couple of toes on each foot. As each mile passed they were starting to hurt more and more so by the time I reached mile17 I knew I was beginning to possibly do serious damage to my toes so decided to forget the time and just enjoy the day as I wanted to do so adopted the run/walk strategy which was going well for the next couple of miles. By the time I was into mile 22 I got to the point that the pain in my toes was unreal so took the desicion to only walk the final 3 miles to the finish and protect my feet which I did. So finished on 3.59.30 which taking all into consideration I am absolutely delighted with.

Also have to add did not take any cramp which is a bonus although I did feel a few twinges so just eased of at those times.

Loved the event,the scenery the fact every one gave each other encouragement from start to finish, just everything I will definitely run it again at some point.

Big_G · October 2018

I’ve held off a bit from posting this as my initial reaction was ‘it’s shit!’, but on reflection that’s very unfair!

I got up and looked out the window, and sure enough it was raining. It stayed that way all day, but at least the wind had dropped and it wasn’t too cold out on the course.

I caught the bus out to the start (£4 return) and got there in plenty of time and went into a building to keep dry, and spent some time with the Trotters England runner at the start.

I had to venture outside to use the loos - the queues were horrendous - and afterwards, I put a bin liner on, dumped my bag, and made my way to the start area, which was a slow 10min walk.

At this point I had a decision to make as I knew I needed the loo again, so decided to use them near the start line, but it meant I was in there when the race started. I was supposed to be in Pen 2 (of, I think, 5) but by the time I got to the start area, Pen 4 runners were walking to the start line through Pen 2 and the 4:30 pacer was a long way up the road. If you need to go though, there’s not a lot you can do!

As you can imagine, getting through the crowds wasn’t easy - I got past the 4:30 pacer at around 4 miles and the 4hr pacer at around 9 miles. The pace busses were huge but after that I got some more space and got into a rhythm of sorts.

So not an ideal start but on the positive, if the race results show how many people I overtook I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s 100s, with very few overtaking me.

At about 16 miles I had a ‘oh no!’ moment. Without going into too many details, I was getting blood on my shirt and it was agony - I actually stopped for 2mins in an ambulance and they gave me plasters but they promptly fell off after about 3 milliseconds. I need to sort this out as it’s happened before in bad weather. It’s not pleasant, with 10 miles to go.

So I trudged on, still picking loads of people off and in the end crossed the line in 3:43:27. Some were in a bad way at the finish - very cold, pale and shivering.

As for the course, I really can’t tell you that much about it. If I’d been up where I should have been I may have taken more in, but as it was so congested for me that was taking my focus really. There’s a much talked about hill at 25.5 miles but really it’s not that bad, and then it’s downhill to the finish. There are two out and back sections, one of which is about a mile long, so the outward section wasn’t great, with me thinking ‘where is the turnaround point!!’ as the 3:30 runners approached (I knew that as Steve Edwards was in there area).

There was a big queue for the busses back into town and I got very cold, but got back to the Airbnb, had a shower (ouch!!!!) and a coffee and feel ok now.

So would I do it again? Yes, I would. On reflection my issues aren’t the fault of the organisers in any way at all, but it all did leave me feeling a bit frustrated with the whole day. Hence why I paused a bit before sending the report in

It’s a big race with 20000 runners or so, but when I saw the 3:30 lot coming back towards me at certain points they had plenty of space. It’s a PB course I’d say - it’s not pancake flat but there’s nothing horrendous in terms of hills.

As for me, I didn’t ‘race it’ and felt well within myself for a lot of it, so I’ve got to be fairly pleased really. On the food front, out on the course I just had a few swigs of energy drink and 2 squares of mint cake. They had gels out there, which I didn’t take. I felt ok although hungry at the end - I had a sandwich in my bag and ate that very quickly!

For anyone interested, there’s a £40 early bird offer for next year’s race, which expires on 22nd Oct. It’s worth it - York itself is a lovely city to visit for a long weekend.

SHADES · October 2018

Big G - now you are a multi marathoner you are bound to meet like minded individuals week after week in various places, even Trotters.

Sounds like a tough day for you and ouch to the blood on your shirt etc. The change in the weather probably made a lot of difference to your race day.

btw on the travel news still saying no trains between Exeter and Newton Abbot, so you might have to bus that part if the track is not repaired by then.

Cal - glad the new shoes are a perfect and better fit.

steven - lovely report, you obviously enjoyed an non city marathon. That's a very good time considering you had to walk the last 3 miles, hope the toes aren't too sore.

Ian - that's a great time for your 5 mile race only a week after Chester.

For me I did Burton Bradstock marathon today. I really love this race, from the venue, a cider farm with a sign saying Honk 3 times for Cider to the gorgeous course through scenic Dorset countryside. Only slight negative is that this year I didn't see the red deer stag that I saw last year. Very wet for my drive there and still raining at the start, luckily there is a huge barn where we could all shelter in pre race. It's a 2 lap course through beautiful villages, first lap it rained for most of it but stopped for the 2nd lap, the wind picked up then but was only a problem in a couple of places as most of the course is sheltered, it also warmed up a bit too. Finished in 5:02, 13 minutes faster than last year. I would have done sub 5 if I hadn't stopped at 10 miles to eat some delicious ginger cake and I stopped at 23 miles to chat to the race organiser. Race instructions were that we all had to drink at the drink station and return the cup to them, no walking/running on with a cup. This added a bit of time but the benefit was that there was no litter on the whole of the route, so it was worth it IMHO. Had a really lovely day, already in my race diary for next year.

Ian5 · October 2018

You wait all day for a race report then 3 pop along in half an hour.
Steven-That sounds a good time in those circumstances,well done.
Big G-Well done on doing well in different tough circumstances,good time despite everything.
Shades-Sounds like you had an enjoyable day,you can tell time isn't your priority if you're stopping to eat cake

SHADES · October 2018

Ian - I did want to do a better time than last year but as this is my first race since me having to pull up with an acid stomach at Listowel I needed to run within myself so as not to aggravate my stomach, I don't want to end up with an ulcer. All was fine, not even a twinge.

Ian5 · October 2018

Shades-You had plenty in the bank for last year's time so should have took an extra slice of cake

Just realised I got a 90 sec pb today,not much to shout about as only done 5 miles twice,once in my first year and this year when I was struggling.

SHADES · October 2018

I should have, it was lovely ginger cake, one of my favourites.

A PB is a PB, another good result, you've had a great year for PB's.

Cal Jones · October 2018

A good day at the office for you, Shades!
Big G - ouch! I sympathise. Chafed my underboob at Chester - only the one though. Clearly I'd Vaselined one boob better than the other! Stang a bit in the shower.
I guess not all races go smoothly - I missed the start of one half I did in Richmond Park due to a massive toilet queue, which resulted in me handing my bag to a complete stranger to put in the bag check and then sprinting off. Fortunately it was a fairly small event so I didn't lose any time because of it, but in a busy marathon it'd have to be a bit of a nightmare. But hey, you got a decent time anyway.
steven, sorry to hear about your toes. Is there anything you can do to stop that happening again?

Robert OHara · October 2018

Cal, well done for getting out today, could have easily stayed in bed.

Ian well done on your five, I'm not surprised you feeling chester in your legs, i'd be happy to feel chester in my legs for the rest of my life if i ran that kinda time.

Steven sounds like a great race, well done on the sub 4 dispite having to walk glad you enjoyed it still. Always nice to have some scenery to look at when running plus good news on the cramp front.

Big G I do want to visit york but not ready to commit to race plans yet, the nipples sounds kinda ouch and as you say if you gotta go you gotta go! Think the whole country has been battered with the weather today. Hope the soreness dies down, thankfully not something I've had to deal with (yet)

Shades were the drink stations cider based? Sounds like a nice race and defo worth missing a sub 5 for ginger cake.

Robert OHara · October 2018

As you may have gathered from the morning post, I wasn't feeling too optimistic for Peterborough half as training hadn't been great and concerned about the hip.

Set off at 7.15am mile walk to the train station and was relived when I saw the train was on time, needed to change at Stevenage however got to Stevenage and found out it was cancelled which left less time for a warm up. Arrived and was pretty wet already dropped bag off and did a 0.4 mile warm up and the hip didn't feel that great.

No point trying to stay dry when I was already soaked, just tried to keep warm and thought I'd still aim for 1.37 from the start.

Started off and felt comfortable, looked at my watch after 0.4 miles and saw 7.15 pace then looked at 0.9 and had somehow slowed to 7.35 pace without any bunching, at 5 mile mark I was about 30 seconds behind target place (averaging 7.30 )and it all felt quite strained, I was thinking out dropping to 9 min miles and use it as a training run instead and save the leg.

Miles 6-10 I had a change of heart and decided to pick up the pace a bit clocking 7.14, 7.00, 7.02 and 7.19. I hit half way in 49 mins still 30 seconds behind pace but was in a good stride but still needed a negative split to get my target time. Each mile marker was getting further away from my watch time but then readjusted all my times mentally to running 13.2.

Hit 10 miles in 1.13.40 and knew 7.20 miles would see me in on my target however I had been suffering pins and needles in my left foot for a few miles where I had done my shoe lace too tight and didnt know if I could continue at this pace.

I pushed and would focus on the long straight sections where possible and missed the mile markers at mile 11, 12 but knew it was looking okay as long as I hadnt strayed more then saw the 400m marker and 200m and the finish line finished satisfied in 1.36.32.

It was pretty pancake flat and some bits were a bit turny but plenty of long straight sections to run. One of my mates (40+) went 1.13 which was qualified him for a championship start at london marathon.

I'm pleased with what is my 2nd fastest time and not looking back withing what if I hadnt had the injury as shit happens, move on and plan for the next one. Oh and a neg split 49/47.30

Big_G · October 2018

Just reading back a bit.

Ian, a PB is a PB. I think my 20-mile PB is soft (I’ve only ever done one) but if I ever do another one and get a PB I’ll take it

Well done.

Steven, that sounds a great race. Your description of the scenery reminded me again of Loch Ness in some ways. Well done on a great time in the circumstances.

Shades, it is a great event. It was one of my favourites from last year - I’d have done it but Yorkshire has been on ‘the list’ for a while.

Robert, well done on your time. As I was reading it I didn’t know which way it was going to go, so well done on a negative split and a good time. 2nd best time is nothing to be sneezed at. Talking of got Vet runners, I saw that Trotter came 3rd in his V65 age cat yesterday - a great runner.

Cal, I know what you mean about seeming to enjoy an event more than those who are super quick. But I do love reading about all that stuff but never comment on their Facebook group as I don’t feel qualified. There’s some great stories on the sub-3 Facebook group and fortunately they don’t vet the times to join!

As for me, I feel pretty good this morning. Typically the weather is much drier this morning. I’m hoping for a short recovery run around a park nearby (depends on the light as it’s still too dark at the moment), and will be going for breakfast and then catching the train home.

A quick update about Yorkshire as I was totally wrong with how big the event is - there were 4200 finishers. I was confused as race numbers and baggage went go to 20000, still a big event though. Also it seems I was way out with my ‘passing 100s’ comment - I passed 101 according to my position and chip position (1157/1056). It really felt like way more than that, so I was surprised to see it was ‘only’ 101 that I passed. A person who finished with my time finished in 975th, so you can I was way back which did make it hard work especially in the early stages. It seemed there were 100 in the sub-4 pace group alone, but I was obviously way out with my estimate!

SHADES · October 2018

Robert - that was a great race from you, especially as a miserable start to your morning, weather and trains and twinges in your hip during warm up. 2nd fastest time, brilliant. How's the hip today?

No cider at the drink stations in my race

Cal - ouch to the chaffing last weekend. I use Vaseline in training and Bodyglide when I'm racing.

Big G - I wouldn't be too keen on the 10 minute walk to the start at York, is that for all runners? And the waiting for the bus, I assume if I took the car I wouldn't have to do that and it was as you were staying some distance from the race finish?

5 mile recovery run done this morning, chilly and steady rain with a sharp wind in places. Legs are fine, foot is a bit achy but that's not unusual post marathon. My adductors are a little sore too but that's after me being too enthusiastic with the plie squats in Pilates last Thursday, felt them yesterday when I got to 22 miles too.

SHADES · October 2018

xpost Big G - Isn't there a 10 mile race too at York as part of the same event?

Big_G · October 2018

Shades, yes the walk was for all runners. Zones 1 and 2 went left and 3, 4 and 5 went right, but it would have been a similar walk. The ‘race village’, which was where the baggage drop was situated, was some way away from the start area. It wasn’t a long walk but it was very busy/slow, and we had to go across a narrow bridge/walkway to get there which was a pinch point. Maybe it was worse because I left it last minute as I wanted to stay under cover for as long as possible rather than standing around in the rain - probably everyone else had the same idea though!

The queues for the busses were quite long, I have to say. It was hard to know what to do regarding accommodation - the race start and finish are a couple of miles out of town, with not much else there, so I decided to stay in town, and caught the busses out. If it had been dry it would have been fine, but it wasn’t! If I caught the train up again I think I’d do the same, but maybe I’d use their showers if possible before queuing for the bus, to warm up and get into dry clothes. I just wanted to get out of there though, so endured the cold and queue. I did have tracksuit bottoms, hoody and jacket and was still cold - there were some runners getting on the bus still only in their race kit. Brrrrr!

They do have a parking system in place too, but I didn’t look into that. I’d imagine, but don’t know for sure, that the car parks would have been a walk from HQ as there were no cars on the campus apart from official cars.

Yes, there’s a 10 mile race as well. I just checked and there were 3000 finishers in that. Probably they split the numbers then, which I hadn’t really realised or thought about yesterday. I just know it felt crowded early on - much busier than if you compare it with Loch Ness. But that’s probably mainly because I started in the wrong place for me.

I’m sounding negative, but I would do it again though! I can see why it’s well regarded as an event.

Robert OHara · October 2018

Currently on the m5 have dropped the hint about DD again and not being too far and nice weekend away 😉

Big g had a couple of mates run 3.26 and 3.27 said it weren’t too crowded, probably not having the best start played on your mind. As for the poor buggers in race kit still after the race could have been like me, post race kit got a soaking before the race and wasn’t worth putting on, i made it to primarni best £8 I spent and will be used again at a race I’m sure.

Shades well done on the recovery run, shame no cider at the cp (deletes off list) hip feels remarkably good but not moved much as stuck in the car.

Recently I been runnin less with a bottle of water and decided around 3 miles I’d take a gel, take a swig o water and drop the bottle, rather than carry it all race.

also the swag at the end of the race was pretty decent! Proper back pack, bling, tech shirt, water, flapjack, vitamin drink add that to flat, closed roads race with bottles of water (weirdly high five is a sponsor according to their website but no sign from them?) and was somewhere about £33 (plus sweatshirt and coat I threw, jumper I bought)

Happy Monday folks hope the forecast is true with some better weather this week in Cornwall

1SteveMac · October 2018

Well done Shades / Big G / Steven - Great marathons

Iain - Congrats on the ultra, sounds like a tough course

Ian - PB is a PB well done!

60 minutes on the bike followed by a 5 mile run on Saturday. Absolutely soaked through by the time I got back to the house after the run!! But did feel like a runner again, being out in the rain when it was dark

SHADES · October 2018

Big G - I'm sure in fine or even better weather the walk to the start and the wait for the bus would have gone almost unnoticed. But the rain and much colder weather than we've been used to would have affected all of those. Even Steve Edwards said he found it cold and miserable due to the weather and he's usually very upbeat about races.

I would take my car when I finally get round to doing York. I see it's a week later next year 20th October.

Robert - well done on dropping the hint re DD, weather should be lovely then too. Entries open sometime in November

Have a lovely holiday in Cornwall.

Good to hear you're relying less on carrying a bottle during races.

Steve - great that you feel like a runner again, not that ever weren't

Yogalates for me this morning, very welcome post marathon.

steven renton · October 2018

Shades- good time there especially as it was quicker than last year. I'm a little jealous that you had cake.

Big G- great report, sounds like you had a tough time so well done on your time.

Robert- great time impressive running.

Cal- I only started getting sore toes when I got measured and then bought Brook Ravenna's 9. I had previously used Brook Ravenna's 8 and had no issues. I think I will be going back to the shop to see if they will recommend something differen.

Woke up today and feet felt pretty good so glad I had decided to walk yesterday and to protect from damaging them further. Legs were a little stiff however far better than what they normally are after a marathon. So when I got home I went for a 3 mile recovery run and no issues with my toes so all good.

Ian5 · October 2018

Rob-Very well done on the negative split,and glad it went better then you thought originally.
Big G-I'm thinking about doing York next year,don't think I'll do chester as it's a week after Berlin,but won't finalise autumn plans yet,can't even fully decide spring yet.
Steve-sounds like you'll be cranking out the miles again soon.
Shades/Steven-Glad you've both recovered well.
Just seen the winners time from my race yesterday 25:25,I came 122nd out of 411 with sub 40 10k pace.

Ian5 · October 2018

First club session in 10 months tonight,same session as my very first one a year ago.6xloops,hard effort uphill and recovery across and down,the hard effort is only 300 mtrs but seems to drag.1st 2 were quicker than last time,which I was happy with after doing Chester last week and a race yesterday but then they got gradually slower,bit of a spurt on my last one made it the 3rd fastest but all done.Quite happy to get it done so will see how the body reacts in the morning.

SHADES · October 2018

steven - maybe you need to just go up half a size in your shoe. I've done so for the same reason, even though I've used the same model of shoe before.
Well done on the recovery run.

Ian - you can always enter Chester fairly late if you decide to do it but with York I think it fills up fairly quickly and accommodation is very expensive if you're staying over so you'd want to book that early.

Great news that you're back training with your club. Hope there's no reaction from the achilles today.

Easy 5 miles for me today, much warmer today

Big_G · October 2018

Robert, I think it's just that I was in the wrong area for me due to my delated start. If I'd been running at the pace of those around me it probably wouldn't have been an issue.

Steve, great news you're getting back into it again now.

Ian, that's another quick race with those times. We have what sounds like a similar hill session here, which is also one of my faves. I haven't done it for a while though.

I got back on time yesterday, which was good news. Fortunately the track had been repaired so it was all fine for me. It's a quick turn around as I need to do a wash, and then I'm off again on Thursday.

SHADES · October 2018

Welcome back Big G, yes, you'll need to wash the blood out of your running kit before the next marathon

Apparently a 6 foot hole appeared under the railway track, but as you say all fixed now.

Just had a killer Pilates class which tweaked all my post marathon muscles, survived though.

Cal Jones · October 2018

I sympathise, Shades - went to hot pilates yesterday and it was a different teacher than normal and the exercises she gave us were too advanced for my post-marathon body to handle (and, I think, for most people at 6.30am on a Monday!)

My calves and achilles were horrible on Sunday afternoon - weird how my Friday run was fine and my Sunday run was ghastly. But I spent most of yesterday sat on my arse doing the club race report (which took ages as it featured Royal Parks, Cabbage Patch, cross country and several other things, plus parkrun, and puns and jokes are de riguer) so I wanted to get out today.

Glad I did as it's glorious out there again. Shorts and vest weather. Most of the other runners I saw had dressed for Autumn rather than the actual temperature, the fools. Anyway, I wore my Zoom Flys (old ones - don't want to get dirt on the new ones yet!) as they're a bit kinder on my calves but the result of that was I went a little quicker than I'd planned (averaged 10.01). I named them "Magic Shoes" on my Garmin Connect and I really do think they make me run faster. They certainly feel as though they make me run with better form at any rate.

So, 6 miles done. Still a bit of tightness in the left calf and the right achilles is still unhappy but neither's as bad as on Sunday.

steven renton · October 2018

Shades- My Ravenna 9’s are half a size up from my Ravenna 8’s as recommended by the guys in the shop. It may just be that the Ravenna 9’s are not suited for my foot strike, I am also using Saucony Guide 10’s half a size up however as my toes have really been damaged and not fully recovered since Stirling in April I don’t know if the Saucony’s are helping or hindering. My Brooks are near the end of their shelve life so I’ll head back to the shop and see what they recommend.

Ian5 · October 2018

Shades-Achilles just a little more tender than usual today so took today as a rest day to not push it.
Big G-The standard of the league seems to be even better than last year,results have gone for some reason buy I think you need to be under 31 for 5 miles to be in the top quarter.
Cal-Sounds like you've recovered well from chester.
Steven-Thats good from the weekend.
As said before no running today,but should have plenty of opportunity to build up this week.

SHADES · October 2018

Cal - ouch, that Pilates class at 6:30 in the morning must have been a bit of a shock to your post marathon body.

Last week the plie squats we did really made my adductors sore the day after and during the marathon. Different Pilates instructor yesterday and she gave us plie squats but these were on tiptoe and very slow and as low as we could go, if my adductors could have screamed they would have.

The rest of the class was tough too and I had to stop a couple of times and once I told her I'd done a marathon 2 days ago she let me off the tougher stuff.

You seem to have recovered well now from Chester.

steven - maybe you need a wider shoe or is the problem that your foot slides to the front of the toe box, especially on downhills? If so you might need to alter the lacing, you can try elastic laces which hold the foot more securely in the shoe or try lock lacing.

Ian - I'm not surprised the achilles is a bit sore after that session

Howdy, Stranger!

Quick Links

Categories

Shades Marathon Training

Comments