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P&D Spring Marathon 2019
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Jools - that's an impressive conversion from HM times to full marathon....Im normally about 2xHM time +15 mins....Half PB is 1:26:xx but that was giving it all and hanging on...(and 4 years ago).
Stevemac - you should take up cycling instead of running LOL
Macca - well done for going for it. What was yr previous best?
FBT - what were conditions like, i had a quick compare of the results with worthing and it looked like a minute or so quicker.
SQ - yay, another smashed build up race. Id take it as a sub 2.50 pointer, i think you need a bit quicker for 2.45, but with a taper etc you might be there by April. There was a quick 10 at Lordshill in November but it hasnt been on lately, i went sub60 a couple of times, you are in shape to do that.
Millsy - nice one. I remember seeing you at the finish of that 2.54. What is fleet like, im running it.
Im entered into Abingdon (and Yeovil), i owe both of those races one after last yr.
15m today.
Some superb performances at Wokingham, great stuff.
Great long run TR. I really think those pacier long runs are great marathon prep.
Nice volunteering chicksta, and five miles at LT at the end of a long run is superb.
Congrats on Brighton FBT. Don’t talk yourself down, sub-90 while feeling comfortable is great.
Congrats on the massive PB HPR, even more impressive given the lack of taper and drinks!
Good to see you cut free the sandbags Joe! Annoying about the laces, but to go from struggling to run sub-6 at parkrun in Jan, to that, bodes well for London.
Great result Jools after a few disappointing weekends. Impressive predictions too.
Really pleased to see you went for it Macca and got your just rewards for your hard work and consistency.
Hope you can get the injury under control Reg.
You certainly picked the right weekend for a break HA with the weather we had!
Great long run AWC and George.
Solid result Millsy.
Another big chunk off your PB SQ, great stuff. Still plenty more training to come, don’t write off 2:45 yet!
I was feeling pretty despondent towards the end of last week. I was still getting discomfort when walking fairly short distances, and I was worried how long things might take to heal. It felt like such a nosedive from smashing out big sessions and feeling fit and strong, to barely being able to walk to the shops!
However yesterday I was finally able to walk around feeling fine, and still felt good today so I couldn’t resist a test run in the lovely weather, with the proviso that I’d stop if I felt even mild discomfort. Thankfully, I felt good the whole way and covered 5K. Still felt fine afterwards too, so hopefully I can now build things back up.
HR was 15-20 beats higher than the effort felt, as it always is after a break. Hopefully that will come down a bit quicker this time. Trying not to think too much about London right now, will try to get to Bath healthy, and assess from there...
My house survived the digger. £175 for the weekend's hire.... I'll challenge anyone to find better value for money for a fun / experience weekend! Boys and diggers!
Wasn't able to do a long run Sat or Sun.. but desperate to get to 40 for the week... I got out at 9.51pm last night... returning at 11.30pm with 10.4m on the clock which included 5 boring laps of a housing estate, endured to reach 40.2 for the week (once I'd included that morning's junior park run).
TR, conditions were excellent, maybe a tad too warm, bizarre for a February, and a slight breeze for the last 3 miles, but Brighton is a much bigger race than Worthing so that counts for a minute or so in itself, although Brighton would be slightly hillier as well.
NE - glad the house survived. (My 12 yo daughter loves driving diggers as well, and quite good at it, so not only boys) - Oh and I think you forgot my brilliant performance......:D
Spoons - not talking myself down - Im talking everyone else up. (I'm only a Tortoise remember)
So Jooligan, does that mean you are doing the Chester Snowdonia combo then?! I did once, and found the month in between a good gap.
Well done on the 15, TR. Good to hear you are back in for Abingdon (although not for me this year).
Great to hear that the easy run went well yesterday, spoons. Classic HR response from you! Sure there will have been hardly any fitness dent, but an increase in motivation – if that is even possible.
Easy 9M along the canal this morning. Very stiff quads and felt pretty rigid all round. Started off at 8:50 pace, but the average came down to 7:45s by the end. So hopefully moving in the right direction recovery wise. The plan has intervals tomorrow – will probably do them, but not sure on the quality I’ll be able to produce.
NE - nice work on the late one to get up to 40 miles. Great determination - I think I'd struggle at that time on a Sunday!
SQ - I'm definitely feeling pretty creaky after sunday. Recovery runs today and yesterday. Contemplating a bike session tonight but don't think it's going to happen.
Got the full race report up on the blog if anyone fancies a read;
https://spragginsblog.wordpress.com/2019/02/26/wokingham-half-marathon-24-02-2019/
Nice report Joe.....Good piece of blogging as well, I even felt your pain at the end. Puts me to shame. nice team result as well 65mins from a team mate is nuts - did he win?
You have given me motivation so I'm off for a recovery run....
NE, great determination to get out at that hour.
TR, never done Fleet before as it has usually clashed with other event but it is now part of the Hampshire Road Race League so its a priority for the club. I’ve heard it’s fast and flat which is encouraging. We have big numbers going so hopefully I can tag onto the guys that were running 1:21 - 1:22 pace at Gosport.
Back to the miles for me tonight .
Some crazy running on here every now and again - 9:51pm, NE. Blimey. I'm usually in bed at 9
Spoons: That sounds promising! Really hope it's a short-lived injury. Your fitness should definitely come back a lot quicker this time around.
Joe: Saving your blog for later. So sorry to hear Katie is still struggling. Heartbreaking to see someone with so much talent not being able to fulfil their potential due to pesky injuries
SQ: Cut yourself some slack. Awesome performance on Sunday
Good to see you Steve.
9 mile GA run for me today at an ok and not-quite-so-shit pace. Looks like whatever slowed me down last week was kicked into submission.
FBT - so there's still a bit of time to be gained from Brighton on a slightly better course/day.
SQ - any more races pre VLM ?
Millsy - i heard it was around a minute slower than gosport (on a still day), due to a few undulations. But it should hopefully be more sheltered than a coastal race. Maybe I'll chase after you chasing after yr clubmates.
10m inc 15x3min this morning, legs were a bit tired by last few reps, but i did 15 last night so no surprise.
Millsy - Great race. Shaping up nicely for a good marathon time. Will be good to see how you go at Fleet.
Joe - Good read. I thought the cap was just for low key races. I reckon that would've cost you a few seconds. Hope Katie is coping ok.
Spoon - Sounds promising, fingers crossed
Just an easy 4 miles with strides today.
Jooligan - I’d forgotten about the guy who took out the cone, I was 1-2 metres behind him and had to hurdle it as well. Well done on the time, but even more impressive predictions. If you can go a bit softer on me next time so I can beat it, that would be great
Macca - superb time and great to see your training paying off.
Millsy - Well raced, it sounds like your time sets you up well for London.
SQ - Congrats on the PB and nice to chat after, hopefully I was making some sense post race!
Reg - Hopefully you can get back to full training again soon.
George - My stand-alone HM time was 1:37, but second half of my marathon PB was actually quicker. I’ll be interested to see what your 10k fitness check comes out at.
FBT - I think I’ve figured out your strategy, call out as many people as possible as sandbaggers so you’re not questioned
Spoons - saw your upload on Strava, glad to see you seem to be on the mend
I tried to cover everyone who raced, apologies for missing out most of the training but the thread moved quickly yesterday.
Yesterday was 7 easy miles with very sore quads. The plan has intervals today, but I’m still not recovered enough so will do another easy run this eve. My hope is tomorrow I’ll feel good enough to get the intervals in and then I’ll back load the week. This week should be 14 @ MP as I mentioned previously, which I’ll move to next Sunday. Rather than just delay the 14, I’m considering swapping this week and next week in plan, I figure there is a reason the 14@MP is scheduled for 1 of the peak mileage weeks. The biggest problem this poses I think is that there are then back to back big weeks, although I think if I listen to my body it shouldn’t be too much of a risk.
SQ: great report and well done on the PB
5mi recovery this morning and out for 10 miles shortly in London as I’m up for a dinner tonight.
Luckily one one of our bankers is a runner and we’ve swapped boozy lunch meetings for running instead much to the astonishment of all our colleagues!
What? You’d rather have your meeting during a run than sit down to some steak and a bottle of red!
Not sure it’s going to catch on but it’s one way to hit the weekly mileage targets.
AWC - Sorry I'd go for the steak and bottle of red...
Hydepark runner - Im rumbled...But I think this thread should be called "Spring Marathon sandbaggers 2019"....
NE-pleased to hear your house is still standing!
SQ-Enjoyed your report and hope the recovery period goes well
Joe-Take it easy! I'll try and read your blog this evening
HPR-that's a huge improvement. Good plan to listen to your body
AWC-That sounds like my kinda meeting! I actively try and avoid long boozy lunches these days
5 miles easy at lunch. Genuinely saw someone in hat and gloves. It's 20 degrees outside FFS! Followed up by 10x 800m tonight. Trying to dial back mileage and up speedwork this week
HA - yes, still in a state of disbelief here.
All - I can’t stress enough that without the encouragement from on here I would never have stood on the start line in front of the 1:20 pacer at Woky and set off at 6mm. I would have been more than happy to shoot for a low 1:21 / 1:20 and been ecstatic to get that.
TR - my PB from 2 yrs ago was 1:24:08 so to knock off 5:24 having gone a bit backwards last year still hasn’t sunk in.
I’d like to write something insightful, about the journey, capture what the day meant, how good it was to share various parts with, etc etc but I can’t, other than to say, heartfelt, thanks again.
George - i still was out in 2 layers, hat and gloves for my long run sarurday, good chance for a bit of warm weather training.
Macca - well played, we have swapped places in the last few years then. Surely race day is done to feel anyway, which is why you ended up wirh so much of a pb.
Digger sounds like great fun NE! Well done getting out so late, that’s dedication.
SQ I agree with the others, move or ditch that intervals session. Too much of an injury risk if you’re still feeling it from Sunday. And ultimately for a marathon, those intervals aren’t going to make a huge difference imo.
Great report as usual Joe. Great about your mum too. Sorry to hear Katie is still struggling, so unfair.
Glad you’re back on the up chicksta.
More big reps TR.
Take it easy HPR, the plan is just a guide, don’t be afraid to move stuff around.
Great run/meeting combo AWC! Can’t see that going down well with many of my clients
Enjoy the post-race glow Macca
Thankfully I woke up with the glute feeling fine (I feared I would wake up with it sore again, as originally happened), so upped it to 7 miles today. Still feeling all good, although HR well up again. I’m hoping it’s at least partly due to the warmer weather perhaps. I went to the physio again this afternoon to check my progress, left glute is still weak but a big improvement on last time so just need to keep the exercises up. I'll try to gradually build things back up this week, although just taking it one day at a time for now...
Yes SQ I am doing Chester at the start of October & Snowdonia 3 weeks later which should be long enough to recover sufficiently to have a decent crack at my course PB of 3:28
Did the same cycle commute again today but about 3 degrees warmer on both legs & no fog:
Got out for a short leg loosener at lunch: 4x300 off 100 walk into jog. Legs were surprisingly responsive hitting 3K pace from the start & speeding up steadily throughout. Went up the club this evening for track again. Did 10K wu: twice round the parkrun with a mildly progressive 2nd half then joined the session averaged 5M@7:07 with 8/6/4/2 minute efforts. Paces were 6:24/6:22/6:00/5:50 so reasonable given Sunday's racing.
AWC...running business meeting... I've heard it all now! But I bet it builds a way stronger business relationship than the bog standard lunchtime meal. Not sure how it works with a Banker-client relationship though... Does he always let you just about win on the basis that you're the customer, or do you let him pip you, so he's amenable next time you need a bigger overdraft?!
Looks a good session Jools... and Spoons: great that the niggle is hopefully behind you.
Joe... I enjoyed the blog. Really well written.The undone lace was a rookie error of course, but it happens (and your line about calculating whether it might possibly be optimum to run the next 12.5m with lace undone was a great observation... I've had the very same thought! But you made a MUCH bigger error when you stopped to re-tie that first lace .... if one has come undone, the other was almost certain to follow... and it would have taken you about 3 more seconds to quickly put a second knot in the other shoelace at that stage, rather than having to stop again and have another complete re-tie job!
Anyway.. I was coaching tonight. Last minute as ever, and realised I wouldn't get to club in time to get to the store room for cones, so had a great idea to grab some running shirts from home - one red, one amber and one green... to act as turning points for people's reps. All went really well for the first 3 or 4 minutes then I heard a bit of commotion and laughter. Apparently my club mates chasing a dog that was running round in circles with my red Cotswolds Relay teeshirt in its mouth. Ultimately it ran off and I never saw it again!
Anyway, I got a bit cold, standing around... and when I drove back to the club, I saw the treadmill in a nice warm gym and for the second time in about 4 years, I decided to give it a try. My goodnesss, time goes slowly on a TM! Ran for an hour, including 30 minutes at LT Heart Rate... so it was well worthwhile.
Enjoyed the blog, Joe. And fair play to your mum – getting rapid. Does her WAVA beat yours yet?! Good to hear I’m not the only one feeling creaky, although still impressed with the total distance of your Monday recovery runs. Well done on the team result, I did hear it being called out. Was it based on time or finishing positions? You contributed nicely either way. What did you win?
Chicksta ‘not quite so shit pace’ is a marvellous adjective whilst marathon training. I think it probably forms the bulk of my running.
Well done on the intervals, TR. I know you don’t use GPS but do you measure the reps against a set distance at all, or just go hard? The only race I have booked in is the FoD half in a month. Good do with something shorter. Will hopefully get a couple of parkruns at a hard effort as well, a rarity for me.
HPR I think swapping the entire week in the plan is probably better than swapping bits of it. But, as you say, listen to your body if the subsequent week feels too much. Don’t underestimate how much an all out half takes out of you. I need to listen to my own advice!
Good to hear of business running, AWC. I think I’d be keen on a run then steak and wine…
George I find it mad when runners hugely over dress. Each to their own I guess, and there are times pre marathon when I deliberately do it. Hope the intervals went well.
Fantastic news on the glute progress, spoons. Really hope you can build up nicely again. I see your easy run was faster than mine this morning so can’t have lost too much fitness!
Impressed with that session so soon after Wokingham, Jooligan. Three weeks will definitely be enough between marathons for you. 3:28 at Snod is there for the taking.
Haha NE, dog interrupts plan. Well done on the coaching. And bloody hell, that is a tough session to randomly knock out on a treadmill.
Sensible advice from spoons, chicksta and HA regarding the intervals. No point running them unless I do them fast and certainly don’t want to increase risk of injury. So I swapped Friday and Wednesday on the plan. Did 11M MLR at 7:30s average this morning. Well down on pace compared to other MLRs but didn’t want to push it and also wore the NB Zantes rather than Adios which makes a bit of a difference. Beautiful morning for it, although chilly. I wore leggings, jacket and gloves. The weird thing at the moment is that I need entirely different kit for the planned recovery run this afternoon – that will be a shorts and t shirt job. Quite a big temperature swing. Although not as big as when I took a group of students to Mt Ararat in Turkey. We went from 45C one morning to -16C the following day. Weird treating sunburn and hypothermia at the same time.
NE - Nice work coach. Maybe there was something about the smell of your shirt that attracted the dog.
Jools - Great session post HM. I know I couldn't properly back up 3 weeks post marathon but 3 weeks for you seems heaps. Different strokes for different folks.
Spoon - Good to hear the glut is coming along.
Macca - Great that you're still buzzing.
Good sessions from TR and George
HPR - Definitely listen to your body. That LR with 14 miles MP should not be taken lightly.
AWC - I like the idea of some run schmoozing.
Tried a different session this morning 8x 1km, started with 90s jog rec but upped it to 2 min after 3 reps. It's not something I've done since I was a youngster so I figured it was a bit more variety into the mix. A bit slower on the first rep but the others were 5:14-5:20/mile pace. I could feel it was something I'm not used to. Legs were feeling it by the end.
SQ - yes a 10k might be a good sharpener for you. Agreed re the temps, its frosty in the mornings still. Reps were done on my known 9m commute route round some quiet lanes, with an extra 0.5m out and back again after 1m to bring it up to 10. It was 1.5 easy w/u then 15x 3min with 30 sec jog, which left approx 1m to the finish. Thats a hilly route so the total effort portion works out about 7mm, id be quicker on the flat. No idea of actual rep pace though.......im not old school enough to run lamppost intervals though. Only 30sec jog too so its more of a continuous run.
HA - good session there, good to mix things up and shock the legs.
Nice session, HA. Seems like the weekend has freshened you up. What is the long run plan this week?