P&D Spring Marathon 2019

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  • chickstachicksta ✭✭✭
    Oh man, the rotten luck fairy hit our thread big time it seems :o  only Macca and AWC managed to dodge the evil dust with mind-blowing performances. Well done guys 👏👏

    Gutted for both of you George and HPR but deffo the right call. You'll be shining in autumn 🙏

    I'm joining the "caught a cold just before race day" posse  :( So no fast half marathon time to be had in Vienna. As it's only a half I decided to run it but with the handbrake on. 1:41:56 with even splits until 20k and a slightly mad sprint finish to dip under 1:42 :D. Fastest corporate woman (about 150 from work ran on Sunday, mostly in the relay but 20 did the half).

    Hope all niggles, sniffles and lurgies clear up before race day 🤞
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited April 2019
    FBT - good news, im withdean too.

    SQ - long run sounds awesome. Good to see you going well again.

    Well done on the 600s hamo and SQ.

    Chin up Hyde, running is a rollercoaster, especially marathoning. The crap days make thr good days good.

    My back has been tight for a while, so was hoping to get it freed up for race day.  But didnt feel quite right after thursdays session at the fizz, so hopefully yday will sort me out. I let it soak in by having my first rest day since Christmas Day today.

    Sadly, my dad had complications and had to have more surgery yday, he isnt very well at the mo and is in critical care again, which is a bit upsetting. Tough times at the mo.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Fingers crossed your dad starts to improve ASAP TR.
    Bad luck Chicksta - not too shabby a time given you weren't racing it. Have you got another lined up soon?
    Also Withdean FBT don't forget your bungee cord ;)
    Decent LR/reps SQ
    Got out for my first run since Saturday tonight: 10K w 8x 200m hard/200m easy. Still no sign of taper magic - felt like a tough session.
  • TR...  All the very best to you. Running, and everything else, has to drop down the priority list at times like this but hopefully things settle down for your dad now.

    SQ Great last LR and speed session too -   you too, Hamo.

    Steady-away 13miler SteveM. Wish I'd done more of those!

    Slacker - you deserve all those warm feelings of self-satisfaction. Really great run - and you've got a bit of a streak going on there.  You'd better break that quick, before it becomes a weird obsession!

    HPR - really delighted :s you at least had tonight's great win for Leeds to lift those sagging spirits.  

    Chiksta - sounds a nice event.. and nice performance.  We do seem to have suddenly been hit by some bad luck on here after a generally good training months.  And to that end...

    FBT...  hopefully your cold symptoms have time to disappear before the weekend.

    Spoons - sounding encouraging.  What is your next target?

    Jools, hopefully it's be alright on the night.

    My plan to do Sunday's LR tonight went well. About 6 fairly hilly miles with club then headtorch on, radio earphones in and off into the woods.  I hate football.  Anyway after a steady but decent first 15 miles, decided to crank it up and for the last 5.  Felt like it was a proper effort but did two miles around 8.30 then three miles at around 7.50  Was very glad to slow to jog speed for a laboured final mile home for a 21 mile night - home just before 11.  Job done.  Hopefully one more of those on Sunday morning - aiming to get in enough miles to have averaged 50mpw for the last four.


  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    HPR write away. That’s the whole point of this. And you won’t find a more interested forum anywhere else. 
    Sounds impressive chicksta. Well done. 
    Sorry to hear about your dad’s complications, TR. best wishes to him. 
    Good to see ou back at it, Jools. It’ll come. 
    Blimey NE, that’s an impressive log run in the dark on a weekday evening. Great stuff. 

    Backed up yesterday’s intervals with a MLR this morning. 14M at 7:40 pace. Easy effort and wouldn’t have fancied anything more. Off to become robo-runner soon and get the freestyle libre installed. Excited. 
  • 1SteveMac1SteveMac ✭✭✭
    SQ - Nice reps and MLR!
    TR - Sorry to hear about your Dad.
    NE - Wow....21 miles midweek in the dark....impressive stuff and fast finish!
    Chicksta - Nice controlled HM.
    Macca - I think I might be getting close to where I was pre injury.
    8 miles with strides today, gone cold again though...feels like 0c this morning!
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2019
    TR - Really hope your dad improves. Made me realise it's been too long since I've spoken to my dad so gave him call this morning. He was complaining that it was too cold back in Oz, with temperatures around 17°C. Rest day sounds like a good plan. Hope the back settles.

    NE - Great long run. Channelling that football induced anger for good. 

    Jools - I generally find the taper magic is only unlocked by race day adrenaline. 

    Chick - Nice half with a lurgy.

    HPR - It's good to document the bad as well as the good. I'll read anything running related. Looking forward to seeing your thoughts.

    SQ - Good final LR, session, MLR. It's all in the bank now. Just caught up with a mate from Oz on Monday who has a Freestyle Libre - really convenient. The only issue is that Libre Freestyle shares it's name with a well know feminine hygiene product in Oz.

    Hammo - Even though the 18 week P&D plans officially have a 3 week taper, this first week really is just a small step back from peak mileage and not what I'd really call tapering. All pretty arbitrary really.

    Steve - another good MLR.

    FBT - Hope the throat's improving.

    My sore throat turned out to be nothing really. Still marginally snotty today but not bad at all. Got out for 10x1km with 2 min rec this morning and it went ok. Didn't feel great the first couple, which is pretty standard as I probably don't warm up properly but go into it ok. Headwind one way and tailwind back made the times inconsistent but averaged 3:17 which is alright. Feels like it's winding up now. Wednesday double tonight then MLR-LRish on Friday before off to the lakes for a week.
  • Gutted for George and HPR....putting the training in and not getting to the start is my greatest fear.

    All the best for your Dad TR. See you at Withdean

    Jools, Bungee cord at the ready!!!! And my son has his nurf gun and is a sniper in the crowd

    My Cold / Sorethroat is much better today... much more promising. And I bought 2l of beet it juice yesterday, just so I can have purple pee....

    I have to say MAccas performance over the last few years is totally Stella, I remember only a few years back he was aiming for sub 3. At this rate Mr Farah, will be looking over his shoulder!

  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    Macca...i agree, recovery runs always make you feel better, never done as many as i have before this campaign but can really feel the benefit of them.

    SQ...good quality and speedy vo2, and MLR. Good luck with the installation  :D  

    Jools...after all your quality training it'll definitely come, have faith.

    HPR...fingers crossed for a speedy recovery. Spending 2 days far from sober is one way to raise the spirits, fair play...Leeds even done their bit for you. Automatic promotion do you reckon? Wouldn't fancy a play off if it was me.

    Chicksta...That is a very decent half time, esp when you're not 100% and with the handbrake on. Congrats on the corporate placement too.

    NE... *ignore this part HPR  :D shame about the football. That is a very impressive distance at that time on a mid week night, well done.


    Like SQ, i backed up yesterdays intervals with a 14m MLR this morning. Was a bit tight for time, so had to run them a bit harder than id have liked, damn work getting in the way :D Was a beautiful morning to be running round a lake though.
  • Great time chicksta - as hamo said especially as you had the handbrake on... 150 ran it from work... where the hell do you work, must be big...

    You London peeps all tapering now?

  • Very sorry about your DNF HPR. Understandably very frustrating after all the work put in. Don’t blame you for drowning your sorrows, sure you’ll be back soon enough though.

    Sounds like a good plan Hamo. Speedy intervals and solid MLR.

    Hope the physio does the trick TR. Sorry about your dad, hope he picks up soon.

    Great final long run, intervals, and MLR SQ. When I first read that, I thought you said you had a little sleep on the road side :D

    Congrats on being fastest woman chicksta.

    Good luck for Brighton FBT and Jools.

    No real targets at the moment NE, other than to hopefully make it around London. Long term just want to get fit and healthy again so I can have a proper crack at Berlin. Very solid long run.

    Glad you’re feeling better HA, great intervals.

    Good you’re improving too FBT. Enjoy the beet juice! :mask:

    I seem to have come down with the sore throat my nephews had when I saw them at the weekend. Nothing too bad, and it might explain why my heart rate has gone a bit crazy. ITB/glute doing well though, easy 10 yesterday felt fine other than a bit of tightness when I finished, and today I didn’t even have a twinge on a recovery five. 

  • TR- Sorry to hear about your dad, makes running problems all a bit trivial. I hope he's on the mend soon.

    Chicksta - Bad luck on the cold, although congrats on still being the fastest corporate woman. Also interested to know where you work that can get 150 people to Vienna for a race.

    Jools - I've never felt the taper magic some people speak about 4 or 5 days before the race. Hopefully it's with you by Sunday.

    NE - Well done on the long run, a shame for you (not me), that PNE didn't give you any encouragement. If it's any consolation, we'll probably still only make the playoffs and then get thrashed at Wembley.

    SQ - I think I need to get it on paper, whether I post it here depends on how self-pitying it sounds. Good luck with getting the new gadget installed.

    HA - Good to hear the cold was nothing too serious. I've had a few close friends move out to Oz in the last couple of years (I'm beginning to think it's me) and they love to rub it in about the weather. I have the inner smugness that every living creature in the UK isn't in some way deadly.

    FBT - Glad to hear you're feeling better. I don't envy you on the beet juice, I'm not going to miss that any time soon.

    Hamo - Nope, I have no doubt we'll take it to the last day, maybe even sitting in 2nd. We'll then completely bottle it and fall into the playoffs, where we'll again bottle it in the final. I've been a bit zoned out from the thread for a week or 2, but your training seems to be going really well, looking good for London.

    Spoons - Good to see your comeback still continues to progress well, minus the sore throat.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Good to see you improving steadily Spoons.
    Excellent dedication to the mara campaign NE - good job you didn't sacrifice the LR for the footy in the circumstances. Was it a hilly affair around the Wye Valley?
    Dress rehearsal for me today 8M w 2@MP. Found it really hard to gauge MP properly due to the road I selected being considerably more undulating than I'd realised - never having run it before. MP section came out as 6:38/6:31 but there was a net downhill so Strava's GAP of 6:45/6:43 is a lot more realistic. HR was a few bpm higher than ideal so probably about right. Only thing I changed from a training run was the trainers - pretty confident that I know how I'll get on with my MIND vest as this'll be its 8th marathon! 

  • Its a seasoned vest then Jools...Sounds like you are in good shape - Im just off to get a longer slacker bungee cord!
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    edited April 2019
    Chicksta: nice half with the handbrake on - shame about the cold. Hope it clears quickly
    TR: really sorry about your dad. Fingers crossed he starts improving.
    NE: super late night long run - those have a super training stimulus I found because you are fighting your body wanting to go to sleep!
    HA: glad the cold wasn't serious. Nice 1km reps. Enjoy the lakes - very jealous of Joe's pics on strava at the moment!
    Spoons: good news on the ITB stuff and that cold will defo be affecting the HR
    Jools: that DR looks like you are in good shape for Sunday. Forecast looks promising
    FBT: good luck with the beet juice - my dad swears by it
    I've not run since my race at the weekend - the cold I had really took it out of me and I'm only feeling like I'm getting over it now. It was definitely prolonged by running the race. I thought there's no point rushing back as the marathon is only a couple of weeks away now anyway so training won't make much difference for that.
    Might get out tomorrow. This is the longest I've gone without running in a long time.

  • Mostly pretty flat Jooligan.   6m with club up and down some fields round Monmouth then just Monmouth to Symonds Yat along the river then finishing with a steady climb for about half or three-quarters of a mile climb up into the woody hillside before just about-turning and going back.  It's just such a pleasant run even by torchlight and even though I do it often, I don't really tire of it. No stiles, no traffic, well made paths... just right when you want to bang out some miles in the darkness without needing to think too much about it. 

    My plan for a twenty miler on Sunday needs a rethink.  Marshaling the Kymin Dash and assumed I could leave home 6.45 for the run and get to the marshal meeting for 10am...   but they want us there are 9... and I'm not leaving at 05:45!!

    Weather forecast for Brighton looking hopeful for cool, calm conditions.  Good luck!
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited April 2019
    NE - good long run there.

    SQ - good MLR. Hope your robo upgrade turns out to be as good as you hope.

    HA - i bet you made your dads day too.

    Jools - mp run sounded good. I was 5m with a few strides.

    Thanks for the good wishes, as long as the situation gets no worse then I'll run Brighton, not sure where i am mentally. But it will be good to complete a campaign i started on Dec 1st, even if it doesnt end how i had hoped. Im fine with that, it is what it is and life is bigger than running. I have 2 more maras planned in 2019.
  • What's the other 2 maras TR? Im doing Southampton in May and Still looking for an Autumn one - Bournemouth looking favourite at present. (done it once before and was good)

    Last run for me today before Sunday! 5-6m with those Stridy things

  • 1SteveMac1SteveMac ✭✭✭
    Spoons - Sounds like good progress.
    AWC - Good idea to rest up.
    TR / Jools / FBT - Good luck at Brighton.
    9m with 6*1k today....1k reps came out at 3:46/3:42/3:42/3:44/3:56/3:41, other than the 5th rep, I'm happy with those as haven't done any 5k paced stuff since Feb 2018!!
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭
    Nice reps Steve. 

    Good attitude TR. With less pressure you could surprise yourself.

    HPR - The only animal in Oz I'm scared of is crocs and it's pretty easy to keep out of their way. Everything else is just talk to scare you poms. 

    Spoon - glad the hip issues are coming along. 

    Hammo - Good MLR, matching SQ session for session.

    Jools - I've never bothered with wearing my race kit and shoes for the 2 at MP so I guess I can't really call it a dress rehearsal. Still tossing up what to do in the last week, probably just a couple of gentle fartleks amongst the easy runs.

    Good luck FBT, Jools and TR.

    Got out for a second session last night. 4x fartlek laps (~1.5 miles each lap) of the racecourse. Not a tough session but legs felt strong and in control to the end despite carrying a fair bit of fatigue from the morning's 1km reps. Last tough day done. Just an easy short one today.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Good reps Steve. You've built back up very nicely - admirable patience.
    Decent double day HA, are you doing another LR before VLM?
    Hope you've had some positive news today TR.
    Similar here FBT: 5K along the riverbank, turn & then 5K back with a few random strides thrown in. Beautiful day for it though breeze was a bit strong for ideal racing which looks like what we've in store at Brighton as we grind it back from the Portslade power station :/ At least the temperature looks good for running fast which means it should be a darn sight easier than last year's VLM :)
    Rest tomorrow then a shakeout on Saturday before the main event.
    See you both at Withdean.
  • yes was a tad windy today and that was classed as light breeze but Sunday has moderate breeze forecast which could make the last 6 miles a tough one!

    See you at Withdean 

  • TR - whatever the result Sunday I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s impressed with how you’ve gone about things the last few months and especially the last few weeks.

    Get the kettles on....
  • Manchester Marathon

    Preamble

    I thought I was in decent shape at the beginning of the 18 week 70-85mpw campaign as I had been doing a few MP runs which were coming out well below target MP pace.  Initially I distrusted my new watch and then I assumed I was just running too close to HMP.  When the LT runs came along they were also far below anything I had seen before and started attracting some generous comments on Strava.  

    Not having raced anything less than an ultra in the past year I had no idea where I was at so egged on by the forum I set off at the Wokingham Half at a ridiculous pace awaiting explosion.  The explosion never arrived, a 1:18:44 5min PB did, gobsmacked.  

    A few weeks later, I thought I would test another outlandish forum prediction over 5k and having been tipped off about a fast course, posted a 17:31.  These numbers were starting to get a bit embarrassing now.  However, a trend was emerging, others knew what I was capable of more than I did.  With Manchester looming, I invited the threads wisdom, perhaps a little unfairly, after all, who wants to play a part in someone else's 6 mile death march.  Anyway, nobody said don't do it so I resolved to run 6:18s for a 2:45

     The training block had been near perfect and with a couple of PBs in the bag already I thought I could live with something going wrong.  Worst case scenario I thought, I jog in from mile 16 and save myself for London 3 weeks later.

    So training had been good, sleep was ok, carb loading felt good, even the beet it shots tasted ok.  The drive up the M1/M6 was the easiest ever, all my stars were aligned.  It was only the Nike VFs with 8miles in them that were a bit of an unknown but marginal gains and all that.

  • The Race

    I got to the front of pen B nice and early with no dramas and was a bit concerned to see the 3hr pacer in the pen ahead with a crowd already forming around him.  I bent down to check my laces and on arising, I had accidentally placed myself in pen A.  I slipped in front of the pacer and bumped into HPR which helped pass the last few minutes.  About 40 secs after the gun I was over the start mat and off.  

    The first mile was quite crowded and I just went with the pace, 6:29 on the garmin.  This didn't worry me and as the crowd thinned out and the road widened I settled into a pace around 6:20.  I started some mental arithmetic at the mile markers and was a bit disappointed to find that I was well over a minute down at mile 10.   After about 1/4mile I remembered that 10x20 = 3:30 not 2:20 so I was only about 30s down, that I could live with.  This became a game for the next few miles, X times 6:20 less 2 times X and to be honest, filled up a lot of the time between mile markers.  My other game was trying to spot Joe before he spotted me.  He won that one on 2 or 3 occasions.

    Halfway was easy in terms of the maths which I reached in 1:23:10 so plus 40s over target.  Again, I wasn't overly concerned as I felt well within myself.  From the course profile, the only significant rise was around here, a bridge over a railway I think, which didn't really register in terms of effort.  By now people seemed to be coming back to me.  My watch was consistently registering sub 6:18miles but I had noticed that it was registering elapsed miles well before the mile markers so continued with the maths at every official mile marker.  To be honest, the rise in maths effort was greater than running effort.  Around mile 18 or 19 I got a bit of fire in my belly when someone squirted water from a bottle at the floor and it seemed to be directed straight at my new VFs.  A childish retaliatory strike preceded a 6.09 mile.  

    From mile 20 I started to work out what pace was required to go sub 2:45 and allowing 1min for the 0.2 bit I thought 6:20s would do it.  At mile 23 a slight incline and the faintest of headwinds clocked up the slowest mile since the start, a 6:23.  The effort had definitely risen by here but not painfully so. I saw Joe and Katie at mile 24 (I think) and got such a boost.  With Joe's words "just pick them off, one by one" I did just that.  Possibly one person overtook me between here and the finish but I overtook lots of others, one by one.  Effort felt like max, yielding a 6:16 24th, 6:19 25th and 6:18 26th.  At mile 25 I had around 7mins left to go sub 2:45 or so I thought.  Tight but in the bag, so I was a bit surprised to see the finish still so far in the distance even before I reached mile 26.  I couldn't visually gauge the distance but as 2mins to go elapsed, then 1min then 30s I couldn't run any faster.  Garmin says I was sub 6min miling for the last 1/2 mile.  The next sentence sounds wretchedly ungrateful but it's honest.  I was wrestling with both euphoria and disappointment at a 2:45:19.  I think that because the 2:45 is so far away from anything I thought was possibly 18 weeks ago I still don't know how to absorb it.  It's easier to focus on those 19secs.

  • Review 

    Objectively, that was my best paced marathon to date.  1:23:10 and 1:22:09 halves with a 1:01negative split.  The crowding slowed me down for the first few miles but maybe that paid back later.  I'm happy I couldn't have squeezed anymore out of the last 2 miles but I think I could have found 2 or 3 secs per mile for 6 or 7 miles between halfway and mile 24 if I knew I had needed them.  I've also since learnt that 0.2188 miles at 6:18 pace is actually 83secs not "about 60".  So from mile 20 I was using the wrong data to calculate my finish time <face palm> .

    Whilst the scenery might only appeal to ardent fans of Victorian red brick architecture, it is pan cake flat and well organised.  I've already signed up for next year.  The weather was near perfect and the shoes felt bouncy even past mile 20.  I've never felt that strong that deep into a marathon.  My right calf was very stiff immediately afterwards but it improved with a gentle 4 miler the next morning.  In fact, that aside, I felt like I had run a hard half more than a full marathon.  Although today I've come down with a cold and feel lousy, pay back for 18 weeks with hardly a sniffle. 

    So I'm just focusing on recovery now with London in 2 weeks.  I don't know if I can lift myself mentally again in such a short space of time to have a go at those 19secs in London.  I'm tempted but also mindful that my ultra season starts very soon after London, 6 days in fact so it would be very foolish.........I might ask the audience.


  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    That did make me laugh, HA. I could make some awkward comment amount bleeding but will refrain. Great double session from you. Whereabouts are you staying in the Lakes?
    Brave man with the 2L of beet juice, FBT. Good commitment to the cause!
    Hope the cold comes to nothing spoons and to see you on Saturday morning. 
    Very positive indeed, Jools. I never find the taper magic until race day - the definition of a well timed taper!
    Great reps Steve. Get a parkrun in to see where you’re at. 
    This sounds like wine territory, Macca. Looking forward to it. 

    7M easy with 6 strides on grass. Legs fresher than yesterday, perhaps in part due to running later in the day. As I’m lucky enough to be on holiday now, took the opportunity to run in the balmy 12C and sun this afternoon, rather than his morning’s frost. 
    Had my Freestyle Libre fitted yesterday. Very simple to apply it to the back of my arm. the size of a two pound coin. An absolute revelation already. Rather than pricking my fingers (and all the associated faffing with various supplies) to find out my blood sugar level, I just hold my phone against my arm. Not only that, but it will also show me the levels in the interim period between tests - so I get enormously valuable information over night and during runs. I even scanned it during today’s run which was easy. Obviously I won’t carry my phone during races, and so I am waiting for a snazzy little device from China that will Bluetooth the levels directly to my watch and even vibrate when sugar levels are too high or low. I’ll stop harping on now, just wanted to share my excitement. 
  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    Great report, Macca. If 23 is your first challenging mile and then tough from there - you really have paced your effort immensely. I entirely get the focus on the 19s, and good for you for the honesty. But it is still an incredible achievement - unbelievable improvements achieved through such consistent training. But not only that - crucially you’ve had he balls to really have a crack. Absolutely stellar run. 
  • SQ - I meant to say a while back but it’s precisely because you don’t mention it a lot, it’s easy to under appreciate your achievements with that in the background.  What would be cool would be glasses with a heads up display 😎 
  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    edited April 2019
    Really great report Macca.  So well written.   And what a year you've had. 

    19 seconds... or "19 bloody seconds"... as I knew it, resonates with me... but not attached to such an impressive time as you!  My first marathon, Preston 2012, I ran 4:00:19

    (ps... might see you next year...  I deferred this year's Manchester entry to 2020)
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