P&D Spring Marathon 2019

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  • chickstachicksta ✭✭✭
    Enjoy your holiday, HPR. If you can't eat and drink to your heart's content on hols you might as well stay at home ;)

    Off to Provence tonight. Looking forward to some great French food and wine as well as hilly running.

    Jools: Recover well

    SQ: No worries. I'm cool with being an old bird. Even older this Saturday 😬

    TR: a tempo run in tough conditions counts double.

    NE: still basking in post - race glow I hope. I must admit I was a tad worried that overthinking the pacing like you did might have a negative impact on your performance but glad to say I was wrong. You had a plan and it worked perfectly.
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    NE: great report and even better performance on the day. I love the chart showing the 2 marathons. Really powerful. Interestingly all my PB’s are small positive splits. I think for me a small positive split shows I’ve completely rinsed myself without blowing up. If I was negative splitting I would definitely think I had more in the tank. 

    Chicksta: Provence - enjoy. Wine, cheese, meat, repeat. I’m not jealous at all!

    Been off the grid a bit this week but looks like lots of other great running still happening. 

    Been in Chester the last 2 days at Chester Races. Turned a £2.50 initial bet into £42 which is a whopping 1,680% return. You can tell I’m not really a gambler. But with 4 winners from 6 races I was doing well. 

    Yesterday i I did some of the Shropshire Union Canal and today it was the River Dee trail path. 10mi yesterday and 20mi today. Ramping up the mileage now for the 100 miler next month

    Oh and just booked my flights for the champions league final. Direct flights are stupid money so 10 of us are flying to Bordeaux and then mini bus to Madrid. Should be good craic whatever happens!
  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    Spoons...Good long run and reps. Effort was there and that's all that matters, esp at this stage of your come back.

    SQ...All the best of luck with the 10k if that's what you decide to do. Seen that, be very interesting to see if he can break or get closer to 2hrs, no one better to give it a go though, what do you think will happen?

    Chicksta...you said it now re Berlin, fair play, now go smash it. Enjoy Provence.

    Jools...very sensible letting yourself recover and staying away from the running for the minute. Hope you recover quickly and well.

    HPR...I'm sure they will sort it, just a shame on their big new launch event that it went a bit tits up. Sounds like you're having a wonderful week, never worry about the scales, you're on holidays, enjoy it.

    AWC...Nice profit :D , and judging by the photos on strava, lovely place to run. Very jealous of your upcoming trip to Madrid...though you'd be sitting in the wrong end of the ground for me. Still shocked Spurs are there, absolutely unbelievable semi finals for both teams  :D 

    Have a serious case of the cnba'd at the minute, as well as eating everything i look at, which is not a good combination, so forced myself out for a easy 7.5 miler today, to make it a grand total of 11 so far this week...how will i cope with such high mileage :p . Legs are ok, aerobically i feel ok, just a bit of a sore lower back/bum cheek (apologies  :D ) which i hope will ease off with a few more easy runs. Nothing planned in the immediate future, looking at a few 10ks over the next 6 weeks just to give me something to aim at, then ill decide what my plans are for the autumn i think.
  • Chicksta - quick, get it on the list ! Enjoy Provence.

    Jools hope the rehab/recovery  goes well.  Same to HPR.

    AWC - massively jealous, Bacu doesn’t have the same appeal funnily enough.

    Hamo - I’m afraid I’ll be supporting AWC’s lot in the final 😉. No harm taking it easy while you recover....although probably best ignore any advice I give in that respect.

    RSR - I’m sure those tempo paces will come down before you know it.

    SQ - good luck with the 10k if you go for it.

    Steve - I recall reading Camille Herron fuelled on Taco Bell washed down with a beer !

    I had hoped to not be thinking about races for a week or two but I’m considering Abo as a springboard to spring training.

    I’ve not posted a report for a few days so here goes.
  • Thames Path 100, 100 miles following the Thames from Richmond to Oxford.  This was the 3rd time I had run this event with previous finishes of 20:16 and 20:20, so with a fair wind I hoped a sub 20hr was within reach.  The fly in the ointment was having run London 6 days previous.  

    Post London recovery went 4, 4, 7, 6, 6 miles, all easy, with each run feeling better but still harder work than I would have liked.

    An easy train journey to Richmond left me with plenty of time for kit check and to sit staring at Old Father Thames, my companion for the next 20hrs or so, in the slightly chilly air.

    The vague plan was to use my fatigue to reign in the pace (9mm ish) over the 1st half and worst case scenario, death march chunks of the 2nd half if necessary.  

    About 200m into the race there is a bit of a scramble to get to a gate that only lets one person through at a time.  In the scramble all plans went out the window and what felt like an easy effort yielded far too many 8min miles taking me to the first aid station(AS) at 12miles in 10th place, oops.

    Somewhere on the way to the 2nd AS at mile 22 I tripped over a tree root.  Unremarkable other than that's usually a sign of fatigue resulting in not lifting my feet.  Not a great portent less than 1/4 way in.

    Pace naturally slowed, helped by a couple of walking/eating breaks of maybe 1/4mile, to reach Dorney, mile 30.5 in 12th place, 4hrs 29mins in, 8:50 pace.

    I was eating (anything) and drinking well and the temp was perfect, for me at least even though I needed a hat and gloves, so I pressed on.  The grand houses started to give way to open riverside meadows interspersed with tree sheltered paths and the occasional town.  This really is a beautiful route.

    Cookham AS at mile 38 (16th pos) came and went and eventually, one of the many black clouds that was passing dropped a bit of rain.  Not enough to summon waterproofs, just enough to provide a pleasant cooling.  The sun came out, Hurley AS was passed and half way was in sight.  

    I've learnt from experience that I shouldn't really be ahead of the leading ladies so when a female GB ultra runner wished me and another chap well as we passed, myself and the other guy both remarked this is not good.  Order was soon restored as she made over an hour ahead in the 2nd half.

    Henley AS, halfway at mile 51 was reached in 8hrs 14m and 20th place so maybe only 30mins ahead of ideal schedule.  The temptation is to sit here with a bowl of warm food chatting to the volunteers.  I resisted temptation, standing, I downed the pasta as quickly as possible and marched out for a mile.

    Reading AS mile 58 usually marks the place where sun sets for me.  The race started 1/2hr earlier than usual but there was plenty of light left.  It did get colder from here so a base layer was donned and sweets consumed, including the most calorific fudge I've ever tasted, perfect.  

    From here, a lot of the route is also used by the Autumn 100 so I know it well which I find helps mentally.  Whitchurch was reached at mile 67 just as dark fell and from here only 4 miles to Streatley AS where hot beans awaited. Arrived in 18th place.  Split pace had dropped to 12mm but with the only bumps on the course in this leg just gone, I wasn't worried.

    The next section through Wallingford AS to Clifton Hampden felt quite a bit tougher. Section pace dropped to 14mm and not having seen anyone for ages, 4 or 5 people passed in one go which I found a bit disheartening as I tried to latch on but couldn't keep up.  The grass was starting to crisp with light frost so I resolved to keep moving eg 2 miles run 1/4 mile walk with various adaptions.  It turns out some of those that passed were pacers so only two places were dropped to mile 85, 20th.  I trod on something around here, either a snake or a piece of rope.  After letting out my manliest scream I didn't hang around to find out what it was.  

    I was now aware that with approx 15m to go, I was on for a decent PB.  A few more trips and stumbles elicited some industrial language but Abingdon(91m) soon arrived, albeit the other side of the river to the marathon.  I did no more than apologise for not stopping to the volunteers who were looking very cold, something I repeated at Lower Radley, the last AS at mile 95, 18th place - I don't recall passing anyone so I must have gained a couple of places in one of the previous aid stations.  

    Despite the near zero temps, pace had picked up on the last section to a scorching 12mm and for the last 5 miles this got even hotter to 11mm as I ran .75 and walked .25.  A sizeable PB was in the bag and it was just a case of whether I wanted something starting with an 18.  I did. 

    I arrived at the finish in Oxford, in the dark for the first time, to collect an 18hr 35m 45s 100 mile PB in a creditable 18th place.

    Chuffed.

  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited May 2019
    AWC - top gambling !

    Macca - great report. You have some steely legs !

    24 today (3.10) to complete a double digit-tastic week (12,10,15,10 (inc tempo),10,10 (inc mp),,24. Week 2 (of 3) done.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    edited May 2019
    Macca Insane series of results. Hope you are going to allow the body to recover for a couple of weeks now.
    Massive week TR with all the key marathon sessions incorporated too. Beats my 11M week :D 
    Severn Bridge parkrun for me today. Wasn't expecting much as I've still not really been running this month but I have been on the bike the last few days & also started doing some strength sessions in the gym so legs were feeling a bit gelatinous. I'd also had a couple of late boozy nights :p Just managed to squeeze under 20 minutes so recovery is going OK. No way I could have done any more as HR was right up to levels not seen since last year: 167 avg & 175 max.
  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    Macca Insane series of results. Hope you are going to allow the body to recover for a couple of weeks now. [I thought I'd better say that because obviously you'll not listen to Jooligan! - Great report too.]
    TR... what a week!  Amazing.
    Hamo...  I'm attacking the cake tin, biscuit tin and cereal cupboard far too regularly too!
    AWC... what's the upcoming race?
    Chiksta...  What some might consider 'over thinking' running -  I'm ok with it.  I know that some of it is a waste of energy... but I love it.  It motivates me!  But normally it all goes out of the window.  Rather surprising  it didn't this time. I cannot believe how much like clockwork it went!
    Quiet week for me.  Just a couple of slow 5Ks.  Hope to start picking it up this week.  Want to have a go at a Park Run pb when I'm recovered.   Jooligan... I did enter Blaisdon.
  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    Macca...cant say i'm shocked to hear you'll be wanting Liverpool to win, considering your photo outside the emirates on Strava  :D Class report, really good read..its just awe inspiring what you've achieved this last month.

    TR...excellent week of running, certainly bodes well for smashing Yeovil.

    Jools...nice parkrun, shows recovery is heading in the right direction.

    NE...good idea with the slower 5ks and easier week, take time to recover. You'll smash a park run pb in a week or 2.

    Like Jools i decided to give parkrun a rattle on Saturday, to get the legs moving if nothing else, and because it was our clubs 'takeover' week. Wasn't sure how to approach it, but went with go out hard(ish) and see how i feel tactic. 1st mile went by in 5.22, but by that stage i was alone at the front and not really feeling like racing so decided to drop the pace a bit and run the last 2 at more of a tempo effort (can never get my head in the right place to see parkrun as a race and really go at it, not sure why). Still 17.22 for my parkrun pb and a first place, I've had worse Saturday mornings. Warm up and cool down made 9 for the day. I followed it up with a 12m MLR yesterday morning before the junior park run with the kids.

  • 1SteveMac1SteveMac ✭✭✭
    Macca - Great report. Yes Camille does like a taco and beer mid race!!
    Hamo - Nice parkrun 1st place!
    TR - Superb mileage week!!
    AWC - Madrid will be amazing!!

    Due to the early football kick off time (12:30) I had to change my usual Parkrun plan...so instead of a 2 mile warm up and then 5 mile cool down to make 10 mile for the day, I did 4 miles warm up and 3 cool down! Anyway plan was to see how close to 18 mins I could get, set off a bit too quick, but eased into a 5:48 mile and was in the top 10 at this point, running with a few others. However lost the few people in front of me, so had to run solo after about 1 mile. Paced slipped to 6:11/6:09 for the next 2 miles to finish in 18:40 in 7th place.....PB of 16 seconds but not the time I wanted.
    Sunday did 75 mins on the bike and a 3 mile recovery with strides. 44 miles for the week, which surprised me, as felt like I had run much less.
  • MaccatheknaccaMaccatheknacca ✭✭✭
    edited May 2019
    Thanks all, agree on the consensus re recovery. I really didn’t have the legs to do much more than 5 or 6 miles in one go last week, which is fine.  I’m feeling a bit fresher this week but will still try to err on the easy side (mostly).

    TR - that’s another good week banked, I don’t think you need to do much more than tick over with a bit of speedwork to keeps the legs alert.

    Jools - I’m sure a lighter week or two will pay dividends, a sub 20 PR is a good place to build from.

    NE - I have similar battles with the cake and biscuit tins, I try to tell myself abstinence is free speed.

    Hamo - well done on the PR win.  In the interests of thread fairness, I don’t want either side to win but I hope both you and AWC have a good night and enjoy the game.  

    Steve - still a good time (Pb) and more to come with a bit more even pacing 😉.

  • runspoonrunrunspoonrun ✭✭✭

    Always good to get your goal out there Chicksta. And happy birthday :)

    Will be interesting to see if Kipchoge can do it SQ. If they do choose Battersea Park it’s certainly a flat, fast course! And the crowd support will undoubtably help compared to the rather empty Monza.

    I’m already booked to do the Coventry Northbrook 10K on the 14th unfortunately Jooligan

    Great you’re getting back in to things HPR.

    Great gambling AWC. I only won on one horse at Cheltenham, despite my highly scientific “pick the horse name you like” method :D 

    Loss of motivation is normal after a big race Hamo, take it easy and I’m sure the mojo will return before you know it. Although judging by your weekend, sounds like it might be back already? Great parkrun result.

    Great report Macca. Amazing effort, running 100 miles still boggles my mind.

    Big week TR, nice work.

    Congrats on the PB Steve, sounds like plenty more to come.

    I’m ticking along, with increasingly less time being taken up by thoughts of my injury. I was pleased to be able to string together 12, 10, then 17 mile runs over the weekend, without any glute/ITB grumbles. I can also really feel the difference in my glute exercises, where the left glute is now working almost as hard as the right, whereas previously it was hardly moving at all. I am finding I’m getting quite achy hamstrings sometimes now, I guess perhaps they’re doing more and/or different work now the glutes are working properly.

  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Macca: really enjoyed the report. That is a hugely fast 100 mile time and to beat your 20hr target by 1.5hr is totally smashing it. I remember running an 18 miler that day a week after my marathon and thinking I've no idea how Macca is even comtemplating the TP100 today. Reading it has got me excited about the SDW100!
    Spoons: glad the ITB is behaving itself after a series of long runs like that. All you rehab work is obviouslt working really well.
    Steve: well done on the PB even if its not what you were looking for. Bodes well for the half.
    Hamo: good job on the parkrun PB!
    NE: I've got the South Downs Way 100 on 8th June - this has been my A race for 2019 so everything else has been in the service of getting me ready for this one.
    Went out for 28 miles on the South Downs Way at the weekend - legs were feeling well recovered from the 20 miler on Thursday which is a good sign. The hills also felt a bit easier than before so the hill work is obviously working well.
    Will be run commuting my hilly route home tonight and back to the office tomorrow. I've also been power hiking a 15% gradient hill at home - its about 0.1mi and I do 10 reps at a time. Hoping to build my quads and hammys up a bit more.
  • Chicksta - Hope you enjoyed/ are enjoying Provence

    AWC - good luck on the training and 100 miler next month. I’m not too fussed on the champions league result, just hope for a good game

    Hamo - Congrats on the PR PB, although obviously very soft based on your last 2 weeks of running and easing off for the last 2 miles

    Macca - Really well done on the PB and the race report. You almost made a 100 miler sound enjoyable!

    TR - Good to see training for Yeovil is going well

    Jools - Well done on PR, sub 20 is still a solid place to build from.

    SteveMac - I’m not sure on your target time for the half, but I ran 19:35 at a very flat PR (compared to 18:43 PB ran 3 years before when theoretically less fit) 4 weeks before running 1:24:04 at Wokingham. So I wouldn’t get too down about 1 below par result (but still a PB!)

    Spoons - Good to see you’ve trained well since London. I’m not sure on the hamstrings, I’d have thought with the glutes firing properly they’d take less strain. Maybe worth a refresher with the physio to make sure?

    40 miles last week for me, so going in the right direction. Hoping for 50 this week with a proper LR on Sunday. I’m currently 12 lbs heavier than I’d want to be, which explains why my Garmin has been telling me my fitness has been going down for the last 6 weeks. Over the next few weeks I have an array of weddings, stags, milestone birthdays and hopefully a trip to Wembley to attend, so I’ll need to figure out a strategy to also drop weight.
  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭

    Barcelona sounds fantastic, HPR, and great to see you getting in some running.

    Hope Provence is good, chicksta, one of my favourite places in the world. I chickened out of running up Mt Ventoux last year, but I reckon it’d be worth a crack if someone would drive you back down.

    Great report, Macca. Such a long time to be out there for! I guess experience must play a big part, but nonetheless, hugely impressive.


    17:22 is shifting, hamo. Not bad for someone with CBA! Well done on the parkrun PB, SteveMac as well.

    Heck of a few days you’ve put together there, AWC. Bodes very well for the ultra. The one you’ve that is, not just the one you casually knock out by yourself 😊

     

     

    A couple of good runs so far this week: Monday night was my first stab at the Berkeley 10k. I had seen in previous years that it must be a fast course, with numerous runners impressing. It came 15 days after the marathon, so whilst not fully recovered, I thought it worth a hit out. I do love an evening race, especially when the weather is so balmy. The race starts at a nuclear power station, then winds around the village for a couple of laps. Not completely flat, but with a good group around me and some excellent win shielding from a sturdy figure, the miles ticked by. I was breathing noticeably hard just 2k in, but was pleased to see 5:39 and 5:42 clock up for the opening two miles. The inevitable fade came with mile 4 only just dipping under 6m/m, but I did manage to rally reasonably well. Slightly disappointed to be outsprinted in the last 100m, but that is something I feel you would have to work on to truly develop (and as ‘Harriers’ I suspect they will have practised this). Delighted to run only 42s off a PB, with a solid 36:35. A 2M morning shakeout, 3M warm up then a delightful 2M warm down supporting other runners rounded off my longest day’s running since the marathon. The above said, it was the club house that stole the show. A delightful 1970s affair, the atmosphere was brilliant. A quick massage followed by a free beer and a good chinwag with Jooligan, what’s not to love. Mind you, I did step in to help an upset female runner from my club. The male winning team had just been presented with a 4 pack of Guinness each, only for the ladies to share two six packs of J2O – outrageous! General relief all round when I politely asked if they could perhaps have the wine that seemed to be left over from the prizegiving. It genuinely brought thoughts of Al Murray’s Pub Landlord (a fruit based soft drink for the lady…).

    This morning, despite only 36 hours recovery, I met spoons and a colleague at the school grass track. Stunning weather. 6 x 800 in 2:51 – 2:55. Felt good and enjoyed it a ridiculous amount. Skipped the 100m strides at the end as I knew there was no way I would be able to run any faster. I suspect that after some weights this afternoon, I may be moving a little gingerly tomorrow…


  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    HPR: I've no doubt it will be a good team with the type of football played by both sides. Certainly should be entertaining for the neutral. Your Wembley trip is play offs I take it? Can't rem who your team is?
    SQ: body has recovered quick after Shakespeare so I was able to get back into high mileage pretty soon. Nice 10km so soon after London and so close to your PB. J2O - that's disgraceful. Well done for stepping in to avoid any agro. Good luck with the weights.
    Double day yesterday and today with a recover run at work and then hilly commutes home and back. Feeling ok today although a bit tired. Easy few days now and then a final long run of c28mi on Sunday will get me back into a taper period.

  • hamo44gfchamo44gfc ✭✭✭
    Steve...congrats on the pb, a very good time even if it wasn't exactly what you where after.

    Spoons...just forcing myself out at the minute, been strange adjusting back to not having a plan tell me exactly what to do, but still, the lovely weather helps get you out the door. Glad to see the recovery continues to improve well.

    SQ...really well done in the 10k, cracking time, and even more respectable showing of chivalry. To follow that up with a speedy session like that, well done. Been meaning to ask, how are you finding the piece of tech (sorry name escapes me) you had fitted before London?

    AWC...Some amount of miles your putting in at the minute, really bodes well for the Ultra. And i agree, should be a brilliant game of football in Madrid.


    I ran a double easy day on Monday (like most Mondays for the last 18 weeks), 6 and 4 (can you tell i'm missing/liked the plan i followed  :D). Tuesday was a handy 8 miler in the morning, followed by a long over due return to my club, for a 5x800m session in 2.41-2.51, should have been 6 reps but i was too busy talking and missed one (must remember that avoidance strategy for another time  :D) and i followed that up with a barely respectable MLR of 11 yesterday morning. Woke this morning feeling a bit snuffly, i thought it would come, as the baby has had full blown lurgy this week, so just ran 7 easy, and hope i don't get it too bad, think i'll skip the club tonight too, as an easy day feels like its needed. Up to 40 odds for the week so far, and its looking promising that it'll be my biggest week since pre tapering for London.
  • 1SteveMac1SteveMac ✭✭✭
    SQ - Nice 10k, so soon after London.
    AWC - Is it really close to taper for you now? That's come around quickly!!
    Final Vo2 max session of the plan today, 2*1200 (4:21/4:20), 2*1000 (3:36/3:42) and 1*800 (2:54), happy with that as all sub 6 min/mile pace, 9 miles in total. Nice to be able to run without the headtorch too!!
  • runspoonrunrunspoonrun ✭✭✭

    Big miles AWC, nice work. 

    I thought that too HPR, which is why I suggested they’re perhaps being worked differently now perhaps? I remember I had similar aches last year when I did a lot of treadmill running due to snow. Great you’re starting to build up the miles again. 

    Get well soon Hamo. 

    Speedy reps Steve great work. 

    Really enjoyable session with SQ on Weds. I was pleasantly surprised I managed to hang on to the back of him for the first two 800m reps, in 2:54 and 2:51. Perhaps paid for that second one as the rest went 2:57, 56, 58 and 59. But an average of 2:56 is six seconds faster than two weeks ago, with an extra one thrown in for good measure, so happy with that. 

    First double day for two months yesterday, just a pair of recovery five milers, but good to be slowly building back up. Thirteen along the canal for my medium-long this morning, touch wood everything feels good. Tempted to run parkrun tomorrow, will see how I feel in the morning. 

  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Hamo: hope you don't catch the lurgy off the wee one
    Steve: yes taper already after a few weeks, although next week will still be pretty high mileage
    Spoons: sounds like a good session between you and SQ. Must be nice have a similarly paced partner for those type of sessions. I love going to club sessions to do that stuff but unfortunately it clashes with kiddie's bedtime so haven't been in 9 months!
    Just an easy 10km at lunch today. Will be doing a 10 rep power hike up the big hill (steep not long) at home. Build some more leg strength.
  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    edited May 2019
    Nice 10K Quads.  And a nice bit of double thread networking.
    Hamo... sounds like CNBA is morphing into CBA.  You've certainly got some speed in those legs.
    Spoons... so glad that your injury is becoming just a memory.  I like your structured approach to running... which certainly includes injury-management.
    AWC  I've not done much hill work for a while. Must get back to it.
    Stevemac....  you seem to have the speed.  Good VO2 sesh.
    HPR.  Feel for you regarding the play-offs.  I think pne have the record (maybe joint with the blades) for most play-off failures... so I have that t-shirt.

    A couple of runs so far this week.  An easy 4 miler and a more challenging 9 miles at a decent pace and undulations - with club on Tuesday.  Talking of pace...  I did an analysis (that needed some estimations) of the paces I ran in the 18 weeks to my Newport marathon.  Quite interesting.  If anyone has any advice or comments, I'm interested of course.


  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    SQ - well done on getting back to racing and the chivalrous behaviour. Team prizes in road races is a strange thing, its an individual's sport. I do understand team races such as xc and road relays though.

    Spoons - a well controlled come back.

    NE - how do the sessions of mp we questioned compare to ace day ?

    AWC - hope the ultra goes well, you are in action the day before me.

    23m for me today (3.01), 83 for the week, week 3 (out of 3) done, time to ease back. Yeovil is 3 weeks tomorrow.

  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    edited May 2019
    So... is it taper again time TR?   Comes round quickly! A great way to finish  if so.

    In previous years, my long MP runs have come out ~10-15 seconds faster than the marathon pace that I actually achieve.  This time the difference was 8 seconds (7:26 in the training run... 7:34 in  the race).   Maybe the improvement was down to the pacing... or the VFs... or better physical prep.   or a bit of all.

    Today I went sub-20 minutes for 5K for the first time since the 1980s  :p

    Just 20 minutes warm up/stretch... in my old runners... then donned my racing shoes and immediately felt faster.  Lined up at the front of Cwmbran Park Run... only because no one would accept my invitation to go in front!  I expected a flood of people to come past me, but I soon settled into about 10th.  Good first couple of km had me in 6th in 8:04, which was bang on my schedule.  I stayed 6th but the watch told me that the fourth km was 4.09...  which would have killed my chances but I just hoped that the trees were  affecting my Garmin because I didn't feel I'd slowed quite that dramatically.   I was on the shoulder of the lad in front on hitting the 4km mark... that was my signal to empty what I had and I went past him and just tried to hold it together and I can't complain that I left anything out there as I got home in 19:56 for 5th - 17seconds faster than my previous 21st-century best.     Two big landmark times taken in two weeks!

    VFs helped again... but they cost me a few seconds by being rubbish on the couple of hundred metres of wet grass that form part of the course... especially as there were corners to negotiate!
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    Apologies not posted for a while with nothing really of note my end until today. Had a bit of a catch-up, well done to all the marathoners and Macca for that epic 100 miler.

    Since the injury that spoiled the Wokingham half, I have managed to go injury free. I ran the Royal Berks 10k today finishing 3rd in 34:20 so a 51 second PB. Really pleased as I am going to need that sub 75 HM in the autumn too as my GFA time has elapsed and I am keen to do London next year.
  • 1SteveMac1SteveMac ✭✭✭
    Reg - Superb PB!
    NE - Congrats on another PB....great sub 20! No comments, other than it is interesting looking at it in graph form, as expected a lot of miles slower than MP, which is what we would expect.
    Still tapering....11 miles on Saturday. Sunday was 60 mins (15 miles) on the bike then a 3 mile run.
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    NE: Great job on sub-20. I think your graph illustrates perfectly the logic behind high volumes of long slow running mingled with a few shorter, harder efforts. Still seems counterintuitive when I explain it to people but it clearly works. P&D training just seems so effective at getting people PB after PB no matter their age, speed, running history.
    TR: looks like you are in fine form for Yeovil with that final long run
    Reg: that's a massive PB - glad you've been injury free.
    Did my final ultra long run of 28 miles on Sunday. Went really well - totally fasted, no breakfast and nothing but water for the 4.5hrs, including 4,000ft of elevation gain. Was tough going from 14-20 miles but then everything just clicked and really enjoyed the end of the run. Legs are sore today and I've a niggle on the inside of my knee which feels a bit tender - think I just twisted it a bit, so going to rest today and see how it feels tomorrow.
  • runspoonrunrunspoonrun ✭✭✭
    edited May 2019

    Interesting graph NE. Looks pretty good to me - plenty of slower miles with a smattering of faster stuff. And clearly working for you, congrats on the parkrun.

    Great week TR.

    Congrats on the PB Reg, excellent work. Really pleased for you after your string of injuries. Long may it continue.

    Cracking long run AWC. As I said on Strava, four times my weekly elevation in a single run! :D Hope the knee is ok.

    Decent weekend for me. parkrun went well on Saturday. Settled in to a decent pace quickly, and after reeling in a small group over the first mile found myself alone for the rest of the run.  Finished in 18:51 which I was pleased with given the 13 miles the day before. Felt strong throughout, more of a hard tempo effort than all-out 5K, and finished feeling like I could have kept going at least a little longer.

    Followed that up by 18 miles yesterday, bringing me to 77.5 miles for the week. Kept things to easy effort, which was finally reflected in the HR after weeks of it reading high. Pleased with the average pace of 7:20/mi for that effort. Not even a twinge from the glute or ITB. It’s getting to the point now where I don’t give it much thought, which makes runs that bit more enjoyable.

    The HR was also behaving for this morning’s recovery with SQ, so it definitely feels like I’ve made some progress. I still have a while before I shift to proper marathon training, so I’m planning to keep this general pattern of track Wednesday, parkrun/10K at the weekend, for the next month or so, so I’ll hopefully be in a good starting place for the bigger stuff.

    Easier week this week ahead of the Pitchcroft 10K on Sunday. Not expecting fireworks, but should hopefully go better than last year when I couldn’t even break 40 minutes!

  • When's the autumn marathon 2019 kicking off......
  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    Reg... if someone with a PB of 40 minutes at 10K were to knock 51s off it, that would be superb.  To do it at your level is outstanding!

    AWC... quite an ambitious run on no fuel!! Did you have some in your pocket, and resist it, during those difficult 14-20 miles.  Whatever, your fat-burning capability seems well honed.

    Spoons.. acronymitally-speaking, that's encouraging news on the 5K/LR/HR/ITB.

    FBT. Dunno.  TR still has one marathon left in spring time, technically... but we've all had a shot at a spring marathon - even if some had to back out.  Maybe a new thread might encourage everyone to re-engage?

    My bar chart -  I wondered if people thought I should perhaps shift the speed up a little... especially at the slow end.   In percentage terms, a 4hr pace (9.09) is now 20% slower than that marathon pace, and yet 75% are slower than that...  and a third of my miles are 30-50% slower than MP.  Is it a case of "it ain't broke, don't fix it"... or do people think I should work just a little bit harder for a proportion of those miles? After all, P&D say long runs and MLRs should be primarily run at between 10 and 25% above MP.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Liking the graph NE. Clearly shows how polarised your training has been which is what has been demonstrated to produce the best results. I think you're better off sticking to HR rather than pace to dictate intensity of training since it will reflect conditions/terrain/fatigue more appropriately. Well done at Cwmbran - you should give Severn Bridge a crack as soon as wind conditions are favourable again. The Nike's will be ideal for cushioning you on the downhill return & grip won't be an issue.
    Great fasted ULR AWC. Training is certainly continuing to bear fruit.
    Nice PB Reg & a podium finish too.
    Definitely improving Spoons. Don't neglect the cutback weeks - you're ramping the miles up pretty quickly again.
    A series of PWs for me yesterday at the track after a poor parkrun. Time to start training again so 5K easy at lunch.
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