P&D Autumn Marathon 2019

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  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    83 miles seems pretty advanced to me spoons!
    TR... hopefully the 6.20 is a sign that the legs are raring to go.
    GBRM -  Is this a first post on here for you? And you don't know what day it is...  what week it is?  You'll fit right in!
    Chicksta... that's quite a week for week 1.  Good luck.
    Joe...  great running from Katie... and glad you're on the way back.
    Hamo... nice running!  Hope that twinge is indeed nothing.
    HA...  gws.

    I've had half an eye on the Robin Hood 100 (September) for a little while now SteveMac.  The location is interesting insofar as I lived up around the  Clumber Park/Sherwood Forest area for about 7 years... the timing is spot on in terms of where it fits in the running year... and it looks like a relatively easy introduction to the distance.  Some undulation but benign. And with a portion being repeated, the logistics look relatively easy for an uncrewed runner.  In my head, it can't be much more difficult than the shorter but more challenging terrain of the 75m Pen Llyn ultra.  But people tell me that any 100m race is a big step up.

    I'm still not committed though... and not committed to the SW50 this month either (closing date Friday).   I'm quite enjoying some speed sessions and agonising whether I should re-focus my year towards 5K, 10K and maybe HM personal bests.

    As a lifelong football fan, amazingly I didn't watch the CL final... but chose a 10m run with nearly 2000ft of elevation instead.  Yesterday I did an interval session I'd not done before.  50s fast, 25s rest x 8.... five mins rest, then repeat for a second set.  Happy with how it went.   You can see that right now, I'm hedging my bets!
  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭

    Long time, no post.

    Good effort at the Edinburgh half from Steve and Joe (and family). Can imagine it being tough going in places with the coastal wind.

    Rapid mile, Hamo. Looking forward to seeing what you can do without a mountain in the middle. Mind you, a 180 turn would be enough to put a massive dent in a time for me. I’m yet to race a mile and really should find one.

    A punchy return to running after 10 days off, NE. Impressive!

    Good luck with the SDW100, Millsy. Another who has impressive range of pace and distance.

    Hope you’re back on the mend, HA? Sensible attitude as always.

     

     

    A cracking week in Corfu for a friend’s wedding then family holiday. Although there was simply no easy running on offer – either vertiginously steep roads (the cyclists/triathletes will know in the Alps when the 30%+ hairpin sections are rutted concrete rather than tarmac… almost the entire 1M road leading up from the hotel was this) or heavy sand. Beautiful though, so definitely not complaining. Did manage to fit in a couple of faster treadmill sessions, although excessive sweating broke at least one of them.

    Feeling pretty bloated and rubbish after too much buffet and a stressful return journey, but did manage a first 20M since London on Sunday morning. Had two days of recovery after this as felt a bit under the weather, before an enjoyable return to the grass track this morning with a colleague and spoons. 11.5M miles in total, including 2 x (1200, 1000, 800) with 400 recoveries. Not quite hitting the times of before half term but all sub 6m/m. The grass track can be pretty quick, but it certainly feels harder when the grass is a tiny bit longer and, like this morning, wet. Excuse central!

    I have the Market Harborough half this Saturday. Persuaded to enter by a friend who has subsequently had to withdraw, but it looks a fun event. It finishes at the annual carnival where, allegedly, 5000 spectators will be roaring me to the finish. We’ll see about that. It looks flat/gently downhill for 10M before a punchy last three miles up hill. Looking forward to a no pressure hit out.


  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    And good luck to TR for Yeovil
  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    Time flies when you are busy prepping for races, looks like a few are already starting the Autumn plans whilst others still have races to fit in.

    Well done to Steve and Joe at Edinburgh. I love the city but not sure I fancy the marathon. It either seems to be very hot or very windy there.

    some decent miles being put in buy Chicksta, SQ and Spoons too.

    Welcome to GBRM.

    Good luck to all racing at the weekend, I drove through Yeovil on Monday and saw the signs going up TR

    AWC, Macca, look forward to seeing you at the crack of dawn on Saturday I’ve no idea of a target time, could be anywhere between 19-30 hours. Just finishing will be a bonus after last years DNS. 
    I made it through the parkrun BBQ and football unscathed albeit an impressive hangover. I was also celebrating my “parkrun volunteer of the year” award which I received on Saturday morning. 

    Last run tonight before spending the rest of the week packing and repacking my kit.
  • I’ve also been absent from the thread for a couple of weeks.

    Spoons - I think that 10k is a good benchmark, which should tumble with a few more weeks of steady training

    Steve - Unlucky with just missing out on a PB, it seems like without the wind you would have had it. Good that you’re taking the positives. Congrats to Villa on promotion though, I’m massively jealous.

    Joe - congrats to Katie and your mum at Edinburgh. Good to see you seem to be getting over the illness at last.

    Millsy - good work on the park run PB.

    AWC - congrats to Liverpool, I hope you enjoyed the trip, I imagine you did.

    Hamo - commiserations on the football result, I can sympathise with having your football hopes and dreams broken this season.

    SQ - didn’t fancy a trip to Kavos on the other side of the island? I went post exams when I was 18, it was quite the experience!

    Best of luck to TR, AWC, Millsy and Macca on your races this weekend. Go out and smash it.

    Not the best last week or so for me. Sunday of the bank holiday weekend I had to shorten my long run as I spent too long chatting to the neighbour and had plans I needed to be back for. Then last week I felt just generally a bit rundown so only managed to get in 23 miles including a couple of runs while away in Gdańsk. I’m being pretty relaxed about missing the odd day before the plan starts. I’m still 8 weeks away and can’t see myself being able to keep my motivation levels up for 6 months. Think I’ll save the digging deep into the motivation banks for the actual plan. After overindulging the last 2 weekends and while not well I’m still fat. The next 3 weeks are a bit quieter so should give me the opportunity to rectify that a bit.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Spoons- still building nicely.

    SQ - impressive stuff straight back into a 20, hope sunday is enjoyable.

    HPR - just keep ticking over for now the mojo will come back. Maybe find a low key local race, as that result would help with motivation.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited June 2019
    Thanks for the good wishes, yeovil was a back up in case brighton didnt go well. Life and the weather made brighton tougher than it should have been, so i go again Sunday. I fee a lot fresher than  before Brighton although i was shattered  before the start then. I plan to maximise my chances by running defensively and trying to set the handbrake to around 6.45 pace (as best you can gadgetless) as the course has changed and now its "undulating". However at 830ish ft of ascent (again, gadgetless i have no idea how hilly this means) its only 1.5 times as hilly as vlm which always feels pretty flat to me, so hopefully sub3 is still within reach. As it is 2 laps, i get lap 1 as a recce lap, a chance to get on top of the fuelling, and then see where i am. Fingers crossed that the race director knows his undulations from his hilly.

    All the best to the other racers esp the long distance racers.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Forgot to say.....today i did 6m inc 2 av 6.25, too fast on the mp section, but im trying to make sure that ~6.40 feels comfy.
  • 1SteveMac1SteveMac ✭✭✭
    TR - Good luck at Yeovil.
    AWC / Millsy / Macca - Good luck at SDW....I'm slightly jealous of you all. Go smash it.
    HPR - I'm sure you'll be back in the mix next season. Our hard work starts now, got a lot of players to add to the squad to be able to compete in that league.
    8 with strides today, legs feeling back to normal. Next 12 week P&L plan starts next week. Did consider doing a P&D 12 week marathon plan for the HM, but sticking with P&L.
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Millsy: likewise be good to see you and good luck! Don't think you'll be anywhere near 30 hours. 19-20 more like it I think from your 50 mile and marathon times. Obvioulsy a lot can happen over the course of a day but I think you'll do really well.
    Feeling pretty good myself and really looking forward to getting going on Saturday. This has been the race I've been focusing on for the last 6 months and it's nice to be injury free and feeling good at this stage.
    Have got all my gear together so just need to sort it tonight so I don't need to worry about it tomorrow.
    Target time for me is 21-23hrs. It's a wide range but ultras are so unpredictable especially anything over 50 miles so its difficult to be too specific. I'll be happy just to get the 100 miles in one day buckle this time in any case. Just missed it by 50 minutes at the North Downs Way last year.
  • It's funny there's been more football talk here over the last few weeks than I think there has ever been about elite running! Not knocking it, just an interesting observation, and perhaps a worrying sign of the state of pro running when even a group of pretty dedicated runners don't show much interest in it...

    Good luck for Market Harborough SQ, SDW AWCMillsy and Macca, and TR for Yeovil!

    You can’t be at 100% all the time HPR, something I have to regularly remind myself. I think it’s good to have some points in the year when you’re not a slave to the plan. It’s important to recharge mentally as well as physically.

    Enjoyable track session with SQ yesterday, although definitely felt hard with the breezier conditions and the softer, damp track. Average pace was only 2s/mi slower than last week though, and I had considerably more mileage in the legs, so not too bad I guess. 6k of hard work regardless, and that’s the main thing. Weirdly, despite the extra mileage my legs feel much fresher than after last weeks session.

    I definitely seem to have made a bit of progress with the heart rate this week, all my recovery runs have been down where they used to be, as well as a little quicker. As usual it seems I need to get up to the 80ish miles per week range before my body wakes up and remembers how to work properly :D

  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    Wow, hadn't realised it was a thread triumvirate at the SDW100. Good luck chaps. Team photo please!

    HPR - 6 months is a long time. Find a level that you enjoy and will give you a base. The two have to sync together really for it to lead to long term success. Find your zen, man. 

    I hear you regarding legs actually feeling better during higher mileage, spoons. Mine feel fine today, vs horrendous the last few weeks. I guess any given session is a lower percentage of a bigger weekly volume. Pleased to see the HR is trending well.


    I've been continuing the afternoon recovery doubles to top up mileage. These have been slow, but I enjoy how chilled out they feel in the sun. I thought this morning's recovery could be a slow one due to yesterday's track and weights in the afternoon, but it was standard 8:40s ish. Quite looking forward to Saturday's race. As I am suffering in the last mile I will think of TR running another 13.1, and AWCMacca and Millsy running another 87!
  • Another one here that’s not posted for a bit.

    It was a while ago but well done in Edinburgh Steve and Katie. Well done on the pacing Joe, hopefully you have turned the corner with the illness.

    Thanks DCT, good to see your name on the board.

    Welcome GBRM , looks like there could be a few of us at Abingdon.

    Well done on the first week if the plan Chicksta.

    I’m impressed with the post holiday 20 SQ and straight back into it with the track with Spoons, good to read you are building the mileage back up Spoons.

    Exciting plans NE - so many distances/races so little time !

    HPR - as TR says, just tick over for now, enter a race or two with no expectations other than a good workout ?

    HA - hope the ankle heals quickly, Sod’s law.

    Some decent mileage spotted on Strava from Hamo and loved the pre Wedding bike ride also spotted on Strava (not Hamos boy).

    TR - good luck in Yeovil.  Sounds like you are peaking nicely with the sub MP miles. It looks like storm Miguel will have done its thing on Friday so I reckon you are good to go.

    Likewise good luck SQ and fellow
    SDW,ers Millsy and AWC.

    My niggly knee didn’t seem to respond well to high mileage and hard sessions funnily enough so I scaled back last week and avoided hills.  I think it was too much elevation too soon which is a worry looking at my race calendar but Saturday should be s good fitness test.  The semi rest probably helped bag a 10k PB yesterday, 36:52 - very pleased with that and no reaction today.  All my PBs line up now in terms of WAVA so I can focus on 20 min / mile death marching for the next few months.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Top racing again Macca. Good luck to you, AWC Millsy for the weekend's epic. I doubt you'll be doing much 20min/mile looking at your previous forays into the Centuries.
    Have a good run TR. Lots of faster miles clocked recently so rein it in on Sunday & you should finally get back where you belong.
    Lots of great running & some racing I've clocked reading back. Hope you really are on the mend JB & congratulations to Katie. SQ your pics from Greece looked lovely but whilst you may have felt bloated you looked anything but to me. Straight into 20M followed by a track session indicates you're OK really.
    I've just had my longest break in probably 10 years with zero training hours clocked last week & 12 days off running - I even skipped parkrun last Saturday instead opting for a lie-in :o Admittedly I'd been up til well after dawn after imbibing a skinful & the nearest option was about an hour's drive away. Despite the break my legs have felt rubbish the whole time & tonight's 10K was painful. HR was sky-high even though I was running at slow recovery/LR pace.
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭
    Another first post for a while.

    Good luck on Sat Macca, AWC and Millsy. Expecting big things. My boss at work is running too, his first 100 miler, so giving him a bit of encouragement

    Good luck on Sun TR, hopefully it'll all come together this time.

    Rest will probably do you good Jools.

    After a very easy week last week with a few days off I've run most days this week, nothing special but just feel like I'm getting started again. Tried a session yesterday 4x 1km (2min rest), then 3x 200ish hills. The plan was to do them fast with plenty of rest but was really slow and really struggled. Couldn't even hold MP for the final 1k rep. Work to do. On the plus side ankle feels fine and cold has gone. I've just eaten too much ice cream so need to go and lie down now.
  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    Great stuff on the PB, Macca. Whilst it was there for the taking, you still had to run it. Now time for a taper?!

    Good to hear from you, Jools. I was wondering whether the festivals might come calling. Have you got work at many lined up for the summer? Hope you feel better soon. 

    MP during marathon training is tough, HA, never mind outside of it. Doubt I could hit it for than a couple of miles at most in training at the moment. 


    Short easy and strides for me this morning with a token nod to a taper. Although 53M from Monday this week suggests otherwise. 
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the good wishes people! Good luck to TR at Yeovil and also SQ. 

    tracking for the SDW100 is here

    https://centurionrunning.com/live?mc_cid=e1f118d43b&mc_eid=e3b20699af

    Im number 89
  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    I’m number 142, went to collect my number on the way home from work so it’s all getting a bit real now. Just need to pack my kit one more time and try to get some sleep.

    good luck to everyone else racing this weekend 
  • chickstachicksta ✭✭✭
    Best of luck to our ultra runners and to TR at Yeovil.

    Jools: your legs and rest of body are supposed to feel shit after a running break. Better to ease back in with a few gentle runs rather than a 10k (they're so bloody painful) ;)

    Ticked off my sessions for the week. 13, 5, 11 and 8 with strides. Did some gym stuff on Wednesday . First time in ages. Promptly suffered from severe DOMS and made today a non running day :D

    17 with 8@MP coming up ...
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    chicksta said:
    Jools: your legs and rest of body are supposed to feel shit after a running break. Better to ease back in with a few gentle runs rather than a 10k (they're so bloody painful) ;)
    It was just a training run at 8:40 pace but HR hit 163!!
    I'm clearly not quite right HR hit 184 for the final 0.11M of parkrun today & averaged 178 which is way above anything I've since the early days almost 15 years ago. Unfortunately I could only manage 21:06 albeit on my home course which took a soaking last over the last 24 hours so lots of large puddles so it was good enough for 4th (or 3rd if you discount the CaniXer :p )

    You look to be getting back into a good routine :)
  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    I finished. 18:35 for 19th place. Am absolutely broken. Couldn’t get into and out of bed. Delighted with the time and position. An amazing experience but may retire from 100 milers as I don’t fancy doing it again. 
    A full write up will have to wait I’m off next week and having a digital detox 
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Millsy: great to finally meet you. You can’t retire after such an impressive debut. 19th place in a stacked field of 100 mile specialist is super impressive!
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    I also finished in 21:03 which was best case scenario of 21-23hrs which I had in mind. Although that doesn’t tell the full story - hurt my knee in the first half and had to manage that all the way. Full report to follow this week but safe to say I’m over the moon with that result. 
  • Both fantastic times in their own right but as a debut that’s awesome Millsy and to get a 21hr nursing an injury is equally impressive AWC.

    Great to share some of the trail with you both but sadly I dropped at mile 54.  Possibly a nerve thing as there was no power in one leg then the knee pain got progressively worse until I couldn’t even walk the ups or downs without pain in every step.  Disappointing but it’s been an incredible spring and I can recall the session where the problem started (2nd consecutive day of hill reps layered on some big races) so hopefully wiser.

    Hope TR is getting on well.  Surprisingly Yeovil doesn’t seem to have a tracker😜
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Well done folks, will have a better read later.

    2.58.13 for me, aerobically comfy but a touch of hammy cramp at 24m got me worried. Happy days, glad to be back under 3 esp as m50 nowadays. Tough course too.
  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    Awesome result TR. good to be back in the club. 
    sorry to hear about the drop out Macca. You have put those legs through a lot recently. I was struggling with the downs at the end and can hardly move my right knee today. Luckily it only got bad about 89 miles in so could walk it in from there.
    AWC , you looked very strong heading into Washington. I was expecting you to cruise past on the hill on the way out. 
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Macca: sorry it didn’t work out but was a please to have you at chez Cooper on Friday night. Certainly better than camping in the wind and rain at Winchester!

    TR: that’s a super result to get back under 3:00
  • TR - a great result and richly deserved, 1st in age cat too ?
  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    edited June 2019
    Absolutely amazing century debut, Millsy. Such incredible range of running ability. Grit must play such a big part past 3 hours. So just the 16 hours of grit then! Superb placing as well. 
    Made up for you AWC. To achieve your top target in such a tough race is fantastic. Enjoy the moment. 
    Hard luck, Macca. As I said on Strava, it has been a genuinely stellar year. Positive that you have identified the likely cause - something to avoid in the future. Hope you’re back up and running soon.  
    TR - I’m truly delighted for you. It’s very difficult to get a marathon double dip right and you have absolutely smashed it. Sub 3 with time to spare. And that’s on a slowish course. Really pleased all your consistent hard work has paid off. 
    Jools- I know spoons’ HR always skyrockets after time off. Could this be he case for you after the break. Not something you’re used to?

    The Market Harborough half marathon went really well for me. Utterly atrocious conditions; although not cold, 20mph winds, and saturating rain the whole way. The 5k started at 10:25, 10k at 10:30, and the half at 10:35. They were the same route until 4K, so there was a fair bit of wide overtaking - slightly risky on the one, busy, open road. After an intial climb from the start I found myself in fifth. I could see the lead bike and the top two runners slowly pulling away (the winner - V50 ran 1:14. In those conditions 😧). I gradually worked my way into 4th/3rd and was starting to enjoy myself. Once we left the town centre there was far fewer twisty turns. It occurred to me since that I was probably in a ‘state of flow’. The miles were absolutely ticking by. Either that, or I was making the most of the downhill with a tailwind...  By half way I was running solo with no one in sight. This can be hard, but I quite enjoyed gritting my teeth in the filthy conditions and cracking on. Things definitely slowed in the latter third, with 600ft of climbing proving punishing. A final steep and rather notorious hill brought us to the 12M marker. It was nice to receive some cheers here, but also worrying how soon the fourth placed runner was then congratulated. Enjoyed smashing the downhill from there (and throughout - the VFs really felt brilliant in this race). A very twisty finish with a few awkward bits of road furniture to negotiator led onto a lap of the sports field. This was so slippery it was a bit of a nightmare. As I reached the line, I got excited about the promised 5000 carnival attendees about to cheer me home... to be greeted by the metaphorical one man and his dog. The weather was so poor the carnival had been postponed. Nonetheless, delighted with 1:20:4x on a tough and hilly route, flying solo for ten miles in the wind. Nice little trophy and a voucher for a sports massage. Got out for a belated warm down once we had driven home. Felt a little light headed then remembered I’d had a beer at lunch. Whoops. 
    Tired today. Recovery 6M from home this morning then a very peaceful 3M on trails up on the hill this afternoon. These runs were sandwiched between taking my daughter to the cinema - a superb nap oppprtunity. 
    Just checked my calendar for the week. Forgot I had entered a 10k this Wednesday. Will have to see how the legs feel. 
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Apologies for the earlier post without reading back. I will read back later, but a quick skim shows macca had some issues, sorry to hear that.

    whilst it only took 1h 40m to get there early doors, traffic and incidents meant it took 3hrs to drive home.

    In sort, i ran within myself a bit today to maximise my sub3 chances after missing out at Brighton and with the course being an unknown (and now classed as undulating), i wanted to prove i could still sub3 and come away feeling i can go faster at Abo in Oct. Both boxes ticked.

    Will do a better report later on.
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