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Shades Marathon Training
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Today's parkrun was Beckenham Place, one of the SE London ones that is fiddly to get to (the last time I was there was a school biology field trip in the 80s!). Figured I'd do this one as a) it's mostly grass and I want to tick off the potentially muddy ones before winter and b) fairly flat, which I wanted after hilly East Grinstead last week, and Brockwell Park on Wednesday.
I am generally not that fast on grass - I got a low 25 at Hanwell and a fairly low 25 at Bromley, so I thought I'd be in that ballpark although with my niggles and bug bite, I'd have been happy with anything under 26, really.
Well, that didn't happen. I don't know where it came from, but I now have a new parkrun PB by 30 seconds! I got an official time of 24:09. What is going on with me? My body is like a bag of broken spanners but I it keeps turning it out.
I didn't achieve a particularly high placing and was third in my age cat, but I don't much care. Oh and I got a WAVA of 71% - first time over 70. Blimey!
Cal-Brilliant result,next target sub 24.
Tough couple of days in work meant I was completely drained when I got in so decided not to,had no energy at all but means I'll be ending on 42 miles which is my lowest for a few weeks.
Ian, thanks. Best to ease off a bit if overly tired - no point in over doing it at this stage.
11am race start tomorrow so don't have to be up too early, which is nice. It's just over an hour up the road, so I'll get there in good time.
I would vehemently oppose the rule that club members have to switch to new kit from a certain date, it's not as if the club have changed club colours. Of all the clubs I've been in, and there has been quite a few, have always been allowed to wear old club kit for races as long as runners have wanted to.
Do you know what's causing the rash?
That's a late start for a race, pleasant for the travel time though. Should be perfect conditions for you.
Steve and Ian - good luck today, hope conditions are as good with you too for your races
Cal - well done, you're flying at the moment. Good idea to get the potentially muddy parkruns done and dusted before the weather and conditions deteriorate.
Robert - how are you? update please.
mamafox - is the new HRM OK?
10 miles for me today, lovely fresh morning.
20 miles for me, with the last 6 at MP (MP is really anything under 9:30 but aside from the first of these, which was 9:23, the others were mostly sub-2 pace).
I went to Wimbledon Common again but as I woke up later I didn't get out until nearly 7, so it was just as well it was much cooler. Took a slightly different route to Tooting and then spent longer exploring the smaller paths and trails in Morden Hall Park and happened across a woman having a nude photoshoot!
Next week will have to be a deload. Seeing Toby (my physio) tomorrow also.
Regarding the rash, I think it’s just the fabric rubbing against my skin. There’s a blemish there which gets irritated on occasion.
Bridgwater Half today which was a Club Champs event. It was good running conditions although there was a head wind for parts, which did slow me down on occasion. My plan of doing 7:40 pace until half way and then cracking on went out the window early on as I was just feeling quite good so decided to go with it, and ended up with a watch time of 1:34:46, which I’m really pleased with. I think it means a sub-3:30 at Berlin is at least a possibility and I think I should go out at the pace and see what happens - does that seem sensible.
Splits were quite good and I finished strong, so I’m pleased really as it shows I’m getting some kind of form back. With an average of 7:13min/miles for the event I think I can forget about the relatively poor time in the humidity at the recent Stur Half I did.
LOL at the nude photo shoot, must have been quite chilly this morning.
Is it next week you have a half marathon?
Big G - wow, great running. Is that a PB time?
You should be confident of a very good sub 3:30 at Berlin/Loch Ness with that time and yes go out at that or faster pace.
Annoying about the rash but at least you know what causes it, did the tape work?
Big G-Thats a very good time,and sets you up really well for berlin.
I decided to try for 20 @MP(7.15) my theory being that if I can do that after racing thursday and the mileage I've done recently with no taper or carb loading then I'm looking ok for berlin.
1st mile was a bit too quick as we had a group of 5 and seemed to be pushing,as it was we all wanted similar time so slowed it down over the next couple,by 4 we were pacing it right.We had a really good run up until about 14,plenty of talking and helping each other,then I felt they were slowing a little so I went on,knocked out a couple of 7:10's and still felt good,waited until 18 then decided to see what was left,mile 19 was 7:04 and 20 was 6:35
Hope that's fired up your confidence levels too for Berlin.
Do you agree that 20 miles is a great distance to race?
20 is a good distance,got to 10 and thought only 10 left so didn't seem too far like a marathon can sometimes.
In terms of berlin it's done wonders for my confidence as it really felt comfortable and never felt as easy as that at 18-20 miles before.
Big G - great race from you too!
Shades, Richmond half is on the 15th so two weeks today. Next week will be an easier week and the one after still quite easy as will want to be quite fresh on race day. I'm mostly targeting Kingston for my half effort, though, which is 2 weeks out from Yorkshire.
Ian, that's a fantastic effort from you too. Very well done, and it's great you're feeling confident for Berlin. Great pacing and a fast final mile too!
Cal - you're running so well I think you can get a PB at one or both of those races, that will set you up nicely for York.
Big G - that is close to your PB, you must be very pleased with that. It's tricky getting ideal conditions and feeling good on the same day.
Glad the tape worked. Maybe you won't have the same problem with the new vest
Ian 5.18 for a mile is pretty impressive, defo keep an eye out for a flat our mile race. They can be fun but get the pacing wrong they are painful.
Big G great to see you're back running marathons and in good form with todays half.
Cal's right, she spotted me p on parkrun results yesterday (and last week too) 44 mins last week just walking (with 3x100m sections i had a lil trot), 36 mins yesterday. Walked the downhills and camber and trying to jog gently the uphills and flat bits bloody knackered. Cal, I'm not at Westmill for the next 2 weeks but more than happy to pick you up from Hertford North, or Ware (obs drop you back there too)
The swelling was 'just' the clot/ DVT so no infection, my leg is healing better and parts have healed fully. Some days the swelling is better than others. Recovery will be slow but am improving. The scar tissue can be tight at times and hope this will improve with age.
Just did the maths and I had a small negative split today 1:11:55 v 1:11:40 and in my excitement I forgot to mention the weather,it was great until 18.5 then the worst rainstorm I have seen,absolutely drenched us for about a mile,maybe that's why my last mile was so fast,I couldn't see out my glasses it was that bad.
Well done at Bridgwater, schoolboy error with the sign for the drink station being a mile too early. You've done well to recover so quickly from that epic run over Dartmoor.
That new job should work well for you for running and for being with your lovely dog too. I'm sure you can squeeze an extra race or two into your weekends
Apologies I realise I forgot to add you to the list for City to Sea this coming weekend, will do so for this week's list.
Ian - that was great pacing. A sudden change in the weather can focus the mind to get to that finish, LOL at not being able to see though!
8 miles for me this morning, quite chilly only 7 degrees but pleasant when the sun came out. Saw my deer again with their fawns but at the far end of the field this time so a bit far away.
Cal I'm currently using a moisturiser as I have an open wound still. 21st Sept sounds good for Westmill, We also offer the chance to write the race report if interested email westmillhelpers@parkrun.com (ps have sent you a pm too).
Off to the docs today to sort out a repeat perscription, may also enquire about cortisone injection for PF. Its worth a shot to see if it helps clear it up.
So unfair that after all you've been through that the bloody PF still hasn't gone
Ian, great negative split there as well. Paced it perfectly by the sounds of it!
Jelly, we should start a revolution about the new kit. Get some placards made up for club training nights
Shades, yes, I'm pleased with the effort and I had a bit of a spring in my step on this morning's 4-miler. At the race, I was hanging on a bit at the end, but didn't fade so that's good. Although my original "take it easy in the first half" approach went out the window very early on, the main aim was to finish strong and I did that. It's a bit of a confidence booster for me. I've done quite a few shorter races over the summer where I don't feel I've fully fired on all cylinders for whatever reason, but yesterday was a good one. I think the only other race over the summer that I feel I ran well at was Chudleigh.
I think I will go out at about 3:30 pace at Berlin then. I'm not sure if my endurance is fully there so if I go out at around that pace and then just see how I get on in the later stages. I think my original target of getting a PB would seem unlikely, so I suppose going under 3:30 is my main goal, and I'll be disappointed if I'm slower than Rotterdam (3:38).
Just looking back over July and August's mileage. July and August this year were 233 and 219 respectively, with fewer marathons than last year but with a lot more shorter races of varying distances. July and August last year were 183 and 171 miles. So even though I've been nursing the shoulder, I've been getting the miles in compared to last year, as I've done 98 more miles over those summer months this year.
Looking ahead though, there'll be fewer shorter races, certainly in September and October as marathons take the focus, but I'm still hoping to complete the Club Champs this year as I've just two races required to complete it for the first time! Probably if I hadn't got injured I wouldn't have done the Club Champs due to marathons, so trying to look on the bright side it's good that I've been able to do that.
Steve-Unlucky for yesterday,just shows how important pacing is,even over HM,sign up for the half as you have the fitness there,just need to get it right on the day.
6 mile run today,calves were a bit tight after yesterday but hopefully ok by tomorrow,hoping for a last big week this week then holiday from next Tuesday.
From what I remember the last few miles of Berlin are quite pleasant so I think you should be able to do your best to hang on. The only tricky bit was being so pleased to see and run through the Brandenburg Gate only to find that the finish line was a lot further away than I thought and those last few yards seemed like forever.
I think you should go out at faster than 3:30 pace, whatever the calculator predicts from yesterday's race. I think that's about 3:17 pace. You might not get another chance this autumn to have a go, I'm assuming that only if conditions are good which they often are at Berlin.
Steve - so sorry to hear your race didn't go as planned, but considering you stopped for a minute plus had to recover your pacing, to finish only a couple of minutes outside your PB is admirable. Most runners that have a blow up come trailing in much further down the field in a sorry state.
Sign up today for a couple of races and get back out there. Maybe you need to race more often to get that pacing right on race day.
Ian - that's good recovery, I'm not surprised the calves are a bit tight.
I've been thinking about Yorkshire. I was thinking it might be too soon for a sub-4 attempt but after my last two long runs and my PBs, I don't know. I was thinking I might do what I did at Manchester last year, when I decided to try to stay with the 4:15 pacer as long as I could (in the end I only lost him at 18 miles and finished only three and a bit minutes behind). After that I got my sub-4:15 at Chester.
Having said that, 4 hour pace is a lot quicker - I don't know if I'd end up crashing hard and having a miserable last few miles. What do you folks think?
Rob - I've replied to you and happy to write the run report.
I've got my gym appointment this week and then I am going to become a gym rat for a while. Can be counterproductive for my Hadd training but we'll see.
I think you should wait until you've done your half marathons and then decide what to do about York. You're running really well and as long as you feel good on race day and are injury free I think you should set out at whatever pace the race predictor comes up with. You've lost weight too and in theory assuming the weight loss was fat then a 10 pound weight loss is equivalent to 15 minutes off a marathon time, assuming same level of training/fitness and that knowledge can be a great confidence booster on race day to maybe be a little braver. I don't think you should run with a pacer, you're a good racer so just assess your progress mile by mile
Cal-Sub 4 is tempting based on your long runs,you're doing them faster than when I got my sub 4,only youbknow how genuinely easy pace they were but if they were easy then I'd be tempted to go for it.
So should that happen to you there won't be the same problem at Frankfurt as there are wide clear roads and no congestion.