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P&D Autumn Marathon 2019
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Thanks everyone.
Great photos Chicksta, looks like you had a lot of fun!
TR There aren’t too many HMs towards the end of the year, but I’ve got the Telford 10K already booked for December. I want to target that, work on my speed, and then hopefully start the new year in a strong place ready for London training. I think I was definitely lacking speed this time around, as the focus was building back up post injuries. Hope the groin settles.
HA/SQ not certain with the breathing, it was a bit odd and not something I’ve really experienced before. Wasn’t a stitch like the Worcester 10K, but not sure if it’s a related issue. Need to do some research.
Glad you are on the up Joe. Great photo with Macca.
Your photos have looked amazing on Strava John. I’m looking forward to the 1:59 attempt too. Would love to see a Bekele/Kipchoge showdown at some point next year, if Bekele stays fit.
9th in XC sounds pretty decent to me HA.
Great running Steve, sounds like a PB is there for the taking on a quicker course.
Superb work at the relays Hamo. Take it easy with that cough, you’re in superb shape and a few days off won’t hurt.
Well done toughing out Chester Jooligan, recover well.
Good luck for Chicago BH.
Great news about Eliud SQ
Do you feel any different running now with the changes AWC? Good luck for the weekend.
Cheers Macca. Sub-2:40 is definitely a long term goal. Need to stay injury free and keep that momentum rolling! Good attitude for Abo.
I enjoyed my week off running. Not quite as gluttonous as some post-marathon weeks have been, although I did manage to polish off an entire (large) pack of Bourbon biscuits in one sitting. I had to make a second cup of tea because I ran out of tea for dunking
I was definitely ready to get back in to things by Monday though.
Had an enjoyable catch-up with SQ Monday, then another recovery yesterday and an easy eight today. Legs are feeling good, HR is up as usual although already appears to be settling back down a bit. I will keep this week entirely at recovery/easy pace, and then ease back in to some faster stuff next week. Eight weeks until Telford 10K, where I’m hopeful I might be able to end what will be (at that point) an 18 month PB drought!
Stevemac - no more 1/2 s plannned, would be good to get the performance that 1/2 training desreved. Gosport is Nov ?
Spoons - fair play then, sounds like you have a focus in Telford which is a good idea.
AwC - hope it goes well. Running more upright has to be a good thing, less hammy and back abuse for sure.
Spoons...Excellent bourbon consumption. Glad the legs are feeling good, but just take it easy with the recovery. Nice to have that target race, time to smash the pb.
AWC...Nice recovery. Good idea that, and a good job you'll have less to cart round the course with you.
10 mile GA this morning for me
TR - Take it easy. I'm sure a decent taper will have your legs ready to go for race day. I think you'll smash it.
John - Nice LR, nice to add some hills and speed to mix it up a bit.
9th in an XC might sound alright but I think it's probably one of the weakest leagues around. More about getting the club together and eating cake really, which is good. If I went down the road to one of the Hampshire League races I think I'd be struggling to make top 40 at the moment.
First morning run in ages yesterday, just an easy offroad 10km, then some short stuff at lunch - football pitch - sprint the length, jog the width - 12 laps.
Hoping to catch some of Kipchoge on Saturday, but could be an early start.
8m inc 3x1m approx hmp today, leg much improved, so im happy i asked the question. My stomach area is still sore, but i have to manage that at times anyway. So positive stuff. I dont need to go anywhere near hmp at Abo.
Have been training up for Abingdon marathon in a few weeks. I was hoping to better my time from london in april this year. I have had quite a few injuries with piriformis and now TFL spasms since stepping in a pot hole mid August and this has really limited training . On top of this have had iron deficiency and had an infusion a few weeks ago. Have been struggling to maintain paces that I was prior to London and know that today if I ran a marathon realistically it will be slower than my london one .
I was really keen to do Abingdon (nice flat course not too crowded etc) however not sure its smart to smash up the body for a lesser time..
Should I a-) Run Abingdon anyway hoping the iron infusion will have kicked in and help me out
b) Run an alternative in Dec ie Goodwood ? or try and get a place in something like Valencia?
Would appreciate any thoughts !
TR...Glad the legs have improved, good HMP work.
Jobee...I'd agree with TR, get back to being healthy and well trained, then look at a marathon.
7 recovery miles this morning, nothing exciting, but the bread and butter i suppose.
ive not done a lot of structured training overt the summer just ticking over with a few B Races thrown in for variation
Ill also be at Abingdon next Sunday looking to get a decent Comrades qualifier in the bag.
Spoons - good that you’re back running so soon.
TR - sounds promising, good luck with the rest of the taper
Millsy - comrades! Nice one, am thinking of entering for 2021, look forward to hearing how the training goes.
Kipchoge - stunning run, never looked in doubt and great to see the entire team celebrating at the end. I thought his final sprint was amazing but then to see him have the energy to jump around in joy was incredible. Probably had another minute in him!
21 mile LR today with a 3x2k tempo/hill combo at the end. Could barely jog back home by the end so just happy to survive. Meant to be 5 reps but there was no way I was able to handle that.
Now to tune in to Chicago.
Millsy - see you at Abo.
John - thats a tough run already.
12m inc 5 av 6.36 yday, 6m easy today. This time next week......
Ouch John - that sounds like a beast of a training run.
Well & truly back into running mode after a 4 day streak. Thursday lunch was a 5K with some hill reps. Friday I forced myself onto the treadmill at lunchtime & did a progressive 8K. Started at 5m/K & dropped it every K til I was running 4:29 by the final one. Felt tougher than it would've done or than I meant it to be & I was drenched by the end however I also had the runner's high at last which has been conspicuously absent in recent months. Yesterday I did a parkrun & managed 2.5M on top as wu/cd before heading to Cardiff for the 1st British Cross Challenge/Gwent League fixture. Saw Charlotte Arter storm to victory over Jenny Nesbitt then ran the 6M course in 42:30ish after a mile wu thus more than doubling my week's mileage
John...Sounds like a monster of a long run, well done.
TR...Nice weekends work. All the best for race week.
AWC...That's is an awesome time and race in brutal conditions. Huge congrats on the pb, looking forward to the report.
Jools...Glad to hear the runners high is back for you. Nice training, and good racing, but even more impressive 'recovery'
6 easy with strides on Saturday, to prepare for the Armagh 10 mile road race yesterday. I came 4th in 55.05, in a good field on a tough rolling course, even with awful weather it was an enjoyable day out.
6 recovery miles this morning, was meant to double up with 4 this afternoon, but i'll be doing taxi service to bring the wife and kids to see Little Mix tonight, so that's out the window
Congrats on the 100 Millsy - I know you'd have been there a lot sooner if you hadn't been so selfless with volunteering so much, so thanks for that. Hope XC went well.
Great to see the mojo coming back Jools.
Hamo - lightning 10 mile time, especially on an undulating course - how far off the podium? Nice work trying to pretend it's not in fact you who's going to see Little Mix tonight. Hope it's fun.
Talking about mojo and all that, don't want to jump the gun, but really hope things are starting to move in the right direction.
Ran 60 miles last week, as well as 100 miles on the bike and 3 swims - most importantly I really enjoyed doing it!
Saturday was a parkrun PB attempt for Katie, so I was roped in, and we ran 18:40, which was a 10 second PB for her. She was actually pretty disappointed and I think we both know she's got an 18:20 in her at the moment, just didn't quite work out on the day.
Stayed up half the night watching events unfold in Kona - I ended the evening pretty convinced I'm going to have to try and go back..
Sunday had a hard 1:15 bike session indoors, followed by a 16 mile run off the bike. Spent the rest of the day like a zombie on the sofa. Frankfurt marathon next weekend - will be running with Katie and we'll see what we can muster...
Millsy - hopefully see you at Abo. Comrades probably sparked my interest in ultras, another one on the love to do one day list.
Hamo - another fantastic performance, probably easier to ask if there’s a distance you haven’t PB’d at this year ? (Assume it was a PB).
Joe - good to read. Congrats to KL on the PB and best of luck with Frankfurt.
John - that sounds like a beast of a session, not sure I could
have managed even 3 reps!
Jools - I’ve missed reading about your weekends, good to hear the buzz is coming back.
Wonder how BH got on in Chicago ?
TR - my par over the last 5 or 6 marathons would be about 3hrs so realistically anything under that I should be happy with but we might be similar paced for the first half. I’ll try the 7 w 2@Mp on Weds and try to replicate the spring session, extrapolating upwards from there.
Beet it shots on order although I don’t think they’ll completely make up for lack of Mara specific training 🤣
Hamo - wow, thats a sharp time, is that a pb?
Jools - getting back to normal !
Macca - you'll be as strong as an ox. Cant see you being too much slower than April time. Hope to see you somewhere along the way, im hoping to be strict with the 2.54 pace/handbrake, similar game plan to Yeovil, with a "no quicker than" pace early on.
6m inc 2m av 6.27, taper in full swing.
Macca...(and TR) yea it was a pb, but it was only my 3rd ever 10 miler so wasn't a hard target to break. Only 'conventional' road distance i haven't pb'd at this year is the 5k, though i rarely race them, and have broke my best time during 10ks. It has been a good, but hard to believe (still waiting on the bubble bursting), year for me.. actually following proper training plans seems to have worked. Might give parkrun a smash this weekend to test that pb now its in my head, but can never get in the right frame of mind to 'race, race' parkrun if that makes sense.
Id imagine you'll have no bother going sub 3 at all, with or without the magic beet shots, its been an amazing year from you.
TR...Nice taper run, and that's a good game plan. Cant wait to see you fly round Abo, you deserve it.
Late night taxi-ing from Little Mix meant when my alarm went off this morning i cnba'd and rolled back over, so this mornings planned easy 11 miler, has morphed into a steady/hard 10 miler this afternoon after work so i can get back in time for Dinner
Superb time from Hamo (again) & I see from Strava that you meant hard 10M this avo - nothing steady about that effort.
Glad you're also beginning to feel some mojo returning JB nice work pacing KL to another PB. No need to smash it to oblivion - keep chipping away as it's far more motivational.
Day off running yesterday to allow the legs some post XC recovery though I carried on with the 2x10M cycle commute. Planning to maintain the cycle commuting through to clock change when I'll mix in some run commutes with the dreaded driving. Cycled again today & managed my first double digit training run since the first May bank holiday! 10.5M along the canal averaging 8:15s. Felt comfortable til I picked the pace up for a K towards the end. Must be making some gains already
Joe - nice to see you on the up, Exercise and running in particular is great for its mental health benefits. Enjoy Frankfurt without any pressure although at the rate Katie is improving I suspect she’ll be able to have a good crack at sub 3.
Jools - enjoying seeing you pack in the races again! Fitness will be back in no time.
Hamo - keep the streak going and go for that 5k PB, you never know when you’ll be in such great shape again.
TR, millsy and macca - enjoy the carb loading (banana bread seemed to give me the best bang for buck last time) and best of luck on the 2:55 bus this weekend. How is the weather looking?
Ticking along with a couple of easy runs and an MLR today. Made it harder for myself unintentionally by scoffing down a burrito and then having to lug a backpack over the hills. Getting excited as I found out I’m in the blue start, just behind the elite men. Don’t think we’ll see any records broken in NYC though, am still astonished at the new women’s WR.
Amazing work AWC, congratulations! Look forward to the full report.
All the best for Sunday TR, hope you have a good one.
Well done on 100 parkruns Millsy.
Great long run John.
Nice work on the double XC Jooligan.
Congrats on the 10 miler Hamo, that’s really shifting, especially on a tough course.
Sounds like you’re getting back in to things Joe. Best of luck to you and Katie for Frankfurt.
Good luck too Macca.
I really enjoyed watching Kipchoge run sub-2 on Saturday, it was worth the hungover early wake-up! Yes it was an artificial stunt, but I’ve never had so many non-running people talk to me about a marathon. Kosgei’s WR was incredible too, I was sure she’d blowup after the crazy start. Sadly though, given her associations with Rosa, you wonder if it’s incredible in all senses of the word…
I’m gradually easing back in to things. Keen to get cracking again, but the legs are still feeling a bit tired so trying to be patient. Just keeping to easy/recovery stuff at the moment, might try a slightly faster effort at parkrun on Saturday, will see how the rest of the week pans out.
John...Good MLR. Class, that'll be some experience starting behind the elites in a major.
Spoons...Patience is the key, let the legs dictate when you get back to the swifter stuff.
As Jools says, last nights planned steady 10, morphed into a bit of a hard first 10k (37.4x) then i eased back a bit to make it up to 10 miles for the run (coincidentally just in time for the uphill section back home
Really enjoyed the “corridor of uncertainty” comment above! Shamelessly stealing that.
Many thanks for all the support and answering of my questions. Hugely appreciate it.
Best of luck with your races this autumn!
Another cycle commute & a progressive 10K on the TM@2%: started at 8's, dropped the pace each K - down to 7's for the final K. Enjoyed it afterwards too
Jools...Good progressive treadmill run, i like the classic 2 day taper
6 mile recovery this morning, 4 more this afternoon...legs need them i think.
The course is cross shaped with 4x25mi legs beginning and ending in Goring each time where you can access your drop bag to resupply.
Thames Path Leg 1 – Goring / Little Wittenham (25mi, 3hr 39min, 18th place)
The first out and back leg was along the Thames Path. It was raining at the beginning and it continued to rain all day, non-stop and get heavier as the day and night wore on!
Some bits of this were solid track and runnable, whilst other bits were really sticky and muddy. Not ideal on the first leg because the muddy bits just pulled the legs out of you. So I had to discipline myself to walk/take it easy on the mud sections to try and preserve my legs.
Ridgeway Leg 2 – Goring / Swyncombe (25mi, 4hr 21min, 14th place)
What a joy it was to get on to the Ridgeway and its hills because they were practically bone dry. It’s a chalky area which drains really well so this was a really good section for me, and I felt like I ran it really well. I was back at Goring in no time.
Ridgeway Leg 3 – Goring / Chain Hill (25mi, 5hr 14min, 15th place)
Still on the Ridgeway for this leg and again some good running despite the hills and the ever increasing rain. Darkness was now descending which changes the dynamic a bit and makes it more difficult to manage the mind.
I also experienced the weirdest thing up on the Ridgeway – I ran into 2 groups of huskies, each with sledges behind them and people on them. It felt like I was either hallucinating or had been transported to the North Pole. As they went past I just stood there in disbelief. Turned out it wasn’t a hallucination because when I came back from the turnaround point I saw the sledges tied up behind 2 vans in the car park. Who knew people did that in Berkshire (in the middle of the night, in pouring rain!!!)
I was still feeling pretty good at this point, helped by meeting so many other runners on my way back to Goring base camp, whilst they were all heading for the turn around aid station. But I was feeling apprehensive about what was ahead given the poor state of the Thames Path already in the morning, and beginning to feel a bit nauseous.
Thames Path Leg 4 – Goring / Reading (25mi, 6hr 21min, 21st place)
This was when things got really tough. I had gotten dehydrated by this stage as my tummy was giving me problems so I wasn’t eating or drinking. Stupid in hindsight, but in the middle of a race you just plough on. The rain was now heavy and the mud was a real problem now. As we got to Reading the path was flooded so we were wading through large puddles and my feet were becoming a bit cold. I walked the last quarter mile into the aid station because I was so cold, sick and annoyed at this point!
But the volunteers at Reading were amazing and sorted me out – they got me to drink some coke which really helped. Also some little potatoes and a coffee with sugar.
Heading back to Goring now things picked up a bit and I got back into my running stride (shuffle!) a bit better again.
But the crowning moment of the race was 2 miles from the end when I rounded a corner, slipped on the mud, and ended up in a bed of nettles with my right calf bearing the brunt of it. I literally pulled
myself out of the mud and stood there laughing! What else can you do at 5am in the morning in the pouring rain???!!!
Finish Time 20hr 7min 11s (21st place / 19th Male / 9th Age Group)
Absolutely delighted with the finish time. It was close to a 1hr PB at 100 miles and whilst it’s a theoretically easier course, the Thames Path was so muddy in places that it would have been much easier to run dry hills like the Ridgeway for the whole course.
The final 25mi out and back was probably my least favourite part of a race. I was cold, nauseous, wet, sore and really struggling to motivate myself to get going. But I look on it as good physical and mental training for the bigger challenges that hopefully lie ahead for me.
It’s also a good learning point as I’ve never had stomach problems like that so late in a race, so hopefully I’ll notice the warning signs sooner and deal with them. I almost passed out in the toilets at the finish – I had to be carried back into the hall and fed some coke again which really helped calm my stomach and the dizziness.
I’m feeling good mentally now my mind has recovered a bit – it’s nice not having any races to think about this year and so no training plans to follow. I’m going to enjoy this time up to Christmas now and just do what I feel like doing for a change rather than constantly pushing myself.