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OO, hopefully you fit in the long run tomorrow.
Wardi, good effort on the treadmill!! Barcelona sounds amazing for the marathon, need to try and do that one year (or Seville!).
Really hope marathons don't get scuppered by CoronaV, but i guess they may.
Menn, hope you keep on top of that niggle.
LMH, glad you're keeping up the key runs/mileage. If you get a pain breakthrough, it will set you up i'm sure.
Didn't spot you JoeB sorry, hope you had a good day, i was right up near the front freezing away.
So with conditions OK, bit breezy but it's london, i thought i would go for it today (hence up the front) as the injections i got in my back a week Tues ago really did seem to have kicked in with the glute/lower back pain largely gone on my last few runs. Planter F has kicked back in but that seems like nothing compared to the last 6 months of pain.
So - had a good day, felt so great to be running and able to actually kick on and put myself in the hurt box cardio wise in 2nd half/towards end instead of just being sore in back/legs from the off! Not sure who puts the 2nd mile out on that course, but my watch said i did a 4:28 2nd mile lol followed by a 7:28 3rd..
Anyway, scores on the doors, 1:16:34 and a pb by nearly a minute from a v long time ago. Was 6th V45 which given I'm getting near the back end of that category i'm pretty pleased with. Now i really hope the effects of the injection continue so i can kick on for 6-7 weeks of really good training and try and nail london - if it's on!
Only down side of the day was a complete debacle of a bag pick up. They said the trucks were late, so the bags were not sorted, resulted in me standing for 25 minutes waiting for them to find my bag as the scrum of people got bigger and bigger and more and more impatient! i thought i might need medical attention if it has been much longer as i was absolutely freezing, but all good once got the bag.
Windy here again too Wardi though not as bad as the last two weeks.
It will need to be a very small event I think TR.
LMH.. forecast looks a bit better this week. Apart from the recent wind/rain as you have mentioned it's trying to find long routes that are free of floods!
OO think we're all having those worries - not too bad so long as we are free to run outside don't fancy having to run a marathon round the living room
Wardi Cracking mileage for Feb - I managed 257. Brighton is my Spring marathon again this year.
Decent outing at parkrun on our newest local course: Mallard's Pike, a single-lapper on wide stony fire trails that consists of 240' climb to 2.8K then a long descent & a final flattish 800m. The course was being run backwards as a Feb 29th gimmick so they lengthened it by c150m. Very popular with the Cani-X brigade so I was 11th but 5th or 6th unassisted runner. Winner still managed 14:47 - being towed obviously. Happy to find some uphill strength again at last - I overtook at least a half dozen on the big climb & was passed by just one chap who always starts slow before winding it up. Did another lap the right way round as a cool down + 3M to/from the car so a 9M day. Had a skinful last night dancing to The Ramonas (female Ramones tribute band) so XC today was a struggle. Particularly as the course was 4 laps each with 130' of climb, slippery mud, sucky mud, tree roots, adverse cambers & stormy winds
A few dry days would definitely help Wardi.
That could have been messy with a hangover Jooligan :-)
Impressive double Jools. Never know how you do in on a hangover, I'd be completely out of action!
So yeah like Selbs I was at the Big Half yesterday. 1:18:47 was the result, which is pretty much exactly 3 minutes slower than Reading last year. Mixed emotions - I've been doing a truck load of cycling but never nice to see the running seemingly go backwards a bit.
Paced it fairly well with the 5km splits of:
18:24
18:45
18:47
18:54
Fast first one was the big drop down into the Limehouse link tunnel - great fun. Was absolutely on the rivet in the last 2 miles so definitely a flat out effort.
Sounds like Selbs got lucky (!) with the bag drop - it was an absolutely shambles. I waited for over an hour, being crushed from behind as they gave out on average two bags every minute between 6 volunteers. Never seen anything so poorly done. Real shame because otherwise a well organised event. Felt sorry for the volunteers to be honest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl__F9XOPHk
Jooligan.. crikey I've got the first two Ramones albums on vinyl, I will look out for the Ramonas if they are up my way. Good effort in the XC after a few too many sherbets.
JB - aha, i was on the far left of the pen, front row before we merged with the champs runners. nice run. just checked my splits, and confirmed what it felt like, best executed race for me since 2015 in terms of pacing, 18:14, 18:27, 18:06 and 18:03, and my final 5km from the 10 mile point was 17:49.
LMH - i would take the former, but certainly hope for the latter (if it's the former, then there is another treatment they offer (burning the nerves) which is supposed to last for 2-3 years, if the injections were effective for 2-3 months.
Nice racing and partying Jooligan!
266 miles for Feb for me.
legs not too bad today (normally back/glutes at least woudl be killing me!) so an easy 5.5 mile jog to work to start the day/week. will do another hour easy later.
Good mileage TR only 170 for me
I hadn't seen anything about London but some mates had suggested it could be an issue (ffs its taken me 8 years to get back)
Decent weekend for me, 10 miles in horrendous weather on friday XC with mate and dog, Saturday I decided on a tempo-y run 8.5mile.
That came in at 6.33s and included a 7 first mile. Was great because it felt like MP for all but the last .5 where it just got away from me into head on wind. 3 hour long slow hilly run yesterday too
Nice run there too JB - maybe not the pace of a year ago but you've fitted in a lot of other stuff since then. If that's what you can do after not a lot of running then there's definitely more to come.
Nice double too jooligan.
Getting back to it with an easy 15 yesterday in the sunshine. I'm increasingly glad I got a spring marathon in early!
Selbs - Many congratulations, a speedy big PB with some back problems is really impressive.
WTGY - That's a good looking tempo run.
Joe B - Well run, sure normal service will resume with more focus on your running.
Jools- Respect, XC whilst hung over, hard core would expect nothing less from you.
CD - You could well be right.
Well raced there Jooligan!
JoeB -- I know what you mean with the times sliding backwards, but well run and beautifully paced. The baggage debacle reminds me that the normally flawless champs bag handling at VLM last time turned into a messy scrum, as again they weren't sorted.
I did my 4th training marathon for VLM yesterday, out and back along the splendid York-Selby cycle path. It includes a scale model of the solar system, so on the way back I got to really appreciate how very far it is between the outer planets (miles, to scale) compared to the inner ones (all within a few hundred metres).
But should I still be marathon training at all? Certainly I can see VLM being cancelled -- think I might look out for backup domestic events that are too small to be affected. It occurs to me they could just block international entrants though -- harsh on them, but might allow most of it to go ahead.
Jools - good to see you up to your usual tricks. Piss up sounds good.
WTG - thats a tidy tempo pace.
Excellent learning/training combo CW.
Im loathe to lose the traininh ive been putting in so i now have 3 maras entered on consecutive weekends, if Brighton and vlm get cancelled, i now have a place in the North Dorset mara. Similar event in size and route to last yrs Yeovil, with 180ish finishers and around 12 folks sub 3. Bit hillier than Yeovil but still sub 255able. If they all get cancelled then im not sure what I'll do.
Selbs/JoeB - Great running both. Enjoyed the TV coverage and conditions looked nice although you can't see the breeze necessarily on TV. Shame about the bags. Sounds like you lost a lot of the benefit of being a quicker runner there.
WTGY - That is indeed a solid tempo pace. Looking like a really solid training block overall.
CharlieW - Like the sound of that running route. Anything to break up the usual monotony.
Around 175 miles in Feb for me. Should have been my biggest ever month but had to take the last 3 days off to rest the knee. Back to it with 10 miles today. Was supposed to include 5 at HMP but I didn't think that was wise. Averaged 6:42mm so we'll call it a comfortably hard run. Definitely some tightness around the knee but not pain (during or after) so hopefully the days off has allowed my body a bit of reset. Keeping up with icing and stretching.
I don't want to jinx things but what a pleasant sight it is to see the sun out. I went out in a jacket and gloves today but had to nip home and ditch them. More of this please weather gods.
Charlie.. one of my favourite local routes that one, I'll be having a run down there Wednesday morning. The last two miles south always looks to me like a 'road to nowhere' as it is dead straight and through the bordering trees there is no end in sight.
Speaking of cancellations, Barcelona is less than two weeks away and they haven't even mentioned the Coro virus. Plenty of promotional & info messages plus inviting late entries. I guess I will just have to keep my fingers crossed.
Baggage fiasco.. some years ago when I started London off the FGFA pen (sub 3:10 men in there). There was only one baggage lorry for that start. Predictably most of the FGFA runners all finished in a similar time so there was a scrum around their baggage lorry in the afternoon heat while most of the others were empty.
OO.. as my best marathon days are behind me, my policy these days is to put myself on the start line and do my best without any pressure. 'A' target would be sub 3:30 (last time I did that was 5 years ago). Confidence is reasonably high for a decent run though.👍
TR.. nice contingency planning!
As the taper has started just a steady 4.3m today. A vast improvement in the weather was noted!
Well in Selbs and JB - quality racing from both.
Decent training going in all over the shop, WTGY, CW. Jools et al
Feb yielded less than 200 for me.
If they ban internationals I might be back in the hunt at London!!
15m tonight
Good planning TR, i'm going to have a look around as well just in case. More consistent big miles bagged nice work.
Wardi, sounds like you are god to go, hope the logistics hold. Flights being cancelled seems to be a risk at the mo as well as events themselves. Hope it works out.
CW, you're ticking the long run boxes for London that's for sure. Sounds a nice route for it.
CD, wasn't it just last week you raced a 2:37 marathon, and already banging out another 15 miler, impressive! In terms of targets, if i feel in PB shape, then that's one obvious one, and with Pb of 2:41ish, then it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what the stretch target would be! If back stays like it is now, then that's what i will be training towards, but of course on the day, i'll run to feel/HR best i can on the day. I think i need to find about 9-10 secs a mile to be where i want to be, which might be possible over next 7-8 weeks i guess.
Off to Chelsea v Liverpool tonight so a few beerios.
Thanks for all the nice comments.
14 easy miles (over 2 runs) yesterday, no ill effects from race, so onwards...
from the PM's "battle plan".
New legislation - to possibly halt major public events and restrict movement of individuals - will only be introduced towards the end of the month, when advisers expect the Covid-19 outbreak to start to move into its next phase.
Doesn't bode well for April marathon's...
Good news for smaller marathons though, though just saw that my contingency (Exeter marathon) for the contingency (Geneva marathon) for London is now full! I was about to apply!
20 slow slow miles done and not very well dusted yesterday.
OO - i was looking at Taunton, but its potentially big enough to be cancelled, so plumped for Dorset.
Backed up last nights 15 with 10m inc 15x3min today, I'll be fit for no race !
Nice run for me at Wokingham into Storm Dennis, 1.20.36 and good for only 6th V50
TR - Just saw your reference to Taunton, so on impulse have entered its marathon the thought process being (1) if London is on gives 3 weeks to recover (2) need a firm marathon focus (3) its relatively close and fast and home to my HM PB from 2007. Can't see it being cancelled as only 200 run the marathon and 900 the half, so some company for the first lap a bit lonely for the second, with only 5 going sub 3 last year.
OO - taunton looks like an ok race and route. Im planning on Brighton still going ahead at the mo, i owe that race one after last yr, ND is third choice.
OO.. I might be tempted by Malaga, I will probably wait and see if the virus panic dies down over the spring. Mrs Wardi likes the resort so no persuasion required.
Latest message from Barca informs me where to collect my dorsal (number) from so prospects remain promising.
London City always seems rammed to the gills to me whether it's the marathon or not (maybe that's due to my country bumpkin upbringing
9m today, how nice to run in pleasant conditions.
JI - Age really is just a number. That's some half marathon pacing. Love the Wokingham and Reading double. Did that last year and much preferred the Reading course.
12 miles tonight, mostly in the light which was nice. But sigh. No knee issues tonight but i've tweaked the calf on my other leg. I don't know what it is or how it happened (could have been the 6:11 mile I threw in there somewhere) but hopefully it's a short term issue. Frustrating again to feel good from the cardio side but parts of my body are not appreciating this marathon block.