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P&D Spring Marathon 2020
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Hamo - agreed, support your wife a bit more whist she needs it and tgeres no races.
I saw the Manc new date and thought it'd be no good for Macca, cal and steve.
I wonder if vlm will be able to happen even in oct, so i might end up with Brighton and Abo 4 weeks apart.
Reduced training at the mo (as i cant see North Dorset mara going on), so 10 x 3min reps today rather than the recent 15 reps.
Had an email saying Bognor 10k ( May 17th) is under review, not surprised. Just hope its not moved to October.
7 miles this morning - easy pace but not too slow. It definitely seems to be the darkness that slows me down - now it's light early on I am averaging 10:00-10:30 on my easies, rather than 11+.
On a more comedic note, the 20kg bag of oats I bought off the internet turned out to be horse feed...which I thought I could handle but seems the oats aren't hulled so I can't eat them. WTF am I going to do with 20kg of horse feed?
Agree, Cal, lovely to see more light and it certainly helps. Your horse feed error did make me laugh.
Plan had 8-10M at marathon pace today. Took the opportunity to get out on some country roads and obviously run it on feel at ‘comfortably hard’. Massive hill at the start and 1000ft climbing total. Good fun with 11ish miles at 7:20 pace, with the MP section varying wildly to due climbing and descending, but pleasing to see a few 6:xx in there.
Cal...Keeping everything crossed that you can run Chicago. I just cant imagine what a total lockdown would feel like, hope it doesn't come to that for yous in London, or anyone for that matter. Proper lol'd at the horse feed, class.
Macca...Thanks Macca. I agree, nothing feels overly healthy at the minute, the news is just constant. Might be a sensible decision; an ultra, followed by 3 maras is verging into Jools territory
TR...Nice reps as always. Yea, everyone needs to work together at this to be fair.
SQ...Glad the buggy is harmonizing things a bit for you, family comes first 1st no matter what. That is a big 4 days, nice recovery work. Good MP work, the hills at that pace will help the legs too.
10 miles with 8x100 strides this morning, was bitter cold but a gorgeous crisp morning, weather really is on the turn.
Nice run there SQ, in france you carry papers saying why you are outdide and you are expected to be close to home.
Hamo - it was cold here this morning too.
Jools - hopefully we can keep running for a while longer yet.
Dorset mara is postponed ( i can have a refund if i like - depends when it is).
Fleet 1/2 has been cancelled totally.
With possible on and off periods of isolation for the rest of the year, more races might get hit. I doubt vlm now.
I backed off the mileage massively this week, partly to rest my achilles that’s been a bit sore from the big run I did a couple of weeks ago. Good timing in that respect, just easy running planned and will take it day by day to see how I feel. No lockdowns here yet but all races postponed even though technically the limit on outside gatherings is 500 people. Most people are WFH where possible and with the good weather it’s meant the beaches are packed! So much for social distancing, it’s only a matter of time before it gets more strictly enforced. I have a few trails nearby though so hope to be able to head out to those still. Keep up the activity everyone.
I ran 6 miles - actually went to Clapham Common as crossing the South Circular wasn't so much of an issue this morning. Still cars about but less than you'd normally get on a Saturday. Perfect weather for a parkrun PB and most of the mud is gone - typical!
I'm setting up a virtual parkrun league for my running club to fill the gap - no rules, just run a 5K anywhere, any time and record it and I'll work out the results for the week and allocate points. Could be fun.
TR/John This is very interesting reading & gives some hope things might return to a more normal situation https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56 but it does rely on us being seriously restricted for 2-4 weeks. Seems highly unlikely mass participation events such as VLM will be able to go ahead by Autumn though.
I did a solo Freedom parkrun at Mallard's Pike where I ran 19:54 last week. Jogged down to the start & round the lake for a 2M warm-up then located the start but I wasn't feeling prepared to enter the hurt zone. Figured a countdown might help so the OH gave me one & I set off hard with her whoops spurring me on & then, once out of earshot, let the memory of last week take over. My virtual sparring partner kept me honest & I crested the top just 13s adrift of last Saturday's PB but I was feeling stronger & tore down the descent & cross the finish with an unofficial 3s PB of 19:51
Folks just arnt realising what might happen, its rife now, and getting real bad.
On a better note, i saw folks running today(Probably due to no parkrun, as i rarely see other runners), kids on bikes, kids playing tennis and a long queue at the farm shop when i ran past, that only something i usually see on collect yr christmas turkey day.
16m done in a shorter long run stylie.
TR, agreed - and yes there are so many people out there at the moment, being a bit stupid. I'm going out early and avoiding the parks and commons for the moment - the streets are much quieter.
One of my Facebook groups is hosting a weekly virtual race (no prizes/medals, just run and post evidence). I decided on a half marathon (options were 5K/10K/HM or marathon) and while I wasn't going to race it, I decided I would push and try to hit MP for at least some of it.
It was a cool, crisp day so great conditions and I was out early so it was easy enough to avoid the few people I saw about. I actually got to MP (give or take a few seconds either way) for the last 5 miles so happy with that - my time was 2:02:34 which was actually my PB from Ealing half back in 2015, my first year of serious racing where I did 8 halves and went from 2:12:48 down to that and then decided it was time to enter a marathon.
Interestingly, my cadence averaged 182, which is optimal, while my stride was a little down on what I'd do in a race. I was wearing my Epics so I'm starting to wonder if Zoom Flys and Vaporflys really do give me a longer stride.
Left glute/hammy were a bit achey so Epsom Salt bath when I got home.
I hear Italians are no longer allowed out to exercise. It's going to hit me hard if that happens here, living in such a tiny flat as I do.
10m today.
Cal - Nice HM effort.
Jools - Strong pace for a solo 5k!
17 miles for me on Saturday, did see more runners than usual, but I guess that is because parkrun is off. Started easy and last 3 miles were the fastest of the run. Sunday was 7 miles with strides, legs felt fresh which was surprising! Plus kettlebells afterwards. 57 miles for the first week of taper.
Afternoon all.
Jools that article is excellent, I have shared it with quite a few whatsapp groups. The hammer needs emphasising in this country… I was gutted to not get a chance to say goodbye to the U6. Great solo parkrunning from you. I like the idea of a countdown. If I decide to run a solo marathon I am going to take inspiration from that and think about how I can nicely hype it up a bit in my own mind.
Hope the Achilles is ok, John.
Nice one on setting up the virtual parkrun league, Cal. Having been fairly dismissive of virtual races etc in the past, I can definitely see their worth at the moment. Great half marathon too.
Nice long runs, Steve and TR.
Beautiful weather last couple of days. Managed a big 78M week up to yesterday, albeit with plenty of 10m/m buggy running.
Headed out for the longest and toughest workout of the plan this morning: 3h with 1h easy, then 4 x 20mins MP effort, 10mins steady. My wife asked why I was bothering, and there are probably at least a couple of reasons: I genuinely enjoy the process and I value the structure at the moment in these bewildering times. Early wake up and then out the door at a minute to 5 – just like the old days! 0C to start with, up to about 4C by the end. Gloriously sunny and not much wind. Really enjoyed myself, although did have a few stomach issues which helped lighten the load. Paces of the MP effort sections were around 6:50, 6:50, 7:00, just sub 6:50. The third was a bit windy and the fourth almost all uphill. So I guess I must have had the benefit of downhill and tailwind at some point. All in, 24.4M at 7:20 average pace. Back in time for WFH/children’s activities. Having a lot of fun with various lego ideas – building and bowling down skittle and creating a bridge over an relatively inert 5 month old.
That was a crscking run SQ, id hsve struggled to do that today, as im expecting running to be stoppd tonight, hopefully running solo will still be allowed.
12m tonight, could be my last run forva while i hope its not.
TR - Luckily we can still run outside!
8 miles with strides for me today.
Agree with the others SQ, a top run. Keep on enjoying the process as much as you can.
Cal - sorry but that did make me chuckle. Could you fill a couple of bags with the oats for improvised kettle balls ? (Not sure what 20kg of oats looks like)
Steve - weird following the taper with nothing at the end of it. For me, the reduced mileage feels “right” atm.
TR - agree there might come a time when we have to ask ourselves what’s morally right, assuming the decision is taken from us.
Loosely following the taper here. I’m lucky to live opposite almost 1,000 acres of Woodland Trust property. It was getting absolutely rammed at the weekend but they’ve now closed the car park so it’s back to more bunnies than people.
As a minor distraction, I’m pleased to report I picked up the “Dog Turd Bin” Strava segment last night.
Hope everyone is keeping well. Great work those that are still putting in sessions despite races being cancelled. Definitely a lesson there about enjoying the process. I’m not sure what it says about me, but the first thing I thought when Boris said about one activity per day was “oh, no doubles then”
I agree TR, can’t see London happening in October at this rate. Even if things are better then, a mass event like that would be a huge strain and potential risk. Crazy to see the Excel Centre, where we’d be getting our London numbers, being set up as a temporary hospital.
Very interesting article Jooligan, thanks for sharing. Great solo parkrun!
Bad luck on the oats Cal!
Congrats on such a prestigious segment Macca
Running is still a no go for me, but I’ve been trying to get out for a walk or ride around the river at least. The nicer weather these past few days has certainly helped. Thankfully although it does seem a little busier than normal for a weekday this time of year, it’s still relatively quiet and everyone is being sensible with distancing. I’ve also been doing some more Zwift, including a few harder efforts. Might try some kind of plan on there to add a bit of structure, but either way I’m slowly getting back a bit of motivation.
Spoons - hope you are back to it more and more by the time was can get going again.
I did 8m today. Its only the early mile or so and last mile or so of any run that i might encounter others, so could run 4m or 16m and see the same amount......however its the masses in parks, on proms and hsving barbeques that are the issue, and supermarkets are probably a risky place to be.
Spoons - Good to see the motivation coming back.
TR - Nice 8m.
8 miles with 3*1600 today. Reps came out at 6:02/6:00/5:49 for an average min mile pace of 5:59, so just under 6:00 target pace!. Pleasing to get faster on the last rep too, and nice to run a bit faster as just done easy running for last couple of weeks I think.
SQ - sounds like you are balancing family life well, keeping the running going inc some quality and avoiding crowds, so full marks there matey.
I did some easy miles today and didnt see a soul for the middle miles, birds singing, woodpeckers tapping, and a pheasant that joined in for a few yards. A rare sub 8mm av too, tapering must be going on.
Gosport 1/2 Nov 22nd which is usually a 2000 runner race has suspended entries and is not ordering medals etc in case it doesnt happen this year!
Slightly shorter buggy recovery this morning - 6.9M at 9.20 pace. Got out around the quiet lanes again. Left achilles a little sore and quads definitely feelings some DOMS. Wore the adios for yesterday's very hilly tempo and I guess doing some fast running downhill has given them a battering. Nothing hard again until Monday though, so plenty of time for recovery.
TR - Nice nature run there. Yes, I'll do the full taper and probs run 13/14 miles instead of the marathon, so I'll be around 40 miles for this and next week.