Moraghan Training - Stevie G

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  • WoolWool ✭✭✭
    sounds horrendous Bus, glad you're OK and hope that you're brave enough to literally get back in the saddle asap.

    yesterday I got overtaken by a cyclist while I was driving my car. I was waiting patiently for the right spot to overtake a line of cyclists across the Great Park who were obviously not going fast enough for him. I just shook my head and wondered, he got a more vocal reaction when he did it to the driver in front of me though. I suppose there are just folks with death wishes on all forms of transport.

    Did a couple of nice runs over the weekend but nothing too strenuous. Rest day today though as a I just completely and utterly CnBA. I think this is 1st time I've really felt like this since this all started. It might pass but I'm not so sure, the days ahead will tell.
  • Matthew HeadMatthew Head ✭✭✭
    edited July 2020
    Glad to hear you got away from that close encounter Bus. Makes you wonder why they were on the wrong side in the first place! I had a near miss whilst running the other week, crossing an exit on a relatively small roundabout. Car beside me was going across the roundabout, so afforded me the time to cross, but a speeding BMW appeared behind it (missing the other car by a foot) and took the exit I was crossing... Managed to jump back, but the chap in the BMW was waving his arms at me and sped off.

    Glad to see you're still out scouting them crowns SG. Shame they can't be traded in!

    Tidy 5mi TT SC, you'll be back to it soon. Jools, that's a great time to be putting in with a high training load - you'll go well when the races are back!

    Pete, is there a compromise where you can peel off a single session from the Trees schedule each week, and then back it up with lower volume work (i.e. those hills)/tempo (not)parkrun? That'll help you go in fresher. I suppose at the end of the day, it's also a case of enjoying what you're doing!


    Had another hit and miss few weeks - last weekend was really busy with helping friends move house & clean, so volume was down. Last 4 go 12, 42, 27, 42 - gotta get the consistency back!
    Had a couple of good sessions though, with 4 x 1km (1km cruise) starting to feel comfortable at sub-3:50s off of ~4:25s. Frazzled the legs a bit this weekend with 4 x 6mins off 2min cruise, with the average at 5:55s and last one at 5:50/mi. Much prefer these longer, high-tempo reps. Probably reflective of 10km effort, just gotta keep stoking the fire. Followed up with a hilly (1000+ ft) 20km yesterday, feeling pretty depleted by the end and just scraped sub-5min/km.
  • SCoombes2SCoombes2 ✭✭✭

    Haha Bus...will see what the play offs bring!

    Wool - You mean low motivation type thing?

    MH - Decent sessions yourself. And a BMW driver being a c**t. I know not all BMW drivers are c**nts...etc etc, but...you know the rest..Goes together like grey sweats and a staffie.

  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    That sounds like a scarily close shave Bus. I once met a car heading straight at me when being given a lift back up the hill to my house after a club LR. Fortunately it hit the grit bin 1st which slowed it & then came to a stop on my mate's bumper without any damage to either car. The young woman had forgotten the handbrake when popping in to her folks & it had rolled out of the drive & was headed down a 15% slope out onto the main Forest artery!
    This is what I'm up against in my July elevation challenge https://www.strava.com/activities/3717527916 The route should be familiar to at least one threadster :D

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2020
    Not sure if you have a day off a week as habit Wool, but I've always found it a big help. Can all get a bit relentless otherwise and helps to enable the odd thing niggle to ease off.

    This period for me is just a mixture of maintenance and habit. There's plenty of time to boot it up when we know what we're trying to target!

    Matt that's some real dip and trough mileage 😂. Work and life getting in the way?


    Standard 10 for me. Fancied exploring some woods through one of the Wycombe "zones".
    Once gently dipped in but have never properly explored until today.

    Was surprised you can get a solid 3miles or so in each direction in and plenty of ups and downs and loads of trails and routes to get into. 
    Some really slow going at times on some precarious ledges or up steep hills, especially one bit with steps.

    All in, despite having a couple of miles on flat road in there the whole thing came out 8.12 or so pace with over 1,000 feet of climbing.

    Good exploration though.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Jools, the single word Wattsville is enough to evoke memories!
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    SG Good to see you coming over to the hillside with me & Bus :D

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭
    Not many of us can point to a time and place and say it was there. That's where it all changed. Nearly forty years ago. It involved a Hot Hatch, a country lane with no speed limit, a kid having fun...and a horse and rider.

    Cured me of speeding forever.


    🙂

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Jools - i wouldn't go that far, but with double digits to fill each day, and 3+ months round this same area, it definitely needs more variety on routes to keep it fresh.

    Could easily be into my last 4 weeks of furlough now, so need to take advantage.
    (obvs could still yet be extended!)
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Results are in for Sunday's segging.
    1st: 1K@6% but 80% of the climb is in the first half - CR took it from 8:25 pace to 7:35
    2nd: 650m@7% with 90% in the first half - 2nd again but improved it from 8:31 to 7:57
    3rd: 580m@9% with 75% in the first half - 3rd in 8:36 pace need to drop a minute a mile for the CR :open_mouth:
    More segging today in my hilly (1916ft) 10.8M run 4th (was just using this one as a wu), CR, 2nd, CR B)
  • WoolWool ✭✭✭
    got out for a run this morning and quite enjoyed it. 

    4*6 mins is a good session MH, nice paces there.

    Pete - I'm sure you're out there. I didn't mention that Sunday's run took in a full lap of Ascot racecourse, the 1st time I've really run all the way around the outside. It's got quite an incline on to it, I think to the point that I'd say it was too hilly for reps for me. It's a tough little loop, don't underestimate it!

    SG - 4 weeks to go (maybe), lockdown lifted. Time perhaps to pack the tent and get off somewhere mid week and get some runs in? SW Coastal Path? Pembrokeshire Coastal Path? Go midweek before the schools break up, eat chips, drink cans of coke, listen to the test match on the radio. Heaven man, heaven!!
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    As I am in the midst of single-parenting I've barely had time to check on here but good to see same old tales of SG getting lost. SC I have a feeling getting back to group training is going to see you back to top form. Nice stuff from you Jools and a swift PR.

    Close call there Bus, probably on his phone, I know how hard I find texting and driving at the same time to be, I often have to apologize for the spelling mistakes in my texts. Kidding. I never apologize.

    Wool, funny you say about being overtaken by a cyclist through the Great Park, I did that exact thing last time I went through the park, although it was undertaking to be fair. I find there's few things more thrilling than passing cars. Possibly my favourite ever moment on a bike was overtaking a group of motorbikes going down a long descent in the Lakes somewhere. I did get into an altercation once with a driver when he was stuck behind a tractor and I overtook him on the outside, he was clearly not about to overtake the tractor on a bend but it didn't stop him from losing his shit and honking his horn, getting up close behind me and shouting and swearing. Clearly nothing wrong with me overtaking a car as he'd overtaken me just a minute before because I was going too slow for him but when the tables are turned they don't like it. Not my fault he's late for work.

    Anyway, I proceeded to slow down in front of him until we were at a standstill and then having parked my bike in front of his car went round to have a conversation. This conversation ended with me reaching in grabbing his tie and pulling said tie and his face which seemed to be attached to the tie half out his car window! I kind of wasn't sure where to go from there and a queue of cars was building up so let him go and carried on. People feel very brave in their cars but not so keen on intimidating you when you've got them by the scruff of the neck!

    Not my proudest moment!

    Pete, I am getting a Mason Bokeh Ti which admittedly is very expensive but I see it as a very long term bike and I know I would regret going for anything but the best bike they sell. It's kind of more than just the bike for me and there are lots of intangible reasons for picking this bike. Even their cheapest bike is nearly £3k. Do you have a budget in mind? Up to about £1,000 you can get a lot of bike and from then on there's a quite steep diminishing return. 
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    Pricing is more akin to road bikes. Personally I would spec up to Hydraulic disc brakes and probably Shimano GRX, unless you're thinking of off-road steep climbs then 1x would probably offer all the gearing you need.
  • PeteMPeteM ✭✭✭
    Good to hear from you Matt H and pleasing to see you still getting some good sessions in. Good tip to maybe keep one Trees sesh a week. May give the midweek one a go if I can find some enthusiasm tomorrow as its my kind of fare (5x1k and 5x200's).

    Sounds a top bike Reg; more curious than anything and no real budget planned. My road bike is old now (about 10 years) and low spec compared to most these days (aluminium, 9 speed, rim brakes etc.). More thinking of just updating that, but as my only other bike is a hybrid and that doesn't cope very well off road was wondering about a gravel. Go round in circles though as then I'd have gravel and hybrid with no decent road or MTB :* Prob end up just getting another road bike for around £1000-£1250ish. Any tips for that sort of budget? Interesting tale re the angry driver. Not sure what to make of it!

    Wool;yes Ascot has its incline but I find its more the wind there that's often the issue. It seem to be much stronger than other places, presumably due to the massive grandstand causing the air to rise and swirl (one for Bus to enlighten us on ;)). 
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Wool - interesting idea in a way, but say a 10miler aside, it's a lot of time to be hanging about alone in some random location :D 

    10 today then, and back to the Marlow offroad route.

    In previous goes, I did 6.46 the usual direction, 6.41 in reverse, and then a 6.48 for 7miles in reverse on a scorcher a few weeks back, making up the rest in fartlek reps.

    So much more comfortable in cooler conditions, and 6.48 today for the "usual" direction, which starts with a loop of Henley road, towards the Thames along to Cookham carpark, then back on yourself towards and up Winter Hill. Usual drill with there being about 7 gates you have to totally stop or jog on the spot to get through, and Winter Hill to the peak is probably about 140 feet or so over not that long a distance. Fiddly little woody bit later on for a few hundred meters.

    A couple of miles in the middle were only about 7, slowed by a couple of fallen trees to step through and over, people, and messing about trying to unravel the wires on my spare headfones :D 

    Therefore, made up for it a bit by booting out 2x6.22 for the road miles at the end to squeeze it to the 6.48
    Felt a good change to ramp up a bit at the end.
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    edited July 2020
    PeteM said:


    Sounds a top bike Reg; more curious than anything and no real budget planned. My road bike is old now (about 10 years) and low spec compared to most these days (aluminium, 9 speed, rim brakes etc.). More thinking of just updating that, but as my only other bike is a hybrid and that doesn't cope very well off road was wondering about a gravel. Go round in circles though as then I'd have gravel and hybrid with no decent road or MTB :* Prob end up just getting another road bike for around £1000-£1250ish. Any tips for that sort of budget? Interesting tale re the angry driver. Not sure what to make of it!


    I think you can make of it that I was an equally angry cyclist :-)  the guy was all but running me over in a rage though.

    A modern gravel bike with GRX and hydraulic brakes will probably be lighter and faster than your current road bike. Something like the Ribble CGR looks quite good. Buy two wheel sets, 700c and 650b and you pretty much have two bikes. 

    For road bikes I rate Giant for value and tight manufacturing tolerances, they also use a lot of their own components and wheels so that helps keep the price down. You can't go wrong with the Giant Defy which is a slightly more relaxed geometry than their TCR. I have a 2013 Defy and it's been and still is a brilliant bike. RRP is £1600 but I think that's good value. You can probably get better deals on bikes in the sale from other brands. So possibly get a 105 equipped bike but Tiagra is very good these days.

    https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/defy-advanced-3




  • PeteMPeteM ✭✭✭
    Thanks Reg; tried one of Giant's (can't remember which now but was a 105 group set) but wasn't comfortable with this "half gear shift" the LBS (Spokes of Bagshot) told me about ("just need to feather the change" was their advice, so I was maybe being too heavy handed). Sound familiar at all? To me just felt it didn't shift like my Trek (also 105). Might look into that Ribble then once shops become stocked and open for browsing again!

    OK SG will shut up about riding now (good sesh again BTW, nice to get back to your 6'48's on a long and fiddly one!). 
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Was gonna say, I was gonna do the unthinkable there for the second ;)
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    Pete, I have electronic shifting but when I originally bought my defy I had Ultegra mechanical, this had a half shift on the front mech I think which helped when you wanted to smooth out the chainline or it wasn't quite indexed properly. My advice on that would be that you'll just adapt after no time and it's best to ignore what you're used to, I think. The current 105 is probably better than Dura ace was 9 years ago, certainly better than Ultegra 9 years ago. 
  • The BusThe Bus ✭✭✭
    Nice bike Reg. I'm coming to you for my next mortgage  :disappointed:

    Definitely agree re hydraulic disc brakes over mechanical - a lot less faffing to set them up as well as better stopping power. My next bike will also be 105 or better, as it shifts perfectly every time on my road bike whereas the Tiagra can be a bit hit or miss.  I can't quite bring myself to have battery assistance ona  bike for shifting though  o:)

    Good work SG - that's a very sharp pace for that route even if you have done it a bit quicker without the trees to negotiate!!!

    Wool - packing a tent and heading off somewhere nice sounds like a plan! Not sure about the coke though!

    Nice segging Jools. Toying with the idea of heading to the BBs this weekend, if I can get some time to sort out the tent and camping gear. 

    Double day today. Totally uneventful other than tonight's was a complete slog in contrast to the same run and route last week, which felt easy!
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Cracking pace for that run SG - bet you were working pretty hard by the end.
    You'll have to choose location carefully Bus as it's likely to be crowded in the usual honeypots.
    I'm planning on a trip up Blorenge Sunday lunchtime as I've a 30 minute slot in the Elevation Relay to fill. I've then got an hour from 6-7pm but I'll be doing that closer to home.
    I doubled up today:
    a) 4.6M & 980ft before work climbing the iconic May Hill - visible from the M5, Cotswolds, Malverns & Wales
    b) taking advantage of Wales reopening I hopped over the border after work & did 2 full climbs of the Kymin which overlooks Monmouth & is part of Offa's Dyke 8.3M & 1847ft which means I've climbed 12,400ft in 7 days over almost 80M
  • The BusThe Bus ✭✭✭
    I particularly like Blorenge Jools because, as well as being a nice hill, it debunks the myth that nothing rhymes with Orange....
  • SCoombes2SCoombes2 ✭✭✭

    Nice climbing Jools...my favourite dykes are Hungarian i'd say.

    Reg - best exercise rage story since Matt and his flicking someone's headphones off from behind :)

    Headphone wires SG? Presume the main ones are Bluetooth. Probably didn't say that I had to get some new ones with the bit around the ear. Very good though.

    Nothing much yesterday apart from measuring a possible 5k route out, but probably wont use it. 5 miles this morning, then tonight 5 minute tempo and 2 sets of 6 x 300's. 2 mins between sets and 60 secs between reps. Few Dunstable road runners over too using the track, good to see.

    Going to put it on strava now - might be in 2 bits, trying to fathom the watch out still.


  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2020
    No wireless stuff for me. I'd still be on the overear headfones if I hadn't eventually realised that 20 pairs going wrong a year wasn't accident, but that they aren't designed for that use ;)

    Spotted a pal's soft 1.4mile seg could easily be hoovered up on my standard run today. Got the map out, made sure there was no way you could turdburgle the route etc. Planned to do 2 goes, as you couldn't quite be certain it didn't go on a footpath rather than the road for one bit...
    Easily hit the right pace...

    Got home...bloody hasn't triggered the route, even though I checked the "didn't find the seg you were looking for son" section at the bottom.

    Wrong path or route at the start apparently..but it looks pretty damm close to me.

    Did spot a couple of hidden segs on the list though. Mystery though, as you can't search on the name, can't see it on the map, so it's pure lotto what times they would take until you've done it yourself.  Could be someone boobing it out at 9min miling, or some hot shot at 3.50 :D 
  • WoolWool ✭✭✭
    SG, if you don't get out of bed until midday then a 10 miler really does take up most of the day! And, who said only 10?! And think about the segs in the tent, baby....

    Bus - I was trying to think of an alternative to a couple of proper pints. Perhaps SG is more of a Monster energy drink kinda guy :-)

    Reg - you've reminded me never to show emotion in / on a vehicle. I'm just glad that I never wear a tie. 

    Simon - did someone write on your Strava that the EA 5k can't be more than 3 laps? I know that my kind of time is going to worry the scorers but that'd rule out my normal choice of route (and maybe your test lap?)
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    SG: Segging is a frustrating game sometimes. I did the first segment of Monday's segging exploits twice yesterday 1st time on fresh but warm-up legs - felt really strong & Garmin display had me flying along low 5 pace, 2nd time was right after descending from a flat out hill climb. Legs felt tight & lacking in power - Garmin agreed with the pace displaying both sides of 6 however bizarrely it was this 2nd attempt which got me the CR! Clicking on each segment & it's clear it recorded for significantly further at both ends on the 1st!! Bizarre.
    13K & 2,000ft instead of lunch today: 4.5 reps of the local hill.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2020
    It is a frustrating game, and a right old rabbit hole of just meaning to check something for 5mins, then 30mins later still messing about.

    Wandered round to check out these 2 hidden segs, and on loading it, i was 7th and 8th in the tables at 15min miling! Says it all how bootleg those two are. 7.30 pace for one, and a "tastier" 7.05 for the other.
    I think the thread would be disgusted if I didn't hoover those two up as soon as poss.

    Started delving into the page of the chap who owns both, and was surprised to see he owns about 30 odd. Mostly bootleg fare up Bus way, but a couple of surprisingly tasty shorter ones in mid to high 4s etc.

    By pure random I noticed the woman who owns one of them is ex Hearsay singer Suzanne Shaw famous from the original one of these X Factor shows "Popstars"! I still remember weeks of "Nigel, Pick me" adverts and people wondering what the heck it was about.

    Seems to have lived in Hazlemere at one stage, but maybe Princes Risboro now. Same age as me, so it was literally half a lifetime ago now in 2001!

    Was surprised to see an ex Wycombe player holding a seg out Marlow way the other day! Looked a fairly tasty lick for a not exactly fast player, but I suppose it's very easy to underestimate pro footballers, and if they'll have anything, it's power and speed. (Although I wonder if there was a bit of GPS error in there too ;) )
  • The BusThe Bus ✭✭✭
    We should get you into geocaching SG  ;) Maybe get a speed geocaching thing going on!

    Reg - nice bit of driver rehabilitation! My favourite in those circumstances is to quickly grab the keys, chuck them as far into some undergrowth as you can then scarper pronto  :) (and hope they never recognise you again!)
    Was it a short seg Jools? I've often wondered how the inherent GPS in-accuracy would affect a short seg if it made a sizeable error at both the start and finish.

    Rare road run for me tonight (first since lockdown) and even threw in a few reps for good measure. Just 3 x 0.5M at around 6mM pace as a tester, with 90 sec recovery between 1 and 3 but that was hard enough!  Fairly pacey for the before and after to come in at a shade over 10k in 6:54 pace, whihc I'm happy enough with at the moment. Not so happy with the bloody great blister on my heel mind! Weird, as I've worn the shoes loads of times.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Definitely a potential rabbit-hole :D
    It was a 320m straight Bus so not stupidly short. Nice bit of speedy road running.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2020
    Bus -are those the ones that hang about crowding pavements all staring at their phones?
    Always chuckle at the way you describe road runs as almost like a necessary hardship. They're so much easier! Smooth pavement!

    Another midday run today - not particularly warm, but that sticky super moist air that makes things harder than a much higher temp.

    Almost embarrassingly picked up the 2 close segs, that just needed a pootle round, oddly one was classed as hidden on my run so doesn't show on the app, but one did. Even though both have identical low amounts of runs, and are equally bootleg to not be on the map.

    Also picked up an offroad 0.3miler or so. 150 feet or so incline, through a field or 2, including a gate, so maybe the mid 8s wasn't as pony as it looked. Had to have a couple of mins getting the HR down after that though :open_mouth:
    Will have to check the map and see where those woods stretch to, for a wanderlust run another day.

    Couldn't resist a few burns at a very short seg sprint, maybe 150metres. 
    On grass, and needed 4.32 which I thought sounded fast. Especially as a local mate is joint holder of it.

    Had 4 cracks to be safe. Saw the watch at 4.05-4.10 on all 4, and the first one clocked me 4.03 pace, so looked forward to seeing the crown. Felt quite nice burning some top end, whilst not that out of control feeling top pace - a pace we probably never really use in running, unlike football.

    Checked it, and there's segs both directions aren't there :D 
    4.03 that direction merely equalled it - and we all know that shows on the run, but not in your locker. Yet oddly I believe you still get the UH-OH if you lose it.

    No idea why such a big gap between directions. It's flat! So will have to get back there.

    Also worked out why the 1.4miler loop didn't trigger.
    Wrong freaking direction :D:)

    In my defence, even on 5-6 zoom ins you couldn't see for sure, and the "start" photo has an odd tendency to often not be facing the direction you need to go.

    Anyway...proper seg day tomorrow. Any localish areas people suggest?

    Gov loosened the rules a bit today, so it sounds like running club stuff is very close to a return. Just need to confirm whether "grass root sports" covers running clubs. If it does, it can start this weekend, if it doesn't, it's the 25th.

    Just that one last, albeit HUGE step up to allowing races again....bad news on that is that the first road race earmarked on the EA roadmap - the september road races have been cancelled in Sutton Park - can't get the license....


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