Moraghan Training - Stevie G

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  • Stevie G said:

    New route into Marlow then a quick decision that a straight 8mile road trip home wouldn't be that fun.
    So took the chance to explore a couple of new bits and then take the most enjoyable of the hill options back to Wycombe in Sheepridge. Nice offroad paths to the side and a fairly moderate climb helps a lot. Across the road crawling up some steps and somehow racked a 2nd up on a segment.

    Back into Flackwell and a couple of laps of some dodgy ploughed field for some real variety all in 👍👍
    I was looking at your route on Strava and wondered about it. It does look a bit like you are on a road and keep popping off onto side footpaths for a quick dump before rejoining the road later. I guess if you don't really have a planned route then off-road offers pretty limited choices as you are really trying to find a path that follows the road and the best paths are the ones that head off miles away from the roads. 

    I'd say it is definitely worthwhile learning how to get a route into your Garmin and follow it. 
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    What if you change mind mid run though? 
    Never knock the freestyling round a rough template
  • Stevie G said:
    What if you change mind mid run though? 
    Never knock the freestyling round a rough template

    I tend to know where I am and what to do if I change my mind. As an example, yesterday was 11 miles almost 100% off road, so parked just off the M40 near junction 5 and then head down the Wormsley Estate (belongs to mark Getty, son of the more famous jean-Paul but also co-founder and Chairman of Getty Images) to Northend. Then through the woods and onto Greenfield and into Watlington Hall Estate before coming out on the Ridgeway. Along the Ridgeway to just short of the M40 then up the ridge back to the start. It is an approximate square and I cross roads so eg. if I got as far as Northend I can get to Christmas Common and back to the start on roads if I need an escape route or ant to cut it short.



  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    In fairness, Marlow woods aside, there was only one totally unknown stretch on Sunday, about 400-600metres through some woods in Marlow Bottom. Pointlessly coming out down the road after tonnes of leaping logs and in one case clambering over one.

    The bit past Marlow track was finally seeing where that turn off leads to. We'd prevo discussed not being able to get the other side of the river, so that was off the cards, but the map suggested at least being able to tour some lakes and get round. But a barrier-ed gate put pay to that!

    I always knew where I was, rough distos and directions, hence padding a bit out past the track, and an extra lap of a field in Flackwell :)


    Anyway today was obviously hot, especially not doing it at yesterday's early hour. Finished bang on midday, and one of those days where the BBC temp is one figure, and the "feels like" temp they also give is 4-5 degrees higher.

    Happy enough with 9. The 10 a day on weekdays was always just a line in the sand benchmark. Certainly make sense to edit at times!

    Went out from Marlow to Hurley, which surprised me is as little as 2.5miles, onwards a bit, then some exploring of footpaths back, before a loop of the river and town to make it up to a decent figure.


    Will think very carefully about any sort of session the next 2 days - seems to be as high a temp expected as today. May even consider just 1 session this week at the back end rather than struggling something silly out. We'll see.
  • Stevie G said:
    Went out from Marlow to Hurley, which surprised me is as little as 2.5miles, onwards a bit, then some exploring of footpaths back, before a loop of the river and town to make it up to a decent figure.


    Will think very carefully about any sort of session the next 2 days - seems to be as high a temp expected as today. May even consider just 1 session this week at the back end rather than struggling something silly out. We'll see.
    What were those few footpaths like? Strava says you went from Frog Mill to Shperherds Lane and the first bit where you go down a footpath between the houses has always been full of nettles.

    Today I found the humidity the killer: I was out earlyish and it was cool but I was sweating like a pig and not cooling down at all. 
  • Ho ho ho. It's been a while, and for that, I can only apologise. As always, reading along in the background every day - it's usually the fact that there's too much to respond to which stops me posting  :D 

    What have I missed? I see my mate SQ has jumped on board, a welcome addition. Sounds like great fun relay racing at the weekend.

    Reg has been posting some outrageous power numbers/times on the bike, very impressive mate.

    SG must have hoovered up every segment within a 10-mile radius by now by the sounds of it.

    Bus I echo your thoughts on the Lakes, we wanted to go but seems so tough to find anywhere!

    Pete has been not parkrunning, with results seemingly trending upwards.

    I had a minor setback a couple of weeks back - a 'boil' in my groin region somehow got infected (can't quite think how, it's not like I spend hours and hours rubbing it against a saddle). Anyway, it'd been around for ages, but one day, in the space of a few hours, it went from annoying to a 9/10 on the pain scale. I was trying to sleep but instead literally sobbing into my pillow in pain.

    Trip to A&E, they confirmed it was proper infected and they'd have to operate and remove it. Cue massive needles heading towards my nether-regions loaded with anesthetic so they could cut it out. Zero fun. On the whole I was happy though, because I just wanted the horrific pain gone. 

    Advised to 'take it easy for a couple of weeks' - not sure you know who I am doc. Had 2.5 full days off before back running, but left the biking and swimming a few more days. To be fair, I was getting it checked every day, and the nurses could not believe how quickly it healed. At the start I had a pretty big hole in my leg but it closed up in a couple of days.

    And now I've even got a turn-out to report, but I'll do it justice in a separate post! 

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Stevie G said:
    Went out from Marlow to Hurley, which surprised me is as little as 2.5miles, onwards a bit, then some exploring of footpaths back, before a loop of the river and town to make it up to a decent figure.


    Will think very carefully about any sort of session the next 2 days - seems to be as high a temp expected as today. May even consider just 1 session this week at the back end rather than struggling something silly out. We'll see.
    What were those few footpaths like? Strava says you went from Frog Mill to Shperherds Lane and the first bit where you go down a footpath between the houses has always been full of nettles.

    Today I found the humidity the killer: I was out earlyish and it was cool but I was sweating like a pig and not cooling down at all. 
    Your run sounds the opposite of mine - as by 10.30-12 it was simply just very hot, but not especially humid. While no hero in either, the former is much easier to deal with. The latter is more the sort of thing I think can cause problems, as seen with my two 5930s at GSR (warm for October but very humid), versus Maidy 10 (very hot, but not humid). Former - real struggle late on, latter, fairly in control the whole way. 

    Basic route was Marlow clubhouse, out through Hurley down the river.
    Marlow used to run to the Black Boy pub, but I realised I didn't want to go too far out, so just sampled a footpath to avoid coming back the same way.

    No nettles at all, no animals in any of the fields (despite some water being left out for something or other!), and emerging onto a new bit of Shepherds Lane, which I have to be honest I didn't even recognise it for a bit, even though I've done 3 tempos there in 3 weeks!

    Was slightly surprised to see the gate that is usually open - where you come off the Marlow 5k Shepherds Lane bit through the camp and right, and 100metres on was closed.

    That would have been an arse if i was using that on the tempo.
    Although I suppose as that would generally be in the last half mile, i'd just suck it up and stop a second and carry on - wouldn't change the context too much.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭


    this is quite a rare scenario where i'm awaiting someone's monster race report ;)
  • Joe Blogs-BRJoe Blogs-BR ✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    Tatton Park 10km

    So then, as far as I'm aware, one of the very first proper races scheduled back on the calendar. This one was a complete stroke of luck (fully aware at the moment it looks like a desperate attempt to seek out any form of competition). We'd got a visit to see some good mates in Manchester in the diary - two weeks before we were due to go up, they message letting us know this event may well go ahead. Sign us up! It's done by the runthrough mob - if it's not on, no drama, we'll just get our money back.

    Couple of days out it looks like it's well and truly ON. Have done zero 10km training apart from a few 5km TT's, but mainly just been faffing about riding a bike. Make a mental note to wind people up on the start line by telling people I'm a cyclist and just give this running thing a go from time to time. 

    It's labelled as a 'socially distanced race'. Some stuff they did made it a dream, others not ideal but better than nothing! SG would probably blow his load re; the parking. Massive field, lines of cars, you can be in your car until a minute before the race, and it's completely free. Combined with being a summer race and not needing to wear 57 layers until the last moment, made it a very easy affair beforehand. No bag drop at all - wouldn't work if cars weren't so close to the venue. 

    They'd spaced the portaloo's 2m apart and there was hand sanatiser everywhere. No wonder it's sold out everywhere else. We knocked off a 15 min warm up on parts of the course, nervous energy flying around with the prospect of finally kicking off some suffering again. 

    Everyone was split into waves based on expected finish time, but they're slower to call each wave to the line, and within the wave, we're all talking to each other, self-seeding based on target times. It actually worked really well, and we're lining up F1 grid style, on cones they've placed on the floor. They called 6 to the line at once, in a 2-2-2 formation, and that 6 are set off together, followed by another six 10 seconds later etc.

    I was over the line in the 3rd group of 6, with Dave Norman (I see mentioned above) starting ahead of me in the previous 6. It was clear everyone's desperate for a race and despite being a low key event there's a fair few fast people here.

    Impossible not to get over-excited at the start, finally being back in the mix, but the fact that it's not a massive bunch for the first 400m means it calms down very quickly and you just run your own pace. Not sure if this is a good thing or not. 

    I think one big negative was it strung out really quickly. Unless there's someone running exactly your speed/target, you're running on your own, albeit with plenty of people ahead and behind for motivation. I've genuinely not got a target here, so just a good, hard run is the plan, and see what comes of it.

    Course is a bit gravely, few twists, and not flat, so I'm not thinking PB, but we'll see what happens. 3:28, 3:29 and 3:24 puts me on sub-35 pace for the first 3km, but the first half is net downhill so I'm sure it's going to be slower coming back. Quick look around shows everyone but me in brand new Alphaflys (lol), I've got my old pair of 4%'s on, feel like a pauper in comparison. 

    3:38 and 3:33 take me through 5km in 17:32, not feeling horrific, but it's a struggle. Luckily there's one guy who seems to be bang on my pace who went by at 3km, so I'm just keeping him in my sights. We've got the uphill 2nd half to come, with a 3:45 and 3:37 taking me away from that 35 min barrier. 

    Spot my mate Justin, and also Katie on the course, who's worked her way up into 2nd so that provides a shot of adrenaline. Back to 3:30 for the much flatter 8th km, but I know the end's going to be a solid effort uphill to the finish. Push hard to get back past the guy who passed me, as well as another guy, and a 3:38 here was definitely a big nudge up the hill - pleased with that.

    Into that last km, empty the tank territory. I remember how painful this is - can't tell if I'm pleased to be back or would rather be back at home watching netflix. Can't breathe, want it to be over, can see the line but realise my watch is going to measure it long. Balls. Closed in a 3:31 plus another 60 meters for good measure. 

    35:51 is the official time, 10s slower than my PB (albeit a soft one - I've unofficially gone through 10km of a half-mara twice in around 35 mins), so not a disaster by any stretch. Most people measured the course long - they'd changed it for social distancing, so I think I'd have been there or thereabouts if that's the case.

    A few 'elbow-bumps' with fellow racers at the end. I've come 15th with the winner going sub 32. Katie nabbed 2nd with a more than decent 39:22. Pick up your own medal at the end, but apart from that, it's all the same. 

    Great to be back at it! Hopefully more to come in the months ahead. We carried on North and are spending 10 days or so in Scotland with family. Will try and post a bit more in the coming weeks!
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    Nice one Joe - proper race report job! We've been short on those badboys for a while!

    Sounds a similar set up with the F1 grid style to Nice Work at their races. With chip timing, i suppose it isn't too far off a proper race once you get a couple of hundred metres in - especially in lower key races that can get strung out.

    I see Run through have got a Battersea Park 5 or 10k in 3 weeks - that first week of Sep seems to have a few bits and pieces on. All similar - expensive jobs.

    Presume this gang aren't PO10. But a turnout is a turnout! And on what must have been a hot morning that's still a superb outing!

    Just thinking about it - I suppose if someone had seriously underestimated their time, you might get the dodgy scenario of 1st home not being the winner? 

    A very high chance of that with F3, our local lot who "proper" runners have a love hate relationship with.
    They seem to be doing their comeback events with 1 runner going off every 15seconds, and based merely on bib number - which is issued in order you entered!

    Anyone spot any issues there?!  :D 
  • I see Marlow half is virtual

    http://www.marlowhalf.marlowstriders.co.uk/

    £18.50 to run and time yourself over a half and you get a goodie box and

    "plus a special edition Virtual Marlow Half Marathon and 7 'buff' and wooden medal."

    I'll do the same for a bargain £15 if anyone wants it.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    £18.50 for a virtual race!!
    Just 😄😄😱😱
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Can i slightly loosen my above post with an "all funds go to charity" disclaimer...
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    20 degrees at 7am tomorrow, "feeling like 25"

    Scrap that tempo idea then! Friday is 19 at 7am, feeling like 24 so the end of the week aint much better.
    And again, those are the 7am readings!!

    This week might be wise to just use to keep the miles up, or maybe sneak a few segs in.
    No advantage to slogging tempos out.
  • The BusThe Bus ✭✭✭
    Cracking report Joe and so nice to read a race report again. Likewise the Wyedean Relay - sounds a pretty tough outing!!!

    Bike for me tonight and that was hot enough on the hills!!  The good news is, after spending stupid amounts of time tracking every cottage in Cumbria for a week, I've pinned down one from Friday! Not an ideal location for hitting the fells from the door, but definitely better than Hazlemere! No sleeping on the floor either as there's a bedroom for everyone :smile:
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    Nice one Joe, decent run in the heat we have at the moment and we know in top form you're going low 34 or indeed at 7am in your local park on your own :-)

    If you fancy a bit of a fun competition I have entered a sprint at Dorney on the 12th September, they're ordering by predicted times (SG it's not F3) so Iif you fancy it I'll let you know mine and we'll probably set off same time :-)

    Not something I will be training for, just a bit of fun to say I did one race this year. It's a time trial style thing setting off one at a time every 20 seconds. Actually makes triathlon arguably better as you swim on your own and avoid the washing machine! It's not like you ever really have a clue what position you're in anyway.

    Virtual races are for people that can't motivate themselves. Invest some cash and they're more likely to take part with than carrot of some cheap metal on a ribbon.

    After two weeks of barely any running I did 5k this morning in the local field, felt ok so will go again soon. Big ride planned on Monday but if it's going to be raining all day I will probably not bother.


  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    Why Monday Reg? We're only just into this week.

    Kept today light. A few seg bangs in a 9miler but with a drinks break in the middle and plenty of off clock stops and walks. Doesn't get much hotter in England.

    Picked up one soft seg in a field id bungled a week or two back but more interestingly explored a nice scenic downhill to get there.

    Is a segment back up but 20metres in i was already at 8min miling so no real interest in that!

    Smashed myself on a quarter mile seg...then realised it was one road out😂.
    Did the right seg and managed to take 1second off...4.42 pace.

    That and a 5.15 half mile were good efforts.

    One more 0.3miler missing the pace told me it was time to ease down post drinks so enjoyed a cooler tour of the woods and nice lap of a ploughed field, albeit back in scorching heat.

    20mins yabber to an ex colleague afterwards. First time ive seen anyone linked to my work in the flesh in 5months!


  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    Monday because we’re going away and whilst my wife is driving from Bristol to Pembrokeshire, I was planning on cycling it.
  • The BusThe Bus ✭✭✭
    As you do Reg :smiley: Mind you, with traffic as it is currently, probably quicker by bike!

    Double day today, on legs like lead. Tonight was interesting - torrential rain and a constant fear of being hit by lightning! 
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    Hope all is back to normal at home then :)

    I had a closer look at a couple of organisers doing races at Dorney.

    Active World doing a marathon in October - think SQ mentioned this.

    The marathon map is below
    https://activetrainingworld.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Dorney-Lake-Marathon-Course-Map-2.pdf

    4 laps, up one side, back down it, then over to the other side, up it, down it. With a small little dog leg on one side to make up the extra.

    I suppose it keeps it to 4 laps, rather than 8 doing just laps of the lake!
    Oddly doesn't seem to be PO10, but IS measured by the best course measurer in the country, Steve Jones ?


    The F3 ones I'd heard dodgy tales of it being up and back down one side too, even for 5k, but looking at their two maps, it seems to instead go up the non entrance side of the lake, and then what looks to be a normally locked back of venue path.

    I wonder why they don't just do simple laps of the main bit of the lake?!

    Oddly the F3 version IS on po10, under 2 entries. The HM, and one describing it as Marathon prep, 16/20/24, but the "Info" links to the 5k/10k/15k







    Might be tempted to turn up at one of these.
    A 15k would have the beauty of having no comparison to other times, when it comes out at 7.47 miling, after setting off at segment pace and realising i can't hold that very long :D 





  • Reg - as you do, that sounds like my kind of idea. Definitely do it.

    Very interesting you should say, I've actually been hovering over the enter button for the F3 olympic distance event there the weekend before.. Fits slightly better with other life plans.
  • PeteMPeteM ✭✭✭
    Great 10k Joe and Katie too. Enjoyed the report and sounded  like you paced it very well, especially in the absence of a normal start and the usual scope to get in a group. The new era "races" sound a bit contrived, but I guess that's how its going to be for a fair while so we had better get used to it.

    Reg; your cycling exploits get more and more crazy; as if your 10 mile TT's and knocking off a casual century over hilly terrain wasn't enough, you seriously plan to cycle from Bristol to West Wales! Coincidentally we are also off to Pembrokeshire next week, but I doubt my bike will even go with me in the car (wife, teenage daughter, her friend and all their luggage will likely mean no space :/). Did some longer cycling on Sunday with my brother from Midhurst down to the beach at Selsey then around the coast for 25k or so and back up again. Was about 90k all in for the day, which felt plenty enough in the sweltering heat. 

    Everyone else seems to be going well which is impressive in the conditions we have had this last week. Nice to have a new face on board in SQ and to hear again from an old face in PMJ :). Interesting mix between PMJ's detailed planning and SG's more flexible "see where this one takes me" approach. I'm in the SG camp, can't be bothered with planning and downloading to Garmins and doubt my one could even do it. It takes all types though and there have been many occasions I would have been grateful for the Garmin helping me out with directions!

    Running has been more tricky this last week, not only with the heat but also some of my routes have been unavailable due to the huge fire right near us on Chobham Common which also impacted Sunningdale Golf Course. Main roads in the area are still closed, but can now run on the trails through Sunningdale (as I did both today and yesterday) as the fire and its impact is mostly on the Heathland to the west of the course and on the Common.  

    Was too hot for a proper (not)parkrun attempt on Saturday so just did a treadmill one; thought it would be easier but just couldn't get going properly (more lack of motivation than speed hopefully) and took over 20 mins. Won't repeat that again in a hurry. 
  • WoolWool ✭✭✭
    SG, how do you see that those F3 events on are on Po10? I know that they haven't historically been on there (look at Sid's Po10, for instance) and I didn't find them via my normal route so I'm keen to learn something new  :)

    I think that marathon on 4th October will prove pretty popular as it's also the day that the virtual VMLM will be run. Given that times run on that day will be valid for GFA applications in the future, there should be a decent draw for the event.

    I was in the Lakes last week. Ticked off a few Wainwrights and generally had an awesome time. Back to earth down south this week where it's really no fun in this heat, is it? Our office is open and I've taken to driving in to benefit from the a/c. Ran over a few of Surrey's biggest hills yesterday and it appears that a week in the Lakes has not converted me to Killian Jornet!

    Envious of your rain Bus. Got the lightning last night but not the good stuff!
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Wool there's a results tab, but also a fixtures one.
    I'm not sure how early they go on there and right now it's a right mess as 95% of the fixtures clearly won't go ahead but it's a decent guide.
    Run britain is prob the better place to check fixtures.

    But like you im surprised F3 would be. For one thing you need to be properly measured. And people always doubt theirs.

    I'll mail them later.

    I even wondered about the marathon. But only in a in with the gang, not much proper stuff is on, just treat it as a massive long run job. Still probably a miserable idea but a lot better than that Jubilee river one i ran a bit of with ssomeone once.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Certainly is tough sapping work right now. And for a whole week so you can't even tweak days.

    Gonna take it as a lighter cutback type week. I barely ever do these but they were a Moz staple in his days.

    Trudged round Wooburn woods abit. Had one crack at a comfy short seg, lots of stops including a water break, a trip, one of those slow motion ones. Shirtless meant ending utterly covered in mud. Bootiful!

    Luckily i bring spare shorts and a sheet to protect my front seat!!

    Call in an hour. Expecting to be told September 1st is the end of this 5month period of wander lust!


    Oh yeah..forgot a road had been shut due to a car ploughing into the Bell pub. Not good at all! Wonder how that happened!
  • WoolWool ✭✭✭
    thanks - I was on the RB one. They are not on there.....
  • Stevie G said:

    Oddly doesn't seem to be PO10, but IS measured by the best course measurer in the country, Steve Jones ?


    I think you mean Hugh Jones.

    PeteM said:
    I'm in the SG camp, can't be bothered with planning and downloading to Garmins and doubt my one could even do it. 
    I don't find it too much trouble. I play a silly game on fetch (https://www.fetcheveryone.com/game-conq.php) that means I need to target specific areas (so I "own" the red area and if I run through the orange enough I get to the top of the leaderboard for that square). It is a good way to ensure that I don't get stuck in a rut: looks like I have to go out Henley way soon and maybe run with Meep and also up near Longwick just beyond Princes Risborough. Even if I didn't play that game, I still like off-road and planning does take out the "mystery" of getting 10 miles into a 13 mile run and finding you are still 6 miles from home :(


  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    A more experienced runner's version of segs by the look of it :)

    Getting properly lost on a run that costs you extra miles is fairly unusual. I think I've done that a couple of times this year.
    Exploring a few bits and pieces and them not going where you thought, but still adding to the planned total is a lot more frequent, and no problem at all.

    Once it's properly back at work, or targeting races again it'll all be back to roads anyway.
    I'm not convinced trudging around woods and hills is that superb a training tool, but it does give you something different to look at.
  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭
    Stevie G said:
    A more experienced runner's version of segs by the look of it :)

    Getting properly lost on a run that costs you extra miles is fairly unusual. I think I've done that a couple of times this year.
    Exploring a few bits and pieces and them not going where you thought, but still adding to the planned total is a lot more frequent, and no problem at all.

    Once it's properly back at work, or targeting races again it'll all be back to roads anyway.
    I'm not convinced trudging around woods and hills is that superb a training tool, but it does give you something different to look at.
    Best leave successful training concepts to those who understand them.

    🙂

  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    Phil - as with a few things, Fetcheveryone was ahead of Strava. The ‘Who Squares Wins’ is the ‘Local Legend’. 
    Great stuff on the 10k, Joe. Good to get a hit out. So are you saying my 4%, worn once only (at Wokey this year), won’t be the cutting edge of tech?! To be honest, I’m glad there’s a variety of modes and brands. Keeps it interesting. As do stories of groin based boils 🤢
    Thanks for mentioning the route at Dorney, SG. I am increasingly tempted. Don’t mind laps and it would give more variety than a local DIY job. I assume there would be no pacers due to the close groups this would create. I hope it is on Po10. If you fancy it I reckon we’d be not too far dissimilar in pace. 
    Enjoy Pembrokeshire, Reg. and the 150M(?) ride! Over the Severn Bridge or through the Forest of Dean? A genuinely stunning area with some incredible beaches. I think it was one of the two Barufundel beaches that we found incredible. 


    A good session this morning. One I nabbed from the newly formed local speedster club, Western Tempo. 
    Up early, out by 5:30 (sneak out before kids wake up and avoid the mega heat). Jogged a mile and a half to a local cricket pitch. Beautiful views, including sunrise, nice grass surface although on a hill - must make for some tactical cricket matches. 
    Session consisted of: 4 x (30s hard up hill (jog down), 5 minutes tempo, 5 minutes jog). All in it was 11M, 600ft ascent, at 7:07 pace. No real idea on paces, but something like 6:15 on the rolling tempo section. 
    Enjoyed it as something new, with a nice variety of paces in there. Might progress to the full 5 sets next week. 
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