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P&D Spring Marathon 2020
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Exciting to see the Classic 3x1m reps TR and AWC, nice paces too.
Steve good consistent MP miles, well done.
John - a couple of speedy sessions there.
Cal - loved the impromptu hill session, hope the rest day works it’s magic.
Jools - some tough sessions especially when not 100%, I’ve a picture of the walker administering water Gaza “dentist chair” style .
NE - fantastic, well done on the 100. Would love to read about it but I know what trying to balance recovery and real life is like so focus on recovery. Thinking of the next one though ?
Hamo - hope the massage has the desired effect. I know what you mean about the solo TTs I look forward to them as well.
Best of luck for the weekend's racing Cal.
Nice mile reps TR & AWC - enjoy the tapering.
Sensible Macca!? 5K TT a week after your awesome TP100 & another this w/e!
I'm still fighting off a lingering cold but training through it.
Wednesday I did (almost all of) Tuesday's club track session solo at lunch 2,400m/400 float/3x800m/400m float. The session was meant to have a final 400m effort but I'd run out of time (& power!) It was roasting & I ended up pouring with sweat. I also cycle-commuted 10M each way so was plenty tired.
Yesterday I cycled 6M in & ran home but with an undulating extension to make it 17.8M. Jogged the first 8M then tried to up the pace to complete a HM for a virtual race I've entered but legs had very little though I did manage a MP finish to dip under 1:40. The 4.7M back to the car was a case of mind over matter & I've been battling post-run cramp since Sunday's LR.
Nice easy 10K jog commute this morning brings me to 48M Mon-Fri. Should get another 25-30 in over the weekend then I'll start to ease off.
Cal - nice one on the puppies, great
Macca - agreed ive seen lots of race cancel already, ill be at Goodwood a few times no doubt. Nice one on the beer, ill have a few frothies later to set me up for tomorrows 12 or 13 inc mp.
Jools - sounds like you need a taper too, dont over do it.
4m easy.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10K. Warm, a bit windy but not bad conditions.
This was a different course to the evening race there I did before lockdown so I wasn't sure what to expect, or even how many laps.
Organisation was smooth. Fast people with red numbers were set off first, four at a time, then slightly less fast people with blue numbers (which included me) went off next. Folks expecting to run over 55 minutes were set off in a second wave, an hour and a bit after us.
There were a few of my clubmates there, all with red numbers, so I got lapped by them several times.
The course started with an out and back that featured a hairpin turn, but it wasn't too bad. We then did a loop that involved crossing a bridge, running along a bit then crossing another bridge back to the path where we started, but then we had to do a sharp turn onto a second, different loop that featured a few gradients before coming back to the starting path again. That was one lap. It felt a lot longer than it was.
My first mile was fairly quick (8:14 I think) - not PB pace but OK. But as with last week, my pace dropped away immediately. Next mile was 8:36 and it already felt like I was half way. By the time I'd got to the 5K marker and realised it would be four of these winding laps, I started to lose the will to live. I kept chugging away but I was running 8:40s which is not even HM PB pace, and my legs had nothing.
I finished in 53:13 - average pace 8:39 - so whilst it was better than last week, I didn't have the excuse of an 8 mile run there and I was wearing my 4%. I wasn't expecting a PB but I figured I could do something in the region of 52 so it was disappointing.
I ran 52.something at the Pride Run last year on a very windy day, an hour and a bit after running a fast parkrun, and I also ran a 52 at the pre-lockdown Olympic Park race when I'd just hurt my back. This doesn't give me a lot of confidence for Dorney, I have to admit.
I guess it's miles logged, and I got a medal and a flapjack (Runthrough's flapjacks are almost worth the price of admission, they're so good).
One positive is that my QL wasn't too bad. I am still seeing Toby on Monday - hopefully he can do something to help.
Anyway, a longish run tomorrow and I can taper.
Today's run was a real trudge. I opted for a route that started hilly (up to Streatham then on the Dulwich, Hell Hill, then Sydenham and the infamous Canonbie Road, but instead of circling back to Crystal Palace, I crossed over the road to a long thin park I'd not done before, then to my Peckham Rye, where I often went as a kid, along to Goose Green, up Dog Kennel Hill which I used to run up when I was 16 and felt like a mountain, through Dulwich to Brockwell Park and from there to home). I was aiming for 16 miles but only managed 14.
First mile was in the dark and was painfully slow (11:42) due to a combination of stiffness, fatigue from yesterday and my brain's anti-trip governor kicking in. Although it got a bit lighter over the next mile, it was still very slow, and continued to be slow even on the downhill mile 3. I only got under 11 on mile 4 towards Dulwich, but then on mile 5 I hit Hell Hill and that came in at 12:00! Even though Hell Hill is a beast, there's no excuse for that. I was still well over 11 on the next two and only ran a semi-OK 10:35 through Peckham Rye, mile 8.
After that I stayed under 11 but I was feeling tired and, despite the perfect weather (cool, sunny, very pleasant) I couldn't get much out of my legs at all.
I got to mile 14 not too far away from home, thought I might manage one more but after another .2 I just went "nah" and stopped. Walked it in from there. Average pace was 11:02 which is pretty shocking, even for me, and even with some big hills.
I am obviously very fatigued but what concerns me now is how short my stride has got since June - I've lost 5-10cm off it (depending on pace) which is not good at all. No idea why - I was in great form in May and June when there were no races, but now there are races I feel like garbage. I really hope the taper will help - I only have two weeks until Dorney. I suspect a sub-4 may not happen.
Easy 5m here
6m inc 2m av 6.33. Must be race week.
Jools...Nice club session, looks hard work. Good MP finish to the virtual half even when your legs were battered.
TR...Plenty of easy running, full taper time now
Cal...I agree with TR, don't be downbeat at all, its all good training and Dorney is the main goal. And Dorney will be a lot less of a winding course, so keep the confidence up...i'm expecting a race from you in 2 weeks
Well backed up with a good hilly long run, no matter what you think of it. The taper will sort out the fatigue, and rest the muscles which will in turn loosen everything up and impact your stride. You've had a good year of training, and it doesn't magically disappear, so have faith.
Saturday i was meant to race a 10k according to the plan, but as there was none on anywhere, i decided to TT on my own to at least get the legs moving a bit. 2 mile warm up, quick change of the shoes and i was off, running the 10k distance in 32.26, so happy at that. A quick cool down and that was me done for the day.
My clubmate came down again yesterday to run my last "long" run with me, 17 miles at circa +10 pace (6.19 pace) and i felt good the whole way, so good signs going into the taper proper this week.
6 recovery miles in the fog this morning.
Cal - Good training regardless of the result.
TR & AWC - Nice mile reps.
Jools - Sounds like a tough session.
8 miles on Friday and then 16 on Saturday to finish off a 55 mile week. Some races cancelled here too that were going to be in October, but tbh that's not surprising as we have some restrictions in the Midlands.
hamo, that's an excellent 10K time and a phenomenal long run the day after. Nothing wrong with your recovery powers.
Cal - good that the fizz thinks a lower mileage taper will help. Easily said but I wouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself, it’s being such a strange/shite year, get to Dorney and see what happens.
TR / AWC - cotton wool time, that’s come round quickly, all the best this week.
Said it before...ticking over nicely Steve.
Lightening quick 10k Hamo, especially solo then backed up with a strong LR. Good to read the taper proper has started😀
With a bit of juggling I squeezed an 18 w 14@MP into Friday just to gauge where I’m at. It pleasingly came out just under 2:50 pace. I’m running the virtual London on 4th and am tempted to run it hard from my front door for no other reason than to see how much I can rinse myself, probably not much more than 14m but should be a giggle. Anyway that freed up some drinking time which in turn made Sunday’s 5 miler feel like a proper long run.
AWC - keep ejecting the snot. I guess we should receive a race number soon.
Macca - thats some impressive mp, sounds a risky strategy for your virtual vlm though......top boozing skills......i expect Brighton in April to be affected too.
Skills Macca.
Insane TT Hamo especially backing it up with a pacy LR Sunday.
Go easy Cal & let the taper give a proper refresh
Big week Mon-Fri then just 4.5M Sat & zero yesterday as I was moving house again at the weekend.
Biked 8M in to work this morning then ran 14M home. Legs lacked bounce - must be all the box lugging & stair climbing.
Yeah, rather annoyed about Manchester as it once again clashes with Chicago. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. I'll have to drop one but unsure which...Chicago is the major, but I'll have to find another air fare if it goes ahead. Manchester will at least be cheap (since my mate lives there, I only have to pay for a train, and I won't have the risk of jetlag or the dreaded longhaul constipation).
But that now leaves me with the dilemma of what to do with myself in the meantime. Do I a) concentrate on shorter stuff in an attempt to build some speed so I can grab those GFAs when marathons begin again, or b) go the other way and start doing ultras? (I know I'm already doing an ultra, but I'm talking about Spring and Summer next year). I'm quite tempted to put myself in for NDW50 but I think I need to do this 50K first to see how my body copes with it. That and, well, I'll turn 54 next year - not sure how many more years I can continue to get faster so I might want to grab those shorter distance PBs while I'm still able.
There may, of course, be smaller marathons to do in the meantime...just not sure I want to be doing a lot of lapped events.
Jools - Nice bike/run commute and house moving combo!
Cal - Hope the injury eases.
TR/AWC - Take it easy, all the training is done.
12 miles with 2*3 miles today, reps were 19:50 (6:37/33/39) and 20:21 (6:41/47/52). Felt like a tougher session than last weeks 3*2 miles, disappointed with the second set, felt like I could carry on running but couldn't run any faster to get under the 6:40 range.
Will start to look at alternatives to Manchester for the spring.
Steve...Nice weekends running to finish off a good week. Nice back to back 5ks in that session, does look tough, and you didn't drop too much at all in the second set, so good well done.
Cal...Good news, hopefully the physio is right and the reduced mileage of the taper will do the trick. Nice recovery running, and sensible to cap it at 4 miles. I think you are right, do the 50k first and see how you find it before deciding anything about Ultras. If it is of any help, i plan on doing some 5k/10k type training and sessions between this marathon block and the next one to try and add a bit of speed. Ultras seem to be certain to be on with the regulations/social distancing, but also there is quite a lot of 5ks and 10ks happening at the minute too, so it's much of a muchness really with which distance will provide the more race choice.
Macca...Love it, that's the way to approach the virtual London, run it hard and rinse yourself, what have you to lose? It'll be a bit of craic if nothing else. Brilliant MP miles from the weekend, esp as they freed up drinking time
TR...Nice to have an idea of upper limit for paces at least. Have you (or AWC) checked the weather for wind etc? Or do you not bother worrying? Yea you would hope the marathon will go off first.
Jools...Best of luck with the new house. A few quieter days will do you no harm at all, as you say, you've just put in a big week.
10 mile with 10x 100 strides at the end this morning.
NE - congrats on the 100 miler! Look forward to hearing how you found the delights of my old stomping grounds, Worksop and Retford!
Last week was back on the tready for a workout, the good old 6x800m. Wound it up progressively from 2:55 to 2:47 without rinsing myself. Not sure these are as tough as outdoors even though the pace is the same but I’ll bank it. Then the 10k workout on Thurs but chose the wrong time to go out, was 29C and baking hot. Decided to go by HR but still ended up averaging 177bpm for sub 3 pace. At least I can say it was a hard workout. Then a 21 mile LR to cap off the week, low 7:50 avg with a chunk at 3:20 pace as I’m pacing my mate again for VVLM. At least something to look forward to.
Cal - more mara specific work if you want to run a stronger mara, more short and fast stuff if you want to get better at 5k to 10k.
Hamo - weather is an uncontrollable, but quite important for this one, so i had a peep. Nothing too windy yet, but that's what they always predict for Brighton and worthing.
John - you are on it for sure. Have your NB arrived yet?
Got a race number and instructions, mara goes first at 9am. Waves of 4 every go off every 10 secs, in estimated finish time order im about 20th on the list of 200ish so wont be waiting long. Other distances join in through morning (20m, 1/2, 10k, 5k) so could get busy at peak.
4m easy today.
20th is a good place to start from - not too lonely nor too crowded, for the first couple of laps at least. Best of luck with the weather.
Cracking training John. TM efforts are definitely not as hard as RW ones but useful to get the legs turning over swiftly.
I get your disappointment there Steve but I think that's the first session you've done which didn't come off well or faster than planned so bank it & move on.
Upped my game again today: 10K run commute, 1.5M at lunch with Y7 XC then a 12K bike back to the car before heading up to the track for a club session. Did a progressive 5K wu with 8x100m strides in mile 3 then 3x6 minutes off 3 minutes easy into 8x100m off 35 second jog. 8.3 miles all in at 7:18 average with the middle 5 at sub3 pace
My other February race which was cancelled due to stormy weather have finally given in to the inevitable & cancelled the rescheduled race which was planned to be in November. They’re also planning to move next year’s race to November rather than its traditional Feb date.
TR...very true, but glad it's not forecasting a hurricane, fingers crossed it stays that way. Glad the mara goes off first, you wont have much hanging around at all and as John says it might work with having people to chase down later in the race. Exciting getting a race number i'm sure? Carb loading started?
Jools...That is a big day you've just put in, class work. Lovely intervals in the evening at sub 3 pace at the end of it too. Best of luck for Sunday. Shame about the other race, seems you just have to be lucky to get a race at the minute.
Only double of the week for me today, must be taper time...6 recovery miles this morning, 4 this evening.