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Shades Marathon Training
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I'm hoping that by stopping when I did it means it will just be a niggle rather than a longer injury just like yours.
You did the right thing, on a flat course with no undulations any niggle will just get worse.
Hope the hamstring is OK.
TR - yes, you're right. The ferry might not have been that pleasant either.
I've only done IOW when it was in May on the old Ryde course, was always hot and hilly, I loved it.
Robert - that leaves only you to write a race report
From an elite perspective I suppose attention now turns to Wednesday - will Cheptegei break Bekele's 10k world record? Surely he's got a very good chance, hasn't he? It's on the BBC red button. There's a fast 5K tomorrow as well, again on the BBC. Some details of both here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/54408771
Emmy just about to watch the coverage whilst i'm still awake, i've never watched Peppa Pig so cant compare. Well done for taking the sensible action to drop the long run.
Mammafox, hope the recovery continues, no shame in not doing laRochelle if you're not ready. Covid marathons are good but they aren't as enjoyable.
Ian it's perfectly acceptable to feel the way you are, you have been fantastic at work and the training you put in you should deserve some reward. 22nd November Dorney Lake is an option if that works for you. Hope you have a speedy recovery.
Cal was nice to see you on course, along with what I said on facebook, 100% the right decision to drop, had it been with just the one lap to go then its more of a dilemma but with 16 miles to go is a long way.
Dorney Lake Marathon 2020
The alarm sounded at 5:30am, hit the snooze button a couple of times before a lighter breakfast than normal just cereal and banana, I took a few cereal bars and haribo for the journey but only had a handful of sweets before I started.
Elle was marshalling by the olympic bridge (she's now struggling more than me, danced and cheered for 7 hours in the wind and rain). On arrival spoke with James to ask if I could start with the sub 3 hours and plus 6 hour runners which wasn't a problem, we set up elle at her station then made my way to the start.
Shades you'll be proud of me, started without a bottle. There were waves to set everyone off, there didn't seem to be too many 6+ hour runners start as I got a few looks being a larger fella with the stick insect sub 3 runners.
It worked out perfectly, able to see runners but running in my own space for so much of the run, for the first two miles I was chatting to a girl doing her first marathon gave her a few words of wisdom and I went off ahead. Picked up a bottle with hydration tab in at 3miles. My plan was 1:03 for the first lap, went around 1:01, I felt comfortable but it was still too early to tell. The next wave (4-6 hour runners) were sent off a few mins ahead of me starting the 2nd lap, so again it was only a few runners that I caught up with on the 2nd lap, with plenty of the sub 3 runners overtaking me, other than the winner most were supportive and thankful which was good to see.
I was running comfortably and felt 'in the zone and getting it done' still too early to be confident, picked up a couple of gels and took one at 7 and 11 miles before hitting the half marathon point in 2:02 (aiming sub 2:10).
Once again the sub 4 runners had been sent just ahead of me so I didn't see them either, took another gel at just after 15 miles before running past Elle at 16.5 miles where I picked up another small bottle of tablet water, a couple more gels and had started to feel a bit hungry so had a bite of a mars bar.
I was now in the longest I had ran, it dawned on me that I had ran a long way but remembered how long and gruelling the marathon distance is, the laps are long and I still had another lap and a half to go but I felt okay, I started to tire but kept on 'getting it done one foot in front of another' and started to think if I kept this pace a 4:10 was possible, I didn't believe it as I thought a crash was just round the corner. I took a gel around 18.5miles and was still running as I finished the 3rd lap in 3:05 (19.65 miles) and keeping my pace around 9:30 miles.
The wheels wobbled slightly at 21 miles, it reduced me to a walk, I was really upset, I know I should be as had done so well to make it that far, even if I dnf at that point I had done brilliantly, where my s&c is rubbish, after my long runs I have suffered and my hamstrings usually cease straight away, I walked for 100m and was able to run again and no discomfort, I tried to run when I could and walk if I had to, looking at Strava I took 10 walk breaks in the final 5 miles, I still managed to finish the last 5 miles in under an hour. 2 miles to go my foot was starting to hurt as if I had a blister (touch wood no blister yet) which didn't help me to finish A little disappointed in myself taking a walk break inside the final but I didn't really care as I had pretty much set out to what I had set out to do and alot faster. Last half a mile kept a steady pace and crossed the finish line 4:17:12.
Made my way to Elle and the car was parked by her station, I went straight in the car, the discomfort in my legs was unreal and need to lie down and get my feet it, it was unbearable for 30 mins and was nearly sick, but the job was done, I couldn't believe my return. Took me about an hour after the run to regain composure then went to join Elle support the other runners and have a dance to her music to keep the legs loose.
Was great to see Cal on the course, good day for ware joggers, I was 3rd male (out of 3) whilst 1st took our club record 2:30:35 and the other took the v40 record 2:36 there was only thee WJ runners. Saw my mate 4 times on course, will be one of the last times I see him before he moves to Poland so there will be a polish marathon for me at some point I'm sure (he was due to leave in June but covid struck). Saw another forumite from an old forum, somehow went the wrong way only she could go the wrong way, she came to me and Elle having done 37km saying she thinks she went the wrong way, I just send her back to run the 2nd half of a lap to reach 26.2 miles. Also saw a follower on twitter who was supportive of my return which was nice.
Overall a good race, learnt not to take the distance for granted and a great return to racing, I need to lose alot of weight which will help, but need to refuel and recover first.
Must have been so painful at the finish, but you recovered well enough to go and have a dance with Elle at her marshal point, that made me chuckle. The dancing should have helped the legs, but I guess they're a bit sore this morning.
Well done to Elle for her ultra marshalling performance, that is so tiring.
Cal/Ian - hope you are not too sore this morning.
6 miles this morning. Had a lovely run as legs nice and fresh after yesterday's slothful day. Chilly but no wind or rain. I'm quite enjoying my earlier Monday runs, I go out before 5 a.m. as there is so little traffic I can run in the road a lot of the time, better running surface than our crappy pavements. Actually saw a heron, he was fishing by the light of the streetlight under a bridge, he wasn't pleased to see me and flew off. I was able to run half a mile on an unlit road by the moonlight.
Pilates later.
Hammy is definitely sore but I can walk almost pain free so I will drag myself out for a walk once it gets lighter. Didn't have a good night - woke up at 2 so read for a bit, then felt hungry and ended up having a cuppa, a protein shake and a biscuit. Didn't get back to sleep until 4 and then only for just over an hour. I'd have thought I'd have slept better given that I only ran 10 miles but I think the long day (plus 5 miles of walking - 2.5 to Earslfield to get my left, then back again after) and adrenaline probably didn't help.
Nice seeing a heron, Shades - I see a lot of them along the Wandle.
Achilles feels completely fine after rest day yesterday so will go for a super easy run this evening.
Shades, thanks for that. I was also thinking about the Olympic qualifying time when I saw it originally.
I got about 10 hours sleep last night, which is good for me. Still feel quite groggy this morning though.
I've entered the ballot....
Cal - I'm sure there was a lot going through your mind so wasn't able to sleep too well.
Rcouture - if you paid twice for the half you could call that a marathon lol, your time will come, just need to be patient. Who knows what restrictions we'll see next, its too hard to guess but can only imagine things to get stricter.
Big G well done on getting 10 hours, when I saw the 2:09 in the results I knew it was an OQT but still wasn't registering.
Curry and beers last night, bed at 11 and up at 5am, snoozed till 6am and made the pool for 40 lengths at 7:30. Then a quick bit of shopping and popped to the café before running back to the car to make it to work for 9am(ish) was going to work just the afternoon but decided to work the morning and snooze.
Legs feel trashed and sure Tuesday legs will be far worse, however very much niggle free, no damage done and no leaky leg. Still got a bit of pressure around my head but overall feeling good.
Also sorted out my gym membership at home (continued) and work (reinstated and paused).
BigG: I've seen about a dozen people have issues with the app/recorded time. It's definitely possible to manipulate the system.
Cal: so sorry to hear about your DNF
Shades: we see a lot of herons here because of the water. It's quite fun to see them dive into the water. What time is it getting light there?
I've made an appointment with a new physio for Thursday to just make sure my ankle isn't anything more than I think it is. It's definitely much easier but I want to be certain that I can run safely. It's actually hurting in the same place as where I broke it several years ago so I wonder if it's related to that.
Herons are common here but always very shy. If you/we ever get the chance to travel to Dublin again there are herons along the small canal/river through Ballsbridge but strangely they are not shy of people at all and you can get within a couple of feet of them and they just ignore you.
Rcouture - that's great news on the achilles. Must have just been a random pain. However, I would suggest that you use your higher drop shoes for a couple of days.
Hope you get your refund.
If you're desperate there are a few multi lap marathons coming up, Goodwood, Bedford
Big G - I'm not surprised you feel a bit groggy, your body probably doesn't know what time/day it is.
Perhaps app is on European time, hence an hour ahead of us?
If anyone else has the same problem and applies for GFA they still have to have a qualifying half marathon time too.
Emmy - dawn at 6:50. light at 7:20.
Hope it's nothing serious with the ankle. Maybe you'll just need a bit of support for a while. Ankles don't recover well and often will remind you of that.
Robert - I assume that 2:09 runner still had another lap to do when he pulled up.
Most impressed with the recovery swim this morning. Great that nothing more than the expected onset of DOMS. Pressure around your head might just be tiredness, that's not much sleep, or maybe a bit of dehydration still.
Pilates was good, quite challenging today. I spoke to the instructor, she's one of the managers, about the LIITS class, saying I enjoyed it but much harder than expected. She's going to ask the LIIT's instructor to make the class easier as that's what they want it to be.
Looks like our Pilates class will change time again as earlier class is undersubscribed and our class oversubscribed so she will merge them and change the time, will either be earlier or later by 30 mins, I'm hoping later as I was already up at 4am this morning 🥱
Big G-App seems to have a lot of problems from what I can see,should have used it,nay have gave me a finish.
Cal-Glad you're feeling ok.
Legs not to bad today but groin is still a bit sore,better than it was yesterday but still aching,very strange as never had issues before and it came on so sudden,can only think I tweaked it in the warm up,maybe with the stretches?
OH has entered the ballot,probably get to do it before I do,she has also entered Manchester so back on it again.
Anyway, I only recently found out that Brixton has a windmill (which is amusing considering I've lived in south London my entire life) so decided to try and find it today. I should have checked the maps before I went out instead of relying on my memory of when I checked it a couple of weeks ago, as I couldn't bloody find it. I did find the Windmill Care Home, so must have been fairly close.
I will take is easier for the rest of the day but I suspect it may be several days before I can manage a run.
Herons here aren't shy either - I've been within a couple of feet of them on several occassions. I've seen people feeding them too - there's a burger van on Clapham Common that the anglers go to and the heron was queueing up with them.
Cal, I was talking about this with OH. I've walked two marathons this year (the LDWA one and the Virtual London) and they both messed me up more than running a marathon usually does. The LDWA one totally messed up my feet as although my walking boots are decent, it was very wet underfoot that day. This London one has really knackered me out, although that was my own doing due to the time I did the event.
My London time has been changed to my Strava time of 6:29:23 on the official results....at least it's more accurate now.
Emmy hope you and the physio are able to sort your ankle out.
Shades the 2:09 runner prob walked over the timing mats a few times when they finished.
Ian good news your OH hasn't lost interest, Elle's debating if to enter or not, I doubt there are going to be many places unless they increase the number of entries and space it out over a longer time.
Cal I'm also in more discomfort after a long walk too, you'll find that windmill soon.
Managed to enter my Virtual London time and got a text through as if it was a race (it's not a race), I thought it was a really good way to celebrate the London marathon this year, a lot of people had fun, raised money for the caused put use the training they had and the 'back of the pack' had all day to get it done and to be able to have friends and family local to support you its probably a better experience than they would have had at London getting sprayed with blue washing stuff and arriving at the finish line with everything packed up and a medal slung at you and goodie bag lying on the floor (Elle experienced this in 2016 and totally deflated her). For us it's not a race but for some people to go that distance is a lifetime ambition.
Entered the ballot, didn't bequeath my fee but noticed the draw had gone up from 1000 places to 2000 places, also noticed the fee has gone up to enter sure it used to be £35/£37 now £47/£49 still good value compared to other majors and some other marathons in this country. Find out if its 10th time lucky in January
I did my groin injury when racing a hilly half, never felt anything but the next day doing my recovery run a twinge came on halfway through the run, I thought it was a bit of DOMS but it wasn't and over the following few days it got worse.
Good to hear your OH is still planning to do her first marathon.
Cal - sorry to hear the hamstring is sore walking, but you did walk a long way.
It must be urban herons that are less shy, I expect that applies to foxes too.
Big G - different muscles for walking, that's why it hurts more than if you'd run a marathon.
Robert - good luck with the ballot entry. Years ago I got a place in the bequeathed draw, think it was 1,000 places then.
That's still a fair entry fee. I expect there won't be the level of sponsorship as there was pre Covid, plus there may be losses from this year to cover.
Needless to say I have not entered London. What date is it next year?
Had email from Frankfurt saying I was automatically entered into their virtual marathon, there's no charge. Not doing it, of course..
You might remember this photo which did the rounds in the press and social media a while back and still resurfaces every so often.
This was actually my mate Stevie, who is a bit of a party animal and crashed out on a bench after a few too many. It's his claim to fame.
Shades London is same weekend as this year 3rd Oct) I’m not overly concerned about London either I’ve ran it but it’s local so other than going to the expo it’s a simple one for me. I have always thought the entry fee was low, spose it’s a number game, getting money in, how much can they charge someone to gamble their entry fee for a running jacket?
Need to recovery first but need to start thinking about my 50 milers in November which are only 2 weeks apart. I can’t see ww50 going ahead 340 runners running 10 mile loops with an aid station at the half way point and at the end of each lap which is where the start, finish and bag drop is. In centurion other events they have only allowed a couple of people on the cp at any time but they have staggered the start and they have been point to point races. They also have ww50km which runs through the night, stating at 5pm I really can’t see how that event will go ahead at all.
You're definitely motivated now if you're considering going to the gym.
Maybe Centurion will find a way of holding their race, if they could have more marshalls could they stagger the whole event over a longer time, or over 2 days perhaps?
I'm sure you'll find out soon.
I've entered a 40 mile race in Wales, can't see that going ahead. We will get refunded or defer to next year.
Souns like the right decision to DNF.. you don't seem too bothered by it either.
Ian - After being on such fabulous form it must have been such a disappointment to DNF. Cherry on the top of your marathon year
Emmy - Sadly I think Holland is a bit out of my nurse's catchment area..!
Rob - I LOVE race reports and that was a real cracker. I so enjoyed reading it. What a great race you had too especially after all your injury worries. A massive well done.
Why are you waking up so early Shades?
My back is still fine but still have muscle pain and a sort of dragging dead leg feeling but anything is better than that awful back pain. Just impatient for it all to go now.
MF good that you're more comfortable, not been a great couple of years.
Went to the gym last night (just to stretch and another 40 lengths swim, meant I kept moving as a short walk to and from). Quads are still sore but but other than that all good.
Have given some thought to next year, Cambridge Boundary Run is 28th Feb but unsure if going ahead (i doubt it will) am considering Richmond Run Fest at the end of March to target a faster attempt (hopefully sub 4 or closer to it). Think it's too early to make any concrete plans due to my recovery and the pandemic.
My Pilates class has moved to an earlier time so it means that on a Monday if I want a decent run, leisurely breakfast etc then I need to get up at 4 am.
At least you're now back to the usual sciatica symptoms, you will heal. Have you got some stretches to do too?
Robert - since the increase in Covid cases it seems most races are holding fire on announcing any Spring races, so we're all a bit in limbo at the moment. I suppose we'll all have to wait until early 2021 and see what the situation is then.
You've really moved marathon recovery to the next level....and I might have forgiven you if you'd taken to the sofa with a big pizza
8 miles this morning, couldn't wait for daylight so ran the first half in the dark then home on the back roads as it was getting light. There was a lovely moon again but cloudy so any light from that was intermittent so not much use today.
Gym later.
Shades, I have to say, I was in Newton Abbot on my walk at around 3:15am-3:45am and I was wondering if I may have seen you. I went from Penn Inn-train station-takeaway alley-The Rec and back the same way. From just past Penn Inn up to near my old house there were no lights though so I guess you avoid that area (I had a torch with me)?
MF, good news that the worst of the pain is under control at least.
Great pic, Cal
As for me, I was like a zombie all day yesterday but I'm feeling a bit better today. I watched the Giro yesterday and it looks like G is out of contention...he had a nasty crash. One in the neutral service zone and another on the road, which was caught by spectators. He hit a bottle/bidon that was thrown from a rider (there were a few around) and down he went. It was on the TV cameras but spectators captured it. No broken bones apparently but his hopes of a win are gone - he was a contender as it was almost set up for him with 3 time trials.
I watched the road 5K last night - Laura Weightman got an 11sec PB in not very good conditions in Wigan, so she's running well and is now No 2 on the UK all-time rankings, behind Paula. She jumped ahead of Liz last night I think. Looking forward to the 10k tomorrow in Valencia, which I presume will be held in much better conditions!