P&D Spring Marathon 2020

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  • Jools...Nice beach and dune running, fair play to you i hate running (and i use that word very loosely for what i do :lol:) on the sand. Quick (not)parkrun time, class. Good news on the interclub race, good idea and the only real way to get any sort of racing at the minute, best of luck with it. Big year that, and as you say 2 months "free" for you to push it higher.

    TR...That is a big year, and i have no doubt you'll hit that yearly target. Very understandable sacking off the MP stuff, really disappointed for you re the lockdown and Dorney. Hopefully the lockdown ends when it should, and Goodwood can get the go ahead for you.

    Cal...Well done on a good 10 miler in bad conditions, Saturday wasn't a pleasant day to be racing in.. And congrats on the position and age cat win. Shame you got soaked this morning.

    Macca...Nice work on the fly 5k, with or without the beans..still a very good time. Really sorry to hear about your race cancellations too, not nice at all, and a real shame. I agree, i feel bad for any organisers trying their best at the minute. 4000 miles is a mega year, no doubt you'll hit it.


    My interclub 5000m went well, all be it in the middle of storm aiden, and his 60 mph gusts (f**k this wind this year, sick talking about it :flushed::lol: ). I came 7th in the "a" race, pipped on the line by 0.4 secs apparently, though i'm calling for a stewards enquiry :lol:, in 16.09. I would be slightly disappointed with that time normally, but with every one finding it tough and being around 20 seconds down on their pb's due to the conditions, and the fact i had 2 marathons in the previous 3 weeks in my legs i am more than happy with the hit out. Even better that we won the trophy (read funny tankard) and beat our rivals by over 4 mins in the end, which made for a good day and a bit of craic. Talk of another interclub track meet being orgainsed next month to keep us all honest and something to train for.

    Followed that up with a 13 mile MLR with a few boys from the club on Sunday, and a 4 mile recovery run yesterday afternoon. Legs felt ok today so went out for a 9 miler at easy(ish) pace to start and finished a bit quicker. 

    After the yearly mileage talk i've checked my own,  I'm currently on 3765 miles which is 17 shy of my highest ever. So i will have a new record total by Thursday/Friday, and then like Jools have 2 months "free" to push on and see what i can get. I had wanted circa 4000 mile at the start of the year, so that shouldn't be a problem now you'd hope.

  • Thanks all - sorry to hear of the race cancellations! But big mileages for the year!!
    John - Nice race!

    Finished last week on 37 miles, so building back slowly after a couple of low weeks. 10 miles with 8*600m (2:15/16/19/15/19/17/16/15) and 4*200m (40/44/41/38) today. Felt tougher than prior to my rest, so hoping fitness starts to build again soon! But no rush I guess!! Looking at my totals, I should pass last years mileage record this time next week, and should hit 2500 by the end of the year.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Shame re the timing there cal

    Jools - hopefully you'll be feeling sprightly for the 5000m then.

    Hamo - agreed with you re the wind ! Strong running in yr 5000m, well done. Good to have some company on your mlr too. Hopefully all the miles set you up well for 2021.

    Agreed, Dorney will be cancelled. Goodwood is a posdible, if chichester goes straight back into tier 1 or 2.

    Rare non running day for me, took a clang on the (bike) helmet last night, rode back in this morning with the plan of running home, but my head has been fuzzy today, and i miggh have a touch of concussion, so i rode home again too.
  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    Hi all, apologies for not contributing for a while but things have been a bit manic lately. Even though my work had been ridiculously busy all the people at my job level & the one above have been put on consultation as they aim to cut about 25% of the roles for next year so I`ve just been concentrating on getting my head down and running without much of a plan. I should find out by the end of November.
    I decided to DNS the Autumn 100 as my head wasn`t in it and was still nursing a few niggles and regretted it within a few days so got a last minute entry for the Stort 30 which was 29.5 mile out and back along a towpath. I threw everything at it and moved up from 5th at half way to 3rd by the end so was good to finish my year with a decent result. I 
    I did have one eye on a Marathon at Dorney in November but have now decided to concentrate on my 2021 training so will be more focussed from this week.

    As others have said, this year has been good for miles in the legs. i`ve already passed my 2019 total and will aim for 3,000 including a stab at the Centurion One Community event as I`ve never done 100 training miles in  week and it fits well into my Arc 50 plan as the biggest mileage week of the first block.

    Now I`m back on a proper plan I should be contributing a bit more, rather than just being a bit ad-hoc. It`s our last club run also tonight which will have an odd feel about it as it`s been really busy since we came out of the first lockdown.
  • Steve...That is a big year, and speedy reps. They always feel tougher when you start back into them, but it'll not take you long til you are firing on all cylinders again.

    TR...Hope you are ok? Take it easy, concussions are not to taken lightly, how did you do it?

    Millsy...Glad to hear from you again, hopefully it all works out for you on the job front, not nice times at all. Brilliant running at the 30 miler, congrats on the podium finish, excellent work. Big year from yourself as well. 


    Decided to try a session this morning, so hunted through the faster road running book and found 7 x 3min hill repeats at 5k pace. I averaged 0.57 miles for the 3 mins, so 5.15/16 min miling up a decent, long hill, which i am happy with. It was 10 miles all in with the recoveries and warm up/cool down. I have that nice feeling in my legs at the minute where i know i have ran a good hard session this morning, so a pleasing mornings work.
  • Hamo - Nice session.
    Millsy - Great result at Stort 30!!

    Easy 5 miles today.
  • Millsy, I'm quite tempted by that too...100 miles would be a big challenge for me as the most I've done is 60. But I'll have to have a think and decide if it's in my best interests.
    Well done at Stort.

    hamo, that's a great result in the wind - I know how tough it was running at the Velopark. It really has been a stupidly windy year. Is it me or is the weather getting windier each year?
    Good 13 and hill repeats too.

    I was going to go out early for an MLR this morning, but then I changed my mind and went out a bit later for a speedier run (my reasoning being that the MLR would be better tomorrow as the roads are likely going to be quieter due to the lockdown, so it opens up a few more interesting routes). I ran six miles total - fourish around the common at an easy/steady pace, then a loop of the block behind my house going fast down one road and recovering up the one next to it. I racked up a Strava local legend doing that, but was 5 seconds off my fastest time down that road so clearly I have detrained quite a bit since Dorney (or perhaps even before than as I tapered hard). While I don't usually pay much attention to HR as wrist based is not so accurate, it has been consistently higher on runs since I returned to running post-hamstring. So I guess I have lost a fair bit of fitness.
    One of my clubmates said she was going to use lockdown to work on her 5K pace and was anyone else in? So I decided I was - going by the two 10Ks I did and the 10 mile, my race pace is way down on where it should be.
    The good thing here is that hammy wasn't too bothered by the intervals - it's still a bit grumpy but did not get worse, so I am happy I can continue.

    Went to the gym at lunchtime for my last session for a while - upper body stuff. It's annoying as I'm just starting to regain my muscles so I'm going to have to figure out how to maintain that at home.

  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited November 2020
    Fingers crossed for yr job millsy. Shitty times at the moment. Cracking run though, well run.......im with cal, i regret not doing that 100m challenge in the summer, not sure it'd do my achey body much good atm, and it'd take a lot of chugging about in the dark which has less appeal.

    Nice one Hamo, your legs bounce back quick. I took a glancing blow to the top of my (bike) helmet, which knocked me sideways (literally), ironically if id not been wearing the helmet it probably wouldnt have happened.

    Jools - theres still Goodwood hope, but they'd have to get clearance before dec 2nd to know wether to proceed or not. Infection rates are rising though, im aware of more folks isolating or having contracted cv, although obviously they only tested folks in hospital last time.

    Didnt feel as foggy and headache had cleared so i ran 5m home, felt ok so did 3m more. We'll see how i feel tomorrow.
  • Tempting to do the Centurion event too Millsy/Cal/TR. Again though probs not a great idea as I'm only at 40m a week currently!!

    6 miles with 2 at tempo/MP today (6:51/45). Tight hamstrings though...need to stretch more!!
  • Yeah, I hadn't really considered about the fact it would be dark a lot for the Centurion thing - not sure hamstring and QL would like it either. I'll see how I feel in a week or two.

    Very misty and cold this morning - had to get the jacket and gloves out.
    I ran a slow 10, starting at 6.45am and was a bit disappointed to find the roads still busy. I actually diverted my route several times to avoid stopping at roads and covered some new territory that way - one of my diversions took me up a steep hill in Wimbledon I'd not really intended to run but oh well!
    I found a nice path off the Wandle that lead to a park with a quarter mile circular tarmac path that could be good for some speed work in the future.
    Hamstring was mildly grumpy but then I jarred it on an invisible road hump and it was definitely grumpier after that, but it's not aching now so I guess it's OK. I know when it's bad because it hurts when I sit at my PC, and that's not the case.
    My groin was also twinging a bit during the night - not sure if that was from the fast stuff yesterday or some of the more explosive movements I did in the gym...or possibly yoga which I've slowly reintroduced the last couple of days. It wasn't an issue on the run, though. I often find stuff hurts a lot more when I'm lying in bed than when I'm running - odd that. Had an Epsom salt bath after to make sure stuff stays loose.

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    TR / Jools,there was quite a bit of Goodwood discussion on our final club session last night. A few people were keen for one last blast to test out their lockdown fitness.
    Cal, hope the niggles improve, I ache after doing any sort of workout or explosive stuff.
    Regarding the Centurion thing I think valid points are being made about the dark. it does limit the available routes and will also be harder with the lack of group runs. The miles always fly faster when you are doing a club run or parkrun.
    14 for me yesterday and will do 5 + 5 today just slowly building the weekly mileage up again.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    My groin was sore today too cal.

    Millsy - if GW is allowed then im sure a few will jump on it. If it gets called off early ill mull over the 100.

    10m back in this morning and my head felt ok, back to the usual niggles hurting more.

    The spo has had a stinker of a cold tgis week, she decided she should have a CV test (this afternoon), so i got sent home and am confined to barracks. Good job i set the turbo up recently, hopefully the test result will come back over the weekend.
  • Steve...Nice easy stuff, and impressive MP miles. I'd say go for the 100 miler, why not? May as well try something different/race when you can at the minute, use all this crap (covid, lockdown, no races etc) as some kind of positive (same advice for the rest of yous mad people mulling over 100 mile weeks :lol: )

    Cal...Good steady running and MLR. That is a good idea to try and focus on something different during the lockdown. I'm doing the same, going to try a few 5k type sessions in this period between marathon blocks while keeping the mileage relatively high to try and add a bit of speed.

    Millsy...Nicely building the mileage, you know you are planning big weeks when the doubles start.

    TR...Glad it was nothing too serious, and you seem to have shaken it off rightly. Nice 8 and 10 milers. Fingers crossed both you and the wife are ok, and test negative. You have both done the right and moral thing any way. Good job with having the turbo.


    Like Millsy i'm for a double day today, 5 easy this morning, and 4/5 recovery miles after work.
  • Millsy that was a great result at the Stort 30.  Hope work sorts itself out ok. I get the not having your head in the 100 miler , it’s a long time to be out on your feet at the best of times.  I think I had a bit of that with SDW.

    TR - hope you’re ok, a good sign that the usual niggles are back I guess.  Hope you all get the all clear as soon as possible.

    Jools - sorry the club runs/races are out, as you say though, not really a surprise.

    Cal/Steve - no surprise that I’m in the Centurion 100 as well.  There’s a good plan on their website, doubles being the way to go but I get that at this time of year it could be quite a bit in the dark.

    Hamo - I think I’m following the same freestyle plan as you, speedwork yesterday, double today, what’s on the menu tomorrow ?

    Sign of the times that I’m getting excited about virtual events, aside from my regular Sat am 5k I’ve got the C100, Lakeland 140 and a 50k to squeeze in somewhere.  I guess we are lucky that our sport/past time can carry on in some form or other.

  • Macca...Snap :lol: Good thing to have those virtual races to look forward to, and they'll keep getting you out the door. Agreed, as much as racing is good and we miss it, it is nice that our sport can keep plugging on, unlike football, cricket etc, all team sports really.


    9 miles with 6x 12second hill sprints and 8x 100 m strides this morning for me. It was almost like a mini session rather than a usual leg spinner that strides can be.
  • I'm feeling a bit concerned... I normally rest after three days of running but thought I might do a recovery today, though I put it off as it wasn't nice when I woke up and then I had to go shopping. Started warming up for my run around 11ish and noticed my left hip was sore. It wasn't sore when I woke up or when I went shopping so I have no idea why it was suddenly sore later on. Mashing a ball into it didn't help so I decided going for a run would likely end in regret and went for a walk instead.
    It feels like my TFL and I've had issues with those before. Left TFL, when it had a tantrum before, recovered fairly quickly, but when the right one went it took me out for a whole Autumn and was only fixed with a cortisone shot. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it either - it was just inflammed. So I'm really hoping this one does go the same way - I've missed enough running this year as it is.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited November 2020
    Hamo - nice work today. Hill sprints are a good strength builder.

    Macca - plenty on the virtual calendar, that'll see you to 4000m nicely.

    Cal - physio time ?

    Dorney has been cancelled (they have rescheduled other races from December onwards), so if Goodwood doesnt happen then it might be April for my next mara?

    I had a day off already booked today, so cleared more of the garage and set my youngests weight rack up that came earlier in the week.

    10min wu, 10 x 4min/1min, 5min easy on turbo. First time in a few years, i hope my legs and backside arnt too ruined to do it again tomorrow. A session or 2 of that must surely be better for me than 6 to 8m in my trainers. No stomach/groin moaning either. I used to be proper fit when i turboed and swam as well as run. Fingers crossed that ill be allowed out by Sunday. Ive had 2 non running days this week already, thats a few months worth normally. But maybe I'll change that and keep some turbo (as above).
  • TR - not in lockdown! But I spent some time rolling the entire hip and glute and it actually feels a lot better now so fingers crossed for a run tomorrow.
  • No sign of the hip pain this morning - it was like a taper tantrum, except that I'm not tapering! :D Regardless, I did spend extra time on foam rolling - a half hour warm-up, half of which I spent rolling, as opposed to the 15-20 minutes I usually do. I still have QL pain and it's worse after I've slept, so I try to do my  best with that although it's a deep muscle and quite hard to get into. Glute and ham obviously gets a lot of attention to.
    Anyway, I had intended to do a 5K time trial to see where I'm at, so I stuck to the plan. Ran a couple of miles to the road triangle/shark fin where I usually do these, then did the time trial. There is a very slight gradient so I run the long side down and the shorter side up, and today took it slightly easier on the up side. I still went pretty hard - breathing sounded like a lumberjack porn film - lots of sawing wood and then loud gasping.
    Time came in at 25:58 which is a minute slower than what I'd consider a decent time and a minute and a half slower than a good time. Nearly two minutes down on my June PB, too. So clearly I've lost a lot of fitness and have quite a bit of work to do.
    I had to spend a minute or so leaning on a wall to recover, then jogged two miles home again.
    On the plus side, hamstring didn't object too much - I could feel more the faster I went, but it's more of the usual ache rather than the seizing up thing it did at Dorney. Stride length was OK at just over a metre.
    A benchmark, then - I will see how much I can bring that down over the course of this month. Hopefully injuries will not get worse and I can record some better 5 and 10K times once we're back racing again.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Cal - i think physios are open this time, but your rolling did the job. Must be a good self physio if you were able to smash it today.

    More turbo for me, did my patented pre marathon 3min reps. Hope im allowed outside soon, my backside will need a break after too many days of this after a few years break.
  • I hope so too, TR, I'd be going stir crazy. (Then again, I literally live in a room, and I've no garden either).

    So my night was disturbed by my neighbour's smoke alarm going off - I couldn't quite tell which flat it was so I just shoved some ear plugs in and went back to sleep. Woke up at 5am to blissful silence, then remembered the earplugs and pulled them out. It was still going! So I pottered out into the hall and found it was the flat next to mine - door was open so I knocked and a very flustered neighbour answered, having tried without success to shut it down (including removing the batteries). So I got up on a stool and ripped the speaker and circuit board out with my bare hands...problem solved. Poor bastard was grateful - hope he managed to get some sleep after that.
    Anyway, after coffee and messing around on Facebook, I went out for my run just before 7. I decided to head for Brockwell Park as I'd not been for a while. I took a slightly more direct route there than I do on my long runs, and then did one big lap and one small lap before heading home via the Brixton Windmill, since I now know where that is.
    I did 12 miles total and let me tell you, that felt like a long way. I was ready to stop at 10, but I'd decided on 12 so I stubbornly ground out the last two.

    I seem to have lost so much fitness since Dorney and I don't really know why, as I didn't have that much time out with the injury and I did fast walks and gym work when I couldn't run. My normal paces feel harder now the distances feel longer. I hope this is just a blip.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited November 2020
    Cal - keep at it a bit of consistency and it'll come together.

    Test result was positive, to be fair she has been pretty poorly. My youngest has just had a test, as he had shivers and headache Thursday. Fingers crossed for the next week or so.

    Confined to barracks until mon 15th at the earliest, so 10 days of no running, hopefully i can jam a few miles in for a week or so if Goodwood goes ahead and have a 10day taper.
  • Sorry to hear that, TR - hope you don't get it too.
  • Sorry TR, I appear to have jinxed us. Did you get a test too?
    My 5,000m was a disaster as it resulted in a fresh injury to my left foot/ankle/calf. Not even sure why other than I wore my spikes for the first time in 18 months. Foot started to hurt after a mile & pace dropped as a result. Should have bailed but being stubborn I soldiered on even lifting the pace in the final K. I was left limping after though. Tried 6K with the rugby lads Thursday. I was fine for about 2 miles but in pain by the end so took 2 days off.
    Tried a slow 10K on sand today which has left me sore & stiff again so looks like another couple of days off is required 😢
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited November 2020
    Cal - who knows, note sure when she became infectious and how long ago we were all exposed to it.

    Jools - mmm, maybe we'll both fall short of the 3660 now. Hope you mend quickly. I dont get a test until i have any symptoms, as if i tested negative the isolation period still stands.

    To be fair they both had a local test within hours of requesting it, and theres been no end of track and trace texts and emails all day. All contacts have been contacted and given their rules.
  • Oh Jools, that's not good - I hope it resolves quickly.
  • SorequadsSorequads ✭✭✭
    edited November 2020


    Long time, no post. Probably a good thing as there is only so much injury whining a forum can take!

    I haven’t had a mega read back, but will in due course. You probably don’t really want me commenting on things months ago anyway. But from this page - hamo runs a 16 minute 5k in a gale about two marathons in three weeks so it seems business as usual! Although less so for TR - hope you’re ok. Fantastic result for Millsy in the ultra - hope work decision is ok. Hope the injury is ok, Jools - sure the spikes at play? Anyway, hope everyone is largely enjoying their running. 

    Things are progressing here. I worked my way through 3 x (9 walk, 1 run), then 3 x (8 walk, 2 run) with a day off after each. I eventually made it to 30 minutes continuous - and thought this warranted a post! 

    Horrendously slow pace at first, but obviously delighted to be out there. Really felt it muscularly - especially in the calves. But this seems to be getting better now. Will now try a fortnight of two days running, one day off, still capping it at 30 minutes. 

    Continuing with smashfests on the WattBike on other days, so retaining a degree of overall cardiovascular fitness. And fitting in a little bit of S&C, whether it is a quick look in to the school gym or whilst holding a child (one I have fathered rather than teach). 

  • I saw your activity pop up on Strava SQ, great to see.  Cant you get the Watt bike
    smashfests on Strava ? It all counts.  Softly softly catchee monkey.

    Cal - the alarm fix made me laugh.  Some days I feel I’ve lost fitness, I dont
    know whether it’s the dark, cold, wet or general lockdown/ lack of race focus ?

    TR - that’s a worry all round,  hope the SPO gets a mild version and you manage to dodge the bullet. I guess it’s good you feel up for the turbo.

    Jools - sorry to read of the latest niggle, hopefully a few days rest sorts it out.

    Standard weekend here, 5k in the 18:10-18:30 zone followed by a Sunday something in the MLR/LR zone, I think I need a plan for some focus but with everything going on, shouldn’t grumble.

  • JohnOzJohnOz ✭✭✭
    TR - sorry to hear the news but hope it's a mild case for both her and your son (if at all). Good you have the turbo to at least keep up some fitness. 

    SQ - welcome back and great to see you're on the mend. Must have gone a bit stir crazy over the last 3 months but at least you haven't missed much. Fingers crossed for continued progress.

    Cal - well done on the instant fix for the alarm! Not sure why but I imagined it like a scene from a Bill Murray film. Hope the niggles are kept at bay, there's nothing worse than always worrying about something going pop every time you run.

    Jools - unlucky with the injury but hope it's nothing major. You've been so consistent this year that you must have built up some tough resistance to this sort of stuff.

    Macca - those sort of virtual challenges are going to give you huge miles for the year. Are you planning on doing them each in 1 run?

    Steve - good luck with the 100 mile week, definitely doable with easy doubles and still leave you fresh enough to finish with a casual marathon!

    Millsy - hope the work situation works out, at times like this the running is a good escape. I know it was for me at the start of this year.

    Hamo - impressive to see you back onto the fast stuff. I would have thought you'd even give 4500 miles a scare with almost 8 weeks left...

    Nothing much of note here, just rebuilding back up slowly and feel recovered from the marathon. No more races here either so the only target is to get to 5000km for the year. Funny how we all seem to have passed our previous highest totals at the same time, I managed mine last week. I like the sound of the Lakeland 145 Lapland challenge so may sign up to keep me motivated.
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