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Shades Marathon Training
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I hope everyone has a great day.
8 miles done.
Happy Christmas to all.
Saw more runners than expected (even early) but hardly any returned my greeting - miserable twats all in their own little world with their headphones on. Whatever happened to being in the moment?
Anyway, 14 more miles logged. I'm closing in on 2000 and should make it by the end of the year.
Happy Christmas all.
Good that you'll make your 2000 target by year end.
I'm over that already which considering I haven't been doing long runs, I think I did one 16 miler which was my longest run apart from a marathon. Think I'll finish on about 2150, I didn't have a target for the year.
Enjoy your day.
No ice forecast tonight thankfully, I had to walk over a few patches this morning. I hear on the news it's officially a white Christmas.
But we have Storm Bella coming in tomorrow night, think I'll miss it running wise, but more floods I expect.
Cal, I think I should get to 2000 as well....just. I had hoped for 2020 but I think I'll fall just short of that, which just goes to show what a rubbish few months it's been as back in August I was well on target. I'm not too bothered about that though and I'm currently on 1963 so still a good year.
Pinched this of FB, this was taken less than a 100 metres from where I live
Pretty cold here but still shorts weather,just a long sleeve top, plenty of others out here also.
A few nice running presents including the new P&D book so I might give that a go when I'm back to decent mileage, I have thought about it before but their lowest plan is up to 55 and I've never done that until this year but feel it is manageable now.2054 for the year up to now,I was looking far more in October but in the last 3 months I've only done 160m
Nice pic Shades. Below is one on the route I ran, at around the same time I ran it...but not taken by me!
Been to see my Dad and just got home as he's seeing his partner now. It was a nice afternoon, we all enjoyed the food and kept it all socially distanced so I'm happy we did as well as could. Had a Zoom catchup with OH's family in NL earlier and that was nice too, but here's hoping next year is more back to normal, in all sorts of ways!
Lovely photo Big G. Glad all the family stuff went well especially for your Dad.
I've eaten a lot today, will be glad to resume normal eating tomorrow.
Mamafox - just in case you pop back on. You did ask yesterday if anything had happened in your absence...
Both Ian and Big G have had PF.
Tiring doing the cooking but worth it.
That's a great present, you might need it very soon with Storm Bella on the way.
Shades-Yes it was the speed sessions that also put me off,going to have a good read of it and see how east it is to amend.
We have also decided to get an exercise bike for the house,we got some money today and have thought about it while I can't run too much,it can go in our gym when we move.
Ian - I had an exercise bike once, when I was injured training for my 2nd marathon. Ended up with a sore bum. Once I was back running I never sat on it again, used to use it to hang the ironing on, handlebars were a perfect height for shirts.
I was dreading this morning's run after yesterday's horrible run. But 6/7 degrees warmer today made all the difference and I had a fabulous run, 10 miles done. I did a little part of the route I ran on Sunday, but this time it was flooded with ankle deep mud and water for a long stretch so I turned back and made up the distance elsewhere. A bit windy in places but back to prevailing SW so not a cold wind. Awaiting Storm Bella now, winds up to 55mph here but should have calmed down for tomorrow's run.
Big G - I see forecast is 75mph winds for you 😲 Better tie down the garden furniture.
Jelly, hope your back is feeling better.
Super photo, Big G! Glad Christmas went well.
I did very little yesterday - I did call Colin and my "godsister" Frances, but other than that it was just eating and TV, really. My Christmas dinner was a chicken breast with pan fried sprouts and red cabbage and some potatoes, and then two thirds of a Christmas pudding meant for four people (sorry not sorry).
I then remembered I had a bottle of mulled wine so my evening meal was half a bottle of that and a mince pie.
Legs were mostly fine - a little achey in the bum and hamstrings but actually pretty good considering the fact that I've run five days on the trot and yesterday was 14.
It was a very slow run, though - 1 hour 53 (which is more or less my HM PB) - I am usually do a 10 mile training run in around 1:45 or so. First miles were almost 12 minute pace - super slow - but I got a little quicker in the second half (still not quick, mind you - fastest mile was 10:39).
I will likely rest tomorrow, what with it being windy, but I'll see how bored I get.
I'm 7 miles off 2000 now - might even make 2020 by the end of the year.
I know what you mean, whatever happened to the 12 days of Christmas. It seems now that once Christmas Day is over it's like we're out of the festive season. I haven't heard a single Christmas song on the radio this morning....that's an observation more than a complaint
Forecast not good here for the next week either, cold and I'm just hoping that the roads stay dry so there's no ice/sleet etc.
Ian - as long as you have the TV set up then it's quite a useful way to catch up on your viewing and turn the legs over at the same time. Without a TV you'll be looking at the watch after 5 minutes.
Our binmen don't collect Christmas trees, they have to be taken to a collection point.
Sorry to hear about your back, Jelly. I hope that gets better soon.
Shades, yes, I always worry about the high winds with trees, so fingers crossed there are no issues.
That's where Zwift or similar comes in Shades/Ian. It's great how quickly the time goes on there. I just did an hour on the bike on Zwift this morning as part of a large group ride. I got into a grupetto of around 30 riders of the same ability and the hour went very quickly. Chugging away on the turbo for an hour with no distractions isn't as easy!
I always find it quite a sad sight, the days between Xmas and New Year. Often, going out for a run and the streets are empty of people but with quite a lot of Xmas litter, and the remnants of the decorations are still visible but not looking as nice as they did just a few days previously (deflated santas, snowmen, lights not working properly, etc).
I know I said I wasn't going to go on about Zwift, but I find myself getting into the "game-ification" of it. There are Experience Points (XP) that lead to levels (from 1-50), and at each level you unlock kit, better/faster bikes, etc. If you just jump on the bike and don't think too much about the XP, you probably won't earn that many points in a particular session. But there are simple things you can do to level up more quickly, so I'm finding myself getting into that aspect of it.
I did another Zwift session this afternoon for about 1hr45mins. I'm aiming to get out for a run tomorrow but it will depend in some ways on what the weather is doing.
MF sorry to see you're still struggling
Big G certainly is a weird time between xmas and new year, I usually take time off before xmas as prefer the build up than the after event.
Cal well done on your yearly mileage should reach the 2020 target with ease. Hope christmas wasn't too weird with t4 restrictions. I'm not one for NYR, if I want to make a change then I start straight away, I'll only revert back to old ways regardless if I wait for a new year or a Monday.
Shades, think we're allowed to eat more than normal on the 25th dec, fingers crossed the weather isn't too bad over the next few days.
Ian - i've contemplated with a bike before but don't think I'm motivated enough to use it. I've seen a few treadmills popping up all over facebook recently as they have regretted buying them in lockdown. With the new place you'll have the extra space so OH won't be able to use the bike as a clothes rail.
Rcouture - a rest day won't do you any harm, I was looking at innovate jackets when I needed one for my ultra kit. It come highly recommended.
As Chloe went back to uni on the 25th we celebrated xmas on the 23rd, was good as the shops werent packed and they were fully stocked. Found myself in charge of the cooking for the 7th year straight. Will say what I said last year, I'm not cooking next year!!!! Thankfully prepped the spouts, carrot, cabbage and spuds the night before so just needed to get timings right.
Xmas eve felt weird and xmas day itself even weirder. Managed to order myself a curry which was a first at christmas for me. Elle had problems with the car taking chloe back to Lincoln so had a cold one waiting for recovery.
Bit of running but nothing too much, currently at 865 miles for 2020, looking back at my runs at the start of the year I remember how tough they all felt. Just need to get the motivation back, thankfully the nights are getting shorter so should help a bit.
Race on Jan 3rd been cancelled as you'd expect, they have offered a re run on 28th March but it's 6 days before DL so have transfered to 2nd Jan 2022, could be a busy start to the year as I have a marathon I used volunteer credits on the 1st Jan, it's only 25 mins down the road between the races so I may stay overnight somewhere.
You might be able to get some more mince pies at a reduced price, so might not need to ration yourself with the remaining box.
Ian - nice that you'll have a Dartmoor hill to keep you focussed.
Cal - I think January and February are the worst months of the year, miserable and awful weather.
Ouch to the hail, that be cold and it can hurt.
Robert - well done to you doing the cooking at Christmas for the last 7 year, you must be good at it. The timing of a big meal like that is the hardest thing to get right.
Any news on the job front?
Getting back to 865 miles is a great achievement considering what you've been through and had to start from scratch.
I was going to ask you about your January marathon, are you in Tier 4 now?
That will be some start to 2022, a double marathon
14 miles for me this morning. We've had a battering down here from Storm Bella although I didn't hear much during the night. When I got up this morning the wind had dropped and it was raining, I didn't want to hang around hoping for better weather so went out an hour before it was light and conditions were fine, breezy in places and the rain had stopped. There was a lot of surface water on the roads and a lot of small tree debris too, had a couple of Norman Wisdom comedy trips on small branches that I couldn't see in the dark. One biggish tree down at about 5 miles, had to stop my watch and negotiate the grass verge and the road to get past. When I got to the village that would be my 7 mile point and turn around point it started to rain quite heavily, I took shelter at a bus stop, no crappy Adshel bus shelter but a proper country village one, solidly made of wood and not draughty, I was quite cosy in there while it bucketed down, had my drink and a couple of sweets. Eventually the rain eased off a bit so I set off for home but now all the roads and footpaths were flooded with surface water and my feet got soaked and cold. Rain stopped completely after a couple of miles and the sun came out for the last couple of miles. Needless to say no wildlife to see in these conditions but I've seen broken fences and gates blown off, upturned and broken wheelie bins, Xmas decorations blown off houses and someone didn't take down their patio umbrella and it was sitting on the neighbours fence, broken.
55 miles for the week.
It sounds great Ian. It'll be interesting to see how you get on with it. I never thought I'd have got into indoor bike training. I've had my turbo for a long time, but it's had more use these last 2 or 3 weeks than it's had in all the other years I've had it. I can see me keeping it up in future winters to help with overall fitness.
Robert, good that you celebrated on 23rd with Chloe. It has been a strange year - even driving back from my Dad's on Xmas Day, both OH and I commented that we didn't really feel that Christmasy, even though it was Xmas Day! I think it's just that we haven't had the usual parties, meals out with friends etc, so the festivities beforehand never happened this year. Also, the last few years I've done some Xmas-related marathons, and with no Xmas Day parkrun this year, it never really got going for me personally (exactly the same for most people, I'd imagine).
Shades, sounds like you got caught in the rain that was partly responsible for me faffing this morning....
Speaking of which, after a bit of faffing I eventually got out for a run, starting at about 9:15am. I put the trail shoes on and did a 7.5 mile hilly route, which is about 50/50 road/decent trail. I did this route a lot of times over the summer and it's a great route, and the achilles and everything else felt fine even with the plusher shoes on. My feet got soaked in a few ankle deep puddles, as there was a lot of flood water off of the fields, and lots of twigs/branches although I didn't see any trees down. I really enjoyed the run though as I've missed these types of routes whilst I've been nursing my niggles, so it was great to be out on them again. That takes me to just under 38 miles and 5 runs for the week, so I'm quite happy with that. Rough plan is to see if I can do 40-45 miles next week and then if that goes well see if I can nudge towards 50 the week after, if the weather behaves.
Probably I need to start thinking of some goals for next year, although it's difficult with the uncertainty around races. I certainly don't think I'll be having a target in terms of completing a certain number of marathons, but I can set goals around MAF improvements, mileage, DD and other things. Probably I'll be flexible and if local races pop up (any distance) I'll enter them if they suit me. Certainly if my rough plan of getting to near 50 miles for a week in early January actually materialises, I'll feel I'm in a decent place to keep the running up and maybe dial back the cycling a bit. In some ways I'm hopefully starting 2021 in better shape than I started 2020 as then I was recovering from a bad chest infection.