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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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- Mileage - 2510
- Races run - Luckier than most, 3 proper half marathons, one on Dec 20 and the slightly vim-sapping VLM in Storm Alex
- Highlights of 2020 - Indian Queens HM on 20/12 - only 2 minutes down on 2018 & 2019 times despite a harder course and not really being in race shape
- Most missed races of 2020 - There's 2, the annual trip with my brother and a few friends to run the Gran Canaria marathon, sunny and warm over there grim over here and the Malaga marathon, which has become a family away pre-Christmas weekend and a fantastic city and race
- Races in 2021 - Geneva, Madrid, Malaga and an Italian tbc marathon
- Lowlights of 2020 - can't get away from the obvious massive one!
- Thread poster of the year - SG for this forum, TR across this and others, love your focus and enthuaism
- Prediction for when "normal" races will be back in 2021 - June
- Ambitions for 2021 - Keep my run of sub 3 marathons going and be on 17 or 18 this time next year; a sub250 marathon in there somewhere. Just turned 56 and doesn't get any easier but you sure enjoy them more and don't take them or your fitness them for granted.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and enjoyable 2021Most stand-out achievements for me were SG for mileage and consistency (and poster of the year nomination😉), Bus for distance with elevation (that only Jools can ever hope to match) and PMJ for reminding us all that this game is for enjoyment and having the stats to prove he enjoys it quite a lot still! Good to hear from Ald and Ouch who both seem great additions (returnees) with some amazing performances, especially at age 56 Ouch, 2'50 marathon wow.
Will get onto my review soon; first need to dig out my spreadsheet and tot up the stats.
So great to see many of you doing so well and the tribulations that this year has bought many of you running even better!
Tried to get back into running but become lazy really, some excuses still exist, I had another operation last year on my head which was routine and fine (day surgery) my ass is still playing up, still bouts of extreme pain, tramadol, botox, bleeding renders exercise out of the question if I have planned something, I can go to the toilet and then near enough not be able to walk at times.
I turned 32 in November but my PBs were back in 2014 and basically been on a 6 year self destruct with next to no exercise during that time and become very overweight) was nearly 110KG at one point (from below 70)
Worked far to much the last 18 months or more. COVID Destroyed some of our business but also pushed us deeper into online where we have much work to do still. No major events happened meaning things got really tough so pulling out all the stops to make it happen.
The kids are doing great, Lucas is now 3 and Mia nearly 9. School has been disrupted of course!!
So run wise....
Mileage
159 Run Miles
700 Cycling Miles
Exercised 8 times in 2020 upto May then had some cycling explosion for 3 months then again nothing really for last 5 months of the year
Races run - 0
Current weight about 95KG
Of course my dream would be to get back into running and some good fitness, not necessarily running all out though but perhaps the general fitness / good body. Who knows.
Wishing you all the best 2021
Anyway, onto my end-year review;
Mileage: 1563 (+4915 of cycling)
Races run: 1 HM, 4 x10k, 5x club 10k, 1x5k, 1xXC, 13xparkrun, 1x1 mile
Highlights of 2020:
The parkrun NYD double (both sub 19, oh how I miss parkrun on a day like today!).
The club 10k's; managed real consistency there and good races against club colleagues
Most missed races of 2020: TVXC, can't beat some mad XC escapades
Races in 2021 you're keenest to do:
Ealing Mile race, Fleet 10k, Any fast 5 or 10 mile course and naturally parkruns
Lowlights of 2020:
Running wise the lack of races/parkruns, but more the societal impact of the pandemic
Thread poster of the year:
SG for volume and enthusiasm, Joe B for amazing feats relayed in entertaining style
Poster you'd like to hear more from: Joe, for the reason above
Prediction for when "normal" races will be back in 2021:
Depends what you call "normal"; with no distancing at all probably not till Autumn at least
Ambitions for 2021:
Only to stay healthy and fit. I realize more and more what a privilege that is and not to fuss about the minutiae of life. I think injury wise I have benefited from not busting a gut week in week out in races and parkruns; that has been very pleasant compared to years of running half injured. It was mainly with calf pain, but last summer and autumn barely being able to walk after most races was no fun at all
Ambitions for stuff to do while we still can
Just to keep going and take advantage of whatever race type events are put on, provided they seem safe (unlike that Cornwall HM I read about the other day!).
@scedgy - sounds like you've been on a rough journey in 2020 but also sounds to me like you're mentally strong and are persevering to find positives. I'm sure you'll get plenty of support from this thread to help that continue. There's always something you can focus on taking back control. Small steps can make a big difference over time.
@PeteM don't undersell yourself. 30mpw is a solid amount of running. You do you, and don't worry about comparing to others. We all love running, the thing we have in common, and we all run for our own reasons, be it 5miles p/wk or 155 miles p/wk.
Indian Queens HM? Is that the one with the controversy about the mass start
Great to hear from Scotty too. How the heck are you still only 32 - unbelievable! Even with your massive difficulties I reckon you can still get right back into it - this is a sport where something feels impossible one day, then a few months later all is brilliant!
Working in your job I reckon is a great way to keep your eye in and keep that hope of a proper comeback alive.
ALD - in miles per hour if you will
The nostalgia mixed with the end of year review hype is superb.
I mailed Harry J last night, to try and get him to pop in - fingers crossed.
Stevie See too, but I think he's sick of my prompts and a bit out of it at the moment.
Pete - good numbers - the cycling certainly boosts up your perceived "lack" of running and no doubt in a more sustainable way given your situation. Definitely would be madness pushing too hard when you've had a few let offs in the past.
Your "covid" turnout total is higher than most people's usual year tally!
Knew no-one would be anywhere near the track - so didn't have to do my usual arrival 7ish to make sure of solo.
Went for 5x1mile Threshold off 90secs.
A few weeks back I'd built a little momentum of 4x5mins, 4x1mile (both threshold) 4x1mile progressive, 4x2000m threshold and a mad 14laps - 8 laps threshold!
So 5x1mile felt a decent place to step in.
With Tuesday's 3x3mile coming out 6.11 - then it re-inforced my guide on zones that HMP would be 5.55-6.00 and thus threshold in the purest sense of the phrase - for reps would be 5.50-5.55
1.28 lapping is my loose track guide for threshold reps - which would be 5.54 pace, but clearly when you see "1.28" pop up on the watch you don't know if it's 1.28.00 or 1.28.99 until later
Anyway - all anorak splits properly counted up and with the 2secs to be sure of covering the extra 8-9metres for the full mile the rounded up/down splits were
5.52 - 5.52 - 5.50 - 5.52 - 5.48
With the exact average (that only I'd bother working out to the 100th of a second) was 5.50.71 - which we'll call an average of 5.51
So bang on ideal really.
Last lap was a 1.23 job - but it all counts when averaging it all out!
Would be superb if we can keep this level of flow up throughout the year
Very easy to be "racing" a 5k and find yourself slipping into 10k pace but for the sake of training purposes then 5.40 very reasonably would be a good benchmark.
Feels like a very long time since I've done 10k specific stuff beyond threshold/tempo runs.
Will have to find a 10k when it's all back up and build for one as my last one was in spring 2017!
Can still remember doing 5x1mile at 5.30 average once. That was great guns.
Pete - that mileage clearly works for you given your 5k/10k times, and besides, that a pretty sizeable bike mileage replacing what would otherwise be "junk" running miles (though I'm not convinced those exist!.
A huge dose of CBA to start the year, but when I finally dragged myself out (with a short drive to avid the quagmire of the farm behind my house!) I actually had an enjoyable run. Usually sort of thing - off-road, 7.3M and 1100ft to get the 2021 hills going
Bus - a lot of people think junk miles are the slow ones to pad out totals. But others think they are the ones run a bit too fast an impact quality sessions.
Our local mad trainer for instance is very much someone who doesn't get the second of those two - and can't understand how I can do 60+ miles all year.
I said to him - if you didn't do 2-3 race efforts a week in your 50miles you'd easily find that you could do more miles easily!
Probably be less ruined the whole time too!
I was lucky to take up running at an early enough age that I set my PBs against the open standard (so as a quick aside, if you look at the WAVA spreadsheet http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/data/runcalc.xls you can see where the factor is 1.000 and that is open, so for 5k men if you are between 20 and 34 your time is against the open standard, world record, and then as you get older, the factor decreases so e.g. at 55 years old the factor is .857 which means you can run slower but still get the same grade).
My PBs are all from the time when I was in my late 20s and putting in a few of my known PBs I get about 78.6% grade and the others from that are below
So I was definitely just sub-34 for 10k and just sub-56 for 10 miles and had a few sub-75 halfs. I was definitely under 27:30 for 5 miles and I cannot recall a 5k time but it and the mile are there for reference.
Later in life I got back to running and got my WAVA over 80% so e.g. when I was 47, nearing 48, I ran the Last Friday of the Month 5k in Hyde Park in 17:59 for 80.1% WAVA. You can see that even though it is a higher WAVA it is about 90 seconds slower than the open standard. If I were to run the same grade today it would give me a 19:09 5k, yet another minute slower (and I'm not that fast, I'd hope to get back to sub-20 but it will take a good effort).
I'm old school: a race is a race. If I line up against a 28-year-old and he runs 5k in 19.08 and beats me running 19:09, then he beats me. His WAVA for 19:08 is 68% so nothing to shout about (speed is wasted on the young).
So, I'm too old to race properly and won't race properly again. It terms of age-grading, I have an advantage in that I started out with a pretty decent grade so even though I am slowing (both in real and graded terms) I am still where I can see the pointy end so if the field is small then I may well come out on top.
@Stevie G banging mile rep paces in your pomp. Get the feeling those days aren't gone forever 😉
ALD - will be a case of seeing what's what when racing is back up - put a few times in across different distances. Then work from there and try and improve them and see how we go
Mile reps at 10k pace is certainly an absolute peaking session though! Like a 10 days before the race after a decent length build up job. That or 8x1km. That one probably sounds easier mentally!
2020 in review:
Thanks for having me aboard for the last few months. A fun place to post.
Mileage:
2420. Lowest since 20216, but still surprisingly close to the initial goal of 2500. Should have buttoned up and done a 90M day yesterday. 34,508m ascent.
Five races:
Gloucestershire XC county champs 10k ish
Linda Franks 5M - 29:19.
Staverton 10M - 1:02:06
Wokingham Half - 1:22:12 (gale)
Wyedean Really 10k ish
Highlights:
A pleasing spring build given the recent arrival of the second little one. Peaked with a couple of 70M weeks. Ran a solo TT in April in 2:58 in absolutely perfect conditions: full moon, single digit temps and wind, then bright sun for the latter two thirds. Very quiet route and stunning Cotswold scenery. Eased into it with a gradual 3M warm up, running a negative split - partially enforced by the spread of the 1000 ft climbing, but had me a little nervous going through half in 1:31.
My son reached buggy running size - alleluia!
Changed focus to some shorter stuff in the summer and ran a couple of TTS paced by my FiL on his bike: a 17:56 5k and a 29:29 5M.
Highlight of the winter was the return to running!
Lowlights:
The obvious one for me - the fibula stress fracture in August. I shouldn’t have ignored the increasing pain over the weeks. Lesson learnt - I hope! Absolute ball ache trying to live family and work life with leg in a boot and crutches. Impressed upon me the importance of being fit for life, not just sport.
This resulted in a massive loss of fitness, but also missing the chance to run a sub 3 at Dorney - in what would have been a sixth consecutive year.
And really missing parkrun. Not smashing myself, but definitely the community aspect of it.
Thread poster: always enjoy Bus’ positivity. Has made me feel very welcome 😁.
Whilst a lurker, I saw HA used to get involved every now and again. Would love to hear from him again. Insightful, friendly and helpful guy. Great memories of meeting up with him after the 2018 VLM furnace (‘not hot’ in his words 😆).
2021 ambitions: continue the fitness rebuild, successfully tread the running/family/work tight rope, sub 3 at VLM in October.
Hamo on the P&D forum is good value - and rapid!
Nice post chief.
Trying to work out this little bit though.
Let's put the dodgy 2500 - 2420 = 90 maths to one side...
What year is it the lowest since?
Ticking over here. Into week 5/12 of the 5k plan. No stress fracture pain and mileage building, so can’t complain.
Did a second track session on Tuesday: 5 x 1k (400 jog). 3:50 - 3:57. Obviously way off old pace, but good to get some measured work in.
Unlike the previous week, there was another track user there. She was doing what I assume is typical sprint training. Long warm up, then about 3 x 100 sprints. Enormous rests in between - maybe 5+ minutes. I’d need to warm up again after that! We did inadvertently ‘race off’ one lap. She put about 40m metres in to be over the course of 80 😆.
Today was 6 x 12s steep hills (walk down), 8 x 100m strides (done as 20s fast). 6M all in at 7:30 average. Not too hungover, but definitely required a full cafetière to perk up a little for it.
Hard to relate to, as even say trying to do 400s at 800 effort off 2.30-3mins isn't to the intensity of what they're doing.
There was a vet guy at the track a few months back who said he did his 200m reps in 29s
Really enjoyed reading all the yearly summaries, I'd say we'd still made the most of this year even though it won't go down as one of my favourites..
Anyway, here we go;
2019 running. Thought I'd leave it at that - it's been that kind of year.
11,124 cycling, which is a ridiculous PB - previous yearly high had been 6,000 odd.
129 swimming - doesn't mean much to anybody, and severely disrupted as pools were closed. Probably easier to say 66 hours.
Races run - total/distances
7 - 2 x Marathon, 2 x HM, 1 x 10km, 2 x triathlons.
Not too bad actually when you look at it. No PB's (apart from a 5km TT - 16:43, but not sure we can count that), but continued the 5 year sub-3 streak in the marathon and scooped an AG podium in a half-ironman triathlon with a decent field.
Highlights of 2020 (try hard here!!)
As mentioned above, probably my 3rd in AG at Outlaw X, closing out with a 1:22 half marathon off the bike, on a twisty, turny off-road course. Confident on the right day I can run a sub 1:20 half off a hard bike effort.
Also above, the 5km TT PB. Accept it's not a race so it doesn't count, but there were times in 2019 where I thought I might never go sub 17 again! Proved a point to myself and would like to press on and beat this in 2021.
Cycling from John O'Groats to Lands End over 6 days with 2 great mates was absolutely epic and something I'll never forget.
Non running related but I'd probably also have to say getting engaged.. Thankfully she likes running as well!
Most missed races of 2020/Races in 2021 you're keenest to do
For me the London marathon is unbeatable. It's my favourite day of the year and I missed it so much. It's not just the race - it's just one massive social and I love seeing all the friendly faces every year. Sounds lame, but it's so much more than a running event - it highlights all the good we can have in this world.
Green belt relay is another that I was gutted to miss. Such a cracking weekend - running, drinking and general bants.
A big ironman event. I usually do one of these every year, and it seemed like a massive hole not doing one.
Lowlights of 2020 - beyond the obvious massive one
Missing the community/social that running brings. I've just felt like everything I'm doing is completely independent of everyone else.
Thread poster of the year
Got to be SG. I'd say he'd nearly single-handedly kept the thread alive.
Poster you'd like to hear more from
Ric - he's always got such nice things to say to everyone and really brings the mood up. Really hope there is internet in NZ.
Prediction for when "normal" races will be back in 2021
Cuts me up to say it, but I think it'll be 2022.
Ambitions for 2021
Enjoy racing again (in some form) and vow to make the most of each opportunity.
Be competitive in the two ironman events I'm doing (and maybe with a bit of luck, punch my ticket back to the worlds in Hawaii).
Official 5km PB (let's go punchy and say 16:30)
AOB
Did a quick write up of my most recent race at Goodwood (marathon), and will post a more detailed 2020 review on their shortly;
https://spragginsblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/31/goodwood-marathon-06-12-20/
@PhilipMJones thanks for the insight, appreciate it. Nothing ground breaking or complicated then. Missing parts of the puzzle this year for me has been any access to a track and limited races. Never able to fully empty the tank in solo TT or virtual races when there's less at stake. Always ran best in the past when there was a streak of races to unleash on.
Speaking of sprinters. Remember watching the Manchester games in 2011 when i was up there to run the 10km. Apart from the sheer speed, the stand put thing I noticed was the thunderous thud of each foot strike. The power in top class sprinters and no doubt amateurs (compared to amateur endurance folk) is incredible.
Where you moving to? Still within distance of a BP tear up?
Fingers crossed on a swift upturn on the job front.
ALD - that one you call steady - does it feel like pushing slightly beyond the "easy" top end or is it just being top end easy zone? I tend to do my long runs at the latter whereas shorter runs can come out 15-20secs slower at times.
Might do a small amount of exploration on the run tomorrow.
Always have to be a little careful with those - as one in the summer I ended up doing about 18 on the watch (probably 19 in truth) when I'd gone out for way less
As simple an error as following some woods the wrong way and ending up somewhere near Amersham - which is quite a haul from Wycombe!
Then a few mins of doubt as I emerged at a very fast road that had a very thin strip of a path next to it - before eventually bundling my way back through some woods
Presumably any further than that local sort of trip is ruled out right now?
I only wonder as I saw a guy post a clip of him coaching someone at some woods that must be 45mins away from here.
I know you can train kids under 18 in group sports still - which seemed a bit surprising!
First outdoor bike ride since October today. Only 12M, but better than just lazing around I guess!
From mapping out segments and getting them wrong you can see running in some massive woods that all look the same isn't always easy either.
I'm getting better with going at least the right direction though! That Amersham day wasn't one of those!
Run Type "Paces(km)" "Race Pace Equivalent" "Distance of Run"
Rec/Easy 4.33 - 5.37 65 - 80% 5 - 30km
Moderate 4.18 - 4.33 80 - 85% 20 - 28km
Threshold 4.08 - 4.18 85 - 90% 14 - 20km
Tempo 3.50 - 4.08 90 - 95% 8 - 14km
Fast Tempo 3.39 - 3.50 95 - 100% 6 - 8km
Fartlek/Intervals 3.15 - 3.39 100 - 110% 200m - 1km
Not very well formatted into this post but you should be able to make out what it means.