Shades Marathon Training

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  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - great report, I really enjoyed reading that.   Much tougher event than I expected too and you did well moving up the ranks from T2 to the finish.   I didn't realise so much of it was off road too.  Bit scary on the busy roads on the bike.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    I just saw that it was a Maverick who won the Tri, however he is European champion for his age group. 
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Shades, there were a handful of seriously quick people out there with carbon Time Trial bikes, skin suits, the funny helmets, etc.

    Shades, when I said I was 85/91 in T1, I meant I was 85th position in T1 if it was a standalone event.  On the 10k I had the 41st best time, on the ride I had the 65th best time, and on the 5k I had the 51st time, and combined I was 52nd.

    Ian, I can't order the results by T1 or T2 but if I look at the person who came 45th overall (i.e, half way) he spent 1:03 in T1 and 45secs in T2.  I spent 2:36 in T1 and 1:51 in T2, so he was over 2.5mins quicker than me across T1 and T2.  45th place had a remarkably similar time to me at the 10k and 5k (he was 15-secs slower and 3-secs faster respectively), but he was also 5mins quicker than me on the bike.  For faster transitions, a lot of the quicker riders had their bike shoes clipped onto the bikes ready to go, but I can't do that with my bike shoes, plus I'd need to practice getting the shoes on whilst moving as that's not something I'd want to try for the first time in a race.  I suppose based on the amount of time it takes to complete each of the 5 sections of the race, I lost a lot of time in comparison to him in transitions.

    Although I found the ride hard, I didn't really slow through that part of the event, and the 10k was comfortable, so I suppose I'm happy enough with how I paced those aspects as a complete novice.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - I think you should be really pleased with your race today.   Your level of fitness showed that you're in good shape and your splits are fairly consistent.

    I guess you need to fine tune the transitions, that must take a lot of practice.
  • RcoutureRcouture ✭✭✭
    edited April 2021
    Big G - That’s an awesome report. What do the transitions consist of exactly? Just changing shoes? Will you be doing more of these? I have no interest in cycling but that did sound like fun!

    Didn’t go for my long run as no point taking risks when I feel rotten and conversely this race might be canned this week anyway. RHR higher today despite good sleep so maybe I have caught something. 
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Rcouture, there are entry and exit points in the area where the bikes are racked. So for example, from the run into T1 before the bike, you enter transition, and then run/walk to your bike. There are rules around not touching the bike before you’ve put a helmet on (otherwise you risk a DQ), but you can have drinks/food/change shoes/change clothes or whatever else. You then unrack the bike but you’re not allowed to ride it until you exit transition. I’d guess there was maybe 100m of walking in transition, plus the time getting ready for the next stage of the race. The faster people basically enter transition, run to the bike, put helmet on, take running shoes off, unrack bike, run to the exit (with no shoes on), and put feet in shoes after they’ve exited transition and are actually riding, and do all their eating/drinking whilst moving on the bike. 
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Rcouture - hope you feel better soon.

    Big G - are the legs a bit sore today?


    8 miles, another cold morning, very cold wind.   Calf still taped but it's much better today, zero discomfort on the flat and on my return run which was undulating nothing more than a level one of discomfort on the hills, which were not steep.

    GYM this morning 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Shades, I was absolutely shattered last night and went to bed quite early and got 9hrs sleep with no interruptions, which happens very rarely for me.  Must have been tired!  Legs kind of feel okay, although I haven't ran yet.  Greats news on the gym :D  Enjoy.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - I would imagine those type of events are tiring, mentally as well as physically.

    I take it Tigg isn't disturbing your night's sleep now.  :)
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Tigg has improved a lot just over the three nights we've had him.  OH tells me that he did start whining at around 6:30am, but she let him out and he instantly went to the loo, so at least he lets us know that.   Other than that, I didn't hear him at all, so he's improved a lot already.  He settles down pretty quickly now, whereas the first night he was up and about pacing a lot.  We took him down to the enclosure last night and I tried to get some pics of him going at full tilt but they didn't come out well partly as the light wasn't great.  I may take some slo-mo video and see if that helps, as it is impressive to see.  

    I forgot to say we took him out after I got back from the race yesterday, and it started snowing on our walk!  Glad I wasn't racing on the bike in that.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - seems like Tigg is settling in really well now and becoming part of the family.


    So good to be back at the gym this morning.   When I walked there it was like the world had woken up, lots of traffic and people around all with a sense of purpose.   Queued up at the gym, all the same crowd so nice to have a fair bit of chit chat.

    I realistically started back with the light weights that I used right at the beginning and even then I was really feeling it by the last set of reps.   So was everyone else and lots of commiseration about our loss of fitness.   There were 23 booked in and by the last 10 minutes of the hour there was only about 7 of us left, at least I managed the full hour.   I didn't overdo it but I think I will have severe DOMS this week.

    When I came out of the gym it had been raining and passing a pub which had Fosters table umbrellas the occupants of each table had pulled the umbrellas down as far as they could and each group were snuggled under the umbrellas.   They did look funny, probably not as socially distanced as they should, but they seemed happy to be able to get a pint again.
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Shades, well done on the gym.  Fingers crossed you'll start seeing improvements in your gym routines very soon.  We've been doing lots of running around today (Paignton->Exeter->Brixham->Torquay->Paignton) and everywhere that has an outside space had people having drinks, and looking quite happy they were out there.  

    I didn't know until 12:30pm, but I got a call saying Dad was being discharged and I could go and get him, so I went and picked him up at 2pm.  It was a bit difficult getting him from the hospital into the car, but the drive home was uneventful, and he was pleased to be home.

    I've been quite tired today after the event yesterday and I just didn't think a run would help today, so I took a rest day although hoping to get out tomorrow.  Committee meeting tonight.  
  • RcoutureRcouture ✭✭✭
    Shades - So pleased for you that you got back to the gym. I know how much you’ve missed it. 

    Big G - Good news your dad is back home. Pubs are overflowing here too. 

    7 miles for me this afternoon. Felt better after my rest day and no long run, but still feel I’ve gone backward a bit somehow. Hard to gauge for sure as forgot my chest HRM and I don’t trust the readings on my watch. Anyway hopefully it’s just a bit of a rut. 
  • Thanks for all the advice and encouragement folks, managed to drag myself round my first marathon sunday!

    I managed to achieve a life goal and manage a marathon on sunday, really pleased.

    My training has been bumpy to say the least! but I've managed a heap of halves, 2 x 15, 1  x 16.5, 1 x 18.  So I've been slowly getting there.

    Sunday's first race back after lockdown was an SVN lapped challenge event, 4.37 mile loops round an old colliery and country park, a really pleasant place, but to me quite hard course.  So really 13.1, 17.5. 21.85, 26.2 and 50k with a little out and back.

    I've been really struggling a bit lately with a bad back and a worse left knee, it's been a rubbish, but the event, (which was over two days) looked to be rainy saturday, but cold and windy sunday, but dry.  I woke up and did my standard raceday ritual of watching the last 20 minutes of london marathon 2019 and Berlin marathon 2019 whilst I ate my Readybreak and thought if i could get to the 17.5 mile loop I'd try and keep going!

    Arrived and started looping, it was 3c and one side of the loop in the colliery was pretty damn cold, the other side more pleasant.  I took it very, very easy, just jogging along really.

    At one hour I had a gel, then alternating gel and flapjack every 45 minutes, 1 litre of water throughout.

    Got to 17.5 miles and carried on chugging away, 21.85 and it was hard going, last lap was a bit of a battle but made it!

    Time wise I managed under the five hour, 4:57 from 0-26.2.  My Strava does moving time and made it 4:49, but we had to use our car boots that flanked the run-in to the checkpoint as aid stations every lap, due to, avoid bunching round the race HQ and the "rule of six", so lost a little time, not that it matters at a bit.

    The organisers SVN were awesome and I met some truly amazing distance runners, a good few doing weekly marathons, a fair amount had turned up to do marathons/50ks on both the saturday and the sunday, truly inspiring!  How do they do it!

    I heard all the statements of a marathon not starting until 20 miles an the last 6 miles were pretty damn emotional/awesome!  I just tried to keep going and not fall over anything.  I was really only jogging a marathon and that felt great,  I'd imagine racing one hard would be a euphoric, amazing feeling.The elevation on Strava was 863 feet but I'm sure it felt more than that?, I have epic blisters.

    So marathon done  Would I do another, yes!, but I hope I haven't hurt my knee too much and don't pay too badly.

    Would definitely love to do a Big City race at some point and this event has given me the confidence to do one.  Will have a little break and hopefully start training for the next one..

    Have a great week all.




  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2021
    LTT - fabulous, congratulations on your first marathon.    :):)  Please accept my apologies, when you said you were doing an SVN event I assumed that you were doing a virtual event, as I know you've done quite a few virtual events and you'd mentioned virtual marathons before.   So I have put you on the list and of course marked it with a PB which it is.    I haven't done that event but have done similar and they are tough, due to the laps and the nature of the course so you did really well.  You will find that when you do a more conventional marathon, whether a big city one or a smaller event of one or maybe two laps, you should find it mentally easier to cope with the distance.
    Hope the blisters heal quickly, I guess it was raining and you had wet feet.

    If your blisters and knee allow get out for a little recovery run ASAP, preferably yesterday.  ;)  If you can't run then walk, this will speed up your recovery.   



  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - busy day for you yesterday.   Good to hear you're Dad is home from hospital.

    Rcouture - good to hear you're back running and feeling better.  It's hard to judge how well a run is when the stats we rely on aren't there.   You maybe just need another day or two before you feel you're running well again.

    I hope the expected news from Richmond will be good.   Meanwhile I had a look at the RunBritain Covid rules yesterday and they've made the following amendments which came into force on 12th April:-

    Version 5 (April 2021) of this guidance document and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) includes the following revisions;

    Advice on spectators changed to reflect latest guidance from April 12th .

    Travel advice changed to prevent car sharing

    Spectator Code of Conduct reinstated with revisions

    the section on spectators now says

    J. Spectators, residents & businesses

    1. Spectators aren't permitted in any indoor or outdoor sport facility, except on public land. When on public land, spectators should adhere to gathering limits in groups of six, or two households. This doesn't apply for people with disabilities, or adults needed to supervise under-18s in a safeguarding role. Where it's necessary for them to be present, supervising adults shouldn't mix with others from outside their household or support bubble and should observe social distancing.

    2. Organisers should develop communication plans to highlight their spectator code of conduct and emphasising alternatives to follow the event where provided.

    3. Organisers must develop comprehensive communications plans in order to inform local residents and businesses that the event is taking place. Race organisers should clearly communicate how the event is being held safely, how it fits with the current Sport England Guidance (linked in the introduction) and how they can contribute towards ensuring the event remains safe.

    I'm not sure what the wording was re spectators before so hoping this is an improvement.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    8 miles this morning, I usually do my hilly town route on a Tuesday but as expected I have DOMS from the gym so I didn't go near a hill today.   Although I took it easy in the gym I am quite sore, hip flexors and quads especially.    Freezing cold again today, really bitter, but despite that and the DOMS I had quite a good run, just ran out of glycogen for the last 1.5 miles.   When I finished my legs were tired and my quads felt like I'd run the first 20 miles of DD, Big G and Ian will know what that feels like.   ;)

    I was tired yesterday after the gym so didn't even manage to get to the library, will go today.
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    edited April 2021
    Shades, just a quick one that it looks like something has gone wrong with the event table above as Louey is down twice, and LTT is against the wrong event.  Well done on your run after the gym; don't blame you for avoiding the hills!

    RCouture, I had that a bit last year where progress isn't always linear, and it can be frustrating.  Maybe a couple of easy days will see you back to normal though.

    LTT, well done on your event.  I've not done an SVN event before as they're a bit difficult for me to get to, but I've also done some lapped events before.  They can be enjoyable as you've found, but the can also be tough mentally.  As Shades said, I'm sure if you do a city one or a club event it'll be a different experience again.  Well done for getting it done, and it sounds like you enjoyed it!

    I didn't run yesterday but I got 10 miles in this morning.  Although cold I had a good run out this morning and really enjoyed it.  It was at my MAF rate as usual, with a couple of hills thrown in and it was nice conditions for me out there today.  Whilst out I was thinking about what to do with the bike, and I think I'm actually going to bring it back inside and put on the turbo for another month or so.  I just think I'll get more use of it inside than I would outside due to the traffic, and if I want to go to a Torbay Tri bike session on a Monday I can just take it off during the day to get it ready for the evening session.  If it starts to get too hot in the room when the warmer weather is here, I may reassess at that point.
  • Thanks very much Shades!

    No you are quite correct!  In the depths of lockdown, when it looked like this year would be very similar to last, I entered the virtual VLM just to have something, anything to train for!  Quite probably mentioned it on here. For the sake of 28 quid I'll likely not bother now.

    I've read that feet swell up on long runs and I think my trainers may be a little small for really long runs, they felt OK at half way, but pretty tight at the end, possibly causing the blisters.

    I have a day off work today to sort out a few bits, but is a stunning day, (cold though! as you say)  so will try and get out for a walk.

    Nice running and gym!  One of my aims is to do some strength work this year.  Our local gym does pay-as-you-go for 7 quid so must visit and learn some running related exercises.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - thanks, I copied and pasted and then meant to go and look for the name of the marathon, and forgot.   Still not sure what it was called.

    Good idea to take the bike back indoors, for a while.   I had a chat to a cyclist this morning and he's finding the weather too cold for his commute and said he wished he'd driven today instead of cycling.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    LTT - yes, you're right re your trainers.   The weather is cold now, if you ran a marathon in warmer weather in those shoes then you'd really be in trouble, feet swell more as the weather heats up.   So next time you buy a pair of shoes, at least a half size larger.

    Enjoy your day off, you've earned it.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Hey folks! As you know I've been benched with a flare up of the old proximal hamstring tendinopathy so decided to take a complete break (unfortunately that has resulted in a few extra pounds, which I only found out this morning as I've stayed off the scales as well as off the forums) but hey. I'm making a cautious return and have managed to Jeff a couple of 5Ks. Sunday's was one minute run/one minute walk and today I did two minutes run/one minute walk. I can feel the hammy but it's pretty mild compared to how it has been so I think I'll be able to continue my return as long as I'm cautious.
    I had to can my spring marathons (deferred MK and managed to sell my Richmond place) but I've some races in the summer, mostly ones that have been postponed. My first goal is to get back to some kind of form in time for parkrun's return.
    I should add that my big gaming rig arrived last weekend so I've been enjoying playing Planet Coaster (a theme park building game, so basically it combines my two non-running passions of gaming and coasters). Fortunately sitting on my bum is now fine - it was extremely uncomfortable when the tendon was at its worst so I had to resort to sitting on a pillow!
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Cal - welcome back and I'm so pleased to hear that you are now heading in the right direction getting rid of that injury.  It's been a long haul.
    The weight gain will only be temporary, it's hard when not able to exercise as the appetite is still there.

    Are you planning to go back to the gym, if there is stuff you can do without annoying the hamstring.

    Great that you've finally got your new rig.


  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Cal, great news you're back running a bit, and fingers crossed improvements will keep coming over the coming days/weeks.

    I got the bike back indoors this afternoon and did about an hour on Zwift, which was enjoyable.  I can't make next Monday's Torbay Tri session but I may be able to make the one after, so the bike will be indoors until then at least.
  • RcoutureRcouture ✭✭✭
    Cal - Good to hear from you. 

    7 miles this evening. Seemed back to normal after my weird little rut which is good. Fingers crossed for some news from Richmond marathon tomorrow. 
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Rcouture - I do so hope it's good news for you today. 🤞

    6 miles today, very cold and quite a heavy frost. DOMS not so bad today.

    Gym later and then getting my hair cut  :):)
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    A bit under 5-miles nice and easy this morning as I'm hoping to go Trotters tonight for the first time in a long time!

    My first ever bike race pic from the duathlon, moments before the "Oh no, my legs have gone" T2 moment.  I do like it when an event offers free pics though.


    Probably still look better on Zwift though... ;)

  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - that's a lovely photo.   Agree, always a good event that follows it up with a free pic.

    Nothing will ever replace a real photo.


  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Rcouture-Hope it goes well today.
    Big G-Looking good in both this pictures,I seen you change from run shoes to bike and then run,for the time it takes do you get the added benefit to outweigh the time loss?
    Shades-Glad you are back and enjoying the gym.
    Hectic few days,Monday was crazy busy but got the keys late afternoon then moved in,lots to still unpack and a bit more work than we thought we needed to be done so got people coming around today to quote for some bits.
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Ian, great news you're in.  I remember a couple of years there were boxes all over the place for a few days when we moved.  Regarding the bike shoes, they are clip in shoes so you get the benefit of applying the power through the whole pedal stroke, and with no danger of the foot slipping off the pedals (especially useful when standing on the pedals, and also when really putting the power down on the flat/downhill).  I think pretty much all (apart from maybe a couple of people on mountain bikes) did change shoes, but my bike shoes have laces, whereas tri bike shoes do not - it's the lacing that took the time for me.  You can't run in bike shoes as the cleats at the bottom of the shoe (that clip into the pedals) make it impossible.  Basically, to speed up transitions, I need bike shoes with no laces, attach the shoes on the bike when it's racked, and practice putting my feet in the shoes whilst on the moving on the bike.

    Shades, I'm looking somewhat grumpy at the river crossing though.  Had to do this three times in total :(  Not totally sure why they put a photographer there as a lot of people aren't really running properly, but I suppose it makes for some interesting action shots for those who just plough straight through at full pelt (which isn't me!).

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