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  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    Cheers OO
    Brief version. Set off from the West side of the Brecons at 4:30am just as the day dawned & finished at Llanthony Abbey on the East side at 10:47pm after 75 miles & 17,000ft. Puts me 13th on the list of known completions since the Traverse began in 1983. ‘‘Twas a grand day out.
    Here’s a few pics from the first leg to whet your appetites.


  • saintjasonsaintjason ✭✭✭
    What an epic adventure Jooligan. Massive well done on a massive effort. Amazing what we have on our 'relative' doorsteps isn't it. Enjoy the plaudits and replenishments that come your way. I've no doubt you have already been out today for a recovery run :) I look forward to a bigger write-up when you get the time. 

    TR - that's another solid long run in the bag. Interesting you don't feel as fit as the last outing. Do you plan on tweaking anything for the taper to see if you can freshen up a little more? Might be an interesting exercise. 

    Wardi - Nicely done on the increased long run especially with the slightly warmer conditions. I think I had a pair of 1080s a few years ago. They were heavy and hurt my knees so they became dog-walkers/gardening shoes. I haven't bought a pair of NB since but heard great things about this fresh foam. I guess all brands are pushing the tech on new foams and formulations so I am bound to notice some responsive cushioning compared to the older tech. 

    TT - Shame the flooding curtailed the intended session but sounds like you got a good training effect from the 'on the fly' session. Great to get a positive bounce from the numbers during the workout. 

    OO - I can imagine the ideal fields being a big lure to have a trot out. Fair play for sticking to your plan. I listened to the latest aussie pod (inside running) on this mornings run and there was a listener question about running downtime and total recovery in order to build stronger when resuming. You are doing nicely sticking with it. 

    17.5 miles for me today with last weeks missed 8 miles @ marathon effort in the middle of it. Ran a new route which probably wasn't the best idea but set out early as I knew there were some busy road junctions to contend with. 8 miles came out at 6:46/mile which was fair enough considering it was undulating and I intended to keep a bit of a lid on things with this ankle stiffness. Another solid week banked with 73.5 miles ran. Got a massage ball and a balance plate thing for fathers day. I must have mentioned the ankle niggle once or twice at home too :) 
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    TT - sounds like zoom fly (or similar), ive a pair of fly flynit which must be up to 600m, im sure the plate has no pop left, but all the foam means they are ok to run on still.

    Wardi - Nice one on the 16, hope the beers were good. My ales stash grew a bit today with fathers day gifts

    OO - mmmm, i guess the not having to run novelty has worn off now. Hopefully the rest is working. 

    Jools - cracking effort, mind boggling. Steely legs for sure.

    5m easy here, rare sunday run as no more turbo or s and c in the taper. Had a tighter hammy last few days, than i had before the physio Wednesday. Hopefully just a side effect that will settle.

    Drizzly and light wind morning here, would have been good for a run round Goodwood cct.
  • TippTopTippTop ✭✭✭
    Jooligan - sounds like a cracking run. 13th AT is impressive!
    TR
    - yeah, I think zoom fly is right. Fingers crossed for your hammy.
    sj - good fun and good week.
    Wardi - fun to tends to fluctuate but I'm hoping 'under training' makes it more predictable. Nicely done on the 16!
    OO - fingers crossed your bench time is brief and you can get out in those fields.

    With weeks of 51, 52, 54, 56, and now 63, after today's easy 6m, it is probably the most restrained rebuild I've ever done (though that's a pretty low bar to be fair; lol). I just need to keep on in this vein and see how it turns out.
  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭
    Fantastic effort, Jooligan! All of that hill and trail climbing came good. I look forward to the fuller report in due course.

    5 easy yesterday morning and then a 2.5 hour walk in the afternoon. I got to Yate this afternoon to find that our team managers didn't think it was fair to deselect me in favour of a clubmate who has recently run 10.20 for 3k and wanted to run as a guest. I told them not to be silly and to think of the points. Come the race my heart wasn't in it, and my breathing was awful (probably the hayfever). I plodded round in a wee bit under 12 minutes, which is obviously awful, but never mind. I'll take a while bunch of sh!t build up races as long as the marathon goes ok 😂
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    Bad luck Jools but a decent effort anyway.  I used to get a touch of hay fever a few years back but TBH my breathing (& muscles) suffer more in very low temps. 
    Jooligan.. Great photos and congrats on a very long day in the hills, a fine ranking to end up with too.
    TT.. nice progression in the weekly miles, long may it continue.
    TR.. nice to get a run in, hope the beers aren't too tempting. 😋
    OO.. admirable restraint, hope your niggles settle soon.
    SJ.. that's a solid MP section in the middle of a long run, nice work!

    Limited on time today.  Stripping out our sizeable lounge/dining room ready for decorating tomorrow.  My multi component audio system was dismantled in less than an hour but the bliddy curtains.. what a PITA!
    5m with the Mrs this afternoon, 57m for the week.
  • Wow Jooligan, what an adventure!

    SJ - yes, Aintree for the half in July. I hope the weather is like it was today, but I suspect last Sunday's heat is more likely. Today I was on the Cloud Trail with my coach and some of his other athletes. There's a Strava segment on there called Try to Catch an Elite. Also Sam Harrison is one of Vince's athletes and she regularly runs there, although she didn't join us today. We were doing MP. She arrived as we were finishing and did some scary fast high end tempo run. No danger of catching that elite! 

    14.5 miles with 12 at MP. I think it must have averaged 6.46/47 ish. Carrying a litre of water I didn't really need, but was grateful for during the cool down. When I was writing my own schedules that would have been a session I did in peak training, albeit on a Friday night with a long slow run still to follow on the Sunday. I'm a bit scared by what peak training might look like with coach Vince.

    Did I tell you about the track session he had me doing on Tuesday? I can't remember if I did or not. It was such a monster that I had to skip the last set of 400s because they were closing the track. I covered almost 7 miles at paces faster than my new 5000m PB. It was an absolute killer! 

    Jools, I'm with you on the breathing. Tuesday night and today when running faster I was almost wheezy, and my nose was streaming. Of course I ran out of hayfever tablets a week or so ago and forgot to order any more. Perhaps I should do that now... 
  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭
    I had my eyes tested yesterday and my optician commented on how irritated they clearly were.  Apparently you're supposed to start taking meds a few weeks before your symptoms are likely to start, otherwise it's "hard to get on top of the symptoms", so it seems I'm stuffed for the next month of so (thankfully my hayfever only ever seems to be awful in June/July: I don't know quite what kind of grass it is I'm allergic to, but it doesn't seem to flower for months on end, for which I'm eternally grateful).  I'm definitely worse than usual this year: steady running is ok (I just end up blotchy on my arms and legs from pollen in the air), but faster stuff feels awful.  It'll be interesting to see how the training pans out for you, Speedy.  It certainly sounds very different to my P&D fare, but there are many ways to skin the marathon training cat...
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    Jools.. I presume you are wearing sunglasses when you're out?  The other tip I've learned is smearing a small amount of Vaseline around the end of the nostrils to help prevent pollen ingress.  Every little helps I guess.

    CC2.. that's a very encouraging MP section in the middle of a longish run, brilliant stuff!

    10k out in the country this morning, crikey who turned the sun off?  26 degrees last Wednesday and a chilly 13 today!  🤔
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    TT - 60ish is just fine, keep it there and see how long you can maintain it.

    Jools - good for you, i dont think id step aside having travelled. Hope the pollen levels drop a bit.

    CC - nice one, your coach is paying off thats sub 3 pace form. You might go a bit longer but not by much more, but he might up your volume around it. That run was pretty much a peaking run though? But not 15 weeks out.

    Wardi - chilly today !

    Rainy commute run home tonight.
  • TippTopTippTop ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    TR - I'm planning on repeating the 50s for the 60s (i.e. 4 weeks in that range before going higher, though will be on holiday during that so there'll be a blip in mileage as we chill out around Cornwall).
    Wardi - nice weekly volume. Good luck with the decorating. I've been trying to get back to it over the last few days to finish off, but I'm at the 'partially dependant on others' phase now.
    sj/TR - I have been going through the Chris Wardlaw pdf on Aussie training (attached below if you're interested). I'm sure it must be a name that has popped up on the podcast (just started listening :smile: ). It's all pretty much the same as we've read on Deek and Mona, principle wise (controlled, no 'big' sessions, etc), but he has sample schedules in there which are quite useful - all the weeks are similar but the sessions differ slightly, and so on. My easy pace is more in line with Mona than Wardlaw's (Wardlaw's easy falls in about 'brisk' on my pace chart). Useful reference point though.

    Was a bit wiped out yesterday after a crazy few days so opted for an 'acceleration' (aka progressive) run rather than a more structured hill session. 50 minutes as 10 easy, brisk, steady, fast, LT (7:33, 7:02, 6:37, 6:18, 5:51). Enjoyable. Hopefully something like 15m easy today.
  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭
    Wardi: I must admit vaseline never seemed to reduce my symptoms very much, but perhaps it was always a case of locking the stable door after the horse had bolted!  In terms of sunglasses, I don't have prescription sunglasses and most mornings I run in my usual glasses rather than contacts as otherwise I'm wearing my lenses for too long (I'm not supposed to wear them for over 12 hours a day).  A bit annoying, and perhaps I should fork out for prescription sunglasses, although I have a sneaking suspicion that due to my 'complex prescription' (i.e. very short sighted) they would be horribly expensive.

    9 miles with 10 sets of strides this morning.  I had to change my route as Clifton & Durdham Down had a very high police/ambulance presence (something like 10 or 12 vehicles) and the pavement was partly shut.  I can't see anything on the news, but it's a bit unsettling.
  • TippTopTippTop ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    Jools - what about a clip-on lens (normal, not prescription) to go over your glasses? That doesn't sound great with that much presence.

    15m done. 8 easy, 6 brisk, 1 steady. Went along a route I've not run in years to find a huge* new housing estate at the end of it with some decent rolling hills in it.
    * main road through it as far as they've built so far is almost 1.5m
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    Goos stuff TT, doing well. I'll have a read of that.

    Hope the pollen eases soon jools, my youngest is suffering.

    2m easy, 8 approx mp this morning in my commute 10m. My Next % have 10m on them, shame to do it in training but with no build up races i needed to try them.

    Abo has been cancelled, that was my back up, but they dont have much interest. However if the bigger races get cancelled they'd pick up some more entrants.
  • saintjasonsaintjason ✭✭✭
    Joolska - I'm in the same boat re complex prescription glasses. Astigmatism in my case. I did price up sunglasses once but on top of my regular glasses the bill was over £700. Hope the hayfever settles. 

    TT - nice mlr with the quicker miles too. Nice one on the reading material. 

    TR - did you wear the Next % this morning? Sorry confused by what you wrote. Another chunk of MP, that must be feeling comfy now? 

    6 easy on grass yesterday felt ok. 10 tonight with hill sprints and strides instead of club night. Local 5 mile race tomorrow but I'll run down and back to make it the P&D mlr. 
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    SJ - good idea to make the 5m into an mlr, i do it with chichester 10k. Hope you go well. Yes, 10m on the shoes today. Never noticed any magic (although i was a tad quicker than the same session in April), maybe they have more benefit the quicker you run? But they felt ok once i got used to them, although a bit unstable, so I'll save them until Goodwood now.
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    TR.. sad and surprised about Abo but I guess it's a victim of too many races squeezed into the autumn.  Did the shoes feel good?  My NB carbon racers seemed good to go straight out of the box.

    TT.. nice MLR with mixed paces.  That estate sounds like one 5m up the road from me.  I used to go to the youth club there as a teenager- it was known as a village then, size of a small town now!

    Jools.. crikey I see what you mean about prescription sunglasses.  I had to buy a new pair of my favoured Oakleys recently (I managed to lose my treasured 12 year old pair).  FWIW Half Jacket XL, cost £88.  Available as a prescription pair for £300-350.  Ouch!

    9m here too, a beautiful day and thankfully a few degrees warmer than yesterday.
  • saintjasonsaintjason ✭✭✭
    TR - Lake Dorney still open for entries if you want a replacement back-up now Abo has gone. 

    Wardi - very envious of the sunnies. I did also look at prescription Oakleys a few years ago but the curvature of the lens put pay to that. I'm hopeful tech continues at pace and eventually my prescription can be accommodated by these manufacturers.
  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭
    Wardi: that £350 will be basic lenses. Chances are they'd have to custom order high density plastic lenses for me (otherwise very thick lenses, especially with the size of wraparound lenses: larger lense = thicker at the edges). SJ's figure sounds more like it...
  • TippTopTippTop ✭✭✭
    TR - nicely done on the 8m @ MP. I never could do MP in training for any decent distance (one of the reasons I like the Aussie stuff).
    Wardi - this was a good sized town to begin with, but they've basically shoe-horned a new sprawling estate in on the tail-end of it, running next to a very heavily used A road. The amount of development that has gone on within 10 miles of us is a little scary, particularly as traffic can be quite bad at times around here.

    Shame to see Abo go. I considered entering it but the date didn't work for me. One of the two races where I'd planned on having a crack at a champs time (Wokingham HM in September) has also announced as postponed. I can see the other (Reading HM at the start of November) going the same way. Considering entering a different spring marathon and maybe just targeting a closed circuit 10k later in the year (don't really fancy 4-5 laps of something for a HM).
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    Jools/SJ.. understood, add to that the cost of all risks insurance if you're venturing outdoors in a few hundred quids worth of sunglasses!  
    A couple of reasons why I wear them.. about 3 years ago my lens was hit by a high velocity pebble kicked up by a car.  Apart from saving me from a potential eye injury it did no damage to the lens at all.  Also, if you accidentally sit or stand on your Oakleys, or in my case trip and hit your head on a rock🤔, they will dismantle rather than break - the stems/lenses simply clip back together again.

    TT.. not that I'm trying to tempt you but there's the 'Vale of York half' up here near Selby on Sept 12th.  Both SJ and LMH have run it, it's a very flat course and a decent quality field.  Further afield Barca marathon are still taking entries (7th Nov) and still seem quite bullish about it going ahead.

    Legs felt a bit fresher so a 10.2m progressive run this morning, pleasantly warm and sunny again.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    SJ - yes, dorney would be a good back up.

    TT - Gosport (Nov) opened again recently.

    Wardi - nice to be out in the warmth.

    8m home tonight, only a couple of key runs left.
  • saintjasonsaintjason ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021

    Wardi - that's always crossed my mind re projectiles kicked up by passing cars. Luckily only had a stone hit my legs. Benefits of being bespectacled is the bugs on the canal bounce off my lenses. Those Oakleys sound bomb proof with their 'come apart' design. Good stuff. Nice progressive run. 

    TT - postponements are a concern. I assume this is gov dithering and those events not able to categorically push ahead with plans. Maybe insurance also still a factor? I must confess the laps marathon is a last resort, however, I'd still rather have something to race after all the training. 

    TR - more positive news re Gosport. It's going to be a bit like this I think. Interesting that smaller events are going ahead here considering we have consistently been high in terms of infections and hospital admissions. We're under 'advise not to travel outside of area' currently. Nice work getting to this stage once again relatively unscathed, that's half the battle. Great consistency. 

    Local 5mile race last night (300 runners). Good turn out from our club as the organiser is a club stalwart. It's a two lap course but slightly altered this year ti ensure maximum covid safety, this meant twice up this stinker of a climb. 

    Set off in waves but the small field basically meant we were running in small groups (6 max). I was with the front of our B group guys who are all way younger than me :) Got up the first climb easily enough on lap 1 and pushed on through 3km. Group split apart after that and another club runner came along with me. We ran strongly through 4-5km until the second lap and the hill again. Basically trudged up this and took at least 30 seconds to recover. Thankfully everyone said they died on the hill second time around. 

    Me and my companion got going again and he took a couple of meters out of me up to 6.5k. However the switch-back decent allowed me to catch up. As my watch lapped 7km I pulled away from him and reeled in another guy slowing before a strong finish up to the line.

    Finished in 30.13 and 16th overall. On a flat course that's sub 30 I reckon. Very pleased with that. First race since York 2019. Also tagged on an extended warm-up/warm-down which included another big hill back to the car for 13 miles for the day. Not quite the p&d mlr but I was tired so box ticked. 

    No idea what to make of this ankle. Obviously isn't affecting me running but is sore and achy when not. I have kept up all the strength work but I can barely do 10 calf raises on the stairs before it gives in. Those raises require full concentration too. 

    Anyway, I'll keep on going but will get some advice. Not sure what more I can do though. Apart from stopping of course :) 
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    That’s a cracking run SJ which further demonstrates you’re in great shape. When’s your next marathon? Not soon enough is my guess.
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    Cracking run SJ, as you say a sub 30 is surely on the cards on a flat course. By coincidence my club are running an out & back 5m handicap race tonight where I'm on pacing duties.  We're setting off in groups of 10-12, it's a bit hot and sticky out there.
    TR.. hope you're enjoying the wind down, I always find it a struggle!
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Nice one SJ, strong run that. Motivating to get a result on the board. You'd go sub 37 on a flat 10k, so thats decent shape.

    Reasonably unscathed, but my hammy feels worse than before i had physio a week ago. Hopefully its a side effect. 14m with 6m mp saturday, so we'll see how it feels then. Im on the roller and spikey ball.

    5m jog in this morning.
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    TR.  muscle grumbles always seem to return during taper.  Hope the self afflicted torture works!

    Pacing duties.. a couple of my club youngsters wanted a sub 37.30 5m to their name.  7.28, 7.32, 7.30, 7.28, 7.27 brought up 37.25 which sent them home happy.  7m for the day with a w/u & w/d
  • saintjasonsaintjason ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    TR - hope the hammy settles with the roller and spikey ball. As you say possibly grumbling from the thrashing it got at the fizz. 

    Wardi - that's a job well done then re the pacing. Lovely even running. Mo could do with your help tonight. 

    Jooligan - thanks. London or Dorney lake. It was a good marker but lots of work to do to build up to holding race pace over 42k.

    Slow jog last night along the canal with a podcast on which was just what I needed. Legs didnt feel too bad at all actually. 

    Early finish from work today will allow me to get my 12 miler done before heading off to see if Mo can get the olympic qualifier at sportcity. Typical Manchester weather for him.
  • TippTopTippTop ✭✭✭
    Wardi/TR - cheers for the race suggestions but both of them are (typically) on my kid weekends.
    Wardi - great pacing job!
    sj - cracking 5m!! Well done! I can get your logic on getting something for your training, but it has been over 2 years since I last done a race of any description so I'm happy to bide my time and just focus on getting fully fit again first. What blows my mind is the likes of Wembley and Silverstone announcing full capacity crowds and there's still no parkrun, so yes, I suspect you're right that insurance is a large part of it.
    TR - hope your hammy is settling.

    Continuing my down* week by not having a Thursday session. I'm quite liking the layout in the Wardlaw pdf and having a down week every 4th as he suggests seems like a good idea for me. No alcohol this month seems to have helped my weight loss too as I'm down about 9lbs (I think) in 5.5 weeks.

    * down in quality rather than quantity for now, but will be both in future.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Top pacing skills wardi

    Good stuff SJ, would be a good finale for mo if he makes it. But as before, i believe in Santa more than i do in the top endurance athletes nowadays. I feel ive wasted time following performances that i no longer believe in. Theres too much smoke for me to be no fire.

    TT - silverstone etc are conttolled events with testing before and after or double jab evidence, these events seem to be turning up very few positive tests, as it would need someone who is brewing up CV but not positive yet to slip thtough. The uncontrolled gatherings for the footy etc seem to be causing spikes.

    5m jogette in the rain done.

    Eldest lads birthday tomorrow, he is coming over and we are going to a local indian tonight. Could be dangerous with an mp run tomorrow, ill stick to the quiet country lanes (with bushes) for that run!
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