P&D Spring Marathon 2021

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  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    Well that just looks epic Jools!!!
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    Very wise AWC, good to take the rest time.

    Looks cracking Jools,  great adventure. Good to get your name on the honours board.

    Wet commute run home tonight.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    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.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Fab photos, Jools - you looks as though you're having way too much fun. Well done on your time!

    I had a couple of gym/elliptical days so today I did an 8 mile fartlek type run. I was scheduled to run yesterday but the weather wasn't nice so decided to go today instead...and it was perfect out. My body was not perfect, though...knee felt cranky despite not running for two days and hammy was sore even when I got out of bed. I didn't feel hammy too much on the run but knee continued to be cranky afterwards (I usually walk around the block after finishing my run to get my HR down to a normal level before going indoors). I forced myself to have a good stretch and that got rid of the pain so I think the whole hip and leg is just really tight. I'm seeing Toby (my fizz) tomorrow anyway so he'll no doubt spend some time grinding his elbow into my SI joint, which usually helps, even though it is unpleasant.
    As for the run, I just threw in some random faster efforts and was pleased with the paces I hit - there was even one sub-9 minute mile in there. Of course, to be HM fit I'd need to run 13 of those, but my July HM has been postponed to September so I don't need to worry about that until August (when I'm in for the postponed Big Half).
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    4 mile recovery run today - lovely weather. Didn't much enjoy the run though as I made a point of going as slowly as I could and it just felt tortuous. I don't think I'd be cut out for low HR training. Physio later today.
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    TR: makes sense to get a few miles in the shoes before race day. I take it they feel very similar to the old ones? I noticed a few people on the 100 miler wearing Vaporflys - in fact the winner wore a pair.
    Cal: good luck with the physio. My right hip gets tight and a good massage always sorts it out.
    First hill session today - 7mi with c1.1k of vert. Legs feeling well recovered.
    Western States race this weekend so that should make for some fun dot watching on Saturday/Sunday
    I will do a short race report on the SDW100 shortly, but my head was as fried as my body last week that I couldn't bring myself to start reliving it!
  • AWC saw that 1,000 ft on Strava, good effort.  I wore my Nike Peg on the SDW which worked well for me.

    Cal - good to see some runs stringing together,  agree on slowing right down being torturous but after a session I think it’s worth it.

    TR - good to get a few miles in the Next. I find them so comfortable that I’d run in then straight out the box if I had to.

    Jools -  that’s looks like a cracking day and great photos.  The elevation and speed are top effort.

    Like AWC, I keep meaning to write a few lines about SDW before it fades to distant memory, there were a few funny moments I hope I remember.  I’ve been doing some quad work recently because it’s easier than finding a decent hill round here.  A club 10k TT type affair tonight, ironically this one has a decent hill so I won’t be troubling any of my quicker times I don’t think.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    Cal - i do plenty of slow easy miles in my commutes, but agreed i dont like the short runs they are a bit wtfp.

    AWC - good news on the fresh legs. Must be tough legs.

    Macca - you defo have steely legs to be doing a 10k already.

    I needed to try the shoes in case they caused any issues. The 4% (only worn once at Chichester 10k) annoyed my feet and lower legs. The Next % were much better, ill save them til race day now.

    8m yday, 5m.

    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 for now.
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    TR: love the spikey ball - been getting my glute into it as well this week. Good luck with the MP tomorrow - hope it goes well.
    Macca: Interesting re the Pegs - quite a few were wearing fast road shoes I noticed. I can't imagine coming down the final descent into Eastbourne in a pair of Vaporflys but I guess it works for some! I have a sore metatarsal on my left foot so I'm running in trail shoes with a rock plate for protection at the minute.
    I've got some intervals today and then a longer hilly run on Sunday - probably be 16-18 miles.
    I'm off to the Lakes next week for my final recces.
    Recce 1 will be Ambleside to Coniston (c15 miles)
    Recce 2 is Pooley Bridge to Troutbeck (c25 miles)
    Driving up Wednesday night, staying in Ambleside YHA and then Thursday night at a hotel in Penrith. Should be a fun little trip to end the week :smile:
  • TR - all the best with the MP tomorrow. I find a bit of dynamic warm up helps my hammies no end for speedwork.

    AWC - Your reccies sound spot on. IIRC you’ll have covered all the major climbs and tricky bits, enjoy Fusedale and Gatescarth.  I’d love to do a reccie but I think I’ve used up all my passes with races.  Speaking of which, UTMB had so many deferrals that they seem to be accepting people rejected in the lottery if you check your runners page.

    A club 10k TT last night in 39:15.  It was a lumpy course so km splits ranged from 3.33 to 4.19 but it felt an even effort so happy with a good blow out. 
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    AWC - sounds like you've got a great week ahead.

    Macca - nice one, good blow out as you say. You are able to race well at an array of distances.

    Indian meal and frothies for my eldests bday wasnt the best prep last night for an mp run today, but i ran ok today regardless. 4m, 6m ~mp, 4m. 6m effort came out too quick but i wasnt thrashing myself. Hammy was ok-ish, the hip on the other side was more of an issue.

    Race info in, only 80 entered for next weeks mara, wont be many windbreaks to run behind, but social distancing should be easy to manage. Not really up for it at the mo, but same as last time i have 7 or 8 laps to talk myself into a few tough laps in the later stages.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    I guess the faster you are, the fewer windbreaks you get, TR... but having said that, I've found myself on my own in a few smaller races where the field spreads out more.

    Physio's verdict was very very tight quads. He gave me some horrible exercises which I did in the gym on Friday and have had DOMS since! 
    I did a ploddy 4 mile recovery yesterday (which I actually enjoyed, but I ran between 11 and 12 rather than 12 and 13, like midweek) but today I was determined to get a half under my belt. I plotted out a route that included a few new bits and stuck to it, for the mostpart. One of the new trails I found was nice and I will use it again. 
    It was rather humid, though, even though there was a cooling breeze at times, so I was glad I took water.
    It became a bit of a slog after 8 miles but I toughed it out and got the 13 (and a bit) done, albeit at plodding donkey pace. Now I just have to work on getting my mile splits down by at least two minutes per mile...but I've got 8 weeks to improve. If the Harry Hawkes race had taken place when it was supposed to, I'd only have three weeks left, so it's definitely a good thing for me that it has been bumped to September.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Least the temperatures haven't rocketed back up TR Hope you're enjoying the taper.
    That's a big step in the right direction there Cal.
    Tidy 10K Macca.
    Enjoy the recces AWC - weather's looking favourable. I'm up there for the HalfX tri at the weekend.
    Quiet week for me though I have been out every day & managed 38M in all + a 2K swim but no biking.
    Biggest run of 9M yesterday & (Not)parkrun Saturday in 21:08.
    Track session at lunch of 3x3'/4x2' off a minute into 5x1' off 45s. Increased the pace throughout the 3' & 2' reps & went faster still for the 1' reps although the perfect progression went awry by the 3rd.
    Here's my report of the SWT.

  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Cal - thats positive then, you should be able to work on those quads with stretching and rolling. Hopefully it will soon kick in too.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Cracking read that jools. The levels of support and organisation it took are eye opening. A cracking adventure, will give you legendary status for a long time in your circles.

    5m easy home tonight. Uninspired by 11 lonely laps Sunday in a very small field, i have made inquiries and can swap to the 1/2 when i collect my number Sunday, if i wish to. Around 250 runners and the opportunity to get down towards 80min again, might get me more inspired. Dont have to decide until the weekend.
  • JooliganJooligan ✭✭✭
    Cheers TR. Half could be a good shout - more time motivation, less boredom & won’t ruin you as much either. Probably get more company too.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Yes, dont think ive done a 1/2 before that hasnt been jammed into a mara build up or after the mara.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Amazing stuff, Jools - great photos too!
    TR, I wouldn't fancy that at all. I didn't like Dorney, and that's only four figure-8s (I made it through 1.5 of those before bailing thanks to the hamstring, but also the crap weather). Good luck.

    As last week, I took two days off running and did half an hour on the elliptical and then strength training - leggy rehab on Monday and back and arms yesterday. I was feeling my achilles very slightly after Sunday's run so I am not keen to poke that bear with a stick, so to speak. (It felt fine this morning although groin was niggling again...not terribly badly though).

    I did a 7 mile run, returning to the alphabet roads (a series of roads beginning with the letters A through J) in Tooting for a bit of speedwork - pushing on the alphabets and then catching my breath on the top and bottom bits. I recovered a little then did a longer push along the top road before heading back.
    I was considering a push up a road called Nimrod that links Tooting to Tooting Bec common, but it felt a bit too laboured on the uphill bit, and I was then was distracted by a ginger cat in the middle of the path so stopped briefly to give him a head rub.
    I do need to get back to running hills again - the question is how to do it without annoying my hamstring.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Cal - maybe kee on the flat for now.

    6m inc 6x3min yday as a taper tune up instead of the usual 2m mp. 5m easy tonight.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Yeah, I am for the mostpart. Just aware I have a 5 mile trail race on Wimbledon common in a few weeks - it's lumpy.

    A fairly easy-paced 8 miler today. I decided to head over past Tooting Bec to some small green spaces I'd visited on walks but hadn't managed to run, and pottered through those. I saw a coal tit, a disinterested fox (he/she ambled out of my way and didn't seem at all bothered) and then finished at the big pond (they call it a lake, but it's a big pond really) on Tooting Bec where I spent a few minutes looking at the various waterfowl and their youngsters.

    I've entered a 10K in Battersea Park in August - Runthrough sent me a 50% offer via email so it only cost £12.50. I'm a long way off form but it's two weeks before The Big Half so a good way to test myself.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Good going Cal. You'd get through a lunpy trail 5m with no hills before hand. Good idea on the 10k too, it'll give you a training effect as a minimum.

    5m easy with strides this morning. Still got stiff hip/itb and tight hammy, so standard taper. Weather shows possible rain and sw gusts, none of which looks too bad, but its going to be super humid.
  • Cal - I’d echo TR in avoiding too much elevation for a while. Good to get a few races in the diary, Battersea Park should be pan cake flat.

    Jools - must get round to reading your report, apologies.

    TR - braver than me to attempt MP after a ruby and beers.  Still undecided half / full ?  I guess how long you want to spend in a sweat fest might be a factor, otoh, small field, you could place well.

    Chasing hills here this week with a 4x 1k session thrown in.  I was wondering why today’s gentle run was a bit of a slog and about an hour in I remembered I’d done 3 days of hills and a speed session.  I miss following the plan and not accidentally digging myself into such holes.
  • runspoonrunrunspoonrun ✭✭✭
    edited July 2021
    Afternoon all. Long time no speak! Thought I'd pop my head in as I'm slowly building up to hopefully start training for London in October. The last 18 months have been a bit of a write off between my troublesome hamstrings, and a complete lack of motivation to do anything other than plod about. With some encouragement from SQ though I've gotten over my fear of quite how shit I'll be in faster sessions and have been gradually building up on the local grass track.

    Paces are terrible (400m reps at my previous marathon pace, 1600m slower than a moderate long run pace once was) but I'm trying my best to ignore any comparisons to previous times, and just enjoy the process. I'm definitely starting to make some progress, and for the first time in a long time it feels like some momentum might be building. Who knew if I started to actually train I might begin to improve?!  :D

    I'm looking to jump on to the 12 week up to 55 mile P&D plan shortly, to get myself in some kind of shape for London. Absolutely no goals in mind - I just want to be able to get around, and if I can enjoy it then that will be a bonus ;) I probably won't follow it to the letter, but it will give me some kind of structure to work with.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Macca - pretty sure ill do the 1/2 .a combination of things got me thinking of the 1/2, ive been super busy at work so running has dropped off my mental radar a bit, it was dawning on me that id have to manage another careful mara on a  probably warm day, (sunday will be more humid than hot, not sure how that will effect things),  ive a few niggles, it took me ages to shake off Aprils mara - and i don't want that with 10 wks to Brighton.......the list could go on........the chance to get close to 80mins again (as an m50) appeals, and there's less risk of the shoes causing an issue over 1/2.

    Spoons - ood to see you, glad things are picking up for you, well done SQ for helping you with some company. Vlm will help with the mojo going forwards after Oct.

    3m inc strides.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    spoons, it sounds like we're in a similar boat. I'm down for either Chicago or Manchester (they're on the same date...have entries to both) so which depends on the Covid situation, really. I'm also down for Valencia in December but seems my first AZ vaccination was from one of the Indian batches that the EU doesn't recognise, so I don't know if I'll be allowed to go. (Hopefully that'll be sorted out by then). Regardless, I feel so unfit at the moment.

    Gym day yesterday so decided to do a time trial/tempo of sorts today: Two miles to warm up then 5K tempo. I was hoping for 9 min/mi on the tempo and got quite close (9:06 then 9:08) but faded on the final mile. This is, however, the first sustained effort I've made since my injury, so it's to be expected. Effort was at the level where I was breathing quite hard but not at the sawing logs stage. My VO2 max is obviously well done from what it was so it's going to take some work to get it back. (I can't believe I ran for nearly 4 hours at this pace a year and a half ago). Could feel the knee a little, but hamstring didn't kick off, so that's a positive.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    Cal - thats a decent effort, with a few more sessions id expect you to make some quite quick progress.

    2m inc strides. Showers and bit of breeze forecast, but the showers might make the humidity drop a bit. Could be a sweaty one, might even dig a singlet out.

    Had a number id forgotten about arrive in the post today. Brighton Pheonix 10k weds 14th evening race on the seafront, its rolled over from last yr. Didnt think it would happen, but its been capped at 400 and has 4 waves going off in estimated finish time order. Sounds a lot more normal than laps of circuits, so i might see if i can make the logistics work.

  • Good to hear from you Spoons.

    TR all the best tomorrow - a hard half will probably serve Brighton better than a hard Mara , run well either way.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Nice, TR! And hope you've had a good race today.

    I ran another (training) half marathon this morning...I'd initially thought I might run to Wimbledon Common and do a circuit of the trail race course, but it would mean a longer run, plus some climbs (no matter which way I approach it, I always have to run up a big hill to get to the common, and then there are the hills on the common itself) and I didn't feel ready for that. Instead, I opted to run down to Battersea, through the park, along the Thames (which I've not done for six months), along part of the Wandle and then back home via Mead Path and Tooting Common. It was quite humid but that brought out the smells of all the flowers along the way, and then it started to rain near the end...didn't mind that, though, as it cooled me down.
    It was a much better run than last weekend's and it shouldn't have been...I slept less than 6 hours last night and did that tempo yesterday, but I felt way more energetic when I went out. Pace was better, HR was better (despite the faster pace), and I definitely felt like there was a lot more fuel in the tank. Even now I feel less wrung out than I did last weekend.
    Knee was cranky for a lot of the run but didn't feel serious (more tight than anything so will have to make myself stretch today, I think). Hammy woke up around 8 miles but it was more a mild ache than something to worry about. Those niggles aside, very happy with this run - starting to feel like my old self.
  • TRTR ✭✭✭
    edited July 2021
    Good to see you on the up cal

    I swapped to the 1/2, which was seamless.

    Lined up with the sub85s, ran away from them and the sub 80s were up the road, so pretty lonely affair, but had people doing other distances to overtake. Thought id be around 81min, was hovering 6.15ish, which became 6.10s, so mid 81s was on, but tailed off mile 9 to 12 to 6.25ish when the humidity and wind caught up with me, last mile 6.10 for 82.11. Solid but unspectacular. Glad i never did the full, as the wind and humidity would have been tough.
    As ever these socially distance races are tough, but defo enjoyed first shorter distance race in a while. Bizarrley my av and max HR were only a couple of beats higher than my April 2.58, id expect it to be higher for a 1/2.
    Probably be a good idea to find a few other races in the build up to autumn maras as i defo struggled to get the diesel engine revving. Official time 82.09.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Good job, TR...yeah, racing is definitely not the same at the moment.
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