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P&D Spring Marathon 2021
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I came up with the none too sensible plan of using the surprise deferred Lordshill 10k place today to try to force my hip/glute thing into life, although i didnt think it too much of a risk and i have a physio freeing up booked in for Weds.
So social distanced running round Goodwood seemed to be over, and more normal racing back as i stood on a start line with a few hundred others, normality was defo reinforced by the rain that kicked in with 5minutes to the off.
Last 10k in feb 2020 was 36.3X , so i thought itd be reasonable to go sub 37, but ended up with 37.18 which was a bit of a shock, so fairly disappointing, but off no 10k relative work and av 6mm should make av 6.4Xs feel comfy. Issue didnt feel too bad so thats a positive. 30th place, 2nd m50..........we'll see how my legs feel tomorrow but i seem to be someone that the shoes have no speed magic for (although if my legs pull up well after racing then thats a benefit). SPO was highly amused by all the "Ali Baba' shoes on display. Good to see millsy today, weve had a few races where weve chased each other home, i was the one trying to do the chasing today.
TR - with a niggle going in, then pissed on, that looks a decent result. The course looked a bit lumpy on Strava ? 2nd in cat can’t be sniffed at and must have been close to Millsy.
Penultimate TT in a club series for me today. As points are weighted towards attendance, despite being passed by a few faster guys I appear to be top of the league by virtue of turning up most. I’d forgotten how lung busting hills on Xc can be, never sure if even effort or red lining all the way is the best approach.
I laughed at the Ali Baba comment. I've seen a lot of Next% and even a few AlphaFlys at both the Summer 10K and the Pride 10K...I mean these are basically fun runs so talk about overkill!
Well done on topping the league, Macca!
Ydays 10k monkey business left me with no weekend long run, so 16m run home tonight, wasnt sure how far to go, id normally do 20 Saturday, but my legs were moaning a bit in the last few miles so hopefully 16m is enough...........the self physio gamble of the 10k did help free the hip/glute up a bit, the fizz will hopefully do the rest.......the moral of the story is its good for your body to run fast at times which forces it to work functionally.
You are a machine when it comes to recovery, Macca. Impressed with the TT. When are you off for Spartathlon? Hope to catch up with you for a beer in London.
TR - not bad going in the 10k, but remember you will definitely be well-trained for the longer stuff right now. Good point about the recovery from super shoes - that is my greater hope for the latter stages of the marathon. Hope to also see you for a beer after London.
You bounced back well with a good progression run, Cal 👍.
Hadn’t realised how tough the new(ish) Stroud parkrun must be, Jools.
You have followed the plan very well, Kate. Rare for this forum, but does tend to lead to success!
An 84 min half in a session is very strong, John. Hope things turn for you guys soon. Weird seeing it - as we have 30,000-40,000 cases a day.
Well done at Wilmslow, Welty. Pleased there was a good vibe.
Shout out to former resident of these parts, hamo, for his stellar 71 minutes at the GNR. Wowsers.
Continuing with the theme of one mega session a week, supplementing with plenty of jogging, buggy running and occasional strides.
Last week was a biggie indeed: 4M warm up, 4M MP (6:50), 4 x 1200 (6:15 - 20), 4M MP (6:45), 4M warm down. 20M total at about 7:12 average including many laps of the racecourse! Padded this out to a 72M week.
Two week taper, with the final session tomorrow - a far lighter open-topped sandwich of 10 mins MP, 8 x 2 mins hard. Will drop mileage considerably, and hope that niggles ease up. Just need to focus on some healthy and moderated eating.
Less that two weeks until London now. Eagerly awaiting the final email with start time, wave, zone etc. Logistics are still going to be astonishing, but think I have a plan. Getting quite excited!
TR, I agree there. I like my 4% but I've had some shite runs in them as well as good runs. They're nice but they ain't magic.
Easy 6 this morning - legs noticeably perked up after three miles. Pleasant morning although, typically, the sun didn't come out until I was practically home, and it was glorious out while I was indoors at the gym. Sod's law.
SQ - That looks a tough session, well done for nailing it. A post London beer would be good - even better if it was from a voucher but given the current climate…..
Subject to no one gluing themselves to the M25 I should be flying to Athens tomorrow, registration Thurs then kick off Fri 7am local time, 5am UK. Just the right mixture of anticipation/nerves.
Good news that the legs eased up, Cal. Always a good sign!
TR - that'd be good. Looking forward to this email which confirms timings/waves etc.
Final session on the BAC list today (full list https://www.bournemouthac.co.uk/training/BAC_Marathon_Sessions_2016.pdf if anyone interested). Adapted for the convenient markers around the racecourse: 4M WU, 2M MP (6:40s so a bit sharp), 4 x 800 (2:58 average), 2 x 400 (1:26s), 6M extended cool down to give just over 15M. So this will probably me a final MLR from me as well, with perhaps 10 at the weekend if I can squeeze it in.
A surprisingly tough session, and I probably didn't give it the respect it deserved. That said, very pleasing to (finally) see some sub 6 pace in there.
SQ - nicely done, those BAC sessions are good strength builders, and should set you up well. Ive seen a few of those on Strava recently from some of the BAC/twemlow folks.
Macca - enjoy yourself, i hope your steely legs serve you well again. I was only thinking today that they should get the snowploughs out to clear the roads.
4m and 4m for me today, to ensure i can run in tomorrow.
Well done SQ.
Firstly a massive well done to Macca, another awesome effort at UTMB. Loved the report, and love your style - no nonsense. Good luck in Greece you crazy man.
I'll be running the London Marathon but not particularly fit so we'll see how it goes. I'll be off the champs start but I think sub3 would be a good time given my lack of training. Will look out for Hammo and JoeBloggs at the start and expecting to see SQ coming past, finishing strong as I blow up in the final 10km.
I wanted to do a couple of faster miles today so decided I'd go out after 9am as it was too dark at 6 (and I'd hit the school run in between those times...which I want to avoid. The area where I live is nicknamed Nappy Valley thanks to all the schools in the locale...there are a lot).
Legs didn't feel particularly bouncy so took me a couple of miles to get them turning over. Third mile was a little better so did miles 4 and 5 at what I hoped was around sub-2 pace (HM, obviously...I'm not Kipchoge). First one was slightly over and second was slightly under, so I guess it evened out.
Did a cool-down mile but part of it was up a bit of a hill and found myself working a bit too hard there, so I'm not sure I'm going to manage a sub-2 at Ealing, much as I'd like to. But maybe being more rested will help.
I tried a pilates class at the gym after and it was such a nice day we had it outdoors by the track. It was pretty gentle and restorative, unlike the HIIT/pilates fusion classes I used to do at the Bikram yoga place, but that was fine with me - I don't want raging DOMS for the rest of the week.
TR - sorry to read the 10k time wasn't what you wanted, but as others have said don't be too disappointed. Pleased to read it has freed the hip/glute up and well done for getting the 16 in the next day.
Macca - hope travel went smoothly.
Jools - that parkrun at Stroud sounds tough. I've done a few with a good hill once but not 3 times, not sure my legs would be ready for that coming from the flatlands these days.
SQ - thanks for the compliment, I'm hoping it does me well, I am feeling particularly tired this week so keeping it a bit easier than the plan. Great last week and hope your first taper week is going well.
Did my 5.5 mile relay leg on Sunday in 41:46, a little slower than my 10k pace but not bad after all the recent miles. The team came in 2nd in class and 3rd overall. Did 7 miles recovery yesterday and playing it a bit by ear for the rest of the week as feeling tired and still got a bit of that cold I had. Might get the legs going at club tomorrow night and then a couple of easy runs.
Pleased to have a confirmed start time, wave 3 red 09:41-09:44. Reading on other forums there seems to be a mix and overlapping range of people in each wave (or people can't accurately remember what time they predicted!).
Hi HA77 good luck in London. I’ve spotted some reasonable runs on Strava so you’re not completely unfit. A steady start might even do you a favour.
Are you a keen parkrunner then Kate?
Another new one for me Saturday: Tamar Lakes. Managed 20:22 for 2nd place.
Must’ve pulled something though as my groin started hurting after 8 easy miles on Sunday. Fortunately I only had about half a mile to go & gently downhill too. I did 4 Monday lunchtime not too painful but definitely restricting. Tuesday I tried a kill or cure track session of 12x200m off 100m walk into jog. Quickest they’ve been since the summer break but definitely not the cure.
Had to bail on the evening club session after 1.4M wu.
Managed to jog 4 miles along the canal at lunch but it was pain management the whole way so I’m feeling a bit pissed off tbh. Cycling seems ok at least.
Mashing a hockey ball into my glute helps, and I have a rubber ball I mash into my groin as well when it's niggly (I just like on it and move around. Just don't squash your knackers).
Kate - I thought Sandringham was in Surrey! Am I thinking of another one? Anyway, glad you enjoyed it. I'm not sure I can persuade my friend to drive me all the way there, given she's not a runner. (Soham was viable because it was her old school and she wanted to see it again).
Cal - made me laugh Sandringham and Sandhurst - Sandringham is where the Queen goes at Christmas!
Good to see HA popping in - still not sure about me cruising past!
Good to finally get a start time and zone, as Kate says. Green at 0933 - 0936 for me. Green start will be a first for me. Assumed it was because of my celebratory status
5M recovery yesterday. Hoping for 10 this afternoon, which will be a final double digit as busy at the weekend.
That's a decent start time, SQ. Not like Manchester.
Gym day yesterday (nothing too arduous - half an hour on the elliptical and some bodyweight rehabby stuff)...then five miles today with strides in the final mile. That's it until Ealing on Sunday (I'm volunteering at parkrun tomorrow).
If anyone wants to dot watch Macca in the Spartathlon, the link is https://track.trail.live/event/spartathlon?fbclid=IwAR26VcxAog_nLfI2lXTQ6guKmo0ktZnFHJz0Sz7bZbuHuQSIWPoxFww7Z0w
Kate - it looks like theyve speard the GFA AG accross the start colours. Im yellow wave 1 as an m50.
SQ - looks like we wont meet at the start then, might see you on the course though. Good that you have some support from the race organisers, quite right too.
5m easy after a zero yday, still a bit bruised from the physio.
Weny early on the race week haircut, as i havnt had my haircut all year, in a train hot and heavy and race light stylie, but i was nearly tripping over it.
Mlr with mp tomorrow.
SQ - good news you've arranged the medical supply business, enjoy celeb spotting 😉
TR - I'm not GFA and not old enough for any off the Abbott categories, I have a sponsor place (competition win) so had initially thought I'd be on green but red is fine. Hoping to get near the front of it though given the spread of times.
Also had the race day hair cut, 2 inchs off, going out for a dress rehearsal this morning!
14m inc 6m mp today, wore the Next% so my legs get a bit of time in them. Horrible to wear for the easy miles (all sorts of achey places) so i wont be doing that again, I'll just race the odd 1/2 in them before a marathon when things are more normal.
Fingers crossed for all those of you in full on taper mode, I actually enjoy this part of marathon training when you get to lie in or it feels like a run has finished before you've even got going. Sounds like it won't run like we've been used to but just great to have big races back on. Should start a list of race numbers if you've got them.
Vaccine rate slowly improving here, NSW is at 60% for 16+, and nationally 41% of the total population. Need to get up to 80% of 16+ before travel is allowed and major events likely to be back on. So there may not be any more mass participation races this side of Christmas although smaller club 10ks may be allowed, we'll see. Just keeping running to be ready for anything that comes up.
At least I can put my feet up over the next 6 weeks to watch all the majors.
So Ealing Half today, and I was reminded why I really enjoy this race - the community support is terrific. I knew the first three miles were mainly uphill (nothing steep, but an overall net gain and a bit of a long drag in the second half of mile 3) so kept my pace in check until the downhill mile 4. After that I decided not to look at my watch and run by feel. I actually enjoyed the race - fed off the support and smiled like Kipchoge. It was a little tougher towards the end but after 8 miles or so I was passing more people than being passed, which is a big improvement over Big Half and Richmond. I came in at 2:03:54 official, so I'm still over two hours but the main thing is that I enjoyed the race and didn't feel like I was about to die at any point.
How I've managed to go from a sub-4 marathoner too a 2+ HMer in a relatively short amount of time is another matter, though I don't think it has anything to do with my heart. I think I've just lost a lot more fitness than I realised. The reason I had such bad races at the last two was because I expected I would be able to run a sub-2 and set out at that pace, then blew up and spent the rest of the race suffering.
I'm close to the weight I was at Yorkshire, so I know it's not that...the difference I am seeing from my watch data, though, is in cadence and stride length (average cadence today was 175 whereas it's been 180+ for my fastest half marathons). Stride length wasn't too much shorter, but all those centimetres add up over long distances.
So I think what I need is more of the boring stuff: strength, mobility and drills.
I had a busy weekend. Drove up to Llangollen Friday night & kipped in Palais Passat before heading on up to Prestatyn for the parkrun. Easy 2K warm-up to loosen the groin off. Set off along the concrete prom at a sensible pace & wound it up till we left the concrete 1200m in. Overtook one chap on the little climb even though I’d backed off to protect the adductor. The next 1200m ruin a perfectly good course by taking you along a narrow sandy path then across a rabbit-hole infested grassy stretch, zig-zag through a wooden barrier through a couple hundred metres of soft sand then back onto the concrete prom & the run home. Slightest headwind made it mildly challenging as did the humidity & temperature (about 20 degrees) Finished 8th in 21:15 without damaging myself. Decided a walking cool down would be wise so did 4M through town along Offa’s Dyke, round some woods & back.
Finished 8th in 21:15 without damaging myself. Decided a walking cool down would be wiser than a hilly run so did 4M through town along Offa’s Dyke, round some woods & back.
It was a great race: free hassle-free parking, mass start with self-seeding pens, closed roads & chip-chip timing, water station at halfway, medal, flapjack & water at the finish. Not pancake flat but nothing brutal: only 225’ of climb over the whole course.
Stuck myself towards the front of the 40-50 minute pen as I figured sub 7s would be acceptable.
Prestatyn sounds like a real mixed bag of a parkrun.