Moraghan Training - Stevie G

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  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Good to hear from you Seb. I checked your last posts, 2 years ago the last one, and 7 years ago the one before!!

    Have the running injuries eased away now? I'm sure if you want it enough you can have a decent set of racing years ahead of you - a great sport for racing deep into middle and older ages :)
  • .Seb.Seb ✭✭✭
    Hi SG!
    I looked back several pages and you seem to be running well!
    I think I had a little go at XC season 2 years ago, but 7! since my peak & subsequent injury I guess. Maybe I should try and remember if the big toe joint injury flared up at the end of that flirt back to running and pray it doesn't happen again. So far so good, some slight nervy feeling down there but all managable. Right hamstring seems to be a weakness though. Close to 50MPW already.
    Cycling uses the muscles differently it appears so just getting the body used to running again is producing fast gains. Hopefully it will continue 🙏 
    See you at the national XC yeah? 😅

  • Hi Seb! Good to see you back on the thread. Fingers crossed the running return goes well as you have a bagful of natural talent to make the best of! Fingers crossed for the trail marathon - back in at the deep end! Keep posting!

    Mixed bag for me. Some actual reps on Friday. Just 5 x 3 mins, with a guy from work, who has recently done a 3:17 marathon. he is young and thought he would be faster than me on the short stuff. He was disappointed!!! On the plus side (for him) he could actually still walk properly at the end of the day in the office :smiley:

    Post work beers after, the a date/walk yesterday, then a hilly, slow, but atmospheric 12M around the canal, Wendover Woods and the Ridgeway today.  Hamstring grumbling, but nothing major touch wood!).

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Beers and dates, are you living in reverse here :D Although the hamstring thing keeps things very up to date I suppose!

    14miler for me. Rough plan to go out towards Wycombe's ground, but take a left before Hillbottom Road and a left up that climb into Booker. Have never ever run that, but wanted to scope it out for potential parking action!

    After that past Fernie fields and out towards Marlow through the fields behind Asda.
    Got to the bottom of that trail, popped out at the junction of Wycombe Road, initially intending to go through Marlow and up one of those many hills, but instead went left, carefully so on a fast road.
    Quite a long slog up on that road, on and off of the verge, windy and eventually clawed up to the top. A few dodgy cautious crosses on roads linking the little paths at the top of handy cross, and then I intended to go down Desboro, with a quick nip round Phil's neck of the woods.

    Sort of bungled the route, oddly, and ended up back in his mixer half a mile later, but eventually managed to remember where I was, and down the hill and back.

    You forget how long a 14 miler is don't you, especially when you put in hills, offroad and that sort of gub.

    Still, 58mile week, which will do when the first few days of the week were easing out the Marlow 7.

    Incidentally, I noticed Run Britain had the Marlow 7 with a "difficulty" score of 2.2
    Their scale goes up to 10, so even with good conditions, that seemed a bit low to me, for 640 feet of climbing over 7 miles!


  • Before my time Seb but welcome back.

    Just don't let on you can't walk properly Bus, keep him in his place.

    Nice long run SG.

    TVXC turnout for me today, good chance to see where I am at. Calves have been niggling a little so took it easy yesterday but they seem to have come through it ok. Course was the traditional season opener at Datchet, flat and firmer than most, mainly fields and paths but I guess half the audience on here know it better than I do.

    I lined up on the front row more by accident than design but as we start off I find myself in the lead as we circle round the field a couple of times to spread out the hundreds of runners. I check my watch and HR is under control and the pace isn't that quick, opening mile was 5:41 but after a to and fro with a RRR who also does Tri for TVT, I settle back in front. I didn't really look around much but it's three Dashers and 3 Reading Road runners for the opening couple of miles. Second mile is up in 5:45 and I am pretty sure this is a bit of a tactical race and there must be quicker runners behind me so I just hold the pace as it is. As we turn into the wind I get clipped three times from behind in the space of a couple of minutes so I shout a message, "that's three clips now, if it's too slow for you come past!"

    It seems to help concentrate the minds behind, although when I am clipped for a fourth and final time it's a Dasher chap who's at pains to point out this was his first offence  :D and he was also very helpful in pointing out the direction when I almost took the wrong path. Third mile is up in 5:47 and the fourth 5:48 somewhere around this point he comes through taking two Reading Road Runners with him, one being the leading male from the first race. I am holding my pace but he's upped it to around 5:30 pace, I respond a bit but I find going above threshold or HM effort is an unfamiliar feeling and I think I wimp out a bit.

    Third place gets detached from the front two and I am in a group of three behind, with two Dashers. As third starts to come back to us I catch him and push straight past with probably less than a mile left. I get a gap on one of the dashers but in the last mile I think I just get a bit weak in the head and ease off a bit and he bridges back. The fact I have had calf niggles and just being happy to be back amongst it I think softened me up a bit. As we turn the last corner two Dashers come past and I am not going to sprint and risk pulling my calf but as I am cruising to the finish a check over my shoulder reveals the RRR closing fast so I have to sprint the last 20 metres to keep 5th place safe.

    Pretty happy with that, 5th with what was not quite at full out 10k race effort. Hopefully it's a lack of race sharpness and not just an inability to push myself. 
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2021
    Great work Reg. It's up for grabs at the real sharp end this season, as the Kevern & Corney types don't seem to be about. You could be a contender :)

    Our lot always turn out en masse for this one of course, and I dare say we'll have romped the win, even without our best runner, and our best super vet, almost 60 and still top 10/12 sort of mixer!  I think we had either 8 or 9 strong to decent runners there, so I didn't even have to deal with the usual pressure to get there :D 

    I read about people using road shoes, so if those boggy fields weren't as boggy as usual, even that interest would have been gone for me. That's usually where I have a late race salvo, and claw back some who have gone out like it's a road race :)

    I'll try and do the Reading one.  Last time I did that one I'd had a few weeks recovering from vertigo and certainly wasn't back to the usual of the time. So hopefully it's better than that one. Think it's the shortest of the courses too?
  • Nice long run SG, and cracking performance at TVXC there Reg!

    And yes SG - life is definitely in reverse a bit at the moment (and definitely for the better!) :wink:

    Reg - the plan about not letting him see me walking was thwarted by the fact that he was one of the guys I walked to the pub with :smiley:
  • Fine racing Reg.
    XC for me too today after Parkrun & a night out yesterday. Another sub 20 yesterday then an hour on the bike after. Several ciders in a Bristol boozer whilst watching some bands then back to a mate’s before a taxi back to another mate’s place so didn’t get to bed til 4!
    Had to be up at 9, cycle to pick the car up from the pub, hour’s drive back to FoD to pick up 2 clubmates & then another hr to Brecon arriving just in time to cheer the women through. 
    The going looked good & a 3K wu confirmed this so I stuck to my road shoes.
    Went out a bit harder than last month but still very controlled. After the initial fury the race settled & I began to pick the odd place up here & there. This continued through the second lap. I was focused on a clubmate ahead who I eventually caught at 6M. I might have beaten him if the distance had been the 9,750m advertised rather than 10.4K. He had just enough to pull ahead going up the final incline & hold the gap along the finish straight. Once again I lost places to sprinters in the final 250m: only 2 this time at least. I finished in 44:04 as 3rd scorer in 226th so 🤞we did enough to get out of the relegation zone
  • Blimey Jools - something of an endurance event in the overnight proceedings before the xc! You must have the constitution of an Ox!
  • Stevie G said:
    out towards Marlow through the fields behind Asda.
    Got to the bottom of that trail, popped out at the junction of Wycombe Road, initially intending to go through Marlow and up one of those many hills, but instead went left, carefully so on a fast road.
    Quite a long slog up on that road, on and off of the verge, windy and eventually clawed up to the top.


    That part of your route looks a bit scary! There are a few roads I definitely avoid and the one from the Rebellion Brewery up to junction 4 is one of them: far too many cars going way too fast with no pavement. The one from Daws Hill to Flackwell Heath is just as bad.

    I do part of that route regularly but turn left before the trail reaches the main road and that takes you across a field and to the Three Horseshoes. You can then get to the far side of the bypass by a few routes (the best uses the underpass) and then you can go up Monkton Lane which brings you out by The Harvester or any regular route to Winchbottom and over by the old USAF base.

    Nice to see Seb back: your obstacle course pedigree should stand you well for the trail action. 

    I saw some photos of the Datchet XC and Reg stood out at the front. Good to see you held on for a good finish. 
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Yes, certainly not one I'd recommend Phil! But if you're running up, and you're on the right hand side, there's plenty of verge at least. Some of it is awkward footing though, and a mix of that, the wind, and how far in I already was made it a pretty bleak part of the run :D 

    Just couldn't be doing with that always way longer than I give it credit for bit from by that Brewery, all the way back to Little Marlow, and then fairly big climb there.

    When you don't have a HM scheduled in, the long runs can feel a bit of a mental grind. Especially given it's been working from home for a year now, so I don't even have the variety of Slough in the working week and round here at weekends.
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    edited November 2021
    Nice one Jools, just a casual relaxed build up to the XC then.

    Cheers re XC comments, not sure about contender but it's good to be solidly back in the top 10. It's funny seeing the photos because I was at the front for the first 4 miles and never looked back, there is one guy that came past me at the finish who I didn't know existed until that moment. I think RF who won was in a pair of Saucony road shoes.


  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    While there's a load of road sections friendly enough for road shoes, every other year has the boggy fields ruling those out. So to wear road shoes the whole way shows how unusually firm the latter fields must have been.

    Glad he had a better experience than his last go. He was still way up the field but ended up in hospital having slightly overdone it :O 

    Got to love the late overtaking ninja :) 
    Did that beautifully at the first race, giving 2 of my boys a right old surprise :D 
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Decent spoils from the Marlow 7 vet prize. £25 voucher and another of these free from "absolute mug" company where you can personalise it with details from the race


    I like the little elevation detail and map.
  • Very nice mug SG. Decent size too by the looks.

    Welcome back Seb

    Reg - Don't fear...the bike has seen quite a lot of action, but mainly by the kid! Can't get him off it! Great racing by the way - quicker pace than my xc by the looks.

    Tiring couple of days there Jools...

    So Chiltern league saturday. Bedford hospital cancelled the wife's procedure, so I could have done Surrey league after all. Typical. But was ok. 

    Course was quite firm, one medium lap, two large. All three had the first short sharp steep hill, the two large ones had one of similar size at the far end. By and large kept my place, but the downhills finally started affecting my guts after about 4.5 miles....could still run generally ok, but didn't help matters. 

    Bit longer than Surrey League, came in 110th, not sure what the place would have been with all the Cross challenge runners taken out. The Vet 50 from Chiltern that I beat at Watford was the first vet of any age, thrashed me by 45 seconds....So 5.82 miles, pace 5.53 miling.

    The lad ran really well in the U13's so he was happy.

    Few beers Saturday night...and a slightly hungover 11.5 miles yesterday...
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Hope all is well there Simon, routine hopefully?
    Would not fancy that XC setup if you're not making top 100! Cross country, AND not being anywhere near the sharp end is way too much for me!!


    6mile tempo for me.
    2 weeks ago did 5.5miles across town in 6.16 and was happy with that.

    Upped it to 6miles today, and came out a nice 6.11. Brilliant. Not sure I ever did many too much better than that on the road to be honest. Will have done some low/sub 6s I expect on the track.

    Hard to compare across different routes, and of course it's not a flat out effort too, but more than happy with that one today.

    Last two miles were 6.05/6.04 on the watch too, so without pushing it sped up

    Basically did 2 laps, starting and finishing at very similar points. There's some slight ups and downs, but marginal, and no net negative elevation importantly.

    Mile 6 tested me, as the headphones wires all tangled, meaning music less for a mile, some bloke wandered across my path, meaning a bit of a comedy "hug" scenario, and some 4 by 4 woman was driving so slowly round the estate on my route, I had to weave in and round her.

    But it sort of all added up to a lovely sesh. On a day so cold, that for the first time I think I can ever remember I went out with 2 layers and gloves just for the warm up, then ditched them back before it started.
  • Sounds quick enough to me Simon
    Guess you'd have fared slightly better at Gwent League but not much 
    Nice progress there SG & a great mug. I need to do some tempo running as well as all the short track stuff.
    Instead it was 16x200m off 100m walk. Best set of 200s I've done since I began doing them after the last lockdown. Got some 5:0x pace in there at last.  B)
  • Double track day. Went up the club this evening 2M/3’ recovery/1M & 4x440yds/off 100m walk-100m jog.

  • Love how old this thread is - people gone for years still return. Brilliant. 

    You’re layering in the fast stuff now, Bus. 

    14M of hilly trail is nothing to be sniffed at, SG. 

    Brilliant running Reg, and nice report. Not convinced that is a direct quote of what you said to the clipper! 

    Bed at 4, Jools. We would literally be ships in the night! Super weekend from you on al fronts. 

    XC, beers and a hungover long run isn’t far from perfect, SC 😃


    Had a pretty quiet last week on the running front, sensible post trail race. Suffered a bit with stress and feeling overwhelmed, I suspect partly entwined with eating too much crap and sleeping poorly. Nonetheless, finished off with q pleasant 12.5M buggy run at 8:20 pace on Sunday. Perfect conditions. 

    Not yet in a place to think about huge targets for next year, so might have a dig at the PBs that are still vaguely achievable. First up will be 10M at the end of Jan. 

    Will loosely follow the 15k/10M Pfitzinger Faster Road Racing plan, with mileage from the middle plan and sessions from the one above. Will have to sack off a week of it somewhere along the line. 

    Lots of tempo in the first two thirds then VO2 towards the end. Yesterday’s was 16 mins tempo, 4 jog, 12 tempo. Headed to the trusty racecourse for the pancake flat loop. 

    6:25s for the tempo. A way off from the required PB pace, but a solid start. Enjoyed the ground feel of wearing the Adios for a first time in quite a while. Struggled a little to really push myself, but that is fairly standard for me in sessions. 10M at 7:14 pace all in. 

    Should be in London for work near St Paul’s on the eve of Friday 9th December. Obviously having a wee look at possible turnouts 😆. A run through Battersea Park on the Saturday morning, possibly starting a little late. Or Burgess or Highbury Fields parkruns both 2.7M away. Any thoughts on a good option?

  • Yes SQ - Wasn't bad at all!
    SG - Good tempo there - Yes Wife's issue not serious but very painful when they start moving. 'Mick & Keith' were due to be blasted by laser. Probably given you enough clues now ;)
    Jools - I know Gwent and Chiltern were the two biggest leagues a few years back. Decent 200's to. Jack of all trades now...

    Just 10 miles total Monday

    Yesterday I had to do the school run, so I did a 6x1300 session I hadn't done for a while at the waterside park near the school. It's fairly square and the last corner has a bastard little hill in it. One 1300 was there and 5 loops.

    London commute today - will try and do a bit more after work to get the total to 10.

  • Staverton 10 in Jan SQ? If so I'll see you there  B)
    Cramping calves in the night kept waking me so sacked off this morning's run in favour of the bike. Off for a slow, hilly plod on trails in the dark shortly - could be interesting as I've just been squatting & deadlifting in the gym  :D 
  • Cramping calves so today i just did a bike ride, gym leg day and a run. That's so Jools.
  • Sorequads said:


    Should be in London for work near St Paul’s on the eve of Friday 9th December. Obviously having a wee look at possible turnouts 😆. A run through Battersea Park on the Saturday morning, possibly starting a little late. Or Burgess or Highbury Fields parkruns both 2.7M away. Any thoughts on a good option?

    Highbury Fields is a 5 lapper so I'd stay away from it as it gets way too crowded and you'll be lapping people for 4 out of your 5 laps. Battersea Park is a nice place to run.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    SC - i hear ya, those squits aren't a laughing matter ;)

    SQ, made me check dates for a second as am sure the Sunday was a 12th!
    What time do Runthrough start their BP race then? Surely isn't that much later than a parkrun?

    But a parkrun for free versus £20 or so quid is certainly less of a debate, as I "think" that Burgess might be a quick one.
    Aley used to mention a lightning quick one that is either Burgess or a similar sounding one.

    8.5miles today, for a 39mile Mon to Thur.
    That's me done until tomorrow when some sort of sesh needs doing.

    Might do something like 12x0.25m on grass for a bit of a change and no pressure on outcomes!

    Half fancied that from seeing the local over trainer do a 16x400 off averaging 38secs!
    For what was 5k paces, or attempt at, that seems too many reps and too little recovery to me!
  • Back to the Luton track tonight.

    Forecast for the LFOTM next week.....5 degrees and sleet showers ;)
  • Have been meaning to post for a while but SG mentioning me has forced my hand!

    I had intended to congratulate MattL on a couple of recent performances, so a belated well done!

    SQ: Dulwich is the fastest, if you can get there, but Burgess is pretty quick. Others may know of quicker ones in the area, but I imagine PMJ is right when he says 5 laps is not a good idea. 

    Was hoping to be at LFoM but that weather forecast is the final straw, plus I have had a chest infection for over three weeks now. A long and expensive day to pop down to London from Manchester: as much as I enjoy the day out it will have to wait until I'm better, and hopefully fitter. Not had the best of year's health but was back training well until the latest illness. 
    Anyway, anyone up for December's edition of LFoM...which happens to be on New Year's Eve which may or may not put people off? Train tickets are cheap at the moment so I am tempted!
    Progress is rarely a straight line. There are always bumps in the road, but you can make the choice to keep looking ahead.
  • Thank you for the London parkrun suggestions, everyone. Will see if I can rope in a colleague as well. SG - the RunThrough is saying start time between 0930 and 1100 at this stage. So possibly fine, but possibly not. Could do with some deets!

    Yes, Staverton, Jools. See you there. Look forward to twice through the muddy farm track to finish!

    Impressed with you travelling commitment for LFoTM, Alehouse. I hope to make it to a second one at some point. 

    SC 5C is perfect PB pace for me, love it!

    General recovery running since Tuesday's session. Hope to squeeze in 2 x 6 x 100m fast at some point today. 
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Yes they can be a little sketchy with the timings.
    I just entered a race and it was a clear 10am start.

    Then yesterday they mailed saying it's 9am for the "fast" wave and 10am for the other one.
    Hmm not ideal, but not that long a trip so ok...

    Then they mailed again saying a mistake and it is actually 10am all in one race! Sort it out!

    A new year's eve Hyde Park 5k is interesting. Potentially an awkward day though for many? Maybe not as it's midday? Not sure!
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    12x0.25miles off 60 secs for me today.
    Always a slight rude awakening when you get back into a more structured sounding speedwork sesh.

    I did it 100% on grass too just to spice it up!

    The park next to me is reasonably flat trimmed grass but there are bits of bogginess.

    As even I couldn't handle the idea of 1 out, 1 back x6, I mixed the 0.25m up each time with some diagonals, round bends, curves as well as straight lines.

    Fastest at 1.20, couple of boggier ones I suppose, at 1.24/1/25, but the rest pretty much 1.21/1.22 which feels a decent turnout.

    For starters on a track it's 400m not 0.25m, so that's probs 1 sec quicker by distance, and then obviously grass v smooth track a different proposition.

    Will get back to track stuff when it's short race season again, but for now it's just way more effort to get out at 645, get to the track for 20mins, do the sesh, then drive back for 20mins all for 9am.
    When I can just get up at 6am, luxuriously wake up, out 7.30 ish, sesh on doorstep (be it tempo or reps) and then easily back by 9.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Followed the morning sesh up with what I like to do as the last working week of the week - 4miler with the 250 feet or so wood climb first half, then flat road, down, and same park as earlier to finish on.

    49.5miles this week, 2 lovely sleeps with niente, then we go again Sunday.
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