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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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Had half an eye on the Serpentine New Year's Day 10k, but had a couple of dodgy night's sleep and got a little throaty. Just one of those slight run down things I expect, so I'll probably join you in a parkrun to still get a first turnout of 2022 in early doors.
Just for the chuckles of no park runs in 2 1/2 years, and then 2 in 8 days!
Therefore, usual sort of template, and hopefully we can look forward to reading some packed summary pieces in the next few days. First time posters certainly welcome too
2021 Mileage
2021 Races (totals, different distances etc)
PBs / Pots won / Team wins etc
Best races of the year
Highlights of 2021
Lowlights of 2021
Thread poster of the year
2022 Targets
2022 Target races
Potential signings from other threads to make into regulars here
1,332 miles, well below the target of 2021. 2021 is an arbitrary target and is really 2,000 miles but 21 here or there don't matter. I was well on target up until mid-July. On July 16th I did a fairly standard run of about 7 miles offroad at about 8.5 minutes per mile (so an hour lunchtime tootle) and that took me to 26 miles for the week and the following day my knee was aching from the get-go and I hobbled 4 but that was it. Strava shows the rest, so July was a half month, August and September almost nothing and then a slow comeback. I'm back to about 20 miles a week and hope to get back up to the normal values but it may be time to cut back a bit. I need to stretch and recover and
No races (other than parkruns and I am clearly not racing those at the moment)
Running freely: I have definitely got my mind in a space where I can enjoy going out for a run and enjoy it as a run. I had a few trips up to Derbyshire and ran along the hills there but also over a lot of the local area. This is my running patch over the last year, so any coloured square I have run through in the last 365 days. The grey ones I have visited but more than a year ago.
Not running freely.
Is SG as usual but honourable mention to Josh and Jooligan for runs in the hills that make me want to do the same.
2021 Mileage - round 2150 miles
PBs / Pots won / Team wins etc
5k PB (19:27), parkrun PB (20:27), 5 mile PB (33:41) and half PB (1:33:31).
Liverpool 10 miler (3rd F)
Best races of the year
Conwy Half - 1:34:15 - had to walk twice on the Great Orme because I wasn't feeling well and was worried about my heart; but managed to turn it around and loved the views.
Highlights of 2021
Consolidating the sub-20 5k with a 19:27 at Mid-Cheshire!
Lowlights of 2021
Pulling out of Aintree Half mid-way as wasn't well after having the 2nd vaccine. This set me back months and to be honest I was so upset at the fact I pulled out that I didn't train properly over summer and haven't ran the same since.
Potential heart condition (to be resolved in 2022) identified on a screening ECG in September (I have inverted t-waves). Hopefully having further tests in February.
Thread poster of the year - has to be you Stevie G for posting updates and excellent race summaries
2022 Targets - first marathon, would like (at least) London GFA but be lying if I didn't say around 3:15.
2022 Target races
Brass Monkey (January 2022) - had wanted sub 1:30 but Covid pre-Christmas/general laziness post-Christmas has put a stop to that!
Manchester (April 2022)
Mid Cheshire (April 2022)
Antrim Half (August 2022)
Welcome Kathryn - we need younguns, so feel free to post more regularly, we need a northern race correspondent too
Great review, and well in those glory pb days.
I don't know much about that particular condition, but I do know about uncertainty with having tonnes of heart tests - so I hope you find what I did - that you can continue, and enjoy years of decent racing and running beyond the outcome of the next tests etc.
Chuckled at the "consolidated" the sub 20 - when you've blown the back doors off it!
ps Always good to know it's not just me who enjoys reading my reports
Was happy enough to get another pair of the glorious Wave Riders, even though we all know you can get them way cheaper online. Sometimes it's nice just to help the local run shops out, and get goods in your hands immediately - old school!
That takes me to 2,835.5miles for the year, so I best get a lengthy year summary in myself soon
As tomorrow we're into new stuff!
2,827.5 miles. A bit short of the 3,000 I generally like to do, but about 3 or so miles a week difference really, so not too much.
Looking back it was a bumper 3,250 in 2020, but clearly that was the lowest opportunity to race for years, and 2,801 in 2019 - vertigo wrecked a month or so that year.
2021 Races (totals, different distances etc)
16 - a lot of these were distanced 5ks, but was glad to increase the distances in Autumn, to bank a couple of 10ks, a couple of XC 5.5milers, a 5miler and a 7miler. Not to mention the almighty Endure 24 slog of 30miles over 24 hours over 6 separate undulating offroad legs.
With a mile, and a parkrun in there, at least managed to fill 6 different slots on the power of 10 grid!
PBs / Pots won / Team wins etc
- Endure 24 team win - record laps record - it's what happens when you have 5 absolutely supreme guys in one team, ably supported by the other 3 of us
- Gosport Golden Mile - 3rd
- Gosport Golden 5k - 1st
- Marlow 10k MT - 1st man
- Marlow 7m - V40 pot
First V40 pot should technically have been about a week after turning 40, but Active Training World didn't do any prizes for some reason that day.Best races of the year
Hatfield 5 - 28:35 - After loads of "solid" or pleased to have the chance to race type efforts, this felt like a proper return to an excellent result. Whetted the appetite for 2022.
Endure 24 - Team work event extraordinaire , and after a narrow 2nd place in 2019, and what they tell me was a hard luck story in about 2014 pre my Dasher days, it felt like we'd finally got the monkey off our backs.
With 5 supreme local runners all being available, and in top form at the same time, it feels quite unlikely to be able to beat this peak to be honest.
Silverstone 10k - This felt like the first "proper" race for about 18months. Huge event, all in, nostalgic venue from my earlier running days, and a 36:53 felt a solid return after 4 1/2 years without racing 10k.
Gosport Mile & 5k - Probably my favourite venue for a race these days, having been down there for the HM twice, a 5k once, and the Golden Mile/5k combo 3 times now.
Getting under 5mins for the mile without any specialist work felt great as did leading the 5k home.
Albeit I don't think things will ever match that first year where it was baking hot, the atmosphere was a lot more hyped, and they even had brilliant drone footage of the race after!
Highlights of 2021
The above were the time highlights, but plenty of other moments.
That feeling of being able to do even distanced races after Jan to March was a write off.
A few trips to Battersea Park
My turning 40 bday race, with the worst ever drive. The roads on the way to Battersea Park were like rivers, there was thunder and lightning and it was all a bit worrying, with a crazy arrival about 20mins before the off.
However, the race itself was fine conditions, and a good chat with Pete after, albeit after spending ages trying to find him
Lowlights of 2021
Because races were limited to distanced stuff for so long, it felt hard to capture the right intensity in the summer for the 5ks - only hitting between 17.32-17.52.
Hitting somewhere in the middle of that range within the Hatfield 5miler in November showed me there's time to come off that next year.
Whilst Endure was a great part of the summer, I picked up a tightness that stopped me dead on runs a week or so later. It took a month of physio to see that off ruling out wanting to do races like Great South Run & Cabbage Patch 10milers.
Thread poster of the year
Difficult one as being such a reduced year of races, people have naturally come and go more than usual.
But dibs to Bus & Reg for their honesty and positivity whatever little niggles and life things come their way.
Joe always brings a sense of sunshine and fun.
Jools for the wackiness and incredible mileage and heights.
Pete for being very supportive of others even when doubting himself.
SC for relentless performance all year round.
SQ for providing new angles of interest, buggy running and lengthy haul races.
Phil for even in this new phase of his running finding stuff to add to the mix of the thread.
Aley, TR & Matt Head more occasional these days, but always interesting when they do pop up.
As an increasing fan of nostalgia it was nice to see ML pop in, and ALD early year.
Always a treat the rare occasions the main man Moraghan pops in too, and Lit, Curly, Stevie See and Harry Johnstone/Ultra Gregory would be an incredible return.
We need some of the first time lurkers to become regulars, like any long term show we need some more keen, positive folks
2022 Targets (covid pending!)
2022 Target races
Look to get into some of the fast flat races such as the below:
Basically trying to hit that perfect mixture of training to do times at the big fast races, but also have the flex to do bootleg stuff to possibly pot-hunt/come high up in
So thanks all for another year of the thread. Certainly helps to motivate me knowing I'll be reporting sessions on here and the race report is always an enjoyable part of the race process.
Let's hope 2022 is a more "normal" year than the last 2, and we can move into the 13th (!) year of this thread!
Good to see you posting on here, Bradders! Stick around!
Apologies for not posting much this year, but I haven't wanted to lower the tone of the thread. Unfortunately my review does not make happy reading. Hope that this time next year it will be rather more cheerful!
2021 kilometrage 1233 km. The aim was, of course, 2021 km to back up the 2105k in 2020.
2021 Races (totals, different distances etc) Zero.
2 parkruns on 2 different courses to measure lack of fitness
PBs / Pots won / Team wins Zero
Best races of the year N/A. I have been running since 1965 and this is the first year without a race of some description!
Highlights of 2021 Being able to run at all (see bleow). January went well with over 50 km each week. Was in reasonable shape and ready to race. Sadly it never happened.
Lowlights of 2021 Where to start! Diagnosed with prostate cancer for the second time. Treatment in early Feb, then two and a half days later first Covid jab knocked me for six. Walking with a stick for over a month. Still don’t think that I have fully recovered and have only just got back to running over 30k a week.
Thread poster of the year SG
2022 Targets To be able to run consistently, gradually get fitter and back to where I was at in January 2021. Injury and illness free would help! Really at my age (68 very shortly) I should perhaps be glad that I can run at all.
2022 Target races Has to be a 5k at either LFoM or a Sale Sizzler.
Hope all have a great 2022, not least Ric: hope everything pans out well for him.
Great to read that report, PMJ. Enjoyed the graphics that went with it. Desperate to know the final word of the first paragraph: recover and…?!
Welcome bradders. Hope the heart tests work out ok. Some fast looking races lined up there.
Very strong year, SG. Agreed Chichester 10k is a quality race.
Aley - wow, that is a tough year. I really hope you can get back to full strength soon. Pleased at least you seem to have a little consistency now.
Change of pace tempo today. 38 mins with 4 hard, 4 steady then 5 x 2 hard, 4 steady. Paces really varied, with the wind a big factor. Several 1.5M loops. Seemed to average just under 6:30 miling which is positive given the extra Christmas baggage.
2021 year in running review:
I came off a stress fracture of the fibula at the end of 2021. This was my first major injury and really curtailed things for a few months. Once fit to run again consistently (Christmas 2020), I began the lowest mileage P&L 5k plan, running through the early 2021 lockdown restrictions and finishing in late Feb with a pleasing 18:2x in a solo time trial (albeit paced by my FiL on his bike).
By this stage, I was running slightly longer each weekend, pushing the buggy. My friend had decided to do a marathon, only his second in ten years, at Peterborough at the end of May. I agreed to pace him to 3:20ish, and so progressed the long runs. Having entered the Shepperdine half marathon (end of April), I was feeling in reasonable shape, although had no expectation of pace. As the weeks progressed, I managed an 18 then 20M buggy and so thought sod it, and upgraded to the full marathon. What a comeback race! Tough going, and delighted to scrape sub 3 by the skin of my briefly owned Alphaflys.
Pacing a month later was a joy, with my mate finishing in a strong 3:17. This was a joy and I could easily cope with only pacing not going all out for the rest of my running days.
A summer of a few random races, some trail some road, mostly very hot, was fun with, weirdly, the strongest being my first ever non-sub-30 minute 5M, albeit in 32C conditions.
The autumn brought on London training, which was logistically horrific, was a pleasing 2:57:18 result. More fun though, was the trail racing to follow: two weeks later was the hilly Cleevewold (third and lots of free beer), and three weeks after the Broadway trail marathon (third and an engraved whisky glass - they seem to know me too well!). The trail running was beautiful, fun and pressure free. Bloody loved it.
Stats:
2964M (tempted by an ultra distance beast today!). Well above the target of 2500, but below the 2019 glory/PBs mileage.
11 races and one hard out parkrun (plenty easy with buggy). Four marathons, two halves, three 10ks, one 5M, an appealing one mile.
No chance of a PB, but two 🥉 and one 🥈. Local trail runs the key for me!
Thread poster of the year:
Reg - laconic, hilarious, takes no bullshit but all with a smile on his face. Deals with injuries in good spirit, and runs fast on limited running mileage. Hope to see him at a race in 2022.
2022 targets:
Attempt the soft 10M and 1M PBs. Hope to get a place in the Dartmoor Discovery 32M ultra road race. Enjoy running and keep seeking the harmony with family life (respect to those that seem to make this easy).
Potential signing:
Macca from the P&D Thread. What a delightful, kind, rapid and funny bloke 😊.
You've amassed some decent mileage and races there SQ after the injury and also a fairly busy year from the threads main protagonist. Phil wins the award for the most original infographic. I can't do the Fetch one as I left because there were too many lefties on the forums and I couldn't trust myself not to upset them
My year was really about doing what life allowed, time was limited and priorities were changed.I kept things ticking over though so I can't complain.
2021 Mileage: 1,234 which I am sure is a number that Bus will enjoy. 5,131 miles on the bike and about 75 miles of swimming.
2021 Races : No running races with the exception of the two TVXCs where I finished 5th and 2nd so both positive. Tri wise I did the world's 'hardest' Ironman which was good fun & finished 3rd in the World Champ Qualifier sprint at Dorney which would have qualified me for the World's but I wasn't interested in travelling to Canada or wherever it was for a 60 minute race! Also did the club champs Olympic race in Reading and a half distance race where the swim was cancelled due to fog and then I went the wrong way on the bike and did an extra 10 miles! So nothing to write home about but enough to keep ticking over.
Highlights of 2021 - Probably just finishing the year feeling like I am potentially in my best ever form, albeit, I've not had a chance to put it to the test yet due to niggles and the risk of pushing myself. I have had a few races on the radar but have decided against them all.
Lowlights of 2021 - Usual injuries
Thread poster of the year - Difficult one, the the P&D old boys are some of my favourites and SGs continued commitment is always an obvious choice then there's our resident technology addict, SC with his GPS watch, Strava and fancy Nike cheat shoes but I think I will have to go for Bradders. Kidding, mine is SQ because he said me
2022 Targets - Whenever I talk about targets I get injured and they don't happen so my target for the year is to get injured a lot.
Makes it a bumper few pages of reading after a bit of a lull
As we haven't had a turnout report since last year, let's have a quick one of those, and get 2022 going
Originally I'd weighed up the Serpentine Hype Park 10k today, but in midweek I came over a little coldy, luckily just before risking entering, and that was a good decision, as £25 or so, an hour drive into central London and a 10k hard would definitely have felt too much.
I was keen to do a parkrun though, to get the 2022 turnouts up and running early doors.
No downside really, if it's ropey it's still a hard workout that'd have been harder on your own, it's free, bound to be some people you either know or can jabber at and finally moves me to 20 of these!
I'd narrowed it down to Cassiobury or Rickmansworth. The former is the quicker course, ranked something like 27th in the "fastest to slowest" list the po10 guy Tim Grose runs. Ricky at about 65th makes it within the top 10% of courses though, and a quick youtube vid showed it as a decent hard surface. I'd even found a video of someone doing it in Alphaflys, so that showed me it must be a good surface!
Thought I'd save any trip to Cassiobury for when feeling a bit more mint condition, and also I'd heard my old running gang Marlow were heading down to Ricky.
No real expectations, just wanted to better last week's 18.20 Wycombe time and ideally get back into the 17xx's.
Great set up at this one, an Aquadrome, with loads of rivers and woody scenery etc, but the course itself on hard paths.
Huge free car park, and only about 30mins from home, ideal.
As only real keenos are driving at 8am on a new year's day, the roads were nicely empty, so got there decently by 8.15 or so.
Took in a few pics, of the quirky bins and things
Knew this would not be fun, but you can always suck up a 5k, so knew it'd be alright.ish
Suddenly close to the start time, and I position to the right hand side of the grid, but move to the other side as there's one of these numpties strapped to a dog right in front
Then he moved to the other side too, right in front of me. Bore off son!
Not too worry.
Off we go, trying not to trip over overly keen kid's heels and avoiding this guy with the dog who has gone off hard. I'm no dog expert, but this didn't particularly look the type of dog that was going to haul you along too well, and so it proved a she'd dropped off a few hundred metres in.
One guy has monstered off, he'll be winning today, and I'm sat in 4th, already knowing it'll be a world of hard work today, and settle behind 2 youngsters.
One has a top mentioning some race, so he must be a proper runner I can sit behind right?
No, force myself to get past the 2 younguns making a road block, create myself a little gap with a "sorry, lads" as I come through.
I'd set the km splits to come up in my watch for once, as I knew there was no markers, being a 2 lapper.
3.25 the first km which is good, but not sustainable as I can feel it all a little chesty and am dripping cold sweat.
I start thinking about "Only" 2.5km for one lap, to try and split it up.
I think some guy comes past in the 2nd km but I was comfy with that, I'm getting round today!
Second km had dropped off to 3.38 , but I looked forward to completing a lap, and then you're on the last lap
3rd km has dropped another 9secs down to 3.47 . Still not the 4min km of Wycombe I think, but then those were 0.69miles (!).
Forget that, and keep going.
I wonder if I can at least hold 3rd, and the 4km has at least "Livened" up to 3.43.
Not far into the 5th km and we're deep into first lappers, and some kid who is literally half my height comes past, probably about 14 unless he's a particularly small for age kid
Wish him well. It's one of those sort of days
I'm just happy to get in today. Small resurgence for a 3.37 last km, and over the line for
18:11
For some reason, slight delirium I was convinced i'd recorded the distance as 2.92miles making it quite short, which would make 18.11 feel even lesser of a result
However, a few yards on I remembered i'd actually set the watch to km anyway and it was showing 4.99! So goodness knows what that was about.
Met up with some of the Marlow lot, made sure a few disclaimers were mentioned, befofre getting the 2022 folder going with a quick snap
(Took a bit of getting up from, anyone over 30 does not appreciate the down on haunches position
Not to mention that the old boy taking the photo took about 5mins just pointing it at us, but not seeming to press anything.
"Just one" said Mike the current Marlow chairman. Made me chuckle.
No harm done, and makes it easier to beat next time out hopefully!!
5.52 average isn't messing about so works for the week as good hard training.
Made it up to 7miles for the day with a couple of different laps afterwards.
That's four 18:xx parkruns in a row now, so need to get back in the 17s soonish.
But I'm certain that won't be my quickest 5k of 2022!
And most importantly, we're off and running for 2022.
My goodness, SG. Epic report! Enjoyed that and pleased you are converting to the joys of parkrun 😊. Solid turnout and definitely the right call with the sniffles.
You’ve undoubtedly had a very tough year, Reg. there are, however, some very strong results snuck in there. I thoroughly enjoyed your Tri X report, especially having the move the campervan moments after finishing 😆.
That’s weird, PMJ. I open each training as I have to manually upload then go in to select shoes, terrain, title, notes etc. Would it be a difficult thing to share? I’m no coding wiz, I’m afraid. But thank you very much for offering.
Really fancied parkrun this morn - weather looked reasonable and was up for the social aspect. Only had a few cans of lager yesterday afternoon, so no hangover to report. Head over with the buggy. 5.2 easy miles in total. parkrun in 26:xx chatting to the lad and pointing dogs, swans etc. Congested start and then fine from lap two onwards.
Had a bit of a high blood sugar level this afternoon so headed out for a short buggy run with the lap napped. Very slow 9:40 pace but did the trick to bring me into range.
Planning on meeting a mate for a two hour long run in the morn. Picking a route with a second half tailwind looks key.
Fair play on the managing the blood sugar. It's not always super easy managing fuel for people without that consideration!
ps Aley - forgot to actually say, hope 2022 pans out a lot better than 2021 for you - you've had a string of awkward scenarios to deal with , and no-one deserves a decent year more than you - even with some of the shenanigans on this thread!
https://github.com/htrinter/Open-Multiple-URLs
Went up a hill that was getting steeper and bendier, and was a 60 zone, so thought better of that and came back the same way, messed about down a few footpaths and back, and eventually back in for a surprisingly fast 7.22 pace for 13.
Only a 51mile week, but 20miles for 2 days in 2022 which sounds better.
After a couple of lower mileage weeks (27/23) managed a few more this week with 36 so hopefully back into the 40s next week.
2021 Mileage:
3,318 miles & 318,000 feet of elevation. 500 hrs so 9:02 average
(2020 3,760 & 299,000’ @8:58)
Biked over 1,500 & swam 25 too
2021 Races (totals, different distances etc)
31: 2 marathons, 2x 10K, 3x XC, 3x Fell Races, 21 parkruns
PBs / Pots won / Team wins etc
None though I did get an age grading PB over 10K at Telford, a couple of 2nd place parkrun finishes & a 3rd too
Best races of the year
Longtown-Llanthony fell race & Telford 10K
TriX Half
Highlights of 2021
Training for & completing the 75M South Wales Traverse, the return to proper racing & the delights of parkrun
Backing up a sub 20 at parkrun on Saturday with a 39:25 10K at Telford
Lowlights of 2021
The final 5-10K of both marathons
Thread poster of the year
Has to be SG though it’d be a lot less interesting without the rest of you 😆
2022 Targets
Get a VLM GFA time, get back under 19 minutes at parkrun
2022 Target races
Brighton marathon
Personal challenge is to complete Offa’s Dyke as a multi-day ultra-marathon & begin the Paddy Buckley training
AWOL: Not seen Bus or Pete post in a while
Hope things pick up for you in a big way Alehouse, & the rest of us dodge the injuries that are becoming more common as we age.
Thank you, PMJ. I will try that. Good opportunity for me to learn a bit.
The mention of Princes Risborough brings a bit of a shudder, SG. I did my only every ultra there. 50k trails. Went off too fast, got dehydrated. Walking most of the last 10k and would have got in a broom wagon if it existed. Got knows why I am considering another this year! Strong daily average from you so far 😊.
Which road races do you have coming up for the Alphaflys, Reg?
Loved the review, Jools – especially the elevation stats. Intriguing you beat last years, given your Everesting month (or two?). Have enjoyed the Paddy Buckley videos from Russell Bentley.
A pleasing 65M for last week. Sneaked in a solo 15M Sunday morning. No special reason, but decided upon an out and back into and through Cheltenham. 7.5M in 61 minutes and then finished in 1:58. Probably more of a testament to the wind direction and hills, rather than a massive increase in effort.
Gloucestershire XC championships this coming Saturday (Jools – you there?). Afternoon job, at the amazing Cotswold Farm Park (rubbing hands with glee at thought of combining a fun family trip with a running dust up). Sadly the park itself is closed ☹. Can hopefully still make it work though.
A couple of short runs with the buggy today. One chasing/frequently stopping with the female child explored the forest on her bike, and another whilst the male variety napped whilst we were home. Did nothing for the average pace of the year, but fun nonetheless!
Weekend wise, ran with the boy who surprised me with 20.36 for a 5k PB by 50 seconds at Great Denham. Fell over on my long run on Sunday - on that black oily mud stuff you get near curbs, really lethal. Few war wounds on my right side, running ok again but an annoying muscle strain in my ribs from when I fell.
First midweek double figure job for months. I'd got into the habit of 8 or max 9 for months, so it was nice to double figure it.
Switched the effort Tue and medium long Wed around, just to give the weekend slight cold an extra day to disappear.
Quite a colossal hill at about 6miles for about 3/4mile, but upon hitting the top and back to nice flat smooth fare, it suddenly felt really nice, despite being freezing cold and even a whisper of snow.
One little scream at some idiot white van driver, who despite me being a couple of metres into a little road crossing, still thought he'd whizz into it in front of me, but fairly decent all in, 7.18, nice.
I fancy something like a 4x200m, 4m HMP +15secs, 4x200m bookend sesh tomorrow. Potentially even first time on the track for ages, but we'll see.
I had physio this morning, SI joint still stiff and picked up some advice as to how I was doing all my exercises wrong
Tried a session today, decided to moderate the pace due to tightness in the hamstring and calf and did a longer continuous effort of 26 minutes at 5:50 with 14 minutes warm up and 7 minutes cool down. The effort felt about marathon pace. although according to my Garmin I am now predicted a 2:26 marathon