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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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Where do you find all these random races?
SC - not that you need telling, but no harm easing into reps with a slower first one. Is it deliberate or just that you're not loose enough though? Good racing (as standard) too; well done. And well done to Ollie too for his pb'.
Reg - good news on the achilles. Is that 'just' running on the back burner for now or are you going to mix and match with the duathlon?
Jooligan - impressive off road racing. Sounds like you're over the worst of the covid issues now?
TR - well run at Goodwood. Great to see the mechanics are improving!
SQ - sounds like a good run out at Bourton, even without the diabetes issues. Was it shingles in the end? I've never had chicken pox so shingles is something for me to be aware of - my Mum never had chicken pox but ended up with shingles 3 times (so far). Her GP tried to tell her it couldn't be shingles again the second time - as he was convinced you could only get it once - until he looked at it, researched, and accepted he was wrong!
Been a rough few weeks here. Fibro flare up for ages was succeeded by a massively negative reaction to the new meds we were trying out. Week before last was 14m followed by 5 days off. Last week was 56m but felt like I was running through knee deep mud whilst wearing a heavy duty resistance band for most runs as the meds worked their way out of my system. It took until Sunday where I ran a chilled 8m with Jr to feel normal again.
Back on the old meds for now, and it was enough of a wake-up call to put myself back to very basic training for a few weeks (Lydiard style base training).
On the subject of Lydiard, I had my second week of the Level II coaching course with the Lydiard Foundation last night. I already had a good handle on a lot of what we covered, but have picked up some great info, particularly on the hill phase, which I'm looking forward to giving a go in a few weeks!
I didn't use this for those couple of really low key pot hunts a few weeks back, but this site is a surprisingly brilliant site. It suggests Oxfordshire, but incorporates Bucks, Berks etc.
http://www.oxonraces.com/
Have binned plans for that 5k tomorrow, no need to force anything in after the last few weeks.
Also a 200 feet climb over 1.5miles doesn't scream super fast, and you'd really have to go all in second half!
Will get some sort of sesh in tomorrow instead.
Mon and Tue were standard 6 & 4 jobs.
Although today's had a couple of hills and some woods. Really humid so certainly not as easy as it could be.
TT - Cheers mate. Shame out the flare up, sensible with the meds.
Mine was 1 rep fewer, and only 1ks, although still off 90secs.
3.32-3.37 range on grassy, pathy, road loop, with the usual occasional obstructions.
Average 3.35 which would be a 17.55 5k. Did my last parkrun in 17.53, so sort of fits that.
Although obviously you want reps to be quicker.
However, that will do, 3 races in 8 days, no rest day since last Wed, and a weird humid / bit windy day.
It's important to keep on top of those sessions isn't it, as before you know it weeks can whizz by.
Solid reps this morning. I totally agree on the weirdly humid part; I jogged into the office this morning and was uncomfortably warm. Planning on either fartlek or a solid uptempo run later, either of which won't be pleasant in that.
SC - nice paces on the 12s. Particularly off track. What races have you got coming up? I'm trying to see if I can fit a Watford 3km in somewhere along the line, but already have 4 races planned in 15 days in September, so will see.
8 very easy / 4 jog yesterday. Nice recovery day after the longer uptempo run on Monday.
TT - My Itinery is
Jul29th - Gold Coast Main Beach Parkrun (V50 record 17.17)
Aug 5th - Albert Pk Parkrun, Melbourne (V50 Record 17.04)
Aug 12th - Burswood Parkrun, Perth (V50 record 18.22)
So barring a disaster, should be OK for the last one - first 2 could be a struggle..
Ticking over ok here so far this week. 4 jog / 10 very easy Wednesday. Yesterday was a repeat of Tuesday. Hopefully some fartlek today. And I've entered a bunch of races as part of my Yorkshire build up.
As I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of training I'm hoping to get on top of everything else - health, diet, sleep, etc. For me one usually leads to the other - if I'm not training well I succumb to the stuff I shouldn't be doing/having.
Sounds a great trip.
Local races TT? Always good to get a firm idea of races, then it gets real.
I've kind of being doing the exact opposite the last month, sort of casually considering races, and actually entering 2 or 3 of them the day before which I've typically never done over the years!
From the door loop, which I tend to favour these days over 20min drive to the track each way and extra earliness that entails.
First rep is always the slowest as it's from the door, on a bit of a windy tight road, across a crossroads, then twisty path towards a Swimming pool.
It's flat enough, but I think all those factors and the caution involve combine with perhaps too much faffing after a couple of strides, so you've not hit max warmth yet.
Dodgy 2.10 to start, then 2.07 on grass
then we properly got going 2.04, 2.03, 2.01, 2.02, 2.03, 2.00
Properly ticking over on the smoother paths and straights of some of those, albeit some still with turns and rep 7 had a little incline near the end.
A van was blocking my route on rep 8 as I was steaming towards it, so i gesticulated a "what you doing, moving or what?" as he seemed to ignore a few easy entries onto the road.
he reversed a bit quickly, and as I thanked him, I heard a huge BEEEEP from behind him.
Getting away from that probably helped the pace
Anyway, ended up a spot on sort of sesh.
Always easier mentally when you've come down the distances in reps isn't it, from the 1ks on Wed.
Races:
Watford 3km 6th September (can't enter that yet but it's a definite in my schedule).
New Forest Marathon 10th September.
Vets AC track 10km 13th September.
Phantom Brewery 10km 17th September.
Windsor HM 24th September.
They all line up with what would have been scheduled time-trials in my build-up.
Investigated the Melbourne V50 record holder - a sports physiotherapist who did 28.40 for 10,000 in the mid 90's. We are in Singapore Sunday night - Tuesday night, definitely not running.
Anyhow - that's it for now - will try and post after each parkrun. Will be updating on Strava & facebook tho!
Half of it is brilliant with no hazards, the other half has a school, petrol station and loads of drives. Essential to run anti clockwise as you get good visbility of the petrol station and a blind bend the other way.
The other was a romp across town on West Wycombe road back. Plenty of drives, a petrol station etc.
I never had any problems on either, but looking back now It would only have taken one absent minded driver at the wrong time.
I run with music, but have the "off" button at a thumb away at all times in case. And am obviously happy to slow / stop if there's any danger.
The loop now is a lot better, less pinchpoints, the place the van came out can always happen but you get great visibility from 50-100m away both directions, and the Tesco express is so tight that cars are forced to go in and out slow.
Same with other little bits and pieces.
Just means when you get a proper marshaled race you can fly without a thought!
First "long" run, aka 13miles for a good month or so, humid and felt a fair slog to be honest.
Threw in the grassy hill and little woody bit of some of my midweekers to save me a trudge back in a straight line.
Couple of slow easy humid ones today, both with a hill thrown in.
Some sort of efforts tomorrow.
Right old mixed bag, as you can often get out on road.
One of the reps for instance I was coming upto a road I could see a van coming in and a car coming out, so ended up going into some industrial estate with about 0.06m of the rep to go and having to turn round within it
Sometimes you ease down a little earlier than you would on a track with a definite finish line too.
Forget roundings, and just going off the first number,
1.19 x 3
1.21 x 3
1.22 x 1
1.23 x 3
1.24 x 2
Call it 1.22 average to actually factor in the roundings, sub 5.30 pace, that'll do.
SG - correct; the marathon is there as a solid long-run/Lydiard style full distance TT. Solid pace on the road reps.
I never did get my fartlek Friday - I'm completely adopting the Lydiard principles, so opted for a solid hour instead of trying to force it. Got my reward on Saturday with a nice 21m (10 @ 7:22, 5 @ 7:03, 6 @ 6:44) feeling strong the whole way. Popped out for a recovery 4m on Sunday to shake off day 1 of a local music festival, putting me on 92m for the week.
Took yesterday off to chill out as I had stuff to sort out. Back at it today with a solid 15m, and a jog to come later. Starting to feel stronger already than I have done in ages.
Today's 8 was darn sticky.
Not helped by mile being a 250 feet trudge up the woods, 10.20 or so pace
The vague aim was to use the woods down to Little Marlow type way, then do a slightly different but essentially the reverse.
Got 3.5miles or so in and instead crossed a road, took some steep hills into Flackwell, then was pleased to do the last 3 or so miles on glorious smooth road . That didn't feel particularly easy even back in the high 7s.
One of those runs where you're not particularly knackered after, but it's absolutely plenty during.
Took a few to get going, from the door, across a little crossroads, turn into a windy path towards the swimming pool, needing to nip across a little grassy bit when seeing it was roped off late on!
so first 3 39-41xx
then settled into more of a flow, albeit subject to whatever turns/hazards etc were on that particular 200m.
In the end one 34xx outliter 36x3, then 37x7 and 38x2.
Probs in the 37xx average sort of fare, compared to maybe 35xx on the track?
Probably feels reasonable.
On the track as well as the obvious smooth consistency and no hazards, the overlooked extra benefit is that very definite finish line you aim at.
Sometimes on these roads reps you slightly ease off expecting the watch to go
Bit of a thread break whilst on holiday. Good to catch up now.
Impressive trophy (and time), Pete!
Good news on the half result and only right to get a voucher for the AG win.
Hope you had a good birthday, SG. Good parkrun result too. It didn’t sound fast from your description. And the Rose Inn sounds (and looks on YouTube) a great road race. Enjoyed the Welsh Pamplona 😆. Generally prolific stuff from you!
Great photo in the 3000, SC. And I’m enjoying the updates from Singapore/Oz. Great to see you get a parkrun record in!
Good effort in the rehabbing, Reg.
TT - I went to one pharmacist who said maybe, then another who said no (apparently it would fall along the line of a vein). Gave me some hydrocortisone cream which I think has helped. I could be wrong, but my understanding is that you cannot shingles without having previously had chickenpox? Sorry to hear about the fibro flare up. Would love to learn more about the Lydiard hill phase in due course. The New Forest marathon should be a great route. Have you done it before?
Have been struggling a little over the last 4-6 weeks. A friend suggested it could be post-viral, although I don’t remember having a virus. The other obvious factor might have been not recovering properly from the Dartmoor Discovery. That and the lack of speed work in recent months contributing to general malaise and slowness. Really felt burnt out and so have binned off any 5am runs for the time being.
Anyway, have had significantly lower mileage than in years - 40-50M a week for a month, although the week in Cornwall had some ridiculous elevation (and incredibly views along the SWCP) thrown into the mix. Used the route finder on fetcheveryone to link up a nice 13M loop on the final morning. Epic stuff and wouldn’t never had planned that on my own.
Have found a Runner’s World 10 week marathon programme that I am loosely following in the build up to Worcester half. No mega sessions in there but useful to give a bit of a structure.
Headed to proper track on Tuesday for 4 x a mile. Times were slow, even with a healthy recovery of 90s static into 400 jog. Still, a start on flat speed. Then the grass track near home got repainted midweek. Absolutely great news! Head for a progressive tempo on Thursday morning. Again, could not believe how slow I was, with HR in the high 160s as I just dipped below 7m/m pace. Much easier on the tarmac warm down home though, so perhaps the wet and slightly long grass was affecting things. It certainly wasn’t the hard baked track of last year’s drought.
14M long run yesterday lunchtime, just dipping below 8m/m. Then a recovery jog to and round parkrun this morning. Next Saturday I have the opportunity for a parkrun in the Bath/Bristol area. Any recommendations from Jools or anyone else on a good one (not bothered about it being fast) to also combine with a longer run?
Hoping that just keeping a sensible structure will lead to some gains down the line. God, being 40 is hard 😆.
This made Tuesday's 42M jaunt across the Brecon Beacons supporting a clubmate on her South Wales Traverse rather painful
Subsequent recovery has been significantly slower than when I did the full 75M route back in 2021.
She started at 4am & ran the first 23M solo before picking up support at Storey Arms for the 10M over Corn-du, Pen-y-Fan, Cribyn, Waun Rydd & Allt Lwyd.
Meanwhile I'd parked at the finish & then biked 25M to CP3: Abercynafon at the head of the Tal-y-Bont Reservoir. The sun was now out but a pleasant breeze was keeping the temperature manageable.
They arrived about 11 minutes behind schedule but took the scheduled 10 minute fuelling stop.
A group of 5 of us set off at 2pm giving us 13 hrs to cover the remainder of the route inside the 23hr target.
We did well on the next 10M section, helped by my extensive experience of the best lines. Just has the one peak to visit: Cefn Yr Ystrad above Trefil Quarry.
Despite wasting the opportunity to pick up more time on the final 6K of gradually declining tarmac, due to her gastro-intestinal discomfort, we arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule which made for a relaxed aid station experience. Perhaps too much so as we spent so long here we'd burnt through that cushion.
From here it was just the two of us for the next 30K. My route knowledge, maintaining a decent pace & a very generous schedule enabled us to make such good time on the flat 5K section to the A479 layby we were able to take on more fuel, restock supplies & still leave with a 30 minute cushion before a tough 13.2M section which kicks off with the last huge climb up Pen-Cerrig-Calch 2000ft in just 1.7M!!
We lost a bit of time on the climb due to the vague paths through head high bracken but once at the top we shared a can of Starbucks Triple Espresso & a banana before cracking on.
This next 10 miles of the traverse is often the best due to the lovely paths, views & evening light.
As we reached the penultimate peak of this section Pen-y-Gadair Fawr the sun was setting.
This meant that the forest descent was done by lamplight as the dense coniferous woods were not illuminated by the twilit skies. That cushion we'd had was now down to just 11 minutes on arrival & by the time we left we'd used that too.
We were joined by another successful completer here for the final 15M to Llanthony Priory. With 100K done Amy was suffering by now but still moving OK: running anything flat or gently down & trudging the uphill bits. We yo-yo-ed around the schedule arriving a couple of minutes ahead at Gospel Pass, gained a further 10 by not having a fuel stop here, & another 3 on the climb up to Hay Bluff. This 15 minute cushion remained by Black Mountain the high point of the ridge & despite going very slowly it was still intact by the start of the final steep descent to Llanthony Priory. Amy's mind & legs were unwilling to let her descend with any fluidity so she began losing time now. Fortunately it was just 2K & with a final jog round the Priory she made it at 2:58am just 2 minutes inside the target.
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: MTB & walk - started as a hobble but freed up after a mile and got a decent pace on.
Friday: MTB & 4M jog which was really tough.
Today: parkrun + wu/cd & short MTB
1M wu from the car park was stiff legged & slow. Glute/ITB had me limping around whilst listening to the run briefing.
Miraculously I got off to a decent start, everything felt OK & I was reasonably strong on the long climb to the summit. Continued to push hard on the descent & finished in 21:11 for 7th place which is an improvement on the last couple of runs on this course when I was suffering the post-covid blues. Onwards & Upwards
Congratulations on the ticking off the 1st parkrun target Simon.
Hope you pick up over the summer SQ. Where are you visiting? Somerdale Pavilion is a bit different, Blaise Castle or Ashton Court give good opportunities for extending the run whilst Bath Skyline allows you to use the Kennet & Avon for some flat miles before &/or after though it's a stiff climb up from there to Claverton Down which is where the parkrun takes place.
Any welshie races planned next month or 2? SQ as well...
Was looking at the logistics of a few, but Wycombe being away at Bristol Rovers 26th August complicates it a bit. There's the Scenic 7 the Wed before and the Madchen (something like that), Mountain race on the Monday. Neither tie in great with the Wycombe game, too many stay overs needed.
But an old time's sake Winchcombe return could work. Morning after the Bristol race.
Think it has an insane hill though so might not be a fun return after the 2008 or 09 race win at the random 4.8mile distance!
ps SQ, age is just a number. I had to remind myself that midweek when struggling out a 10.20 or so first mile. Context is everything and going from cold to taking on a 250 feet climb in the woods, with high humidity, it's going to happen
So if you haven't utterly combusted first half, you've got a chance of a good finish. Albeit i dare say not making up for what you've lost unless exceptionally well measured.
Pairs relays with Dashers this Thursday, last min decision on Murder Mile on the Friday, potential parkrun if I stayed over. Or alternatively a 5k or 10k on the Sunday, 5k midweek and potential turn out the weekend after.
Too much stuff to decide from to be honest!
Warm today but not particularly humid, so chalk and cheese with last week's slog of a long run.
Half a mile longer, 50 feet more climbing, and around 20secs a mile quicker.
Speaks volumes.
SQ - I believe the thinking used to be the other way around in that you can only get shingles as an adult if you never had chickenpox as a kid, though I think the generally accepted thinking now is that you can have had both. I've run New Forest a few times. It was always a happy hunting ground (first marathon/first sub-3 when I started running as an adult in '07, a win in '08, and a HM win (and still my pb) in 2013, though I think the course is different now.
Sorry to read you've been struggling. It certainly sounds like it could be post-viral. I've found in the past that it's possible to have a low-level viral infection without the usual signs. For me soreness in the major muscle groups (usually quads) are usually an indicator of just that - have you had anything like that? If you have had shingles then that could take some time to clear your system.
Jooligan - impressively nuts/hectic as always!
Bit of a rubbish week here. Fibro has been rearing its head on a regular basis over the best part of the last 3 months, largely due to the change to new meds messing things up and the change back to the old ones taking time to bed in. I'm sure things are not helped by the imminent first anniversary of my Dad's passing. Throw in post-festival recovery, time off for our wedding anniversary, and masses of manual labour (filling a skip) across the last two days and this week came in at half of last week (46m).
Some positive runs though (solid 15m Monday), and a light workout on the road yesterday (6 x 1km @ HM effort with a 600m jog - averaged 5:56m/m for the fast). Paces say I'm at a standstill, but with 11 weeks to race day that's loads of time for me to get in good shape (hopefully).
That’s interesting, TT. And good to have your thoughts on the general malaise. Have had soreness although hopefully that is now easing a bit. Think it is/was a combination of too many early mornings, not enough recovery post ultra, diabetes thrown into the mix and who knows what else. I guess that general advice of being mindful of activity, rest and balance is the key. That’s a hell of a lot of extra stress in a week for you so as you say, take the long run and session as a good sign. Congrats on the anniversary and sorry to hear the fibro is challenging again. Does anything in particular lead to more difficult periods?
I’ve got a couple of races in the pipeline, SG (although not as many as you 😆). Have just entered my club’s Bugatti 10k - on road with a tough climb in the final 4k. Determined not to look at my previous times and just focus on setting a personal best as a v40! There is also a new race from Cheltenham Harriers - Evesham Velopark 5k on the 13th August. I put it in the calendar with a question mark. My wife gently reminded me it was our anniversary (whoops). There is also Haresfield 5k on the 16th, Bristol Track Club Odd Down 5k on 23rd (rapid race by all accounts - again on a criterium style tarmac loop) and as you say, Winchcombe 10k. I love this race and it works brilliantly with an incredible kids playground, castle etc at the venue. Would be great to see you there although no doubt you’d knock me down the results. This will almost certainly work best for the family although I am also considering the Severn Bridge Half that day. Only really looked into it for the first time and hadn’t quite clocked how big an events (1000s - and they close the M48 over the bridge for it).
Cheers Jooligan and Pete. That is helpful. They were the two I was considering. Bath Skyline is closer and the canal paths are indeed super. I do love Bristol though and feel I have unfinished business having gone to Ashton Court parkrun on my stag do in 2014. We only ran the first half 😆. If I grab a route from fetcheveryone I could make it into a longer run around there and Leigh Woods so may go for that option.
Brilliant recap from you, Jools. Quite the reintroduction to longer running! Having a pacer well familiar with the route must make all the difference in the dark.
9M including 10 x 30s hill sprints today. For no particular reason, really enjoyed myself. Obviously it is only five minutes of quality, but feels enough to achieve something whilst being entirely manageable. Really enjoyed the remainder of the 4M or so after.
Fibro manifests differently for everybody, but the root of it is that your 'fight or flight' system is always on/hyper-sensitive, which leads to increased cortisol and adrenaline production, so it really comes down to what your brain perceives as a threat or a stress. I'm finding the Garmin 245 incredibly useful as it tracks stress levels in the body (by heart-rate variability) so I'm identifying triggers - certain foods and alcohol seem to have a magnified effect on me. Now that I know them I need to actually do something about them though!
Interestingly, switching back to a Lydiard approach to training is actually showing some benefits already. Typically I only got 5-20minutes of deep sleep a night, usually right at the beginning, but since stepping away from the club group sessions (anaerobic) I've actually had a few nights where I've had several (small) blocks of deep sleep.
On the hillsprints, there have been some interesting discussions in the coaching course on not using them, but instead doing alactic strides of 10 seconds, with complete ATP recovery (2.5-3 minutes) between them.
13m yesterday as 2m up, 10m @ 80% (65:14), 1m down. That's a 12s/mile improvement on 2 weeks ago, whilst being better controlled. I'm very tempted to base train the whole way through Yorkshire and out the other side to get some consistency and really nail down the health side of things (got some other bits in the pipeline to help with that too).