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TT.. yes I'll keep a look out at the running shoe sales, mind you I haven't worn many out recently with being injured. Good work on the plumbing & electrical duties!
TR.. 10m the day after a race is good going, hope the knee settles down.
A bit showery this morning but got out for 5m with the Mrs who is steadily getting back to it. A bit of S & C tonight too.
Just to say I'm still here! Going to have a monster read back - I've not got to the end of Aug yet! But I'll try and post properly once I've done that.
Hope everyone is well xx
Jools - you love a tough race.
Wardi - good one on the S and C too.
LS - it'll take you a while
10m as 2 easy, 8 steady (finishing 6.45) this morning. Sunday didnt seem to do much except annoy my knees. Was frosty in places this morning, so the 50 metre of flood water was a bit chilly. Gales and rain again tomorrow.
Nice 10m TR, most of our big puddles have gone as we've had alternate good & poor weather days.. Wet & windy morning forecast here tomorrow too.
Took advantage of a decent morning to do 11.6m around the country lanes. Pleased to note that the local water utility have fixed the leak that I reported!
SJ - A 50k sounds a great way to mark your 50th. Or you could run the Madeira marathon in the sunshine?
Jooligan - A day off, c'mon your slipping, but well deserved after your recent exertions/ schedule.
TR - Some good back to back 10m, and a good lick today for the 8m. You've come out of the race well. So Gosport and then the Goodwood marathon.
LS21 - Good to see you. To save you time, SJ ran a good sub3 in Amsterdam, Jooligan, a 50K for charity and the rest of us bumbling through with a wide mix of aches, illnesses and pains, and its become apparent TT is pretty handy if you want anything fixed around your house. Is London in your plans or another Spring mara?
Wardi - Nice 11.6m and community leak spotting.
A 4m y'day & 8.5m with 6.5m @ 6.30 mm today. So all being well I am hoping thats marathon pace, and hope the heat does not have too much of an impact - plenty of cases over the years of running the Gran Canaria marathon to go past red-faced weary walking Brits who went off too fast for the temps, typically 22C rising to 26C.
OO - good one on the 6:30s, 26 degrees would be a shock........Gosport if things settle down after Sunday.......Goodwood (1/2 option is there if needed) if things settle down after Gosport.......at times I do wonder if i should stop for a while, but that'd probably be the beginning of the end. So management is the plan for now.
Good training all round then.
TR - cheers re: Gosport. A mate was asking about the course. Definitely covid here. Frustrating but at least using the hrm means I won't overdo whatever I do do. Nice steady work, and good that your knee doesn't seem to have taken too much of a battering from the weekend.
sj - nice big birthday plan, and cool with Jr joining you too. I'm pretty much 3 years behind you (end of Jan too). I'll probably come up with something daft to do.
OO - nice 6.5m MP. Hopefully your foot is at least easing off little by little?
Wardi/Jooligan - nice miles being put in by both of you.
I had a moment of brief respite yesterday as 7m in the same hr zone as Monday's long (8:18) came out at 7:52 with less spikes and easier to get under control. By yesterday evening's 4m jog though it had just gotten daft as I ended up averaging 9:20m/m!!! to stay under my recovery HR.
I'd considered some sub-threshold HR work today but might just settle for easy running if I get a window - got work, more plumbing to fix, and a child to get in for a hand operation (step-son broke his pinky and needs it pinned), and am feeling a bit ropey today so it could be a blank.
OO.. enjoy the rest of the taper. You do seem to cope with the warmth better than most so I'm sure you will stay positive.👍
A modest 4m + 5 5m double today. Awful weather this morning, a pleasant afternoon.
TT - gosport is a good idea for your mate if the weather is good as its a 2000 runners race with a decent level, but you can't book the weather when you enter.......
Wardi - awful weather very day lately.
10m home for me, don't really enjoy running longer on the pm commutes nowadays but m trying to only run once a day this week, with some sort of s and c at the other end of the day. Might have to do a 5 and 5 double Friday though, to ensure my bike is at the right end for the weekend.........hammering the S and C so you have multiple leg doms takes your mind off knee aches......I'm doing bodyweight stuff sometimes as well as heavier weights......try standing on one leg and see how long you can hold a one leg squat, not very long for me.....at the mo.
Well that was a good read back! Great to catch up on how everyone has been over the past few months.
TR - genuinely gutted for you re your DNSs. You were looking to be in such good nick in early September as well! In terms of return on investment you're up there with Bitcoin. I really hope you have some better luck in 2024. Are you Brighton bound? Maybe London as well? Seem to remember you have a GFA from (possibly Goodwood) when it was about -38 for your race and you were dressed like Scott of the Antarctic?
OO - really hope the toe settles down and Gran Canaria goes well. 30 x sub-3s would be amazing. Fingers crossed! I was semi-eyeing up Gran Canaria next year actually (more of that below), but I'm not sure how feasible it's going to be.
wardi - great to see you back to it properly. You were very sensible/patient re the injury and it seems to have paid dividends. Well done!! Looks like you're getting back to your old speeds too with the parkrun efforts. Good man! Will you be racing the Tad 10 week after next? A load from my old club (Barnsley Harriers) will be there as it's one of their club champs races.
TT - mixed news for you I guess. It sounds a real struggle/frustration battling the fibro symptoms, especaily when you know it's holding you back so much. The HR stuff sounds a good approach though. I often set an upper HR limit on my watch for recovery runs, and then spend half an hour arguing with it cos it's so hilly round here and I'm barely walking! Well done at New Forest by the way, and great stuff re the coaching stuff. Just keep at it, and hopefully you find a balance that works.
SJ - loved the Amsterdam report. It captured exactly how I am when I race them! The internal chat to slow down, and then banging out the next 5k split 10 seconds faster!! Haha!! I did that race back in 2011 - really enjoyed it. Hope the Guinness went down well. You had any more since, or was it just the couple to celebrate you pulling off a Shakin' Stevens impression as you entered the stadium? Prob doing the 4 Villages if you are? A few of us I think - Caz, Kelvin, Rich, Lord Dids etc. Be good to see you if you're there. Good luck with the 50th celebrations too. Same for me in April (couple of weeks before London) - which is just as well as that gives me 5 more mins for my GFA! Prob told you but I did a track Marathon once and really enjoyed it. Best tip I can give you is to manually split every 400m and have a field on your Garmin for 'No of Laps' - you'll lose count otherwise.
Jooligan - talking of doing stupid stuff on a track..... Well done on the 50k! And then a parkrun the day after!! Haha, nutter! Your runs always make me laugh, cos they often involve some sort of Ray Mears expedition through dense jungle and stuff! Well done anyway, that's a belting achievement!!
joolska - nice to see you popping in and getting back to it (albeit slowly). Hopefully you're continuing to make progress and you can get back to it properly soon.
I had a little lay off after London (just normal post-Marathon stuff) but ever since then I just can't get my old speed back. Nowhere near. I seem to have lost 20-30 seconds a mile, and I just can't get it back. That's really bothered me and I've found it hard to get my head round. Led to quite a lot of 'what's the point' type stuff, which led to sporadic training which then made it worse. However, I seem to have rationalised it as 'that's just where I am now' and just tried to crack on as best I can. I did a couple of 5ks in the early summer (19'30-19'40 I think), and a Half at Lancaster (1'30'3x). Rubbish times but I ran well and it was the best I could do. I also enjoyed them, so that was the main thing.
I then hurt my back quite bad at work lifting some crates. I couldn't even walk, get out of bed, get dressed etc. So I was out for about a month or so. The last week of that I was on hol (Crete) which was nice but my daughter really struggled. She's autistic. She's 15 in a month's time and she won't come away with us again. Which means if I go on hol at all next year it'll prob be solo, hence the interest in Gran Canaria for the Marathon. But the way things are I can't afford it anyway. Things have been really tough this year at the shop - just in terms of overheads, and the cost of electric in particular. It's gone up 5 fold. Sounds silly, but it's like you going to Costa and them charging you £18 for a latte. That's how much it's gone up, and it's killing us. Every day I read about someone like us calling it a day. A gift shop in Keswick with a £400k turnover has gone online only and closed the shop. If they can't do it it tells you all you need to know.
Anyway, since I got back I've decided to focus on London and see if I can get another GFA. I had a good October (250 miles I think) and the last 2 weeks have been 68ish. Eating well so lost a bit of weight, and not had a drink since Crete. Not sure how long I'll keep that going for, but I felt it wasn't helping. So far so good.
I did Derwentwater 10 at the weekend - a glorious route but pretty hilly. You pretty much go to the top of Catbells on the second half. I ran well though - 69'07 I think. Again, a poor time but I ran well, paced it well, finished strongly etc. I couldn't have gone any quicker either, and I enjoyed it! Caught up with some mates and had a good day. So all good. Got Brampton to Carlisle in 10 days time so I'll see how that goes. Consensus is that's about 2-2'30 quicker than Derwentwater which puts me high 66s/67ish - I ran 61'2x there last year, which puts my decline into context. Hey ho. It's keep at it or pack in I guess, so I'll keep at it.
I reckon you're a bit on the young side to be in decline. It's the lay offs due to injury, life getting in the way that cause the dip in speed. My modest peak years were age 45-52, the speed started to tail off after that. Just keep at it as you say, consistency is the key. Not sure about the Tad 10 yet, it's on my doorstep but I'm not sure if I'm ready for a 10m race yet. If I don't run it I will volunteer - the chap who organises it is in our club.
TR.. someone told me that it is very tricky in old age to stand on one leg with your eyes closed. Having tried it they were right.
10.7m up & down the Sustrans trail today. Very pleasant conditions until I sat in the car when I finished. It suddenly turned very grey & gloomy and started raining like it meant it - a lucky escape!
Wardi - well timed Wardi. I got rained on this morning.
5 and 5 today, so i can do minimal 5 in morning and then pedal home. Long run hopefully on Saturday.
TR - Ha, Its not the frequent short distance races, I think you need a few more rest days in your training. Good luck for tomorrow. Goodwood within sight now.
Wardi - Sounds like a good run and very well-timed.
TT - Whats going on with your HR? Hope you were able to get out.
Jooligan - That forest trail run sounds lovely. Looking forward to a summer on the trails next year.
An unexpected rest day yesterday, as 3-4 hours in the car on work, gave rise to a sore knee when I got home, which combined with thunderous downpours and strong winds mean't nothing to be gained. So on rested legs, just ran 4m wu/cd and 4m @ 6.15 mm in old VF, which I was relieved to see (normal marathon taper questions - have you run quick enough? run long enough?) An easy 7m tomorrow and a fast 4m burst on Sunday. Then proper cotton wool time.
A chilly day here but as above lots of sun and blue sky to enjoy. 6.3m done, looks like the same weather for tomorrow so a sun-drenched Parkrun No.250 beckons. Out tonight at my old village pub for a couple of lagers @ £2.40 a pint.
LS21 - good to see you pop in (as always). Sorry to hear things have continued to be a bit rough for you. I think most people, certainly myself included, have found this year particularly mentally tough, but throw in the added stress with your shop, well...... I hope it works out for you.
Good to see you back training and racing though; it can only help. Chin up and keep on keeping on.
Wardi - good to see you getting back to it. Enjoy those well earned beers and your 250th parkrun.
TR - hopefully you get better weather for your long run than we're forecast to get!
Wednesday and Thursday off. Tried a very easy 6m today and though it wasn't horrendous that is as much effort as I'd want to put in right now.
Wardi - enjoy the frothies and the parkrun.
TT - hopefully the rest has done you good.
Minimal 5m this morning. Would like to run long tomorrow as i didn't last weekend, but that might ruin Gosport a week later, but then Gosport might ruin Goodwood 2 wks later again......but not going to over think it as either or both could be ruined by the wind, so no point getting too focussed on either at the mo.
TR - ticking over nicely. Hope this morning's long one went ok?
Ditto wardi - how did parkrun go?
OO - looking in mighty fine fettle. I couldn't do 1 at 6'15 at the mo, so you're good to go I reckon. As a complete aside - I was thinking about you this morning and wondered if you'd ever considered any of the England Masters races (to qualify you for an age-group England vest?) You'd have an excellent chance I think. Problem is it would be a hell of a journey for the actual race where you could wear it (often races in the North West it seems) - Chester seems a favourite (10k, half and Marathon this year!) Lord Dids got his England vest this year (following a mighty fine 1'21 at the Brass Monkey as a V60). Was just a thought really.
TT - good to see you felt well enough to at least get out. Hopefully you're over the worst now and can get back to it.
Another decent week here. The weather was horrific on Thu so I opted for the gym and did 10 miles on the treddy. Easy 7 and then 6 back home yesterday (we've only got 1 vehicle at the mo) and then a brisk 9 and a bit this morn. It was brisk in terms of effort at least!! Bloody cold though - it was -3 driving in, so full hat, gloves, 3 layers etc. Enjoyed it though.
Thanks for the comments re my pace dropping off as well. I'll just see. This one feels different tbh - I'm usually pretty good at getting back up to speed, but not this time - so I don't know. My best days are certainly well behind me (they were 2015-2017 when I was 2'45ish), but that's fine!
I've done a lot of soul searching this past 6 months and I've come to realise I really like the feeling of just being fit - feeling in good nick, looking after myself, eating well etc. That overrides anything re performance, race times etc. So I'll do the right things, train well and enjoy the process. Whatever time I run at the end of it is what it is - I know I'll have done my best and that's all I can do, so I'm enjoying the 'being in good nick' feeling regardless of what the gadget tells me.
Would normally do 21 inc 10mp in the middle today. But as i did 10m race last wk and have HM next week I thought I'd do the middle 10 as a steady effort (around 7.15ish) and wear my cushioned mileage munchers for knee protection. First mile was 7.26 so about right but then kept hovering nearer 7mm for a few miles, so i slipped the handbrake and the last 6 were av 6.45 with the last mile 6.26. Will ease off after Wednesday so I'm a bit fresher for next weekend.
LS21.. I'm with you on the constant changes to shoes. My favourite training run shoe (the NB Fuel Cell TC) appears to be no more. Luckily I have a new pair in reserve plus about 3 months left in the current pair.
Good run this morning but it sounds chilly up your way! T-shirt & shorts here this morning & even took the gloves off at half way.
TT.. hope you're back to firing on all cylinders soon .
Parkrun was a great experience, the sun was out and a few clubmates showed up. Before the start they always read out Parkrun 'milestones' and as I was the only one today I got maximum applause from 571 runners! I guess that's my 15 seconds of fame done.
Felt quite sluggish this morning so just eased my way round in 23.40. Really enjoyed it though and added a few miles on with w/u & w/d.
Club annual dinner tonight so will celebrate with a beer and a glug of wine.
LS21 - I am flattered with the Veterans vest thought thanks - but I was born in Cardiff!. It was hard enough for me in the summer to take my younger son to Twickenham, him wearing an England shirt, me a Wales one (luckily my older son, though a Londoner is also Welsh!). I was toying with running for Wales @ York marathon in 2021 but as you alluded to, too far a distance really. Your motivation to run is spot on, a very positive life style choice, if we get good times a bonus. A cracking few days well done. -3 Blimey!!
TR - A good run today and good choice made on reduction in pace. Famous last words, but if I were you, its all about the marathon @ Goodwood now, so I would be tempted to treat next weeks HM as a speed endurance session say 8m @ mp / 5m @ mp + 30/45 secs and not race it, given recent injuries/ experiences.
Wardi - Congrats on the 250 PR, and being the focus for the applause, sounds like your going to have quite a day.
Easy 7m today in the Invincibles V3 - a strange shoe as I've said, only useful for protecting my toe when I run and yes it does feel flat. A slightly faster session tomorrow and then that more or less is it. Looks like being a slightly above average warm one next Sunday, BBC now saying 24C at 8 am and 26C at 11 am with "feel" slightly higher. Hope its water in bottles, so can pour over my head/ body rather than plastic friendly/ runner unfriendly and water in cups. Then run straight into the sea to cool-off as the race finishes on the beach.
LS21 - I can completely get that. I started seeing a counsellor a while back for several reasons that I won't bore you with, but the subject of running/aging/fibro came up and she couldn't quite grasp the importance of it to me initially until I said that what I'm trying to 'get back' is not the times I used to run, but, rather, that feeling of fitness and just being in tune with my body, and that aspect of it is what is important to my mental health - just being able to move and feel that sense of flow. If I can get that back then whatever the times are they are.
Wardi - congrats on the 250th and receiving full undiluted applause. I think I'm hovering around 20 still. Lol.
OO - similar situation with the Vets representation for me. It has crossed my mind a few times, not least because of the parochial attitude of the Irish equivalent. Semi-related, a great book which shows that some things never change in that regards is Jim Hogan's 'The Irishman who ran for England'. Roy Keane has, more than once, commented on how there was a similar attitude in football, particularly in the under-age teams.
It turns out all I needed to do to get the lurgy moving was to drown it in alcohol - a mate moved to Cornwall a while back and was on a rare visit back yesterday, so after far too many pints of Shipyard, some jagerbombs, and sambuca shots, I woke up this morning feeling better than I have done since I got ill.
A 4m dog walk earlier and an easy 5m (where I was n.a.d at pre-covid pace/HR levels) felt nice, so hopefully that carries on and I can get back to normal now.
TT - im all in favour of a booze up. I still have a raised RHR may be i should throw some shots at it!
OO - that heat sounds nice for a holiday but not a mara. Hopefully it'll be a bit cooler.........trouble with saving myself for GW is that the weather might ruin the day anyway. But agreed 2 weeks isn't ling between the two, although it will be full on taper time in the 2nd week.......which is why I didn't run Gosport last year.
Nearly time for a few rehydraters..........
Nice one on the 250 Wardi. That’s a big round of applause. 👏
I applaud your choice of ‘medication’ TT. Glad it seems to have shifted things for you.
Have you had Covid LS21?
It was the British Cross-Challenge in Cardiff. Great to see Megan Keith storm to the win as well as a few other famous (to us) athletes such as Jess Judd, Jenny Nesbitt & Steph Twell.
Jooligan.. very close to sub 20, find a nice flat tarmac course on a non-windy day.
TR.. hope the beers went down well last night.
OO.. fingers crossed that forecast simmers down a bit for you. London 2018 was about 25-27 degrees in the latter stages.
11.5m today, took advantage of a dry morning as rain was due in the afternoon. Tomorrow looks very windy & wet. 63.5m for the week.
TT - Great though unexpected news. Jagerbombs, party animal!
Wardi - Good run today and a good weekly mileage, 63.5m, the highest for a while?
23-26C is pretty much par for the course in the 4 times I've run the race. As long as I am pretty doused in water, that level of heat doesn't seem to effect me too much (famous last words). 5m @ 7.15 mm d&d, 38m for the week so time to think about packing.
Wardi - good one on the 11m. Everyday is a rainy day lately I don't bother watching the weather forecast at times, as my run and bike times are fixed.
OO - you had best run carrying a watering can then.
Didn't run (or turbo) today, thought it'd do me more good to have a day off, as i won't run til home time tomorrow which gives my knee a good break, and I've still got elevated RHR from a bit of a cold, although maybe that's my nowadays RHR, as its been like that for a while.