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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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Last hard session was last Wed, so cut intensity out, will see what they say on volume.
Last couple of days have been more the scratches over the knee from the trip that have complicated things rather than this nag, but obviously that is very much massively minor in the scheme of even short term.
63 from PO10 - 23 Track, 12 road & relays, 22 Parkruns, 6 xc.
2023 Pots
Eastern masters xc V50, But definitely the V50 5K gold was my favourite - not often I manage to be British Champion, so definitely the best, especially getting under 16.00 again.
2023 Highlights
Obviously the British masters 5K was the highlight, others the V50 Parkrun records in Australia was great fun. Newport Pagnell 5K was a laugh too. One of my best Surrey league XC performances in October too
2023 Lowlights
Glad to say none really - few below par performances, but that's running...
2024 Aims & targets
Easy - try to get in sub 9 shape for the 3,000 indoors at the European masters indoors in Torun in March, likewise 4.10 shape for the outdoors World masters in Gothenburg in August.
Hope the hamstring sorts itself, SG. They can hang around the bastards.
Enjoyed the review, TT, albeit a mixed year. Hope there are positive roads ahead and you keep enjoying your son’s progress.
A strong year from you, SG. Love the blend of racing and the sensible approach to keeping motivation high. Good luck with the club choice. Well done on all you do with the thread.
Nice parkrun first finish, Reg. Not too many run races from you, but the 100M week and marathon PB are not to be sniffed at.
Also a nice parkrun first finish, SC! 63 races is incredible. A real mix in there, and all high quality. Can’t wait to follow your journey to the outdoor Masters.
Continuing the build here. Very much going for a solid base of mileage before introducing speed. Fun club trail run adventure on NYE 11M on very muddy hills. Ridiculously slow, stop start affair, but good for a chat on routes I would never do myself.
NYD saw the first hint of a session during this comeback: 3 x 10mins steady off 3 min jog. 7:03-06. Wouldn’t have fancied pushing it any more from a mechanical stand point. And fairly blowing out of my arse as well 😂. Good endorphin boost though.
Filthy one way recovery route from Tewkesbury to Bishop’s Cleeve yesterday. Headwind and rain job, but always good to run a slightly alternative set of roads.
Then had an early morning tutoring gig cancelled at the last moment this morning, so headed out for this week’s long run: 11.7M at a leisurely 8:28 pace. This was 1h39 which works well in advance of the planned 16 week block from next Monday - they long run in week one is 1h40, albeit I hope a little faster. Hamstring sore at the end.
XC this Saturday. Will have to be disciplined to run it sensibly and not set things back. Getting the ego in check will be key!
2023 race total:
17 in total, including:
1 x 5k road
1 x 5M road
1 x 5.5 hilly MT
4 x Glos League XC
2 x 10k road
1 x hilly MT 10k
3 x half marathons
1 x 14M hilly MT
2 x road marathon
1 x 33M hilly road ultra
2023 pots:
I was surprised to be handed the 3rd Senior Male in the club Road Race series - trophy given on Christmas Day as I missed the awards bash. Quite a nice Christmas present!
3rd at the Winchcombe 10k
2023 highlight:
Undoubtedly the Dartmoor Discovery - the real focus of the year. 33M very hilly road miles, beautiful views, hot weather and ran the whole thing. Bloody loved it.
Linda Franks 5M back in Jan - 29:29. Seems unimaginably fast now.
Doing sufficient XC races to qualify for a league position for the first time.
Manchester Marathon - 2:58. Exactly the same time as the year before - to the second! Good to run this off the back of only hilly training. Much more measured pacing than the previous year.
Cloud Cuckoo race only 4 days after DD. Seriously chilled out approach with no warm up. Felt good in the race and then a beer immediately after.
Abingdon Marathon - after a tough summer and early autumn, motivation and a degree of form returned. First big race since turning 40 and delighted to fight the demons from 16M and hold on for sub-3 when I really didn’t think it was on.
My son’s first junior parkrun and both kids enjoying a couple of MT fun runs.
My 200th parkrun coinciding with Christmas Day.
2023 lowlights:
February racing - a bit rubbish at XC and a poor Bourton 10k. Bit of a bug in there I suspect.
Bourton Hilly Half - fleet dreadful and on an extended comedown following DD. This extended into a slow summer. Just couldn’t really get moving again.
November/December’s hamstring injury. First injury in several years so shouldn’t complain. Did though give me an appreciation for the love of running!
2024 aims and targets:
Currently undecided. Short term: XC this weekend and Feb. LF5M in maybe three weeks. Bourton 10k in Feb. Having done no speed work in many months, I will need to think of a mental approach for these. Might use them as fast finish long runs.
Plan to do either Newport or Boston UK Marathon on 28/4. Toying with the Dartmoor Discovery again!
And would like to do Snowdonia or Broadway Marathon in the Autumn as well.
Genuinely want to stay fit and healthy in the wider sense, and enjoy the running. I think more trail races are the key.
Basically not anything like tendinopathy, it's just that I'm utterly criminally tight across hamstring, IT band and piriformis! I mean I've always been tight hamstring wise - i take 10mins to get anywhere near my toes!
3 big stretches to sort it, no need to reduce either quantity or quality. Brilliant.
However, I won't push my luck and re-add the fast stuff until I've had a decent spell doing these stretches.
Friday track starts tomorrow, but it'll wait a week or 2.
Reg - very interested to see how you go at the Hyrox. Part of me would like to try something random like that but I seem to have perennially unfinished business at the marathon. I did laugh at the "Obviously I've had proximal hamstring tendinopathy" comment! Hopefully you can get your hamstrings under control.
SG - on that note, very good news for you. My wife had high hamstring tendinopathy and only got it cured by having a cortisone injection under x-ray with a bloody huge needle, so thank your lucky stars that wasn't the outcome! Bramley 20 again this year?
SC - a great year from you with a national title to round off a lot of racing!
I finished off last year with a 9m with Jr on NYE (rare we get a chance to run together now with track on alternate days) to leave me with 2,638m for the year. Way down on target, but something to build from.
This week so far has been slow moving (dealing with, and hopefully coming out the other side of, some horrendous insomnia again), but 6m Monday, 2 x 4m Tuesday, 4m+5m Wednesday, and a 10m/4m yesterday. I'm getting out there consistently at least, even if the numbers are not where I want them yet.
The post-viral joint aches that I thought had pretty much gone are more noticeable again (probably due to tiredness from lack of sleep), so I'm giving xc a miss this weekend and will just keep on plodding through runs until things start to feel better.
The funny thing, is the physio started by saying I'm getting on in age and your (not sure what bits she said, tendons/ligs etc...) are like tyres and only take so much pounding!
Although then said i'm actually quite young still - so wasn't sure, am I an old bastard or a young bastad - all relative
I definitely won't be up for Wokingham, so I wouldn't mind a Bramley 20 expedition to be honest. Same as last year maybe, chatty, top end easy slightly into steady sort of job.
Will make sure longer runs are feeling less glitchy first though.
I'll see if anyone is weasling out nearer the time to see if I can get a place cheaper
Was free last year - although do I have loads on that 50% funding by work brilliant facility if needs be.
Today's 8 felt a bit looser, might be sheer placebo, might be an early improvement from the tonne of stretching I did yesterday.
The piriformis/glute stretch is deep and brilliant, the easiest of the 3 to do.
The IBT one slightly harder to feel much, and obvs hamstring stretch very tough as I don't get very near my toes at all until a good few mins in!
2,600+ for a "low" year for you is pretty impressive, especially with a lot of ups and downs due to little bits and pieces.
You've shown a million times before that you only need a reasonably short block of consistency to get right back amongst strong times.
Got absolutely drenched last night and the back was a bit annoying again - probably starting out 4/10 pain wise, down to 2 by the end of the run. Felt ok again this morning - think it will be a while before it goes completely.
Annoyingly the Beds XC champs is on a Sunday this year. Will see how it is after, I really need to get up to speed ASAP as Poland will be here before I know it.
That’s a surprisingly big total from you TT given how sporadic your running seems to have been. How does it compare to recent years? Hope your mojo comes back & that your luck turns at last.
Nice casual parkrun win Reg. I hope you’ve got a few photos to chart the progress of your transformation: Gazelle to Gorilla 🤣
Glad you swerved the temptation of Seven Sins SQ and that you continue to make progress. Go carefully at XC - it’s a tough course & bound to be boggy.
Not much running other than parkruns. The weather helped restrain any urge I had to return to running just yet 🤣
I started a course of anti-inflammatories on the 20th to try & free up the glute. Possibly helped but they left me feeling pathetically weak (a common side-effect) for Xmas day parkrun & bike ride after, so I took my last one on the 28th.
Very quiet NYE meant I was in a reasonable state for NYD parkrun. Went to Tamar Lakes for a 4th time. This venue was my last sub 20 back in September’22! Given the forecast, it was miraculously dry & relatively still. I went out hard & the first 500m was 2:01. Obviously I wasn’t able to hold that after 2 months averaging 10 miles a week. I managed to dip under 22 though despite fighting a turtle 🐢 for the final mile 🤣
First run since then today: 10 miles of FoD trail in the sunshine with a mate. Perfect if my glute was ok. It survived but I was getting very tight after 6 & gradually losing leg lift on the left. Ironically downs were worse than the ups - I empathise SQ.
I’ll be adding another London Parkrun to my tally tomorrow but resting Sunday.
Maybe the physio didn't know your age at the start and then she checked her notes at the end
Seems like a couple of potential red flags with her though. If you can't feel anything stretching the ITB then that's because it's not possible. You can stretch the muscles that insert into it, such as glute max and the TFL, but not the ITB itself.
Also connective tissue is not like a car tire, you can build this too, it just takes a lot longer than muscle and requires specific targeted exercises. Obviously for 99.9% of people this will never be achieved so in practice she's probably right! Then we're not most people are we, as we're writing about running on the internet.
Amazing race tally SC, nice review and some stella performances in amongst them.
TT - I was also surprised with that mileage total, very impressive, I can see why you nailed so many marathons if that's what you manage in a bad year!
Well done on the Parkrun Jools both the time and the restraint! There was no deliberate 'before' photo! I don't think I need to worry about becoming a gorilla but I am hoping to become a different animal
8 miles yesterday for me and a morning mobility routine and glute work followed by a gym pull workout at lunch today. Set the sled pull up with about 160kg and was able to pull it, slowly but surely. Race weight is 175kg. I did lose some skin on my fingers for my troubles though!
Cheers SC. Fingers crossed your back eases off quickly, especially with some big (and cool) targets!
Jools - I don't tend to get on with anti-inflammatories so avoid them like the plague. Sorry to hear you're still struggling; I know how frustrating that loss of leg power can become.
Mileage wise, I've always ended up on the higher side. Best annual total was 3,988 in 2013 (only raced 3 times but pb'd in all of them). 2nd highest was 2014 where I also ran well (10km pb, 2nd quickest 10m, offical 3rd quickest HM, and twice sub-2:30 in the marathon (winning one and running an unofficial HM 2nd best in the first half of one; lol).
When fibro kicked in (diagnosed 2018) my running took a nose dive for a while (2020 was the worst, averaged just over 20mpw), but 2022 was a touch under 3,000m iirc, and then last year. I do better with higher mileage.
Reg - getting closer to the sled race weight; well done! Ouch with the skin on your fingers though!!
Simon - seeing as you have important races on the horizon, it's probably worth getting that back freed up by a fizz.
Reg - good mix of work there, hopefully this will protect your hammies
Jools - sorry to hear you are still compromised. I feel for you.
SQ - Newport sounds good to me. You have plenty of time to build up.
I'm still doing ok, still got a bit of medial knee aches from September's issue, but also have some knee wear and tear to manage going forward. Hopefully the weights will help. Few solid runs this week with a 4min,2min,1min session, steady tempo and then 3x12min today, each done within a 10miler.
As always it shows to get a proper assessment rather than read around the internet doesn't it!
Backs are a funny thing - have put mine out a couple of times and it's gone super tight a couple of times too. But then can fairly quickly be mint condition again - hopefully same for SC.
TR, good luck with your rehab plan. A case of remaining positive and remembering stuff you've come back from, that felt bleak at the time - and appreciating it when it is back to good shape.
Cautiously it felt a fair bit freer than last week's longrun, which ended seizing up a bit.
Light feel in the ham/glute only and a bit of hip sort of tightness here and there too. But after a couple of days stretching, that's more like it - stuff I wouldn't necessarily think too much of if it were a normal week.
Will carry on diligently though. But might entertain a return to track and a little turn out soon. Get the 2024 account going.
With running a lot less I have put on weight so I am now about 170 lbs and the calculators tell me that running a 25 minute parkrun in 25:00 at that weight is the same as a 22:36 at 150 lbs so the big thing I have to do is to shed 20 lbs.
SG - sounding quite positive after only a few days of stretching. Probably a lesson in there for most of us!
TR - I'm getting back on the weights this week too, though due to the impending treadmill arrival I've had to move the free weights from the cold gym (semi-insulated in the back of the garage) to the even colder front of the garage, and as it has just started snowing there might be minimal lifting this week!
54m last week. All relaxed. Started this week with a 17m (10 brisk, 7 steady) which was a bit nippy and had an uncomfortably stiff headwind for large sections of the steady block. Hoping that kick starts regular longer runs now.
I do remember surprisingly having a stormer at that park years back, when there were some really thick patches of mud in places. They seemed to absolute break a lot of usually superb runners' rhythms and i remember having a wonder 2nd half of lap 2 and probably racking up more scalps in that race than in a good 5-6 year's worth. Strange day that one.
To not just leap back in too hard, I split a sesh up as 3miles, 90secs, 2miles.
No particular aim beyond a vague sort of 3miles at the Moz MP zone I usually aim at, and then "faster" for the 2miles.
In time this'd be a great session where you can end with a 1mile faster still, but this was enough today.
6.18, 6.26, 6.14 (can only imagine the wind was more so in the middle, as was fairly flat like the other 2miles) Average 6.19/20ish
6.14-6.03
(Hadn't realised there was quite that step up, as just saw the average of 6.08/9ish
So a decent run out, feeling alright actually. A slightly tight ankle oddly the only aftermath feel.
Paces decent for the smattering of wind and without overdoing any effort levels.
Didn't dare wear my 250mile Vapors with no grip on one shoe, so dug out the next Vapors in line. Probably makes sense to switch those to my session shoe now. Too risky using a shoe with no grip, as wouldn't take much to floor you. Especially when I managed to trip over undergrowth on a flat smooth road the other week (can still feel the knee and elbow cuts this far on!)
Have some untouched Vapors (and Alphas still!) in the locker for races.
Thanks for the concern over he back - pretty much there now, only slight discomfort running - will see how it is tonight at Luton. Not going to be cold then!
I'll gloss over my average performance at the Beds champs on Sunday. 1st V50 but ran shit, possibly the easy parkrun saturday wasn't the best idea.
Pretty boggy but my back felt ok - just didn't have anything in the locker - was probably about 100m down on the group I should have been running with.
Food for thought...
Good news on the hamstring front, SG. I’ve avoided any static stretching for years, believing dynamic to the be the way ahead. Still think it is, but some static hamstring stretches have definitely helped on this occasion. Good return to a session from you today.
Hope the back is ok, SC. Weird when XC is on a Sunday.
Incredibly, Jools, the XC course was the driest I have ever seen it. I suppose it is high on the Cotswold escarpment and pretty exposed to wind which must help. Well done for keeping the park runs going. Really hope you pick up soon.
TT - just shy of 4000M is huge for a year! My biggest years have certainly correlated with PBs. Hard to ignore this (anecdotal) data, but I do think there are some negatives with (me) getting obsessed with mileage.
Rare non-three minute sessions from you, TR. Hope the knee ache ok.
PMJ - excellent to see another fetch graphic. A tough year, good to see though you keep running in some picturesque landscapes.
Quick report on Gloucestershire XC Round 3 - confirmation of the slowest XC of all time
With the ongoing hamstring difficulties, I was keen to use the already paid for place, get round, and not do any damage. With this in mind, I started right at the back; literally in last place. The risk of tearing a hammy just seemed too great if I hared off at the usual sub 6m/m pace on this uphill start in the aptly name Bumpy Field.
The course was small Bumpy Field > 3 x big loop > small Bumpy Field. Assumed I would rapidly work my way through maybe half the field by the end of the first big loop. Errr, nope. Overtook a few, but not many. Simply couldn’t get going. My usual relative superpower of free speed on the downhills wasn’t in operation. And whilst the uphills didn’t hurt at all, I was blowing hard whilst not making much headway. Most strange was the feeling of being cold during a race. I was wearing the usual short shorts and vest, but hadn’t thought about the moderation of effort.
Picked a few off in lap two and then the hamstring did loosen a little on the final big lap. Finished in 126/153 (senior men and masters). For comparison, last year was 28/71 and the year before 44/96. Quite a chastening experience to be honest being at the back. Some mental processing required mid-race!
Anyway, didn’t pull up badly and with 2M warm up and 2M warm down, banked 10M with 6.3 at solid effort.
In more pleasing news, had a lovely hour in the sun on Sunday, then back to work yesterday so began the marathon plan with 50mins recovery early doors. So early, didn’t see another human 😊.
Then attempted my first session in 3.5 months this morning: 3 x 3, 2, 1 mins with 1 min jogs and 2 mins. At 5am in -1C what could possibly go wrong? Surprisingly, nothing! Had no pace expectation as the gravelly path is dark and the was a pretty strong wind one way. Average pace for the fast sections was 6:39. I suspect there was some GPS mayo thrown in with the final minute popping up at 5:32 😂.
To follow a thread theme, I too ventured into the gym this afternoon for some squats, shoulder presses and kettlebell swings.
I was briefly tempted by the Ashenbury park XC last Sunday but in the end I was busy with family stuff. Also, I need to get a few sessions in first.
Good luck getting back to your former svelte racing weight PMJ.
Well done on the 17m TT, quite a way to start the week.
Good to see you back in a session SG.
I have an ever growing routine of mobility and strengthening exercises. I have just started adding in some of the 'knees-over-toes' guy's stuff too. I am pretty much able to do his split squat although I am still a bit limited on the right side. Tibialis raises is another one I have never done and actually turns out to be a great one to do between sets in the gym. His shoulder stuff will be next as I have become sore and a bit restricted there too in the last few years. I reckon I am undoing a lot of bike crash damage!
26 miles last week but nothing exciting in there. I did do a 2k row effort yesterday and set a 5 second PB there with 6:51.6. HR was about threshold so I reckon there's a bit more to come although I didn't think I was holding anything back at the time! That would have been 5th in the British Indoor rowing lightweight (75kg) 45-49, 9 seconds from first.
I think it's more the piriformis/glute stretch that's the most beneficial of these. Very powerful stretch and can feel the benefit almost immediately.
Thought you were keen on a back to back sesh too, but yours is the "proper" cross country Saturday fare, so at least another day in between.
Reading your post Reggie, I thought I'd missed TT putting a casual 17min solo 5k in, but you mean 17miler - which is impressive enough with steady stuff in there too.
It's funny - reading around Strava etc, i'm often thinking - that's too fast, that's a lot, you must be a machine about others.
Probably overlooking that a 3,000mile year, 60ish mile week average and 17 races myself might be seen that way by others, maybe don't know!
No chance of me becoming a gym guy! There can't have been many runners on the thread over the years more down the ectomorph body type than me. Don't get me wrong, i'm not "that" thin, or a severe ectomorph or anything, but certainly have the twig arms that if thought about getting a tattoo, I'd wonder how they'd even fit it on
But genetics, bodyshapes and strengths are all pros and cons aren't they.
Yes I'll never be King Hench, or be able to go from zero fitness to peak fitness in 6 weeks like some do, but I can't knock the consistency and generally being able to tick over week to month to year without many alarms.
SG - Yes didn't see you as a tattoo sort of guy
Back was OK last night -did 5 x 1600 around the golf club access road paths with my battered Tak8'S, so if there was a proper issue last night would have uncovered it. Not surprisingly 5.32 for the 1st, then 5.23,5.23,5.20, 5.15. Got home and felt something in my left knee - felt it a little this morning too, probably due to the two 90 degree left hand turns we do on our course. Will monitor that.
Falling to bits!
SG, I have wrists like a girl and would fall into the Ectomorph thing but that's something that's sort of been debunked. That is in the sense that you're fixed in one camp. As a Man Utd fan I am sure you're aware of McTominay putting on 15kg of muscle. He's 6ft 3 and was only 70kg at 18 and is now 85kg. I was about 68kg and 6ft 1 at the same age so similar, my target is about 80kg (lean), which I think could take up to two years at a guess.