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Lot of miles in those legs Wardi - glad your happy enough with the result.
21:40 for me today so 7s slower than last week off broadly comparable training. Felt far freer on the warm-up & even did some strides. No zip in the legs though. I was significantly slower on the climb first half but faster on the descent, only not as much. wu/pr/cd came to 11.8M
I was still a bit lurgified with raised RHR and coughing up rubbish. So thought I'd go sub3 pace for as long as possible knowing I only need a 3.15 to get back in. Knew it wasn't going to happen at around 10m so eased off a bit. Squeeked under 90min at 1/2 but knew I wouldn't be able to do it again. So eased off a bit aiming for a 3.10. Strangely enough I still ended up getting under 3.02 so didn't slow much especially later on. I just don't have enough in the buffer to go sub3 on a below par day anymore.......however av HR was 138 when id expect 150, and the extra distance you run at London probably makes up most of the time over 3hrs, so both of those make me think I still have the capability........the walk up the hill from the station at Maze Hill was plain wrong!
Our start seemed to go off late, and the roads were ridiculously busy until around 10m. You couldn't run quicker if you had wanted too. There were a few fallers too and plenty of bumping about.
I was one of those who fell over. Hit the deck very very hard at mile 15 (just coming out of the tunnel). Am pretty bashed up, grazed, lots of blood etc. But I was sort of ok. Adrenaline really. Really hurt afterwards. Hurt my shoulder, couldn’t get my top on etc.
But really happy to run 2’58’33. Job done.
Thanks to SJ for letting me have a little blub on his shoulder xx
SJ - You trained, you came, you conquered! Another very solid sub-3 in the bag. On the tracker, you looked strong throughout. Soo pleased for you.
TR - So unlucky to be hit with the lurgy when you did. That is still a great time considering. I really feel for you as its an uncomfortable race, when your target slips away from you, and you have to concede. Dust yourself down and look to go again in a few weeks time. You will smash it then, your training deserved a sub-255 time and I think that's where your at. In 2019, when I last ran London, the green start went off 5 minutes late which meant a congested course.
TR - Pity you got the lurgy, like others have said sub 3 otherwise!
Shakespeare Half for me, like TR had the lurgy the whole week, running nose, cough etc. It was better by Sunday but not completely gone, but I knew I was in decent shape, so goals were A) PB 1:23:30
However weather was good 6/7c at start and set out on time at 9am and settled into a good pace running between 6:20-6:30 pace, through 10k in around 39:50ish. Got to the main hill on the course at 8 miles (6:44 for that one) which was also when the wind picked up a bit, but the downhill is free speed (6:11), through 10 miles in just under 1:04, so knew I was on for a sub 1:25 at this point. However on joining the greenway, forgot how it's not the best surface to run on! The gravel/rocks meant my feet seems to slip a bit and this is where I lost some time with the final 3 miles being 6:39/36/40, bit of a sprint finish to grab a 1:24:06. 29th place out of 1,746 runners in the half! Overall happy with that especially as on Monday I didn't think I'd even race. Bit gutted not to be 1:23:xx though, but my 5th time running under 1:25, so I'll take that.
It was great to meet up with the *old* guys in The Red Lion for some post race beers and chats. Highlights were hearing of LS21 and SJ cracking sub 3 again, absolutely amazing performances. Sorry TR didn't get the ROI he deserved but I am sure will be back under 3 next time
I picked up a hamstring and then calf injury at end of Feb so hardly ran for 8 weeks leading to London. Averaged 17 miles per week so was doubtful I would get to start line. Did go out and run test 16 miles last Monday so thought I would give it a go. Set off assuming I would be close to 4hrs and kept trying to slow down. Ended up running 3:24 and got faster every 5k (that hasn't happened in my past 43 marathons!). I think I ran my fastest 5k since February at the end of the marathon yesterday - crazy - maybe training is overrated
Now need to sort out injury so I can run a GFA time and be back again next year
Steve - good performance that I reckon. Definitely not a traditional PB course. Greenway was definitely a tough way to finish the full marathon and where my sub 3 dream died in 2019. Positive signs for you.
OO - Is Tom Cruise willing to dye his hair green?
LS21 - Awesome time and that really puts it into perspective. Totally understandable to lose it a little at the end. Marathons and the training are a rollercoaster. Any thoughts as to why it was so busy as i've seen a lot of complaints about that? Have the shoes just got a lot more people operating in the high 2.50/low 3 range?
TR - Same question to you I guess. I did see your time before you posted on here and was gutted you got so close. But you could tell from your splits that you really held it together. Not the big drop off that can come from a below par day but as you've said there just not quite enough. On to the next I guess!
SJ - Well done! Felt from your training and your predictions that you have a bit more than that but heard it was a tough day to run quick. You can't say fairer than feeling like you gave it your all and that was the result.
Good weekend's running for me. 11 miles saturday with 2x5km at half marathon pace (18:45, 18:17). Second 5k was parkrun so I was able to just sit behind someone the whole way and it couldn't have felt any easier running that pace. 7.5 miles yesterday with the buggy. 20 miles this morning with the last 10 at around 7 min/mileing. Raining most of the way, blisters on my feet and my achilles but job done. Managed 4 gels comfortably as well which is good.
Cruising tomorrow so radio silence from me for a bit. Hopefully will be keeping active and running the sessions on the treadmill and swapping out the easy runs for cruise training since i'll have easy access to bike and elliptical. Hoping that helps the achilles settle down a bit. Hope everyone's training (and for some, recovery) goes well.
Joe - enjoy yourself. I think our start went off late......the splits were Prob ably av pace for the whole thing so dont change much......after easing off from 20 to 30k, I tried to up it and ran the 5k from 30 to 35k as quick as the 1st 10km, but i realised it was too late so eased off again. But It's still a stupidly long way to run even at an easier effort.
Tick Tock - as we said yday, there might be some GFA races pop up in Sept.
OO - I did look to see if Yeovil was on this year. Its not.
Coughed up some rubbish this morning, and been snotty, but I'm not as ruined as normal, due to not rinsing myself, followed by cramping and puking. What annoys me is i probably picked something up on the expo trip, I wish they'd post the number (although my lad had the fevers and shivers yday).......however im quite impressed i ran 3.01 at av 138, but id rather have a 2.54 av 151 like last time.
The logistics of London and how busy it now is defo makes it more of a day out than a chance to nail a time now. My gadget saud 32m after all the walking to and from car parks, train stations etc
LS21.. so pleased the hammy held together, and congrats on seeing it through after being tripped - happened to me a few years ago. When I saw yours & SJ's times I thought maybe you had run round holding hands.
SJ.. great stuff, you did what it says on the tin, really pleased for you after a good training build up. Was the wind a nuisance? They did mention it a few times on the BBC commentary.
SteveMac.. that's a very decent time for you after a period of lurgy, well done and a good confidence boost.
RJR.. a fine weekend of running there with a solid 20m in the bag. Enjoy the cruise and good luck with your achilles niggle.
A decent day at London for my clubmates. The 2.26 guy from Valencia improved again to 2:25.37. Another lad who clocked 2:47 at Manchester last year dropped that to 2:42. Probably the stand out was a guy who hadn't run a marathon since 1999 (3:06) but has improved over other distances recently (half sub 72, 10m 55 mins). He went through half way in 75.13 and managed a fine negative split to clock 2:29.47. He is one happy bunny.
8m yesterday gave me 61m for the week, nice to be running niggle free for a change. 5.2m this morning in the drizzle.
I’d say that HM is sub-3 shape on the right course Steve.
Sounds like LS21 gets the award for drama & TR earns the grit award. Helluva time given you eased up slightly. Definitely sub-3 shape sans lurgy.
Cracking LR there rjr enjoy your cruise.
I decided to back up Saturday’s parkrun sandwich with a proper marathon training session yesterday. Went to Gloucester for some flat running to better simulate Newport’s profile. Ran about 5M along the canal, 4M back round the lanes before rejoining the canal for 11.8M@7:38 average with 5/4/3/2/1K tempo off 1K. Paces were 7:27/7:15/7:37/7:29/7:35 for the tempo sections & the recoveries averaged 8:21. The first half of the 4K effort was on a very uneven section of the towpath so probably overcompensated & paid for it later. The 3K section on the lanes included both of the hills en route hence being the slowest.
Key sessions this week involve plenty of rest, eating & sleep. Going to avoid the bike commute too.
Drove in then walked the final mile & a half today.
I’ll run short Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday but nothing Friday then local parkrun only on Saturday - not the hilly course I’ve been favouring recently but my home run which is celebrating it’s 14th anniversary. Guaranteed to be plenty of opportunities for replenishing the carbs after 😂
Great to see Cairess running so well & Mahamed’s pacing was even better managing a slight negative split. Seems like most of the lead pack threw in the towel around 35K but this chap soldiered on https://results.tcslondonmarathon.com/2024/?content=detail&fpid=search&pid=search&idp=9TG2O3HQ44360F&lang=EN_CAP&event=ELIT&page=3&search_event=ELIT
Appreciate the kind comments as always.
TR - I won't feel bad if you never enter a race I enter after our two races together have resulted in almost identical results. I still can't believe it. Perhaps I better just stay up North ! On a serious note. Gutted for you to have come down with the lurgy in the week of the race. Without that you finish ahead of me. As ever, great attitude after the race and great to run some early miles with you as difficult as that was in the crowds. Who was the chap we started with again (not LS haha)? I'm useless with names. Lots of folks ran fast at London so its still a fast course but luck of the drawer where your wave filters in I suppose.
TickTock - Great to meet up again! Awesome run from you considering your expectations going into the race off limited training. Get that niggle sorted and get that GFA place.
Wardi - Nice weekly total last week and excellent news you are running niggle-free once more. Great to hear.
SteveMac - Solid half that when you weren't sure you'd even toe the line earlier in the week. Something to build on and on a better course without the lurgy you are in better shape as you say.
OO - Thanks mate appreciate the comment.
Still processing things at this end. In summary I think I ran yesterday pretty smart. I realised around 10 miles that I couldn't see me increasing the pace any more. I didn't feel fatigued at that stage but felt the pace was sustainable. I decided to maintain and see if there was a strong finish waiting for me. It turns out there wasn't haha.
Off to Spain on Thursday for a long weekend in the sun.
TR - such a rough break for you, and not what your training deserved, but you know sub-3 by a margin is there waiting for you without problems. Funnily enough, after spectating London I'm weighing up if I want to post a qualifying time there for next year or just tilt my hat elsewhere. It certainly seemed busier this year than previous years.
LS21 - I'm made up for you. You've been through some dark times to get back to here so enjoy every moment of it as it is thoroughly deserved!
TickTock - a great way to run a marathon; well done.
Steve - positive HM, especially post-lurgy!
Jooligan - I saw Tura just before 23m and he was jog-walking at that stage. Nice 5,4,3,2,1 session from you.
Wardi - nice improvement from your clubmates. One of mine went through halfway in 76:xx and ran 2:29:high for his first sub-2:30. Completely surprised himself!
rjr - good weekend's training from you; well done!
Had a great weekend away, though gutted to be watching the race and not running it. Turns out I make a really sh!t spectator as I missed loads, but did spot LS21, CW and Al_P from here. Emile Cairess ran fantastically, as did Bekele who just looked smooth as he came past. Plenty looked like they suffered out there, but that's the nature of the race I guess.
One of the bits that struck me was how many people obviously cut the course - some people looked very out of place amongst a bunch of runners in the 2:30-2:40 range (the most obvious ones were several older overweight individuals (in two cases carrying a backpack - not even a running backpack in one case), and moving wayyyy slower than those around them.
TR - Milton Keynes on the 6th May or maybe Worcester on the 19th? Think you will do well at either.
Steve - Well run, that's a sharp time and good placing. In sub3 shape.
Wardi - Super weekly mileage and fantastic your running is pain free.
Jooligan - All coming together. My Newport specific training is just running round and round. See you on Sunday.
TickTock - A pleasant sur[rise to finish soo strongly. Good old muscle memory.
TT - Shocking about the overweight older cheats - why do they do it! Cairess ran beautifully smoothly.
Joe - Cracking long run, enjoy the cruise. Sure you will keep yourself ticking over.
Marathon taper week. Ran 4m in the sun on Saturday, 5m on the coastpath with my daughter on Sunday (agreeing we will try and run London in 2025) and a quicker 5m yesterday. Plenty of cycling too. A few tempo miles for the next few days, and that's it until Newport.
Interestingly re: Cairess, I saw a snippet of his training last night and immediately thought it was very much Canova style, and just popped onto Letsrun this morning to find Canova has posted all of Cairess' training from the 1st of January to the race!
I found it at the York marathon in a previous year, the same Dutch name claiming to have run 3:12. However, when I clicked on his race photos it was a short guy with hair and a British name on his vest. So our Dutch guy had persuaded a 'mule' to run his GFA time for him. These are the lengths that some folk will go to get into London!
BTW your clubmate finished 2 seconds behind our lad, they both had a cracking second half.
OO.. enjoy the taper, good to see you enjoying a run with your daughter. One of my lady training partners used to go out running with her son for encouragement when he was younger (she was a 3:14 marathon runner). By the time he was 16/17 she couldn't keep up with him - he's run a 1:19 half marathon now!
SJ.. enjoy your well deserved break in the sun, always a good idea after a marathon I reckon.
Jooligan.. best of luck with the sub 3:30 attempt. If it does start to slip away you should have enough endurance to post a time close to it anyway. FWIW one of my club girls ran 3:34 at London off a 73min 10m time and circa 22m Parkrun.
I'm running a few miles this afternoon then I'm on lead bike duties for our local 10k tonight. I secretly hope to be leading one of our fast crew in for the win, the afternoon breeze is set to die down later so conditions should be good.
TR - That's great going getting close to sub-3 on a day with less than ideal starting condition, sure you would get under the mark on a better day
LS - So chuffed for you following years of difficulty, loved the look on your face at the finish on the iPlayer video!
SJ - Excellent work with the sub-3
TickTock - That's a good time of very low mileage and having to deal with injuries
1SteveMac - Great work in the Bard's Half, a solid time given your build up.
London was a decent day out for me, 'A' target was to bag a sub 2:40 for a 2025 Champs place and I squeezed in at 2:39:22. First half was a mental see-saw battle around 5:55-6:05 pace trying to work out if it was sustainable or not (HR said it was). Gained confidence around 14-16 miles, but then stuffed up the manual splits on my watch and all through Canary Wharf didn't really know whether I was keeping the pace up sufficiently. The wind around the tall buildings was really gusty and changing direction which didn't help. Got to mile 20 and the clock said 02:01:xx. I had only been 10 seconds or so after the gun at the start, so I figured if I could keep the low 6 min miles up I could get under 2:40. From there to the finish was a gradual battle between the rising pain in my quads and the desire to keep the pace up. In the closing miles it looked more and more doable, but still took a extra effort in the last 2k (which was probably warranted!) to get in under target.
It was nice to briefly catch up with CharlieW at the bar of the Red Lion afterwards, but we didn't hang about for more than a pint (children were getting hungry!). Roll on 2025....
I noted mention of worcester and Milton Keynes maras. Tr, are you thinking of going again? Just as a friendly word of caution, worcester is on my doorstep and I've run the half twice. It's a tough, undulating to hilly rural course. The mara is 2 lsps of the half and would be a very lonely 2nd lap with virtually zero support as well. Milton Keynes mara I've run, it is also tough more so as they have you constantly zigzagging around the Redways, often making 90 degree turns in succession and starting again at the bottom of a ramp. Impossible to lock into a pace and cruise.
I'd advise caution in entering both.
As for cheaters, I note now that london mara photos are no longer for public viewing. For me this plays right into their hands as you can no longer do the basic detection work Wardi was able to do.
SJ - great to meet up. Agreed you are a 3.01 omen. If it was less busy I might have hung on to you, but we got separated and then you were 10s of people ahead.......that was Crab. Ode was at the pub afterwards......don't change too much Sunday was a tough day it seems, very mixed results around our level.
TT - you'd probably be ok if you were off champs start you'd get a clearer run.
OO - are your legs good to go?
Good to see you nailed it Al, hopefully we'll bump into each other sometime.
DT - I'm open to another road marathon in May or June, but not either of those. Not sure there are any that suit. However.........
.......I'd already mapped out (and entered) my summer.....2 x 10k in May, 2 x 10k in June, 1 x 10k and GW 1/2 in July, IoW 1/2 in Aug, Battersea 1/2 early Sept and then Dorney mara in Oct.......Build 10k pace then 1/2 pace then run a mara. Abo as mara contingency......what could possibly go wrong?
Need to clear this evostik out of my chest first........back on the weights but won't run for a few more days. Need to get healthier first. I'd be coughing far too much at the mo.
TR - Its difficult remembering names at the best of times of people you've just met but having to attach their online name to them is taxing! Ok, so I'll avoid Abo then ! Hope the lurgy shifts with a few non running days.
My legs are worse today than yesterday. Quads in particular are quite sore. I'll add some s&c to my list of tweaks for next time.
Wardi - funny with our clubmates. Almost virtual rivals without even knowing it! I hope the lead bike duties went well! I noticed, as DT19 said, that photos are no longer available to catch out cheaters like you did. I can't understand why people do it, but then I also can't understand why people dope, and I guess they're two sides of the same coin (cheating yourself).
Al_P - you done great. You looked pretty focused and on it when you came past just before 23.
TR - the champs start will require me either running a sub-2:40 training run, or within 20s of my HM pb, before September. I'm a never say never kinda guy but either of those are a big ask right now! I like the looks of your summer plan. Mine is similar-ish, but possibly without as many races. Hopefully that lurgy doesn't hang around too long!
sj/TR - I'm already in Abo. It looks like it'll sell out early again so if it's a possibility I wouldn't hang around. It's always easy to sell your place once if fills.
I made the decision to switch from miles to kms for at least a bit. Number of reasons, but the main being that I find as I'm less familiar with km I run to feel better than in miles where I'll glance at the watch and think I should be faster or slower. I just need to avoid getting in the habit of mentally converting like I did before.
7km jog/10km easy yesterday. 10km jog this morning. Possibly something a little quicker than easy later but I'll see how my day goes.
I'd pieced together from other logs in the past that Canova tends to focus efforts on hitting the right paces for sessions and keeps the general running very slow, but builds it in subsequent cycles, so this provides a good view of what training might look like for somebody coming at Canova training the first time around.
His mileage was high, but not as eye-wateringly high as some of the elites reportedly run/ran (e.g. Kiptum was supposed to be running up to 180m per week), which is consistent with what I've seen from some of his other coachees. I guess that's a natural outcome from following big days up with serious recovery (his elites quite often do something like 2 x 10km jogs the day after big sessions).
For the 15 weeks from the start of the year up to 1 week out (last week wasn't included in the logs) his average was 117m, but that includes 2 weeks around his HM pb (85m the week of, 94m the week after).
His pacing on workouts was incredibly consistent, and you can see why he expected to go quicker than he did on the day (he expected to go under Mo Farah's 2:05:51). Looking at some of the workouts I don't think something in the 2:04 range would have been a surprise.
What quite tickled me most though was his 2 days after his Napoli HM pb were both 5m @ 9m/m! So much for those who claim that slow mileage is junk mileage!!
TR - Looks like a good plan for the rest of the year.
Just some small recovery runs here to start the week 6m yesterday and today with a 4m double planned for this evening.
Cairess trains with Phil Sessemon they both run their easy runs super slow at times, but they are putting in big miles and some hard work.
Been back on the weights this week, which has helped my legs recover. But I'm still coughing up hi viz goo at the mo.
TT.. when my lady clubmate ran her 3.14 champs time (around 2006) she didn't get her official race time or photos for about a week. Don't know if London still do it but apparently they used to study finishing footage to see if there were any 'cheating' Champs finishers - men in girls numbers etc.
SteveMac.. hope your legs are recovering well from the half.
SJ.. the forthcoming hols should soothe your aching limbs, post marathon aches are a badge of honour..
Lead bike duties.. I will never be a cold weather cyclist - 4 layers and 2 pairs of gloves and I was still cold, 7 degrees for the race. A young clubmate was stride for stride with a lad from one of the York clubs. At 6k I glanced over my shoulder and my clubmate had a 20m gap and was pulling away. He took the win in 31.53 vs 32.16 for 2nd. Excellent times for both as there are a couple of climbs on that course.
11.8m today. Breezy, cold and showery rain made it feel like November to start with, thankfully it did improve after half way.
TR - A detailed and sound plan to get you speedy, race fit and ready for Dorney/ Abingdon.
Wardi - Nicely done on the biking duties and the unique way to see the 10k. Nice near 12m it was cold wasn't it!
SJ - Sounds a great way to run the Manchester half (and the Manchester marathon next year 😃)
TT - That training is a different level, phenomenal.
Steve - Hope your fully recovered and ready to go.
Good 6m run with the club last night (8 minute group) and some cycling to burn a few calories. My right leg (achilles and calf) is still sore but getting better. Sundays weather looks great for running (8C rising to 10C, maybe light rain, very gentle breeze). Think I am in the 2.57 - 3.03 range and feel more confident about a sub 3 time than before Manchester, its even stevens.
Must avoid overdoing it on Saturday as doing a 200 mile car drive, then seeing my sister for lunch, seeing a footie game and then my brother and some friends for supper/ a curry!