A bit like sub-4 (but 15 minutes quicker)

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  • hello guys! There's been some good running happening whilst I've been away.

    Been laid up in bed with a virus all week. Started on Saturday night but due to the early rising required to get me to Reading for the half was there before I realised how unwell I was feeling. Decided as I was there I'd just start it and see how I felt. Thought better of the decision at 11 miles as the wind picked up and the sleet fell. Did 1:41:36 which I'm reasonably pleased with under the circumstances (well done Freddo you must have got into the stadium a minute or so before me.)

    Good practise for running in crowds. I was about a minute or two off pace by mile one and two just from sheer numbers. Kept overtaking until about mile 8 or 9 and then again between 12 and 13. Never been so cold after a race.

    No running this weeek, until today - an easy 30 minutes or so to ease back in. Still currently planning to run Sutton Park this Sunday but might forgive myself if I drop out early.

    I wear socks from Woolies. Have had the occasional blister but feet eventually toughen up! Shoes will be my trusty 2080s have 2 new pairs so one will be my race day pair.

    What is the optimal mileage to have in your shoes?

    Rest of kit, white vest with name on and a apir of lycra shorts - probably blue ones, and water in a RunAid or Nathan bottle belt.
  • Donna, if you did 1:41 feelin under the weather you should be well chuffed. Anything sub 1:45 on a half should mean a comfy 3:45 Mara. In fact sub 1:47 is still on target goin by d 2x +10 rule.

    Well done, What r u lookin for at yr next half? Im doin d Brentwood on Sunday and will be happy with Sub 1:40.

    Take it easy

    Woony
  • Hi Donna, nice to hear you again, sorry to hear about the virus. 1.41.36 when you're not 100% sounds pretty good to me. Make sure you don't push too hard on sunday, with the training you've already got under your belt, a week off at this stage should make no difference at all.

    Just done 2 laps of ilkley park with a mate, again at a faster pace than a normal recovery run. The speed sessions seem to be helping though, my easy runs on tues , thurs and today have all been with other runners who are a lot better than me and therefore have been nearer to a tempo run than an easy run, yet I didn't struggle during the run and felt great after. Just hope it all does'nt blow up nearer the time, I'm feeling a bit too good and it's worrying me !!.

    have any of you got some more long runs planned ? doing a 20+ this weekend and the next and possibly again 28th of march, then start to taper.

    pete

  • Hi Pete

    Danger would be peaking too soon. It's great that you're finding it easier to run faster now but don't forget why you're doing recovery runs! No point risking injury and illness at this point IMHO.

    No more races for me now Woony before FLM. Pacing runs only.

    Strange to think there's snow elsewhere in the country, we just get rain here in London.
  • got plenty over night in the east Donna
  • Pete, that's a lot of 20 milers still to go. I'm only planning one more long run very early next weekend which I think may be as far as 24 miles. It depends on how I feel as it's 4 loops of a 6 mile circuit.

    Glad to have you back Donna. I thought we'd lost you this week. I've got a half marathon on Sunday so it'll be interesting to see how well I do. I hope I can hang on to 7:30-7:40 miles for as long as possible. I'l be happy with a PB (sub 1:44)though I'd love to get close to 1 Hour 40. My training runs suggest I should really be quite a bit faster over a half than my PB.
  • Good luck on Sunday PPB. We can compare splits on Monday if you record them!
  • Well done on Sunday Donna, you must have really suffered when the skies opened, it had the effect of making me speed up to try and get out of it as quickly as possible but there's no way I would have wanted to have been out there feeling poorly, I think there was ten seconds between us then if 1.41.36 was your chip time, hoping to go under 1.40 at Hastings Sunday but I know its a tougher course and more bad weather.

    Good luck everyone for the week-end
  • Donna - I bet you can do the splits a lot better than me. My flexibility is atrocious.







    Sorry, it's late on Friday and I'm still working (sort of).
  • Evening folks,

    Hope you are all keepin' well! I am currently sufferin' from a cold(and as I am a bloke feel like I am dyin'!!!!)
    I tried to run yesterday and only managed about 3 miles before collapsing!(not literally..!!)
    Anyhow, I have now resorted to the rest and alcohol treatment! Just about to have a wee hot toddy before bed!!!
    Managed an 8km race in 33.36 on Thursday just before this 'killer virus' hit me & my next race is on 28th March (26km) which I plan on running in 2hr 10 mins (fingers crossed!)
    Donna, well done on your 1/2 time especially as your weren't too good!! I wish I could do the same!
    My certificate of completion arrived yesterday confirming my 1st ever marathon time of 3.49 26 secs - just hope I better it!

    Regards to you all,

    Gareth
  • Hi Donna and welcome back - we were all missing the female presence around here!

    Your race time is really good considering you were under the weather, but as the others have said, don't push too hard too quickly now - you are already very well prepared and there's no need for you to rush back into it too soon.

    I also have a half marathon tomorrow, so look forward to comparing splits with you others doing the same. My target according to my training plan is sub 1.37, which would be a PB by 2.5 minutes, so quite a big ask. I reckon on starting off at 7.30 pace for about 8 miles and then quickening to 7 minute miles. I'm not very confident of achieving this target time because a) it sounds flipping fast and b) my foot is likely to start giving me grief. I've not run since Wednesday in order to try and give it time to recover.

    Anyway, good luck to everyone with races or long training runs and I'll catch up on Monday.
  • Puggers, That Target time (1:37) sounds like the Ultimate Schedule for Sub 3:30 FLM. You wont NEED to go that fast to aim for Sub 3:45, but if you can do it good on ya. I did my PB of 1:36:02 five weeks B4 my FLM PB of 3:39:46 back in 2002.

    Woony
  • Puggers - SNAP. I'm planning on starting off with 7 Minute 30 miling for as long as possible in tomorrow Half Marathon. I reckon I should manage them for about 8 miles then unlike you I'll be slowing rather than speeding up as I'm a positive split sort of runner.
  • Hi All, did the Brentwood half today. Been looking foward to this one for some time, its flatish, well org'd, petty well supported and its my PB course.

    Well you know how it is when you foward to something too much......... The weather was really dull and overcast and it was real Windy at times. I wanted to start of at and hold on to 7:30 m/m............ Started of with a 7 for the 1st, another 7 for the 2nd and a 7:20 for the 3rd. Finally got into pace atfer that but lost it at mile 10. The too fast start and the wind got the better of me after that and I crawled in the last few at about 8m/m.

    It showed 1:39;44 on my watch at the end, not too bad as I did say I'd be happy with sub 1:40. However it now means Ive got slower on this course over the last 3 years . Its still on par for the sub 3:45 FLM so I'll try to get a couple of longish runs in now at 8 to 8:30 m/m and see how I go.

    Hope you all had good runs today, take it easy people

    Woony
  • After taking advice and deciding to try to do steady 8.15's at the Ashby 20....I started 7.46...7.32...well it was downhill.
    Got to 10 miles on just over 8 min pace then averaged 8.30's for the next 10
    So I hit my 2.45 target but not quite how I intended. The forced slow start at the FLM should stop me doing this

    Just 2 more long runs left in the next two weekends then bring on the tapering...can't wait
  • HigsHigs ✭✭✭
    Smooth Gareth

    What can I say?

    Higs
  • Evening all.

    Been awol from the thread for a bit, but great work everyone.

    Twin Dad - great going today! After 8:15ish at a much easier Wymondham, I went for a more leisurely 8:45 at Ashby, but ended up 8:35-ing on average. 8:15-ing would have been pretty hard today. Absolutely impossible to pace yourself properly, wasn't it? Depended on the size and direction of the hills as well as which way the gale was blowing. Anyway, I felt pretty good mostly, though worryingly I started to feel a bit wobbly around the 19 mile mark. Half-wondering if I should let my ETA slip five minutes to 3:45 on the day.

    Anyway, that's my sixth and final 20-ish miler, and I'm officially tapering from here (for Bungay in three weeks - apologies again for tagging along with you FLM types!).
  • Morning all.

    Like Donna I've been feeling a bit under the weather this week. Not enough to keep me in bed but enough to make it hard work training. I felt a bit better on Sunday so did an 18 mile fell run in the wind and rain. And surprisingly enough I loved it and felt really strong at the end (must still be ill 'cos I never feel like that). In fact I liked it so much I think after this marathon is over I might switch to a bit of fell running.

    Some good times being posted here by everyone. Keep up the good work. I'm planning lots of speed work this week with a 23 miler on Sunday. Then just one more 20+ before the taper. Yippeeeeee...
  • Morning all

    Sounds like everyone had a good weekend run, apart from me !! Was planning another 20+ but ended up doing 16 miles as my legs simply ran out of steam. With hindsight, after last saturdays 23 miler when I finished strong I should have got in a coupe of easy runs, however I felt so good I did 2 hard speed sessions and 3 moderate/tempo runs with some mates who are a lot better than me. I felt good at the time but paid the price 13 miles into my long run. At least I hope that's the reason, otherwise I'm just starting to run crap !in which case HELP !!

    Anyway had a day off yesterday, will try a speed sesh today but then will have a VERY easy day tomorrow and see how I go.

    Donna,I'm remembering your comment about not peaking too early, we will see

  • Good running folks. I ran the Inverness Half Marathon yesterday. The conditions were variable as we has an extremely strong gale blowing thoughout as well as hot sun for a few miles early on then driving rain for about the last 5 miles. By the finish I was soaked. The course is predominantly flat so is pretty good for a PB.

    My pre-race target had been to hang on to 7:30's for as long as possible. So split my times:

    Mile 1 - 7:18 (avoiding folk but as I usual I started a little fast)

    Mile 2 to 4 - 7:31, 7:33, 7:44 (these three miles were directly into the wind so I was keeping up the pace quite well);

    Mile 5 - 7 - 7:36, 7:30, 7:18 (we had turned so the wind was helping and some of this was slightly downhill);

    Mile 8 & 9 - 7:44, 7:31 (uphill mile 8 into a the wind and driving rain, Mile 9 was half into wind then turn and downhill with wind helping);

    Mile 10 & 11 - 7:06, 7:10 (wind directly at back and I was feeling good. I was passing loads of folk)

    Mile 12 & 13 to finish - 7:44, 7:24 (12 was into wind again. I was still going past peeople though).

    Finish Time on my watch was 1:37:55. A personal best by about 6 minutes.

    I was really pleased as I held my target pace all the way. After about 7 miles virtually no-one came by me and I was passing loads of folk. This is the first time I've properly run a negative split race and it was satisfying that I had it in me to pick up the pace in the second half.
  • PPB those figures look VERY impressive to me, are you sure you shouldn't be on the 3.30 string ??. With you finishing strong it looks good for the FLM. Just don't fall into my trap of being on such a high I trained too hard all last week and then had a terrible long run on saturday, only 16 miles in 2.21 and my legs were very heavy at the end. More easy days booked for this week !!

    will let you know how todays speed session goes later on this aft !
  • Morning everybody.

    Well done everybody on some great runs, and don't worry if it didn't go so well - it would be worrying if everything went TOO smoothly in training!

    Woony, you're right about the ultimate 3.30 schedule. I'm stil pondering as to whether to aim for 3.30 in the FLM - it's a difficult decision as I don't want to blow it by going too fast. Anyway, your time of sub 1.40 is still really good considering you didn't quite get the pacing right, and wind can be a b*gger.

    PPB that's a great performance - both in terms of overall time and in your pacing. Quite satisfying when you have a plan and it works out.

    I ran the Forest of Dean half yesterday. Foul conditions - wind and fairly heavt rain throughout, a few nasty hills, massive puddles to run through - by the end I was soaked through and completely filthy. Mile splits were:

    1 - 7.29 - lots of people to avoid/overtake so this felt harder than it looks

    2 & 3 - 7.23, 7.25

    4 & 5 - 7.54, 7.52 - some nasty hills and wind in the face too

    6, 7 & 8 - 7.29, 7.23, 7.35

    9 - 7.04 - I was feeling a little tired by now, but then some guy overtook me so I took the opportunity to slot in behind him, and his pace pulled me along well

    10 - 7.08 - overtook the guy and found another to follow

    11 - 7.07 - guy overtook me again but I stayed with him

    12 - 6.21 - massively downhill mile - fabulous - kicked the guy's arse here and he never recovered!

    13 - 7.03 - nice flat final mile so I kept the pressure on.

    Final time on my watch - 1.35.40. I was filthy, wet, and delighted!

  • Peter - I'm happy on this thread and I've no intention of moving to 3:30. My fear would be if I set off in London to run 3:30 I would probably hang on to the pace up to about 17-18 miles then I could die a bit of a death. I'd rather run a bit more conservative and try and pace it so that I can run the entire distance. I'm also still nursing a knee injury so there's no danger of me changing my target time.

    Puggers - what a great time you ran. It sounds like we faced similar conditions at times yesterday.
  • on a down note....

    I've still got a cold - not run properly for a week and feeling VERY ANXIOUS. I'm simply gonna have to try something tonight even carrying a chest as it's driving me mad. Any ideas on how long you go before you start losing your fitness levels ?
  • I think the generally accepted wisdom is that one week of complete non-activity is safe and you won't lose any fitness (as long as you've not spent all week eating cakes!). After two weeks you will have lost some fitness.
  • Snap Adam. Started sniffling Sat pm. Marshalled in howling gale Sunday & now feel alternately hot & cold & chest hurts . 10hr working day & on call tonight which is not helpful. Have you tried Echinacea? Really hope I feel better tomorrow. Hope you do to. Would be ok for you to do an easy run if you don't actually feel lousy.

    I'd rather have a lurgy now with 10wks training behind me & over a month to go than earlier or later in the training
  • Good afternoon.

    PPB and Puggers, great running (too ashamed to post my half splits now!) I won't be trying to hang on with you two next month.

    To all those that are ill - yes me too, still. Unwise decision to attempt the pacing run in Sutton Park in Birmingham on Sunday morning in the wind and rain, but still. Had a lovely weekend in Birmingham and staying at Malmaison with James more than compensated. I agree with Blott's mate - if we're going to get ill it's probably the best time for it to happen really. Don't panic and don't do anything your body tells you that you can't.

    Did a gentle run at lunchtime. Why is it that you don't sneeze and your nose doesn't run whilst you're running?
  • Totally agree with PPB, A weeks rest while you get over a cold will do you a hell of a lot more good than trying to run through it, and probably making yourself feel crap for an extra week or so. With all the miles you've already got in the bank, the rest will do you more good than harm. PPB I would not be suprised if you do better than you think by aiming for the sub 3.45, it should mean you're fresh for the second half and the holy grail of negative splits will be in your grasp !!

    After my poor showing on saturday was a bit nervous for my 5x1k speed session. Did feel a bit heavy legged, but that may have been the howling wind and rain, anyway managed to do all 5 sets within +5 to -1 seconds of my 1k sets 2 weeks ago( 4.11-4.25) so quite pleased.

    Hows today's running gone for everyone ?

    pete
  • morning all

    looks like it's going to be a blustery day for running at our end of the woods, at least it'swarmed up a bit. May even try out the shorts rather than the tracky bottoms today, will give the pasty legs a bit of a shock. Havn't worn them since about october last year and thought I'd better get time in with them to avoid chafing on the day. Also picked up my FLM trainers today , Asics gel kayano's so taking them for a little run up Carters Lane and across the top at dinner time. It's a bit of a pain getting up the hill but once you're there you've got lovely views across ilkley valley.

    How many miles do you like to have on your trainers before the big day ? I always stick with gel kayanos but these ones are my first 2004 model and I want to make sure their broken in properly.

    Thinking on nearer the time, when are you all going to book in at the exhibition ? I'm travelling down on the friday so will probably go across saturday morning, anyone thinking of around the same time. I've only been on the thread a fairly short time, but I definatly get the feeling of camarardrie (is that how it's spelt ?) , so wouldn't mind meeting up if poss.

    happy running


    pete
  • hi guys

    I ran last night(following my cold) for the first time in a week. The chest is still there and a struggled in doing 10k in 49 mins which normally is breeze. Hopefully it's onwards and upwards from there though i'm not sure it's wise to contemplate a 20 miler again until i'm absolutley clear.
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