Sub 3:30 - VLM 2010

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  • Hi All,

    Did 20 miles yesterday in glorious sunshine at about 8:20 pace, last 2 were a wee bit painful but on the whole quite pleased. Will do 20 again next weekend, Reading Half and then two more long runs, maybe one at 23 before I begin the taper.

    Bambi, your 20miler was pretty much 3:30 pace on a hilly course so I think you should be happy with that.

    lamkjo - 60 miies!! Good for you - what was the breakdown?

  • Hi all,

    18 miles in the bag yesterday and managed to finish really strongly. I set off to work on even mile splits around the 8:30/mile mark but didn't really manage it with most miles being between 8:00 and 8:15/mile. For the last 4 miles I intentionally picked up the pace and the average for the last four miles was around 7:30/mile. I pushed it even harder for the last 200 metres or so and the last pace I seen on the Garmin was 6:42/mile.

    The most pleasing thing is that I felt I could have kept going for another couple of miles at the 7:30/mile pace. I also managed to recover relatively quickly as well.

    I've got a half marathon on Sunday coming and only two 20 mile long runs before London now. So i'm not really sure whether or not to push the pace again in the long runs? I think I'm going to 'race' the half marathon, see how I get on and decide after that what to do in the remaining LSR's.

  • Nice one Leslie - very well done. Will be interested to hear how your half goes...

     Advice from coach at my club although everyone has own ideas:

    Do Long runs at close to Marathon pace

    Try doing longish run (up to half marathon distance) at quicker that Marathon pace.

  • Bambi:- 20 miles in 2 hr 41mins is a good time, especially if it's a hilly track... well done.

    Lamkjo, DB & LS:- There's some good running going on guys, just be careful not to overdo it and wind up like me... injured !

    Twice tried to do 5 M easy run on Saturday, once in the morning, once in the evening... failed both attempts. Felt better yesterday so tried LSR... got 1 1/2 M down the road and pulled up. I think that my impatience/foolishness has done more harm than good, so off to the Osteopath this afternoon to see what damage i've done?

    CK, Gadget & DD:- Are you still injured, or back running?

  • Some good long runs being reported there. I too did 20 on Sunday in 2 hours 41, ran with a group so wasn't pushing it too much, felt good afterwards - much better than last time I did 20.

    Feel really pleased with how things are going at the moment, especially after a week or so with not much activity. Hope to get a good hill and speed session in this week then I'm in the Kilomathon next weekend. 

  • Crikey some good times for the 20 miles on Sunday being posted.

    Makes my steady 3:06 seem very sedate image 

    Quads are really sore today just got back from a slow 4 miles and the outer muscles are rock solid and sore.

    Time to book a massage before an injury strikes. not sure what to do about the intervals tomorrow I think 4x1.5 miles is going to be asking for troubleimage any tips welcome.

  • DB: 60M was just a spike for last week... unlikely to be repeated (at least in this campaign) - had my 20M LSR from the previous weekend delayed by 2 days. Thus in brief, breakdown as follows:

    Mon: 6M (attempt at 20M LSR but didn't feel good).

    Tues: 20M LSR

    Weds: Rest

    Thurs: 2.5M warm up, 4x1M reps with 2:30 recov, 2.5M warm down (Club session).

    Fri: Rest

    Sat: 5M steady

    Sun: 20M LSR

    By the way, similar thoughts on the training in the lead in to VLM. Running Reading HM and prob 3 more long runs before taper. Last one w/e 4/5 Apr at 22/23M. Useful comments on the long run also - from lurking on some of the faster threads, some of the runners and at least one coach, think alike.

    Oompa all the best with the recovery.

  • Hi All

     Well done on all those LSR.  Good times too.  Still got a few problems here.  Left glute/quad still sore but has eased off over the last few days so tried 4M easy yesterday.  Had to stop to stretch and was achey afterwards.  When I got home, applied a heat pad and stretched which has eased off the sorness so may just try another 4M easy again today.  Think a sub 3:30 is no longer on the cards so will adjust my training to a "lets try and get/stay fit and just enjoy the day" schedule.

  • Jayos, I had a sports massage last night and can confirm that they are bloody painful!! Worth it though as i'm feeling much better for it today. image
  • To complete the "injury round-up", went to the Osteopath's last night and have torn my right calf muscle, due to a long standing knee injury and the inevitable ramping up of miles for VLM.image

    After the most painful massage imaginable (why do we pay these people to inflict pain on us?), i was pleased to hear that i could run on it from today, albeit on a "mile-by-mile" basis.image

    So fingers crossed that tonight will go well, won't be painful, and i can get back on track.

  • Well done all on the LSR.

    Hi Oompa, has been a very frustrating week with absolutely no running due to groin/hip/quad injury. No enthusiasm for gym either and over indulged in alcohol accompanied by a very poor diet.

    Well managed a little 3 miler yesterday and whilst no pain running, top of my quad still a little sore. Well the acid test will be todays interval session which I'm feeling slightly intrepid about, but then always do when that session comes round.

    Doing a HM at Dorney Lake this Saturday, had hoped to be sub 1hr 36M but not sure what, if at all, a week off will have done.

    Regards, CK
  • Good to hear from you CK,

    Thought you were drowning your sorrows in London Pride and Harveys finest... like me!!!!!!

    I am guessing from your comments, that all did not go well with the Men's Health cover shot... Too much definition in "yer abs" maybe??? 

  • LOL Oompa

    Had reached the point where only slight airbrushing was required for the cover shoot but a combination of too many Staropramen, Long Island teas and Sweer & Sour Chicken with Singapore noodles on Friday night has set me back somewhat image

    Todays session went brilliantly today although still a niggle in the top of thigh/quad. Did the !m warm up and 4 x1.5M interveals (@7mm) with 0.25M jog recoveries. Confidence restored somewhat.

    Out of interest, anyone any experiences with sports massages, thought it might help with my legs more so than physio.

    Regards, CK
  • Just back from today's session. Should have been the spped intervals as CK describes above but I got so frustratged with my Garmin beeping at me continually telling me to speed up/slow down  - is it just me or does everyones do this - I ended up continuing after the 1st 1.5 miles at what felt like a fairly fast pace and did a total of 6 miles at that pace. Turns out this was around 7.10 minute miles, then did a further mile warm down.

    Maybe not exactly how the schedule says but I think its done the job, pushing my ability to run at a higher speed for longer.

    Glad to hear that you are back on track CK, best of luck with your next outing Oompa.

     Hope everyone else is staying injury free and getting plenty of miles in.

  • Sounds like a good session DD

    I did the same session tonight but why do my legs hurt so much ???

    Aaahh... yes must be the 350+ miles I've put them through since January image

    How did Eddie Izzard do a marathon every day???

    CK - I've had a couple of sports massages on the legs so far (neighbour is qualified which is handy) and it's really helped to loosen the muscles.
    Hopefully I will be getting an hour on Friday (rest day) mind you it bloody hurts, but well worth it.
  • evening guys,  well done to all for getting those longish 20m runs in,  it's all good mileage in the bank at the moment so good stuff.

    couple of comments on here re sports massage,  the guy who does my legs is an absolute beast has me jumping off the bench when he digs into the ITB, quads, calfs etc.  It really does hurt and sometimes for a couple of days afterwards feels like he's made things worse but it then eases and stops me having to go to the physio for any pulls / strains which has got to be worth it.  For VLM I'll have my final massage from him about 10-12 days beforehand and then just a bit of self massage or get the kids to jump on top of my legs the week before (they seem to enjoy that!!)

    Not a great deal of running for me last week,  was away for the weekend so managed to get about 11miles done on Friday before work,  spent the weekend eating and drinking.  Ran a tempo 6 miles yesterday,  will do another 11-12 miles tomorrow or Thursday then will be racing 20m on Sunday,  still not sure whether to really go for it or just go and see if I can hit 3h30m marathon pace and finish feeling fairly fresh.  I know the latter would be the more sensible option but i just can't help myself when in a rae situation sometimes!

  • Jaffa, I now what you mean about getting caught up in a race situation! That said, I think 20 miles (leading up to marathon) is one distance where I would feel that urge less and would be happy to knock off steady 8minute miles.
  • Morning all,

    Disasterous attempt at running last night... ran with the really slow crowd at the club and broke down yet again after just over a mile.

    Will now do nothing until such time as it heals, so may have to opt for just getting round at VLM rather than sub 3.30... thoroughly pis**d off !

  • Welcome Cragchick!

     Jaffa - I agree with Cragchicks comments about 20 mile races. My coach was anti me doing Thanet last week for those reasons. I did it anyway because I had had a bad long run the weekend before and wanted to run with other people to help get me round. So I was all set to use it as a training run (but knew I would find it hard because Im naturally pretty competitive!)....and miles 1-3 were sub 7.30 pace despite good intentions to set off slowly! I ended up with 8min/mile pace overall but that was more to do with the wind/hills! That said there were probably a couple of times I could have pushed but didn't.....but I had to accept it as one club member after another came past me, so didn't end up feeling great about how it went! Am just hoping it didnt take too much out of me!

    Really sorry to hear about the ongoing injuries - don't give up yet there is still time.

  • hi there cragchik and welcome.

    I've got no experience with sports massages but have had my fiar share of physio bills. If it keeps them down then I'd say its worth a shot. On that Eddie Izzard programme last week he had some serious massage on his ITB and it seemed to sort him out.

     I'm not planning any 20 mile races but have entered the Kilomathon this weekend which is 16 miles or just over. Was thinking on giving it a fairly good go, is this wise do you think being only a few weeks out from the VLM. Most schedules say race a half around this time so its not too much more than that.

    If anyone has any conflicting views I'd love to hear them before I head out there this Sunday, the last thing I want is to be still getting over this when London comes around.

    Sorry to hear you are still not right Oompa, there is still plenty of time yet so take it easy, get some physio or something and hopefully you can get back on track soon.

  • Hi cragchick and welcome

    I had a weird niggle tonight, set off for a slow 9 miles. A bit stiff from yesterday but taking it nice and slow, when about 2 miles in had a really strange sensation in my right leg on the outside of my knee. Not painful but almost like a pins & needles sensation. It felt like my leg was going to give way. Started walking for a bit to see if it eased off which it did so changed my route to 5 miles and took a very slow plod back.
    But had to stop a couple of times with the numb sensation a couple of times but seemed to disappear by the time I got back.
    Ice pack to the rescue.
  • Well my week isn't going to badly... reasonable threshold run yesterday and 12 on the treadmill tonight. Bit of pain in my glute/hamstring but have had it since I was young (used to be a hurdler) so I think I am just going to have to put up with it. Not looking forward to the weekend... plan is 22 on Saturday and then im doing cross country to help the club out on Sunday... how, Im not sure, but ill get round somehow! Gotta be good for me in the long run...she says?!

     For anyone that uses treadmills and get frustrated with switching between miles and KMs, I find this calculator quite useful http://www.bx3.com/phil/tri/tricalc.asp if you haven't already come across this or something similar.

     Oompa, GM, Jayos and anyone else I have missed - hope the injuries are improving.

  • Great run tonight and legs feel fine.
    A friend has suggested a homoepathic remedy for my sore muscles, 100c Arnica 1 per day. been taking for the last couple of days. It might all be in the mind or coincidence but they do feel much better image
    Massage tomorrow... not looking forward to the pain.....


  • evening guys, how are the patients in the doctor's waiting room at the moment?
    bottled my run yesterday as a slight niggly calf, (think it was just a poor excuse as I was in a CBA mood), but gave it a good rub last night and got the run in this morning, about 11.5 at just over 8min miling and didn't feel too bad at the end, the downside was I just had to go into a meeting straight from the changing room though so had to wait over an extra hour for breakfast, not good for a lad who loves his food!
    well done on finding the thread cragchick, whereabouts in Surrey are you? Always on the lookout for new masseurs as the guy I use is away quite a lot on warm weather training camps so can't always get him when I need him.
  • Bambi

    Don't envy that schedule one bit. Did a 8 miler averaging 7min40Secs on Wed so took rest day yesterday. Intending to do an easy 5 miler today and then torn between doing this HM at Dorney lake or just doing a LSR.s My schedule says HM but missed my LSR last week although have done one more than in the plan.

    Not sure if I'm alone but my enthusiasm has ebbed in the last 10 days since getting injured. A good time at the HM may be just what I need. Saying that, watching that Eddie Izzard programme is quite inspiring.

    Hope everyone's fit and well?

    Regards, CK
  • Pete (aka CK), good to hear from you.

     I am planning to do 20 on Sunday, making it 3 in a row and then doing the Reading Half following weekend instead of a LSR. My enthusiasm is still high especially after an excellent speed session with my club last night: 2 sets of 5,4,3,2 min efforts at 6:20 pace with 1 min recovery.

     Bambi, intense weekend indeed - which CC league, I thought season had finished?

  • Mornin' all,

    Can't really contribute with any running tales of yore as i'm still laid up, and will probably get hypothermia given the amount of ice that i've been covered with !

    Deeply frustrated... Mrs Oompa and Oompa Juniors are ready to leave home as i've been like a bear with a sore head, watching all the good work that has been done up 'til now go down the pan !

    On way to work this morning, sitting in traffic watched a young girl out for her run... was green with envy !!! 

    Am planning to try a short run again on Saturday, but don't hold out much hope?

    Enough of the self-pity... hope you are all fit and running well.

  • CK, I'm loving the Eddie Izzard program. It's so inspiring. I was chatting to a Twitter friend about it last night and we both agreed that even though we can see his pain and suffering we'd both love to try something similar!

    I've run 6 miles the past two nights at just under 8 min/miles. The plan says 8 tomorrow but as i've got a half marathon on Sunday i'm probably just going to do 3 easy miles or so.

    Can I ask what everyones shoe plans are for VLM? I must have been a good boy last year as Santa left me a pair of Asics Cumulus 11's in my stocking at Christmas. I know it's not a good idea to wear brand new shoes for races or shoes that are right at the end of their lives either. I've just totted up my projected miles if I stick to the plan and by 0945 on 25/4/2010 they should have circa 441.65 miles in them (give or take a yard!) Obviously this means they are going to getting on a bit in shoe terms. Should I invest in a new pair just now to ensure I have time to break them in???

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