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I ran 4 miles early doors, it was cold and windy, Now I'm going for a club session and it's glorious sonshine- all in a UK day...
Slokey - wow!
Badbark - run it drunk, g'wan, you know you want to!
Track for me and there were no distance folk of the appropriate speed so I ended up doing the short session. 4 x 400m, 4 x 300m, 4 x 200m. I am no sprinter!
......and I found hills. 10 miles average pace 9:50m/m.
Been lurking on the bench for a bit but noting many quality efforts by you lot, good stuff and very inspiring. Esp Birch - you are one relentless runner; CC - multiple champion; Blisters - 'ard as nails. Madbark - top banana, if a little crackers.
Nice blood story Gul
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Slokey - heck, seriously hard core - cojones, guts, everything says you are just legend.
Welcome Rodeo, great determination shown for which congrats are in order.
BI good to see you training already for the down run - have also DM'd you. Lorenzo - are you not tempted???
Now on 47 maras + 13 ultras but worried that Madbark will overtake that very soon...
Injury update isn't good. Despite Comrades, most of the problems have settled down and it now appears that the final underlying issue could be a torn meniscus. TP the Terrifying Physio has told me to foam roller and stretch it for a few weeks then go to the GP to ask for MRI/arthroscopy. I'm sure some of you have had torn meniscus and I'd very much appreciate your insight. It's been a really c*ap year and I'm still on the point of giving up running altogether.
Lorenzo - double track session!
SW78 - the odd fast finish LR is a good idea, I think, but never tried maxing out at 18 miles in a marathon campaign.
Badbark - cracking example of a fast finish long run! Enjoy Spain.
OO - Happy holiday running.
MsE - good MLR - hope the fizz can help with the achilles.
GD - nice easy run.
Blisters - Fast mile 8. Enjoy the Beacons.
Speedy - good track session.
Poacher - sorry to hear your diagnosis. You are a survivor and I'm sure you'll come bouncing back, so hang on in there.
6 mile recovery run this morning.
5k race yesterday and the good news is the numbers are going in the right direction but the bad news is they are only getting there slowly. A month ago I did a 5k in 20:06 and last night 19:18 but realistically to be happy I need to be another 45 seconds faster so only halfway back.
Thanks MsE / Madbark
I'm probably going to stick to 20 milers as the longest runs then as unless something has gone wrong they're usually under 3 hours which also sometimes includes the odd (very annoying) loo stop.
SteWood - I mentioned above that I did the Thames meander marathon as a flat, towpath time on feet LSR during my marathon prep this year. Never tried that approach before. I asked the gang on here about it first and the general consensus was go for it but take it easy. Ran 3.32 by taking it easy and stopping to enjoy the delights of the excellent feed stations and chatting with the volunteers.
It was a good workout for the legs, a more enjoyable way of doing a LSR and meant that I could ditch another planned 20 and go shorter instead. The 5 longest runs were 20,20,22,18 and 26.2. I'll do the same next time and will probably ditch one the 20s for a quicker paced 16.
Good Luck
GD
Poacher - that is terrible news! I'm praying it's not torn. I sprained my mcl and that was painful enough so I can only imagine what it's like for you. Hang in there.
Fizz said the only way to get through this is to load load load.
That's a decent slug off the time, PMJ. You really do some great racing!
Nice easy runs from GD, Gul and OO with a pretty darn decent hilly effort from Blisters. Speedy - top effort going for it with the speedsters at the track!
6@7:47/mi this morning. Fully KT taped up and feeling fine for it
G-Dawg - That's an interesting way of doing it, the area round me is hilly so its difficult to do an easy long run without slowing dramatically and then running well over 3 hours, even if it was flat I'm not sure I'd find a 3:30 marathon easy though. Can anyone see any issues training on hills then racing flat. On the face it sounds beneficial providing you avoid achilles tendon issues but I wondered if there are other problems associated with doing this.
Another question I had is do people tend to find the marathon time predictors always underestimate marathon finish times? According to them I'm a sub 3 marathon runner which I am certainly not. This time round I'm taking my training seriously but even then think that a sub 3:15 is only just in reach.
Poacher - I had a similar operation about five years ago. The procedure itself wasn't too much of a problem and I was walking around normally within a few days (and gentle jogging within a couple of weeks, I think). I haven't really been able to test it properly since then, as I'm unable to sustain high mileage (due to a variety of low-lying injuries and old age). But, if it's any consolation, I suspect that my old torn meniscus injury hasn't impacted too much on my general fitness. A friend had an arthroscopy at around the same time and is currently running as well as ever.
It'd be a shame if you felt you had to give up completely. We all have to adapt as we begin to slow down and gradually fall apart. Initially, this can be rather unsettling. Slokey and Blisters have turned to triathlon, while others have resorted to something called wava. Personally, I like to jog alongside back markers during races, regaling them with tales of how, back in the day, I used to be almost average.
Does this mean you won't be at the Coastal Race next month? I only popped in here to ask you, Minni & OO about lovely areas to stay (or unlovely ones to avoid). We're going to make a weekend of it this time, which we've never done before.
Don't give up yet, Poacher - I had arthroscopy a few years ago (although only torn medial ligament, not meniscus), but I'm fortunate enough at the moment to be able to train 50mpw with hardly any issues from my knees (just an occasional reminder)
Each case is different of course, but too early imo to think of quitting.
In my case, I actually took encouragement from the consultant who advised me that my knees were "9 out of 10" for someone my age and running background
Enjoy Spain BB and OO!
Oh dear Poacher. That's a tough break. Although sounds like there's hope judging by others' experiences.
Achilles is still gnarly but improving - my 7month run streak ended on Monday as a precautionary measure. Will start again as soon as it settles down though - enjoyed the rhythm and the routine.
Feeling pretty good here although lower back has been numb for the past two days and the numbness now seems to be wearing off leaving unpleasant pains in its place... Oh well.
Some good photos have appeared on the Wasdale X website - I'm the (baldy) guy looking petrified at the roped descent and lying down a bit on the rock face!
Poacher - chin up big fella. Sounds tough at the moment but give it a bit of time and don't hang up the running shoes just yet. I'm sure you mentioned something about a green number last time I saw you!
Welcome SW78 - I'm not aware of any downside in incorporating hills in long training runs before racing on the flat. On the contrary, it can only be beneficial in my mind as it it'll make any undulations on the course appear to be flat.
Another 800m race last night - fortunately it was graded (i.e. they split all the entrants up into races according to their estimated time) which meant:
a. I didn't have to go in the same race as younger Lorenzito
b. there was ample opportunity to show those cheeky u11 upstarts what a real finishing kick looked like!
As it turned out, I got my pacing far better than last time and ended up with 2:32 and a bit; a 6s improvement from last week and on the same rate of improvement, by my calculations I should be up there with Rudisha et al by the end of the summer.
Rest this morning.
PMJ - still a decent 5k and heading in the right direction.
MsE - nice 6 miler.
SW78 - I think generally the calculators are a bit over-optimistic when it comes to marathon finishing times, but some people do convert better than others.
TAR - good to hear from you. Enjoy the coastal race.
SJ - I must look at the photos when I get a minute!
Lorenzo - great 800m racing!
10.8 miles inc. 25 mins of drills this morning. Probably the last set of drills for me for a while as I'll start to introduce the odd tempo run to alternate with the hill sprints.
The only thing that is different for me when training on hills for a flat race is that I have to watch my cadence which can slow down with hills and then translate into slower turnover in a race. I now focus on fast feet when hill running whereas I used to just amble a bit and enjoy the scenery (which, frankly, is the whole point of hill running...)
39 splendid miles on the bike last night with personal records set on the 3 climbs of Ranmore common (from Dorking), Crocknorth Lane and Box Hill. Legs felt great.
Anyway, gutted to see that the Surrey Half Marathon has been scheduled for April 17th. One week before London, same day as Brighton, similar time to Manchester (tbc) and just after Paris. Not the brightest idea to go for that date. Maybe they just want people only doing HMs and not using the event as a strong training race for the full marathon distance?
Really enjoyed it this year. It's my 'home' event. Might volunteer but it will be disappointing to be there and not take part.
Looks like it's the Fleet half for me in March.
GD
Thanks for the kind thoughts folks. Being in pain every day for 6 months, pah.
TAR I live beside the route of the coastal race so will be there in some capacity - likely to be jogging round with no time goal, perhaps with Minni if she's not in superwoman mode. You are most welcome to join me/us and enjoy the scenery. As for places to stay, if you want to be on the coast then Beadnell, Low Newton, Embleton, Craster will do the job. As will Alnmouth where the race finishes. Lovely up round Bamburgh too. Further inland, Alnwick is the main centre with good access to the area. If you were planning to camp, Beadnell has a site walking distance from the race start. Good seafood locally too - the new Portuguese-style place next to the smoker in Craster is worth a visit - ditto the fish place by Amble harbour - and the Swallow smokery/fish shop in Seahouses.
GD - cracking bike ride.
8.6 mile progressive run this morning including 18 laps of the field starting at 9:03m/m and ending with 6:34m/m. Should be the first official long run of the campaign tomorrow - 20 weeks to go.
Take care Poacher - hope you get mended soon.
I was feeling all big and clever after some intervals on Wednesday night in which I managed to get back to 4 min per km. The next day the newspaper reported that a local under-12 female had run 3.44 in the national primary school champs for 1200m. Smugness over.
Yesterday a lunch time run alongside the railway on a bush-dirt road. No level-crossings or fences by the railway line like in the UK - the Africans leave safety to Darwin.
Nice pedalling GD
The North East sounds delicious Poacher - will have to get over there over he summer. When are the puffins at their peak in the islands?
It's been 5 days off now and I can't wait to get back running. Body feels great apart from my lower back which still tingles and occassionally goes numb and I'm not sure about the robustness of my achilles but there's only one way to find out!
Off to pick my youngest lad up from uni tomorrow so I'll start my autumn marathon build up on Sunday - maybe 30mins jogging round the field. Excited.
Bike It - good progress.
SJ - take it easy now!
17 miles this morning. Out @ 8:45 m/m and back @ 7:57 m/m. 64.95 miles for the week. Next week is a cut-back one
MSE - Nice steady running from you.
Badbark - Smashing 20 miler.
G-Dawg - 7:44 pace for 7 miles is not comfy for me. you're in good shape.
PMJ - Almost a minute off a 5k time has got to be a good improvement in 1 month.
SteWood78 - If training for a specific marathon then my suggestion is to train on a similar style course so you mirror race day as close as possible.
Poacher - keep going mate. Get the knee sorted and get back on it.
Gul Darr - Excellent week and a cracking run today.
Really good read this thread.
Gul - get out and jog down the road - you need that 0.05 miles . . . . .
matched your 17 this morn, but quite unsatisfactory in the end; intended 20 (as helping my pal with her Mable buildup), so got 11 done without fuss, back to park for parkrun - was actually going a lot better than last outing, but at halfway very sudden onset of sharp pain on top of foot (which has been troubling me recently, albeit at a low level) meant I was running with a limping gait, so I took the decision to drop out. My pal finished, and the ad-hoc plan then was she would continue and complete the 20, although she didn't fancy it alone, and I would walk back home (1 mile). So, she carried on, I remained chatting to parkrunners, then decided to test my foot - found I could do easy running with just the lower level of discomfort, so looped round to intercept my chum, and ran back with her - 17 done, 19 for my buddy, who went sprawling over a stone in the last couple of miles, acquiring grazed & cut knees (!) so we decided not to make the last small loop to hers to make the 20 . . . . .
So, ice on my foot as I type - hopefully nothing too serious - and although I dislike DNF ing, in this case I think it was a decision of sense rather than weakness
Odd day today. I had planned to run Fulham parkrun (definitely flat and good surface, maybe short) but a miscommunication with the wife (i.e. she did not read my calendar) meant I had to drop off the boy so local parkrun was needed. Went to the Rye and my foot felt bad: spot of gout. Warmed up slowly and felt like jogging round to get the 99th ticked off. 3,2, 1 and off, dropped into about 15th place and then people dropped back to put me into 10th. Pulled slowly forward up to the first mile and into 8th. Guy in 9th is normally well behind me but beat me on Tuesday so is in form and he kept me honest all the way home.At the finish 19:09.x on the Garmin but official time was 19:09 so 10 seconds faster than Tuesday and on a much harder course.
Most of this was mental I am sure: Tuesday I pushed hard at the start (5:51 cf 6:06 for the first mile) and gave up at the end (6:35 vs 6:10 for the last mile) but today was a good strong finish. Don't know where that came from, felt so bad but ran well.
PMJ: sometimes it goes like that, as I'm sure you're aware. Nice time btw.
Birch: It can be tough to stay motivated when the body starts to break down. When I (edited 'cos it's boring).
Today, a nice 71 miles biked with the Group 1 riders, hunting out some hills in the Forest of Dean. It's harder trying to find flat parts. My @rse is now sore as the tri-suit is thinly padded. 4 hours, no quarter given.
Quiet on here today!
Good battling from PMJ. 71 miles in 4 hours on hilly terrain shows some decent form from Blisters as well.
Not much to report from here - cycling commute yesterday followed by an OK-ish parkrun in Banstead Woods this morning. Combination of the day before's cycling and a short night's sleep probably played a role in a slightly below par 19:40.
May well be back out on the track for a 5000m vets race on Monday - 12.5 laps aaaargh!
Top riding Blisters. What's the next event?
Looking good PMJ.
Easy run this morning in heavy rain with the pooch. Effortless gliding along the road for the first 400m at 6:45 pace, felt the achilles protest a little bit so eased right off for a jog around the field for 20mins. Felt a low level niggle the whole way round but not unexpected. Thoroughly enjoyable and soaked through thanks to the delightful Cumbrian summer weather.
Had just enough time for a steady session of 6 miles at 8m/m. Coached swim training tonight. That is likely to be tough.
My next event is September 13th, a mere 11 weeks away, Ironman Wales.
SH t. Panic is starting to set in.
Are you ready for the sea swim?