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Sub 3h15

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    Keir wrote (see)

    I'm curious how long it lasts for DM. £180 for a super duper model with a strap-on waist belt could be a bargin if it goes all night long. 

    image image- when put it like that Kier, yes cheap at half the price!  Gioes for 24 hours aswell......................................

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    moof wrote (see)
    DM- I have to do a few miles urban before the rural so as long as it last about an hour out in the sticks then it will be okay.
    It's my son's 7th birthday next week, I know what to get him now.image

    Moof - I am sure he be thrilled with that!! image

    4 batterys last 48 hours on low beam according to blab.

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    TR wrote (see)

    Keir - alpkit gamma. Sub3 thread favourite. LT 1/10th of £180 too.

    TR- have a look at Kiers post again and keep an open mind.......................................image

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    KeirKeir ✭✭✭

    Sorry TR image 

    It's the alpkit which I actually already have and I've not yet reached the stage of life where I am looking to trade in for a 'better looking model'.

    BTW - Andy Holgate is a 'pirate' who is on these forums occassionally. He wrote this.

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    Hi
    Dartmoor Vale? That goes into the never again category. It is a lovely part of the world, and the course that we ran started and finished at the racecourse (nice). There was some lovely countryside (nice), A mile drag up grade (fair enough). A soddingly steep hill at 1:8 average (memorable, but not in the nice category), and some up and down stuff through a housing estate. The best part of the race was that it finished, and KK had a party afterwards.

    Me? I did do a 20 some 3 or 4 weeks ago, and I'm trying to do 20 milers every 2 weeks now. I've entered Gloucester marathon for 20th January. I guess that 3:30 pace is a realistic target. Some familiar faces here, I may be periodic.

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    Blisters- Oh, sorry you didn't enjoy it! It was my first marathon a few weeks ago and yes that hill was a stinker and after first go you knew it was coming again at 20 miles on the 2nd lap! My folks live in Plymouth and Abbingdon was full and this was same day so hence choice. What's Gloucester like? I plan to do Taunton in April but not open yet. I guess you are West Country based? KK was race director this year.
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    TRTR ✭✭✭

    always open, my post still stands in terms of performance AND price. Should add that I did understand Keirs post in the first place.

    Never heard of that Andy Holgate or his book, but I can see why it might be a good read for Blisters.

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    MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    Freemers  -yes 10m on Sunday and I think OO is doing it too? I've only raced a 10m once, back in 2006, and my pb is 76 mins so I should be guaranteed a shiny new one!

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    OO54OO54 ✭✭✭

    Indeed you should Minni, but it's a quality field so you'll have competition.

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    OO54OO54 ✭✭✭

    I can't believe anybody is willing to pay £130 for a head torch. I'd expect brain surgery for that.

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    Not being able to run any distance at present is a bit of a downer, so tonight in a bid to hang on to some cardio fitness, I took part in my first online indoor rowing race. It was two races of 5k, with about 5 mins in between each race.I managed a pain free 2mile warm up jog before starting which was good.

    Was hoping for sub 20mins for each race. Managed 19:58 and 20:10. The second race was a killer, and it wasn't exactly cardio training as my heart rate went through the roof. Got incredibly competitive in the second race, killing off my closest rival by putting in 30s of manic rowing. Came low down in the field but it is a handicapped race and skinny old blokes get the benefit - will find out the outcome later. Could be quite addictive.

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    Dylan, You've no need to apologise. If anyone was to blame it was myself. I took some sub 3 aspirants there on the basis that it was reported as being flat the previous year. Maybe flat has a different meaning in Devonian. All I can say is that it was a good job that I drove around the course the evening prior. I came back as white as a sheet, and with a revised plan that still went ti.. pear shaped.

    TR, I think that you're pulling my Johnson. Anyway, if Prince Seigfreid can waddle around the course, I can manage one.

    Gloucester marathon. It's my local, as I live there. Let's take Dartmoor Vale as a starting point and iron it somewhat. There's a couple of Devon style rolly bits. The only hill of note is 400m long and maybe the height of a good mature tree. This is all part of a 7 mile loop that is run 3 times, with some extra roads added to make up distance. I think that it's 7 minutes slower than pancake flat London. It's all tarmac, but there's some cowshit on the road. It's well marshalled and 1st aided: only one person has died. My best performance was 3:06, being outsprinted for 8th place and not being named Gloucestershire champ.

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    Blisters-,might give Gloucester a go sometime. Going back to Dartmoor I heard that it was flat /undulating until about 2007 and then they changed it to take in the 1 mile long (x2) killer hill out of Chudleigh. Sounds like you caught the transition year which must have been annoying when flat was expected. I bet that caught a few people out who hadn't driven the course night before. I revised my plan only a week before when I managed to get a copy of the garmin profile. The colour drained from me when I saw it!



    AR- that rowing on line "game" sounds like a mid life crisis kind of vibe to me! image
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    Moof - nice canal side run.
    Freemers - well done on the podium finish in Stowmarket. Which HM are you running?
    AR - impressive rowing there.
    Another slow 9 miles for me this morning. I had been including strides in this run previously, but decided to ditch them in favour of getting the maximum benefit from the low HR running. Should hear today when help with caring for my dad at home will be in place so he can be discharged - hopefully later this week.

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    Gul - it's the Norwich HM. Missed it last year through injury but was chief cheerleader for Team Minni as a bunch of us met up there for the first time (and found that we weren't mass murderers masquerading as RW forumites)...horrid weather so I'm hoping for better this time.

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    Freemers - of course, should have guessed that one. I'd like to do that one year but last Sunday in November is not usually suitable for me. I'm a bit nearer to Peterborough and being flat as a pancake is my first choice. Did you ever run the Broadland HM? Nice friendly small event; shame it finished. Here's hoping the weather is better this year in Norwich.

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    Gul - yes, did Broadland a couple of times, really liked that one. It is a shame, as there aren't many HMs in the spring that are close to me - probably won't do one at all before VLM.

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    DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Hi all,

    Freemers - nice 7 miles debut!!!

    Blisters/Dylan Man - you are doing a good job of putting me off running in Devon. My twin sister lives down there and I had looked at this as a possible for the future.

    Gul - be good to get your Dad settled and the help in. I hope you are all taking care of yourselves. It's a tough time and thoughts are with you.

    Did my 9.25 mile loop this morning with your various words of wisdom ringing in my ears. Hence, a nice gentle 8:15mm average. Probably still a bit faster than I should be running but ran to feel on Sunday for the same hilly course and came in 7:49 average (defo too fast!!!). Legs feel really good now though so I'm thinking this slower pace is much better for me and far less likely to get injured/overtrain.

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    DS2- I have only good things to say about DV course. It's challenging but not too bad. If you run hills in training it's fine. I think some people have struggled with it as its two Laps and the hills come at 19/20 second time round. If you have any mental fragilities I think this course can find people out. Not a PB course and general consensus was 7 to 10 minute handicap on say VLM. Not sure if Blisters concurs with that. I'll definitely give it a go again. It's a small field so you can find yourself in with a shout of a trophy! image
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    DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    DM - to be honest I could be interested next year. What month is it? I live on the North Downs and in a valley so cannot avoid hills in training. In truth I've always preferred hilly courses and never ran that well at the London Marathon (best of 2:53 when I was in much much better shape!). If I get my GFA next spring I'll be looking for an autumn marathon that would concentrate on increasing my strength so it might be an option.

     

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    DS2- normally 3rd week of October. As I said small field but easy to get in. Half and 10k on same day which makes up to a total field of 1200 or so with 200 in marathon. It's organised by locally Rotary club and well run. Don't let reviews put you off as some people moan about any slight incline! What sort of shape are you expecting to be in come spring?
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    DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    DM - I'm expecting to be in sub 3;15 shape. So far I'm ahead of where I usually am at this stage by some distance but usually get injured doing something silly (playing hockey usually). I have completed 8 marathons averaging 3:21 but have only really trained hard once in 1994 when I ran two sub 3 hour ones. I have no idea what I'm capable of but I think there is a good chance VLM 2014 will fall on my 50th birthday (assuming it's 13 April. Easter is the following weekend and I don't think it's ever been the last weekend in April). The aim is bag a sub 3:15 so I know that I'm in and then work on getting stronger for another year and hope to go sub 3 on my 50th!

    What could be interesting is that I'm riding Lands End to John O'Groats over 10 days in August 2013 so I'll have to learn to combine both disciplines.

    I take it you will be looking to run well under 3 in April?

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    DS- not so sure about well under 3!! I'm a vet as well 46 next week and only been running for two years. Did 3.13 in Dartmoor on a tough course but trained at sub 3 paces which was just as well. This was my first marathon so felt pretty satisfied with that although in hindsight I could have run a bit quicker but bottled it a bit. Felt that I would have got near 3.05 ish on a flat course. Doing Taunton in April which has some hills and undulating. Would hope to get near 3 with luck. My sub 3 target would be Autumn next year maybe Abo. I'll train sub 3 again for Taunton though.



    Marathon training and cycling the length of the country! Best of luck with that. image
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    DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    DM - that's impressive. What did you do before you started running?

    Deciding what's possible is one of the hardest aspects of the planning. I was thinking about Abo for next Autumn. It seems to be a decent course and a fast time there would be good for confidence leading into pre-VLM training.

    I'm hoping that running fitness will carry forward nicely to the bike. Luckily my commute to work is 35 mile round trip so I can get some good training in through the week in summer without it impacting too much on my life. Also, it's not a race so as long as I can get used to a few days in the saddle before hand of maybe 7-8 hours I should be fine.

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    DS- always been fairly sporty and active and was a half decent runner at school boy level. Really wish I'd kept it up to see what I could have done in my prime. The 10k age grade at moment is near 80% so who knows.



    Sounds like you were very competitive in your heyday.



    I think the general consensus is that running fitness transfers fairly well to cycling but not necessary the other way round, so you'll be like a duck to water. Day after day endurance events sound like fun but become gruelling after a few days especially if cold and wet. Did the two moors way (120 miles across Dartmoor and Exmoor) a few years back in 4 days with a 20kg pack and that was bloody hard. Walking 30 miles a day doesn't sound much but hard graft especially carrying a tent and all your gear. Great crack though!
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    DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    DM - Yeah - I think the aerobic strengths that come with being an endurance athlete do transfer well to cycling. I find that I'm pretty strong if not terribly fast. My nephew who lives in Devon has done loads of that walking lark. Looks hard but always good fun doing challenging things with like minded people.

    Was reasonably competitive but hockey was my real sporting love so it got in the way of my running a bit. Used to guide the worlds best middle distance runner in the early 90's so that's how I got into the running. Had one 6 month period at proper training and did ok. Half in 75:30, 20 Miles in 2:01 and marathon in 2:44 but then went back to hockey. Have been a has-been ever since. Now I'm getting near 50 and regretting it so told myself I have one last chance to be deservedly on this thread!!! We'll see.

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    DS- you do realise you have now set up a massive guessing game! This thread will be red hot later!
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    DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    DM - Didn't mean to! He's still a hero to me. I think he won 25 Gold medals at major champs. Was, in many respects, our first great paralympian. He represents NZ now in cycling events but I speak to him every so often. He's still inspirational.

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    DS-2, regards Devon, yeah as Dylan says, some people moan about any slight incline. Whether it is worth a 10 minute handicap from London is a separate matter for discourse. I think that it sets the sheep apart from the goats. This one truly is not about a PB, or any relationship to one. I was on just over 3hr shape, targeted 3:15 and blew out at 3:30. With hills, once your endurance has gone, it stays gone. The crowd of sheep (gazelles?) that like to follow a fast pacemaker suffered, whereas the goats did OK. If it’s of interest, I did chat with one sub 3 forumite after the race, and asked what time he’d done. Coyly he said 2:58. “Fack me”, I said, “And what time did the winner do?” 2:58 he answered. Yeah, well done OO. Devon Champ.

    On other matters, I give serious respect to anyone Tergatting sub 3 at age 50. I did mine at age 48 and don’t know of anybody at all who broke 2:59:59 for the first time at the senior age. There is some hard graft on that path. Let the challenge be laid. I shall keep watch. The little bike ride diversion sounds like a bucket list job as well. Just make sure you’ve got a comfy saddle. 10+ consecutive 100 milers is a bloody long way. I presume that you’ll be passing through Gloucester on the A38? I managed to catch up with another Forumite and accompanied him from Bristol to Glos (Longford Premier Inn) and next day to Worcester. Send me a Personal Message via the forum when you’ve got the itinerary.

    Dylan- you’re quite fit, with some speed intervals and a fast flat course you should get a fast gong to match your ability.

    DS2. OK From the latest posts, you’re not too slobby yourself.

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    OO54OO54 ✭✭✭

    Blisters I ran sub 3 last year at VLM, for the first time aged 49. Hope to repeat next year age 50. But on the evidence of last nights club GP I have some way to go. Absolute shocker, Outside 6 min. pace for the 3.6 mile race. Things don't bode well for the this weekends Brampton to Carlisle 10 miler- where I go head to head with Minni image

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