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

Congratulations Euph  And brilliant running on all those ultras - I can never get my head round those! Plus a sub 40 10k is brilliant

Hi Mr P - hope your cold clears up soon.

Hope you're feeling better soon there Puffster. A bit early to think of deferring?

The Florence marathion work colleague wanted to do 8 miles at his inteded race pace, 7.30, today instead of our usual tempo. I was OK with this as I've not done anything but speedwork over the past couple of weeks.

It was nice to do some steady pace stuff, we ended up averaging 7.22 and it felt very easy indeed. This is a really good sign as I was miles off this a month or two ago.

The Garmin watch really helped, stopped us from overdoing it and I paced out the final 3 miles perfectly. I still have a small niggle in the left achilles but it's improving all the time. If it's OK tomorrow, I might try the same even steady pacing on my 10 mile route.

Have a good weekend of running you crazy dudes!!

SB

Hi all, few beers last night and a super strong phall beater curry "bombay burner" But will somehow find the energy for a run later today before going to see Skyfall

SB, I've used recovery drinks a fair bit this year, usually have one ready after a long run and escpecially if on a big mileage week. Sure they help, FGS are great, but expensive (I stock up if a shop does 2 for £2 and also bought a load when they were on sale on https://www.sportpursuit.com/). I've also used the powdered recovery drinks (SiS etc..) you mix up, not as good but cheaper. I suppose they are basically chocolate milk and its the carbrotein ratio that you need (e.g. i'll sometimes use a banana and some peanuts as a post run snack), but there is also a whole host of vitamins and minerals in most which must help a depleted body.

Puffy - Hope you can get that out of your system, early to be deferring LOndon though isn't it?

Freemers - I've had a good ultra year, best yet I think, 15 x 26.2+'s. I can only do it as I do a fair few of them at well below max effort. Most feel easier than a road marathon. I know a guy who's doing 52 this year for charity, he was pretty wrecked when I last ran with him though. 

XC tomorrow, posted a 45'55 for 6.1m course at this fixture when i ran it last in 2010. Like to think I could beat that, but its damn hilly around there so must have been "on one" that day!

Great going Stoker. Sounds like you had a really good trip on a tough course.

I had 2 football games to attend today, both our lads' teams were hammered but they had fun, that's what it's all about. 
I ran home from the 2nd match, just a short 5 miler, so I decided to blast it. Averaged 6.58 pace and that was with a slower 7.20 mile in there due to a massive stitch that wouldn't go away on mile 4.

Probably not the greatest prep for mile reps tomorrow but I needed to see if I could duck below the 7s for the first time in years. Paris campaign officially starts in one month, the base fitness is looking good. 

SB

Results are in, n my mate Neil actually did 1.43.43, n Ken did 1.46.05. Both p.b's. That jokey bet to see who was the daddy certainly spurred the 3 of us on to great runs. 7.43 pace for me. Happy with that. Most of my training runs were about 8's. I was saying to the lads after the race that effort wise, I put in a helluva lot more in the Dundee half, when I ran a pathetic 1.56 than today. All about the training in the legs.My boy was fantastic today. Was drinking from 7 til 1am last night. About to have a massive Sunday tea.Then early to bed.

Stoker

Good effort Stoker!

On the boys football front, I've often commented on Puffy Junior's up and down goalkeeping career, but he is coaching   now and his lads (U17's)  just beat the FC United youth team in the Chshire youth cup 3-2 on penalties after 1-1 draw , , and indeed, !

They're two leagues below FC United, and they are the  only team to beat this side on their turf, before he went he told me he was going to defend deep for an hour, try to nick a goal with a canny sub in the last half hour and if it goes to penalties, well, it's anybody's. Tactical Genius!

Euph I'm exaggerating on the deferral, but with only 3 runs in 4 weeks I am not going to be in a good state come the end of December and the start of serious training.

And I'm becoming addicted to Night Nurse. (the bottled stuff!)

Ten seconds or so over 50mins at The Rollercoaster Drewton Woods XC today. Lovely clear day and mud dryer than of late in the area. But I still felt done in after the first of three large climbs and descents barely a mile in! Over 4mins slower than at this fixture 2 years ago, but the new course is .5m longer and throws in significantly more climb (overall and per mile - really good course though). So happy overall thats and improvement, but as with most XC everybody who turns up is a fairly serious runner so its hard to break into the bottom third of the field - will have to see what results say.

Back to LSRs next WE, far easier!

LS - Brilliant result, and for your mates too

48.07 and 3rd lady for me yesterday, at the Stowmarket 7. Pretty pleased with that - legs all recovered from the marathon in seems, and I can string a few sub-7's together which is nice to know

Great running folks.
You're all imposters on this thread.
I'm still at the level where I feel at home !
Freemers, I think it was you who wondered if sub 1.40 was a possibility. It probably was, but I maybe missed out through my tactic of keeping the mind clear of negative thoughts, by not concerning myself every mile with mental calculations on whether I was on target etc. At about 9 miles, I had a mini crisis, when for maybe half a mile I felt I needed to tuck in behind a lady runner n let her pull me along. Then in that half mile, listening to her very heavy breathing made me realise that actually, I was fine, so I kicked on. I shouldve glanced at the watch at mile 11 as I knew I was gonna be ok. I'm not used to the mental demands of racing and I know I need to toughen up in that respect, if I'm gonna lower any pb's. I didnt even lift my head to see the digital clock at the finish line to get under the 1.41 mark, as my tarmac gazing had worked so well for me. My mate Ken turned 50 a couple of weeks ago, n Neil is 48. As we worked our way through the hostelries of Brechin on Saturday night, we did agree how much younger than our contemporaries we feel due to the running. With a voice like Barry White on Sunday morning, I asked my whippet like 11yo son if when I'm 50 and he is 18, he thinks he'll be able to beat his Dad at Glen Clova, and he just burst out laughing !?! I cant imagine how it'll feel having a son who is the same height but a helluva lot better looking n faster ? I'll have 13 mugs by then though! Mondays was always my pub night when up in Brechin Badger so I am very jealous. My old pool team I understand are suffering without their messiah. To be expected I guess...

Stoker

Just back from pub and curry. 
Computer is still on, so thought I'd check in. 

I like what you say there Stoker. There's something vey pleasing about watching contempories turn into our dads back in the 70s and 80s while we train like athletes of the old days used to while holding down jobs etc...Some of my mates and colleagues just can't comprehend the fact that I can get up from my desk, get changed, run 6 miles, have a shower and be back at my desk (sweating a bit) in a shade over one hour. It's a sporting status that denied me back in my youth when I was short with national health specs, a Bay City Rollers hair mop and unable to huff and puff my way round a football pitch or X-country run due to lungs coping with asthma, not mention a distinct lack of talent. Things change, kids.

SB  (6"1' now BTW......the same as my 15 year old!!!)

Blimey some great runs over the weekend well done everyone.

Freemers awesome time and place in results well done you ..are you doing London 2013 ?

Stoker good effort and your mates there is something about getting under that 1.40 that is so tough, sounds easy really knocking a couple of minutes off but I have only done it once 1.39.15 the same yaer I did that 3.40 in London...got a few 1.40s and 1.41 over the years

Euph that just your kind of running isnt it.?..hills and more hills. good stuff

SB speedwork whats that ?  good reps...my work mates are the same and think I am some kind if wonder woman (I wish) the way I run 8 miles or whatever before a night shIft, and I have often been told how bad it must be for my knees ....yawn 

Puffy hope you feel better soon , if not I a sure you can get night nurse off a dealer ..if the chemist get suspcious about the amount you are buying 

Lots of slow easy mile for me last week managed 46 including 2 long runs of 13 and 11.5 done at 9s I wear a HRM and make sure it doesnt go over 70% of max cos that what you are meant to do ...apparently..

NN - yes, I'll be there in London.

LS - so you probably could have gone a bit quicker if your mind had been on the job .

Sporty Badger wrote (see)

 I was short with national health specs, a Bay City Rollers hair mop

Ah yes, now I remember you from the Cheers wine bar...

Well done all at the weekend.

Great times at that unusual distance Freemers. And great podium placing too. It is nice to string a few sub-7s together from time-to-time. Especially if you don't do that kind of pace week in-out, shows the whole training regime is working even if you not in a speedwork / race sharpening phase (I think thats what they used to call it).

Well done LS, knew you could do it and always good to get one over your mates. Re. hitting or beating a target, different things work for different people. Running flat-out and ignoring garmin pace etc... can get some good times. But before such devices when atheletes trained who were good enough to have a coach, he'd still be yelling times, whether to speed up etc... So I just see the garmin as my perosnal coach, bring pace-keeping to the masses I broke 40mins on track this year by working out what pace I needed to do per lack and then trying to run inside it. Always seems easy at first, but as got more difficult I'd check pace through lap and add on ion my head the time to beat next lap. Worked for me as brain struggles with maths at speed so took my mind off legs somewhat. Then in last lap I already knew I'd beaten the time.

Sounds like a real burner of a session SB (take that as probably true for run or curry).

You'll be alright MrP. just adapt the new year plan a bit to work from slightly lower base mileage and make up the miles in the 16 weeks. You can always push the quality sessions a bit more if your not topping ou the same mileage as you'd like.

Great miles NN, have you considered joining team RW for the mileage challenge against fetch?

On the subject of kids, I tell Clare that I won't be a pushy dad trying to get lil Euph running from 2 years of age (and she'd kill me if i did!). Hopefully though can motivate him/her to always do some kind of physical exercise. Part of me always figured the one time in my life I should have done something I didn't - as a teenager, early twenty-something - and might have made slightly more of the genes I've been given to work with (though I'm sure I'd never be fast) had I pushed my body a bit whilst I was growing and body is in best condition to cope with recovery, etc....

I think XC kind of confirms I'd never be a speed demon and should stick to long days out as my primary challenge. I'm probably over-peak this year, but probably one of my best XC runs ever and still only 40th out of 128 blokes. For those who've never had the pleasure (or pain) of county XC league races, you still finish as far behind the leader as you'd expect in a 10k... but rather than in top quarter of field, top half is good going. Whereas in ultraruns this year I can get near or into top quarter most days.

Freemers wrote (see)

Ah yes, now I remember you from the Cheers wine bar...

And it's because you were dressed as one of the Nolan Sisters that I didn't buy you a Babycham! 

SB