Paris marathon 2013 here we go! A.W's Sub 3 attempt!

Great long run, Andy

Nice long run Andy.

A.W. - nice running. I hope everything feels great today. looking forward to hearing about a new 10k PB!

RUTH MCKEAN wrote (see)

Your carb intake is 40g per hour, have you ever hit the wall hard with this plan above ( if not stick with it). The 3 gels with caffeine is perfect- when do you take your last gel?

I have only hit the wall once but it was my first marathon. Thinking about it, I have rather "naive" and didn't really pay attention to the nutrition side of it. I seem to manage on 3/4 gels and carbo-loading the week before. I might change things this year as I have an article which suggest that suggest you can do the carbo-loading diet without the depletion phase (http://running.competitor.com/2011/03/nutrition/the-evolving-art-of-carbo-loading_22908)

I tend to take my last gel at about 21M. I take Shotz gels and you need to take water with those gels. Since I don't carry water with me, I time my gels before the water stations. There is usually one after the hairpin bend, at around 21M.

Ruth, I have a question for you:
Is peanuts butter any good? Is it mainly for recovery?

4 miles completed this afternoon, not entirely free from feeling my foot, but not affecting my running at all. Its funny, it kind of comes and goes and just feels like a bit of pressure from the top of the shoe, its not really pain or discomfort.

Sent a quick email to physio Sarah, who suggest seeing how it is in the morning before deciding if I'm going to race my 10k or not. She also suggested I book a physio appointment to asses the foot early next week, which I have arranged for Monday.

I'm still hopeful I'm being over cautious, I'd much rather be cautious than plough on and end up in a worse state and missing weeks of running! I think I'm in a good place fitness wise so not too worried at this stage. If it drags on that might be a different kettle of fish!

I'm sure it's nothing too serious. It's always best to be safe than sorry but it's easy to get over cautious and the odd twinge is not unusual but it's not always easy to assess what is just a meaningless twinge and what is a warning sign that you are on the edge of an injury.

In my younger days from 16 to 29, I carried on regardless and generally got away with it. In my 30s and 40s, I carried on but probably saw a physio, osteo or chiro at least once a month and sometimes twice. In my 50s, injury has been more prevalent and recovery slower and I am little bit more cautious.

Agree getting a reassessment and physio is a good idea.

Alex and Steve agree it's nothing too serious at this stage and doesn't warrant taking time off but it's just a case of being aware and if things get more sore after a run then back off. If running is painfree and not more sore after and keeps improving then it's great which is hoepfully where we are at the mo.

Good luck in the race looking forwrad to seeing how you get on.

I'm very happy with todays run!

I had the Run Eton 10k today, was 50/50 if I was going to run due to my foot problem. Woke up and my foot was feeling alright so thought I'd give it a whirl! 

It was pretty windy and being around a rowing lake was open to the elements, so had 2 laps, one way getting battered into wind, the other with the wind behind! I decided to work hard on the back wind leg and try and hang on in to wind. 

The start to 2k was with the wind so settled into a good pace straight away running with the lead lady, battled back into wind and reached the half way point in about18.15, a bit too quick!! I put in a big effort from 5-7k to use the wind as I knew it was going to be a brutal last 2k into wind. 

The last 1k was a really big effort, looked at my watch as the finish came in to sight, I needed a big finish to break through a big milestone for me! A sprint over the last 400 meters past the first lady and over the moon to have finished in 36.58 for 2nd place. A big PB by 59 seconds, and breaking the 37 minute barrier! Chuffed to bits! 

The foot was ok the whole race, started to stiffen up once I'd finished my cool down. But have ice on it now and will have a good stretch in a bit!

Splits today - 3.31, 3.36, 3.28, 3.53, 3.54, 3.28, 3.35, 3.42, 4.03, 3.44. Guessing the last one as I forgot to stop my watch - but official finish was 36.58

Here's me collecting my 2nd place prize!

That's superb - well done and looking at the splits confirms you would have been even quicker but for the wind though difficult to really evaluate if you started too fast or whether it was just the conditions. As two laps, I suppose the first lap was slightly too quick - km three for instance and your third and 4th kilometre are much faster than your 8th and 9th which are presumably the same part of the course but a strong last kilometre. Speed endurance is obviously there in abundance. Just need to get the endurance towards the same level, but also make sure the foot allows you to train normally.

Thanks Steve.

Your right they were the same part of the course, I was working hard initially as I wanted to stay with the two runners just ahead, one was running the 5k and the lady running the 10k with me - I did'nt want to get separated and have to run large parts of the race on my own.

There are lots of positives for me from today's race, one being even when aproaching the finish, I felt like I had more in the tank and could have kept going.

Steve - whats the plan for tomorrow? If I recover well tonight and the foot feels good shall I run long tomorrow?

I don't think it's worth taking the risk of doing a long run and putting pressure on the foot. There are plenty of opportunities for long runs coming up so suggest just run an easy 90 mins - ideally off-road.

Another picture from today!

Its a lovely place Dorney Lake!

Congratulations on a big PB AW! Really pleased the foot was comfortable to put in a good race.

Had a really nice run with my club this morning. Ended up at 14 miles, maybe a mile further that planned, but a comfortable pace and my legs and foot feel fine. No heavy legs or soreness in the foot after yesterdays hard run race which is good.

Really enjoyed today's session, really relaxed and good to have a good chat on route, makes the time fly by.

Hope this coming week I can get back to full training. Have my physio session booked tomorrow afternoon and a massage for Tuesday so hopefully will be able to keep my body in check!

Ruth - I trialed the early part of my marathon fueling strategy as well, a gel at 6 and 11 mile, and pleased to say no problems like last weeks run which makes me think I may have had a bit of a bug last week. My stomach was a little squirmy after the gels having said that, but nothing that would affect my running. Do you think we are good with these gels or should I try something else, maybe without the caffeine?

AW - brilliant PB! really pleased for you. That is breakthrough territory and in difficult windy conditions as well. Congratulations!

Pleased that the foot is holding up as well. I think you are doing the Asics 26.2 competition proud. You have really taken on board what Steve has been saying, hitting the sessions full on, but listening to your body as well. Looks like a winning combination to me! Keep up the good work.

9 weeks to go? When are you racing again?

Probably a good thing to have a relaxed long run today AW after your PB 10k yesterday.

How's your training going DS2?

Had a good week's training this week (week 4) apart from Tuesday's 800 reps where I felt stuffed after my lads birthday meal - not a good combination. Finished the week on 55 miles with a 2.26.09, 19 miler this morning (7.42 pace I think?).

What's your week look like this week AW?

Wow, great run Alex and what a superb PB!! You must be so pleased.

Glad also to hear that the niggle in the foot doesn't appear to be anything serious. It's good that you can be aware of it but still go out and run such a stunning time.

Will be great to see you all again at Dorney Lake - really looking forward to it. What sort of time are you aiming for?

48.25miles for me this week. Finished with a 9.25 (inc 4@HM Pace 6.30ish). Felt hard work at times (seemed to always be into the wind somehow) but very satisfying to complete. 10 weeks to go for me. Base sorted, time to up the pace on hard sessions.

AW: Not sure how it fits with your plans but if you like Dorney they are doing a race mara pace half on Sat 16th Feb (HumanRace website). I'm doing it for the third time this year. I think it provides a good barometer of current form.