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

Afternoon AW and everyone else,

I've been following this thread for a while so thought I would finally introduce myself.

I found the target 26.2 project great for inspiration/motivation last year and it's been really useful again, even if I am not quite up to your level Alex.

I'm not going for a sub 3, just hoping for a sub 3.10 in Vienna to secure a London good for age entry for next year. Marathon pace does feel a little quick at the moment though, hoping it will get a bit easier over the next month.

I've also struggled with a bit of illness since Christmas (pesky norovirus) so I know what you're going through and it took me two weeks to get back up to full speed.

Just wanted to say keep up the good work!

Welcome to the world of Vet's Choisty - happy birthday. You'll probably be up for a few gongs on races now you are in the Vets category? Shame about the knee, hope it's okay for Bramley 20.

Rst should do the job Golfer, if not seek some advice.

Steve, I run around the Arsenal ground to do these kind of sessions and just like the fact I can start and finish at a certain entrance (they're numbered) and don't have to worry about checking my watch, I can just concentrate on the running and then hit the lap button. I find this way I've learned to judge my pace a bit better rather than checking my watch every second to see what pace I'm on.

Agree KR, I can't do reps on the streets and road. I always go somewhere I know I can get the whole rep done without interruption.

Hope your back fit soon golfer!! Rest is the best, but we all find it hard to do though when ill or injured!

Thanks Rennie, it was a good pace and I was happy with the reps. They were only 720 meters, I wish I could do 10 x 800's in 2.30!! For 800's I'm in the 2.45-2.50 bracket.

Hope the knock to the knee is ok and doesn't affect you too much for Bramley Choisty. Good luck.

Hi Tim, thanks for stopping by!! I remember looking in to Vienna a little while ago as an option for spring before I was lucky enough to get this opportunity, it has a really good review. Hope your next months training goes well and MP gets easier for you.

Oh, and done my 5 miles for today! Really hard work it was for a slow pace! 

I've decided not to go to Dorney for the HM. I think it may be a bit too congested and narrow to allow me to get a good fartlek session done, so will run it closer to home.

Choisty wrote (see)

 just  On the bright side I became a Vet today!

Welcome to the Vets club Sorry to hear about your knee but I think you have taken the right decision. Good luck in Sunday.

That's a shame AW. I was looking forward to seeing marshalls chasing after the anti pacing rebel at the "Race your Mara Pace" Dorney event 

Tim: Good to have another sub3.10 wannabe on board! I too am aiming for this time to gain entry for London in 2014 (doing Brighton this year). I should know abit more about how sustained 7.10's feel after tomorrow's half at Dorney.  

Thanks Andy, what's your current pb? I did 3.26 in Rotterdam last year.

Managed 51 mins at the Lliswerry 8 miler a few weeks ago so think the speed is there for sub 3.10 but it's a little daunting at the moment.

welcome Tim. Sorry to hear about the knock Choisty but happy 40th! nb I'm sure you can still run pbs but recovery from hard sessions and niggles can take longer!

AW probably wise missing Dorney and saving energy for the long run on Sunday

Golfer - think you need rest and treatment and to stay off ard surfaces when you get back.

Rennie - I did a post round for a few months and found it actually improved my fitness but did leave me tired from the early mornings and sometimes needed a rest after the round before doing my session.

At the time, I did think it was slowing my saturday races having to do the round before the race and was looking forward to racing better when I stopped it. However, when I did stop it, there was no improvement and actually I raced worse and it seemed it was actually like doing a four mile morning jog, which some people find can mean you have a better afternoon or evening run!

Thanks Steve...PB's here I come! Your point about a 4M morning jog works for me as it seems to clear the system before a hard run (although not tried it before a Marathon)

Denis thank you I will report back after the race

Tim: 3.17.51 at Brighton last year. Confident of going sub3.10 this time following a 1.27 half in the autumn.

Just catching up again, weekdays don't allow me much time for internetting these days! Glad to hear you're back up and running well AW. 

I had to resort to the treadmill for intervals this week. I didn't do them on Tuesday as normal as I was supposed to be racing a 5k on Wednesday. The weather dictated otherwise. Race presumably cancelled (they still haven't updated the website!) and absolute snowbound gridlock where I work anyway. I toyed with the idea of just running slowly on the snow, but the rain started as I was still stuck in traffic and slushy pavements just seemed like an invitation to fall over. Again. So I did 8 x 1km @ 16kph off 60 seconds. That was probably a bit too slow. I run my mile reps outdoors at a faster pace I think. 

Nice set of 800's Rennie.

Where abouts are you CC2? Really didn't realise there was places still that bad with the snow!? Solid 1k reps done anyway.

Hope you've had a good run at Dorney AndyV?

I had a good fartlek session today. After deciding not to run the session at Dorney, I picked the most undulating route I could think of around here to make my session a bit tougher! I settled on a route which takes in Finsbury park, Muswell Hill and Alexanra Palace. For anyone who knows the area, you'll know some of those hills can be brutal!

After a 1.5 mile easy warm up I did.......

7 minutes at 6.37m/m, 5 minutes at 6.09m/m, 3 minutes at 5.59m/m, 2 minutes at 5.48m/m and another 5 minutes at 6.02m/m - all with 1.30-2 minutes recoveries.

Then 3 x 200 metre hill sprints in 45 seconds, around 6.30-40m/m with 1 minute recoveries. (These were on Muswell Hill, nice and steep!)

7 minutes at 6.32m/m, 3 minutes at 5.46m/m and 2 minutes at 5.24m/m - all with 1.30-2 minute recoveries

Then 1.5 miles cool down. Total run length was 11 miles in 1.19.25.

Nottingham. It started at 11am and didn't stop until it turned to rain about 6.30am. It wasn't all that deep, but there must have been a few accidents as the traffic just wasn't moving in any direction. It was all gone by the next morning. 

good fartlek session AW. good range of speeds and good volume of miles too.

Hi CC2 - don't know if you were doing a different race but I saw the Derby midweek 5k and mile happened midweek but looks like times were very slow.

Hi Steve, yes, that was my intention, but I couldn't get there anyway. Kirkby in Ashfield was sheer gridlock thanks to accidents on the M1, A38 and the main roads through town. I wanted a PB anyway so it wouldn't have served its purpose even if I had made it there.