RW Forum Six - Sub 3:30

Sarah - I've never thought about doing two marathons so close together. A fair number on here have done them a month or so apart, and I'm not sure it's really been that successful - so if you do it then the charity way might be the best option.  Also, on the assumption you get your GFA time in Paris you won't need to defer your VLM place anyway as you can use the GFA for 2014....actually thinking about it, if you got your GFA in VLM this year, then that will also qualify for 2014 as they last for two years. So either way you are sorted. 

Sarah- like the others said- your pbs look good for a crack at 3.30.  Very nice 5k time! Don't worry about getting everyone confused, it took me a while to get my head around who's who. I look forward to reading your 150 words.

Ant- nice speedy intervals there!

Minni- what's the reason behind your doubles?  Is it purely to up the mileage or something else?

Free- hope the leak is fixed and you can get your run in today. 

Barry- nice 6 miler, glad to see you're slowing down

Old4S- which half mara are you doing?

2cm of snow this morning (all gone by now) which obviously resulted in total meyhem on the trains. Being from Poland I find this very difficult to comprehend. 6m planned for tonight. 

Minni - are you getting an internal server error when you try and change your forum name? I'm getting one - in fact I wanted to update some of my other details and get the error every time.  I've posted a thread on the website bugs section...

Freemers/Minni - Santa will only let you change your names if you've been good this year. have you?

Yeah I've uploaded the runs for Team Minni - I'm a much more reserved 5 runs. Minni - 7 runs! That must include doubles I presume?

Brolish - I grew up in Luxembourg and was also staggered by the UK's inability to deal with snow - but then I found out that they get the wrong type of snow here 

2Old - take care of that calf! Doesn't look like you took too much rest. 

Sarah - GFA for over 40s men is 3:15 - it maybe be more challenging that you ladies have, but it is definitely a motivation to do better

sarah osborne 4 wrote (see)

I was told it was rather muddy and tough last year! 

Last year was the least muddy year it's been in ages!

Dubai Dave wrote (see)

copy whatever Minni does and you will be fine!

Yep - just go for your run at 4am every morning!!!

Brolish wrote (see)

2cm of snow this morning (all gone by now) which obviously resulted in total meyhem on the trains. Being from Poland I find this very difficult to comprehend. 6m planned for tonight. 

Bro - Couldn't all the Polish workers bring the trains aswell, I'm sure they would work better than ours?

 Any chance you can give us a heads up of your travel plans over the festive period, just so we know where to avoid ( not that your jinkst or anything ).

Ant - Yes and even when your 59 you still have to run sub3:15 to get a GFA at VLM. But they're very kind if you're 60, as it's only 3:20

Minni- I have put 6 runs on Jantastic, one of the weeks I will be skiing each day,does that count as a run or shall I take my off road trainers?

Welcome to the thread Sarah, Good luck with the Asics comp, I got the privilege of winning the forum 6 this year My marathon time last year was like yours 3:45, and through the forum 6  being mentored by The Master Shaggy(we still miss you) my time in London was 3: 29, so 3:30 is doable. If you don't get through either competition then just stay on here, knowing that everyone here sees your training and results really pushes you.

2old/2old for xmas- I hope your sat down and resting that calf!

O4S- Happy birthday for yesterday. Good luck in your half on Sunday.

I trained with my club on Monday(First training session for a year!)I said I wanted a tempo run and that is exactly what I got! 6.38m @ 7:08mm.

I have a 10k race on the 16th December any ideas on how I should taper for it??

Simon- lol. No travel plans for the festive season so would advise to stay away from London.

Gazelle- I have also put down 6 days and you just reminded me that I will be snowboarding for 10 days in January. I have made sure that there is a treadmill in the hotel and Mr B has been warned...  So what I'm trying to say is that I don't think skiing every day counts.... Tapering for 10k?  I just wouldn't do any speedwork from Tuesday onwards... What is the target speedster? Nice tempo session!

1M run done - no calf stiffness    I've got a long way to go, but its nice to be back out there.

Sarah - those pbs suggest a good sub 3:30 with the right training.  I've been running marathons since 2006, and do lots of other sports too.  I've belatedly discovered its a good idea to do long runs in marathon training...   I'm currently trying to kick my body into action after 5 months off, aiming for sub 3:30 in VLM (Pb 3:31).

ant - Game on!

I've signed up too. I was tempted to put 7 runs but what with winters normally being very hard in Nothern Germany I'm not sure I could manage doubles. I may up the ante for March and put 7 or 8 then, including some doubles. I wish it could be spring now

Yeah cheers kfc - looks like the sub-20 is on! 10 days and counting, good to hear the calf is mending

Simon - re the GFA - all the London GFA times are a little soft if you compare them to NY or Boston. I wouldn't be at all surprised if London tightened it all up as well. NY for example has the female senior time as sub 3:10, and the male senior time as sub 2:45. Ouch!

My Half is AVR (Wiltshire).  Wasn't planning on a taper even for that distance, never mind 10k.  Obviously that is why I never cracked 3.30

Simon - when Mr O4S was 60+ GFA was 'only' 3.30 for VLM, 4 hours for 65+ now, so a very big difference.  My GFA is around 2 days I think!!

I voted too! Hope Sarah and DS2 win the competition

Asics 26.2 link here

Will get my votes in for both.

Gazelle, 10k not really a taper, I dont do anything different earlier in the week, speed session is good for confidence, then easy run(s) thursday or the other days you do, rest Friday. Saturday an easy run, but I like to do a few intervals, say 2 or 3 x 1/2s to remind legs of the speed, then rest easy. Racing flats?

Chic, Well done 90 minutes running naked in -3 degrees. practising for a long January winter streak?

2old, rest for that calf. Have you seen a physio? Can't remember how far out of Liverpool city centre you are, but my physio is wonderful, has looked after many olympic and serious athletes like yourself, if something not right she will spot it easily. State of the art million pound facilities can't be wrong, and only £30-35 for you to go

O4S A belated happy birthday. I see BA has spoilt you again... no 5 course meal and champagne then? Sausage Dinner even?

Ant P wrote (see)

Simon - re the GFA - all the London GFA times are a little soft if you compare them to NY or Boston. I wouldn't be at all surprised if London tightened it all up as well. NY for example has the female senior time as sub 3:10, and the male senior time as sub 2:45. Ouch!

Boston qualifiers are often softer than London GFA though, particularly for middle-aged blokes.  But that's because Boston is qualifying-only, and has 20,000 places to fill compared with a few thousand GFA at London.

You lot should have a thread outing there one day.

Get this...still no hot water at my normal gym but there is another branch just a few minutes walk away so I went there.  Nice run, stretching, bit of foam rolling, planks all lovely...then went to shower and guess what - their hot water was off too!! No notice about it in reception when I arrived, and when I left (after a very quick cold shower) they just said "oh yes, it's been off a few hours". Really not happy  Except that I did at least run - 6 miles @ average 7.30s

Gazelle - nice tempo run there...and I agree no need for a real taper for a 10k, just do more easy stuff than quality. the week before.

I'm probably a bit conservative for my Jantastic 5 runs a week target. I expect I'll do 6 most weeks - but I know the first week I'm on holiday and will probably take an extra rest day that week, so didn't want to risk not getting them all in.

Afternoon all,

A quick tale of last night's eventful club run...

We were all huddling around the radiators in the club before venturing out into the cold for last nights 5.2 miler, when a cheerful new face appears around the door and after a quick chat with our coach, was unfortunate enough to be paired with me  for the run. I started to suspect that something might be out of the ordinary when she mentioned that she was training for a couple of 100 mile ultras that are coming up soon!!!

So beforehand, i made my usual excuses for being shit... Injury... Blah, blah... Dodgy knees etc... etc...So we set off and were having a good gossip and our nice, friendly "newbie" casually slips into the conversation that she has completed three Iromans including World Champs in 2009 and has an IM pb of 9hrs something!!!

Managed to finish the 5.2 miles feeling very inferior but thankfully uninjured.

On the Jantastic subject, i've registered for Team Minni, but haven't commited to anything further yet until i start to get semi running-fit again.

Lastly, i saw the physio this morning who did a thorough evaluation and said that although i'm "fairly" bio-mechanically efficient (stuff you Mr John Allen physio man!), the reason i get so many injuries are mainly down to small patellas and shallow knee pits, so my kneecaps move a lot more than is the norm and cause the other (various) mishaps. Therefore i am now officially one of the trendy crowd, as he has recommended that i try k-tape everytime i run so as to limit the lateral patella movement. 

Good luck Sarah, count on my vote.