RW Forum Six - Sub 3:30

Well done everyone who raced or got in their long run this weekend.

Wow Carrot, can't believe you accidentally signed yourself up to the nationals as your first xc race. Sounds like you had a strong, sensible run, well done.

Freemers hope you're feeling better soon. That's a very good time all things considered though.  

Gazelle nice 10K. I wouldn't worry too much about being off your PB, you probably have an awful lot of miles in your legs at the moment.

Oompa err thanks for the detail on the fajitas! They are normally one of my favourite foods.

Happy belated birthday Simon.

I need to lose 10lbs. I was at my skinniest in the summer so this is an unwelcome turnaround. Given I'm not worrying about hitting mileage I'm thinking of giving that 5:2 diet a go.

Quick check in, havent had time to read back but will get back up to date tomorrow.

After a few weeks where I've had to grab runs where I can, I've finally bagged a full complement for Jantastic this week including a 15 miler @8.35 avg - yet again the furthest I've run for about a year and I'm so so so happy I can run that far again   Another 11 still feels like a long way, but not as long as it did a few weeks ago.    

Had some great cross training on the Coed y Brenin MTB trails over the last 4 days - so I didnt miss any riding I had to squeeze in my 15 in between a 4 hour ride in the morning and a 2 hour night ride! 

Welcome back, 2old!  Nice LSR.

DD, at least the mystery is solved.  Still very annoying though.  I don't envy you cycling in this morning's wind...

Well done, AA, for a great performance in some adverse conditions.  Nice weekly total 

Freemers, massive hugs to you ((()))  Sounds awful so well done you for a brilliant time in a very difficult situation.

Minni, you'll be overtaking Brolish for weekly mileage soon   Great running.

Carrot, I love the fact you didn't realise it was the Nationals!!  Sounds like you stepped up to the plate, though, so well done 

Spoons, I'm disappointed at the lack of hangover   Nice gymming.

Nice 20, FRC.  I hope you survive the PT session!!

O4S, glad signs of spring are emerging 

Becs, that's brilliant to hear about your knee.  I definitely recommend spin as it's a really good cardio workout and zero impact so hopefully it wouldn't stress your knee - it might stress your quads a bit though 

Kiwi, sounds like you had a brilliant spin session!!  Nice one 

Gazelle, great racing   Blimey, it sounds cold.  I'm chuckling at the buff too!!  Happy dieting   I've decided to bin the booze now until race day (except for my birthday and any other emergency celebrating) which will hopefully help me shift a few excess pounds   Weeble, what's the 5:2 diet?

KFC, loving the 100% Jantastic effort!!  Nicely run.  That's a great effort to run 15 at that pace after a 4 hour ride!!  Sounds like you're making really good progress

I managed 17.8 last night which was my longest and also my best run so far.  Well, the run was great, the performance of my sodding Garmin was rubbish.  I hate my 405, I really do.  At the merest spot of rain/sweat, it is liable to go schizo, which it did last night.  Hence, I had to guess everything   I didn't do too badly on my estimations, though.  I knew I'd be over on mileage but felt I'd rather do that than fall short.  Av pace was 9:20 and I easily made a few at 9:04-6 so my speed is coming back.  Heart rate is still a little high for my liking, but it was much better and, more importantly, I got home not feeling like I was desperate to get off my feet.  And not even a whimper from my calf   So overall, I'm very satisfied with that, and I've put a new Garmin on my birthday list 

Carrot - well done on your XC. Sounds like a lot of fun! I love that 'caked in mud' feeling, think it stems from football days...

Freemers - hope you're feeling a bit better today. That time shouldn't be sniffed at if you were feeling that ropey, so don't be too hard on yourself.

Chick - well done in what sounded like horrific conditions, rather you than me!

DD - good to see it was all cleared up, although can see why you'd be annoyed at letting maple leaf go. Next time...

Barry - sorry I misread your XT rather than run. Fingers crossed that your first run back is pain-free.

kfc - well done on your 15 and I know exactly what you mean about another 11. 8.35 is a very impressive pace though.

SS - that sounds like a great run (garmin excluded). I'm aiming for 18 this week and if it goes as well as yours I'll be very happy!

The doc gave me some max-strength ATBs and I'm pleased to say they are working wonders. Felt human for the first time in weeks on Saturday/Sunday, so tried to take full advantage.

I did 7M on Saturday with 5M tempo in the middle. Averaged around 7.45 for the tempo bit, which I am happy with given it was my first tempo since July. Better still, I didn't feel like I was really pushing it either.

Then yesterday I took my new found confidence onto the course of the Hitchin Hard Half. I was supposed to do 18 but had my parents down as it was my birthday, so ended up cutting it back to 14 and running the hills for the first time since July too. It was absolutely freezing with an arctic wind but I managed 14 at 8.50 average, with a HR of 156. HR slightly higher than I'd have liked but given it was over 700ft of climbing, I was very happy with that. Fingers crossed I can get a couple of good weeks in and I'll hopefully start to get back on track.

Morning gang.

Anyone know if it's possible to sync one of the new Garmins wirelessly to an ipad?

Alright all. Back from a weekend mountain biking, including a day downhilling at the Forest of Dean. I was a tad worried that my marathon training might go up in smoke with a crash, but I survived intact.

Cold has just about gone - although I am still snotty my cough appears to have done one. I clocked up 5 runs for the week, but they were all short so I missed my long run target this week and only clocked 20 in total.

Minni - love your carbo loading dream 

DD - is there a weekend you don't race? I'd be a mess if I raced as much as you. And another fine result

Carrot - first XC race and its the nationals - quality Loads of whippet thin lasses in knickers hooning along no doubt

Nice racing Gazelle - not that far off your PB in that temperature is some going

Carrot - wow, brilliant XC debut. I would be terrified with so many runners all thundering down at the start

Sarah - rather you than me with the Belvoir challenge - sounds fun if you like the mud

SS - nice run, great to see you getting the distances up. Do you lock the bezel on your 405? Might sort it out?

Great LSRs from others - minni, nice reccy of the course, a bit worrying about the traffic so I really hope they have thought of that. I can't believe the local authorities would let them put it on if it was going to be dangerous?  What was the route like though, elevation wise? Pretty flat?

So my race report for the Tarpley 20:

This is a well organised race with HQ in a primary school so lots of kids helping with numbers and baggage storage, and what seemed to be the local cadet force out at the water stations. There is a 10 mile option as well as the 20 - and although it seemed like there were a lot of runners I think only about 170 did the 20, which meant we were really strung out and I ran most of the way on my own. The weather was cold but dry, with a fairly stiff breeze.

The course was a loop with the first 7 miles or so due south, then about 4-5 miles east-ish and the last 8 or so due north. It was quite undulating but I took the uphills easy to start with and had no dramas at all in the first section, as the wind was coming from the north so was nicely behind me. So I felt fine for the first section - averaged a little under 8.20s and all going to plan. I stepped up the pace a bit in mile 6, down to 8's and that felt OK as well.  My pacing for the second 5 mile block was 8.05, 7.57, 7.59, 7.59, 8.01 so really consistent. 

At mile 10 though when I took it up another notch I began to feel like I didn't have it in my legs - especially when I turned back into the wind and there were some long uphill stretches too. I should have probably backed off at that point but didn't - so my paces were 7.41, 7.45, 7.40 for the next three. That's when my stomach started to cramp up really badly - not a food thing but a 'time of month' thing that doesn't normally impact on my running but did this time and was making me feel queasy.

At mile 14 there was a water station so I stopped to take a cup (annoying plastic cups that were difficult to take on the fly) - and as soon as I stopped I realised I was going to be sick. It wasn't that bad - all I lost really was a gel I'd just taken and some fluid, but I could have done without it. Thankfully I had another gel, although my hands were so cold by that time I was tearing it with my teeth and managed to squirt a fair chunk right up my nose . Anyway, with the stop mile 14 came out at 8.19 and I knew at that point there was no way I could keep uo that pace let alone increase it further which was my original plan so I dropped back down to 8's or thereabouts.

The last 5-6 miles or so were pretty unadventurous - and the final mile was all downhill and I managed to pick it up a little to end with a 7.36 and I overtook 3 people on that last mile.  Chip time was 2.40.28, so not really what I had hoped for and a bit of a downer really.

It's not all bad though and there were some positives:
- given I ran most of the way on my own this could be called a solid 20 mile training run
- no one overtook me after the first few miles, even when I slowed down, and I overtook quite a few...so maybe everyone was finding it tough! (Mind you the winning lady did 2.00 and was 4th overall which is

Gazelle -  Good performance at your 10K.

SS -  Good long run, you can reduce the sensitivity of the bezel in the settings or lock it completely when you have started by pressing the start/stop button and lap button at the same time.

Freemers -  Good report and still a very good run all things considered but I won't be joining you in the new fad of snorting gels.

Red -  Really good news ref your lurgy and return to running.

40 mins x training at the gym this morning followed by 10 mins on the tready, calf feeling OK, going to try a longer run on grass tomorrow.

Some amaxing long runs clocked up by the team this weekend.

((Freemers)) that sounds pretty nasty and well done on keeping going. That must have been tough. But its a solid run done and its all about the effort too. Hope you feel ok now.

SS - great to see your running returning.

Redders - all sounding really positive now. Great news.

Barry - fingers crossed that the run on grass tomorrow is ok.

Carrot - excellent running on the XC followed by 18 miles

2old - welcome back and what a great long run after a week skiing!

Gazza - still a cracking 10k time.

Spoons - are you talking foreign! I don't even plug my garmin into a computer. Don't do anything with the data!

Rest day for me yesterday then today was 9 mile. Supposed to be 4@8:30 and 5@7:25. I was rubbish  First 4 were fine, then the next 2 were ok @7:35 but then I couldnt get up the hill and gave up, everything felt hard so I shuffled home. Now my hammy and calf are sore

And while I'm having a moan, I'm bloody sick of the cold now!

Weeble- Whats the 5:2 diet?? I'm going to stop eating too much naughty food and will stop baking the kids cakes and other puddings. I never used to eat puddings after every meal.

Kfc- Well done on your 15miler, do you think cross training on the bike has helped?

SS- Wow check you out ramping your long runs up that's great news new the Calf.

Redwood- Happy Belated Birthday and what weekend of running must give you a great confidence boost.

Free- Great report and glad you have taken a lot of positives from the race,you did great by completing it all and not giving up

Barry- Lets hope all the x training has paid off.

AA- You have had a great series of racing and great training runs maybe your body just wants a rest, I know its probably not what you want.

I went out Saturday night to the theatre(planned way before I knew I was racing the next day!) so I drove and drank water. I was singing/howling to the songs and came home with a sore throat. Yesterday morning it was fine but last night and today it feels like a razor is cutting it, I hope it goes away quickly. I have a club run tonight will it be ok to run? Is the saying that it is ok to run as long as the symptoms are above the chest? or am I talking nonsense?

AA. wrote (see)

Spoons - are you talking foreign! I don't even plug my garmin into a computer. Don't do anything with the data!

What? How do you keep all your stats going back years and years? Not with a pen and paper?

Freemers - sounds tough. Well done for getting it done and not a bad time at all.

Hello everyone

Back in one piece from Bristol and managed to survive without a major hangover yesterday.

((Free))- sounds like a tough one. Hope you're feeling better today. Onwards and upwards, it was just a training run after all and you've got another one coming up to get the pacing right and as the others said it's still a very respectable time.

Chick- nice consistent tempo from you on Friday. Would't worry about that MP run, as you say no point pushing when the conditions are not on right.  You will nail it next time.

AA- another 21 miler in the bag, well done.

Simon- happy belated birthday!

Sarah- well done on the Belvoir race, sounds likeyou enjoyed the mud!

2Old - welcome back.

Minni- 77.5m- check you out!!! Very impressive indeed.

Carrot- very well done on your first xc, they're never easy, Nationals or not!

Gazelle- very good 10k from you especially if you haven't been concentrating on speedwork recently. Not far off the pb.

My progressive 21m LSR on Friday night started awful, I obviously tried to pack too much into the week with no rest days and doing too much on recovery runs. It took me good 4 miles to get going but after that it actually started going rather well. I did 7m easy/ 6m steady just under 8mm/ 6m @ MP and 2m cd. MP started off around 7:45 and by the end dropped to 7:20-7:30mm. Considering how tired my legs felt to start with I was very happy with that.

Saturday was supposed to be 6m easy before leaving for Bristol so did it first thing in the morning and expected the legs to grumble but actually felt fine... I honestly don't understand how it works sometimes.

8m easy planned for later today.

SS- forgot to say... Great weekend of drinking and running from you and excellent news on the calf front. So so happy for you!

I realised the end of my last post got missed....I was going to say thanks to everyone for the support as always - it helps a lot.  And another positive from the race was that I seem somehow to have bagged 2nd F40...don't know if there's any bling involved as I didn't stick around for the prize giving but maybe they will send something through the post

Brolish - that's a really good progressive LSR.  And you're right, sometimes you think you'll have a bad run and it all turns out well. I've just returned from 6.5 miles and it felt great - I thought it would be a real struggle after yesterday but it wasn't