Sub 3

Andy - get on the ice and stretching (foot circles etc)

CW - well done, I thought you'd get the sub 75, is that a PB ?

Pretty cold in the Forest early doors but luckily the sun came out in the end, thought I'd don the cap, gloves and long sleeves and get a good steam up still. Thought I'd try and beat last years 1:23:4X given an extra week after the 1/2IM this time round and it was a rare still day. Found myself running 6:10s which seemed do-able although my legs ached most of the way due to the weeks bike efforts. AL_P came alongside and I ran with him until about 8M when he pushed on a bit, I was still holding 6:10s and had a few to chase down, so managed to limit the slowing on the long drag up to the finish, coming home in 1:21:06.
Aerobically it was comfortably hard, my legs were aching before the start which I knew would happen, so I'm pretty happy with that. Could have run under 80 on a flat course today, so if I was to taper for Gosport then I reckon I'd get nicely under 80. 

X post TR. Nice running on tired legs fella.

Some good HMs going on today, nice going guys.

Well run RJ, Charlie and TR.  3 pbs, I believe

Some great results there from Race Jase, CW and TR.

Jools - Should anyone ever scour this thread for gems of training wisdom in order to write a book, I'm sure 'hungover MP being equal to HMP' will definitely make the cut.

RJ.. Top stuff there!  Is that your PB?

Charlie.. congrats on sub 75, told you so, don't give up on the PB's yet!

TR.. really chuffed for you, cracking half there!  Get yourself up to the York BM for a flat course smackdown!

Andy.. ice pack on that 15-20 mins at a time (2-3 hours in between).  Can't be too careful.  You've put in a lot of good work this campaign, everything to lose now & nothing to gain.

Jamesito.. sorry to hear you can't do Abo.  Congrats on mini Jamesito II however!

Jools.. nice long run there.  Not sure what wild hare is but I assume alcohol is a content!  Are you 'up for' VLM this year or looking forward to other challenges?

5m XC went well.  As a result of the water that has fallen up here recently, the course was a quagmire with bogs, climbing over gates, flooded sections, dog dodging etc.  Pleased to hang onto sub 7's with 34.33 at the finish.  Glorious blue sky day so did another 6m to take me into double figures.  Nice buffet & beer in the pub afterwards.  I'm about a minute faster than the same course last year on firmer ground so I will take that as progress.  

Ah, clearly Bath Ales don't make it that far north.  Wild Hare is a local beer.  Very nice, but quite strong.  Hic!

Wardi - indeed it is. Quite a big one by 2mins 15 but that was a 'slightly sub-maximal during marathon training' effort. Excellent stuff on the XC for you and I agree a great day for running.

Oh and looking at the results from today, as I finished 8th it looks like that 'plastic Brit' Marders did me out of 'fifth Brit' (Kenyan one, two) and thus £100. It'd been nice (for me) if his citizenship hadn't come through until tomorrow. Well done fella if you still lurk. A couple of very nice scalps there too. Good luck to you and Marigold next week too.

Amdy hope it turns out to be nothing and looks like a wise decision to can the session.

LS21 great to see you running well fella. Looking forward to reading about the glory of Abo.

I will be up for BM by the way folks so hopefully will get to meet a few of you in the real sense!

ooo, and nice to see you racing again Dan. I may well be putting in another order fairly soon.

RJ - I missed your post, well done on the PB.

Wardi - York ! I dont travel more than 50M (unless its VLM). Good run there.

Good to see Dan back in action.

Today wasnt a PB for me in terms of in the record books, but it is in terms of PBs that I've run myself, but I dont run 1/2s when I'm VLM fit so would have a faster PB if I did. Today was a Hants Road Runner league race, but I managed to bag the 1st pikey award so that was good.

TR -- so you were fully 2.5 mins under target today... go on, taper for Gosport and amaze us all (and yourself). You've been working so hard in training for the IM/2 -- may as well cash it in now. [Edit: and yes was a PB for me by 1:12, which I really wasn't expecting. Already had a beer...]

RJ -- sub-70 is real big boys' stuff -- epic. And it's 69:47 officially as you've no doubt seen now.

Well run over your indeterminate distances Wardi/Dan!

Did a fairly hilly 10k a couple of hours after a 2k swim race yesterday. Took it pretty easy in the first half and then picked it up to the end. Finished 4th in 35:30 without pushing too hard so I'm well happy with that.

Great HM times there. Well done.

B_Kins -- 2 races in 2 hours has to be some kind of record in itself! Nice one.

RJ -- I meant to say, having looked at the results I realise I was 3rd MV40 and should have got a trinket to remember it by, but stupidly left without it even occurring to me that I should wait for prizes. Did you wait, and if so was there a prize-giving for the bit-part category trophies? Maybe they'll post it (though the postage would cost more than the object I'm sure).

TR - well done & well deserved

Charlie I didnt hang around long enough either. I think the race info said they would post out prizes other than top five.

Oh and btw do I have to take the gun time, or can I sneak an extra second with the chip time?

Nice racing Bkins.

CW - I didnt aim to run 1:22:59 though (dont forget that I usually go through 1/2 way at VLM in ~1:25/6), I just run on feel and see how it goes. Was holding a steady pace and still have the odd word with AL_P, seem to remember 5M in 30:50 ish, 10 in 61:40 ish so even paced. Then some 6:20s as it goes uphill towards the finish. I'll have a beer myself later.

Birch - cheers. U16s won indoors tonight and the eldest batted well.

[LENGTHY RACE REPORT AHEAD, WARNING!]   Wanted to tell you guys tho.

Liverpool Marathon over - 2:55:34. That's a PB, from my previous (and only) best, 3:48. Chuffed to bits. Weather couldn't have been better - 5 degrees c at the start, rising to nearly 10, no wind. Well organised race, prompt start, and great support.

To start with, I was glad to feel out the pace I'd planned on (6:40-6:50), and did the first 4 miles up a slight slope feeling relaxed. Onto the waterfront, I felt even better, and caught onto a group that pushed the pace forward more (6:30-ish) - a little more than they should, I thought. I decided to ease back a little from them, but didn't get too far behind. Descending into the Mersey tunnel, I started to feel the wear on my quads, so eased the pace going down and up, and made half in just under 1:28. Out into the sunlight, I felt like the concentration might be slipping - people started peeling off at this point - so I sped up a little (6:35ish), until the course's only hill, which I took pretty easy. Around 20 miles, I felt more wear on the quads, but comfortable elsewhere: it was my legs, not my 'engine' that would be the limiting factor. Each mile after that made me more confident, and I passed people steadily, and really opened up down the big hill near the finish, to do the last mile as my fastest (6:11). The experience was amazing - and makes me want to see what I can do next time, with the added confidence and feedback from this training cycle.

Negative split!! Here's to more of those. Very fun.

Cheers to all for best wishes and good advice!! Do I get to learn the secret handshake now?

Chronotopian: congratulations!  And that is not a lengthy race report; certainly not given the magnitude of the celebrations.  

Nice to see DanA racing again.