Sub 3

That sounds promising on the endurance front Padams. I sometimes, especially earlier in cycles, find jogging more tiring than an easy run, possibly because of the number of extra foot strikes per mile = more impact.

Marigold and marders - good luck both of you for Saturday.

A 12m jog this afternoon. Legs still achy, but improving. Makes 32 slow miles so far in 3 days. As I only run 6 days I'd expect a total of 60-70-ish for this week, which is not too shabby a way to start back. Also had my London entry confirmed, which makes it the earliest I've ever entered it (so does that mean I have more of a chance of making the startline in one piece? ).

Haven't seen this covered before on this thread and I'm curious. What's the general view on alcohol intake for such serious and successful runners as those on this thread?

Are you all generally in the "my body is a temple, I only drink yogi tea" camp, or do sub 3 hour marathoners still like to imbibe?

Left to my own devices and with nothing to train for, I'd typically have 8-10 pints  (or equivalent thereof) over the course of a week. When training for a marathon, I cut that back to 3-4 pints a week. I know people that insist this means I don't take my training seriously, but since I run for fun and am never likely to qualify for the Olympics, I don't care.

If you don't mind sharing, what's your average weekly booze intake?

Calling PP, calling PP....

I doubt there's many on here that cut out alcohol completely, except maybe a bit before an A race.  I don't drink much these days anyway, maybe 3-4 pints a week on average but I wouldn't cut back just because I've got a marathon in a few weeks.

Al-P - it was nice to meet you and share a few miles, I'm pleased that I had enough puff to be able to talk back.

CC - I looke dup your result and guessed soemthing must have gone wrong cos you are usually the "mail man" (just like Karl Malone !), sorry to hear that. I carry a bottle in my 1/2 IMs so I dont have to use plastic cups, and would have no problem doing the same in a marathon, but some dont like holding things whilst they run.

CW - pretty sore legs here too but did 6M monday and 5 and 6 y'day as I had some pretty amazing roads to run on near Holyhead.

Padams - XC season already !

I reckon my aerobic system is stronger than my running legs nowadays, but thats probably as I dont race enough, as for 5Ks I only ever do the odd summer 5k, and did no build up races at all for VLM this year. Re the beer I dont have any for a few days before an A race, but thats about the only time I wouldnt. 

............so I was driving to Wales wondering how fast I reckon I could run at Gosport and I get a text asking me to help with a kids fixture on that very day.........

i'm sure Njord can also help LR... and a few others - but whilst i reduced my imbibing a bit for an A race - 8-10 pints a week would to me seem like nothing to even reduce from at all! i had a pint and a large glass of wine the night before my PB on a cut back night (2:44ish) but i do over imbibe.  It's probably more about making sure you can still do the training (or do it on a hangover...) and that you can still drop to your right race weight... but i tended to not worry too much about all that, would get my long run done on a Saturday morning, so i could still enjoy myself on the Sat night!  Then focus for the last month basically and just have a few more sacrifices to sharpen up. each to their own i say!

gawd left to my own devices, i'd probably be having 8 pints far too many times a week never mind over the course of the week!! might explain why i have put on 7-8kg over the course of my injury lay off of course!

does no one else have to lie when they fill in the units per week forms??

TR - no worries - save your running legs for an A marathon race and get yourself down round the 2:4x mark!!

TR -- you're owed some you time! Do all the other kids' dads do their share?

LR1976 -- the legend is that Steve Jones got the British half marathon record the day after drinking a large number of pints of strong cider at a wedding... I reckon the biggest impact on running of having 10 pints a week is that you might be carrying more fat as a result. Certainly I enjoy my wine (and the odd beer) at the weekend...

Bit ill now (cold type thing), but plodded slowly to work and back nonetheless. I was feeling a bit ill before the weekend too, but miraculously my body seemed to hang in there on the crucial day. I know Noakes said that one's immune system can take a bit of a hammering doing a hard marathon, so you're more likely to catch something afterwards... maybe I was going to dodge the lurgy but had a relapse after my race. But who cares, I got away with it!

No confirmation from VLM for me yet. Sniff. Entered the Cambridge half marathon this morning though -- 2nd on their list with 4500 places available. Sounds like the route will be improved over last time, which had an awkward out-and-back bit (which did at least go past the end of my road).

indeed Jonesy boozed hard and ran hard !

Selbs - I'm not chasing 2:4X anymore, this year was the year it should have happened and it didnt. I'd decided to give up on it this time last yr, but some of my 10M runs offered some hope, but then I picked up a cold in Devon at Easter (see below).

CW - I can say no, havnt deceided yet. In my experience colds come to the fore when you relax a bit, holidays, Christmas, after a target race......

Looks like S E Hants are taking 16ish for this winters cricket squad rather than 24, but the the little lad made the cut. 

Al - I also just linked to my VLM results page. 

Not much of a drinker myself. I suppose I'm a true binge drinker, in that I don't drink for months but then I go on holiday and I'll drink every day. Since January 1st I have drunk alcohol on maybe 5 or 6 occasions. My birthday, in Chandos after VLM, my mates' 40th birthday, one pint in a pub with a mate, when visiting my friend for the weekend and one glass of wine after the Munich marathon. However, I will be making up for it. Off to a gig next Friday night, then to a week long Goth festival from Halloween to Bonfire Night. 

ZaTTu wrote (see)

Also had my London entry confirmed, which makes it the earliest I've ever entered it (so does that mean I have more of a chance of making the startline in one piece? ).

I reckon it gives you more time to bump into something 

Good news on the endurance front Padams.  Out of interest do you think you will ever consider prioritising running or are you happy enough with your current multi-sporting?

I go out for a beer most nights but my weight stays the same.  Sharing a nice bottle of wine with the Mrs tonight. On Saturday morning I have to get up early to enter the Brass Monkey then I might as well do the Parkrun afterwards.  Think I'll stay off the ale on Friday.  Marathon weekend I might have a couple of glasses of wine on the Friday then water only on the Saturday.

CC2.. where's the festival?

6.5m on the treadie tonight with 12 x 400 @ av. 5:56 pace, 250m recoveries.  That's cleared the lungs out & the old legs feel surprisingly spritely. 

Whitby. Usually it's just for an extended weekend (Whitby Gothic Weekend) but this year it's a full week of debauchery. Or of sitting around eating cake and a spot of shopping more likely. I may also join Whitby and Loftus AC for their Friday session again as well. I found them quite welcoming last year. 

I guess I'm a bit of a "binge drinker" like CC2. I rarely drink during the week, and even at weekends only drink if we're out for dinner, socialising etc. But then maybe once or twice a month I will drink quite a bit in one night. Before a big race (i.e. once a year), I will not drink for maybe a whole month, but that's more to be disciplined rather than thinking it makes any difference physically. In fact I've run some good races hungover/still slightly drunk (did a HM in about 72 about 7 hours after leaving a Christmas party, which was faster than I was expecting even ignoring the alcohol!).

ZaTTu - I know what you mean. At the end of long runs at the moment, it feels like my legs hurt from the impact rather than actually being tired. So I just need to get them used to the impact - CV-wise I think I'l really fit at the moment.

Wardi - good question. Occasionally I think about having another proper go at a marathon. It sounds a bit strange, but I actually find it harder (mentally) to train for a marathon than an ironman, so I'm not sure I want to put myself through that again. I could probably get back to 2:35-ish without too many problems, but it would only be worth it if I thought I could get closer to 2:20 than 2:30, and to achieve that would take 6 months of little enjoyment (for me), and even then I probably wouldn't manage it.

A couple of easy miles and 70 minutes of spinning last night - standard Wednesday evening.

I have one or two beers every day with my evening meal and a few more at weekends.  I very rarely binge-drink, but given my penchant for beers in the 5-10% alcohol range I'd probably be dead quite quickly if I did.  I know I'd be faster without it, but life would not be as good.  Balance is important.

Very best of luck to those running this weekend at Vallecrosia-Bordighera, Abingdon, Amsterdam or elsewhere for that matter!

The inter-club Borders League 2012/13 starts this weekend, so I'm off to Caernarfon on Sunday to do battle with the usual suspects.  Bizarrely, we have a fixture in Holyhead in February - stretching the definition of a (Wales/England) Border club that!

Talking of beer, I'm considering Berlin, Frankfurt or Munich for my autumn marathon next year.  Berlin I know well, and Frankfurt has a growing reputation as a well-organised, fast marathon (although the city is quite expensive I gather).  What about Munich?  Apart from issues with cups, what did you think CC2?

Tr - It will probably happen when you least expect, you're still capable of it.

TT - nice to see you recoverying well.

RJ - Well run, I'm very jealous of your time.

Good luck to M&M in the ultra.

Padams - Looks likle you are in v.good shape.

Njord - I've heard Munich is a great city, Frankfurt is meant to be a bit boring and industrial.

I dont drink a lot maybe 10 units a week.

I've been laid up with a cold and cough, haven't run since last Thursday so reluctantly I'm a DNS at Abo which I'm thoroughly P. off about, on the up side I'll be able to get back to full training next week.

SL – Terribly bad luck.  Anything coming up in the next month or so that you can really have a good go at instead?  One of the old boys from my club always says that the best thing you can do to get fit is to train for a marathon and then not run it – gives you a tremendous platform from which you can kick on.  Hope that will prove the case for you.

I like a drink but try and have at least 2 alcohol free days per week.

Eindhoven was a bit of a concrete jungle but slightly better than expected. The races were very well organised, and included a 2.5k fun run and a 5k city run. The hotel (pullman cocagne) was good, infact probably the best hotel we have stayed in on a run trip. And it was on the course. So we watched the 5k run as we ate brekkie on Sunday morning. Marathon kicked off at 10 and the half at 1.30. Weather had been dark and rainy the day before but race day was perfect albeit a little breezy.
TBC

SL - Tough luck mate, a lot of it about at the moment. I like Njord's philosophy though.  Very glass-half-full. 

CC2 - Plastic cups.  Aaarrggh!  Hate drinking from those things.  Well slogged out anyway.  Enjoy the festival, I can carve a mean pumpkin if it's any good to you.

I don't drink half of what I used to (but I'm half the man I used to be.)  Saying that, I've got a bit of a fuzzy head this morning because pre-gig last night I found a boozer in Camden that serves Theakstons Old Peculier, which is one of the very beers that converted me from lager to ale drinking during a student trip to the North York Moors (via Whitby). Followed by the classic gig tipple, Red Stripe, followed by Guinness when I reminded myself that I don't really like Red Stripe.

As for drinking and marathon training, I'll carry on as normal, with the odd sacrifice of social life to make sure I'm not doing a long run or a race with a hangover.  Happy to have a beer and couple of glasses of red the evening before the big day.

Got as close to the front of the pen as I could without pushing by anybody. Had a chat with a Valley Strider runner which helped to pass the time. It turned out he had a pb of 79.xx and was looking for a time similar to mine (sub80). The front pen had hardly anybody in, and I could see someone I knew running up and down the length of the pen! Anyway, the gun went and we were on our way. Had a bit of ducking and diving to do, but quickly got into my stride and the lap pace fell steadily to about 6:11 prior to taking a split.

2k - 7:40

I had worked out that I needed to do about 3:47 per k, and therefore I was 6s down at this point. Out into the country and a right turn took us onto a very straight stretch of tree-lined road. Got a bit excited putting the boot down and got the 6s back and more.

4k - 15:04 (2k - 7:24)

Felt ok and was swapping the lead with the lad from Valley. Missed the 6k marker, but felt ok and felt like I was hitting the right pace.

7k - 26:33 (3k - 11:29)

So turned out I was 8s slow for that section, but overall felt satisfied at my overall pace. Started to concentrate and work a little harder at this point, and set my mind on getting to 10k on target.

8k - 30:18 (1k - 3:45)

Pressed the button after a k having missed the 6k marker, and happy enough to see a 6m/m section. Tried to do a little maths at this point, but failed miserably. If I'd have worked it out, it would've realised that I was almost bang on 6:06 pace, just 2s outside target. 10k marker and a big landmark for me, I was working hard now and the legs were beginning to feel it.

10k - 37:56 (2k - 7:38)

In the plan I had formulated prior to the race, I wanted to get to 10k 38 or under, so I was happy. I wasn't too happy about the way I felt though.

12k - 45:36 (2k - 7:40)

Slipped back a little here, and I was beginning to wish the markers away. 12k - 15k became a bit of a blurr. And the target slipped a little further. I do remember running slightly downhill, and being thankful and maybe relaxing a little. I obviously relaxed a little too much.

15k - 57:15 (3k - 11:39)

TBC

Njord - I have the downton half in November I only do it to meet TR  ;-)  Other than that the runnign diary consists of a load of miles.  You down in bristol anytime soon?

PP - One of my favourites is Old Peculier, I've been wading through the Hobgoblin and the Cheddar ales recentlty.