Sub 3

TT - Booooo, get the 20miler done!!!!

LD - Sounds like quite the virtual race.

MTR - sounds liek the training and weight loss is going in the right direction.

CC2 - Nice reps.

Padams - Good luck on the house move, hope the calf is o.k..

Jools - Nice mileage.

4th day of doubles, legs are grumbling but mileage is increasing, upwards of 60miles in the last 4 days. 

SL - Nice mileage.  I've not been over 60mpw this month.  (Although there's a bit of other stuff going on.)

MtR - I went through all those weights within the space of 12 months!  10lbs is a nice chunk off in a month.

TT - It might be windy on race day!  Run to effort.    You're not doing Finchley are you?

OS - Cheers!  The progressive treadmill sounds like fun.  Might try that the next time I want to make the gym wet.

CC2 - Excellent consistency on the reps.

I did 6 of a possible 10 x 1k reps (off 1 min) last night to start the Chicester taper.  It was an out-and-back affair, with the pace splits giving a clue as to wind direction: 3:24, 3:12, 3:22, 3:12, 3:20, 3:12. Forecast looks pretty iffy at this stage but at least I've got the old codgers' competition to focus on.

MtR - you'd be surprised how much rubbish we had lying around. We've moved a load of it into storage too, to make the place look bigger as you mentioned.

LD - hope you hang on for the top 10, 400M in a month is good going. Fair play to that guy running 34M in the snow.

SL - nice mileage, the legs will get used to the doubles eventually.

PP - nice last session before Chicester. I hope the conditions are decent as it sounds as though you're in good shape (although I am a bit worried my PB might be in danger!).

Padams - good idea on the storage, we'd need some for all our cricket bats alone.

MtR - nice one on the weight loss. Hope Wokingham goes well.

Dids - 400+ miles, impressive stuff.

PP - should be ok Sunday, its quite a sheltered course, and like you say the same conditions apply to all. There has been a few flood warnings round here recently so I'm not sure if any of the course will need wellies !

Did a nice midweek 90mins this morning, but it was on the turbo though. No chance of 400+M here, a lunch time 5 or 6 will take me over 150 for January. I did ~250 last January too. So quite a bit less this year.

Sorry SL. The swap is already done. Given my inclination to avoid quicker than Mara effort running I really would benefit more from a shorter race, even if I'm unlikely to get close to target MP in it. Nice mileage.

PP - nope. The Surrey Spitfire 20. Not done it before but it sounds like a good mix of flat and climbs. Nice reps. Fingers crossed the weather plays ball for you on Sunday.

Likewise TR. Any target in mind or just suck it and see?

TT - me ? 99% certain that I wont be running. Too much risk with trying to run sub 6mm in a C priority race when 8mm isnt exactly comfy at times. Dont want to take any backward steps. Maintaining the sub3 streak matters more.

Simonx9 -- Noakes does recommend quaffing 300ml or so of sports drink right on the start line, to get some absorption through the gut going as early as possible -- but not earlier, I think because he didn't want to prompt an increase in insulin in response to blood sugar going up (from drinking it without exercise), which would put things into storage mode. I do indeed have about half a bottle of gloop at the start of HM or marathon races -- with couple of spoons of instant coffee stirred in, as a caffeine bonus. Yummy.

Still flirting with less rest and more miles, I did a slightly jaded 4.2 M into work today including a few bridge repeats (err, that's Cambridge hills). Normally I'd have cycled, but running every day in the snow last week showed me I could do it unscathed.

Human physiology really is a fascinating subject! It's incredible to think that your body has all these different aerobic and anaerobic energy production systems which all work in harmony just so you can put one foot in front of the other.

7M w/ 5M @ LT on the readmill for me today. Quick lunch-time session. That's the first run I've done since Sunday's 18M. My right achilles was sore after Sunday so I took Monday off and just did some elliptical/exercise bike yesterday. It felt fine while running today fortunately.

First week into proper training.  Going OK - was fit-ish from some gentle running with the dog and a few XC races, but it's a bit of a shock to find 8-milers challenging to finish.  Good intervals in Southwark Park today though.

SimonX9/CW - I do that before marathons, mainly on Noakes' advice.  That whole thing about eating immediately before seems to rarely get mentioned these days.

Bit shocked to see the story about the girl who died in the marathon having taken amphetamines.  Have also just finished David Millar's autobiography, on a vaguely linked note.  Quite enjoyed it, although there's a bit more whiney self-pity than I expected from his wonderfully forthright TV manner.  Still, very well told story and very moving in parts.  Interesting to see him have a good pop at Bradley Wiggins, but with hindsight you can't really argue with Wiggins' team selection.

I can understand that TR. I applied similar logic dropping back from the 20m to the 10m.

Just back from probably the toughest long run I'll have to do this campaign. The winds are ridiculous; I spent most of the run just trying not to get blown out into traffic. Called it a day at 21.

Oh and yesterday's double was actually 6/14, not the aforementioned 6/15 (which is what I'd intended to do)

Zattu - wind started picking up in NE England as well. Hopefully, the wind is behind me running home.

A 12 mile run home on a mixture of paths and trails and the snow/ice/slush is now gone. 

Found a 5 mile strava segment(loop) to  incorporate as part of my run home. Which if I can hold MP plus 10% on the trails should see me claim yet another Strava title in the Penshaw Hill area Incorporating these Strava segments with my runs is helping with motivaition to run a little further and harder on the way home.

Tmap wrote (see)

Good intervals in Southwark Park today though.

Tmap - where do you work? There's a very very good group I run with called the Ravens 2/3 times a week that meets at Tower Bridge every day at 1:10. Fartleks on Tuesday and 6 x 1k intervals on Thursday. A range of abilities but at the high end, quite a few sub3 marathoners, one guy did 2:40 last year, another did 2:51 aged 59 and another who in his prime did 2:21, a couple run XC for England over 50s - the "slowest" are knocking on the door of 1:30 halves. I'll give you more details if you are interested.

Training has hit the buffers a bit the last couple of days after my 18 miler on Sunday. Had a bit of tendinitis flair up on top of my foot. Rested for the last three days with constant ice, stretching and foam rollering when ever I can. Just about feeling ok again, will try to run tomorrow!

Its a bit blowey out there! Hope it settles down for weekend racing!

Simonx9 wrote (see)

Tmap wrote (see)

Good intervals in Southwark Park today though.

 

Tmap - where do you work? There's a very very good group I run with called the Ravens 2/3 times a week that meets at Tower Bridge every day at 1:10. Fartleks on Tuesday and 6 x 1k intervals on Thursday. A range of abilities but at the high end, quite a few sub3 marathoners, one guy did 2:40 last year, another did 2:51 aged 59 and another who in his prime did 2:21, a couple run XC for England over 50s - the "slowest" are knocking on the door of 1:30 halves. I'll give you more details if you are interested.

It varies, but currently Fenchurch St, so that would work well.  Probably at the slower end right now but getting fitter.  There's nothing like running in a group to sharpen up.

There's a school of thought that says you shouldnt spike your blood sugar before the start of a race though, which taking a gel or a sports drink could do, and you end up running on sugar too early on. Also remember that all those unfuelled long runs have been done to teach your body to burn fat too. BUt, I reckon the NFRS rules apply, even if you have muscles as big as mine you risk not being able to store enough Glycogen to run 26.2 at MP, so a sensible carb load (I think the Aussie thing is bunkum too), a sensible race morning breakie, followed by regular topping up of the tanks with gels and luco is the way to go, I favour topping up the tanks from about 5M as its easier to digest and its easier to face gels early on, it becomes forced feeding late on when you dont fancy it. Gels and Luco amounts probably vary anyway, its going to take me a lot more calories to run at MP then it is CW who is probably weighs 2/3rds of what I do.

TT - i still have time to do a build up race in March, but may not bother, I have run VLM a couple of times with no build up races and seeing as I dont need a MP marker (as I run VLM to feel not pace) then not having a build up race is ok. 

6M bagged lunchtime which takes me over 150 for January (non running day tomorrow). Pretty much 100M less than last January, but the aerobic engine is probably stronger just need enough impact miles through Feb and March to do myself justice on VLM day.

Just had a look and with a 5+ mile recovery run tomorrow I'll be over the 250M mark for January. Didn't record on my previous marathon, but I'm pretty sure I never went near 200M before.

Not heard of Noakes before. I've usually been taking a bottle of Lucozade on long runs (that I drink from about 7-10 miles) - the reason being to provide some hydration and, having had a few injuries, not wanting to stress the muscles too much. I'm no longer too concerned about the latter reason, so didn't take one Sunday, so I can hopefully get used to burning fat.

I was going to take some water though (forgot Sunday but it was only 14.5M anyway), not sure I need to now after reading this thread.

So what, if anything, do people on here take on their long runs, especially the 20+ milers? Water even?

I carry water on nearly all my runs, as I run with a bag from work. On longer runs 16 plus miles I take one gel and around 500ml of water. I take the gel at around the half way point, most of my long runs have faster second half in relation to hills and climbing. I also tend to take it the first half of the run quite easy as running early before food and try and get the fat burners working.

Ran just over 14 miles tonight averaged 07:32 on tracks and trails, so not sure what tarmac equivalent is. It slower than I hoped, but the wind was pretty bad. On the plus side took down the strava record for a 5 mile loop on the way back by taking 11 minutes of the previous record http://app.strava.com/segments/3061299 Going to pick some more challenging times to beat in this area next week. 

If it were a faster long run (inc MP stuff) or a longer long run (maybe 22 or 23) then I take a gel or a drink just on case (but only take them if I need them), otherwise I just run them on fresh air (no breakie).

no liquid for me on training runs.

Simonx9 - another very good reason to drink on the start line and then in the first few miles of a marathon is that you are under no duress and can easily drink and absorb what you drink. Something I have great difficulty with later on.

think Noakes is ok if you start drinking from 15 mins prior to the start. Also advocates a banana and a coffee an hour before.