Sub 3 - Page 4706 - Spring Marathon

19/02/2013 at 18:27

Top noshing LD. Sounds like a good night out, and probably of little consequence given your weekly mileage.

Loving all the celeb talk. I met Paul McCartney on a Eurostar train, and Desmond Tutu in a NY hotel. I believe that is all the celebs you will ever need. (But I recognize I will be trumped by someone who has met John Lennon and Nelson Mandella).

LJ, I have another opinion, as previously expressed. I recall Charlie Spedding made some great points in his recent book about the London Marathon having gone from something elite runners did with high profile, to something your mum and her pals do after trying a few 5ks in the park, and mums staggering round in 6hrs+ are not inspirational. Likewise turning the only inspiring bit left into a promotional exercise isn't good. The difference between Mo running the London half and someone on here using a low key race as a tempo etc are mostly that in the first example absolutely nobody will notice.

There are no big recent 'convictions' in athletics to speak off, but I have for a long time feared for the damage to the sport that Jamaican sprinters could do should their statistically improbable performances turn out to be non-natural. For a sense of what could be going on google the letter Victor Conte sent to the UK doping agency at the request of Dwain Chambers. IIRC he was on 5 illegal drugs, only one of which he ever tested positive for, and that was based on a whistleblower.

Having felt cr@p for last few days I plan to get my 20m done tonight (I am on holiday this week- Fasnacht in Basel, as I am sure few are excited about).

19/02/2013 at 18:28

Looks like a x-post with crab. I will try to come to terms with the fact that I agree with him.

19/02/2013 at 18:29

Dids - nope, dont recognise the face.

I know who jools is though, I've met her before.

Postie - you just sit back and relax in the 8mm arm chair, sometimes i have to listen carefully to check if I'm even breathing a bit heavier. I used to run too fast too often, including all my long runs so I could them over and done with quickly. Now the more often I run slowly the more energy I'm saving.

Edited: 19/02/2013 at 18:30

19/02/2013 at 18:33

OS - agreed, funny that a place the size of Jamaica can be so good at 100m to 400m for men and women, so I havnt been able to take their performances seriously.

Edited: 19/02/2013 at 18:33

Cheerful Dave pirate

pirate

19/02/2013 at 19:16

I don't think Mo-ska has a disrespectful bone in her body.

Lord Didsbury

19/02/2013 at 20:37

TR - that's very short sighted with regard to the Jamaican sprinters.

I suppose you'll attribute 95% of the best reggae tunes coming from there as being down to drugs as well?

Blisters

19/02/2013 at 20:53

Just a thought. Would Mo be too much of a lightweight to classify as a wife?

19/02/2013 at 20:55

LD - good point, just probably a different type of drug I suppose.

Wardi

19/02/2013 at 21:59

Blisters.. Sam Smith's ale has reached the heady heights of £1.80 per pint so not quite the bargain of old! Nice long run BTW.

Dids.. I always thought 95% of reggae songs were about drugs. The Maytals '54-46 was my number' is one of my old favourites.

4.2m early doors plus 7.3m with the club tonight. Nice cold clear evening for it.

LuckyJim

19/02/2013 at 23:27

CRaB - Sorry for mentioning the spelling. I'm probably old fashioned and do think that spelling is important but I shouldn't have mentioned it in my post. You shouldn't take the difference of opinion on this point personally though, that's all it is. You're also right that I'm an intellectual pygmy who wouldn't be able to follow your far superior intellect and reasoning, I didn't even realise that you're supposed to end a debate by stating such and saying that there's no point in continuing due to the huge mismatch in ability and then taking your ball home. I was obviously taking a knife to a gunfight and thank you for your gallantry in saving me, you're quite the gentleman. Nice sign off btw!

OS - the flipside is that some of the fat useless mums might take a slight interest in the good bit because that nice Mo from the telly is in it and when someone quite possibly breaks the world record it actually becomes newsworthy. Maybe one of those fat useless mums even has a child who then wants to be like those running guys that they saw after tuning in to see Mo and then decides to train really hard and actually becomes a good runner and gets on the telly and everything. Still disrespectful? You have definitely out-trumped everyone on the celeb spotting even now Dids is bessie mates with WJ.

Whilst I seem to be on my high horse and seeing as you guys keep strangely mentioning drugs when we're talking about why Mo is evil if he runs VLM I have a couple of points I'd like to make. Firstly there are probably loads of dopers in running (as with other sports). Secondly still be careful of lazy stereotypes like just because (s)he's from x country then (s)he's definitely a doper. Sorry to actually put some facts in but in possible defence of our Algerian friend Mr Makhloufi who is definitely a big dirty cheat because he ran fast on the last lap, I found 3 interesting numbers: 52.7, 52.94, 53.48, anyone recognise them? They're the final lap times for the winners of the Olympic finals in the 1500m, 5000m, 10000m respectively. Now I'm not an expert on any of these distances but they kind of look like a reasonable progression to me. Several conclusions are available.

Wardi - another good double.

Jools - that guy who got one hell of a chicking at the end of Bramley would probably like to think so.

I did some running myself today, 5M and 11.9M with a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 intervals pyramid in the longer one, 1min jogs apart from a 2min one between the two 5s. Was on my lonesome but the pace was decent and went through 10M in 61 dead. Some easier stuff beckons now.

Lord Didsbury

20/02/2013 at 00:37

This Mo thing is interesting. There's clearly some upsides, and some downsides. How we each judges it depends on the weight we place on each. I'm in the camp of those who yearn for it to be a serious event, but realise its a forlorn hope.

I'm not sure why he doesn't just run the full bloody thing if he wants to experience what a marathon is like. He's doing 100 + miles a week as he never tires of telling us. It's not going to hurt him. If it does hurt him then by all means drop out.

What a great asset to the race it would be if he did intend to finish it.

Lord Didsbury

20/02/2013 at 01:17

Anyone else think Oscar P may just have the semblance of a reasonable defence? Now that the media gossip makes way for more concrete trial reporting.

I can sort of see his defence may have credence, even though I wouldn't have behaved how he did if I thought burglars were in the bathroom.

Personally, I wouldn't be too arsed if they nicked off with my razor and toothbrush.
However, supposing i was concerned about my pile cream, I would have given me Julie the gun, told her I couldn't find me bloody legs and hidden under the quilt whilst she sorted things out.

The case continues....

Home Run

20/02/2013 at 05:40

LD you may be right. I've not been following it closely but OP does seem a bit strange at times. If it's true that there were three shots, a scream, and then another three shots (anecdotal report I read) then I'd have thought that makes things tricky for him, even if he did fire through the door. I wonder if they can work out forensically which shots went through the door, the first or last three. That's the sort of CSI that's great to be part of, dare I say. I've got a pretty remarkable case coming to trial in May that will be a media splash and, thankfully, not involving children, nor indeed anyone black. The crime scene and forensic / ritual aspects are like something out of a Hollywood B movie. More anon.

I went out for a sensationally good meal last night. An old school friend took some pity on me and we went to the Lord Palmerston in East Dulwich. My lamb with french beans, chips was absolutely incredible for the price. I've not eaten so well in this country since I treated my agent at Chez Bruce, the difference being the eye-watering price of the latter (but it was wonderful too). Talking of watering, two pints of Sussex and a bottle of wine. You can tell I'm training for a marathon.

I don't know what to think about Mo and VLM. He evidently wants to win marathons and knows he can't yet because he hasn't trained properly. So it's a sort of self-protective device on his part. Most of us on here aren't like that, but then we're not Olympic gold medallists, world champions or world record holders ...

Edited: 20/02/2013 at 05:42

Couldn't Run A Bath

20/02/2013 at 06:39

The thing to look for when assessing the likelihood of PED's IM(not so)HO is large steps up in performance not the actual level of that performance. Our friend Magalufi improved his 1500m time by something like 3 seconds in a year and went from being ranked miles outside the top 10 to TOTP at the age of 24. With that talent (obviously he'd pee all over most people in the world before 2012) is it normal to assume his training was so shoddy that a little nip and tuck of the intervals and some more Roy Castle dedication would bring about that sort of improvement? Not normal in my book. A little research shows he finished 11th in a Diamond League meeting a few weeks before London and didn't make the World Final in 2011. That's a long way from proof but Cancer Jesus and Marion Jones never tested positive.

What are you talking about LD? Have you never heard of Musical Youth and Smiley Culture ;o)

Ickle Joolska - Mo's not a virtuso concert performer or ready made stand in for Rumpole of the Bailey if they ever bring that back so you've got no competition from that one trick pony.

As you were.

Lord Didsbury

20/02/2013 at 06:55

It was four shots. The following article sums up both positions quite well. He claims she slipped out of bed and into the toilet as he went to get a fan - hence why he thought she was still in bed.

The prosecution say it doesn't matter whether it was a burglar or not as he shot a defenceless person. They are not revealing everything at this bail hearing but They say it was premeditated though!

http://m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/feb/19/oscar-pistorius-trial-reeva-steenkamp

Lord Didsbury

20/02/2013 at 07:01

CRAB - there's been lots of surprise improvements in the past. I wonder what Coe's dismantling of the 800m looks like? Paula Radcliffe's marathon improvement? Lasse Viren's sudden improvement in Olympics.

Trouble is, when looking at relative improvements in others, it's not known whether they were done clean or not.

Lord Didsbury

20/02/2013 at 07:06

Ah, the 800m WR progression amounted to only about half a second. Coe/Cram/Ovett reduced the 1500m record by 2.5 secs over a few years.

Padams

20/02/2013 at 08:42

LJ - I can confirm that 400W is ridiculously hard, for me anyway - I could probably hold it for a couple of minutes at most. Supposedly LA did 399W for a half IM bike last year, and I can't remember what Wiggins' wattage was for the Olympic TT but it was something I struggled to comprehend.

I don't know all the details about OP's case, but I find it very odd that someone would hear a noise and assume it was an intruder (to the extent that they would kill them without seeing who it was), even though they knew their partner was also in the house.

10M last night inc. 3x1M in 5:05-5:15 on an undulating road loop. Slightly sore calves from wearing very light shoes, but not too bad.

20/02/2013 at 08:54

Oscar (allegedly) hit her for a 4 and 6 with the cricket bat before she hid in the bathroom. Still looks like he doesnt have a leg to stand on. Why would an intruder hide in the bathroom ?

Today was supposed to be my first midweeker 14M, but I've ended up taking a day off instead and am on the train to London in a mo for a day out with the family, so took the chance to give my knee a rare day of no bike or run (I have to do one or the other on work days). I'll keep my eyes peeled for any of Dids celeb mates.

BTW - my youngest, said it'd be nice to go to London and it not be for the marathon ! Bloody hell, looks like VLM has associated child abuse with it now !

Edited: 20/02/2013 at 08:54

Al_P

20/02/2013 at 08:55

LD - Tragic accident or premeditated, who knows at this point... Unfortunately Pistorious' defence is a fact of life in SA, robbers tend to be armed and are unafraid to shoot, so his shoot first reaction isn't unsurprising IMO (based on the current story of events reported). We visited friends in Pretoria a few years ago, they lived in a gated compound with armed guards 24/7, finger print scan entry, 8ft walls topped with barbed wire and electric fencing, the houses had steel gates on all windows and doors and the door at the top of the stairs was a solid metal affair with a dead lock and 4 bolts, to stop anyone who did manage to get in at night reaching the bedrooms, they did work for the Foreign Office, but the security arrangements are similar for the wealthy there. That said we had a lovely holiday there and drove the length of the country with no problems at all, so don't let this incident put people off going (got to do Comrades someday )