Sub 3

LD - hope the hammy is feeling better this morning (and the hangover is not too bad!).

Some nice training going on - nice triple by TR and MP run by postie.

Marigold - I assume at least a couple of the HMs Marders has done in the last 4 weeks has been MP, based on the times he's been doing. I doubt he'll be able to hold back at Bath though with the competition there are some decent prize money!

Pursuits for me last night - reasonably pleased with how I went as it was a similar average speed to a few weeks ago, and I had to stop twice for traffic, and it didn't feel quite as hard as last time. Hopefully we are through the last really cold spell and I can start some proper cycling training!

Charlie - stick with it, you may well be surprised how well you can run even if your legs feel a little tired.

Postie - very good midweeker with some good pace at the end.

TR - big day of training, if you avoid injuries this time you'll be in really good shape.

OS - great use of the work facilities then. Do you get to do any skiing whilst you're over there?

Dids - bad luck on the hamstring but not convinced with all this taking ibuprofen malarkey. Have you ever been to a hospital!? I had to have the same operation done twice thanks to one of your ace doctors who was so absorbed in his self importance that he didn't read the form properly and cocked it up. Also when I smashed my knee up when hit by a sledge when away skiing the A&E doctor back in England wanted me to just go home and take some ibuprofen (honestly!) when I couldn't walk and had actually ruptured both my posterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments which fortunately my ace GP managed to get sorted for me otherwise I likely wouldn't be able to run now.

Wardi - good treadmill rep session.

Al - good to hear about the rest and recovery going well. Thought for a minute you were thinking of running the 22M each way to work which would be pretty hardcore. 7.5 sounds perfect.

Speedy Goth - nice rep session.

Jools and Marigold - enjoy the mini tapers before some quick times at Bath.

TB - 10M runs done reasonably quickly can definitely bring on your fitness well.

Simonx9 - hope the legs are freshening up, make sure you either run slowly or rest a bit until they do.

Padams - I have no intention of cycling but would still love to see some good cycling weather!

13M off road for me yesterday while my car was in the garage, beautiful afternoon for it and a very enjoyable run at 7.30s. Rest day today as have the day off work to look after LJ junior but have done by far my biggest mileage month ever and this week should be 70M or so even with the cutback. Hoping for a windless day on Sunday now...

Jools - you've built a great campaign so far, hope it goes well Sunday.

Padams - I'm with you on hoping for some better biking weather, its getting light enough early now.

LJ - nice run in the daylight. I dont have the running miles or little bit of quality I had last year though, I could do with a build up race really, but I'm not going to risk one. My knee aches more than I'd like today (after y'day), but I hit some decent HRs on the turbo today, so my fitness is good.

214M for Feb, and only 158 in Jan, means I have 372 compared to last years 499. I was ~2:50 fit last year, so will probably aim a bit lower this time. Hope to beat 2:55.

Al_P - a good running rucksack is a great investment. I've currently got six of varying sizes & hydration systems. Do a lot of ultras, but have saved a fortune on public transport over the years. Raidlight & Quechua brands work for me.

Would be impressed with 22m each way commute. I tried a 13m double commute a few years ago but it left me exhausted. Wasn't unknown to sneak off during office hours, lock myself in a cubicle and grab 30 mins kip with my head resting on the toilet roll holder!

I've got a HM on Sunday in my home county of Essex. Only entered as the gf wanted to do a race so I signed up too. Two weeks to A race so will be taking it easy. But looks like the race numbers are assigned alphabetically, and I'm no. 1

Dan A - Did you actually put "Dan A" as your name?  Is Aaron A Aardvark race #2?

Tapering for a warm-up race?  As mentioned, my pre-VLM schedule is/has been pretty chocka, but I think I've juggled the training/min-taper/cut-back plans quite nicely around prioritising between A- and B+ races where necessary.  One thing to bear in mind - the marathon is the big picture, but (heaven forbid) if it all goes tits up on the day, it's nice to have bagged some decent times along the way.  My training plan has been conducive to producing 10k and HM pbs, and I don't feel as though it's compromised the marathon build-up at all.  Others might be working from a smaller base and building up, therefore needing more solid blocks of training, but whatever works I suppose.  Horses for courses, etc...

My next taper is gonna be at the aggressive end of a mini-taper, since I have the national champs duathlon on Saturday week. Normal this week (8x1k on Tuesday, another big MP run this evening), lots of easy bike and running miles at the weekend, then next week will be cut-back on volume and number of sessions.  I've also registered my intent to qualify for the age-category World duathlon champs in Ottawa in August.  Still not sure if I want to go to the expense of following it through, but it doesn't look like they're having a Euro champs this year and representing GB does have a nice ring to it.  And Canada would be nice for a Summer holiday!    Padams - Not surprisingly Chris Dettmar and Alan Murchison are registered for this one, and I also saw James Cracknell on the list of M40-44 world champs hopefuls!

Dids - hope it is nothing that a couple of days drinking can't fix, keep the updates coming though please!

Who's OS? I think I must've accidentally blocked him/her - any ideas how to see who you've blocked (should be no one) and what to do to unblock?

 

LJ - well done on making Feb your biggest mileage month, not even a leap year ... 215 for me, ideally would've matched the 250 for Jan. You are quite right regards rest, did slow 6 & 4 yesterday but should've rested in retrospect ... I am having rest day today, maybe tomorrow too. Quads much better but calves tender, especially the one I don't have an Achilles issue with, don't think it's quite an injury, so hoping one or two days off should let it recover. Rest days are such a pain, especially when you feel you've already lost ground on where you want to be .... boiler's packed up so just had to go off in the car to get a replacement fan (that's an air-movement-device rather than one of LD's Canadian devotees) - got jealous of all the joggers I saw, where's their sympathy?

Got a 20mile "race or pace" thingy at Putney Bridge on Sunday which I should probably ditch but doing it with a couple of mates and reluctant to bail. And I'm nice round no. 50.  Hoping to run in the 7mm pacing group ie. MP+10s, was thinking of doing last few at MP, but will be happy if I can stick at sevens the whole way.

Hamstring - no miracle cure from God. got a hot water bottle on it now. Woke up with it still sore, but no pain when walking. So all-in-all I'm guessing it could be a few days out. As im ill today (not a hangover!) then it coincides ok. Still hoping its cramp related.

Don't really get the difficulty of doing a mini-taper. As an example, run hard mon- thurs and get 60 miles in, ease off and do, say, a 7 mile megaeasy run on a fri and 5 miles mega easy on Saturday, and then a 10K Sunday race. That's still going to be an 80-85 mile week. Plus, you'll be kicking ass the early part of the following week.
As PP says, focussing on one marathon race has its pitfalls if it goes tits up.

Phil - nah, just noone ahead of me.  Has happened before.  I remember once a race where Padams & I were no's 2 & 3.  Didn't know him at the time, but thought he looked a far more likely candidate for someone who might have made the podium the year before.  And another time I recall overhearing someone say to their friend "I bet he's good" before the Kingston marathon as I was warming up with no. 2 on the front. I wasn't 

Dan A - shame I'm not there to bump you down to no. 2!

PP - I saw you asking questions about Dambuster on "another website"! Chris D and Alan M will be good competition, and unfortunately Chris D won't have pre-qualified as he didn't race in Nancy last year (he was there but was ill). If you can beat Chris D you would beat me - we're always within a few seconds of each other. Cracknell won't be a problem - you'll be much quicker than him on the run.

LD - sounds like it is recovering OK and you'll be back soon. I agree about the mini-taper - I don't see any problem with that. I always have an easy day on Friday anyway, so it's only really one day which is compromised. Worth it to get a good time and to give you an idea of what shape you're in.

If I manage 12M tonight (which is the plan) I'll hit 150M for the month which is fine for me in a short month.

found it in settings, I was accidentally ignoring OS - sorry, especially as I was missing your witticisms and, in particular, your sage advice: 

OS wrote (see)

Simon. If you want to get injured, running doubles is an excellent way to do it. You describe being tired, so doubles are the last thing you should do. Rest and recovery is a key part of training. 

 

LD - I hope the hamstring clears up soon.

12.5M with 6M @ LT on the treadie for me last night, and that was fkin hard!

I am definitely sold on the benefits of chocolate milk as a recovery drink. It tastes nice enough at the best of times, but after a hard run, it's like flippin' nectar!

LD - sorry to hear about the hamstring; maybe asking for a miracle from God is a bit rich after what you said about his envoy in Rome a few weeks back Or maybe you've got a different God? Anyway, good job you're combining the injury and illness together as this is a much more efficient approach. I've got a bad cold (shakes, sleepy etc) and haven't run for a few days, I blame the lack of sleep and too much time in germ filled metal tubes at 37000ft - if only I had an injury as well then I would feel better about not running!

Good luck to those running Bath....I predict (not hard!) some fast times. 

LJ - you may be right, I may have been too black and white on the subject of doctors. However I think your average hospital doctor is under a lot of pressure. In the good old days a hospital was somewhere you had your tonsils out, your arm put in plaster and queued furtively in that special outpatients ward round the back, dreading the inevitable pain coming your way. You didn't mind waiting a few hours and eating shit food because thats what happened in hospital and you only went twice a lifetime. Today, people seem to expect that every rare thing will be researched and treated, that if you've neglected your body you'll get bits of someone else's, not have to wait, and eat in style. And it's a political football. What a complex, demanding world.

Sorry to hear about the number of niggles coming out of the woodwork.  Hopefully just minor blips for all, e.g. ZaTTu, Dids, Al_P, JH1.

Excellent running at the nationals by both CC2 and PP, impressively high placings for both.  PP, I believe memory loss is a real bonus after any time spent in Sunderland.

Nice exceeding of expectations on the 10 by LS21, and shame that Wardi had such an odd one, but sure its just one of those things.  Not sure I need to say much about Marigold's casual 15:01 parkrun.

Good long running by those too numerous to mention, although props to CW for that session, it made me feel sick just reading it (and that wasn't all to do with the prose either ). 

Al_P, I run to and from work with an OMM Ultra 15 rucksack.  Fits fantastically, feels really light and comfortable and never had any issues.  The one thing is I need to remember to tie the zip together with the little toggles, having on several occasions looked back to see my packed lunch bouncing merrily back down the hill.

I was in Cornwall last week, where the winds were pretty fierce, so I pussied out of anything bar limited easy running.  Made up for it a bit with 10x800 last night averaging 2:37, blew some of the cobwebs out nicely.

Speaking of running to and from work ... Like Dids with his Biggs, I have decided I need a nemesis.  I have settled on someone in my office I know only as the 'Phantom Defecator'.  Every day, if I am remotely late running into work, I can arrive with 100% confidence that he will already be ensconsed within the only shower cubicle in the building, leisurely relieving himself.  He will not choose any of the other, empty toilet cubicles, for reasons I do not understand - perhaps he likes to swing his legs around in the larger space?  Anyway, I have to stand/sit there, listening to his unnecessary grunts and moans (come on man, it's not childbirth!), and his tearing off of (and I am not exaggerating) about 15 sheets of toilet paper, for reasons unknown, for a considerable period of time before he finally decides that his fun has come to an end.

All of which means that my supposed 'easy' runs to work are often faster than the likes of Mr McMillan would suggest, in a bid to thwart the Phantom Defecator for another day.  If I get injured, I'm blaming him.

We have one of those in my office, Dachs.  Ours wasn't that great about ensuring the facilities were left in a pleasant state, either, so the shower/disabled toilet cubicle now has a keypad to which only the favoured few have been given the code.

Dan: ah, the Kingston marathon, there's a blast from the past.  My first one and my first sub 3 were both there.

Dachs - Ha!  I used to have a work colleague who was renowned for marathon sessions in the conveniences but it never affected my training.  (Mainly because I didn't train at the time cos I was too busy being fat.)

Dan - By some strange spookiness, the only time I wore race #2, I came second.  And I was chicked!  What are the chances?

ES - 6 miles tempo on the treaddie would do my head in.  Good work!

Padams - I've been doing all the usual stalking of previous years' results, entry lists and cross-referencing Po10!  My conclusion is that automatic qualification will be tough-but-doable.  Worst case scenario, I'd fancy my chances on the roll-down process.

our office landlord is a nice bloke, but prone to OCD and moments of extreme anger. He has pinned various notices around the place, including this in the gents cubicle:

 

LD - That made me laugh! I'd question the wisdom of replacing curries with All Bran though - I would have thought the effect of both of those is largely the same

Dan & PP, curse your fate-tempting skills.  Guess who's got to live up to the expectations of #2 at the nadbuster on saturday?