Sub 3h15

Nice one slokey- best give that foot a couple of days rest.

I guess none of us are really happy with our times or performance unless we're winning (and that ain't gonna happen)..(for me) or achieving a PB. But that is still a great effort Joolska, although I understand your frustration at not breaking new barriers. That's why we all train so hard and keep digging away.

A great effort from you too OO....bloody wind!

I ran the Mortimer 10k today and there seemed to be a fair few fast looking skinny guys in club vests which I always find a bit intimidating. I made my way to the front as there's no point hanging back a row or two in a small local race (about 400). Have to give yourself the best chance possible.
I was pleased with how I raced and managed to stick with another runner for a change rather than the usual running on my jack Jones time trial. He was stronger on the inclines of a fairly undulating course but I managed to reel him back in on the declines and keep pace on the flat. Together we made the ground up on the bloke in front, who let out a big weird groan as we went passed.
I managed to break away on my own with 2k to go.
Finished the race in 7th place but saw the clock tick past my PB on the final stretch. Managed 38.12, six secs off my PB. So a bit gutted with the time as I thought I'd worked pretty hard. I only had to run 1 sec a mile quicker! Bloody wind.
My Garmin threw a wobbley and measured the course at 6.49 miles and I know It's an accurate course, maybe that threw me a little as running sub 6 m/mile pace felt easier than usual. But, of course, I wasn't running sub 6. Must stop relying on the Garmin pace.
Also it didn't help that a few of the k signs had been blown over.

Nice effort slokey, hope the foot, feet hold out.

Great result though Moof, but I agree, Garmins lie. 

Nice one there Moof. I did 39:02 for a 10k so nice improvement from 39:37 two weeks ago but still over 2 minutes down on my PB so on the road to recovery but it is a long one.

Well done on a great HM time Jools. I know you are disappointed with that, but it's still a great time.

Nice report moof and position & time in your 10k raec. So close to a PB too.

Nice improvement PMJ.

SD - hilly is good, but not for running generally. Nice going with the tempo(?) run. And the 14 miler too. I do 3 weeks at my usual weekly mileage (currently increasing 1 mile per week) and then a cut-back week of 75%. But you're talking about in between schedules! I just go straight from one to the next maybe with an easy week to start.
Poacher - Good parkrun. 2nd place and a possible PB is excellent given the circumstances; next time...
Lorenzo - sounds like a very tough 20 miler. Well done.
Speedy - 277 is disappointing? Very impressive. I'm sure the niggle is nothing to worry about.
Jools - I feel your frustration; what about lots of tempo runs rather than lots of slow miles or out and out speedwork? Ah, just read your next post!
DM - well done on getting the final long run in.
SJ - great racing; PB will fall next time for sure. Hope the foot is OK. Take it easy.
Moof - more great racing; so close!
PMJ - still progressing; maybe things will pick up a bit quicker soon.
Cut-back week for me, so 4 slow miles clocked up this morning.

Still very good efforts from Jools, OO, SJ. The "good" performances make the elusive "excellent" ones feel so much more special. I think we can all identify with that feeling of being stuck on a bit of a plateau Jools - I think in my case the barriers are psychological. Even in training we let ourselves obsess with paces etc - very difficult not to.

Great 10k form you too Moof - wind is indeed a bugger.

Taper starts today. Not a day too soon for me. Hated every step of my progressive long run yetserday. One of those days where I could have quite happily stopped after the first 10 minutes. Only good thuing about it was looking back with satisfaction at getting it done and sitting in a hot bubble bath afterwards drinking chocolate milk like a 4 year old. Paces 7ish @ 7.30, 7ish @ 7.11, 7ish @ 6.51. Felt like hard work but I think alot of that was psychological !

OOlg - sorry, I managed to miss your post. Well done; that's still great racing at Redcar. Still more to come I'm sure.
Some young whippersnapper set a new local parkrun course record on Saturday with 15:58. I'm planning to have another crack this Saturday; and apart from a few strides it'll be my first non-plodding run for three weeks.
FW - good to get that final long run in the bag. Happy tapering.

Well done to the Weekends racers, sorry that they didn't all produce the hoped for outcomes, but a lot of good times posted in unfavourable sounding conditions.

I am now in the same position as several of you, three weeks out from a marathon. Although most of you seem to be seasoned at the distance, and I have never run one before.

I did my last long run yesterday, which I was quite pleased with, build steadily for the first 8 miles from 8.30 - 7.55, then run the next 13 all in the 7.40-7.25 range for a comfortable 21 miler averaging 7.49. 

What I was wondering was: what tips do you have for tapering? How do I get the most out of the next 3 weeks? I've been following the P+D schedule, and will continue to do so, but in terms of food and effort etc are there any gems that I ought to know? I guess I'll need to eat less now I'm running less etc.

 

EDIT: Also, is there anycorrelation between long run speeds and marathon time? I've not done a proper race in a long time (since May) so don't really know what to aim for

JD3- I'm in the same boat as you and would add questions as follows-

I've ran my recovery runs at not a great deal faster than jog pace (9 min miles) for the main body of PD schedule. In the taper these form the bulk of the mileage so do I need to slightly up the intensity on these runs during the next three weeks? Say 8.30?

There are 3 MLR and LR left. 12,17 and 13. Do I still run these as progressive pace runs starting at MP +20% increasing to +10%. Is it ok to throw in some MP miles which I have tended to do during main schedule?

It's hard to plan those last 3 weeks- particularly hard to hold back. The key thing is you have all made it uninjured, and the hard work is done. I tend to favour shorter pacier runs as the you get closer with a few londg steady runs tapering back but assuring you it's still there.

Tip for tapering - stay sane!

Obsession list that might push you over the edge:

1) every niggle, tweak, ache feels like the end of the world
2) fretting about the weather with weeks to go before the race (Abingdon looks windy for the 21st by the way)
3) wondering whether you've actually done any training at all when you look back and it all seems so distant
4) worrying about pacing
5) eating too much / too little / the wrong things
6) spotting ill people and treating them lepers / washing your hands compulsively

And it's only Monday lunchtime!!!

Quick drop in the say entries for the Four Villages HM in Cheshire (Jan 20) open today - always fills quickly so worth getting in soon if required. A good race to blast away the winter cobwebs and see what shape one is in at the start of spring mara training. Handy for the north west/north Wales/north midlands.

SJ I will slipstream just behind you for 26.2 at Abingdon to avoid the wind - you OK with that?.

Good racing by Jools, O&O and Moof.  Personally I would love to be able to run those times myself, but once your at a standard you want to keep there.  That's understandable.

Last LSR of 20 miles done with 17 miles at easy pace and the last 3 at sub-MP.  Very surpirsed to see I've run 217 miles in September which is the highest volume since January.

JD3/DM - Everyone is different, so I speak for myself in regard to tapering.  I'm now quite tired so I just focus getting to a very recovered state in which I feel vibrant and really (almost) desperate to run fast and long.  So I really concentrate on how recovered I feel and sleeping well (difficult with a 6 month old baby).  Also I like to stay sharp and do some higher intensity but backed off from the normal speed.  Also I try and strech well.

So I neglected to find out one very important thing out in my quest to run Comrades next year and that is if my wife would be able to come.  I assumed my wife would be working at that time (a teacher) and on Friday she told me she is on half-term the week before and would like to go as well.  So yesterday I have cleared out all my air miles, paid the taxes and got flights for us all to travel to South Africa for Comrades.  We'll be there for 10 days and see the SA side of the family as well.  Yet to be decided if we will all go to Durban for the race. I haven't entered the race itself as mysteriously the entry counter had stopped at 6666 when I had a look.  And yes SJ a special  'Back 2 Back' medal for completing the 2nd run the year after the novice run is available.

No probs, I'll be behind the 5 guys aiming to do sub3 whilst tied together with rope. Now they'll be a good windbreak!

Great news BikeIt!

Nice one Bikeit.

Nice one Bike it! My time off from running has made me greedy and I agreed to do Comrades with a SA work colleague whilst the wrong side of a couple of bottles of vino at works do on Friday! I was very careful to not be specific about the year though

Good racing from those at the weekend - and cracking LSR from fraser.

Poacher - Thanks for the heads up - Will look into that one - hopefully should be somewhere near to running form again by then and a nice way to start the year.

Re Taper - There's plenty on the RW forum but I could recommend you go back to around page 850 of this thread (vlm - 3weeks) and rad through from there. It makes for interesting reading with everyone chipping in..

Does anyone else suffer the day after a race when you've given everything. Not just physically but emotionally. Days like today are tough at work I find my energy and confidence are totally depleted after the race and on a bit of a low.