Sub 3h15

PMJ - I've no recollection of that incident whatsoever and don't remember a Julian? Do you mean Russell? I must be getting old
All the best to Lorenzo in the Greensand marathon and to all the Abo crew, plus anyone else racing this weekend.
I did a 3 mile recovery run this morning at a snail-like 9:06 m/m. To avoid arguments, I will now be making slicing a loaf of bread to make sandwiches.

stottie caaake

7 mile with a hard hill session last night- not good for my dodgy hip

Gul: Russell and Moore you are right: always seemed ironic names to me (philosophers).

Local dialect is always fun especially in place names. I holiday in Devon a lot and there is a town there with two names: Woolfardisworthy or Woolsery. In Norfolk, most places are pronounced totally differently to their spelling (literacy was never good there) and I have a particular liking for a limerick by Stephen Fry that makes fun of Costessey where the Norwich Half is run:



There was once a girl from  Costessey,
Who's pubes were very glossy

 so it rhymes with glossy i.e. Cosssey.

Waiting for Mrs PMJ to get ready so we can go to Cambridge to see daughter #2 at uni there, but see the British Masters Athletic Federation has updated their website with the 2013 fixtures:
http://www.bvaf.org.uk/fix/fix.asp
and that includes the 2013 BMAF marathon which is listed as Sun 27 October 2013 in Newcastle.

I assume this is the Town Moor Marathon so I am looking for a few hints and tips on it as a course from those of you who know it. I would really like to get a 2:4x marathon as my next goal so need 29 seconds on VLM: is that possible at Newcastle? I would hope to be a few minutes faster next autumn so really it is if the course is within a few minutes of VLM or is it a grinder?

Lorenzo - I had a quick look at the Greensands mara.  It looks like a great event.  With that amount of elevation, off road conditions after the recent wet spell, I have to agree that 4hours would be a good time.  Best wishes for it.

Baps or barm cakes would correctly describe what I've seen called buns.

I'm trying to get into P&D type training, endurance mode. Ran 12 miles at 8:20 pace last weekend for a 33 mile week. 13 or 14 planned this sunday for 36/37 in total (I hope), all at slow pace. Did my first 7-mile "general aerobic"-branded run on tuesday lunch - to replace my usual Tempo run.. I am addicted to Tempo runs, but if I hold my discipline today, I'll manage a whole week without one.  

Cobs are always crusty, right? Baps tend to be soft. And buns - well buns are sweet things, surely, not a kind of bread oll?

Hello y'all.

I'm with you LtR. I am doing very similar training at the moment - just focusing upon the longer term picture.

Good luck Lorenzo, Abos and anyone else racing this wkend. KINAVIT!

DM Yes. You will also believe there is no way whatsoever you could possibly run 26.2 miles at your chosen pace, this will be particularly bad on the morning of the race. Once you start you will relax and realise it is on.

Keir Hello.

Dylan man wrote (see)

Morning all. Taper question if I may. During this last week of taper I have never experienced so many phantom aches and pains, also legs have felt heavy some days. Saying that when I did my dress rehearsal on Wednesday the 2 MP miles felt effortless. Is it normal? Thanks in advance!

All perfectly normal in my experience.  I just believe it to be part of the body's recovery process  Not sure if you strech regularly DM (now is probably not the time to start), but I tend to find it helps overcome some of the stiffness as my body recovers from the training. My last niggles will probably be gone on Sunday morning

Cheers Keir.  

DM - SOunds like pretyy standard fair for taper - hows the carb loading going?

Toying with a local Tri 1 week after a sub 3hr attempt at VLM - only 400m swim, 25k ride and 5k run. If I cant give it a fair rattle and I aint gonna bother.  I also have Chester half two weeks after that.Thoughts please?

Welcome back Keir - I knew you'd be enticed on here as soon as there were some smutty innuendos!! What have you been up to?

I'm with LtR on the difference between a bap and a bun. On the subject, how do you pronounce "scone" (no jokes about the fastest cake in the world, please)

3 gentle miles for me this morning.

Not looking forward to a drive up to Birmingham this afternoon followed by a drive back down after a dinner up there. Not ideal prep for Sunday, but at least I've got 2 reasons not to have a drink.

Personal favorite is thick porridge with lots of honey. Sometimes a banana to nibble on the way.

Not done the Town Moor marathon PMJ but I know the area around Town Moor- they also do a parkrun there. It's fairly flat, green and featureless- I think the mara is several laps. I can think of a lot more interesting places to run a marathon. 

Lorenzo: my scone loyalities are divided.  My mum says it one way, my dad the other.

Porridge sprinkled with raisins and washed down with sports drink, and a banana on the way is as much as I can deal with on race day, although I do carry a bag of  dried fruit with me and am one of the take a gel just before the run people.

1.Scone is supposed to come from the scottish town of Scone, and the scottish pronounciation is one that rhymes with gone.

2. Sgonn is a gaelic term for a whole mouthfull and is pronounced as above.

Its a bit like bath I guess, a north/south divide thing.

I accidentally watched a bit of 'Loose Women' on tv today, while I was trying to tune in to the lunchtime news.  When guest Huey Morgan said he'd be interviewing a couple of undead Rolling Stones later today, the audience broke into a spontaneous round of applause.  I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. 

But that was before I checked in here.  This thread has now exceeded that level of ridiculousness with the revelation that some of you don't even know how to pronounce the word scone.  Only Hyacinth Bucket would claim that it should rhyme with con.  Everyone else knows that it's an elongated o, as in bone, cone, scone. 

In less pressing matters, I hope that every Abingdon runner returns home with a glowing sense of achievement and a shiny new PB.  Good luck to you all. 

I almost convinced myself to turn up and narrowly fail to break 4 hours.  But luckily I suffered a nasty groin strain whilst losing at badminton recently, so now I've been excused from games for the rest of term.