Sub 3h15

3:10:3x for me today at Abo.  Good cool weather so pretty ideal conditions.  Nice and evenly paced running with all but a few miles in the range 7:20 to 7:00 per mile.

That's a PB by more than 9 minutes.  Very happy with that.

Good to have a natter with Poacher afterwards

Fantastic results Bike It and Dylan Man! But Bike It, that won't do as a report. We need more 

Fantastic result Bike it. Great to get a pb. I guess sleep deprevation didn't affect you then.

Impressive run DM. Great to get GFA at any marathon, but especially one over the Dartmoor mountains. 

Good dirty work Speedy. 

I did my A target duathlon today at Chilham. However after a long, downward spiriling CNBA hit me in August through to now, I was just out to 'enjoy' the day. 10k very boggy, slippery, hilly and muddy XC run, finished 13th on that. Pulled in a few good runners / weak cyclists over the hilly 25m TT and held of a good runner over the final 5k run who I managed to catch right at the end of the bike ride and beat out of transition. Certainly was a lactate fest. Very pleased with 8th overall and club champion to boot.

Now pleased to be back focusing just on running. Got an event in London, 6 months today. 

Eagerly awaiting some more Abo reports.

Also...

Blisters - I reckon this is worth a read when considering carbo load.

MsE - I don't think that the Hanson plan properly prepares you for the endurance required to run a marathon. The 'advanced' runner had a big endurance history behind her before tackling this programme. That said, I do like the weekly marathon paced run in the plan to tune in the pace. I also think if you suffer from lots of injures, the regular but shorter runs might well work for you. After all, getting to the startline is half the battle and so what if you lose 1 - 2 minutes ofver the final 10k?

Good run the bike it, agree we need more gruesome details.

Dylan man great GFA on a tough course and we need pictures of the trophy. Of course GFA is only going to get you into VLM 2014 so you need a plan in between now and then.

Keir wrote (see)

Now pleased to be back focusing just on running. Got an event in London, 6 months today. 

Got a plan in mind yet? I started the base building on the Monday after Abingdon (same day as Cabbage Patch 10 every year) so I did 30, 40 and 50 mile weeks and then started to get the LSR up to 20 from 15.

Congrats to Bike It - splendid performance sir!!

Equally impressive from the Beast of Dartmoor (aka Dylan Man) - very commendable  performance (rounded off with a trophy) on what sounds like a tough circuit.

No surprise to see Keir having another good day at the office. 

Greensand Marathon today proved be every bit as tough as the pre-race instructions indicated - an out and back course involving 3 local climbs (Leith Hill, Holmbury Hill and Winterfold Hill) each way and the Garmin clocked a total of 3,200m ascent and (funnily enough) the same level of decent.

Fortunately the rain held off for most of the race and after a rousing pre-race rendition of Jerusalem we set off. Plenty of mud around as all bar a couple of short sections it was all on trails and by ways churned up by mountain bikers. Having skipped daintily around the first few puddles, I decided not to bother on the rest which made things more interesting.

There was probably more uphill on the way out than the way back, but by the time I got to the 20 mile mark having just gone over Leith Hill again, I could feel the lactic acid in my legs so while the last quarter of the race was mostly a lovely downhill stretch (which I've done a number of times on training runs), I'm not sure I really enjoyed it and was just counting off the miles to the end. 

Collapsed in a heap at the finish line in just under 3:55 so the mission of sub-4 was accomplished. Not sure of the exact finishing position, but I think it was top 20 which I'm pleased with. 

Just about back in the world of the living now, but I suspect I'll ache for a few days yet. Have already had a moan at younger Lorenzito for cunningly making the stairs in our house larger while I was out.

Looking forward to more Abo reports. 

Nice work from Bike It, DM on a really tough sounding course, Keir with all that funny cycling nonsense, Speedy's XC and Lorenzo on another toughy

2.59.38 and a PB for me at Abo . Had hoped for maybe 4 mins under that but I'll take it. Very good conditions and racking course. Aren't marathons hard going after 20 odd miles though ??

Will give a slightly more thorough report next week.

Think I need to focus on HMs and 10k early part of next year. My mara PB still remains a bit of a poor "outlier" in WAVA terms and maybe I'm more fast twicth than I though I was !

Well done Bike-it & DM  & FW

DM getting a GFA time on that course is a great result to have behind you. . VLM 2014? My 1st was also hilly, and I think you will have several minutes gain on a flat route.

I played my novice runner card for one last time today. Since last weeks marathon, I had a week of stretching, physio etc. Ignoring all advice (prat) I ran 0.4m on Friday. Some intensive foam rollering on the adductors on Saturday and I  managed 2.6 miles on a gammy leg - that's 10% of a marathon don't you know and I did have an Abingdon place still open. 

Woke up today, healthwise feeling good (regained most lost weight now). Right leg sore but mummified in KT tape. Got to Abingdon and set off at 6:51 pace to see how many miles I could chalk up, and how many pills I could pop.

Bad news to have a real heavy breather running 6:51's as well (and I mean real heavy - the watching crowds looked on in amazement). This was anoying but took my mind off injuries and the disappointment of last weekend - a running metranome.

 Hit mid way bang on 1hr:30 , and stepped up the pace a little. Running metranome came too. By 20 I started to believe this could be on. I needed 6:55's to get sub 3. A couple more decent miles went by, and I was soon at 23m. Then bang, last weeks marathon revisited my legs. The last 3m were arduous  (breathing fine, legs jelly and hurting). The metronome went off whilst I clung on. Unofficial time is 2:59:30.

I'm absolutely delighted - I knew I had a sub 3 in my legs, and I knew it was a longshot today. My physio is going to be delighted as well as I'm sure cash will be going his way.

Glad I didn't have DM's hill to face - any course other than Abingdon would probably have scuppered me.

Thats my 1st season of running done with now. Time to fix myself, and get some easy miles in between now and Christmas. No more novice desicion making from now on - honest.

Caught up with Poacher afterwards. Great to put a name to a smiling face ......

Edited: saw FW's post

Wow, what a good marathon day it has been for the thread: congratulations to Fraser, BikeIt, Dylan Man and Lorenzo.  Also a very good duathlon from Keir.  You've all been far too parsimonious with your race reports, though: revel in your achievements!

Gwent League XC for me in Brigend.  19th (2nd scorer for club) on a muddy but overall pretty runable course.  Pleased with how I moved through the field on tired legs from yesterday's LSR.

Brilliant running by the threadsters Lorenzo, Bike It Fraser and Dylan Man. A 3,04 backed up by a sub 3  a week later is  superb effort AR - you should be justifiably bloody chuffed with yourself.

Cross-post with AR who had a stormer today.  Big congratulations!

Bike it yes a fantastic result and a huge pb...

DM  sorry forgot you had the very tough Dartmoor marathon,brilliant time and yes you will take a big chunk off that time on a better course.Welcome to the coffin dodgers(GFA)

keir well done champ! another great result 8th too hope you enjoyed the day.

Lorenzo well done on -4 another great result on a v tough course.

FW another great marathon result 2.59 xx time, really pleased for you....how much of a pb?

AR mad as a hatter, but a fantastic result well done. Your fizz will love you!

Speedy, Jools well done too for your xc efforts today.

10k club race for me 38.20 on a course with a few ups and downs,lovelly day for a run...

Incredible stuff from AR - 2 marathons in consecutive weeks is mad enough, but to pull out all the stops and do sub-3 off a negative split is staggering. I take my hat off to you!!

FW - corking run from you as well. Surely you can't be too disappointed with that!

Missed your report Lorenzo - epic ascent (over half the height of Kilimanjaro). Hopefully it was up/down/up/down/up/down and there was no oxygen kit to carry! It sounds brutal.

AR - definitely up, down, up, down, up, down ...... up, down. I'm never 100% convinced by the Garmin's altitude measurement but I like the idea of having gone the equivalent of halfway up Kilimanjaro!  Some extra oxygen would have come in very handy.

Blimey - just back from afternoon at pub with my pal (she bought me 4 pints of St Edmunds (!) ), and what glory to behold. No platitudes to follow - just well deserved kudos
BikeIt - 9 mins PB !
DM - 5/200  - top notch !
AR - 'kinell - brilliant work after last week - indicates big things to come . . . .
Lorenzo - target achieved on a tough, tough course - cigar time !
Fraser - really pleased for you - 1st sub-3?  Bask in the moment  . . .
Keir - excellent comeback outing . . . . .

Speedy - 2 x XC a week after a 3:09 --  tough as (big-heeled) boots !  Nic pic as well . . .

AR - 'kinell indeed. Novice or not, that's some going.

Fraser - A PB is a PB, and it's sub 3, so get the bubbly out 

Lorenzo - that doesn't sound like fun. Essentially an extra long XC race. The beauty of XC though, is that they're over quickly. Congrats on smashing sub 4. Make your kids replace the stairs with a lift. 

Jools - are you an XC lover like me? I didn't even count for a team today despite being first home for my club - we only put a vets team in as I can't do the whole series and I'm the only senior lady (as usual!).