Sub 3h15

Hi Dxb.  Personally I'd do another LSR but I'm not big on warm up races.

Congratulations Speedy on the County vest and Jools on an excellent result and team victory.

Lorenzo - Last year I cut out an easy run and limited my recovery run (day after long run) to either 3.5 or 4 miles as a maximum and it worked for me.  Work commitments will mean I will only run 4 times most weeks so looking at mainly quality runs this year.

Great long running by everyone else, whether that be 14 or 20+ miles.

A sedate 4 miler this evening to finish on 35 miles for the week.

They all count Martin.

Lots of good LSRs and XC performances being posted (do you get the County vest for free Speedy?).

Despite clams of Friday being the new Sunday, I feel LSRs should still be run on a Sunday.  And, I would have to agree with Ant/RJ & Blisters that it's far too early to be nailing 20 miles at this stage of the campaign - I'm planning to peak on 21 April so plenty of time for the 20+ mile runs.

So a steady 16 miles for me today at an average 8:00 m/m pace. Had a slight altercation with a cocker spaniel at 13 miles at which point my lack of hurdling technique and general fatigue let me down.   After a nice breaking roll in to the mud bank, managed to get back on to my feet without stopping the Garmin and carried gamely on.  A bit of bruising down the right side but hopefully nothing serious

That gives me 60 miles for the week - so time for a beer I think

What are flamed earlobes OO? Sounds very much like the sort of snack popular with the Popular Judasim Front, or was it the Peoples Popular Front of Judiah? 

Don’t worry SJ – I am not going to be a disciple to the plan. I will play it by how I feel. (Although the idea of a warm-up marathon the day before the main event was mentioned earlier) BTW – Did you lose out be being 1.88 sec too fast? There must have been some very accurate pacing by your competition!

Very nice consistent XCing Speedy.

Still waiting for the ‘after’ picture KR.

I predict an 18 for you next Sunday TR 

In your position Lorenzo, I would go for the up to 70mpw plan, but be very aware how you feel and drop any session to be replaced by a recovery run if you feel you need it.

Ant – do they play football in Spain? Surely you could always compromise just this once? 

DXB – I don’t know what the other weeks of your schedule look like, but if you are just 3 weeks out, I would try to stick to the schedule as much as possible. A 10k hard run won’t be too dissimilar to a race so I’d go for that one. Good luck in the Dubai heat!

Nice work Jools. Sounds like form is coming through nicely. Have you got any different plans r approaches for the sub 3 run this time around?

Nice 20 Scooby and a good 50+ mile. Always good to get the first 20 done.

Good week from you as well RFJ. Are you on a Park Run mission?

Sounds like you are keeping the form bubbling on the back burner Martin.

Nice cocker jumping SBD. But the whole story bothers me. I am sure that there must be some dogging / cock(er) / bush type joke in there somewhere. 

Back to school tomorrow after 2 weeks off. But I am excited about the drive in. I wisely saved Poacher's MT interview for this specific moment and have been looking forward to it for the past few weeks!

Keir - I just love the parkrun venture... so easy, can run hard / easy / progresive, what ever takes or makes the plan, plus good social side with coffee and breakfast afterwards. Sometimes make it into a long run with a visit to another parkrun.. like on 19th this month a loa of us are going up to Richmond and will be doing the parkrun as part of our LSR as racing a 10k on the Sunday..... plus I want to get my 250 t-shirt ASAP.... and that will take another nearly 18 months as 70 short of that at present...

Keir - if I get the "me" time then I'll aim for 18, depends upon kick off times and locations.  I started out running in the dark today although admittedly it was only just before 7:30am early but if the fixtures say I need to be in the jam jar for 9am (for an away footy game) then I wont be running at 6am on a Sunday. So it might be 8M instead of 18. Supposed to have a 10K the following Sunday but the fixture list already shows 2 footy games and 2 indoor cricket games. Might have to start alternating Saturday long runs and long bikes, if I start to fall behind on long run totals. Will see how it goes, I'm pretty relaxed about it all, I dont want to be seeing any peaks until the end of April.

Ouch SBD - not what you want!

All set for Jantasitc folks?   We've managed a large team again this year.

Good luck and remember its not a competition.....

Hello YP!

Who is the keeper of the list these days?  Does anyone know where it is?  I seem to remember Poacher saying he'd look after it.....?

Hello Young Pup from an Old Turk and welcome aboard.

SBD ... wrote (see)

Despite clams of Friday being the new Sunday, I feel LSRs should still be run on a Sunday.  And, I would have to agree with Ant/RJ & Blisters that it's far too early to be nailing 20 miles at this stage of the campaign - I'm planning to peak on 21 April so plenty of time for the 20+ mile runs.

SBD, not me mate. I always kicked off my London campaign with a 20 miler on Boxing Day. It always felt like shit, but got the worst (first) one out of the way.

Minni, you know that you really, really, really want to scroll back a thousand pages and find some list. Unless you just want to kick off a shiny new one for 2013.

Tell you what, in admittance that I should now start a taper (from what, I ask?) here's the start of a new list:

Jan 20: Blisters: Gloucester: Target 3:28.

Minni - I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a bit Jantasticked-out already. They've plugged it so much I can't help thinking Adidas have hijacked that programme and have Tom and Mike by the balls.

Blisters - If I knew I was going to do 20 miles on Boxing Day it'd ruin my Christmas. Fair play to you.

Keir - All right, all right - I'll pick Spain, then. Now, do I have Sr. Del Bosque on speed dial?

Welcome, YP and Dxb.

Minni - That said, me and TCCSTFT are going to kick your scrawny a**e, in a non-competitive way, of course.

And I meant Tom and Martin, btw.

Recovery Runs - it not a run that you need to do to recover from a previous run - if it was you'd be quite right to ditch it and have a rest instead.

A recovery run is one you do  when you are already tired.  In this way you get recruitment of new muscle fibres as the ones you normally use are on holiday and too tired to do anything.  This is essential to improve the running economy.

I really believe that it is the run you do when you are already tired that have the most benifit.  For example, a 7/8m with 5m tempo followed by a MLR the next day is one of the best to improve economy.  If you are so tired that you can only do a short run then go ahead and it will improve your economy.

Drinking is finishing tonight - simultaneous drinking cider and Captain Morgan and Coke as a last goodbye.  Next alcohol at Pietermaritzburg cricket stadium on 2nd June.

New shoes have definately been worn in, although I did side step a few rather muddy patches. No photos I'm afraid as we had people round for dinner tonight and I had to clena them (and a few other things) up before guests arrived. 14 miles of XC done in an aveage of about 8.10 pace and enjoyed it all. 36 miles for the week and feeling ready for marathon training starting tomorrow.

Ant - the good thing about the Salomons is that feel more sturdy. It feels like there is more cushioning in there too.

Great link Minni on recovery runs. Luckily my mara training starts tomorrow with a recvoery run!

Well done on the XC Jools.

Cheeky exyended LSR run Scooby - bet you had a grin at the end.

That's a big weekly mileage so soon into the year SBD. I think that will probably be my peak? Although reading that link Minni posted the recovery run is a good way of upping the tally.

I think this is the most recent list.  If anyone knows different, do update

Jan 12 - Poacher - Country to Capital 45 - TBA
Jan 20 - efc-Col- Four villages half - sub 82
Jan 20 - Minni - Brass Monkey - sub 90   OO- sub 80??
Jan 20 - Blisters - Gloucester mara - 3:28 (Don't mock)
Feb 10 - Moof - Wokingham HM - sub 83; Jools tbc , Also-ran sub 84, PMJ same or better than this year 79:34
Feb 17 - Also-ran - Bramley 20 - PMP+10s
Mar 3 - Dylan man - Bath half - sub 1.22; Jools sub 85 (mebbe)
Mar 10 - Minni - Northumberland HM - sub. 1:31
Mar 17 - Moof - Reading HM - sub Wokingham
Mar 17 - Also-ran - Reading HM - sub 1:22
Mar 17 - Lunchtime - Reading HM - sub 1:30; Jools PMP
Mar 24 - Ant - Maratón de Asturias (MaraNalón) - sub 3:10
Mar 25 - CC2 - Loughborough HM - sub 86
April 7 - Dylan man - Taunton marathon (prov) - sub 3.10
April 21 - Poacher + Keir - VLM - TBC
April 21 - efc-Col - VLM - sub 2:57
April 21 - Moof + Jools+ OO??+ Also-ran - VLM - sub 3
April 21 - CC2 - VLM - sub 3.05
April 21 - Lorenzo - VLM - sub 3:10
April 21 - SBD + Minni + LB70 - VLM - sub 3:15
April 21 - Freemers - VLM - sub 3.20
April 28 - Slokey Joe - Manchester - sub 3:00
April 28 - Knight Rider - Manchester - sub 3:10
April 28 - Bike It - Manchester - TBC
May 6 - Lunchtime - Milton Keynes - sub 3:15
May 12 - DS2 - Halstead - sub 3:15 25 -
May 25 - Poacher - GUCR - sub 35
June 2 - Bike It - Comrades - sub 8:30

Nice miles RFJ, SBD, Moof, Fingers and others. Nice XC Speedy and Joolska.

First and undoubtedly last pot of the year here - the North East Mara Club Grand Prix. Very small and pretty informal event based on aggregate of best 4 mara times of 2012. But they all count, and there does seem to be a lot of empty space in the trophy cabinet.

Worried about Keir's journey to work, it will end in tears.

6 days on the wagon

Here is the weekend summary...
OO - very nice parkrun and MLR.
Martin - good long run.
Ant - good luck with the stretching.
Minni - great family parkrun!
Speedy - congrats! You must be dead chuffed.
RFJ - excellent double there.
RJ - wise words.
TR - that's some base building you did in the autumn.
SJ - nice blind racing!
Minni - good long run.
Jools - congrats on the XC.
SD - excellent running.
SBD - more great mileage clocking up.
Welcome to Dxb and Young Pup.
Moof - good read back and nice off-road work.
KR - more good XC running.
FINgers - building up nicely.
7 miles for me this morning with 4x600m efforts off 400m recoveries. Average rep pace was 5:54 m/m, so getting slightly more relaxed. Don';t forget to start logging your runs all you Jantastic people.

Bike It wrote (see)

Recovery Runs - it not a run that you need to do to recover from a previous run - if it was you'd be quite right to ditch it and have a rest instead.

A recovery run is one you do  when you are already tired.  In this way you get recruitment of new muscle fibres as the ones you normally use are on holiday and too tired to do anything.  This is essential to improve the running economy.

I really believe that it is the run you do when you are already tired that have the most benifit.  For example, a 7/8m with 5m tempo followed by a MLR the next day is one of the best to improve economy.  If you are so tired that you can only do a short run then go ahead and it will improve your economy.

I loosely followd P&D 55-70 last time. During Mesocycle 2 they had Double recovery runs following a Rest/Cross Training day. It may be the terminology they choose to use, but that was one session I did differently. I followed the plan where a recovery run followed on from a key run.

I also preferred to do a recovery run after a long run last time, whereas P&D have the 'feet up' or cross train recovery method