Sub 3h15

Ant - if its for pushing the Lactate Threshold to the right, then I just focus on keeping the heart rate in the right zone (based on my 'stick your finger in the air' measure of my LT!) Sounds like a good workout.

Gul - good control

I took shelter at an office park that is surrounded by trees so no wind, just the rain and the occassional Dobermann guard dog to contend with. Today was the 1st of my faster long runs after a string of slow 20  milers. 18m today including 13 laps of the office park, averaged 7:01. Strongest I have felt in a good while. Back to the slower stuff now.

Tried out an 'ice bath' recovery today. 4 seconds. I've been living in the south too long.

GOod session for me yesterday - splits don't really tell the whole story as a lot of this was into the wind ( a very strong wind). 10miles tempo, was an effort but pleased that I managed to stick to nearly PMP for a lot of it considering the gale that was blowing down the Thames into my face at the time.

1 1 07:19
2 1 07:33
3 1 07:22
4 1 07:26
5 1 07:36
6 1 07:10
7 1 07:14
8 1 07:02
9 1 07:13
10 1 07:04
11 0.01 08:24

I was thinking while on the run that things are slowly starting to fall into place, the last month as seen some good work by all - talking of which here are my monthly stats for January. Not bad, considering I probably missed about 1-2 sessions a week.

 Count: 23 Activities
 Distance: 180.89 mi
 Time: 25:14:10 
 Avg Pace: 8:20 m/m
 Avg HR: 149 bpm
 Calories: 16,205 C
 Avg Distance: 7.86 mi
 Avg Time: 1:05:50 
 Median Time: 1:00:30

Now we're into the Magic Eight, sessions must not get canned so easily. Or that is what I'm telling myself. That said, this already know that I'm not going to be able to report a run for today - I got up early and walked round the house in such a daze that I ran out of time and had to go to work! Driving to Symonds Yatt later on today so not going to be able to run. Great start to the month. Not.

Gul...? What time do you go to bed???!

Edit: deletion rogue smilies.

moof -

Good sessions Ant, FINgers

Gul – that start time makes me wince.

In fact Gul’s run today started a mere 6 hours after my run yesterday finished.  I left the office shortly after 9 with the plan being to jog the 2 miles to the gym.  Do 6m at 7m/m on the treadmill and jog the 3m home.  Perhaps a tad ambitious for that time in the evening but that was what the schedule required.

I managed the 2m jog just fine!  I then did 3m at 7m/m, 0.5m jog, 1m at 7m/m, 0.5m jog 1m at 7m/m on the treadmill.  So in total this was 8m with 5m at tempo albeit the last two tempo miles were effectively done as slow interval reps.  I then set off on my 3m jog home but after about half a mile I couldn’t resist the lure of a black cab.  It was 10:30 by then and I decided enough was enough.

A disappointing effort but at least I got a few quicker miles in for a change and it is more than I would have done if I hadn’t returned to this forum and been inspired by others getting out at all hours, whatever the weather, to do their bit.

Rest day today with 20 planned for tomorrow. 

The CNBA fairy is sitting on my shoulder at the moment

I knew I should have gone this morning. Still, it has stopped raining. I will need to sort things out and get out there. Just read GE's account of last night and that's made me determined not to wimp out.

FINgers - great stats

Also-ran - good effort in the park. I'll be doing a similar sort of thing with loops of the park but there won't be any shelter!!

Ice baths - yet to be convinced and having lived in the South all my life I am far to weak to even manage 4 seconds. Boys at the hockey club swear by them, however!

If anyone is wondering how to fit the runs in, just take a note out of Gul's book. I'm hoping to get out for 7 in the morning for a 7 miler, althought soumnds liek the Gul family will be up and out by then too . Good mileage BTW Gul, whta's your longest you got planned for your 10k training?

Nice tempo run Ant contending those hills too.

Good to hear you are getting more mechanically better Birch. 5 x 20 milers this time last year was a lot of long runs. What weekly mileage were you up by then?

Good pace Also Ran for your long run - very jealous. Do you think it helped having a few slower 20 milers under your belt before adding a bit of MP to your long run?

Nice stats FINgers.

Good session on the treadmill GE. I know what you mean about late night running. I like it most of the time (but then I am used to it liek Gul is used to the early stuff). However, the other night I broke my rule and had dinner first (birtday meal with family for my son), so by the time I got out I still felt a bit full and slugish. My 8 x 800 reps were a struggle, called it a day after 4 .

Gul - forgot to say have a great day out. We really enjoyed it there!

Howdy Gang,

strong running by Ant and Fingers, Gul - if the only time I could fit running in was silly o'clock in the morning I would take up chess!

Golden - still seems like a decent effort to me -

Club session last night with a couple w/u and down and then 3 x 400 intervals, 1 x800 twice with the 400 being between 1,16 and 1.20 (4.44mm and 5.10mm) and the 800s in 2.50 (5.30mm). So thats the speedy end over with this week and on to tomorrows 20m first thing (my first thing , not Guls). Just as a matter of interest Gul, if you are up and out at around 4 - 5 normally,  what is 'first thing' to you? 11pm the night before?

Lots of running going on here.

My stats for Jan: 166 miles over 19 runs. Equates roughly to first 4 and a half weeks of the P&D sub 55 plan.

Pluses: (1) Glad to have made it this far given I had just come back from achilles injury. (2) Even managed to do the 16 miles with 10 at MP last night. (3) Forgotten (almost) bad run on monday, largely thanks to advice here 

Minuses (1) Slight left knee niggle persisting. Not getting worse, but not getting better either.  (2) Those 10 miles at MP were tough. Very tough. Maybe I'm aiming too high.

It was pretty windy here last night, and I couldn't face 11M incl 6 @ HMP into a headwind, so swapped my Thursday and Saturday runs and did 8M including strides.  Followed with sports massage which confirmed that almost every single muscle in my legs, glutes and back was more than a bit tight.  Oops!  Shoulders and neck do feel better but have booked another on Tuesday as a precaution.  Rest day today.

The weather is a complete pain in the jacksie eh. Confess I wimped out of my intervals after work last night and just had a trot instead. Will do them tomorrow aft

Great stats coming in for Jan totals - don't really know what mine are but will hava  bit of a tot up. Total prob about 204 miles but no idea on paces etc. I suppose I've 9 months before my marathon so nto stressing too much !

What is MP planned for you then Jools ? Should it not feel really pretty hard at this stage to do 10 ??

Glad you're on the mend Birch - great news

Gul simply doesn't require sleep clearly. The thread's Margaret Thatcher figure perhaps...

Frazerelli wrote (see)

Gul simply doesn't require sleep clearly. The thread's Margaret Thatcher figure perhaps...

Probably actionable....

Back in blighty, it's been, er, interesting.  No exercise for weeks, little sleep and nothing much to write home about in the food department.  Congrats to all on the efforts to get out and train in the snow. Great commitment, I foresee some breakthrough performances this spring. 

Two things that cheered me up when able to log in - Minni's snow pics and the one of Also Ran after the little mud problem. Hilarious!

Welcome back poacher.

Well I pulled up at a club track session on Thursday with a sore hip. It's been bugging me for months but the increased milage seems to have triggered the old war wound. Tried again this morning but still sore, definately not right. Plan tomorrow is to run the parkrun gently with OO junior the miss the sunday long run. Let's see how it goes.

good to have Poacher back . . .
Frazer - decent Jan total, all good endurance banked  . .
OO - stating the obvious I know, but careful with the hip  . .enjoy the run with your young 'un . . .
Minni - excellent decision - smugness awaits tomorrow evening  . . .
KR - brave move heading out for reps after b'day meal (was cake involved)? miles -  prob around 300 in 5 weeks (nothing I wasn't used to, & imo not the cause of the injury), but history now, so onward & upwards etc - btw, my long game plan culminates in an Autumn mara (a lot of caveats apply, but we have to have a goal), & one of my possibles is Leicester - do you have any knowledge of it (course, organisation)?  tks

Birch, yes there was homemade chocolate cake for afters - I think that pushed me over the full up edge! I've run the Leicester half quite a few times both in the race and part of training, but never the full mara. It seems a good course although I think there can be pockets where it could be a bit of a solo run as there were only 525 finishers last year which is quite low. Organisation is good and there does seem good support along the route and in the villages it goes through.

Nice reps Mennania. Are you running the Wrexham half in a couple of weeks? I just managed to get my entry in before it filled up.

Frazer - does MP ever feel easy?

More snow Minni!!! Fresh snow is good to run in, although I suspect the novelty has worn ioff by now for you?

Still torn between a toughish (hilly) half 24th March or a pancake flat (my PB course) 8th April which is 3 weeks from marathon day. Any tips on which one would be better?

Nice stats FINgers.
I was about to come here all bouncy and say that I just did a 6.6 miler round the rat run, at a 7:25 pace. It wasn't a planned threshold session, it was just nice to go with the flow. Calf behaved itself too. I shall build back the mileage gradually.

Tomorrow: Bike am.
and...

Cross Country pm. The club sounds desperate for an old git to make up the old gits team.

Poacher - Welcome back - I nearly scrambled the thread helicopter to look for you.

KR - Can't you do both of the HMs, maybe doing the first as part of a longer run?

Blisters - Always good to hear how niggles are playing the game.

OO - Go easy on that hip. I suppose this kind of stretching won't help?

Hope Minni is enjoying her snow, all 20 miles of it...

Hailstorm outside. Here I go, anyway...