Sub 3h15

Philip_M_Jones wrote (see)

Minni wrote (see)

You guys that are unfortunate enough to have to do your reps and quality runs in the city, how do you cope with traffic and traffic lights?

 On longer road runs I do tend to stop and start the Garmin if held up at busy crossings but most of it is just closing your eyes and running across. I do hit a few cars a month (with the flat of my hand) when they decide to stop on a zebra crossing rather than wait until their exit is clear.

What???   Are you mad?  I never had you as such a risk taker PMJ.

I've nearly come to blows a couple of times PMJ after slapping cars. But now I'm getting old I try to curb my temper.

5 miles tonight including 5 hill reps. Legs are feel quite good.

One of our clubs most improved runners last year is following a similar regime to that one you mention AR. 4-5 low milage runs per week plus 3-4 cross training sessions. He ran 1:14:XX at the GNR!

Poacher wrote (see)

You could always do the limerick about the Bishop of Birmingham, that would have them rolling in the aisles....

I don't know that one, can you give an opening stanza and I will google the rest. I do know this one but it scans badly

There was a young lady of Leeds
who swallowed a packet of seeds
great tuft of grass
grew out her ears
and her palms were covered in weeds.

'OO'50 wrote (see)

I've nearly come to blows a couple of times PMJ after slapping cars. But now I'm getting old I try to curb my temper.

It isn't a matter of age surely, it is a matter of speed and the proximity of a one way road or alley way nd in London that is never too far away.

Minni wrote (see)

P

What???   Are you mad?  I never had you as such a risk taker PMJ.

I have always wondered about taking a bunch of keys out of an offending car and throwing them away and told this to a running pal and it turns out that is exactly what he did one day.

dont get me started on limerick's.

Minni - you make me laugh with your gadget and schedule obsession, however were we so good at marathon running in the 70s ? FWIW I have done 3min reps on the morning commute, along the main road near my house, and last year I did them on the road to Woolfardisworthy (sp ?), and someone mentioned Kings Lynn - I did them on the path next to the tidal part of the river between the Main Road near the Premier Inn and the town centre. No idea how far I ran each time or what pace they were and I didnt want to know anyway !

There was a young lady called Mable..........

"There was a young girl from Cheshunt..."

FINgers - No error message at all, just nothing doing when I go to compose a new email or try to reply to ne. I get them sent o.k. and can read all of them. Curiously, on other computers there is no problem, so obviously I've inadvertently changed something about the settings, haven't I? That, or God hates me.

TR I didn't used to be so obsessed.  I used to be just like you and run to feel but the problem was I never felt like running fast, so I would just plod on and on and on.  If I tried to run any kind of interval I would think I was going to die so quickly stop. After all I didn't need it - because I could just run on and on and on.   So I really need something structured to make me run 'so' fast for 'so' long otherwise I just wouldn't bother.    Maybe next year I'll try Poacher's 'what if the opposite were true' approach but until then its schedules and gadgets all the way!

Minni - I only do a few sessions of 3min reps before a marathon and some MP stuff in some of the longer runs, plodding on and on is wayyyyyy under rated. Still, whatever makes you believe you "can" on race day I suppose.

Yes, but you have natural speed that I just don't have.  The years that I plodded I didn't get any faster. So if I'd been happy sticking to the 3:30-3:40 marathon time then I could have continued to plod but to get faster I've had to do consistent speed work.

Minni wrote (see)

TR I didn't used to be so obsessed.  I used to be just like you and run to feel but the problem was I never felt like running fast, so I would just plod on and on and on.  If I tried to run any kind of interval I would think I was going to die so quickly stop. After all I didn't need it - because I could just run on and on and on.   So I really need something structured to make me run 'so' fast for 'so' long otherwise I just wouldn't bother.    Maybe next year I'll try Poacher's 'what if the opposite were true' approach but until then its schedules and gadgets all the way!

You have just summed up the difference between hurting and suffering.  Hurting makes suffering easier.  If you look at the training schedules of people like Zatopek or Bannister, you get an inkling of how much they must have hurt themselves in order to achieve their goals. Your sub 3.15 in London will involve hurt and suffering, but it will be worth it 

There once was a Bishop of Birmingham...you can complete the rest

Lorenzo - on the book front, just reading The Ghost Runner - a readable and interesting piece of social history, worth adding to the list.

5m plod today, 45m for the week and a couple of days to go

Poacher, sound like Yoda you do. 

+1 for Ghost Runner. Shocking how pompous bureaucracy can ruin a mans life. 

I never listen to Marathon Talk, but i get the hurt vs suffer comparison, although I dont look at marathons as an aerobic game, they are about trying to hold an easy (at the start) pace which gets harder to hold as your legs get increasingly more tired, but its never on the aerobic rivet like a 10K race, its about keeping tired legs going strong. So how fast someone can run reps doesnt really seem relevant to me. theres folks I know that are better runners than me 364 days of the year but I beat them on VLM day (cos I do more marathon specific work than them IMO, and I'm up for it more than them when it gets to fixing bayonets time at 18M).   

Apologies for the lack of summary today. Holiday time and I need to go and pamper Mrs GD.
Just quickly popped in to wish OO and Ant and anyone else racing all the best this weekend.
As for me, 12M @ 8:48m/m d&d.

SJ Steady as she goes

7 miles recovery with 6 strides thrown in. My strides are getting quicker, which I am taking as a sign of progress, plus I don't mind hurting for 60metres.

10M last night and 10M this morning to leave the small question of the Bramley 20 tomorrow (I'll be the one who bears a more than passing resemblance to my avatar...).  I don't think 20M flat out worked for me in 2010, so plan is 7 @ 8.05 (MP + 20%), 7 @ 7.25 (MP + 10%) and 6 @ 6.45 (PMP).  Still sounds quite scary and tough!