Sub 3h15 - Page 28 - Spring Marathon

Matchstick Man

15/12/2010 at 15:48

Minni - On the occasion I got to chat to Steve Smythe on last year's SSX and from the postings I saw from him he was a proponent of as much off-road running as possible. That meant a lot of trail / off-road running and even hitting the grass verge if there was one available. Now this is partly down to the fact that he's in his early 50's and he's fully aware that pounding pavements is not that good for him personally but his long runs were coming in at over 8min miling and this was from someone who did 2h46 in April. His high mileage days are behind him now and he was aiming at 70mpw max

LunaMan - stunning 10k time there Are you sure you're on the right thread?

Beware Of The Fish

15/12/2010 at 16:17

MsE - nearly 48, 5' 8", currently 11 stone 7 after a less than careful autumn, but that should be down towards 11 dead in a couple of months time. No idea about fat index or muscle mass - just too high and not enough will do. Severe pronating heel striker with flat feet and terrible feet-outurned gait, so can't actually run in any kind of support shoe as they just rip up my arches - try to get by with neutral shoe and orthotics.

Blisters and beer

15/12/2010 at 16:47

SBD - I know it would take alot of mucking around but have you thought of doing what Moraghan mentioned he does, in making it say, a 10 day cycle? I suppose if you can handle the mileage you do, it's possibly not worth the effort.

MsE - For your stats, I forgot to mention I'm 38.

MsE

15/12/2010 at 16:54

Having a giggle at how so many of you have earnestly posted your vital statistics for me following my slight tongue in cheek suggestion. Just goes to show what a lovely decent lot post on here. What is amusing is how you ended up adding age when I was asking about the physical aspects (height, weight, gait etc). B&B - you made me laugh! But now the geek in me is wondering whether, in the interests of doing this as a project, I could tabulate the information together with our respective schedules, HM/marathon etc goals and achieved times... Does that make me weird (and definitely make me more suspiciously like a gay man)? I have no idea whether it is possible to add tables to this place although vaguely recall seeing someone's graphs of training cleverly posted a while ago.

MsE

15/12/2010 at 16:58

B&B - re my tempo run, if you mean my first run of 8M with 4M at HM pace, my 4 miles went from 8 m/m to 7 m/m which made me conclude that I need longer warming up to get into the zone. I had allowed 2 miles but I run mostly in the morning and, coming from Asia, find these cold temperatures affect me quite a lot. Next time I think I will spend at least 4 miles warming up and do some extra cool down miles if necessary.

Re me coming from Asia, I keep getting random people knocking on the door asking me if the lady of the house is in. I never had to deal with this when I was out working.

SBD.

15/12/2010 at 17:07

Blisters and beer wrote (see)

SBD - I know it would take alot of mucking around but have you thought of doing what Moraghan mentioned he does, in making it say, a 10 day cycle? I suppose if you can handle the mileage you do, it's possibly not worth the effort.

The purist in me likes the idea of a training-based cycle but the reality of working life and family means it's a non-starter

luna man

15/12/2010 at 17:23

MsE - you ask a bunch for runners for some stats and are surprised at getting feedback?! Here's a chart I prepared earlier showing running/biking hours over two marathon campaigns. Fascinating I'm sure you'll agree, ahem!

http://www.alunward.co.uk/marathon/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/hours.gif

Re. training surfaces: mmm, good thoughts - maybe I should go back to trails if I want to up the mileage again.

MM - oh yes, I'm definitely on the right thread! I know a few sub 37 minute 10kers who can't crack 3 hours yet despite putting many more miles than me in! The predictors say you should be able to pull it off with a 38 minute 10k and I'm quite happy to admit that higher running mileage would help convert it. I've a feeling some of it is psychological though, I'm more than happy to go full pelt for what seems a measly 10k, but am overly cautious in longer races in case of collapse. I've yet to translate the 10k into a similarly pitched Half or Full (current PBs are 1:25:50 from Feb, 3:11 in Oct) but am hopeful for 2011.

Windy

15/12/2010 at 17:28

MsE wrote (see)

Re me coming from Asia, I keep getting random people knocking on the door asking me if the lady of the house is in. I never had to deal with this when I was out working.

Being petite and youthful, it's obviously because you don't look old enough.
or otherwise it's because you're a gay male

knight rider

15/12/2010 at 17:48

MsE - I'm 5 ft 6 and weigh around 9 and half stone (60kgs). Don't know what my BMI is as I've never done it.

SBD.

15/12/2010 at 18:11

Clearly, we need to introduce a weight handicap system similar to that used for jockeys. So anyone running a marathon and weighing in at less than 80kg would have to carry weights to bring them up to the fair weight of 80kg

OsloNeil

15/12/2010 at 18:29

I can't believe how quickly this thread moves. Hard to keep up, even if you just blink.

Great running.... erm... everyone. Some very quick times being posted already. Bodes well for future races.

Day 3 (technically day 4) of P&D 18/70 for me, so a nice relaxed 8km recovery run this morning.

With regards to plans... I don't think I could follow something like FIRST. I really enjoy my running so just strapping on the shoes three times a week wouldn't be enough.

I must be the group heavyweight. Think some of you weigh about as much as one of my legs. I'm 39, 5'10" and just over 81kgs (about 12st 10)! Not sure about muscle mass. I agree with SBD about the handicap system. Seems only fair

Frazerelli

15/12/2010 at 19:59

Evening all

Nice 10k Luna man. Was that in a race or just a timed effort. To date my 10k PB remains a solo time trial done during HM training and hence must have a degree of doubt cast over it until I (hopefully !) improve it

Tis indeed very amusing seeing everyone's vital stats ernestly being posted ! I'm a Gemini with a moon in Uranus and like fluffy kittens and charidee work.

Regarding different surfaces I do think the t/mill protects against injury if used for a few sessions (one of its few advantages). I def find paces feel quicker on the mill SBD - partly due to heat and HR drift and partly that bloody belt rattling away under your feet gives an illusion of greater speed

MsE - Moraghan has me always doing min 3 miles warm up then 6 *100m strides with jog recoveries before any kind of quicker sessions. It def helps prepare your legs

Interesting to see the (lack of) age range on the thread. Late 30s into mid 40s seems a popular option ! I wonder if that's reflected with different age bias on other threads for different mara targets.There's a little audit for the stattos amongst us

Beware Of The Fish

15/12/2010 at 20:33

Marathonguide.com publishes stats of all the US marathons every year, and the average age of runners over there is 40 for men and 36 for women. Average time is 4:24 for men and 4:52 for women. Unfortunately not seen anything similar for the UK, but it wouldn't surprise me if the ages weren't a touch higher.

Click me

Pipes

15/12/2010 at 20:36

Hello everyone. It's been a busy week (last week of term, lots of stuff to mark) so I'm reading the thread but not keeping up enough to post. I know what you mean, OsloNeil, about the thread moving so fast. It's a good thing.

Well done on your 10k, luna man. I was marshalling on one side of the bridge, about 2.5k and 6 miles into the race. Are you doing the other local races in the build-up to VLM (Banbury/ WH1/2)? You deserve to smash your marathon PB (and hopefully sub3) with a 10k time like that.

I'm early-mid 30s, FW...although I feel like a pensioner at the minute.

Matchstick Man

15/12/2010 at 21:16

37 years old, 6'2" tall, weight about 11 stone maybe 11st 7 lbs?
4 mile warm up then 4 x 1 mile reps all between 5m59s and 6m03s with the club. Thought I'd be faster but I think I had mild food poisoning yesterday. I managed 8 and a bit miles last night but had awful stomach cramps and promptly fell asleep for 11 hours when I got in! Felt better today but it's obviously still affecting me.

CC2 - Speedy Goth

15/12/2010 at 21:52

Lordy, you lot can't half talk. I'm afraid I've only skim read as time is getting on and I really need my bed.

Keir, no use asking me about vegetarianism and colds as a) I'm not a veggie, and b) I have a better excuse for getting respiratory illnesses - double pneumonia, pleurisy, pneumothorax and two collapsed lungs requiring a lengthy spell in hospital and an emergency phone call to my parents 200 miles away to tell them to get there quick just in case I kicked the bucket in the next few hours. That was nearly 10 years ago, but I still have scarred lung tissue and a slightly weakened immune system.

On behalf of Jools and I, I must protest at the age generalisation. I am 31, and I believe Jools is younger still. I'm 5 foot 6, 53.5kg (which is too heavy for me cos I have little muscle mass and a tiny head), I overpronate and heel strike badly and have slightly reduced lung capacity (see above!)

Ant van Oviedo

15/12/2010 at 22:00

45 years old (I still can't quite believe it), 6ft 2, eyes of blue, and currently 87kgs, although this will come down to nearer 80 come VLM day. It always does. Lightly pronating serial heel-striker, I once got a gait analysis at Runner's need , got sold some motion control Sauconys (Grid Hurricane) and promptly got injured in both calves.

Scooby Dudek

15/12/2010 at 22:08

Just managed to scim/catch up, although I did miss out a couple of hundred posts.

Welcome to all the newbies and the de lurkers

After waiting all day Monday, my suit case turned up on Tuesday. No running yestrerday as I was at my Aunties funneral. Despite a lack of training I am proud to state I have kept my endurance together and managed 12 pints of Guinness prior to walking home.

12.5 miles general running today. As it was my first run in a week, I started too quickly and despite trying to slow down I managed to cover the first 5 miles in 8:00mm. In total 8:16mm for 12.5 miles with HR of 74%. So in all a good steady run.

jane326

15/12/2010 at 22:16

TR/Rat - glad you de lurked

Nice posts. I'm officially inspired and plan to be doing a sub 3.15 come April in either Paris or London. Self taught by picking up the peals of wisdom on here or otherwise via a SS coach.

KR - bon chance! i wish you all the best

jane326

15/12/2010 at 22:17

pearls - i meant, pearls of wisdom
keep em coming