Friday 27 April 2007

Hello,

DD: Impressive training.

Pops: Happy Birthday.

Pammie: Well done with comeback race. And I got the info - thx!

What: drills and core-work
Why: A rest from running

My massage buddy is back so I can finally get the ITB muscle massaged next Tuesday. Amazing that we runners seem to be the only group who happily lookforward to intense pain.

Hope FLM'ers are recovering well.

IW - So sorry I missed your race result. Not always with it in the morning:( A pb is a pb doesn't matter who you are or how fast you run. I'd have felt the same if no-one had seemed to have noticed so an extra special well done!!

Popsider - Hope its been a good one.

Pammie - Well done on the 5k. My least favourite racing distance!

Moved house, and no net at moment - makes posting training bit more difficult.

Alright running tonight - a faster 10 miles, that at the time didn't feel like it. I was surprised to be reeling out constnt low 6 min miles on this occasion (not because I can't!, but because it felt more like I was doing 6:20-ish pace)

What: 10 miles pm (1:01)
Why: Endurance, bit of steady/fast running
Last hard: Monday
Last rest: 41 days

Eeeeverrrning.

I haven't read back as am all sweaty and i need a shower. But I will after my bath, oh did I say shower? I meant bath with a nice cold glass of wine and my book. Heaven!

Anyway

What: 6 mile run
Why: the weather was looking rather nice
Last Hard: tonight
Last Rest: yesterday

I don't do muggy weather. It was a bit warm and I got a bit hot and then I had a bit of a strop. But I kept going in any case. and I got beeped at, so they got the ''v''s. :0)

anyways I hve decided I've gone off running, it's too much like hard work. I think I may become a couch potato again soon. Hmm yep that's looking like a very attractive idea indeed. :0) ok maybe I've only fone off running for this evening.

Oh and I forgot to start my car engine today and tried to drive off in it - oops! I was in the petrol station with teenage scoobs and I did the petrol, like you do. And then I got back into the car and took the handbrake off and, well, we sort of sat there and then we sort of rolled a bit and the steering wheel locked and I realised I has forgot to start the engine.

How could I manage to forget to start the flippen engine???!!

Teenage scoobs was having hysterics.

Again.

Laters...

Popsider: Happy Birthday: you don't get to see that sort of thing very often, even these days.

DD: I guess that you win the prize for training today. Rehydrate and re-salt well.

Pammie: you gave your all, can't ask much more. Next one will somehow be quicker and easier. Guaranteed.

Scooby: I am dying to meet up with you, I really am!

Spose I'd better go for a run now. I've done a bit of decorating in the new extension BOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooring.

My FLM pics: as links seem not to be working well today, just use running number 29233 and name Holland.






IW: of course I noticed, I just forgot to comment. And you are of course perfectly correct to give us all a right good rollocking for not commenting. Very selfish of us all to be so self centred and still full of last week's race. It is the essence of this thread that we support and encourage each other, thereby improving the performance of GB athletics in toto as a result. So, I consider myself chastised, and I believe that you are well in order to be congratulated for your pb. They don't give them away.

Evening.

IW - Apologies for not noticing you had reported a race. Sometimes when I'm short of time I just tend to post my report and not check back the previous night. I don't say well done having got the information from other peoples' posts. So having read your report well done on your pb. A question though - was the extra distance Garmin measured by other people or just part of the extra 1% race organisers need to add on in order to get a permit?

Pammie - good solid running there.

Training today for me went relatively ok. Leg is feeling quite sore but hopefully it's just general muscle soreness from lack of training. Went to the gym and did core work as well. Have to maintain that trim tummy:-)

Thank you friends,

Glad you got it nrg-b.

I'll hold you to that blisters :)

Feel it in my legs this evening now so will get a good nights sleep after some forumming :)

Tomorrow no running just some mowing intervals planned

evening

SiT, soory to hear that you still have injury problems. I hope you'll be sorted and well trained in time for Amsterdam.

IW well done on the PB

flyway, you'll have to be careful not to crash it :-o - but what a great offer

nrg-b, great link

MtB, do be careful this w/e; you don't want to jeapodize wearing your England vest. Can't you give this w/e a miss, or at least just run the second lap with your mate ?

Blisters, I've entered the Tewkesbury half, now, so see you there - assuming I've recovered by then

NZC, and other marathoners this w/e, all the best. I hope the weather is kind to you, and NZC, don't fall in the boiling mud :-)

What: nothing
Why: either a) being sensible about recovery or b) post-marathon depression ?
I find that if I don't have at least one week of very little running after a marathon, although my legs and head seem to have recovered, I inevitably have at least a minor crash after a few weeks back into training - usually more to do with motivation than physical. I think its a bit like avoiding injury by having deliberate rest days, or occasional planned easy weeks, rather than letting the body dictate rest by throwing up an injury.

Tomorrow I'm off to do the UKA level 1 coaching course. I'm not quite sure why, though. I'm looking forward to it as a day, but don't know how I want to use the qualification. I don't think I want to get involved with helping with the kids at my club, as its all sprints and jumps, and although part of me would be keen to sort out the seniors session I don't think I'd be accepted as such. Maybe I'll offer to run a group for new women runners somewhere. Any ideas, or experience of trying do to this, or of getting involved as a coach at your own club when you don't start of as one ?

Today I was reading some of P+D's Road Racing for Serious Runners. I was particularly interested in the physiology required to be good at distances from 5k to the marathon. It occurred to me while reading that my physiology is much better suited to the marathon than to shorter distances. I have the ability to store lots of glycogen and burn fat at a slower rate. I also have natural endurance rather than speed endurance. Even with optimum training for the shorter distances I still seem to underperform.

Looking at my pbs you can see how weak some are compared to my marathon. I'd be interested where people think their physiology would suggest their strongest racing distance should be. Someone suited to 5k and 10k would have a higher VO2 max and be able to hold threshold pace at a higher % of VO2 max than I can.

To highlight this difference, I tend to pace a marathon well but go off too quickly in 10k and HM races whereas BR can pace these like a metronome but struggles with marathons without a HRM.

5k - 19:04 (6:08m/m)
10k - 38:13 (6:09m/m)
HM - 84:15 (6:26m/m)
Mar - 2:56.02 (6:45m/m)

Hilly - the distance was over according to many garmins, and also according to people who had run last year and noted that the turn around points were further out than last year.

Blisters - I wasn't really meaning to give a rollocking - just a gentle kicking!

IW - nice pb

Pammie - something to work on there

Podro - the socks meant that the calves I had had issues with a couple of weeks back behaved themselves at FLM.

Wow - training related question are like buses - none for ages then 2 turn up at once!

TmR - at hilly's club in Dorset they showed little interest in using her L1 qualification to develop structured training as it was more a social club.

How about online coaching, or are you looking for a more direct input face to face? There are loads of beginners around on the forum who would benefit from your experience and knowledge.

Re. physiology I know exactly where my LT and VO2 max are just by feel in a race and can control 10ks and HM very well, turning in even splits. However in marathons in the past I've either gone off too quickly or been erratic in the first half before fading somewhere in the last 10k. The only blip in this catalogue of woe was when I did plenty of MP to MP + 40 secs/mile running in the Hadd era. It was like I had to train myself to work on my weak physiological areas whilst my 10k racing ability seemed to come back straight away.

It also raises the question about goals. One way of looking at it would be for someone like me to stop working on chipping away at a marathon time and concentrate on what I can do well in. The other would be to work on weaknesses rather than strengths to be a more rounded runner.

A golfer would work on his weaknesses to improve his all round game. However a defender in football might not spend lots of time working on his shooting skills but rather concentrate on what would make him a better defender.

A wicketkeeper would not spend time developing his leg spin as it would be redundant for the role he has in the team.

Oh yes...

5k - 16:36 (5:20m/m)
10k - 33:41 (5:25m/m)
HM - 73:40 (5:38m/m)
Mar - 2:42 (6:11m/m)

Note the 33 secs / mile difference between my HM and Mpaces compared to hilly's 19 secs / mile.

So shall I play to my strengths or work on my weaknesses?

Interesting!

Without doing any specific training for the shorter distances, my PBs for 3 miles, 10k, 10 miles and half-marathon are all within a second or two of 7.25mm pace, whereas my marathon PB is nowhere near - just under 9mm pace.

I've never run a marathon really hard and I've also never done proper structured speedwork, so I don't know whether the most productive approach would be to work on stringing together more 7.25-minute-miles or consistently being able to do mile intervals in under 7 minutes.

nrg-b - great video!

on physiology - Doesn't it depend on goals and also what you enjoy doing? I don't enjoy 5k's, not worth getting sweaty over. Love lonnngg runs, cycles and paddles. Don't care analyse what the strengths say, but then I'm not in it just to be competitive. If competitive was my only goal then don't the sages say 'build on your strengths and ignore or minimise the effects of your weaknesses'?

For what they are worth (to give a slow benchmark!)..
5km 22:20 7:30m/m
10km 49:10 7:52m/m
HM 1:47 8:10m/m
Mar 3:50 8:47m/m

if I'm not bothered the why did I calculate that? mmmmmm

Just popping in before I drive off to Richmond - going to a horse race tomorrow.

IW - good work on your PB. I HATE racing short distances so value PBs over them all the more.

I'll dig out my 5, 10, half etc stats later on - I think I set my 5 and 10k PBs during a half mara though!!

Poppy - I had shoe inserts for a bit (coz of bunions - v sexy) and you very quickly get used to your shoes feeling shallow. I found it best to put the insoles under the existing shoe insoles rather than on top.

Scoobs, you are hilarious.

Lyrics are Road Rage by the lovely Cerys Matthews and Catatonia and yes they are Welsh:-)