Moraghan Training - Stevie G

5 days off the running. Actually has been really refreshing, niggles, soreness, tightness... all gone. Will give 4 miles ago tomorrow! Good luck to Deano at Telford on Sunday. Gun it lad!

Ric, you aint allowed to just edit the course for your own benefit

You remind me of those cricketers who'd piss about with the crease to make sure of more bounce and suchlike.

Stevie, must feel like a year! Hope it feels right from the off...

Shite run yesterday. Even going down hill was hard work. Strange after Tuesdays 800s. Spikes arrived today so much happier, they cam with 6mm spikes so I may need some longer ones for Sunday...Looking forward to it.

isn't there a path section Iron? Could be fun if there is on tall spikes

I might have just massively made this up though.

4 miles this morining last 1.5 miles knee got sore and felt weak again. Not sure what to do now really!

Ss. Might have to resort to leg extensions to beef up your quads. 

I hang this arrangement off my foot while sitting on a handy box.

 Weighs 10kg. I do about 20 efforts each leg. Keeps the knees in order. Or so I'm led to believe.

Metros XC course now edited. Muddy in places but has been worse in the past. Ok for tomorrow.

Settled for 4 miles on the road myself also. Av pace came out just under 7's.

I.Cat.

Spike length will be some sort of compromise due to the nature of the course. I would probably go for 12mm on account of the hill at the back ot the loop. Its only about a third of a mile long but goes up 25m and is muddy the whole way.

The downside is the compacted stone paths. They are covered in leaves right now and are softer at the edges. The total length of these paths in the race add up to just under a mile.

I myself will probably wear my Fellcross studs. I've run in spikes here before but for  reasons of comfort and self preservation, this time I'll pass.

Spikes, different lengths, I don't even know what you lot are on about!

I tend to wear Walsh XCs. They have studs, and are pretty excellent for all of the TVXC events, as all of the events have sections of path/hard trail and even concrete.

 From what I've read, it'd be a different story if the courses were 100% grassy mud.

First time I ever wore a pair of spikes at a XC was at Burnham Beeches. 

Not knowing any better I just used the spikes (15mm) that came with the shoes.

The course was awkward enough on account of all the exposed tree roots, but wasn't expecting a 200 yard stretch of road as well.

If that was the saturday one, I did that a few years back, and certainly wouldn't want spikes for that one!

First year was won in something ridiculous like 43mins.

Second year about 17people turned up fancying a pot hunt!

Fabian Downes won by about 4mins, leaving me to steal 2nd off a guy in the last 100metres in something like 39.40!

one of those dreaded 2 lap courses. Am actually embracing the 3 lapper tomorrow...being shorter should be mentally easier than 2 big dragging laps.

SG, Wait until you go up the hill for the final time. If you've over cooked things on the previous two laps you'll feel like you're doing Mount Vesuvious.

 We're obviously going to meet up tomorrow. Is Phil going? I know ICat is.

Note to self...leave something in the bag for hill rep#3.

I've not seen anyone this season, though I'm aware you're somewhere near the front!

As for parking.

I usually go to the CP of Mad Bess Woods off Duck's Hill Road, and wander down through the woods to the start.

Just back to the Burnham XC. It was part of the old Today's Runner League. So I guess hasn't been part of the TVXC set up, if you haven't run there. 

Sunday race like the others.

Ric, my whole style is based on over cooking the first mile, and then holding!

How far into each lap is the hill again? And just how steep andlong are we talking, using any of the following races as a comparison?

wycombe half first hill, marlow 8mile hill, wooburn 10k hill, burnham beeches half/5k hill
xc series...handy cross hills, bracknell hill 5mins into the lap, sandhurst's hill near end, tadley's gradual ploughed fields hill.

Phil hasn't said anything, so presuming he's nurturing at the moment....

I Cat, wear that clobber in your pic, and prepare to be greeted as "Cat", as embarrasingly, despite you sorting me out with that Reading half place that time, I can't for the life of me remember your real name.

But don't worry...half the time I forget Bus's real name, and I know him pretty well

Ric, we'll missed each other at CP, but amongst 300or so people we won't miss again I'm sure. We can have an anecdote off

SG, The first drag is after 300 yards and is a fairly solid path of 280 yards which climbs 14m. I suspect this is the real killer as it comes so soon after the start.

The real hill is at 0.8 of a mile and climbs 25m in 600 yards.

Needless to say, we have to do these three times each.

You'll see all this if you do a WU on the course. 

If you want I can show you the best places to barge back markers out of the way.

I'm making a joke of this but last year I came up behind a couple of large lasses on a narrow part of the course running side by side.

FFS! I was in about 10th place so it can hardly have been a surprise that runners were trying to get by.

I picked my moment to pass, without comment.

I guess on boggy offroad surfaces I can't do my favoured "stomp loudly on the ground" trick when about 50metres behind someone when out doing training!

How much of the field do you reckon is lappable if all goes well? Into just the real backmarkers or upto lower midpack?

Would be good to have some people to disguise the gap to anyone behind me who is getting bold near the end

SG, I'd say you'll be past 20 or so by the finish. It could more. Last time out I was aware of lots of people on the 'run-in'.

I have a couple more pics. One of them is the first hill, though you wouldn't think so. The other is the finish straight where lots of lapped runners dwell, at length.

 View up the first hill.

 Time to mow em down.

That looks a classic XC hill....those ones you can't see the finish! Fairly narrow is a gang of sidebaggers are all in unison too.

Sounds like it's only the real back markers who risk a mowing down, so should be fine.

Though i was looking forward to a potential lapping of Summer 10k snitch boy....but that fantasy looks to be out.

So telford 10k today:

first the excuses  i havent been running well for over 3 weeks, last tuesday i tried 6*400m and couldnt get them under 74s (usually hit 70 ish for 12!) then as week ago i tried 8*1k in 3.20 pace but failed on all but 2 reps and they were coming in about 3.26.  I have been sick/flat for weeks and havent been able to get anywhere near normal mileage or paces so expectation/confidence was low. Plus a pretty poor return at XC this winter where i have been schooled by many many people.  With a few local comments being "looks like my improvement curve has ended" i felt i needed to prove something to myself today.

So enough of the self wallowing! once i hit the start i begin the PMA and by the gun im convinced im strong. Fast downhill start and very boisterous with lots of pushing and shoving and i had to show someone my elbow to warn him off pushing me again. Im way ahead of target but this start is very fast and it will settle down when the herd allows it.  2nd and 3rd km came out on target but i feared a fade later on so i dig in and mentally say to myself if i can get to 5k on target there is nothing wrong with me. 

4th and 5th Km again on target and im moving well, breathing is normal and im not feeling any ill effects. Im fine! lets get this race on, at the half way point my coach and some friends were there and i winked and gave a finger waggle....he knew what that meant and smiled back and shouted go for it.

the next 3km were a blur of avoiding puddles/ice/slippy parts of the path but each split came out on target.  Right im at 8k nothing can go wrong now, im defn getting a PB just keep up and lets leave something for the sprint.  but i saw Big Stu from Stevie S's club ahead of me by about 50m. Big stu beats me over any race on any surface and is a class V40. Im not normally around him in a race so decide to work hard in the 9th Km to catch up and see if i match up.  Im not looking at the watch now.  I know if im chasing big stu down im in the right zone. As we approach the last km im on his shoulder and i go for it.  i open a little gap but for the first time ever in a race since i came back a year ago i get nervous. Im thinking more about him catching me than my own race. 200m to go and i kick, not a great kick but a definate lift and i cross the line with a howl of disapproval.

unofficially my time is 33.02 (the disapproval was for the 3 secs too much) however a PB by 1min 28 sec!

i was targeting 33.20 so well under and now a little disappointed i didnt do enough to go sub 33 but plenty of time for that next yr) With the disappointment of XC this yr i lost a little belief but my coach and others have kept saying keep the faith ..your speed has gone nowhere, It will be there, just keep the faith!

This race is exactly a year on from my first race since training, last yr at telford i ran a 35.30 and the first post was from LuvsaPB who stated i will get a 33.xx in 2012. I have always remembered this and whilst i thought he was overly overly ambitious he proves to be spot on. 

my splits: 3.06, 3.16, 3.19, 3.22, 3.21 (for a 16.25 5k), 3.20, 3.17, 3.21, 3.19, 3.14

oh yeah! well happy with this. Looking forward to some downtime and going after 2013 as a v40.

Great to catch up with Seb (apologies i didnt recognise you in the HQ) but caught up afterwards. Top bloke who will tell his race.