Moraghan Training - Stevie G

some people just invite it...going onto a running website and giving it loads about quitting eating carbs,

needs to get off to some muscle mary's forum instead i think, and talk about dieting, and checking yourself out in the mirror!

back to training talk, and i'd presumed the best I could hope for was grassy laps for the big session today.

However, driving in, the pavements all look perfect, and the Adios have quite good grips, so hopefully pavements will do nicely. Looking forward to it. Mentally 6mins at HMP sounds more bearable than 10mins, even though there's 6 sets of them today rather than 3, and thus longer.

Checked in on that thread - what a knob! Some of what he says is true, but no bleedin manners! How dare we have avatrs of us running - on a running forum....

Probably the right decision SG. I went for the laps of a slushy field option this morning and it was horrible! 3 x 1M in 6:03, 6:10, 6:13 off 90 secs. The pace doesn't reflect the effort level that's for sure. I realised in the 2nd rep that the 6:03, though slow, was too hard effort wise when I started to retch really badly on the uphill section . Couldn't face the 4th rep I'd originally planned (I know, I know - weak willed!)

Ps - do you drive to work??!!

come on, fair play SG - avit's knowledge on that was deeper and greater than yours (and mine as well ) then you threw the first stone about if you know so much how come you are no good at running.  you got what you deserved there.   Of course what Avit was on about regards profile pics is anyones guess!  you are in great form with the running at the moment, let that do the talking. 

ICE - i hate!  went proper tits over and landed on my shoulder just walking up my drive to the car. If it didnt hurt so much i would have laughed.  Glad no-one was around.  I managed 5m this morning at 6.30, It was cold.  Im like bambi on ice so definately wont be doing any quality outside until the ice clears.

haha it wasn't quite worded that way Deano! But yes, maybe it did inflame him, but if you read back, he'd already arrived with a "I know more than you fools attitude" and needed bringing down a peg. Had a massive chip on his shoulder to say the least....

Certainly wasn't just me picking him up on details....can't geta  6 pack eating carbs? Right...

ps ice is deadly...probably limits you to parks/grass with XC shoes on really...quality is 100% out. Luckily round here seems to be good roads now...we've bypassed that inevitable snow melting then freezing the roads stage.

Bus, sure do. It is only a 2mile drive (1.5mile walk), and I've tried walking and running it, but I find it's too short a run with all my work gear to make any benefit, and walking it wastes time, and you arrive all sweaty as well. This way i'll be back by 5.15 or so, 10mins to change, and out and normally done by 6 unless it's a quality session.

certainly wasn't overly enamoured with the idea of 9+ miles round the park at effort later! Let's hope the roads are as good as they look!

good sharp short session from you Bus. That's the kind of  ideal light sort of sharpener for the week before a race. And it does take your mind a while to understand you can't hope to hit the same paces in the snow as on the roads!

Blimey SG, it's people like you I spend my whole working life trying to dissuade . What about a bike?

I remember when the weather was like this a couple of years ago just before Wokingham. I went out in the dark for a few intervals round the estate I live on. Most of the snow and ice had cleared, but I was mainly running on the road anyway, just in case. I jumped onto the pavement  to let a car pass and promptly hit the only bit of ice left - the remains of where some muppet had cleared his drive and piled all the snow on the pavement! Came down with a hell of a thump and had a dead leg for hours after! Luckily no permanent damage - should have sued the bugger!

The pavements in Hazlemere were still a bit dodgy SG when I went past on my bike a couple of hours ago, but down the bottom of the hill might be OK, and roads are clear. Be careful though, as we are due for a big freeze later on, so earlier might be better...

Nice effort level anyway Bus.  You know you're working hard when you retch.  Well, I don't, because I've eased off ages before that!

SG, Ric: glad you're having fun.  I'm not anonymous enough on this forum to go off baiting angry people on other threads. 

Did a 12 last night.  Added to the 4 mile run to work that makes 16 the day after a XC.  Probably not advisable, but felt fine, surprisingly.  It was all easy pace though, except for the last mile which I decided to blast, ostensibly as half marathon training, but more accurately because I felt like it.

Stevie G . wrote (see)

some people just invite it...going onto a running website and giving it loads about quitting eating carbs,

needs to get off to some muscle mary's forum instead i think, and talk about dieting, and checking yourself out in the mirror!

Reminds me SG, I've had occasions when women have asked me if I go to the gym. My standard reply is along the lines of  'never'. Of disliking being in the presence of other guys preening themselves in front of the aforementioned mirrors.

This seems to go down well. I assume the lack of vanity may be one factor as well as the avoidance of other guys. 

Bus. A session of 6 minute miles on this muck strikes me as a tad strenuous.

Whereas training for me was 9 miles around the golf course, hills included, pace averaged 7:50's. Some effort, but not that much effort. Survival is the priority under these conditions.

So far, I have been to the gym one time in my life, back at university.  I'm not intending to add to that anytime soon.

Dachs wrote (see)

Nice effort level anyway Bus.  You know you're working hard when you retch.  Well, I don't, because I've eased off ages before that!

Thanks - it was seconds before I realised the effort was a tad high!

Dachs wrote (see)

SG, Ric: glad you're having fun.  I'm not anonymous enough on this forum to go off baiting angry people on other threads. 

Especially as he was boasting about his 6 hours of Karate a week

You know things are going well when you can blast the last mile just cos you feel like it Dachs!

Ric - probably right, but diffiuclt to see when the quality sessions will come this week, and there's not been too mnay of them the past few weeks! Need to squeeze a tempo in sometime, but its long run time tomorrow - tbc whtehr off or on road.

Right, session done, and pleased with it. Roads were perfect, which was surprising after yesterday!

Warm up, strides, then an hour of tempo, broken down as 6x(6mins HMP, 4mins steady) continuously run.

9.7miles covered in the hour, average pace 6.12, which sounds about right, with HMP being top end 5.50, and steady 6.30+ and a couple of slight inclines here and there.

Funny how the steady feels like easy pace in this context! 14miles all in. Lovely. Glad i subbed it in, and didn't put off to later in the week, never know how the weather will turn.

ps Bus you around for any runs this week? EDIT just read your post above, how about joining me on sat pending the weather being good.... 12miler, 4miles easy, 4miles steady, 4miles MP.... MP top end is 6.10. Join for some or all as you feel?

Ric/Dachs, gyms aren't for the likes of us. Why pay for a gym when generally runners of our level are 75% running, and the rest being stretching/strengthening that can be done at home. If you're female, fair dos, as it's not safe on the streets at times, but for us, we're ok as we are.

And Dachs, it's not always possible to fit runs into their perfect slot, so probably ok to do as you did! Blasting the last mile shows you were recovered enough. I wouldn't ideally do a hard tempo 2 days after a XC race, but didn't have any DOMS at all. And couldn't do it on Wednesday/weather risk later in the week!

ps Dachs, results are out http://www.tvxc.org.uk/results/team?race_id=39#

They've got your name wrong...

interesting thing is the margin to the place above each of us respectively...1 and 2secs respectively!

you look at that in the cold light of day and think how did I not make it up...but at the time it felt so far away!

Impressive that you took 23 seconds out of me in that last mile. I'm gratified to see I was still only 49 seconds behind the winner though

I'm used to my name being spelled wrong, but "Workingham" is a new one on me. I'm envisioning a pig that's being used as a pack animal.

It's funny, one of the chaps from my old club said to me pre race that Tadley is one of the more "gentle" of the XCs.

Granted it's not got the real steep hills of Handy Cross, or the mad triple hill section of Finchampstead, but the triple water jumps and that last mile definitely don't constitute "gentle".

To be fair, the same chap once asked me if the mate (of same age) I brought along was my son , so perhaps not the best guide to go off!.

Hard to compare conditions over the years, but Sunday was definitely not easier than last year, so happy with a 46 sec improvement.

What time you running on Saturday SG?

well, i'd be flexi if it meant involving you... would just need to be up 3hours before to eat and digest!

so i guess 11am would be a decent time to start if that suited you, as 8am isn't too early a wake up call...

have a wycombe game in the afternoon...

just a quick one to say well done to SG and Dachs for good XC's at the weekend, , especially considering your minor loathing of XC! sound fun with triple water jumps

Monster session for you today SG, good job.  Bus I agree the effort level is hard to guage off road. doesnt seems to affect my easy pace much but that wouldnt be the case for faster work.

Im out for the count at the moment, Achilles is just not right at all. Might have to have upto a week off. Weird start to the year. poor mileage- 43 & 40 per week, 1 good and 1 bad race result. Hopefully February will be more fruitful.