P + D training for VLM 2013

PS: I like having the race numbers, much easier for results webstalking.

Stutyr - You get a can or plastic bottle of London Pride at the Expo before VLM! Seems a bit bizarre to be tempting you off the wagon that close. I did 5 or 6 for recovery last night, the last one being a staropramen. Slept like a log and feel ok today. Am now entering my drying out coz I am a proper aflete phase of the training plan - (except Saturdays when the Rugby is on,  but that doesn't count).

Will do an hour tonight to get the legs moving and blood flowing and then a mlr tomorrow assuming I dont get an attack of the doms over the next 24hrs.

Night Nurse wrote (see)

Fiona its not too ambitious some people (and mainly women) are better converters than others and dont slow down the further they go,

I have also heard this. I remember listening to womens marathon pioneer Kathrine Switzer on marathon talk - and she thought with the popularity of ultras etc; that one day longer distance races could one day be part of the olympics and men and women could compete against each other as women are built better for the endurance stuff.

Chris J77 - are you taking part in the Llanelli half-mara on the 3rd?  I'm assuming that the 10 miler is over the same course (as  they seem to do everything from 5k to marathon using the milennium path!)?

I'm down for that one, so hoping the sunshine stays but the wind dies down! 

HeOw wrote (see)

 JF50 - well done on MRP run, my McMillan calculator gives me 8:08 as my MRP after yesterday's HM PB. Ha ha ha ha! Are you still unsure re pace? 
 

I'm guessing that is a challenge, can I resist? Back in 2008 when I was only 54 I ran 3.33.10  which was 8.07 per mile, think I was running HMs at 1.37 ish then.  5 years on and I know I have lost a bit of pace and run HMs at 1.45ish so a 3.40 marathon is about right, but then this programme is probably the only one I have run and adhered to since 2008.  Can it effectively take several minutes off my HM time and extrapolating those numbers off my MP for 2013?  That's the question.

I do have the Colchester HM booked on March 17th so could test theory v real, or is it too close to marathon?  That's another question.

JF50, I set my HM PB five weeks before my first marathon ... so I'd go for it!

Is this the first thread vlm slapdown? JF50 v HeOw

JF50 - not too close but with all usual caveats re be prepared to pull back to pmp etc etc.

sadly HeOw and JF50 aren't doing the same mara, so they won't be able to race each other across the finish line.

Me and Stutyr, on the other hand...

I can see all the current training discipline going in a blaze of glory, or damned agony, for a few of us. 

No Helen, no running for me today, I to didn''t sleep to well and was up at 04:50 for work, so the rest day on the Mondays are very welcome, I feel like I could run but I know the rest will do me good, more so with having a fairly busy running week this week.  Lovely day also would of liked to get out for a steady run.

Hey Lit, thats a very tempting challenge!

Although, I'm not sure I'd recognise you the right way up - any chance you can do the final stretch in a handstand whilst reading a book?

... I'm not looking for an advantage or anything 

I'll think about it. My feet will probably need a break by then.

wow, i'm impressed with everyone's runs this weekend. lots of PBs to keep you guys on track for a good showing in London (or other spring mara).

My last week of running has been tough going. I managed to tick off all my runs at the right pace, but for the first time this year felt really hard going. Since my 18mi run last weekend I've been feeling tired and every run last week started with pain in my lower legs, a kind of dull ache (i suspect shin splits, or the start of it, although i've never had it before, so i'm guessing). Not that painful, possibly a 2 or 3 on a scale of 10, and it subsided completely after a couple of miles of each run. Manged all runs in the right pace range, but felt sluggish. This sunday's 20miler was tough going. Very stop / start. Ran out to Richmond Park to get some soft ground to run on, which i think was a good idea, and managed it at the very slow end of my mara pace  + 10-20%. On paper I've completed the planned weekly runs as expected but i don't feel great.

Had a sports massage this morning, and have a physio tomorrow to get advice on lower leg pain. Hoping he says a week or so of reduced training might stave off the full onset of shinsplints. Best case scenario is he says it's just fatigue and i can run through it, or perhaps stretch a bit more, ice legs, etc. Worst case is he says I need a few weeks off, which would potentially kill my Manchester marathon PB plans Hoping for a good diagnosis/prognosis

AG, hope the physio has good news for you.  The plan is tough, and I know where you're coming from as I was really rough at the start of last week.  I took most of the week off (easier for me as I started a week early to give me a buffer) and felt a little better each day - so you will be at the lowest point the day after a bad run.  

I'm kinda lost where everyone is in their plans - but is this week lighter (i.e. a couple of recovery runs & a medium long during the week)?  Just take those recovery runs at a very easy pace (assuming the Physio says its OK), or just skip them and try to keep the key sessions. 

Fingers crossed AG that its good news from the fizz and its nothing too bad

Brilliant results from those racing this weekend, just finished reading back, well done to all and very well deserved 

Lit/Stu make that a triple smackdown as i'm also going for sub 3.15 at VLM. Am running the GNWR at Blackpool on Sunday, don't get race number until race day.

67 miles last week and after tomorrows mlr going to cut back until Sunday.

MarkF, the competition increases 

Will be interesting to compare our HM times, as I've got the Llanelli HM in two weeks and I think Lit also has one this weekend coming (?). 

I have, yes, at Tunbridge Wells, but it's got massive great hills in (get the excuses in early).

AG, hope the physio helps. Did the massage therapist have anything to say about muscle tightness there? Or is it just mine who always treats me to a massive lecture about all the things I should have been taking better care of?

Fingers crossed for the physio tomorrow. I'm not actually in pain when i walk or anything, and the running pain subsides after a warm up, but i think it's worth having it checked out rather than ignoring it, before it becomes an issue.

the sports masseur (??) was fairly reassuring. Fooking painful, but reassuring. She said my legs seem to be in decent shape (not sure on what basis she judged that) but that my calves were super tight, so I guess more stretching required. The pain when she had her thumbs running down my right calf was about as much pain as I've ever felt. I'd say 8-9 out of 10. (i'll reserve 10 for passing out through pain). I was almost in tears at that point. However, it's also thankfully transient, so the pain only persisted for say 10 seconds at a time. I actually quite like a bit of pain (but that's between me and the missus  )

Masseuse if it's a lady, I think. The horrendous pain actually sounds encouraging, as it sounds like that'd be the cause of the leg pain when running.