P + D training for VLM 2013

Having to go into town this morning so no park run.  Got up early and did a hilly eight mile tempo run instead at an average of 6.22 pace.

6.22,6.21,6.40,6.33,6.36,6.21,5.52,6.14.

Only did a 30 second running on the spot warm up so was a bit stiff at first.

Chris J77 wrote (see)

Now that's some time. All the old fellas love reminding us how marathon standards in the uk aren't anywhere near as good as they used to be. And unfortunately they are right! I guess modern lifestyle just doesn't lend itself to the kind of training that those guys did back in the day. Part of me envies how they were able to rack up huge mileages without other distractions getting in the way, but part of me still thinks a 3 hour marathon in today's modern world (with all it's distractions) would still be some achievement! Kudos to your uncle though.

LMAO Chris.  The seventies and eighties weren't exactly the stone age   Believe it or not, there were distractions way back then too.

HeOw - my son is 6 and my daughter is 5.  Being able to run marathons is not so much a luxury as a fekin' necessity   If there is reincarnation, I'll start a family earlier next time around - and start running in my twenties!

Caz - agree - hopefully this is the end of the colds/flu until at least May!  The kids are on Easter break for two weeks leading up to my marathon, so I'm hoping it reduces the chances of them bringing home something nasty at the last minute!

NN - good to see you're running again.

Craig - great run bagged!

I'm going to do a short recovery on the treadmill today.  I'd better download marathontalk to keep me occupied.

literatin wrote (see)

Evening all. Just back from the pub. 6.3 miles with the club this evening and then took a friend to dinner as she's been having a hard time and wanted to talk about it. I count as 'older and wiser', apparently.

All I have to say is: FOUR (4) kids? Crikey.

Also, HeOw, I was told off at trapeze class for not spreading my legs wide enough...

Well, I see your four and raise you two! (not that it's a competition or anything!) - not quite the same though as my youngest is now 25 so they've all flown the nest (have a funny & regular habit of returning though, but we wouldn't have it any other way would we?!)

Rest day for me today (after the 9.5M Vo2 max yesterday) then a slow 22 tomorrow am - enjoy the weekend runs everybody! 

HeOw - He did it in a marathon, think it was somewhere in Germany, he did a few sub 2:30 when he was in the Army.  We were talking over his mileage and he was running up to and around 150mpw.

Tenjiso wrote (see)

Chris J77 wrote (see)

Now that's some time. All the old fellas love reminding us how marathon standards in the uk aren't anywhere near as good as they used to be. And unfortunately they are right! I guess modern lifestyle just doesn't lend itself to the kind of training that those guys did back in the day. Part of me envies how they were able to rack up huge mileages without other distractions getting in the way, but part of me still thinks a 3 hour marathon in today's modern world (with all it's distractions) would still be some achievement! Kudos to your uncle though.

LMAO Chris.  The seventies and eighties weren't exactly the stone age   Believe it or not, there were distractions way back then too.

 

That made me chuckle as well. 

Strangely there were a lot less runners back then in terms of not so many races, less people taking part but generally the standards were higher.  Running I think is in a good place with the number of people that do run but IMO many do take it up later in life so it still lacks a young base that might raise those standards again.  There is no doubt that kids are not playing sport the way older people did in their younger days, look at local football and you will find the leagues have half the teams they did 10 years ago.  A piece on BBC this week about squash acknowledged that the numbers playing the sport have gone down by half a million in ten years. 

I have worked in two main jobs in my life, the forces and professional sport, and both find the base level of fitness of young people starting out to be at a lower level. 

Anyway run before work today was a 9 miler with 5 at tempo.  The local Parkrun is about half a mile from where I am sat at work as I write and conditions look great out there for a 5k

20 miler tomorrow.

Hope all goes well for you Mark and all the family.  You're right, it's good to be fit and healthy.

Sorry to hear that Mark, hope you and your girlfriend's dad are both on the mend.

Feel a bit guilty now for not wanting to bother with a tempo run (to replace the non-existent tune-up race). In the end I just decided to go out for a nice 10-mile run and play with paces a bit, so was aiming for 3 miles easy, 1x marathon pace, 1x easy, 1x LT pace, 1x easy, 1x MRP, 2x easy. 1st MRP and LT worked out about right at 7:20 and 6:30, though the latter was really hard work into a headwind and I was glad I hadn't gone for several of them in a row. But doing the second MRP mile on a more sheltered stretch of path it felt really easy and I ended up doing LT pace again and having to slow down (6.45). So what I learnt from this is that (1) I'm crap at judging paces, and (2) I had a bit more energy than I thought after a late night and slightly too much wine. I then did mile 10 at MRP and managed to hit it this time (7.13).

mark - take it easy - don't run if that cough is in your chest.

Did a park run this morning, with the jog there and back was 10mi altogether. Have no idea my park run time yet...I reckon between 18 and 19 minutes somewhere. That is only my second parkrun - but they really are excellent and as I live fairly close by will be taking part a lot more this year once I get this marathon out the way.

Hope all your weekends are injury free.

Alright crew.  Had a barmy few days. Did my 8 with 6 x 600 tempo on Thursday, 13 with 6 at MP last night and 20 this morning. It is fair to say I am fooked now. Am going to my mates to drink some dirty beer and watch the rugga. Good running All!!

Not only were there as many/more / different distractions in the 70s 80s.. there were also NO garmins  gels/ high tec lightweight kit, etc etc  people today are just generally lazier and want easy quick results for less effort..yes sub 3 is good but really within in most fit young/or maybe not so young  male club runners capabilities..

Get well soon mark you have put in some hard work a few days off wont hurt (says she who was a miserable old cow cos she had to miss 3 sessions )

Good running /training everyone 

V02 sessions done after 4 hour drive back from surrey ..out tonight..so may leave long run till Monday. will see..

Enjoy your break Fiona.  I'm not at all jealous, at all, really.

Men - you've earned the R&R.

Get well soon Mark 

JF50 - unfortunately, I was one of the ones who was "distracted" from sport in my youth   Better late than never, I suppose.

15W - that's a fekin' awesome time!  Does that make you one of the front-runners?

I ran five miles recovery on the treadmill today.  Felt fine and heart rate back to normal, so looking forward to tomorrows long run.

Mark - sorry to hear about your unfortunate visit to the hospital and hope you manage to shake off whatever you might have. Rest for sure.

15W - that's a solid parkrun time, to have that much speed with the endurance you've got at the moment is amazing.

Slow recovery 9 minute miling for 7 miles for me today. Just about shaking the half marathon heaviness from the legs, topped up by yesterday's 5 x 600m which I ran too fast because I was in competitive jerk mode eyeing up some Strava course records...

Not sure how long to run tomorrow. Schedules say 17 or 18, but I'm yet to do a 22 miler and I figure the further out from race day the better. Any thoughts? Is tomorrow as good a Sunday as any to up the miles a bit?

p.s. this week's marathon talk has some interesting stuff to say about what to eat when tapering. Check out the interview with Matt Fitzgerald. 

Al Runs wrote (see)

15W - that's a solid parkrun time, to have that much speed with the endurance you've got at the moment is amazing.

I was 10th. The winner was a whole 2 minutes faster than me....

15W - that's a solid parkrun time, to have that much speed with the endurance you've got at the moment is amazing.

Excuse my dumbness in regards to the above comment, what does this mean in regards to speed and current endurance, i'm new to this so I might need an explanation.