My Forum

Keir - In a way it was a good position to be in whereby you could have a crack freely without any fear of failure.

Not getting the distance is no surprise given the build up but then again it may have just turned out to be one of those weird days where everything clicks against all the odds.

You've come out of it unbroken and got a decent base for going forward from and if you're like the rest of us you'll no doubt have a few bright pink bits too!!

What is very spooky is how close to each other we were all through the race:

5K: Keir 20:26, PRF 20:48

10K: Keir 40:44 (20:18), PRF 41:34 (20:46)

15K: Keir 1:01:27 (20:43), PRF 1:02:46 (21:12)

20K: Keir 1:22:42 (21:15), PRF 1:23:30 (20:44)

Half: Keir 1:27:16, PRF 1:28:01

25K: Keir 1:44:31 (21:49), PRF 1:44:13 (20:43)

30K: Keir 2:08:16 (23:45), PRF 2:05:25 (21:12)

35K: Keir 2:35:03 (26:47), PRF 2:29:20 (23:55)

40K: Keir 3:02:15 (27:12), PRF 2:58:23 (29:03)

Finish: Keir 3:13:01, PRF 3:11:29

It was a great weekend as always but my race came undone due to a slip on a water bottle around Docklands.

Initially I thought that I'd dodged the bullet as the twisted ankle seemed to wear off with no lasting effect. But it had caused a knock on effect by straining something in my right quad area.

The end result was that I couldn't lift my right leg properly and ended up being only able to nurse it home using a slow shuffling like action. The last few miles seemed to take a long time but on the other hand there was very little effort going into them so it was also a pleasant experience to run the last few miles very comfortably.

Surprised that I only had a 15 min positive split. Felt much more!

Its a shame we didn't actually bump into each other Keir but good to see that TR had a good one and was looking very happy at the end!!

YD/Mr V - Sounding tentatively promising on the recovery fronts.

Curly - Have to add to the race walking comments. Have you seen any pics/videos of Ellie Dooley in action? You're the spitting image!

Phil - Jaffa Cakes are being consumed at a healthy rate here too

Rotherham parkrun in the morning and then might have a think about a visit to that Excel place....

Consistency indeed, Keir!

I'm hoping that on the same basis that we'll be greeted with the sight of the Finish line at about the 22 mile mark on Sunday

Looking like perfect conditions for a meander around the London sights.

YD - I have new Green Silence's so that sets me up for the next 3 VLMs

Keir - I trust you know the side effect of beetroot juice? If not, you may be having a worrying dash to your docs

Had the last race last night, which was the next in the Sth Yorks Road League 5 milers. These always feel harder than they should after 3 days with no carbs.

A steadyish 5 at 6:30s was the planned outline on what was mainly an up and down the Trans Pennine Trail course.

It was going ok until just after 4 miles I was greeted with the sight of the finish line.

Apparently all 350 of us went the wrong way early on

It keeps the pattern of planned 5 milers in marathon week going though:

VLM 2012 - 5 mile road league. Crashed at 4.5 miles and dropped out.

Chester 2012 - 5 mile track session. Crashed at 4.25 miles.

VLM 2013 - 5 mile road league. Felt good but the race crashed at 4.23 miles!!

How fitting

Wardi - Good work

WJH - I do indeed, a pleasing number sequence!!

Talking of which, I feel dirty now for having missed a very significant achievement in last year's VLM. Thanks to those excellent stats provided last year I have just noticed that in the male race my finishing position was 888 !!!

How did I miss that last year? Must be more vigilant this year

The weather's looking good outside Phil's gaff on Sunday morning

So who have we got running on Sunday on here, I'm a bit out of the loop. Obviously Phil isn't bouncing off the walls and examining green portaloos just to spectate, so that's one!