gaz
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Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Mar 5, 2024 9:17:49 GMT
Mon 26th Feb: 10km recovery run Weds 28th Feb: 12km incl 4 x 1km fast Fri 1st Mar: 14km incl 2 x 4km @ 10k effort Sat 2nd Mar: gym Sun 3rd Mar: 26km long run in zone 2/3
Biggest week so far in the books (62km of running) - this week has almost half the running volume as I taper towards Bath on 17th. There's little respite after the race though, where it looks like I'll be straight back in to a 50+ week.
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gaz
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Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Mar 11, 2024 12:30:42 GMT
Mon 4th Mar: 7km recovery run Wed 6th Mar: 7.5km incl 8 x 400m fast with 200m recovery Fri 8th Mar: 12km incl 4km @ 10k effort Sat 9th Mar: 12.75km easy
Only two training runs (and one gym session) to go until the half. I'm feeling pretty tired, and the usual tight/achy spots are tight/achy! This usually means the peak+taper are doing their thing...
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gaz
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Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Mar 18, 2024 14:27:26 GMT
Mon 11th Mar: 6km super easy run Wed 13th Mar: 8.3km easy run with some strides Sun 17th Mar: race day!
Bath Half Marathon 2024: chip-time 1:47:44
I missed my goal of 1:45 by a few minutes, but was pretty close to what my Garmin predicted I would do based on training, and took over 6 minutes off my time from my first HM in October.
This felt significantly harder than my previous HM. There were a few undulations in the terrain and I made the mistake on pushing too hard uphill a couple of times around 15km, and from then on I felt like I was running on fumes. My splits were pretty even for the first 16-17km, averaging a few seconds over 5 mins/km (you need about 5 mins/km for 1:45), but the last 4km was just about hanging on and surviving. My last 4 splits were 5:09, 5:17, 5:13, and 5:24, with my HR climbing steadily higher and higher towards what I thought my max HR was (183). The most significant hill of the race was in the last half a KM, and my HR hit 189 as I crested that and sprinted for the finish.
Today I feel quite sore and pretty tired. I'm going to take it easy today and hopefully go for a recovery jog tomorrow, if I'm feeling more in the mood! I've got a fairly big week of training to get done with the marathon in 75 days...
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Post by phillydude on Mar 18, 2024 14:45:02 GMT
Congrats Gaz... I hope there was an Irish beer afterwards for St. Pats!
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Post by seltzer on Mar 18, 2024 15:21:43 GMT
Congrats!
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Mar 25, 2024 9:55:19 GMT
Thanks guys.
Tues 19th Mar: 8km recovery run Weds 20th Mar: "hill" repeats - 11 x 40 secs up, walk down - 6km total Fri 22nd Mar: 14km tempo run incl 3 x 2km @ 10k pace Sun 24th Mar: 26km long run in zone 2/3
This week's long run was pretty awful. It felt harder than it should have done from pretty early on - legs still fatigued from the race, and recovery not ideal thanks to some sub-optimal nights of sleep. The last 10km or so was especially gruelling, just a real grind to get through. But get through it I did, and now I get the joy of a deload week before it ramps back up again. Just under 10 weeks to go.
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Post by macdiver on Mar 25, 2024 22:42:46 GMT
Thanks guys. Tues 19th Mar: 8km recovery run Weds 20th Mar: "hill" repeats - 11 x 40 secs up, walk down - 6km total Fri 22nd Mar: 14km tempo run incl 3 x 2km @ 10k pace Sun 24th Mar: 26km long run in zone 2/3 This week's long run was pretty awful. It felt harder than it should have done from pretty early on - legs still fatigued from the race, and recovery not ideal thanks to some sub-optimal nights of sleep. The last 10km or so was especially gruelling, just a real grind to get through. But get through it I did, and now I get the joy of a deload week before it ramps back up again. Just under 10 weeks to go. First, CONGATULATIONS on your race. As everyone here can attest, some runs are like that. Sometimes why is obvious to you and other times you are like WTF
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on Apr 30, 2024 13:11:41 GMT
I'm a bit behind. Still training regularly (running, at least - gym has been... intermittent at best).
Mon 25th Mar: 7km recovery run Wed 27th Mar: 8km incl 4 x 800m repeats Fri 29th Mar: 12km incl 3km @ 10k effort Sun 31st Mar: 15.3km long easy run Weekly distance: 42km
Mon 1st Apr: 9km recovery run Wed 3rd Apr: 8km easy with 6x100m strides Fri 5th Apr: 11km incl 4km @ 10k effort Sun 7th Apr: 25km easy-paced run along a boggy canal towpath Weekly distance: 53km
Tue 9th Apr: 10km recovery run (back on the towpath, less boggy today) Wed 10th Apr: 10x60 sec hill reps (walk back down) - 5.8km total Fri 12th Apr: 13km incl 6k @ 10k effort Sun 14th Apr: 27km long run Weekly distance: 56km
Mon 15th Apr: 10km recovery run Wed 17th Apr: 8x70 sec hill reps (walk back down) - 6.2km total Fri 19th Apr: 15km incl 3x3km @ 10k effort with 4 min recoveries Sun 21st Apr: 29km long run Weekly distance: 60km
Mon 22nd Apr: 7km recovery run Wed 24th Apr: 8.4km incl 4 x 800m repeats Fri 26th Apr: 12km incl 3k & 2k @ 10k effort, 4 min recovery between efforts Sat 27th Apr: GYM! Sun 28th Apr: 19km with last 8km @ MP Weekly distance: 46km
Mon 29th Apr: 10km recovery run
So since I last posted I've done my longest ever run (29km) and had a couple of especially big training weeks. For 5th-12th March, we were away for a week in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, but I still managed to get my running done. It's a very hilly area, so finding flat enough places to run away from major roads was a challenge, but thankfully the towpath by the Brecon-Monmouth canal was just about runnable. I had to stop at about halfway and pop into a local shop so I could buy plasters to put on blisters on my arches - I've never worn my trail shoes for longer than 12-ish km and they were causing some issues.
This week and next week will be the two biggest of the marathon prep. This week will be ~66km and next week ~70km, with both capped by new records for longest ever run. This week it's 32km (20 miles) and next week it's 25km (21.75 miles)... After that the taper will start. The race is in just over 4 weeks.
I've been feeling mostly pretty good, with some aches and pains that are coming and going and that I'm managing through stretching, mobility, voodoo flossing, etc. I've been absolutely ravenous at times, and have responded by eating whatever I want, with no change to my scale weight, which is nice. I've definitely noticed an uptick in my body's sleep demands, and have been working on regularly getting closer to 8-8.5 hours instead my normal 7-7.5.
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Post by phillydude on Apr 30, 2024 14:07:58 GMT
Tell us about this voodoo flossing of which you speak... I'm not familiar with that terminology.
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Post by seltzer on Apr 30, 2024 15:58:18 GMT
Writing from personal experience, reading about where you are conditioning wise you're going to be fine for the race.
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gaz
New Member
Posts: 33
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Post by gaz on May 1, 2024 9:13:00 GMT
Tell us about this voodoo flossing of which you speak... I'm not familiar with that terminology. I believe it's a technique popularized by Kelly Starrett in his book Becoming A Supple Leopard, but I could be wrong on that - I became familiar with it when his book gained prominence. The osteopath I've been seeing for many years is a big fan of it as a technique for increasing range of motion and decreasing pain at various joints, especially in the legs. Short version: you wrap a length of compressive rubber band tightly around a limb where you're experiencing pain or reduced ROM, and leave it on for 2-4 minutes. During that time, you gently move the joint through various movements. I think the (probably pseudo-scientific) thinking is that this "flosses" adhesions in the fascia and gets things moving again. I've found it can work really nicely for some things, and not for others. If you've got a muscle tear or a nerve issue, it's likely to make it worse because you'll just irritate the injury! But for example, I remember during lockdown when I started running, I started getting pain in one of my feet that made it impossible to run, and very difficult to walk. I tried NSAIDs, lacrosse ball massage, and possibly some other things, and it made no improvement. One day I remembered my voodoo floss band and thought to give it a try - I wrapped it around my foot and then spent a few minutes doing ankle rolls, dorsiflexion drills, plantarflexion drills, walking up and down the house. The pain went away pretty much as soon as I unwrapped my foot and didn't return. These days I use it mainly pre-run if my ankles are feeling stiff. I wrap from the mid-foot up to the lower calf and do some calf raises and ankle mobility work. I usually see a big increase in my ankle dorsiflexion ROM quite quickly. I also use it occasionally for my hips - wrap around my inner thigh, do some lunges, split squats, unwrap, hips now feel a bit looser, and my back is less likely to get pissy with me. I suspect there's a big degree of placebo effect going on, but it works for me and it feels good when you take the band off and the blood rushes back into that area, lol.
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Post by macdiver on May 1, 2024 20:35:10 GMT
You are definitely putting in the work. You should do great at your marathon.
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