QECP 15k, back home and the Sun is out. Conditions are bloody awful underfoot but the Sun is out and it’s warm. Short sleeve running T-shirt and long legs and shades..

Phew..

Don’t suppose anybody wants a Salomon trail 10 pack do they? Bought and worn to Wooler and then the OH bought me an ultra vest for xmas. This one.

http://www.sportsshoes.com/product/sal1760/salomon-trail-10-running-backpack-~-ss18/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwtZzWBRD2ARIsAIPenY0-_Z_um98l4VzGAEPsnkJObBHiVUysoN7bzvQS52NWrfLgITjUTKIaAl9iEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hey Duckman!

How much do you want for it?

Weather looking great for Manchester tomorrow…good luck to all runners. I’ll be the skinny balding man with cropped grey hair…easy enough to pick out then 🙂

And I’ll be the tall, bearded fella with a purple vest, short shorts and a head band.

Just had the customary pile of pasta and a pint. Bit of water and it’ll be time for bed.

Best of luck to all you mofos doing the GM Marathon. Glad to hear conditions sound good. Have a good one all. 👍

Good luck to everyone tomorrow. I’ll be the big unit all in black or grey except for my Hoka speedgoats which are bright yellow, aiming for 4.30.

Anyone running Sheffield half tomorrow do say hi to me – I’ll be wearing a flag with “1:30 pacer” on it 🙂

Good luck, enjoy the plod 🙂

Heehee, thanks.

Just started running again as it’s one of the only pieces of equipment I understand in the gym (supporting the other half by going with her)

One thing I have just bought though is a Milestone Pod, only used it once so far (9pm and knackered but wanted to test it). Got some very good information about my running technique out of it, plus I am able to use Zwift with it (making running more interesting for me). Hoping it will give me some nicer stats next time when I’m not half asleep.

Here’s what it can do if anyone’s interested:

Reminder to self: if you go out for a run when it’s pissing down don’t forget to apply vaseline… #sorenips

Sunburnt too which seems completely unfair. Anyway 10K done today, 25K tomorrow 🙂

Nip tip – tight compression tops are your friend.

Manchester done. Went off fast looking for a 3:30, blew up around 16 miles and crawled in with 3:50. A perfect example of how not to pace a marathon. If anyone sees me anywhere near the entry page of a marathon then feel free to give me a slap. Shattered.

Decent PB for me, happy to be under 2:50 though had been hoping for a little better. Perfect day for running.

4.58 for me with a bit left in the tank at the end. Was a perfect day for it.

Great times folks!

Managed to whack more than a minute off my 5k PB today, 21.39, I reckon the holy trail sub 20 is achievable this year!.

Getting my hydration sirted defo helping.

Great effort lads, just entering and getting to the start line feeling “ok” is a huge accomplishment 👍💪💪

I had planned a run this afternoon, went for a surf early on in the pissing rain.. then watched P-R and then….

I got my roadie out for a spin 🤩🤠🤠🤠 1st time in 18mths, I feel so damn proud I’ve come out for a pint. It’s back on the hanger, with the tyres pumped up.. let’s take a guess at how long it will be before it’s next outing…. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️🕺

Well then, woke up this morning and feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. Everything aches, calfs, thighs, back, shoulder, absolutely battered. Looking back, I’m still not sure why I thought I could do a 3:30 when my training was so far behind where it needed to be and I only just scraped under 4 hours in Brum when the training had gone almost perfectly. I am clearly an idiot.

Today will be spent under the influence of ibuprofen and coffee as I try and fight through a day of work. May have a spin on the turbo later and try and release some tension from my seized muscles.

Related, anyone got any good ideas how to turn this fitness/fatigue from marathon training into a fast 10k time? I’m doing the Birmingham City 10k in exactly 1 month and want to good time (OK, more accurately, I want to beat my wife’s PB which is 44m dead). Current PB is 48:24 and I ran the first 10k yesterday in 50:51. I’m thinking intervals and lots of them, that sound about right?

I always find that doing the long run (marathon) training naturally gives my speed a boost.

The Wednesday after London last year I did a 5M road race and PB’d, perhaps I didn’t work hard enough at London 🙂

I did a slow 6 on the Monday after, gave myself Tuesday off and raced Wednesday.

A month later I did a 10K and PB’d that too.

I would say keep the mileage up over what you would normally do and add in some intervals and hill sessions if you aren’t already doing them, see how that goes.

Yeah I generally PB in some fun runs in the following month or two – even did in a parkrun the following Saturday once when I wasn’t really trying. Start with some gentle runs and ease into intervals when you are feeling properly bouncy again. Don’t be surprised if it takes a couple of weeks.

Just jealous. Injured again…… calf went pop at Park Run this weekend (not badly, sore but i can walk on it, it’s not a massive tear or anything).  I don’t really understand it, if i thought I was overdoing it to much too soon or not allowing past injuries to recover but i hurt it on 17.3, recovered to some gentle runs (1-2 miles) after about 10 days; ran a gentle 5k on the 30th and was fine after, more short gentle runs since then, and then it goes again.

I’ve been in physio, he reckons it’s years of cycling tightness so have been stretching to try to lengthen it and build some strength and just build it up with gentle easy paced runs.

Looking at the dates / numbers above, is it just impatience on my part, and i need to give it 4-6 weeks to make sure it is properly recovered?

More time needed I reckon Jon. When mine went in mid November last year I did no running for 6 weeks with lots of stretching and exercises (mainly calf lowers) then eased myself back in with 1km on a treadmill 3 times for a week after a lots of warming up then took it slowly from there. Took at least 10 weeks from stopping to it feeling good again.

This will not be what you want to hear but then it wasn’t what I wanted to hear at the time either!

Lunge,

I am not a doctor…

There’s a fair bit of info on the internet suggesting ibuprofen and marathons aren’t a good combo, even for a few days after in recovery. The general gist of the articles I’ve read was that they both put a lot of similar strain on the kidneys that can cause problems. it seems that paracetamol is less dangerous in this situation.

I’m no expert, but have a quick Google before going to far down the ibuprofen recovery route.

Also, congrats on finishing in under four hours. Might not have been the target but it’s still a great achievement so enjoy that rather than being yourself up.

I’m a bit of an idiot too when it comes to targets. I’ve never run a marathon myself yet, but I’m still thinking ofI like to try and run one this spring, and can I get under 4, of maybe 3.45, …. Or 3.30 .😀

Conditions today and my attitude towards them..

Went out this afternoon for a bit of a plod, nothing in particular planned as I’ve just had a couple of big weeks on the bike so it was just a case of running until I got bored or something started to ache. needless to say it was the latter that stopped the run!

With the state of the weather recently it’s got me thinking about running shoes. I’ve currently got a pair of Brookes Cascadia that the running shop sold me and so far, so good. Nothing’s hurting more than I’d expect when I’m running so my guess is that they’re ok for me. I very rarely run on the road as I’ve got plenty of trails nearby to run on but as everything’s so wet and slippy and has been for some time the Brooks are struggling with grip.

Any suggestions for decent shoes to try which will have a decent amount of grip when it’s wet, muddy and slippery or is it just a case of trial and error? Ideally I don’t want to spend a fortune on them!

Inov8 something or other.

There are loads to choose from so have a look at their website.

You can pick up various styles pretty cheap on sportshoes, but it’s knowing which ones to get.

I’ve just got some trail talons and also some x-talons.

The trail talons seem better for hard trail (seem Ok on tarmac) and a bit of mud and the x-talons better for more mud and a bit softer ground, but are fine on hard trails although they have more stud like tread. They don’t have much in the way of cushioning though if that’s your thing. The cascadias will be much more cushioned than the inov8’s.

Don’t get Sal SpeedX3’s unless you know they will suit you.. Which means trying them on.. and that means going into a shop.. then buying online no doubt..

Don’t get Sal SpeedX3’s unless you know they will suit you.. Which means trying them on.. and that means going into a shop.. then buying online no doubt..

I’ve been looking at the Salomon shoes. My local shop stocks them so I’ll be popping in to see how they fit. Alarmingly, I’ll just buy them there rather than online as they’ve been pretty good when I’ve bought stuff from them previously.

Love my Hoka speedgoats for mixed trail and road running. Got a set of sal speedcross 4s and they are great for pure off road but they are bloody uncomfortable to run long distances on hard surfaces

Early bird entry for Manchester next year has just arrived in my inbox, they know there timings don’t they? Give it a day so the pain subsides and you’re left with a lovely glow in your legs, your memories are now of the achievement and not of the discomfort. I vowed I’d never run another marathon, and that I certainly wouldn’t run one in the spring that involved a winter training schedule. Yet still I want to click on the e-mail…

I’ve managed to delete it, it’s the best for everyone…

The new Speedgoats look better than the old ones. i find the older version a bit too unstable, generally very good but the new ones have a slightly wider base.

The Mafate’s are my favourite. Could run all day in them.

@theotherjonv

I have experience of calf issues similar to yours and here are my thoughts which you can ignore if you want 🙂

Dont bother stretching it doesnt do what people think it does (blue touch paper lit)

To resolve my issues I found a good local physio who is also a keen triathlete so is sports interested which IMO is one of the important factors. After assessment he found some scar tissue which he broke down over 3 quite painful sessions. I did regular concentric and eccentric calf raise/lowers to build strength. It was gone after those 3 visits and I am building my fitness gradually. As I understand when you damage your calf it repairs itself in a “haphazard” way which is prone to break down. The “frictional” massage breaks this tissue down and allows it to heal again but in a slower way, meaning the replacement tissue is more aligned to the previous muscle and has similar flexibility .

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Friction_Massage

Did you use your Clouds Lunge ?

One of our club members did a Bob Graham last year and described it as mostly a hard walk…

Some further thoughts on this…

Yesterday I did what would be the first 2 legs of an anticlockwise BG (Keswick-Honister, Honister-Wasdale Head). I carried (light!) camping kit and stayed over at Wasdale Head. The plan was to do the leg to Dunmail Raise today but the weather said otherwise so I cut it short.

Yesterday I didn’t push too hard, spent a bit of time messing around plugging in waypoints to my watch and had a bag weighing about 6.5kg but my time for leg 1 was 5 mins over the time on a 21hr schedule and my time on leg 2 was 7 mins quicker than that of a 20hr schedule.

Now I know 2 legs is not the same as a round and I don’t intend this to sound like a boast but it does lend credence to the idea that doing it in just under 24 hrs is basically a walk.

Are your timings based on a clockwise or anti clockwise round? A few are weighted to accommodate slowing down over time apparently?

It seems a slow run/walk will do it but consistency is the key across all 5 legs.

The schedule times were for an anticlockwise round from the Bob Wightman schedule calculator and I went in that direction so should be fairly accurate.

I’m not saying it’s easy. The pace is very doable but I think most people who fail don’t run out of time, something else goes wrong like injury or nutrition issues.

It seems a slow run/walk will do it but consistency is the key across all 5 legs.

I now realise what makes Ramsay’s round that bit harder than the BG. It’s much rougher underfoot and there are several big, hard climbs of a kind you don’t get on the BG. This means that when you can run on the CRR you really do need to run to make up time whereas on the BG a more consistent pace is possible. 4kmh will still see you round CRR but there will be some harder running in that than in a BG. As evidence of that I know a couple of folks with fairly comfortable BG times who timed out or only just made the cut on CRR.

Did you use your Clouds Lunge ?

Not in the end, no, I used a well loved pair of ASICS Cumulus 18’s. Felt I didn’t have enough miles in them to use them, the risk of blisters or such like was too higher. I do like them so far, feel pretty fast and responsive, I’ve got a 10k in a month and a half a month later so will likely use them for that.

First race of the year at the weekend, Kilomathon in Edinburgh, 13.1k. Was full of the cold and thought about pulling out, but weather on the morning was great so thought F it might as well go for it.

Really nice course, leafy footpaths then the finish is in Murrayfield stadium where there was a section of spectators beside the finishing line.

Cold didn’t actually seem to affect stuff that much, managed a 10k strava pb and was in top 4% (was vaguely aiming for top 10%)

Re cascadias – I went from them to inov8 roclite 280 for events where more grip were needed. The inov8 are lighter and indeed grippier, but don’t have a rock plate so you definitely feel the occasional poke on rocky terrain. Having said that did the Illuminator trail 25k last time in them (80% rocky fire/singletrack) and feet were ok after

How did everyone get on at the weekend?

I did the 4th round of my ‘race a half or above each month’ at the Boston Marathon UK.

Very pleased with a pb and 4th place overall, plus got a little pink on the shoulders from seeing the sun for a while 🙂

Trunce tonight if my tight hammy can cope.