Berlin Q or Bust: Road to sub 2:45

healy1835

AuldManKing wrote: »

Jaysus - thats a big session - are you sure you read the plan right - same thing last year if I recall

Yep, read the plan right.... :eek: I'm trusting the process...

healy1835

Thu: 4 Miles Recovery: 34:14 @5:19/km

Fri: 5 Miles Easy: 39:48 @4:45/km

Let handbrake off the last couple of km

Sat: 5k Shakeout inc strides: 24:30 @4:54/km

Confidence levels see-sawing here before the race tomorrow. There's loads of things rattling around in my head, like...

*what to target? Sub 60, 59, 58? I think I'd be selling myself short if I went for sub 60, but it's still a mark I've never beaten. Do I just throw caution to the wind and have a rattle at it, see what groups form out there and just race it...

*i think I need to stop being so bloody cautious in these races! It's a warm up race, everything is going to plan as regards Manchester. So what if I go a bit aggressive and don't get the result I'm looking for.

*I've been the sort of runner who needs smaller, incremental steps to get there in the past. Maybe this just suits me.

*maybe I've over-egged the pudding with a 5 Mile race, hard session and 10 Mile race in a week.

It's only a bloody warm race. I need to get out of my own way sometimes.

Swashbuckler

I can't really add anything to all of the above. You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. Just run it. It's a race, nothing more. Don't target anything. Just ease into the first two miles and see what you feel. Don't over plan it. Forget the watch. Run free.

And certainly forget about over egging. The main thing is the main thing and all that. Run the best race you can on the day.

healy1835

Well...

Trim 10 Mile: 59:52 PB

Pre-amble: Got to Trim in decent time, parked in public car park beside Lidl. Ran up to bag drop, met a few club mates and did a bit of a warm up. Plan was to go out at 59min pace and hopefully have a bit in the tank coming home.

Km's 1-5 (3:36, 3:37, 3:46, 3:35, 3:40)

First few km were fine, down wind and apart from the 3rd km, the gradient was favourable enough. Got into a little group early on which included a club mate. We decided to leave that group and tag on to another. Pace felt ok.

Km's 6-10 (3:38, 3:41, 3:49, 3:45, 3:41)

I knew that the 8th and 9th km's were a drag, so I was prepared to bleed a bit of time there. Starting the climb, myself and my club mate had gotten a bit isolated and when he said to push on and join the little group ahead, I just found myself unable to go with him. This messed with my head a little bit and before you know it, I've been gapped and am heading into the breeze completely isolated as the group begin to pull away.

Km's 11 & 12 (3:50, 3:53)

Not gonna lie, I thought I was dead in the water here. The group ahead, that had a couple of club mates in it now, were just pulling away, I'd no one to work off. The uphill just seemed endless, and the breeze was seriously damaging my mojo There's nothing really in the legs to suggest that I've a second wind in there and I'm bleeding time. The lead lady goes by me up the hill, and there's no positives to be found.

Km's 13, 14, 15, & 16 (3:42, 3:43, 3:43, 3:40)

However I knew the last few km were gonna be there to be got at if one was in the shape to do it. Turn the corner to head back towards the town and I try to up it a bit. 3:39's are not happening, but if I can bring it home in 3:44's (6min miles) I'll dip under the hour mark which has been a serious monkey on my back.

Digging in now but the pace has been upped and I'm catching a little group in front of me now. Cross the 9 mile mark, which is on a short, sharp climb, at exactly 54 minutes. Right Johnny, dig in here and get in under a 6 min mile. There's not a lot of energy in the legs I must admit but the watch tells me I'm moving at around 3:40 which gives me a bit of a lift. 3:32 for the last little bit and I get in under the hour with 8 seconds to spare.

Post Race:

Didn't know how to take it tbh. Happy to have dug out a good result but disappointed to have gone slower than my target and to have struggled on the way back in. Also a bit disappointed to be the 7th man home from the club, although it was some going to be fair having 7 lads under the 60 mins. But I'd hoped to a bit further up the pecking order. The lads ran away with the team prize and the second team which I was on was 5th.

In conclusion;
* It's a PB

* it's a sub 60

* Still going well and firmly on target for Manchester

* Maybe a 61min 10 Mile Tempo, Raheny, 6 x 1 Mile @>5:30 and this was just too much in the space of 2 weeks. I certainly felt the tank had emptied today

*a couple of terrible nights sleep in the build up due to a very cranky and sick 2 year old prob didn't help matters. Not using it as an excuse, I'm the one who's decided to go full steam ahead with this knowing full well that my sleep levels are putting me close to the edge at times. But it was an issue today.

About 90k for the week. Looking forward to not racing next weekend will sit down with the man in charge and see what he thinks. Big 5 weeks coming up, eyes are firmly on the prize.

MY BAD

Awesome stuff well done man

AuldManKing

Overall - its a great 2 weeks - think of it that way.

Everyone on here know's that if you focused on the 10mile - you'd do it in a faster time, but the focus is Manchester.
This 2 weeks will stand to you.

(If you wanted a faster time in Trim - you should have asked God to stop the wind and your coach to not give mile repeats in between 2 races!)


Congrats on the PB!

shotgunmcos

Well done on the sub60 pb especially driving on after the hill. You are on track and shaping up well for Manchester. Easily said, and I know, but.. get more sleep!

Swashbuckler

I'd love to see you sign up to a race, last minute, with no planning, leave the watch at home and just go with your gut.

That being said, it's sub 60,monkey off your back in tough conditions. Super stuff lad. It's a good day when sub 60 ten miler is considered a bit meh in your mind. Think back to five years ago and how you'd have felt with same result!

KSU

Congrats on the sub 60 man

healy1835 wrote: »

* Still going well and firmly on target for Manchester

* Maybe a 61min 10 Mile Tempo, Raheny, 6 x 1 Mile @>5:30 and this was just too much in the space of 2 weeks. I certainly felt the tank had emptied today

Or look at it the other way you have just come through a hell of a training block that will stand to you with the main target. No harm in having a few weeks like that in any marathon block as long as there is the foundation there to support it.

healy1835

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Well done on the sub60 pb especially driving on after the hill. You are on track and shaping up well for Manchester. Easily said, and I know, but.. get more sleep!

Yeah it's tough though. I think the fact that my 2 lads were great sleepers meant that I was gonna be caught at some stage. She's improving to be fair, most nights it's just once a night and I can deal with that. Friday was a 5/6 times job and I was ridin' solo that night so I think it just caught up a bit.

healy1835

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I'd love to see you sign up to a race, last minute, with no planning, leave the watch at home and just go with your gut.

That being said, it's sub 60,monkey off your back in tough conditions. Super stuff lad. It's a good day when sub 60 ten miler is considered a bit meh in your mind. Think back to five years ago and how you'd have felt with same result!

I like that idea tbh. I think i'd trial it in a shorter race first though. You've sown a seed now P...

But yeah, I broke 60 mins for 10 miles on a tough day when I wasn't quite at it. The couple of days have given me a bit of perspective and I'm very happy with how I handled Sunday.

healy1835

KSU wrote: »

Congrats on the sub 60 man



Or look at it the other way you have just come through a hell of a training block that will stand to you with the main target. No harm in having a few weeks like that in any marathon block as long as there is the foundation there to support it.

Thanks L. It is great to have that little milestone ticked off i have to say. I'd like to think I have the foundation to support it, haven't lost anything since DCM and have never been fitter starting a marathon block.

Singer

Solid run in not amazing conditions, and an amazing round number achieved. Not bad! Just get to Manchester without the kids in tow

healy1835

Manchester Marathon Week 6

Mon: 14k Recovery 1:09:59 @5:00/km

Out and around the bog. Body tender enough after Trim.

Tue: AM: 7.5k: 38:04 @5:05/km
PM: 11k: 53:39 @4:52/k.

The grimmest pair of commutes weather wise that I've put in yet.

Wed: 14k Treadmill: 1:10:00 @5:00/km

The instructions came down the line to leave the midweek session and let the body come around. I just wasn't in the humour for a session, a mixture of the physical and mental I think. 'Keep the miles easy and text me after Friday's run, then we'll see about the weekend' was the plan.

Thu: 14k: 1:08:50 @4:55/km

Fri: 13.2k: 1:04:15 @4:53/km

Long day and week in work meant I was tired enough heading out on this one, but as always, felt 1000% better once I'd gotten the runners laced up and was out on the roads. True to his word, the man with the plan came through with plan later that evening....which was not in the form of a Sat session/Sun easy LR, but rather 12k@4:30, 12k@4:00 & 12k@4:20 to be done the following morning due to the incoming weather warning. Didn't finish the bowl of ice cream I had just started whilst watching Avengers with the two lads...

Sat: LR: 36k: 2:32:54 @4:15/km

Up at 6 for breakfast, out the door at 7:30 am for this one. I'm officially finished with that loop in the Curragh for LR's. Once and once only was enough. Loads of guys in the club use it for MP stuff in their LR's, but while it's ok for tempos, I think it's a bit of a false economy, and also mind numbingly boring. So off I went with a route in mind that would certainly put me right at the mercy of the elements, and also include a good few drags, but I was more than happy to do it.

Run ended up being pretty satisfying. Took about 6k to warm up, and then started to feel decent enough. Averaged 4:29/km for first 12k. The MP 12k was into a decent breeze for a good chunk and also took in Kildare town which slowed me a bit. I could have fleeced myself and hit the splits but I knew I could get home at a steadier clip in the last 12k and hit the overall average pace. 2nd 12k averaged 4:03/km.

Downwind now, and I miscounted the Kms and ended running another MP km by accident. Probably a sign that I was feeling good in hindsight . Stopped to take off jacket and pack it up into handheld bag thingy. Took on a gel here and saw that my ave pace was 4:15/km. Decided that I'd hold that pace for the last 11k...which I did, and was bouncing off the road for most of it. Legs tired a little coming back through the town for the last couple of km, but I was in the zone at that point.
Last 12k averaged 4:12/km.

It's only when I looked at the activity afterwards that I found myself thinking, 'you've just ran 36k at sub 3hr marathon pace'. Got a kick out of that. In hindsight I'm glad I only got the nod to do that session late Friday night and didn't get the chance to overthink things. Delighted to get that one under the belt. Will let the elements do their worst tomorrow and hopefully get out in the late afternoon for a recovery shuffle.

MY BAD

That was some run on Saturday. You're in great shape

healy1835

Sun: 13k Shuffle: 1:07:22 @5:11/km

Glad I got LR in yesterday. Fair play to anyone who went long today.

123k for the week

healy1835

Manchester Marathon Week 7

Mon: 16k Treadmill: 1:16:00 @4:45/km

Was cold just looking out the window for this one.

Tue: Session: 5x2k off 2mins recovery

Wasn't entirely sure of what humour I was in prior to this workout. Had a bit of a mad week in work and this was smack bang in the middle of a couple of things I had going on Tuesday. I could have ppushed it to Wednesday but I wanted a ittle more recovery before big session on Sat....so it was with a cluttered brain that I arrived at the track for this one. Weather was suitably horrendous and with the snow arriving at about 180* angles , I set off.

Plan was to see how the body felt for the first couple and then up it for the last three. Started at 7:20's which if I'm really being honest were phoned in. Upped it to 7:10's for the last three and felt a bit better about the session, but didn't feel like I was working hard enough. 'Warmed' down, 14k for the day.

Splits: 7:18, 7:17, 7:10, 7:10, 7:09

Wed: 13.4k Easy: 1:09:00 @5:09/km

No recollection of this one!!

Thu: 11.7K Easy: 57:56 @4:57/km

Shoehorned this one in late in the evening.

Fri: 8 Miles Easy: 61:30 @4:46/km

Tipping around the Camp after school, eyeballing the weather and developing ever increasing levels of trepidation about the following day's LR with Alan.

Sat: 32k LR: 2:15:06 @4:13/km

When myself and AMK were making plans for a couple of big LR workouts in the build up to Manchester, I envisaged nice and calm sunny mornings in the PP or down my direction, just shooting the breeze and good vibes aplenty....well I was sort of right about the breeze part, but that was it!

I'd left the route in AMK's reliable hands, and we'd a lovely 16k running alongside canals and rivers that were all new to this poster. Chatting away, we completely disregarded the planned 5k@4:40/km to begin with, instead averaging 4:30's, but effort levels were spot on. Next 5k were due to come in @4:30/km but with some favourable gradients and wind came in @4:26 ave. Next 6k before we got back to the car were tougher and came in about 4:21/km a little over the 4:20/km that was planned.

First 16k in 69:20. Stop at the car, discard a couple of layers, quick drink and get a gel on board, and then straight into the 16k MP section. We sort of gave ourselves a bit of an out when discussing the pace and the fact that the wind might makes things difficult, but once we got going neither of us wanted to deviate too far from the planned pace. AMK pushed the pace throughout and there were definitley one or two occasions where I was clinging on a bit, but they passed relatively quickly. I nearly took a fall due to the wind on a couple occasions, but managed to remain upright. As an aside, at one point coming back up Chesterfield into the gale we came upon a massive puddle, 'left or right Al?' I shouted. 'Straight through!' came the reply. He claims he got a blister afterwards, but he seemed to exit the puddle as clean as he entered it. I , on the other had, emerged like some kind of swamp monster and had to squelch quickly to catch back up. We were digging in for the last few km, but managed to finish strong. 64:16 for the second 16k.

Couple of miles c/d back to car and we were done. 2nd big LR workout in a week, and the conditions Saturday morning made this run ever more satisfying. Was great to have company on this one, I can't speak for AMK, but it would have been an entirely more unappealing prospect to run 32k at that pace on my todd. AMK is in some nick for Manchester.

7 weeks to go, feeling good about things.

Sun: 3.4k: 17:47 @5:17km

A couple of mates' double 40th birthday party had me a little tired on Sunday, but I said I'd get out and clear the cobwebs while also collecting the car. Had a mind to run 5/6 miles, but whilst passing said car on the main street, one of the heaviest showers I've ever encountered started to lash down. Quick about turn into the car and home!

107km for the week.

Sheep1978

Seen you and AMK run on strava Saturday morning having been around the PP roughly the same time and feeling the strong wind. Fair play to you both on the paces. Both in great nick for Manchester.

healy1835

Manchester Marathon Week 8

Mon: 15k: 1:08:06 @4:32/km

Was planning on hitting the treadmill but got a text off a mate who was just back from a trip to the states and looking to get a run in to stave off the jet lag. Lack of layers did not prevent the run from being enjoyable. No watch so just went by his data, faster than I thought.

Tue:

AM: 7.5k: 36:30 @4:52/km
PM: 12.2k: 58:29 @4:48/km

Usual Tuesday double.

Wed: 15.6k inc 10x300 hills: 1:13:38 @4:44/km

Light session was the order of the day. Threw on the Streaks and headed to a nearby hill. Not the most difficult gradient, but perfect for what was prescribed. Felt very good out there.

Thu: 12k: 59:22 @4:57/km

Just the 2 days for mid term, so spent the morning up Killiney Hill with the two lads and the dog, then dropped by my parents for an hour on the way back so I could nip off for an hour.

Fri: 8.5k: 39:34 @4:39/km

Had it in my mind to do 20k between Thu and Fri, so got out for this little one. Communion suit shopping followed by Eddie Rockets for the afternoon

Sat: 8 Mile @HMP: 48:02 @3:44/km

This wasn't quite the tempo that was on the plan, that was 8 miles @3:55-50 range, but with easy LR to follow on Sunday and a light hill session in the bag from Wednesday, I wanted to work a bit harder. Got the go ahead to do so, so decided to run it in a similar fashion to my upcoming HM; starting conservatively, getting into a nice rhythm and then dialling things up towards the end. Listened to Scullions podcast about working hard into the wind, and definitely took it on board.

Did 2 and a half laps of the loop at the new Lidl distribution depot on the outskirts of the town. It's a class addition, great roads and footpaths and pretty flat. The wind was the only spanner in the works, but I was prepared to work into it. The loop itself is about 3 miles, with about equal sections into and against the wind yesterday.

First loop was 6:10, 6:09, 6:06 with the 3rd mile into wind. Working hard into the wind but feeling better as the run went on. 2nd loop was 5:58, 6:00, 6:05, not holding back as much downwind this time around. Last two miles were downwind, so I just let the hand break off and ran them hard, but not feeling out of control. 5:51 & 5:43 to finish.

I may or may not hit 6min miles in the HM, squinn from these parts has given me a good insight into the course which is a route that will need to be managed carefully, but I definitely don't think I'll be far off.

19k for the day.

Sun: LR: 32.7k Easy: 2:34:18 @4:43/km

Had company for this one but it was still a bit of a slog. The slower pace just meant more time on feet into a wind that just seemed to change direction to go against us at every opportunity. Got colder as the run went on, and partner had to stretch out a niggle on a couple of occasions. Got back to house with 32.7k on the clock out of planned 34k, but I just couldn't be arsed to run another 1.3k!

123k for the week

healy1835

Manchester Marathon (hopefully) Week 9

Mon: Treadmill 15.2k: 70mins @4:37/km

Tue: AM: 7.4k: 36:42 @4:57/km
PM: 10k: 47:30 @4:45/km

Pair of miserable commutes. Cut the commute route home short to avoid a monster hail and snow shower. Didn't cut it short enough

Wed: Session: 16x400m off 60secs walk/jog recoveries.

Weather was grim for this one so, I just walked/jogged the recoveries and set off from wherever I was on the track after the 60 secs. Was layered up and didn't look at watch once throughout the session. Stuck for time so warm up and cool down were pretty short. Hence the pedestrian 1st rep. Felt good out there though.

81,76,75,72,75,75,76,75,
73,72,74,72,73,74,73,75

Just over 10k for day.

Thu: 16k: 1:18:50 @4:52/km

First 10k in 50:50 with my regular training partner who's having a frustrating time trying to overcome some injuries. Did another 6k afterwards.

Fri: Treadmill: 8Miles: 60:00 @4:40/km

Had resigned myself to battling the elements on both runs over the weekend, so took a little refuge from the snow showers in the DFTC gym after work.

Sat: Session: 3x2 Miles off 5mins jog recoveries

The forecast, whilst still windy, made getting out before 11am a necessity. Ran up to the 'Lidl loop' and aimed for 11:40 splits, knowing that at various stages I'd most likely have to work with/against the elements. This was a morning to dig in and I managed to come away with 11:39, 11:41 & 11:43 splits. The last one involving an drenching by a car, whose driver I had a few choice words with. This, and the way the last loop worked out into the wind meant I had to finish last km (3:30) hard down wind to try and hit the split.

Felt pretty strong out there again. 18ish km for the day.

Sun: 30k Relaxed: 2:15:15 @4:32/km

Blown around the place but was cruising out there & feeling some good vibes on a sunny morning.

120k for the week.

OOnegative

Best of luck tomorrow Johnny, run well man!!!

healy1835

Manchester Marathon (Unlikely) Week 9

Well, 'twas a testing week on many different fronts. My wife was away with work from Mon - Thu, so that narrowed opportunities to fit runs in. I did however have my runs planned out well so I was going to be able to work around it...until things just sort of started to fray at the edges in work, and meant that I couldn't do my regular Tues commute double. Added to this was a trio of sick children in the house who needed some attention Anyway, enough 'woe is me' stories! I'm a working parent to three young kids, these things are par for the course

Onto my running...oh wait, there's some more 'woe is me' to come :rolleyes:

Mon: 10 Miles Easy: 1:18:00 @4:51/km

Tue: Nope

Wed: Hill Session: 10x300m

Plan was to just keep the legs sharp, not a hard session. Did it with my mate who's coming back from injury so we walked the downhills instead of jogging. Felt strong on the uphills...

Thu: Woke up and immediately I can feel my glutes. What the actual *&%? I've done a good bit of hills this block and the previous day was a light enough session, but I felt like I'd ran about 20k of hills 'Ok, not to worry, i'll run it off after work' was the plan...however work and sick children had other ideas and running did not happen.

Fri: I'm now starting to fret. Fret about the HM, fret about Manchester, fret about my entire running identity. 5k with a few strides before work; 24:11 @4:49/km. Glutes still sore and generally felt terrible. Decide to pull the plug on the HM.

*Fri: 11:00am. Change mind and decide to run HM. The plan has a HM race in it for a reason, just run the damn race. Stayed hydrated for the rest of the day, trying to convince myself that something was salvagable.

Sat: Carlingford Half Marathon

Set off about 6:30am with a mate who kindly agreed to keep me company even though he, unlike myself, had the option of running Bohermeen the following day. Got up in good time, good parking spot, registered and ambled around the town for a bit of a walk before getting in a warm up and heading to the start line.

The course was a tricky one to plan for; 4km of climbing in the first 5k and then a steady downhill until the coast where you'd find out just how much the hills had taken out of the legs. I still fancied running a PB (1:19:40), but I knew it wasn't a given. The plan was to take it out and manage the hills, trying not to go over 4min kms and see how I was fixed for the downhill section. As I've mentioned before in these parts I'm not a particularly good or confident downhill runner.

Km 1-5 (19:41)
Off we go and immediately I'm stressed out. There's about 1000 in the race but here we are 400m out the road and turning back into the town and I'm in the lead with another runner. The thoughts of actually being in a race were not doing me any good, so i was actually sort of happy when the eventual winner eased away from me after about a km (3:43). Turn out of the town and the climbing starts. Immediately I realise that we'll also be running into a stiff breeze for the entire duration of the climb. 2nd place goes past me after about 2k, quickly followed by a couple of other runners. I tag on to the back and there's a group of about 3 of us, with 1st and 2nd eating up the hills in front I didn't feel bad on the hills but there was that trepidation of not knowing how much this was taking out of the legs and also not knowing the course. The last km of the climb was a real drag in particular and I definitely could feel the lactate starting to build and was pretty tired by the top. (3:56, 4:00, 3:58, 4:04)

Km 6-10 (18:37)
The downhill doesn't seem to be giving me back as much as the uphill took away (does it ever?) and I need a km to recover from the climb (3:48). 5th place has dropped back and i'm now a few meters behind 4th place. Legs coming back after the uphill so I decide to push the pace a little and see how that feels. Not entirely sure when first water station was but i think it was about 8/9k. I actually stopped and walked through drinking an entire cup of water. Lost a few seconds but i wanted to make sure I got a decent drink on board and then would forgoe the rest of the stations(3:40, 3:43, 3:42, 3:44)

Km 11-15 (18:25)
Through 10k in 38:18. I'm working with 3rd place runner now for a couple of km, but he drops back as we get to the sea around 8 Miles in. The coastal section is nice to look at but the gravel on the path is not great to run on and the surface isn't great in parts. I was in 3rd starting the coast section, but a new runner has entered the equation and cruises by me. This gives me a bit of a spurt so I up it and come back to him and then move away from him fairly quickly. (3:42, 3:42, 3:39, 3:39, 3:43)

Km 16-20 (18:33)

It's about this stage that I sort of start to try and figure out where I am time wise. If I can bring things home in around 3:45's I'm gonna PB. Nice one! I'm beginning to tire but holding onto 3rd place has occupied my brain, and now here I am in the last 5k with a PB in the offing. The last couple of mile markers have been about 100m short but I'm not worrying about that now, that can wait until later. I'm glad to come off the coastal route at about 10 miles (3:45 for km 16) as the surface had gotten quite ropey underfoot. Then there was a sharp little drag out of nowhere, Strava tells me it didn't exist, but my pace dropped to 4:20's and I almost stopped and walked! My buddy who ran a 1:25 PB, thankfully confirmed that it did actually exist and that the lead lady who was in front of him, actually did stop and walk up it! Anyway, this is offically a wobble now, the km comes in at 3:53

Time to bite down now. get back onto the main road and join back up with the 10k race. Not sure whether the running traffic here was a help or a hinderence, but the many shouts of encouragment I got off the 10k runners were appreciated. 3:43, 3:41, 3:46 gets me to 20k.

Pb is officially on now, strong last km will get me under. The sailing club is in the distance and I can't help thinking that looks a little further than a KM away...coming home strong now, gurning central, watch beeps 3:41 for 21k but I know now that it's gonna measure long and I'm a little deflated as at no stage up to now had the mile markers indicated that was going to be the case. 3:46 pace for the last bit, but I gave up the ghost for the last 100m after i knew the PB was gone & sub 80 was also out the window Finished in 3rd place which was a nice little bonus.

Result: 1:20:15

So there you go. Happy with the performance at the end of a pretty tough week. Almost pulled a PB out of the bag on a tricky enough route which would have been nice, but that wasn't to be. 1:19:36 on Strava for the HM but they don't count unfortunately! Last 10 miles were a second faster than Trim last month I know that I can go a good bit faster over the HM but that can wait for another opportunity. Things are set up nicely for Manchester, just need it to go ahead now...

MY BAD

Excellent race well done. You're in superb shape

OOnegative

Good man Johnny, sounded very tough!! Bravo on the podium also.

browne_rob5

Great run Johnny well done! Very nice to get on the podium.

AuldManKing

Great work there! top marks for the podium.

But you didn't have a horizontal hailstorm.....................

Swashbuckler

Great stuff J. In super shape

Wubble Wubble

Excellent work there J. Sorry I missed you. Not the easiest of races, but it shows your training is paying off. Even better to bag a podium after it all.

healy1835

Manchester Marathon Week 10

Mon: 15k: 1:11:13 @4:45/km

Tue: 10k: 49:14 @4:55/km

Wed: 12x400m
Regular training partner is on the way back from various injuries and is starting his journey towards Amsterdam. Only had a small fartlek planned so when he asked me to jump in and help him out I was only too happy to oblige. 80's for the first few but he tired a bit after that. Still got around in under 85s at the end. Told me to 'have a rattle, I'll try and hang on' about 100m into the last rep, to which I did for a 74sec effort We'd be just the right type of competitive, so I know him watching me pull away quickly will be a big source of motivation over the coming weeks.

Shower of rain from the heavens afterwards so went in side and did 30 minutes on the treadmill. Word around the camp was that all the DF were being placed on standby for the Covid-19 response so there was a weird atmosphere around the place.

Thu: Even though I'd been making preparations and had told my staff to do the same, 3 hrs notice to shut the school was still unexpected. Made the best provisions we could and sent everyone one their way. Running didn't feel very important in the greater scheme of things but I was happy to get for a head clearing steady 60mins that afternoon

13.4k: 1:00:00 @4:28/km

Fri: 14k: 1:06:30 @4:45/km

Decided to pull the plug on Manchester after a short consideration. Easy decision really, AMK had texted me the same earlier in the day, so it was with a heavy heart that hotel was cancelled. News filtered through later of the race being cancelled. I'm signed up for Amsterdam in the autumn, so if that goes ahead, I'll be running that rather than a rescheduled Manchester marathon.

From a running perspective it's a disappointment but it's pretty easy to square away with everything else that's ongoing. Some of the ****e I've seen online with people moaning about races being cancelled and getting refunds is just a bit depressing. Cop on.

On the plus side I'm fitter than I've been. Have ran 5mile and 10 mile PBs. Almost snagged a HM pb on a tough route and had never felt more confident about running a fast marathon. Will move onto a 10k block now, prob target a 10k time trial or something at the end of it, then see where things are. Amsterdam block will start in June regardless so will stay sharp in the meantime.

First few Friday night ales in a long time

OOnegative

The Hague is a much nicer & cheaper option accommodation wise than Amsterdam, just saying........