Faster

tailgunner · 02-09-2016 11:02AM

Thanks Bluesquare, that's good advice. I'm on it with the stretching and foam rolling and will book the physio today and get the calf seen to as soon as I can.

I can't wait to get the last one out of the way either. Definitely won't be doing more than 20, and might leave it at 18. I've two 20s done already anyway.

tailgunner · 02-09-2016 06:59PM

Friday, 2nd September 2016

3 miles
29:42
9:53/mi

A bit shorter than I had wanted to do, but now is clearly not the time to be chasing miles, so I did the bare minimum. The pace was a touch quicker than usual for a recovery run, but it felt very, very easy.

The calf is much the same - a bit tight at the start, but much better by the end. So I'd say I'm safe enough to tackle the long run. I'll shoot for 18 miles and if things go well, I'll bring it up to 20. If not, I'll cut it short.

The physio is booked for Monday anyway. Thanks for all the advice folks.

tailgunner · 03-09-2016 02:07PM

Saturday, 3rd September 2016

20.03 miles
3:14:29
9:43/mi

Managed the 20. Delighted. The calf was tight again starting off, but started to loosen out after a couple of miles. I think I was about 7 or 8 miles in when I realised I hadn't been "aware" of it for ages, and it held up well for the rest of the run. In fact it was probably the only part of the body that wasn't complaining by the end.

I'll still go to the physio to be 100% sure - my legs are long overdue a rub anyway - but getting through the run today was a huge relief. I'll probably go for a very easy recovery run tomorrow evening, but otherwise I'm officially tapering.

Splits:

9:59, 9:48, 9:42, 9:50, 9:36
9:47, 9:39, 9:49, 9:43, 9:46
9:40, 9:42, 9:47, 9:34, 9:49
9:39, 9:37, 9:39, 9:40, 9:32

Ososlo · 03-09-2016 02:38PM

Brilliant run! Well done!

Firedance · 03-09-2016 02:39PM

tailgunner · 03-09-2016 02:55PM

I'm already freaked about having to go to the afters of a wedding tonight. If I hear one person sneeze, I'm gone.

Bluesquare · 03-09-2016 03:35PM

Well done - great your calf didn't play up! What size long runs are on your plan for next weekend and following weekend . Our schedule seems a bit aggressive so trying to get a good gauge !

tailgunner · 03-09-2016 03:43PM

13-14 miles next weekend, and 10-12 the weekend after.

I'll definitely do the 14, but might leave the following one at 10.

The Muppet · 03-09-2016 07:10PM

Nice tg you have the hardest of them over you now .

Wubble Wubble · 03-09-2016 08:55PM

Great splits TG, looks like you're set for a strong performance! I'm doing the 20 mile in four weeks time, and will be aiming for something similar.

Firedance · 03-09-2016 09:05PM

Thinking ahead slightly, will you give us your race number (closer to the time) so we can cheer you on from our couches

there will be plenty of action going on on the Berlin thread and you should be part of that

Maximus Alexander · 04-09-2016 12:21AM

Well done TG, you've put in a super block of training and I have a feeling you're gonna do good things in Berlin. Enjoy the taper. :pac:

tailgunner · 05-09-2016 09:20AM

Sunday, 4th September 2016

5 miles
51:53
10:20/mi

I was expecting the legs to be in much worse shape than they were. Apart from my hips feeling a little tight, they were fine.

Was only aiming to do half an hour or so, but was feeling good so I carried on to bring it up to 5 miles. 45 miles for the week, which is a little less than I was hoping for, but more than I was expecting.

The plan is for a HMP session this evening, but that'll depend on how it goes with the physio. The calf feels like it's back to normal though, so I'm not expecting any major problems.

tailgunner · 06-09-2016 08:46AM

Monday, 5th September 2016

6.01 miles
56:27
9:24/mi

The physio prodded and poked at my calf for a good half an hour, before declaring that there's nothing wrong with it. I didn't think there was either, but it's good to get confirmation.

She thinks whatever soreness/stiffness that's there might be the result of overstretching - to be fair, I do a lot of calf stretching - so I'm to ease off on that and stretch the hamstrings instead, as they are very "short". Whatever that means. It took trying several different stretches before finding one that actually works for me (she described my downward-facing dog as "pretty tragic"), but we got there in the end.

All good otherwise, so I went out for the session after as planned - 5 x 1/2 miles at half marathon pace, with a 1 min jog in between. Once again, the calf was stiff during the warm-up, but loosened out very quickly for a change. It must be getting sick of all the attention.

Made a balls of the first rep, but the rest of them were fine. It was a disgustingly muggy day, so the effort was much higher than it should have been, and I was dripping in sweat by the end. Felt sorry for the guy who was downwind of me while I was walking up the hill towards home.

Splits:

4:07 (8:14/mi)
3:58 (7:57/mi)
4:00 (8:00/mi)
3:56 (7:51/mi)
3:55 (7:51/mi)

Firedance · 06-09-2016 09:31AM

I have tight calves too, a couple of things that seem to work for me are: firstly doing a dynamic calf warm up before a run here and secondly, only hold your post run stretch for 8 seconds (all of the stretches, not just calf).

tailgunner · 06-09-2016 10:03AM

Thanks for that. I'd usually hold a stretch for a good 30 seconds, so maybe that's where I've been going wrong!

I'll try the dynamic warm-up before my run tomorrow.

Bluesquare · 06-09-2016 10:06AM

Glad your calf is ok . On the calf stretching thing - the advice I was gien from the coach was light stretching after hard sessions , a bit more after easy sessions ! Gave me some sciencey stuff about after a hard workout you have micro tears in your muscles - stretching rigorously expands the tears , yada, yada, yada.

My physio said my calf muscles needed to be lengthened though - the lengthening exercises seem very like stretches ! I do try to stick to the above and not do the lengthening stuff after hard work outs .

Maximus Alexander · 06-09-2016 04:10PM

I don't believe in stretching. There I said it! *runs*

Firedance · 06-09-2016 04:21PM

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

I don't believe in stretching. There I said it! *runs*

Mind you don't tear something on your cold muscles

:D I know a couple of top runners who never stretch. I guess it depends, if you're old and decrepit like me it's probably wise (I certainly notice it very quickly if I don't stretch a bit).

tailgunner · 08-09-2016 08:54AM

Wednesday, 7th September 2016

9 miles
1:23:35
9:17/mi

6 miles at marathon pace. It was pretty warm yesterday (24 degrees when I was heading out), and I wasn't really looking forward to the session, but I was fairly happy with it in the end. It was a touch slower than usual because of the heat, and the first half was a little uncomfortable, but by the end I was feeling great.

In fact, I was trying to figure out if I had one or two miles left for the MP bit when the watch buzzed and told me I was done. I was still a couple of miles from home at this point, so I was very confused. Eventually realised I had messed up the route a bit, and I was indeed finished.

Any other week, I'd have just carried on running, but I'm on my taper holidays so feck that. Ran a mile to cool down, and walked the rest.

The calf was the same as ever. The physio said not to worry about it, so I won't.

MP splits:

8:47
8:58
8:44
8:45
8:49
8:46

tailgunner · 09-09-2016 08:19AM

Thursday, 8th September 2016

3.11 miles
31:27
10:07/mi

Short and easy. Lovely evening for it.

tailgunner · 11-09-2016 06:28PM

Friday, 9th September 2016

14 miles
2:20:42
10:03/mi

I don't know what possessed me to do this after work on Friday. I was wrecked before I ran a step and things didn't improve much.

It was probably the first time I went through the whole "How on earth am I going to manage 26 odd miles of this?" thing.

Really ****e run anyway, but no point dwelling on it.

Sunday, 11th September 2016

6.03 miles
55:28
9:12

I was only planning on doing a few easy miles to bring up the mileage for the week, but I wasn't really in the mood for easy running, and figured I might as well get tomorrow's session out of the way.

So this was 8 x 400 reps at 10k pace, off 90 second recoveries. Handy enough really. Felt great during the warm-up and the reps were nicely consistent.

Tried to empty the tank on the last one, but got stuck behind a cyclist for most of it. Still, running at 7 minute mile pace and not feeling like I'm flat out is definitely a new thing.

Still felt like I had bundles of energy at the end, and the cool-down mile was unintentionally close to MP.

No point reading too much into a fairly easy session like that of course, but it was still a nice confidence boost after a dire long run.

38 miles for the week.

Splits:

1:53
1:54
1:55
1:51
1:52
1:50
1:53
1:47

ThebitterLemon · 11-09-2016 06:38PM

"Got stuck behind a cyclist...", show boating bollix

TbL

tailgunner · 11-09-2016 06:50PM

Ha! Full disclosure so: he was about 90 years of age and barely keeping the bike upright, he was going that slow.

But I still felt like a champion keeping up with him!

Maximus Alexander · 11-09-2016 07:48PM

Getting close now. Nerves setting in yet?

tailgunner · 11-09-2016 10:32PM

I was going to say that it feels like it's still ages away, but I've just realised that I'll be flying to Berlin next week. Yikes.

tailgunner · 13-09-2016 08:58AM

Monday, 12th September 2016

5 miles
50:18
10:03/mi

I'd like to begin by retracting my previous statement regarding nerves, and my apparent lack of them. I'm absolutely bricking it now.

Anyway, this was a bit of a run-commute. I had to drop my car to where my girlfriend works and run home from there. It's 4 miles or so, and it'd be easy enough to add a couple of detours to bring it up to the planned 5 miles. Grand, I thought.

Spent the whole run convinced I was going too fast, then too slow, then my shin was sore, then it wasn't, and shouldn't my calf be sorted at this stage and why is it so warm and why did I sign up for this damn marathon in the first place? What am I REALLY running from?

And this morning on the novices' thread, I read nop98's observation that my mileage for the taper seems a little high, so I've had to add that to the ever-growing list of things I need to worry about.

I'm a shell of my former self. Send help.

Firedance · 13-09-2016 09:16AM

tailgunner wrote: »

I'm a shell of my former self. Send help.

Worry not, you'll be fine

Trust the Training....you're following a plan that tapers with those miles aren't you? If you feel you'd benefit from dropping an MP session then do it, there are very little gains to be made at this point in the game. You have put in an extraordinary amount of hard work, you've been consistent and that will stand to you on the day.

When you're on the start line, remember back all those miles you've run, all those hot days, all the MP sessions and have confidence in yourself to get your goal. I for one am looking forward to the race report

As to what you're really running from?! Well, that's the 64 million dollar question we all struggle to answer honestly!!!!

Kennyg71 · 13-09-2016 10:27AM

What's the worst that can happen if you are sensible on the day, you may miss
your desired time, then you have the experience to ajust next time, just go
and run your best race you can enjoy the experience. It's a great feeling
finishing your first Marathon and I think your training will carry you trough.
As FD says trust the plan.

tailgunner · 13-09-2016 10:45AM

Thanks FD. Yeah I'm following the plan to the letter for the final couple of weeks, and aiming for the minimum mileage it suggests.

To be honest, I'm exaggerating the nerves a bit. I'm not really... oh god the guy next to me in work just sneezed and is now blowing his nose like a foghorn. That's it. I'm taking shelter in a nuclear bunker until the end of next week.

Faster

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