Getting Back To My Best

Brianderunner · 28-09-2011 07:24PM

Weds 28th Sept, 4 mls very slow in 39'50 (9'58) in the heath. Beautiful evening for it (27 degrees today) Made no effort to increase the pace and it felt fine until the last mile when my legs started to hurt a bit. It'll take me another few days to get over Berlin i think. Heading to Paris this weekend till Monday night for my b'day (tough life

) and considering leaving the runnning gear at home.

Too early to decide on the future. Best to see after another week. I do know it involves running 7 days a week at long last though.

tHE vAGGABOND · 29-09-2011 12:43PM

Great report...

Good work for hanging on and getting your secondary goal.

10 pints the night of a big race like that should qualify you for something, or win you some kind of "good for age" prize :pac:

We will try and match it after Dublin :cool:

shazkea · 29-09-2011 12:45PM

Brianderunner wrote: »

Berlin Marathon 2011

The overriding thought from the weekend is that i’m not suited to the marathon distance.

with a 3.09 finish...and your secondary goal of London attained :eek:

Great run B. As the rest say some time out from 26.2 and you'll bounce back in no time. Good luck with the next set of goals

Brianderunner · 29-09-2011 07:38PM

shazkea wrote: »

with a 3.09 finish...and your secondary goal of London attained :eek:

Great run B. As the rest say some time out from 26.2 and you'll bounce back in no time. Good luck with the next set of goals

3'09 is not bad i know, but i'm underperforming with that time no doubt. Ok i could have gotten 3'05 if i ran steadier but even that isnt in line with my shorter stuff.

Thurs 29th Sept, 4 mls steady in 31'54 in the heath (same route as last night) Rest day tomorrow so pushed on a little the second half. I was in celebratory mood (see below) Not recovered from Berlin yet but i'm on the way.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117928715#

So I check the post today at lunchtime, half expecting to see something about the London marathon today and hey presto there was an acceptance form for next April's race

I guess i'm doing it the next 2 years now. I cant believe the entry is only £28, I paid more to enter the Reading half next year. I'm definitely doing it, just how i approach it is another matter. It will be very crowded though so I may wait till 2013 with my gfa entry and proper racing room to have another go at sub 3. I cant see myself doing an autumn marathon next year (outside of pacing Dublin maybe), Berlin again doesnt excite at all tbh.

I wonder am i the luckiest SOB around after getting olympic evening session athletics tickets and now getting through the UK ballot. The odds of the double are about 100/1

shazkea · 29-09-2011 08:18PM

Brianderunner wrote: »

3'09 is not bad i know, but i'm underperforming with that time no doubt. Ok i could have gotten 3'05 if i ran steadier but even that isnt in line with my shorter stuff.

Very true but it's all set up for a great run in London now and it will be all the more sweeter...

Pisco Sour · 30-09-2011 12:16AM

Brianderunner wrote: »

I wonder am i the luckiest SOB around after getting olympic evening session athletics tickets and now getting through the UK ballot. The odds of the double are about 100/1

Dont forget those womens boxing semi final tickets. Golddust!

shels4ever · 30-09-2011 01:58PM

£28 isnt bad at all, guess they make it up from the poor overseas entried @£;65 , but even at that seems good value.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 30-09-2011 04:27PM

Good man on London i hope to find out soon enough if i am in or out.

Brianderunner · 01-10-2011 12:30PM

Sat 1st Oct, 6 mls in the heath and the heath extension with my bro in record temperatures for October in the UK (top temp. of 29 today

) Took a break after 4 mls and did a few strides in the barefeet on the grass. Nice run.

Getting the eurostar later to Paris so that'll wrap up the week. 3 runs and 14 mls, nice recovery week from Berlin. Outlook for the winter changed on thursday with the london entry.

shels4ever · 01-10-2011 02:22PM

Brianderunner wrote: »

Sat 1st Oct, 6 mls in the heath and the heath extension with my bro in record temperatures for October in the UK (top temp. of 29 today ) Took a break after 4 mls and did a few strides in the barefeet on the grass. Nice run.

Getting the eurostar later to Paris so that'll wrap up the week. 3 runs and 14 mls, nice recovery week from Berlin. Outlook for the winter changed on thursday with the london entry.

Took the words out of my mouth,

village runner · 01-10-2011 03:28PM

After speaking ot you sat i didnt feel you were mentally right going into the race. When the going got tough you had persuaded yourself to back off. Planning to race a 10 miler 3 weeks after a marathon and when its as important as the marathon to you tells me your mind wasnt totally on berlin.
Am i way off ?? Not having your dinner until at least 9pm on hte sat wouldnt have helped either. You are going to bed stuffed and waking up put a breakfast on a half full stomach. Yor working harder from the off.
Send in a copy of a 10k result or other race result and they will but you into the 3 hour group. Take you 1 min to pass the line. See you in hte fgfa in 2013.

Brianderunner · 04-10-2011 09:30AM

village runner wrote: »

After speaking ot you sat i didnt feel you were mentally right going into the race. When the going got tough you had persuaded yourself to back off. Planning to race a 10 miler 3 weeks after a marathon and when its as important as the marathon to you tells me your mind wasnt totally on berlin.
Am i way off ?? Not having your dinner until at least 9pm on hte sat wouldnt have helped either. You are going to bed stuffed and waking up put a breakfast on a half full stomach. Yor working harder from the off.
Send in a copy of a 10k result or other race result and they will but you into the 3 hour group. Take you 1 min to pass the line. See you in the fgfa in 2013.

Maybe so yeah. The thing is all my clubmates are doing the 10 miler (its a heathside tradition that we all do this race) and i don't want to lose to some of them. Also my 10 mile pb is the strongest out of my ones from 2006/2007 and this is the perfect course for it. No doubt i had one eye on it before Berlin though and maybe sub consciously i was trying to keep myself for it. Even so, i wasnt comfortable after 2-3 mls and it never felt easy, the way it should the first half of a marathon.

Fair point about the late dinner, it may have been a factor. Stoke Manutd couldnt be missed now could it :rolleyes:

Brianderunner · 04-10-2011 09:54AM

Mon 3rd Oct, 6.75 mls in 56'11 (8'18) steady in Paris in the Bois de Boulogne in flaming hot temperatures (high 20's) down towards Longchamp racecourse and Roland Garros (2 of my fav. sporting venues). Nice run in a lovely park.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118988554

Right, thats the country hopping done and dusted (until the DCM

), time to get back into it.

Brianderunner · 04-10-2011 10:07PM

Tues 4th Oct, track session with the club in Finsbury Park. Consisted of a pyramid of 300, 500, 700, 1k, 1k, 700, 500, 300. Settled into the B group and did times of 59, 1'39, 2'26, 3'34, 3'40, 2'29, 1'35, 45. Blitzed the whole group (A &

on the 300m at the end (we all started it together), raising quite a few eyebrows.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/119183692

First cross country race of the season on Saturday with the Met league, really dont fancy it but it might look bad if i dont do it. I'd prefer to do the local 5k parkrun in the heath. Its been won in around 18'30-19 mins recently and it would be nice to be in the top 3 there. I'll be up early for the rugby anyway so i might as well.

Brianderunner · 05-10-2011 09:37PM

Weds 5th Oct, 4 mls recovery with the club down in primrose hill park in 37'20 (9'20). Legs shot to pieces from the session last night. The speedy 300m maybe wasnt the best idea last night. Most seem to be doing the XC on Saturday, i'm 50/50 at the moment. I've had some horrible experiences with it down the years.

Brianderunner · 06-10-2011 07:25PM

Thurs 6th Oct, 4 mls easy in 31'50 (7'58) in the heath. Felt quite good tonight. Felt like the first day of winter today, bloody freezin out there innit!

Brianderunner · 07-10-2011 07:04PM

Fri 7th Oct, 3.5 or 4 mls nice and slow in the heath. Garmin wasnt charged so just headed it without it. Bumped into 2 clubmates and did a couple of miles with them. Its gonna look really bad if i don't do the cross country tomorrow. A 5k parkrun after the rugby and a day at the races in Newmarket is 10 times more appealing tbh. I've ran 10 or 15 XC races over the years and they've all been disasters (finished less than half of them, trailed in close to last in the others)

Brianderunner · 08-10-2011 09:57AM

Sat 8th Oct, Ran the mile down to my local 5k parkrun. I'm never up early enough to do this but with the 6am rugby start i said why not. Took it handy enough and finished in around 22'50. Fairly hilly course, always climbing or dropping, i'd be happy with sub 19 if i ever race it. Mile back then to catch the second game.

That rules me out of the XC, i told them i wouldnt do it if Ireland lost.

Brianderunner · 09-10-2011 03:49PM

Sun 9th Oct, 6 mls easy in the heath in 48'41 (8'07). Hilly enough but nice run.

Weekly Review, 34 miles and 7 runs. First time ever doing 7 runs in a week. It's the card i've kept up my sleeve for the last year. Stepping up to 6 was a big fitness boost this time last year, lets hope the same happens now.

Yearly Mileage, 1536 mls.

Brianderunner · 10-10-2011 07:13PM

Mon 10th Oct, 3 mls recovery in 38'02 (9'21) in the heath all on grass. Horrible wind out there. Gonna skip the club sessions this week to avoid the awkward "why werent you at the XC" questions.

This week is all about preparing for the 10 miler on Sunday. I feel i've nothing to lose in it. The 63'19 has stood for too long now (Jan 2007) and it would be nice to break it. Definitely dont have the same sharpness that i had a couple of weeks before Berlin but we'll see what happens on the day.

Brianderunner · 12-10-2011 09:07PM

Tues 11th Oct, 4 mls easy in the heath in 34'04 (8'31). Was supposed to be 5 mls but ran out of energy after 3 mls (bad nutrition) and struggled the last mile before calling it a day.

Weds 12th Oct, "Tune up" track session on the running track in the heath, which is 200m from my front door yet i've only ran on it three times :rolleyes:

Did 1 mile w/u then;

1600m at 10 mile race pace (6'19 pace) did it in 6'18 - 3 mins recovery
then 2 x 400m at 10k race pace (6'00 pace) did them in 84 and 94, took my eye off the ball totally for these and got it badly wrong - 100m jog recovery in between then 4 x 200m at 5k pace (5'45 pace) with 200m jog recovery, did these in 44, 44, 42, 42 secs which is a tad too fast but good enough.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/121069704

1 ml w/d after. 4 mls total.

I mentioned the other night about feeling that the pre Berlin sharpness isnt quite there and it felt the same tonight. The 1 ml was a little laboured. i'm 2kg up on what i was a month ago, which may explain it. Plan is still to have a go at the pb on Sunday, why not, theres over 60 from my club doing it :eek:

Brianderunner · 13-10-2011 06:56PM

Thurs 13th Oct, 5 mls easy in 39'51 (7'58) in the heath. Felt good out there tonight. Good to be able to run in daylight after work. After DCM its game over for that, meaning no heath/regents, just plain old footpaths again

Brianderunner · 15-10-2011 01:06PM

3 mls jog followed by a few strides. A cold has been developing since thursday, it was pretty bad yesterday and just as bad today. Not looking good for tomorrow. Not the end of the world if i cant run

Brianderunner · 16-10-2011 12:08PM

61'00 garmin time. 61'08 gun time today in the cabbage patch 10. Huge pb, delighted. Hitting the booze with the clubmates now

shels4ever · 16-10-2011 12:22PM

well done on the pb there

ddel · 16-10-2011 01:22PM

Brilliant - you deserved that. Well done

ronnie085 · 16-10-2011 04:32PM

Super running, well done. Sub 60 attempt on the cards?

Brianderunner · 16-10-2011 08:48PM

ronnie085 wrote: »

Super running, well done. Sub 60 attempt on the cards?

Definitely, it'll form part of my "big 8" attempt in 2012. Its the toughest of them i think. Need to break 30 for 5 mls first.

I'll do the race report tomorrow, still suffering with the cold, probably shouldnt have ran today, dont think it affected me though

Brianderunner · 17-10-2011 10:02AM

Cabbage Patch 10 mile, Twickenham, SW London. 61’08 (new pb)

This race had been on my radar since March or April. With it being 3 weeks after Berlin I was free to give it a lash with the shackles off. My 10 mile pb has stood for too long and it needed revising. With some serious training behind me pre Berlin I felt like it was time to “cash in” on the training after the relative failure of the 3’09 over there. My participation was in serious doubt from Friday, as I was suffering with a cold. Tanked myself up on lemsip on the Saturday and I headed down thinking I’ll just cheer on the club mates. Felt like death on the train down and it wasn’t helped when a crowd of loud and hyperactive kids got on in Clapham on their way to Thorpe Park :mad:. When I arrived at race HQ I felt a little better and said I’d do a decent warm up and head out at pb pace (63’19) for the first mile and see how I feel then. I got up at 7am on a Sunday and missed the all blacks’ game, I may as well have something to show for it. Did half a mile w/u and a few strides (my standard w/u) and I was semi prepared. It’s essentially the London road club runner’s championships and everyone seemed to have a club singlet on.

The gun went and I settled into 6’15-6’20 pace and it felt fairly comfortable. The first mile or 2 were pancake flat and took us past St. Marys College (famous for Mo Farah amongst others). Mile 1 was 6’04 and the 2nd was 6’09, faster than planned but it felt fine. We then headed down towards Bushy Park and Kingston, where we crossed the Thames. It was quite surreal on the bridge as you couldn’t see the water due to the freezing fog. Mile 3 in 6’10 still in control. We headed under a tunnel then and it messed up the Garmin signal. I decided to go with the mile markers from here on (they were bang on at the mile markers up to that). We then followed the Thames as we ran through a park, with the water close enough to touch. I was still moving well here and miles 4 and 5 were hit in 6’06 and 6’08 (5 miles in 30’39).

Hitting halfway was a big lift, as I knew it was on. I got into a group of about 5 or 6 and we worked together. The pace increased to 6’00 and then 6’06 and I knew the pb was set to be obliterated, as I passed 10k in 37’45, not too far off the Dunshaughlin run. We then passed a club mate I had no right to be passing. He’s well established in the A group on Tuesday nights and I’m nowhere near him on these intervals. A quick salute and he was ruthlessly dropped. Passed the club coach just after, he had a surprised look on his face. Our group were passing stragglers hand over fist, despite seeing those ahead of us on the opposite side of the river heading for the finish. We saw the Richmond Bridge up ahead in the distance, knowing we’d have to cross it, yet it was some 15m above us. Just as we hit mile 8 (6’08) there was a nasty steep climb of about 50-60m followed by 5 or 6 steps. There was a bit of a slope over the bridge but once we hit the middle it was downhill back to the opposite riverbank and the run to the finish. It started to really hurt now, but it was only a mile and a half along the river path to the finish, it was more than doable. I stuck to the tail end of the group was we hit mile 9 in 6’12 and I was done in here. The group pulled ahead of me at this stage, cheers lads I thought, that’s camaraderie! Final mile was uneventful, just tried to maintain the pace, a guy from Clapham Chasers passed me with 100m to go but I couldn’t respond, there was nothing more to give. Crossed the line and stopped the Garmin in 61’00 and a gun time of 61’08, for a pb by over 2 minutes. Like Dunshaughlin there was no start mat so I’ll go with the slower gun time, as that’s the only official time really. Garmin has me cutting corners all over and is skewed at the tunnel but here it is

After the line I looked at the watch and like Steve Cram after Usain Bolt ran 19:19 in Berlin '09 I said to myself “you gotta be kidding me”

. I knew I was in good shape coming into Berlin but I never thought I could run a time like this, not for another year at least I thought. The question “what’s going on with me in marathons” definitely lingers, cause this was not a sub 3 performance, no it was more like a 2’52-2’55 run, yet I was nowhere near the sub 3 in Berlin. It’s great to have something to show for all those excellent sessions I did before Berlin and there was no way I couldn’t have improved since Dunshaughlin, going from 40 to 50+ miles per week. A few pints with the clubmates after, most couldn’t believe my time and I took all the scalps I wanted to take

, including the guy that beat me in Newark. A great day all round, course was almost pancake flat and due to the fog there was zero wind.
Results here

Happy to finish 109th in such a “hot race” full of club runners. The women’s winner, Jessica Coulson ran a staggering 52’53 just out of juniors, she’s one to watch out for.

Quite funny to compare yesterday with my Newark flop

Krusty_Clown · 17-10-2011 10:15AM

They say that everyone has a great shorter race in them, a few weeks after a marathon, but I didn't think the argument usually extended to 10 mile races! Nicely done Brian, and with an average heart rate of just 17bpm, you have a lot more to give.

The next 69 seconds will take a bit of work, but you're bang on the right track and it'll happen much sooner rather than later.

Getting Back To My Best

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