The Running Thread
Discussion
no patients this morning so snuck out for a cheeky 4.7 miles. i got DRENCHED! shorts and tshirt jobby too.....had some woman shout "are you f
king cuckoo?" 
my legs found last night really hard and want to really put the effort into tues/thurs/sat sessions so monday will be no more than 4 miles easy, wednesday no more than 5.5 miles steady and sundays no more than 11 miles steady. will still be around 40 miles/week but more quality stuff. not sure what's on tomorrow but saturday is tough....1 mile at lactate threshold (i'll probably go for around 5:40....not too strenuous) then 5x400m off 60secs at 1500m pace then 10 mins rest followed by 5x200m at 800m pace off 60 or 75secs rest.
that's gonna hurt.
king cuckoo?" my legs found last night really hard and want to really put the effort into tues/thurs/sat sessions so monday will be no more than 4 miles easy, wednesday no more than 5.5 miles steady and sundays no more than 11 miles steady. will still be around 40 miles/week but more quality stuff. not sure what's on tomorrow but saturday is tough....1 mile at lactate threshold (i'll probably go for around 5:40....not too strenuous) then 5x400m off 60secs at 1500m pace then 10 mins rest followed by 5x200m at 800m pace off 60 or 75secs rest.
that's gonna hurt.
ewenm said:
I've managed to run 3 days in a row! 
3 hilly runs of 30-45 mins each, left calf and achilles still tight but doing lots of heel raises on the stairs seems to sort it out. Running home from work today too.
I'd be interested in opinions of PH runners on the Lee Merrien Olympic Marathon selection controversy. Lee was the first Brit home in Sunday's London Marathon in 2:13 but missed out on the UKA A-standard of 2:12. UKA have selected Scott Overall (2:10 in Berlin) and Dave Webb (2:15 but top 20 at last year's World Champs which is deemd an A performance) and left the third place empty. Lee's time was a PB by nearly a minute, the second half run almost entirely alone, and he was 22nd in the World Champs last year. The IAAF A-standard is 2:15.
So UKA have decided not to field a full Marathon team in our home Olympics despite Lee being well inside the IAAF A-standard and with a history of decent performances in Championship races. Wrong decision IMO although it does follow their (tighter than IAAF) selection policy. Interestingly, I read a piece that said the marathon was the only event in which the UKA standard is tougher than the IAAF standard
Good news! Heel raises did the trick for me, I think 100 a day.3 hilly runs of 30-45 mins each, left calf and achilles still tight but doing lots of heel raises on the stairs seems to sort it out. Running home from work today too.
I'd be interested in opinions of PH runners on the Lee Merrien Olympic Marathon selection controversy. Lee was the first Brit home in Sunday's London Marathon in 2:13 but missed out on the UKA A-standard of 2:12. UKA have selected Scott Overall (2:10 in Berlin) and Dave Webb (2:15 but top 20 at last year's World Champs which is deemd an A performance) and left the third place empty. Lee's time was a PB by nearly a minute, the second half run almost entirely alone, and he was 22nd in the World Champs last year. The IAAF A-standard is 2:15.
So UKA have decided not to field a full Marathon team in our home Olympics despite Lee being well inside the IAAF A-standard and with a history of decent performances in Championship races. Wrong decision IMO although it does follow their (tighter than IAAF) selection policy. Interestingly, I read a piece that said the marathon was the only event in which the UKA standard is tougher than the IAAF standard
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 25th April 09:02
Re Merrien: It's a tough one, the standards have been set out very clearly for a while, but to me the standards don't make sense. I think we should be taking three people to the Olympic Marathon given that we have 3 who've reached the IAAF Olympic A standard. It was very hard to watch him finish knowing that he wasn't going to make it after such a great effort.
I'm still slightly confused about why the British guys didn't follow Overall's pacing group which was meant to be bang on 2:12 pace and I wonder if this counted against them.
Done some reading on the Olympic marathon course and it's going to be tight and twisty, 3 laps with ~90 turns and no straights longer than 800m. Letsrun reckon that the winner will probably be the person who can get out of sight in the twistier sections and stay away.
I'm not really having a go at the selectors, more those who set the selection criteria. It seems foolish not to take the opportunity to have as many Brits competing as possible (within the IAAF standards).
It was great of Overall to offer to pace @ 2:12 but I don't think UKA or anyone running should have relied on him, because at the slightest sign of a niggle/problem he was always going to stop as his focus is quite rightly on the Olympic marathon. IMO there should have been a couple of SBH-kitted official pacers for the 2:12 target - Merrien was only a handful of seconds outside 66 at halfway I think (can't check from here) and could really have done with some help round Docklands and back along the Embankment.
Edit: For the Olympic race it sounds like someone needs to use the same tactics as Dita did in Beijing (disappear off the front early on).
It was great of Overall to offer to pace @ 2:12 but I don't think UKA or anyone running should have relied on him, because at the slightest sign of a niggle/problem he was always going to stop as his focus is quite rightly on the Olympic marathon. IMO there should have been a couple of SBH-kitted official pacers for the 2:12 target - Merrien was only a handful of seconds outside 66 at halfway I think (can't check from here) and could really have done with some help round Docklands and back along the Embankment.
Edit: For the Olympic race it sounds like someone needs to use the same tactics as Dita did in Beijing (disappear off the front early on).
Edited by ewenm on Wednesday 25th April 14:04
Agree with you about Lee. I´m nowehere near that quick, but to run the best part of a marathon on your own and in tough conditions and hit the IAAF qualifying time is a great achievement. I know he knew the rules before the race, but you´d think in our home olympics we would want people to get the experience and represent our country.
Merrien was 66:32 at the halfway point. He started off slower then seemed to accelerate through the half before dropping off again towards the end. Think his tactic was to run negative splits, but he maybe overcooked it through the half as he clocked off a sub 3 minute k from 20k-21k before averaging 3:04 from 21-25 then 3:1X into the finish. I'm not sure of the average splits required but I think 3:09/3:10 k's into the finish would have got him 2:12 from where he was.
Overall it was a brave effort but I think he was undone by the section from 20-25k being slightly too fast.
I'm not sure about going hard from the gun the Olympics, I think it may be similar to London, a stong surge at 25-30k, the key thing though will be to get out of sight and stay out of sight. It works both ways as if the chase pack suddenly get a glimpse after you appeared to clear off into the distance then they could come back very quickly.
Tough session for me today 3x3x800m with 2mins recovery and 5 between sets. Legs had nothing today so it was a real slog, especially given windy and rainy conditions and doing the last set on my own. 10 miles tomorrow then a rest day.
Overall it was a brave effort but I think he was undone by the section from 20-25k being slightly too fast.
I'm not sure about going hard from the gun the Olympics, I think it may be similar to London, a stong surge at 25-30k, the key thing though will be to get out of sight and stay out of sight. It works both ways as if the chase pack suddenly get a glimpse after you appeared to clear off into the distance then they could come back very quickly.
Tough session for me today 3x3x800m with 2mins recovery and 5 between sets. Legs had nothing today so it was a real slog, especially given windy and rainy conditions and doing the last set on my own. 10 miles tomorrow then a rest day.
E38Ross said:
was that on track cookie? what were your rep times? quicker than mine, i suspect i was on tarmac so my reps were 0.5 miles so i had an extra 4-5 metres each rep
i struggled last night with my session but thought my times were quite good to be honest.....for me.
About the same on average I think. It was on track up at uni, one of the windiest I've run on! I may have asked you before, but do you do track races? i was on tarmac so my reps were 0.5 miles so i had an extra 4-5 metres each rep i struggled last night with my session but thought my times were quite good to be honest.....for me.
cookie118 said:
E38Ross said:
was that on track cookie? what were your rep times? quicker than mine, i suspect i was on tarmac so my reps were 0.5 miles so i had an extra 4-5 metres each rep
i struggled last night with my session but thought my times were quite good to be honest.....for me.
About the same on average I think. It was on track up at uni, one of the windiest I've run on! I may have asked you before, but do you do track races? i was on tarmac so my reps were 0.5 miles so i had an extra 4-5 metres each rep i struggled last night with my session but thought my times were quite good to be honest.....for me.
no idea what i'd be running these days for 800/1500 though.
fk sake. my garmin forerunner (the recently refurbished one) has died.
took it running in the rain yesterday and last night i turned it on is would just randomly turn itself off. now it won't even turn on.
came with 90 day warranty so should be within that. just annoying i have to pay to get it posted and be without it again for a few days, especially as i don't have another watch....timing myself on the track saturday is going to be annoying!!!!!!!!
k sake. my garmin forerunner (the recently refurbished one) has died.took it running in the rain yesterday and last night i turned it on is would just randomly turn itself off. now it won't even turn on.
came with 90 day warranty so should be within that. just annoying i have to pay to get it posted and be without it again for a few days, especially as i don't have another watch....timing myself on the track saturday is going to be annoying!!!!!!!!
Not posted for ages on here, I am in fairly good shape, had the best winter I have ever had in terms of consistency - touch wood - got my first 400m at Trafford open on Tuesday. Not sure what I expect to open up with, last year I opened with 49.5 and am much fitter this year but not done as much speed work yet so anything sub 50 will be fine.
Fairly moderate session on the track last night;
500m,400m,300m,200m with 6/8/6 minutes rest however all reps were either 100 fast 100 cruise or 150 fast 50 cruise to make it tougher than a standard session.
Times were 75,60,44,28 which is about right for this type of session.
Fairly moderate session on the track last night;
500m,400m,300m,200m with 6/8/6 minutes rest however all reps were either 100 fast 100 cruise or 150 fast 50 cruise to make it tougher than a standard session.
Times were 75,60,44,28 which is about right for this type of session.
E38Ross said:
Merrien has been selected
It seems sensible to me that if we are allowed 3 runners, we put 3 in. I know it's a bit of a challenge to beat the africans, but it will never be easier to beat them with 2 than it will with 3, so as He met the Olympic quali standard, why not put him in?Day off today, legs felt really tired last night just doing a (relatively) easy 6.5 mile fartlek with the group. no idea on pace as i sent the garmin off to be replaced....hope to get it back middle of next week if i'm lucky.
someone has leant me a normal digital watch so i can at least time myself tomorrow for the session which is on the track and as follows....
1 mile fast-ish but not too hard....around 5k pace or a bit slower then 5mins rest
5x400m off 60secs recovery at 1500m pace (been a while since i've done track races so i'm just going for anything under 72/400m) followed by a lovely and luxurious 10-15 minute rest
then 5x200m at 800m pace....again, not sure what to pace myself at as it's been ages since i've done this stuff, i'll probably just aim for anything under 31-32s.
i'll be on my own which won't make it easy but hopefully it won't piss it down like it did last week. done 3 weeks of 6 sessions per week and feeling a little weary....even walking up a couple of flights of steps had me feeling it a bit
might just do 5 sessions next week and miss out mondays easy circa 4 mile run perhaps, thoughts??
someone has leant me a normal digital watch so i can at least time myself tomorrow for the session which is on the track and as follows....
1 mile fast-ish but not too hard....around 5k pace or a bit slower then 5mins rest
5x400m off 60secs recovery at 1500m pace (been a while since i've done track races so i'm just going for anything under 72/400m) followed by a lovely and luxurious 10-15 minute rest
then 5x200m at 800m pace....again, not sure what to pace myself at as it's been ages since i've done this stuff, i'll probably just aim for anything under 31-32s.
i'll be on my own which won't make it easy but hopefully it won't piss it down like it did last week. done 3 weeks of 6 sessions per week and feeling a little weary....even walking up a couple of flights of steps had me feeling it a bit
might just do 5 sessions next week and miss out mondays easy circa 4 mile run perhaps, thoughts??
I'm running the Highworth 5 mile race near Swindon on Sunday. Aiming for 35 mins, which I did manage on a test run. However heavy rain and 25mph wind may not help! Not sure quite where the wind will become an issue. Hopefully not during the first mile, although it's the most exposed part.
Due to the nature of the course I'm hoping to run splits roughly along these lines:
1. 6,30
2. 6,45
3. 6,45
4. 7,30
5. 7,30
Due to the nature of the course I'm hoping to run splits roughly along these lines:
1. 6,30
2. 6,45
3. 6,45
4. 7,30
5. 7,30
lost in espace said:
My first marathon is on Sunday in MK. Conditions might be challenging, thinking of running in my gore-tex jacket! 50mph rain won't sting will it?
I'm also signed up for this but more worried about whether I can run than the weather .... had a trapped nerve this week in my back and left leg seems to have no sense of direction!Did a Half in MK earlier in the year and it was cold, wet and windy then as well. It's a good place to run and I reckon (weather aside) a good place for a first marathon. Good luck
Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff