23-03-2015, 11:27 AM,
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marathondan
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RE: March 2015
Week 13 of 18
20 miles on road last night, fuelled by jelly babies and 80s party hits. Hard going of course, and today my quads are tenderised, but I managed to finish strongly, covering the last mile in 9:09. On such a crisp, starry night I traded up to ski gloves for the final 5 miles, finally getting home about midnight. The jelly babies worked well; normally in the last half an hour of a long run my thoughts turn to what to have for my recovery snack, but this time there was no craving vast bowls of steaming porridge. Job's a good 'un.
Because of my disturbingly obsessive comprehensive record-keeping, I can check my times for running this exact route over the years:
2009: 3:10
2010: 3:06 (with an extra 1K on the end!)
2011: 3:10
2012: 3:11
2015: 3:13
So all in all, I haven't slowed down that much. Not sure what I was on in 2010; I checked my diary but there's nothing to explain why it was so much faster.
This week: more hard midweek sessions, then at the weekend it's time to break out the ski mask and woolly hat for 14 miles.
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23-03-2015, 11:42 AM,
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RE: March 2015
Legend! Great running Dan!
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23-03-2015, 01:02 PM,
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Charliecat5
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RE: March 2015
(23-03-2015, 11:42 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote: Legend! Great running Dan!
20 miles... running 'till midnight fuelled only by Jelly Babies*. Wowsers, as my daughter would say.
*I have chosen to ignore the 80s party hits
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23-03-2015, 01:32 PM,
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Charliecat5
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RE: March 2015
(23-03-2015, 01:15 PM)marathondan Wrote: The 80s party hits are an important ingredient, one I wouldn't be without. Part of the atmosphere of a big city marathon is cheesy motivational music. When the training distances get long, I like to recreate that in my own little world. The first three quarters or so of a long run are relaxed, controlled, and I can zone out to spoken word podcasts. But that final quarter requires some digging deep, and it's then I reach for the cheese.
I use to be a fan of cheesy 80s music, back in the 80s, but I camembert it now. Sorry, I'm going up stairs now to Caerphilly lie down before I get any halouminations.
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23-03-2015, 01:39 PM,
(This post was last modified: 24-03-2015, 09:17 AM by marathondan.)
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marathondan
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RE: March 2015
Well you've brought this on yourself Charlie by mentioning the music. I also passed the time on the last lap by playing the word association game. Here is the resulting quiz. Remember it's 80s pop.
1,2. Appropriately, the word association took on a Moyleman Marathon theme. I found myself signed up as a volunteer marshal and had been put in charge of ordering the marshals' bibs. But there was a shortage. I texted the race director himself: I just can't get enough. Call me.
3. Suddenly I was in the race itself, plummeting down a hill. At the bottom was a low stile. There was no way I could stop in time. Well, I thought to myself, might as well jump it.
4. Stile cleared, I encountered none other than the lead marshal himself. He spun me right round. I hadn't realised it was an out-and-back course.
5. At least I knew that we were half way there.
6. Cresting the next hill, there it was, my eventual destination laid out before me: a town called Lewes.
7. But suddenly we veered away and into another steep incline. Whoever designed this course was taking the mickey.
8. But soon I found myself smiling as we turned into another lovely descent. It was like I was walking on... something uplifting. In the far distance was the Channel, I could see the waves.
9. I turned to my Garmin and flicked through my recent mile times. I was making good progress; those were some times.
10. I'd run most of the race on my own, but now I found myself back in a small pack. I was pleased that at last, I found someone to run with.
11. We were entering the closing stages now, and I reflected on what had motivated all of the volunteers to put on such a fantastic event. Much more than mere affection for the great man remembered in this event, behind it all was the power of... a more powerful emotion.
12. One thing for sure, the organisation was a labour of love.
13. So, into the final descent, I crossed the line, and I was handed my medal. Every finisher was a winner, so there was only one appropriate colour for this memento.
Nothing too obscure there, so I'm hoping for a good collective score.
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23-03-2015, 01:42 PM,
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marathondan
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RE: March 2015
(23-03-2015, 01:32 PM)Charliecat5 Wrote: (23-03-2015, 01:15 PM)marathondan Wrote: The 80s party hits are an important ingredient, one I wouldn't be without. Part of the atmosphere of a big city marathon is cheesy motivational music. When the training distances get long, I like to recreate that in my own little world. The first three quarters or so of a long run are relaxed, controlled, and I can zone out to spoken word podcasts. But that final quarter requires some digging deep, and it's then I reach for the cheese.
I use to be a fan of cheesy 80s music, back in the 80s, but I camembert it now. Sorry, I'm going up stairs now to Caerphilly lie down before I get any halouminations.
Ee, damn! Gouda one.
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23-03-2015, 02:02 PM,
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RE: March 2015
Ah! Word association football boots chemist cough lozenge stuck in the throat choke why won't this damn car start me up rolling stones may break my bones Scottie Spock star trek across the Sahara land-rover Serengeti born free to roam Naples Venice canal run EG where is he? WTF?
Eh?
Yeah.
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23-03-2015, 02:15 PM,
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RE: March 2015
Hell yes.
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23-03-2015, 02:37 PM,
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marathondan
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RE: March 2015
Glad someone else has time on their hands today Charlie! Pretty close...
2. 1. Depeche Mode - Just can't get enough
2.
3. Van Halen - Jump
4. Dead or Alive - You spin me round
5. Bon Jovi - Livin' on a prayer
6. The Jam - A town called Malice
7. Toni Basil - Hey Mickey
8. Katrina and the Waves - Walking on sunshine
9. Aqua - those were the days OR Bryan Adams - Summer of 69
10. Twisted Sister - Leader of the Pack
11. Huey Lewis and the News - The Power of Love
12. Hue and Cry - Labour of Love
13. Hot Chocolate - Everyones a winner.
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23-03-2015, 09:37 PM,
(This post was last modified: 24-03-2015, 09:18 AM by marathondan.)
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marathondan
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RE: March 2015
9. Erasure - Sometimes
10. Madonna - into the groove OR Kim Wilde - you keep me hanging on.
Excellent work on no. 9! I guess no. 10 is probably the most obscure. You've gone too tangential with those guesses. The actual song title is (apart from the tense) right there in the sentence.
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