Weekend warrior

[marathondan]

I am claiming a routine. Always a dangerous thing to do, but it's been 4 weeks now so I feel able to put my head over the parapet.

For the last year and a half I have been unable to fit in regular runs around my weekly work schedule. There just aren't enough hours in the day. So inspired by this article, I thought I'd try fitting them all into the weekend. My injury-protection mantra has always been to never run on consecutive days, but needs must. So far: 4 weekends, 10 runs. Sometimes getting the third one in on the Sunday, sometimes not, depending on whether the available hours evaporate (for example: bottling 40 pints of home brew, fixing a dishwasher).

The mileage is trivial by the resurgent standards around these parts, but that matters little. (Well done everyone by the way - you're an inspiration.) To borrow a phrase from a related field, running is all about application - the application of one foot to the ground followed by the other - so my only goal is to get out there and keep on doing so.

The runs haven't been pretty - quite a bit of trudging round parks during children's activities, while the Garmin slowly counts up to the target distance - but I always feel good afterwards.

And the cycle of not-running-in-the-week-running-at-the-weekend is a new one. Now, not only does the weekend offer its traditional joys, it also provides the bonus of time to run. So I eagerly anticipate the Friday Night Thrash, a short interval session around the field, taken as early as possible so that I can progress to the Friday Night Beer.

Track du weekend below. Just upbeat enough for a tempo run. Made some great albums in the early 80s before he achieved super-saturation and everyone got sick of the sight of him.


Not a live recording - exactly the same as I listened to on my run. Don't remember the leg tourniquet ever being a fashion statement.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

That sounds like a 5:2 diet for runners ... sort of. Let us know how it works out for you. The article is heartening ... extrapolating the figures they give, at current rates of exercise I should live another 130 years or so. Well, that suits me; it's far better than the alternative.

Thanks too for reminding me that I don't have enough Bryan Adams in my collection. Am correcting that as I type!

[marathondan]

A decent weekend session completed. Friday night thrash around the field comprising 90 sec intervals, many of which came in under 7min pace - encouraging and satisfying. Saturday morning, ran to Windsor, a shade under 7 miles, which must be the furthest I've run for nearly 2 years. Mostly on road, but all felt good the following day (and road running is so much easier than off). No time for a third session on Sunday, but consistency, progress and most importantly enjoyment are all good. 7 miles is not so far off 10, which is not so far off a half marathon.

Track du weekend - I went back to the Marathontalk podcast after an absence of a couple of years. It does contain a lot of inane banter, but it's designed to keep you company on your long run, so that can mostly be forgiven. A lot this week on the Nike Breaking2 project, and whether their shoe design will lead to a have / have not situation like the elite swimsuits of a few years ago. Plus tributes to the remarkable Ed Whitlock.

[marathondan]

Easter hols are here for me, so a chance to spread out my runs. The "long" one is already in the bag, coming in over 7 miles for the first time in goodness knows how long. Some interesting chat on Marathontalk 337 about marathon pacing, which might be of interest to @MLCMM among others (including those who salivate at the thought of a >1 million record database of marathon times). Dip into the audio at 28 mins.

[El Gordo]

Easter hols are here for me, so a chance to spread out my runs. The "long" one is already in the bag, coming in over 7 miles for the first time in goodness knows how long. Some interesting chat on Marathontalk 337 about marathon pacing, which might be of interest to @MLCMM among others (including those who salivate at the thought of a >1 million record database of marathon times). Dip into the audio at 28 mins.

Has Marathontalk been going all this time? I suddenly received an email or two from them recently, which reminded me they exist. Maybe you got the same thing?

Should we have a Podcasts sub-forum? We could swap lists and recommendations. Have you heard of Lucy Kellaway, for instance? http://podcast.ft.com/2016/11/22/im-leav...o-join-me/

[marathondan]

Yes, it has, and yes I did. Plus I needed some distraction once my long runs reached the hour mark. However, other than that, I don't have that much time to listen to them really. Although I see you've put out a tempting teaser there for me...

But yes, your idea is a fine one. Category, typical length, one-line review, reviewer?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Easter hols are here for me, so a chance to spread out my runs. The "long" one is already in the bag, coming in over 7 miles for the first time in goodness knows how long. Some interesting chat on Marathontalk 337 about marathon pacing, which might be of interest to @MLCMM among others (including those who salivate at the thought of a >1 million record database of marathon times). Dip into the audio at 28 mins.

Thanks Dan, I'll definitely have a listen... probably this coming weekend.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Well, yes, indeed that was very interesting. So, effectively Professor Smyth is saying we should deliberately start a race too fast (but only by about 4%) and gradually slow down until we finish it at about 4% below our PB pace, because that is what happens generally anyhow among athletes who set PBs.

Well, given that it is incredibly difficult to run evenly paced splits through a long race such as a marathon anyhow, I'd say this might be worth a go, as it would at least have the positive psychological benefit of knowing that from the get-go you can afford to slow down and still run a PB, rather than the opposite.

Hmm, yes, I think I might try this.

[El Gordo]

Yes, it has, and yes I did. Plus I needed some distraction once my long runs reached the hour mark. However, other than that, I don't have that much time to listen to them really. Although I see you've put out a tempting teaser there for me...

But yes, your idea is a fine one. Category, typical length, one-line review, reviewer?

Hi Dan -- in Blighty for a few days, but when I get back, I'll sort something. Even if no one joins the conversation, I'll present my list, with explanations. It will be cathartic.

[marathondan]

Well, yes, indeed that was very interesting. So, effectively Professor Smyth is saying we should deliberately start a race too fast (but only by about 4%) and gradually slow down until we finish it at about 4% below our PB pace, because that is what happens generally anyhow among athletes who set PBs.

Well, given that it is incredibly difficult to run evenly paced splits through a long race such as a marathon anyhow, I'd say this might be worth a go, as it would at least have the positive psychological benefit of knowing that from the get-go you can afford to slow down and still run a PB, rather than the opposite.

Hmm, yes, I think I might try this.

I always used the Myers Pace Table as recommended by Hal Higdon. It's pretty similar. With the best will in the world, it's pretty hard not to slow down towards the end of a marathon.

The alternative is to actively try for a negative split. Which has always seemed hugely risky to me - deliberately going off slow in the (possibly insane) hope that I can pick up the pace in the second half of a marathon.

[marathondan]

Hi Dan -- in Blighty for a few days, but when I get back, I'll sort something. Even if no one joins the conversation, I'll present my list, with explanations. It will be cathartic.

I shall look forward to it.

In Berkshire news, Maidenhead two games away from clinching the National League South title.

[marathondan]

A tidy pre-breakfast 9.3 miles this morning, around the fields and the ever-popular Thicket. Highlight of Marathontalk was an introduction to the term shights, which are of course a thing for runners as well as cyclists. 

The little demon on my shoulder is now wondering what might happen if I just keep on adding a mile a week to my long run...?

[Charliecat5]

A tidy pre-breakfast 9.3 miles this morning, around the fields and the ever-popular Thicket. Highlight of Marathontalk was an introduction to the term shights, which are of course a thing for runners as well as cyclists. 

The little demon on my shoulder is now wondering what might happen if I just keep on adding a mile a week to my long run...?

You'll run a mile further each week.  Maths.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

A tidy pre-breakfast 9.3 miles this morning, around the fields and the ever-popular Thicket. Highlight of Marathontalk was an introduction to the term shights, which are of course a thing for runners as well as cyclists. 

The little demon on my shoulder is now wondering what might happen if I just keep on adding a mile a week to my long run...?

You'll run a mile further each week.  Maths.

You also get unhelpful, cheeky advice from people who profess to be runners but who in fact retreat to their couches at the first hint of a blister!

[marathondan]

You also get unhelpful, cheeky advice from people who profess to be runners but who in fact retreat to their couches at the first hint of a blister!

Now, now.

It was a blister and a cold.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

You also get unhelpful, cheeky advice from people who profess to be runners but who in fact retreat to their couches at the first hint of a blister!

Now, now.

It was a blister and a cold.

He certainly was suffering for Lent, that's all I can say about it. Noble, I suppose.

[marathondan]

Pottering along rather nicely here. Got a nice field/woodland 10 mile trail run in this afternoon, definitely the furthest I've run for 2 years and at 90 mins dead a pleasing pace. It also finally brought me up to target for my ongoing goal of averaging a mile a day for the year. But until mid-Feb I only ran 6 miles, so really at the moment I'm closer to two miles a day.

Got a rare Parkrun in last week. Was feeling confident after banking some good miles recently, but the time came in slower than my last visit, last summer. Stands to reason really - thinking about it, I'm now just coming back from effectively an 18 month layoff.

This is all taking a bit of a toll though - intervals and Parkrun on consecutive days was a mistake, and my left hammy/glute is seizing up whenever I sit down for long. It might need a week off to recover - this is all part of the game that I'm getting back into.

[marathondan]

PS - should mention the football news today, Maidenhead making it to the Conference for the first time in their history. Readers of a certain age will recognise the manager.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

The two best things I do which has helped enormously in avoiding injury is to not run on consecutive days, and to do a proper warm up and cool down before/after each run. It really does make a difference. I'm pretty confident too that compression skins aid recovery after a long or hard run.

[marathondan]

The two best things I do which has helped enormously in avoiding injury is to not run on consecutive days, and to do a proper warm up and cool down before/after each run. It really does make a difference. I'm pretty confident too that compression skins aid recovery after a long or hard run.

Yep, never running on consecutive days has been my mantra for years. But these days it's that or nothing. Oddly, the sore leg feels a little better today, the day after putting 10 miles on it (technically 5 miles on that one and 5 on the other, I suppose). Hopefully it will run off, but otherwise a week off should do it.

And yes, I must go back to stretching, if I don't have the luxury of a rest day.

Do you warm up, stop and stretch before upping the effort? I just make sure the first 5 minutes are at low effort. And likewise, do you finish with low effort? I'm afraid I tend to finish with a sprint.