Running

How recently does the sub 3h05 need to have been?

For 2015 London Marathon it needs to have been since 1st Jan 2013.

http://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/how-to-enter/good-age-entry/

Gonna aim for the Purbeck Marathon 2015. Rated best in the UK in 2013. Hilly as fuck, looks like right quad-killer.

ok ta.

Still upsets me that gfa time.... Why didn't they tell me before the event? Fuckers.

Winters coming up Midlands way, so looking for a pair of off road shoes this weekend, and then back to half marathon training through the winter and or some cross country races.

yeah, but being told i cant have it makes me want it more!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11131330/What-type-of-parkrunner-are-you.html

Think it's finally beginning to click

I ran 7k in approx 38 minutes today without blisters nor calf soreness, that's about the same as my last shod run so I think that concludes my barefoot transition. I'm enjoying running much much more now, mostly because I'm running on horse-trails instead of the stupid pavement.

With the dreaded winter coming I'm afraid I'll have to start wearing shoes again, so I bought a pair of Merrel Vapor Gloves, but for now I'll enjoy the sand between my toes.

Fuck yes. I just I hit my sub 1:40 Half-Marathon target with a time of 1:38:21.

Despite my plan to do a negative-split, I found myself at ~4min/km pace for the first 2km. Tried slowing down to 5min/km pace unsuccessfully and so just tried to hang on for as long as I could.

1:43:28 this morning - pacing felt right, kept pretty much bang on 4:50s all the way round - wasn't sure I was going to go sub-1:45 given the training I've done, so pleasantly surprised.

AWESOME work guys!
#notevenarunningclubbutbossingit

Only 3 weeks to go until Snowdon Marathon, I'll get another couple of big-ish runs in but today was my final really big one. 22.5 miles with 2068 ft of climbing in 2hrs 55 minutes.

Still think if everything goes right on the day I can sneak under 3hrs 15 minutes but it's going to be a tough day :)

Top work chaps!

My weekend running was less satisfying, I dropped my debit card somewhere out on my long run today and couldn't face going back to look for it (there's a limit to the number of times anyone needs to go through Thornton Heath) so had to cancel it. Just as well really I suppose, as I went on a huge spending spree last week, buying exciting things like compression socks and a blood oxygen monitor (thanks Dammit...).

Went up to Manchester yesterday to run with the Still waters run deep running group for their 1-year anniversary Alley-cat inspired race.

Was a 9 mile, 9 checkpoint race starting at a crossfit gym on the edge of manchester and involved three out and back challenges to places all over manchester with a single long hill sprint, 3x hill repeats or a 4 point stage hitting various landmarks around town in the middle of each one. every time you got back to the gym you then had to do a crossfit exercise or take a 5-minute time penalty.

Was so much fun hooning around manchester like a lunatic amidst all the saturday night revellers. my track sessions are beginning to pay off as was hitting some pretty fast paces at points. surprisingly the alleycat feeling of it was pretty good as there was pretty much no open areas to run and had to rely on some sketchy use of the roads to get anywhere quick.

we all finished up just before midnight as it had started at 9.30 in the end and due to the handicapping system based on peoples 10k times I didn't get out the door until nearly 10pm.

haven't enjoyed running as much as that for a long time, think the variety of it made a big difference.

http://www.strava.com/activities/203683353

^ I'd been hoping to do that but went to a friends 40th in the Peaks instead. Glad it went well as an event, I'll look out for future ones.

Had made up for not doing it by running to work Sat A.m.

Well done Pifko & TW, Good luck Jones.

quality hatbread
proper nichey wierd english style
won today 1/63
http://sarumo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/SARUM_Galoppen_5_Oct_14.pdf

I've been in Colorado all week, and have been using running as a proxy for the effect of altitude.

I went out and ran a 5k on the first night I was here (which meant it was around 4am UK time at that point) and ran ~23.30.

The next day I went out twice, once for a short trot round the block (twice) then a longer run in the evening, these both felt much harder work - fatigue can't be discounted here I would think.

I ran only the once the next day- a slow 5k after work (28 mins), which was starting to feel more like it - but as I mentioned before I'm a consistent 10 bpm above where I think I should be for the PE.

Thursday I knocked off early and ran down to the local lake - which turned out to be uphill. This confused me.

There and back was 12 miles, for the vast majority of which I was a very unwilling participant if I'm honest. I got home in 1:49, which just beat the sunset - useful here with no streetlights outside the little suburb I'm staying in.

My conclusions are (on running) that my cardiovascular system is having to work harder, which is fine for steady state around tempo, but if I have to push through that (climbing say) then I'm asking a question my lungs can't answer, and the recovery time is a lot longer than I'd expect.

Yesterday I went out and rode the edge of the Rockies, 55 miles around and just over a mile of ascent - checked my SpO2% just before bed (yes, I am that much of a nerd) and I'm still at 92%, where I've been all week since I got here, which is annoying, I'd hoped that I'd have adapted over the course of the week, if not totally then at least a bit.

More running next week, I'll try to get a fast 5k done after work tomorrow - see if I can sustain a proper threshold effort.

I am doubtful, as I'd need to average 185-190 bpm based on my "10 above normal" observations of the week so far.

All of that aside, I'm buggered if I'm not going sub-20 on the Parkrun when I get home.

Interesting BBC radio programme about "Will Berlin see a sub 2-hour marathon?"

I'll give that a listen later.
I think we will see it one day, not for over a decade though. The weather conditions would need to be absolutely perfect and the race would require an elite field to encourage a fast race. Even then the record might only be broken by 15-30 seconds (which is still huge at this level).

#1 well done.

Talking of weird English, there was a fell run out where I was yesterday called Redbull Steeple Chase 500 start only 40 can finish as the field is cut each time the route passes a church steeple (3 times) until the top 40 fight for the win at the last one.

Would be fun to try, tho I'm not sure if sponsor name & popularity means higher entry cost.

...and the race would require an elite field to encourage a fast race.

They specifically say that a large elite field will not encourage a new record because, in a large group, no one runner wants to set a fast pace and drag the other runners to the finish only to get pipped at the end.

What is required is just a couple of elite runners that agree to work together to set a very fast time and not fuck each other over during the latter stages. This is more likely to happen in Berlin as the organisers have less money than bigger marathons (i.e. London) and therefore can't afford the appearance fees for so many elite runners. Berlin is also flatter and straighter than London.

I find it pretty astonishing that three runners who train together in Eldoret have all set new world best times in the last 12 months.

@dammit - I would have thought the jet lag would invalidate any of your observations.

All of that aside, I'm buggered if I'm not going sub-20 on the Parkrun when I get home.

I ran my final lap of a 12x400m set on thursday in 1:22 which taking as a 'race' performance and putting it through http://www.runsmartproject.com/calculator/ gives a 5k equivalent of 20:55.

have only been running 3-4 times a week for past couple of months but today I start my 10km training properly for the morun at the end of november with a heavy focus on short/mid distance speedwork and endurance. will be interesting to see where my 5k time falls by then, especially as i intend to shift 5-8kg in that time as well.

@Greenbank - That's a good point re: the number of elite runners in the field. Probably best to look atprevious record times and establish how many were in the break that went away. Not only do you need the right balance of number of elite runners, but they all need to be in top condition too.

Regardless, I think running a marathon under 3hrs, let alone near 2, is bloody amazing.

Another 5k today, no difference in speed but it was wet/windy today and my weight is slowly coming down so that should help. Off to Boots to buy some micropore tape to mask runners nipple; today was the first time i've noticed it (probably due to the cold weather).

Just starting to get used to it and not feel like it's a slog the entire way round.

PF also mostly gone thanks to golf ball trick but will keep at it (got used to playing with balls under my desk.)