Week 9
Mon 14/9: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:40/mile
Mon 14/9: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 9:02/mile
Tues 15/9: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:50/mile
Tues 15/9: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 9:21/mile
Weds 16/9: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:40/mile
Thurs 17/9: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:49/mile
Thurs 17/9: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:40/mile
Fri 18/9: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:55/mile
Fri 18/9: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:45/mile
Sat 19/9: 4.0 miles incl. Princes parkrun 17:58 (4th) (3.1 miles @ 5:46/mile) [Hannah 18:19 (1st)]
Sat 19/9: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 9:16/mile
Sun 20/9: 14.0 miles incl Vale of York HM 1:19:19 (22nd) (13.1 miles @ 6:03/mile) [Hannah 1:21:31 (3rd)]
Sun 20/9: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:54/mile
Total Weekly Mileage: 62.00 Miles
The end of week 9 was about trying to get a bit of faster leg turnover going.
Leading up to Saturday's parkrun the previous 33 runs spread over 20 days had seen no fast running at all, in fact the fastest run during this period was last Sunday's marathon which had averaged a pace of 6:51/mile. Everything else had been slower or much slower.
So sluggishness was expected.
Sat 19th Sept - Princes parkrun 17:58 (4th) [Hannah 18:19 (1st)]
This was the the first parkrun for 4 weeks but the venue wasn't actually chosen until about 8:40am.
Birkenhead parkrun had been the intended destination but we arrived to discover some very large event taking place. A quick check online, which for once we hadn't done before setting off, and confirmation that the parkrun had been cancelled was discovered.
It was now getting a bit late to find another parkrun but Princes looked to be just about doable if we got our skates on,
At 9am we were actually standing on the start line of Princes parkrun #233. Having run at event #30 some 4 years ago it wasn't a completely unknown course but nonetheless I had forgotten just how much of a lung busting route it was.
To finish with a sub 18 time was surprising given the lack of fast runs mentioned previously and the nature of the course, so good news all round. Hannah had pretty much the same experience and got round at an average pace of 5:53/mile.
The Henge, a recent addition to Princes Park:
And the Arth seal of approval was readily granted :)
And an even more dog friendly park was visited for breakfast, nearby Calderstones Park:
Sunday 20th Sept - Vale of York HM 1:19:19 (22nd) [Hannah 1:21:31 (3rd) ]
Having really enjoyed the inaugural Vale of York HM course last year this was going to be a good event to give an indication of fitness levels 3 weeks out from the York Marathon.
The route is as flat as you could want and with conditions on the day being absolutely perfect whatever came out as the final result would be a genuine reflection of current capabilities.
Mark Hetherington has created a superb event which will fill any capacity made available, in it's 2nd year the field had grown to something like 1200 finishers.
Based at Sherburn-In-Elmet airfield all the facilities work really well:
The unmistakable vests of St Theresa's, also known as STAC, warming up on the former RAF runway.
John Robson (in the shades) had completed the newly established Hull Marathon 7 days ago, so we weren't the only ones with a very recent marathon in the legs:
After a few minutes delay the field was primed for the off:
About 1 mile into the race and it was already clear that it was going to be a hot one. Here, shoulder to shoulder with the eventual 2nd placer, Sharon Barlow, as she settled into her reliably metronomic pacing. The last time we were shoulder to shoulder in a race was 16 weeks ago in the centre of Belfast at mile 23 of The Deep River Rock Belfast Marathon.
Miles 0-5 (30:11) (6:02/mile)
The reason that I really like this race is that it is all about getting into a sustainable rhythm and then switching off, there are no momentum breakers such as sharp corners or turnaround points. If I do lose momentum I'm worse than an oil tanker in the time taken to get back up to pace.
Going through 5 miles at an average of 6:02/mile was right up there with the best half marathon pace of the year at Swansea, which ended up at 1:19:04. Were the legs fresh enough to maintain that pace after the marathon and 48 miler in the previous 14 days?
Miles 5-10 (30:06) (6:01/mile)
The next 5 miles were uneventful and trouble free. To see that the pace had been maintained almost identical to the first 5 miles meant that there was now a good chance of dipping inside 80 minutes, which wasn't expected at the start of the day.
Would it hold together over the last 5k?
Miles 10-13.1 (19:01) (6:07/mile)
Going through 10 miles is where the 'switched off' sustainable pace comes to an end and the real work starts.
Increasingly more effort is required to maintain pace or, more usually, to limit slowing. It is usually a good idea to try to get involved in something at this stage, whether it is focussing on chasing someone down or getting involved in a head to head of some sort.
With that in mind, I was fortunate to be in a group of 3 at 10 miles with STAC's Richard Herrington and Horsforth's Neil Burton.
We were moving along at a pace that felt a little faster than what would be maintainable to the end but that fitted the bill nicely. The reckoning was that if we could cover the 11th mile in something close to 6:00 minutes then the sub 80 would just about be secure. It would then be a case of digging in and finding out what the legs really had in them.
And that is how it turned out, the other two eased away just after 11 miles and my legs gave their first indication of the day that they'd rather be somewhere else.
Through the finish in 1:19:19 for the 5th sub 80 of 2015 was a huge plus and an unexpectedly good indication of how well the recovery from the long stuff was going.
That time was 11 secs quicker than last year's 1:19:30 and, very similarly, Hannah bettered last year's 1:22:05 with 1:21:31 this year, an improvement of 34 seconds to land 3rd place on a high quality podium:
1st Susan Partridge 1:16:00
2nd Sharon Barlow 1:20:40
3rd Hannah Oldroyd 1:21:31
So where was the expected sluggishness?
Who knows how these things work? Every time you come up with a theory there seems to be a contradictory theory just around the corner.
However, we do at least have a theory :)
As a result of residual muscle tiredness from the 48 miles at St Albans 2 weeks ago it felt as though the effort level at last week's marathon was being tempered somewhat. Because of that it may well be that not much damage was done and therefore recovery from the marathon was swift.
At the same time, since the fast twitch muscles have barely been used for 3 weeks they were probably at full strength?
The Elite
The ladies winner, none other than the UK's current No.1 marathon runner, Susan Partridge who completed the race in 1:16:00 and Andy May, back on form to finish 6th in 1:14:19.
The results:
Plenty good results in amongst these with strong runs from Mark Havenhand and John Robson, who also didn't seem to show much ill effect from his marathon 7 days earlier:
We may not have been in Ireland this weekend but on the way home we accidentally stumbled across some live Irish music being played by a group called Blimey O'Reilly as part of the Otley festival.
Someone certainly seemed to enjoy himself:
Next Week:
With just 2 weekends between now and Yorkshire there will be a focus on some shorter stuff to get a bit of zip into the legs. A flat fast 10k will be next Sunday's target along Canal Road in Bradford.
Sub 3 Stats:
After completing his 11th Sub 3 marathon of 2015 on Sunday our friend (and Kent Roadrunner Marathon supremo) Ian Berry prompted the powers that be at Power of 10 to do some trawling of their records to have a look at sub 3s in a calendar year.
It turns out that Mr Berry is now right up there at No.2 on the all time Po10 list. Bear in mind that Po10 records are incomplete prior to 2005 but all the same an impressive stat.
This was the discussion that ensued that also threw up some more statistically interesting stuff:
In particular, this caught the eye. Not a bad selection of names to be mentioned amongst :)
Marathon Building Blocks (getting a bit long now but this is the year in a nutshell once all the slow short runs are removed) :
15th Feb: 18.6 miles @ 6:16/mile
22nd Feb: 10.0 miles @ 6:04/mile
28th Feb: 3.1 miles @ 5:48/mile
28th Feb: 3.1 miles @ 5:50/mile
1st March: 13.1 miles @ 6:24/mile
8th March: 26.21 miles @ 6:23/mile
14th March: 3.1 miles @ 5:46/mile
14th March: 3.1 miles @ 5:36/mile
15th March: 20.0 miles @ 6:25/mile
21st March: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile
22nd March: 9.65 miles @ 6:18/mile
28th March: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile
29th March: 11.2 miles @ 6:08/mile)
4th April: 3.1 miles @ 6:00/mile
12th April: 26.21 miles @ 6:35/mile
18th April: 3.1 miles @ 5:40/mile
19th April: 5.8 miles @ 6:04/mile
26th April: 26.21 miles @ 6:32/mile
4th May: 26.21 miles @ 6:40/mile
6th May: 3.1 miles @ 5:36/mile
10th May: 13.1 miles @ 6:15/mile
13th May: 3.1 miles @ 5:36/mile
16th May: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile
17th May: 13.1 miles @ 6:03/mile
20th May: 3.1 miles @ 5:37/mile
23rd May: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile
24th May: 1.0 mile @ 5:07/mile
30th May: 26.21 miles @ 6:37/mile
6th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:58/mile
7th Jun: 13.1 miles @ 6:05/mile
10th Jun: 10.0 miles @ 6:20/mile
13th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:50/mile
14th Jun: 13.1 miles @ 6:02/mile
20th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:54/mile
20th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:40/mile
21st Jun: 6.21 miles @ 6:31/mile
25th Jun: 10.0 miles @ 5:57/mile
26th Jun: 13.1 miles @ 6:11/mile
27th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:57/mile
27th Jun: 6.21 miles @ 6:15/mile
28th Jun: 6.21 miles @ 6:42/mile
1st Jul: 1.0 miles @ 5:11/mile
5th Jul: 26.21 miles @ 6:35/mile
9th Jul: 3.1 miles @ 5:50/mile
11th Jul: 3.1 miles @ 5:54/mile
12th Jul: 3.1 miles @ 5:50/mile
18th Jul: 3.1 miles @ 5:57/mile
18th Jul: 6.21 miles @ 5:43/mile
19th Jul: 13.1 miles @ 6:15/mile
22nd Jul: 2.75 miles @ 5:50/mile
25th/26th Jul: 62.1 miles @ 8:00/mile
1st Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:54/mile
1st Aug: 3.1 miles @ 6:47/mile
1st Aug: 6.21 miles @ 6:24/mile
2nd Aug: 13.1 miles @ 6:34/mile
6th Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:49/mile
8th Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile
9th Aug: 5.0 miles @ 5:57/mile
15th Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:40/mile
16th Aug: 10.0 miles @ 6:00/mile
22nd Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:52/mile
22nd Aug: 10.0 miles @ 6:15/mile
23rd Aug: 6.5 miles @ 6:19/mile
29th Aug: 1.0 miles @ 5:05/mile
30th Aug: 6.21 miles @ 5:58/mile
5th Sept: 48.0 miles @ 7:11/mile
13th Sept: 26.21 miles @ 6:51/mile
19th Sept: 3.1 miles @ 5:46/mile
20th Sept: 13.1 miles @ 6:03/mile
Recent Marathon Record
2009 April - Blackpool Marathon 3:24:17 (Age 42)
2009 September - Fleetwood Marathon DNF (Age 43)2010 October - Amsterdam Marathon 3:04:27 (Age 44)
2010 November - Milton Keynes Track Marathon DNF (Age 44)
2011 April - London Marathon 3:18:30 (Age 44)
2012 April - London Marathon 2:57:04 (Age 45)2012 October - Chester 2:55:36 (Age 46)
2013 April - London Marathon 3:11:29 (Age 46)2013 June - Cork Marathon 3:06:19 (Age 47)
2013 October - Budapest Marathon 2:58:53 (Age 47)
2013 December - Lancaster Marathon 2:54:17 (Age 47) (1st)
2013 December - Pisa Marathon 2:54:09 (Age 47)2014 April - Manchester Marathon 2:51:52 (Age 47)
2014 April - London Marathon 2:57:52 (Age 47)
2014 June - Rhyl Marathon 2:58:24 (Age 48)
2014 October - Yorkshire Marathon 2:47:34 (Age 48)
2014 October - Dublin Marathon 2:58:53 (Age 48)
2014 November - Town Moor Marathon 2:54:56 (Age 48) (1st)
2015 March - Wrexham Marathon 2:48:12 (Age 48) (5th)
2015 April - Canberra ACT Marathon 2:52:10 (Age 48) (15th)
2015 April - London Marathon 2:50:55 (Age 48)
2015 May - Belfast City Marathon 2:54:54 (Age 48)
2015 May - Kent Roadrunner Marathon 2:53:34 (Age 49) (4th)
2015 July - Potteries Marathon 2:52:40 (Age 49) (6th)
2015 September - Mary Anderson Colour Marathon 2:59:17 (Age 49) (7th)
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