Yorkshire Marathon 2015 (Week 4 of 12)

Week 4

Mon 10/8: (am) 4.0 miles @ 9:01/mile

Mon 10/8: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:28/mile

Tues 11/8: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:37/mile

Tues 11/8: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:40/mile

Weds 12/8: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:49/mile

Weds 12/8: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:40/mile

Thurs 13/8: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:38/mile

Thurs 13/8: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:49/mile

Fri 14/8: (pm) 6.21 miles @ 8:40/mile

Sat 15/8: (am) 5.0 miles (incl Waterworks parkrun (1st) 17:41 (3.1 miles @ 5:40/mile) [Hannah (1st) 18:03]

Sat 15/8: (pm) 3.1 miles @ 8:40/mile Valley parkrun Freedom 

Sun 16/8: 10.0 miles @ 6:00/mile Monaghan 10 (14th) 1:00:03  [Hannah (2nd) 1:01:43]

Total Weekly Mileage - 56.31 Miles

Week 4 completed, so that means that we're already a third of the way along the journey towards the Yorkshire Marathon. Time is flying!

This week was still relatively low mileage but it consisted of 12 runs and a couple of pretty encouraging weekend runs so not bad at all as a consolidation type week.

It was another quick hop over to Northern Ireland on Saturday for more fun and games ......

Sat 15th Aug - Waterworks parkrun 17:41 (1st),  [Hannah 18:03 (1st)]

We've been to Waterworks a few times now and there is always a warm welcome waiting on arrival, especially from Matt and Ruth Shields, Gregg McClure and John Murphy.

For those not familar with the venue it is in the North West part of Belfast, a couple of miles outside the city centre:

And for somewhere so close to a city centre it offers some surprisingly scenic views:

(Pic courtesy of Jenni Reilly)

The run itself went very well with a 17:41 clocking, comfortably inside the only other official run at this venue of 17:59.

Hannah had a good head to head battle with Matt Shields for 18:03 and 18:05 respectively and that 18:05 for Matt represented the highest age grading ever recorded at Waterworks out of the 39,790 runs completed there in the last 5 years.

The fact that Matt did this on his 61st birthday and on his 100th run at Waterworks was very neat all round. However, at 89.49% there is a little unfinished business with 90% being so tantalisingly close ;)

Sun 16th Aug - Monaghan 10 Miler 1:00:03 (14th),  [Hannah 1:01:43 (2nd)]

For Sunday's adventure we went into the republic to Monaghan for a 'flat' 10 miler.

For a small town there was a cracking turnout of 500+ runners, boosted by strong contingents from Derry, Newry and Belfast.

Although not what could be described as hilly, the course was also a bit too undulating to be called flat.

As we lined up at the start there were serious question marks about whether the huge chinese from the night before was going to behave for the next hour or so or whether it was going to decorate the streets of Monaghan! 

It felt like a bit of a slog for most of the race but that very much turned into a positive when seeing that 6:00 miles were being maintained despite the sluggishness. Halfway in 29:27 was probably a little too quick with a few testing inclines to come but the second half held together ok and felt marginally less sluggish than the first half.

Coming up to the finish I hadn't realised just how close to the hour it was but to be 3 seconds over is near enough.

 

Hannah paced it much more evenly to finish strongly for 1:01:43 and 2nd place.

As is usually the case in Ireland, you don't go home hungry :)

And nor do you go home thirsty as what seemed like most of the participants made their way to the Squealing Pig for the 'after party'. 

Apparently 'Vitamin G' is good for you. We didn't need any convincing ;)

The one and only Bootsie (Colm Fearon), the man behind Running Blind at Stormont a couple of weeks ago, fully embracing whatever he could find to embrace :)

Nuala Collins and Jennifer McAteer very happy with their well deserved bling :)

Would we go back to do Monaghan 10 again? Hell, yeah :)

Next Week:

Next week has still to take shape so at the moment is something of a blank sheet of paper.

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

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)

Yorkshire Marathon 2015 (Week 3 of 12)

Week 3

Mon 3/8: (am) 4.0 miles @ 9:15/mile

Tues 4/8: (am) 4.0 miles @ 9:18/mile

Tues 4/8: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:53/mile

Weds 5/8: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:36/mile

Thurs 6/8: (pm) 5.0 miles (incl. Todmorden 5k (9th) 18:05 (3.1 miles @ 5:49/mile) [Hannah (1st) 17:56]

Fri 7/8: (am) 4.0 miles @ 8:35/mile

Fri 7/8: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:29/mile

Sat 8/8: (am) 4.0 miles (incl Goole parkrun (2nd) 17:54 (3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile) [Hannah (1st) 18:03]

Sat 8/8: (pm) 6.21 miles @ 8:40/mile

Sun 9/8: (am) 6.0 miles (incl. West Yorks 5 (7th) 29:46 (5.0 miles @ 5:57/mile) [Hannah (1st) 31:12]

Sun 9/8: (pm) 6.21 miles @ 8:38/mile

Total Weekly Mileage - 51.42 Miles

After the last two weekends this week had to be a bit quieter to let the legs catch up and regain a bit of strength.

It was therefore a week of lower mileage and shorter races but nonetheless the last 3 weeks cumulatively have totalled 225 miles and 9 very varied races/events.

So what did this week entail?

Thurs 6th Aug - Todmorden 5k 18:05 (9th) [Hannah 17:56 (1st) ]

Thursday saw a return to Todmorden for the last in the 5k series at Centre Vale Park.

We ran an earlier race in the series on 9th July where Hannah clocked 18:07 (course record at the time) to my 18:10 so it was going to be interesting to see how close to this we could get on very tired legs.

The course is 5 laps of exactly 1km with splits provided at the end of each lap.

After the first steady lap it started flowing quite nicely for the next couple of laps. Surprisingly it was looking like a 17:45-17:50 ish with a consistent effort level or a bit quicker by pushing on in the closing stages.

All well and good until at the end of the 3rd lap the tell tale sign of a loosening left shoe appeared. After trying to ignore it for half a lap it got to the point of imminently flying off into the distance. There was no option but to stop and relace.

Suddenly stopping and bending over when flat out in a 5k can create some strange bloodflow wooziness issues I can tell you :p

Eventually back up and running, Hannah had now disappeared into the distance to record 17:56 (11 secs quicker than previously) and I got there in 18:05. So despite the shenanigans both times were faster than the previous visit, which we definitely weren't expecting.

Sat 8th Aug - Goole parkrun 17:54 (2nd) [Hannah 18:03 (1st) ]

Saturday saw a trip to glorious Goole!

Not two words that are generally used in the same sentence it has to be said but they really have done a good job with a £1m revamp of West Park.

The parkrun course is multi terrain with 60% grass/40% tarmac and very flat.

This is the start of the final large lap. It looked like an even contest at this stage but Ben Spilman had a good bit extra in the tank to pull away for a 17:31 clocking. I was more than happy with 17:54 though as the legs were feeling heavy on the grass sections:

Hannah was closing towards the end to record 18:03, which led to a possible challenge for the claim of 'shortest time to hold a parkrun record for'. A grand total of 9 secs! I thought these age graded leagues were supposed to help us vets, what's a youngster doing sticking her nose in? :p

Arth certainly approved of the revamped West Park, he didn't want to leave:

Sun 9th Aug - West Yorks 5 29:46 (7th) [Hannah 31:12 (1st) ]

From glorious Goole on Saturday it was then onto beautiful Birkenshaw on Sunday!

The destination was the West Yorkshire Fire HQ for the West Yorks 5 miler, an event that we last tackled in 2013. To say that this is a tough course is no understatement as the event's own description  is keen to point out:

The weather was nice enough but more appropriate for sitting in a pub beer garden than tackling this course:

Meanwhile Arth seemed to be suggesting that we ought to get a fire engine for future travelling after seeing how much rear seat space there was compared to his normal mode of transport:

So how did the actual race go?

After a very cautious start to keep plenty in reserve for the later stages it turned out a good bit better than expected.

Because of the nature of the course the only valid comparison was with the last run there in 2013. The 2015 and 2013 results are below. There is a nice parallel in that in the 2 intervening years myself and Hannah have pretty much done exactly the same racing and training and the outcome in the West Yorks 5 comparison has been a 1:50 and 1:53 improvement respectively.

Nothing too amazing there but interesting nonetheless :)

A good week all in all, feeling surprisingly strong when the expectation was that it would be just a week for recovering from previous efforts. Chances are that we are already seeing the benefits coming from Thunder Run two weeks ago. Very enjoyable week anyway :)

A bit tiring for some though :

Next Week:

Probably a bit more mileage next week with an NI parkrun on Saturday and then a trip over the border on Sunday for the Monaghan 10 miler, where we hope to see a few of the usual suspects :)

Marathon Building Blocks:

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

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)

Yorkshire Marathon 2015 (Week 2 of 12)

Week 2

Mon 27/7: (am) 4.0 miles @ 9:28/mile

Mon 27/7: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 9:15/mile

Tues 28/7: (am) 4.0 miles @ 9:29/mile

Tues 28/7: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 9:24/mile

Weds 29/7: (am) 4.0 miles @ 9:11/mile

Weds 29/7: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 9:26/mile

Thurs 30/7: (am) 4.0 miles @ 9:08/mile

Thurs 30/7: (pm) 4.0 miles @ 8:49/mile

Fri 31/7: 4.0 miles @ 8:32/mile

Sat 1/8: (am) 4.0 miles (incl Falls parkrun (1st) 18:22 (3.1 miles @ 5:54/mile) [Hannah (1st) 18:39]

Sat 1/8: (pm) 4.0 miles (incl Running Blind, Stormont (1st) 21:04 (3.1 miles @ 6:47/mile) [Hannah (1st) 21:04]

Sat 1/8: (eve) 7.0 miles (incl Rathfriland 10k 39:09 (6.21 miles @ 6:18/mile) [Hannah (1st) 37:22]

Sun 2/8: 16.0 miles (incl. Dublin Rock N Roll HM 1:25:57 (13.1 miles @ 6:34/mile) [Hannah (6th) 1:23:40]

Total Mileage - 67.0 Miles

After the 100k each at Thunder Run last weekend and a tough series of hilly events this weekend a series of slow 4 mile runs during the week fitted the bill perfectly.

And then it was over to Belfast on Saturday morning for 4 varied events in not much more than 24 hours.

Sat 1/8 - (9:30am) Falls parkrun 18:22 

We have run around Falls Park a couple of times before but this was the first attempt at the actual parkrun. 

Our hosts for the weekend, the ever enthusiastic Janine and Mark Ramsey, had all the logistics under control. We would be back at this same venue the following evening for a Human League/Marc Almond concert but not before taking in trips to Stormont, Rathfriland and Dublin in the meantime.

Not an easy course but an enjoyable setting and it was good to bump into a few familiar faces, Eileen and Dan Jack as well as ED Stuart Kennedy.

Mark Ramsey (in yellow) running a course PB at Falls:

Sat 1/8 (1pm) - Running Blind 5K, Stormont

This was the brainchild of Colm Fearon aka Bootsie in conjunction with The Pathfinder Guide Dogs charity.

The idea was to gain some appreciation of both running without sight and also what it takes to guide a blind or partially sighted runner.

It was going to be fascinating to take part but also a little scary. One runner was blindfolded for the first lap, which took in the main driveway at Stormont and then across the top road in front of the Parliament buildings and then back down the driveway to the start before roles were switched for a second lap.

We were all covering up our trepidation in this pre-event pic:

111 pairs of runners lined up to take on the challenge.

These were the nervous early stages on lap 1 as we approached the hill for the first time:

Still upright with no mishaps so far:

Exactly 1 lap later at the same point but now with roles reversed:

A very relieved bunch of runners after completing the challenge - Myself, Hannah, Bootsie aka Colm Fearon, Jennifer McAteer, Karen McElroy:

If you want to see how everyone coped take a look at Bootsie's excellent video of the event:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LeUO0F6BEP0&feature=youtu.be

Bootsie getting a taste of his own medicine as Hannah relieves him of his camera and films his finishing stages:

So what was learnt?

From the description of the event beforehand we didn't expect to be able to go much quicker than walking pace without risking cuts and bruises.

However, as can be seen from the results, we actually got round pretty well without any injuries being sustained BUT, and it is a big BUT, it quickly became apparent that the venue was absoloutely perfect for this kind of thing. As can be seen from the photos the driveways are smooth with no cambers, no potholes, no speed bumps or any of the other numerous obstacles you could expect to ordinarily encounter.

It actually felt safe enough to run relatively freely once over the initial nervousness. A couple of things to note though:

1. Running uphill while blindfolded is tough - without the visual feedback of steepness and length of hill there is no way of judging effort level.

2. The role of the guide is critical but instead of the guide constantly trying to describe what is going on, we moved more towards waiting for the blind runner to ask questions. In that way the information was exactly geared to what info was wanted. Obviously the guide runner is still describing obstacles and steering as well.

So, although we coped far better than we expected to it still makes you realise just how difficult this must be on open roads with uneven surfaces and unexpected hazards. It was noticably more mentally tiring being the blind runner.

It was an enlightening experience so should the opportunity arise to take part in something like this, give it a go.

Great idea, Bootsie, thanks for the opportunity! 

What a great setting:

Sat 1/8 (7pm) - Rathfriland 10k 39:09 (7th) [Hannah 37:22 (1st) ]

A few hours, and a few Guinness, later it was time for a trip down from Belfast to a village called Rathfriland near Newry.

This place was hilly and the race itself had probably the craziest downhill start that I can remember in a race.

Being the 3rd event of the day on a hilly course it came as no surprise that it started feeling quite tough as halfway was approached. In 6th place at this point I was soon demoted to 7th by Hannah, who looked to be sauntering along.

She proceeded up through the field to firstly take the lead in the ladies race and then worked through to as high as 2nd overall before just losing that position by 9 seconds at the end. 37:22 on a tough course as the 3rd event of the day!

The start:

A low key finish from the shy and retiring Mark Ramsey:

A bunch of smiley people at the finish - Janine Ramsey, Hannah, Myself, Jennifer McAteer :

It may be August but we were very grateful that the Rathfriland pub had a roaring log fire on the go:

Sun 2/8 - Dublin Rock N Roll Half Marathon 1:25:57  [Hannah 1:23:40 6th]

It was a very early start to get down from Belfast to Dublin for an 8:30am start on Sunday.

Several thousand people lined up alongside the River Liffey as we did the best we could to loosen the legs up from the previous day's efforts.

There certainly wasn't going to be any looking for sub 80s on this day but it was still going to be interesting to see just how well things would hold together.

After settling down the pace seemed to be hovering around 6:30/mile, 1:25 overall would be a pretty good outcome if this was maintained to the end .... but there was a long way to go yet.

After about 3 miles, there was a bit of deja vu from a race 12 hours earlier as Hannah popped up alongside and then eased away into the distance and eventually out of sight. 

Her recovery between races was certainly going well as she went on to finish 6th in 1:23:40.

Over 2 minutes behind, my 1:25:57 was pleasing enough as it showed that very tired legs could still maintain a decent pace without falling apart unduly. All good signs.

Phew - so that was an action packed 24 hrs (24hrs 25 minutes to be precise) expertly coordinated by this dynamic duo. Thanks Janine and Mark :)

Next Week:

Next week will certainly be quieter.

Marathon Building Blocks:

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

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)