Today's Training

[PeteS]

It is a little odd, and most unsatisfactory, but i believe it is fairly explainable....

I've never really applied myself to road running. Only ever done one 10 mile race, 1 10km, and at 5km they've only ever been parkruns.

The only flat race i've ever really targeted was the 1500mtr first race after the covid lockdown, and this was because there was no alternative but to train solidly for it, and consequently i got my comparitively best time by a long way.

I do intend to rectify this a little though.... after Sedbergh Hills in August that will be my final fell outing of the year, when i concentrate on training solidly for the Brampton - Carlisle 10 mile in November, with a view to knocking a minute or two off my pb.

And i'll whisper it quietly, but might be considering a spring marathon next year. I firmly believe sub 3hrs is achievable, but only with full commitment, so that would mean a full winter off the fells as well... but i'd imagine 6 months of solid marathon training would leave me in a good position for a strong summer 2024 on the fells.

You should easily be able to nail a 3 hour marathon with your fell background and a winter to train. Admittedly I've not done a marathon (I leave that to Mrs S) but I did a few ALs and then did Birmingham half with no road training in 1.31 so I have every faith that a good fell basis is transferable to the road.

[mr brightside]

I've always found road running hits your calves more than fell, a lot more.

[Travs]

Hamstrings is where i feel it after a road race or fast flat session.

When i first started doing track sessions (early 2017 i think), i would be struggling to run for several days afterwards due to the shock to my hamstrings.

[Mike T]

I went from road running to fell - for those going the other way, I think the biggest challenge with the long events, marathons in particular, is the monotony - to keep going at the same speed for so long on relatively dull terrain, and unlike in fell running, to not have permission to walk. If you walk in a marathon you are doomed - you either undertrained, went off too fast, or are injured.

Having said all that - good luck with it - try to enjoy doing those five 20 mile flat road runs - to think I did it more than 10 times.

[mr brightside]

Hamstrings is where i feel it after a road race or fast flat session.

When i first started doing track sessions (early 2017 i think), i would be struggling to run for several days afterwards due to the shock to my hamstrings.

You probably have under-recruiting glutes.

[Travs]

Club night last night, in much better conditions than the previous tuesday.

2 x 1 mile, with 4 minutes rest... so i knew i had to make these fast.

5:22
5:18

Another big psychological barrier broken, as these were my quickest ever mile rep paces by some distance (previous best were 5:30's)

Ok it was only two reps but feel like i'm really pushing the boundaries in training... when i joined this group last summer, 5:45 was a quick mile rep pace for me... now i'm looking towards 5:15 as a possible target.

10 miles. Thursday sees us return to the track for a mix of 300/600 reps.

[PeteS]

Impressive stuff. Couldn't get near that these days.

Just to add to Mr B's post, my hamstring issues (after a period of flat running during COVID) are mainly down to glutes so have been working on those for a while with significant improvement.

[Travs]

Track session tonight, and like MrB i was in a vest, although it was again very windy on the track.

Once again pushing the boundaries and working to what i regard is a quicker level than i've felt capable of.

5 x 300mtrs (target 52secs)
1 x 600mtr (target 1min42 )
5 x 300mtrs (target 52secs)

First set went a lot better than expected.... 53, 52, 52, 52, 52
600mtr rep i was an absolute mile off my target, with 1min56, but that wasn't a surprise.
Final set of 300's was an ordeal with the swirling wind and lactic building up.... 53, 54, 54, 53, 54

Probably the first time i've finished a session and had to lie down on the side of the track... i'm not usually given to such "dramatics"

Another very pleasing session... running with confidence at the moment and the knowledge that i can perhaps push a bit harder on shorter reps as well as long, and hopefully see the results in races.

11 miles, on top of 4 easy miles AM.

[mr brightside]

I didn't do parkrun this morning, i didn't particularly miss is consciously, but i had such a shit start to the day, like i had the weight of the world bearing down on me. If i parkrun it normally results in a better start to the day whether i have a crap run or not.

[Travs]

After the efforts of the past week my legs weren't feeling 100% fresh, but needed to get a quality long run in, so elected for the treadmill. Allowing me to really work the cardio, but take a bit of the pounding off the legs.

1hr nice and steady to warm the legs up and build a little fatigue... then 45mins much harder.

Week comes to a close with a decent haul of 78.5 miles, and a very pleasing week.

The next week will hopefully see more of the same. Next weekend was supposed to be Y3P, and although i won't be racing i'll be in the area... reccying the inter-counties course at Sedbergh on friday, then most likely out on the Y3P course on saturday.