Busy weekend!
Friday I headed to London to work alongside Martin & Liz Yelling coaching over 44 runners for London Marathon. This was a coaching day arranged by the NSPCC and benefited those running for the charity and raising money. As per usual it was a great day. One of the joys of doing this type of work is seeing peop
le improve and become more confident.
Sunday I ran a marathon in training. Nice easy pace. It was about time on my feet using my 'ultra' kit. I clicked out the marathon in 3:47 and that was using a strategy of running 4 miles and walking for 2 mins. I keep telling you that this is the way forward for distance running and it just goes to show that you can still achieve a sensible time without running yourself into the ground.... the plus sides of a strategy like this are massive. Good recovery, no leg pain and the ability to train hard or long the next day!
Ron Shannon, Cat Archer and Mark Hughes headed to Portland to take part in the Endurancelife Coastal Marathon. I should have been there but work took priority! Portland is a tough course but one of the easier Coastal Marathons. The early sections are rocky and technical. You turn at Portland Bill Lighthouse and then have some pretty easy/flat running before the decent to Chesil Beach. The Beach is a brute... A couple of miles of shingle that just shocks the legs, hips and mind. At the end of the beach you turn and re trace to the start to run another lap. Pleased to say that Ron, Cat and Mark all finished within 10 min of each other. Ron 4:39:57. Cat 4:48:21. Mark 4:38:30. The winning time was 3:27:49 by Pete Roper. Last year I ran 3:54:17 over the same course for 8th place, so, it puts the course and the difficulty into perspective.
On a training front I need to mention Sandie. Sandie has struggled with a few niggles over the last couple of months, then the snow. Just as she was getting back into some solid training for Paris Marathon she has 'twisted' an ankle again. Keep your chin up Sandie!!! Everyone who reads this can understand and relate. You will soon be back on the road and now that we have a contingency plan, you can focus the mind on new targets!
Claire Wright who is training for MDS went out and put an 11.5hr training session in over the weekend and covered nearly 45 miles. Sterling effort and a great boost for April.
Max Bonzo did his longest run at the weekend in prep for Seville Marathon in a few weeks. Keep focused Max. It will come good.
Please share your thoughts with everyone. This blog is for ALL and the comments box allows us all to interact. Let's here what you are up to!?
Amazing that everyone was so close at Portland! Have the three of you developed a pathalogical hatred of shingle beach?
ReplyDeleteMany congratulations to Ron, Cat and Mark on a superb achievement. You are all very brave especially with the vagaries of the English weather!
ReplyDeleteFantastic from everyone and it will be great to follow Claire's MDS progress - superb!
Hi, Yes I hate the noise of pebbles and shingle. I can still hear it in my sleep !
ReplyDeleteOn a serious note It was a very enjoyable experience.
I drove down on friday night and after a five hour drive met up with Ron and had a very civiized meal. we then went to register and I started to get nervous when everyone expressed suprise I was doing the marathon! The following day reality dawned and after several changes of kit and visits to the loo we were off. Ron stormed a head. I had already decided to use it as a training run and to finish feeling fine rather than kill myself.It was cold to start with but got warm as we ran. The going was tough and it was a choice of running through mud and puddles or going over the edge.
I met some lovely people and had some good chats which took my mind of running.I was enjoying it until the shingle. Nick had already warned me and Ian had said dont walk! With their voices in my head I did battle. The first time round was grim but the second was .....!however I did manage to run most of it.
Over all it was a good day and a first for me off road. Ron was a complete star[thanks Ron!] and kept me going.
Cant wait for next month and with Chris for company ,what more could I ask for!!!
I can see a team coming together for the 'Thunder Run' ;-)
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