2022 races

Great performance from Dave, with a bad ankle.

Damn these M50’s that actually train, it’s cheating :angry::joy:

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He was 4th M50 :clap::clap::clap:

1m35 run

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Amazing effort :+1:

Gin Pit marathon day 1

Weather glorious but with a really stiff breeze.

First 10km felt really good - headwind mostly

Next 15km wind behind on the canal - again feeling good but at 5:15m/km a little bit too fast for my usually plodding pace

25km onwards the course turns back into the wind and the wheels came off big style. Perhaps something to do with not having run over this distance since August last year :thinking:

Ground out a 4:23 finish which was poor given I had done the first half in 1:55

Still not knocking it, I said it was a training run for Thames Path 100 in 6 weeks and pacing Mrs T at Wilmslow half tomorrow. A long way off being proper fit for Thames Path.

An afternoon on the couch watching the rugby beckons

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After a LFT & a chat with my wife I decided to do my fell race.

I cycled over to it (36km/750mtrs) trying to take things easy but convinced my HR was running high. My initial thought was :mask: but fairly sure it was too much :coffee:.

Race was vicious as expected :joy: my ave HR was higher than for my last ParkRun, but the weather was beautiful if a bit breezy & it was lovely to see lots of old faces. It was 10km/700mtrs I took just over the hour & think I was 7th & first V50.

I cycled a different route home to try & keep on quieter roads. Legs were absolutely toasted for the 41km/670mtrs.

Just waiting to catch Covid now having avoided it like Keanu in The Matrix for the last couple of years :man_shrugging:.

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Good work :+1:

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Great work out!

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Thank you & good luck beating The Boy tomorrow.

You’re doing it for all us oldies :laughing:.

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Have a hoot @jeffb

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Great Yarmouth half marathon done , and a mighty pleasing 1:27:31. This gave me 13th overall and the M50-59 win. It was a great battle as the M50-59 podium finished 13th, 14th and 15th, and they were 2 and 10 seconds behind respectively.

I put a dig in at mile 11, opened a gap but the B&ggers wouldn’t give in and hounded me all the way to the line, could hear one closing in the final few hundred metres but I clung on.

Great fun, felt really good and like a runner for the first time in 3/4 years.

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It was fun to be racing again, first since IM back on Oct 4th. 5 miles cross country, Knole Park.

A beautiful blue sky broke through the clouds occasionally, but a pretty fresh wind keeping the temperatures pretty low. Dry underfoot, a few wore road shoes but I think trail was the smart choice given the uneven ground. As mentioned in the trail thread, my train was cancelled and it looked like I’d miss the start but after running from the station…2.8km +114m…the start had been delayed so I had a chance to ditch some clothing and pin my number on.
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1st km tried to pace which is always tricky at the start surrounded by people, then a steep grass/bare Earth downhill I flew past a bunch of people down on to a long flat but lumpy out and back. Managed to catch up to people but on the turnaround the gradual incline to the halfway point the lighter people started to make their way past. One noting she had been chasing me since the gun and gradually moved away. The descent I had bounded down, we all now walked up my heart rate dropping barely a few beats then back into it as it levelled out and onto a path which gradually turned down a swooped into the woods. As I tried to make back the time on those that past me uphill, just a couple of runners ahead, a beautiful stag with antlers as long as my arms appeared and launched itself across the trail and up the hill. That distraction behind me the trail slowly looped back and uphill - one of the racing snakes ahead of me was stopping to walk, so I vowed to hold my effort but before I caught up checking my HR and keeping the pressure on but they caught their second wind and held me off. A lady caught up with me and I paced with her uphill until it levelled off then pushed on and round into the final downhill straight - you can see the finish about a km away so it’s tempting to go hard but I kept the tempo and hoped to make up ground as others faded…it didn’t really work as everyone was going hard but as one person ahead though they had me I turned on the afterburners and muscled just past to make up a spot in the final metres :slight_smile:

In short, I enjoyed myself.

Tried to pace the gradual uphill first km and in fact the whole race to effort rather than pace and I think I did well although if Hammerer and EJC are right, maybe I could’ve added a few more beats although my legs always felt on the limit.


Checking through the race photos I think I was the fastest in my BMI category :wink: No one heavier ahead of me and plenty of slimmer behind, so a Pyrrhic victory at least :sweat_smile: 43:55.

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Pacing Mrs T at the Wilmslow half.

Another glorious day for running.

2:07 - new PB by 8 mins for Mrs T - she is well chuffed. Next target sub 2.

My legs were stiff as to begin with but warmed up by 5km after yesterday’s marathon.

Son did 1:29 off the back of very little training. His gf did 1:56 in what was her first HM (and she says last)

Out for roast dinner this evening to celebrate :grinning:

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That’s some great work from all of you :+1:

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Did the fell race today, there’s a reason it’s an AL, there’s a couple of ascents where there’s no real track or the quickest route is general through the heather and bracken, and although they are nowhere near as long as the lakes, it is generally just up and down most of the way.

I started towards the back which meant I didn’t go off too stupidly and steadily moved up the field for the rest of the race, but did lose 3 places on the final descent, partly because of my foot and ankle (see below).

Conditions were good though and I might have been a bit quicker than 2 years ago, that’s probably more because of the conditions than my fitness levels. Although I did find a couple of the shortcuts, and some of the descents were quicker with it being dry. Need to look for the final results.

Another bonus is that I seem to have actually found THREE things I’m reasonably good at, it’s only taken 51 years :rofl:

  • Finding and falling in just about the only bog on an otherwise largely dry route :roll_eyes:
  • Rolling my left ankle (it’s always that one) at least 3 times, this is not unusual for a longer fell race :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:
  • Getting a decent sized blister on the bottom of my foot (can do a trotter pic if there’s enough demand :joy:)

Either way, decent long run in the bank for the marathon and did a small swim beforehand.

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Nah, you’re alright

Good work, sounds like fun! I admire your race strategy…much better to be mainly passing rather than mainly being passed.

Just need to find a race that rewards bog hunting, ankle twisting and blister creation and you’ll be the champ :wink: :joy:.

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Where’s @leahnp ???

British Duathlon Champs today at 1pm…

Long drive home I think, though?

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Yeah, think his splits looked alright on Strava.

Decent half for @stenard as well building for Boston.

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Well done everyone! Some amazing racing this weekend!

@leahnp ran a 16.36 5km within his first run! His first km was sub 3!

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You bastards are too fast for me to hang out with :joy:

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