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VLM 2019 Pre-Race Report - Maria Sparks

27/4/2019

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​One of the favourite topics amongst my running friends is the number of times they've entered the ballot for VLM and not got a place. It's on the bucket list for lots of people.  I got tired of entering after 5 attempts and went off to do Paris (a brilliant venue for a first marathon) and Hull (for sentimental reasons, my old university city) but the desire for London never went away. Every year I would enter and expect the dreaded rejection email. 

This year was no different...except the story changed when HERC announced their names drawn from the hat. Woohoo!! It was finally my turn. 

Having followed a beginner plan a couple of times, I chose the improver plan from the VLM site by Martin Yelling. The plan has 4 sessions per week, a schedule I felt was achievable. Once I start a plan, I'm OCD about following it, unlike any other aspect of my life (OCD is not a term I'm usually associated with!).

I'd previously found the mid-week runs difficult in the evenings, too cold, too dark, too tired...you get the picture. I decided to try a new early morning approach, still too cold and dark but at least I wouldn't be tired, eh?

All went well for weeks, even the early mornings were ok (yes, I was shocked too). The training plan talks a lot about being in tune with your heart rate so I used it to ensure I was working at the right effort levels. The long runs called for an easy pace and this meant I slowed down considerably to keep my heart rate low enough. It didn't feel like I was working very hard, ideal.

Week 8 - on my recovery run and my ankle started to hurt. I didn't think much of it until the following morning when it was too painful to walk. 

And that's where the training ended. I followed all the advice to rest, sure that I'd be back pounding the streets soon but it took 3 weeks to walk properly and another 2 before I could take the impact from jogging. I saw a podiatrist and she explained that I had been overpronating, probably due to a shorter stride pattern on the longer runs. 

It was hard to accept that I wouldn't be ready for the VLM, I spoke to friends about possibly using a run/walk strategy but I wasn't fit enough for that. I particularly felt like I'd let all the other members of HERC down, having taken a treasured VLM place. 

I tried to see the positive side, it took a while but I got there eventually. 

1. I have a guaranteed place for next year and I'll still be able to represent HERC. 

2. I've discovered that morning running in the week works for me. 

3. I've also found out that slower running isn't always better. 

4. My injury isn't permanent and I'll still be able to run, something I never take for granted. 

See you next year for, hopefully,  part 2 of my report. 
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VLM 2019 Pre-Race Report - Jo Comerford

27/4/2019

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Firstly and most importantly, a huge thank you to Hedge End Running Club for my entry to partake in such a famous sought-after race. I’m so pleased to run for the club and so grateful thank you as I have been applying for a place for the past 20 years but unsuccessfully. I can soon cross this off my bucket list!

When I saw my name appear on Facebook towards the end of last year as a lucky member pulled from the ballot hat - I had a little cry followed by sharing the text with everyone on Facebook. I then almost said no, panicking it would interfere with my specific tri training followed by digging out a previous trusted training plan (favourably a four month plan) all within half an hour! My mind was all over the place.

I began with a marathon mind the weekend before Stubbington. Thank you Tracy Heath for allowing me to take your place in January! My plan has consisted of 2 peaks – reaching my first peak at 18 miles end of February and 24 miles at the beginning of April. Every run has been early doors – I’ve seen some sights! Jumping deer, snarly dogs, smiley runners and several all-night revellers.

I’ve kept my main injury quiet – I got a grade 2 injury in the belly of my right hamstring last summer winning the parent race at my son’s sports day. What an achievement to beat those younger mums eh! However running was not an option for the rest of the season cancelling several races. Running into the bollard at the Ageas one Tuesday evening last October putting my SI joint out of place knocked me back again (literally!). I’ve still had a bit of a niggle training but thanks to Alli Bone and Mark Diment, I’m less aware of it these days. I’ve got through a lot of tape in a year!

Thank you to the members who have been very kind asking me how I am and where I am with my training plan. Thank you to Carol and Sheryl for joining me on that freezing morning run along the way.

Training for London has been different from other marathons already completed - New Forest, Clarendon, Salisbury ultra, Brighton and Seven Sisters. I’m a little older yes but I’ve had to be really strict with getting enough distance in accordance with my half ironman race later this year – swimming, spinning, treadmill, bike and weights. Nights out and lie-ins were so last year!


So I have two more planned training runs left – 12 miles tomorrow finishing with 8 miles next Sunday. This tapering lark is a lovely place to be! I think I’m ready – I know I’m excited! I will of course be feeling very different on the day. My home town is Greenwich (staying with my mum the night before) so I will only have a short walk across the heath to the start!


​I look forward to reporting from the other side post marathon. Cheers lovely people!
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VLM 2019 Pre-Race Report - Mark Smallwood

27/4/2019

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My plan for London was to get in via a good for age (GFA) time as I had one prior my knee operation, but two months before the closing date the organizers decided to move the goal posts and my GFA time was no longer good enough.  At this stage I decided I would do Boston instead (15th April).   I put my name in for the London place not really thinking about the consequences of doing so, but here I am with 13 days between Boston marathon and London marathon.

Training started with just easy miles in the legs ending up with the Portsmouth Coastal marathon in December which i finished in 3.22 which was a good run considering my buildup.  The target for April was a sub 3 hour marathon (accountability here we are)

I decided to follow a proper plan and decided to go with the Jack Daniels (no - not the drink!) book.  This is broadly pick your own mileage but each week there would be 2 hard sessions.  I picked my peak mileage of 100km (~62 miles) and started to follow the plan.  The first session was 6 miles easy then 6x1km followed by another 3 miles easy so about 14 miles in total. I remember finishing this session and wondering what i had got myself into as this was the hardest "long run" I had ever done, especially in January when it was freezing cold.  With a certain amount of determination I did all of the required sessions following the plan exactly until my first race of the year. 

In March I did Bramley 20 with the idea of doing this at marathon pace to get an idea of fitness and mentally prepare myself for running at pace for 2 hours plus.  Coming down with illness on the day of the race wasn't part of the plan. I remember getting to about 10k and feeling rubbish ,tired and generally wondering why i was running. In the end i pushed round to 17 miles before I stopped, re-grouped and jogged in.  Although at the time I was disappointed not doing the full 20 miles at pace in hindsight it was still a useful run.  

Training continued well until 3 weeks before Boston when I came down with tonsillitis and missed my first week of training. I didn't feel great and didn't miss training whatsoever. Perhaps this was a way of my body asking for a rest?  Recovered form that and then promptly injured myself in taper week and here I am now resting as much as possible hoping I'll recover by Boston. 

The plan between Boston and London?  No idea, if anyone has any hints or tips for running 2 marathons within 2 weeks please let me know!

Even thought the last 2-3 weeks of training haven't been great I'm looking forward to the big city marathons with the hustle and bustle that comes with lots of support and the associated noise.
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HERC Beginner's Running Course

9/4/2019

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We're pleased to announce an 8-week Beginner's Running Course starting on Monday the 20th of May.

More details can be found here... http://www.hedgeendrunningclub.com/beginners.html
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Hedge End Running Club Member of the Month February 2019

4/4/2019

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We’ve had an unprecedented number of nominations for one particular member, and it should come as no surprise that February’s Member of the Month award is presented to Jordan Winbourne.

Jordan has been training very hard over the winter for the Brighton Marathon in April, and this discipline and dedication has paid off in his race performances so far this year:

On the 10th February he achieved a 3 and a half minute PB at the Barcelona Half Marathon, running 78:35; one of the fastest times ever by a HERC runner.  

On 23rd February he broke 18 minutes at parkrun for the first time, running 17:24 at Whiteley Parkrun.

On 16th March he ran the Eton Dorney 20 Mile race in 2 hours and 8 minutes. To put that into perspective, if he had continued at that pace he’d have run a 2:48 marathon!

Of course, most recently he was 1st male at club championships, completing the Eastleigh 10k in 35:05; a PB by over a minute.

Even more impressive is that fact that, until just over 3 years ago, Jordan had never done any running. For those of you that aren’t aware, Jordan played snooker for England for several years.  He represented England Under 21’s in two European Championships and a World Championships in China, where he reached the quarterfinals. Due to the traveling and some poor results, he gave up on his dream of being a professional snooker player and began running. It’s clear that Jordan has since applied the same ethos to his running training that he applied to his snooker practice, and many at the club are excited to see what Jordan can achieve over the next few years.

Many congratulations for all that you have achieved so far this year Jordan, and we look forward to seeing the culmination of your training at Brighton in just over a week.
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