Running Piers

LTP runs are training runs at "Threshold pace" which is on the line between where your muscles can work aerobically and anaerobically ; as a rule it is roughly the pace you can run fast for an hour or so.  Probably close to 10k pace or thereabouts anyway.   See here for a more informed discussion . What they are for? My marathon plan contains a few of these, and they are daunting at first.  They build from 3 miles in the early weeks, through timed ones (e.g. 16 mins / 4 mins recovery / 14 minutes - where distance depends on speed). The goal is to help build the body's ability to run "on the limit" and deal with lactic acid build up in muscles, effectively training the body to get better at that particular biological process. They also (IMHO) give you a decent benchmark of how fit, fast and well trained you are - and to an extent - how well mentally you can deal with the pain of running hard.  Certainly they are a long, long way from a chatty or long/slow...

I got to thinking today "How important is support when you are running a race?" To give a bit of context, I ran a race in January (as I started to write this...).  It was the Farnborough half marathon in Hampshire and it was good, f**king good actually.  I got a lift there so didn't have to drive or park, a bunch of my friends from Hook Runners were there running. It was cold and wintry, really wintry. We were running in snow for a good deal of the distance and the air temperature was around 2 degrees.  It was the first half marathon of the year (it is branded as the "winter half marathon" and is organised by marathon hero Mike Gratton's excellent 2:09 Events company) so it comes hot on the heals of Christmas. Now, I have run quite a few half marathons, 12 last year alone (see here ), and probably 6-8 before that so maybe 20 in total.  Its sort of my primary race distance. Some of those races have been solo efforts from start to finish - I've...