Jack

I'm (roughly) following the Hal Higden Advanced 1 training plan. Plenty of long runs in the buildup to the marathon - there are three 20 mile runs in that. That plan had a HM race 8 or 9 weeks prior to the Marathon, but I'd already booked Reading prior to deciding on that plan, so moved things around slightly. I still get all the long runs and easier weeks in the right places, and allow a good 3 week taper before the Marathon. I've never heard of those Tulloh plans, I'm halfway through P&D Advanced Marathoning though and there's loads of good stuff in there. The science behind nutrition & hydration is really interesting. I thought I was pretty clued up but have learnt a lot. A couple of people have asked if I should be aiming as high as I am, but I didn't see the sense in starting a training program at a lower level/mileage than I'm already at. I'm running 25+ miles a week as it is, this Hal Higden one starts at 30 and peaks at 50ish. No point in going back to a novice marathon plan.

Nice one Keith. I'm in for Reading, but saw something a few weeks ago saying not to delay as it's filling up quickly. It's 6 weeks before my marathon so will be a better indicator of where I'm at than yesterday was.

Ha, cheers WC. The start was pretty crowded, I think what made the difference was the fact that it was mainly club runners there, and the majority set off at the correct pace for where they were stood at the start. I was right next to the 1:45 marker, and I just stayed with the pack that was around me. It was a bit quick at 7:30 but things opened up after the first mile so I could pick my pace. Much better prep for this than the GSR and it showed. I was a couple of mins quicker than my GSR pace through 10 miles, and was still feeling great so kicked on. I must have done the last 5k in a few secs over 21 mins which is quick for me, I don't even run 7 min miles on tempo runs at the moment. A couple of weeks of ticking over now then my London Marathon training plan starts for real, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm thinking I should join a local running club too, it looks like being involved would be a laugh and good motivation, not that I feel like I need it at the moment!

I'm fairly sure Adam has shown that. And he knows what Rickie is all about. Only if Liverpool fail to win at Everton.

How did you get on Keith? Perfect day for it today, cool and no breeze. Ran 1:40:20 which was nearly 5 mins faster than what I thought I could achieve today, so dead happy with that. As said above, the course is pretty uninspiring, but it's flat and fast, cheap, well organised, and a decent goody bag at the end. All in all it's not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning.

Is it just me that thinks Kyle Walker is really average? Everyone's beating the drum about how poor Johnson is, and I agree, but I don't think Walker is much better. He's got some pace but not much end product going forward, likes to run into a dead end, and he just seems to be terminally unintelligent. Makes a lot of poor challenges and bad decisions, and moans like **** when it's not going his way. I hope Nathaniel Clyne carries on this form for the rest of the season. If he does, it'll be obvious that he deserves to be going. And if the other 2 carry on as they are, their clubs may start looking elsewhere.

Ramsay over the course of the season, scoring for fun and doing the business in Europe too. Lallana is on the up though.

We've also played 8 of the bottom 9. We've had an easier-than-average run of fixtures, but I don't think that means we're going to start to struggle.

Too good to ignore. Was the same at Old Trafford - I was on Saints at 11/2 and 3/1 for the draw. That's a pretty decent bet.

More confident about the Chelsea game than the Arsenal game, but anything is possible. Chelsea got lucky against WBA, Norwich gave loads to think about in recent weeks. I think we've got a great chance of getting at least 2 points from the 2 games.

Sickener!

The atmosphere was pretty good from the start, and obviously got better and better through the first half. Went a bit flat for a while in the second half when Wanyama got them back in the game, but was good overall.

Completely agree. That got going with both Davis' on the bench. It's sh*t and really not funny. The Artur Boruc song however...

Decent day today! Great results so far. City losing messed up my acca, but I had a free £5 from Paddy Power which I stuck on Sunderland 1-0 at 22/1. Rooney 2-0 or 2-1 would be the icing on the cake!

This.

Best performance by any Saints player this season. Where the hell has this yard of pace come from? Class today, and looking more like a captain at the same time.

You know, er yeah I'm loving it, you know?

Would be mad to play anything other than a front 4 of Lambert, Lallana, Rodriguez and JWP, assuming they're all fully fit. They'll all be raring to go out and continue to impress. Team picks itself tomorrow IMO: Boruc Clyne Fonte Lovren Shaw Schneiderlin Wanyama Lallana JWP Rodriguez Lambert Davis, Yoshida, Chambers, Cork, Davis, Ramirez, Osvaldo 1-0

Or he struggled when playing with those not up to his level? He was absolutely class last season, consistently.

Plenty of room in that squad for some of our other Englishmen. Johnson, Walker, Cleverly, Milner, Henderson... Plus the few that may need a walking stick by the time we get to Brazil. Bet Woy still plays the old guard through fear of the media. It's great for our lads but I f*cking hate the England setup.

Yep. Anyway it'd be wrong to give the youngsters and fringe players the chance until you face a tricky game, then let the first team take over. If we'd won tonight, I'm sure we'd have put out a similar XI against Chelsea anyway and got battered. It's good experience for some of the younger lads, and positives to take from it. Another 2 debuts, and they were saying on 5live that Harrison Reed had a very solid game and looks mature beyond his years.

Should've been a pen according to 5live extra

For a strong-ish Sunderland side, they've got some really sh*t players.

Just had a glance at Skybet: Sunderland 15/8 Draw 12/5 Saints 11/8 Decent price for a Sunderland win

If any mods see this - could be worth changing the thread title to 'SWF running thread' or something along those lines?