am I doing to much - Spring Marathon

william peter mitchell

22/03/2010 at 20:11

Hi I am about to my first marathon in about five weeks at the age of 65 . I have been folloing rw ult mar schedule sub 4hr and so far I have not really had any problems, my big worry now we are getting close is to blow it in the last few week, last week I did a total of 44miles which is set to increase a bit.

open to ideas

cougie

pirate

22/03/2010 at 21:52

That does seem like a big mileage for sub 4 ?
Listen to your body though - if you feel the program is too much, back it down a bit or take a rest day. Overtraining is worse than undertraining.

william peter mitchell

23/03/2010 at 09:23

Hi cougie

thanks for for that i have at times thought it seems a lot but I have followed the plan,and have been thinking of doing a bigger taper than shown.

bill

fat buddha

23/03/2010 at 10:02

bill - don't do a bigger taper - stick to the plan which seems to be working. taper madness drives everyone nuts and you always feel that you should be out there doing something rather than sat back resting - the danger with a longer taper is that you will do something and blow it!

sub-4 at 65 in your 1st marathon - good target! best wishes for it.

william peter mitchell

23/03/2010 at 11:03

Hi Fat Budda

Yes I am hoping to do under 4hrs my times for halfs are around 1.45-1.54 i am doing the bed ford 20mile this sunday but I am running it it at a slow pace and using as practice to keep to my plan pace, and not get carried along with pack .

bill

there'll be bluebirds over....,,

23/03/2010 at 17:23

Agree with Cougie & listen to your body. I once ran a marathon on a average weekly mileage of 70 miles & did'nt run a particularly good race , i was too heavy legged from the start due to too many miles.I've since run far better races on half the mileage. Your body will let you know when you;re doing too much & i'd rather go to the start with fresh legs.All the best in April.

william peter mitchell

24/03/2010 at 09:25

Hi there'll be bluebirds over

I think you are right, this is why I put on my inquiry a couple of times I have felt a little tired in my legs but not to a point that I thought I can't go out. The plan does seem good but it dos'nt take age into account, therefore if I feel if I am feeling a bit tired I will take it a bit slower.

bill

fat buddha

24/03/2010 at 09:57

bill - age is an important factor when looking at training regimes and as I get older (I'm 57) it's not so much the frequency of running or the total mileage, it's more about the quality of the runs and taking rest days - which means doing NO exercise.

at 65 and aiming at a sub-4 for your 1st marathon is very very admirable - that will be a great achievement. many much younger people would be happy with sub-4 so to aim at it at 65 I think is great. I'm still hoping to crack another sub-4 at Brighton (week before VLM which I am also doing) but an injury and holiday has set my schedules back so I don't see it happening now.

you may want to stick you head into the "over 60's training" thread in the Training section of this forum - loads of like minded people there, some of whom are very quick

william peter mitchell

26/03/2010 at 19:17

hi Fat Budda

tthanks for the tips but I have not been able to find the over 60 traing thread can you give me a further lead were to look.

thanks Bill

Theres no limits

26/03/2010 at 19:35

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=4&UTN=7853&V=6&SP=

Hope that works

william peter mitchell

26/03/2010 at 20:27

hi Theres no limits

thanks for that quite interesting pages, I see I will going there quite a bit.

Thanks Bill

william peter mitchell

29/03/2010 at 09:20

Did Bedford 20 this week end, but lost the plot a bit I should have done 3 .25 but finished doing 3.02 felt ok but will have to try harder to run to plan.

Bill

Birch

29/03/2010 at 09:38

Hi William - you seem to be set fair for your goal, which as others have said, is admirable at age 65. As others have also said, as the years go by, one needs to pay more attention to the recovery aspect - (I'm 55 and need more recovery between harder sessions than previously). However, in your favour is the fact you don't have multiple marathon campaigns, and therefore have "fresher" legs. Your 3:02 20 miler suggests sub 4 marathon is nailed on provided you don't do anything daft now. Don't know what your schedule says, but IMO you don't need to do anything further than half distance now, and leave 3 weeks after that to taper well - FB & "Bluebirds over" are spot on - the taper is very important to ensure you are rested and fresh. Good luck - is it VLM you are doing?

fat buddha

29/03/2010 at 09:58

20 in 3:02 eh?

sub-4 is definitely on Bill

a tip - don't be tempted to go out too quick at VLM - fresh legs always seem to want to go quicker but that early pace catches up with you around 20 miles and you will flag. try to keep something in reserve for that 20+ mile section as adrenalin will then help to take you to that sub-4.

look forward to seeing your time in due course - good luck

william peter mitchell

31/03/2010 at 20:07

hi Birch

Yes I am doing VLM, and I am really looking forward to it now .

Bill

Birch

31/03/2010 at 21:47

Excellent - let us know how it goes .

william peter mitchell

01/04/2010 at 09:08

Thanks for all the good advice and tips, and if you think of anything else please do let me know. If you would like to follow my progress my race No 25243 and I will let you all know how I found the event and my time.

Regards Bill

william peter mitchell

26/04/2010 at 19:22

HI Everbody

Well I did it, not in the time I had hoped for but 4.21.11. having done it I found the amount of runners far to many with some very serious bottle necks at water stations and a really bad one from about 12mile to 13.5 mile when it was impossible to even get into any kind of pace , this caused me to lose a lot of energy and pace, which I could have used later on. BUT ANYWAY I STILL DID IT. The crowd support was fantastic, and it be a great memory for my first marathon, and I am looking forward to my next one. today I feel fine with minor stiffness in my upper legs but that is all. Well thanks for the help and advice, now I need more tips how to keep fitness and and any other pointers to make my next one even better.(I am thinking of Edinburgh in four weeks)

Regards Bill

william peter mitchell

29/04/2010 at 11:30

Have you received my report on london , please let me know I am not sure if you get my mail if I do not put a name on.

REGARDS BILL

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