FLM Training: Wardi - Page 21 - Spring Marathon

Phil Holders

23/03/2008 at 15:37

Nicely done Gavin. How did you find lifting the pace in the middle? For me, the legs resisted a little for the first mile, but settled down again! I Used to live just North of Shrewsbury, you have some fantastic runs around there, nice and hilly too!

Taper advice.... Any wisdom out there on taper speedwork? Should I be putting 100% into speed sessions at this point?

Wardi

23/03/2008 at 17:14

Good efforts Gavin & Phil, we are nearly there!

Gavin.. most speedwork in the taper is at a reduced distance rather than effort from the schedules I have seen. e.g. 800m repeats next week rather than 1 or 2 milers. 400m repeats on the Tuesday or Wednesday of marathon week.

I decided on a mostly easy pace for my LR today. As I have a 16m race next Sunday and a bit of speedwork to do midweek I thought this would be wise; plus I already have 7 runs in the bank of 20 miles or more. I also volunteered to pace my fiancee for 16m at sub 4hr pace (well, she did buy me an easter egg! I can't reciprocate as she is allergic to chocolate!). So 16m @ 8:35-8:50 pace, then we went our separate ways and I ran another 6.4m on my own @ av. 6:50 pace.

Conditions were not very nice. We had to endure a very nasty blizzard between 3-7 miles. My hands went very numb despite wearing gloves. I was just thinking of taking a short cut home when the sun came out and I got some feeling back into my hands. Another mini blizzard at 19 miles had me wondering what we have done to deserve this winter!

74 miles done this week.

Steve Marathon Coach

23/03/2008 at 20:12

sorry wardi was out of the country yesterday in race in France but you did what I would have suggested.

Good running from everyone. I did nothing today due to travelling but did run a half marathon which I'm fairly pleased with as my first in my new category.

re speedwork yes distance decreases - but you don't want to blast the sessions too much and as long as you running much quicker than marathon pace then everything is fine. Run hard but not flat out and finish feeling you could do more if you had to.

Sezz

24/03/2008 at 18:11

It's positively tropical down here Wardi .

Looking forward to meeting you next week at Kingston. Not sure if RW are arranging a photo of us four, but if nothing is organised, we must make sure we meet up because once the race gets underway, I won't see you for dust!

Phil Holders

24/03/2008 at 18:37

Steve- Cheers for the speed work advice, sounds sensible. How did you get on with your half?

Wardi- 74 miles will top the bank up nicely. As for the brownie points for pacing the other half... priceless. My missus has just developed a stress fracture... aaaaggghhh! Gutted for her as her training was going really well. One bonus... at least I can pinch her Garmin 305.

Was planning on 6 easy miles, however, 7:38, 7:31, 7:17, 7:10, 6:47, 6:29 just felt right. Will try to be more strict with myself as the taper continues.

Now back to those Easter delights....

Wardi

24/03/2008 at 19:52

Sorry to hear about the Mrs Phil. Is it definitely a stress fracture? Can she hop on the affected leg?

Sezz.. I have e-mailed Daniel at RW to see if there are any official arrangements. Yes we must all meet up come what may, looking forward to it. I just read on your thread that one of your legs is shorter than the other - so you thought the leaning tower of Pisa was upright all along {O: Seriously that is a useful find for you, if you can get it fixed in time for FLM then one less thing to worry about.

6 miles easy today. Looking forward to the taper - and a bit of warmth in the air sometime soon!

Wardi

24/03/2008 at 20:12

Steve.. I meant to ask - with Kingston hoving into view, what do you suggest for the midweek semi-long run? I normally do 12-14m but wondered if I ought to cut this down. I've just consulted my diary and realised that in the last 4 weeks I've run 23m, 22m (20m race +2m warm down), 20m & 22m.

No shortage of mileage there, so do I drop the semi-long run altogether or perhaps do no more than 10 miles?

Just seen your half-m result, congrats on a great time in what sounds like tough conditions.

Sezz

24/03/2008 at 20:22

Wardi, it's fixed already! 5 mins with my Bowen Technique tutor and I'm done

RichK . . . . www.theracephotographer.com

24/03/2008 at 21:22

likewise . . looking forward to we Dreamers getting together on Sunday thanks for rattling Dan's cage Wardi, hopefully he'll come up with a plan for us . .

I enjoyed the Spen 20 the other weekend . . it was good to breath God's own air during a race and I'm sure it helped my performance!

see you Sunday . .

Steve Marathon Coach

24/03/2008 at 22:29

Wardi

I would definitely drop/reduce the midweek run to around 10 - you have done all the long runs you need and now it's a case of feeling good on Sunday and getting more speed into your legs without taking anything away from the considerable endurance built.

I did a 1:17 half at weekend but haven't done a half of your long runs and wished I had your endurance background this year.

Blisters

24/03/2008 at 22:37

Good luck Wardi. I had a 'mare of a long run last night. It started with Bad, and gradually progressed to Worse.

Job done, time to forget it.

Wardi

25/03/2008 at 21:00

Some of them are like that Blisters, just bank it.

10 miles tonight, 4 miles easy before joining clubmates then wound the pace up to circa 7:15 for a few miles.

Good to hear you are mended Sezz.

Joe Hawk

25/03/2008 at 23:09

All the the best Wardi , shame that I will not be chasing you .

Maybe next year with a full year to build up a head of steam

All the best for this year , I hope that the day works to plan.

Steve Marathon Coach

25/03/2008 at 23:15

That's a good run today are you going to do the reps this week wardi?

Glenda Banaghan

26/03/2008 at 00:11

I reckon you should go the speed reps Wardi. You obviously have the endurance. I think the time is now to put the icing on the cake.

Wardi

26/03/2008 at 00:56

Indeed the speed reps will follow. Legs still a fraction tired from the weekend today so I intend to do the reps on Wednesday. I have a nice flat quiet country link road 1m from home. I have 0.5m already mapped out there, so hopefully I can pound 8 of these out with little in the way of traffic interruption.

Joe.. all the best to you. If possible try and find out why you are having these injury problems. As any good physio will tell you, treat the cause, not the symptom.

Wardi

26/03/2008 at 20:34

done & dusted in the drizzle..

1 mile jog at each end, 8 x 0.5 mile, try to average 3 mins. I stuck to the 1 min recovery apart from the 4th one where I had a touch of 'jelly leg' syndrome - took a 2 min recovery after this one.

2:59, 2:54, 2:57, 2:59, 2:59, 3:00, 3:00, 2:57.

Felt fairly hard but controlled, presumably all those miles in my legs! Not one single vehicle on my quiet country road for the whole session.

For Glenda's benefit, 0.5 of a mile is near enough to 800 metres {O:

Steve Marathon Coach

26/03/2008 at 21:43

Wardi

That's good controlled running again and at that pace suggests all is well and you have a minute a mile to play with at London.

Gavin Burton

26/03/2008 at 23:25

Hello all. Training seems to be going very well Wardi. I took a cautious approach to the 8 X 800m. I ran 3:05 for each rep with 1 min recoveries.

I am really seeking some reassurance regarding the tapering of the Sub3 RW schedule. I have read various information on the final three weeks (Higden etc) and am just a little worried about the length of the long run this weekend(18) and next weekend(12) I have completed all long runs to date including 20,22,HM,20,22 in last few weeks but am worried that I will not fully recover from 18 miles that is planned this weekend by 13th. (Lots of advice about not to run more than 15 miles in the 3 weeks before as cannot recover.) Any advice?

I have followed the RW Sub3 schedule closely up until now so would like to stick to the last 3 weeks. I think I am just having a nervous moment as I want to be in the best form possible come 13th April (having missed out on a sub3 by 31 secs in 2006). Any advice on last 3 weeks would be very much appreciated.

Glenda Banaghan

26/03/2008 at 23:44

Thank you for that Wardi, and nicely done on the reps. Gavin, my plan has me running by time rather than distance and I am supposed to do only 2hrs this Sunday then 1.5 next Sunday. My long run pace is about 4.30ish a km.