Paris marathon 2013 here we go! A.W's Sub 3 attempt!

AW - sounds a bit better news on the tendonitis, but the pain always goes first!

Perhaps the most painful massage I've ever had yesterday! Had massage, acupuncture and had my foot taped!

My right side all down my leg was so tight! I nearly had to tell him to stop it was so bad!

It's all feeling a bit better again today and after a quick email with Sarah the Asics team physio to see what to do now, think the best course of action is to take one more day rest to let it all settle down and then get back to it tomorrow as long as it still feels ok.

Will continue to foam roller, stretch and ice today.

What should I do tomorrow and the next few days Steve? I have the 10k Saturday, shall I just do the runs scheduled?

Good that you are feeling better. I'm sure this was just a ploy to be tapered for the 10k at the weekend!

If you are resting today, I would suggest just doing a 5 mile build up run tomorrow - start off at 8 minutes mile, then 7:30, then 7:00 then 6:30 and then two minutes at 10k pace and then jog  5 minutes to finish.

Friday - just do a few miles slow with four 100m strides at 10k pace to make sure ok from Thursday.

I did 16 x 400 yesterday - 15 moderate ones and then one much faster one at end. Hope to feel better at 10k Sunday.

Good luck Alex.    Watching the thread with interest as, depending how my next couple of half marathons go, I will be attempting to go sub3 at Edinburgh.   Like others I wish I had your base speed ...and your weight and age... you seem to be in great shape. 

Steve - given the weather we’ve had it has made sense to do quite a lot of work on the treadmill – do you have any rough rule about how you compare the treadmill with the road?   I also wondered how much biking you are doing and how hard and whether you will be keeping it going to just before the marathon or focussing more exclusively on running at some point?   I am currently doing about 4 hours biking and 6-7 hours running a week and planning to do a few duathlons and a mainly cycling holiday to break up my programme in the middle but was thinking of doing another duathlon 5 weeks before the marathon.  Too close or not?

I agree sometimes it may be the only option but I haven't run on a treadmill for years so not much practical experience as it must make up less than 0.0001% of my all time mileage! There is a slight variation for some in the way some people run on it compared to the outside world. Therefore, I think it's suggested you should put a 5% elevation on it so it's slightly harder but otherwise I guess anything you do outside can be simulated to some extent on the treadmill. It's less impact than road obviously but more repititious in action so a good idea to vary speeds and elevation to give variation

Re duathlons. My cycling has dropped off a little in the last few weeks because of the weather and I have increased my running training but normally I would do more on the bike than I would do running. If the weather improves Maybe 9-10 hours running and 10-15 hours cycling. I really don't see a problem in doing a duathlon four or five weeks before. I think I have one myself 6 weeks before and generally find they take far less out of me than a half-marathon because all the ones I have had less than 10 miles total running in them.

Good luck with todays run Alex, make sure you ice after and stretch even if it feels fine. make sure you continue to strech all that leg as well this week to keep the area off loaded.

Good luck Alex - I hope youy can get shot of that pesky niggle quickly. I'm missing your speedy reports!

AndyV wrote (see)

Ruth: Apologies as you've probably covered this off before but in line with your guidelines on caffeine intake what's the guide for carbs per body weight (kg) for running a marathon?

I'm 5ft7 and 62kg and aiming for 3hr10. In previous maras I've generally taken a gel every five miles from 5 onwards (typically Lucozade gels (45g total)) alongside sips of water and a small bottle or two of whatever sports drink is on offer (eg Powerade at Brighton). This has generally worked ok for me but wonder if I've been abit light on the carb intake. 

Believe it or not, carbs is not based on body weight as seems to have little effect because this could depend on how much carbs you have stored, muscle mass, diet in lead up to race etc so go with the guidelines of 30-60g (I would go towards the higher end) but no more than 1g per kilogram your body weight (62kg). From reading your post you have 4 gels? so that is 180grams of carbs so that is about 58g per hour so I reckon that is enough plus the sips of sports drinks (which  could help your performance, when you month wash with these carb based drinks these can actually give you a performance boost). So I think your plan is good on paper and it has been tried and tested!   

A.W wrote (see)

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for the info. Just checked the gels and they are definitelylisted as having 40mg caffeine. Here's the product info from the GU site.

 

Thanks! So even with the 40mg of caffeine  in the Gu, your current plan sounds good! Lets go with that for now.

How has your recovery been? Easy to do or still a struggle?

Denis Duret wrote (see)

Ruth,

Thanks for the feedback. I am using Shotz Energy Gel (Wild Bean) and it has 80mg (http://shotz1.com/products/shotz-energy-gel/flavours/wild-bean/). I am about 80kg and I am planning to use 4 gels so I will take 3 gels with Caffeine and a 4th one without. Those gels have 29.8g of Carbohydrate so I will be taking 119g in about 3 hours.

Your carb intake is 40g per hour, have you ever hit the wall hard with this plan above ( if not stick with it). The 3 gels with caffeine is perfect- when do you take your last gel?

Hope run went well and injury has disappeared!

As I mentioned earlier I was a little bit apprehensive before today's run, I'm desperate to get back running and training hard!

The initial signs are ok, I felt a few twinges in the first couple of miles, but nothing for more than a step or two. By about mile 2 or 3 I didn't feel anything unusual at all. As soon as I got back I've iced it and am about to foam roller and stretch and then I guess its wait and see how it reacts later and tomorrow!

So today's run was 5 miles build up, starting at 8m/m and finishing at 6.30m/m with a couple of minutes at 10k pace at the end before a jog home.

Splits for today's run were 4 miles build up 7.39, 7.09, 6.38, 6.09 - 1.6 miles cool down - 11.42. I incorporated the 10k pace bit into mile 4 to have a longer cool down.

Pretty happy with the run, will see how my foot reacts over the next 24 hours!

x post - you beat me to it Steve! I'm hopeful its ok, will see over the next 24 hours!

sounds ok then - each mile 20 seconds too quick but not too outrageous! and presuming no adverse reaction, you should be ok for 10k saturday.

Thanks Alex.   The first HM is next Sunday, the 10th -  if I can do 1:26:x I will be v happy.   Glad to see you made it out today.

Thanks Steve - That is really encouraging - I will up the biking and may well enter that duathlon although it is a longer one - 15k/60k/7.5k. 

Glad you were able to run today AW. Fingers crossed you are ok tomorrow. 

18miler for me today with 13-17m at mara pace (7.10mm). Tough in the wind but now looking forward to a rest day light swim tomorrow.

I have everything crossed it reacts well! Hate missing training days!

Good run today AndyV. Its one of those days where it does'nt matter which way you run the wind always seems to be blowing in your face!!!! Enjoy your day off!

Hi AW, glad you had a good run with some good paces today, encouraging for your 10k this weekend.

Nice 18 miler AndyV with the MP stuck in there at the end, how did that feel?