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

Hey Alex. Hope you had a good Christmas too. 

I hope your calves are settled dso you can attempt a PB tomorrow. All the best!

A.W - not sure you've heard of one of these   or may even have one, but thought I'd post the link anyhow as well worth getting for self-massages.

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=massage+stick&hl=en&rlz=1R2ADFA_enGB486&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.d2k&bpcl=40096503&biw=1093&bih=412&wrapid=tlif135653386787210&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=17618680639266219530&sa=X&ei=iBDbULfgAZG20QWqgYGYBQ&ved=0CFsQ8wIwAA

Hope you had a great Christmas Alex.  Can you believe we're already into week 2 of training??

Thanks for the link Hilly. That looks quite similar to a thing I have called 'The Stick', I quite like it, that one you've posted the link to looks better than mine though! 

Really looking forward to racing tomorrow so hope tomorrow things feel ok, weather looks ok so should be a nice day!

good luck in the 10K AW. Try and pace it well.  I ran a below par parkrun yesterday in wet conditions but because my previous one was so bad, it was at least a course PB

Good work on the parkrun Steve, I'm not sure I could get myself out for a race on Christmas day?!

Had the Wheaton Aston 10k today. So in short I ran 38.03 by my watch - 6 seconds outside my PB of 37.57.

The longer version (and excuses!) - As soon as I started my warm up I could feel my calves were still not right, every step there was a slight ache, my right leg worse than my left, not bad enough to stop me running, but always in the back of my mind.

I thought I would stick to my game plan of trying to run 6 minute miles to bring me home in around 37.30 and see what happened, if I needed to ease back I would. Got going into the race and I could feel it was laboured, first mile split was bang on but was having to work hard to hold the pace. Second mile split again right on pace, but by mile 3 was starting to struggle to hold pace. Mile 3 and 4 splits were down on pace, partly down to me starting to struggle and partly down to the course being a little lumpy. I pulled it back a bit for the last 2.2 miles, but not enough to sneak under 38 minutes. The course was flooded in parts due to the volume of water that fell over the last few days so maybe not the perfect conditions, but wouldn't have had that much effect on finish time.

So my splits were 5.59, 5.54, 6.14, 6.18, 6.06, 6.12, 1.20.

My legs didn't feel great the whole race, the aching in my calves increased as the race went on to the point its a little painful to get up stairs at the moment!

I'm pretty happy with my days work, but I think I would like to get another 10k in the diary for January if possible Steve? I feel like I could get closer to 37 than 38 with the right day. Can we fit it in to my schedule? I was thinking one of these maybe?

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp=&v=2&EN=72783&ms=

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp=&v=2&EN=73370&ms=

 It was a bit wet!!!! Thats me 3rd from left!

Fab pics Alex!!

AW - well run, all good fitness work really even if you weren't feeling bang on what with the calves. Hoping to run new years day 10k in Hyde park with a few other Heathsiders

Steve (coach) - one thing I've never done in any of my marathon training build ups is MP work which is ridiculous when you think about it especially for the more recent ones where I was aiming at specific times. How often would you recommend doing say a 10m MP effort? I was thinking along the lines of the midweek medium long of 12-15 for the first bulk of the schedule then start adding in fortnightly 10m MP efforts later on. What emphasis do you put on MP work yourself?

Yup, that's a 'bit wet' AW! Still a good result in the conditions. I bet the heavy, wet shoes added a little time. 

So provisional results say 38.04, I think that's 29th place overall.

well done on the 10k and getting so close to your PB - as temperatures weren't that low today, looks you had too much on to me - second mile slightly too quick?

Yes, should be able to do another 10k in next few months if you can find a fast suitable one and can fit into second part of schedule.

RS78 - I didn't use to do that much MP work as I tended to race so regularly at shorter distances and done so many marathons but it's a definite help if you don't race that often or lack experience at marathoning and I think a fortnightly 10M is a good idea and also every 2-3 weeks trying to do a long run where you stick a section of marathon pace in (30 mins ) when you are slightly tired. 

Considering you are in good condition, how are you finding the recoveries. No one seems to be mentioning those and what the changes in food both in intake or menu. Also now you are on a structured program, is it making your life sytle better. 

RS78 - Was thinking about the Hyde park run myself until we decided to go away for New Year. I like the last Friday 5k's so thought the 10k would be a good choice. 

CC2 - Wet indeed, my trainers are still drying!

Thanks knight rider, I was thinking the same. I think by the end of Jan I should hopefully be in good shape to have a good crack at my PB.

Traveling Runner - By recoveries do you mean between sessions? If so that has been ok, the Sunday run after the Saturday parkrun was a bit of a struggle, but I guess that will be good for me in the long run getting used to running long on heavy/tired legs. On the food side of things I've always been pretty good that way, but being Christmas I have probably over done it a bit and put a pound or two on!!! I do like the structure of following a plan so far, I know exactly what I have to do and don't need to think about it, I know I have to do it so can't talk myself out of a session.

Steve - Think your right, a little quick in the second mile, and the 3rd and 4th were uphill looking at the course profile so accounts for a bit of the slowing down. Was pretty comfortable temperature wise during the run, but it was quite mild I could have done away with the long sleeved top.

I have found a couple of 10k's on the 27th Jan, I just wanted to check with you first as they are the day after the training day on the 26th. Will that be ok or would it be better to pick the weekend before - there is 1 race I could pick that weekend too? Have you got a tough session planned for that training day?

AW thanks for the reply. Well there is enough information for starters. It would be a good if you could post a standard template in what you did and what you eaten and how you felt. How does that idea sound. 

A.W. nice run in the 10k. Need to be careful of those calves though. Things can easily develop! I had tight calves about 10 days ago and backed off the speed a bit and managed to run through it. Do you get much opportunity to ease back if needed? Steve?

Agree with KR though. If you are that close to a 10k PB at this stage then you must have great optimism for Paris.

AW I'm not 100% sure yet with that weekend and need to check with RW - traditionally it has been a longish run with some pace elements so week before may be better. With calf I think it might be best to have a few easier days. The much harder training doesn't start until a few weeks and it wuld be best to go into that period having missed some sessions and relatively healthy than to go into it with a calf problem that won't clear up.

I have had calf problems that have been managable but also serious problems and once it pulls more seriously, it can take weeks or months.