RW Forum SIx – 3.30 – 4.00 - Page 26 - Spring Marathon

Carl D

26/01/2013 at 15:50

Carter - I think Spoons advice about running on the road for a while and keeping the longer runs at conversational pace is spot on. You have alot of miles under your belt from before Christmas and have been building up the speed with the tempo / intervals that you added since Christmas. But you also need the enduarance that these longer runs bring.

I have not done the type of off road running that you have been doing but I would imagine that it would zap the energy and with the recent inclement weather and poor running conditions it probably only got worse.

Keep it up as you are doing really well.

Carl D

26/01/2013 at 15:52

Ricky W wrote (see)

Spoons - being from the Emerald Isle probably Belfast or possibly Limerick.

Belfast has been my one & only marathon but was back in 2006. I have only returned to running 10 months ago.... shedding 3 stone in the process!

Ricky - I am also from the emerald Isle and planning to run Dublin in October. My OH thinks I am mad to do one marathon let alone contemplate doing 2 in the same year.

Ricky W

26/01/2013 at 18:51

Do it Carl - great time to train over the summer with long nights & nice weather. A flat course too and of course all that Irish hospitality & craic!
Bring the family and make a short break out of it - everyone's a winner.

I toyed with doing it last year but felt it was just a bit soon with only returning to running 6 or 7 months before it. Hope to do it this year if this spring marathon goes to plan!

carterusm

26/01/2013 at 19:57

The Dublin marathon sounds appealing boys. I went to Dublin a few years ago and, although it was quite expensive, it was a great place to go. Apart from Good Friday when all the pubs were shut

I may have to start working on the missus for this. !

Spoons.

26/01/2013 at 21:19

Nice long run Carl

I like autumn marathons. With spring maras you train in the cold then get to race on a hot spring day that feels like a heatwave so it seems much harder. With autumn maras you train when it's hot and get to race on a lovely cool day so it seems loads easier.

i've never been to Ireland. It's on my wish list.

Carl - 2 marathons in a year? My record is nine. I know several fruitcakes that always do over 20.

Carl D

26/01/2013 at 22:29

Spoons - I am a mere novice compared to you

Spoons.

26/01/2013 at 23:02

Well I've certainly made more than my fair share of mistakes. That's the point of the mentoring process. If I can help others avoid a mistake or two then it's worth it.

carterusm

26/01/2013 at 23:37

How many, and which, have you got lined up for this year Spoons ?

Spoons.

27/01/2013 at 07:46

Not sure yet. I've had a terrible last year, running wise so I'm seeing how my big comeback goes. I have a place at Brighton and a place in The Wales Trail Marathon in June. Beyond that I'm not sure as I'm toying with doing a Half Ironman in August. There's a couple of local off road marathons I usually do in May and June. I quite fancy doing Fairlands Valley 50km. That's a really nice one. Dovedale Dipper up your way is on my list too. Who knows? decisions, decisions.....

Carl D

27/01/2013 at 17:40

3.5 miles at 9:36 min/ mile to finish off the week.

Felt very pedestrian but I suppose that is the point.

Spoons if you have he time to answer some of my questions from the other day that would be great. I guess I am trying to work out what the next month's training should look like. Thanks.

carterusm

27/01/2013 at 19:13

Another good week Carl, it looks like you're right on track at the moment. I've got you down for a 3:38 !!

Here is my schedule for the week:
Monday - rest day ( last run was Saturday do 3 days of rest)
Tuesday - 25 minute tempo run @ 7:45 - plus 1.5 warm up and cool down
Wednesday - 9 miles easy - 10:00 m/m
Thursday - 6 x 800 @ 7:00 m/m - plus 1.5 warm up and cool down
Friday - rest
Saturday - 18 mile FLAT and easy 10:00 m/m
Sunday - 7 mile recovery in HR zone 1 (max 134bpm)

Spoons - does that sound ok to you ?

Carl D

27/01/2013 at 19:29

Carter - thanks for the vote of confidence and that would be fab if I could do it. My big worry is endurance. While I had good reasons for blowing up in both my previous attempts I know that I had not built sufficient endurance.

Hence my barrage of questions.

I feel I am much stronger this year and am just about at my ideal running weight so I am in a good place.

I see February as the critical month to put myself in the right zone.

And depending on how I get on in the 10 mile race on 9th March, I might consider adjusting away from 3:45. But for now that remains my target and certainly when I introduce MP into my runs it will be based initially on a 3:45 finishing time.

I just want to make sure that I inject enough variety into my training to mix it up a little but also push me to build that endurance to match he speed work. I think it's unknown of not ever having been in this territory before that makes you begin to question what you are actually capable of rather than what you think you are capable of if that makes sense.

Ricky W

27/01/2013 at 20:23

C**p run today & quite a negative experience.

Had to walk a bit on last mile of 16 mile LSR... Pace was right but just ran out of steam at 14 mls. Lightheaded , blurry vision - think I had fuelling issues... Out on an empty stomach and no gels with me.

Either that or I need to rethink my goal time/pace

Runningrachel

27/01/2013 at 20:30

Ricky, first of all you had 14 successful miles!! Don't let the last cuple colour your experience! I could NEVER run that far without gels. I certainly wu;dn't adjust times based on one less than pleasant experience, today may just have been one of those days. What words of wisdom do you have Dave?

Carl D

27/01/2013 at 20:33

Ricky - I am sure that this type of thing happens to most of us at some point oin our quest to achieve our goals. I know that I have had those kind of issues in the past. I would guess that you just ran out of gas as there was quite a few hours between eating and running and then 14 miles with no additional fuel would be a major challenge.

I have found this time that I can go upto about 15 miles without taking on board any additional food / drink (certainly in the recent weather conditions) provided that I have eaten in advance and have been keeping myself hydrated. More than that and I am just bringing a sports drink for now.

Closer to the marathon I might try some gels but have never been that keen on them.

Ricky W

27/01/2013 at 22:48

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Just checked and I did a 15 mile run two weeks ago and it was very comfortable at similar pace (9;30) so pretty sure i just had an off day/fuelling issues.

Chalk it up & move on I guess....aaah the highs & lows

Spoons.

28/01/2013 at 06:56

Ricky - probably because you went out on an empty stomach or maybe just having a bad day. Don't worry. Those are the runs that make us stronger.

Carter - keep e week as it is and we'll see what happens on the long run.....

Carl - apologies, I forgot to come back to you....

Spoons.

28/01/2013 at 06:58

Carl D wrote (see)

Having got to 20 miles already and with 9'weekends of running left (after this one which is a recovery week 14 miles) before marathon week, how many more 20 milers should I be doing ? should I do more than 20 miles, say 21 or 23 miles ? do I do back to back 20 milers or follow a pattern of 20 miles, fast 15 miles, 18 miles, 20 / 21 miles ?

When do I start adding some MP sessions into the schedule ? Should I use the midweek run for this and if so how far should I run - build back up from 6 miles to 10 miles at MP or is that too much.

Do I introduce MP into the long runs at the weekends and if so how best to do this.

Apols for a lot of questions but having got here and in good shape I want to get the most out of the training to make sure that if I feel right on the day of the marathon 3:45 is within my gift so to speak. Thanks.

Spoons.

28/01/2013 at 07:05

Let's work it backwards from race day. I would put some MP into your long runs and also chuck some into other sessions and MLRs.

0 - 26.2 race

1 - 8 miles with 2 @ MP

2 - 12 miles with 5 @ MP

3 - 22 miles SLOW

4 - 20 miles with 12 miles @ MP broken up into 3 blocks of 4 with 2 slow blocks of 4 between

5 - 20 miles SLOW

6 - 14 miles with 4 @ MP

7 - 20 miles with 8 @ MP broken up into 2 blocks of 4 (make sure the last 4 miles are at MP)

8 - 20 miles SLOW

9 - 20 miles with the last 5 miles @ MP

Spoons.

28/01/2013 at 07:11

This is assuming you don't have any races planned? A nice half marathon would be a good tester....

I would also sometimes chuck the odd mile or 2 into a MLR at the end.

I'm also a fan of split sessions. For instance, I often do this with hill sessions. 6 x hills + 4 x 400s + 6 x hills. Or I often chuck a 1 mile rep @ MP onto the end of whatever session I have done.