RW Forum Six – Sub 4 Running Rachel with Cheerful Dave

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kittenkat    pirate
22/12/2012 at 17:31

Welcome, enjoy and congratulations!

M...eldy    pirate
22/12/2012 at 17:45

I've contacted Mr Cheerful ... hopefully he will be along soon

anyone seen Rachel??   

Cheerful Dave    pirate
22/12/2012 at 18:05
Maybe she's out running?
seren nos    pirate
22/12/2012 at 18:10

everyone out running. Well done Rachel.......give us a few paragraphs about where you are runniung wise pleae

 

 Congratulations

22/12/2012 at 18:14
Well done Rach and CD.
22/12/2012 at 18:26

Well done

M...eldy    pirate
22/12/2012 at 18:50

We found her .. she just hasnt found us yet  

22/12/2012 at 18:53

Hello one and all!!!

Finally found the thread! Phew....was beginning to feel a bit lost there for a moment!!! Wow! Wow and wow again! This news could not have come at a better time! Have had a rubbish week!! (won't bore you with the details just now...time for that later!!)

So.....running wise..

As I said in my pitch for this oh so amazing opportunity- I did the LIverpool marathon jus over two months ago. It was my first marathon, and I was optimistic I'd make sub 4. But, made all the typical first timer mistakes and went off too fast. I knew I had to run at a 9 min mile and yet was convinced I could hold an 8.20 pace. Lesson learnt there!! So...that was an 18 week plan (that I kind of adapted from some random book!) and I stuck to it religiously .....

After the marathon I had  a week off then picked up the training again, though I cut my miles to approx 22 a week (retaining a 10 miler on a Saturday). I then did the Stockport 10 miler 2 weeks ago on the back of a stinking cold. It was either jog it or DNS. I jogged it. (1 hour 30). Last couple of weeks just plodded along really, but really looking forwward to upping my game after Christmas!!! Woooohooooooooo!!!!

seren nos    pirate
22/12/2012 at 19:00

sounds like you are ina  good place to start teh campaign... which marathon are you running

22/12/2012 at 19:01

Congratulations Rachel.. You just made my stalker list 

Which marathon are you going for?

22/12/2012 at 19:04

I'm running the Manchester marathon, which is flat (or so they claim!!) which in my mind would alone shave off the 4 minutes I missed my goal by in Liverpool!! 

 

Cheerful Dave    pirate
22/12/2012 at 20:31
Hi Rachel! The next few months should be fun. It sounds like you made the same mistake a lot of us did in our first marathon - in fact I made that mistake several times, getting the pace wrong early doors. It looks like you're on track for sub 4 if you avoid that sort of thing.

So what's your plan for after Christmas? Are you going to follow a set plan religeously again, or do you need to be more flexible?
22/12/2012 at 21:20

Congrats Rachel, I'll be dropping in from time to time 

22/12/2012 at 21:57

I was thinking to follow a set plan- though it has to fit in with "life". ie my 5 children and fulltime teaching job! Due to the above I tend to do my midweek runs in the morning. Last time I ran 3 weekdays, long run Sat and short run Sun. That kind of limits me to a max of a six mile run midweek, just because of time....My last plan started with a long run of 6 miles, which would seem like a backward step now. It also didn't incorporate anything other than "get out and cover the distance" slogging out the miles. All advice here much appreciated! 

Cheerful Dave    pirate
23/12/2012 at 08:36

Morning!  You could probably follow a similar schedule in terms of number of runs, but you could adapt it to suit your 'non-beginner' status.  Lots of set plans assume you're starting from scratch.  If you've been doing a 10 mile weekend run recently, you could start in January ramping that up by 2 miles a week, so in February you're happy running 20 miles at a nice comfortable pace - nothing too quick, keep that for the weekday shorter stuff.  Personally I like to get at least 5 20+ mile runs in before a marathon, done at least 2 weeks apart so don't feel you have to run 20 miles every week.

If you can do 3 midweek runs then quality is what counts.  I'd suggest that one of those should be longish intervals (maybe 4 minutes fast, 2 minutes jog) at a pace you can sustain for 6 repetitions (that'll take a bit of practice!) and one should be a tempo 5 miles (not flat out, but beyond where you can have a conversation).

We might need to think about your target: if you can 'jog' 10 miles in 90 minutes when unwell then a 4 hour marathon should be well within your grasp.  OTOH we want to avoid going off too fast, so we should probably set something sensible nearer the time.

23/12/2012 at 09:44

Well done rach- I'm a chronic sub-4 wannabe ( I've meneged it twice in 8 marathons), and although on the "pitches" thread, I said I wasn't doing a spring marathon, I'm possibly now doing one about a month before my double, so I may join your thread for a bit of motivation, although I suspect I'm supposed to be runnig slightly longer disstsances if my ultimate aim is 56 miles! .

Weather in Scotland is horrendous today....off to the gym for a LSR on tready.

23/12/2012 at 12:14

Congrats Rachel, and after being a mentee in last years Forum Six, I know what a difference this will make to your training and running.

So if you don't mind I shall be a-loitering and a-lurking, and possibly a little stalking over the next few months   

23/12/2012 at 12:30

Oooo..lurkers and stalkers! Fab! Please talk lots as well, so I don't feel like I'm the only one asking stupid questions!! Really excited about this...will possibly start investigating training plans later today, so I can type up and colour code! 

seren nos    pirate
23/12/2012 at 13:08

Hi Rach...working and 5 kids.that is a good busy schedule............I would like to get sub 4 again in a spring marathon but not sure if i am in that kind of shape yet so will see what the next few weeks brings before i decide whether to enter one

I am a great fan of doing a recovery run the day after my long run.......gets everything working again

Cheerful Dave    pirate
23/12/2012 at 13:58
I tend to cycle or swim the day after a long run seren - gets everything working again without the impact that running has on the joints. If you're doing IM Wales next year a spring marathon would kick that off nicely.
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