Sub 3h15

Lumbu - nothing wrong in being ambitious for your first marathon. Funny that you think 29 is late to be starting running!

I started running as an overweight 49 year old and did my first marathon 18 months later(London 2006) at the age of 50 in 3:12 so why shouldn't you do 3:10?

I was given the wise words that the first one is just about getting around and don't push it  - yeah right!!!

Ant - that's the spirit! We need more hubris on the thread!

Lumbu - welcome. I wish I had started as young as 29 (I was 35)! Avoiding a crash and burn in your first marathon is probably a good thing on balance but I suspect that if I had managed a sub 4 in my first marathon I would have probably have left it at that and got on with my life. As it was, about 20 mins after finishing in 4.11 (1.51/2.20 split!) I knew I would be back to try to do a proper job of it. I have now done 7 marathons. Good luck with whatever you target for Edinburgh. There will be no shortage of useful advice on here if you stick around.

Jools - my view FWIW. Looks to me from your training like sub 3 is a very realistic prospect this time round and this will no doubt be your priority. To this end I would race Wokingham - not for the chance of a county vest but to bag say a sub 1.25 or better and take a step towards the HM time you would want to have going into VLM - ideally 1.23.xx or better. You might even be able to do 1.23.xx at Wokingham but if not you get a second bite at the cherry at Bath. A recent, plausibly convertible HM time is a great piece of the jigsaw to have in place going into a marathon and i think it is worth creating the space in a campaign for two proper attempts. I don't think recovering from an all out HM effort during marathon training is too big a deal at this level (though granted your level is higher than mine!).

Annoyingly I have no HMs lined up this spring - just the Finchley 20. But this is just a "get back on the horse" campaign for me.

Just 8 with strides and an easy 6 for me this week so far. 13 planned for tomorrow.

Ant Unfortunately the cake and Champagne gathering was a work birthday/new parent celebration. It is normally only cake and back to work, but seeing as a child being born was also involved, Champagne was obviously the way to go.  

5 easy this morning. They were anything but.

A short 10 for me this morning. Took the dog with me and underestimated how many poo and wee stops were required (and that was just the dog) so ran short of time. Still 9 is 9.

Welcome Lumbu. 29 is a comparatively young age to get into this marathon lark. I did my first one at 35 and having got round in 3:34 was determined to beat that on the next (and the next and the next...) attempt.

You've obviously got the speed at the lower distances, so if you can build up your endurance (building on the cycling base?) over the next couple of months, you'll be in good shape. Good enough for 3:10? Not sure, but your best bet would be to sign up for a HM a month out and give it your best, and then be realistic abut wha you achieve at Edinburgh. No point in not enjoying it and the experience putting you off marathon madness for the next 20/30 years!

Scoobs - good effort with the bubbly. When I read your post to start with, I thought it was a 4am binge.

Woke up before the alarm went off at 5am this morning so obviously my body was feeling up for a run(!). Ended up with just over 10 miles including 6 at 7 min/mile pace. Glad to have got it over and done with, especially as it was darned cold.

Welcome lumbo. I'm mostly in the One gear camp but part of me is in the 'make sure you enjoy it' one.

You obviously have good speed over shorter distances but it doesn't always translate. I ran my first marathon at age 22 and finished in 3:09 but it was quite messy over the last 6 miles because I hadn't done anywhere near enough long stuff. Age is, of course, on your side so aiming high is not for criticism. Running can be a lifetime of enjoyment as many of us on here will testify but it can also be cut off at the pass with a bad early experience.

As TR often remarks actual MP doesn't have to be set in stone until nearer the time. I'm running my marathon in May and have an idea of what I would like to achieve but that idea can change 5 times on a single run!!!!

Enjoy the training, run to your capability and see what happens - that's what I say!

jools - is your decision made yet?

Anyhow, after yesterdays MLR I was sitting at my desk and got up to answer the door and twisted my knee. Was due to do a 5 mile RR this morning. Put my kit on but I could feel a twinge that bordered on pain. Got changed into a suit and came to work. Hopefully, will feel better tomorrow for my planned 12 miler. Feeling quite smug for resisting the temptation to 'try it out' and making it worse.

Lumbu wrote (see)

Final question to all you sages: I'm in Somerset near Glastonbury this weekend. Where's good for a run?

Intervals - up and down the Tor. 

Lumbu - welcome to the youngest? and tallest? on the thread. I think a lot of people on here did relatively quick times on relatively average training for their first run. I also think a lot of people struggled when they went past 20 and missed their target time. I did anyway.

Jools - from youngest to relative thread old croney in the space of a couple of days.

Rearranged LT session tonight. Great

 

Ant - tidy MP run, especially given the conditions. My 10k pb is 40:59, so anything sub 40 will do very nicely.
OO - Honister pass sounds scary.
Jools - you're gonna have to go for it aren't you?
CL - good LSR. Any jelly beans left?
DS2 - actually, it felt quite comfortable and not a problem mentally at all. Good MLR. Oh no, just read about the knee. Hope it's OK soon.
Mennania - good running.
Lumbu - welcome to the thread and good luck for Edinburgh.
Minni - good intervals in the end! Did you make the 4:30 start?
Poacher - you'll be back in shape pretty quickly I think.
RFJ - wise move.
Keir - hope last night was just a blip. Well done on seeing it through.
Lorenzo - good early morning run.
Late meeting last night and overslept this morning. Fortunately, only had to do a 3 mile recovery run, so that was fine, but was a bit too late to post earlier on.

DS2 - keep fighting the MP decision urges, you get to find out yore MP at about the 3M point on race day. I feel your twisted knee pain too !

Lumbu - that IoW 2012 1/2 time bodes well. I was there too that was a very hilly course on a sweltering day that had an 11am start. Some of the speedier folks told me that they reckoned it was worth 5 mins to a flat course.

Not good enough Gul. Nice summary, as usual.

I think the knee will be ok with a days rest. Couldn't see any point risking it for a RR.

Keir/Mennania -

Busy morning so far. 9 mile run with 5 at 6:16, followed up by a gym session and then a good stretch in the steam room before 8am in time to start work.

Lumbu, I really couldn't do a marathon with a 'just get round' plan for my first. If you think you have some aptitude towards running then go for it. If you fail, and it hurts, just tell yourself you didn't give yourself enough time and try again. You may surprise yourself - my first marathon was at age 42, 6 months training after a 25 year rest on a very hilly course (I think the 25 year rest was the key to my success )

Hi, Lumbu - you said "immediately convince myself I can run a bloody fast marathon"
I say "good for you" !
However, I wouldn't set any time goals yet. Your 5k & 10K times augur well, but only become relevant when you have a good endurance base, and time is tight for that now. If you get as many miles in as your body can take in the coming weeks/months, including a few 20's, then you'll give yourself a chance of a decent debut. The half you mention in April will be a good benchmark for setting a goal time for Edinburgh. The time between that half and Edinburgh will of course influence the planning of your taper.  As for "boring" miles, well, my favourite mara is London (done 12), but plenty of those I can't remember passing any landmarks, I'm just looking at the tarmac ahead, or back of a vest;  but also done decent maras where hardly a soul around at all. Had a couple of DNF's as well - not funny at the time, but all part of the fun in the wider picture.  I like your attitude, so I feel that if you were to have a "rude awakening", so to speak, it wouldn't put you off. (My debut was a 4:14, with a horror-show last 8 miles, but I'm still here in my 28th year of running). 
We don't know what can happen until we try, so good luck(but get those miles in)!
 
Which brings me back to Jools - been thinking more about this - imo you have to go for it at Wokingham - as someone on the other thread said - you don't know what's around the corner, so go for it on Sunday - in Poacher's words "be a warrior"!  Mentally good sometimes anyway, to forget schedules etc - just get out and race . . . . .

7 miles today in lovely bright sunshine. 

 

Having read AR's account above I'm now feeling a bit lazy for not giving it a go this morning. It feels ok (ish) now but probably better safe than sorry. Have an important long run at the weekend with 10 at MP so need to do that one!

TR - was a X-post. I keep telling yself to listen to you. The further I get into this training the more I understand your sentiment. I'm finding I'm wasting less energy than I was by constantly worrying about what pace to run at even though I'm months away.

Birch - hadn't refreshed page so only now picked up your post. You make some very valid points. A very good one about sometimes it's good to forget schedules and just race. Easy to forget that running doesn't have to be about one race a year!

DS2 Sensible decision. Bigger picture and all that.

Lumbu I was going to put forward a long post, especially about endurance etc, luckily Birch has pretty much covered everything. The HM in April, plus you will know how you yourself are feeling will be the moment to start thinking about marathon pace.

Birch How is the body are 7 sunny miles?

 

It's a good point about predictions and pace. I have a race the w/end after next and have big doubts about how it will go or what pace I should run, given my recent shakey form. My first Mara in the mid 90's was off 1:20 HM pace. I was on sub 3 hour pace until the wheels came off at 20 miles and I finished in 3:30.

DS2 wrote (see)

Having read AR's account above I'm now feeling a bit lazy for not giving it a go this morning. It feels ok (ish) now but probably better safe than sorry. Have an important long run at the weekend with 10 at MP so need to do that one! 

Bear in mind I have become a bit of a 'part-timer' on the running front. I think you are right not to take risks and then loose out on one of your quality sessions. Good decision DS2.

Alright gang, A question that I think I know the answer to. 11 with 6 at LT is what I should be running but it is club night at the trackl and they will end up doing Intervals probably. This is the only day on the week I run with others if I go to club. Last week was 3 x 400, 1 x 800 all x2 of 60 secs recovery - Would it be a massive compromise if I did say 6 with 4 at LT before the club session and jumped in with them? Or do I just stay solo, again?

Menna - It is a hard balance between doing what you need to do training wise for your own goals and keeping running fun by running with others. I left my local club because every session was interval based and not what I needed to be doing. Instead I do a core session once per week where I have company.

How about a best of both worlds compromise? 5m warm up timed so that you finish the same time as they come out onto the track. Then run your 6m tempo whilst they do their intervals. Although you won't be running with them, you will be on the track with them and be able to shout at them as you pass / they pass. Then join them for a pint afterwards. 

Don't stress it DS2. A recovery run is the least important session. As you say, focus on Sunday instead.