Talkback: ASICS Target 26.2 Team: Craig - Page 31 - Spring Marathon

Susiebuzz

22/02/2012 at 19:10

Hi everyone and Boduke,
I'm also a first timer doing London this year and have a half marathon race on Sunday in Blackpool...if anyone has any top tips of how to approach this I'd be grateful. I'm tempted to go for a PB, I'm not fast so this would be 10 min miles but this is obviously a lot faster than my marathon pace which I'm guessing will end up being nearer 11 min miles. Do I go for it or do I practice marathon pace over a longer distance. Did 6.5 miles yesterday in 63 mins and felt ok but not completely sure I can sustain that over the full distance and don't want to get injured....
Any tips
Good luck Boduke and all the other first timers, it's a daunting challenge but so exciting!
Susie

BoDuke

22/02/2012 at 19:29

I'm at the train station again... Should still be in the office writing reports, but since we moved there is only one person who can lock up and they don't need/want to stay... Hell, have to be in silly early then.

SB: glad you like Farah. Run bear run. The pace was meant to be a 7:20.......

Louisa: where do you work where you get that??? Wow, they got any need for a running Probation Officer???? I love curry in all it's spicy forms too! Seen a v healthy mushroom curry with vvv healthy tomato sauce... Have To post that one.

mcs: again, quality quote... *nods head, whispering 'yea man'* question: how do you get carbs going on with that? Is it wheat or gluten issues?

Sam: gonna be good, promise... Will be very disaplined with progression run tomorrow. Have Garmin set up to chastise me if I slack or over do it.

Ruth: points noted. Issues with freezer packing up and had to eat the risotto... Will post everything from today. The race starts at 9:00, so jam sandwiches might be good. I'll leave the newly found malt to the night before....trains pulling in... Will continue to waffle after tea and reply further.

Sleepy Bear

22/02/2012 at 20:22

Hi all

LMD - it seems to be totally individual. We always have huge pizzas the night before a race - usually fairly plain ones though - ham & pineapple / margaritas but that's just what works for us. Always fish & chips the night after!

BoD - ah! Now I see...

BoDuke

22/02/2012 at 21:49

Hi LMD, good to have you with us and thanks. I recon it might be best to stick with what works and don't change without knowing what it does. Could be me being cautious though. I also like Sleepy's idea of pizza, but pineapple is wrong on pizza!!! Don't do that

Suzie: I've got a half on Sunday too. Been given permission to race it and push (without going silly). Got another one a few weeks before Paris and aiming to use that to practice MP under race conditions (self-disapline and all that).

Ruth: packed high juice, dates, dried fruit and wheatabix for work food. Plus rice and muffins wih honey.... Gonna be sweat. What do you and Sam think about the Austrlian theory about loading: upping carb % but more or less normal and the 24 hours before doing high intensity workout for 4 minutes? Just saw it in RW guide to nutrition. Might be good for those of us who can't cook themselves individual meals or are poor at planning....

Sleepy Bear

23/02/2012 at 09:06

Morning!

Gonna have to go buy a malt loaf now - can't remember whether I like them or not - I used to always have one in my ruck sac but I can't remember the last time I ate some ...

Random thought to share - my hot water bottle stops me getting crampy calves in the night! Not woken up with cramp since Christmas - bonus! Maybe something to do with vasodilation / warmth = muscle relaxant. Either way - happy days!

BoD - HOW can you say that! Pudding and dinner rolled into one - my favourite meal - right up there with chicken korma for the same reason - yummy yum yum. (What page is that on in the nutrition book?Sounds interesting - will go and have a look... ps RW - a decent index in that book would be ever so helpful - anyone know a good indexer - oh yeah me LOL)

p.s Hi Suzie

LMDavies

23/02/2012 at 09:20

Mmmm, pizza, that's a great idea, thanks guys. With Sleepy on the pineapple, lovin a Hawaiian, will try on Saturday night.

Good luck with the Half on Saturday BoD, where is it?

SamMurphyRuns

23/02/2012 at 09:45

Susiebuzz wrote (see)

Hi everyone and Boduke, I'm also a first timer doing London this year and have a half marathon race on Sunday in Blackpool...if anyone has any top tips of how to approach this I'd be grateful. I'm tempted to go for a PB, I'm not fast so this would be 10 min miles but this is obviously a lot faster than my marathon pace which I'm guessing will end up being nearer 11 min miles. Do I go for it or do I practice marathon pace over a longer distance. Did 6.5 miles yesterday in 63 mins and felt ok but not completely sure I can sustain that over the full distance and don't want to get injured.... Any tips Good luck Boduke and all the other first timers, it's a daunting challenge but so exciting! Susie

Hi Susie, I'd say that your half marathon is far out enough from the marathon to race it rather than use as pace practice. But don't kill yourself! Work hard but, just see how it goes. It'll give you a good measure of your marathon potential and help you determine what goal pace to go for in the big one!

BoD, Agree, pineapple shouldn't be allowed on pizzas!

Ruth - bananas with black spots on - uggh. I have to liquidise them when they go an hour past being ready to eat!

oscarr

23/02/2012 at 09:54

Liquidise bananas - i'm loving my homemade smoothies after training - milk, banana, cherry yoghurt, fruitjiuce, honey.

Louisa Setchfield

23/02/2012 at 10:01

Craig: Ha ha haaaa...I work for a Management consultancy so we tend to be sat at a desk hunched over our laptops all day or travelling with the laptop slung over our shoulders (which weigh a ton - you'd think in this day and age they'd be lighter by now). So we find we often have niggles and that coupled with some high pressure times through the year I think the company thought we could do with the massge help if we wanted to opt for it. Does feel odd though having a massage in a meeting room .

LMD: I swear by the Jamie Oliver Working Girl's (tuna) Pasta for meal night before a long run/race. I have a sensitive tummy when it comes to early long runs and have learnt to avoid foods in the 24 hours before that contain red meat or anything too fatty. Tuna pasta with Olives, tomatoes, capers, a tiny bit of chilli (though not too much for running on ) lemon juice and Basil is delish, light but nice amount of carbs. Then morning of long run I have plain porridge around 4 hours prior to run (so there's plenty of time for tummy to do it's work and have pitstop before the run).

Good luck with VLM - it'll be my first too!

oscarr

23/02/2012 at 14:51

Bo - my April RW arrived today - some great pics of you all and a much bigger and better article - what a great experience for you all, fantastic.

Sleepy Bear

23/02/2012 at 15:11

Yip got mine too - absolutely love the pic of you all having a giggle with Sam! You getting excited about the weekend yet? Not long now ...

oscarr

23/02/2012 at 15:52

Bo - go to page 26 of April RW mag for a great article about negative split pacing (slower first half, quicker in second) in a marathon - great example of two runners doing it in opposite ways with the negative split being better - it's also the most enjoyable (in my view) way to pace any race as you feel great in second half and pass loads of folk as well.

mcs

23/02/2012 at 16:12

OOOhhh mag arrived trouble is got too much work to do!!

Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of travelling........run with a smile to quote Haille G....

LMDavies

23/02/2012 at 17:18

Louise -thanks for the tuna pasta tip, I'll try that one too. Useful to hear from someone else about red meat sensitivity, I think that's what my problem was on Sunday, won't make that mistake again but it did make for some amusing race photos when I didn't realise the camera was around and my real feelings were evident! Good luck with your first vlm, how's your training going so far?

Looking forward to the April RW, does it say Monster Month on the front? I've been dreading those words!!

Susiebuzz

23/02/2012 at 19:24

Thanks so much Sam and Boduke for that advice!
I've been really indecisive about it all so it really helped!
Oscarr: interesting re negative splits! Boduke, are you planning a negative split for your half this weekend. I've only done two halfs before and both examples of how not to do it!!! If I was plannign 10 min miles average how does that work? How much slower do you do the first half, the worry I have would be not being able to speed up second half!
Off home now, hope my runners world has arrived, I am becoming slightly obsessed with all this running!
Hello to everyone else, tuna recipe sounds fab!
Susie

SamMurphyRuns

23/02/2012 at 19:32

Susie. You'd only be looking to run a tad slower in first half - maybe 5-15 secs per mile slower - not, like, 2 mins per mile. It's a common fear that if you hold back in the first half you won't be able to speed up but the truth is that if you go too fast in the first half you're more likely to suffer in the second half and slow down.
Btw, if 10 min mile is your goal pace you could still aim for that, but defo not quicker, and then see whether you can speed up a little in the second half...

I've got a big barefoot running piece in the current issue But now - mid marathon training - not a good time for anyone to start experimenting! Stick to what you know. For now

oscarr

23/02/2012 at 19:34

Susie - just a few seconds a mile slower in the early part can make a big difference later on

Sleepy Bear

24/02/2012 at 08:50

Interesting conundrum on barefoot vs transition Sam - I'm really glad we started with the inov-8s system - going straight to 'flat' even for a few minutes would have been epic for us but now OH happily runs without his orthotics so something/somewhere must have been strengthened. And I'm definitely much lighter on my feet than I used to be. Roll on 155s for us next.

Is today a rest day BoD? Doing any stretching or strengthy stuff? Today marks the first day of rebuilding yoga into my life - new dvd has 8 different sessions on it ranging from 15 - 45 minutes. Thinking of doing at least twice a week so shouldn't get bored too quickly if do different sessions each week. Easy and short today!

Susie - know what you mean about indecisiveness - I've only just gotten a pace-o-meter thingy wotsit so my next half (in March) is gonna be a whole new experience. I've previously had to wait til I get to the mile markers to check my pace and had no comprehension of how people could manage themselves better. Now it all seems so simple - just have to get over the fascination of knowledge or I'll be falling over because I'm looking at my watch all the time! Maybe one day I will develop an internal speedometer but right now I seem to be able to speed up/slow down quite a bit for quite a while without really noticing much.

Oooh oscarr - liking the sound of your smoothie - love cherry yoghurt!

Susiebuzz

24/02/2012 at 10:07

Sleepy bear, know exactly what you mean!
I always always always go off too fast but it doesn't feel fast (all relative, I'm not a speedster!) my splits for the great north run were hilarious - for all the wrong reasons.
I've found using heart rate quite useful, even thought about running my race to heart rate as an experiment!

BoD, are you resting or running today? The weather here in Norhumberland is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous and tempting to go out for a nice long run but guess not that wise with the half coming up! I miss the fun of being spontaneous with all this sticking to a plan business!!!

Sam, I thought you're on reflection article was great, such a huge issue for many women (and men too).

Susie

mcs

24/02/2012 at 12:48

interesting article Sam I tried flatter shoes last spring a mistake I believe though no scientific research done on it yet!! Back issues resulted three months off running and then a torn calf but hey who knows. I am back on my Saucony Progrid and Asics Kayanos as of this year. Sounds like a great race In NYC a real experience to meet everyone too.