Target 26.2 - First Timer Steve's Journey to Paris

Last 5km a PB!

1 hr 38 mins that is AMAZING!!!!!! So pleased for you and goes to show what a good training schedule and a motivated person can do together.

Glad gels worked and also good that you know you need a race belt as this is what "dress rehearsals" are all about!

Did you manage to try carb loading day? 

Well done and loved the race report.

Hey Steve,

It was me that ran with you for the first few miles!! Well done on the race, excellent time!

So, this is my first post as I'm usually a stalker and not a contributor...it's all too scary!

Hi again Steve, 

well, as I said on the phone, you lot have all surpassed yourselves this weekend  I'm sure you're now thinking about what your marathon goal might be - I'm so pleased with how you're getting on but as you said yourself in last post, the limited experience of long runs is a factor we need to consider before going crazy and putting you on the elite start

My suggestion for now is to work with a goal pace that is a tad over a minute per mile slower than your half marathon pace - so 8.35. This is a sub 3.45 finish. I've adapted the paces for this week's long run around this time and this will be a good insight into how manageable that feels.

I've also adjusted (slight understatement perhaps!) your pace guidelines and some of the sessions for the upcoming training, so have reposted the next 3 weeks here. 

Hope you're recovering well from yesterday. I managed to go flying on some slipperly mud near the end of my long run and bruised my hip as well as my pride Running through Rye on a busy Sunday afternoon with one whole leg and arm covered in slick mud was slightly embarassing!

So here's the revised paces and plan:

Jog (Recovery) = 9.20-10.00 mins per mile

Comfortable (Easy) = 8.10-9.15 mins per mile

Steady = 7.30-8.05

Fast (Tempo) = 7.10-7.25 (Or for intervals 7.05-7.15)

Speedwork - dependent on distance

Week 10 w/c 18th February
Monday 5 MILE JOG
Tuesday REST OR CROSS TRAINING
Wednesday 6 MILE BUILD-UP (From 8.10-7.20)
Thursday REST
Friday 6 MILE COMFORTABLE + 4 X ACCEL STRIDES
Saturday REST
Sunday LONG RUN 17 MILES: 7 MILE @ 9.35, 5 @ 9.05, 5@ 8.35 (17 MILES)
MILEAGE 35

Week 11 w/c 25th February
Monday 4 MILE JOG OR CROSS TRAINING
Tuesday 4 MILES EASY
Wednesday 2 MILES WARM UP THEN 4 MILES FAST (TEMPO) 1 MILE EASY (7)
Thursday REST
Friday: 5 MILES MARATHON PACE
Saturday TRAINING DAY (5km time trial plus other - APPROX 7 MILES)
Sunday REST
MILEAGE 27

Week 12 w/c 4th March
Monday 4 MILE JOG
Tuesday 2 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 4 x 800m in 3.10-3.20 per rep with 3 min jogs in between each then 2 x 400m (in 1.31-1.35) with 2 min jog between reps. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (6.5 MILES)
Wednesday 5 MILE COMFORTABLE PLUS 3 X ACCELERATION STRIDES
Thursday REST
Friday 4 MILE STEADY
Saturday REST
Sunday LONG RUN: 2.45-3 hours comfortable
MILEAGE 38-39

Massive well done on the new PB! You smashed your time!

well done on the PB!

DS2 wrote (see)

Steve - brilliant work mate!!! Looking great for Paris now.

What time are you thinking of aiming for?

Thanks DS2, I'm so much more confident now about the whole thing after the weekend. I'm also eager to see just what I can achieve in the next couple of years with a fantastic, proper base of running behind me... Exciting times

As for the time, I'm fully following Sam's advice on that one!

RUTH MCKEAN wrote (see)

Last 5km a PB!

1 hr 38 mins that is AMAZING!!!!!! So pleased for you and goes to show what a good training schedule and a motivated person can do together.

Glad gels worked and also good that you know you need a race belt as this is what "dress rehearsals" are all about!

Did you manage to try carb loading day? 

Well done and loved the race report. 

Hey Ruth,

I know! I can't wait until my next 5k run now! Thanks for the kind words - I've looked back over it and it just all seemed to go so well from preparation through to execution so I'm really chuffed. Paris, ici je viens!

The gels were completely fine so I was really pleased that you recommended giving them such a thorough test out but, yes, a belt will be a great idea for me! I didn't mind carrying them in my hands but it would be a lot more convenient.

I did indeed try carb-loading. In fact, I was looking forward to it for weeks!! It wasn't anywhere near as fun as I thought it was going to be though, it just felt like I was completely full all day and I just had to keep on and on eating!

I pretty much followed Ady's plan but with a couple of things substituted in from the example plan you also posted. I ate a LOT of pasta that day...

How much should you eat after a long run? I figured I didn't need to go crazy because I had pre-loaded the bulk of the energy I would use during the race but obviously you do need to re-fuel again afterwards! When I got home I knocked myself up a rather unusal but actually really delicious prawn and asparagus Madras. Went down a treat

Aliya Razzaq wrote (see)

Hey Steve,

It was me that ran with you for the first few miles!! Well done on the race, excellent time!

So, this is my first post as I'm usually a stalker and not a contributor...it's all too scary!

Hi Aliya,

So sorry for not remembering your name! It was a bit of a manic day and we ended up speaking to so many people that names just became a bit of a blur! Everyone should have their names on their tee-shirts, it'd make things a lot easier

In all seriousness, having you to run alongside and chat with for those first few miles really did help and I barely noticed I was running as we chatted so thank you so much for that. I know you were saying that you had a poor posture like mine, but you looked alright during the race, so whatever you have changed seems to be working. Head up and eyes on the prize

How did the rest of your race go? What time did you get?

SamMurphyRuns wrote (see)

Hi again Steve, 

well, as I said on the phone, you lot have all surpassed yourselves this weekend  I'm sure you're now thinking about what your marathon goal might be - I'm so pleased with how you're getting on but as you said yourself in last post, the limited experience of long runs is a factor we need to consider before going crazy and putting you on the elite start

My suggestion for now is to work with a goal pace that is a tad over a minute per mile slower than your half marathon pace - so 8.35. This is a sub 3.45 finish. I've adapted the paces for this week's long run around this time and this will be a good insight into how manageable that feels.

I've also adjusted (slight understatement perhaps!) your pace guidelines and some of the sessions for the upcoming training, so have reposted the next 3 weeks here. 

Hope you're recovering well from yesterday. I managed to go flying on some slipperly mud near the end of my long run and bruised my hip as well as my pride Running through Rye on a busy Sunday afternoon with one whole leg and arm covered in slick mud was slightly embarassing!

So here's the revised paces and plan:

Jog (Recovery) = 9.20-10.00 mins per mile

Comfortable (Easy) = 8.10-9.15 mins per mile

Steady = 7.30-8.05

Fast (Tempo) = 7.10-7.25 (Or for intervals 7.05-7.15)

Speedwork - dependent on distance

Week 10 w/c 18th February
Monday 5 MILE JOG
Tuesday REST OR CROSS TRAINING
Wednesday 6 MILE BUILD-UP (From 8.10-7.20)
Thursday REST
Friday 6 MILE COMFORTABLE + 4 X ACCEL STRIDES
Saturday REST
Sunday LONG RUN 17 MILES: 7 MILE @ 9.35, 5 @ 9.05, 5@ 8.35 (17 MILES)
MILEAGE 35

Week 11 w/c 25th February
Monday 4 MILE JOG OR CROSS TRAINING
Tuesday 4 MILES EASY
Wednesday 2 MILES WARM UP THEN 4 MILES FAST (TEMPO) 1 MILE EASY (7)
Thursday REST
Friday: 5 MILES MARATHON PACE
Saturday TRAINING DAY (5km time trial plus other - APPROX 7 MILES)
Sunday REST
MILEAGE 27

Week 12 w/c 4th March
Monday 4 MILE JOG
Tuesday 2 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 4 x 800m in 3.10-3.20 per rep with 3 min jogs in between each then 2 x 400m (in 1.31-1.35) with 2 min jog between reps. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (6.5 MILES)
Wednesday 5 MILE COMFORTABLE PLUS 3 X ACCELERATION STRIDES
Thursday REST
Friday 4 MILE STEADY
Saturday REST
Sunday LONG RUN: 2.45-3 hours comfortable
MILEAGE 38-39

Hi Sam,

First of all, hope your hip is alright! I did the same thing when I did my knee - you do get some really strange looks when one whole half of your body is caked in mud, don't you?? I know a really great physio if it doesn't start getting better quickly. Her name is Sarah and she really knows her stuff

Thank you, and you're right, I was wondering about marathon time but I totally agree with you about the lack of a proper base of longer runs heading into this training plan - let's not forget that this is the second furthest I have ever, ever run and this is only the fourth time I have run this distance or further (and one of those was really soon after cancer and abdominal surgery so was rather more of a crawl!!)... so I'm totally in your hands and will go with whatever you say, coach!

3:45 sounds absolutely amazing for my first marathon and if I can even get close to tha

...

that then I would be absolutely delighted with myself and so thankful to you for making it possible. I think it is important to be ambitious and I personally am motivated by having something tough to aim for and to push myself... but it is equally important to be realistic. How awful would I feel if I ended up trying to do way too much too soon, got myself injured and couldn't compete in Paris? You would actually see a grown man cry.

So, with that in mind, I think you've set the bar at a great level and I'm delighted that you think I am capable of achieving such a fantastic time.

Thanks for the new pacings - wow, they look quick! I'm looking forward to giving them a go and I will let you know how they feel.

I can't wait for us all to meet up again in a couple of weeks time and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do at the 5k time trial - I still can't believe that I ran the last 5k so quickly...! What sort of time do you think I should aim for in the time trial?

KatyLo wrote (see)

Massive well done on the new PB! You smashed your time!

Thanks Katy! All four of us nailed it and it was such a great way to finish the day It really has filled me with confidence heading towards Paris and I really am seeing the rewards for all the hard work.

How is your training going?

Steve Marathon Coach wrote (see)

well done on the PB!

Thanks Steve Marathon Coach - does the 5k at the end count as well, do you think? Or do I need to do that again at the time trial? It's not often you can say you've broken your half marathon, 5k and 10k PBs all in a single race

Look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks.

Steve loves bacon wrote (see)

...

that then I would be absolutely delighted with myself and so thankful to you for making it possible. I think it is important to be ambitious and I personally am motivated by having something tough to aim for and to push myself... but it is equally important to be realistic. How awful would I feel if I ended up trying to do way too much too soon, got myself injured and couldn't compete in Paris? You would actually see a grown man cry.

So, with that in mind, I think you've set the bar at a great level and I'm delighted that you think I am capable of achieving such a fantastic time.

Thanks for the new pacings - wow, they look quick! I'm looking forward to giving them a go and I will let you know how they feel.

I can't wait for us all to meet up again in a couple of weeks time and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do at the 5k time trial - I still can't believe that I ran the last 5k so quickly...! What sort of time do you think I should aim for in the time trial?

Wow, sounding quite sensible, here, Steve - you're learning! Yep, let's see how these paces feel - especially on the long run at the weekend. It's far enough for you to start to get a glimpse of the fatigue that sets in once you are scraping the bottom of your glycogen stores! However, a minute between half mara pace and full mara pace is quite a comfortable margin so on paper at least, it seems doable to me  Have a good training week...

Training - Week 10

Monday - 5 MILE JOG

Actual: 6.75 MILES

Today was a nice recovery jog - it's a session I've really come to enjoy and it really is fun to just go out, take it easy and get away from it all for a while.

I decided to go out on a completely different route to usual as the normal route was getting a bit stale. This was fun and a bit different but it did mean I ran a bit further than 5 miles as I misjudged the distance a little!

The run was really quite uneventful and flew by. I did go over the pacing for one of the miles - I got completely lost in thought about something pretty cool and suddenly the watch beeped at me and I realised a whole mile had passed!! The power of positive thought, I guess...

The new easy pace felt good. In fact, after the half marathon at the weekend, the hardest thing about this whole run was keeping the pace down! I was so full of beans after the weekend that I just felt like going out for a blast... but couldn't - it actually took quite a bit of discipline to keep everything slow and controlled!

I ended up running 6.77 miles according to the Garmin and this took 1:03:02, meaning an overall pace of 9:19m/m.

The individual miles worked out as follows:

Mile 1 - 9:16

Mile 2 - 9:19

Mile 3 - 9:25

Mile 4 - 9:26

Mile 5 - 9:09

Mile 6 - 9:19

0.77 - 9:20m/m

Right, I'm actually going to try and figure out this Garmin Connect thing I've seen on everyone else's threads...! Watch this space...

SamMurphyRuns wrote (see)

Wow, sounding quite sensible, here, Steve - you're learning! Yep, let's see how these paces feel - especially on the long run at the weekend. It's far enough for you to start to get a glimpse of the fatigue that sets in once you are scraping the bottom of your glycogen stores! However, a minute between half mara pace and full mara pace is quite a comfortable margin so on paper at least, it seems doable to me  Have a good training week... 

Haha you don't have to sound quite so surprised that I've said something sensible!

Ok, let's give this Garmin Connect thing a go.

Here (I hope!) is the Garmin Connect info from the Dorney Lake Half Marathon. Let me know if that worked!

That's okay, I will forgive you, it's not the easiest name to remember!

My time was 1:44 - not as fast as yourself but pleased with it nonetheless!

Thanks, I am always thinking about my posture when running, learnt the hard way after suffering terrible back pain after a long run!

Well done on both of your new PBs!! That's so fantastic!! Can't believe you set a new 5k pb at the end of a half marathon - that's AMAZING!!

Think you, me and Ady will all be chasing each other around the track at the same speed at the time trial at the next bootcamp ... although I suspect this time I may be back of the pack!!

Congratulations Steve, that was a brilliant race!  Such a huge confidence boost, you must be stoked!