VLM 2012 first timers??? - Page 244 - Spring Marathon

kiwiscanfly

06/02/2013 at 19:21

Hi all . Bath isn't until March 3rd so am getting myself ready for that and using it as a tune up race for London. It comes at just the right time in the schedule.

Black And Tabby

06/02/2013 at 20:49

Kiwi - I'm so organised I'm a month ahead of myself! Sorry - Saar the signs going up in Bath and presumed it was 3rd Feb - Doh!

Well on this emotional roller coaster of marathon training I hit a low point this week when I had to confess (to myself) that I had shin splints. Then I spent hours googling, and reading, and watching You Tube videos, and finally dragged the foam roller out again, and I seem to have a plan to sort then out

Ran 7 miles on Tuesday with no pain, a sore 4 milled on Wednesday, then by taking warming up shins and calves and wearing compression guards ran a pain free 16 miles yesterday

This is my new 'longest ever training run', and although, as my daughter helpfully pointed out, I still have another 10 miles to go on the day, I really feel like this is a key point in my training. So I'm back on another 'high'at the moment! It feels like I've really broken the back of it - bit like when I'm half marathon training and I hit 9 miles.

Only another 3 long runs to go.

Must do more foam rollering , golf ball under the footing and stretching today

How's everyone else at the moment?

Edited: 09/02/2013 at 10:12

bigeater

09/02/2013 at 21:11

Well done b&t. Superb run upto 16 miles and I hope I have that ' high ' tomorrow as that is what I will be doing and it will also my newest longest run!
My training is still well( touch wood) and enjoying it, I think if you enjoy it it's really half the battle. Got 3 good runs in of 14.5, 8, 7.2 miles last week and as I say hope to get off to a good 16 mile start tomorrow for this week.
Daughters eh? Know how to make you feel better, my 12 year old who is a runner and club champion at u13 level said when I suggested she come for a couple of miles with me she said no I couldn't slow down to your pace!!!! Think she was ripping it a little but sad thing is I know she's right

Black And Tabby

09/02/2013 at 21:52

Oooh good luck tomorrow, Bigeater! My daughter's 13 and definitely faster than me, but even she agrees she can't keep going for as long as I can now!

Bought myself a pair of knee high compression socks today - will look totally silly but if they stop me getting sore shins, I'll wear 'em!

kiwiscanfly

09/02/2013 at 21:57

Hi all .Keep up the good work. Remember to take your long runs slowly !!

How are you doing Pip ?

Rakhee Patel

10/02/2013 at 13:02

I'm currently training for London (my first marathon) and my long runs are up to 12 miles. This morning I had the latest episode of Marathon Talk downloaded and was all set out to go out for 13.5 miles however I had to cut it short to 9.5 miles as my legs were feeling really heavy. My pace was slow so it wasn't like I'd set off too quickly. For the last two weeks I've been getting off a stop early and walking the 2.5 miles every morning but surely that can't be the reason behind my heavy legs. It was also my first time running in compression socks. With only 9 weeks to go I'm starting to panic that I'm not going to be marathon ready. Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do? Any advice would be great as at the moment I'm feeling very low and behind training.

bigeater

10/02/2013 at 13:50

Hi rakhee and welcome, I'm going to be a first time London runner also but I won't pretend I have the answers for you but stick around there is very helpful people on this thread who will help with answers. All I would say is don't get too stressed about it and try and focus on the positives, you're up to 12 miles and there's not many people who could do that or even have the get up and go to even try so well done!! Slow and easy on your long runs and a little bit extra each run and even if you have to walk a little so be it. Keep your chin up and you will get there...... Good luck!!

Well my run was superb today, 16.6 miles and my fast neighbour kindly came with me and slowed his pace to mine and it was enjoyable in the snow! Did the cold bath afterwards... Seriously that is worse than the run!

kiwiscanfly

10/02/2013 at 19:13

Hi Big Eater. That is great news. 16.6 is excellent. Miles in the bank and long run box ticked for this week.

Hi Rakhee. Welcome aboard. They are a good bunch on this thread and we are all here to help.

Firstly DON'T PANIC !!!

One thing I see as a positive believe it or not coming from your post is that this is your first marathon. I say this as there is so much that you don't need to worry about. No tempo runs, speed work on the track, Goal marathon pace runs , hill sessions or anything intensive. This is something that crazy competitive marathoners like me have to do, But not you, so that is something you don't need to worry about.

You still have 9-10 weeks yet. Sure the taper will start 3-4 weeks out, but you have time. There are a few things we could look at.

Firstly, could you fire over what other training you do during the week, whether it is running or anything. As bigeater said you are up to 12 miles. That is great, however when did you do this 12 mile run ? One thing I will say to you is don't worry. This really is do-able. It is very easy at this stage to say gee !! if I can barely run 12 miles how am I going to do 20, or even a marathon. negative thoughts that will just hamper and hinder you. It just doesn't work like this anyway and we can cover all of this. But get it into your head that this is not impossible. Sure it is a slog, but it is well within all the bodies capabilities ( I am sure I have said this before to others on here LOL) to run a marathon both mentally and physically. Try phasing out negative thoughts with positive ones. You probably have heard this before, but it helps.

Could I also ask you when you started your marathon training for London ?

kiwiscanfly

10/02/2013 at 19:24

Sorry Rakhee. Getting carried away with everything I wanted to ask you.

I should have said, You are actually not too far short of your target in terms of your long run mileage at all.

It is easy to worry and panic when the situation is not nearly as bad as you think !!

bigeater

10/02/2013 at 19:28

Thanks kiwi. I don't know if I'm in this bubble of really enjoying my running and while it lasts I'm going to ride that wave.
Rakhee please stick around and ask questions and give feedback the help you will get from kiwi and others will benefit you tremendously as I have found.
Next run for me will be Tuesday, always have rest day day after my long run and so far it seems to work for me.

philippa francis aka pippitypoppity

10/02/2013 at 20:18

Hi all a welcome wave to newbees still here still pondering, but just read your response to Rakhee Kiwi and you have got me thinking again now......arghhhh !!!

Black And Tabby

15/02/2013 at 00:03

Pip - how are you now? And how's the running going?

Bigeater - glad you're enjoying your running - your training's going really well

Welcome Rakhee - Kiwi is very good at keeping us all on track - listen to him

Did my first 18 mile training run today - was actually 18.7 and felt very hard, right from the start. But I did it, and I'm very pleased (and tired!) now

Rakhee Patel

15/02/2013 at 10:20

Hi everyone, thank you for the warm welcome and replies. Sorry i've taken so long to reply.

Kiwi - i run three times a week. One run of 5 miles and another which is usually 3/4 of my long run and then my long run on a saturday. I've been pre training since september and started properly training for the marathon since Jan 1st. I cycle on sundays usually around 8 miles just to help loosen up my legs, I also spend 20mins a day using the foam roller as well as stretching. I usually also try and fit in strength training ever 3 days but this is using body weights.

This week has been a better week, I ran 5 miles on Monday and 8 miles on wednesday. Legs felt good, a little sore but the compression socks have done wonders for my calfs. I'm heading out for min 13 tomorrow but i'm hoping to make it a cheeky 14 if my legs hold out. I'm also going to try my first gel tomorrow, anyone got any recommendations to which one I should try? I plan on visiting my local running shop to pick them up on my way home.

Hope everyones training is going well, thanks again for the warm welcome.

bigeater

15/02/2013 at 14:46

Hi everyone and hope you are all well. Not a bad week with 3 runs of 16.6, 7.4 and 7.2 miles. The 7.2 miles last night were tough and I'm feeling it today so a rest day today and tomorrow with a LSR of 18 miles on Sunday.

Rakhee- hope your 13 miles goes well. For what it's worth I think you will be fine, we all have rubbish days.

B&t-- superb run of 18.7 miles, that is tremendous. Seems a whole different level to me that distance but hopefully be there soon.

Everyone else post up and let us know how it's going, it's good to help each other, you lot have certainly helped me.

kiwiscanfly

15/02/2013 at 19:50

Hi Rakhee. Really glad you got back to us. That sounds very encouraging. if you have run 12 you can certainly do 13 miles. Everything else is totally in place. You are cross training on your bike which is totally recommended, 3 runs a week is fine, you are doing S and C work which will help injury prevention, you have been training for a while now so have miles in the bank and I bet you have a reasonably good aerobic foundation because of the amount of training you have done, not just since the beginning of January,but last year.

In fact everything you are doing here is spot on. I like the shorter runs ( 5 miles ) and the slightly longer run ( 8 miles: This we call the second long run. Longish , but not very long !!). So what were you worrying about !! I know easy to get panicky if it is not happening, but you are right on target.

One word of advice here, and please adhere to this. Do your long run tomorrow of 13. If you feel you can do 14 then great. BUT PLEASE GO SLOWLY. you are not worried about pace at all !! In fact if it took you 2 hours or more to run 13-15 miles or whatever this still equates to a very long run. It is also time spent on your feet. Anything over 2 hours doubles up.ALSO, if you need , or want to walk for a bit then walk. This is permitted in marathoning. If it means you complete your mileage by having to walk a bit then that is fine. As you progress into bigger mileage then you will cover this distance anyway and will probably run most of it, however it doesn't matter.

Please get back to us Rakhee and let me know how it goes.

kiwiscanfly

15/02/2013 at 19:51

b and T and bigeater, great mileage. Well done.

You there Pip ? How's things ?

Rakhee Patel

15/02/2013 at 20:30

Thanks Kiwi, I'll def follow your advice, I've just done my route which doesn't loop back so this will also help me resisting from turning back.

Just a quick question, what do you mean by "anything over 2 hrs doubles up"?

bigeater

15/02/2013 at 20:42

Good question rakhee, I wondered that myself!

Black And Tabby

15/02/2013 at 21:28

Doubles hardcore points I'm hoping

philippa francis aka pippitypoppity

16/02/2013 at 07:29

Hi all running this weekend, going to stretch the miles a bit tomorrow, Think because I have been stressing so much about deciding what to do about London its coming between me and running if you see what I mean [ probably not as haven't explained it properly] I think in all honesty am going to have to defer as not put the miles in. Feel terribly guilty about this as there are people out there who were desparate to run and didn't get in. Also made the mistake of reading a post on another forum on here where someone else was also wondering about deferring, and had not a very nice response from someone which made me feel worse, Think the most important thing is that I enjoy my running as I have done for years, and also really enjoyed the training for London last year and want to be able to do that again. Not posted on here for a bit as feel very guilty about my decision

Well done all of you for your good mileages oh and Rakhee try Shot bloks ...mmmmmm delicious and I found they worked really well, will definately use them again

Edited: 16/02/2013 at 08:03