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Sub 3h15
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Thanks for all the well wishes with the Olympic Torch. Fingers crossed I pass the final check!!!
Nice moment of fame on Marathon Talk Ant.
Congrats on the Club awards Keir. Always good to be recognised, and if you have to be beaten then being beaten by someone who has ran MDS it holds no shame.
Big debate about recovery/double runs. Before I started training for 2011 VLM I had never ran any recovery runs. My idea of rest was to put feet up and do nothing. However, I found that doing a very easy 4-5 miles actually helped loosen my legs. However, there were some days when I ran when I should've rested. All about listening to, and knowing, your body.
Regarding running doubles, I am very much a novice but I'm currently running short doubles as a way of getting some easy miles back into my legs without over-stressing my dodgy knee. Currently doing 3.75m at lunch and then 5.5m in the evenings three times a week, with a couple of single-run days in there as well. Feels much more confident doing this than trying 9 miles and breaking down again. Not sure I will stay with them during the final 16 weeks though. Still not sorted a training plan yet, so who knows.
Good luck with the 26.2 comp KR. Looking at alot of the forums people are mentioning you as being a forum regular and that they "only vote for forums regulars". Fingers crossed you make it in this year.
NB: The vote will close at midday on Tuesday December 13, before the winners are announced and their forum threads launched on Wednesday December 14.
Great debate re doubles - I used to do a combo of 8 miles in the morning and 8 miles in the evening to and from work and I don't think it did any harm, except to the people who had to sit next to me on the train on the way home.
Managed 31 miles over two runs on Friday and Saturday to bring me up to just short of 50 for the week. Rest Sunday, then plenty of mud and puddles for the last two days. Windy down here, but not the gale force conditions experienced by some!
Rat - you're clearly mad to enjoy spending more than about 15 minutes on a treadmill, but 3 hours?!
I'm back for another attempt at the VLM after last years agonising 3.29 race! I'm looking at schedules and wondering if I should follow sub 3.20 or 3.15? Any advice will once again be gratefully recieved! I have also not run much lately as I'm trying to write up my PhD and have become a hermit so not sure if I should go with the lower target to take that into account?!
Oh, and I'm moving to St Albans on 2nd Jan so will be hoping to hook up with some runners up there to train with this time
so hopefully lonely 20 milers will be a thing of the past!
Right, off to look for my Garmin so I can start on the road to fitness! I am going to be testing out a Powerbreathe device over the next few months too so hoping it will propel me to greater things!
Amy - I can't imagine there'd be much difference in a sub 3:15 vs sub 3:20 program, so I'd say be positive and go for the sub 3:15 option. The time you eventually aim for will obviously depend more on how successful your training is rather than which program you use.
5 x 1200m tonight off 2:30 recovery. Didn't blast them as I was still unsure about my groin/hip area, but thankfully everything feels fine. To my surprise I actually ran every one faster than the previous one - the last couple certainly didn't feel faster, especially into the very strong wind, but somehow they were - 4:47, 4:45, 4:42, 4:40 & 4:36. That's 6:23 down to 6:05 pace - very satisfied with that.
Welcome back Amy.
Off to London today so will be looking out for a park to run.
Not sure Colin - check the VLM website all the information is on there.
Hello again Amy. Agree with BOTF there'll not be much difference between the schedules but I'd go for the 3:20 if you've not been running much. You can then alter it as you go if everything is looking too easy!
Amy, welcome back. Agree with BOTF, 3:20 and 3:15 are really the same as far as training goes, and you can make or loose 5 minutes over 26.2 so easily.Train for either and when the day gets closer you can see how you are doing and pick a pace.
I know it is cruel to throw words back at people but this is what you said immediately after VLM this year:
"I did about 14 weeks training averaging around 34 miles a week for this marathon, think MM you are right and my endurance wasn't there, my 5 LSR totalled 89 miles so definitely need to get that up. I also started my 14 weeks off pretty much no training so I think a winter without illness might have helped. "
IMHO, what you say is pretty much spot on in terms of an accurate summary of what you should do this year. Firstly heed your body and if it hurts stop. If it doesn't hurt, try to get in a few more miles, try to get in a few more LSRs and try to get in a few more weeks. A 16 week plan starts Jan 2nd so maybe this year you can do 16 instead of 14?
If you are in St Albans, then do take a look at Gade Valley Harriers. They have a series of marathon training runs and are only 9 miles away. These have marshalls, drink stations and cake (big cake!) at the end. I have no affiliation with them but know a lot and they are generally good guys.St Albans Striders is also a pretty good club but yellow and blue kit, I ask you!
Hi Colin. I'm fairly sure GFA for a 42 year old is still sub 3:15, but you'd still better check!
6 miles for me this morning, including 10 x 100m strides, averaging 7:52m/m.
Thanks everyone for your advice
Also thanks Philip for finding what I wrote after last time, it is useful! I have drawn up a plan based on the runners world sub 3.15 training running 6 days a week, starting in Jan. I'm going to use the next few weeks to build up my mileage. Once again my pre training hasn't been the best due to the PhD but I have scheduled in 4 20 milers and more marathon paced running which I was definitely lacking last time. I am thinking of joining St Albans striders, hopefully I can rock the blue and yellow kit, lol! The Gade Valley runs look good and the 20M one coincides with my plan so might give that a go.
Hope everyone's training is going ok, my Garmin is back in business now so need to get off my arse and get out there!
Any news yet KR?
Amy – 34 mpw doesn’t sound much but that’s an average so I’m guessing that some of the weeks were bigger. If you are low endurance, then don’t get too bent out of shape chasing MP running, you will just burn a load of matches you could do with saving. If I were you I’d try and build towards 8 weeks that included something like an LSR (18 to 22 ?), a midweek 13 and a Friday 10. You simply pad 3 of the other 4 days with between 5 and 8M, this will give you 8 “big” weeks of ~60 mpw. This might not be achievable, but if you build up to it for 4 of your 14 weeks, you then get 8 weeks and then a taper. You have from now until the 14 weeks starts to build some frequency/time on feet. If you build wisely you body should adapt and cope ok as this is all easy paced. If you cope well then you can put some MP into some of it during the later stages.
Welcome back Amy. Keep building slowly and get in a good consistent 13 weeks of training and you should be able to smash your 3.29 time and get around the 3.15 mark. Have you spoken to a physio about your hamstrings? Could it be that it could be caused by something else (back issues, etc)? Just a thought.
I think it was SBD who mentioned the photos moving Gul. Everything still looks the same to me so maybe an IE issue.
Come on RW....let us know if KR has got in!!!!
Anyone have any thoughts on this one?
Personally I would only race it if it were 4-5 weeks or more out as you will be a little flat afterwards. I would consider doing it 3 weeks before at MP or a little quicker however as a 'dress rehearsal' to dial in MP, then do the last long run 14-17 days before the marathon. That said though, a HM will provide you with a good indicator of the pace to run your marathon.
Although this may look a little strange as I break the finish tape in first place and carry on running down the road!
I did run a local HM at MP 2 weeks prior to Abo 2009 and rolled in with 92mins and felt very confident afterwards but an illness 6 days prior to Abo meant a DNS
To run a HM at MP and come away thinking "that was v easy" 2/3 weeks out from your target marathon is (I would have thought) a great sign that you are spot on in terms of preparation.
I think that given the taper post Reading this should be fine as last year after Fleet I PB'd and managed a short session two days later with no major issues. I would like to race soon after London but after this year I did the BUPA 10km five weeks later and due to the fact I couldn't run for a few weeks after the marathon with my hamstrings in agony I lost fitness and came in 3 mins slower than PB, therefore I can't see me getting any PB's off the back of London, hence racing Reading. Fleet is before Reading but at Fleet they changed the course this year and in my opinion it's now a bit too undulating to get a major PB.
I suppose I'm trying to not put all my eggs in one basket as if I get a decent HM time prior to London but I have a bit of a 'mare in the main event like this year I can at least take something from the 16 weeks prep!
Hi guys,
I finished my marathon sunday before last. Thanks for your advice and thoughts during my sporadic posting over the last 6 months.
Here are some thoughts about the marathon below and how it went
- A week before the marathon I decided I was going to try to run a negative split. The second half was less hilly.- I chose 1:35 and 1:30- I decided that if I was feeling strong at 32km (20 miles) I would give it some and try to come in sub 3.- The night before I realized that if I was to do this it would mean running approx. 6min/mile in the last 6.2 miles if I was going to pull this back.- With this in mind, aspirationally, I changed my mind during my 2km slow jog the night before the race. - I decided to go for a straight 1:30, 1:30 running 6:52 min/miles.- I wrote all 42km splits on my left, and then right forearm.- I looked a like a prize Gringo tw**- By 10km I was already 2minutes behind my splits and was running too slow.- I hoped I could pick up the pace a bit over the whole course and come home with 3:05.- I went through half way at exactly 1:35. With my calculations about the last 10km at 6:00min/mile at this speed, it looked like 3:10 was more likely.- By 32 km, the longest I had run in training, I was still on for just under 3:10 but cramps came on bad.- Long and windy 10km of coast road to finish. Nobody anywhere in sight for most of it. It all became a bit surreal.- Despite slow pace, continued to pass several people who must have set off much faster than me and who were also hobbling into the finish or just walking off to the side of the road.- 35km to 40 were mentally tough as I felt aerobically like I could push hard, but every attempt to pick up the pace brought shooting cramp came in upper hamstrings.- 2 attempts to stop and stretch only made it worse.- Felt like it could be over at any moment and resolved to finish rather than try to salvage ridiculously optimistic aspirations at this point.- By 40km, and having taken on a lot of water at each aid station, cramp subsided a bit. - Did some calculations and managed to step up the pace a little bit to finish.- Crossed the line with chip time of 3:13:29 and 17thplace overall in field of 291 starters.-
When I read these mara reports, cos they are never easy, I go away thinking I must be mad!