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Paris Marathon 2014
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Great work Eggy! Those PBs spring up out of nowhere sometimes! My HM PB in January was done with no watch or music (Garmin died just before start and strict no headphones rule enforced). I thought I was going okish but saw the clock in the finishing straight!
Thanks for the advice on the running - today's 5.5 felt really good. Planned to do four and then carried on as it felt fine - didn't want to push my luck though so stopped! Have since been to gym to clock up another hour on the elliptical and all feels well - ran up the stairs at home with no pain. Will do a seven miler (a favourite of mine) and then crack on with a 12ish at the weekend if all is good. I hope so... I feel like a runner again. Running is so important to me that being sidelined is tough. Mr S is pleased - he says I might cheer up a bit!
Shot bloks - I like them. They're a bit salty which goes down well and I like not eating it all in one go like a gel. Whether that is a good thing, I don't know. How many do you eat though? How many are equivalent to one gel?
Nice PB Eggy, I must try one of these park run thingies one day. Most of my 5k runs are at the end of sprint tris when I'm knackered !
Cant imagine running a marathon at 8 min mile tbh ! I was aiming for 3.45 But think 4 hours is going to more realistic unless I get a massive boost from race day adrenalin !
got a 20 mile race in 2 weeks so will better see possible pace under race conditions
Tricky Dicky --- good advice you gave few days ago, we are all running tired. I've ran 377 miles so far this year. Ran 62 miles this week and this mornings lsr was 21.5 miles on top of 40.5 miles Monday to Friday. This was 9:40 pace, 1:15-1:30 slower than my target race pace to achieve a PB
I agree with eggy on the other points , even pacing or a negative split ( let's see if I follow my own advice ) I looked up the Marco plan and it makes sense
JB - it sounds as if things are looking better for you ,listen to your body though , if it feels sore back off , the goal is getting to Paris
Eggy, me and the missus are delighted for you and your shiny new PB. Well done sir!
Jokeybhoy - ITB issues sound much more like the symptoms you described. Good news is, they can be pretty quick to fix.
Stuchbury - I suggest a steady ramp up to whatever your training plan suggested, paying careful attention to issues with your calves, or anywhere else that might be feeling some strain. People often find that shin splint injuries (MTSS on the Googlesphere) are problematic if they ramp up too quickly. No one can judge it better than you can. Rest well, eat well, sensible build up, trust your intuition.
Orapidrun - I wrote a post a few pages back about pacing strategies that might help.
So tired this afternoon I was almost falling over in the shops
Continued ... 6 months ago pace in same training run was 8:40 and my park runs appear much slower too but still time to peak and improve speed, I still had energy in my legs and feel better for going slow (shouldn't impact mid week runs). 1637 miles to go for 2014 in 2014 but not planning doing more than 45 miles per week in next few weeks.
Cheers,all.
Kaz - I never look at my watch in a 5km anyway. I just start the watch, run until it hurts and then hit stop at the end. Seeing today's time was a pleasant surprise.
Stuchbury - Looking at the packets it would seem that 3 shotblok bloks (half a packet) is about the same as one gel.
Eggy! well done on the PB, that's brilliant!
Did Brockwell a parkrun today which had the Sinton-Hewitt's as guests, very exciting. Paul was one of the founding members of parkrun and the driving force behind it now, along with his wife, Jo. I meant to take it easy but ended up running a 25:26,woops.
ATM, thank you for the pressie-they arrived yesterday but I forgot to message, sorry!
Jokeybhoy - not sure if new diagnosis is good or not. I've had IT band issues in the past that certainly weren't quick to heal. Lost of glutes strengthening and rest from running is what it took in the end, but I'm sure each case is different. I'd be surprised if those two weeks rest weren't necessary anyway though - IT band pain doesn't get better by running through it, just much worse. Sorry not to be more positive, I feel for you. What did the new physio suggest? Mostly it seems to be about trying to developing the gluteal muscle of a silverback gorilla.
Eggy - nice new PB!
Loving my new T-shirt - thanks Radar Sal
Thanks for the feedback eggyh73 and TD. I get it about even splits, but still unnerved, I'll give it a go tomorrow on this HM training run at MP and see what happens.
Hatter88 - the idea of running 8min miles for 26.2 gives me the heebies too but using marco it seems 'easier'? This is only my second marathon and as yet haven't properly converted training into a result......you know what....if I go sub4 I'll be happy too! As previously stated, getting to the start uninjured is of primary concern. Enjoying the training so far, not stressed/obsessed like the first time round and got a better understanding of the training process, thanks in part to info taken from here. Good luck to those out there tomorrow!
Jokey - is that diagnosis a good thing? Easier to manage/treat? I been fortunate enough to never have had issues with my IT band (touch wood).
5.5 miles today, calf fine
so now it looks as though I'm on the road to Paris again, advice please on how I now prepare... How do I increase the miles without causing damage? I was running 4/5 times a week, long run on Saturdays, got to 16 miles in training with a half PB two days before injury three weeks ago. I've kept up base fitness by biking and elliptical at gym/spinning classes. Any help gratefully received... I was on course for a sub four, PB 4:00:09 last year and half PB of 1:46:28.
good luck for all the halves tomorrow!
Eggy - sounds like you're back in the game! That's what I like about parkrun, you can get a good boost from it if it goes well, but it's all over by 10 o'clock.
Stuchbury - as a long term calf sufferer I can sympathise, but it sounds good at the moment. From painful experience, my recommendations to stop it happening again are a) calf raises on the edge of a step, with the front of your foot on the step and the heel over the edge (I do these on the fire escape at work. Fortunately they're used to me now), b) rollering with a foam roller or spiny massage ball c) calf guards for running in (may be all in the mind, but hey). I think from reading back you may already be doing all of these, so good luck.
I'm taking a posse of spring marathoners out fo a 20 miler along the Lea Valley this morning - will be nice to have company for this one.
Hatter - forgive my ignorance but what is macro?
RR - enjoy the run with the masses , and don't lose any
I agree with RR, Stuchbury. At 6ft4 (perhaps irrelevant) I had calf problems last summer when training for marathon. The way round it I found is......rumbleroller often (after every hard session at least), strengthen (20m on tiptoes, 20m on heels, 30x static heel raises)x2 per day, x3 a week and self massage to eradicate any shin tightness or lumpy bits in calf. Plus the big one.....calf guards for runs over 7m. Ok, the jury is out over venous return etc but what is indisputable imo is that they hold your calves in place reducing the jiggle factor over a long run which was the source of injury for me (digitorum longus went into permanent cramp for two weeks, made walking really painful).
HM, time to do it!
She also suggested I had a slight pronation in my feet and asked me to ask their running shop for a 2nd opinion,he said I have a mild pronation.The thing about that is the first time I got checked out at Run For It in glasgow,the 1st person(about 3 years ago) told me I had movement in my feet and the next 2 guys I got after that said I was a neutral.Ive ran in neutral shoes for 2 years now without any problems,til now of course.also just bought a new pair of Asics Cumulus recently when I felt my injury starting.
TD:I'll stick to your advise of lots of long hard bike runs just in the off chance that my injury heals.
Good luck to anyone attempting their LSR today especially if the weather is like it is here,sounds wild out there.
Jokeybhoy - if your knee is twisting inwards it will certainly cause pain in the glutes but it is instantly recogniseable because when you run and your leg moves backwards after fot touchdown, it will look like your feet are flapping outwards. I often see this, particularly in female runners. The legs don't track in a straight line but flip out on the back swing. I'm no expert in these matters but `i can see how it would hurt the IT band which does function to keep the leg straight. I can easily imagine that strong glutes and hips are they key to getting runing stride balance correct. Would love to know/ understand more about this aspect of running biomechanics to be honest.
Am still feeling trashed after yesterday's 120kms on the bike so am taking it easy today and just relaxing. A blissful day.
Tricky-Dicky - What do you guys use so that you have live tracking of runs? I would love to buy something so my husband knows where I am when I am out and about- especially for my long runs.
I am going to have tomorrow off from running and then back up with an easy week this week - 8km on Tues/Wed/Thurs, then 15km on Friday, and ParkRun on Saturday. I am going to do the same the following week through the week but a 20km Sat run.
We fly out to Europe on a Thursday so on the Wednesday I am going to do a long run so I can get it done, as when we get to London I don't want to be stressing about distance. I just want to be able to jog around Hyde Park with my phone taking pictures etc
I think if I get the long runs in now I should be fine with only doing 1 or 2 20km runs over there and lots of 5-10km ones.
Better get going - another working week tomorrow so need to get to bed early. Night all
Rach - Garmin Forerunner 620 for running or a Garmin Edge 810 for cycling - of course, with a bluetooth enabled smartphone and data plan to provide the comms to a web application. Works very well but the gadgets are at the pricey end.
Hope you are sitting comfortably everyone. My name is Charlie and this is my LSR (long, stupid read)
I lurk here, even though I'm not running Paris, because you are friendly and know what you're talking about. I, on the other hand, have got myself thoroughly confused about all this running lark! In an effort to educate myself I have read loads of books and forums. However I think this has just exposed me to ideas and theories which I really don't need to know about yet. There are no running clubs within 90 mins of me so I don't have an expert to help.
So, the story is..... got off the couch in April 2013 via the C25K programme. It worked really well. I'm 44, 5ft 2, weigh 62kg and now I'm happy to run 10k but it takes me 1:02. Tonight I ran 5 k in exactly 30 mins. Mid April I have my sights set on a 20k race while I'm on holiday in England. Currently in Oz.
I've been very diligently following the Hal Higdon beginner HM program. Seems ok and I'm managing to gradually up my distance. However it just tells me how far to run each night. There are no drills or tempos or fast nights. I do one longer run each week but I just do all my runs at the same pace. Is this ok?
I will be happy to just finish the 20k but I'd rather not be last and would prefer to be home before dark. Am I ok to just follow this programme and then look at doing fancier things once my legs are more experienced or am I really selling myself short and training stupid instead of smart? I still get achy calves. Am running in shoes fitted by the good running shop in town!
I know I will never break records and really I'm just thrilled to be doing 10k easily when a year ago jogging 60 seconds was a real challenge. But... if I'm going to do this, I'd like to give myself the best chance and do it right.
Hope you're still awake (what is the reader's equivalent of gels??) Your thoughts and suggestions please. Thank you!
Blackpool half done. No PB but I'm happy with the outcome considering the conditions.
It was a a two lap out/back course with the wind behind you on the out and in your face on the back.
On the outbound parts I was Olympian, running gazelle like with the ease of a world beater.
On the return stretch I was running through syrup with a small child on my back.
Finished feeling good, though.
Highlight of the day? Meeting Uisge Jo before the start. What a smiley lovely lady she is. Mrs O said she saw Jo at three points and she was flying - can't wait to see if she beat her target.
IMO Running at the same pace is a great way to start , get your body used to running, but I think your now getting past that stage and looking to improve and shake up the running a bit
Advice - take it easy when starting any new regime ,you will be using different muscles for different sessions , the basic one for trying something new is Fartlek , it means running a slightly faster pace briefly then easing back off , pick a lamppost , a stationary car nearby and just up the pace till you reach it , then settle back into your normal pace , but don't overdo it ,
before you know it you'll be doing tempo runs , hill repeats , pyramids
Hi Charlie4 - I'm also in Oz - Darwin in fact. Where are you located?
I started seriously running last year after being a 5km jogger before that. 
I am not terribly knowledgeable know so will leave the other guys on here to answer you. They always seem to know exactly what to say whereas me.. not so much!
Thanks for the rapid reply Scott! Maybe I'm not so far off the mark then.
Thanks TD. I have a Garmin 110 so might need to upgrade... might be a good birthday pressie this year!!!
Welcome Charlie 4
I am in positive thinking mode today, and so have wrote myself a nice new recovery/training plan for the next 6 weeks with the hope that I am going to be running! I am working on avoiding going out in the early mornings to avoid the coldest part of the day but with this the longest period of time I have available to run in any one go is 2.5 hours. This is obviously going to make 20+ mile runs impossible- I am no gazelle!- so my plan is to do doubles to achieve the mileage. Please advise me if I am being plain daft in this notion??
Well done, Orbutt. The Fylde coast isn't particularly pleasant today.
Kaz, the double thing sounds like too much. How many miles per week are you planning?
Welcome Charlie. I think it's a good idea to mix up paces and distances. Some workouts should be more huffy puffy and longer efforts get the engine purring and the legs ticking over for 10-15k
45ish Jimbob, but over 4 days, so a double day making up 20+ then a 10-12, and a couple of 7/8 mile runs. I have been doing double's for years so I should be ok,with them.
Well done Orbutt - sounds like a tough one.
I have shiny new HM PB, by a 'massive' 35 seconds. But, jeez, I had to work hard for it. Wind was a help more than a hindrance. 93:58 - based on that time I think I'll target 3:28 for Paris. But I'd be very happy with 3:29:30.... A lot will depend on the weather. Same as last year would be good!