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Thanks guys!
Andi - I will give both of those a go! I was reading about ice baths v Epsom salts the other day, as I can't quite force myself to embrace the ice!
BT - you're spot on
, haven't done my midweek runs for the last 2 weeks due to being ill one week and then pulling a muscle in my neck the next. I hadn't even thought of that but apart from a few extra miles on the long run, that's the only thing that's changed. I went out tonight but only 3 miles as my quads are still a bit sore. Will go out again on Friday too and hopefully things will start to get better!
Hi all, Nicola, hope your legs are feeling a bit easier.
I felt great after my weekend run, knees felt fine. Session with PT on Tuesday which included a stupid amount of squats and lunges, which resulted in me barely able to walk yesterday! Planned on doing a 3km recovery run yesterday, got 2km's in and was just starting to loosen up when i turned up a road to be greeted by a bunch of yobbos fighting. To cut a long story short the run had to be abandoned as we called the police as one was lying in the road - beaten up - terrible.
Got home and did some stretches, legs still feel painful today from all the squats so am going to go swimming this evening.
Spin tomorrow and saturday then running again on Sunday. Hopefully my legs will have eased up a bit by then and should be able to get the planned 5km in.
Next week hopefully back up to 3 runs in the week. Need to seriously get back into the training for the 10k in May, although it looks like all my gym and spin work have kept my fitness levels up over the last few weeks whilst being off from running.
Watto, that sounds like a horrible end to a run
Glad your fitness is still up though, and I'm so impressed with all the exercise you're fitting in, you're a lot more dedicated than me!
16 miles done yesterday
In 3:32:34, so 13:17min/mile. Was a pretty awful run though, went out too fast (beat my 10k PB!) and then at mile 10 realised I had a blister, moved my sock around and it was ok after that. Used gels (SIS) for the first time and found them strange but could stomach them. Planned to take them at 3, 6, 9, 12 but only managed 3,6,8 and then a half at 12 as I felt slightly sick, but might have just been psychological. Had about 750ml lucozade as well and a bit of water too, and a few walk breaks. Worried about hitting the wall on the day as I know I'll be running approx 6 hours. Any advice would be very appreciated! 3 long runs to go to experiment.
Wow Nicola you are really getting up the miles now, is it the London marathon you are doing??
nice 5km run for me today, pretty steady pace...average 8.04 I think, total time was 40 mins, 1 min slower than my parkrun prior to stopping running for a couple of weeks, but apart from the park run my usual 5k time was about 43mins so pleased with time.
Wind was horrible, right in my face for the first 2km, but was at least behind me for the uphill section!
next run = Wednesday! plan for this week is a 5k, 4k and the 7k.
That's a great time Watto considering your break, good work!
I'm doing Brighton which is a week earlier, 6th April
So only 3 long runs left until the taper. Yikes!
I'm sure you will be great....looks a really nice marathon just hope the seafront part is not too windy!!!
Yeah I've read it's a good one for a beginner! Pretty flat and lots of support
Andi and BT, thanks to your advice I am almost ache-free today! I did lots of stretching after the run, had an Epsom salt bath and went for a walk later in the day, so I'll stick to that combo. Andi - how much of the Epsom salts do you put in? I put about a handful as I only got a small pot, but can't find any info on an ideal amount.
thanks guys!
Watto, that was a great time and whilst we all want to see improvements don't overdo things and end up off for another couple of weeks
Nicola, glad we could be of some help
I got my first packet of Epsom Salts from the Chemist - blooming expensive! I found somewhere on Amazon that sold 10kg for about £20 and use about 3 large coffee mugs per bath. Anything that helps stop DOM's has to be a good thing 
My Marathon is on the 6th April as well, at the other end of the country, start time is 11am and would be great to finish by 3:30pm
As for your target of 6 hours, I think you'll surprise yourself - just make sure you don't start off too quickly
I'll probably be done by 3:30pm too (Brighton starts at 9:15!)
I'm coming on here as a last resort to motivate myself! Yesterday morning I was all ready to run, walked out the door, forgot my watch so turned around, came back inside, and never made it out
. I think it was a combination of a bit of a stomach ache and intimidation of running 18 miles! I literally feel like I've got a job interview or something equally daunting. So today I'm trying again, heading out the door now and hoping for the best! Hopefully I'll report back later with some good news!
Noooooooooooo
go Nicola
hoping your 18 goes well. I plodded through 20.5m today was a very slow struggle but it does feel good after knowing you have the runs under your belt.
thanks BT. I did it! Once I'm a few miles in I'm fine, it's just getting out the door for these long runs is a battle! 18 miles in 3:54:43, which is 13:02/mile. My last long run was 13:17, so I decided my marathon pace might be around 13, so I was aiming to do that for the last few miles, so I'm chuffed that I managed to almost average that throughout!
I'm still clueless with pace though, when I sped up at mile 15 I was trying to get to around 13m/m (not realising I'd averaged 13m/m so far) and I ran that mile in 11:52, which is insane! i might try using the pacer thing on my Garmin as clearly I have no idea what that pace feels like. But I ran 18 miles and that's what I will focus on for the rest of the day!
I've had an Epsom salt bath, stretched twice, had a walk around and a high5 zero tab so I'm using all your good advice
Just don't go to quick
either you should be looking at 12mm in Mara or slow down a lot more on the long runs.
Well done Nicola, great to hear you made it out!
i was away for a lot of last week with work (unexpected) so no midweek run, got back Friday night and went to the gym and did a nice 4km with an increasing pace. Out for 6km today which was meant to be slow but actually ended up being our quickest run yet...avg pace at 7.40/km.
going to hit the gym before work in the morning and Wednesday then my weekend run this week us on Saturday As I am out Saturday night
. I had forgotten my watch today which explains the lack of correct pace...going to ensure I wear it saturday and not do anything quicker than 8min km's. I sort of feel I'm getting to that point now where I need to start differentiating the pace of my runs....doing 1quicjer, 1 slower and longer and 1 sort of average! At the moment there is no real structure and seem to be merging into one pace!
still not back up to the full training plan due to the 2 weeks I had to take off and then the last couple of weeks getting back into it. Hopefully will be back up to speed soon!
well done BT on your run aswell today,...your and Nicolas mileage is seriously putting me to shame!
Well done Nicola! 18 miles is a long (long) way for anybody to run!! I'm with Booktrunk and think you'd be pushing that sub 5 hour run with the race day adrenalin but don't be going out too fast as previously warned
Have you seen the course profile? it does help to train on a similar profile the the race one.
Watto, whilst it's still too early for any specific speed work for you you are correct, if you can get different paces for your runs it will help with natural speed
19.77 miles for me today and just couldn't be bothered running round the house a couple of times to get over 20
Oh, in February 2013 I ran 63.1 miles all month, I managed 63.44 this past 7 days :
Hmm, I don't think I can slow my long runs, the thought of being out for 5+ hours on my long runs is enough to put me off heading out the door! I'm in the 5:30-6 hour corral for the marathon so I guess I'll try and start at the front of that. The slowest pacers are 5 hour pace which is too fast for me (though if I could do it in 5 hours my Garmin would last the whole race!) The course seems to be slightly hilly at the start, and then pretty flat, so will try and factor that in to my other 2 runs. My training plan only goes up to 18 which I'll do again next weekend but tempted to make the 3rd 18 a 20 miler just for confidence going in to the race. Hmm.
Sounds like you're doing well Watto!
12:30 per mile is under 5:30
your slow runs should be a lot slower than marathon pace and with the buzz I'm sure you are going to be around 5:30 
Ohh in case you don't believe me.... The furthest I ran before my first marathon was 18 miles in 3:56 and my race had a 6 hour cut off I was terrified that I would not make it.
.... In the end I did it in 5:30:22 so I reckon you are on for a similar sort of time
if you are going to get another 18m plus run or two in I think you really do have a chance of getting close to 5h .
Yikes, anything under 6 hours would be fab, as that's the speed the sweeper bus comes along at! I'm almost spot on to your 18 mile time so that's really useful to know, thanks
lol Nicola, I meant Brighton could be 5 hours not do a 5 hour LSR
When I started training for my first (and only) Marathon 6 hours was my first aim and without belittling a 6 hour finish time for anyone I'm sure your training will get you closer to 5 hours
Just pace yourself, there is the old saying that a Marathon is a 'race' of 2 equal halves, the first 20 miles then the last 6.2
It's funny but am sure its harder for us slower runners than the faster boys and girls as we are on our feet for much longer.
Had a day off yesterday as I was in Oban all day and still tired from Sundays LSR - today I'm feeling lazy and am going to have to force myself to run
I know what you meant Andi
, but I'm particularly slow, and as my 18 miles took almost 4 hours, I figured slowing my pace down, my 20 miler would take around 5 hours! I'd be satisfied with 6 hours, really happy with under 5:30, and in disbelief for anything around 5! I definitely agree that it's harder for slower runners (in some respects) a 6 hour run takes some fuelling!
I look forward to hearing about the race Nicola....its getting close and you sound very prepared so I think you will surprise yourself and do a very good time!
I didnt make it to the gym on Monday, but did Tuesday although no run, went last night and did a 5km on the treadmill at varying speeds, averaged at around 7.50 per km, but i did have the first two km (my least favourite part of a run) quite slow and then really upped the pace (for me!) for the last 3. Really enjoyed the change of pace and felt it kept me interested a bit more than I normally am.
Going to attempt a quick couple of KM's Friday night before my class at the gym and then am doing my longer run on Sunday. Will be sure to keep the pace slower for this run (out on the roads as well so more interesting than the treadmill). Will be doing at least 6km's but if we keep the pace slow enough and feel we can go further then will push to 7 or 8. My training plan says I should be doing 8km's 3 times at week from now until my race in May, however I seem unable to get to this distance. Did have 2 weeks off due to my knee's but not sure if this is the problem in getting up to the higher distances or if it is in my mind!!
Don't think I have the boredom threshold to do this sort of distance on a treadmill, and when I am out on the roads I seem to feel knackered at about 5-6km's. Not sure if it is a mental thing and physically I could do the 8km or if I set myself back more than I thought when I had the two weeks off.
Might see how I get on on Sunday and will plan from there. I would like to follow my training plan as closely as possible so will try to up the distance next week for all three runs.
Sorry for all the waffle!!
Good luck Watto, it sounds to me that a lot of it's in the mind.
i feel the same at times, the distances might be further but it's a similar feeling.
it's difficult but you only need to crack it the once to realise it's no different
these things build up in the head, and then you realise there is no difference, it's not as if you will keep over if you suddently do 8.5km.
get to about 6.5 / 7 km where it starts to feel edgy, then covere your Garmin up and just keep going, ignore it when it beeps at you, and keep plodding after a while have a drink slow to a walk take a few decent slugs of water, then get jogging again, after you've done this for a bit then take a peek at your watch and see how far, if it's still below 8 refuse to look at it again and plod on for 10 minutes
just see how it goes.
i went from 7k to 10k and it felt a shock but once you know you can do 20k it made every run shorter easier as I knew I could force myself to keep going.
Thanks booktrunk, I will give that a go on Saturday.
ended up having an earlier finish than planned today so have been to the gym and bashed another 5 k out, again using an interval type training pace...varying between 8.20min /km's and 7min /km's, this type of running has defiantly given me a bit more confidence with regards to my speed. Also I set the treadmill at 6.5 to start to warm up wich was a quick walk....however when I started running that was the pace I ran at...love seeing improvements!
feeling more positive now going into saturdays run, really going to aim to go further than the planned 6kms!
hi all, great run on Saturday - aimed for a 8,20 min / km pace, but ended up with an average of 8.05 min/km.
7km's done and felt like i could of carried on further...not quite sure why i didn't! Normally i dont particularly feel like i am enjoying the running whilst doing it, but the second i stop I love it! However this time I actually was really enjoying it - whilst running....a first!
We did a nice flat route so no hills to think about. Going to aim for 10k next weekend made up of a 1km walk to warm up, 8km's running and then a 1k walk to cool down.
The week after that I then want to be able to push to 10km run....all at slow pace!
Plans for running this week -
Wed - 6km treadmill (interval training)
Fri - 5km road running
Sun - 10k (8k run) at pace of around 8.10 hopefully.
Hope everyone had great running weekend!
Watto sounds like you are back on track now
I agree with BT, i think a lot of it is in your head and once you push past it you can go further than you think.
sadly I haven't run at all since my long run last sunday, so I may have ruined my chance of a decent time, but if I do it in under 6 hours I'll still be happy. I had to rest Monday and Tuesday as I was still aching, then Wednesday I went on holiday, and despite my best intentions to run, there was a foot of snow around our apartment which I wasn't really expecting! And it was -6'c at times and I just wasn't prepared for it. Only got back yesterday and didn't have time to fit a run in then, and don't fancy my chances at a 4 hour run after work
. I think this week I will focus on getting 2 longer runs in after work at 12mm, a slower faster run, and then do 18 or 20 next weekend as my long run. I hope that's sensible!
hope you had a good holiday, doubt missing 1 run would set you back too far, I'm still pretty confident that you will be pleasantly surprised with your time!
I have 9 weeks now until the race so need to focus on getting my times down....really not sure what I should be attempting. The My Asics plan was at 1.04 so think 6.39 min per km. However not sure this is achievable especially as I have not done all the mileage requested due to injury.
Am wary of going too quick so will need to figure out desired pace before and set the virtual pacer on my watch...I think i will be needing your help with deciding on desired pace!!