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Spring Half Marathon Training
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Evening,
Neil - No problem, let us know how you get on. Benign is right it's what works for you and you'll have to experiment. Fluid intake is also important, my memory I took a drink at every mile (as London offers) and took a few gulps. I had practised this on my long runs doing similar from from camelbak.
Benign - Glad the R&R worked! Thanks for the encouragement, I'm sure I'll be fine. I think it just more a case of running for the sake of my other sports and now this will be specific training for running!
Gaz - a bonus Xmas present, what a result! Best of luck getting out tomorrow!
Everything felt good tonight, think something as clicked as I haven't run this fast for a couple of yrs... 7.25 miles @ 7:32 with 4 x 1k reps with 500m jogs.
Splits were 3:37, 3:44, 3:33 & 3:46. Odd reps with the wind, recovery pace was around 8:18 which maybe was a touch fast. The last split was after 5 miles so happy. Wore my lighter shoes which felt good.
Anyone running?
Good intervals JR. Not difficult to see which were into the wind!
No running for me today. Got back home today and went to my yoga class this evening, first for three weeks and my whole left side feels much better for it. Anyone else on here do yoga, pilates or any other regular stretching and strengthening?
18 miles in the bag
I ran from Bristol to Bath. That's running from one city to the next! They are actually quite close together but it sounds so good. I feel like a real runner now 
Neil Jones I do a core strength session of about 20 mins three times a week, concentrating mostly on glutes and abdominals with some upper body strength thrown in for balance. Then I try to remember to plank and do press ups before getting into bed every night (but I mostly forget or CBA) I do some yoga type stretching for my back. I'm sure that it's helping me run injury free but its great for physical things in the rest of life too. If something really aches I get the foam roller out
What do others find useful?
Nice run Benignmurmurring. "I ran to the next city." Hmmm.... Yep, sounds pretty good to me.
Neil Jones, I do quite a bit of stretching before running and other sports activities but have never done pilates or yoga. I've had enough sessions with the physioterrorist to know I like stretching more.
Made it out for a run this afternoon despite the rubbish weather. Fortunately not too windy over here in Essex. Started out with the best intentions of doing 10 miles at 09:00mm or slower but then got the bit between my teeth and started rolling along a bit faster. Finished in 1h22m21s which tracks almost perfectly on my McMillan running paces for a 1h50m half marathon. On the one hand very pleased that I can do this and not feel like death at the end, but on the other I need to slow down as I do not want to get injured!
Neil - very little of that sort of thing. Must try harder!!! Always stretch calves, hammies and quads after running!
Benign - a great long run there guessing that was along the cycle track. I have done Devizes to Bath along the canal, quite a nice route, think that was around 23 miles. Think I'll take a leaf out of your book and do some planks...
Gaz - Yep, too fast but as long as you don't keep doing it... Why not add a section of HMP miles every 3rd long run to keep the others slow?
4.11 recovery miles for me @ 9:00mm and a long run planned for tomorrow. Trying to get out and back before heavy rain mid-morning.
Hi Guys
Just to chime in and say HNY, i have been enjoying the festivity so running had been on the back burner! Now life kind of return to normality so plan to do a 15 miler SLR tomorrow, unsure how it will go.
I hope to be regular here.
Gaz - I have been running with others on my lsr to keep pace slower
Benign - nice 18mls do you do a recovery run after long miles
Neil - do you feel a difference doing yoga with your running
MandM good luck with your 15 tomorrow
JR - excellent 1km reps on earlier post, these are a mental battle for me when we do it at the running club.
11.21mls lsr this morning avg 9.20. Start my half marathon training this week for Balloch to Clydebank 9th March.
Evening All,
Brought some SIS gels ahead of my run tomorrow. 17km Fell running. Be my first run at this distance on this terrain so hopefully will be ok. All the running on tarmac is starting to make my ankles ache, I guess due to picking my mileage up in the last 5 weeks.
Trained in gym today, core, abs, back and biceps. I dont do x fit, or yoga, I just tend to do normal weights workouts. 2 a week.
Morning,
M&M - Hope the 15 miler went okay?
Kevin - good running there, sensible pacing. What sort of weekly mileage does your plan involve? About 9 weeks to go, Reading is a week earlier.
Jim, how did you get on with the gels?
A nice crisp morning but a bit slippy under foot. 15 miles @ 8:21 av, joined after 4 miles by a friend who is also running Reading. Went by a lot quicker!
40 miles for Jan & week 1 of the year!
Evening,
I completed my long run this morning with new running rucksack and new SIS gels. It was gorgeous, very crisp morning about -1 or 0 degrees with a bitter wind, but clear skies and views over the white hills. There was black Ice on the metalled roads, so made parts of the run a bit tricky, 15%-20% climbs on black ice was ruddy hard!
Completed, according to Strava, 18.2km run, so slightly over the planned minimum. The total elevation gained was 506m! Weekly total of 44.7km ran, hoping for around 47km for next week.
http://connect.garmin.com/course/5438409 is the course. The Gels were great, I took one at the 35 minute point and the 70 minute point and found I had enough energy all the way round. Went for a fairly long walk with family and dogs a couple hours later, and still felt fairly fresh.
JR congrats on your 40 miles in a week, sounds like you made a great start to the year.
Kevin - Unfortunately I travel quite a lot for work and have a very uncertain schedule so running with someone else is difficult. That said, the next project I'll be on is with another runner so I might see if I can get him to come on some training runs. He's quite a bit faster than me (less than 3h30m for a marathon) but discussing progress on the project during the runs might keep us to a sensible pace!
JR - I've been pretty good of late and avoided belting round at race pace all of the time but everything seemed to flow nicely at about 8m15s per mile. I just need to keep reminding myself! Maybe a little fartlek or some interval runs in the middle of the week might help.
MandM - How did the 15 miler go?
5k on Tuesday, 8k on Thursday and then another 16k on Saturday. Going to take all of them nice and slow to offset yesterday's speed obsession. Good running!
Gaz -What LED torch did you get for Xmas? How is it?
Kevin, good question. My physio recommended yoga to me about 18 months ago when I went to her with an injury. She quickly diagnosed that my left hip was higher than my right and that, in general, I had poor flexibility. This kind of explained why I always seemed to be tighter and pick up more niggles down my left hand side. Been doing yoga for about a year now and it does seem to help with getting the kinks out of the legs and I've haven't had any injury layoffs during this time. Went to see the physio for a sports massage just before Christmas and she reckons I'm quite a lot more flexible now, so this is the difference it makes rather than any tangible benefits felt during my run.
Whisky, that sounds like a very nice, picturesque run yesterday, despite the black ice. Good to know that the gels worked well for you. I'll begin experimenting in the next few weeks.
Gaz, your lsr at 8m15s per mile pace, did you feel that you were exerting yourself a bit or did it feel comfortable? Are your training paces based on a recent race time?
19km (1:36:54) for me yesterday followed by a slow 7k (38:27) this morning. Some speed work planned for this week as I enter my marathon training plan.
4.5 miles completed - its all I can manage on a Monday after I've worked all night on Sunday. I'm being excused night shifts at work soon so that they don't interfere with marathon training too much. Heaven knows how I wangled that - the NHS isn't usually such as accommodating employer.
5K time trial at the club tomorrow. I'm already dreading it. I'm just not speedy like some of you people and I'm one of the few slower runners who do the time trial so I'm always nearly last. Its guaranteed humiliation but I've told myself I'll try to PB at 5k, 10K, HM plus run a marathon this winter/spring so it has to be done. I've never ever broken 25 mins, I'm that slow
. Christmas hats still!
JR - will try to match your 40 mpw this week. A bit short last week.
Whiskey - sounds like the gels are working well for you. There is such a lot of stuff to experiment with if inclined. I've not yet tried the caffeine ones but wonder if they might be a great secret weapon near the end of a marathon.
Jim - Blimey, looks like a tough run. Glad the gels worked, if you're happy with them I think they work out cheaper if you buy in boxes of 30.
I properly tested my new headtorch tonight, I turned it right up and included a mile off-road. Absolutely no problem with it and missed all the puddles so can recommend.
Gaz - To add to Neil's post. Have you got a HR monitor? It might be be interesting to see the effort you are exerting when you're running at 8:15. was it conversational pace? As a thought perhaps your new potential running partner can make sure he does his slower runs to match you faster ones (to start with
)?
Neil - Did some planks tonight.... Two good runs there. What quality sessions are you undertaking? Think my Mara plan started with 7 miles with 4 @ HM pace. Quite a tough session.
Benign - Good luck tomorrow. You may be near the back but at least you take part! I think the wind is dropping so at least you won't have that to contend with! I was pleased with the 40, especially with NYE in the mix!
4 miles recovery tonight at 9:04 - felt pretty good.
Just about to grab a pen to fill out my club application form!
Benign - you seem to have enlightened managers! Good luck with the time trial today. Don't worry about the others. A friend of my cousin was in a similar position to you and sticking with these kind of sessions really helped his running, took him on to the next level as a runner.
WhiskyJim - It's an "Pro-elec Led Headlight" from Mountain Warehouse. The beam is bright with three different strength settings and a flash option but a it feels a bit bulky. I've not tried it yet but I'll let you know how I get on when I do.
Neil and JR - My HMP estimate of 08:25 comes from the McMillan running calculator and is based on a 49:31 10k I did about 6 weeks ago. I definitely felt like I was exerting towards the end of the 10 miler and was beginning to slow down. Also, I could've talked but it would not have been conversational! I just need to rein my instincts to try and go fast (fast by my standards, that is
.) I'm making progress on this front, but do have occasional relapses when I want to cut loose a bit more than usual.
EDIT - JR, forgot to add. No, I don't have a heart rate monitor unfortunately but may consider getting one.
Thought I'd try something new and a bit different today, so jogged just over a mile (at about 09:30 pace) round to the local recreation ground and then did a mile of diagonals (jog 75m across the side, run 100m fast across the diagonal) before jogging back home (also at about 09:30 pace) for a total of 3.1m in 28:26. I now understand why fartlek / intervals / strides are considered a very good training exercise! I can run 5k a lot faster than that but rarely come back as hot and sweaty. Also the mile of running on grass felt like it wasn't quite so pounding as the pavement on my usual route. I definitely need to make this or something similar a regular addition to my plan as well as just tempo runs.
Gaz
Gaz, know what you mean about having to fight against trying not to go too fast sometimes, at least by our standards.
I've just listened to the Marathon Talk interview with Advanced Marathoning author Pete Pfitzinger and found it really interesting. It could well have already appeared on another thread but here's the link if anyone would like to listen:
http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/c/a/0/ca0a911f3e61f298/MT207.mp3?c_id=6568091&expiration=1389103984&hwt=84a0e402e76e6efc76c38b1e61dfc80e
Hope the link works but if it doesn't, google Marathon Talk and click on Archives. It's the 25th December edition.
Cheers!
Evening All,
Benign - how did your 5k time trial go tonight?
Neil - those sound like good session. Thanks for the link I'll give that a listen. I used P&D schedules for my Mara. My only talking point would be that I think their prescribed long race pace at +20 - +10% above MP might be a little lively. Maybe 25 - 15.
Gaz - my only advice would be to keep the easy runs easy in order to keep something in the tank for those speedier sessions you did yesterday. Intervals are a great way of speeding up! I know how hard it is I'm trying to slow my easy and long runs down too.
Start of nice and steady with a low number of reps and paces. 10k pace should be okay - maybe 800m reps? Probably telling you what you already know, apparently I have a habit of doing this
Well, I finally did it! Went to my first ever club session. Went out with the 2nd fastest group which after the first mile or two thought may have been a step too far but soon settled down. Then did 10 x 400 hill efforts @ 6:15 and a 2 miles back for a total of 7.3 miles @ 7:27.
I enjoyed the session and will be back!
Your first club session sounds really good. I guess there must have been a bit of apprehension as to how it'd go but usually these things work out fine once you are there. Was the session in a park with a hill, or on a broad pavement? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I've never run with a club so have no idea!
Did my 9k with the middle 3kms at short tempo (target 4:18 per km). Went ok,
did the middle three as follows: 4:18,4:20,4:21, so slightly off target but happy enough as it was my first bit of "fast" running since my race just before Christmas. Finally did 9.77km, a bit more than planned.
Well, I fretted about the time trial all day so I had a good build up of adrenaline. I finished in 24:29 mins which is 58 seconds off my previous best. It felt disgusting with my heart rate absurdly high but I'm thrilled to have my first pb of the year.
It's useful to have the data to plug into a VDOT calculator. Now I have no excuse for not doing my tempo runs faster. Next race Longleat 10k in Feb.
JR the club run sounds like a success. I love how it adds some variety to running and always best to join the group that challenges you a bit.
Neil Jones Thanks for the interview link; I shall be listening to it shortly with my morning porridge.
Benign congrats on your new 5k PB, its only 8 days in to the new year so very well done.
JR I was meant to be doing my first club run tonight, but work decided they needed me in London this week.
I did a slow easy recovery 5k on monday morning with my dog, much needed after my long run on sunday morning. Tues night I did 8k easy around near Heathrow (LHR)... now compared to Peak District, it is very flat so my pace was quite a lot quicker than I usually do at home. I said hello to a few fellow runners only to be scowled at, folk round here arent too friendly! The fumes always make me phlegmy at the end of the run too. Better than sitting in the hotel room though.
Got another couple of 8k easy runs to do this week (in LHR) then will try and another trail run, but this time at 21km, aiming to get a Strava challenge completed for the half marathon. That will be at a slow steady pace too. Another few weeks of mileage building then I can join you racing snakes in speed training
Benign - fantastic result! 58 seconds off your previous best is a cracking effort, especially over 5k. Well done! What did you think of the Pfitzinger interview?
Whisky - I was running on Christmas morning and got scowled at by a woman running in the opposite direction when I tried to acnowledge her. Some people eh? Anyway, sounds like you're building some nice mileage and well done for getting out, it's not always easy when you are away from home. Were you referring to the aircraft fumes? You should've been flying!
Well done on the PB benign. And on the Briz/Bath run a few days back. I've been thinking about getting the bus to Bath and running back along the canal for my long runs.
The weather has rather discouraged me lately, but I did 5.5 miles last night at a reasonable pace. Can't wait for the mornings to get light again.
Neil - Interesting and honest when Pfitzinger said that those kind of books and programs have to be one-size-fits-all although in reality all runners will respond a bit differently to different things. Therefore some of the advice on hill work, speed work and the number of LSRs may no be optimal for everyone but the general principles are good.
Whiskey - truly odd the reactions that you can get from a few people. I find most people friendly or zoned-out but some look appalled if I nod or smile. I assume its because I'm red-faced and may look like I'm suffering.
Mungus - its so much better then an out and back route; you're just running home the whole way. Think I might try Devizes to Bath nearer my marathon.
Evening!
Neil - the session was on a quiet side road, parked cars, a pavement but didn't see a sole during the session. Looked at my splits, the 2nd mile warmup was 7:15 (my MP) no wonder I started to panic a bit!
It is difficult to a one fit all training plan but I like their approach of racing a marathon rather than getting round.
Those were good split around 43:00 10k pace, seems a sensible start.
My plan... It was my trimmed down Mara plan peaking at 47 miles over 16 wks. I hadn't factored in joining a club so will now need tweaking to move speedier sessions to Tues & Thurs. I think the club coaches are good enough to prepare plans, might ask for a summer 10k to break 40 mins.
Benign - Congrats on your PB, the first so early in the year! This must give you a boost for beating your targets for the year?
Longleat was my first ever race back in 2008, a great finish but a few tough hills before you get there! I can recommend Devizes to Bath, probably slightly downhill! I did that as my longest long run.
Jim - I did a lot of running in London when training for VLM which was handy as I did bits of the route. Ditto on the unfriendly runners but they're not just confined to the capital! I think it's the person not the activity. I always nod or speak depending how much I'm puffing. Some great base running there, perhaps start the speedier stuff in London to get the leg speed up on the flat?!
Mungus - I'm not surprised, BoA looked terrible on the news. Looking forward to the lighter evenings as well as the mornings. Much safer and will hopefully be a little drier! What have you got planned for the week ahead?
There is a track session with club tomorrow night, might go along.
6.60 miles tonight @ 8:08mm, first couple of miles were on heavy legs! Eased off and rest of the run was fine. Windy again...
Benign great pb
how did your km splits go
Whisky good mileage.. what is a strava challenge....
Mungus don't let the weather beat you, good weather here soon... not
Neil good km splits and not much difference between them. I find all tempos/intervals hard to judge constantly looking at Garmin
JR im surprised you haven't been to a club sooner as your times/speed are fantastic.. I love the track...... when the sessions are finished
6mls easy on Mon avg 9mm 10mls this morning 3mls WU, 3x2mls 2.30 recoveries between avg out at 7.18mm, 7.26mm 7.19mm and 1ml CD. Club session tomorrow night Found it a slog on my own.
Kev - Impressive splits there, you should be able to easily reproduce/beat that over a HM with more runs to come and come well under your 1:40 target. Will your club run be an easy session? I not sure I could do HM pace for those reps at the moment but would like to!
Hockey was always my main focus, training clashed with local club runs. Now I'm away from home I have the time. I think it'll pay dividends!
Good morning,
Ran another 8km last night and 9km this morning, bringing my total this week to around 30km and another 21km to do on saturday.
Neil- Yes airplane fumes, wish it did make me fly. After piling the miles on recently I can feel my ankles beginning to get a bit sore. Hoping doing my long runs on trails help to aleviate that some.
Kevin- Strava is an App (website and mobile app) that allows you to upload runs/cycle and swimming activity and compare you against your peers. There will be segments on your local running routes where people can compete for the fastest times etc. Challenge will usually be distance based i.e run 200km in Jan etc. you get awards for different level of completion of a challenge. I use it as a way to keep a record of progress. I upload straight from my garmin watch to the site.
JR- Good idea, next time I am down here I will use the flat terrain for some speed training, I can do the same when I am in Manchester working too.
Morning all. Nice 5m easy run in 44m57s (08:59 pace) this morning before settling in to a quiet and (hopefully) productive day working from home. Still a touch fast for my paces, but much, much better than 08:14 pace! Got a day or two of rest before 10 mile LSR over the weekend.
Benignmurmurring - Well done on the PB. Hard work pays off in the end.
Whiskey - I always smile, wave or say hello to other runners unless I'm completely chinstrapped (generally dog walkers too) and usually get some kind of positive response. Don't think I've ever had a scowl as such though!