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My #asics262 Journey to Paris: Sub 4 James
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Just a quick update from my long run this morning. Went well, felt strong at the end. Got a bit competitive with a Sunday runner in Dulwich Park, couldn't help myself. Garmin did a strange jump at the end but I think it hasn't messed the overall pace up.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/424891728
Ashley - how did you 13m go today?
Lisa - welcome to the thread - The paces that Sam has set me seem to be perfect. The speed work pushes me and the long run pace seems comfortable. Will be sticking closely to the training plan part from moving cycling around a bit. Weather has been a bit of a pain on the days I have meant to cycle. Will be competing in some tris this summer as it seems a good relief for my body.
No Santa hat, I am disappointed.
Ksizzlepod - welcome - stay around, loads of advice from many more seasoned marathon runners than myself. I had to read Sam's email several times before I understood it.
Happy Sunday folks. be back on a bit later.
J
Hi james
ran 13 miles@8:49 m/m so was happy to get that in .I'm in the camp that believes the long runs are by far the most important run. Like you put the foot down quite a lot last mile but felt good at end
some fast times here on the long runs....hope you all managed to avoid the worse weather........
i got 47.5 miles in............on the bike and got totally soaked.....bathed and dressed and fed so happy,......
Hi Seren,
sounds like you got a good ride in despite the weather. It was amazing blue sky in Kent and London this morning. Great morning to run. Mrs C is off running now and it is grey and wet once again. Think I got the better deal.
Today's run was split paced, first 7m was very easy and the last 6m easy. Couple of downhill sections made the av pace slightly quicker in parts.
Fast last mile was due to my competitive nature on a park loop!
I'm also running Paris, so will be following the forum and hopefully picking up some hints and tips along the way. My best marathon time is 4'11. Sub 4 is therefore my dream, and possibly will stay a dream, as I love to go for a run, but more typically I combine it with chatting to fellow runners at a nice steady pace, and am not so good at the structured training! I have now downloaded the Asics 26.2 sub 4h plan, and will try following with variations to suit me, and hopefully reading the forum will give be the movitation to keep some structure to my training. See you in Paris.
HI James, - good run today. My 12 miles was split as well with first half meant to be slower than the second half. I think I managed it but am having trouble running at the slower end of Sam's pacing. My very easy is 11:30 - 12:00/mi but that would be walking fast.
Perfect, thanks for info James.
As you do your training in the morning could I suggest you have cereal & milk in the morning for breakfast but I would like you to give me the dry weight (without the milk) of the muesli you eat- sorry to be a pain but could be useful to know.
Then mid-morning/break at school I would suggest you have your bagel with jam, honey or banana on it and even a further piece of fruit or glass of milk & couple of slices of malt loaf; this should help you recovery better and make you feel less tired.
Then mid-afternoon could I initially suggest 2 pieces of fruit & a 150g pot of yoghurt. Could you try this? You may find you want to reduce portion at evening meal but eat your usual portions if feel you need it.
Hi James (and all)
Been following this forum for the past week and really enjoying reading the posts and experiences of fellow runners. I'm running the Greater Manchester marathon on 6th April (because it's flat) and also hoping to break 4 hours. I ran London last year, but unfortunately got injured 7 weeks before and struggled to a finish of 4.36.
My PBs are:
5k: 23.36; 10k: 49.49 (training not a race); Half: 1.52.22
Planning on running the Reading half 5 weeks out from the marathon as I'm also keen to break 1.50 for the half. Be interested to know whether people think this is too close to the big day.
James
i would think 5 weeks out is about right James L......how are your long runs going...
I was out again at 6 am this morning........getting used to it now .. I think..
Hi James, yer a few more times reading SamMurphys post and I get it. Makes sense now, although it does mean that my timings for threshold and tempo are probably wrong. As there is about 20 seconds difference in my average times for pace on a tempo run to that of my mile splits when I do threshold running.
Seems like you did get the better end of the deal yesterday going out when the weather was calm and dry! I got soaked through but ran with a smile and got some odd looks from passers by - I love running in the rain!
Hi James
It sounds like the training is going well so far.
Have you got your plan for the next 4 weeks? I might have missed it among the threads!
Adrian – welcome, I am concentrating on reducing a bit of weight but at the same time making sure I have enough energy for the training programme. Ruth Mckean is the person to ask some specific questions to. As you can see she is looking carefully at my diet and making adjustments accordingly.
I am big fan of hills in building up fitness for both on the bike and off. Have got cycle work built into my training plan although the weather has played havoc with that.
Mc Hilly – Hi, good to see you have joined the sub 4 hour hopefuls. I have done a lot of training independently never used a rigid plan. However, 3 weeks into this plan I can see and feel the difference in both endurance and speed. Yesterday’s long run came easily and felt there was plenty more left in the tank. See you in Paris.
WK4 training plan - for those of you who need it again:
WEEK FOUR (w/c 6 Jan) (approx 24M)
Mon 6M easy
Tue CYCLE
Wed 6M of 1M jog, then 5 x 1000m at between 5-10km speed (approx 4mins 30 secs), with 2min30 secs jog recoveries, 1M jog
Thu CYCLE OR REST
Fri 5M alternating 9.3 and 8.30 min miles
Sat REST
Sun Bromley 10k race (plus w-up & cooldown) (7M)
Hi Ruth,
thanks for all the info on the snacks throughout the day. Will be easy to get in place. With regards to the muesli, I put a bowl full on the scales and it weighed in at 130g. This is an average as I may have a little more or less depending on how hungry I am.
J
Seren - now I am back at work the alarm is set for 5:15am. Since working in the Middle East, where schools start at 7:30am, my body has got used to the early mornings. Does come in handy during intense training periods. At this time of year it can be grim as it is pitch black, wet and cold!
Seren - ran 13/14/14 last 3 weeks around 9.30/9.40. Might go for a shorter run this week. Like the idea of a 10k race as per James' plan.
James - I have a similar weight dilemma to you. I'm 5ft 8 and 13 stone so could do with shedding a few pounds but feel drained after long runs.
James did you manage to get a cycle ride in today?
I did your Wednesday interval session this evening, good fun but a little tough in the headwind at times so time was a little slower and averaged about 4.42 mins per 1000m - swim session and recovery run planned for tomorrow evening.
Hi Lisa,
I had to take a rest day today and will therefore cycle on Thurs. Unusually I had to run yesterday evening, was a lot later than I would normally go out. Didn't want to not get the run in. However, I got up this morning with zero energy, felt like this all day. Going to have an early night and crack on with the interval session early tomorrow morning.
Snap James.I changed yesterdays speed session into a rest day as i felt totally knackered.
so up and dressed ready for todays session,,,,,,,,did 2 miles earlier with youngest son at 6 am so when he goes to school will go out and attempt my run.
might drive 3 miles away and run on a cycle track...closest thing to flat around here so that i can keep the miles consistent
Morning Seren,
I am glad other people feel the same now and again! I do know my limits, this cam from HIM training last year. An early night did the tri, was up before the alarm and felt like I ran a great interval session. Not got my garmin dongle to download the splits yet. Will do it later!
I can't wait till my boys want to join me for a run. May be a few years yet!
J
Morning All
I know what you mean about zero energy! I felt a bit lifeless yesterday so swapped the sessions around and did the 5 miler you have planned for Fri. I'll try and do Tues session on Thurs, which will hopefully be easier after today's rest day. Then I have a weekend of sanding floors and an LSR somewhere!
Good effort on the early morning intervals - it takes me the day to wake up before tacking intervals. Don't worry about a few off days - you have 16 weeks to build to Paris. Andy Dixon gave some good pointers on the trials of marathon training in the Feb issue - don't expect to be progressing all the time, there will be ups and downs, but as long as the general trend is up, you are heading in the right direction.
My middle son runs out of hockey season ( he is much too fast for me to run with )....
but my youngest in the one who isn't fit.....have suggested running to help him destress ( he is on the autistic spectrum...)...so he has decided to run 2 miles 3 times a week and a park run.....really proud of him as exercise doesn't come naturally to him......this was his 7th run..
todays run went better than i thought..........managed to just hit my target.......warm up then 4 miles at 8:07 min mil.then cool down.....
So WK4 D3 - 6M of 1M jog, then 5 x 1000m at between 5-10km speed (approx 4mins 30 secs), with 2min30 secs jog recoveries, 1M jog.
After a day yesterday doubting my durability, an early night and a rest day was just what the doctor ordered. Woke up early and snuck the intervals in before work. During a great Xmas holiday, my interval training had been down at Norman Park in Bromley, relatively flat by all accounts. This enabled me to clock up some great times. Today's interval were run in the dark, up and down hills and over uneven pavement. Not ideal but felt good!
Sophie - sounds like we have all been hit but the post Xmas blues/lack of energy! Your weekend sounds like it's going to be tough going. Sanding floors will be great form of X-training.
Seren - I do not know how you fit all you do into one day, I take my hat off to you.
Hello all
I take my hat off to everyone who is managing to get out there in this atrocious weather and get their intervals, long runs and other sessions in. It stands testament to the tenacity and commitment of runners
You should all be proud of yourselves. I have a group of around 20 in training for the Hastings Half marathon end of March at the moment, and I'm so impressed by how hard people are working to fit in all the sessions, juggle things around, run on treadmills or in driving rain where necessary. Runners are great people!
Anyway James - you are going great guns with your training! The distances have crept up to considerably more than the stated mileage. Week 1 was just a mile over the 23m, week 2 was 33 instead of 27 and week 3 was 37.2 instead of 30! So how are you feeling? I've noted the odd day when you've felt tired or heavy-legged but all in all, you seem to be coping really well with the workload. We will review paces after Bromley 10k this weekend. Is it a tarmac/road race? I hope so, so we can get a reasonably realistic idea of where you are.... unlike on a slippy trail race! If you do a substitute easy run this week instead of a cycle, can you limit it to, say, half an hour as I want to make sure you go into the race quite fresh.
We can also review overall volume/mileage when we review paces - but generally, I'm happy with what we've got lined up mileage-wise and increasing paces will probably do enough to notch up the volume enough to keep you interested!
James L - hi there, yes I'd say 5 weeks out is fine to actually race Reading. If it was much closer to your big race than that, I'd suggest using it to practise marathon pace rather than to 'race' all out, but 5 weeks is fine...
Adrian - hi. Yes, I'd agree that bike hill work is a good substitute for speedwork or hills. If I'm working with runners who are rehabbing injuries and need to stay away from speedwork, hills etc, I get them to do standing (ideally, not always possible, depending on injury) 1-minute hard efforts against v v high resistance on the bike with 3 min recoveries. Or multiple 30 second maximal pedalling (seated) with 2 mins 30 spinning in between. Of course, nothing beats running itself - for specificity, but this is a good alternative. And when you do go back to speedwork, best to start with something informal and not too structured, like fartlek or strides...
Ksizzlepod - hello! Sorry for confusing you... It's hard to be specific about whether your tempo/threshold reps are at the right pace without knowing what your race times and goals are. But in general I'd estimate more like 5-15 secs slower for tempo compared to threshold interval pace..
James..I am lucky at the moment as i only work voluntary jobs part time..so in school terms I have time free during the day.......my boys are all much older now and in theory shouldn't need me but unfortunately the two still at home do
so i tend to train during the day so my hubby can train in the evenings after work
I am racing cross country this weekend so weather shouldn't affect me as much as it will you doing a 10k if its bad........I hope you get good weather
Evening all,
here are today's splits:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/426773377
Sam, thanks for all the info. I am happy with the mileage. Yesterday I ran out of steam, the impromptu rest day and a really early night made the difference. Was up and ready for intervals this morning. I am aware I don't want to tire myself out before Sunday, really keen to run a good time. Conditions at Norman Park have been ok, it is mostly on tarmac so hope underfoot should be good.
I am on the bike tomorrow so won't need to substitute in a another easy run. Should be a good stretch out.
I think the plan is perfect at the mo, challenging but not unachievable.