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RW F7 – looking for 4.30
Hello! I have been running on and off for a few years. I have done the London marathon three times and am running the Brighton marathon in April.
My previous three marathon times have been 4:59, 4:59 and 4:58! So I haven't really got any faster despite lots of trying! I would love to run 4:30, but am not sure where on earth I can find over a minute per mile. I also find the 20 miles mark something of a physiological barrier - my marathon pace always massively deteriorates for the last 6 miles.
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Hello again! Goodness me - I am really surprised and really pleased. Pressure is on now!
Certainly is
enjoy !!
So my previous London times - to be exact- were 4:59:41, 4:59:29 and 4:58:31. Not great progress! I know it is down to my training plan and I had been working to the following, exactly what I used in the past. I have ran three times in the week, generally 4,5 and 4 miles and done these Long Runs.
28 December 4 miles
4 January 5 miles
11 January 5 miles
18 January 6 miles
25 January 7 miles
1 February 8 miles
8 February 10 miles
15 February 12 miles
22 Half marathon
1 March 16 miles
8 March 17 miles
15 March 18 miles
22 March 20 miles
29 March Half Marathon
5 April 6 miles
12 April Marathon day
I know it is not the best! Be gentle!
Well done ILP, enjoy your journey, hope you get that 4:30.
Congrats Inlastplace! I'm sure you can find that minute a mile with a bit of guidance. Best of luck!
FF works some weird hours so don't be put off if he is t here straight away !
Malcs - I need guidance!
M...eldy - thanks for letting me know.
Morning all.
Lets do it!
So looking at your previous (very consistant) times we need to get you from 11.xx minute miles to as close to 10.00 as possible.
Am I reading it right that you do three runs + your long run a week? If so that is brilliant.
What sort of pace are these completed at?
Might help if I introduce myself first!
I'm 38 and a dad of two girls under four, I'm currently up to 42 marathons with a best of 3.15 (many years ago) and my last few have been around 3.54. Also compelted five Iron distance triathlons. For the first time in ten years I'm not running any marathons in 2015 and concentrating on bike racing.
i like stats and figures for training/racing so will ask a lot of questions. I'm also happy for anyone to join in with the thread, so feel free to ask questions or offer advice.
Morning! First of all, can I say thank you for doing this - I am very grateful.
42 marathons - wow - that is amazing! What made you switch to bike racing?
A bit more about me as well - I am 46 and a dad to a boy who is ten and a girl who is three tomorrow - time really flies! I have run on and off since I first started in 2007. One night I apparantly managed to apply for a golden bond place for the London Marathon after drinking far too much wine. I was surprised / shocked the next day to find I had been offered a place! But I loved it - it was one of the best things I had ever done!
I ran London again in 2009 and then again in 2014 and my last major run was a Half Marathon in September. I managed to get Planter Fasciitis shortly afterwarrds and stopped running until December. My training has been 3 runs in the week and a long run at the weekend. My current pace for mid midweek runs is around 9:50 and the long run I do at around 11:00.
Ok, do you run with a garmin or anything else that can measure, pace, distance etc?
I do - I generally use Runkeeper on my iphone. I ran at lunchtime today along the Thames - it was a beautiful day - and did 3.62 miles in 35:38 - 9.51 pace.
I have got a GPS Watch as well, but it always takes a while to get a signal, so I tend not to use it. Every second counts!
inlastplace. i put my gps watch on the windowsill to find signal whilst i get ready... and then pick it up and head straight out..
good luck
If possible can you post the breakdowns of your runs, i'm trying to get a feel for how you run. Do you know your splits for last years VLM?
I've nearly always managed to go out at my target pace and hold that, where as a couple of my club mates are more of the go out fast and get slower, just holding on till the end.
Is this weeks LSR target 7 miles?
I ran 5 miles just now - another beautiful day in London - my time was 48:34 - average pace 9:41 and the splits were:
9:39, 9:43, 9:38, 9.47,9:39.
In the VLM , my times were:
5 k 32:09
10k: 1:04:20
15k: 1:37:30
20k: 2:11:17
Half 2:18:37
25k 2:45:51
30k 3:22:19
35k 4:03:16
40k: 4:42:27
Marathon 4:58:31
So a significantly slower second half!
I had planned a LSR of 7 miles on Sunday - but that wasn't on a very scentific basis! I can do a longer run if needs be.
Thanks!
So its from 30K on wards that the times start to drop off.
How do you feel about starting to push the LSR up earlier?
Have you ever tried double run weekends, As an idea, i would do 10 miler on sat morning and then do 8-10 on sunday. This would then be followed up with an easy recovery run on tuesday or cross train.
My idea is that building the consistent pace on tired legs has always helped my through that 18-26 mile period?
Thought?
Sounds good!
I will give it a go this weekend - should I do them both at a slow pace? And if so, what should the slow pace be - I have paced these around 11 min miles in the past - is that about right?
Yes, with sub 4.30 in mind 11mm is fine, Try (if possible) to run both at roughly the same time, eg 9am sat and sun.
don't think of 11mm as a slow pace, think of it as a steady paced run.
What we will look to build on then will look like this
12 mile run split into
4 mile Marathon pace (MP) +1 min
4 miles at MP
4 miles at MP+45 seconds
This will give the runs a bit of speed work in there too and we can then look at increasing the pace of the LSR's as we get towards 20 miles, getting the muscles used to the fatigue at those later stages where we are losing the time.
Do you do all your weekly runs at lunch times?
Thats great - I will do that this weekend.
Lunch time is by far the easiest for my weekly runs. I commute to London each day and by the time I get home - and the children are asleep - I just want to collapse and watch TV (I am making good progress through the Homeland boxset at the moment!). But I could run late evenings if necessary or very early in the mornings - but I like running along the Thames as well, which is another benefit of lunchtime running!
Hi Anthony - I can see the logic of that. I have always ran 20 miles as my longest run, but have done so fully rested. I have also really struggled after 20 miles in the marathon. So I can see the value of cumulative fatigue. My planned runs for the weekend seem based on that too. Normally I would just do one LSW, but running on both Saturday and Sunday will get me used to running on tired legs.
What is your target time for London? It is a brilliant experience! Best of luck.
They take lots of photos at the mall as you finish!
Rest day today!!!
