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Jenga's Training Plan
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Right back home now, on reflection 20 seconds outside my PB is not too bad considering i have been training at marathon speed and not trained much since it.
Good thing is i cant blame my groin as it was fine during the race and even now it is ok, so back to training i think now.
It was very warm today but nothing that should have contributed to my time too much and i got a clear run.
Whilst i am down for not getting my PB, i know 55 is in me. I have to say though 52.30 will be tough and i think i may have to concede sub 50. But never say never.
JJ, not bad at all. Let me know what your next events are and we can work out what next!
10k in about 3 months time would be good for a pb I reckon. Alternatively, we can stick with building strength for a couple more months and go pb hunting in Autumn when it'll cool off again. Up to you.
I think strength building to be honest. Cooler weather to chase the PB, shame i cant do Salford 10km really but it is 3 days before the GNR.
Lets leave racing for a time and get trained up again. Can look at a 10km closer to GNR time perhaps?
JJ, that's fine. Next couple of weeks we'll keep the LSR 'short' (ish) at a mere 16k.
So this week -
1 x 8k easy
1 x hills (hooray! they are back!) warm up 1 - 1.5k. Then 8 x 2 mins up a reasonable hill and jog down again. Rest in between if you need to. Cool off 1 - 1.5 again.
1 x LSR 16k
...and throw in a swim and at least one core session that I know you are not really doing
In 2 weeks time we'll do a time trial and set new paces.
Oh dear, i am a glutton for punishment. I have decided to book the City of Manchester 10km race on the 12th July 2015.
Not quite Autumn, but I thought it is far enough out to train for and gives enough time after it to continue training for the GNR.
So ........
12/7/2015 - We Love Manchester 10km
13/9/2015 - Great North Run half Marathon
7/11/2015 - Mens Health 10km / Obstacles
11/11/2015 - Run in the Dark - yet to be confirmed if i do this.
April 2016 - Manchester Marathon
JJ, noted on the events. So we are going for a 10k pb July.
The hills session - after warming up, run uphill for 2 minutes at about 80% effort, then jog back down again. Repeat 7 times - ie a total of 8 times. Then cool off. See how the legs feel afterwards, also monitoring the groin strain. And please wear the HRM.
Swimming at lunch today coupled with 8km easy tonight. It is the only way i can get a swim in this week as meetings all week with work. Will report back later.
Couldnt get the swimming done today as called in to a meeting.
Did the 8km tonight and it was fine no groin issues. I ran further than 8km by the looks of it as the watch didnt record correctly at the beginning hence the weird time, it counted time but not distance for around 300-400 meters.
Legs were aching during the run from Sunday, but ok, was nice and hot lol.
That was a good run tonight, my feet felt surprisingly good and i felt fit.
I managed to do the 8 repeats with only a 10-15 second walk between each as I finished the jog and turned around to sprint back up the hill.
Was able to find a hit that was exactly 2 minutes long, couldnt believe that, as there are no real hills near me, just the shorter steep one.
Got home and legs are on fire a little but i feel good.
Good JJ - I presume you did your long run today. This week's 3 runs -
8k easy
Tempo - warm up 1.5k, 5k at 6:00 per k, then cool off 1.5.
LSR of 16k again.
Plus the other sessions - swim / gym etc.
16km done, and surprising how i feel.
During the run i was comfortable at my marathon path from Manchester of 7.04 - 7.07. At 14km I started to feel tired but kept the pace up ok all the way home indeed increased it slightly.
Stretched, had a bath and bang my legs ache like hell lol. Mainly hamstrings. Feels weird from just 16km. But another good run banked.
Steady swimming done.
JJ, I'm not surprised about the legs being a bit heavy, you will still be on the last phase of marathon recovery and you have maintained quite a lot of training. It should ease up this week / next week.
8km easy done, well it was not too tough, but i was a little tired at the end but nothing excessive. Now for the bad bit, I think i was too fast, but i was very consistent and it felt like my right sort of pace. Perhaps I have improved more than I thought maybe?
Thursday I am at a Marine Insurance Institute dinner in Manchester with free food and wine and beer and cocktails etc. So Friday will be a right off. Fridays run will be Saturday and Sundays run will be Monday on the bank holiday.
8km tempo done.
I seem to be having a problem with pacing at the moment.Either my legs are now back to normal (they do feel good again) and my pace is faster following all the marathon training, or i am pushing too hard. I am not sure which to be honest.
What i do know is that i can manage those paces quite well now, yes i get tired by the end of the runs but nothing where i am struggling, i am certainly not gasping for breath.
What are your thoughts?
I think it's time for a time trial
On your next run after the Monday LSR - start with 1.5k warm up, strides, then wait until heart drops to normal, then 1.5k as fast as you can please. Then go for a gentle 5k easy after you've recovered.
We'll use that for your new paces.
It is the 1.5km pace we need isnt it? So i will reset my watch for that part of the run so we have a clear indicator.
You did say we would look at a time trial, so will be interesting what i can achieve.
Yep, that's right, fast as you can. So try to pick a flat section to do it.
A good 16km today, bottoms of my feet again (grrr being flat footed is bad for running).
Nice consistent pace though.
Is this a dialogue between John and Louise or are other allowed to join in and make a point?
I could not help notice the suggestion to get and use a HRM. I have a very different view to Louise on the use of these kind of gadgets. John has a wide range of targets and as a result his training cannot be too specific to one distance or another. It would be fair to say that by achieving his marathon target he almost certainly will beat most of his other pb's but not necessarily achieve his target times.
When I look at his pb's, I'd say his 5K, 10K and HM times are more or less what I would expect but the Marathon time is slower than John's other times indicate he is capable of. When looking as his target times, I think they are not entirely realistic. His sub 25 min 5K and sub 2hr HM are fine but a sub 50 min 10K is significantly faster then one would expect from a 25 min 5K runner. Equally, a sub 4.30 marathon seems a little lacking in ambition.
But is a HRM going to get John to his targets? I'd say no. More and varied training will get him closer and rather than relying of electronics, learn to listen and rely on the signals your body sends you. So, if you have a groin strain, your HRM will not take this into account but a 'good listener' will. Equally if you feel fatigued or a bit under the weather. HRM's are great when squeezing the final few percent out of your capabilities and elite athletes, when you are close to the top of what you are capable of. For now I would say, do an extra run per week, push yourself just that little bit harder occasionally and add the odd mile here and there. But most importantly: enjoy what you are doing and do not be pushed into doing something because your HRM tells you to.
Hello Coach J
You are certainly welcome to make suggestions - or points
JJ already has a HRM, and it is very useful for assessing improved fitness levels over extended periods and also early detection of overtraining / illness. JJ does not 'run to the HRM', it's post-run information only. Also I point I'd make is that 'listening to your body' can result in overtraining because unfortunately some bodies speak in a barely detectable whisper until it's too late.
His training is quite generic at the moment is because he has just done his first marathon and only just selected a set of targets for the coming year. The training programme will now be developed to get the most out of it.
Hi Coach J,
Please feel free to comment, all comments are welcomed.
I was going to reply in full but LG has beat me to it. Interesting points on the targets though.
5km - will be tough but should be achievable, This will only happen if we decide to give it a go, but will only be targeted if it falls within the training plan. It probably wont and will probably never move hehehe.
Crikey imagine how long this post would have been if it was a full reply lol.
10km - sub 50 is damn tough, i have revised this to sub 52.30 and even that will be hard. Sub 55 is definately on the cards though with some more training. Next attempt is We Love Manchester 10km in July.
1/2 marathon - knocking off that 9 mins will be tough but i think i am capable of 2:05 on a flat course now - Oulton is a nightmare where i set this time. Next attempt will be GNR (busy roads for that though).
Marathon - I think this sub 4:30 is right at present to work to. People were suggesting 4:45 was achievable this year but it was my first attempt and getting around made me happy, 2 years ago i could not run 100m - seriously i couldnt.
I think overall the main reason for me running is weight, i wanted to lose weight and have done that. Although, i need to lose 1/2 stone now if possible. Having lost the weight it was run and get round, and now it is PBs as I progress.
I am sure if we focused on one race i could improve that time significantly, but i like to run different distances and so chipping away at my times suits me.
Tomorrow i have the speed run to set my training paces for the coming weeks/months, It will be interesting to see the results of this.
Going forward, we have discussed more hills to strengthen the legs.
As said though all comments are welcomed, as anything to help me improve is great. I just wish i started running when i was 30, not 45 hehehe.
Good lord, i had forgotten how tough they are.
Warm up and then did the time trial. I started off so fast i burnt out at 500m, i am pretty sure i would have been better pacing myself.
Time wise it was 7.04, which is only 3 seconds faster than my best time trial. I think I feel a little disappointed by this.
Cool down 5km just was not going to happen, jog/walk was all i could muster up.
Whilst I dont know what i am looking for in the time I was hoping for some big improvement say 6.45.
Anyway, that is where it is at, and it is still a PB time trial I suppose after months of marathon training rather than speed training.
So what do we have now for the rest of the week and next?
9km easy run tonight, at a consistent pace. All felt good.