Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
2017 Marathon Training Thread
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Tricia - Well done on the hilly 11!
Cal - The fact you haven't run for a week has probably contributed to the grumbly legs as much as the marathon! At least that's what I find!
OH - Good luck at Strathearn, I've heard a lot of positive things about it
-----------
The decent week of training continued and I ended up with 51 miles running. Also done 41 miles on my bike yesterday, it's going to take a bit of getting used to, and I'm rather slow but I'm sure it'll come. I also had a bit of a comedy ending to the cycle as I fell off after hitting a fence post at about 2mph... Idiot!!
Hopefully 16 miles tomorrow, and I seem to be fairly solidly committed to another road marathon this year. Dublin on October 29.
Anyway - this weekend I got out again for another 37km (23 mile) run with the crew. We started in the cold at 4am and had a route that included a few gently rolling hills. The was very gentle to begin with but we found that naturally as we warmed up the pace seemed to creep up too. At the 21km mark we had a significant downhill stretch, so I put in a bit of a sprint for fun and got up to 4:00/km pace for a while! (and then stopped at the tap at the bottom of the hill to let everyone else catch up and regroup. The mood of the whole group was quite jubilant and confident so I didnt feel like I needed to 'babysit' anyone for the last few km's and let myself go a little bit with the last 5 km being a LOT quicker than marathon pace. Oddly enough the penultimate km was quicker than I have ever managed in 1km reps in our speed sessions?! Pulled up from the run feeling absolutely magnificent and loved seeing the rest of the guys come in glowing with confidence and all comfortable and all excited that they'd completed that 37km run at a pace about 15s/km quicker than last weeks effort. I think we're going to see some fantastic performances and big PB's at Gold Coast Marathon on 2nd July.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1018096585
Really looking forward to next weeks 'warm up marathon' - a 42.2km training run where I'm pacing the 4:15 group.
I'm considering an Autumn marathon too, but with a few halves booked already, I'd be looking at going abroad in November (Frankfurt or Valencia), which will be expensive. (I mean, it's not like a weekend in Europe is that expensive, but I'm living off the income from my rental flat at the moment so I have a pretty tight budget). Or I could cancel my last half, and do Dublin as well. Hmm.
Nice run, DA.
I tried to do 20K undulating back to back with 18K very hilly last weekend, and it really took it out of me, so I might have to choose to do one or the other, or scale back on both if I want to do two....
https://runnersconnect.net/high-hamstring-tendinopathy-injuries-a-pain-in-the-butt/
OH, only two, I though it was more,
DA, another good training run enjoy the pacing group I am sure they will all appreciate your support
SM, great to hear that you are building the miles again, I am definitely a fair weather cyclist.
------------------
4 miles in the rain along the canal last night lots of puddles to wade through, I might go for a short cycle before the gym tonight.
Intensive swimming along with stretches in pool do appear to be helping but only 3 days to go ...
5k loop with no adverse effect this evening
On the Saturday, I marshalled at parkrun and standing for an hour left me in quite a bit of pain. I decided that I would do as much as I could to try and fix myself and then make a decision in the evening. I stuck a TENS on my back, took ibuprofen and did some foam rolling. At midday I did a little stress test and ran around the block, with some strides thrown in. My back hurt but I found I could run. Then I repeated it at around 6pm. I decided I would go to the race.
The train journey consists of a couple of stops on my local line to Clapham Junction where I change trains. I decided I would walk to Clapham Junction (around 2 miles) instead to warm up. I wore my TENS on the way there. (Unfortunately I dropped it and it hasn't worked since, but that's another matter).
I did the race and got a PB.
Anything is possible if you want it badly enough.
Further improvement this morning and will swim again after voting.
Going down for wedding whatever (and by train which is good)
4 easy today. Felt quite tired. I can feel the hamstring but it's not terrible.
Cal, well done with the 4 easy, good to hear the hammie is improving
OH, that one way to sort a stiff back, enjoy the trip away and fingers crossed you make it to the start line
---------------
Another 4 miles easy last night, 2 out and 2 back along the canal, signs of improvement but I am not getting carried away, I got a sports massage this evening, which should help release the tight bits.
Drove down to Gold Coast for the start and rain was steady but not too heavy. Turns out there was a VERY small field! We had perhaps 50 people in the marathon and a few more doing the 50km (same start time). After the first 500m I was running alone with clearly nobody wanting to run the 6:00/km pace I had been charged with. It was a weird race with a 6.25km dull lap of a predominantly residential area and 6 and a bit repeats for the marathon with a finish line just a timing mat on one particular corner.
Soon enough the rain cleared and actually it was a pleasant enough coolish morning. I found it tricky to stay in 6:00/km and drifted slightly too quick for a while, and had to struggle to hold it back - but with no other runners around me it was really really hard.
Got it all done a little bit too quick (4:12:30) and felt pretty comfortable all throughout. Finish was the most anti-climactic thing ever with me crossing the timing mat and stopping before the lad on the drinks table looked up from his phone and said, "oh - you're done?... grab a medal then" and pointed at a stack on the table. Still seems daunting that in 3 weeks time I'm going to attempt to run 60sec/km faster!
Marathon #7 done - weirdest event ever.... Probably wont rush back there next year!
jtced - I know people joke about losing toenails as a hazard of running, but it really shouldn't happen if you have the right shoes for you. I've never had any toenail problems at all. I wear Nike Frees and whilst I don't advocate them for everyone, I've not has so much as a blister from any of the pairs I've worn over the years.
DA - that does sound weird, but hey, good practise for your target race, no?
S17 - it would be nice if you can PB for your 100th eh? Or maybe a first finisher?
I got out for 8 miles (easy pace although it did get a little quicker as I went on). Very humid. No change in the hamstring and knees were a little cranky today too. So was my back. I think my body is just being overall grumpy right now. I notice it's taking me longer to get up to my easy pace (typically that is 10:30 - 10:40) - my pace for the first mile or two of my post-marathon runs have been in the 11s. I know I should be patient (especially as I have a tricky ham) but I do have a 10 miler coming up in a month's time and I was hoping to break 90 minutes. Eh, well, I either will or I won't.
DA - Well done on the marathon, although it does sound a bit of a rubbish event!
S17 - Well done on parkrun number 99, good time too.
Stewart - Sounds like cause for optimism!
jtced - Doing hilly off road long runs shouldn't be an issue as long as you are recovering from them, just run them slower than the equivalent road effort. The hills will help you for Loch Ness, although I'd still do some long runs on the road too.
OH - Did you do Strathearn today? Or was it yesterday?
-----------
Been a bit pushed for time this week, so only ran 4 times instead of 5.
15 on Monday, was too quick and really felt it. 6 on Wednesday, was meant to be 10 but couldn't be bothered. 11 including club session of 5x800m downhill reps on Thursday (bad idea with my achilles...) and then another 15 today, much slower than Mondays. I was utterly run down after 50 wet and wild miles on the bike yesterday then a day out at the football afterwards, the less about that the better!
I've got my first race since pulling up at Manchester on Friday, Brian Goodwin 10k in Glasgow. I ran 39:09 and 38:21 (which is my PB) on the course last summer, I'd like to get near 40 but would take 41:20. Infact, I'd just like to finish as I think I've DNF'd 4 of my 5 races so far this year!
5 miles today: 4 easy (the first two miles were slower than the second two) and one mile that included some strides. Let's see how the hamstring reacts to that.
Just for the record, with just under 15 weeks until the big day, a typical week is looking like 40 miles of running, split into ~25 miles of longer runs and ~15 miles of shorter ones. Longest long runs to-date are 23 miles, 18 miles and several 13-16 milers. Debating doing just a single long run next weekend of around 22 miles. I figure that I'm possibly slightly ahead of my training plan, so I have some leeway.
Well organised and friendly run with a few humps!
Just home this evening
St Magnus in 3w ...?
Returned home to enter us into local St Magnus Marathon on 2 July (and order a new pair of shoes online
It's turned very warm down here in London, which I'm not too pleased about because it means I don't sleep well and I can't use my oven (it raises the temperature in my very small open plan flat even further, which is the last thing I need).
Still, one thing about waking up absurdly early is that I can get out and run before it gets too hot (though, even before 6am, it was still 15 degrees). Since I have a 50th birthday parkrun on Saturday, which coincides with my club takeover, I decided to throw a couple of fast miles into the mix - something I haven't done for a long while. After two warm-up miles I did 8:34, then a recovery mile, then 8:40. I was supposed to have another recovery mile but I was so pooped I just stopped my watch and walked home. I am clearly not at my best right now because I've run those paces during a half without feeling half as winded. So I think a birthday PB is not on the cards. Whatever time I run will be an age group PB, though!
Felt sufficiently rested and recovered after this weekends marathon so headed out for a tempo run this evening. (I missed yesterdays speed session as a 'precautionary recovery' measure and was feeling the need to see if I could still run quickly!). The answer? Yes I can!!!! had a couple of km warm up and then hit tempo and just enjoyed floating at a good speed without really paying too much attention to the watch. Put in 6km of tempo before turning around and holding pace. 12km all done at 10-15s/km faster than race speed which was so encouraging I carried on and ended up with my full 16km run having an average of 10s/km quicker than race speed.
Feeling 20ft tall and bulletproof right now... [Quick - give me a cold NOW so I have time to recover before race day in 2.5 weeks time!]
And yeah, we're not warm compared to you but it'll get up to 27 today and 29 later in the week. In London, that's very oppressive. Doesnt' help that I have a west-facing flat so it's hottest right at the end of the day. I hate it.
DA - Sounds a good run, but don't push all the runs in your taper or you'll end up being knackered come race day. I've done that one far too often...
---------
Change of plan for me, our training groups race series was this week (I wasn't taking part as I was scheduled to race on Friday) and last night was the road 10k. So I decided I'd run along and see how I felt when I got there, knowing my achilles won't take 2 10ks in 3 days. Felt ok so gave it a bash, and was quite pleased with 40:15.
Slightly annoyed as maybe in a 'proper' race situation (our race last night had 20 runners, with a 22 minute spread!) such as I had planned on Friday I would be able to dig in for sub 40 but given I've ran that pace for a HM before it doesn't really mean that much.
I woke up a bit later (5 versus before 4) today so it took me until 7:30am to get outdoors. I'd planned for 6 easy but it turned into a progression run somewhere along the line so although my first mile was a sedate 11:02, my last was 9:38. Which is OK considering I'm a bit less than 3 weeks post-Liverpool. I think the strides I did the other day and the two miles intervals yesterday helped with leg turnover, even if I won't have absorbed the fitness gains yet.
I'd like to be running 8:50 splits for Harry Hawkes, so I've a bit of work to do. It's still four weeks away, though.