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Marathon Training - Planning Problems
Hey all! So I am going for my first full marathon - Richmond in September. I wanted to just blurt out my 'plan' and gather peoples' thoughts and tips if you'd be so kind.
Background: I am nearly 31, female, been running around 7 months, completed a half marathon in 2.08, last 2 months I've joined British Military Fitness for cross training and am in the bottom half of the middle group.
The plan: I followed a Bupa beginners plan for my half to the letter and it 'worked' and I don't think my time was too bad for a newbie. So I am going for the 'intermediate' 16 week full marathon plan from them but making some slight adjustments to it based on my current routines.
Essentially, I am going to stick to the recommended 'Long Run' distances each Sunday because they're the non-negotiables and I wouldn't know where to start planning those increments myself. Then populate the rest of the week with 1 cross training day (BMF) and whatever other runs they recommend (easy, tempo, speed etc) for between 40-50 mins and one rest day (each Monday).
The questions: The plan states Monday as rest day, Friday as x-training day and Sunday as your long run. My x-training day will be weds as that's when BMF is which will mean jiggling around the order of the other runs (easy, speed, tempo etc) does this matter? I have also found a running club that I love and don't want to give up but they run every Sunday at 9am (long run day). Do I run before and finish my run with them or run after and use them to start my run off? If I do this, do I warm up/cool down with them then carry on? I suppose I don't have to do *all* of my long runs involving the club, maybe just the 'shorter' ones?
The holiday: I have a 2 week holiday in Italy at the end of July where it will be HOT. I have therefore decided to start the 16 week plan 2 weeks early so that I can run as much as possible during the holiday but leave the long runs until I get back and pick the plan up again - is this a good idea? Sounds like a bit of a gamble but I don't want to set myself up to fail. Also allowing a bit of time for illness/injury sounded like a good idea.
The progress: It is Wednesday of week one and I haven't had my recommended 2 rest days as I went to BMF on them instead, oops! I will rest on Friday this week
Thanks in advance all!
Background: I am nearly 31, female, been running around 7 months, completed a half marathon in 2.08, last 2 months I've joined British Military Fitness for cross training and am in the bottom half of the middle group.
The plan: I followed a Bupa beginners plan for my half to the letter and it 'worked' and I don't think my time was too bad for a newbie. So I am going for the 'intermediate' 16 week full marathon plan from them but making some slight adjustments to it based on my current routines.
Essentially, I am going to stick to the recommended 'Long Run' distances each Sunday because they're the non-negotiables and I wouldn't know where to start planning those increments myself. Then populate the rest of the week with 1 cross training day (BMF) and whatever other runs they recommend (easy, tempo, speed etc) for between 40-50 mins and one rest day (each Monday).
The questions: The plan states Monday as rest day, Friday as x-training day and Sunday as your long run. My x-training day will be weds as that's when BMF is which will mean jiggling around the order of the other runs (easy, speed, tempo etc) does this matter? I have also found a running club that I love and don't want to give up but they run every Sunday at 9am (long run day). Do I run before and finish my run with them or run after and use them to start my run off? If I do this, do I warm up/cool down with them then carry on? I suppose I don't have to do *all* of my long runs involving the club, maybe just the 'shorter' ones?
The holiday: I have a 2 week holiday in Italy at the end of July where it will be HOT. I have therefore decided to start the 16 week plan 2 weeks early so that I can run as much as possible during the holiday but leave the long runs until I get back and pick the plan up again - is this a good idea? Sounds like a bit of a gamble but I don't want to set myself up to fail. Also allowing a bit of time for illness/injury sounded like a good idea.
The progress: It is Wednesday of week one and I haven't had my recommended 2 rest days as I went to BMF on them instead, oops! I will rest on Friday this week
Thanks in advance all!
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Comments
As far as your club goes, given that you are training in summer, you probably don't want to be out in the midday sun during a three hour run, so starting at 9am may be a bit late. (It may be optimistic of me to actually expect sun in the summer here, but global warming and all that). You could try finish with them, but that might require some timing. I'm also in a club and did a couple of long runs with them but found, when it came to the 18-20 milers, I preferred to start and finish at my front door rather than have to travel home after, when I was tired, hungry and aching. I'd say see how it goes.
I've done the half marathon at Richmond for the past two years and I had a holiday in Italy just before the first one. It didn't affect anything and I actually got a 4 minute PB, though I broke it three weeks later.
Running seems to be popular in Italy but as it's hot, it's best to go out early. I was there for two weeks and managed three runs (I didn't take my Garmin but I'd estimate 4-5 miles or so) but I was on a tour and some stops on the trip didn't really give much time for running. We had one stop at a seaside resort where I had a nice run up and down the sea front, and then we were in Rome for three days and I ran on two of those, up and down the river. With something like seas and rivers, you can't really get lost. It's also an awesome way to sightsee.
I had a week after getting back where I did a couple of short runs, but I made sure I did a long run before I went away (I ran 15 miles on a hilly route, which at the time was the furthest I'd ever run).
Anyway, I wouldn't worry about the holiday. You can make it work. I went to Dubai for 5 days during my marathon taper this year, and didn't run at all, although I did walk quite a bit. It didn't do me any harm.
I agree about the heat of the next 4 months and considering that I am not insanely fit even an extra degree or 2 I'm really gonna feel. I did my half in the winter so this will definitely be something new.
Yeah I think I'll only do the club runs on a day I'm running less than 20k if at all. I hadn't thought about the importance of finishing at home, that's a really good point!
That's great that you have done Richmond before, will you be there again this year? I have seen the course a while ago but the full course is a big loop rather than two halves isn't it? My friend from work who is doing it with me thinks she might like to change to the half course but we don't know if she can just decide that on the day. That's awesome about the PB and your continued improvement, maybe the heat helped a bit? I am hoping to do 4 runs a week there but this may be optimistic. Brilliant idea about the rivers and seas, I will keep that in mind as well as the importance of the last long run before I go. At the moment, my first long run after I get back will be 29k
This has been very reassuring. I think because I am still new to it I imagine that all of your hard work will be undone with one lazy week or doing a tempo instead of a speed run! The reality is probably more that the good outweighs the bad and anything is better than nothing.
Cheers