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Shades Marathon Training
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Tough race. Here's a quick resume of the York Marathon. I had quite high hopes, after losing a lot of weight this year and getting park run and half PBs. My A goal was sub 5, my B was a PB! I got my B goal and this was since my first marathon in 2012. The last time I ran York in 2013 I think my time was 5.34.
The first half went to plan and I had lots of lovely support from family and friends. It's a nice course with great local support and views. I think I went through half way in 2.15. Then my legs were so tired and I struggled to get deep breaths in, my chest felt tight. I fell into my husband's arms at 17 miles and then started to hyperventilate briefly. I somehow gathered myself together and walked. jogged, ran on. I did the usual things of drinking, eating, chatting to fellow runners, marshals etc but still struggled so much. A dear friend ran alongside me on the pavement up Green Dykes Lane which is a steep hill near the finish. Then it was downhill to the finish. I was so relieved to have finished and happy I gave it my all. We sat so I could eat and drink and then walked a couple of miles to the car! Home in half an hour, showered and recovering on the sofa.
THANK YOU so much Shades for your excellent training plan and advice.
Thank you Shadies for all your support and encouragement.
Lily x
Big G - If your gut feel is 8:30s then go out at that pace, you can easily go out at that pace for the first 10k/10 miles and see how you feel.
Shades - Yes, love a double day weekend! Do feel it helps with my training.
13 miles Saturday and then down to Portsmouth for the Southsea Pieces of Eight (8 miler). Used this as a VO2 max training run (9 miles with 3*1,600m). Hit my 3 intervals in 6:01/5:57/6:00 so happy with that. Finished the 8 miles in 57:32 and finished 33/456, so not bad for a training run, but did feel strange running easy then sprinting for 6 minutes before slowing again
Easy week now before Sunday, feeling a bit more confident after Sunday.
Shades-Good to see you're running properly again,looking good for next weekend?
Lily-Well done again on a great race,nice report also.
Big G-3:30 and below is definitely ready for you,you've always been a bit faster than me over all distances and I've only gone ahead because you've concentrated on marathons so you can beat my times.
Slow recovery run today,did 3 miles,bit less than normal but it's all I felt I could do.
I was chatting to the endurance coach for the running club I'm going to,and he hit 3:14:57 yesterday so hoping he will help me a lot.
Ian5 - hopefully the coach will be able to help you
Jelly - don't worry about the questions! That's what we're here for!
Shades - good news about the shoes and your heel! It was short sleeves here as well this morning. I repeated the run I did on Friday and was 25 seconds per km faster and felt a lot stronger so I know that i made the right decision. My only question is what do I do this week? The race is next sunday (22 October) so technically this week should be 15 miles but i'm wondering if I should aim for 18 and do 12 early next week? or stick to the plan and just adjust expectations for race day?
Just had an email with sad news,a runners was getting cpr about 25miles in yesterday and just heard that he passed away
Lily, that sounds tough - well done for getting through it. The PB is the cherry on top.
Well done Steve.
Not such a fun morning for me. I followed my masseur's advice and got a GP appointment re: the groin. She did my BP (fine), proded me a bit and then sent me for blood tests. Said she would call me with the results on Thursday. Hopefully there's nothing to worry about but there's always that worry that swollen lymph nodes mean cancer or somesuch. So yeah, I'm rather stressed.
Didn't help that I didn't sleep well (back ache and feeling hot) so ended up having an Epsom Salt bath at 4am. Bleh.
The 10,000 at Birmingham includes the half marathon runners doesn't it?
Lily - well done for battling through a difficult 2nd half. Your endurance will get stronger as time goes on, that is a big PB, next time sub 5 perhaps. The marathon can be cruel and it does hurt. Hope your legs are OK today.
Big G - no recovery run in Munich then due to a sore head, I guess
Congrats again on your big PB. Although you did a huge negative split you have in the past gone out at the same pace as you did the first half yesterday but then you weren't able to speed up in the 2nd half so I think you're right you need to run the first half faster than yesterday. But you need to be happy with the pace chosen for the first half, so it's up to you whether that is 8:30 or 8:15.
I wouldn't take too much notice of the 100MC wannabe, the fact he's done 75 events doesn't make him experienced, remember how he was at Plym Trail. I see his results and they are erratic, he needs to train more and plan his races when it comes to pace. Is his cousin just taking the pi** telling him to go out hard?
Steve - you are so clever to find a race to do your speedwork at
Ian - I expect Sunday will be a shuffle around for me, I'll lost a lot of training since Loch Ness, we'll see but I'm happy that my heel should not cause me any problems.
Well done on the recovery run. That's great that the endurance coach did the time you're looking for, means that you can glean a lot from his training and coaching.
Very sad about the runner that died, I see he wasn't doing the marathon but the 16 mile race. Considering the number of runners taking part in races there are very few fatalities.
Emmy - maybe do the 18 this week and maybe a 10, you've done a fair few long runs and there's nothing to be gained by trying to do too much now.
Cal - just as well to either get it sorted or at least put your mind at rest, hope the results are all clear, I guess Thursday is not too long to wait. Try and not to worry about it, although I realise that's easier said than done.
Big G - I think she could definitely do with your help and advice on marathon training.
Emmy/Shades-Yes I didn't see at first he was a metric runner as we all joined at 18 so couldn't which race he was doing.
Jelly -Also if you don't run with the pacers don't be worried if they go past as long as you are on pace,I often see them in races and their pace isn't as consistent sometimes so will often be ahead as they have to get under that time,ideally to get second but often a minute or so.
And well done to Cal on a very speedy walk
Steve - well done on your 8 miler
slowkoala - once I'd started running at a slower pace I didn't reintroduce any speed work. But I did keep up the hill work - although 'running up' I would try to stay strong and steady rather than trying to power up as fast as possible. 'Running down' you can go fast to give your legs a quick turnover and gravity means your HR doesn't rise. I never set out to run pbs - just to run the best I could on the day. One of the experienced (ie older) members of the 100MC (DK - Shades knows him) has very quick age group times. He says he just runs how he feels and often doesn't even wear a watch
mamafox - I'm surprised you weren't able to guage your max HR on the drive with your dad
Mowzer - Yes, I don't know of any other 8 mile races, but I suspect there are some. They put it on as a training run for the Great South Run (10 miles), so a lot of people do it as part of training for that.
Sad news about that runner.
When I did Limerick marathon a few years ago I was happily running along at 17 miles, then I could hear this thundering noise getting nearer and nearer to me, I looked behind me and the 1:30 pacer and a mass of anxious runners for the half marathon were bearing down on me at great speed, like a herd of wildebeest, I thought I was going to be run over but they all got past me safely.
mowser - glad to hear your foot is improving. Be careful with it so that it heals completely
Cal - well done on walking your half. Not a bad time considering, I am not sure I could walk that fast! Fingers crossed for good news from the doc.
Ian - Great run, always a bit annoying to be close to a "landmark" time but as you said it's amazing improvement you've had this year which suggests more is there for you in the future. Sub 3 this time next year? As for going off too fast, I don't think I've done it in either of my marathons but for shorter races or long runs I find it can make a huge difference to my perception of how hard the run is. So I can easily believe that might have been related to finding the last 6 tough. On the other hand, the last 6 are often tough!
Big G - Excellent result for you as well. Such a big negative split for a PB! Clearly friday night drinking before a marathon is the answer haha
lily - well done for you as well, I think we can all relate to the feeling when you have nothing left but there are still miles to go, you really toughed it out to come out with a new PB, great effort!
Steve - impressive splits for your 1600s. 6 min miling or thereabouts is not to be sniffed at!
Jelly - FWIW I would probably try to start in front of the 4 hr pacer if you are aiming to set off at 9 min miles, unless you really want to run with a pacer group. My experience from London last year was that some of the more popular pacer groups were difficult to pass (I started a lot further back than my predicted finish time), but that might be a London-specific problem.
I was busy all weekend then finally got an hour window to run Sunday evening but ended up having to cut it short after only a mile when I had hoped to do 5 or 6
Well done everyone on their race results last weekend. Sorry haven't been on for a bit. My training has been going to plan. Just 2 easy runs left this week before B'ham on Sunday. Along with Jelly I think I will be asking a few questions before the race
The main thing playing on my mind is nutrition and fluids. I am going to do everything on your advice sheet Shades in terms of Carb loading and drinking plenty beforehand so I am sure I will be fine. As I mentioned I am planning on taking gels at 5,10,15,20 (after that not sure) and will have some percy pigs on me. I think I have a very fast metabolism and worry a bit that I will burn off calories on the day with nervous excitement.
Slightly frustrated with yesterday's run as I was ment to run 18 but only ran 14 which was a struggle as my head just wasn't in it. On a plus my splits were all within 10sec/mile of each other. It's good practice since I've been asked to help pace a few people on the Sunday 10k runs I do.
Hopefully I'll get out tomorrow and be in the right mindset for 18miles.
Cal - I hope you get good news re the tests soon. It's horrible waiting for things like that, so please stay away from doctor google.Sending big hugs.
Nick - I think the only thing with starting in front of a pacer is that if you then finish with them, you can end up behind your target time, based on the chip times. I've only used a pacer once, for a HM, but started a few secs behind, so that I knew I'd be OK as long as I finished ahead of them!
Shades/Mowzer - I will try MAF or HADD one day! The results both of you have obtained are v impressive!
I have the Cabbage Patch 10 this Sunday. I was keen to see who the other runners in my AG are, (as I won some cash and beer last year), but looked up the 2016 list by mistake! The 2017 list doesn't have peoples' ages so I'm clueless
What new shoes did you get?
Cal - Hope those tests are ok, try not to dwell on it and, as SK says, step away from the computer! (())
Jelly - Personally I would avoid pacers only because it would stress me out. I think we all go through good and bad times during a race and if I was having a tough time and the pacer was pulling away then that would leave me feeling as if I was failing and I'd feel like giving up on my target whereas chances are you might go through a tough few km then rally round again afterwards!
Mowzer - You are spot on about maxHR reading and driving with my dad! Especially coming off the ferry at 5am and forgetting roundabouts are the other way round here..
SK - Glad to see you have some good targets to spur you on for your race
Rest day for me today. I like Mondays