Well Malcs you are a lucky man to have such a magic basket!!!...I hope you appreciate it!!!!...
Tenjio - Training run today was just a 3 mile comfortable run though the woods...rest day tomorrow and then speedwork on wednesday.......hills on Friday then longer run on Sunday.....nice 9 miler on the south downs!!!......next week looks quite busy.....did they forget its christmas!!!...
Sleepy bear and Dsanta2- please do pop in and say hi!!!....have a feeling Ill need all the support I can get!!!!
Morning Mel! How have the first couple of days been? I've got 6 miles at 9:30 pace today so a nice trot! Maybe on the canal path or through the woods - depending on how brave I feel tonight! What have you got today?
Its raining hard and im just about to brave the wind and the rain for a speed session!!!
Plan for this week is :
Monday - 3 mile (10:15 - 11:15 pace)....
Wednesday- I mile (10:15 - 11:15) pace then 3x7 minute fast (7.20 - 8.25 pace) with 90 sec jog. recovery for 1 mile
Friday - 5 miles hills
Sunday - 10 mile (10:15 - 11:15 pace)
Total 20 miles this week.
Generally 4 times a week although next week its 5....I will post next weeks plan towards the end of this week....I wonder how many will follow next weeks training plan ??....
Looking forward to following your training. I am looking for a similar time in Edinburgh in May.I have run the Paris half a couple of times and it is the best city for post race grub.
Mel.Really hard to get out there in the dark and wet............made a bit easier as you know you have to report back and explain why you don't do it..............but intervals in thei weather isn't fun.hope it goes well........
Good luck with the sub 4:30.it took me a few attempts to do it but you have the help of some great experts so hopefully it will all go well......
best of luck.I'm trying to sus out which of the 5 is closest to my target
Well done on last night Mel. It was AWFUL weather wasn't it? My group was doing a really similar session to you last night actually - so we know how it felt. Did you have massive wind in one direction? (Hmm maybe I should rephrase that)
Louise - 20k on a treadmill isn't in the least wimpy. It takes mental strength!
A few of you have been asking about Mel's plan, so I'm posting the first 4 weeks below along with some explanation of how it was devised.
Mel’s target is predominantly to complete her first marathon, though she says it would be ‘nice’ to run around the 4 hour mark. Using current PBs, I predict her potential as being somewhere between 4.15 and 4.26, so, erring on the side of caution to begin with, I have used the MyAsics tool, which predicts a 4.27 marathon, which equals a race pace of 10.10.
I’ve adapted it to make 4-5 days a week as Mel is quite flexible about when she trains. I’ve adding some extra runs in (to take advantage of Mel’s training availability) and scheduled a couple of races she already had in the diary.
Mel’s current typical mileage is around 25 miles/week, with a recent longest run of 13.1 miles (a half marathon in 2.06.26), so I’ve felt comfortable adding extra mileage – especially to the long runs, to lessen the steepness of the increase from week to week. I’ve also changed some of the Comfortable runs to Steady-paced ones to add more variety and replaced some of the constant-speed ‘fast’ runs with intervals (as both speed work and tempo intervals pace) as Mel already runs with a club on Wednesday evenings. Like all plans, this will be adapted along the way in accordance with Mel’s response and progress, as will the pace guidelines.
PACE GUIDELINES Jog (Recovery) = 11.15-12.15 mins per mile
Comfortable (Easy) 10.15-11.15 per mile
Steady = 9.15-10.15
Fast (Tempo) = 8.45-9 (Or for intervals 8.30-8.45)
Speedwork 7.20-8.25 per mile, depending on distance
Week 1 w/c 17th December Monday 3 MILE COMFORTABLE Tuesday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 3 X 7 MINS FAST WITH 90 SEC JOG RECOVERY. 1 MILE JOG (5 MILES) Thursday REST Friday 5 MILES HILLY Saturday REST Sunday 10 MILE COMFORTABLE (most of Mel's long runs take place off-road) MILEAGE 20
Week 2 w/c 24th December (May need to jiggle for Christmas week!) Monday 3 MILE JOG Tuesday 5 MILE BUILD UP (From 10.30-9.30) Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 5 x 400m (or 2 MINS) at 7.20-7.35 MIN pace with 2.5 min jogs in between each. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (4.5 MILES) Thursday REST or non impact cross training Friday 3 MILE COMFORTABLE Saturday REST Sunday 8 MILE STEADY (ideally on level, flat terrain to maintain pace) MILEAGE 23.5
Week 3 w/c 31st December Monday 4 MILE COMFORTABLE + 3 ACCEL STRIDES Tuesday REST (HANGOVER ACCEPTABLE!) Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 3 X 8 MINS FAST INTERVALS WITH 90 SEC JOG RECOVERY. 1 MILE JOG (5 MILES) Thursday REST Friday 5 MILE HILLY Saturday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING Sunday 11 MILE COMFORTABLE MILEAGE 25
Week 4 w/c 7th January Monday REST Tuesday 3 MILE JOG Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 6 x 400m (or 2 MINS) at 7.20-7.35 MIN pace with 2.5 min jogs in between each. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (4.5 MILES) Thursday 4 MILE COMFORTABLE Friday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING Saturday PARK RUN PLUS W-UP/C-DOWN Sunday 3 MILE JOG MILEAGE 19.5
Jen - Acceleration stride....funny I have just emailed Sam the same question!....she told me yesterday, but I think the wind and rain penetrated my brain last night and I drew a complete blank!!.....As for the light on your watch...I tend to wear my head torch round my waist, makes looking at your watch easier and you have clearer and closer light for your footing ahead......
Your right Andrew, thank goodness for a rest day today, it took me hours to warm up last night....Im going out in my swimming costume next time.....dont suppose anyone would notice too much!!!!!
Sam - It was truely grimm out there last night, could you maybe ammend my plan to fit in around the weather???...In all honesty it was quite invigorating and the sea was amzing to run along side.....I did have a lot of wind in one direction but not sure if was the men I was running with!!
Louise - treadmill..???....get out there girl!!!! Or maybe follow the training plan once Sam has ammended it with better weather conditions!!!......
How have the first couple of training runs been going? Your plan looks good! What do you think of it?
Jen - I asked Sam the same question when I got my plan through and she said:
"So, acceleration strides: these are a good way of 'bridging the gap' between a jog warm up and faster running, say, in an interval/speed session or even to just do at the end of an easy run to 'remind' your legs to keep turning over nice and quick. Start at a pace you consider steady/brisk and count 8 strides (paces) then accelerate for another 8 paces, accelerate again for another 8 and finish with a final 8 by which point you should be running fast (but not all-out sprinting). Focus on good form throughout - nice tall posture, feet turning over quickly and not overstriding (ie. sticking your leg out too far in front - look at Mo, and think of all the 'action' being in the back of the stride, when the leg extends behind)."
Andrew - the mileage drop is a sort of consolidation week - you can't just keep on pushing and pushing indefinitely. The body makes adaptations at rest, not during training itself, and it's tricky to fit that in sometimes during mara training. I've put a few of these in. People do sometimes panic but the benefits are worth it, I promise!
Off to see Skyfall tonight at LAST. Trip to the osteo first
Thank you Steve!!!!...I was just about to copy and paste!!!......How have you found them???.....they sound confusing but Im sure once you start doing them its ok!!!......
Best of luck to you Mel, I loved your story and admired the way you have 'kept on keeping on' - so you did get my vote! I've done 18 marathons so happy to help if you need any extra tips.
Andrew.. I'm Yorkshire based too (North Yorks) and it has rained solidly here for the last 24 hours! I am currently congratulating myself for having had the foresight to buy a house at the top of a hill!
Comments
Well done Mel!
I have a magic basket where I drop all my muddy kit and then a few days later it appears all nice and clean in my drawer
Good luck Mel!
What was your training run today, and what is your upcoming schedule?
Good luck Mel. Right behind you!
Good luck Mel - will pop in from time to time to see how you're getting on!
Look forward to watching you progress
Evening Mel!
Fab to meet you again yesterday!! Look forward to chatting to you and I'll pop in and say hi on here regualrly!
Well Malcs you are a lucky man to have such a magic basket!!!...I hope you appreciate it!!!!...
Tenjio - Training run today was just a 3 mile comfortable run though the woods...rest day tomorrow and then speedwork on wednesday.......hills on Friday then longer run on Sunday.....nice 9 miler on the south downs!!!......next week looks quite busy.....did they forget its christmas!!!...
Sleepy bear and Dsanta2- please do pop in and say hi!!!....have a feeling Ill need all the support I can get!!!!
Hi Sarah!!!....
Hi Mel. Hope you enjoyed the shoping trip in London, I saw photos on RRR thread. Can't wait to see next month RW mag!
So what sort of mileage are they getting you doing? Are you just running 4 times a week?
Hi Mel, lovely seeing you again yesterday - what a fun day!
Look forward to following your thread
Morning Mel, I think I'll mostly be absorbing what you learn to get in as much training in amongst a busy lifestyle - a great challenge for me
Well done with the start!
Good luck Mel, can't wait to see your training plan
Morning Mel! How have the first couple of days been? I've got 6 miles at 9:30 pace today so a nice trot! Maybe on the canal path or through the woods - depending on how brave I feel tonight! What have you got today?
Hi Mel. How's it going? What was/is your speed session today?
I'm just ticking along with my running at the mo. starting my plan 1st week in Jan.
Hi Mel.can you tell us what your training plan is for this week and next..and maybe remind us of what time you are aiming for.........
If not them maybe the mentor can pop in and share some info with us
Its raining hard and im just about to brave the wind and the rain for a speed session!!!
Plan for this week is :
Monday - 3 mile (10:15 - 11:15 pace)....
Wednesday- I mile (10:15 - 11:15) pace then 3x7 minute fast (7.20 - 8.25 pace) with 90 sec jog. recovery for 1 mile
Friday - 5 miles hills
Sunday - 10 mile (10:15 - 11:15 pace)
Total 20 miles this week.
Generally 4 times a week although next week its 5....I will post next weeks plan towards the end of this week....I wonder how many will follow next weeks training plan ??....
sorry Seren - it a 4.30 first marathon..!!....
Hi Mel,Glad you got chosen.
Looking forward to following your training. I am looking for a similar time in Edinburgh in May.I have run the Paris half a couple of times and it is the best city for post race grub.
Best Wishes !
Mel.Really hard to get out there in the dark and wet............made a bit easier as you know you have to report back and explain why you don't do it..............but intervals in thei weather isn't fun.hope it goes well........
Good luck with the sub 4:30.it took me a few attempts to do it but you have the help of some great experts so hopefully it will all go well......
best of luck.I'm trying to sus out which of the 5 is closest to my target
20 k on treadmill today, didnt brave the elements, wimp I know...
Morning everyone!
Well done on last night Mel. It was AWFUL weather wasn't it? My group was doing a really similar session to you last night actually - so we know how it felt. Did you have massive wind in one direction? (Hmm maybe I should rephrase that)
Louise - 20k on a treadmill isn't in the least wimpy. It takes mental strength!
A few of you have been asking about Mel's plan, so I'm posting the first 4 weeks below along with some explanation of how it was devised.
Mel’s target is predominantly to complete her first marathon, though she says it would be ‘nice’ to run around the 4 hour mark. Using current PBs, I predict her potential as being somewhere between 4.15 and 4.26, so, erring on the side of caution to begin with, I have used the MyAsics tool, which predicts a 4.27 marathon, which equals a race pace of 10.10.
I’ve adapted it to make 4-5 days a week as Mel is quite flexible about when she trains. I’ve adding some extra runs in (to take advantage of Mel’s training availability) and scheduled a couple of races she already had in the diary.
Mel’s current typical mileage is around 25 miles/week, with a recent longest run of 13.1 miles (a half marathon in 2.06.26), so I’ve felt comfortable adding extra mileage – especially to the long runs, to lessen the steepness of the increase from week to week. I’ve also changed some of the Comfortable runs to Steady-paced ones to add more variety and replaced some of the constant-speed ‘fast’ runs with intervals (as both speed work and tempo intervals pace) as Mel already runs with a club on Wednesday evenings. Like all plans, this will be adapted along the way in accordance with Mel’s response and progress, as will the pace guidelines.
PACE GUIDELINES
Jog (Recovery) = 11.15-12.15 mins per mile
Comfortable (Easy) 10.15-11.15 per mile
Steady = 9.15-10.15
Fast (Tempo) = 8.45-9 (Or for intervals 8.30-8.45)
Speedwork 7.20-8.25 per mile, depending on distance
Week 1 w/c 17th December
Monday 3 MILE COMFORTABLE
Tuesday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING
Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 3 X 7 MINS FAST WITH 90 SEC JOG RECOVERY. 1 MILE JOG (5 MILES)
Thursday REST
Friday 5 MILES HILLY
Saturday REST
Sunday 10 MILE COMFORTABLE (most of Mel's long runs take place off-road)
MILEAGE 20
Week 2 w/c 24th December (May need to jiggle for Christmas week!)
Monday 3 MILE JOG
Tuesday 5 MILE BUILD UP (From 10.30-9.30)
Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 5 x 400m (or 2 MINS) at 7.20-7.35 MIN pace with 2.5 min jogs in between each. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (4.5 MILES)
Thursday REST or non impact cross training
Friday 3 MILE COMFORTABLE
Saturday REST
Sunday 8 MILE STEADY (ideally on level, flat terrain to maintain pace)
MILEAGE 23.5
Week 3 w/c 31st December
Monday 4 MILE COMFORTABLE + 3 ACCEL STRIDES
Tuesday REST (HANGOVER ACCEPTABLE!)
Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 3 X 8 MINS FAST INTERVALS WITH 90 SEC JOG RECOVERY. 1 MILE JOG (5 MILES)
Thursday REST
Friday 5 MILE HILLY
Saturday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING
Sunday 11 MILE COMFORTABLE
MILEAGE 25
Week 4 w/c 7th January
Monday REST
Tuesday 3 MILE JOG
Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 6 x 400m (or 2 MINS) at 7.20-7.35 MIN pace with 2.5 min jogs in between each. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (4.5 MILES)
Thursday 4 MILE COMFORTABLE
Friday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING
Saturday PARK RUN PLUS W-UP/C-DOWN
Sunday 3 MILE JOG
MILEAGE 19.5
Mel - if the weather's as bad with you as it is here (Yorkshire) you've chosen a good day for a rest day
SamMurphyRuns - why the significant decrease in mileage in week 4?
SamMurphyRuns - oooo I quite like this plan! But sorry, can you explain acceleration strides please? Thanks
Jen - Acceleration stride....funny I have just emailed Sam the same question!....she told me yesterday, but I think the wind and rain penetrated my brain last night and I drew a complete blank!!.....As for the light on your watch...I tend to wear my head torch round my waist, makes looking at your watch easier and you have clearer and closer light for your footing ahead......
Your right Andrew, thank goodness for a rest day today, it took me hours to warm up last night....Im going out in my swimming costume next time.....dont suppose anyone would notice too much!!!!!
Sam - It was truely grimm out there last night, could you maybe ammend my plan to fit in around the weather???...In all honesty it was quite invigorating and the sea was amzing to run along side.....I did have a lot of wind in one direction but not sure if was the men I was running with!!
Louise - treadmill..???....get out there girl!!!! Or maybe follow the training plan once Sam has ammended it with better weather conditions!!!......
Hi Mel,
How have the first couple of training runs been going? Your plan looks good! What do you think of it?
Jen - I asked Sam the same question when I got my plan through and she said:
"So, acceleration strides: these are a good way of 'bridging the gap'
between a jog warm up and faster running, say, in an interval/speed
session or even to just do at the end of an easy run to 'remind' your
legs to keep turning over nice and quick.
Start at a pace you consider steady/brisk and count 8 strides
(paces) then accelerate for another 8 paces, accelerate again for
another 8 and finish with a final 8 by which point you should be
running fast (but not all-out sprinting). Focus on good form
throughout - nice tall posture, feet turning over quickly and not
overstriding (ie. sticking your leg out too far in front - look at Mo,
and think of all the 'action' being in the back of the stride, when
the leg extends behind)."
Hope that helps!
Thanks for sharing that Steve.
Andrew - the mileage drop is a sort of consolidation week - you can't just keep on pushing and pushing indefinitely. The body makes adaptations at rest, not during training itself, and it's tricky to fit that in sometimes during mara training. I've put a few of these in. People do sometimes panic but the benefits are worth it, I promise!
Off to see Skyfall tonight at LAST. Trip to the osteo first
thank you, will try acceleration strides out on saturday! Mo always looks really comfortable when he's running!!!
Thank you Steve!!!!...I was just about to copy and paste!!!......How have you found them???.....they sound confusing but Im sure once you start doing them its ok!!!......
The plan looks good.....hows yours???.....
Best of luck to you Mel, I loved your story and admired the way you have 'kept on keeping on' - so you did get my vote! I've done 18 marathons so happy to help if you need any extra tips.
Andrew.. I'm Yorkshire based too (North Yorks) and it has rained solidly here for the last 24 hours! I am currently congratulating myself for having had the foresight to buy a house at the top of a hill!