Cobbles & Red Wine - Sarah’s Paris Marathon Plan: Sub 3:35

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  • Evening Sarah!

    Me too! I reckon we need to get a patent on running wellies sharpish!! So … what have you been teaching your autocorrect? image

    I think my only flat 10k time is 45:11 or something like that but it wasn’t on a recognised course so not a valid one apparently! It was over a year ago and I’ve knocked almost a minute off of the 5k time since then so hopefully it will have improved a bit since then! My other 10ks have been on either hill runs or mud / obstacle runs …! image

    Exciting about being able to do your own schedule! What is the main difference between yours and the My Asics one?

  • Sarah,

    Loving the reports and pics!! Certainly looks wet, and maybe you need a trip baqck to Asics to get their new wellies image

    Off on hols later, so will check in when I get back. A week in the sun in Egypt with kids so planning running round and round the hotel till I get dizzy... Have a great New Year

  • Morning Clive!

    Definitely a bit damp this way, wind howling, the works ... and you're escaping off to the sunshine!! image Have an amazing holiday and hope you get a run in the sun! We want a postcard!!image

    Happy New Year!!

  • Run Summary Week 2:

     

    Mon Dec 24th:         

    Rest

    Tues Dec 25th:         

    Goal: 5M brisk in 40 mins

    Actual: 5M brisk in 35:58              

    Weds Dec 26th:

    Goal: 6M slow in 9 min miles

    Actual: 6.97 slow at 8:51 / 9:14 min mile (depending on whether you count loo break and accidental timing!)

    Thurs Dec 27th:            

    Goal:5M build up run - starting slower than 8s and ending up 7:20s.

    Actual: 5.64m build up run: 9:00, 8:40, 8:20, 7:40, 7:20

    Fri Dec 28th:              

    Rest

    Sat Dec 29th:            

    Goal: 5M fartlek

    Actual: 5M fartlek

    Sun Dec 30th:            

    Goal: 10M steady in 85 mins

    Actual: 10M in 83:47

     

    Week total Goal:    31 miles

    Week total Actual: 33.63 miles

  • Running schedule for Week 3:

     

    Mon Dec 31st:             

    Rest

    Tues Jan 1st:               

    4x mile in approx 7 mins to 7:15 with 3 mins rest/jog: 7M in total

    Weds Jan 2nd:             

    7M slow in 9 min miles

    Thurs Jan 3rd:              

    5M with middle 3M at HM pace (approx 7:30s)

    Fri Jan 4th:                   

    Rest

    Sat Jan 5th:                 

    Hills or parkrun - 5M in total

    Sun Jan 6th:                 

    12M steady in 8:30s

     

    Week total:                   36 miles

  • Went away visiting multiple relatives for the last week so packed my runners. Didn't go out once. Weather was howling, pouring with rain, flooded and only country lanes to run on - lack of safety. Have felt quite guilty but lacking motivation to get out there. Having read your thread my enthusiasm has been restored and I will follow your programme so keep posting. Thanks image

  • Afternoon Sarah Blunt 2 !!

    Fab to hear from you and thank you so much for your nice message! I totally know what you mean – it’s blowing a gale here at the moment and it’s definitely not so appealing to go out for a run! It’s a bit different when it’s sunny and warm and there’s a chance of an ice cream stop halfway through a run!

    I’ve been dragging my Little Sis and Boyfriend out for runs when I can so I can’t back out of a session … also I’m logging my runs on the My Asics app so it’ll be really obvious (to me at least!) when I’ve missed one!

    I think I’m a bit of a running geek secretly (or not so secretly now I’m posting this here!) I’ve got a UK map next to my desk at work and when I’m off to different areas, I try to get a run done so I can cross the county off on the map … it means I have to pack my trainers and I’ve got an incentive to get out even if it’s for a couple of miles … See - told you I was a running geek!!! image

  • well done on the second week's training - seemed too easy for you!

  • Thanks Steve! ... You're not going to make it much harder now though, are you? 

  • training gets harder anyway but no point in making it too easy!

  • Happy New Year......good luck with week 3. I hope you manage to do today's run hangover free! Nice jump in mileage this week for you as well.

  • How did todays mile reps go? I hope you felt better than me with mine!? It was a very heavy night last night!!! Happy new year!!
  • Steve Marathon Coach – Hope that doesn’t mean you’re going to add in something too challenging! I like hitting my targets so far! Although … new challenges are always good!! image

  • Evening Ady! - Happy New Year! No bad hangover today, thank goodness! Although a few glasses of wine were um … appreciated!!image How was your New Year’s Eve? How is your Week 3 looking?

  • Evening Alex! Well … you have to welcome a new year in properly!!image The mile reps weren’t too dreadful although probably the most challenging session so far … maybe BECAUSE New Year’s Eve was yesterday …!image How is this week looking for you?

  • Week 3, Day 2 …

    4 x 1 mile at 7 - 7:15 min/mile with 3 min recovery jogs. 7 miles in total.

     

    The New Years Day session is mile repeats … Is this ever a good thing to hear? Especially after a night when I may have enjoyed a few glasses of wine …! I decided to make this run as easy as possible and headed back to Weymouth and the nice smooth – and today non-windy- promenade.

    I had 4 x 1 miles at 7 – 7.15 minute/mile pace with a 3 minute jog recovery in between and I had to make it up to a total of 7 miles in all. I decided to have a mile to warm up and then take advantage of the wide promenade to get the faster intervals done.

    It was dark, but the promenade is lit along the whole length with street lights and there were tall posts beaming green light out into the bay which was quite pretty – but odd! A legacy of the Olympics as some of the sailing events were held at Weymouth. It was interesting to run along there at night and this evening it was fairly empty although there were still lots of dogs running around for me to avoid tripping over. They seem to make a beeline for my ankles every time!

    /members/images/645234/Gallery/Weymouth_Lights.JPG

    I found this session quite hard, but I was relieved to find at the end that my splits were fairly even. I was checking my Garmin periodically to keep an eye on my pace – I hadn’t set pace alerts – so it was nice to see that the times didn’t vary widely and that I didn’t slow down too much towards the end, although I notice that the recovery jogs got slower.

     

    /members/images/645234/Gallery/Me_at_Weymouth.JPG

    Relieved to have finished!! image

    Mile Splits: 7:00, 6:58, 6:49, 6:54.

    Garmin Info Here

     

     

     

  • Happy new year image

    What's with those lights?? Very odd!

    Well done on the run - what a start to the new year eh?

  • Great photos again and excellent session - well done. Again shows the speed is there and no slowing down so speed endurance looks good too even after a 'few' glasses of wine.

  • Evening Bacon Steve! - They were pretty but definitely unusual! And what with the dogs running around with flashing collars in the dark, I kept thinking my eyes were playing tricks! Glad I managed to hurdle most of the dogs though - I reckon we're going to have to train Alex in dog hurdling though ... !

    Awesome start to 2013! image

  • Evening Steve Marathon Coach - Thank you - I'm glad I'm getting it right! No more speed sessions on the treadmill - promise!

    Yes ... definitely no more wine the night before a run! Unless it's emergency wine for medicinal purposes of course...! image

  • TenjisoTenjiso ✭✭✭

    Happy New Year, Sarah!

    Loved the pics and desription of the trail run.  Felt like I was right there with you image

     

  • You cant fail to want to run when you have that to look at image

  • RunnyRunRun wrote (see)

    Evening Newbie32! What a fab message! Thank you! (Blushes!)

    Sorry to hear you’ve had a tough year health-wise but glad you’ve got some exciting new goals in 2013!! What are your plans? Have you booked any good races in yet?

    I need to get some 10ks booked in … I’m jinxed at the distance for some reason so I’m going to see whether I can get a bit better at those too. Any tips for a good 10k? 

    Hi RRR,

    Happy new year to you!

    I've got a couple of halfs booked in Feb and then BUPA 10k in May.

    Hoping to break my last 10k PB of 53 mins... I think this would be much slower than yours so not sure I've got any tips for you there! The big 1 is the Frankfurt marathon in October. My PT just told me I should try and lose between 5 - 10kg to gain some speed in my running. I'm  currently 5' 4 and weigh just over 10 stone. Trying to find some way of shifting the weight without compromising training!

    Do you have any 10ks coming up?

     

  • Afternoon Tenjiso!

    Happy New Year!!! Woo! 2013 is going to be a good one!! image

    Glad you liked the trail run report – was loads of fun … so much MUD and so many HILLS!! The Warwick Wasps have invited me out for another one in February on the Malvern Hills this time so definitely going to give that one a go too. Just hope there are massive bacon sarnies after that one too…!!  Otherwise may have to run another couple of miles in search of a decent café!! image

  • Afternoon Sarah Blunt2!

    Happy New Year!! Yes – definitely helps when there’s something to look at while you’re running! I’m off into the lanes this evening … in the dark!

    Have persuaded my Dad to come along on his pushbike while I run … but had to bribe him with the promise of a pint of cider at the local pub on the way home! Just had to find the right incentive … Thatchers cider seemed to do the trick! It’s a bit wet out there at the moment so hopefully the thought of a pint will keep him pedalling! image

  • Happy New Year Newbie32!!

    Ooh which half marathons have you got booked in? I’m booked in for Silverstone and hopefully Dorney Lakes too – I think that one’s laps which will be a test of my pacing! No speedy 10ks booked in yet for this year … I know I should book one in but haven’t made up my mind which one yet … Hopefully a nice flat EASY one … if such a thing exists!! image

    Ooh Frankfurt?! How exciting!! That will be AMAZING!! Have you run that one before?

    I keep looking at the Stillman formula for racing weight and shuddering … it looks very low … According to that I’m about a stone and a half over what I should be!!

  • Hooray!! Just had an email from The Wolf Run confirming they’ll defer my race entry!!

    I entered the run in November after I applied for the Asics Target 26.2 thinking … “I’ll never get through to bootcamp …I should be fine to enter an obstacle run on the 6th April …!” Never thinking I’d get to Paris Marathon on the 7th April!!! image

    So … if anyone fancies entering as a big team … there are 3 of us so far ...

  • Week 3, Day 3

    Goal: 7 miles

    Actual: 7.47 miles in 8:34 min/mile

    It was dark, wet and muddy and I’d missed the last of the daylight … so with the help of the offer of a pint of Thatcher’s Cider at the local pub, I’d managed to persuade my Dad to accompany me on his push bike.

    It gets a bit dark in the lanes around here at night and if I went on my own I’d probably have got spooked by one of those scary bunny rabbits and started running quicker and quicker until I was running madly and gibbering like someone out of one of those horror movies. Except they don’t usually wear a headtorch and trainers.

    /members/images/645234/Gallery/Road_sign_in_the_dark.JPG

     

    I’m afraid the photos aren’t up to much tonight as it was REALLY dark. I tried to take a photo of the lanes but all that came out was a black square with a road sign in the distance glowing in the light of my headtorch:

    My Dad had on his hi-viz and headtorch for the bike and I had on my hi-viz and headtorch but even the glow from all of that didn’t really make much impact on the dark. The moon and stars were hidden by clouds and I kept tripping over potholes and piles of … lets call it ‘rural mud’ in the lanes.

    /members/images/645234/Gallery/Dad_on_bike.JPG

    The goal tonight was a 7 mile recovery run from the speed session yesterday and the aim was to keep the pace in the 9 minute miles, but I didn’t quite manage that.

    In hindsight I should have set the Garmin up to record the average pace and keep it to a 9 minute/mile that way but as it was I was checking the Garmin every couple of minutes in the light of the headtorch and adjusting the speed from the pace currently showing … so the pace was out by almost 25 seconds a mile. Not good. But at least I know what to do next time …

    Garmin Info Here

  • yes a bit too quick but not too bad in the circumstances and another good run. I always have my Garmin at average overall pace as that is far easier to adjust to and also find Garmin isn't always accurate and fluctuates  if you have it on pace.

  • Can you recommend a good headlamp?

    I live by the Canal in Cheshire so this is an ideal place to run but a tad dark still!

    Just run 5 miles this morning - nearly killed me on an empty stomach and no water!

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