The Road to Paris - On a Plateau - Asics Target 26.2 Training

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Comments

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Excellent DS2 - just don't be lapping us (that goes for you too A.W.!) Feeling a bit better today but not up to running again yet. Two weeks on and it's starting to annoy me now.

    Sarah - bit of a trek for you to the Spitfire but if you can do it then it would be great to see you!

    Ady - unless you got in this morning then York may be a waiting list job - it's all sold out now! image DS2 - did you already sign up?

    I have never stroked a rhino or fed a giraffe. My brother came close though. When he was 5 our parents took us to the zoo but he went missing. They found him INSIDE the giraffe enclosure! This is absolutely true. Thankfully the giraffes had no interest in him. Not sure that zoo safety was up to much in the 80's.

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Malcs - sod it - no I didn't enter in time. That's amazing that it's sold out already. I think I'll get on the waiting list though. There will be loads who think they are going to run it but haven't a clue what's involved!

    Entering the Spitfire now!!! Be great to see you there sarah!

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Nooooooooooooooo!

    Disaster! The master plan is in tatters. Fingers crossed you can get in on the waiting list. I was banking on you running slowly and just about trying to keep up. The speed Sarah's going, she'd have to be carrying child no.1 for me to stand a chance of slipstreaming her.

    I think you're right though, there will be some drop outs. Also, they offer a partial refund greater than 16 weeks before so that may tempt a few people to bin out.

  • Shady_Ady wrote (see)

    Finally the chance to catch up with the recent posts!

    Paulo83.......I'm very impressed with your stamina at attempting to read this thread through from the start. I've received far more messages than I ever expected to, and it's extremely nice to do so, as it helps keep the motivation high, knowing others are following your progress.

    I thought I'd find training a struggle to get into and would struggle at some of the training sessions, but so far that hasn't been the case. That could all change though in the upcoming weeks.

    You should have a good base into which to train for a marathon with your football playing. You should at least start with some speed - something I have been lacking in. I do think Parkruns are excellent in allowing you to see short speed progress and I don't think it would affect your long run that much, if doing it the Sunday.

    There's every possibility we'll be finishing within minutes or each other then come Paris. Have you entered any other races in build up to Paris? Good luck with your training.

    I've also found it surprisingly easy to get out for all of my training runs so far.  I think reading this blog has helped, its nice to know others are out there feeling the same things.  Probably has helped that the weather hasn't been too bad yet (although snow is forecast this week!).

    Unfortunately i've not played football for the last 18 months as I broke my ankle (playing football) and its taken me ages to get over it!  Can run on it now with only the occasional pain!  But my speed has stayed with me image, i just need to build my stamina! (if we combined our strengths we would be going sub 3).

    My long runs tend to be on a Saturday as this is the only day I am always free due to working night shifts.  I think if i went flat out at a parkrun it would make the rest of my long run too hard.  

    The only race i'm doing before Paris is the Brighton half in February.  Have you got many planned into your training?

  • DS2......I completely agree with you. It's much better feeling like you could have ran faster in a practise race, rather than going flat out and then taking much longer to recovery, which affects more of your training. I will follow precisely what Sam recommends...she's done me proud so far!

    I'm glad I'm not the only one addicted to drinking tea. Sadly I haven't risen through the ranks enough yet to have my own PA, so the amount I drink has a lot to do with how often I can be bothered to make myself one! I've also managed to stay alcohol free so far in 2013. I'd be impressed if that lasts into next week!

    If the world and his wife will be looking for my Paris result, then I'd better not let any of them down!  

    Sorry you didn't get into York. I left it too late as well, but I have managed to sign up for Spitfire. Hopefully see you there.

    Sam.......I'm very lucky to have a supportive wife who is also willing to each healthier if it makes it easier for me to do so as well, so I think we'll be going down the cous cous road next week for lunches. I have to say, this should make lunches a lot more interesting and filling than what I have tried to get by with eating so far!

    Thanks very much for letting me run Spitfire 20. Don't worry, I wasn't expecting to run three 20 milers in a row. But I'll only run this if you think my schedule can be re-jiggled to fit it in. I think it would be an excellent opportunity to use this race as a dry run for Paris and practice my fuelling tactics which I'd like to use in Paris as well.

    Malcs......You'll be happy to hear that I've entered Spitfire 20 now. Especially after York selling out and missing that boat. I'll make sure Sam can work it into my schedule though first and everything can be re-jiggled. It would certainly be nice to have some running company though. I think I'll have the stamina for it!

    It sounds like there will be a good number running it already!

    You must have been hit really hard with this lurgy. It shows good willpower not to have attempted to go out running a few times with it. I'd find it almost impossible to go that long without attempting a few smaller runs, even if it made me worse. I know it's probably the worst thing you can do!

    I can't believe your brother managed to get in the giraffe enclosure. It's a good job lions or elephants didn't interest him more! Health and Safety would be all over that like a rash nowadays!

  • Sarah.......Feel free to join the Spitfire bandwagon. It would be cool if there was a number of us attempting to run at a similar pace. I was thinking of doing York, but I've just gone to enter it and it's already full. I'll have to turn my attentions elsewhere now if I decide to do an Autumn Marathon.

    Sorry you didn't get the chance to see any rhinos. This was the only rhino I got to see. As it was a baby when it was orphaned by poachers, it has been around people it's entire life, so I don't think it knows the damage it could cause with that horn of his! That's really bad that your friends had their cameras stolen, especially if it was on their way back home with all their photos on.

    Well done on your 16 miler. That was good running to do that distance averaging 8:19m/m this early in your training. Even better if it felt comfortable. I think at this rate you'll be closer to 3:20 than 3:30 for London.

    Paulo.......I'm glad this blog and those of other's doing a Spring Marathon has helped you. I'd never really looked at running forums before this competition and it didn't take long to realise the wealth of knowledge I'd been  missing out on.

    I've always found running in rain a problem. Normally I would postpone the run until the weather was nicer, but with this training schedule I don't have this luxury. This has actually worked in my favour, as having to run in rain so much over Xmas has meant it no longer bothers me. It actually motivates me more now to get the run completed and out of the way!

    It's very good you've managed to keep your speed. That's one thing I've always struggled with. I'm not naturally gifted with speed. Hopefully if you're not suffering any real pains from the broken ankle now, it will stay this way for the rest of your training. I definitely think combining our speed and stamina together would put us in a different league completely!

    I think trying to do Parkrun and your long run at the same time would definitely be too much. If you're struggling with stamina, then this would take priority over speed. Good luck with the Brighton Half. Do you have a time in mind you're aiming for? I'm running the Dorney Lake HM in February and also the Spitfire 20 in March. Along with one or two Parkruns, this should see me through to Paris. In the past I've entered too many build-up races and then it comes a bit blurred over which is the main race. I've often ran too hard in build up races which has meant not performing as well as I should do at the actual race I was training for.

    Good luck for your long run tomorrow. What distance are you currently doing for this now?

  • Day 26 - Asics Target 26.2 Paris Marathon Training (11/01/13)

    Target: Rest Day or Cross-Training

    Actual: 9.2miles on exercise bike in 35 mins on stamina setting.

    With my all important Parkrun 5km tomorrow, I almost decided to do nothing today and use it as a rest day. By mid afternoon, restlessness had taken over and I decided a short ride on the exercise bike would suffice. I had originally planned on doing an hour of pilates as well, but I'll try and work this into my weekend schedule after one of my runs.

    I normally do at least an hour on the exercise bike, but felt it far more important to conserve myself for tomorrow than over-doing it today. I struggled with the stamina program in Week 1, but found it much easier this time around, completing it all. I definitely would have struggled to keep it up for a full hour though.

    Early night tonight and early rise tomorrow in order to catch the train for the short ride to Guildford for my Parkrun. I don't mind if it rains tomorrow, but please hold off until after 9:22am! image

  • One question that has been going through my mind recently is the idea of pacing on marathon day itself. If I'm lucky enough to be given the green light to attempt a sub 3:30 marathon, this obviously equates to 8 minute miles to get to the finish on target.

    Every marathon I've ran has always been more than the marathon distance. This has been for various reasons - over taking people, running into bushes to take a leak, not being able to take the racing line if racing numbers are large, etc. On average this has equated to a good 1/4 mile extra ran. Even in Athens last year, I tried my hardest to follow the blue line on the road, but I still ran 0.2 of a mile more than marathon distance.

    I take it runners work this into their pacing on race day and account for this. So if I was going for 3:30 with 8/m/m, I'll actually try and run somewhere between 7:50-7:55 instead?

  • Im so sorry to hear that you didnt enter the york marathon in time. It would have been great to see you here. I will keep my eyes and ears open just incase they open up any extra places.



    Thats what our friends were most annoyed at, you can easily replace a camera, but the photos were priceless. We copied them all ours, alot of them they were in so hopefully it wasnt as bad as it could have been.



    I had never even consider the extra bit we will run, weaving in and out of people....new MP 7:55!



    Good luck tomorrow at your park run
  • I've been the same, easily put off by weather but I don't mind the rain once I'm out in it. It's just hard to get started when your sat in a warm house looking out at it.



    I did the Brighton half several years ago in 1:39 so I'd like to beat that! Having said that I wouldn't be too upset if I didn't beat it as long as I get 3:30 in Paris! What is your half target for Dorney lake?



    I don't actually have a long run today. Every 4th week in my schedule is an easy week so I've just been for a steady 5 miler. Next Saturday I'm up to 16 miles though! I've not run that far for 5 years so I'm just hoping to get through it without too many niggles and pain!



    Hope you set a new PB this morning!
  • Shay_Ady - nice to meet you at parkrun this morning.  Good luck in your sub-3:30 quest.

  • Day 27 - Asics Target 26.2 Paris Marathon Training (12/01/13)

    Target: Parkrun 5km, plus 1.5 mile w/up & c/down

    Actual: Parkrun 5km in 22.59 (23:00 official) plus 1.5 mile w/up (@ 8:30m/m) & c/down (9:00m/m)

    Positioning: 13th out of 105. 3rd in my age category. 1:30mins behind winner.

    Let the inquest begin. Deflated. Disappointed. Dejected. These are just some of the words that describe my feelings after today's Parkrun. I went into this with so much hope and like the English football team, I fell short of the high expectations expected of me.

    I was so confident that I'd run a new PB today. I was even optimistic of getting down under 21 mins. What I'd failed to do, was do my homework on the Parkrun I was running. Guildford isn't the easiest course to run. There's not a single part that's flat. The whole course is undulating. On top of this, over half the course is off-road, run on grass around the perimeter of Stoke Park, where it takes place.

    With all the rain we've had recently, many parts of the off-road sections of the course were boggy and waterlogged. The areas that weren't, were very muddy from previous Parkruns.

    As soon as the race began I knew it was going to be a big ask to get close to my PB and do my previous training times justice. From the start, it was straight into bog and waterlogged grass and my feet quickly disappeared under mud and water. As we continued uphill the bog was replaced with mud. The hardest part of this was finding any traction. It was very difficult to get any grip every time I pushed off. I ended up doing more Moon-Walking than running. I was continuously slipping and sliding with every step. When turning corners, you had to slow right down and then you had the problems of speeding up again, which was difficult due to the lack of grip underfoot.

    The Parkrun consisted of 2 laps. The first part of the lap was off-road, the second park rejoined tarmac. After a morale boosting downhill section, it was then uphill again, on to the exposed part of the course. The cold blustery wind was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. I was able to pick up some time here and completed my first lap in 7:06.  

    The tarmac didn't last. It was back on mud, bog and grass for the last part of the lap. Talking to runners after the race, I found out two people lost their shoes in this part of the course. Almost all of the second mile was off-road, which I ran in a demoralising 7:42. The amount of effort I was putting in to keeping this pace seemed so much more than doing my 1 mile reps during training. It felt like I was putting so much effort in, but getting nowhere!

    The 2nd lap was very much like the first lap. At least I knew where the main boggy areas were. I tried to navigate around them, rather than run straight through them, but they were so wide, I just ended up losing even more time. My last mile was 7:23.

    I finished in 13th place out of 105 and 3rd in my age group. One of the runners who I finished alongside had qualified for Boston Marathon this year with a marathon PB of 3:23 (nice to meet you Slow Duck!), so it was nice knowing that even though I was much slower than I was expecting, I was in very good company.

    The winner was only 1:30 ahead of me, winning in 21:25, which is a much slower winning time than other Parkrun winning times. I still really enjoyed it. Everyone was extremely friendly and it's an excellent, challenging, undulating course under normal circumstances. I think because I'd put so much pressure on obtaining a quick time, I feel very disappointed. I have no doubt if I was to run on a flatter course with no off-road sections, Id smash my PB.............

  • ...................So today's run, I can look at in two ways. Negatively, I was nowhere near my PB and still have plenty of work to do to get enough speed to aim for a 3:30 marathon. Positively, I came only 1:30mins behind the winner, running alongside a Boston Marathon qualifier on an extremely challenging course, most of which was off-road through mud and bog. I lost probably a good 30 secs per mile due to the conditions underfoot.

    As I'm judged on time. I'm sitting in the more negative box at the moment. I'm certainly looking forward to getting things back on track with tomorrow's hill run.

    Covered in mud, at least I had no problem getting two seats to myself on the train ride home!

    Here's my run from today. I've never seen a pace chart like this before!

    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/261133714

  • Great news on you entering the Spitfire 20 Ady!!! Will see you there! Well, actually will see you the day before too at the training day, but will be good to have a mini boot camp reunion!!!

  • Shady - I wouldn't worry too much about your time today as the conditions and course were pretty tough.  I was just behind you in 14th and set a personal worst for a parkrun - the first time that I'd gone over 23 minutes - despite being in what I consider to be reasonably decent shape to have a crack at the 3:20 barrier in April!

  • Ady, don't be too dejected - there's no way you're going to pb in conditions like that! Need a nice flat firm one like the one steve did this morning! It was still a challenging session that will reap dividends. Your heart and lungs don't know about mins/mile image

    We will still have a plan reassessment image
  • Evening Ady! Sorry to hear your parkrun wasn't the speed trial you'd hoped but it sounds like the conditions were really tough. Come back and have a go at Coventry parkrun again!! image

  • Hello Ady: It sounds like you had a rough row to hoe today and handled the challenge quite well. It is always sunny in Paris in April, isn't it?  Keep up the great effort and you will have a new PB soon.

  • Ady -  don't be so hard on yourself, you can't run your quickest in those conditions. Being 1:30 behind the winner is pretty impressive.

    Reference pacing for your marathon, a lot of runners using manual lapping instead of autolap function on the Garmin.  So everytime you pass a mile marker you press the lap button, if you set one of your displays to average lap that will give you an accurate pace you are running at to the marathon course disrance.  If you forget to press at one of the mile markers you can press it at anytime and when you hit the next mile marker and press it again it will be accurate - hope that makes sense. Maybe try it at one of your races before Paris to see how you get on with it.  Just realised Paris will be in km's but the same still applies, just have to press the lap button a few more times.

    My Parkrun went OK yesterday better than last one but very windy so not the time I wanted. 16 miles for me this morning.

  • Morning all......I thought I'd catch up on recent comments before going out on my hill training session today. The sun is shining! I'd better make the most of this rare natural event!

    Sarah.......I'm disappointed too not to get into York. If no new places are released then I'll see what others look interesting. In the past I've normally done an Autumn Marathon in Europe as a short break away, so I might do this again. I've always wanted to do Amsterdam and the timing of this works well. I think I should just focus on Paris without thinking of other's the enter at the moment!

    Paulo........I agree....it's the initial effort of getting out in the rain that's the hardest thing to do. You have a similar half PB to mine. I did 1:40 in 2009. I'm not sure what my target is for Dorney Lake yet. I definitely want to go under 1:40. Personally, as it's flat and supposedly fast, I'd like to aim for under 1:35.

    My schedule also seems similar to yours in the fact there's an easier week every 4th week, to give your body time to recover from the increases the previous 3 weeks. I really enjoy this. It feels as though you're in the eye of the storm, before getting back on it again!

    Sadly no PB for me yesterday. There was little chance with the difficult course and conditions underfoot. I've sourced another Parkrun fairly close by that's flat and on footpaths/ tarmac, so if I have another one to do before Paris, I'll use this one to try and PB.

    Slow Duck..........Very nice meeting you as well at the Guildford Parkrun. It's a good job I left when I did as I could have reeled off a never-ending barrage of questions regarding Comrades. I accidentally clicked on your profile and I saw you are actually planning on doing everything I've always dreamed of doing (starting with Comrades in June!). My biggest dream (much to my wife's horror!) is to run Spartathlon as well, but as I've only ever ran one ultra-marathon, I think any attempt of this is years and years away. How do you train for something like this? What would your long runs look like, training for a race like this? Has Badwater ever appealed to you too?

    I have almost entered a 100mile race several times, but stopped when I realized there was no way I'd have enough time beforehand to put in a good amount of training for it. Depending on how this year goes, this could be a goal for next year! Mrs. Shady Ady has requested a baby first if I'm going to attempt anything like this, so in reality it kight be another 20 years before I have the time to train for this distance again image

    Thanks for the words regarding the Parkrun yesterday. If I'm going for a PB, I might choose an easier, flatter course on tarmac or pathways next time. Then I'll have no excuses!

    Alex........Spitfire should be a great warm-up for Paris. I'm looking forward to it. The terrain should be a good challenge as well. You'll probably be sick of me by the end of Sunday, after having to see me both days over the weekend! image I'll be interested to see what we will have lined up on the training day on the Saturday, if we are allowed to do a 20 miler the day after! I hope your training is going well!

    Sam.......Good point. There was still a lot to get out of the run yesterday. Glad I've done enough to still have a plan assessment!image

    ............

  • ................

    RRR........I should come back to Coventry! Coventry is like  a pancake in comparison. I could use it as an excuse to come visit family! Hopefully there will be a PB still to be had before Paris for sure.

    Leaping Lizard........Thanks for the nice words. I'm going to keep my head down on concentrate on passing each training session with flying colours. Hopefully by doing this, the PBs will come naturally. I'm hoping it'll be sunny in Paris.......sunny, about 10 degrees Celsius would be perfect (with a slight tailwind for the duration)!

    Barry........Excellent advice regarding the lap timing on my Garmin. Makes perfect sense and it means you're planning on what to run mile by mile, rather than estimating how much further you'll be running on race day. I'll definitely give this a practice and get my Garmin set up beforehand so it's ready for race day. Even though Paris will be in kms, I'll still run the race in miles. It'll hurt my brain too much to try kms!image

    Good luck on your 16 miler today. I'm just off out now on my 7 mile hill training session. Still looks nice out there. Might spice things up and listen to music today as well! 

  • There's no way you're going to be close to a pb in those conditions.  Parkrun courses are many and varied; that's part of their charm.  I've never run Guildford, but if I did it would be one of those that I do as an excuse to revisit a nice town.  There's loads of `fast' courses in the country.  FWIW, of the 42 courses I've run, I would say the fastest are:-

    Hull (scratch)
    Cardiff (scratch)
    Edinburgh (scratch)
    York (+5 secs)
    Poole (+5 secs)
    Bushy (+10 secs)
    Norwich (+10 secs)

    All these have the added advantage of a UKA Certificate of Course Accuracy, so count for your official Power of 10 rankings and national grading.

  • Oh Ady we will sit on the negative step together!!!!....imagemy experience wasn't the best either.....hills, bog, biggest puddles in the world....slippery chalk....which on the downhill is just as upsetting as on the up hill!!!!......no tarmac....and no hot drink at the end as we were all toooooo wet!!!!.image.....we should commiserate over a big bar of chocolate!!!!.....OK well maybe an apple!!!!.....oh and I didnt know where the finish was so had to slow down for someone to pass me!!!....I had thought about trying guildford next but dont think I will now!!!......image..........

  • Calorie Watch! Food & Drink Diary - Friday 11th January 2013

    I only work a 9 day fortnight, so every other Friday is my off day. There's no better feeling than waking up on an off Friday thinking you're working and realising you're not. Sadly Mrs. Shady Ady doesn't share this love of my off Friday's as she still has to work, so I still get up with her in the morning. The only problem with not working, is the extra time for my brain to try and trick me into snacking! I held out for the most part!

    8:30am Breakfast - Fruit and Fibre cereal w/ semi-skimmed milk. Cup of tea.

    11:00am - Orange, handful of pistachios, pint of water, cup of tea.

    1:15pm Lunch - A slice of smoked salmon (something that I could happily eat for every meal, every single day!), chicken breast and bacon sandwich with lettuce and a small amount of light mayonnaise. Pint of water and cup of tea.

    4:30pm - Cross-Training - Exercise bike for 9.2miles in 35 minutes.

    6:00pm - Pork with roasted apple, onions, sweet potato, carrots on wild rice (all home-made by Mrs. Shady Ady). Possibly a larger portion than what I should have eaten! 2 pints of water.

    7:00pm - Reduced Fat Yoghurt with a handful of dates, apricots and raisins. Cup of tea.

    8:00pm - Revenge of the sweet tooth - found a half eaten bar of Cadbury's Caramac in the cupboard, which accidentally passed my lips.

    9:00pm - Cup of Green Tea.

  • Calorie Watch! Food & Drink Diary - Saturday 12th January 2013

    Visiting an all you can Chinese buffet while in the middle of marathon training definitely isn't the most sensible of ideas. But after my Parkrun time, I thought this would be the perfect perk-up. I even impressed myself with my willpower over which dishes I managed to ignore!

    7:30am - Breakfast - Porridge with honey. Bottle of water.

    11:00am - Bowl of leftover wild rice with Boursin cheese sprinkled over the top and a lot of cayenne pepper added. I've heard from a few people now that cayenne pepper is good at improving the metabolism. 1 pint of water.

    1:30pm - Lunch - Chinese All You Can Eat Buffet! - Even I'm impressed how self restrained I was here. Filled up on garlic broccoli and courgette, noodles and beef (without the black bean and oyster sauce). A tiny bowl of sweet and sour soup. I might have sneaked in a duck pancake as well. But no prawn crackers, sweet and sour chicken or spring rolls! A couple of glasses of diet coke.

    4:30pm - Cup of tea. A pint of blackcurrant squash. Handful of pistachio nuts.

    7:00pm - Dinner-  Yogurt with handful of raisins, dates and apricots. Tiny bag of Cadbury's Buttons. Pint of water. Cup of tea.

    9:00pm. More tea!

  • Day 28 - Asics Target 26.2 Paris Marathon Training (13/01/13)

    Target: 7 miles steady on hilly course (8:00 - 8:30m/m). Includes 2 mile w-up run to hill then 3 miles worth of steady effort on the 1-mile long hilly strip, and 2 miles home.

    Actual: 7.49miles on hilly course @ 7:48m/m. Plus 3.5miles on exercise bike for c/down (in 11mins) and stretching (5 mins).

    Mile Splits: 1st: 7:41m/m. 2nd: 7:53m/m. 3rd: 7:53m/m. 4th: 7:49m/m. 5th: 7:54m/m. 6th: 7:41m/m. 7th: 7:52

    What a difference a day makes!

    After yesterday's run, I was definitely feeling sorry for myself and was under the impression I was so far from where I need to currently be. After today's run, I'm in a much better mood. I actually feel if I could have carried on today's training session up to half marathon distance, I could have ended up being pretty close to my half marathon PB. It's a funny old thing this marathon training!

    I got off to a much quicker start than what was needed. I think part of it was wiping away the cobwebs in my head from yesterday. It was also quite chilly, which meant I found myself running quicker in order to warm up.

    Apart from a few undulations and a nice downhill, the first two miles are pretty easy. From here, there is about a mile section that involves a long steady climb of about half a mile and then a steeper hill approximately 150metres in length. This is where I based my hill training. Unfortunately, I haven't found anywhere else close by that offers a better alternative.

    I did this section four times, which accounted for the extra half mile. If I had stuck to 7 miles, it would have meant only running up and down the steep section once. As this was a hilly training session, I thought only doing this once would have been the easy way out. Instead I ran the extra half mile to fit it in.

    I was quicker on every mile split than what I needed to be (sorry Sam!image). I think the mistake I made was exactly the same as the last hill session I did. I increased the effort I was putting in on the uphill sections to maintain a speed of 8:00m/m. Obviously once the downhill sections came afterwards, it meant I went much quicker than what was needed and I struggled to slow down enough to stay at 8:00m/m.  I do need to learn to accept on the uphill sections that when I look at my watch and see 8:25m/m showing, it shouldn't be something to be alarmed at, as I will make that time up on the downhill parts.

    I found it fairly easy to maintain this speed for the duration of the training session. To make it harder I could have just ran up and down the steep hill section over and over again. Maybe next time I'll do this, but I thought the variety of the longer steady hills and steeper hills was better variety and more realistic to a race situation. 

    With Mrs. Shady Ady out shopping and me as usual forgetting to take my keys, I did a further cool down on the exercise bike in the gym until she returned and I sheepishly made my way to our apartment!

    After yesterday, today's session was the perfect tonic for starting week 5.

    Here's my run from today:

    Erm......the Garmin website is currently down for maintenance at the moment, so I'll paste this in a separate message when it's back up and running. 

  • Week 4 Asics Target 26.2 Paris Marathon Training Round-up (W/ Ending 13/01/13):

    Monday:

    Target: Rest Day. Actual: Rest Day

    Tuesday:

    Target: 5 x 1 miles at 7.20-7.30 pace with 2.5 minute recovery plus 2 mile w-up/plus short c-down (8 miles)

    Actual: 2 mile w/up, 5 x 1 miles at 7.20-7.30 (ish!) with 2.5 minute recovery (again, ish!), plus 1 mile c/down. Total mileage: 9.26 miles

    5x1 mile splits: 1st mile @ 7:05. 2nd mile @ 7:13. 3rd mile @ 6:56. 4th mile @ 7:11. 5th mile @ 7:03

    Wednesday:

    Target: 5 miles comfortable at 8:30-9:20

    Actual: 5.08 miles comfortable at 8:21m/m in 42:28

    Mile splits: 1st mile @ 8:28. 2nd mile @ 8:24. 3rd mile @ 8:26. 4th mile @ 8:22. 5th mile @ 8:15

    Thursday:

    Target: 4 mile jog at 9:30-10.15m/m plus 3x Acceleration strides

    Actual: 4.28 miles @ 9:26m/m including 4 mile jog and 4x Acceleration strides.

    Mile splits: 1st mile @ 9:32. 2nd mile @ 9:25. 3rd mile @ 9:24. 4th mile @ 9:30.

    Friday:

    Target: Rest Day or Cross-Training

    Actual: 9.2miles on exercise bike in 35 mins on stamina setting.

    Saturday:

    Target: Parkrun 5km, plus 1.5 mile w/up & c/down

    Actual: Parkrun 5km in 22.59 (23:00 official) plus 1.5 mile w/up (@ 8:30m/m) & c/down (9:00m/m). Total: 6.11miles

    Sunday:

    Target: 7 miles steady on hilly course (8:00 - 8:30m/m). Includes 2 mile w-up run to hill then 3 miles worth of steady effort on the 1-mile long hilly strip, and 2 miles home.

    Actual: 7.49miles on hilly course @ 7:48m/m. Plus 3.5miles on exercise bike for c/down (in 11mins) and stretching (5 mins).

    Mile Splits: 1st: 7:41m/m. 2nd: 7:53m/m. 3rd: 7:53m/m. 4th: 7:49m/m. 5th: 7:54m/m. 6th: 7:41m/m. 7th: 7:52

    MILEAGE: Target: 30mi Actual: 32.22mi

    Another week where I was very happy with how my training has progressed. I might have been disappointed initially with my Parkrun time, but taking everything into consideration, it was a difficult course where I finished only 1:30 behind the winner and in 13th place.

    The day before this Paris Marathon training started I asked Mrs. Shady Ady to take a photo of me in my new Asics lycra. I looked back at this photo, with my atomic bomb muffin top clearly on show. I asked her to take another 4 weeks on. Comparing the two photos already shows a remarkable improvement. Hopefully in another 4 weeks time, I will finally look like something that resembles a long distance runner!

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭
    Hi Ady - good to hear your spirits are up again. The parkrun is history and from the sounds of things you were really up against it.



    I was thinking about your question at the end of last week about pacing. I've had the same problem. Having run London 3 times and like you tried so hard to follow the racing line I still did a good portion of a mile extra.



    Despite this I haven't adjusted my pace to compensate for this or any of the other kinds of delays that you mentioned. Seems kind of stupid really because Its obvious that if you run 8mm you're not going to make your target.



    So I reckon you are right - you'd have to run under 8mm just to make sure. It would be interested to hear whether Sam agrees, although I can't see any alternative for a big city marathon.



    PS - great to hear you're doing the Spitfire. I just entered too so I'll see you there!
  • Just about to sign off for the night. I'll catch up with mesages I haven't had the chance to reply to tomorrow and hopefully have another weight loss week to report image

    Sam..........What is the plan for tomorrow? On the original revised plan you sent, tomorrow is a 4 mile recovery jog. Is this still the same? I'll plan on doing this unless I hear any differently. I hope you had a good weekend image

  • Hi Ady, sorry I missed your question last night. Very long day and didn't get back from London until 10.30ish...

    I've 'revamped' the paces based on how things have gone the first four weeks, and have also adjusted the volume a little bit. I've posted the next four weeks below - but as ever, folks, this is not set in concrete image

    I feel that your training is going really well. I'd still like to see what you can do under decent race conditions in a shorter race though.  We've got Dorney race your pace coming up in week 9 and there's a parkrun in week 8 which perhaps you can find a more forgiving location for image 

    I've swapped long runs around to reflect the fact that we have a training day in week 6 too. 

    PACE GUIDELINES
    Jog (Recovery) = 9.20 to 10 mins per mile

    Comfortable (Easy) = 8.10-9.10

    Steady = 7.35-8

    Fast (Tempo) = 7.20-7.35 (Or for intervals 7.05-7.15)

    Speedwork: pace depending on distance

    Week 5 w/c 14th January
    Monday 4 MILE JOG
    Tuesday 5 miles FAST (Suggest structuring this as 1 mile easy, 3.5 miles FAST, 1 mile easy)
    Wednesday REST or low impact cross training
    Thursday Intervals: 2 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 5 x 800m (or 3 mins) at 6.30-6.50 pace with 3 min jogs in between each. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (6.5 MILES)
    Friday Rest
    Saturday 15.5 MILES PROGRESSION RUN: 5 @8.50, 5 @8.25, 5 @8.00 (1/2 MILE TO GET UP TO 8.50)
    Sunday 5 MILE COMFORTABLE
    MILEAGE 36

    Week 6 w/c 21st January
    Monday REST or non-impact cross training
    Tuesday 5 MILE COMFORTABLE BUT TO INCLUDE 4 X 4 MINS CONTINUOUS HILL EFFORTS (RUNNING UP AND DOWN HILL AT ‘FAST’ EFFORT LEVEL (PACE WILL VARY) WITH 1 MIN JOG RECOVERIES BETWEEN SETS (OR 4 X 3-MINUTE LONG STEADY HILL CLIMBS WITH JOG RECOVERY)
    Wednesday 4 MILE JOG + 3 ACCEL STRIDES
    Thursday 5 MILES STEADY
    Friday REST
    Saturday TRAINING DAY – MILE WINDERS SESSION (7ISH TOTAL)
    Sunday 16 MILES COMFORTABLE OFF-ROAD (no need to be on extreme terrain but ideally not tarmac/concrete)
    MILEAGE 37

    Week 7 w/c 28th January
    Monday REST
    Tuesday 2 MILE EASY then 3 x acceleration strides then 6 x 800M (or 3 mins) at 6.30-6.50 pace with 3 min jogs in between each. 1 MILE EASY (7 MILES)
    Wednesday 5 mile comfortable
    Thursday 6 MILE BUILD-UP (From 8.05-7.35) (GOOD TO DO THIS AS AN ‘OUT AND BACK’ RUN, COMPLETING SECOND HALF FASTER)
    Friday 4 mile jog
    Saturday REST or low impact cross training

    Sunday LONG RUN 17 MILES comfortable. Last 3 miles below 8.10 pace.
    MILEAGE 39


    Week 8 w/c 4th February
    Monday 3 MILE recovery jog + 3 ACCELERATION STRIDES
    Tuesday 5 MILES STEADY TO INCLUDE 4 X 4 MINS CONTINUOUS HILL EFFORTS WITH 1 MIN JOG (OR 5 X 3-MINUTE STEADY HILL CLIMBS)
    Wednesday Rest or low impact cross training
    Thursday 6 miles steady
    Friday Rest
    Saturday PARKRUN (PLUS W-UP/C-DOWN)
    Sunday 9 MILES COMFORTABLE
    MILEAGE 28

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