Target 26.2 - First Timer Steve's Journey to Paris

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  • jenf wrote (see)

    love the drawings! I kept them in mind today when my form was starting to go as I fatigued.

    Good running Steve!

     

    Ha ha ha, so did I, the thought of the hunchbacked, rosy cheeked sad face was all that was needed to get my head up and shoulders back during last nights intervals!!!


     

  • Hi Steve, glad to hear you are feeling better it's good to run feeling strong again. How does the hamstring feel now you are back into no mention of it which is good. Keep up with the bridging which will help with your posture and fatigue.

  • Steve loves bacon wrote (see)

    Training – Week 7

    Monday – 12 MILES LONG RUN (6 MILES AT 9:40, 6 SPEEDING UP TO 9:05)

    This was originally intended to be Sunday’s run but, after Saturday, I felt seriously drained. I think the early morning, the first run in the week, the seven hours on trains... it was all a bit much after the stomach bug!

    Sunday was a bit... slow. I vegged out for the first couple of hours spending a bit of time with my son and, after I had taken him home, I crashed out in front of a DVD and woke up about four hours later not having realised I had fallen asleep!

    So I figured that, on this occasion at least, discretion was the better part of valour and that it was probably best the leave the 12 miles...

    I had a full 9 hours sleep on top of the massive kip and felt a lot better on Monday so after work I headed out for the run. I decided that, as the distance wasn’t far off a half marathon, I would use the run as a pre-half marathon test for a gel. I used one with caffeine in, as I had discussed with Ruth and... to be honest, it felt like rocket fuel!

    Maybe it was, in part at least, psychological but I really could feel a real boost after taking it. As I was running 12 miles, I decided (rather scientifically, I thought) to take it after 4 miles so that it would give me a chance to see if it had an effect and then to also see how long that effect would last.

    The first six miles were pretty steady and I felt pretty good throughout. I had felt a bit worried setting out, given the stomach bug, that I might crash and burn after a bit but that didn’t really transpire and I felt strong throughout. I did the first six miles in the following splits:

    Mile 1 – 9:41

    Mile 2 – 9:41

    Mile 3 – 9:42

    Mile 4 – 9:37

    Mile 5 – 9:38

    Mile 6 – 9:32 (whoops! Blame the caffeine gel for that...)

    I then started on the build up six miles and, again, felt surprisingly strong, especially after my sleepy Sunday! The six miles went past quickly and I was pretty impressed with myself by the end. In terms of general fitness, I finished the twelve miles breathing easily and not really feeling like I had run that distance. Obviously, pace-wise, this was well below what I will be doing at the half marathon but, given that the last six miles were building to marathon pace, I was pleased that I found that pace fairly easy... After the week before, it was very encouraging and I ended the run feeling very good about my running.

    I was supposed to build up to 9:05 pace but, feeling pretty good, I did go a little faster as it felt comfortable. I did the second six miles in the following splits:

    Mile 7 – 9:16

    Mile 8 – 9:11

    Mile 9 – 9:08

    Mile 10 – 8:49

    Mile 11 – 8:55

    Mile 12 – 8:54

    All of the above meant I completed the 12 miles in a total time of 1hr 52mins 9secs and a total pace of 9:21.

    It felt like a good session and the caffeine gel didn’t have any ill effects whatsoever. Good times image

    Glad no ill effects with gels but will need to ensure you can  take a couple each hour without any effects so on long runs keep trying these for the moment.

    Glad to hear you are feeling much better!

  • Hi Steve, love your report of training day image Do I take it you are after my job then? image

    One of the first steps in improving your form is simply raising your awareness of what it is you are doing when you run. In my experience many people have no idea that they are, say, leaning forward, hunching shoulders, landing heavily or whtever. That's why I use a lot of video feedback in my coaching.

    Great work on the long run. You've got a fun speed session lined up for tomorrow, and then an easy long run on Sunday - but the good news is that there's a cutback week, with no long run in week 8, in preparation for the half marathon in week 9. It's all about getting the right balance of hard work and recovery.

  • Glad the training day went well after all your problems over the previous couple of weeks Steve. Still impressed with how well you're doing and the effort going into your training.



    For those who want to know, the chilli jellies really are spicy and came from an awesome sweetshop in Keswick: www.friarsofkeswick.co.uk/. Gotta love the Lake District. image



    PS: just because I'm reading this Steve, doesn't mean you have to keep saying nice things about me, but thanks anyway. image
  • jenf wrote (see)

    love the drawings! I kept them in mind today when my form was starting to go as I fatigued.

    Good running Steve! 

    Thanks Jen image Still loving every minute! Glad you liked the drawings - been a while since I had the old pencils out lol

  • Kandinsky wrote (see)
    jenf wrote (see)

    love the drawings! I kept them in mind today when my form was starting to go as I fatigued.

    Good running Steve!

     

    Ha ha ha, so did I, the thought of the hunchbacked, rosy cheeked sad face was all that was needed to get my head up and shoulders back during last nights intervals!!!

    Sounds like a great coaching tool haha.

    Sam says it is all about awareness of how you are running so I've been really concentrating on form - I'm almost imagining there's a bit of string coming out the top of my head and someone pulling it straight up to pull my head up, straighten my back and pull my hips forward to in line with the rest of me...

    Plus, I'm checking myself out in loads of shop windows. Just following coaches orders...

  • sarah asics pro team wrote (see)

    Hi Steve, glad to hear you are feeling better it's good to run feeling strong again. How does the hamstring feel now you are back into no mention of it which is good. Keep up with the bridging which will help with your posture and fatigue.

    Hi Sarah, yes, it's great to be feeling good when I'm out running again! The hamstring feels good thank you - I don't think it is 100% maybe but it is certainly very close and it is loads better than it was before!

    Will do - have been lots of bridging and some core work so we'll see how that goes...

  • RUTH MCKEAN wrote (see)
    Glad no ill effects with gels but will need to ensure you can  take a couple each hour without any effects so on long runs keep trying these for the moment.

    Glad to hear you are feeling much better!

    Hi Ruth, thanks for all your advice!

    Ok, I have a 14 mile run tomorrow so I'll make sure I take a few and see how I cope with a few. But a good start nonetheless. Maybe it was psychological but it really did seem to give me a boost when I took it.

  • SamMurphyRuns wrote (see)

    Hi Steve, love your report of training day image Do I take it you are after my job then? image

    One of the first steps in improving your form is simply raising your awareness of what it is you are doing when you run. In my experience many people have no idea that they are, say, leaning forward, hunching shoulders, landing heavily or whtever. That's why I use a lot of video feedback in my coaching.

    Great work on the long run. You've got a fun speed session lined up for tomorrow, and then an easy long run on Sunday - but the good news is that there's a cutback week, with no long run in week 8, in preparation for the half marathon in week 9. It's all about getting the right balance of hard work and recovery.

    Haha I'd love your job - your job is all kinds of awesome image

    Yes, definitely - now I am concentrating on my form so much more, it's amazing how much I lose form and have to correct it! Makes me wonder how I used to run any kind of distance at all...!

    Thanks - run report on the speed session to follow... I may have gone a bit quick on one or two of the intervals... but I'm sure that doesn't surprise you...image

  • Ijon Tichy wrote (see)
    Glad the training day went well after all your problems over the previous couple of weeks Steve. Still impressed with how well you're doing and the effort going into your training.

    For those who want to know, the chilli jellies really are spicy and came from an awesome sweetshop in Keswick: www.friarsofkeswick.co.uk/. Gotta love the Lake District. image

    PS: just because I'm reading this Steve, doesn't mean you have to keep saying nice things about me, but thanks anyway. image

    Thanks, it has been really enjoyable, which helps! Does take over your life a bit though... image

    Thanks for sharing the website - I knew you'd bought them in the Lake District but not from where exactly!

    Haha you got up at 5am to drive me to the train station - that deserves more than a few nice comments! Really did help and appreciated it loads...

  • Training - Week 7

    Wednesday - 6 MILES FAST (1 MILE EASY, 4 MILES HALF MARA GOAL PACE - 8M/M - 1 MILE EASY

    After training day 1, Sam had suggested amending the run on the plan and do a few miles at goal half marathon pace. The Dorney Lake Half Marathon is in a couple of weeks and the aim is for me to run it in 1hr 45mins... This would be a new PB by 7minutes!! So Sam is obviously feeling confident about how my training is going...

    I am feeling great and feeling that the training has got off to a flying start, but I am a little nervous about whether I can keep up 8 m/m for a whole half marathon. Still, there is only one way to find out and I will give it a bloody good go and we'll see where we are come the finish line!

    The speed work and the 5k race have gone so well but I know that they really are my strengths so it will be interesting to see how much progress has been made on the longer runs - I found the last 12 mile run pretty good. The one before was seriously tough... but then half of that was through a country park very aptly named Langdon Hills and all of it was through a shed load of snow... so tomorrow's 14 miles will be telling, I think.

    Anyway, back to the point and Wednesday's run.

    It was seriously, seriously windy out and that made the run very hard work. I stuck to the required paces but, to be honest, at times it was fairly easy going and I felt good and at other times when I was running headlong into the wind it was seriously tough to even move forward. I'm not exagerrating there - the wind was blowing so hard that to even stick to 8 minute miles felt seriously tough...

    So, in terms of what the session was supposed to achieve, I don't think it was that effective given the massive difference in levels of efforts needed at various times to even stay close to a consistent pace. By the end of the four miles at half mara pace I genuinely felt shattered - it really was hard! But anyway, it was more miles in the legs.

    If the weather is anything like that at Dorney Lake, you can forget the PB!! image

    Mile 1 - 8:31 (target: 8:40 - 9:30)

    Mile 2 - 8:06 (target: 8:00)

    Mile 3 - 7:56 (target: 8:00)

    Mile 4 - 7:54 (target: 8:00)

    Mile 5 - 7:59 (target: 8:00)

    Mile 6 - 8:45 (target: 8:40 - 9:30)

    Total: 6 miles in 51:32, meaning an overall pace of 8:13m/m

  • Training - Week 7

    Friday - 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3x ACCELERATION STRIDES then REPS then 1 MILE COMFORTABLE

    The reps consisted of:

    1x 800M IN 3:16 - 3:24

    3 min recovery jog

    2x 600M IN 2:20 - 2:26

    2.5 min recover jog after each

    2x 400M IN 94 - 98 SECS

    2 min recovery jog after each

     

    Well, needless to say and suprising nobody here I'm sure, I really enjoyed this session!

    I did it at the track and had Jack along to cheer me on and take a couple of pictures... He seemed to really enjoy himself. He also wants us to do a parkrun together so I'm so happy that he seems to be getting an interest in running! Dream come true for me image

    I thought I'd rock the cool new tee-shirt we were given at training day:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BCCyzWZCUAALX0r.jpg:large

     

    The tee-shirts also have our web addresses on them so I thought I'd do a bit of advertising whilst piling round the track...

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BCCzhXICcAAc0Ek.jpg:large

     

    We got to the track and, horror of horrors, someone else actually had the cheek to be out on the track as well! How dare they?? I was so used to having the whole track to myself...

    Anyway, I got through the 1 mile comfortable (8:40 - 9:30m/m) fine, clocking in at 8:47.

    The acceleration strides were also fine - and my offical photographer took a snap or two:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BCDc9PhCAAEkGVf.jpg:large

     

    On to the intervals. The first 800m was a little strange as I wasn't 100% sure at exactly what pcae to run at to achieve the time required, so I was constantly doing maths in my head the whole way round, working out what sort of times I should be hitting through every couple of hundred metres. The goal was to do the 800m in 3:16 - 3:24 and I thought I was on course to go ten seconds or so faster but I realised I must have miscalculated a little and had to speed up in the final 100m and went over the line in 3:23.

     

    After the recovery jog, I started on the 600m reps, which I think was when this snap was taken:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BCDcvznCIAA-UNm.jpg:large

     Still that striking ressemblance to the walk out of "Is This The Way to Amarillo?"

     

    The 600m reps felt good. The aim was to do them in 2:20 - 2:26 and I comfortably went a bit faster. I did the first in 2:10 and the second, after the recovery jog, in 2:07.

    Another recovery jog, and then on to the 400m reps. The other guy was still on track and he just going around and around and around at the same pace - as a consequence I kept flying past him at some considerable speed, then slowing down and him overtaking me again, before I would fly past him once more... It gave me someone to aim at each time I did a rep, at least!

    The 400m goal was between 94 and 98 seconds... It may be apparent by this stage in my training that I do like a nice blast around a track and I think if I

    ...

  • ...

    had actually have hit between 94 and 98 seconds, I would probably actually have been a little disappointed!

    So, it won't surprise you, I'm sure, to learn that I did push myself and exceed the target time just a little. I did the first 400m in 89 seconds and, recovery done, steamed into the second 400m. I felt great and, although I was breathing hard, I did feel strong and, although I didn't chuck in 100% effort, I did give it a fair whack and fairly flew around in a rather pleasing 78 seconds... Quite chuffed with that image

  • We also had a little pay around with an app on my phone called "Cartoon Camera"

    Here are the results!

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BCDdJxPCMAEp8uD.jpg:large

     

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BCDdUjBCQAA9QHa.jpg:large

     

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    I know what you mean about the wind Steve, It gets really gusty here on the coast path where I run and I can only run a negative split if I've chosen the right way to run first.image

    I did my new local parkrun again today, really enjoyed it n got a new PB image I was inspired by the runner in front...he was pushing a buggy! I was determined not to let him get away! 

  • I also had my BUPA fitness assessment today - I will give you the full report on how it went tomorrow when I've done the 14 miler - reckon I've posted enough on here for one evening!

    Je vous verrai demain.

  • jenf wrote (see)

    I know what you mean about the wind Steve, It gets really gusty here on the coast path where I run and I can only run a negative split if I've chosen the right way to run first.image

    I did my new local parkrun again today, really enjoyed it n got a new PB image I was inspired by the runner in front...he was pushing a buggy! I was determined not to let him get away! 

    Haha yeah, when it was behind me it was amazing! I don't think I was doing any work at all! image

    Glad you enjoyed the parkrun - they are a fantasic idea, aren't they? Planning on doing lots more in the future! Hehe I did exactly the same thing with a guy with a labrador on mine - worked a treat image

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Steve, has Sarah recommended a foam roller to you yet? if so what do you think if it?  

  • Hi Jen, yes Sarah did recommend me getting a roller and I had a go on one at the training day... I must confess though that, as usual, it's been incredibly hectic this end and I haven't got round to sorting one out yet...!

  • Saturday – REST DAY

    BUPA Fitness Assessment

    Saturday was my appointment for my BUPA Fitness Assessment, another part of the fantastic package we’ve been given by Runners World.

    As I work Monday to Friday, I asked BUPA if I could have a Saturday appointment and they duly obliged although I did have to travel a bit further to one of their assessment centres that did offer appointments on Saturdays... This meant travelling to Oxford Street with a nine year old with lots of Christmas money left over and me with a fifty pound voucher left over from Christmas as well... So after the appointment, we hit the shops. It’s a tough life, I know.

    The assessment itself was fantastic and much more in-depth than I had expected. The assessment centre is state of the art and clearly very new. It was huge and had lovely facilities throughout. Everyone there looked ridiculously healthy – when I walked in, the receptionist was sitting munching on a huge bowl of melon. I decided very early on to keep some of my dietary confessions to myself!

    The health technician, Jess, was lovely and we had a general chat about my health and why I was having the assessment done before moving on to taking some measurements. She took my height, weight and a measurement around my abdomen, just above my waist before I then had to do some other tests. My height came in at 176cm (5’ 9.5”) and I weigh 68.2kg (10st 10lbs).

    Jess told me that if the measurement around your abdomen comes in at more than half your height, this is a strong indicator that you are at risk of various health issues such as heart disease. It’s a really simple thing to do so you should all have a go! My measurement therefore should have been below 88cm. I can’t recall off the top of my head exactly what it was but I do remember that it was comfortably below that!

    We then did a test of my grip strength, which was within the normal expected range, before doing a flexibility test. I thought I was going to be rubbish at this and informed Jess accordingly. I had to sit on the floor with my feet flat against a box that had on top of it a sliding scale marked in centimetres. You then reach forward, keeping your legs straight, to push the sliding scale as far away from you as possible. I managed to push the scale 25cm beyond the end of my feet. I awaited the news that I was ridiculously tight and unflexible, only for Jess to tell me that this was, in fact, well into the above average range for my age and that some people couldn’t even reach the scale, let alone push it away from them. I was pretty surprised at that result!

    Then I was told to lie on the bed and take one sock off. I’ll be honest, I was a bit worried about what she might want to do to me that might involve me removing a single sock... but it turned out that all she wanted to do was attach electrodes to my foot and my hand on the same side of my body. She then sent an electric current through one side of my body (a very small one, I might add – I couldn’t feel a thing).

    The reason for this is that the current passes faster through lean tissue, such as muscle, and slower through fat. This allows them to calculate very accurately your body fat percentages. I get the full results through the post within a week or two so I will give you all the unvarnished results once I have them... but Jess didn’t fall over in shock or anything so I hope it wasn’t too bad!

    After all the tests, we then made our way through to the room where I would be doing the respiratory performance tests. I was instructed to remove my top and lie down so that Jess could stick the pads to my torso that linked up to the heart rate monitor. Ten pads needed to be attached in total.

    I am a little hairy in the

  • ...

    chest region and Jess (with, I swear, an evil glint in her eye) informed that it would be necessary to shave me in certain places so that the pads could be properly attached.

    I was not expecting this at the start of the day. I had also already arranged to meet a mate down the pub that evening for *ahem* half a pint of shandy and some healthy nibbles... If I met a young lady later on, I was going to have some serious explaining to do when I took my t-shirt off!

    Jess finished her expert work with the razor and I looked down to find myself looking like something out of the film “40 Year Old Virgin”, as you can see...

    Me after Jess had finished with me:

    /members/images/744786/Gallery/chest_waxed_0.jpg

     

    Steve Carell after having his chest waxed:

    /members/images/744786/Gallery/bald_spots_1.jpg

     

    Padded up, I then proceeded to do the respiratory performance checks. The first test involved inserting a rather large mouthpiece and breathing in as much air as I could before violently expelling that air as fast as possible and then to keep pushing and not breathing in for six seconds. This allowed the machine to calculate my lung capacity, how much air I could expel in the first second and then the ratio between the two.

    My performance in this test was amazingly good! I was told that the predicted scores on this test were worked out on the basis of what is expected of an athlete (as these are the main type of people tested in this way). Jess said that they would expect most “normal” people to have a lung capacity around 80% of this prediction. The prediction was for a lung capacity of 5.34 litres of air for someone of my age and sex. My lung capacity came in at a whopping 6.53 litres!! That’s 122%!

    I was able to expel 5.30 litres in the first second, which was 81% of the total capacity. Again, this was very good and it is expected that between 70% and 80% should be expelled. So I have big lungs and good lung power... This was especially surprising for me given that I smoked for many years and only gave up about three years ago.

    Next, I was put on the exercise bike and started to pedal at 60rpm. The resistance was gradually increased in 50W steps and I carried on until I reached 85% of my VO2 max. From this, they were able to calculate all sorts of things including my estimated VO2 maximum.

    This was a little low for me and was the thing that I need to improve on the most. It came out at 33.8 mL/kg/min, which doesn’t mean too much to me in all honesty, but Jess showed me a chart and that level is towards the lower end of the ‘average’ range expected for a male of my age. That’s fine but, as every other test I was at the top end of ‘average’ or in the ‘above average’ range this was, relatively speaking, my weakest result. But that will improve naturally with training.

    Anyway, after the cycle test, I was taken to a lounge and had some food before Jess came and talked me through some of the results. I’ll save the bulk of the results for when I get the pack through the post but they were, overall, very positive and pleasing and I was left with the impression that I am in pretty good nick, which was great.

    It was a very worthwhile experience and I’m very pleased to have had it done!

  • Excellent write up of the BUPA Fitness Assessment! Lungs of a horse!

  • Shady_Ady wrote (see)

    Excellent write up of the BUPA Fitness Assessment! Lungs of a horse!

    Haha yes, apparently so! Can't believe it, considering I am an ex-smoker.

    Actually, this whole competition is almost verging on leaving me feeling frustrated that I wasted so much training time before! Given that I am making big leaps in performance levels, I was clearly performing way, way, way below my potential before now... It's a bit gutting when you think of it like that! Still, definitely putting that right now image

    Have you had your full results through the post yet?

  • Training - Week 7

    Sunday - LONG RUN 14 MILES EASY (8:40 - 9:30 M/M)

    So... Long run day. And, for me, this was actually a little intimidating. The furthest I have ever run in my life is 13.1 miles and I have only done this twice, the most recent of which was 2011... So setting out to run 14 miles was actually a bit nerve-wracking, as silly as that sounds when I am training for a marathon!

    But fortune favours the brave and so I headed out for the run and, it must be said, it went really well!

    Given the pacing I was aiming for on this run (8:40 - 9:30 m/m) I thought it would be criminally stupid to pass up the chance to do a few miles at goal marathon pace... My goal marathon pace for a sub 4 hour marathon is around 9 minutes a mile. I am, however, an eternal optimist and not a little ambitious. So I decided that goal marathon pace is actually 8:55 m/m. Much more sensible!

    As Ruth has asked me to give a few gels a go during a longer run, I took three out with me and had the first at 3.5 miles, the second at 7 miles and the last at 10.5 miles. Again, they did seem to really help me and I had no ill effects whatsoever so I think that gels are definitely the way forward for me.

    It was a bit nippy out but nothing too over the top. I did wear gloves but, to be honest, I reckon I probably would have been fine without once I was fully warmed up. The best thing was that the gale-force winds from the previous run, which really did make it incredibly tough, had long gone and running felt so much easier!

    This actually got me thinking and I’m hoping all you more experienced runners will be able to help me out here – when it is really windy, what is the best thing to do? Maintain form and stay upright or lean into the wind? Is it preferable to sacrifice some good form to lean in and reduce the surface area you are presenting to the wind? Surely that reduces drag and means it is easier to run through... but then you have sacrificed some form and are therefore running less efficiently...?

    Such deep questions as these often occupy my mind on longer runs... Anyone know the answer??

    On with the run and I felt pretty good throughout. I spent the entire run breathing very easily and felt very relaxed (although slightly less so in mile 14, as you will soon see!) and felt good come the end. I definitely could have run further, which was pleasing for me. Whilst I did feel very comfortable in terms of breathing and perceived effort, my quads and hamstrings did feel very heavy and fatigued just after the 10 mile mark. I did wonder at one point how I was going to get through the last couple of miles but the feeling passed soon enough. After the run, I was definitely feeling a little aching in my quads but it was nothing serious and they feel fine now...

    So on to the final two miles and, feeling good about my marathon pacing, I thought I had probably done enough of an experiment and that it would be ok to push the boat out a bit and have a bit of fun on the last two miles...

    Fun for me, as you will be well aware, involves copious amounts of speed and I duly picked up the pace.

    At the training day, Sam had explained to us how we should be running when we speed up. I think almost the natural reaction is to widen your stride and, therefore, cover more ground. But, as Sam explained, this takes a lot longer for your legs to complete a single stride and, consequently, your cadence decreases. It is much better and more efficient, therefore, not to extend your legs out in front of you but to increase your cadence and have your heels pushing through and rising a lot higher behind you – Alex, Mr Speedy, demonstrated for us and when he was really going for it his heels were flying up behind him, al

  • ...

    almost to his glutes (in essence, he was nearly kicking himself up the backside). He was not extending his legs far in front of him and this meant his turnover for his feet was really fast and, basically, he was flying forward! Again, as Sam has taught me, being aware of and maintaining your form is key.

    So, bearing all of this in mind, I sped up and had a bit of a blast for the last two miles and finished feeling strong and with a big smile on my face. It was definitely a huge milestone for me to have run farther than I have ever run before and I was chuffed to get through the run in such good shape.

    The last mile, in particular, was hugely impressive for me – I’ve always liked to finish a race with a sprint finish, but finishing this run so quickly over a whole mile was incredible and I was amazed when I looked down at my watch! Hopefully Sam won’t tell me off too much for going a little quickly at the end. All I will say in my defence is that my overall pace was within the goal pacing...image

    Here are the splits:

    Mile 1 – 8:49

    Mile 2 – 8:58

    Mile 3 – 8:55

    Mile 4 – 8:54

    Mile 5 – 8:53

    Mile 6 – 8:54

    Mile 7 – 8:50

    Mile 8 – 8:54

    Mile 9 – 8:57

    Mile 10 – 8:54

    Mile 11 – 8:49

    Mile 12 – 8:52

    Mile 13 – 8:13

    Mile 14 – 6:56 (that's huge 5k PB pacing territory for me, and it came at the end of 14 miles!!!)

    That works out for the 14 miles at a total time of 2:01:53, meaning an overall pace of 8:42 (see? I was a good boy really, Sam!)

    So onwards and upwards towards the next goal, which is the Dorney Lake half marathon in a couple of week’s time...

  • Steve

    Was about to sit down and write out pre race eating plan/carb load or you when I realised that Adrian, Alex and your good self all weight in at 67-68kg (well Adrian is getting there and have based this on ideal race weight for him) so of you don't mind I will just tweak both their plans and pop on here and see what you think!

    • Carbohydrate loading should aid with maintaining pace in latter part of race.
    • Suggest follow below plan for up to 3 days before Paris, although you do not need to practise a three day load before but suggest you do try a 2 load before Dorney Lakes? to test how the volume feels etc.
    • You can spread the morning & afternoon snacks out over a whole morning/afternoon. For example you may want to sip on 500ml of juice or snacks over 1-2 hours rather than have it all at once.
    • Protein such as fish/meat/cheese should be kept small or cut out altogether to reduce volume/bulk/extra calories of diet. You will have adequate protein in the below menu when resting anyway.  
    • You should feedback any negatives to me/how you felt doing this.
    • I have based this on 10g of carb per kilogram body weight.

    Here is first example!

     

    Breakfast

    60g of porridge   with 200-250ml of skimmed milk & 200ml glass of fruit juice 1x bagel   topped with large banana. Tea/coffee as usual

    130g

    Mid-morning

    410g tin   of fruit salad & 200g low fat yoghurt (topped on fruit if wish) &   500ml cordial/high juice/regular ribena over morning.

    100g

    Lunch

    150g rice   cooked weight (50g) & 250ml fruit juice.

     

    125g

    Mid-afternoon

    500ml   fruit smoothie OR 500ml low fat milkshake (again can sip on this over the   afternoon) white or brown roll pitta bread with some jam.

    95g

    Evening meal

    150g   cooked rice or pasta with tomato based sauce & 250ml of cordial/high   juice) & 200g low fat yoghurt or rice pudding

    140g

    Supper

     

     4 x weetabix or large bowl of other cereal (80g) with and 250ml of milk

    80g

    Total approx carbohydrate (grams)

    670g

  • Here is Adrian's plan but could also be yours or let me know what other snacks/foods you wish to include and I will alter/include as this is personal to you.

    Breakfast: Large bowl of cereal /porridge (60g of dried cereal) with milk & 1 full bagel with generous spread of honey & jam & 200ml glass of orange juice (approx. 130g)

    Mid- morning: Nibble on half pack of jelly babies (100g of sweets) and 500ml of low fat milkshake (approx. 120g of carbohydrates)

    Lunch:  100g pasta (dried weight) salad, low fat fruit yoghurt & large banana & 20ml glass of fruit juice (approx. 120g of carbohydrates)

    Mid afternoon:  banana sandwich and 400ml of fruit juice & 3 jaffa cakes (approx.110g).

    Dinner: 100g of pasta or rice or large jacket potato with usual foods but keep vegetables and meat/fish to small portions.  Large glass of fruit juice (300ml) or full sugar diluting juice and low fat fruit yoghurt (approx.115g)

    Before bed: large bowl of cereal or 3 slices of toast & jam (approx. 60-70g of carbohydrates)

  • Steve. well done on 14miler! Yes, gels appear to work for you and that is fab so one last time at Dorney Lakes: every 30minutes (although may not be neccessary it is good to use in a race situation so you plan how you are going to carry them, how hard they can be to open and get to mouth when tired etc) Then you can relax about using them as often.

    Have a good week.

     

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