P&D Spring Marathon Training Thread

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  • Dr.DanDr.Dan ✭✭✭

    image 4M the day before seems a lot to me ... I won't be doing that.

  • I think most of us cut down the last week a bit last year (without fucking up our whole marathon: a lucky escape! image) but actually the 4 miles the day before is one of the ones I did do!

  • andrew... agree that the final taper week is too heavy for my ageing legs!  I won't be doing 22 miles, that's for sure.  More like 10-15, with no more than a couple on the Saturday.

  • RamjetRamjet ✭✭✭

    I think any running in the last week is for the sake of confidence as much as anything else - you might worry about being over-tapered if you don't run at all the week before the marathon.

    Also the run the day before is supposed to help with carbo-loading.

    Surely after all the marathon training the final taper week should feel fairly trivial?

  • For Brighton, I ran all the prescribed miles in the last week and felt great on the start line. Before the New Forest, I had a few niggles so rested for the last 3 days and felt very sluggish at the start. 

    I suspect that everyone is different in how they react to rest/running but if you're trusting the plan right up to the last week then why suddenly start altering it?

  • My opinion; the miles of the final week are on the plan, so do them. 

    Too fast again today - 12.3miles @ sub-3 pace, when the quickest I should run MLs is 7:13pace.

    Another day closer to burn-out! I can see Sunday being a sufferfest. 

  • 15West15West ✭✭✭

    We are all different, and some of us need more recovery than others. In the last few days I reckon run as much or as little as you feel...usually I have a rest day on the friday, and a few miles on the saturday.

  • My philosophy for the final week is that I can't do too little, but I can certainly do too much. Hence I err on the side of caution.

    My knee pain caused no bother at all during my run - unlike the DOMS in my quads, hams and glutes and the effin' wind*. It felt harder than an average GA run, but I stuck to the pace plan. Hopefully I won't regret that decision when it comes to my long run on Friday.

    As expected (and feared), my personal circumstances mean that I'm going to be spending an inordinate amount of time on my treadmill over the Christmas period. I'm hoping that I can get help to watch the nippers so that I can at least go out to run the long runs - I really don't fancy running the MP run in my garage! Christmas has arrived at a crappy time. My mantra will be, "not long 'til the schools reopen!". 

    Talking of which.... it's school run time image

    *the weather - not a farting episode image

  • interesting Tenjiso, my mantra is almost the total opposite... 'not long enough 'til the schools reopen' image

  • You must be a teacher, Andrew image 

  • Not seen this discussed for a while...

    My long run pace is about 9.45.  My LT pace is about 7.35.

    What pace would you run your GA, if you were me?

  • Nose Nowt: GA pace range is MP+25% to MP+15% 

     

  • MP+25% seems awfully slow.  I feel clumsy at that pace. I don't know what to do with my arms.

  • I just run them in my normal easy range and the average comes out slightly slower than longer runs just because it takes me a couple of miles to get going.

  • Hmmm.   Thanks.  I've not read that bit of the book since the spring (and I've misplaced it).  I've had it in my head that GA was quite a bit faster than the long runs.  I've been thinking and doing 9:00 to 9:15..   The reason I asked the question was that I wasn't sure, physiologically, if that was an ideal training pace.

    For my (ambitious) MP of 8:24, that means I should be between 9:40 and 10:30.  Wow.    10:30 would be S  L  O  W!    At that pace, instead of a 10 mile GA taking 90 minutes (already a stretch for the family) would take a quarter of an hour longer.  Not sure I can get away with that!  Maybe compromise around 9:50 to 10:00 mins.

    But it does settle my mind, because I did think 9 min miles wasn't ideal.  Glad I discovered this mistake early in the plan. image

  • FergFerg ✭✭✭

    I usually rest the day before a race and have always felt ready to go. Seems to have worked so far.

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    I tend to stick  to between 15-25 percent of mp dependant on how I feel and that is the middle ish of me McMillan easy pace.

    Foot still too sore to run. Bored of spin I decide on body pump tonight. Might at least get hench out of this enforced rest period!

    Re the last week of the schedule, I don't think I will do it exactly. I may very well cover 20 ish miles but they will all be done mon-wed. I like a good news days clear even before a 10k. 

  • Nose nowt, I'm looking at a similar MP to yourself, I try to run my GA runs at 9.30-9:45 with my long runs starting at 10:00 or slower and getting progressively faster (although not much) then recovery runs I try to maintain 10:00 or slower.  I have the same family issue as yourself so not looking forward to the midweek 12 mile runs. Like others here i don't enjoy running that slowly but both my previous marathons I have hit problems at 19 and 22 on the last having trained largely at MP or faster, hense the choice to follow P&D including the pacings

    5 mile recovery this eve at just over 10:00 average.  Possibly the first time I've ever ran a proper recovery run and to be honest it feels as though it was beneficial, but looking forward to letting myself go tomorrow with a LT run (8miles w/4 @ HMP)

    oh and i know a lot of people use McMillan for their pace guides but according to my 10k and half times I should be aiming for a 8m/m or faster marathon pace. Don't feel comfortable committing to that at this stage so with a slower target MP it means I also have to train at an even slower pace image

  • After not having any injuries all year, I'm now onto my second one after the knee. Shin/calf is now really sore for the last 2 days. Looking at mileage and pace, slight increase since Sept, but not that much. Decided will take a proper rest over Christmas & get back in the new year. Rest, ice, stretch the leg between now and then.

  • FergFerg ✭✭✭

    OK, to summarise:

    1. Strides are good if you whole-heartedly pretend to be a gazelle.

    2. Hills are doable if you pretend to be a squirrel.

    That clears that up then.image

  • School holidays, so 5miles around a 400m track today in the pouring rain, with my daughter watching from the car. Nice.

     

  • FergFerg ✭✭✭

    Not sure why my post appeared again, so apologies - IE strangeness strikes again.

    Was talking to a girl yesterday in work who ran a 3:01 marathon in Belfast this year off 35-45 miles a week. Plenty of speedwork seemed to be the key for her - 1600m repeats at about 6:15, LSR progressing to MP in the last half and some tempos. Impressive time for the mileage.

    andrews148 - on the upside, you'll be long finished before alot of others today, so you can bathe in your glory!

  • Squirrels? Gazelles? BDSM? This P+D lark teaches you more than you bargained for! image

    I'm back on track and lurgy free! It was an LT session for me this morning, which was a just a little slower than I was aiming for, but maybe it's because I had to slow down for a circling, jumping, barking dog twice. At least the owner had the good grace to intervene - the same thing happened earlier in the run with another dog and when I questioned the owner he gave me a mouthful of verbal abuse. I don't usually have any problems with dogs - it must be this wind that is turning them a bit crazy. No excuse for prat owner like that though.

    Hope all with niggles/injuries are recovering well.

    On a more positive note, winter solstice tomorrow. I'm sure we've been here before...

  • Doh! it's not is it? It's Saturday!!! I'll get this right yet...

  • macemace ✭✭✭

    Nose Nowt - my understanding of P&D is you should run the GA's depending on how you feel and they are the one run that's a bit more flexible on pacing. ( Whereas the quality sessions and recovery runs you should be more strict ) So if you're a bit mashed run them slower. I'd say 9:30 will be fine for you and if you're up to it you could do them a bit quicker.

     

  • .. and half of 68 is not 39. damn

  • good luck with the leg Rachel.  Can you cross-train?

  • Dr.DanDr.Dan ✭✭✭

    Run your long and easy runs at a pace that will enable you to do the quality running properly. If you're too tired when it comes to LT and MP sessions, then you're probably going too hard on the other runs.

     

     

  • 15West15West ✭✭✭

    I'm with mace on running on depending on how you feel. Quite often all my GA/MLR/LR runs are around about the same pace...and I usually speed up a bit as I go along. Also agree with Dr Dan in that should not be too knackered for the quality sessions, something I'm often guilty of.

    12mi for me today. Nice day up here.

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