Brighton Marathon 2017

I make it 18 weeks today - a long time away and scarily close at the same time!

So join in the fun - tell us why you've entered, what your ambitions are and were the training is at ...

I ran Brighton in 2010, the inaugural year.  It was a great day, full of memories, a few painful,l but I hobbled home in 3:05:xx.

Having had a few lean years hampered by injuries I'm hoping to put together a consistent campaign over the next 4 months and toe the line in reasonable shape to do my myself justice or at least beat the 2010 time!

A steady 21K for me today, my longest for at least a year.  Just need to build the distance over the next few weeks and not let Christmas in the way ...

 

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Comments

  • SBD.SBD. ✭✭✭

    So day 4 of the Brighton 2017 Campaign for me and just an easy 10k planned.

    Managed 10K easy on Monday, 14K with 6K tempo on Tuesday and 18K steady on Wednesday.  So, so far, all looking good.

    Has anyone else started their training for Brighton and how is it going?

  • Started P&D 18wk upto 55 mile plan this week. Second attempt at sub 4 for Brighton.

    Nice 8mile tempo Tuesday, 9 steady last night. First 'long' run this Sunday is only 12 miles.

    Looks like I'll be able to fit the planned schedule around Christmas, biggest difficulty I can foresee is the peak mileage week clashes with a skiing holiday!

  • SBD.SBD. ✭✭✭

    Welcome StuHolmes - when did you last run Brighton and how did you fair last time?

    I think it's good to start a marathon schedule pre-Christmas and try to train through the festive break. The Sunday long runs could be a bit tricky!

    I'm still thinking of booking a Feb half-term ski-trip but this will play havoc with the marathon schedule!

  • Brighton this year (2016) was my first marathon and was hoping for sub 4. Was on target until mile 21ish when the niggle I had been feeling in my foot since mile 8 was amplified to such an extent that I ended up walking/hobbling until mile 25 but then the crowd carried me over the line for 4:15.

    Am hoping I can find a treadmill in the ski resort, but doubt i will, it's  very small and half way up the mountain.

  • Brighton 2016 was my first (and currently only) marathon. I was aiming for sub 3:15 but tired in the last 4 miles and came in at 3:17 and change.

    I am entered for 2017 and will be looking to get sub 3:15 again. I think a little higher weekly mileage this time around and skip the 20 mile race 3 weeks before and I should be able to do it.

    I will be ski-ing the first couple of weeks of Feb so will start training for "proper" when I get back from that. Before that I will continue with my regular winter schedule which is quite high mileage anyway.

     

  • SBD.SBD. ✭✭✭

    Welcome Jason.  Did you follow a schedule last year and what was your peak weekly mileage.   Also, did you start from the mass start or the fast start?

    A definite February skiing trend starting ... I took my running shoes with me last year but never found the time to use themimage

    A gentle 6 miles for me today in preparation for tomorrows 15 miler. 

     

  • I didn't follow a plan, I just increased my weekly milage over the course of 3 months. At the peak I was running around  40-50 miles a week. I work shifts which means I have a busy week and a quiet week so following a plan isn't really an option.

    I started with the mass start, though I did manage to find myself on the very front row somehow for the start.  I have requested to be considered for the fast start next year, as a time under 3:20:00 qualifies you for that, but will have to wait and see as there are lots of people who want to start there.

    I have no plans to try and run while I am away skiing, so will pick up again when I get back. I am not going to run any races in March at all next year as I think that had a detrimental effect, so just training and a proper taper I think.

  • This will be my first marathon.  I was all signed up for last year but tore my calf on a boxing day park run and had to defer.  Had about 3 months off and had to get back into it. Still don't seem as fast as I was this time last year and been plagued with odd niggles.  Hopefully legs will be good and all will come together.  Need to not eat myself silly over crimbo and loose a few more lbs. 

  • I'll be doing Brighton again in 2017, it'll be my fourth marathon and third time at Brighton. Hoping for a sub-3 time. On the second week of the P&D 18 week, 85+ miles plan. So far so good!

  • I'm in for Brighton. I consider myself a Londoner as I've been here since I was a year old, but I was actually born in Brighton so, in lieu of London, it's a home marathon of sorts.

    Brighton will be my second marathon, having done Manchester this year. As a slightly chunky 49 year old with a stride that could be described as an energetic shuffle, I am not going to be troubling the elites. I did Manchester in a smidge under 4:45 so I aim to better that this time around.

    Manchester was difficult because my I suffered a groin strain (suffer being the operative word - it's by far the most painful injury I've had) in the gym last December and couldn't run for a month. Consequently, I didn't log as many miles as I'd have liked, so the last six miles of the marathon were bloody awful (and yes, I had to take a few walk breaks as various bits went into spasm).

    I think I could get under 4:30 at Brighton if I manage not to get injured again. I set a lot of PBs in the Autumn including my first sub-2 half (well, I actually ran three sub-2 halves in a row) so I don't think it's unreasonable. And I'd actually like to get through the race without walking. image

  • Am in for this.

    First marathon since Berlin 2013, managed to get round that off 3 runs per week in 3.48.

    Aim this time is to up the runs to 5 which will see an increase in weekly mileage, higher than I have ever done before.

    Initial thought is sub 3.30 but will give it 6-8 weeks of training first before burdening myself with a target that may prove to not be possible...

     

  • I'm in too.



    Fairly worried I have bitten off a lot as I haven't been running this long. Will do my first 10k this weekend and then gradually increasing my mileage from there.
  • Claireruns, nobody will tell you a marathon isn't tough but it is certainly achievable! From my limited experience (5 marathons) it is time spent running rather than distance covered or speed in the early stages. Being used to running for 1, 2, 3 hours etc

  • I'm doing Brighton 2017, did it this year as my first Marathon. I wanted to do 3.30, but  got 3.39. I had what I feel was not great training advise & got ill 2 months before the race. I wound up sitting in a toilet in mental bits hahah!

    This time I'm healthy & have started to up my mileage & slow my pace. I'm also running more trails, rather than just road. I'm not following a training plan, but maybe I should...... any thoughts? 

  • Chris, I don't follow a plan as such. I find plans too rigid and I prefer to go more by feel, since I'm 49 and take a bit longer to recover. I generally do parkrun on Saturday, which is basically my speed work; long run on Sunday, Monday off, recovery on Tuesday, then a medium run and either intervals, progression or tempo on Wednesday and Thursday (I may rest and extra day or swap these around depending on how I feel. For instance, I did 17 miles on Sunday, recovery Tuesday but I felt even tireder on Wednesday so I did another short easy run then and today did a 6.5 mile progression run).

    I'll also change things around if I'm doing a race. I have a 10K and two half marathons booked in so I'll have to work around them.

    It is worth noting that I am not a fast runner and a lot of runners swear by plans if they are seeking particular results. Having said that, my own slightly ad-hoc training has helped me set a lot of personal PBs this Autumn, so I'm pretty happy with how I do things.

  • For me – I like a plan. Have it printed off and cross off runs as I do them.

    I find it easier to not have to think about what run to do, just follow the plan, however as Cal says they are not for everyone.

    The plan I am doing is sub 3.30 but I will wait until a few weeks in before focussing on a definite target.

    My PB is 3.48 and I believe I can beat this with good training. To go sub 3.40 I will need very good training but sub 3.30 will probably mean needing to go injury and illness free for pretty much the whole 16 weeks.

    At this early stage the main thing is getting the miles in and hopefully building confidence as your fitness/speed/endurance improves, no point worrying about what might happen in a 4 month block.

    ChrisS78 – be interesting to know what bad advice you received?!

  • SAFERSAFER ✭✭✭

    Hi All, been waiting for a Brighton thread to start up. This will be Brighton number 4 for me, well hopefully, I have been suffering with ITB for the last 7 months. Had to cancel a few marathons this year so lets hope 2017 is a better year.

    Good luck training over Christmas and into the New year everyone!

  •  I'm not a fan of plans myself, just like to do my own thing. Just make sure you get a good mix of fast and slow runs and build each week. This time I will be doing more long slow runs and avoiding to many races in the weeks before.

  • RichardHill wrote (see)

     

    ChrisS78 – be interesting to know what bad advice you received?!

    The issue was that I joined a club & got talked into it. I'd been running a while & had done a few half's . The people I started training with had done a few marathons already, our Wed run was say 10 miles at 8/8.30 min/mile this was too much for me off the back of a hard ish Tues club session. Then a long run Sunday, again at race pace, Basically I ran too hard all the time, burned myself out & didn't prepare my body for a long race.

    I'm now doing two 'slow running' sessions over long distances and one speed session.

     

  • 14 weeks to go. Need to start stepping up my training. Need to get up to 50 mpw by the end of January. Got one more 10k race left then it will be longer races for a few months.

  • Happy 2017 folks, guess it's time to put the beers away & start training!

    To be fair I've had a fairly light festive season, so have trained fairly consistently- I even did a 28 miler last week. Problem is I'm not experienced & think I may balls it up. I'm thinking of following a training plan, but I like doing my own thing. I'm also thinking of seeing a coach & doing the V02 thing. I am feeling fit, but not fast. I have one 15 mile xc race booked in Jan, but nothing else.

    I am probably answering a lot of the questions in my head as I type but any thoughts would be ace.

  • 28 miles in one go or 28 miles in one week?

    If the former then sounds like you have the mileage in you already! 

    Why don't you have a look at a few different plans and get a feel for what they entail?

    Most of them have variations of the same components - a speed/interval session (which sounds like you would benefit from), a tempo run, a long run and a steady run - you could see how you can fit these in to your own training if you don't want to follow one to the letter.

    I am entering week 3 of the Runners World sub 3.30 plan, this week has 3 days of 6 mile runs each being different. 1 x interval, 1 x steady and 1 x progression. The weekend is a 4 mile hill session and then 13 miles at 8.30 which is going to be pretty tough for me this early on...

     

  • I have a pre-Christmas 17 miler under my belt but was feeling pretty lethargic after the festivities, so I was relieved that today's 12 miler went pretty well (especially as I did parkrun on Saturday and Sunday). I averaged 10:11 today, so given that I need 10:15 for a sub-4:30, I'm happy with that.

  • wow, 12 miles in under marathon pace is a tough run!

    my 12 miler yesterday was marathon pace plus 60-90 secs per mile

  • Yeah 28 miles in a one-er, worked out 9.07 min mile. I feel fit, but not fast enough for the 3.30 I'm aiming for.

    Thanks for the advice guys, I'll have a look at some plans. I'm working on the idea I need 50 miles a week with one speed session. this is probably wrong haha.

  • Chris - why not chuck in a few marathon paced miles towards the end of your next long run?

    Eg - if you are doing 13 miles do the last 5 or 6 at marathon pace. This will give you an idea of whether you can hold the pace after a few miles or not...

  • So, accomodation. I'm in a club, but don't run with them often as they train evenings and I like to run in the morning. But anyway, they were talking about finding accomodation so I said I'd be up for that, only, nothing has happened.

    I'm now a bit concerned and thinking of just going ahead and booking my own. Does anyone have any recommendations?

  • I think most nearby accommodation is either full or ridiculously inflated prices. I've got a room booked at a Gatwick hotel and will either train from there or use one of the park and ride sites.

  • I will be driving in on the day but you could check out air bnb, they may still have some deals to be found.

  • You're not wrong, Stu. At this rate I might be cancelling my place and entering another marathon.

     

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