VLM 2017 !!

1202123252632

Comments

  • Mine are 13 twice a week weekdays
    18, 20 and 15 on the Sundays and 10's on Saturdays
  • Should get me around lol
  • Frustrating at the moment.  Things were progressing well until a week ago then, after a good run, ended up in bed straight afterwards and don't feel I've fully recovered since.  Got to parkrun on Saturday.  Got round but couldn't run the whole of it and just had a sneezing fit afterwards and was streaming for the rest of the day.  That settled down yesterday but today is a day on leave and was supposed to be getting out to try to do a bit of a longer run but am only just getting myself moving.  Legs aching and tinnitus bad.  Effects of a stressful weekend from visiting the parents.  Hopefully should improve and get back out there again but an unwelcome setback with time running out.
  • TopSecTopSec ✭✭✭
    17 miles for me this weekend, split into 3 separate legs as part of a 200 mile relay team.  Ran easily a minute faster than my estimated time per mile.  The night time run (01:00) I hit miles with an 8 at the front of them!?!  Boiling temps and high humidity knocked me right back next morning though.  One long run next weekend and I'm tapering - yay :smiley:
  • Magazine received and Justgiving page set up. It's all starting to get very real...
  • DadAgainDadAgain ✭✭✭
    Jonathan, I have eight more long runs left - I need the practice
    Either you have a different definition of 'long run' to me - or this seems nuts! I've had a few people look at me suggesting that me doing 2 more 30km+ (20 mile) runs is a bit too much and leave too short a taper. I'm a fan of a 2 week taper, but *8* more long runs? 3 a week and then a 1 week taper? How could you possibly fit those in?

    Far be it from me to offer criticism of a far more experienced athlete than I am - but I would suggest that for the vast majority of people that would definitely be 'over cooking' things! 
  • DadAgain,
    Simple answer - I am mad.
    Also I never said I was tapering even in the last week.
    Got the marathons at Milton Keynes and Halstead straight after VLM and the Luxembourg at the end of May too - fourteen in 8 months including an ultra with about four halves too - they seem to get in the way of training in fact.
    Hope this helps
  • Rossi71Rossi71 ✭✭✭
    Leg still feels tight and sore. It is better than what it's been. Think I'll need to keep on resting it over next week and hope it improves. I'll continue the foam rollering and see if that helps. My longest run was 18 miles last weekend. If I don't do 20 as my longest run before I taper should this affect me much? 
  • Posting this here as well in case it gets missed on the other thread... Due to injury (which I'm just about managing to keep at bay) the longest run I've done so far is 16 miles (3 weeks ago, when I picked up my injury). Since then, I've done 0, 13 and 13 miles at the weekend but (had all gone to plan) was meant to be doing 20 this weekend. Should I just do 18 (stopping if my injury flares up) or not risk it and just do another 16? Or try the 20 and see how I get on?! Any advice gratefully received...
  • TopSecTopSec ✭✭✭
    Sarah, my advice would be to do 16.  If you feel good and injury is not bothering you, add on an extra mile or so.  Be careful of jumping up too much in one run though.  It really is a question of how you feel during the run.

    My first marathon coach told us beginners that if you can run 16 miles comfortably you can do a marathon!  You may have to walk from time to time but you will complete it without dying on your feet.

    All you need to bear in mind is that you may need to dial back your projected finish time from what you had first thought.

    Above all, do NOT make your injury worse at this stage.

    Good luck
  • You beat me to it TopSec
  • Sarah

    I'm a complete novice at this but at our charity training session the one piece of advice that really hit home for me was that getting to the start line slightly under-prepared but uninjured is an achievement in itself.

    They gave us some stats that were something like 50,000 entries are issued but only 40,000 get to the start line. Once on the startline, 98% of starters finish.

    Hope that helps.
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭
    Jonathan,

    I've read similar stats too - in fact the first time I heard this was the night before my first VLM, and I took a lot of assurance from the fact that the odds of me finishing were so high. And although it was hard going, I did finish. You're absolutely right to focus on getting to the start line uninjured, if you can get to the start then you'll get to the finish.
  • KieranGKieranG ✭✭✭
    16 done on Sunday. Made the mistake of wearing my thermal base layer - it was cold when I started, but by 10:00 it was roasting. The last few miles were a struggle (as in more walking than running), my route has me running uphill form the river back home - Chelmsford is unfortunate in that the town centre itself is built on a floodplain, so everything else around it is at higher level - great for downhill at the start, but not so great for uphill at the finish from where I live!

    The next week or so is messed up by going on holiday - 2 days at Alton Towers, followed by a week in the Lake District. For those of you who don't know what Alton Towers is like with teenagers in tow it generally involves a lot of walking (and sometimes running) between rides which are widely spaced apart and up and down hills. The plan was to do an 18 on Friday before going on Saturday but I think I might knock that back to 10 so I don't overdo it with the 2 days at Alton Towers straight after. Then a few midweek runs round the Lake District (limited to an hour so I don't eat into family time too much) and a 20 on the Sunday after coming home on Saturday. Then it's 2 weeks to the big day, so "taper" time ! Happy if I can get a 20 miler in, even if it involves walking some - just to get the distance/time in the bag mentally.
  • Kieran if you get the family out on long walks then that will help for London. I got a 6 hour walk in on Sunday there and it was glorious.  Obviously I stopped for cake though. :-)
  • GladragsGladrags ✭✭✭
    Kieran - really really wouldn't do a 20 miler 2 weeks out in your position? You stand very little chance of a physiological training gain and risk not having fully recovered before marathon day. Your 16 miler is in the bank - if you want to do another longer one I personally wouldn't go any further than 12 that close to the day.
  • GladragsGladrags ✭✭✭
    I'll also be in the Lake District when you are - I'll get up early to get a long run in. If you can only run for an hour - why not get up an hour earlier than usual to fit a 2 hour run in?
  • DadAgain,
    Did an extra mile than planned last night - will take it off from the planned 10 miler on the Saturday before VLM.  :smiley:
  • Agree with Gladrags - 2 weeks is too close for you. I'm having 3 weeks of taper.  Try and be a bit selfish on holiday - it's YOUR holiday too.  If I went out early nobody would mind - they'd be glad of a lie in..
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭
    Kieran, to some extent you're either ready now or you're not. A 3 week taper is sensible for a marathon, so with 2 weeks to go I wouldn't run any further than 15 miles max., and very slowly. A few midweek runs around the Lakes sounds good, but keep them short & fast to maintain CV fitness. The most important thing now is to not overdo it, don't do anything which invites injury, as there's now not enough time for recovery - remember those statistics above!
  • If you are following the route of the VLM as shown on page 175 of the magazine I predict your fastest mile will be between mile 7 and 8 and the slowest will be the next mile (from 8 to 9).
    This is because they have shown the 8 mile marker about one inch (on the map) too close to the 7 mile marker (which is in the right place as is the the 9 mile marker. 
    You can check it for yourself - I have already told VLM - am sure they think I have nothing better to do. - They are right.
    667.89 miles done since 1 January - hoping to get to 800 before VLM
  • DadAgainDadAgain ✭✭✭
    Ticked off a brilliant 37km run on Saturday last week, a comfortable 12km recovery run on Sunday then hit this week with a brutal 4x(400m/600m/800m) interval session on Tuesday.

    I was feeling a bit jaded when I set off on Wednesday morning for my 20km tempo run - and the 'tempo' bit just didnt happen. Legs wouldnt turn over quickly enough and it took all I could manage to just keep staggering along at 4hr marathon pace.

    Got home and figured I felt unreasonably sweaty so checked the current weather conditions. It was 27C and a whopping 92% humidity!! No wonder it felt tough!!!!!

    Woke up this morning to the sound of torrential rain and decided to give the scheduled 12km run a miss. With the tail end of cyclone Debbie coming into play and a cold front swinging in to meet it from the south, we in Brisbane have been predicted up to 500ml of rain in the next 48 hours (thats about the same as London's ANNUAL rainfall) - and possibility of tornados?!

    Bit of a shame to end March on a "no show" - but better to be safe than sorry in such crazy conditions.
  • > @TopSec said:
    > Sarah, my advice would be to do 16.  If you feel good and injury is not bothering you, add on an extra mile or so.  Be careful of jumping up too much in one run though.  It really is a question of how you feel during the run.
    >
    > My first marathon coach told us beginners that if you can run 16 miles comfortably you can do a marathon!  You may have to walk from time to time but you will complete it without dying on your feet.
    >
    > All you need to bear in mind is that you may need to dial back your projected finish time from what you had first thought.
    >
    > Above all, do NOT make your injury worse at this stage.
    >
    > Good luck

    im the same too. got to 20 miles and then developed a hip pain and shin pain whilst out of a 11 mile mid week run. Had a week off and now wondering whether to go back to 20 or go lower.

    Pain is still there but i just want to run the marathon so am going to "power" through it.

    Probably wont walk again.
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭
    Kennycapes - just be careful - don't run 20 miles if the pain is still there. If you make any injury worse now then there's not enough time to recover properly. You've had a week off, so my 2p-worth would be to try running again and see how it goes, but don't "power through it" in training whatever happens, I would think about running maybe 15 miles this weekend then maybe 13 the following weekend then scale it back to 7 or 8 on your last weekend. Not a perfect plan, but better than trying to run 20 miles if this is likely to cause problems. Are you foam rolling? Physio? Anything you can do to get rid of this pain now will be worth it.
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    For those wondering how long to make a long run 2 weeks out - I remember being in the same dilemma last year (doing London as my first marathon), I did a 20 miler 5 weeks out, raced a half marathon 4 weeks out, then went skiing for a week so no long run 3 weeks out and was worried I hadn't done enough, so was going to do 20 miles 2 weeks out. Thankfully someone on here talked me out of it, in the end I did 15 and with the benefit of hindsight that was plenty, and I went on to have a good race.

    I think I recall reading somewhere that the physiological benefits (i.e. your slow-twitch leg muscles getting stronger) of a long run take at least 3-4 weeks to materialise, so any really long runs in the last 3 weeks are mainly for confidence. It's still useful to do shorter runs though to maintain your cardiovascular fitness.

    (I might be wrong on the details but think the principle is correct)
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭
    NickW2, couldn't agree more. Also, even if there are some marginal gain to be had from long runs in the last 3 weeks, these are more than offset by the increased risk of injury and the fact that any injury incurred now doesn't leave enough time to heal before raceday. So not much to gain from running any long runs now, but everything to lose.
  • Just to inform everyone that I have been issued a new running number by VLM (to help any potential good looking stalkers tracking me) 
    The new number is 14503
    Real reason for change is to ensure that the Pacers are in the right colour start.
  • DadAgainDadAgain ✭✭✭
    1st of April and as if by magic the clouds disappeared and the temperatures cooled.

    I stepped out VERY early this morning (3:30am?!) to get in a few km's before meeting the rest of my crew who are up to 28km on their schedule. Had a very pleasant run around the Brisbane river which although swollen presents no flood risks at the moment. (Other rivers in the area do have people being evacuated due to expected floods as rainfall from catchments flows downstream).

    In a couple of spots the street lighting was out and there were a few fallen branches - so we stopped and cleared the path before someone got hurt.

    by the time I'd covered 30km the fatigue was really starting to make itself felt in the legs, but i was determined to test myself mentally. I accelerated a little for the last 7-8km of my run, leaving my buddies in my wake (we all tend to do that on the home stretch - its not antisocial).

    Finished up with a very rapid 4:35km (7:20/mile).

    Very happy to have finished my last super-long run before race day! 37km in the bag and feeling pretty good about it!!!
  • Last 20 mile run done in 4:02 today, 40 minutes quicker than last 20 mile run 3 weeks ago. So feeling happy & confident I will make it round before the cut off. 

    Now thinking about revising my goal, especially as my last long run prior to the Berlin marathon was 20 sec/km slower than today. I run a 5:08 in Berlin which is a PB, I was aiming for 6 hours but now thinking of aiming for 5-5.30. Am thinking about trying to keep up with the red 5 hour pacer & see how I go or the run/ walk pacer

    The walk/ run pacer aim is 5:15 I think from what I read somewhere. What pace is the running done at & how many minutes of running/ walking? 
Sign In or Register to comment.