Thanks Shades. I tend to be a bit one paced, shorter runs when I'm feeling good about 9 min/mile pace or just under and the rest of the time 10 min/miling or thereabouts.
If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
Just wanted to pop in and say thanks for the pacing info again - got a shiny Garmin for Christmas - so have been trying to keep to the ranges suggested - have to hold back on the urge to go a bit faster (which is relative by the way because it's not that fast!) and remind myself that I need to go further not faster! So thank you very much.
Shades - I know I'll find it tough to train at a slower pace than feels natural. I think that part of it on the long runs is wanting to get them over with! What's the 'science' in slowing down for longer runs?
If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
Shades - thanks very much for the schedule. I'm going to give it a go and have adjusted it for Paris which is 2 weeks earlier than London.
My PB's are 1/2 Mara - 1:47 - March 2005 Marathon - 4:12 - October 2005 Grizzly - 3:49 - March 2005 10k - 51 mins - spring 2004(haven't done any 10k's recently)
This year I did 3 half marathons, an off road 7 mili(sh) race, an 8 mile off road race, the grizzly, 2 marathons (spring and autumn) and a mountain marathon (summer). I had a fab year but think I may have overdone it a bit on the harder stuff, hence injury.
I think I could do better on the marathon, but so much depends on the day itself, who knows!!
I'm not sure on pace but suspect like LMH I may be running long runs too fast.
I tend to train at about 9 min miling, sometimes a bit quicker on shorter runs, but have to say my running has not been that structured. Time to change??
LMH - long runs need to be done at a slow pace so they are aerobic (65-70% of max heart rate), these build endurance and develop muscles for distance. Also trains the body not to burn out by using all glycogen in one hit(so hitting the wall) and gets the body used to using fat stores too. If you do your long runs too fast (i.e. marathon pace) you are effectively racing every time you do a long run. Knock on effect of that will be that you will not perform well on marathon day as you will be tired. Lots of peeps will tell you that they can't understand why they were actually slower on race day than in training - invariably they did all their long runs at planned race pace.
It requires discipline to keep the pace down - everyone is tempted to do every session/distance better or faster than before but with marathon training you have to be patient. My Dublin girls did no speedwork and kept the pace of their long runs to the required speed, 3 weeks before Dublin they did a half marathon race and did some fantastic PB's, averaging 8 - 10 mins off previous best times.
The Grizzly is fairly local to me and I think in time is equal to most peeps marathon time. So you should be able to do a road marathon in about 3.45/3.50ish - did you have a bad time in your marathon or just tired near the end?
Easy 9.10 to 9.40 Tempo 7.50 to 8.10 Long 9.10 to 10.10
Try and not to be competitive with yourself by aiming for the faster end of the pace times. Also at this time of year when the long runs are not very long, do not be tempted to run them faster than long run pace. If you feel you are ahead of schedule and have difficulty slowing the pace for long runs choose a hilly route and keep the pace slow.
shades - the point you made about training pace for long runs being at marathon pace will leave one pretty tired by the time the marathon comes around makes such absolute sense. I had never considered that this could be a factor!! Doh!!
In the 2 marathons I have done the first one was in 4.13 at Paris last year. I felt completely spent by 21 miles. Quads went, legs gave up and I felt like I was sprinting when running at 12 min miling!! Until that point I was bang on for 4 hours. I'm pretty sure that not enough long runs was a factor there.
For Cardiff (4:12) I could definately have done it quicker, but I caught up with my hubby who was suffering considerably at 22 miles and so we ran/walked the last 4 miles together. All thought of time became not important at that point but I would probably have come in around 4:07 if I hadn't stopped.
The grizzly was a fantastic race - I literally had a ball! I ate my way through all of the food that was on offer - jelly babies, wine gums etc and also stuffed in energy bars, tracker bars and so on! I loved the bog and had hysterics watching people wading through! I just think I happen to like those sort of events which could be why I did better, I was on a real high for that race.
With the marathon I struggle mentally (as we all do) but tend to give in too easily for my liking!
I'd love to crack 4 hours, that would be great!
I am going to try like LMH to be a good girl and keep an eye on my pace for longer runs. And of course you hit the nail on the head with the pace threshold as when I read your post I was looking at the faster paces rather than the slower ones!! :0)
Please could I have a copy of your plan too? I've been reading the posts about pace, and this might be a stupid question, but how can i work out my pace? I did a 10K in 54mins in October, and in a normal run can do 5k in about 30-35mins.
Becca - from your 10k time, you should be able to do a half in 2.00 and a full marathon in 4.15. However when using short races to calculate these times it's impossible to know how you will cope with longer distances, some cope better than others. You do need to do a half marathon as part of your training.
paces
Long runs 10.10 to 11.10 Easy runs 10.10 to 10.40 Tempo runs 8.50 to 9.10
Comments
10k PB - 54.06 Feb 2005
Half Marathon PB - 1.58.37 Sept 2005
Marathon - 4.28.16 Oct 2005
If you have time to do my training apces?
Ta.
Easy 10.00 to 10.30
Tempo 8.40 to 9.00
Long 10.00 to 11.00
all min/miles
how do these pace compare to what you currently train at?
You hopefully have an e.mail from me requesting a copy of your plan.
Thanks
have e.mailed you hope you can send me a copy.
many thanks
Thank you!
You'll soon get used to the paces and it will make training much more comfortable.
My PB's are 1/2 Mara - 1:47 - March 2005
Marathon - 4:12 - October 2005
Grizzly - 3:49 - March 2005
10k - 51 mins - spring 2004(haven't done any 10k's recently)
This year I did 3 half marathons, an off road 7 mili(sh) race, an 8 mile off road race, the grizzly, 2 marathons (spring and autumn) and a mountain marathon (summer). I had a fab year but think I may have overdone it a bit on the harder stuff, hence injury.
I think I could do better on the marathon, but so much depends on the day itself, who knows!!
I'm not sure on pace but suspect like LMH I may be running long runs too fast.
I tend to train at about 9 min miling, sometimes a bit quicker on shorter runs, but have to say my running has not been that structured. Time to change??
If you do your long runs too fast (i.e. marathon pace) you are effectively racing every time you do a long run. Knock on effect of that will be that you will not perform well on marathon day as you will be tired. Lots of peeps will tell you that they can't understand why they were actually slower on race day than in training - invariably they did all their long runs at planned race pace.
It requires discipline to keep the pace down - everyone is tempted to do every session/distance better or faster than before but with marathon training you have to be patient. My Dublin girls did no speedwork and kept the pace of their long runs to the required speed, 3 weeks before Dublin they did a half marathon race and did some fantastic PB's, averaging 8 - 10 mins off previous best times.
The Grizzly is fairly local to me and I think in time is equal to most peeps marathon time. So you should be able to do a road marathon in about 3.45/3.50ish - did you have a bad time in your marathon or just tired near the end?
Easy 9.10 to 9.40
Tempo 7.50 to 8.10
Long 9.10 to 10.10
Try and not to be competitive with yourself by aiming for the faster end of the pace times.
Also at this time of year when the long runs are not very long, do not be tempted to run them faster than long run pace. If you feel you are ahead of schedule and have difficulty slowing the pace for long runs choose a hilly route and keep the pace slow.
I am like LMH - I usually train in around marathon pace and by the time the marathon comes around I'm jaded.
Could you give me my training paces. I intend to run the Connemara marathon at the end of March. Thanks, Seamus Henry.
In the 2 marathons I have done the first one was in 4.13 at Paris last year. I felt completely spent by 21 miles. Quads went, legs gave up and I felt like I was sprinting when running at 12 min miling!! Until that point I was bang on for 4 hours. I'm pretty sure that not enough long runs was a factor there.
For Cardiff (4:12) I could definately have done it quicker, but I caught up with my hubby who was suffering considerably at 22 miles and so we ran/walked the last 4 miles together. All thought of time became not important at that point but I would probably have come in around 4:07 if I hadn't stopped.
The grizzly was a fantastic race - I literally had a ball! I ate my way through all of the food that was on offer - jelly babies, wine gums etc and also stuffed in energy bars, tracker bars and so on! I loved the bog and had hysterics watching people wading through! I just think I happen to like those sort of events which could be why I did better, I was on a real high for that race.
With the marathon I struggle mentally (as we all do) but tend to give in too easily for my liking!
I'd love to crack 4 hours, that would be great!
I am going to try like LMH to be a good girl and keep an eye on my pace for longer runs. And of course you hit the nail on the head with the pace threshold as when I read your post I was looking at the faster paces rather than the slower ones!! :0)
So I'll keep you posted if that's ok.
Thanks
Scoobs
Please could I have a copy of your plan too? I've been reading the posts about pace, and this might be a stupid question, but how can i work out my pace? I did a 10K in 54mins in October, and in a normal run can do 5k in about 30-35mins.
Thanks!
Becca
Your half time predicts a marathon in 3.50ish, so again you maybe had a tough time in the marathon or went off too fast.
Paces are
Long runs 9.10 to 10.10
Easy runs 9.10 to 9.40
tempo runs 7.55 to 8.15
how does this compare with your training paces?
paces
Long runs 10.10 to 11.10
Easy runs 10.10 to 10.40
Tempo runs 8.50 to 9.10
I think I probably overtrained and was tired at the main event.
Shades - This will be my fourth time doing the Connemara marathon. I look forward to meeting you at Connemara.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL XXXXXXXXXXXXX