London marathon training log/blog

TheRoadRunner

I have been accepted the run i the London marathon this April 2009. I'm going to log my training here over the next 6 months. I was supposed to run Dublin this year but got a bad injury.

Some background about myself. I'm 30 years of age have been running with a club since the age of 9. I have a couple of juvenile BLOE national medals. I'd consider myself an average club runner. My favorite distance is either 5K or 10 miles. I run mostly on the roads but also subject myself to some cross country madness now and then.

My PBs to date are
5K 15:40 (2007)
4 miles 21.01 (2008)
5 mile 26.45 (2007)
8 mile 45.02 (2005/6 ?)
10 mile 56.10 (2007)
Half Marathon 75.20 (2008)
Marathon 2hrs 49 mins (2007)

My goal is to run sub (or as close as possible to) 2.40 in London in April.

First proper week back training next week. Injury is still latent so will ease back into full training over a 4 week period. Plan is as follows

Mon 8 miles (includes 4.5 mile tempo)
Tue 8 miles very easy
Wed 7 miles (includes 4 mile Fartlek)
Thursday 8 miles easy
Friday rest
Sat 2 mile warm up, 5*1k, 2 mile cool down. Rep times not nb at the moment
Sun 90 mins easy

Woddle

Best of luck, some impessive times and congrats on your entry, I was rejected, but thats Ok Paris instead, I'll follow this with great interest

Peckham

Good stuff RoadRunner - look forward to tracking your progress.

Based on your times, would rank you higher than average club runner!

ike

Likewise looking forward to reading more! As Peckham said I'd say above the average club runner standard. Those times would place you high in any race. What interests me is how your going to go about improving those times. Based on your 10/half times at a guess I'd say your marathon time should be better. Best of luck

stmochtas

Best of luck TheRoadRunner, really looking forward to seeing how the faster runner trains. Your times are excellent and an inspiration to the slower man like myself.

TheRoadRunner

ike wrote: »

Likewise looking forward to reading more! As Peckham said I'd say above the average club runner standard. Those times would place you high in any race. What interests me is how your going to go about improving those times. Based on your 10/half times at a guess I'd say your marathon time should be better. Best of luck

Thanks for all the kind comments. I think there is definitely room for improvement in most of my times. The marathon time is my major goal though. Marathon plan won't kick in properly until January. I'm just hoping to get back training and racing (for Boards AC) before Chrimbo.

TheRoadRunner

Manged to get the week rolling with a decent run in windy conditions.

Legs are feeling a bit tight as a result of my injury but I think I'm keeping it in check. Tempo part of run was easy enough nothing too hectic. Happy enough with day 1.

Abhainn

Best of luck TheRoadRunner. Also looking forward to your log.
With those times you are more like an elite club runner if you ask me.

shels4ever

Best of luck I'll be keeping an eye on this log.

TheRoadRunner

I bought a pair of the skins compression tights a couple of months back. I have had no recent need to wear them but put them on last night.

I don't know if it was a placebo effect but my legs feel great today. I was having problems with my groin and was planning on getting some treatment on Friday. The groin is great today. I'm going to keep wearing the tights and hope I continue to feel the benefit.

Looking forward to easy run later today

TheRoadRunner

Just back from run. Was delighted to get out. What a great day.

Got held up at a poxy meeting, to make matters worse there were no scones at the meeting. Bloody cut backs, the only reason I attend those meetings is for free carbs. Anyway come run time I was starving and it took a bit of persuasion to get me out the door. I didn't stretch enough as I was running late and meeting up with some lads but i was grand.

did first 4 miles in 7.30 pace and second 4 sub 7 min pace. Felt fine although I'm a little tight now. I'll do some extra stretching (especially groin) this evening. I have a routine of doing 20 mins in the morning and also evening. I'm finding this is helping me recover from my injury.

Tomorrow is fartlek so I'll have to have an extra weetabix for breakfast

TheRoadRunner

I had a count of the number of tablets I take with my breakfast this morning and I'm surprised I don't rattle when I run. Each morning I take

2 codliver oil tablets - I take these for historical reasons, i.e my mum use to give them to me when I was younger so I have continued to take them myself.

2 flaxseed oil tablets - I suffer from dry eyes and find these brilliant. If I stop taking them within 3 days I am waking in the night with sand paper eyes. They are supposed to strengthen nails & hair also !!!!. They are also rich in omegas so I'm hoping they are also beneficial to my running

2 Glucosamine Chondroitin tablets - These are supposed to help build cartilage etc. There is a lot of conflicting evidence as to their benefits. I was bought a few months supply so I'll keep popping them in the mean time.

1 Centrum multivitamin - I think I have a reasonable diet and probably get most required vitamins/minerals form it but to air on the safe side I also take a multivitamin tablet. There are days when I don't eat properly and these tablets are a decent source of iron just in case I'm missing out.

2 Nurofen cold & flu - I have a head cold I'm trying to shift, don't take these normally obviously.

ELVIS EAT YOUR HEART OUT :cool:

Fartlek later today. Looks like its going to be nice and bright again today so can't wait for the torture to begin.

TheRoadRunner

Pain Pain Pain Pain

After my early morning good humor I actually found it hard to get out training. The lads I normally do farlek weren't around so I had to go solo. I find this hard to do sometimes, I hate doing sessions alone, especially when I'm not fully fit.

I did a pyramid session at fartlek effort if that makes sense.

Session was
1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 minutes of controlled running with 1 min easy running between intervals.

Legs were feeling a bit tired. I keep forgetting I'm coming back from a period of inactivity. 3 months ago I would have breezed through this session...... not today though. Still it's in the bag.

20 minutes of stretching and weights later this evening is on the cards.

shels4ever

Still a good session, were you doing much cross training during your injury ?

TheRoadRunner

Thanks. Yeah I'm happy to have it done.

I did no cross training at all while injured. I tried to but my arse, hip, back etc were all fecked so it was very frustrating.

TheRoadRunner

Today was suppose to be an easy 8 miles but the wind made it quite tough. Still I took it handy where I could and actually quite enjoyed the run. I was quite stiff and can feel a good few niggles in multiple places so will have to monitor them over the coming days/weeks.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I was planning on switching Saturdays session to tomorrow due to domestic commitments but I'm feeling pretty tired so will just have to get up early Saturday ! I'll do a good bit of stretching this evening and an extra long stretching session tomorrow.

I'm hoping the wind dies down over the next couple of days. I can handle most conditions but wind is my least favourite. As a runner I'm sure I'm not alone ! The wind also has the potential to wreak havoc on "Marathon Monday". I'd hate to think that somebody would miss out on their target time because of the conditions, but it does happen.

TheRoadRunner

Today was a day of rest Was feeling pretty tired so was glad of it.

I had a couple of niggles so I went to the physio today. I have decided to be proactive and make sure my injury doesn't resurface.

I got some good treatment and extra stretches that I need to do. There is one muscle around my hip that is causing all my troubles and woe. Two of the new stretches really concentrate on this muscle so hopefully my visits to the physio will become less frequent. In the grand scheme of things I think it is a good idea to get checked out by a decent physio (it has taken me forever to find one) every now and then. The cost if approximately 50 euro but once every couple of months is money well spent in my eyes. Prevention is better than cure and all that !

I have a session of kilometers planned for tomorrow. I'm going to have a few pints of liquid carbohydrate (and alcohol) tonight so it probably won't be a great training session. I'm not too worried about the quality or intensity of my training at the moment. April is a long way away and I just want to stay ticking over and injury free.

TheRoadRunner

What a crazy session. Had planned on doing 5*1k. The wind was savage though so I altered the session slightly. It was a bit of a joke because for the first 600 metres I was flying with the wind behind my back while the second 600 I was hardly moving. I was happy enough to get out in the end. Few niggle buts plenty of stretching sorted them out

TheRoadRunner

Just back from long slow run. Felt good was a little tired by the end but that probably had something to do with the pizzas, chicken nuggets, chips, sausages and beer yesterday .

Week 1 over and done with and I covered most things I planned on doing (~50 miles). Next week will be very similar as will most weeks until after Christmas.

shels4ever

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Just back from long slow run. Felt good was a little tired by the end but that probably had something to do with the pizzas, chicken nuggets, chips, sausages and beer yesterday .

Week 1 over and done with and I covered most things I planned on doing (~50 miles). Next week will be very similar as will most weeks until after Christmas.

niceone back in with 50 miles a week. Were you doing your sesson on corkagh yesterday?

TheRoadRunner

shels4ever wrote: »

niceone back in with 50 miles a week. Were you doing your sesson on corkagh yesterday?

Thanks. I should clarify. I didn't come straight back in with 50 miles. I've been back training 4 weeks (including this one) now. Started off with 20, 30,40 and now 50. Will hold it at that until after Christmas and then crank up the mileage. Fitness wise I'm not as bad as I thought, but biomechanically I've a bit of work to do.

Yeah I was down in Corkagh yesterday, and today. Did the session in the back field that runs parallel to the Grangecastle road.

I can meet up with you some day to show you the loop if you like ?

shels4ever

Ah i know it, that field was hard going yesterday I did an 8 mile there and went through there twice, Right in your face once you got into the field.

Was down this morning for a very short run too.

Sounds like an idea whats the longes loop you have in there, I do a 3.8 ish loop all on grass jsut on the perimeter of the park.

TheRoadRunner

Didn't get out until this evening. Went down to Walkinstown to cheer on the Dublin marathon runners. What a perfect day for marathon running. I was really afraid it was going to be a wash out weather wise. There were plenty of supporters out also so was good craic.

Got 8 miles in on grass at just under 7 min per mile. A little quicker than I planned but it was soooooooooo cold. Something similar planned for tomorrow

TheRoadRunner

didn't get out until after nine this evening so kept it short and sweet.

Had my dinner after seven so ended up running/jogging with a full stomach. Let's just say it was less than ideal.

Entire run was on roads which is something I have tried to avoid since starting back. Was quite stiff when I finished put happy with myself for getting out the door.

Need to get sleep now for fartlek tomorrow !!!!!

TheRoadRunner

Reading comments about the Dublin marathon by other Boards members has me really wishing I had of been fit enough to have run it myself.

To help me plan ahead I bit the bullet and booked my flights and accomodation for London. I usually leave this as late as possible. I can be a bit superstitious and reckon booking too early can put the mockers on me. However, in the last couple of weeks hotel availability has diminisihed while prices are rocketing upwards. I've decided to travel as a spectator even if I'm not racing so hopefully that will negate the mockers

I booked a nice hotel around Greenwich which is close to the start. It is quite expensive but has good reviews so I think it will be worth it. I'll be spending most of Saturday in the hotel room watching television so don't want to sat in a kip !

I also booked my flights, I'm flying out Friday evening and coming home Monday evening. Flights with Aer Lingus and were less than 100 euro all in so happy days.

TheRoadRunner

Just back from session. It was fecking freezing. Well almost 2 degrees to be exact.

Did the fartlek session. Probably about 6 miles including warm up and cool down. Majority of intervals were around the 2 minute mark. 30 seconds recovery between each one.

It was cold but very enjoyable

TheRoadRunner

8 miles on the grass this afternoon. Felt great and managed to bump into a couple of friend for the second 4 miles so worked out well.

No running tomorrow but will hopefully do a good session of stretching and light weights.

TheRoadRunner

Friday was a planned rest day. I wasn't feeling great yesterday so I took it off also. Was well annoyed with myself but I just didn't have the energy or inclination o get out the door !

TheRoadRunner

Today was an easy long slow run. Felt ok and enjoyed the cold sunshine !

TheRoadRunner

Run went very well today. Nice fresh day.

Tempo was slightly quicker than previous weeks and I was working hard without hitting top gear, wasn't too far from it though. Am planning on some quality stretching this evening. Have been neglecting this slightly lately.

TheRoadRunner

Felt absolutely brilliant today. Had to keep reminding myself to relax and take the foot off the gas. Ran entire run on grass. Injury is definitely under control now. Will keep plugging away and make sure I don't do anything silly before Christmas.