DCM Novices / Sub 4:30 Mentored thread

rainbow kirby · 11-10-2009 9:00pm

Name|Sessions Completed|Total Miles This week|Total miles Overall | Comments
Sub430|||||
Rainbow|3|14|356|Fcuking awful, not there mentally at all.|
Mr Marenghi|||||
osnola ivax|||||
Bally8|||||
Goofygirl|4|29|432|brrr it's chilly out|
Buck65|||||
menoscemo|4|27|466|feel a bit of a cold coming on

|
Shadyladee|||||

Sub430 · 11-10-2009 9:04pm

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Name|Sessions Completed|Total Miles This week|Total miles Overall | Comments
Sub430|3|22|339|Fingers crossed that's the injuries over |
Rainbow|3|14|356|Fcuking awful, not there mentally at all.|
Mr Marenghi|||||
osnola ivax|||||
Bally8|||||
Goofygirl|4|29|432|brrr it's chilly out|
Buck65|||||
menoscemo|4|27|466|feel a bit of a cold coming on |
Shadyladee|||||

.

--amadeus-- · 11-10-2009 11:11pm

And no, I didn't forget the promised sermon on PMA...

Now you may not have noticed through the magic of the Interweb but - in addition to my dashing good looks and suave sophistication - I am rather a confident person. Indeed I am the sort of person who thinks "How hard can it be to..." (Which gets me into trouble sometimes but most of teh stains wash out)

Anyhow I went into my first marathon training program with a "Meh, thousands of people do this, I'm fit, it'll be a doodle" attitude. And I lined up on the day with an utter conviction that I would breeze through the race in sub 4, have a couple of pints and tick it off the list.

Well that all went well until about 16 or 17 miles in when my legs suddenly decided that this whole marathon lark wasn't much fun and they decided to just stop running.

Which came as something of a surprise.

So I walked for a bit and gave my legs a stern talking to and got running again. And they stopped again. And they made it pretty clear that full scale insurrection wasn't far away.

This was not in my all conquering game plan. I tried a few more runs but it was not working. I walked for longer and longer each time and negative thoughts began to seep in. It was just after the RDS when things hit bottom. I stopped to "stretch" and it suddenly popped into my head. I could drop out. They have 1st aid stations. They must have a way of getting people to teh finish. I was in pain, I must be injured. Dropping out is no shame.

Of course it was all in my head. I closed out the thoughts pretty quickly and I started to shuffle off and a slow walk of the undead. Which is when my marathon angel turned up - a great fat Dub on an ancient bike on the sidelines looked right at me. And he shouted "If it was easy everyone would do it. Now pick up your f**king feet and *RUN*". If I had been feeling better I would have run across the road and punched him. But I was damned if that fat Dub would see me drop out. So I moved from undead shuffle to zombie run shuffle. I probably wasn't moving any faster but at least it looked like running. And a bit down teh road was a hand made banner - "Pain fades, glory doesn't" (Lance Armstrong I think). Well that was it - off I went and didn't stop running to the end...

Moral of teh story?

No matter how mentally strong you think you are you will go to a dark place during some stage of teh race. And you need to be ready for that moment. You need to have memories of teh good races. You have to have faith in the training you have done, you have to have faith in your abilities. Some runners have a mantra they use to get through the tough patches. Some use mental games ("I'll run to the corner, then see about a walk break"..."OK, I'll just run to.."). Having lists of reasons you will finish the race in your head can help. One woman writes 26 names of friends and family on her arm, one for each mile ("Oh now John would be cross if I walked in his mile!").

I don't care how corny it might seem. The more races I run the bigger a percentage I think is run with your head. Work out your mental strategy now so that if you do get into a negative loop in teh race you'll be able to snap out of it because each and every one of you is physically ready. Now get mentally ready too.

Mr Marenghi · 12-10-2009 12:16am

|
Rainbow|3|14|356|Fcuking awful, not there mentally at all.|
Mr Marenghi|2|32|366|Did my 20miler at the start of this week so less sessions done, plus I was away for a day or two - but 20 went really well and so did 12miler today !|
osnola ivax|||||
Bally8|||||
Goofygirl|4|29|432|brrr it's chilly out|
Buck65|||||
menoscemo|4|27|466|feel a bit of a cold coming on

|
Shadyladee|||||

Oisin11178 · 12-10-2009 3:50am

--amadeus-- wrote: »

And no, I didn't forget the promised sermon on PMA...

Now you may not have noticed through the magic of the Interweb but - in addition to my dashing good looks and suave sophistication - I am rather a confident person. Indeed I am the sort of person who thinks "How hard can it be to..." (Which gets me into trouble sometimes but most of teh stains wash out)

Anyhow I went into my first marathon training program with a "Meh, thousands of people do this, I'm fit, it'll be a doodle" attitude. And I lined up on the day with an utter conviction that I would breeze through the race in sub 4, have a couple of pints and tick it off the list.

Well that all went well until about 16 or 17 miles in when my legs suddenly decided that this whole marathon lark wasn't much fun and they decided to just stop running.

Which came as something of a surprise.

So I walked for a bit and gave my legs a stern talking to and got running again. And they stopped again. And they made it pretty clear that full scale insurrection wasn't far away.

This was not in my all conquering game plan. I tried a few more runs but it was not working. I walked for longer and longer each time and negative thoughts began to seep in. It was just after the RDS when things hit bottom. I stopped to "stretch" and it suddenly popped into my head. I could drop out. They have 1st aid stations. They must have a way of getting people to teh finish. I was in pain, I must be injured. Dropping out is no shame.

Of course it was all in my head. I closed out the thoughts pretty quickly and I started to shuffle off and a slow walk of the undead. Which is when my marathon angel turned up - a great fat Dub on an ancient bike on the sidelines looked right at me. And he shouted "If it was easy everyone would do it. Now pick up your f**king feet and *RUN*". If I had been feeling better I would have run across the road and punched him. But I was damned if that fat Dub would see me drop out. So I moved from undead shuffle to zombie run shuffle. I probably wasn't moving any faster but at least it looked like running. And a bit down teh road was a hand made banner - "Pain fades, glory doesn't" (Lance Armstrong I think). Well that was it - off I went and didn't stop running to the end...

Moral of teh story?

No matter how mentally strong you think you are you will go to a dark place during some stage of teh race. And you need to be ready for that moment. You need to have memories of teh good races. You have to have faith in the training you have done, you have to have faith in your abilities. Some runners have a mantra they use to get through the tough patches. Some use mental games ("I'll run to the corner, then see about a walk break"..."OK, I'll just run to.."). Having lists of reasons you will finish the race in your head can help. One woman writes 26 names of friends and family on her arm, one for each mile ("Oh now John would be cross if I walked in his mile!").

I don't care how corny it might seem. The more races I run the bigger a percentage I think is run with your head. Work out your mental strategy now so that if you do get into a negative loop in teh race you'll be able to snap out of it because each and every one of you is physically ready. Now get mentally ready too.

Excellent post bud and very inspiring. I ran my first in Longford a few weeks back and although in fairly bad pain with a foot injury after 24 miles i never once comtemplated walking. The mental battle is big but if you know your training was decent you should have faith in yourself:)
See you guys in Dublin:D

goofygirl · 12-10-2009 5:08pm

Did the 6 miler this morning: minus 16 outside. Brrr. But do you know something, it was incredibly beautiful. No wind, no clouds, just the pale and milky sun. I was running by the Glenmore Reservoir: the water was cobalt blue, the overnight haze was rising off it, there were fir and pine trees sloping down to the side and framing all this in the background were the Rockies, jagged and pristine white with new snow. It's moments like that which make it all worth it.

And then I came home and had a cup of tea and breakfast.

misty floyd · 12-10-2009 9:26pm

goofygirl wrote: »

Did the 6 miler this morning: minus 16 outside. Brrr. But do you know something, it was incredibly beautiful. No wind, no clouds, just the pale and milky sun. I was running by the Glenmore Reservoir: the water was cobalt blue, the overnight haze was rising off it, there were fir and pine trees sloping down to the side and framing all this in the background were the Rockies, jagged and pristine white with new snow. It's moments like that which make it all worth it.

And then I came home and had a cup of tea and breakfast.

Nice post. You should take some pics and post on the 'pictures of where I run thread'. Its called something like that anyway.

Another great post Amadeus, thanks.

HardyEustace · 13-10-2009 12:10am

Hi guys, I'm bouncing over to the 4:30 group from the 4 group so thought I'd wander over and say hi. Managed a very slow 16 miles tonight so I'm hoping I'll keep it together for marathon day.

A, great post!

Anyway, hope to see you all in two weeks time. Hopefully, please God/<insert appropriate deity's name> we'll be finished and be injury free and very pleased with our times.

Anyway, hopefully see you all by the 4:30 ballons. I'll be in a Galway triathlon top with my fat bits tucked in for the start of the race (because I'll care about how I look for the first three miles or so), I'll probably be crying (I've yet to start a marathon without crying, Berlin was the worst), I maybe throwing up or look like I'm about too (cool as a cucumber on the inside I swear!

).

Anyway, hope to see you all at the start!

I'm actually really, really looking forward to having a pacer and some company for hte race (hopefully for all of it!)

--amadeus-- · 13-10-2009 3:50pm

What you talking about?

You're more than welcome but you're well capable of running 3:45, never mind sub 4. I understand the lure of the pace group (who can resist ITB in his Pirate gear!) but going from an early target of 3:45 to 4:30 is a major step back. You better have some dam good reasons for not keeping me company in teh sub 4 grouping...

Oryx · 13-10-2009 3:56pm

Oh Wise One, in case I forget to say, good luck this weekend, youre going away for a marathon, right?

Thanks for all the help this past few months.

You rock, amadeus.

Sub430 · 13-10-2009 4:01pm

+ 1 to that.

Best of luck chief.

HardyEustace · 13-10-2009 4:08pm

--amadeus-- wrote: »

What you talking about?

You're more than welcome but you're well capable of running 3:45, never mind sub 4. I understand the lure of the pace group (who can resist ITB in his Pirate gear!) but going from an early target of 3:45 to 4:30 is a major step back. You better have some dam good reasons for not keeping me company in teh sub 4 grouping...

Ah A, you're very good. I'll get that sub four and sub 3:45 soon but just not right now. Apparently my asthma accelerated exponentially over the summer (doctor says it happens in about 10% of cases), so if you'd seen me and my various asthma attacks and panic attacks over the course of the summer, it's really a no brainer. Like, when I said I wanted a sub-3 olympic I didn't mean one where I finished up in the back of an ambulance. :rolleyes: Then because I was so discouraged at how badly I was doing I did let the training slide <<morto blushing>>

So next year!

Had I known of course you'd be in the sub four group, I'd have been on the epo to make up that gap. [/bad taste joke]

This year will be about controlling the asthma and getting the fitness back up. Then next year, train hard and give it my all. I've a new steroid inhaler, that I've been on for five weeks (had to go onto the highest dosage) and that's helping.

Oh yeah, I'll be the one with an inhaler gaffer taped to each thigh! I did 16 miles last night and had to stop about four times. Hills destroy me as does cold air or dampness. so I don't know if I'll even keep up with the pacing group as I might end up walking up the hills but might see if I can trot on ahead and then walk up the hills.

Not hard to lose motivation but now have to realise that if I don't train it won't happen and I'm also getting my asthma under control now.

Best of luck this weekend! Hope you've a great race.

menoscemo · 13-10-2009 4:16pm

Good luck Amadeus and see you in a fortnight!!

Wilbury · 13-10-2009 9:06pm

HardyEustace wrote: »

So next year! Had I known of course you'd be in the sub four group, I'd have been on the epo to make up that gap. [/bad taste joke]

H.E. You MUST be talking about 'evening primrose oil', cos if you are,I'll have some of that!!! This taper lark has me doing my head in. Talk about highs and lows of training, I was never so grumpy, stroppy, moody etc. (I know, I know, TYPICAL MAN), maybe it is my age, and to cap it all, like menoscemo, I feel a cold coming on:mad:. Anyway, enough of that.
No more complaining from me as every time I log on some other poor unfortunate person has had to pull out, so I am going to be happy with my lot!

Bally8 · 13-10-2009 9:33pm

|
Rainbow|3|14|356|Fcuking awful, not there mentally at all.|
Mr Marenghi|2|32|366|Did my 20miler at the start of this week so less sessions done, plus I was away for a day or two - but 20 went really well and so did 12miler today !|
osnola ivax|||||
Bally8|4|30|391.5|Best week since I got injured|
Goofygirl|4|29|432|brrr it's chilly out|
Buck65|||||
menoscemo|4|27|466|feel a bit of a cold coming on

|
Shadyladee|||||

Very limited access to internet recently so only posting it now. Eek less then 2 weeks to the big day now!!

Sub430 · 13-10-2009 10:06pm

4 miles in 32m57 - happy with that, stretched the legs to make sure everything is back working properly and it seems to be.

rainbow kirby · 13-10-2009 10:07pm

My run today did not suck. This makes me happy because it's the first good run I've had in about 2 weeks.

goofygirl · 14-10-2009 1:33am

Sorry if people are getting bored with the daily weather updates from Calgary. Minus 4 and 10cms of snow overnight. 5 miler was difficult today because pavements were only sporadically cleared and I was "breaking tread" through fresh snow a lot. Also to avoid slipping on the icy sections I had to resort to this odd Keystone Cops type gait. Apparently you can get special spiked shoes for winter running.

On the plus side at least my legs should be strong for the ski-season this year. Woo hoo! Ski-bumming here I come again!

osnola ibax · 14-10-2009 7:24am

goofygirl wrote: »

Sorry if people are getting bored with the daily weather updates from Calgary. Minus 4 and 10cms of snow overnight. 5 miler was difficult today because pavements were only sporadically cleared and I was "breaking tread" through fresh snow a lot. Also to avoid slipping on the icy sections I had to resort to this odd Keystone Cops type gait. Apparently you can get special spiked shoes for winter running.

On the plus side at least my legs should be strong for the ski-season this year. Woo hoo! Ski-bumming here I come again!

I wondered how the hell you were managing runs in those conditions, there is no way I would fancy heading out in the extreme cold, trying to negotiate snow and ice etc. Incredible.

--amadeus-- · 14-10-2009 11:51am

GG - running on concrete and tarmac will be a breeze after all that!

HE - ok, we'll let you off this time but next year /shakes virtual fist...

And thanks folks for teh good luck wishes (even if Oryx clearly needs to move on from teh 80s

). Number 10 this weekend so it's a bit of a routine at this stage. Trying not to get too caught up in it all though or put too much pressure on myself over the target. If I run to form the target is possible and even if I don't I have the fitness to PB so what will be will be. Doing a lot of visualisation this week, which is something I haven't consciously done before and might be good for some of you guys to try too.

Sub430 · 14-10-2009 9:10pm

6m tonight in 55m27. HR 155.
Nice run, pace varied wildly between the miles though.

Blueskye · 14-10-2009 11:35pm

I just wanted to say how brilliant this thread has been. I've been training for my first marathon by myself and have found this site a huge support and it's great to know others are having similar experiences. I'll definitely be doing a training log for marathon no. 2. Best of luck to everyone on the day, we're nearly there, hopefully we all kick ass

buck65 · 15-10-2009 3:55pm

Hello again all!
Was injured for the past 2 weeks and was so depressed about it and feared missing the race I couldn't even look at the thread. Had a knee niggle since mid Sept. The 18 miler on the 26th caused swelling and pain. took it easy and tried to run a wek later - got to 7 miles and had to walk 5 miles home. Took a week and a half off with 2 chiro sessions.
Some kind of repetitive strain injury on the muscles. Returned on Monday night and did a 3 miler and did 5 last night. Knee is ok-ish, so fingers crossed. I will do a 6/7 miler on Saturday and if I get through it I will attempt Dublin - if not ...not going to go there now.
Anyway good luck to all , thanks Amadeus for your help and support, hope to see ye on the 26th.

Sub430 · 15-10-2009 4:45pm

buck65 wrote: »

Hello again all!
Was injured for the past 2 weeks and was so depressed about it and feared missing the race I couldn't even look at the thread. Had a knee niggle since mid Sept. The 18 miler on the 26th caused swelling and pain. took it easy and tried to run a wek later - got to 7 miles and had to walk 5 miles home. Took a week and a half off with 2 chiro sessions.
Some kind of repetitive strain injury on the muscles. Returned on Monday night and did a 3 miler and did 5 last night. Knee is ok-ish, so fingers crossed. I will do a 6/7 miler on Saturday and if I get through it I will attempt Dublin - if not ...not going to go there now.
Anyway good luck to all , thanks Amadeus for your help and support, hope to see ye on the 26th.

Welcome back buck,
Injuries are a mare but seem to be part and parcel of marathon running apart from a select few.
Looks like my left leg is fine again but strangely my right knee if giving me jip now but only when stationery, fine once running. i'll have that seen to after the marathon

See what Saturday brings, fingers crossed you will come through unscathed.

Sub430 · 15-10-2009 7:15pm

Handy 3 miler in 27m18 - sponsored by Aldi.
Shorts on the base set are a bit rubbish, kept slipping until I tied my running shorts. Shirt is a good un, probably a bit too mild for it tonight though.

goofygirl · 16-10-2009 1:36am

Awful 2-3 miler (not sure of exact distance, will explain why in due course).

So it started off when I went to put on my Garmin and realised that the battery was low so that would have to be put aside.

The temperature here has rocketed up to plus 2C - it's positively tropical! - which means that all the snow which fell earlier on in the week has now melted. Meaning that I was running through freezing ankle-deep slush.

Calves were incredibly tight and painful and I was just having one of those "Ha! Idiot! You thought you were going to be able to run a marathon!" moments.

I then took a wrong turn and rather than ending up on the river trail I came face to face with the Calgary Water Treatment Plant. Nothing like the smell of defrosting sewage. Especially when your feet are sopping wet.

This was about a mile and a half from my house so to get back I just abandoned any notions of pace and trotted home at the slowest recovery pace ever, buoyed along with thoughts like "okay just make it to the bustop. Okay, now just make it to the corner".

I'm going to write to the Office of the Ombudsman for Distance Runners and demand my money back. I thought this tapering bit was meant to be easy!

--amadeus-- · 16-10-2009 9:40am

goofygirl wrote: »

I'm going to write to the Office of the Ombudsman for Distance Runners and demand my money back. I thought this tapering bit was meant to be easy!

Rough run. If it's any consolation that's not that unusual in a taper run (the no energy, tight muscles, what have I let myself in for feeling, not the defrosting sewage. That part seems unique to you I'm afraid!)

All the energy and physical resources you normally put into running are now getting put into repair and rebuilding so you'll often find during taper runs that your legs will feel tired - my runs this week have been dire too, if it's any consolation. Relax, don't let it wreck your head and you'll all be grand.

Last post from me until Tue probably so enjoy the weekend!

Sub430 · 16-10-2009 9:53am

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Last post from me until Tue probably so enjoy the weekend!

GO, SEE, CONQUER!

osnola ibax · 16-10-2009 8:24pm

Sub430 wrote: »

Welcome back buck,
Injuries are a mare but seem to be part and parcel of marathon running apart from a select few.
Looks like my left leg is fine again but strangely my right knee if giving me jip now but only when stationery, fine once running. i'll have that seen to after the marathon

See what Saturday brings, fingers crossed you will come through unscathed.

+1 buck65, mate of mine told me you are a famous hip hop artist, didn't realise, hope u make it Monday week

Sub430 · 17-10-2009 2:17pm

So that's it, the last longish run until the big day. Yikes.

8m in 1:16. Avg pace 9:30 - same as for the marathon itself (hopefully).