2010 Dublin Marathon Novices/Sub-4:30 Mentored Thread

beamgirl

Name|Sessions Completed|Total Miles This Week|Total Mileage To Date|Comments
William72|2|16.1|41.7|Sore Knee - rested a little this week and prob need to rest it again now ahead of the 5 miler|
rofno1|4|17|38|So made the 7 miles yesterday, really felt it. Pace was far too fast and was wrecked by 5 miles.|
elvis jones|||302.5||
boccy23|4|19|69|9 mile LSR was tough at the end. Problem with hydration which I need to address.|
brophya2007|5|47|64|Step back week, 5 miles LSR so got an extra 2 mile run in this week.|
beamgirl|4|15|46|still sticking to the plan, one sixth of the way there!|
michellemuncher||||
Dave_|3|13.6|257.4|Poor week this week and no lsr so have to make sure i get it in this week|
RayCun|4|25.7|86.85|very tired after both midweek pace run and LSR. Racing this saturday should be a nice break|
littlebug|4|20|78.2|hamstring tendon (last years injury :rolleyes:playing up a bit|
meathcountysec|||129.53||
DigiJem|4|19|86|Good week, did 9 miles my new "longest". Left achilies a little sore today|
8ofSpades|||43.25||
D Chief|||29.75||
digger2d2|4|23.5|82|Tough week due to man flu but got through it, doing short stuff this week with intervals/strength etc. for the 5 mile and then will resume on Week 5 of the plan next week|
Shazkea|4|20|67|Rollercoaster week, hated the shorter 4 mile run but really enjoyed the 10 LSR!|
Curl52|||27||
ilovetorun|4|32|118|Just got 4 runs in this week,happy with 10m LSR,tried 6m fartlek for the first time and found it tough going although the rain didn't help I suppose.Another week down!|
James Howlett|6|26|63|Good week, hit all my training sessions including Cross Training – Swimming. The rain sure did make it easier this week |
RallyRunner|||31||
corked|3|12.4|24.6|
Cr17|||4|


Im thinking of turning the 5 mile race this weekend into the LSR - do a mile or so warm up then the race and a slow mile or two afterwards definitely wont get to 9 miles but if I about reckon reckon that should be okay

RallyRunner

Name|Sessions Completed|Total Miles This Week|Total Mileage To Date|Comments
William72|2|16.1|41.7|Sore Knee - rested a little this week and prob need to rest it again now ahead of the 5 miler|
rofno1|4|17|38|So made the 7 miles yesterday, really felt it. Pace was far too fast and was wrecked by 5 miles.|
elvis jones|||302.5||
boccy23|4|19|69|9 mile LSR was tough at the end. Problem with hydration which I need to address.|
brophya2007|5|47|64|Step back week, 5 miles LSR so got an extra 2 mile run in this week.|
beamgirl|4|15|46|still sticking to the plan, one sixth of the way there!|
michellemuncher||||
Dave_|3|13.6|257.4|Poor week this week and no lsr so have to make sure i get it in this week|
RayCun|4|25.7|86.85|very tired after both midweek pace run and LSR. Racing this saturday should be a nice break|
littlebug|4|20|78.2|hamstring tendon (last years injury :rolleyes:playing up a bit|
meathcountysec|||129.53||
DigiJem|4|19|86|Good week, did 9 miles my new "longest". Left achilies a little sore today|
8ofSpades|||43.25||
D Chief|||29.75||
digger2d2|4|23.5|82|Tough week due to man flu but got through it, doing short stuff this week with intervals/strength etc. for the 5 mile and then will resume on Week 5 of the plan next week|
Shazkea|4|20|67|Rollercoaster week, hated the shorter 4 mile run but really enjoyed the 10 LSR!|
Curl52|||27||
ilovetorun|4|32|118|Just got 4 runs in this week,happy with 10m LSR,tried 6m fartlek for the first time and found it tough going although the rain didn't help I suppose.Another week down!|
James Howlett|6|26|63|Good week, hit all my training sessions including Cross Training – Swimming. The rain sure did make it easier this week |
RallyRunner|4|20|51|Did my first LSR on Saturday morning. Got on well pace was very slow for the first few miles. Quicker at the end.|
corked|3|12.4|24.6|
Cr17|||4|


Running the adidas 5 mile this weekend. Looking forward to it now.

8ofSpades

Name|Sessions Completed|Total Miles This Week|Total Mileage To Date|Comments
William72|2|16.1|41.7|Sore Knee - rested a little this week and prob need to rest it again now ahead of the 5 miler|
rofno1|4|17|38|So made the 7 miles yesterday, really felt it. Pace was far too fast and was wrecked by 5 miles.|
elvis jones|||302.5||
boccy23|4|19|69|9 mile LSR was tough at the end. Problem with hydration which I need to address.|
brophya2007|5|47|64|Step back week, 5 miles LSR so got an extra 2 mile run in this week.|
beamgirl|4|15|46|still sticking to the plan, one sixth of the way there!|
michellemuncher||||
Dave_|3|13.6|257.4|Poor week this week and no lsr so have to make sure i get it in this week|
RayCun|4|25.7|86.85|very tired after both midweek pace run and LSR. Racing this saturday should be a nice break|
littlebug|4|20|78.2|hamstring tendon (last years injury playing up a bit|
meathcountysec|||129.53||
DigiJem|4|19|86|Good week, did 9 miles my new "longest". Left achilies a little sore today|
8ofSpades|3|17|60.25|last mile of 9 was tough, need to start getting that 4th session in|
D Chief|||29.75||
digger2d2|4|23.5|82|Tough week due to man flu but got through it, doing short stuff this week with intervals/strength etc. for the 5 mile and then will resume on Week 5 of the plan next week|
Shazkea|4|20|67|Rollercoaster week, hated the shorter 4 mile run but really enjoyed the 10 LSR!|
Curl52|||27||
ilovetorun|4|32|118|Just got 4 runs in this week,happy with 10m LSR,tried 6m fartlek for the first time and found it tough going although the rain didn't help I suppose.Another week down!|
James Howlett|6|26|63|Good week, hit all my training sessions including Cross Training – Swimming. The rain sure did make it easier this week |
RallyRunner|4|20|51|Did my first LSR on Saturday morning. Got on well pace was very slow for the first few miles. Quicker at the end.|
corked|3|12.4|24.6|
Cr17|||4|





sorry in advance for the ramblings....

Need to start looking into water drops once we start getting over 10 miles. I can manage up to that distance relatively ok

I have a question about my cross which is circuit training every Wednesday.
My schedule usually looks like this

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Tuesdays prescribed session
Wednesday: Circuit Training, i.e. my cross
Thursday: Wednesdays prescribed session
Friday: Rest
Saturday & Sunday: alternate between Thursdays prescribed session or Saturdays prescribed LSR depending on what suits me best. As in I do one session on the Saturday and the other one on Sunday but in no set pattern. Try to do the LSR Saturday where possible

Anyone see any problems with this approach?

I read in someone's training log that your cross can be anything but preferably not load bearing.
i.e swimming, cycling etc.
Any problem using Circuit training as a cross?
I find it great for core training and we go through the full range of movements with lots of warm up stretches and a cool down.
Find it great for ironing out the kinks

Thoughts?

I'm also having problems gettng the 4th run in so need to work on that.

Finally, lucky old me got a garmin 310xt as an advanced present for my birthday so now I need help interpreting the data.
Went for the310xt as I hope to eventually do tris/gaelforce

anyway this week

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 3.80 miles
Tuesday
Wednesday: Circuit Training
Thursday: missed session
Friday: 4.20 miles that should have been done the previous evening
Friday
Saturday: 9 miles LSR, legs felt like lead after mile 8 and i collapsed to a walk. possibly due to trying to catch up the previous night
Saturday

Anyway I'm looking for peoples thoughts on my HR as I'm new to all this.
For background info I'm a male, 29, 5'11 and 83 kilos.

I'm also running the adidas 5 on sat so best of luck all

Thanks

rainbow kirby

I honestly don't see a problem with using the circuit training as your cross training, particularly as it helps to strengthen your core - very important for runners because a strong core can help prevent injuries lower down.
I will leave comments on your HR to someone else though - I don't train with a HRM at all so I'm really not qualified to advise on it.

menoscemo

8ofSpades wrote: »

Anyway I'm looking for peoples thoughts on my HR as I'm new to all this.
For background info I'm a male, 29, 5'11 and 83 kilos.

I'm also running the adidas 5 on sat so best of luck all

Thanks

HI 8 Of spades. Just looking at your 3 runs there, your average HR from the 3 runs seems to be in the 160's, I suspect it is too high, but it is difficult to tell unless we can get an accurate measure of your Max HR. If you are running the 5 miler this weekend I suggest you wear your HR strap and assuming you run the race flat out, your highest reading from the race should be somewhere close to your Max HR (at least within 5-10BPM).
Now once you have your max HR you can use the following table to calculate HR zones: http://www.radix.net/~bobg/run/hr.html
You can calculate your %'s using the simple method (%of max HR) or Karvonen method [% of (maxHR - Resting HR) ].
For simplicity maybe just use the simple method as it can be hard to get an accurate Resting HR (this is as low as your heart can possibly go)

Now basically you should be trying to keep your AvHR below 75% max on recovery runs and no higher than 85% on other runs (unless you are racing or doing a speed /tempo session). Lsr's should probably be no higher than 80 or 85% max HR or you will burn out and fail to finish.

The basic message that HR readings show is that new runners tend to run every session at far too high an intensity. I know I did this last year: I was new to running and in this group last year. Today I am approximately 1 minute per mile faster in races over all distances than I was last year; yet nowadays I actually run my Easy and recovery runs slower than I did last year.
In last years marathon training I ran very few miles below PMP and in retrospect I think this was a big mistake. Basically I was running at such a high intensity that I was constantly burning glycogen stores in training and not developing my body's ability to burn fat stores (which you tend to do when you run at lower intensities). Come marathon day my Glycogen stores were all burned out by mile 18-19 and I hit the wall. Ideally you should be burning a mixture of fat and glycogen all the way to allow you to reach the 26.2 miles as your body can only store a max of about 20 miles worth of Glycogen.

Basic message: Don't be afraid to run most of your runs as slow as possible- this will do you lots of good in the long run and make the running experience more enjoyable. HR readings are a good way to measure your intensity while running. Maybe try to run only once a week at a higher intensity.

I Hope this helps.

8ofSpades

menoscemo wrote: »

Now basically you should be trying to keep your AvHR below 75% max on recovery runs and no higher than 85% on other runs (unless you are racing or doing a speed /tempo session). Lsr's should probably be no higher than 80 or 85% max HR or you will burn out and fail to finish.

The basic message that HR readings show is that new runners tend to run every session at far too high an intensity. I know I did this last year: I was new to running and in this group last year. Today I am approximately 1 minute per mile faster in races over all distances than I was last year; yet nowadays I actually run my Easy and recovery runs slower than I did last year.

Basic message: Don't be afraid to run most of your runs as slow as possible- this will do you lots of good in the long run and make the running experience more enjoyable. HR readings are a good way to measure your intensity while running. Maybe try to run only once a week at a higher intensity.

great post
some great advice in there meno
I'll be wearing the HRM on saturday so will post the results in next weeks weekly update if you wouldnt mind taking a look.

Burning out on the LSRs is exactly what is happening to me I think so this info could prove very useful.

Pacing myself is proving diifficult so its something I'm going to work on

D Chief

Name|Sessions Completed|Total Miles This Week|Total Mileage To Date|Comments
William72|2|16.1|41.7|Sore Knee - rested a little this week and prob need to rest it again now ahead of the 5 miler|
rofno1|4|17|38|So made the 7 miles yesterday, really felt it. Pace was far too fast and was wrecked by 5 miles.|
elvis jones|||302.5||
boccy23|4|19|69|9 mile LSR was tough at the end. Problem with hydration which I need to address.|
brophya2007|5|47|64|Step back week, 5 miles LSR so got an extra 2 mile run in this week.|
beamgirl|4|15|46|still sticking to the plan, one sixth of the way there!|
michellemuncher||||
Dave_|3|13.6|257.4|Poor week this week and no lsr so have to make sure i get it in this week|
RayCun|4|25.7|86.85|very tired after both midweek pace run and LSR. Racing this saturday should be a nice break|
littlebug|4|20|78.2|hamstring tendon (last years injury playing up a bit|
meathcountysec|||129.53||
DigiJem|4|19|86|Good week, did 9 miles my new "longest". Left achilies a little sore today|
8ofSpades|3|17|60.25|last mile of 9 was tough, need to start getting that 4th session in|
D Chief|4|17|46.75|Sticking to the plan. Week 3 last week. Felt a bit tired towards end of 5 1/2 miles on Sunday. Awkward week coming up, will have to shuffle the schedule a bit but plan to stick to it.|
digger2d2|4|23.5|82|Tough week due to man flu but got through it, doing short stuff this week with intervals/strength etc. for the 5 mile and then will resume on Week 5 of the plan next week|
Shazkea|4|20|67|Rollercoaster week, hated the shorter 4 mile run but really enjoyed the 10 LSR!|
Curl52|||27||
ilovetorun|4|32|118|Just got 4 runs in this week,happy with 10m LSR,tried 6m fartlek for the first time and found it tough going although the rain didn't help I suppose.Another week down!|
James Howlett|6|26|63|Good week, hit all my training sessions including Cross Training – Swimming. The rain sure did make it easier this week |
RallyRunner|4|20|51|Did my first LSR on Saturday morning. Got on well pace was very slow for the first few miles. Quicker at the end.|
corked|3|12.4|24.6|
Cr17|||4|

michellemuncher

Name|Sessions Completed|Total Miles This Week|Total Mileage To Date|Comments
William72|2|16.1|41.7|Sore Knee - rested a little this week and prob need to rest it again now ahead of the 5 miler|
rofno1|4|17|38|So made the 7 miles yesterday, really felt it. Pace was far too fast and was wrecked by 5 miles.|
elvis jones|||302.5||
boccy23|4|19|69|9 mile LSR was tough at the end. Problem with hydration which I need to address.|
brophya2007|5|47|64|Step back week, 5 miles LSR so got an extra 2 mile run in this week.|
beamgirl|4|15|46|still sticking to the plan, one sixth of the way there!|
michellemuncher|3|18.5|62.5|I did my 11m lsr in 2:23. Cycled 37m and went gorge walking twice! Did my first Duathlon race on Wed, was really cool.
Dave_|3|13.6|257.4|Poor week this week and no lsr so have to make sure i get it in this week|
RayCun|4|25.7|86.85|very tired after both midweek pace run and LSR. Racing this saturday should be a nice break|
littlebug|4|20|78.2|hamstring tendon (last years injury playing up a bit|
meathcountysec|||129.53||
DigiJem|4|19|86|Good week, did 9 miles my new "longest". Left achilies a little sore today|
8ofSpades|3|17|60.25|last mile of 9 was tough, need to start getting that 4th session in|
D Chief|4|17|46.75|Sticking to the plan. Week 3 last week. Felt a bit tired towards end of 5 1/2 miles on Sunday. Awkward week coming up, will have to shuffle the schedule a bit but plan to stick to it.|
digger2d2|4|23.5|82|Tough week due to man flu but got through it, doing short stuff this week with intervals/strength etc. for the 5 mile and then will resume on Week 5 of the plan next week|
Shazkea|4|20|67|Rollercoaster week, hated the shorter 4 mile run but really enjoyed the 10 LSR!|
Curl52|||27||
ilovetorun|4|32|118|Just got 4 runs in this week,happy with 10m LSR,tried 6m fartlek for the first time and found it tough going although the rain didn't help I suppose.Another week down!|
James Howlett|6|26|63|Good week, hit all my training sessions including Cross Training – Swimming. The rain sure did make it easier this week |
RallyRunner|4|20|51|Did my first LSR on Saturday morning. Got on well pace was very slow for the first few miles. Quicker at the end.|
corked|3|12.4|24.6|
Cr17|||4|


I am a bit disappointed I didn't get as much mileage done as I would have liked but I am happy with my duathlon race. I wont be doing the 5m in the Phoenix Park but will be there supporting others. Good luck to everyone. My bit of advice is to run your own race and not to go too fast at the start.

8ofSpades

michellemuncher wrote: »

went gorge walking twice

gotta ask...whats gorge walking

digger2d2

8ofSpades wrote: »

gotta ask...whats gorge walking

Walking whilst eating a lot ?

corked

anyone thinking of doing the Boston Scientific Half Marathon on August 15th in Clonmel?
details here

Think I will do it - course looks good too!

michellemuncher

8ofSpades wrote: »

gotta ask...whats gorge walking

Gorge walking is not eating while walking :rolleyes: but that does sound like a cool activity. It is walking in a river or gorge. It sounds boring but is super fun. I went with a group, we wore wetsuits and life jackets. We walked along in deepish water with loads of rocks, slid down slopes and jumped into deep pools.

littlebug

so what's everyone doing this week?
9 mile lsr for me. I suppose I should start thinking about gels. What are the ones you can take without water? Can they be bought online?

DigiJem

michellemuncher wrote: »

Gorge walking is not eating while walking :rolleyes: but that does sound like a cool activity. It is walking in a river or gorge. It sounds boring but is super fun. I went with a group, we wore wetsuits and life jackets. We walked along in deepish water with loads of rocks, slid down slopes and jumped into deep pools.

Sounds like fun, and congrats on completing your first Duathlon, I'd love to try one at some stage.

DigiJem

littlebug wrote: »

so what's everyone doing this week?
9 mile lsr for me. I suppose I should start thinking about gels. What are the ones you can take without water? Can they be bought online?

Have a look at this thread littlebug, some good info on gels. Tried one on my 9m LSR on Sunday, tasted yuck but no bad side effects.

boccy23

menoscemo wrote: »

In last years marathon training I ran very few miles below PMP and in retrospect I think this was a big mistake. Basically I was running at such a high intensity that I was constantly burning glycogen stores in training and not developing my body's ability to burn fat stores (which you tend to do when you run at lower intensities). Come marathon day my Glycogen stores were all burned out by mile 18-19 and I hit the wall. Ideally you should be burning a mixture of fat and glycogen all the way to allow you to reach the 26.2 miles as your body can only store a max of about 20 miles worth of Glycogen.

A bit of advice needed here. I read the above and I am struggling a little on the pace of my runs.

I did my LSR yesterday evening and did the 10 miles in 90 mins (9 min/mile pace). This would be a comfortable pace.

In most of the 3/4 miles I would run at approx. 8 min/mile. I would hope to run on the day at around this 9 min/mile pace.

Am I running the shorter runs too quick?

xebec

Go to this website and enter your predicted time for the marathon (4 hours is 9:09 pace): http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

It will give you an idea of what the expected pace would be for each type of run as well as predicted times for other races. Even better if you have an actual race time which will give you a predicted marathon time based on a performance.

Of course this should be taken with a pinch of salt. I manage my LSRs at about 9:20 pace and have run races at well below 4:00 marathon pace but still haven't hooked it together on the day...

menoscemo

boccy23 wrote: »

A bit of advice needed here. I read the above and I am struggling a little on the pace of my runs.

I did my LSR yesterday evening and did the 10 miles in 90 mins (9 min/mile pace). This would be a comfortable pace.

In most of the 3/4 miles I would run at approx. 8 min/mile. I would hope to run on the day at around this 9 min/mile pace.

Am I running the shorter runs too quick?

In a word Yes, you are definately running most of your shorter runs too fast and your LSR's too fast as well. Maybe Try running one of your shorter runs really fast once a week (faster than you currently do) this will help you develop speed and increase your lactate threshold. You can lengthen the distance of this run as your training prgresses. Keep the rest of the short runs slow.

Currently I would run a 5k- 5 mile race at 6:30-6:40min/mile pace and my easy training runs (or LSR's) would be at around 9 min/mile pace. You should really be running all your LSR's significantly slower that your planned marathon pace (PMP). This will get you used to being a long time on your feet and help your body develop fat burning instead of Glycogen burning (this wll be vital on the big day). These two things are the whole point of the LSR's. Remember S is for Slow. I ran all my LSR's last year at PMP or faster ( I had the same target as you) but could only last 19 miles before I was burnt out. More experienced runners have told me I went wrong by running the LSR's so fast.

'Comfortable' is a very subjective word. LSR's should be run at a pace where your brain is almost switched off and you would be able to hold a phone conversation without the other person even noticing you are breathing differenlty. Maybe try to start off running at 10 minute miles and Build up to PMP by the last few miles? This will also train your body (and mind) to come on strong at the end.

The link Xebec posted is very good, type in a recent time you achieved in a race over a shorter distance and it will tell you the pace you should be running your different training runs at.

Best of luck!!

boccy23

Excellent reply and thanks for the thoughts. I will try this in the future. Lots of LSRs left to do this so will try from now on to lengthen these.

So for the 3 shorter runs per week, one being a recovery I would try at around the 10 min/mile. Middle one at significantly faster and then slow again for the last. LSR to be just that, a Long Slow Run!

menoscemo

boccy23 wrote: »

Excellent reply and thanks for the thoughts. I will try this in the future. Lots of LSRs left to do this so will try from now on to lengthen these.

So for the 3 shorter runs per week, one being a recovery I would try at around the 10 min/mile. Middle one at significantly faster and then slow again for the last. LSR to be just that, a Long Slow Run!

I'd say that would be ideal, if you are doing 4 runs a week only two should be in any way hard (1 speed session because it forces your heart and lungs to work harder and 1LSR becuase it is long!). Your paces may improve as you get fitter, if you notice your fast runs getting consistenly faster you can probably speed up the pace of your other runs a bit as well.

ger664

boccy23 wrote: »

A bit of advice needed here. I read the above and I am struggling a little on the pace of my runs.

I did my LSR yesterday evening and did the 10 miles in 90 mins (9 min/mile pace). This would be a comfortable pace.

In most of the 3/4 miles I would run at approx. 8 min/mile. I would hope to run on the day at around this 9 min/mile pace.

Am I running the shorter runs too quick?

http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/rp.php is a great resource for different time/paces against distance. Purdy is more accurate for those of us mere mortals that are in and around the 4 hour mark.

As others have said you should run all your LSR and recovery runs at a very slow pace, and run the first 10K of your marathon at this pace as well

I ran my first marathon in Dublin last year, did nothing for 3 weeks prior (father died) so I decided on the day that sub 4 Hours was not on and just decided to try and finish it. I felt that good in the home stretch that i finished with 3 8 Min/Miles.

Splits
10K 01:03:06
1/2 02:03:34
30K 02:53:27
Full 03:58:50

mitresize5

Howdy - I'm going to drop in here and hope to do a sub 4 DCM.

Background is triathlon, second season, but the running is a real inhibitor for me, by far my weakest event .... both the swimming and the bike I'm middle of the pack ..... running Im off the back .... I'm hoping to move up to Half Iron Man & Iron Man distance next year but I really need to get the running in check if I want to improve on Olympic distance time and take the jump to the next level distance and time wise.

Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
50:30 for 10km
Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training?
No
How much training do you currently do? Distances, how many days a week, cross training - whatever you think is relevant
7 to 9 sessions per week, 3 each in the relevant disiplines ideally, running tends to be the one dropped if I'm under time pressure
What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time?
Dream time 3:45, realistic 4:00
How many days a week can you train?
seven
Why are you running this marathon?
Purely and simply to improve my triathlon times and distance

I hope to follow the HH Novice two program - my major problem is my 10km pace. Seems mad then to try and improve that by doing a marathon eh ....

Thats my question for you guys - if I swap one of the Tuesday or Thursday run for interval or fartlek training will I increase my pace as well as building up the leg power for the marathing distance

I'm open to all suggestions

RayCun

Probably better asking this on the main forum, tbh. Doing 3 swim and 3 cycling sessions a week on top of your running means your exercise plan is very different, and the place of 'hard' and 'easy' sessions much more complicated.

mitresize5

Sorry - I didnt expalin myself all that well.

I plan to cut back on the swim and bike to one handy eniough session each and use them as my cross training and rest days just to keep tipping away at them .... I'm focusing on the marathon for the rest of the year

Plan is as per HH, 4 run sessions per week and 1 bike, 1 swim.

What I'm hoping to acheive is increase my leg power and stamina by putting in the miles while increasing my 10k pace by using one of the shorter runs as a fartlek or interval session ..... am I trying to mix apples and oranges?

thanks

RayCun

Okay, get you.

The short runs are in there for recovery, they should be easy sessions. The danger in using them for fartleks/intervals is that by overtraining there, you'll get less out of the two peak sessions, the midweek pace run and the weekend long run. Have you been following the program for the last few weeks? If you're jumping in now at week four or five you really should take the easy runs easy.

Your 10k time will probably improve over the course of the training anyway, but marathon training is not a very efficient way of improving 10k time - a targeted 10k program would have much more of an emphasis on speed than mileage.

But tri season is finishing soon anyway, isn't it? So you could keep the marathon training up for the next few months, and then do more speed work in the winter?

RubyK

I'm late to this thread, but would like going to keep up with it, there seems to be an awful lot of info, which I badly need, to get me over the line.

Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
1.56.20 for Enniscorthy Half Marathon 25/06/09

Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training?
No

How much training do you currently do? Distances, how many days a week, cross training - whatever you think is relevant
4-5 running (28-32 miles per week) + 1 crosstraining.

What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time?
Dream time 3.55, realistic 4.00 - 4.15

How many days a week can you train?
4-5

Why are you running this marathon?

It's a personal goal that I really want to achieve. I like having something to focus on, keeps me motivated.

RayCun

Welcome on board. have you chosen a training plan to follow?

mitresize5

RayCun wrote: »

Okay, get you.

The short runs are in there for recovery, they should be easy sessions. The danger in using them for fartleks/intervals is that by overtraining there, you'll get less out of the two peak sessions, the midweek pace run and the weekend long run. Have you been following the program for the last few weeks? If you're jumping in now at week four or five you really should take the easy runs easy.

Your 10k time will probably improve over the course of the training anyway, but marathon training is not a very efficient way of improving 10k time - a targeted 10k program would have much more of an emphasis on speed than mileage.

But tri season is finishing soon anyway, isn't it? So you could keep the marathon training up for the next few months, and then do more speed work in the winter?

thanks for the feedback

Yeah my tri season is finished now anyway - the idea of sticking with the HH plan and then moving to speed work post DCM is actually the most sensible way to go now that I think of it .... getting round Dublin will remove a major mental block on my behalf for a possible IM in 2011.

Jumping in at week 4 of the plan but Im hoping my current fitness levels will stand to me ... time will tell I suppose.

cheers

RubyK

RayCun wrote: »

Welcome on board. have you chosen a training plan to follow?

Thanks RayCun! I'm following a plan given to me by meathcountrysec.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/167346/119607.xls

mitresize5

Can anyone tell me if DCM has KM markers as well as miles

thanks