DCM 2014: Mentored Novices Thread

Ososlo

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Another LSR success story here. 18 miles done. Furthest ever ran. Took in a section of the marathon route from castleknock up as far as walkinstown roundabout having ran 5 miles to get to castleknock first. The drag from the canal up to walkinstown broke me in 2012. Today coming at it at approx the same distance covered ploughed up no bother.

Turned right at walkinstown and headed back down towards ballyfermot and ultimately finished with the last 1.5 miles uphill from chapleizod gate to chesterfield avenue in the park. Had enough juice to take out mile 18 uphill as the fastest of the day and could have gone on if needed.

Legs are sore, lost a gel somewhere along the way which was a pain but overall am very happy with that confidence booster.

Delighted to see things are going smoothly for you PM! Great to see you heading strongly towards the start line this year:)

Joleigh

18m LSR done!! Another beautiful morning running through Dublin. I ran across 12 Liffey Bridges this morning. Brought 3 gels with me. Took 1 at 4.5 miles, another at 9.5 and wasnt going to take the last one until Hunger struck at mile 14 so I took it. I think next week I'll bring a bar or something. I also need to get a water carrier. This morning I ran with a home made water bottle / gel carrier made with 3 bobbins wrapped around my bottle. I stopped on eastwall road to buy water and couldnt find my €2 so the nice lad in the garage filled up my bottle with tap water. I made it home fine, didnt feel too bad, but was wondering how I could possibly go faster in the marathon. I ran an average pace of 10.19 but I just looked at my splits and they're a bit all over the place.
10.25
10.04
9.53
10.36
10.20
10.44
10.23
10.03
9.50
11.10
9.50
11.20
10.13
10.31
10.45
10.17
9.38
9.38

Had a cold bath - OMG!! The legs dont seem as stiff as last week so maybe it helped. Found my €2 in my pocket when I got home. Glad that week is done. Next weekend is a 12m step back week for me.

Casey - just read the article on the score. Great charity, well done. The training sounds great too! Nice to put a face to the name.

Looking forward to putting the feet up tonight and having pizza for dinner

Dub13

Another 20 mile run done today, was a great afternoon for it was on dollymount for a part of it. That's the 4th 20 mile run done (one was 22 mile) so far, so I cant say I am not preparing.

Drexl Spivey

I was aiming at 15 mile LSR Today. I failed and had to stop at HM distance.

Felt good up to 11M and then started to fade away "rapidly" (legs were very sluggish, it felt like a struggle). Hamstrings were really tight but I am wondering if it is not a problem linked to the time I run: I start running at 11 am and I run at a time when I normally have lunch. Could this explain what I am describing? Or is it just mental (I have to just push it next time)?

I only bring a 500ml bottle of water with me.

Casey78

Next week is suppose to be a step back week for me. Problem is the following week after is scheduled for another 20mile run but that's the weekend of the Half Marathon.
Will I just swap weeks around or stick to plan and just lose a long run? Not sure I'll be able for a 20mile on the Sunday after the half on Saturday. The training plan only has a 5 mile down for the day of the half.

Ososlo

Casey78 wrote: »

Next week is suppose to be a step back week for me. Problem is the following week after is scheduled for another 20mile run but that's the weekend of the Half Marathon.
Will I just swap weeks around or stick to plan and just lose a long run? Not sure I'll be able for a 20mile on the Sunday after the half on Saturday. The training plan only has a 5 mile down for the day of the half.

have a look at the way we have designed the Boards Plan or the Hal Higdon Plan that lots of runners here are following and do something similar in the next two weeks to fit in the Half Marathon.
No way in the world should you do the Half on Saturday followed by the 20 lsr on the Sunday!
If you need any more specific help moving days around giveus a shout. Main thing is that you take it fairly handy from next weekend onwards in the lead up to the half. You want to be fairly fresh so as to give it your best shot as it can be a good predictor for the full marathon.

Ososlo

Drexl Spivey wrote: »

I was aiming at 15 mile LSR Today. I failed and had to stop at HM distance.

Felt good up to 11M and then started to fade away "rapidly" (legs were very sluggish, it felt like a struggle). Hamstrings were really tight but I am wondering if it is not a problem linked to the time I run: I start running at 11 am and I run at a time when I normally have lunch. Could this explain what I am describing? Or is it just mental (I have to just push it next time)?

I only bring a 500ml bottle of water with me.

Did you start out at a very easy pace? Most of these problems people have are due to pacing issues. You're better off starting off every run really slowly (much slower than you think you should).
You shouldn't really be struggling with 15 miles at this stage to be honest.

SoundoftheSea

4 miles on Tuesday missed 8 mile on Wednesday managed only 7 on Thursday, legs very tired. Did 16 mile LSR yesterday and it went well. Had Pinhead oatmeal instead of the normal microwavable one. Read somewhere that it is better. Not very pleasant but edible. A banana and a coffee and a glass of water, three pees and out the door. Tried out more gels and they went down no problem the Kinetica berry burst. Took one after an hour and the second after two hours. Didn't want to take them too often just in case they didn't agree with me.
Not sure if the bust of energy was from the gel or from the cycling race that was going in the opposite direction. Lots of hellos and good mornings. Unlike the few runners that ignored my greetings. They mustn't know the pain of a lsr yet and how a nice smile helps.
Wore my shorts (as Miss bossy knickers is insisting on them) thank you Ososlo I was much more comfortable, apart from the chaffing from the tag on my back that I only discovered in the shower. But nothing in comparison to Killian's. Ouch!
Kept a steady pace of 12.25 and completed it in 3:18.
Got 1000 mile socks today to try out.

flogen

Did a 16 mile yesterday - took about 2hr 40m (that's after 5 on Friday).

Really took it out of me by the end - which has me a bit nervous about pushing on and trying to ultimately do more at a faster pace.

I'm hoping that a large part of that was due to it being my first LSR since I took a ~2 week break to rest up the leg (and a bit of a step up from my previous furthest distance) and that it probably involved a bit more uphill than the main event (I ran up and down Chesterfield Ave in the Phoenix Park three and a bit times). I was also very low on water by the end, which made things much harder even mentally.

Not feeling too bad today, though, so will carry on and see how it goes!

Ososlo

flogen wrote: »

Did a 16 mile yesterday - took about 2hr 40m (that's after 5 on Friday).

Really took it out of me by the end - which has me a bit nervous about pushing on and trying to ultimately do more at a faster pace.

I'm hoping that a large part of that was due to it being my first LSR since I took a ~2 week break to rest up the leg (and a bit of a step up from my previous furthest distance) and that it probably involved a bit more uphill than the main event (I ran up and down Chesterfield Ave in the Phoenix Park three and a bit times). I was also very low on water by the end, which made things much harder even mentally.

Not feeling too bad today, though, so will carry on and see how it goes!

yep the 2 week layoff will have had an effect for sure. Takes a while to really settle back into it. Well done!

Ososlo

SoundoftheSea wrote: »

4 miles on Tuesday missed 8 mile on Wednesday managed only 7 on Thursday, legs very tired. Did 16 mile LSR yesterday and it went well. Had Pinhead oatmeal instead of the normal microwavable one. Read somewhere that it is better. Not very pleasant but edible. A banana and a coffee and a glass of water, three pees and out the door. Tried out more gels and they went down no problem the Kinetica berry burst. Took one after an hour and the second after two hours. Didn't want to take them too often just in case they didn't agree with me.
Not sure if the bust of energy was from the gel or from the cycling race that was going in the opposite direction. Lots of hellos and good mornings. Unlike the few runners that ignored my greetings. They mustn't know the pain of a lsr yet and how a nice smile helps.
Wore my shorts (as Miss bossy knickers is insisting on them) thank you Ososlo I was much more comfortable, apart from the chaffing from the tag on my back that I only discovered in the shower. But nothing in comparison to Killian's. Ouch!
Kept a steady pace of 12.25 and completed it in 3:18.
Got 1000 mile socks today to try out.

'Miss bossy knickers':eek:
Make sure to cut that tag off for the next one.

Well done on the 16. Sounds like everything came together for you on this one!

Murph_D

KillianByrne wrote: »

So, long runs are an opportunity not only to test the legs, but all the race day plans. 18miles done but I don't think I'll be wearing this shirt for DCM14! It's a shame, I liked it a lot and this never happened to me before I suppose I'm prone to it now.

Ouch!

Sorry about the link, can't seem to post in a photo.

Looks sore. Maybe not the shirt's fault though - anything will chafe when wet and it was a hot one today. Did you apply the Vaseline/bodyglide before you left?

annapr

Casey78 wrote: »

Next week is suppose to be a step back week for me. Problem is the following week after is scheduled for another 20mile run but that's the weekend of the Half Marathon.
Will I just swap weeks around or stick to plan and just lose a long run? Not sure I'll be able for a 20mile on the Sunday after the half on Saturday. The training plan only has a 5 mile down for the day of the half.

I have been fretting about this too... to step back or not to step back, that is the question.

On the other hand, my mantra has been 'just follow the plan, don't ask questions' and so far it's working.

When I looked at this week's schedule, I actually had a moment of disappointment when i realised there was no LSR (because apparently 12-13 miles is not LONG any more)... is running finally making me lose my mind completely!!??!

flogen

Ososlo wrote: »

yep the 2 week layoff will have had an effect for sure. Takes a while to really settle back into it. Well done!

Thanks - yeah, I figured it would - all things considered the week back hasn't gone too badly, I had worried it would be worse.

Pacing Mule

annapr wrote: »

I have been fretting about this too... to step back or not to step back, that is the question.

On the other hand, my mantra has been 'just follow the plan, don't ask questions' and so far it's working.

When I looked at this week's schedule, I actually had a moment of disappointment when i realised there was no LSR (because apparently 12-13 miles is not LONG any more)... is running finally making me lose my mind completely!!??!

Felt kind of the same but in my case was delighted it was only 12 due - then realised that the midweek medium run was further than the week 1 LSR never mind the 12 at the weekend. Funny how perspective changes. A 5 miler now is like manna from heaven for tired legs

Joleigh

Casey78 wrote: »

Next week is suppose to be a step back week for me. Problem is the following week after is scheduled for another 20mile run but that's the weekend of the Half Marathon.
Will I just swap weeks around or stick to plan and just lose a long run? Not sure I'll be able for a 20mile on the Sunday after the half on Saturday. The training plan only has a 5 mile down for the day of the half.

Casey are you following Hal Higdon intermediate 1? Thats what I'm on so I was thinking of sticking to the 12 miles for next week to give the legs a break so they would be fresh for the half marathon. I dont think I'll try and add 7 miles before/after the half because I know I will be pushing myself that day and dont want to end up doing damage. The following weekend is meant to be 18 and the one after 20, so I'm thinking of just doing 2 twenties. The only thing is, it means I wont run my first 20 miles until 28th sept.

Casey78

Joleigh wrote: »

Casey are you following Hal Higdon intermediate 1? Thats what I'm on so I was thinking of sticking to the 12 miles for next week to give the legs a break so they would be fresh for the half marathon. I dont think I'll try and add 7 miles before/after the half because I know I will be pushing myself that day and dont want to end up doing damage. The following weekend is meant to be 18 and the one after 20, so I'm thinking of just doing 2 twenties. The only thing is, it means I wont run my first 20 miles until 28th sept.

I am doing the Hal Higdon inter 1 yeah but I have been pushing the lsr runs a bit longer distances than the plan requires.
Think I'll stick to the plan and miss the long 20mile the weekend I'm doing the half. Already did one 20mile so will still have another before the Marathon as per the plan.

Ososlo

Casey78 wrote: »

I am doing the Hal Higdon inter 1 yeah but I have been pushing the lsr runs a bit longer distances than the plan requires.
Think I'll stick to the plan and miss the long 20mile the weekend I'm doing the half. Already did one 20mile so will still have another before the Marathon as per the plan.

Good idea and you can always add on 2 miles very slow before and after the half to bring up to total to 17 or 18. If you do this, do the extra miles before the race at a very very easy effort. Same for cool down after.

Ososlo

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

So decided to do 10km race this morning. I have been running to the loo with last couple of days. Stomach has been upset. Think it was out of date coleslaw I ate. Got up this morning and had to run to the loo again. Was debating whether to go or not. Ate some cornflakes and had a coffee. Decided to drive to the race and if stomach was ok, Id enter. Did a 5k warm up and felt ok. Thought I might be fine.
Race started and set off at a good pace. I was hoping to get under 40 mins. Went through 5k in 19.40. At the start of the race I felt if I got under 20 at halfway I would do it. And then the legs just went, no power and when I tried to increase the effort my stomach started to rumble. Slowed down, jogged to the finish in over 42 minutes. Got home and sat on the loo for half an hour. Stomach is still not right. Lesson learnt I guess. Will take it easy for weekend and see how I feel tomorrow evening re doing a lsr. Onwards and upwards.

Hope you feel better soon. Better get these illnesses out of the way now and not in a few weeks! don't push the lsr if not 100%.
Great race effort all the same!

JMSE

Hi folks and hi Ososlo, I joined the thread back in June I think and havent posted since around the end of June. Gave up running for a month to try and knock a groin strain with my adductors, didnt work so started off again in early August - that comeback was the thing that finally shifted the groin strain so how do I explain that??! Anyway, am really only hangin onto this DCM by the fingernails compared to the rest of ye, and well done to everyone who is putting in such high mileage. My plan is quite poor, I aim at a long run at the weekend and then 2 other nights I can aim for 6 miles and try to squeeze a tuesday track night in with the fit4life. Last weekend I did 13 miles and tonight I did 13.45 miles in 1hr58 (wasnt an LSR, just my comfy running pace). I know this was probably not long enough at this stage and probably should be done slower, but I havent planned to do a half yet want to be sub 2hrs for one.

Thanks for reading, its just a bit of therapy to write this stuff, coz runnin is lonely and this forum is like a runners version of alcoholics anonymous

Ososlo

JMSE wrote: »

Hi folks and hi Ososlo, I joined the thread back in June I think and havent posted since around the end of June. Gave up running for a month to try and knock a groin strain with my adductors, didnt work so started off again in early August - that comeback was the thing that finally shifted the groin strain so how do I explain that??! Anyway, am really only hangin onto this DCM by the fingernails compared to the rest of ye, and well done to everyone who is putting in such high mileage. My plan is quite poor, I aim at a long run at the weekend and then 2 other nights I can aim for 6 miles and try to squeeze a tuesday track night in with the fit4life. Last weekend I did 13 miles and tonight I did 13.45 miles in 1hr58 (wasnt an LSR, just my comfy running pace). I know this was probably not long enough at this stage and probably should be done slower, but I havent planned to do a half yet want to be sub 2hrs for one.

Thanks for reading, its just a bit of therapy to write this stuff, coz runnin is lonely and this forum is like a runners version of alcoholics anonymous

Well pop by any time with any questions and someone will be able to help you out hopefully

Are you signed up to DCM? Is that the main goal or is the half the main goal?

The LSR for training for the half should be done at a very easy pace too so make sure you're not killing yourself on these longer runs and running at race pace. You'd be better off going slower for longer and gaining the experience of time on your feet.
Best of luck with the training!

Ososlo

Programme on DCM on Setanta now. Will probably be over by the time I hit 'submit':D

Casey78

Ososlo wrote: »

Programme on DCM on Setanta now. Will probably be over by the time I hit 'submit':D

Feck that's the second time I missed that programme..

Ososlo

Casey78 wrote: »

Feck that's the second time I missed that programme..

I only just caught the last 2 mins myself. Pity... started getting all emotional seeing the finish line and thinking about last year. It's so awesome!!!

You guys are so lucky to have all of that ahead of you for the first time in 8 weeks:D

Joleigh

This time 7 weeks we should all be comfortably running marathon pace through the Phoenix Park (or wherever the route takes us at 10.10am!). I have butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it!

PeterParker100

Joleigh wrote: »

This time 7 weeks we should all be comfortably running marathon pace through the Phoenix Park (or wherever the route takes us at 10.10am!). I have butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it!

We might even be blessed with weather like today! Here's hoping!

Laois_Man

I had planned a 6 miler last night. Cut it in half and did 3. Sore knee - but I think the short & slow run might have helped it.

I was feeling a bit down this morning about it overall - but now that I have looked at my plan and compared it to what I have actually done for the last 10 weeks, I don't feel so bad. Not including week 1 which was almost a complete write off, I have done 85% of my miles - it seemed lower. And I had a good base before week 1 so that week being messed up doesn't seem important now.

To make up some of the missing 15%, I am not following the structure for week 14 on HHI1 which has a step-back week that week. Gonna keep building mileage and count the fact that I missed 10 miles in each of the last 2 weeks as a step-back of sorts. I'll do a short run tonight and hoping I won't have to decide to rest. Hoping it goes better overall in this 4 week block before taper starts, or I might have to delay taper for one week. That wouldn't hurt much would it? I am a special case

Tigerandahalf

PeterParker100 wrote: »

We might even be blessed with weather like today! Here's hoping!

God I hope not. Nice and cool please!

As an aside I was wondering why the Dublin marathon doesn't get live tv coverage. It would be a great event to cover. Imagine if you had motorbike cameras like in the cycle tour events and it could pass up and down the field with a bit of commentary on the different groups. Surprised TG4 have not picked it up.

Firedance

Laois_Man wrote: »

I had planned a 6 miler last night. Cut it in half and did 3. Sore knee - but I think the short & slow run might have helped it.

I was feeling a bit down this morning about it overall - but now that I have looked at my plan and compared it to what I have actually done for the last 10 weeks, I don't feel so bad. Not including week 1 which was almost a complete write off, I have done 85% of my miles - it seemed lower. And I had a good base before week 1 so that week being messed up doesn't seem important now.

To make up some of the missing 15%, I am not following the structure for week 14 on HHI1 which has a step-back week that week. Gonna keep building mileage and count the fact that I missed 10 miles in each of the last 2 weeks as a step-back of sorts. I'll do a short run tonight and hoping I won't have to decide to rest. Hoping it goes better overall in this 4 week block before taper starts, or I might have to delay taper for one week. That wouldn't hurt much would it? I am a special case

if I were you I would be taking the step back week Laois man, it may help with your niggles & pains but that's just me, someone far wiser and more experienced might say differently!

Firedance

Joleigh wrote: »

This time 7 weeks we should all be comfortably running marathon pace through the Phoenix Park (or wherever the route takes us at 10.10am!). I have butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it!

loving the optimism Joleigh!

regarding the emotions crossing the finish line, I've been visualizing myself crossing the finish when I'm out running (I know, slightly nuts right?) and I feel emotional just thinking about it, have visions of being a blubbering mess on the day ifWHEN I cross the line

PS Tigerandahalf as far as I know DCM used to be televised but was cut from RTE a few years ago due to costs(?)