DCM 2014: Mentored Novices Thread

NyOmnishambles

Ososlo wrote: »

Common enough problem I think especially with the increase in mileage. Make sure you're increasing the mileage nice and gradually. Try to do some of your runs on softer surfaces maybe, like grass or trail. Make sure you're doing most of your running at a nice easy effort.
Do you have a foam roller? If not, then they're great to work out the calf muscles so I'd highly recommend purchasing one. Some info on foam rollers at the end of post 1 of this thread.

I am following the milage in the Boards plan, I am guessing it is just from increase in the lsr and the shock to the system

I do have a foam roller and find it great but I could probably do more of it

Thanks for the advice, it is good to hear that it happens to others and I will work through it

adrian522

NyOmnishambles My advice is to stretch your calves after every run. Try and do calf raises as part of your strength exercises. Other than that just make sure your easy runs are very easy and as above increase the mileage gradually.


For myself I fell asleep on the sofa after work again, I'm getting into a habit of doing that. Not really a bad thing as it gives me a bit of energy for the run and I avoid the worst of the heat.

9 miles done, with 2 x 15 min @ Marathon pace.

Ososlo

NyOmnishambles wrote: »

I am following the milage in the Boards plan, I am guessing it is just from increase in the lsr and the shock to the system

I do have a foam roller and find it great but I could probably do more of it

Thanks for the advice, it is good to hear that it happens to others and I will work through it

If you were up to speed with the mileage when the plan started then the increase shouldn't be a big problem for you but yes the time on your feet for the lsr would add new stresses to the legs and calfs that they haven't experienced before.

If it gets painful and you're worried in any way, stop running and see a physio. It's normal to get general aches in the muscles but not pain. Keep up the foam rolling for sure. I think it's good to do a little before the long run.

AuldManKing

adrian522 wrote: »

NyOmnishambles My advice is to stretch your calves after every run. Try and do calf raises as part of your strength exercises. Other than that just make sure your easy runs are very easy and as above increase the mileage gradually.

If you are doing the calf raises, do them on your easy days.

For stretching, as well as the usual calf stretches, make sure to stretch the soleus - its difficult to get a good stretch on this. This is one way to do it.

Foam rolling works wonders too.

NyOmnishambles

adrian522 wrote: »

NyOmnishambles My advice is to stretch your calves after every run. Try and do calf raises as part of your strength exercises. Other than that just make sure your easy runs are very easy and as above increase the mileage gradually.

Thanks, will do more stretching, heading to the gym tomorrow so will try and do some calf exercises

adrian522

Yeah, I'd do that stretch as well as the normal calf stretch. I've had a lot of problems in that area in the past so tend to spend a lot of time on them.

gingersnap

Got back from holidays last night. 10 days with no running! Really missed it although we had no car so walked for miles most days.
Easing back into it now, 3 easy miles this evening. Not sure whether to do a LSR this week or to just increase the milage gradually. Was planning on maybe a couple of 4-8 mile runs and see how it goes.
Lots of mileage been put in here over the last week or so, well done all!

thehookster

Did 6 miles last night at an ok pace.....struggled a little bit around the middle miles, that could have been the weather taking its toll or a few very early mornings but i managed it fine and am looking forward to this weeks lsr....11 miles

Ososlo

gingersnap wrote: »

Got back from holidays last night. 10 days with no running! Really missed it although we had no car so walked for miles most days.
Easing back into it now, 3 easy miles this evening. Not sure whether to do a LSR this week or to just increase the milage gradually. Was planning on maybe a couple of 4-8 mile runs and see how it goes.
Lots of mileage been put in here over the last week or so, well done all!

I wouldn't jump in to a lsr this weekend. Plenty of shorter runs and slightly longer at weekend. Build gradually back up to where you were. Err on side of caution.

NyOmnishambles

Spent a good while last night with the foam roller for the calves

They are feeling much perkier today so far

Will try and do more stretching and strength work over the next few weeks and hopefully that will do the trick

Laois_Man

I got through a 7 mile run last night - pace ranging from 9:55 in the fastest mile and averaging at 10:21 overall - no issues! Yay!

I want to try a gel or two on this weekends 15 mile LSR and I want to purchase them locally (in Carlow) just to experiment. I am not sure which ones to go for. Has anybody any experience of any of these being better than the others - if so I'll try them first. These are the ones available in Holland & Barrett's

Powerbar
Proto Pure
Maxifuel Viper Active

Elverys also have something I saw on the counter beside the til recently but I cant remember what they were called. It wasn't anything I had heard of.

Ososlo

^^^ Found powerbar brill and got me through all my training and marathon.
Never heard of others sorry.

ecoli

Laois_Man wrote: »

I got through a 7 mile run last night - pace ranging from 9:55 in the fastest mile and averaging at 10:21 overall - no issues! Yay!

I want to try a gel or two on this weekends 15 mile LSR and I want to purchase them locally (in Carlow) just to experiment. I am not sure which ones to go for. Has anybody any experience of any of these being better than the others - if so I'll try them first. These are the ones available in Holland & Barrett's

Powerbar
Proto Pure
Maxifuel Viper Active

Elverys also have something I saw on the counter beside the til recently but I cant remember what they were called. It wasn't anything I had heard of.

Started experimenting last year with gels after I found the Hi 5 ones personally muck, of all the ones I have tried I find the Viper ones the best followed by the Kinectica ones. They are a little bit on the heavier side so would depend on how you usually digest but my advice would be just to buy one of each in the earlier stages and try till you find one that suits you.

AuldManKing

ecoli wrote: »

Started experimenting last year with gels after I found the Hi 5 ones personally muck, of all the ones I have tried I find the Viper ones the best followed by the Kinectica ones. They are a little bit on the heavier side so would depend on how you usually digest but my advice would be just to buy one of each in the earlier stages and try till you find one that suits you.

I've went through a good few over the years, Gu are very good, but you need water.
I settled on the Kinectica ones, but it must be cola flavour

crisco10

ecoli wrote: »

Started experimenting last year with gels after I found the Hi 5 ones personally muck, of all the ones I have tried I find the Viper ones the best followed by the Kinectica ones. They are a little bit on the heavier side so would depend on how you usually digest but my advice would be just to buy one of each in the earlier stages and try till you find one that suits you.

Can I ask why? Only ever used these and found them "ok"...sometimes a bit tough on the stomach but I assumed that was a gel thing as opposed to a specific brand.

ecoli

crisco10 wrote: »

Can I ask why? Only ever used these and found them "ok"...sometimes a bit tough on the stomach but I assumed that was a gel thing as opposed to a specific brand.

Personally just think they taste god awful and felt little to no effect from them, others swear by them though so I think with gels it is a very personalised thing.

SamforMayo

AuldManKing wrote: »

I've went through a good few over the years, Gu are very good, but you need water.
I settled on the Kinectica ones, but it must be cola flavour

I too found the kinectica cola the best of a bad lot, and I thought they made a difference. Could be in my head though!

Laois_Man

Popped into Elverys earlier to remind myself what they had and found that they have Kinetica. So having seen it mentioned here, I picked up 3 packs - 3 different flavors.

In the 2 LSRs after the next one, I'll try Viper and Powerbar and then I'll decide on one of the 3 and go with it and give it a good try out in the Frank Duffy race. (I'm not aware of anywhere I can source Hi 5 from around here but I'll try those too if I come across them)

Having never eaten one in my life, I'm half tempted to open one for a preview of the future delights that await me.

I suspect at least part of the benefits from these gels is a sort of placebo effect you get from taking them.

neilthefunkeone

Picked up a few of the high 5 ones to test out.. Citrus was the only one i didnt gag on!! the berry one was terrible tasting.. Had one on a 10 mile lsr a few weeks back but had it early as was sick of carrying the water bottle!

adrian522

I go with the GU gels myself, they are pretty horrible like all the rest but the pouches are smaller, and they certainly seem to work for me.

I have a load of the espresso flavour, if anyone wants to swap for some other flavour or other gel or just try them out let me know.

I've tried a few, I found the high 5 ok too but they are a bit bulkier so I went with the smaller ones for convenience.

You can get the Isogel's as well which don't need you to drink water at the same time but I aint a fan of those.

I managed to get in 7 miles in the Phoenix park today, very warm but also a very nice run. Took it handy but the legs are certainly feeling the increased mileage.

RedRunner

neilthefunkeone wrote: »

Picked up a few of the high 5 ones to test out.. Citrus was the only one i didnt gag on!! the berry one was terrible tasting.. Had one on a 10 mile lsr a few weeks back but had it early as was sick of carrying the water bottle!

They have a mojito one which is quite nice!

Laois_Man

Just to draw people' attention to Ososlo's link on the first post....

Ososlo wrote: »

Gels and drinks on the long run - Boards Discussion

Interesting read and some good points about the virtues of using these gels at all or not. Some of the input there is from people far more advanced than almost all of us. The key takeaways for me after reading it is to use them very sparingly in no more than your longest long runs and for digestion testing purposes and don't allow yourself to become dependent on them.

ecoli

Laois_Man wrote: »

Just to draw people' attention to Ososlo's link on the first post....



Interesting read and some good points about the virtues of using these gels at all or not. Some of the input there is from people far more advanced than almost all of us. The key takeaways for me after reading it is to use them very sparingly in no more than your longest long runs and for digestion testing purposes and don't allow yourself to become dependent on them.

Another thread here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057175450&page=1

In terms of gels (and sports nutrition in general) it is a mine field and there will be plenty of "science" or "experts" to back up numerous claims. Unless you want to go into thesis style research my advice would be use common sense and trial and error to find what works for you.

This goes to all the finer points of the sport, don't overanalyze the minor details at the expense of the big picture. Keep it simple

laura_ac3

It's warm out for running!

Sunday: 3 miles. Nothing special. Not sure what pace to be doing these ones at. One short run is usually a recovery run, my long run is slow obviously. Then my other midweek run is building up to be longish alternating each week between pace and easy. So not sure what pace to run these 4th ones at. Have kind of just been doing them to feel.

Monday: 6 mile midweek longish run. Took this slow and treated it like a mini lsr as it wasn't a pace week.

Tuesday: rest.

Wednesday: bit of astro football. First one in a few weeks, enjoyed it but felt a bit stiff today. Nothing major though.

Thursday: easy 6 miles. Took it easy and went at my lsr pace again and ran home from work. Found the heat tough. Legs felt a bit tired throughout, possibly from last night.

Two rest days planned now tomorrow and Saturday before fingal 10k on Sunday which I'll try add a few warm up and cool down miles to as per advice from here.

Tigerandahalf

Re gels, what did people eat years ago when there were no gels?

Mileage for last two weeks has been just over the 50k mark. Generally going ok. Took Monday off as usual. Tuesday I did a 12k run, started off slowly but progressively picked up the pace. Ran the last km in 3.45. It gives me confidence that I can push down my shorter distance times. I then cooled down for the last 2km. Then did core strengthening and stretching.
Last night I did a recovery 5k plus core strengthening.
This evening was my first time running 3 nights in a row Tues - Thurs. I set out to do an easy 10k but packed up at 5k as legs and body were just too tired. Even though I was going very easy (approaching 6 min kms) I was sweating a lot and heart rate was going over 135 bpm. Felt I would benefit from stopping and resting up.
I am hoping to do a few races over the next month or so but it can be hard to pin down races and dates and not overdo it either.

rockwell

Doing the Killarney Half Marathon on Saturday, something i had signed up to long before the DCM programme but I think it fits well enough into my Hal1 plan as the mileage has been small early in the week. Today and tomorrow will be rest days ready for Sat morning. So fingers crossed all will go well. Would like to come in around my Limerick time in May of 1h45. I'll let you know how it goes anyway.

Ososlo

laura_ac3 wrote: »

It's warm out for running!

Sunday: 3 miles. Nothing special. Not sure what pace to be doing these ones at. One short run is usually a recovery run, my long run is slow obviously. Then my other midweek run is building up to be longish alternating each week between pace and easy. So not sure what pace to run these 4th ones at. Have kind of just been doing them to feel.

Monday: 6 mile midweek longish run. Took this slow and treated it like a mini lsr as it wasn't a pace week.

Tuesday: rest.

Wednesday: bit of astro football. First one in a few weeks, enjoyed it but felt a bit stiff today. Nothing major though.

Thursday: easy 6 miles. Took it easy and went at my lsr pace again and ran home from work. Found the heat tough. Legs felt a bit tired throughout, possibly from last night.

Two rest days planned now tomorrow and Saturday before fingal 10k on Sunday which I'll try add a few warm up and cool down miles to as per advice from here.

If the HH2 plan you're following doesn't define exactly what pace to run at, I'd take it that it means 'easy'.
It's up to yourself, but don't feel you have to take 2 days off before the race. If you wanted, you could do 2/3 very slow recovery effort miles the day before the race and throw in a few strides to wake up the legs. Whatever you feel suits you best. Just an idea!
Make sure you take the w/u miles before the race on Sunday very very easy but you could also throw in 5-6 strides if you wanted to prepare the body for what's to come....
Best of luck and enjoy!

Ososlo

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Re gels, what did people eat years ago when there were no gels?

Good question!
I guess they are a good idea though as they're easy carry and easily digested if you can find one that suits you. But you certainly don't have to take gels. You can try out different types of foods that you could carry with you also.

vitani

1m w/u, 4m PMP and 1m c/d this evening. Had brought my stuff into work to do this session on the way home both today and yesterday, but the weather was too warm for me so left it until 8.30 this evening. PMP was slightly too fast at about 8.47 min/mile for the 4 miles so I'll work on bringing that down the next time.

SamforMayo

vitani wrote: »

1m w/u, 4m PMP and 1m c/d this evening. Had brought my stuff into work to do this session on the way home both today and yesterday, but the weather was too warm for me so left it until 8.30 this evening. PMP was slightly too fast at about 8.47 min/mile for the 4 miles so I'll work on bringing that down the next time.

Great work, well done!