DCM 2014: Mentored Novices Thread

Laois_Man

4 very slow miles tonight. 10:48 pace. I actually couldn't have gone any faster even if I wanted to. Felt very sluggish tonight. Putting it down to the heat and the fact that I've skipped a couple of meals the last 2 or 3 days. Rest day tomorrow which I need for Saturday's 15 miles.

And I did try one of those gels earlier in the end.........and euwwwww!

laura_ac3

Ososlo wrote: »

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!

Feel like an extra rest day this week might not be a bad thing. I'll still be cycling tomorrow as normal so not completely inactive! Apprehensive a bit about these pre and post race miles, something completely new to me. But all part of the fun!

Ososlo

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Feel like an extra rest day this week might not be a bad thing. I'll still be cycling tomorrow as normal so not completely inactive! Apprehensive a bit about these pre and post race miles, something completely new to me. But all part of the fun!

If you think 2m warm up pre-race is too much, then just do one and do it handy enough but 2 shouldn't be a problem if you do them slowly enough. See how you are after the race but it's really good for recovery purposes to cool down properly after a race with a few miles, plus you're getting the extra miles in in place of the lsr. Don't force anything though if it feels too much.

neilthefunkeone

Took a pacey 5 mile last night with just under a mile very slow warm down after.. Was a sweaty mess in that heat!!

Got to try my foam roller last night, watched a few youtube vids and kept hearing 'points' didn't know what to expect til i hit one:eek:..
Felt great after i had worked all the areas!

crisco10

Wet wet morning out there. just as I closed my front door the sky flashed and then some thunder came..6.30am and I'm running in thunder and lightning....:eek::eek:

Tag Rugby last night wasn't as strenuous as other weeks and potentially out late tonight so decided to bring forwarad "tempo" type run to this morning. 1 mile w/u, 5 miles @ PHMP, 1 mile c/d. To be honest, pace went from feeling comfortable to very uncomfortable but still a nice session to have done.

Question about pace runs; I assume they should be even paced as best you can? I struggled big style with that this morning, I ran above and below target pace but never at it. But then my average was the target pace!! I'm sure that's not the way you're supposed to do it. Any tips?

PS: Massive thanks to the motorist this morning who rather than splash me with filthy gutter water, slowed down to 4:30min/km and only passed me when there was no puddle to splash me with! There are nice people out there!

Casey78

I've been asked to do a radio interview on 4FM on Monday talking about training for my first Marathon. Sean Hehir last years winner will also be on at the same

Ososlo

crisco10 wrote: »

Wet wet morning out there. just as I closed my front door the sky flashed and then some thunder came..6.30am and I'm running in thunder and lightning....:eek::eek:

Tag Rugby last night wasn't as strenuous as other weeks and potentially out late tonight so decided to bring forwarad "tempo" type run to this morning. 1 mile w/u, 5 miles @ PHMP, 1 mile c/d. To be honest, pace went from feeling comfortable to very uncomfortable but still a nice session to have done.

Question about pace runs; I assume they should be even paced as best you can? I struggled big style with that this morning, I ran above and below target pace but never at it. But then my average was the target pace!! I'm sure that's not the way you're supposed to do it. Any tips?

PS: Massive thanks to the motorist this morning who rather than splash me with filthy gutter water, slowed down to 4:30min/km and only passed me when there was no puddle to splash me with! There are nice people out there!

Yes definitely try to run at a consistent pace for the pace miles. Just keep practicing! Use the warmup mile to work up to pace very gradually and try to hold it. If you start out too fast you'll pay for it later so ease into it.

Ososlo

Casey78 wrote: »

I've been asked to do a radio interview on 4FM on Monday talking about training for my first Marathon. Sean Hehir last years winner will also be on at the same

Super! What time?

crisco10

Ososlo wrote: »

Yes definitely try to run at a consistent pace for the pace miles. Just keep practicing! Use the warmup mile to work up to pace very gradually and try to hold it. If you start out too fast you'll pay for it later so ease into it.

Thanks, I guessed that. It was actually more the opposite. I took awhile to accelerate up but then once I was accelerating I couldn't stop! So ended up with a much quicker second half!

Laois_Man

Casey78 wrote: »

I've been asked to do a radio interview on 4FM on Monday talking about training for my first Marathon. Sean Hehir last years winner will also be on at the same

Don't forget to mention us. We'll be listening!!!

Casey78

Ososlo wrote: »

Super! What time?

Half 2 or thereabouts.

Ososlo

Interesting new website by Pete Magill - The Running Corps - especially worth a read are the sections on training and injury

dolliemix

Ososlo wrote: »

Interesting new website by Pete Magill - The Running Corps - especially worth a read are the sections on training and injury

I'll be following this from now on in after learning the hard way. I took too much mileage on too soon and now I'm nursing an injured soleus and will be starting from scratch. I'm enjoying following this thread though and well done everybody. Looking forward to posting in the novice 2015 thread with all your advice, knowledge and experience to guide me.

JohnDozer

Weekly update! I have failed to post more frequently as promised, don't really know why that is because I read the thread everyday. Since the last post I ended up doing the LSR on Sunday morning last after the marathon paced session on Saturday. Just couldn't bear the thought of putting the run off until Sunday evening and having to battle with the inner demon trying to find a reason not to do it all day.

Legs, especially the calves were stiff on Monday so an uneventful 5k easy at lunch. On the plan Tuesday had a 10k pace interval session. Wasn't feeling the love as the legs were still heavy so switched it for Thursdays MP session. I had company for this so it seemed to pass very quick. I'm normally a solo runner for the vast majority of my runs, but there's another guy at work that isn't really following a plan for anything in particular but just likes to keep fit and has been joining me lately. I'm starting to see the benefits of not running alone more and more. Anyway, what i know after these intervals is that I need to slow down my easy and recovery paces more, as I have a tendency when I'm tired or not concentrating to just lapse automatically into steady pace in between the MP and Easy pace which is tiring me a good bit quicker than running at a proper recovery pace. I can hit the MP pace reasonably well but I don't yet know what it feels like automatically by feel so this requires frequent watch watching (I have a Garmin 305 but the beeps haven't worked since shortly after I got it) which is a bit annoying. 8.6 miles in total

Legs still stiff on Wednesday so put off the run till later. Plan was for 6 -8 easy so plotted out a 7 mile hill run which was 4 miles up and 3 down, which I alway find good for loosening out my calves when stiff. An uneventful 5 mile recovery on Thursday, although the run from work out to UL and back feels like a million miles removed from the city and is the best lunchtime therapy on those crazy days at work. Legs felt good on Friday so decided to start work a little later and do the intervals early. These were 2 mile warmup, then 4 X half mile @ 10k pace with 90 second recovery, then 5 mins recovery, then repeat the 4 X half mile @ 10k pace with 90 second recovery, with 2 mile cooldown. Had company again. I was a little scared of this session as I dont fear the MP ones, I do fear speedwork. despite this, the session went to plan - apart from getting stopped for directions at one point which took nearly a full minute to explain. Luckily enough it was in one the recovery pace slots. If it had been in the pace slot I think we might have had a Michael Douglas Falling Down moment!! Hit all the paces well for the speedwork, but again I need to slow down my easy/ recovery paces. This in particular is going to cause me problems if I dont sort it out as I feel its going to contribute to fatigue as the plan progresses as I'm probably going to be a bit slow to admit I need to take a few days off if or when the time comes.

Treated myself to a properly recovery paced run this morning. Plan called for 7 miles so before heading out I promised myself that if I did proper recovery pace run I could reward myself by having a crack at one of the segments close to the finish of my run which I felt was very gettable (although the other runners were doing it as part their regular run, whereas I was targetting it and running it flat out). Not very fair I guess, but I got the CR by not very many seconds and will enjoy that achievement, however meaningless it may appear to others Nailed the recovery pace too so happy with that too. 40 miles for the week so far, with the LSR tomorrow. First week over 50 miles last week. Really loving getting stuck into planned structured running for the first time ever. Felling tireder and hungrier nearly everyday now but thats natural with all the extra demands on the body now I guess.

Loving reading everyone elses experience and trying to figure out who around here I'll be toeing the line and rubbing shoulders with in October. Keep up the good work!

Nicsx

This week has taught me I'm a fair weather runner! Did my PMP session on Wed at 6.30pm which in hindsight was a bit too early as it was sooo hot but I knew I'd struggle to get out later. Thurs was a planned rest day & I had planned to go out at 7am on Friday morning for an easy run but woke up to the sound of thunder and decided against it. As today was the LSR I figured an evening run last night would not be my wisest move but if I do my recovery run tomorrow it will still be 5 runs for the week & I'm happy with that.

Did 18.1 miles this morning, thank goodness the heat has died down somewhat. Tried a Nuun tablet in my water bottle & a gel at the halfway point. Not sure which of the above worked (maybe all 3) but I felt like there could have been a mile or 2 left in the legs. Not even the 3 mile uphill drag home finished me off today so I'm thrilled. However, I wish I could say the same for the stairs up to the shower when I finished!! :-)

Good luck to anyone doing the 10K!!

Ososlo

Nicsx wrote: »

This week has taught me I'm a fair weather runner! Did my PMP session on Wed at 6.30pm which in hindsight was a bit too early as it was sooo hot but I knew I'd struggle to get out later. Thurs was a planned rest day & I had planned to go out at 7am on Friday morning for an easy run but woke up to the sound of thunder and decided against it. As today was the LSR I figured an evening run last night would not be my wisest move but if I do my recovery run tomorrow it will still be 5 runs for the week & I'm happy with that.

Did 18.1 miles this morning, thank goodness the heat has died down somewhat. Tried a Nuun tablet in my water bottle & a gel at the halfway point. Not sure which of the above worked (maybe all 3) but I felt like there could have been a mile or 2 left in the legs. Not even the 3 mile uphill drag home finished me off today so I'm thrilled. However, I wish I could say the same for the stairs up to the shower when I finished!! :-)

Good luck to anyone doing the 10K!!

Well done on the 18.1!!! Fantastic going there and a really good sign that you had something left in the tank. Shows you had the pacing spot-on today. Recover well!

adrian522

12 Miles in today. Made sure to hydrate and fuel up properly today. It went well. I didn't find it too difficult at any point except for the last half mile where I seemed to have to work a lot harder than most of the rest of the run.

I didn't find I needed a gel and managed to survive on the one bottle of water, but still had cash with me in case I needed a re-fill. Just finished a post run shake and now to do absolutely nothing today or tomorrow.

NyOmnishambles

13 miles today
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/544789848

Found it a bit of a struggle and would happily have skipped it but glad I went

I haven't replaced the water bladder yet so I had 2 bottles of water in the back pack, not as elegant a solution but functional
Tried Gel today for the first time, the Kinetica Cola ones that have been mentioned, had one at 4 miles and another at 8 miles, can't say I noticed that they helped much but there were no adverse affects and I am sure they will be important further down the line and they were kind of tasty which was a surprise

Ososlo

To all those heading to Swords in the morning, have a great race and enjoy it! Remember to do a nice slow warm-up to get the body ready and include a few strides to really wake up the legs.
Include a few cool-down miles afterwards if you can. I know it won't be easy as you'll all want to start celebrating the great pbs you'll receive but your body will thank you for it Monday!!!
Looking forward to the race reports:D

Alan30

12 mile LSR on Friday was a horrible experience from start to finish. First 2.5 miles where grand until i realised i forgot my inhaler so I headed for home to pick it up. I then started to feel tired and had nothing in the legs. Looking back I had eaten very early the day before and only had 1 weetabix before heading out running also I had given a blood donation the night before so not surprising I was weak. Got home at 5 mile and was calling it quits but decided to try and do another 2 mile to the shop and back for a luzocade and a banana. Ending up pushing on telling myself one more mile until I called it quits at 12 mile and feel into bed for a couple of hours. It definitely thought me the importance of fueling the day before the LSR

Murph_D

Well done on toughing it out, although it probably would have been wiser to call it quits, especially with the blood donation. Some days are definitely harder than others. We all have bad days when it feels like nothing is firing properly - in your case you've identified several likely reasons, demonstrating a level of awareness which will stand to you in the long run (no pun intended).

Alan30

Yeah I definitely should have stopped but I know I wouldn't get the long run in for as I am working night shifts all weekend.

JohnDozer

What kind of sick sadist f@&k suggests 4 marathon pace miles at the end of a 17 mile LSR????

Laois_Man

It was another later LSR for me this weekend. 15 miles staring at 9:00pm. I feel a bit stiff this morning but nothing worrying

For the second run in a row, I felt a bit sluggish. Pace was only 10:52. I was a bit worried that my pace was a good bit slower than I had intended it to be but I remembered John Tracy (or maybe it was Eamon Coughlan) saying there's no such thing as an LSR that's too slow (which might be debatable) so I decided to just get thru the 15 miles and not give a crap about being slow.

I tried the gels for the first time on this run. Had one Kinetica cola (which are nowhere near as disgusting as the Tropical one I tried the other day). I took one just before starting and also brought 2 with me. Cracked open one at an hour and 20 minutes. I wasn't going to bother with the other one but decided after 13 miles that I might as well take it and see could I observe anything. I'm not convinced they do anything for me....but I'm not convinced they don't either. I definitely felt stronger after 15 miles this weekend than I did after 14 miles last weekend. But last weekends run was in the sunshine (although it was very warm last night too) and a good bit faster so that probably has more to do with it.

Trying to come up with reasons why I am feeling sluggish. Sleep hasn't been great. Maybe I'm due a step-back week. But then, my gammy leg forces me to miss runs sometimes so I'm reluctant to take step backs on top of that. I'll see how the next 2 or 3 runs go and might swerve the 15 mile LSR next weekend in favor of something shorter.

Ososlo

JohnDozer wrote: »

What kind of sick sadist f@&k suggests 4 marathon pace miles at the end of a 17 mile LSR????

Ha ha! I used to do that for the last 4 miles of my lsrs last year. It's a great reality check as to how hard pmp can feel when you're tired! Did you manage it?

JohnDozer

Ososlo wrote: »

Ha ha! I used to do that for the last 4 miles of my lsrs last year. It's a great reality check as to how hard pmp can feel when you're tired! Did you manage it?

I know what you mean... Kinda hard to feel that way until the stop button is pressed on the garmin and the heart rate is dropping again. Managed them alright, but it was a serious struggle and I don't think I would have been able to put on another one at that pace if required. Feel better than after last weeks 14 for some reason though.

Sauve

Hi all, hope ye don't mind me jumping in here.
First marathon this year, and nervous as hell.
Just finished week 4 of Hal Higdon Intermediate 1 and I am bolloxed

Casey78

Was out on the road at 6am. Got 13.6 miles in.
Wasn't to bad but I'm a bit sore now. Tried to keep my heart rate in the 70-75% zone and pretty much achieved that. Pace was 10'40 per mile which I was hoping for for better but then I did have to slow to a walk on hills to keep my heart rate in the correct zone.

Ososlo

Casey78 wrote: »

Was out on the road at 6am. Got 13.6 miles in.
Wasn't to bad but I'm a bit sore now. Tried to keep my heart rate in the 70-75% zone and pretty much achieved that. Pace was 10'40 per mile which I was hoping for for better but then I did have to slow to a walk on hills to keep my heart rate in the correct zone.

Great running. However I don't think you should be walking the hills. You need experience of running on hills as dcm is not completely flat and hills are great for strengthening the legs. Keep the effort consistent and don't worry about the hr rising on the hills.

Ososlo

Sauve wrote: »

Hi all, hope ye don't mind me jumping in here.
First marathon this year, and nervous as hell.
Just finished week 4 of Hal Higdon Intermediate 1 and I am bolloxed

Great to have you on board!!! Add your name to the tracker if you want. Link on post one.