DCM 2014: Mentored Novices Thread

Laois_Man

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Hey guys,

Quick question - anyone able to recommend any good exercises for strengthening glutes? And while I'm here sure any stretches as well?

Cheers.

My physio put me on stuff like this...

Also single leg squats...very difficult, so you might want to start with one leg supported...and if your glutes are sore, it will make it feel worse

Stretching: In my best Ososlo impersonation; AIS


EDIT: When I say one leg supported, I mean this.....

RedRunner

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Hey guys,

Quick question - anyone able to recommend any good exercises for strengthening glutes? And while I'm here sure any stretches as well?

Cheers.

For stretching I find this one good:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE6mJ0VjK7Y

For strengthening :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgh6sGwtTwk

crisco10

A few pages ago people were wondering why they seemed to be getting slower...

For various (mainly slight injury) reasons my mileage has gone right down in the last 2 weeks. But played a tag rugby game last night, and I was so energetic and felt great. Covered large amounts of ground at full pace and recovered from bursts quickly.

Compare that to my tag games the weeks I have been doing training miles. I was useful and athletic but defo not as good at getting around the pitch and definitely took longer to recover from a sprint.

In summary; I completely agree with the posters who said that the body is cumulatively fatigued when you're doing all those miles!

ccrccs

So i have been training for a month now having done somecdecent running the last two years.I found iy difficult enough at starr...pins n needles..need to go toilet...chapping..and orgsnising diet but i have sorted all that out.my plan consists of
mon rest
tues speed work 8x400m
Wed 6-8 miles
Thurs 4-6 miles
Fri rest
Sat 1mile slow 2miles fast 1mile slow
Sun lsr...last week 15 miles ecpected to do 16 this wk

this is the first wk where i feel genuinely tired my legs are tired .i thought last night before my 6 miles that there was no way id ger around but after first mile i felt good.

going to enjoy rest day and watch athletics

SeanPuddin

Have a HM on Aug 30th (two weeks away) so was thinking of swapping weeks about.

In the boards plan there is a placeholder for a HM in week 6 (Sept 20th) and a 39 mile week before it. I'm going to swap those two weeks to be my next two weeks.

So next weeks sessions, 7M easy, 9M pace, 15M LSR then a nice handy recovery week before the race.

Anyone else doing the Tullamore HM and does this sound like a good plan?

Ososlo

Sounds perfect Sean P and factor in a nice easy week the week after it and you should be ok to do the lsr the following weekend.

SeanPuddin

Weeks 8 and 5 (weeks after my and placeholder HM) are 40 mile weeks. Seems like there is no let up planned after the HM. But yes I might swap those too.

Thanks.

PeterParker100

Excellent thread, thanks Ososlo.

Thought I'd add my thoughts on my run up to the Dublin marathon, which I'm just about to enter. It's been 10 years since my last marathon and I'm looking forward to doing DCM for the first time. I've been running on and off in those 10 years.

I did the Rock n Roll half on the bank holiday, after about 8 weeks of training, coming in around 1:47:30 (official time was posted at 1:44:30 - but there was issues with the timings). I was pretty comfortable on the day, and felt I could have gone quicker with some more training, but happy nevertheless considering the Phoenix Park hills in the latter stages (maybe more hill work required). I tried to hang onto the 1:45 pacer when he passed me at 7 miles, but it didn't quiet happen!

I was sick a week out from the race, after a heavy night out on beer on the Friday, felt ok as Saturday went on and went on an 11 miler on the Sunday. Come the Monday I felt terrible, with nausea and vomiting, could hardly lift my head from the pillow! Think it was a touch of hyponatremia (after googling the symptoms). I drank so much water on that Sunday, after obviously dehydrating myself on the beer! Lesson learnt there!

I turned 40 this year and I'd love to beat my previous marathon best of 3:49 set in my late 20s, so I've started obsessing over pace times and alike! I'm mostly following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 plan, although I'm a little behind right now, but I'm also cycling to work most days (around a 12 mile round trip) so I'm feeling in pretty good nick.

Some good advise on here, I'll be stepping up my mileage and slowing down my LSR after reading some of comments on here. My longest runs leading up to the HM were 11 miles run at 8:30 pace, so I'll be dropping that back this weekend when I plan to do 12-13 miles.

So I'll follow this thread with interest, good luck all!

laura_ac3

Laois_Man wrote: »

My physio put me on stuff like this...

RedRunner wrote: »

For stretching I find this one good:[

For strengthening :[]

Thanks a million. Looks interesting. Will give them a go. Need to strengthen my left glute to help my hamstring.

On a separate note I went into elverys to get a couple of things. While there I said I'd buy a water bottle carrier thing. I normally don't like running with anything but said I'd give something a go. Dear me....the amount of choice - I dithered for about 20 mins before choosing something that looked the most secure and suited for me water amount wise. I was in half a mind to go running down the shop to practice it but decided to weirdly bounce around up and down to test it. On reflection that probably looked more peculiar :rolleyes:

MKDTH

I returned to running yesterday for only my third run in nine days after four days off due to a niggle and two days off for a trip to England. I bought loads of running stuff during my trip so its now time to knuckle down and make it worthwhile!!!!
I was not sure how my lack of running had affected my fitness so I went for a run with the plan of getting miles in my legs and not worrying about pace.

Miles
1. 11.11
2. 11.37
3. 11.52
4. 12.03
5. 13.06
6. 11.12
7. 11.22
8. 12.05
8.14. 11.41

Duration 1 hour 36 mins

I stopped after three miles to do some stretches, and was running along a trail along Portmarnock beach after five miles which explains the slow downs.

I gave myself today off with the aim of four miles on Saturday and a long run of 13 miles on Sunday morning.

I think my aim for the 10 mile race next Saturday is anything under 1 hour 45 which is 10.30 pace, but if I return to feeling the way I did in July, then I should be able to get under 1 hour 40 with McMillan saying my 10k race time suggests a 1hr 36!

Darren 83

A bit of advice needed I have 4 miles easy tomorrow and 16 on Sunday, its about 2k where the group are meeting so will be running there should I scrap Saturday or do 2 miles recovery?

Ososlo

Darren 83 wrote: »

A bit of advice needed I have 4 miles easy tomorrow and 16 on Sunday, its about 2k where the group are meeting so will be running there should I scrap Saturday or do 2 miles recovery?

Not sure I understand Darren. Do you mean you have to run an extra 2k on Sunday to meet the group before the long run, so it'll end up being much longer than the 16 miles between running to meet them and running home again?

If I got it right then yes I'd just to 2-3 miles very slow tomorrow or take the day off completely if you're worried about overdoing things.

Darren 83

Ososlo wrote: »

Not sure I understand Darren. Do you mean you have to run an extra 2k on Sunday to meet the group before the long run, so it'll end up being much longer than the 16 miles between running to meet them and running home again?

If I got it right then yes I'd just to 2-3 miles very slow tomorrow or take the day off completely if you're worried about overdoing things.

Yep so Id have a extra two miles on top off the 16.

Ososlo

Darren 83 wrote: »

Yep so Id have a extra two miles on top off the 16.

Keep the extra miles super easy on Sunday and do a short recovery effort run tomorrow. 2, 3 miles, just to keep the legs ticking over.

Laois_Man

17 mile LVSR (long very slow run) - 11:13 pace

Felt way better than in last Friday afternoons LSR. A few reasons for that.

- was slower. (Last week was 10:21 pace)

- Last weeks run was purposely done on an almost empty stomach. Today I had a good feed of chicken and pasta a couple of hours beforehand.

- Last week I went without Gels. This week I took 2. I brought the Viper ones with the Caffeine for the first time and unlike all the others I've tried, I THINK they helped a lot. Horrible things though.

Very slow.
A bit of pain.
But happy enough.

NyOmnishambles

Wrecked

Felt alright up to the Half Marathon mark, fell off a cliff after that
17 miles today, hard work and the backs of my thighs are on fire but it is all heading towards the goal

Didn't take any gels today, not sure if that made a difference or not, think I just didn't have the miles in the legs, will experiment with them some more and try some different ones

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/566092110

frash

18 months ago I couldn't have ran 5k
today I ran 18 miles!

Pace isn't pretty bus then again I am "built for comfort - not for speed"

Not a hope of doing a PMP mile at the end though

Distance Pace
1.00 mi 11:25
2.00 mi 12:06
3.00 mi 11:50
4.00 mi 12:22
5.00 mi 11:52
6.00 mi 11:17
7.00 mi 12:01
8.00 mi 11:41
9.00 mi 12:25
10.00 mi 11:42
11.00 mi 11:48
12.00 mi 12:23
13.00 mi 11:59
14.00 mi 12:52
15.00 mi 12:32
16.00 mi 12:41
17.00 mi 13:46
18.02 mi 12:40

JohnDozer

Have had to jiggle things around a little bit again... After Tuesdays interval session debacle, a nice 6m easy run followed on Wednesday on lunch hour. Had booked a Physio session a number of weeks back for Thursday and had hoped to get out for the MP session before that as I had a sneaky suspicion the legs mightn't be in great shape for a speedy run after. Alas, it wasn't to be due to work getting in the way. When I booked the session the legs had been quite tired and niggly due to the increase in training load. Due to the two easy weeks much of this had been resolved anyway, but decided to press ahead with the Physio. Hadn't been with this guy before so he spent a good half hour getting the full picture, past and present, very thorough! He told me what I already know, the level of stretching and 'pre-habilitation' work I do is not sufficient for the training I am doing. Onwards to the physical work then... I have never had soft tissue work done before. Any Physio work I have had done has always been on injuries to ligaments which I now know isn't as severe. My sweet Jesus, did this hurt! I thought I had a decent pain threshold - I now know I don't!! I think I now fear a trip to the Physio more than a trip to the dentist. The main focus was on the calf muscles, which apparently are not in great shape and would really benefit from additional stretching and strengthening work. Quads and hamstrings got a clean-ish bill of health with the glutes also requiring work. As a pleasant surprise I got the go ahead for a soft gentle run that evening. Although he did say this with a glint in his eye, probably thinking no way will that fella be able after the toughing up I'm after giving him. The calves were in bits walking and driving but I said I'd head out anyway and see how they felt. Surprisingly good, so ticked off 4 miles.

Felt ok Friday evening but decided not to overdo it so chose to do the 7 mile easy run from Saturday and push the MP session to today, safe in the knowledge I was pushing the LSR out to early next week. Felt good on the easy run and picked up a strava CR on a notorious little local hill, although not many seem to have taken it on, but there is nearly always people running it. Strange!

MP session this morning then, 2 mile warm up followed by 3 miles at MP, 8 minutes recovery, 2 more MP miles and 2 miles cool down. All went good, I did these on a 3 mile loop which had a gentle gradient up for 1.5 miles and back down for the next mile, so a good way to test judging pace on ground that is not flat. Hit the paces just fine but again the overwhelming feeling is how to put 26 of them together in a couple of months. I also now know I tend to overcompensate the effort when running into the wind so I need to watch that. Tired enough by the end, but I feel like I have a new pair of legs, thank you mr. Physio!! Oh ya, forgot to mention, on his recommendation I am now the proud owner of a foam roller... Now to spend the evening on YouTube! Or if anyone has any good links to sites/ videos I'd appreciate it.

Had committed to a fundraiser for work with a while, which is a 10k tomorrow. I figure I can just swop my LSR to Tuesday as in the plan this is down for a 5 X 1k at 10k pace session so the race covers that, without too much disruption. Don't really want to overdo the effort, but I would have really liked to have gone sub 45 in the one in Germany a few weeks ago, which I missed by 25 seconds. It's still a PB so I'm still very very happy with it. I think the plan is a few miles either side for warmup and cool down. Aim to do the first 3-5km at sub 45 pace and then reassess. If it's on push on, or if i'm working too hard back off and leave it for another day. Easy say that now!!

MKDTH

Only two miles run today rather than the planned four. This was due to awful pain in my left knee along with a bearable dull ache in my right knee. This is not the first time that I have felt pain on the run after a long run and previously have had no long term issues the next time I run.
Hopefully this is the case again as I am due to run 13 miles on Sunday morning.
I may try doing some of my previous stretches before running to see if this helps.
The pain is in the same area as a old Football injury so must be cartilage related.

Watch this space!

ChadHogan

Ran the last 8 miles of the marathon route today from Terenure to Haddington road, as part of 17 mile LSR. Got the idea to do it from an earlier post. Don't think there's much to fear route wise although I'm sure the hill at Roebuck will be tougher with 20 miles in the legs rather than 6. The hill in Milltown possibly might sting a little also!

Felt really fresh after a rest day yesterday, and probably went off a little fast. Did the 17 miles in 2:42:00 around 9:30 mins/mile. Maybe about 10-20 seconds per mile too fast, but I only really started to tie up in the last mile. It was my longest run to date and I enjoyed miles 1-16 immensely. Pretty, happy I'm where I need to be at this point, but the last mile today probably highlighted the point of view that 20 miles is the real halfway point in a marathon.

I also tested out 2 gels for the first time, kinetica mango and strawberry. I thought they were quite nice and didn't upset my stomach. If your going to use gels I'd recommend them from a taste and texture point of view. I can't really tell if it they helped my energy levels or not. Although, I think I might need a cereal bar or something as I like the feeling of having something in my stomach.

We'll done to everyone clocking up the long mileage this weekend. It nice to come on here and share the highs and lows.

Nicsx

Just in from 20m LSR with YourPaceOrMine. We decided to tackle the 1st half of the DCM route as all the previous LSRs have been on the 2nd half. OMG! Apart from a couple of Great Ireland Runs I had never run in the Park so I hadn't fully realised how long the drag up Chesterfield Ave is. It's long! We deviated slightly from the route in the Park but managed to get out Chapelizod gate, across the bridge & then up Chapelizod Hill Road. I couldn't believe that the Foster's Ave hill was given the title of Heartbreak Hill when it was nothing compared to what we had just run up (& I use run very loosely- it probably looked more like a crawl) and then the penny dropped! I had misdirected us. Massive sighs of relief all round. And then we plodded on until we met what felt like gale force winds on Crumlin & Drimnagh Roads. Now that's a long stretch!

Anyway, it's great to have it in the bag & we'll probably tackle it a couple more times. I have to say I'm glad it's the 1st half - it definitely seems tougher than Clonskeagh Rd etc

PS it was lovely seeing some deer in the Park :-)

bucketybuck

22km run today, as usual with these long runs its the longest run I've ever done in my life. It was also the hardest, felt pain down my right side from about half way, from my hip and through my groin, and also in my right foot. I struggled on though with a bit of a limp that only got more pronounced as time went on. Got it done though.

Tried a gel for the first time ever, don't know if it actually done any good but it didn't hurt anyway, no stomach cramps or anything like that. Also carried a water bottle for the first time, I was worried about that and if it would annoy me but it really didn't, felt quite natural gripping it all the way around.

gingersnap

Great to read all the long run updates on here!

I did 25km (15.5m) yesterday. Took lucozade sport mixed with water (thanks for the tip Ososlo! ) and felt very good until the last couple of miles. I also ran through Chapelizod, coming back up the hill there was a killer. I was determined not to stop on it but had to have a little walk once I reached the top.

I've decided not to try gels and to stick to real food for my long runs. I'm not looking for a fast time on the day so I don't mind slowing down for a few minutes to eat. Had a banana and a few fig rolls yesterday and they kept me going.

Legs feel a bit heavy today, just did a three mile walk to keep them moving.

laura_ac3

Nicsx wrote: »

We deviated slightly from the route in the Park but managed to get out Chapelizod gate, across the bridge & then up Chapelizod Hill Road. I couldn't believe that the Foster's Ave hill was given the title of Heartbreak Hill when it was nothing compared to what we had just run up (& I use run very loosely- it probably looked more like a crawl) and then the penny dropped! I had misdirected us. Massive sighs of relief all round. And then we plodded on until we met what felt like gale force winds on Crumlin & Drimnagh Roads.

Where did you go? Did you straight up that near vertical hill that has a bridge going over it? Think I made the same mistake before!

YourPaceOrMine

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Where did you go? Did you straight up that near vertical hill that has a bridge going over it? Think I made the same mistake before!

Yes she dragged me up that hill was so relieved to hear we'd taken a wrong turn and I never have to do that hill again!

Ososlo

MKDTH wrote: »

Only two miles run today rather than the planned four. This was due to awful pain in my left knee along with a bearable dull ache in my right knee. This is not the first time that I have felt pain on the run after a long run and previously have had no long term issues the next time I run.
Hopefully this is the case again as I am due to run 13 miles on Sunday morning.
I may try doing some of my previous stretches before running to see if this helps.
The pain is in the same area as a old Football injury so must be cartilage related.

Watch this space!

Did you get a foam roller btw? Foam rolling the calfs and TFL might help. Don't force the 13 tomorrow unless you're pain free. It's a crucial time for you not to get an injury that might put you out.

MKDTH

Ososlo wrote: »

Did you get a foam roller btw? Foam rolling the calfs and TFL might help. Don't force the 13 tomorrow unless you're pain free. It's a crucial time for you not to get an injury that might put you out.

I've not had time to get one yet, but interesting that it is the left knee, and last week left calf so maybe related by my knee maybe having to slightly work harder.
Sure I will give it a go and see how I feel.

Ososlo

gingersnap wrote: »

Great to read all the long run updates on here!

I did 25km (15.5m) yesterday. Took lucozade sport mixed with water (thanks for the tip Ososlo! ) and felt very good until the last couple of miles. I also ran through Chapelizod, coming back up the hill there was a killer. I was determined not to stop on it but had to have a little walk once I reached the top.

I've decided not to try gels and to stick to real food for my long runs. I'm not looking for a fast time on the day so I don't mind slowing down for a few minutes to eat. Had a banana and a few fig rolls yesterday and they kept me going.

Legs feel a bit heavy today, just did a three mile walk to keep them moving.

Great going.
I used to drop a nuun tablet into the bottle too to help with the salt replacement as I ran. Great you have no problems eating on the run! How did you find carrying a banana and fig rolls with you? Do you think you can carry a few of them on the day? Make sure you're very comfortable with whatever you have to carry and practice it loads. More than one banana might be tricky to carry. Thats the great thing about gels - they're so convenient. Plenty of fig rolls might be good too as they won't melt and they're fairly small.

Ososlo

bucketybuck wrote: »

22km run today, as usual with these long runs its the longest run I've ever done in my life. It was also the hardest, felt pain down my right side from about half way, from my hip and through my groin, and also in my right foot. I struggled on though with a bit of a limp that only got more pronounced as time went on. Got it done though.

Tried a gel for the first time ever, don't know if it actually done any good but it didn't hurt anyway, no stomach cramps or anything like that. Also carried a water bottle for the first time, I was worried about that and if it would annoy me but it really didn't, felt quite natural gripping it all the way around.

Well done on the run. Great to have that under your belt and that you had no issues with the gels or bottle.
A bit concerned about the pain though
Was it a pain more than an ache? Running with pain and a limp is really not a great idea. How is it now? Have you had anything like it before? Maybe get a physio to check it out for you.

gingersnap

Ososlo wrote: »

Great going.
I used to drop a nuun tablet into the bottle too to help with the salt replacement as I ran. Great you have no problems eating on the run! How did you find carrying a banana and fig rolls with you? Do you think you can carry a few of them on the day? Make sure you're very comfortable with whatever you have to carry and practice it loads. More than one banana might be tricky to carry. Thats the great thing about gels - they're so convenient. Plenty of fig rolls might be good too as they won't melt and they're fairly small.

I got a running "bum bag" and it has lots of room. It was a bit annoying at first but I'm used to it now and once it's in the right position it doesn't move about. It is of course a bit extra weight but I am slow anyway so it can't make me much slower. Also, it gets lighter as I go along