Random Running Questions

Irish_rat

Guys I've a question, is it possible to cut the hal Higdon marathon program at week 15?

The long run at 18 miles I'll change to 19 miles.
And the week that says run 20 miles I'll do the full? Obviously I'll taper down after that 19 mile run.

I've been following the programme well so far and have done long runs as far as 16 miles before.

Just fancy doing clon, I've done the half down there before. Otherwise I'll be waiting until Tralee.

Cheers.

28064212

Irish_rat wrote: »

Guys I've a question, is it possible to cut the hal Higdon marathon program at week 15?

Of course it's possible. It's probably not ideal though. You're only giving yourself a two week taper, and you're going to miss out on some of the highest mileage weeks. Obviously useless info now, but if you're going to cut a programme short, you'd cut some of the lower mileage weeks (assuming you can handle the slightly more accelerated step-ups)

Notwork Error

Irish_rat wrote: »

Guys I've a question, is it possible to cut the hal Higdon marathon program at week 15?

The long run at 18 miles I'll change to 19 miles.
And the week that says run 20 miles I'll do the full? Obviously I'll taper down after that 19 mile run.

I've been following the programme well so far and have done long runs as far as 16 miles before.

Just fancy doing clon, I've done the half down there before. Otherwise I'll be waiting until Tralee.

Cheers.

You're going to need to give more info. Is this the novice 2 plan? How many weeks between the 19 mile and marathon run the way you are doing it? Have you run a marathon before? And why are you in a rush?

Irish_rat

Notwork Error wrote: »

You're going to need to give more info. Is this the novice 2 plan? How many weeks between the 19 mile and marathon run the way you are doing it? Have you run a marathon before? And why are you in a rush?

It's the novice 1 plan.

2 weeks between the 19 and marathon run. Nope my first one, done a good number of half's. I wouldn't say I'm in a rush but feel clon is the best one to run early next year opposed to Tralee. Plus it will probably be that much cooler temp wise in February.

My short runs are 8.5-10 min miles

My long runs are 10.3-11 min/miles

I'm on week 8 so have 13 miles this weekend

I think clonakilty mailed me there to say I can decide the distance the day before the race so that's also ideal.

Notwork Error

Irish_rat wrote: »

It's the novice 2 plan.

2 weeks between the 19 and marathon run. Nope my first one, done a good number of half's. I wouldn't say I'm in a rush but feel clon is the best one to run early next year opposed to Tralee. Plus it will probably be that much cooler temp wise in February.

My short runs are 8.5-10 min miles

My long runs are 10.3-11 min/miles

I'm on week 8 so have 13 miles this weekend

I think clonakilty mailed me there to say I can decide the distance the day before the race so that's also ideal.

Don't rush into your first marathon, that's advice from a guy who did and felt the blunt of the distance and something I see so many first timers do. As 280 said above, it's not ideal preparation with only a 2 week taper and 13 weeks of training behind you. Mid-March is actually a much better time temp-wise for running than February as well.

Hal Higdon N2 is an understrength plan as it is and cutting weeks will make it even weaker. Just adding mileage onto the long run won't give the same effect as actually running the plan so you will lose 2 weeks of the highest mileage and more as you will not be running on as tired legs your way on these runs. Holding out until Tralee would be a much better option imo as you will have more training under your belt, more time to recover during the taper and a better chance of running a good marathon. You can cut the plan if you want to but I feel you will still need a 3 week taper as a first-timer but that means you only have 12 weeks of strong building to do which isn't enough imo to do yourself justice and give a good shot at success, don't sacrifice the taper whatever you do in search of an extra week of building.

Don't make the same mistake I made running my first one, I'd strongly advise Tralee(it's only 3 weeks more and patience is a virtue in running) as a better option for you but the choice is yours.

Irish_rat

Notwork Error wrote: »

Don't rush into your first marathon, that's advice from a guy who did and felt the blunt of the distance and something I see so many first timers do. As 280 said above, it's not ideal preparation with only a 2 week taper and 13 weeks of training behind you. Mid-March is actually a much better time temp-wise for running than February as well.

Hal Higdon N2 is an understrength plan as it is and cutting weeks will make it even weaker. Just adding mileage onto the long run won't give the same effect as actually running the plan so you will lose 2 weeks of the highest mileage and more as you will not be running on as tired legs your way on these runs. Holding out until Tralee would be a much better option imo as you will have more training under your belt, more time to recover during the taper and a better chance of running a good marathon. You can cut the plan if you want to but I feel you will still need a 3 week taper as a first-timer but that means you only have 12 weeks of strong building to do which isn't enough imo to do yourself justice and give a good shot at success, don't sacrifice the taper whatever you do in search of an extra week of building.

Don't make the same mistake I made running my first one, I'd strongly advise Tralee(it's only 3 weeks more and patience is a virtue in running) as a better option for you but the choice is yours.

I think I'll wait for March so! :-) I will be careful with the long mileage weeks, I have a shift that is like 3 weeks on, 2 off and I'll do the big bulk on my 2 weeks off (5,10,5,20). Over Christmas/Jan I have 3.5 weeks off so I can get well built up to the 16 mile mark and will be in good shape by the end of January. Also a lot of my runs are on greenway trails I should probably start doing a few on road.

I'm eating very well also something which I havnt been doing in the past and my body fat is dropping a lot with the training. An added bonus.

Thanks again for the advice. Like many I have a new years resolution, run a marathon!

dubsontour

runnerholic wrote: »

What are "dryer sheets"?

Sheets you put in with your clothes in the dryer to cut down on creases while drying

crisco10

Just wondering what people's thoughts on 5-a-side footy while your training for something. Does it count as a cross training day? an "easy" day?

I play once a week, and do work hard (track back everytime, try and get up in support etc). But what sort of work out is it?

I feel like its somewhere between an easy and speedwork day. But maybe I'm kidding myself.

Tigerandahalf

crisco10 wrote: »

Just wondering what people's thoughts on 5-a-side footy while your training for something. Does it count as a cross training day? an "easy" day?

I play once a week, and do work hard (track back everytime, try and get up in support etc). But what sort of work out is it?

I feel like its somewhere between an easy and speedwork day. But maybe I'm kidding myself.

I found it took a lot out of my legs so gave it up. The constant starting and stopping is very tough on the muscles and joints. Maybe I am just getting old though.

IvoryTower

In my experience it's definitely not an easy day anyway!

DubOnHoliday

No it definitely isn't. And I only ever get injured in football, we play indoor and the floor isn't very forgiving. It is hard to give it up though, it's great craic and we've had a game going for 3 years now.
When I'm racing I'll normally play in goal or give it a miss for that week. I ran carrick mountain a day after playing football and it's not an experience I'd want to repeat.

_Tombstone_

5 a side/squash are thousand times better than any run.

IvoryTower

Not better if you want to get fitter/faster for running

Gavlor

Playing football and trying to run anything over 20 miles a week do not mix. I guarantee you'll start picking up stupid injuries.

Liam28

What is a good time for 5k for a kid? My son did a school 5k 'fun run' in a time of around 20:40 which I was surprised with. Is this a normal or unusually fast time? He does not do any running or athletics training but is active with other sports.

ultrapercy

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

5 a side/squash are thousand times better than any run.

In what way ?

demfad

I wouldn't count 5-aside as an easy day as at the least you'll be working your joints way harder than on an easy day so youll need to recover a bit from that.

Your body seems to adapt most to the last thing you do in a session. With that in mind I used to run home after 5 aside at a steady pace (between easy and threshold) anything from 10-40 mins. Important to keep it controlled though. That would be an OK workout for distance training anytime of year (usual recovery rules). For off-road running events it actually fits in very nicely as your teaching the legs to run fastish on legs tired from changing direction.

Regarding injuries if you are a runner who plays the occasional game of 5 aside you may be high risk. You are relatively well conditioned to run in straight lines but are not conditioned to keep changing direction. That makes one susceptible to an ankle injury late in a game where the legs are willing but the ankles are not.

That said if you want to play at a higher level you need the fitness and therefore the appropriste miles. As long as this is built up slowly and proportionaltly (see ankle injury risk above) it shouldn't be an issue. Best to chat to a football player or coach at that level though.

pconn062

What age is he?

Liam28

pconn062 wrote: »

What age is he?

Kid is 11, should have clarified that. I know he is fast on the football field, but I have no knowledge of juvenile athletics.

Gavlor

Liam28 wrote: »

Kid is 11, should have clarified that. I know he is fast on the football field, but I have no knowledge of juvenile athletics.

For perspective, his 5k is faster than half of the people on here!

IvoryTower

I would say the fastest kids on a football team would always be good at athletics but they generally just prefer playing football!

ultrapercy

Liam28 wrote: »

Kid is 11, should have clarified that. I know he is fast on the football field, but I have no knowledge of juvenile athletics.

Yes very good time for 11 and not a bad time in general. It would place him in the top 25% of even competitive adult races. It's not necessarily a sign that he will become a top class runner but he obviously is fit and competitive. He should go along to his local club and find out if he enjoys athletics first and what he's good at will follow.

runnerholic

Anyone know whereabouts in Leixlip the Kildare open 5k starts tomorrow? There is no starting point given on popupraces.

tang1

runnerholic wrote: »

Anyone know whereabouts in Leixlip the Kildare open 5k starts tomorrow? There is no starting point given on popupraces.

The Le Cheile track I think.

runnerholic

tang1 wrote: »

The Le Cheile track I think.

The website says it finishes there but it doesn't say where it starts. Is the Le cheile track at Leixlip amenities centre?

tang1

runnerholic wrote: »

The website says it finishes there but it doesn't say where it starts. Is the Le cheile track at Leixlip amenities centre?

It says on the attached poster location Le Cheile AC so I presume that's the start location to, regarding the tracks location I can't answer that i'm afraid:

UM1

Starts on main road just at the point where u enter track from main road ..so just outside amenities centre

runnerholic

UM1 wrote: »

Starts on main road just at the point where u enter track from main road ..so just outside amenities centre

Thanks!

tang1

UM1 wrote: »

Starts on main road just at the point where u enter track from main road ..so just outside amenities centre

You must have measured it, bound to be short so!!!

UM1

tang1 wrote: »

You must have measured it, bound to be short so!!!

Bang on measurrmrnt ..exact same route as le cheike 5k...