DCM 2014 graduates - the next step onwards

ECOLII

Great shout

Delighted to see Clearlier come on board for this, the man was tergats second coming and is deeply knowledgeable in both methodology as well as application of training methods and does so with a common sense aspect taken into account which I think often gets overlooked

You folks are in great hands

Dub13

1) is there anything you would have done differently in your 2014 training or what was the most beneficial thing you learned?

Maybe not be a slave to the plan, I did what I now believe to be many "junk miles" as in miles just for the sake of it I was addicted to doing as many as I could just to be safe. I think next year I will not be so much as slave to the mileage.

2) what are your new goals for 2015?

DCM15, but before that like many here to work on my shorter times. My PB's now are
half: 1:43:56
10k: 48:02
5k: 23:13

AuldManKing

Such a good team. Everyone will learn a lot here.
Clearlier is a Boards legend, Everyone, graduates and experienced alike will be popping on here to hear his advice.
Ososlo must have paid a small fortune to get him

Dave is the personification of 'sensible & dedicated'. From his own training and the progression he has shown, you are in great hands.

Well done Ososlo, great team!

laura_ac3

annapr wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your mother, Laura. I have also found running a great way to stay sane/cope with a bereavement.

As for Parkrun, come on out to St Anne's any Saturday morning, great way to start the weekend.

Thanks Anna, and you too. It really is a great tool to cope, definitely helped me with the tougher days.

Yeah I think I'll head out to the st Anne's one this Saturday. Been meaning to do it for ages but the LSRs just kept getting in the way :rolleyes:

Dub13

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Yeah I think I'll head out to the st Anne's one this Saturday. Been meaning to do it for ages but the LSRs just kept getting in the way :rolleyes:

I am the same, been dying to do the St Anne's one for ages, I hope to break my cheery this Sat if I can fit in in around the young lads football.

Dub13

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Yeah I think I'll head out to the st Anne's one this Saturday. Been meaning to do it for ages but the LSRs just kept getting in the way :rolleyes:

I am the same, been dying to do the St Anne's one for ages, I hope to pop my parkrun cherry on Sat if I can fit it in around the young lads football.

annapr

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Thanks Anna, and you too. It really is a great tool to cope, definitely helped me with the tougher days.

Yeah I think I'll head out to the st Anne's one this Saturday. Been meaning to do it for ages but the LSRs just kept getting in the way :rolleyes:

Hope to see you there!

Clearlier

I'm blushing here

Thanks to Ososlo for the introduction. I've heard nothing but good things about her work on the novices thread. I feel very lucky to be given the opportunity to try and add to all the help that she has given so many people.

I've been where you are and I'm just hoping that I can help guide you a little. Maybe help you avoid some of the mistakes that I made. Having looked through Dave's log I suspect that we'll be on the same wavelength but if not all the more interesting.

Initial bits of advice
First piece of advice I can offer is to follow ecoli's thread. There's bound to be a ton of good advice coming out of it. If you spot any conflicts between what ecoli says and what I say call it out because that's where you'll get the really interesting ideas about how to train.

Second piece of advice is to sign up for this. For anyone working in a seated position all day the hip flexor stretch is worth the time alone (just make sure you follow carefully what he says).

What's the plan?
I will have a plan for everyone who wants one to follow (although I'm happy to take a stab at answering questions relating to other plans if I'm familiar with them). I hope that by the end of the plan everybody who follows it will be fitter, well prepared for their next goal and have a deeper understanding of how to train effectively.

The plan will be based on a link that ecoli posted a few weeks ago. It's aimed at 5k in it's original version but I'll adapt it to suit any races up to 2 hours long. I think that it's an ideal next step for people who have just completed their first marathon.

The plan will start next Monday. In the meantime anyone who completed DCM should start jogging again this week if they haven't started already. Get out as many days as you think you can commit to doing consistently even if some of them are actually short walks. I expect that one or two will have already got down to doing some sessions. Be cautious and ease your way back into them. You won't lay down the foundations for your next PB this week but you could get yourself injured.

Your history
I had planned to go through the DCM novices thread to get an idea of what has happened already but then I opened it - 421 pages!!

That does mean that I'll need to ask for a little information. It's not mandatory obviously and I hope that I don't scare anybody off but the more that I know about your training history the better I will be able to advise you so here's my wish list.

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!
2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.
3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.
4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?
5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?
6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

I'm looking forward to this. Let's do some good things.

rockstar_91

Hi everyone. DCM graduate who hitched onto all the great work on the novices thread. I'm hoping that by being involved on the forums that I can learn a bit more about my running and making improvements.

As a bit of background, I started training to lose weight after I finished my masters degree in Summer 2013. A few months in the gym soon led me to look for more adventurous ways and means to enjoy my workouts. As I am only 23 (I do feel like a bit of a big baby when it comes to running at races and at club nights), I opted for running, as I have always had an interest in it and it seemed less costly than cycling and didn't require a focus on bulking up as I would have to for the likes of rugby or American football.

I started out with some 5km and 10km races without undertaking any particular training regimen. I was enjoying my running so I decided to join my local club. Soon after joining, the opportunity arose to take part in a half marathon. After that I was bitten by the bug, running another half marathon two weeks later! Since then I set myself the goal of running a race every month and making incremental improvements.

My times to this point were as follows:

Special Olympics 5km: 27.46
Movember 10km: 53.45
Run for Rehab 5km: 22.19
Carlingford Half Marathon: 1.57.12
DUNE Half Marathon: 1.54.58
PK5K: 22.35
Great Irish Run 10km: 50.15
Dundalk 10km: 56.54 (picked up knee injury at 7.5km having been on pace for sub 50 mins)
Boyne 10km: 52.40 (reaggravated knee injury at 6 km having been on pace for sub 50 mins)
Green 5km: 21.22
Annagassan 10km: 48.44

I was late deciding to run DCM as I wasn't sure if I would be able to get time of work as I work 5 days a week, but these are not set days. Luckily I was able to get the time off so taking into account my fitness and the relatively short lead in time of about 11 weeks I put together a rough-shod training plan that included the Dublin Half and Athlone 3/4. My plan consisted of 1 or 2 short runs of about 6 miles and an increasing LSR each week, combined with a day of crosstraining (swimming) and core work on alternate weeks. For the most part, I fitted this into my schedule.

Dublin Half: 1.48.xx
Athlone 3/4: 3.12.xx

With these performances under my belt I set a best case scenario goal of running 4.20 at DCM. This was my race report.

"First marathon today. All I can call it is an ordeal. My target was sub 4:20 (which might have been foolish on my part). The wind around Dolphins Barn on that open stretch took it out of me and I just had to let the flags drift away. Kept running up until 17 but after that it was walk a few minutes, run a few. I know "Heartbreak Hill" and whether it is one is a bit of a debated topic, but today with the nasty headwind and the heat, there were a lot of broken souls by mile 22. The support at the top was incredible and really spurred me on. Struggled home from there with a dodgy knee but the shouts of encouragement were incredible. Made it across in 4:58:39 and was very happy to come in under 5 hours all considered."

To answer the questions laid out at the start of the thread

1) What could I improve on from my 2014 experience?

-My training regime - Putting a more concrete plan in place should really help. Also mixing it up a bit more eg: added speed work and hill work and a more manageable approach to LSR's.
-Listen to my body more in terms of recovering from the little niggles
-As another poster mentioned, not putting as much focus on shorter races in the build up

2) Goals for 2015

My overall aim is to improve(!)

In terms of times, I would like to bring my pace across all distances more in line with each other. Right now my goals look something like this.

5km: Sub 20mins
10km: Sub 46.30mins
Half: Sub 1hr45mins

I don't know how I feel about undertaking another full marathon just yet but if I were to go the full distance again I would simply look to improve on my time of 4hrs58 and enjoy my race.

After a two and a half week break from running since DCM I'll be back on the roads this week to get back in the running groove. Safe to say I can't wait!

crisco10

What a great thread to see on a Monday morning! Thanks for the guidance Ososlo! and thanks in advance to Clearlier!

1) What could I improve on from my 2014 experience?

Tough one this, lots of things went right and I had a good year. I played tag rugby which wasn't a great idea (picked up a few knocks) but at the same time I really enjoyed it so I don't regret that per se.

From a pure running perspective; would have done more races earlier in the year at shorter distances. And maybe concentrated more on the importance of the mid-week "sorta long run" in July/August. I only really started doing that run properly in September



1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!

5k: 19:3x (June 2014)
10k: 40:16 (June 2013)
10 mile: 70:16 (August 2013, although I actually beat that as part of the below half this year)
half: 1:30:40 (August 2014)
Full: 3:24:49 (DCM 2014)

2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.

Long time here and there runner, mainly to supplement other training for football and rugby. Tried training haphazardly for DCM 2013 before my ITB gave way. Came back in 2014; followed the boards.ie plan and paid more attention to core strength, foam rolling and stretching.

3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.

"Weekends are for sport" was the rule in my house growing up. So have a strong sporting background. Mainly played football, rugby and golf growing up and until I was mid-20s (played with future internationals in rugby and soccer!); then grownup life and work got in the way so I turned to running to keep fit.

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?

Bit of stretching/foam rolling; and 1 core-strength class a week.

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?

Dodgy knee from rugby and running. Manage it with plenty of single leg squats!

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

Haven't decided yet but I have a few PBs I'd like to take down. I also have been toying with the idea of trying to bottom out my 5km time. I'm still at the stage where whenever I concentrate on a distance I improve the PB so the idea of keeping at one distance to see how low I can go is quite appealing in a sense. Also, trying to get a quick time while I'm still young (ish) might be fun.

What's the best way to continually target a time? Just keep picking races 6 weeks away and targeting them? or does that get boring?

RonanP77

You're all about a year ahead of me, I'm going to hide in the background on this thread and hopefully learn from what people are saying they would've done differently.

Firedance

Clearlier wrote: »

I'm looking forward to this. Let's do some good things.

Thanks for coaching us Clearlier, super way to start the week although I'm wondering when I'm going to get any work done with all the reading to catch up on :-)

Initial bits of advice
First piece of advice I can offer is to follow ecoli's thread. Done :-)

Second piece of advice is to sign up for this. For anyone working in a seated position all day the hip flexor stretch is worth the time alone (just make sure you follow carefully what he says). Done (I sit a lot of the day so this is perfect)


1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!

January 2014 Raheny 5 Mile 47.46
Carlingford Half Marathon 1st March - 2.12
Clontarf 10 mile April 1.36
Maynooth 10K May 56.15
Park run 5K Sept 2014 - 25.46
Athlone 3/4 Oct 5th 2014 3.33
DCM 2014 5:20 (half way point 2:17)


2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.
Pre DCM I had run casually for a couple of years starting with C25K, the first proper training plan I followed was jan/feb this year for the half marathon, probably running 3, sometimes 4 days a week. I joined a club in April and followed a combo of HH novice II and the club marathon plan for DCM so basically I did club interval sessions on tuesdays & tempo runs thursdays along with one other mid week run and the LSR on Saturdays and a short recovery on Sundays.


3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.
Zero sporting history, I played B team basketball in school about 100 years ago but I would'nt even count that. Before I took up running I did strength training for about a year.

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?
Yoga and Pilates & walking
5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?
1. Ongoing foot pain that's recently (finally) been diagnosed as stemming from QL's that are not firing at all on either side, am doing prescribed exercises for this.
2) Shallow breathing caused by diaphragm that's constricted/tight. I'm doing tummy breathing twice a day to try and get out of the habbit of just breathing into chest.
3) Tight hamstrings & calves for which I'm also doing exercises & foam rolling although I do need to improve this whole area of warm ups/cool downs/stretching/rolling

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?
january: Raheny 5 Mile 42 min goal
Feb: Trim 10 miles 1:30 goal
march: bohermeen half marathon - 2:00 goal (primary goal)
march: dunboyne 4 mile 32 min goal
May: dunboyne 5 mile 40 min goal
Are these realistic?..

I've been out for a couple of 3/4 mile runs in the last few days and think i'm recovering well from DCM, I really want to move on from that day, learn from all the mistakes i made and use that to achieve my goals.

davemcmahon

Looks like its time I stuck my head in and said hello since I'll be helping Clearier over the next few months.

So a little bit about me. I started running from a pretty poor fitness at the start of 2012 and was part of the 2012 Novice group (seems like a lifetime ago). This was my one and only marathon (to date), had planned on this two this year but one got cancelled and I picked up an injury that kept me out of Dublin. I spent 2013 focusing on 5/10k and HM distances and improved my time. The biggest change for me has been lifestyle and diet changes that have seen me shed in excess of 5 stone since I started running. I finally joined a club at the start of this year after putting it off for a long time and its one of the best running decisions I've ever made.

Anyway I'm looking forward to the next few months and seeing what Clearier has planned. More importantly I'm looking forward to seeing the progress this years graduates make and hopefully I'll get to meet some you at some races this year.

Mimojo

Thanks for taking on this thread Clearlier, really looking to all the brilliant advice and getting stuck into your new plan!!

In answer to your questions:

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set.

I am very new to running, only really gotten started with races this year. My PB’s and only races completed are from the Race Series 2014:

5 Mile: 43:17
10 Mile: 1:32
Half Marathon: 2:09:30
DCM 2014: 4:52:53

So these are the only races I have ever done….so plenty of room for improvement!!

2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.

Long story short in Jan 2013 decided enough was enough, I was very overweight (woman in late 20s) & needed to cop on & lose weight. My fitness was below zero at this stage. Began by joining Slimming World, and walking, which eventually lead to jogging, joined a sports team and began training regularly with them. Then joined a gym in September 2013 and moved away from Slimming World towards a more sustainable healthy diet. Have been going to the gym 4/5 times ever week since then. From Jan 2013 to April 2014 I lost 8 stone.

So running wise I started with the Couch to 5k & completed this in early 2013. I then joined a sports team (camogie) and was running short distances 4/5k a few times a week plus training from April-Sept. When I joined the gym in Sept 2014 I was mainly doing interval running on a treadmill (2/3 sessions per week), from then until May 2014. I then got the mad notion of training for DCM and got out on the road.

For DCM I followed the HHN1 plan available on the Novices Thread from May to October 2014. I joined the thread late but once I got stuck into it I followed the plan & feel that for the most part I stuck to it and completed all lsr’s.

So really my running knowledge and experience is very limited, but I do know that I absolutely love it & I really want to get back into a structured running plan asap!!

3) What's your sporting history?

Played camogie from about age 8 to 19, would have been very into it when I was younger & relatively fit as a result. Then from about age 19 to 28 things went DOWNHILL! Did very little/no exercise while in college & first couple of years working, if I am brutally honest a lot of eating and drinking was done! Then as above decided to cop on & running/gym/camogie followed!

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?

For the past year I go to the gym 4/5 times a week, working on strength and condition training. Generally do 2/3 sessions of free weights/weights machine/core work etc, or mix in a class or two of toning or circuits. I started off with no experience so I am still very new to it, but increasing the weights little by little, and following a plan given to me by my instructor.
I also enjoy spinning and before the marathon training would have done 2 classes a week, but since then reduced to one per week, and not at all in the weeks before DCM. Would love to know if it is beneficial for running purposes?

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?

Glad to say I am injury free, long may it continue. Did have a little niggle in my knee during the DCM training and physio said I need to strengthen up my legs so want to aim to incorporate more leg work into the strength training.

Would love to do a Chi Running course too, I have read a lot of good stuff. I must admit I am not great at spending time stretching or foam rolling and know this is something that I need to work on.

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

As per my previous post, I am still thinking about what to aim for. After the amazing day that was DCM a huge part of me wants another crack at a marathon, try to bring down my time & get cracking on the challenge of a marathon training plan again. Was thinking about maybe Limerick in May as one possible idea. I am getting married in August so dont think I could commit to DCM training in 2015 unfortunately.

However another huge part of me would love to focus of getting faster. The only races I have ever completed were 3 in the race series this year, so there are literally hundreds of other shorter distance races I could target next year instead, which also seems really enticing. I guess I dont know enough about targeted training for this, with the marathon I just stuck to the plan, I feel like I dont know where to start with training to get faster, but Im sure a bit of research will help with that.

I def want to up my mileage in 2015, and maintain a decent level of running week on week. I also want to continue in the gym and get working on strength and core work which I think will help on the running front.

Also considering joining a running club as I think it would be hugely beneficial both in terms of meeting fellow runners, and getting advice and help on how to train.

Tigerandahalf

I have posted a bit about myself on the first page.

I want to ask something about core work. I will give a breakdown of what I did. I would like to know if I am doing them right or should I add others, etc. Maybe they will also help others.

During my training I used to do core work about 3 times a week. Normally I would do it at the end of my run before a cool down run, e.g. run 5 miles, do stretches and core work and then a mile cool down run.
I did my core work outside, making use of the exercise machines you see in parks. However, I wasn't following a specific plan and I have to admit after a while the core stuff became a bit boring.
I would normally stretch first - calves, groins, quads, hamstrings - holding each for about 10 seconds. This worked well and I had no problem doing it after each run.

After doing a half marathon back in May I had pains in my glutes (the muscles in my backside behind my hip bones, I think). I went to a physio and he gave me a couple of exercises to do. He also stated the importance of getting up and moving around every 15 minutes.
I incorporated the exercises into my core work and added other stuff that we had done in football training down through the years. So this is what I did but I am not sure what they are called and what muscles are targeted, so maybe someone in the know can comment. All these were static stretches.

Plank for 1 minute
Side planks with top leg raised and extended, each side for 30 secs
Hollow Back extensions (5 secs looking over each shoulder, 5 secs head up in the air, and then pushing the backside back to stretch the glutes for 5 secs)
Chin-ups (3-5 x 10)* - sometimes I would only do 3 sets of 10 as these were quite hard. I used a chin up bar in the park.
Push-ups x 30
Leg raises lying on my back - legs were extended, 3 x 15 secs.
Stomach clenches - 3 x 15 secs (same position as above except legs were raised with knees bent and lift my upper body up to clench the stomach and hold for 15 secs)
Knee raises - 3 x 15 (These were quite tough and sometimes my knees would click but it definitely strengthened the core area. I used my arms to hold my body weight on an exercise machine)

The above normally took me about 20 minutes. Even though I did them outdoors I was never too cold as I was well warmed up from the run I had done and thus the muscles were well prepared for it. At times especially in the run up to the marathon I was getting tired of them but I knew they served a purpose and in fairness I had no injuries.

*Btw is it 3 x 10 or 10 x 3 in terms of repetitions of an exercise. I always get confused.

MaggotBrain

2014 DCM Graduate Mileage Tracker : Click Here

* Starts next Monday, and will be populated with a plan at some stage.

Laois_Man

Firstly, THANK YOU Clearier for any pieces of advice you will give

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!

My PBs:
- 5K 23:03 (December 2013)
- 10K 49:40 (March 2014)
- 10 Mile 1:24:56 (August 2014)
- Half Marathon 2:06:xx (June 2013)
- Marathon 4:57:41 (DCM 2014)

One of the problems I now aim to rectify is the fact that I don't race enough. All of these "PBs" above, with the exception of 10K, are from my one and only race over the respective distances (and I have only done 10K races three times).

In fact, all of these races were done when I wasn't really fully fit or soon after missing a few weeks training. Well, I was fully fit at the start line of the HM but I got injured during it but stupidly kept running and ended up out injured for 2 and a half months.




2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.
One word sums up my history. Injuries!
Started running in June 2012 and my body objected strongly to the shock at the beginning. But ever since then I get so many problems, mainly, it seems, due to being quite a severe over-pronator and all my bio-mechanics are ****ed up. I've spent a fortune on physio. I am currently getting some professional advice on what I can do about it all. Had an array of injury issues on the DCM plan - mainly ITBS/Runners knee and lower back nerve issues. I know I need to be very very serious about, and committed to, the boring cross training too.

Specifically for DCM 2014, I followed a plan based on HHN2. But I added a lot of miles to it as due to my injury history, I felt I needed to build up my mileage much more slowly and so my long runs were already up to HM distance before week 1 of the plan. However, although I did complete all bar one of my LSRs on the plan, I did miss a lot of midweek runs and from early August, all of my training was one-paced and slow - it became much slower than I was training at before. But I did 5 long runs of between 18 and 21.2 miles. But the missed runs and the very slow training pace contributes to me falling off my pace in the second half of DCM and resulting in a positive split of about 28 minutes! :eek:



3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.
Played a bit of soccer. But history wise, I have nothing much to speak of.

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?
I have been lazy since DCM. But I have an exercise bike. I do resistance band work that the physio gave me. I was doing that and a lot of AIS until it started really hurting my runners knee in September but I'll be going back to that and adding new stuff, not sure what though. Any cross-twining element of any new plan is really important to me I feel....even if it bores me to tears!

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?
As above

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?
Well, whatever plan is starting on November 17th, I'll probably be a couple of weeks behind. I will not run again until I am completely satisfied that I am completely clear of all symptoms of everything and I can run with a clean slate!

Other than that, I want to do a lot more races and reach PBs in every distance above. I'm tentatively thinking the next major milestone will be the Wexford HM at the end of April where I hope to make a serious assault on a 1:4x:xx finish. I'm convinced I am capable of that even now if I were niggle free and ran it next week.

The main target is a DCM finishing time to be proud of - The unconverted non-runners are in awe of me having actually completed a marathon - but I myself am not proud of my time (although satisfied given the circumstances for the nearly 3 months before it). Not thinking too much about what exactly that target is at this point.

davemcmahon

MaggotBrain wrote: »

2014 DCM Graduate Mileage Tracker : Click Here

* Starts next Monday, and will be populated with a plan at some stage.

Just added in an upcoming races and goal times sheet.

MaggotBrain

Thanks in advance Clearlier and davemcmahon

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!

My PBs:
Distance | Time | Date | Race
5K|23:13|May 2014|Galway 5K Race Series - Ballybrit Racecourse
8K|38:12|Aug 2014|Streets of Galway 8K
10M|1:29:28|Mar 2014|Craughwell 10 Mile
HM|2:23:24|Aug 2014|Tullamore HM (Sick)
Marathon|4:23:09|Oct 2014|Dublin City Marathon
10K|58:44|Sep 2013|Galway Bay 10K


2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.

Started running in July 2013 with the C25K and caught the bug. Helps me with stress and really enjoy the competitive element.

Followed the boards.ie novices plan for 18 weeks prior. Tried to follow as strictly as possible but in the end only managed 75% of the total mileage.

3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.

All-round sportsman up to the age of 16. Once won a silver medal in a summer school decathlon :cool:. Between 18-24 BMX and mountain biking, not a lot. Sitting on my hole since. (I'm 29)

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?

Farming. Following physio's orders at the moment to stretch ham, quads and calves 10x20second reps. Signed up for the kinetic revolution 30 day challenge so will do that also. Swimming around twice a week now, trying to figure it out.

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?

Have a dicky left knee since the marathon, physio says it's down to lack of flexibility. More detail here

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

Back on the wagon. Would like to do another cycle of 5K, 10K and HM racing until starting an 18 week training program for DCM 2015 in late June. Aiming for 3:45 this time.

ciaranmac

Firstly thanks to Clearlier and davemcmahon, not to mention Laura and Ososlo!

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!
5k - 28:10 - split time in Corofin 8k race, Nov 2012. Fastest actual 5k race is 29:54 (Garrafrauns, 1st June 2014).
10k - 1:01:29 - training run, Oct 2012. Fastest 10k race is 1:04:31 (Milltown Run for Ollie, 14 June 2014).
10 mile - 1:49:52 - split time in Athlone 3/4 marathon 5 Oct 2014, moderately hilly. Never done an actual 10 mile race.
HM - 2:24:10 - split time in Athlone, see above. Fastest HM race is 2:24:11, Corrib Mask HM 31 Aug 2014, moderately hilly.
Marathon - 5:30:00, DCM 14.

2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.
I started running in 2012 but put it on hold due to my mother in law becoming seriously ill. Actually her being sick partly motivated my OH and myself to look after our own health, but as it got worse we didn't have the time to get out running. This year I took it up again and decided to remember her by running the marathon and fundraising for cancer care. I followed the Boards plan but not very closely and I didn't do all the easy runs.

3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.
I struggled through PE and the only thing I was picked for was the quiz team! My PE teacher actually agreed to stay behind and help me with stuff like throwing and catching. It must have worked because I played a bit of football and tag rugby since then - I wasn't great but I was good enough to enjoy it. I did cycle a huge amount though, about 150k a week in my early twenties. That fitness didn't last when I got my first car.

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?
I occasionally do weights, sit ups, planks, exercise bike and swimming. I love long walks. None of that is part of a plan though, apart from Yoga which I started a few months ago and do once a week.

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?
I get pain in the arches of my feet on long runs. In the physio tent after the marathon they suggested it might be due to poor form and to practice walking alternately on my heels and toes to strengthen different muscles. My knees also get sore but I haven't done anything to address that yet. I'm considering Chi Running for all of these. I used to get tight calves and sore achilles, but I got orthotic insoles from the local foot clinic as well as some stretches which I do religiously, and that's worked since.

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?
Firstly get rid of the sore feet, whether by rest, specific exercises, or improving my gait. Secondly add more gears and eliminate the dreaded jog/walk - if my goal marathon pace is 7 min/km then my LSR pace of 8 min/km requires walking breaks because I can't comfortably run that slow. I think that might have hurt my endurance this year. But if I could realistically plan on 6 min/km MP then I could run my LSRs. So once I'm recovered I'm going to have a go at sub 60 10k and then build to a 10 mile and HM pace to match.

chickey2

Thanks to much for this thread. It's perfect timing for me as I have a history of giving up once a plan is finished! I work full time and have two small kids so time is short and I have to get up at about 6am and run then or I'll never get out. With the weather being so bad and it being so dark I'm really finding it hard to get out of bed!

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!

5K- 25:56 DMC training run September 2014
10K-52:53 DMC training run October 2014
10 mile - 1:33:48 Frank Duffy 10 mile August 2014
1/2 Marathon - 1:57:31 Race series September 2014
Marathon - 4:33:56 DMC October 2014

As you can see all my PBs are from this year as this is the first year I've been running regulary for any length of time

2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.

I did the C25K in 2012 and although I enjoyed it I lost interest when I finished the plan. My youngest was a baby at the time and not sleeping great. I tried again in 2013 and got to 10K and did a couple of park runs but went on holidays and never got back in to training. My pb that year was 27 minutes. In 2014 I decided to sign up for the race series. The furthest I planned on doing was the half marathon so used an internet plan. I ran 3 or 4 times a week at varying paces with one lsr at weekends. When I finished the half as friend convinced me to sign up for DMC. I only had 4 weeks. I looked at the 22 week plan in Irish runner magazine and just started at week 18! I just tried to get the milage in no matter how slow.

3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.

I have zero sporting history! I never really liked PE and when I was forced to play hockey in school I played goalkeeper so I wouldn't have to run!

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?

I do a bit of foam rolling and stretching while I watch TV most evenings. I also do planks, bridges and clams every few days.

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?

The only advantage of my sport free life is that I've never had any injuries. During this summer I suffered from a bout of achilles tendonitis but I think it was because my shoes were worn out. I took a week off, bought new runners and I was grand again. I foam roll before most runs and make sure to concentrate on my achilles.

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

To improve my 5 and 10 K times.

Dub13

Thanks in advance Clearlier and davemcmahon.

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon.

Here are my PB's
5k: 22:13, I have never raced over 5k. This time is taken from the first 5k of the Race Series 5 mile back in Jun.
10k: 48:02, DRS Swords Jul 14
10 Mile: 1:17:21, only raced this distance once DRS Aug 14.
half: 1:43:56 Sep 14.
Marathon: 3:56:50 DCM14

I think my 5k and 10k time could come down a bit, not sure if others think the same looking at the rest of the PB's.


2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.

I started running about 3 years ago but was only doing the odd 10k here and there. About this time last year I did my first half in Clontarf and that's when I really got hooked, that day I set my sights on DCM14.

Before training for DCM14 I never followed a plan, I just ran and for example for the half's I used to build up to the distance over hills (howth) with the idea been on race days it would be easier on the flat. I know very simplistic stuff but it worked to get me to a certain point anyway.

I loved the training for DCM, I like the idea of having my week structured unlike before when I would just go out for a set time. I did the BAA intermediate 16 week plan (added 2 weeks to the start) here is a LINK I just checked and I did 895 miles over the 18 weeks, most weeks running 6 days a week.

3) What's your sporting history?

Mostly football, but then a few lean years doing next to nothing before I got the running bug.


4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?

Not much, I have access to a small but half decent gym in work and do a small bit of weights but to be honest I don't know what I am doing most of the time.

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?

Nothing thankfully, I have been out yesterday and today for the first time since DCM14 and did 10k both days and all feels good.

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

Just to bring all my times down, no races planned yet bar the Raheny 5 mile in late Jan.

gingersnap

Hello Clearlier and davemcmahon, looking forward to hearing your advice on this thread!

Here is some information on my background and goals.

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!

I've only run three races and a number of parkruns!
I think I was a bit afraid to sign up for races initially, probably fear of the unknown or feeling a bit scared that I would be too slow.
This is something I want to change over the next year and I would definitely like to get more experience of racing.

5km (Parkrun May 14): 25:47
10km (Nov 13): 59:22
Half Marathon (Clontarf, July 14): 2:21
Marathon (DCM, October 14): 5:12:04


2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.

I started running using the c25k app back in 2012. I got through the training plan easily enough but it was over a year later before I was able to complete 10k.
I joined a club in January 2014 and signed up for DCM in February when I turned 40.

Marathon training consisted of two evenings a week at the club (Tuesday and Thursday), a medium length run on a Monday, a long run on Saturday followed by a recovery run or walk the next day.


3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.

I was on the school running team when I was a kid but stopped running completely once I hit the teenage years. When I was in my 20s I tried a couple of times to get back running but had no concept of a run/walk strategy or pacing and found it too hard so I gave up on it. When I discovered c25k, I was so happy to find a way of getting back running again.

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?

None. I should probably stretch more and have yet to invest in a foam roller.

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?

None, thankfully!

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

I hope to enter more races in the next year and get more experience in a racing environment.
I'm aiming for a sub 25 5k and hoping to take a few minutes off my 10k time.
I would love to do another marathon, possibly DCM 2015 but with work and family life I'm not sure if I could fit this in again.

chickey2

I forgot to ask, what's the story with the milage tracker? How exactly do I use it? Sorry, but I'm new to sharing documents. Do I have to save it?

MaggotBrain

chickey2 wrote: »

I forgot to ask, what's the story with the milage tracker? How exactly do I use it? Sorry, but I'm new to sharing documents. Do I have to save it?

No all your changes are saved automatically. Put in what you want and close when you like. Any problems let me know.

clickhere

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know! ...I am what you would call a real novice,i have only ever ran in two races . Rock & Roll half Marathon Aug 2014 1:54:25 DCM 2014 4:16:12. ................................................................................................................................................ 2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.....I only started doing a little bit of running in may this year just to try and get fit.At a family party in june 2 of my Nieces heard i was out running and convinced me to run the the rock & roll HM with them.(Alcohol was taken) .I trained for this and it gave me a goal to aim for.The race day i have to say i really enjoyed and got a great kick out of it.It was then i came across the Novices plan here on boards.I just wanted a training plan to follow and loved that there was a goal at the end of the week.I still had no real intention of attempting the marathon.As the weeks went by and i was reaching the targets set i decided to give the marathon a go.I done 3 LSR over 20 miles and was delighted with my finishing time of 4:16;12 ................................................................................................ 3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is............I played football at a decent level training 2 or 3 times a week until i retired at age 40. Then i went into coaching the kids and manageing some other teams.I am now 53 years of age and looking forward to my new running career ............................................................................................... 4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly? I dont do anything else other then the plan.Since the marathon i have done 3 4 to 5 mile runs....... .............................................................................................................................. 5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?..............As the body is getting on a bit now i am thankful that i have just a few niggles ,but after a couple of miles they just fade away. ................................................................................................................. 6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?.......I would just love to carry on with what ever plan you have in mind for us.A few 5k 10k and a 10 mile times i will have to set as well.I will always be for ever grateful to Ososlo and everyone else who gave there time and patience to get the NOVICES OF 2014 over the line.

rockstar_91

chickey2 wrote: »

5K- 25:56 DMC training run September 2015
10K-52:53 DMC training run October 2015
10 mile - 1:33:48 Frank Duffy 10 mile August 2015
1/2 Marathon - 1:57:31 Race series September 2015
Marathon - 4:33:56 DMC October 2015

As you can see all my PBs are from this year as this is the first year I've been running regulary for any length of time

Jaysus Chickey2 that's some running in the books for 2015 already. Is all 2014's running out of the way already? If so, I have serious catching up to do! :P

laura_ac3

Hi Clearlier and davemcmahon, thanks so much for doing this. I'm really excited

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set.

No 5k but my 5m is 47.54, Terenure May 2014.
10k - Fingal 10k 57.26, July 2013
10m - 1.38.11 Frank Duffy, August 2013
Half marathon - 2.13.14, Dublin race series, September 2014
DCM 2014 - 5.11.01

2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM

Had done a bit on/off for a little while but really started running regularly in 2011/2012. No structure as it was really for personal reasons, did the FWMM in June 2012 and loved it - started following a proper plan then and built up over the summer to my first half marathon in September that year. Haven't looked back since, did more races ranging from 5m to HM over the next couple of years until DCM training. Followed Hal Higdon novice 2 slightly tweaked to get a second 20 miler in. I've great motivation for following a plan in terms of distance but my training has never really involved any speedwork etc, it always seemed so daunting.

3) What's your sporting history?

Going a good way back I was involved in basketball and football in my school days but that's about 15 years ago!! I used to go swimming once a week until a couple of years ago but don't have the time anymore except for the odd swim every so often. Played squash weekly for about 2/3 years around 2008 time.

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?

I cycle to work - approx 15k a day. Not a fair weather cyclist so would be pretty consistent with that. I play astro football, usually midfield for my sins, once a week and have been at that since 2011. Have got back into squash in the last year - it's on/off depending on free time between myself and friend but we were getting in a couple of games a month over the year. Didn't play recently with DCM training etc but will hopefully get back into that a bit again soon. I try to foam roll but I'm a bit hit and miss with it - I tend to firefight when I feel tightness/niggles coming on.

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?

Had a hamstring injury last winter, and I'm prone to tightness in that hamstring every so often. Try to manage it with foam rolling, stretching etc and that usually seems to do the trick. Think it relates to a weak glute so I probably need to really knuckle down at strengthening those I think. At the tail end of DCM training I was getting some niggles in the IT band and hip areas. A couple of sessions with a physical therapist helped so will keep an eye on those as training picks up again.

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

Work on my times really as I'm definitely on the slower range of the scale. In the shorter term I have the Raheny 5m in January and perhaps the Trim 10m in February. Would like to reduce my 10k time but no races in mind yet. No DCM planned for me next year, but in the long term if the year goes well I'd like to improve my Dublin HM time - but haven't thought too much about it so far. I have no set "time goals" or specific improvements in mind yet, I suppose I want to see how the next while goes first. I'm really excited to just see what's in store and try different types of training.

Thanks!

Clearlier

Hi guys,

Rather than try and reply to every post individually I'm just going to try doing one big message as the likelihood is that most of my posting will be in the evenings. If it doesn't work we'll try something else

crisco - There's every reason for you to think that you can continue to improve all of your PB's. Key thing for you to keep an eye on is injury prevention. If you can add a second core session each week you'll benefit and if you have the time to follow the 30 day challenge that I linked to earlier you'll be giving yourself a fighting chance. Consistency will be the key to your improvements. If you feel an injury coming on don't take a chance and run through it, throw in the towel and live to run another day . A target race every 6 weeks is asking for trouble. Follow the plan and you'll have you peaking in a few months time and knocking out a few more PB's.

Ronan - Feel free to join in. The plan probably requires you to be able to run for 30 - 60 mins 4 - 5 times a week in order to start it. If you can do that you'll be able to follow it.

Firedance - Solid plan for Dublin, you had a reasonably good structure to your plan. Belly breathing is great. Any chance you could describe it to everybody else because I struggle with describing how to do it it but it's a great thing to do and I try to do it on all of my runs. None of your individual goals seem unrealistic to me but it might be challenging to do all of them whilst continuing to improve. Let's see how it goes and you can make a decision closer to the dates as to how to approach each race. What are your QL's?

Mimojo - That's an incredible amount of weight to lose! Well done. On spinning - I don't think that it particularly helps running but do what you enjoy. You're going to want to develop leg strength specific to running and spinning won't give you that. It will however help you develop your cardiac fitness and maintain it should you ever get injured. Do absolutely join a club. You're on the right track in respect of core work. Keep at the running and you may be surprised where you end up.

Tiger - Try adding a bridge to your core work. Also, try progressing and varying what you're doing at the moment. 3*15 as in 3 sets of 15 repetitions is the most common way of expressing weight training but so long as you're understood it doesn't really matter. What did you actually run for the half and full marathon?

Maggot - Good work on the log. I hope you don't mind but I've added in an extra couple of columns. Time spent running and average heart rate (if available) will be where the training plan will be aimed at, partly to make it accessible to people at all speeds but mostly because it's a great way to allow everybody to develop as quickly or as slowly as is right for them.

Sorry I haven't got to everybody tonight but it's 1am and my bed is calling me. I'll cover everybody else off and anyone else who joins in tomorrow.

SoundoftheSea

1) I'd like to know your PB's and roughly when they were set. I'm most interested in 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half and full marathon. Any three of those will give me something to work with. More is better. If there's anything peculiar about them (e.g. your marathon PB is from the Snowdon marathon) please let me know!

10K 1:09 Great pink run 2012
HM 2:19 Dublin rock n roll 2013
FM 5:28 DCM 2014

2) Tell me about your running history including what plan/training you did for DCM.

I have been attempting to train for the past 4 years. This consisted of signing up for a race and then half heatedly training. I always turned up to a race knowing I should have more miles covered. This included the DCM 2010 7 hours (walking) and stopping at every loo and Lisbon HM 2013 3 hours. I never followed a plan until the DCM.

3) What's your sporting history? This can range from you got a note to avoid PE at school all the way up to you represented Ireland at something. Without asking anyone to reveal too much it would helpful if I had an idea as to how far in the distant past the sporting history is.

I played and loved Hockey in school but was only average. I always entered the community games for running including hurdles and again I was average. I grew up by the sea and swam every day but could never swim lengths so again average. I never excelled at sports, but I run now just because I can!!

4) What other training including strength and conditioning training do you do regularly?

A little bit of core work and cross training at the gym but not enough.

5) Any injuries/niggles and what are you doing to manage them?

Knees can hurt on long runs and lower back during rest. I want to improve my over all strength i.e. core/ legs.

6) What are your goals for the next 6 - 12 months?

I want to continue to follow a training plan to improve my time on HM and then maybe consider DCM again.
At 47 I was telling myself that I am too old but when I saw the amount of older, fitter and faster runners at DCM I realised I need to stop whinging and push myself more!