Faster

Maximus Alexander

Eek, I have to do basically exactly that session next week (similar planned splits and all). Not looking forward to it. Nice.

tailgunner

Thursday, 5th May 2016 - 3 miles easy

3.11 miles
30:05
9:41/mi

Nearly identical to last week - the first mile was grand and easy, but the next two were around 9:30 pace, which is a little quick for a recovery run. Will have to watch that.

In other news, I mentioned previously that I was thinking of doing up my own plan for marathon training, but on the advice of people here (thanks!), I've realised that's a terrible idea. There are plenty of tried and trusted plans out there, and I don't need to reinvent the wheel.

So after a few weeks of research, I've settled on the BAA Level 2 plan. A few around here seem to have used this (or one of its variants) for debut marathons, so hopefully I'll get on okay with it.

It's a 22-week plan, meaning I should have started it already, but my current mileage matches up with the first few weeks, so I think I'll be okay to finish off the 5k plan I'm following now and jump in at week 4.

I might also have to adjust it slightly to allow for a couple of races I want to do over the summer, but I'll stick to it quite closely other than that. It seems to have a good mix of sessions, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in.

Firedance

TG why not join the novices over in the DCM 2016 thread? I know you're doing Berlin (?) but the support and guidance is there and theres a very good boards marathon plan too!

The Muppet

I like the look of that Plan, the best of luck with it.

tailgunner

Firedance wrote: »

TG why not join the novices over in the DCM 2016 thread? I know you're doing Berlin (?) but the support and guidance is there and theres a very good boards marathon plan too!

I'd love to, but Berlin is five weeks earlier than DCM this year, so I don't want to confuse things by being overly active in the thread. I'll be reading it thoroughly, and might chime in with the odd question now and then, but I don't want to annoy anyone! It really was a fantastic resource last year - I read every single post - and it's already shaping up to be just as good again.

It's funny, my original plan was to do DCM, purely because of the novices' thread. I only entered Berlin on a whim and was surprised to get in. I even looked into deferring my entry, but it's not an option unfortunately!

Kennyg71

tailgunner wrote: »

Thursday, 5th May 2016 - 3 miles easy

3.11 miles
30:05
9:41/mi

Nearly identical to last week - the first mile was grand and easy, but the next two were around 9:30 pace, which is a little quick for a recovery run. Will have to watch that.

In other news, I mentioned previously that I was thinking of doing up my own plan for marathon training, but on the advice of people here (thanks!), I've realised that's a terrible idea. There are plenty of tried and trusted plans out there, and I don't need to reinvent the wheel.

So after a few weeks of research, I've settled on the BAA Level 2 plan. A few around here seem to have used this (or one of its variants) for debut marathons, so hopefully I'll get on okay with it.

It's a 22-week plan, meaning I should have started it already, but my current mileage matches up with the first few weeks, so I think I'll be okay to finish off the 5k plan I'm following now and jump in at week 4.

I might also have to adjust it slightly to allow for a couple of races I want to do over the summer, but I'll stick to it quite closely other than that. It seems to have a good mix of sessions, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in.

Best luck with plan l'd keep LR in higher range if you can, so do 20miles instead of 18. Also I see some LR are easy and some are aerobic so you will probably need to nail down paces for Aerobic LR on schedule. And as FD suggests plenty
of knowledge on mentored Thread.

Firedance

You won't be annoying anyone I promise please do come on over and join in, answer the first post questions too - these journey's are better done in a group!

tailgunner

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Best luck with plan l'd keep LR in higher range if you can, so do 20miles instead of 18. Also I see some LR are easy and some are aerobic so you will probably need to nail down paces for Aerobic LR on schedule. And as FD suggests plenty
of knowledge on mentored Thread.

Yep, that's definitely the plan for the long runs. I think my current long run pace is roughly what the plan calls aerobic, so I'll have to make sure I slow down a bit for the easy ones.

Firedance wrote: »

You won't be annoying anyone I promise please do come on over and join in, answer the first post questions too - these journey's are better done in a group!

Well, if you insist...

tailgunner

Friday, 6th May 2016 - 5 miles fast

5.01 miles
45:19
9:03/mi

My girlfriend wanted to do 3 miles, so I had company at the start. We ended up covering 5k in just under 30 minutes, and then I carried on for another couple of miles.

Ended up with a fairly solid progression run by the end - 1 mile easy, 1 mile steady, 1 mile at MP, 1 mile at HMP, half a mile at 10k pace, and half a mile easy to cool down.

tailgunner

Sunday, 8th May 2016 - 10 miles easy

10 miles
1:46:38
10:40/mi

Was planning on 12 miles, but left it at 10 again, as I wanted to keep the long run and weekly mileage fairly close to what's on the marathon plan. That turned out to be a great decision, as it was a roasting hot day.

Had company again for the first 10k - the pace was very, very easy, which made for a false sense of security. Totally underestimated how hot it was (26 degrees!) and it really hit me as soon as I picked up the pace a bit for the last few miles. I wasn't going much faster than a 10 minute mile, but it was extremely tough going. Won't be making the mistake of going out just before noon in that sort of weather again.

28 miles or so for the week. Hoping for something similar this week, but I'm doing a 5k on Saturday so might do a small bit of tapering for that.

tailgunner

Monday, 9th May 2016 - 5 miles easy

4 miles
40:35
10:08/mi

Can't really remember this, even though it happened all of 16 hours ago... The plan was for 5 miles, so not sure why I cut it short. Did I want to keep the mileage down to save my legs for the weekend or something? That sounds plausible. We'll go with that.

Firedance

tailgunner wrote: »

Did I want to keep the mileage down to save my legs for the weekend or something? That sounds plausible. We'll go with that.

:D

tailgunner

Thursday, 12th May 2016 - 3 miles easy

3.11 miles
31:12
10:02/mi

Had a bit of a crap week and ended up missing the tempo run I had planned for Tuesday and the recovery run on Wednesday. Eventually headed out for a few easy miles last night to keep my legs ticking over. Felt a twinge in my calf almost as soon as I got going - I must have strained something with all the running I haven't been doing. Better today, but I'll foam roll it later to be safe.

No idea what to expect from the 5k tomorrow. The half marathon training (and race itself) will have brought decent fitness gains, but I've only managed to string two or three decent weeks of running together since, so I'm not exactly brimming with confidence. On the upside, I'm under no pressure, and it's a very fast course.

I'll set 22:59 as the target. Whether that's enormously aggressive or conservative remains to be seen.

tang1

Best of luck with the 5k TG, nothing wrong with being aggressive in your target, run well.

Maximus Alexander

I'd say 22:59 is well within your abilities tbh. Go for it and good luck.

The Muppet

Best of luck with the target if you go for it, mind that niggle though.

jake1970

Best of luck with the 5k, give it socks!

Firedance

+1 TG, go hard or go home! I'm kidding, do what feels right but have a great race!

Kennyg71

Firedance wrote: »

+1 TG, go hard or go home! I'm kidding, do what feels right but have a great race!

+1 to go hard or go home:) have a great race.

tailgunner

Saturday, 14th May 2016 - All Nations 5k

3.11 miles
22:25
7:13/mi

This went far, far better than I could have expected. I'll throw up a race report when I get a chance.

Sunday, 15th May 2016 - 3 miles easy

3.11 miles
32:37
10:29/mi

I was considering a rest day ahead of starting the marathon plan because my legs felt absolutely grand after the race, but I felt like a run for the sake of it in the end. Kept it very easy.

ThebitterLemon

Well done TG, nice going

TbL

Maximus Alexander

Super stuff, congrats!

I was right

tailgunner

Pre-race

I signed up for this race at Dorney Lake immediately after running a decent 10k there in March. It's a very flat course, and I wanted to have a crack at a fast 5k before starting into marathon training.

I arrived an hour early, and having learned from previous mistakes, managed to stay put. I got a good 15 minute warm-up done - light jogging and a few strides, and was feeling good physically. Mentally, not so much.

I wasn't nervous or anything, I was just thinking about the pain I was about to voluntarily inflict upon myself, and wondering "what's the point?". Honestly, I think if I hadn't already paid the entry fee, I'd have stayed in bed that morning.

Anyway, I tried to put aside my apathy, and lined up. A quick glance around told me that the field was quite small, and the standard wasn't going to be very high - I think I only spotted one guy wearing a club singlet - so I made my way towards the front. After a fairly standard briefing, we were away.

Mile 1

A few people flew past almost immediately, but I let them go, feeling confident I'd see them again later. The field spread out after half a mile, and a quick glance at my watch showed 7:25/mi pace. More or less bang on for sub-23. I had caught most people who had passed me by the first mile marker (7:24), and could only see a few more up ahead.

I did a quick systems check - legs felt grand, breathing was grand, effort felt grand. Grand, grand, grand. A little voice in my head pointed out that "grand" wasn't really an acceptable way to be feeling, a mile into a 5k race, and that I needed to cop on and start racing. I had no rebuttle.

Mile 2

Feck this so, I thought, and set sights on a woman up ahead. I managed to reel her in by halfway, and tucked in a few metres behind to take stock of the situation. She was moving well, and I figured there was a good chance she'd go with me unless I gave her reason not to, so I surged forward and kept up the pace until her footsteps started to fade. Glanced at the watch when it buzzed for the second mile and saw 7:16.

I was feeling an awful lot worse than I had been a mile previously, but the little voice in my head was much happier with the effort.

Mile 3

I could see two more people up ahead, and figured I'd be able to catch one of them if I pushed on again. Reeled in one guy with just over half a mile to go, and he didn't seem to be moving as strongly. This suited me, because it was all I could do to hang onto my own pace - I didn't have the energy for more surges or any of that nonsense. I went to overtake, and out of nowhere, he upped the pace. Ah here? The little voice in my head was out of ideas, and told me I was on my own.

We were neck and neck, both breathing heavily, and after an awkward few seconds of back and forth glancing and trying to figure out who was going to blink first, I eventually realised it had to be me. Begrudgingly, I kicked on, moved ahead, and he gave chase.

There was still half a mile to go, and I was nearly dead on my feet. It didn't matter though. All of my earlier apathy had been replaced with some primal urge to beat this guy. I didn't know what sort of time I was on for, and I didn't care. But I was damn sure going to reach the line before he did.

I kept pushing the pace, and he kept matching it. My heart was racing, my lungs were burning, I felt sick, and he was still right on my shoulder. Mile 3 buzzed at 7:06. One of the marshalls shouted that there were 200 metres to go, and this was the rallying call I needed. Out of nowhere, I was sprinting - so was my new friend, but it was too late for him. I covered the last bit in 0:39, and crashed over the line in 22:25, before adopting up my usual post-race pose - slumped, dry-heaving, over a railing.

I finished 5th overall, out of a field of 76, and was only 7 seconds away from the third man home, so even though the standard was very low, it was a nice confidence boost. I reckon it'll be a long time before I'm that close to a podium finish again.

Firedance

tailgunner wrote: »

There was still half a mile to go, and I was nearly dead on my feet. It didn't matter though. All of my earlier apathy had been replaced with some primal urge to beat this guy. I didn't know what sort of time I was on for, and I didn't care. But I was damn sure going to reach the line before he did.

I kept pushing the pace, and he kept matching it. My heart was racing, my lungs were burning, I felt sick, and he was still right on my shoulder. Mile 3 buzzed at 7:06. One of the marshalls shouted that there were 200 metres to go, and this was the rallying call I needed. Out of nowhere, I was sprinting - so was my new friend, but it was too late for him. I covered the last bit in 0:39, and crashed over the line in 22:25, before adopting up my usual post-race pose - slumped, dry-heaving, over a railing.
.

This is brilliant! just brilliant well done TG, you found someone to race and stuck with it, I think though that you actually put yourself in a stronger position by being 'grand' in mile 1.

tailgunner

Firedance wrote: »

I think though that you actually put yourself in a stronger position by being 'grand' in mile 1.

Yeah definitely. I know some people go out hard in races and then try to hang on, but I seem to perform much better when I take it handy at the start.

Finishing strong makes all the pain worth it - must remind myself of that next time!

Kennyg71

Well done TG great report and racing to match.

jake1970

Well done, great report and great racing.

Bluesquare

Well done , great report and excellent racing !

hillsiderunner

Well done! Great report too.

tailgunner

Thanks folks!

Monday, 16th May 2016

5.6 miles
53:09
9:29/mi

I've really picked the worst possible time to start training for a marathon, as I'm both moving house and changing jobs in the next couple of weeks. I'm already stressed out, and the mental gymnastics involved in trying to figure out when I'm going to fit in my running isn't helping.

I'm just going to have to run when I can, make sure I follow hard days with easy ones, and hope things settle into a regular routine eventually.

So even though the plan said "Off Day", and I didn't feel fully recovered after the 5k, I opted to do the first session on the plan. The alternative would have involved running five days in a row this week, so I think it was the lesser evil.

Anyway, the session. The plan said "4 x 1/2 mile at half marathon pace, 2 min jog in between", and I opted for a 2 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down. I tried to run the HMP reps by effort, as I knew I wasn't in any shape to be hitting the pace that McMillan suggested - 7:55/mi.

Splits were:

4:02.8 (8:06/mi)
4:05.8 (8:12/mi)
4:05.3 (8:11/mi)
4:03.3 (8:07/mi)

Happy enough with that really. Legs were tired throughout, but the effort felt right. Hopefully I'll be closer to McMillan's suggested pace for my next half marathon in mid-August, but that'll do for now.

Recovery run tonight and a rest day tomorrow, so should be feeling much fresher for the first MP session on Thursday.