DCM 2018 - Mentored Novice Thread

Applegirl26

skyblue46 wrote: »

Ah I'm delighted to see you have plucked up the courage! That's very steady training you have been doing over the past few months. How are you finding the training? Tough or very comfortable? I think if you keep a tight rein on paces you will be well able for the Boards plan. That base which you have built is something invaluable yet often overlooked.

Thank you skyblue for your words of encouragement both here and Strava.
I'm loving the training. It's beginning to feel very real now. I thoroughly enjoy running but would love to be faster. I'll have to park that ambition for a while though.

Applegirl26

ariana` wrote: »

Hi Applegirl and Alorra welcome aboard!


Applegirl, you have a fantastic base, well done on being so proactive last November. This obviously means a lot to you that you've been plotting and planning since then, that dedication will stand to you For what it's worth i think you'll be well able for the Boards plan!

Thank you Alorra for the kind welcome. Yup, this race means a lot to me.

Applegirl26

Applegirl26 wrote: »

Thank you Alorra for the kind welcome. Yup, this race means a lot to me.

Sorry Ariana! My first mistake already..

skyblue46

Applegirl26 wrote: »

Thank you skyblue for your words of encouragement both here and Strava.
I'm loving the training. It's beginning to feel very real now. I thoroughly enjoy running but would love to be faster. I'll have to park that ambition for a while though.

You're very welcome! The only reason I mention paces is that most of your runs are within a minute per mile of your 10k race pace which will be too fast during the plan. That being said the GI run was 2 months ago and you have probably come on quite a bit since then. What's the next race you have planned?

Rossi7

With regards races, should we be looking to do more or is the Race Series enough as they tie in with the plans

Applegirl26

skyblue46 wrote: »

You're very welcome! The only reason I mention paces is that most of your runs are within a minute per mile of your 10k race pace which will be too fast during the plan. That being said the GI run was 2 months ago and you have probably come on quite a bit since then. What's the next race you have planned?

Castleknock 5k and Clonee 10k, both this month

skyblue46

Rossi7 wrote: »

With regards races, should we be looking to do more or is the Race Series enough as they tie in with the plans

For you I'd say the race series is enough as you have some recent race times to work out training paces from. For anyone without a relevant race time whether they have never done a race or only have historical times it would be a help to get a race in soon to get a good idea of present fitness.

Helenasca

Kellygirl wrote:

Hi All, we are going to try to keep the Strava group to just members of this thread. Therefore I will be doing a tidy up of it.

Hi, probably a stupid question my strava knowledge is limited. Can you only log runs on strava via your phone. I don't bring my phone running but use my tomtom can I transfer the information from my watch to strava or is that not possible?

skyblue46

Helenasca wrote: »

Hi, probably a stupid question my strava knowledge is limited. Can you only log runs on strava via your phone. I don't bring my phone running but use my tomtom can I transfer the information from my watch to strava or is that not possible?

Yes you can use the watch to do it. I'm not familiar with tomtom so maybe someone else can help....Baby75?? With Garmin you are basically giving Strava the permission to take the information from ones Garmin Connect account and copying it to Strava.

https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216918027-TomTom-and-Strava

Helenasca

skyblue46 wrote:

Yes you can use the watch to do it. I'm not familiar with tomtom so maybe someone else can help....Baby75?? With Garmin you are basically giving Strava the permission to take the information from ones Garmin Connect account and copying it to Strava.

Success, thank you so much. I spotted you could add them manually but this is much easier ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘

Naked Lepper

first marathon planned for this years dublin marathon
only did a few 10k runs before (best time was 48 minutes)

i cycle for around an hour six days a week and play football for an hour three times a week, so my cardio is pretty good at the moment

i think i will need to give up some of the football days if i want to train properly and manage to complete this respectably -

realistically it will be first week in july before consistent running will start, which gives me july, august, september and then somewhat of a taper in october while leading up to the race

can anyone please give me some advice or recommend a realistic training plan, i just want to finish it but somewhere around 4 hours should probably be my goal (im 33 male, 80kg and dont smoke)

i have watched loads of videos and read a bit online but any extra info/tips/lessons u can share based on my background would be very much appreciated

will also trawl back through the pages on this thread now for some info!


Edit - to answer the OP original questions

Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
A few 10ks and 5ks, best 10k time was 48 minutes, 5k in 22

Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training? (No problem if you do)
No

How much training do you currently do ? Distances, how many days a week, cross training - whatever you think is relevant to your current fitness level.
Probably mentioned most of it in the above post! Trying to start clocking up some running miles now though but hard to find energy at times as I cycle to and from work (around 20km total per day) in addition to football for an hour every sat, mon & wednesday

What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?
Just to complete it really, would like to finish sub 4 hours but am not driven by a finishing time for my first marathon really

How many days a week can you train? And what plan do you intend to follow?
If I give up Mon and Wed football until after marathon I could in theory run maybe 5 days a week

What is your biggest worry/fear/doubt (if you have any!) in signing up?
Not being able to finish the race and if it is too big of a task/requires too much dedication. am fairly determined though so am quietly confident that if i put the work in ASAP I will be fine

Why are you running this marathon?
just personal achievement really. want to set a goal to work towards. am starting a part time MBA in sept so completing this around the same time as starting the course would be a good confidence boost and springboard to go on to be successful in that too

skyblue46

Naked Lepper wrote: »

first marathon planned for this years dublin marathon
only did a few 10k runs before (best time was 48 minutes)

i cycle for around an hour six days a week and play football for an hour three times a week, so my cardio is pretty good at the moment

i think i will need to give up some of the football days if i want to train properly and manage to complete this respectably -

realistically it will be first week in july before consistent running will start, which gives me july, august, september and then somewhat of a taper in october while leading up to the race

can anyone please give me some advice or recommend a realistic training plan, i just want to finish it but somewhere around 4 hours should probably be my goal (im 33 male, 80kg and dont smoke)

i have watched loads of videos and read a bit online but any extra info/tips/lessons u can share based on my background would be very much appreciated

will also trawl back through the pages on this thread now for some info!

The opening post is the one with the plans...The rest contain lots of information which will help. You've got this!!

eyrie

Hi everyone, I've been reading the posts here with interest. Figured it was time to join in - I've signed up for DCM too and it will be my first marathon. I've been running fairly regularly for a little over a year. Before that I had stop-started a few times (several couch to 5k experiences ) but it was learning about running slowly in training that got me hooked. It was suddenly so much more enjoyable! That was mostly down to discovering this forum, and learning a lot from people here. It's an amazing resource and community.

Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
5k - 23:23 (May 2018)
5 mile - 38:55 (Jan 2018)
10k - 53 mins (June 2017)
HM - 1:57 (August 2017)

I think I should be able to improve the last two by a decent bit now. I hope so anyway!

Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training? (No problem if you do)
No

How much training do you currently do ? Distances, how many days a week, cross training - whatever you think is relevant to your current fitness level.
Roughly 35-40 miles per week currently, 5-6 days. I go to a pilates class once a week usually but used to be a lot better about doing other strength training and I'd like to add it back in to help injury prevention.

What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?
Complete it without suffering massively! I have a real fear of falling apart, so my goal is to feel good (relatively speaking ) and enjoy it. I'd also like to do it in a time that I could feel reflected where I'm at by October, but I've no idea what that would be yet.

How many days a week can you train? And what plan do you intend to follow?
5-6 should be manageable. As for the plan... I've lost track of the amount of hours I've spent weighing up the pros and cons of different plans. Still haven't a clue.

What is your biggest worry/fear/doubt (if you have any!) in signing up?
Honestly, I'm fairly terrified that the race itself (if I make it that far) will be really painful and I'll give up. So more than anything I want to not do that.

Why are you running this marathon?
I just like running a lot
I never had the remotest interest in running a marathon until stumbling across a previous incarnation of this thread just after the marathon a couple of years ago. Reading people's experiences of it blew my mind and I read back through most of the thread, and then followed last year's one the whole way through. I think the decision to try it myself was made there and then reading those first race reports.

skyblue46

eyrie wrote: »

Hi everyone, I've been reading the posts here with interest. Figured it was time to join in - I've signed up for DCM too and it will be my first marathon. I've been running fairly regularly for a little over a year. Before that I had stop-started a few times (several couch to 5k experiences ) but it was learning about running slowly in training that got me hooked. It was suddenly so much more enjoyable! That was mostly down to discovering this forum, and learning a lot from people here. It's an amazing resource and community.

Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
5k - 23:23 (May 2018)
5 mile - 38:55 (Jan 2018)
10k - 53 mins (June 2017)
HM - 1:57 (August 2017)

I think I should be able to improve the last two by a decent bit now. I hope so anyway!

Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training? (No problem if you do)
No

How much training do you currently do ? Distances, how many days a week, cross training - whatever you think is relevant to your current fitness level.
Roughly 35-40 miles per week currently, 5-6 days. I go to a pilates class once a week usually but used to be a lot better about doing other strength training and I'd like to add it back in to help injury prevention.

What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?
Complete it without suffering massively! I have a real fear of falling apart, so my goal is to feel good (relatively speaking ) and enjoy it. I'd also like to do it in a time that I could feel reflected where I'm at by October, but I've no idea what that would be yet.

How many days a week can you train? And what plan do you intend to follow?
5-6 should be manageable. As for the plan... I've lost track of the amount of hours I've spent weighing up the pros and cons of different plans. Still haven't a clue.

What is your biggest worry/fear/doubt (if you have any!) in signing up?
Honestly, I'm fairly terrified that the race itself (if I make it that far) will be really painful and I'll give up. So more than anything I want to not do that.

Why are you running this marathon?
I just like running a lot
I never had the remotest interest in running a marathon until stumbling across a previous incarnation of this thread just after the marathon a couple of years ago. Reading people's experiences of it blew my mind and I read back through most of the thread, and then followed last year's one the whole way through. I think the decision to try it myself was made there and then reading those first race reports.

I see 4/5 mins off that 10k on Saturday week and a sub 1:50 half. Your training is exemplary so far. Don't be afraid to go for an aggressive DCM target and to enjoy it. The 2 are not mutually exclusive.

ariana`

Applegirl26 wrote: »

Sorry Ariana! My first mistake already..

If all your mistakes are just typos then you'll do great

ariana`

Hi Naked Leper and eyrie welcome along to you both.

Naked Lepper have a look at the two plans when you get a chance. I think the NNH1 should suit you but you may feel differently. I do think you will have to consider dropping some or all of the football sessions for the few months especially as you are already struggling to fit in time for running, once the training starts the miles increase quite rapidly. And honestly i can guarantee you one thing, October 28th will be a lot more fun and a lot less painful if you dedicate yourself to training for it specifically for those 18 weeks in the run up!

eyrie choosing a plan is a bit of a minefield alright but with your background you will be well able for whichever plan you choose and to be honest there probably isn't a massive difference between a lot of them, ultimately i think with any of them you will get out what you put in and in your case no doubt that will be 100% dedication and focus and you'll do brilliantly. Looking forward to having you on board

ariana`

Rossi7 wrote: »

With regards races, should we be looking to do more or is the Race Series enough as they tie in with the plans

I think the series is sufficient. The issue with doing many more is you have to allow time to taper and recover. Ok, you could keep the taper to a minimum but a race is like a monster session and you will need recovery time so then you are losing valuable training time. It isn't even necessary to do all of the series if it isn't convenient for you, i'd recommend minimum 2 races though and 3 for anyone who has very little race experience coming into this.

bucketybuck

In the theme of running to your current fitness, not your goal time...

I did DCM for the first time in 2016, in a time of 4.32. My goal time this time around is 4.00hrs.

Recently I had my eye on getting a PB in a local 10k race, I did this last weekend with my first sub 50 10k, in a time of 48.05.

Using that 10k time the MacMillan calculator says my marathon time could be 3.45hrs and a pace of 5.21 min/km. A 4 hour marathon would have a pace of 5.41 min/km.

Which should I go for?

skyblue46

bucketybuck wrote: »

In the theme of running to your current fitness, not your goal time...

I did DCM for the first time in 2016, in a time of 4.32. My goal time this time around is 4.00hrs.

Recently I had my eye on getting a PB in a local 10k race, I did this last weekend with my first sub 50 10k, in a time of 48.05.

Using that 10k time the MacMillan calculator says my marathon time could be 3.45hrs and a pace of 5.21 min/km. A 4 hour marathon would have a pace of 5.41 min/km.

Which should I go for?

Go with current pace. It's easy to revise downwards if you find training tough. As I said to Eyrie earlier there is no need to totally bury the hope for your best possible time. Predictions for marathons off 10k times are notoriously unreliable but no harm training to them for now.

eyrie

ariana` wrote: »

eyrie choosing a plan is a bit of a minefield alright but with your background you will be well able for whichever plan you choose and to be honest there probably isn't a massive difference between a lot of them, ultimately i think with any of them you will get out what you put in and in your case no doubt that will be 100% dedication and focus and you'll do brilliantly. Looking forward to having you on board

Thanks ariana! Looking forward to getting stuck in and seeing what happens anyway.

skyblue46 wrote: »

I see 4/5 mins off that 10k on Saturday week and a sub 1:50 half. Your training is exemplary so far. Don't be afraid to go for an aggressive DCM target and to enjoy it. The 2 are not mutually exclusive.

Ah well the training is the easy (and enjoyable) part! Racing is a whole other story... I'm not setting goals like those but I'll stick at it and see.

eyrie

bucketybuck wrote: »

In the theme of running to your current fitness, not your goal time...

I did DCM for the first time in 2016, in a time of 4.32. My goal time this time around is 4.00hrs.

Recently I had my eye on getting a PB in a local 10k race, I did this last weekend with my first sub 50 10k, in a time of 48.05.

Using that 10k time the MacMillan calculator says my marathon time could be 3.45hrs and a pace of 5.21 min/km. A 4 hour marathon would have a pace of 5.41 min/km.

Which should I go for?

bucketybuck congrats on the sub 50!! And by a long way too

Kellygirl

bucketybuck wrote: »

In the theme of running to your current fitness, not your goal time...

I did DCM for the first time in 2016, in a time of 4.32. My goal time this time around is 4.00hrs.

Recently I had my eye on getting a PB in a local 10k race, I did this last weekend with my first sub 50 10k, in a time of 48.05.

Using that 10k time the MacMillan calculator says my marathon time could be 3.45hrs and a pace of 5.21 min/km. A 4 hour marathon would have a pace of 5.41 min/km.

Which should I go for?

Fantastic time. Well done Bucketybuck.
yep, follow the pace times McMillan is giving you now based on the 48.05.

bucketybuck

eyrie wrote: »

bucketybuck congrats on the sub 50!! And by a long way too

Kellygirl wrote: »

Fantastic time. Well done Bucketybuck.
yep, follow the pace times McMillan is giving you now based on the 48.05.

Cheers!

Its almost like a personality test though, I should be happy because I took 3 minutes of my PB and broke 50 mins, but instead I'm annoyed because it was a really hot day and there was a really steep, winding path around the 7k mark which needed navigating, so I think I could go faster on a better course. I'm never bloody happy! :pac:

Kellygirl

bucketybuck wrote: »

Cheers!

Its almost like a personality test though, I should be happy because I took 3 minutes of my PB and broke 50 mins, but instead I'm annoyed because it was a really hot day and there was a really steep, winding path around the 7k mark which needed navigating, so I think I could go faster on a better course. I'm never bloody happy! :pac:

You’ll get another pb next time round so :-)

Swashbuckler

bucketybuck wrote:

I'm never bloody happy!

A good sign

RayCun

bucketybuck wrote: »

Using that 10k time the MacMillan calculator says my marathon time could be 3.45hrs and a pace of 5.21 min/km. A 4 hour marathon would have a pace of 5.41 min/km.

Which should I go for?

4 hours.

The MacMillan calculator is fairly optimistic when converting shorter distance times to marathon times. Especially for runners who don't have a lot of training miles behind them. Your marathon goal time should be conservative.

This will come up more closer to the race, but if you think a 4 hour target would be selling yourself short, you are still almost certainly better off running the first half at four hour pace and picking it up in the second half than you would be starting at a more aggressive pace.

whiskey_sour

In contrast to everyone else's problems of slowing down... I find I'm actually finding it really hard to hit the paces macmillan is giving me. I raced a parkrun on Saturday to get an idea of my fitness, did my LSR yesterday and was a good 1 minute/mile slower than the paces I should be hitting. My legs were just wrecked... I even had to take a couple of walking breaks. Now I was sick earlier in the week but was feeling grand yesterday and the problem was entirely my legs not my breathing etc... So basically my question is are these paces my 'bible' so to speak... Or can I go slower if I'm just not able for it that day??

Hedgehoggy

whiskey_sour wrote: »

In contrast to everyone else's problems of slowing down... I find I'm actually finding it really hard to hit the paces macmillan is giving me. I raced a parkrun on Saturday to get an idea of my fitness, did my LSR yesterday and was a good 1 minute/mile slower than the paces I should be hitting. My legs were just wrecked... I even had to take a couple of walking breaks. Now I was sick earlier in the week but was feeling grand yesterday and the problem was entirely my legs not my breathing etc... So basically my question is are these paces my 'bible' so to speak... Or can I go slower if I'm just not able for it that day??

I can feel like this too so interested in response.. I tend to go with feel, so if my legs are really dead I don't try to push it. I take it as a sign that I'm developing leg strength!

Kellygirl

whiskey_sour wrote: »

In contrast to everyone else's problems of slowing down... I find I'm actually finding it really hard to hit the paces macmillan is giving me. I raced a parkrun on Saturday to get an idea of my fitness, did my LSR yesterday and was a good 1 minute/mile slower than the paces I should be hitting. My legs were just wrecked... I even had to take a couple of walking breaks. Now I was sick earlier in the week but was feeling grand yesterday and the problem was entirely my legs not my breathing etc... So basically my question is are these paces my 'bible' so to speak... Or can I go slower if I'm just not able for it that day??

Definitely don’t push it if you aren’t feeling it. You’ll only be exhausted afterwards and that won’t help your other runs during the week. Slow down even more I’d say. Time on your feet is more important than the speed.

eyrie

whiskey_sour wrote: »

In contrast to everyone else's problems of slowing down... I find I'm actually finding it really hard to hit the paces macmillan is giving me. I raced a parkrun on Saturday to get an idea of my fitness, did my LSR yesterday and was a good 1 minute/mile slower than the paces I should be hitting. My legs were just wrecked... I even had to take a couple of walking breaks. Now I was sick earlier in the week but was feeling grand yesterday and the problem was entirely my legs not my breathing etc... So basically my question is are these paces my 'bible' so to speak... Or can I go slower if I'm just not able for it that day??

My easy and LSR paces for training have always been substantially slower than whatever the mcmillan calculator says. I ignore it completely. I think effort is more important for those type of runs. I only worry about pace for speedwork, etc. Also I think the paces mcmillan gives are way out of line with other recommendations and calculators. I'm sure it's accurate for some people but it's definitely not for me, and I don't think it would help my training to try and follow it! I would naturally fall much closer to the times I get from this one: http://www.runfastcoach.com/calc2/index.php