DCM 2018 - Mentored Novice Thread

skyblue46

The man in red and black wrote: »

That's great thanks. Will have to try it out this weekend!




That's very helpful thanks alot. Will slow down the training stick to the program and then the next time a run is on the program I can judge timing from that? Or am I still wrong and shouldn't be going 100% in any races between now and the marathon? Sorry for all the questions these are probably such basic concepts!

Get a race done soon, give it a sensible everything and then use training paces from the calculator after that. No probs with questions. We all want ye to have a great day in October.

gypsylee

Good morning everyone. Just catching up on all the posts over the past week as I was away up North for a few days. I was delighted to be able to do my mid week runs and happy with the pace. It's great to run in scenic locations for a change.

Looking forward to the 10 km in the morning. No niggles at the minute but will be taking it handy and hope to finish it in under 65 minutes. It would be nice to meet up with some of you tomorrow morning. I will be down the back with a purple/yellow "Just Run Events" singlet on. If you spot me please say "hello".

Have a good weekend everyone.

Baby75

gypsylee wrote: »

Good morning everyone. Just catching up on all the posts over the past week as I was away up North for a few days. I was delighted to be able to do my mid week runs and happy with the pace. It's great to run in scenic locations for a change.

Looking forward to the 10 km in the morning. No niggles at the minute but will be taking it handy and hope to finish it in under 65 minutes. It would be nice to meet up with some of you tomorrow morning. I will be down the back with a purple/yellow "Just Run Events" singlet on. If you spot me please say "hello".

Have a good weekend everyone.

Good Luck tomorrow and I hope I will see you there! I will be at the back as well not sure what I will be wearing I am leaning towards my club top its white with blue stripes and St Laurance O'toole on it and I will deffo have my Tailwind buff on my head

Come on Novices organise a meetup you will be glad you did and who could resist the offer of flapjacks from Juke

kittyclaws

Hey all, I’ve taken it really easy this week - still not feeling 100% so my mileage is way down. I’m going to do the race tomorrow but I won’t be pushing myself, it’s a lovely route so the pla is to pull back and enjoy it. I was going to run with the 60 min pacer - but I’ve just found out there’s no pacers for this race
I’ll be cycling to the start as I live close enough and wearing my flux athletic green Ireland singlet. I’ll be near the back of the pack so say hi if you see me
Best of luck everyone!

racersedge

Another day, another run in the books. For me, this was the longest of the training so far at 18K. Decided to be a bit adventurous and run from where I live back to my original home town. Took the scenic route while I was at it. The early start meant it was relatively quite for traffic, particularly as I was taking back roads in the second half of it (except for a tractor that no doubt was going to peeve alot off as I saw him pass with a train-load of cars bottled behind him!)

I felt the run went grand. Admittedly, I don't feel 100%. I'm blaming the kids. This week with the slight downturn in weather, a few came in coughing and spluttering to work. Sure enough, woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat. I got the run done fine, but when I look at say the heart-rate metrics, I was a lot higher than I should of been. Didn't help that I didn't sleep all that great last night and coming off treating the wife out to see Mamma Mia we well. But I got it done and I worked towards the slower end of my LSR pace band to ensure it got over.

Oh, today was also new tech day. Took the plunge during Prime Day to pick up the Forerunner 235. I had eyed it up around Black Friday but dithered. I baulked at spending big for the newer versions so when the Prime Day deal came, I went for it. The ideal thing for it is that it tracks cycling, instead of having to wreck my records and shoehorn it into Garmin Connect. A bit sad to 'retire' the Forerunner 225. She's been a noble steed and I'll find her a good home.

So, having ran all the way to the hometown, I decided to cycle back to the homestead using my Dad's bike. That was my original plan last week, but the rain brought a stop to it - no way was I chancing my arm with those greasy road conditions. Gave me a chance to track the distance on the way home and have it stored here for usage until he gets back.

Think the combined effects of the not-so-great sleep and the head not all there is starting to take its toll. Taking it plenty easy now from here on. I've a trip to the physio planned on Monday for a check-up/massage to keep an eye on my plantar fasciitis issue that was at me prior to the start of the training. What I've done so far has kept it in check but as the mileage builds it is so important to keep the body properly ticking over.

juke

Decision made: I'm not running tomorrow.

I went for a run this morning, running purely off effort. Felt good. Ended up running along with a parkrun for about 1k - and plenty people passed me, I didn't speed up, but I didn't like it .

So, I was still a bit on the fence.

Headed home, about 1k from home, my shoulder began to feel a bit sore, just a tingle. I decided to continue bit, just to see if it was a passing phase. It wasn't. I still didn't stop running until it was 0.5k home There is no way in hell I'd have pulled up in a race. None. I also suspect that, despite being happy with a slow start, I may have been tempted to put in more effort during the latter half.

Lesson learned. Thanks all for your advice. The offer of flapjacks is there, but I won't make the trek unless there's interest.

Hope all who are doing the race tomorrow have a great run!

NyOmnishambles

Sorry to hear you wont be doing the race tomorrow Juke as you seemed very keen but well done on making the difficult decision

Part of our training is learning about ourselves and learning to listen to our bodies and you made the right decision

I really struggled last weekend for the last 6K of our 21K training run, my pace steady enough but it was a hard slog to keep it that way and I was wrecked after it, obviously it was very warm and I had done a few extra miles last week

Today by comparison was brilliant, I felt totally comfortable throughout the 21K, it was a lot cooler which was great, I did less mileage this week and I took a gel after an hour which all combined helped

Best of luck to everyone tomorrow

Kellygirl

juke wrote: »

Decision made: I'm not running tomorrow.

I went for a run this morning, running purely off effort. Felt good. Ended up running along with a parkrun for about 1k - and plenty people passed me, I didn't speed up, but I didn't like it .

So, I was still a bit on the fence.

Headed home, about 1k from home, my shoulder began to feel a bit sore, just a tingle. I decided to continue bit, just to see if it was a passing phase. It wasn't. I still didn't stop running until it was 0.5k home There is no way in hell I'd have pulled up in a race. None. I also suspect that, despite being happy with a slow start, I may have been tempted to put in more effort during the latter half.

Lesson learned. Thanks all for your advice. The offer of flapjacks is there, but I won't make the trek unless there's interest.

Hope all who are doing the race tomorrow have a great run!

Sounds very sensible Juke. Fair play. Really hope it improves soon for you.

Mr. Guappa

Tried out an energy gel for the first time on my 13 miler today. It's a High5 one I got in Elverys. Took it at around the 10 mile mark. Didn't particularly feel the need but it was a fact-finding mission. Felt strong over the closing 3 miles, whether that was aided by the gel I couldn't say. Felt minor stomach cramps once I'd finished which I'm attributing to the gel. I've another one of them in the press which I'll try next week I guess.

ariana`

Hey folks, i just want to wish the best of luck to everyone racing tomorrow! I hope you all come away happy with your performance but if you don't then please don't panic, it's very early days and now is a good race to learn some lessons from that you can take forward with you Race hard, race sensibly, savour the atmosphere and experience of a big race!

Juke i'm glad you've made a decision and it sounds like the right one. It's unfortunate and i'm sure disappointing for you but at least it's not the main event right, still lots of time to get yourself sorted and ready for that

Mr. Guappa, the long runs are a good time to be practicing using gels alright. Have another go with those, i'd take one after about 50-60 minutes so you get a better feel for the effects (ie. you will be running for a bit longer after taking it).

racersedge congrats on the longest training run and on the new purchase! It's a great buzz when you are starting running distances you haven't run before

NyOmnishambles isn't it amazing how the same distance one week seems like such a slog and the next it's no bother! This is the reason it's important not to quit after one bad run :eek: We will all have bad runs, it's part of the course and these are the runs that make us tougher and the ones we can look back on when/if the going gets tough on Oct 28th (i need to heed this advice myself!)

Kick ass tomorrow folks - and don't forget the most important part of the race - the post race report here

aloooof

Only catching up on this thread today, but if there's a post-race meet-up happening, with or without flapjacks, count me in to hang around after to say hello! Hopefully some of us will be trading accounts of our new PBs!

gypsylee

Good morning. Looks like a lovely morning for a run. Let's do this

Hobbyjogger

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Tried out an energy gel for the first time on my 13 miler today. It's a High5 one I got in Elverys. Took it at around the 10 mile mark. Didn't particularly feel the need but it was a fact-finding mission. Felt strong over the closing 3 miles, whether that was aided by the gel I couldn't say. Felt minor stomach cramps once I'd finished which I'm attributing to the gel. I've another one of them in the press which I'll try next week I guess.

Im not an expert but when I trained for my first half I took them every 40 minutes, and washed them down with water. I was also advised, not sure how expertly, that they take a km to kick in and feel the effects so not much point taking them too close to the end. I like the high 5 best as they don't upset my stomach but you might want to try others and see what suits! I've seen kinetica ones in SuperValu, might be worth a try

Best of luck today everyone, nice conditions!! Oh and I'll be all in black so not much point in looking out for that, but I do have a red ponytail, that might help!

Applegirl26

Best of luck everyone! We got this ðŸ႒👊

sumsar

Dreadful sleep last night, went to bed around 10 fell asleep around 3! Fingers crossed today's race / run isn't too difficult because of that.

Anyways, looking forward to it and good luck everyone.

skyblue46

Best of luck to ye all. Above anything else enjoy the day. That's the most important thing.

whiskey_sour

Good luck to everyone racing today! Enjoy it, can't wait to hear how you all get on!

Dealerz2.0

Hope everyone enjoys the race today

sumsar

Currently sitting in the car in the car park after that (No movement gonna be a while here getting out).

Enjoyed today's run, got a chip time of 1:06:42 which I'm happy with, my 10km PB is probably around 56 mins but that was about 5 years ago.

I think today's run being 4 weeks into the plan was good for me, Its a reminder I need to sort out my nutrition intake, relax on the beer and everything else.. otherwise I'm just making things harder for myself.

Anyways, I look forward to seeing everyone's race reports, I have never done one and don't know how to even start so I look forward to seeing how it's done! Ha

Hope everyone had a good run today.

**Timbuk2**

Really enjoyed that - very well organised race and the route was very scenic (have never been in the area before!).

Got 55:06. As expected, higher than last year's PB due to time off running, not as much care with nutrition (like sumsar, I'll be watching this going forward) and it felt quite warm and muggy out there today. Knee stayed strong so I was happy with the outcome!

The canal seemed to go on forever!!

kittyclaws

That went a lot better than expected!
I wasn’t expecting great things from this race, my mileage is way down this week as I’ve had the flu since Monday. I started with a group and we decided to pace ourselves and do it in 60 mins. At the 5k mark I was feeling good so I decided to push it a bit and try get in under 60. Official time 57:56, which is a PB
I loved the course! It didn’t feel like 10k, I was surprised when my watch beeped at 5 miles, I thought it was only 4. There was lots of support from the locals and lots of sights to take in, the stretch along the canal was especially nice. I heard some people complaining about the heat but I’m so used to it now it didn’t bother me. I brought jelly tots with me and sucked a few of them around the 5k mark, I think the hit of sugar kicked in around 8k which took me home.
My only complaint would be the water station should have been closer to the 4k point - 6k was too far in, but everything else was great. Really nice tshirt and the water bottle will come in very handy

I live locally enough and knew there would be a queue of traffic to get out so I cycled down. I felt a tad smug cycling past everyone stuck in their cars, but then my muscles all locked up going up the hill back to Tallaght and I’d have paid in diamonds to have my car with me :S
I hope they keep the venue for next year, it’s a fab route

bucketybuck

Today I got PB's for both 10k and 5k, this thread must be doing something right. :pac:

More seriously, its only a few weeks since I broke sub 50 for the first time ever, and today I finished in 46:32 so I'm feeling pretty damn stoked right now!

Looking at the watch after 5k it was a huge surprise to see I had just beat my 5k PB, and I might have worried about going out too fast but to be honest it was a nice feeling to know that because of the marathon training I had plenty left in the tank. When you are doing half marathons in training damn sure you aren't worried about 10k distance so I was able to keep on at the pace I had set.

The real lesson from today was about those slow training paces. Weeks of holding back and keeping it slow and wondering how that helps in the races. Well, the proof is in the pudding. The training might be slow but clearly its there when its needed!

Hobbyjogger

I won't be much good at a race report as I am bad at the best at times for giving directions, or reading a map so during a race I really pay no attention to my surroundings.. but I'll give it a whirl!

I thought the course was fantastic! The race was organised so well, everything went smoothly.. no queues at bag drop etc except for an expected small wait for the portaloos. Support throughout was also surprisingly good.

So then for the breakdown.. My aim was to break 48mins but a PB would be anywhere under 49. I set up the watch to 47:59 so goal was about a 4:45/km pace. I crossed the start line and quickly settled into a comfortable pace, was a little bit slower than goal but trying to warm into it. I often make the mistake of pushing too early.. the first few Kms passed fairly quickly and comfortably into corkagh park where we hit a patch of gravel which wasn't too bad, fairly compacted. Then into km 4 where we came off the gravel onto lovely smooth Tarmac and a slight downhill which was probably the fastest section of the course for most.

After that, there was a slight drag into the town, before coming in by the canal on the home straight. A 2k straight boring stretch where I got the mother of all stitches and thought I was going to have to stop. Watch had me in trouble for my goal, so knew I'd have to pull it out of somewhere to break the 48. I usually wait till the last 500metres or so to pick the pace up as I don't have the confidence to hold it for longer but I wanted it badly, so when I hit the 8k I went for it! With the stitch subsiding, my legs obeyed and I brought it back down to under a 4:35 pace. I pushed up the last little steep hill, and could see the finish line in the distance. The watch had me at 47:45, then 47:50 coming into the finish. I felt like I was going to drop but I managed to make it and it felt great! Chip time unfortunately was 48:01 in the end, just mildly infuriating! But overall a super race, and am really happy with my run! Also the tshirt is lovely, will be back next year.

I hope everyone else enjoyed it, and were happy with their times!

Clibee

Well done everybody

gypsylee

Great to read everyone's posts and seeing the great results.

Unfortunately the run did not go well for me. The first 5km went great, around a 6.40 pace. After that I struggled with my breathing which has never happened me when running before. I made the decision to walk and run from then on as I was afraid I would not finish the run otherwise. Picked up the pace a wee bit and finished in 1 hour 12 minutes which is 12 minutes off my PB set last November. Feel I am going backwards.

Very disappointed with my time. Loved the route and the support along the route was great. The top is lovely too, glad I managed to finish and get that.

My breathing is still erratic so will be keeping an eye on it.

Hope everyone else had a better day.

Alorra

Well done all, it feels like loads of people enjoyed the run this morning.

I have not updated in ages, so here it goes.

Its 4 weeks in so far, I did two races this week the liberties 4 miler and the 10k today.

The 4 miler was ok, it was definitely as quick as I could go with that energy levels and on the day. Overall came in 27.38 mins. The course was quite good, a few mini inclines in it to make you work hard. Overall pleased enough with run.

I was looking at paces then for the 10k and decided that should translate to sub 44 mins 10k if i was able to extend that rate out.

So the goal was a 44.xx run for the 10k today.

I kinda got lost a bit in terms of the pace and where i was and came in @ 45.06 on the chip time.

A little disappointed as feel like I should have had the 44mins in the bag if i was more aware of what and how i was doing. (the 44 is a kinda of something i have been wanting to tick off for a while, the next time it will have to be...)

The race course was good. It was definitely crowded at stages near the start as the paths were narrow. And it was humid today.
I thought the course was very flat and the crowd going through the village was great The ending was good two.

I feel like i missed the sign for 8k. It was 7k and suddenly it was 9k on the sign and i thought oh.... only a 1k left. As you came around the bend to the last 4/500 meters it was good, you could see the finishing line gave a great buzz to get going again for the last piece.

Overall a good race, I liked it and being able to sit on the grass by the pond and cool down, a really good ending.

In terms of good things, I did, had a fruit smoothie this morning (half a keelings tray+ banana+ orange juice and yougurt) seemed like a great energy booster for the run and was not hard on the stomach at all.

Bad things- could have got there a little earlier and had my paces better thought out.

chabsey

Good run this morning but arrived late and had no time to warm up. Took it easy for most of the run, wanted it to be an easyish run. Sprinted the last couple of hundred metres and clocked in at a little over 48 mins. A little faster than I hoped for but not bad.

ariana`

Well done to everyone who raced today. It was yet another hot day so again not the easiest but most of you sound pleased with how it went which is great to hear. I know a couple of you missed your goal (Hobbyjogger it's a balls to miss it by 1 second :rolleyes:) but in fairness you guys haven't been doing 10k specific training or doing much/any distance at 10k pace so to rock up today and get a decent time close to your goal is still a great achievement. Well done one and all


So we're onto week 5 of DCM training, the weeks are flying by!

Plan|Monday|Tuesday|Wed|Thurs|Fri|Sat|Sun
NNH1|rest|3m easy|5m easy|3m easy|rest|10m lsr|cross
Boards|rest,cross or 3m rec|4m easy|6m with 5 x 100m strides|4m easy|rest,cross or 3m rec|15m lsr|3m rec


So guys this is a big week for both groups this week, you both have a significant increase in distance in your upcoming LSR. The NNH1 group jump by 3m up to a 10m LSR and the Boards group jumps from 13m to 15m! This to me is the week when things really start to get tough and more & more of you will be running distances you’ve never run before. This is a great buzz but also a great challenge so just another gentle reminder that running slowly is the best way to build the endurance required to run a marathon!

Time for some science? There are two sources of fuel in the body - glycogen and fat. Muscle Glycogen can deplete in as little as one hour of an aerobic event. Fat takes longer to break down than glycogen and so it’s a longer lasting source of fuel ideal for fueling the body for an endurance event such as the marathon! The slower you run the greater the percentage of your fuel comes from fat and so by running slowly you are training the body to use fat for fuel essential to getting through a grueling event such as the marathon.

There is more science but I won't bore you right now but in addition by running slowly you are reducing the risk of injury. And don’t underestimate the buzz you will get from finishing a run feeling like you could have done more!

There are strides again this week for the Boards group. We discussed these previously but just to recap we recommend you do these near the end of your run on a flat section of road. They are about 100m or 20 seconds, accelerate for the first 1/3 to about 80% effort for the middle 1/3 and then decelerate back down. You want full recovery between strides, you should NOT feel wrecked finishing these, that is not the goal! Concentrate on keeping keeping good form - relax the shoulders!

Best of luck for the week ahead everyone and well done again to all those who raced today - keep the reports coming in

coogy

kittyclaws wrote: »

That went a lot better than expected!
I wasn’t expecting great things from this race, my mileage is way down this week as I’ve had the flu since Monday. I started with a group and we decided to pace ourselves and do it in 60 mins. At the 5k mark I was feeling good so I decided to push it a bit and try get in under 60. Official time 57:56, which is a PB
I loved the course! It didn’t feel like 10k, I was surprised when my watch beeped at 5 miles, I thought it was only 4. There was lots of support from the locals and lots of sights to take in, the stretch along the canal was especially nice. I heard some people complaining about the heat but I’m so used to it now it didn’t bother me. I brought jelly tots with me and sucked a few of them around the 5k mark, I think the hit of sugar kicked in around 8k which took me home.
My only complaint would be the water station should have been closer to the 4k point - 6k was too far in, but everything else was great. Really nice tshirt and the water bottle will come in very handy

I live locally enough and knew there would be a queue of traffic to get out so I cycled down. I felt a tad smug cycling past everyone stuck in their cars, but then my muscles all locked up going up the hill back to Tallaght and I’d have paid in diamonds to have my car with me :S
I hope they keep the venue for next year, it’s a fab route

You're a Clondalkinite too?

kittyclaws

coogy wrote: »

You're a Clondalkinite too?

Jobstownian!