[drquirky]

Ok-

I figured I'd start doing one of these. Here is my background-

33/m

I was a University level runner in the USA in the late 90's but haven't run competitively since 1998. My PR's (from 13 yrs ago eek!) are 15:42 5k, 26:01 8k 32:50 10k. After college I took an extended vacation from anything resembling exercise. I've tried a few half hearted comebacks but they haven't resulted in me getting back into shape. That is until the past year. I've run 30 mpw consistently for the past 14 months and have just started doing proper speed workouts again. Over the last month and a half I've upped my milage to 50-60 pw as I am training for DCM.

Recent results with minimal speed work have been a 38:08 at the DLR 10k and a 18:06 5k in Celbridge last week. I'm hoping to run under 3 hrs at DCM and feel as though I'm improving with every workout. I'm starting to feel fairly quick and the runs are coming pretty easy.

I want to keep a log here for myself but would also welcome any comments as I'm not really following a particular plan, merely using some of the stuff I remember from my competitive days! So here goes!!!

[drquirky]

Ok so here is last week

Monday 11/8 15 miles 7:45 pace

Tuesday 6 miles easy

Weds Rest Day

Thursday Tempo Run 8 miles at 6:45 pace 2 miles easy

Friday 8 miles easy

Saturday 8 miles easy

Sunday Celbridge 5k 18:06 2 mile warm up 2 mile cool down
Total miles 53

[drquirky]

Ok so here is last week

Monday 11/8 15 miles 7:45 pace

Tuesday 6 miles easy

Weds Rest Day

Thursday Tempo Run 8 miles at 6:45 pace 2 miles easy

Friday 8 miles easy

Saturday 8 miles easy

Sunday Celbridge 5k 18:06 2 mile warm up 2 mile cool down
Total miles 53

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by drquirky

Ok-

I figured I'd start doing one of these. Here is my background-

33/m

I was a University level runner in the USA in the late 90's but haven't run competitively since 1998. My PR's (from 13 yrs ago eek!) are 15:42 5k, 26:01 8k 32:50 10k. After college I took an extended vacation from anything resembling exercise. I've tried a few half hearted comebacks but they haven't resulted in me getting back into shape. That is until the past year. I've run 30 mpw consistently for the past 14 months and have just started doing proper speed workouts again. Over the last month and a half I've upped my milage to 50-60 pw as I am training for DCM.

Recent results with minimal speed work have been a 38:08 at the DLR 10k and a 18:06 5k in Celbridge last week. I'm hoping to run under 3 hrs at DCM and feel as though I'm improving with every workout. I'm starting to feel fairly quick and the runs are coming pretty easy.

I want to keep a log here for myself but would also welcome any comments as I'm not really following a particular plan, merely using some of the stuff I remember from my competitive days! So here goes!!!

Best of luck on the come back. Are you being coached now or following a plan or self coaching? Looking at your times over the shorter results 3hrs is a very do able target for you.

May I ask what college you were in? Always great to get insights from athletes who chose the US option and the experiences they had with it

[drquirky]

...and this week so far

Monday 18 miles- started at 8 min pace down to 7:20 for miles 10-18

Tuesday Rest (biked 20 miles though)

Wednesday 10 miles but quarter mile repeats after a 2 mile warm up. 12 Quarters at 75-78 secs with 200 meter jog rest. 4 mile cool down

Thursday 8 miles easy ....

[drquirky]

Originally Posted by ecoli

Best of luck on the come back. Are you being coached now or following a plan or self coaching? Looking at your times over the shorter results 3hrs is a very do able target for you.

May I ask what college you were in? Always great to get insights from athletes who chose the US option and the experiences they had with it

Thanks ecoli! I am self coaching (we'll see how that goes lol) I ran at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania. We were in D3 but qualified for the D3 X -Country Nationals a couple of times during my career. I am originally from the USA so not sure I'd be a great source of info from an Irish perspective but certainly enjoyed my time in College Athletics....

[brownian]

Welcome aboards

Sub-3 looks very feasible, given your speed over the shorter distance and your already plunging into the longer runs.

Will follow your log with interest!

[drquirky]

Ok- tried compression socks for the first time today- not sure what I think...
Most of my runs are in the Phoenix Park and today was no different.

Did 6 miles at easy tempo with an easy mile before and after

Splits went:
6:47
6:47
6:45 (first three miles are really hilly)
6:40
6:32
6:29

Felt pretty good and didn't kill me for effort- is this a decent enough tempo exercise for what I'm trying to do (sub 3hrs?)

[Krusty_Clown]

Hi drquirky, Well done in the DLR 10k. It was a tough course. A flatter 10k would probably yield a faster time, so you're looking good for your target.

McMillan suggests around 6:13-6:30 for a 2:59 marathon finish and I'd tend to agree. Your recent 10k pace was around 6:07/mile, so 6:13-6:30 would be somewhere between 10 mile pace and 1/2 marathon pace, which should be achievable (on flat even terrain). however, you may want to build up to that tempo pace, rather than try to hit 6 miles out of the blocks, e.g. week: 1 - 7 miles with 4 miles @tempo, week 2: 8 miles with 5 miles @tempo etc.. What do you think ecoli?

[drquirky]

Last 10 days has been kind of strange. I raced 10 days ago in Leitrim on an absolutely ridiculous 4 mile course full of crazy hills. Ran 23:52. I had to travel to Sweden and ended up picking up a cold. Last week I only ran 40 miles as a result. That being said went out for 18 two days ago and ran it at 7:30 pace. (2hrs 15) Felt really good so that perked me up!

On target for 60 miles again this week but looking for a suggestion for a speed workout tomorrow? I've been making a concerted effort to pick up the pace on my training runs so a good amount of my training runs are starting at 7:45- 7:30 pace and ending up in 6:30-6:45 pace I think this is probably a good thing?

Final question- with 10 weeks to go before Dublin how many more heavy weeks am I looking at? Also is 60 miles per week a good number or should I increase it? Thanks for the help all....

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by drquirky

On target for 60 miles again this week but looking for a suggestion for a speed workout tomorrow? I've been making a concerted effort to pick up the pace on my training runs so a good amount of my training runs are starting at 7:45- 7:30 pace and ending up in 6:30-6:45 pace I think this is probably a good thing?

Final question- with 10 weeks to go before Dublin how many more heavy weeks am I looking at? Also is 60 miles per week a good number or should I increase it? Thanks for the help all....

Nothing wrong with progression runs many coaches advocate this. Main thing is that you are not doing this every day as you need to give your body time to recover and adapt from the hard efforts

The next 7-8 weeks should be used as specific race prep phase. Basically now you should be working on preparing the body to cope with the specific demands of the marathon.

Looking at your running background the speed is your strength and need to start working more towards your endurance. Having said that there should be odd session to keep the body in touch with speed but aim to keep this marathon specific.

Regarding mileage. There is no magic number for this. Different bodies are able to cope differently with varying amounts of mileage. Some people can handle 40-50 miles max before the body breaks down others can hit 100+ without much difficulty in terms of injuries. I would say if you can increase without compromising your training do so but build gradually (perhaps add a morning run once a week and go from there)

In terms of sessions as I mentioned earlier the aim should be specific. With my athletes I try to rotate the long run every other week to include MP miles so over a two week period I would have an athlete do the follow

Week 1 - 2 sessions, LSR and remainder easy running
Week 2 - 1 session, LSR + MP miles and the remainder easy running

This template allows athletes to get paced miles one week and time on there feet the following which allows their body to develop. Main thing when looking at sessions is to establish how it is going to fit into the overall plan. Each training session is just one piece of the puzzle

In terms of the other sessions during the specific phase for the marathon here are a few examples which can be used:

7-10 miles @ MP
5 miles tempo (HMP)
4x5k @ slightly slower than HMP with 3 min recoveries (can subsititute LSR if include 2-3 miles w/u and c/d)
6x 1 mile @ 10 mile pace - HMP

If you are looking to try more speed based work for a marathon runner my advice would be to keep the number of reps high with the recovery low

Few of my favourites include:

16x400 @ 10k pace off 30-45 secs
8x800 @ 10k pace off 90 sec
6x1000 @ 10k pace off 2 min

Again you can mix and match these as much as you want but main thing is keep the volume up and the recovery short in order to get proper benefits as a marathon runner.

Another few sessions I have found useful over the last few years with training people are these:

5 miles easy, 12x800m (Alternate between 6.47 and 6.57 pace all continuous running)

Instead of LSR
1 mile easy, 1 MP, 2 easy, 2 MP, 3 easy, 3 MP, 2 easy, 2 MP, 1 easy 1 MP (18 total)
15 miles MP (usually last long run before taper)


Hope this helps

[drquirky]

Thanks Ecoli!
That is really excellent advice and I really appreciate the workouts you listed for me. To that end- I did the 6 x 1mile yesterday- I put a quarter mile jog as a rest in between repeats. My splits were 6:14, 6:14, 6:10, 5:59, 5:59, 6:10. TBH I was pretty happy and felt that this was a good workout!

I've been reading a bit on the importance of marathon specific training and it makes sense...

[drquirky]

Finished up last week with 8 miles easy, rest day and 8 miles easy- giving me a total of 55 miles for the week. Good session today- long run w/ 1 mile at marathon pace/ 1 mile at 7:30 pace.... Kept my splits around 6:45-6:55 on the miles at PMP went 20 miles doing this so did 10 miles at PMP felt strong and finished the run in 2:26 for 20 miles...

My knee seems to be acting up a bit with some soreness/ tightness on the inside of the knee that goes away after a couple of miles but then comes back the next morning- think I'll go get a massage....

[drquirky]

Tuesday- Did a 6 mile recovery run which was needed and felt good. My rule for recovery runs is I don't wear my Garmin- this is so I'm not tempted to up pace or hammer.

Wednesday- got a massage - felt really good after. This was my first one and I think its a good call to get a few of these leading up to DCM. A couple of hours after the massage I headed out to Phoenix Park for a tempo run... 2 miles warm up 10k at tempo and 2 miles cool down. Ended up running the 10k in 38:32 which I was delighted with. felt great and this was a good confidence builder as I ran the first 10k of the National Lottery Half Marathon on the 17th...Not sure what kind time I can run as I've never raced a half...Hoping for 1:22 or thereabouts...

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by drquirky

Tuesday- Did a 6 mile recovery run which was needed and felt good. My rule for recovery runs is I don't wear my Garmin- this is so I'm not tempted to up pace or hammer.

Wednesday- got a massage - felt really good after. This was my first one and I think its a good call to get a few of these leading up to DCM. A couple of hours after the massage I headed out to Phoenix Park for a tempo run... 2 miles warm up 10k at tempo and 2 miles cool down. Ended up running the 10k in 38:32 which I was delighted with. felt great and this was a good confidence builder as I ran the first 10k of the National Lottery Half Marathon on the 17th...Not sure what kind time I can run as I've never raced a half...Hoping for 1:22 or thereabouts...

Solid run given you had a massage this morning i reckon your legs have alot more in them. Normally after a massage I am always told I will feel my best a day or 2 later so fact you hit the 38.30 for a tempo is very encouraging. How did the knee hold up?