5 weeks to big one!

Ohyeah

All advice would be so welcome.

Have been training since Feb- with one eye on the Dublin marathon. However because of the hours I work and my own idiocy I have not stuck to a training plan- have drifted in and out of that Hal Hadon one.

I have trained really quite a bit- but when it came to longer runs (as in 12 mile plus) I have prob not being doing enough.

I have done the Duffy challenge- and trained for each of the races.

I did the 10mile pretty easy and did the half marathon last weekend in 1hr 47 mins. Felt ok at end and would defo had a few more miles in my legs on the day despite it being hot and the course quite hilly.

I was going to give the marathon a shot, my only worry is that I have not done enough long runs?

however I have 3 friends who have done the marathon in recent years. Their longest runs before the race we're 20m 16m and one of them only did 10m!

so basically, questions.

1. Given all the above what kind of trianing should I do in the next few weeks?

2. What min long distance should I run before race- and how long before the race?

3. Do people think I should not do it, or am I just having cold feet as the day appraoches and my worries about the lenght of my runs are just an excuse to get out of it:)

My aim is to get around of course- but (just about) sub 4hr would be my aim.


all help very welcome- especially form people with expience or people in similar position.

cheers.

lizanne83

Hi Ohyeah!

I think you’ll be fine, that was a good time for half marathon. I’m running a few years and have been training for marathon properly since about June and do one long run/week. Started first week with 15 then 18, then 19 then 21 miles. However, you’d only do a 20mile 2-3 times max in the whole training for marathon I’ve been advised (never go beyond 22miles in training). I’ve ran quite a few 10/12km events. However, last Sat was my first half marathon and was v-happy with time of 1hr:33…mins. I’ll do 3 more long runs (20, 18 then 16) each week now and then taper for final week/2 for full-marathon. This is my first full also but I feel prepared … so basically I think you should just do 3 long runs (1/week at wknds) and then taper and you should be absolutely fine! Get a GPS watch to measure your distance and pace if you don’t already have one!

NoQuarter

youll have no probs whatsoever running the marathon on the day, ran one in greece in april and apart from 10k's i ran two 20k's and one 30k in the 2 weeks before it and i was grand, got round in 4:16, sore legs for 2/3 days but that was it, two of my mates never ran over 10k and decided to do it last min for the crack and althought they were in bits they still done it in under 5 hours!

youll have no hassle, go for it!

Peckham

How many long runs have you done? What distances?

Sounds from what you've said that you might have done enough, but the key in moving your great half marathon time to a great marathon time is the long runs that your legs have had to endure.

clonsillarunner

lizanne

that time is as impressive as your webpage! Wht do you think you will do the race proper in?

thanks everyone for the advise. I intend to do 2 hours plus in the park on saturday and if that goes well i will enter and do one more long run prior to the big day along with my normal selection of 5 to 7 mile runs.

A P

Clonsillarunner - you'll get around for sure - it will hurt, but it will be worth it, believe me! Just start it steady - my first marathon the adrenaline took over and I ran the first mile in 6:26; ran the second half 17 minutes slower than the first - needless to say I was nearly reduced to a walk at the end - finished that one in 3:14. I learned the hard way, and the next one I did, I ran the second half a minute faster than the first, and ran 2:57. I'd recommend starting off a bit slower than you capable of - you might feel great and want to run faster, but try to hold back - you'll be glad you did when the race starts at 20miles! Good luck and keep us posted.
Lizanne- that's a great time for a first half marathon - the books say you'd be capable of approx 3:15-3:20 for the big one, but I wouldn't worry too much about targets going into it - just take it mile by mile and try to enjoy it! Sounds like you're well prepared for it - if you get to the start with no hitches you'll have a great run.
Best of luck to all - wish I could be doing it myself.

clonsillarunner

thanks AP

irelandsown

Ran 18 miles yesterday for the first time. Hoping to do another 18 next Saturday and then start tapering after that. Dont care about times, just want to finish the marathon. Pretty confident that I have enough milage under my belt over the last 8 months to get me around.

A friend of mine recommended getting a massage a few days before the marathon. Has anyone else done this and how many days before should I get it done if at all?

I had deep tissue massage done once and was pretty sore for a few days afterwards. I know it wouldn't be as intense but would it loosen your legs too much?

Slogger Jogger

Hi,

My own experience has been limited to having massages in the days after marathons. These can be fantastic (and quite sore!). So as not to risk your good work I wouldn't get a massage within 3 or 4 days of the big day. Depends on how deep the massage is and whether they are actually dealing with a problem area I suppose. Having said that, at the marathon expos you do see prospective runners getting a rub down, so its hard to say?

Regards,

SJ

lizanne83

Thanks A P - I'd be absolutely delighted if did it in 3.15. I have to say everything was perfect for half-marathon - weather, mood, prepped, no aches - but this all amounts to a mix of LUCK and training! I can't believe the real thing is actually happening this month... starting 2 get nervous but really looking forward to it. Had full intentions of doing 18-20mile on Sat but with other commitments, I just got 15.5miles and was furious... with only 2-3 wks of training left.. must make up a serious long run this wknd and next only as we should then start tapering? Should we give 1 or 2 weeks for taper? I would have thought 1 full week is enough but recently find people saying it should be 2 wks..

Abhainn

lizanne have you done any long runs excess 15.5 miles?
I did a 20 miler at the weekend and felt really good after. I've stepped it up from 16 to 18 to 20 in 5 weeks and each time I've stepped up the distance I can notice how stronger each time I am.
I will be very wary of the unknown miles after the 20 mile mark though and I would be happy with sub 3:20 (a 1:31 in the Park there)
I have a 17.5 mile run this weekend and that followed by a 20 miler 15 days before the big one. Hoping two weeks taper will be sufficient, Best of luck

lizanne83

Yes Abhainn,

I did one 18-mile, one 20-mile and one-21 mile training. Like you, I want to get a long one in this weekend (19-mile) and the following weekend (20-mile) then we start the 2-week taper so just 2-chances left for ‘long’ runs! I know exactly what you mean; it’s the ‘unknown’ miles after the 20-mark that I wonder about – more mentally than anything as physically we should be fine with all this prep but the mental deliriousness that may take over is what I would be more nervous about (from what I’ve heard!) I’ll be delighted with 3:20 – that’s the aim. I know you shouldn’t aim for a time in your first marathon but realistically everybody needs a goal if they’ve come this far! Best of luck with it too

BRIAN1956

Hi gang,

This is my first post on here, but I have run a lot of marathons.

Ohyeah,

Don't try to do too much over the coming weeks, all you have to do from now to race is just to tick over.
Doing to big a mileage now will only take it out of your legs.

You have a very good half marathon time of 1hr 47mins and are aiming for a sub 4 hour.

As some of our friends have pointed out, you will feel good on the day, but don't get carried along by runners beside you. If your first mile is a little slower than you were expecting, don't worry, seconds wasted at the start trying to keep an eye on the clock, end up being minutes wasted at the end of the run.

Your split times should be.

5 miles in 45 minutes
10 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes
13 miles in 1 hour 57 minutes (I know your half was 10 minutes quicker, but save your strength)
15 miles in 2 hours 15 minutes
20 miles in 3 hours
26.2 miles in 3 hours 55 minutes.

You might feel good at twenty and be tempted to take off, but I would wait till about 23 and if you still fell good......run like the wind and enjoy every moment, you will start to pass other runners and for every one you pass you will feel stronger.


The mental approach to a Marathon is also very important.
My mental approach was always,
Think about getting to 5 miles (I would think to my self 5 done)
Get to 10 miles (I would think to myself 10 done)
Get to half way (I would think to myself "halfway there")
Get to 15 miles (I would think to myself 15 done)
Get to 20 miles (I would think to myself 6 to go)

Then count down the miles you have left as you hit the mile markers.
5 to go,4 to go,3 to go, 2 to go, 1 to go, enjoy the crowds around who are cheering you as you complete your marathon.

I also found what suited me was to hydrate myself for about 2 days before the race, I had to do this as I found drinking too much water can cause me stomache cramps. I just took a mouthful at every water station and poured the rest over my head(keep me awake)
So drink lots of fluids a couple of days before the race.
Don't get carried along by others at the start, stick to your pace and eventually you will settle in with a group about 5 miles in.


The very best of luck to you all on race day.
I wish I was alongside you all, but a car accident before christmas has put me out of action.

BRIAN1956

Go to marathon page,
Post your estimated race time with 0 fade out. and you will get your splits.

http://www.users.on.net/~klima/rkcalc_mi.htm


To all who want to really look good with their new running kit, DON'T wear anything new on the day, stick to your favourite runing gear, If you have got a t-shirt off a sponser to wear, wash it first.
New cloths can chafe you during a marathon.


The best of luck to you all, and above all, enjoy the day.

BRIAN1956

Hi gang,

This is my first post on here, but I have run a lot of marathons.

Ohyeah,

Don't try to do too much over the coming weeks, all you have to do from now to race is just to tick over.
Doing to big a mileage now will only take it out of your legs.

You have a very good half marathon time of 1hr 47mins and are aiming for a sub 4 hour.

As some of our friends have pointed out, you will feel good on the day, but don't get carried along by runners beside you. If your first mile is a little slower than you were expecting, don't worry, seconds wasted at the start trying to keep an eye on the clock, end up being minutes wasted at the end of the run.

Your split times should be.

5 miles in 45 minutes
10 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes
13 miles in 1 hour 57 minutes (I know your half was 10 minutes quicker, but save your strength)
15 miles in 2 hours 15 minutes
20 miles in 3 hours 55 minutes
26.2 miles in 3 hours 55 minutes.

You might feel good at twenty and be tempted to take off, but I would wait till about 23 and if you still fell good......run like the wind and enjoy every moment, you will start to pass other runners and for every one you pass you will feel stronger.


The mental approach to a Marathon is also very important.
My mental approach was always,
Think about getting to 5 miles (I would think to my self 5 done)
Get to 10 miles (I would think to myself 10 done)
Get to half way (I would think to myself "halfway there")
Get to 15 miles (I would think to myself 15 done)
Get to 20 miles (I would think to myself 6 to go)

Then count down the miles you have left as you hit the mile markers.
5 to go,4 to go,3 to go, 2 to go, 1 to go, enjoy the crowds around who are cheering you as you complete your marathon.

I also found what suited me was to hydrate myself for about 2 days before the race, I had to do this as I found drinking too much water can cause me stomache cramps. I just took a mouthful at every water station and poured the rest over my head(keep me awake)
So drink lots of fluids a couple of days before the race.
Don't get carried along by others at the start, stick to your pace and eventually you will settle in with a group about 5 miles in.


The very best of luck to you all on race day.
I wish I was alongside you all, but a car accident before christmas has put me out of action.

imknackered

Hi all,

First time marathoner here aswell, some great posts there and some great advice.

Ran the race series with some mixed results finishing times ended up being 42mins, 1:23 & 1:48 but the last two were a real struggle, finding the early starts really tough. I have been thinking of getting up at 4am marathon morning to try and shake off this morning problem i have been having.

Has anyone heard of this sort of problem, or would you agree or disagree with this line of thinking?

Thanks for any help/advice.

Best of luck everyone, hope you all beat your goals

BRIAN1956

Hi imknackered.


I had a friend that had the same problem.

What we would do on marathon day, would be to get up about three hours before the start of the race.
Have a good breakfast, drink lots of fluid.

Then with about two hours to start time, we would walk in to the start area.
We live three miles from the start, so a gentle walk on the morning of the race was a good way to get the blood flow going.

When we got to the start area, we would do a gentle jog around the area to sample the atmosphere.
Then we would do some gentle stretching till race start.


Your times are very good, so you should have no problem on the day.
Just don't get carried away at the start and get dragged on by faster runners.

You should be running at a pace that is easy for you.
Wait till near the end of the race and you will probably go faster, as that what used to happen my friend.
When all his muscles warmed, he would pick up speed near the end of the race.

It's important not to get carried away with your pace.
You can pick up lot's more time at the end of the race if you are feeling good.
Enjoy the day,the streets of Dublin are your's.
Save your energy for the last bit of the race,you don't want to ruin Your Day.

The very best of luck.

Peckham

Good advice from Brian from his recent posts, but I would add a note of caution to two of things he says above:

BRIAN1956 wrote:

What we would do on marathon day, would be to get up about three hours before the start of the race.
Have a good breakfast, drink lots of fluid.

I would be cautious about drinking lots of fluid on the morning of race day. Ideally you will have spent the previous 2 or 3 days hydrating (although realistically you will have been keeping yourself well hydrated throughout your entire training programme!), so there should be no need to consume much fluid on the morning of the race. All you need to do is top off any hydration lost during the night whilst sleeping (which, unless you have been up with the sweats all night, should be minimal) and should only require a glass or two of water when you wake up.

I only drink one glass of water on the morning of race day and then nothing until about 20 minutes before the start of the race when I start sipping on isotonic drink. Consuming significantly more than this will mean toilet stops in the first couple of miles which is not what you want at the start of the race.

Carefully planned hydration means you can get through the entire marathon without once needing a toilet stop.

BRIAN1956 wrote:

Then with about two hours to start time, we would walk in to the start area.
We live three miles from the start, so a gentle walk on the morning of the race was a good way to get the blood flow going.

Three mile walk on the morning of the marathon seems like a lot of wasted energy! I would expect that doing this would deplete your glycogen stores that you have carefully built with intelligent carb loading during the previous days. In turn this increases the likelihood of hitting the infamous wall.

Warming-up on race day is a very careful balance of getting your muscles flexible enough to handle the pounding you're going to put your body through over the 26.2 miles, whilst ensuring your start the race with maximum glycogen stores so your body has enough fuel to carry you through the race.

If you stretch well there should not be much need for warm up jogs. If your goal is just to finish, then no need for warm-up jogs at all (just start off the race at a slightly slower pace). If you're looking for a particular time, then start warming up about 40 minutes before race start (any earlier than this and it can have a negative impact). Jog 5 minutes (building up gradually to about 1 minute less than race pace), stretch 10 minutes, jog 5 minutes ... and then get to your starting place. Olympic marathoners don't do any more than this, why should we!

BRIAN1956

Hi Peckham,

The post about walking to the start and drinking liquid was my reply to imknackered.
My response to him was based on what worked for a friend of mine who had the same problem, early start's and he would struggle.
It wasn't directed at all runners.

I never had a problem myself with any start time.
But one of the most benifical that suited me, was a gentle slow walk to the race start.
A gentle slow walk will not deplete your energy levels!
I also found that drinking 3 hours before the race start me use the bathroom about half an hour before race start. After that I only sipped water at the drink stations and poured the rest over my head and the backs of my legs.

I have run over 300 hundred marathons in many different countries with a PB of 2 hours 52 mins including the 6 day marathon des sable in the Sahara.
I have done lots of the street races and have run in many of the BHAA races.


Everyone is different and my response was in relation to a specific problem.
I did not direct my replay to all runners.



http://www.steamtownmarathon.com/training_tips_main.php

The very best of luck to all on the day

jlang

Over 300 marathons? Crickey. Fair play to you. If I go on to run one or two per year I'd worry I'm doing too much.

Supercell

BRIAN1956 wrote:

I have run over 300 hundred marathons in many different countries with a PB of 2 hours 52 mins including the 6 day marathon des sable in the Sahara.
I have done lots of the street races and have run in many of the BHAA races.

Brian, that's a huge amount of marathons!, is 300 a WR?
Do you have a book ?
I'm thinking about training to do one (a year from now), do you have any recommendations for a chubby ?

clonsillarunner

any other first timers getting ready for Oct 29??

since the half marathon i have run for 2 45 and 2 51 in the park . I was more interested in time than distance but I ran 17-18 miles. I feel I should be able to finish in under 3 hr 40 as my half marathon time was 1 hr 41 and I was comfortable during and after the race. I intend to reduce my runs now to no more than 13 miles. Is it too early to taper?

I found that isotonic drinks work better than water and a packet of winegums comes in handy around 15 miles.


anyone any hints for blisters apart from vaseline?

what time should you arrive at the storage area on the day? Is 8am early enough or will there be thousands queueing?

best of luck to everyone

Peckham

clonsillarunner wrote:

since the half marathon i have run for 2 45 and 2 51 in the park . I was more interested in time than distance but I ran 17-18 miles. I feel I should be able to finish in under 3 hr 40 as my half marathon time was 1 hr 41 and I was comfortable during and after the race.

That all sounds very good - seems like you're well on target

clonsillarunner wrote:

I intend to reduce my runs now to no more than 13 miles. Is it too early to taper?

Now is the right time to start tapering, although don't do it severly. Maybe reduce weekly mileage by 20% this week, another 20% next week and then a further 20% in race week. Same logic applies to long runs (i.e. if you did 18 miles last weekend, then reduce to 14 and then around 10.

clonsillarunner wrote:

anyone any hints for blisters apart from vaseline?

You really shouldn't be getting blisters (it's not too late to introduce a new pair of shoes). Are you trying double-layered socks? In terms of vaseline replacements - Bodyglide works very well, as (I've heard) does KY Jelly.

clonsillarunner wrote:

what time should you arrive at the storage area on the day? Is 8am early enough or will there be thousands queueing?

8am is probably the earliest you'd want to be there. It was well-organised last year and no queues. You don't want to be standing around getting cold either. You can get away with being at the start at 8.45 and still getting a decent starting position.

Ohyeah

thanks everyone for their brill advice.

ran 17-18 miles on Sunday- going to start tappering now.

what are others planning to run this week and next week- the countdown is on :eek

clonsillarunner

i intend to do 2 hours this saturday as the start of my tapering. will try out the vaseline. thanks for all of the advise.

robbicosta

I ran 20.2miles last week in 2hours 50mins. I incorporated the southside part of the marathon into my route so I'm hoping that my decent time plus being familiar with the course will get me under 4 hours in the big one. It's taper time from now on. I ran two five miles so far this week and will do eight light miles in the park tomorrow.

Peckham

robbicosta wrote: »

I ran 20.2miles last week in 2hours 50mins. I incorporated the southside part of the marathon into my route

Good training strategy to incorporate that part of the course - I found Milltown quite tough last year....and if you came out of 20.2miles in 2:50 at training pace then you're looking very comfortable for under 4hrs.

tenandtracer

Last long run last weekend, 23 miles in 3:15. Hal Higdon recommended 20 miles but I just kept going. Been out of training with a darn cold all week. But will do a 12-13 this weekend. This marathon is coming quick! I'm hoping for 4ish hrs.

imknackered

Hey everyone,

Hope the training is going well and you getting set for the big day.

Went out for 20 miles on monday night, finished in 3hrs, even though i was tired and stiff after it, i was otherwise ok, but the next morning and ever since my right knee has been aching.

I went out for a quick 45 min run on wednesday night and the pain was there most of the way around.

Does anyone have any advice on what i should be doing for training with this niggling injury and advice for treating it so it doesn't hamper my tapering over the next few weeks.