Marathon advice needed

Frac

Hi, I want to do Dublin at the end of Oct. I want to know how achieveable it is in 6 weeks! I completed the Lost Sheep 1/2 ironman in Kenmare last weekend and that was the first time I have ever run over ~14km. I walked/jogged the last 10km. I am in reasonable shape haven completed my second season of triathlon. My sole ambition in relation to Dublin is to get from start to finish without injury. I figure if I get 3 runs midweek at and one long run at the weekend for the next 5 weeks that would give me a full week off in advance. I also reckon I need to run 20 miles once so working back from that I figure 12miles week1, increasing by 2 miles over the following weeks should get me there. In advance of the 1/2 last weekend I did more cycling and swimming than running so mileage on the clock over the last 4 weeks is low. Does this sound reasonable or am I completely mad?? Help greatly appreciated.

dario28

You can Deffo do it -


I'd normally run twice a week training for marathons and another 1 or 2 other type cardio sessions , something like this will work - ya wont get a great time but ya will get a finishers tshirt

So you walked 13.1 miles

Most you have ran is 8


14th Every week do at least 1 5mile fast run then long run of 10 miles
21 12 miles
28 15 miles
5 Oct 18 miles
12 20.5 miles
19 Taper down week
Im aware that this is not good for your body but fook it - get a sports massage once a week

Best of Luck

notsobadinc

hi frac
your cutting it tight with 6 weeks but then again from my experience of running them, its a mental challenge-getting the mind sorted, keeping positive is the hardest part by far...once in right frame of mind and keep a slow steady pace you can keep going for hours...

i did 22 miles of longford there a few weeks back with no proper training, in fact im one of the laziest people to train. i had completed gael force 6 the weekend earlier so that was the only training i had as was out injured with nasty shin splints the previous weeks.... i had to pull out of longford though due to a severe groin strain that i had picked up the previous week when running the gael force.. :mad:

id recommend running hills and as little as possible on roads-as its not good for the legs-(i stand corrected on this...). the hill running is great for building up the endurance and is also good for incresing the fittness level...theres guys here from imra that are better informed than me and they might know of other ways...

try and do at least one 18-21 mile session on sand/grass preferably or road if you can-just do it spur of the moment some weekend as its a nasty shock to reach that mark and find you have no power in legs or the will to continue...again keeping positive is the key here...:)

tunney

notsobadinc wrote: »

hi frac
your cutting it tight with 6 weeks but then again from my experience of running them, its a mental challenge-getting the mind sorted, keeping positive is the hardest part by far...once in right frame of mind and keep a slow steady pace you can keep going for hours...

i did 22 miles of longford there a few weeks back with no proper training, in fact im one of the laziest people to train. i had completed gael force 6 the weekend earlier so that was the only training i had as was out injured with nasty shin splints the previous weeks.... i had to pull out of longford though due to a severe groin strain that i had picked up the previous week when running the gael force.. :mad:

id recommend running hills and as little as possible on roads-as its not good for the legs-(i stand corrected on this...). the hill running is great for building up the endurance and is also good for incresing the fittness level...theres guys here from imra that are better informed than me and they might know of other ways...

try and do at least one 18-21 mile session on sand/grass preferably or road if you can-just do it spur of the moment some weekend as its a nasty shock to reach that mark and find you have no power in legs or the will to continue...again keeping positive is the key here...:)

I normally avoid DCM related threads but I feel obliged to comment on this.

Hills - no, great to do but not now. Not with six weeks to DCM.

18-21 on sand/grass? sand would increase the liklihood of AT, hamstring and ITB issues. grass? I'd suggest keeping it race specific.

I think the key thing for the OP is would you be happy just finishing because with only 6 weeks that the only realistic goal.

RedB

Frac,

I'm in the exact same boat as you and I intend doing it in a 'get me round' fashion. I'm hoping to get the following long runs in over the next 5 weekends:
20/9 15m
27/9 18m
4/10 12m
10/10 20m
18/10 10m
If you can manage those then you should be good to finish it even with a run/walk strategy.

buck65

God help you! It's certainly achieveable if you can avoid injuries and burnout. Agree with Tunney - keep it race specific. Also try and be fresh going in so maybe a 10 day taper instead of 7 would be better? I know a 2-3 week taper is recommended but you don't have the time for that. I would actually only do weekend runs of
20th Sept - 15 miles /27th Sept - 17 miles /3rd Oct - 18 miles /10th oct - 18 miles /17th oct 10 miles
What is the point of doing a 20 mile run at this stage?

MCOS

Frac,

I've done DCM twice and also did the Conn Marathon dying at mile 18 for a horrible 8 mile hobble... believe me, what you did last Saturday is much tougher than the DCM (probably marathons in general). If you got through that you will get through the DCM!! For a get you round effort, a few long runs as the lads have mentioned will do.

Too late to be doing hills as Tunney said, no real hills in Dublin anyway

dario28

buck65 wrote: »

God help you! It's certainly achieveable if you can avoid injuries and burnout. Agree with Tunney - keep it race specific. Also try and be fresh going in so maybe a 10 day taper instead of 7 would be better? I know a 2-3 week taper is recommended but you don't have the time for that. I would actually only do weekend runs of
20th Sept - 15 miles /27th Sept - 17 miles /3rd Oct - 18 miles /10th oct - 18 miles /17th oct 10 miles
What is the point of doing a 20 mile run at this stage?

a 20-miler under the belt would provide a huge psychological boost on the day.....

--amadeus--

Before setting out on this consider a few things...

- How much do you want to do this? How much pain are you willing to put yourself through?

- Are you the sort of person happy to say "I completed a marathon" rather than "I ran a marathon" or "I gave a marathon my best shot"

- Are you willing to risk short / medium term injury to do this?

I haven't done a HIM so I can't comment on how hard it is in comparison to a marathon. What I can tell you is that while the time you are out competing in both events may be broadly comparable the battering your joints will take isn't. You would be taking a not insignificant risk if you do it. Which isn't saying it can't be done, just not to do it lightly.

notsobadinc

tunney and others...fair enough i stand corrected....however im from the hills so thats the sort of training im doing and it works for me...
i aggree with dario28 though-it is a mental boost to know that you have completed that distance

buck65

dario28 wrote: »

a 20-miler under the belt would provide a huge psychological boost on the day.....

No doubt Dario, but my fear is that it could do alot of damage both physically and mentally. Building up to 20 miles in 6 weeks - while achievable in itself may lead to burnout or a niggling injury that in itself wouldn't be too bad but could keep one of the road for a week or two thus risking the marathon.
I ran a good bit in my early 20s and was running 10 milers regularly and like the OP decided late to run DCM. 4 weeks later I was off work with an ankle injury and whilst it did clear up the whole long run experience every weekend broke me.
That is why in all the novice guides there is a lower milage week every 3 or so weeks.
These long runs are an unforgiving beast - if you can do 18 miles fairly comfortably (if there is such a thing!) you will get around the course surely on the day?

Frac

Thanks for the feedback. Though some of what is said on the thread is conflicting, I have enough to go on. I think I will simply use a "listen to my body" approach, ie if long runs are causing serious niggles, then it may be a step too far. I am interested in simply finishing it because what I do in my first one will represent a PB! I will report back with progress. Thanks again, appreciate it.