LSR Question

Ol' Donie

Hi folks,
i'm sure this has come up before, but i cant search cos im on my mobile...
I'm training for the Cork marathon, and following the beginners programme i got off their site. Now, the longest run on the programme is 2.5 hours. Im aiming for a time of 3h 45m, and im very worried about the fact that i wont have done anything like this time before. So the question is should i increase the lsr? If nothing else it would give me peace of mind. Sorry for the rambling, thanks for any advice.

Krusty_Clown

By 2.5, you mean 2 hours 30 minutes, right (rather than 2:50)? Either your long run is less than 20 miles, or you are running it too fast. From my own personal perspective, I would also go with the peace of mind, and aim for at least a 20 mile run, at planned race pace +10-20%, which would bring you closer 3:09 - 3:26 for your long run.

For my first marathon, I did 5 x 20 mile runs (around the three hour mark), but that's more because I didn't know any better.

Peckham

Presumably the OP is using this plan....which isn't exactly the clearest training plan I've ever seen, and is a bit vague on the detail!

Given that it's aimed at beginners, it seems a bit odd that you recommend they "run" (their definition of this term leaves a little to be desired) 2hr30 as your longest run. For many people this means they are going to cover a lot less than 20 miles (@10min/mile pace this equals 15 miles) - and there are only 2 of these sessions in the plan (the other one is at "jog" pace).

Also, two weeks out from the marathon it replaces the long run with 6 miles "SPRINT", which it defines as "being unable to talk". WTF??!! :eek:

Am surprised that this is on their website.....

Ol' Donie

Thanks for the replies! Yep, i meant 2h30mins, and yep, that is the plan im using (although slightly modified). Krusty, im sure its less than 20 miles, because im sure im not going too fast. I will increase it to 3h 10m this weekend, so. Dont think i'll manage 5 of them, though!
Peckham, i suddenly have much less faith in the plan! Should i change it up a bit? Ah, there's the nerves again!
Thanks a million guys.

Peckham

Yes, I think you should increase the long runs.

Can you give us a bit more detail about:
a) Running history (previous marathons/half marathons)
b) Long runs done over past 2 months - preferably if know distances and time taken

nerraw1111

I think distance is key here.

Time on your feet is very important but if before the marathon, you have only ran a half marathon, it's not exactly great training.

Ol' Donie

Running History:

First Road Race Great Ireland Run 09 (55mins-ish). Since then i've done 10 road races, including a the adidas 10 miler last summer (1h32m) the adidas half marathon (1h59m) and the Craughwell 10 miler (1h15m) right before this training schedule started.

My long runs have been almost exactly as per the schedule above - longest so far just 2 hours (if its worth anything i felt in grand shape after this - felt like i could keep on trotting for a fair while).

Also doing Kildare half on Sunday week, aiming for 1h45m.

Is this enough info? Thanks again.

Peckham

As per previous post, distance and time on feet are key...

...any chance you could estimate the distances of your longest runs over the past few weeks/months, and then we can work out how to ladder you up to some longer stuff.

Maybe use this site or this site to map out your runs and calculate distances.

Ol' Donie

Well, i keep a log at home, but its all estimates cos i dont have a garmin. However i mostly stick to the same few routes, because i know roughly how long they are. I recently passed 400k this year. For 90 min jogs i have a ten mile route, for 120 mins it 13 miles.
So, thats 2 x 10 miles and 1 x 13 miles, over the past 4 weekends (10k race on the other weekend).
Damn, it feels like nothing, but its what the schedule says!

Krusty_Clown

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Thanks for the replies! Yep, i meant 2h30mins, and yep, that is the plan im using (although slightly modified). Krusty, im sure its less than 20 miles, because im sure im not going too fast. I will increase it to 3h 10m this weekend, so. Dont think i'll manage 5 of them, though!
Peckham, i suddenly have much less faith in the plan! Should i change it up a bit? Ah, there's the nerves again!
Thanks a million guys.

Hi there, I wouldn't suggest or recommend you suddenly switch from 2:30 to 3:10, as that's a pretty significant jump in terms of distance (and time on feet) and the risk of injury would increase greatly with such a jump.

Better to look at the time you have available and plan to increase the distance more linearly across the weekends remaining before taper. Don't worry about the 5x20s. Like I said, I didn't know any better at the time! A friend mentioned that your 5 longest runs should add up to 100 miles, so that became my training plan. :eek:

13 Miles to 20 miles is a huge jump. You should aim to have at least a 15, 17, 18 (or something similar) before you hit a 20 mile run, and include a step-back where where you drop the mileage. Have a look at this plan, which you can use to structure your remaining time: http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/novices.html

..and don't fret too much, just because of what you're reading today. 400k is a good grounding. You're heading in the right direction.

Peckham

Including this weekend, you've five more weekends until the marathon. Assuming that you did the 13 miler last weekend I'd do something like this over the remaining weekends:

15-17-18-15-10-race
For a 3:45 marathon, your long run pace should be around 9:30 to 10 minutes per mile (so your longest run should be around 3 hours).

Getting a 20 miler in at this stage might be a bit of a stretch considering your mileage to date, but the 18 miler should hopefully be enough.

You'll need to watch the pace on race day and keep it in check to make sure there's enough in the tank for the tough final 6 miles.

Ol' Donie

Thanks a million for the advice folks, really appreciate it. I'll look at that hh one and change my plan based on it and what you guys say. Might post the changes here later. Bit of a flawed schedule, sure am glad i decided to start this thread!

Ol' Donie

Right, i've mulled it over, and i jumping straight into wk 14 of hh novice 1, only with long runs as per peckam's suggestion (except for the half in kildare this week). Other than that i'm just gonna keep my fingers cross and try to enjoy it.
Thanks again folks, much more relaxed and focussed now.