Still time for Dublin???

MissyN

Hey I am looking for some advice.

I'm registered for the Dublin marathon but I've been sick the last week and missed a few weeks training between August and September for personal reasons. I'm only up to 14 miles training but I did the half in Donabate & the miles flew by so I felt great.

I've already done four marathons and trained for 5 (was sick the week of marathon last year so had to pull out) & last years training went great. I'm just worried now that I'm not where I should be. I have the experience of previous marathons and believe this could get me through mentally. I was wondering if you guys think it would be okay to do the 20 miler the week before the marathon since I haven't done loads of miles the last few weeks so could get away with minimum taper but is this a bad idea? I could even do it on the Friday instead of the Sunday?

I'd be gutted to have to pull out for the second year in a row ☹️

ooter

14 to 20 miles is a big jump, if you could do it next week it would be preferable.
If you managed to get through that you'd have a decent chance of completing the Marathon but you'd need to be realistic about your pace.

MissyN

ooter wrote: »

14 to 20 miles is a big jump, if you could do it next week it would be preferable.
If you managed to get through that you'd have a decent chance of completing the Marathon but you'd need to be realistic about your pace.

The plan is to do 16/17 miles next week & close enough to 20 the following week so it wouldn't be a massive jump.

Pace wise, I'd be cutting right back & just happy to finish.

ooter

MissyN wrote: »

The plan is to do 16/17 miles next week & close enough to 20 the following week so it wouldn't be a massive jump.

Pace wise, I'd be cutting right back & just happy to finish.

20 next week and 16 the following week would be much better I reckon.

Van.Bosch

ooter wrote: »

20 next week and 16 the following week would be much better I reckon.

Yeah - building 16/20 won’t do much. If you can’t do the 20 this week I wouldn’t expect you to be able to do it just a week later. Whereas if you get through it you have the extra week recovery.

El Caballo

The magic of the long run isn't running the 20 miler as such, it's the cumulation of all the long runs up to an including the 20 miler that makes you prepared for the marathon. The same goes for the taper, the reason it's usually so long is to recover from the cumulative fatigue built up through months of training. In that sense as you've missed so much training, you probably won't need as long of a taper as people normally take as you won't be as tired as someone who has completed the whole plan which means you probably will get away a longer run next week. This comes with a Caveat though, as you have only run 14 miles so far this cycle, a big jump in the long run is more likely to cause an injury and rule you out completely.

A 20 miler in your position will probably not offer that much more than a Psychological benefit for the cumulative fatigue reason I outlined above and the time it takes to adapt to long runs(talking about 3 weeks). What you essentially are looking for as a long run next week is a balance between confidence and likihood of injury. You don't need to do 20 and I would be looking to strike a balance between that and where you are now as a better approach, say 17 or 18 at most next week. But even if you don't take my opinion on board and run 20 anyway, you will have to realise that if you do the marathon, you will not be fully prepared anyway due to the huge gap in training so you will have to be ok with running well below your capabilities. The difference between 18-20 will make little to no difference on that front so probably best to choose a distance less likely to cause injury... I also think it would be better to run 12 at most the week before as it will make no difference running longer than that as your body won't absorb the training in time anyway.

My 2c

The Davestator

Very similar position to the OP. Injury and new baba ruined my plan.

Did the half in Donabate and felt fine. Did 18 on Saturday. Plan to do 16/18 next week and just jog around and enjoy the day (instead of glancing at my watch and doing maths every mile marker)!

It will be well down on any PB but I'm kinda looking forward to doing it and enjoying it more with no pressure

MissyN

El Caballo wrote: »

I also think it would be better to run 12 at most the week before as it will make no difference running longer than that as your body won't absorb the training in time anyway.

I forgot this vital point.

Great advice, I was looking for specific instruction as I haven't been in this situation before, so that's all very reassuring.

I'll be looking at sub-5 which stings a bit but I want to do it and sure I'll just cruise around and enjoy the day, lucky to be there.

robinph

Don't run too far between now and the marathon as said above. Just don't go into it expecting to break any records and you'll get round. That you've got several years of running and marathons in your legs will do you more good than anything you do between now and the end of the month...as long as on the start line you acknowledge to yourself that you haven't done the desired miles and are just treating the day like a catered training run so go off slow.

Enjoy the run. Don't push yourself.

Singer

El Caballo wrote: »

The magic of the long run isn't running the 20 miler as such, it's the cumulation of all the long runs up to an including the 20 miler that makes you prepared for the marathon.

Thanks for this info and insight - a lad in work just missed out on the last week of training for his first DCM due to illness and this was the perfect thing to send on to him

Nuttzz

I'm in a somewhat similar position, I got a 4 week training block where i got up to 16 miles and did on average of 40 miles per week.

I got an niggle injury which means I lost 3 weeks of september training, the last 3 weeks have been increasing the mileage again back to 40+ miles per week for the last 3 weeks.

In terms of a taper do I need to do as much as I did last year? I was thinking I'd get another 40+ miles in this week and then 30 miles next week.

Any opinions/insights appreciated

MissyN

So I did the marathon today & had an amazing day. Totally had to take it easy & thought I’d get just over 5 hours but came in at 4:55 so really pleased with that. Thought I wouldn’t be happy with that time but absolutely delighted to have done the race on such a beautiful day.

Loved it !!