DCM 2017 Graduates: Onwards and upwards!

OOnegative

ariana` wrote: »

Skyblue asked a question in the Marathon Improvers thread which got me thinking about my own DCM training plan and more specifically training paces! I intend on following the Grads plan and using the RunFastCoach calculator and herein lies the question. My 5k time gives me training paces which i feel i am able to train at but it projects a marathon time of 3:46 which is well beyond me. I assume by training at those paces then i am effectively training for an (unrealistic) marathon time of 3:46?

My 10m & HM times project marathon times of 3:59 and 4:01 respectively which are a bit more realistic. So would i be better uses the paces based on one of these times.

To be honest i think i will be targeting 4:10 at best :cool:

I would concentrate more on what your 10m & Half time project than what your 5k predicts. Most of us drop off predictions wise as the distance gets longer myself included. Try using the VDOT or McMillan calculators for training paces, they are the ones most reliably used.

Testosterscone

ariana` wrote: »

Skyblue asked a question in the Marathon Improvers thread which got me thinking about my own DCM training plan and more specifically training paces! I intend on following the Grads plan and using the RunFastCoach calculator and herein lies the question. My 5k time gives me training paces which i feel i am able to train at but it projects a marathon time of 3:46 which is well beyond me. I assume by training at those paces then i am effectively training for an (unrealistic) marathon time of 3:46?

My 10m & HM times project marathon times of 3:59 and 4:01 respectively which are a bit more realistic. So would i be better uses the paces based on one of these times.

To be honest i think i will be targeting 4:10 at best :cool:

This is where a bit of subjectivity can come in.

Calculators are not hard and fast rules but more a guideline.

Good advice would be to put in all your PB's across all distances and see what they indicate as an average. From here you will start to see a trend (if lacking endurance you will see the times slow as you go up in PB's) if this happens a more conservative goal might be needed and scale pace back however for the likes of the 3x15 tempo etc you won't be hitting cardiac drift that you would in latter stages of the marathon and as you are not hitting same effort levels so a little bit of aggression might be okay (a shade quicker than you plan on the day) for the likes of the 75 min tempo however this is more about dialing in pace and the effort will increase with the duration

So to sum up perhaps on the likes of the Wednesday runs the faster end of paces (3.50 pace) with the Sunday progressions and Tempos aiming for about 4.05 pace.

Testosterscone

Kellygirl wrote: »

I have a couple of questions about the grads plans for both HM and Marathon.

Firstly, my main running days that I’m guaranteed to have time to run and fit in long runs are Wednesday and Saturday mornings. I tend to do my LSRs on Wednesday’s. I can’t run the day before either of these due to work and family commitments. However I can generally run Monday and Thursday nights so there would be approx 36 hours between runs as opposed to 24 - would that be ok or does it make it pointless to try follow the plan if I tweak it that much?

Secondly, I’m doing Killarney HM on July 28th - that’s 8 weeks after Cork and I have a holiday slap bang in the middle. I’m not worried about the distance as plenty mileage in my legs but I will need recovery after Cork and then won’t get much running on hols so do I do part of the Grads HM plan or maybe the base plan to keep me ticking over or just stick to what I have been doing pretty much? My goal for Killarney is 1:55 which should be achievable at current fitness if I pace it properly but I wouldn’t mind following some form of the grads plan in practice for DCM if that makes sense?

I would say even with 36 hours between you will be fine to continue. The extra recovery might afford you to be a (very small) bit more aggressive with paces on sessions etc.

If you are just after the training of Cork then no harm to do the base plan. While this is a pre requisite to the training plans it is also decent training in itself and touches on different paces without being overly taxing. You still get decent aerobic training to so can compliment your training from the last block

Kellygirl

Testosterscone wrote: »

I would say even with 36 hours between you will be fine to continue. The extra recovery might afford you to be a (very small) bit more aggressive with paces on sessions etc.

If you are just after the training of Cork then no harm to do the base plan. While this is a pre requisite to the training plans it is also decent training in itself and touches on different paces without being overly taxing. You still get decent aerobic training to so can compliment your training from the last block

Thanks Testosterscone. That’s great to get that reassurance.

Happy to do the Base Plan too. Looking forward to getting started again!!