Marathon prep for DCM having just done one

kevinfod

Hi all,

I did the Cork City marathon last weekend, and am registered for Dublin in October, plus a few halfs in between. So, currently looking at a training plan.

Just to say, I'm not expecting to do any mad times, haven't broke 4 hours yet but I'd like to try for it in Dublin this year and trying to work out the best way to go at it. Training for Cork didn't go well, interrupted with injury, and the heat on the day slowed things down a lot, crossed the line at 4:32. I've done Dublin 4:06 and 4:08 the last 2 years though. Cork PB is 4:08 currently.

I'm thinking there's no point in starting back on a usual training plan where you're doing 5 miles as the long runs etc, so thinking I'll back it down to somewhere between 10-15 mile long runs for a few weeks & build it back up again, work on speed etc in the meantime with intervals/tempo runs. Going to get back in the gym to do some core work too.

Is there any training plan out there for that kind of situation? I've searched but haven't found it.

I'm not the only one doing this I'm sure, what are you guys doing, or do you have any advice?

thanks,
Kev.

Testosterscone

kevinfod wrote: »

Hi all,

I did the Cork City marathon last weekend, and am registered for Dublin in October, plus a few halfs in between. So, currently looking at a training plan.

Just to say, I'm not expecting to do any mad times, haven't broke 4 hours yet but I'd like to try for it in Dublin this year and trying to work out the best way to go at it. Training for Cork didn't go well, interrupted with injury, and the heat on the day slowed things down a lot, crossed the line at 4:32. I've done Dublin 4:06 and 4:08 the last 2 years though. Cork PB is 4:08 currently.

I'm thinking there's no point in starting back on a usual training plan where you're doing 5 miles as the long runs etc, so thinking I'll back it down to somewhere between 10-15 mile long runs for a few weeks & build it back up again, work on speed etc in the meantime with intervals/tempo runs. Going to get back in the gym to do some core work too.

Is there any training plan out there for that kind of situation? I've searched but haven't found it.

I'm not the only one doing this I'm sure, what are you guys doing, or do you have any advice?

thanks,
Kev.

I would look into the Novice and Improvers threads here

Both will provide good info and plenty of plans out there to pick from.

ariana`

Also the Sub 4 thread

Editted to add you are more than welcome to join us on the Novices thread despite not being a complete novice. We have 2 training plans - the more advanced is the Boards plan and some of our novices last year ran sub 4 (and well below it) using despite it being their first marathon attempt.

Best of luck!

kevinfod

Thanks guys, I did have a look through some of those threads, but didn't find what I was looking for, which is specifically an approach to a training plan where you're up to marathon distance now but next marathon is just under 5 months away. Most training plans I've found are starting at say 5km distances and building up from there.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be getting a lot of good stuff from those threads, just not this specifically unless I've missed it in there?

Murph_D

kevinfod wrote: »

Thanks guys, I did have a look through some of those threads, but didn't find what I was looking for, which is specifically an approach to a training plan where you're up to marathon distance now but next marathon is just under 5 months away. Most training plans I've found are starting at say 5km distances and building up from there.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be getting a lot of good stuff from those threads, just not this specifically unless I've missed it in there?

Yes, you've missed it. The sub-4 and Improvers threads are full of people who do more than one marathon per year and there are plenty of different plans discussed. Most intermediate level plans assume a base mileage of at least 30 miles per week on average, which I assume you have, so there should be plenty for you in there, as no zero-to-marathon type plans are discussed.

ariana`

kevinfod wrote: »

Thanks guys, I did have a look through some of those threads, but didn't find what I was looking for, which is specifically an approach to a training plan where you're up to marathon distance now but next marathon is just under 5 months away. Most training plans I've found are starting at say 5km distances and building up from there.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be getting a lot of good stuff from those threads, just not this specifically unless I've missed it in there?

Considering you had injury issues in your training for Cork i would suggest doing a solid base plan such as the one posted in the grads thread which was designed for graduates of last year's DCM Novices thread here and then moving into a marathon training plan off the back of that. There is also a marathon plan on that link which starts with a 90 minute long run the first week, obviously it depends on your 'easy' pace but it is a lot more than 5k either way.

boydkev

Have a look at the plans in the book advanced marathoning by Pfitzinger & Douglas.
I have been following these plans for the past 2 years, Their 18 week plan with max 55 miles per week has the first week at 33 miles (12m long run on the sunday) and it builds from there.
The book also has plans for more mileage (upto 55, 55-70, 70-85, more than 85) or less weeks (18 or 12)

Unthought Known

Have a look at the Meno plan which I think is linked to in the first post of the improvers thread. That successfully took me under 4 hours lat DCM last year after completing London in the April.

Kellygirl

ariana` wrote: »

Considering you had injury issues in your training for Cork i would suggest doing a solid base plan such as the one posted in the grads thread which was designed for graduates of last year's DCM Novices thread here and then moving into a marathon training plan off the back of that. There is also a marathon plan on that link which starts with a 90 minute long run the first week, obviously it depends on your 'easy' pace but it is a lot more than 5k either way.

I was going to say just this. I did Cork last week too and will be training for Dublin doing exactly as Ariana is saying. Use the calculator in the first post of the thread to judge your paces.

Last year I did Cork and then kept ticking over for the Summer with 1 long run a week etc and then followed the Boards plan from the Novices group once the distance of my long runs matched that if you know what I mean.

Well done in Cork. Hope your injury is sorted.

kevinfod

Thanks all, injury is fine, it was stoopid, went karting clipped a wall, bruised the back of my ribs, was very sore for a bit, any movement that 'opened' the left side of my back hurt, getting up or down, turning, reaching, etc and even after I got back running, had to speed up gently for a while. Sorted itself out and it's fine now. Won't be karting within a few months of Dublin though!! lol

Baby75

kevinfod wrote: »

Thanks all, injury is fine, it was stoopid, went karting clipped a wall, bruised the back of my ribs, was very sore for a bit, any movement that 'opened' the left side of my back hurt, getting up or down, turning, reaching, etc and even after I got back running, had to speed up gently for a while. Sorted itself out and it's fine now. Won't be karting within a few months of Dublin though!! lol

Have you seen this on the Hal Hiddgon website he has lots of information on back to back Marathons it might help you

Murph_D

Baby75 wrote: »

Have you seen this on the Hal Hiddgon website he has lots of information on back to back Marathons it might help you

June/October isn’t really back-to-back though. There’s time for a full training block and n between. Back-to-back plans are usually targeted at runners doing races 4-8 weeks apart. Tried that myself and wouldn’t bother trying again!

Baby75

Murph_D wrote: »

June/October isn’t really back-to-back though. There’s time for a full training block and n between. Back-to-back plans are usually targeted at runners doing races 4-8 weeks apart. Tried that myself and wouldn’t bother trying again!

Sorry Murph, I should have explained a little better, but the link above has advice if you are doing back to back Marathons from 2, 4,6,7,8 weeks apart and how
you can approach it when training

not just specifically for back to back ones

Murph_D

Baby75 wrote: »

Sorry Murph, I should have explained a little better, but the link above has advice if you are doing back to back Marathons from 2, 4,6,7,8 weeks apart and how
you can approach it when training

not just specifically for back to back ones

Maybe I was unclear. Cork and Dublin are not back to back, they are 5 months apart. No point in following a schedule designed to keep you ticking over for 2-8 weeks when the real goal is to peak again a lot further out.