DCM 2019 - Mentored Novices Thread

3boyz

well done laineyfrecks, that is some result for a first half marathon!

Mr. Guappa

3boyz wrote: »

I did the Ratoath half today. Beautiful morning for a course which is fairly flat.
Delighted with my time, 2.00.22! I've knocked 7 minutes off last years time, so am very happy with that.
I literally just took it mile by mile, I was very nervous starting out and was afraid of blowing up either injured or just plain exhausted, but I think my splits for each mile were ok, and the last two miles were my fastest. Tired and achy now, looking forward to a nice glass of wine later and then an early night!

Good luck to everyone doing LSR's tomorrow and to those running the Charleville Half and well done on all the LSR's today x

Well done today - that was a very well paced race. Enjoy the hard-earned wine

It also backs up your Kilcock 10 mile time and offers further evidence that you can be more ambitious than 4:45.

I'll also just reiterate what I said earlier in the week about your paces - most of your training runs have been close to the pace you ran today - that is simply far too fast for marathon training. You should be aiming for an easy pace of a minute or more per mile slower than your planned marathon pace - so something in the range of 11-11:30 per mile should do it. Yes, it will feel embarrassingly slow, but stick with it - it will build the endurance to get you through those 26.2 miles.

Laineyfrecks

3boyz wrote: »

well done laineyfrecks, that is some result for a first half marathon!

Thanks & well done to you too, its amazing knocking 7mins off a previous run Enjoy the well deserved glass of Wine:D

Mr. Guappa

Well done Laineyfrecks - super racing today. Well deserved too for what has been some great training. Yep - you are a real runner :cool:

Best of luck to those racing Charleville tomorrow!

3boyz

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Well done today - that was a very well paced race. Enjoy the hard-earned wine

It also backs up your Kilcock 10 mile time and offers further evidence that you can be more ambitious than 4:45.

I'll also just reiterate what I said earlier in the week about your paces - most of your training runs been close to the pace you ran today - that is simply far too fast for marathon training. You should be aiming for an easy pace of a minute or more per mile slower than your planned marathon pace - so something in the range of 11-11:30 per mile should do it. Yes, it will feel embarrassingly slow, but stick with it - it will build the endurance to get you through those 26.2 miles.

Thanks Mr. Guappa, yes I definitely need to take it a bit easier on my training runs, I still can't imagine running 26.2 miles. And I still don't feel or look like a runner .

Singer

3boyz wrote: »

Thanks Mr. Guappa, yes I definitely need to take it a bit easier on my training runs, I still can't imagine running 26.2 miles. And I still don't feel or look like a runner .

The definition of a "real runner" has long since been settled on boards. Have a read of this great post:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=94437535&postcount=27

Mr. Guappa

Singer wrote: »

The definition of a "real runner" has long since been settled on boards. Have a read of this great post:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=94437535&postcount=27

* Adds "poop outdoors" to to-do list *

eabha19

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

* Adds "poop outdoors" to to-do list *

Mmmm… I wish that was still on a to-do list for me!:pac:

Mr. Guappa

eabha19 wrote: »

Mmmm… I wish that was still on a to-do list for me!:pac:

That makes you a real runner so it seems!

Laineyfrecks

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Well done Laineyfrecks - super racing today. Well deserved too for what has been some great training. Yep - you are a real runner :cool:

Best of luck to those racing Charleville tomorrow!

Thanks a mill, certainly feel like it

Best of luck to all in Charleville!

Bananaleaf

Singer wrote: »

The definition of a "real runner" has long since been settled on boards. Have a read of this great post:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=94437535&postcount=27

A real runner is heading out to do her 16m LSR even though she has a sore throat and no voice

She will be going straight back to bed when she is home though :pac:

3boyz

Good luck bananaleaf, that is true dedication!
So alcohol is not the way to celebrate post run 🙈 , didn't sleep a wink last night 😩

Hey folks. Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask but do you know where I can buy a ticket for the upcoming half on the 21st?

Doc76

3boyz wrote: »

Good luck bananaleaf, that is true dedication!
So alcohol is not the way to celebrate post run 🙈 , didn't sleep a wink last night 😩

I learned this on Friday night too

Laineyfrecks

Bananaleaf wrote: »

A real runner is heading out to do her 16m LSR even though she has a sore throat and no voice

She will be going straight back to bed when she is home though :pac:

Fair play still getting out, defo back to bed with you!

Huzzah!

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Medics half marathon - My very 1st one

Got up early & pottered around for a bit. Then i made my porride & put a zero tab in water & sipped over this. Felt pretty good & positive. So i put the address into my Google maps & thought ah this looks grand, leaving in plenty of time
Well how wrong i was! Please let me add that i have the worst sense of direction EVER. So back to my journey singing along to Elton John till my hears content...following the voice of the lady on my Google maps but she went very quiet & i followed what i thought was the route on the map but nope because of roadworks i completely went onto the wrong road!!! No way of turning back, panic set in, i started shouting at the lady on Google maps, imagine :eek:
I quickly composed myself & made my way back to the correct road. Thankfully i got to the town with time but my god it was hard to find the GAA club! I parked up & followed the few people walking towards the race. I heard 2 people behind me say sure we'll just follow this girl, the girl being me haha, i said oh god you don't want to follow me i haven't a clue where I'm going:pac: Long story short i got my number & did a warm up

With a few mins to go the girl made an announcement about the race, expecting just the usual run of the mill announcement, NOPE, basically she said under no circumstances to wear headphones, you are in the country roads now..they WILL kill you :eek: So no headphones it was! This would be the very 1st time i ever ran with no headphones!!

We walked around to the start & as there were only 180 people racing there was lots of room but i started out near the front!

Miles 1 - 6
I had heard it was to get easier after mile 6 so i decided to control these miles as much as possible. In my head i was going for maybe 8.10 - 8.20 miles but in fact most were faster but it felt so comfortable. The 1.45 pacers were a good bit ahead of me but i had decided to run my own race. For most of these miles i ran in a group of 3 but i felt like moving off so i did towards mile 6. At this stage 2 blokes ran by me chatting & they were saying what a drag it was & in my head i was like oh i know what that means, I'm a real runner

Miles 7 - 12
I still felt really strong & was actually enjoying the scenery & all the sounds without my headphones!! The one thing i did not enjoy was the smell of manure, oh god good it was strong :eek: Give me the smell of Dublin anytime haha defo a Dub true & true, except for that one time recently being told i'm actually not a true Dub because I'm a southsider...that person shall remain nameless
There were a lot of bridges & one VERY steep one which was torture going over but fun coming down it! I caught up with the 1.45 pacers & stayed with them for 1 mile but think maybe i should have pushed away sooner!!

Mile 12 to finish

Feck it now was my time so i pushed on, looking at it now i defo think i could have pushed harder. When i knew i was coming up to the finish i actually thought the finish was further away because it was around the corner but it wasn't so i was raging i didn't sprint earlier!! I was absolutely thrilled when i seen the clock, in my head before the run i had the mindset that i had absolutely nothing to prove but lots to gain I knew i would be thrilled with 1.50 or less but to see 1.43 i was over the moon crossing the line!

Really thrilled with my 1st ever half as i felt strong & controlled the whole way around!!

Thankfully all roads lead to Dublin so i managed to find my way home without getting lost

Up the Dubs

Brilliant run; huge well done to you!

Maybe you'll leave the earphones at home for DCM

Huzzah!

Bananaleaf wrote: »

A real runner is heading out to do her 16m LSR even though she has a sore throat and no voice

She will be going straight back to bed when she is home though :pac:

I see you've your run done - well done but don't push yourself too hard this week if you're under the weather.

Bananaleaf

Huzzah! wrote: »

I see you've your run done - well done but don't push yourself too hard this week if you're under the weather.

Thank you Huzzah! I'm hoping I have it under control. Today will be spent in bed as will most of tomorrow. I think I have caught it early but I will be taking full advantage of the easy week ahead. Lots of eating and drinking tonight- all of the good kind

saffron22

So finally got back to it this week

26k cycle on tues
Weds 5.4k treadmill at 6min pace
Thurs 9k run at 6min pace
Saturday 21k at 6min pace
Shin a but sore again today so resting instead of recovery. Think its going to be like this all the way to the marathon so I'll take my rest days when I can

Still happy to be back hopefully I'm good to go for my 32k this weekend coming

Wombled

Hi there, I can't do the Dublin half this coming week, I probably will head out 4 days. How will I adjust the plan please, thanks a mil

DeepBlue

*** Copied across from my training log - Might be useful for anyone needing help to fall asleep :pac: ***

Sunday - Charleville Half Marathon - 13.12m, 7.29 min/mile, AVG HR 165

Charleville Race Report

The day started inauspiciously when I woke up after having a sleep cramp on my left leg. This left it feeling tight and painful and I considered cancelling as I wasn't sure if I'd just do more damage if I raced on it. Luckily it loosened out with a bit of activity and felt much better by the time I left the house and I didn't feel it at all during the race.

Got to Charleville with mostly light rain on the route and parked up. Followed a guy in a Mallow AC top who looked like he knew where he was going so made it to the GAA club, picked up the t-shirt and the race clips and dropped off the bag and used the facilities. Followed up this with a light jog and some strides around the pitch along with some dynamic stretches. I'd brought two gels with me but didn't really have something to carry them in so I took one before the start and put the other in my rather large short pocket. Met a few familiar faces and a few chats later headed up to the start line. As the start time approached the start line got more and more packed and very warm as you could feel the heat radiating from the bodies around you. Some genius then decided to drive through the start line. She must have been late for Mass or something.
As is usual for me at these races I never hear the start announcement. Perhaps I'm deaf but since the ones in front of us were moving I guess we were off.

My goal was to break 1.40. I knew if I kept a 7.30 average pace I could do it but hadn't really formulated a plan beyond that. The race started briskly and after a couple of hundred meters I checked the pace and it was 6.40. Oh-oh! I immediately eased off and found myself with the 1.35 pacer group. We passed through the first mile which was slightly downhill - 6:59.
Since I felt comfortable enough with the 1.35 group I decided to stay with them for a while and build a bit of a buffer. My breathing was ok and I wasn't straining myself to stay on so miles 2,3 and 4 with by in 7.12, 7.11, 7,12. At about 4.5 miles I was slightly drifting off the pacer by a few feet and feeling the others in the group breathing down my neck. I took this as my cue to make way and moved off to the other side of the road and watched them incrementally stride away.
Mile 5 and 6 are a slight uphill drag into Kilmallock. It's probably this section of the race where I felt the worst and was making mental bargains with myself to just get to 6.5 mile and that's the half way mark and we're on the way home. I was flagging slightly but pushed myself on thinking I might get a 10K PB. After the six mile mark I stopped briefly to take my my second gel, a caffeine one and some water. I felt this perked me up a bit but looking at the course profile after it was probably as much due to the downhill section starting at 6.5 miles. Miles 5 & 6 -> 7.21, 7.33

The 1.35 pacer who had been visible a few hundred yards and maybe 40 seconds ahead during mile 5 and 6 was now no longer within sight. I fell in step with a female runner in a red top and male runner with a triathlon top. I seemed to gain time on them up the inclines and they would take it back when back on the flat and we kept exchanging places all the way home. At one stage here there was a breeze into my face. The smarter move might have been to take shelter behind someone but I was just glad of the chance to cool down a little. I was still on about 7.22 average pace at this stage and started thinking a 10 mile PB might be on the cards so I pushed away from both of them at about 8.5 miles and pressed on for the 10 mile marker.
Miles 7, 8, 9 and 10 -> 7.49, 7.27, 7.39, 7.29

After 10 miles I thought perhaps that was enough chasing PBs and it was time to settle in and protect the sub 1.40 which, barring disaster, seemed nailed on. While I couldn't do the maths on the fly I felt I could slow to 8 minute miles, concentrate on staying comfortable and I should be able to respond if the 1.40 pacers came storming through. I also switched the watch to just mile laps to take it one mile at a time. I had a mini heart attack somewhere around mile 11 when I heard a lot of noise behind me and thought it was the 1.40 pacer group but it turned out to be the racewalkers with Rob Heffernan on a bike coaching one of his athletes.
Red top girl and triathlon guy had now passed me out but I used them to keep a rhythm going for the last couple of miles finally reached the finish gantry. The clock was clicking over into the 1.38 with my watch saying 1.38:15.
Miles 11, 12 and 13 -> 7.57, 7.45 , 7.53.

After crossing the line my quads were threatening to cramp up. They didn't. Nice feed of grub and a few post race chats. The marshals and all the crew at Charleville did a great job.
I think I was lucky today. It worked our for me today when, on another day, it might have gone badly wrong. I met quite a few for whom the day did not go well by their usual standards. I'm sure just a temporary blip for them.
Onwards now to DCM.

Treviso

DeepBlue wrote: »

Copied across from my training log - Might be useful for anyone needing help to fall asleep :pac:

Think I may have been running with you for a few miles as I was with the 1.35 pacer for the first few miles too. Congrats on a great race!

py

Enjoyed today's LSR in the rain, everywhere seemed almost deserted and tranquil.

rizzee

This week check in before I forget:

Monday 7km
Wednesday 8km
Thursday 13km
Today 19km

Today's felt easier than Thursday!!

Really looking forward to Saturday now. I've already said I'd like to do it under 2:15 but I want to be more ambitious and aim for as close to the 2 hour mark if possible. We will see.

Going to study the course now and get a plan in my head this week.

I still haven't taken gels!! My routine of sipping on 500-750ml water with glucose powder is working fine for me. Should I change this? Was going to pick up some lucozade tablets during the week too?

ByrneDCMbrian

Well what a horrible week for me. Down in Galway during the week with work missed Wednesday night's run. Saturday lrs was not good at all was going grand took gel at 5 mile then bang horrible cramps in stomach Think it was after eating alot of crap when i was in galway. Ive taken the gels before and never an issue.Snapping as I was suppose to do 18 mile. Think now I'll add on an 5 miles on Saturday before the half. Plan on running the half at planned marathon pace.

Mr. Guappa

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm looking for a ticket if you are going to sell it on

The race is sold out and transfer of entries is not permitted.

Mr. Guappa

Wombled wrote: »

Hi there, I can't do the Dublin half this coming week, I probably will head out 4 days. How will I adjust the plan please, thanks a mil

I'll put the week 13 preview up later and that will have an alternative plan for those not doing the HM.

jackc101

Charleville report

Happy out with how Charleville half went.
Standard breakfast (Weetabix, granola & blueberries) followed by a granola bar about an hour before the race started.
Parking was grand, 10 minutes walk from the registration & start, so the trip back to the car was plenty warming up.
Started out with the 2 hour pacers to see how things settled. Spotted that there were 1.55 pacers at the start, hadn’t expected that (thought they were 10 mins apart) and the cogs started turning upstairs.
At roughly the two mile mark, while I could see them, I upped the pace a bit and went after the 1:55 pacers. Reeled them in steadily and did the next few miles (8?) with them.
Handy out being with the pacers, and tuned out a bit mentally at a steady 5:30 per km pace.
Nice small water bottles at good intervals allowed me to sip & carry.
The 1:55 Pacers slowed somewhat for a water stop at the far end of Kilmallock and with the slight downhill I kept motoring and slowly left them behind
Took my Kinetica gel at the 15 km mark, although I was carrying a tiny bit of water it wasn’t enough to completely rinse it, noted for next time.
At the 10 mile mark, I again upped the pace, mentally this had been my plan from the outset if I was feeling up for it, it wasn’t a huge speed increase mind you but I was okay and held it to the end
Time was 1:53:15 - another thing to note for me is I got a fright approaching/ reading the finishing clock which showed 1:55 which disheartened me considering I ran faster than them but it was the ‘gun’ time
Also, slowed up crossing the line, rather than after it, rookie mistake 😀

Great setup and spread at the end, incredibly flat/ gentle course and the technical t shirt looks like a block of cheese...

kyomi

Well done to all the Charleville racers, some great times there.

I had a bit of a wobble this week about the plan. I've been more or less following the Boards plan for the last few weeks as it's very similar to my own plan - I juggled my plan around to match with the Boards LSR distances. So the plan this week was for a 16-mile LSR. But the idea that I only had two 20-mile runs was really niggling at me and in the end I decided to do 19, not 16, today. Most of the people I know who've done marathons did three 20-mile runs beforehand, and I was quite worried about only having two, so at least I'll have two 20s and one 19 under my belt. I just wasn't comfortable with what amounted to a mini-taper before the Dublin half, when it's not even my A race. Of course other people's mileage may vary (pun intended!) but I just feel happier having done two out of three 19/20 milers already, as well as three weeks in a row with more than 40 miles in total. I know I might have to go a bit slower in the half if I'm tired after a few high-mileage weeks, but I don't really care - I just really, really want to be ready for the marathon. And I do have a bit of a step back planned for this coming week, in line with what's in the Boards plan (25 miles).

The rest of the week went fairly well. My PMP run was great until the 2-mile hill at the end (as I've mentioned previously, I live at the top of a hill!) - I managed to keep up the pace at first, but in the last mile my legs just gave up the ghost. My heart rate didn't rise at all so I think it was just my legs that were the problem. It was like I couldn't move each leg far enough forward to make any progress. I'm glad I got to experience that now, in case it happens in the marathon - at least I know I can just keep going, even if I lose some speed.

The other useful experience I had this week was this morning during a very rainy LSR - with my wet fingers I couldn't get a grip on the top of my gel pack to open it! I tried using my teeth but that was a very bad idea as I have braces and managed to move a tooth slightly out of position. In the end I sort of tore ineffectually at it until I made enough of a hole for the gel to come out. But I thought I should have a strategy in case it happens on the day. I always carry a wad of toilet paper in my shorts pocket just in case, so if it's raining I can use that to dry my fingers before trying to open the gel.

In other news, I finally tried the dreaded banana-flavoured gel - and it actually wasn't all that bad! So I think I'll be OK with whatever I end up with on the day.

Mr. Guappa

WEEK 13 PREVIEW

And just like that we are two-thirds of the way through the plans :eek:. Well done to everyone on this week's running. There was some great results at Half Marathons all over the country, which hopefully gives everyone confidence heading into the final six weeks.

There was some interesting topics raised in the week just gone.
- Firstly, if you are carrying a lingering knock or injury - get to a physio and follow their advice. If that means re-setting your DCM expectations then so be it - better to deal with a troublesome issue now rather than exacerbate it by running through it.
- Secondly, in these peak weeks of training, you need to ensure you're eating well and getting as much sleep/rest as much as possible to let your bodies recover! To quote last year's mentor:

When you do these big runs or monster sessions you are depleting your various fuel systems and causing microscopic tears in your muscle tissue. It's actually the process of repairing these microscopic tears that makes us stronger so neglecting to take sufficient rest/recovery pace running after monster sessions and neglecting to refuel properly means you won't get the full benefit of the session you did :eek:

This week of course features the Dublin City Half Marathon! The plans for the week are as follows:

1. If you are racing the Dublin City Half Marathon
Plan|Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
HHN1|rest|4m easy|6m easy|rest|rest|DC HM|rest
Boards|3m easy|4m with 5 x 100m strides|rest,cross or 3m rec|rest,cross or 3mrec |2m easy|DC HM|2m rec


2. If you are not racing the Dublin City Half Marathon
Plan|Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
HHN1|rest|4m easy|6m easy|4m easy|rest|15m LSR|cross
Boards|rest,cross or 3m rec|4m with 5 x 100m strides|8m easy|4m easy |rest,cross or 3m rec|18m LSR|3m rec


For anyone who is running, but not racing the HM, some combination of the above is probably best - but let us know your thinking and we'll give our opinion.

The DC HM course is shown here, and will be familiar to those who did the FD 10 miler. It's a fairly challenging course, as partially described by Wubble Wubble here. The website advises of pacers for 1:30, 1:40, 1:50, 2:00, although I believe that there is usually pacers for further down the field too. If it's in your thoughts to follow a pacer for DCM, then this may be a good time to practice that strategy and see how it goes. Further race day details are available on the official site.

We recommend all of you running the HM to use it as a DCM dress-rehearsal. Prepare for this race as if it is the marathon itself. This includes eating, drinking, and sleeping well all week. On Friday eat as you intend to the day before DCM, and similar with your breakfast Saturday morning. Lay out all your gear ready the night before. Wear the clothes and shoes you intend to use on the big day. And of course, enjoy the race :pac:

We'll talk later in the week about organising a meet-up on Saturday. All three of us mentors plan on being there, either running or supporting!

Some simple homework for this week:
- How was week 12 for you?
- What did you learn this week?

Good luck to everyone in the week ahead. Only 3 more weeks to the taper