Dublin Marathon 2016 - Mentored Novices Thread

J o e wrote: »

Yeah I'm going to follow the HHN1. Completed the 12mile run this morning. I've a bit of work to do on pacing to slow it up more for the LSRs - todays average was just slightly slower than race pace.

I should have mentioned my last half-Ironman was just last Sunday so I'm transitioning from that training across to this. It included a half-marathon run after a grueling 85km cycle and a 2km swim. It will be a lot more mileage on the feet but hopefully the overall fitness level will be alright to keep up with ye!

Okay J o e - sounds good.

I am not sure if you're signed up for the 10M on Saturday - if not, that's for the better, you're probably better served with a long slow run (something like 13-14M). Time on feet is more important than race-practice.

Safrongirl wrote: »

Well I struggled with 19Kms this morning - had planned for 25Kms but the knees had other ideas - ended up walking a few times too so for me it was a bad run
Plan to take it easy enough this week and maybe a trip to the physio to see if he can help but I know he is going to say rest

Safrongirl wrote: »

Im starting to panic now - not putting in near the kms that others are doing and cant see me getting the time either - will my cross training days help at all or am I better running everyday ? I run 2 days per week, cross train 2 and 2 rest days ? But what about the knees ??? anyone selling 2 knees please !

Hi Safrongirl -

First things first - you gotta get those knees sorted out. You'll have to seek professional advice for that. Be open and honest about your training plans and work with your physio to see if you can make it happen. If the medical opinion is to rest - maybe rest is what you should do..?

Marathon training has an unforgiving habit to expose every weakness in your body and / or training program and if you don't look after whatever is bothering you, you run the risk to do long-term damage, miss your goal-race through injury.

Assuming you can get on top of those issues, another piece of advice would be to not compare yourself with others (this goes for everybody here, obviously ). There's a few novices posting formidable PBs and weekly mileage totals :eek: - but these folks have completely different circumstances and backgrounds (and goals). All I can say is admire their progress, wish them well with their goals, learn from their experiences, but stick with your own program and goals.

As for training plan, did you have a look at the HHN1 program here? This plan is considered a minimum investment if you're looking to "get around" on the day.

Cross-training is important but I would restrict it to one day a week max - and at easy effort. Pilates is my personal favourite, but swimming, cycling, all good. Just no 6-a-side or tag-rugby or something like that

My reco is to see how you can fit HHN1 into your busy weeks. 3 mid-week runs, one longer run at the weekend and ideally (but not necessary) a day of cross-training. Is that doable? Are the long runs at the weekend manageable, in terms of distance and time it will take?

Coffee Fulled Runner wrote: »

Monday easy run 14.1km @ 4.41/km
Tuesday workout 20.2km total with  6km easy, 12.5km tempo slightly faster than PMP, The rest was warm down. Overall average 4.26/km Followed by 20 minutes stretching.
Wednesday easy run 13.2km @ 4.43/km with 30 minutes core work.
Thursday easy run 13km @ 4.45/km
Friday workout 20.4km total with warm Up, 5x 2km @HMP with 1km float around 40 seconds slower. The rest warm down. Followed by 20 minutes stretching again.
Saturday recovery run 4.5km
Sunday 23.8km long run  @ 4.56/km with another 20 minutes stretching after it.

I really enjoyed the week but I found Fridays session in winter like conditions and Sunday hard going at times. Total of 109.6km this week.

Well done, CFR. 100km+ weeks are no joke. Maybe a rest-day is called for in your plan for next week!

It is WEEK 8 and we are 75 days from the startline!!

Another awesome week of training has flown by, I continue to be impressed with the reports of great training, good paces, and excellent mileage being clocked up.

Firedance, BG and I were lucky enough to run with some of you on Saturday and it seems that all enjoyed the morning mileage. You guys all looked very strong and comfortable clocking up the miles. Maybe someone else can organize a similar meet-up for one of the mid-September super long runs? It's amazing how much easier the miles seems to be ticking by in company.

We have two new Novices joining us, welcome to J o e and Safrongirl. J o e has excellent ironman-credentials and Safrongirl runs several marathons a day looking after her 2x2. Welcome, I hope you both stick with us - and I'm looking forward to seeing you progress.

Those of you nursing niggles, keep us posted on your progress... Remember, don't try to make up for missed training and don't rush back too soon.

This week is the week of the :pac::pac:Frank Duffy 10-miler! *Exciting*! Saturday, 10am, Phoenix Park!

As we discussed above, those of you doing the race have full permission to give it a right lash :pac::pac:. I am really excited to see how you all will do. A trend in the previous pages is that many of you are tired and are finding the training tough - well, that's no surprise because training for a marathon is a big thing. Hopefully, the event on Saturday will give you a first glimpse how much you've improved as runner in over the past months. I am sure many of you will surprise yourselves positively..!

A couple of things to keep in mind for the race ahead:

• Sleep and fuel. Pay extra attention to what you eat and drink this week, and make sure to get a couple of good nights sleep, Thursday and Friday in particular. These small adjustments can make a great difference on the day
• Arrive early. There'll always be queues for loos, bag-drops, getting into the starting pens, etc. Give yourself plenty of time for all this, and make sure to warm-up with a slow, controlled mile and some stretches.
• Parking. There's typically plenty of parking along Chesterfield, especially near the Zoo. The Garda Club is a good spot too, and it gives you a few miles to stretch the legs.
• Line-up correctly. There will be waves, so enter according to your expected finish time - and be conservative when setting your goals.
• Patience. At the start, run patiently. Yes, there will be eejits right ahead of you, 5-abreast, slowing you down... But don't spend too much energy ducking and weaving - try and stick to the ideal racing-line as much as you can.. 10M is a long way! Your time will come.
• Route. Can one of the novices that ran with us on Saturday post a little route preview - seeing as we ran most of it? Wubble Wubble maybe? It'll be worth your while knowing what to expect. In short, the first couple of miles are a glorious downhill, where you should be able to bank some time - but don't hammer it down. There will be drags later in the route for which you need to leave some in the legs.
• Confidence. Trust the plan! As I mentioned above, you may not feel like it, but you've all done considerably more miles than most runners around you in the race on Saturday. Feel good about what you have done so far and exude that confidence, it will make running feel easier. Do your little posture checks throughout the reason, run straight-up, relaxed, and confident.
• Weather. It doesn't look too good for Saturday, with rain predicted. Make sure you
• Toe-nail Tuesday. Give those bad-boys a once-over. I just re-read my race-report from the FD10 last year and I remember the blood-stained socks. :eek:
• Tracker. There's an online tracker . If you want to post your race-numbers, we can all keep an eye on your progress!
• Meet-up and the mandatory flap-jacks. If you are interested, organize a post-race meet-and-greet-and-scoff-some-flapjacks. Unfortunately, I shall be lazing away on holidays :cool: and can't attend.

Not all of you will be in a position to do the event - which doesn't mean you get to take a break and just eat snacks Here's a suggestion for the week ahead:

|HHN1 with FD|HHN1 without FD|Boards with FD|Board without FD
Mon|rest (cross)|rest (cross)|rest (cross)|rest (cross)|
Tue|3m|3m|4m & strides|4m & strides
Wed|6m|6m|5m|5m
Thu|rest|3m|rest|4m
Fri|rest (2m & strides)|rest|2m & strides|cross
Sat|FD10|12M LSR|FD10|14M LSR
Sun|3m rec (rest)|3m rec (rest)|3m rec (rest)|3m rec (rest)


Lastly, during last-year's thread, TFGR posted the following famous quote from John Bingham - just before the FD10 2015. I love that quote - keep it mind:

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.