Dublin Marathon 2016 - Mentored Novices Thread

Week 16 - 19 days out. :eek:

First of all .... Sit back a moment today or tomorrow and review what you have done so far. Re-read your first post this thread, back in the summer, and just think about how far you have come. Go on, do it. It will include 100s of miles (HHN1 covered at least 350M up to now, and Boards 500 or more). You've probably clipped off a few cheeky PBs along the way. Unless you've been very lucky, you've nursed niggles or real injuries back to health, you've probably suffered at the hands of physio or physical therapist. We've seen some great marathon debuts already, and we've seen others drop out due to various reasons. You've had annoying online 'mentors' telling you to get to bed early, lay-off the booze and eat your greens. Many unsociable hours, in wind and rain (and some sunshine, in fairness). But ...

You're almost there!

Last week LSR was, in most cases, your last of the very long training runs you'll do before the big day. A sigh of collective relief! The next priority is to get you to the starting line in as good a shape as possible. The last phase of the training program is about to start [que dramatic music]... It's time to taper!

There are many online resources available to help you understand the tapering process, written by far more knowledgeable folks than me. In summary:

• The reason to taper is to allow the body to recover as much as it can from all the hard, unforgiving hours on the pavements, and give your muscles need time to repair, to store and top-up their glycogen stores. You probably can do with a break from these 3+hour runs, and your immune system will thank you for a chance to top itself up, too.
• The challenge is to maintain fitness while doing so. Tapering doesn't mean "sit on the couch and eat snacks all day". Like all training plans, the version of HHN1 and Boards we're following here are designed to keep you ticking over at just the right level, in terms of miles and frequency.
• The methodology is really quite simple. (1) Stick with your weekly routine but (2) reduce the intensity and volume. I would recommend you doing your weekly runs at exactly the same days\times you have been doing so far (insofar possible) - but just a lower amount of miles.

The article kin9pin referred to earlier in the week (links below) had a great quote: you can only do too much at this point. This sums it up for me - but obviously, you can also do too little. I would interpret the quote as: stick to the plan, even tho you feel you have a lot more in the tank. Imagine how you have trained your body to carry you for hours on end, so it's manically preparing for the next onslaught. The taper will give it time to do that, while you keep it ticking over. If you train too hard during the taper, you simply won't have given it time to be in top-shape on the day that matters most.

Let's look at the mileage planned for this week:

Boards: 5M | 5M | 5M | 14M LSR | 3M rec
HHN1: 5M | 8M | 4M | 12M LSR | (3M rec)

Isn't it funny that clocking up a 12/14M is considered an easy workout these days? That's testament to all your hard work :pac:

Before you think by yourself "this is easy!" - and I hope it will be easy for you - tapering has some side-effects, and most of this is between the ears. The most important thing is to stick to your training plan, like you have been doing for the past 15 weeks, and to trust that the taper will have its beneficial effects on you - even though it might not feel like it.

• Trust the plan. You might feel antsy about the reduced mileage. You might want to "give it a good lash" when out for an easy 5-miler. Don't. You can't cram for the marathon like you can do for an exam.
• Keep up the good work in terms of sleep, food, hydration (there he goes again). You will be amazed how much difference these little details will make on the day.
• Stay away from weighing scales during the taper. No, really.
• Don't do any mad sh*t. No five-a-side, no spinning, no cheeky races, no hard circuits classes. No moving houses, no "nice long walks up the mountains", no 5-day cycling tours. Be sensible and save those legs.
• You have probably used the "but I'm training for a marathon" excuse a lot over the past few months. Don't hesitate to use it again :rolleyes:;)
• Don't worry / stress about the big day too much. Yes, read up on course-profiles, race-reports, and plan for the day itself (we'll get to that). But, don't spend too much energy worrying about it. If anything bothers you about it, post it here and trust that you'll get an answer.
• Enjoy the extra time you have in your week. Take the kids swimming or treat that long-neglected better half to a nice dinner.

Once again, remember how far you have become, and keep your eye on the ball for a few more weeks. You are all awesome! and bar some unfortunate last-minute niggles / injuries, most of you have every reason to be looking forward to a great debut. Just keep your cool for the next 3 weeks. :rolleyes:

Some excellent reading on the taper (you can find tons of stuff online, feel free to read it all, as long as you don't follow their suggested training plans!):

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/4-steps-to-your-perfect-marathon-taper
http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/tapering

faithmc wrote: »

Hi all,

Congrats on all your last long runs at the weekend. Hope ye came thru them fighting fit. Have to say I was full of mixed emotion over the weekend but most of all yesterday. I had been so looking forward to the 3/4 yesterday so was devastated to have to pull out (esp when I heard the tee-shirt was purple...my fave colour!!!) My hubby decided last minute obvs to do a local 10 mile event so there was a mixture of jealousy at him running with my running buddies and pride as it was his 1st 10 mile event after only once running 7 miles a few weeks back.

The foot had niggles all weekend so kept listening to my head and icing and resting it. I decided last night come hell or high water I was going out this morning. I just had to know how I would or could I run on it and how I would recover. Started off with discomfort but the longer I went the more the discomfort vanished. I noticed on uneven ground I felt it more. Stopped at 5km and all was good. Discomfort present but not pain. Got home. Straight on ice pack. Three hours post run now and still feeling good. Will continue to ice but sooooooooooooo happy to have taken the bull by the horns and gotten a good result. Have physio booked for this Thursday so will go out again tomorrow and hope for the same result. Working Wednesday so that'll be a rest day. Play it by ear thereafter.

Hey faithmc - sounds good (your planned action for the week ahead). Take it very easy for the week ahead, it's more important to get fully healed than to get additional miles in the legs. Or even kilometers. Good luck with the physio and keep us posted!

andrew1977 wrote: »

My last couple of 30km long runs my calf starts to give me bother/cramp.Any tips or advice on how to treat if it happens during the big day (I am a marathon virgin ) and getting worried about it .

Thanks and apologies if off thread a bit !

Neady83 wrote: »

Have you been drinking enough water, keeping hydrated and getting some salt and electrolytes during your long runs? Zero tablets are great to pop into water during a run. I had three of them in my pocket during DCM last year and popped them in the bottles of water.

A deficiency in magnesium can also cause cramping. It might be worth popping two every night before you go to bed.

+1 to this - thanks Neady. Are you running a lot of hills? That doesn't help. I had similar issues last year but opted to wear compression socks in the last few weeks and on the day itself. It helped for calf-cramps on the day itself (never got them). I also think TFB uses them for the same reason.