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London marathon training log/blog

TheRoadRunner

I have been accepted the run i the London marathon this April 2009. I'm going to log my training here over the next 6 months. I was supposed to run Dublin this year but got a bad injury.

Some background about myself. I'm 30 years of age have been running with a club since the age of 9. I have a couple of juvenile BLOE national medals. I'd consider myself an average club runner. My favorite distance is either 5K or 10 miles. I run mostly on the roads but also subject myself to some cross country madness now and then.

My PBs to date are
5K 15:40 (2007)
4 miles 21.01 (2008)
5 mile 26.45 (2007)
8 mile 45.02 (2005/6 ?)
10 mile 56.10 (2007)
Half Marathon 75.20 (2008)
Marathon 2hrs 49 mins (2007)

My goal is to run sub (or as close as possible to) 2.40 in London in April.

First proper week back training next week. Injury is still latent so will ease back into full training over a 4 week period. Plan is as follows

Mon 8 miles (includes 4.5 mile tempo)
Tue 8 miles very easy
Wed 7 miles (includes 4 mile Fartlek)
Thursday 8 miles easy
Friday rest
Sat 2 mile warm up, 5*1k, 2 mile cool down. Rep times not nb at the moment
Sun 90 mins easy

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stipes212

I think you will need to do SOME serious stuff from december, if you wait 'til jan. there is not enough time (12 weeks), at least one 20 miler in dec.

TheRoadRunner

stipes212 wrote: »

I think you will need to do SOME serious stuff from december, if you wait 'til jan. there is not enough time (12 weeks), at least one 20 miler in dec.

Thanks for the post but it will actually be around 17 weeks (April 26th). I won't be getting up to 20 miles until the end of January or February. I'll start slowly building up from my current 12-13 mile weekend run though. Will get a few up around 16 by the end of the year.

TheRoadRunner

Just got 7 in today. Did it all on the grass.

Had hoped to do more but work insists on interrupting my training. The cheek !

Was feeling quite tired anyway. May take Thursday and Sunday off this week. I'll see how I feel after fartlek tomorrow.

I'm starting to feel some niggles, nothing serious, so I will make sure to do some dynamic stretching for the next few days. If the niggles don't improve I may go to the physio again for a minor adjustment on Friday.

stmochtas

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Just got 7 in today. Did it all on the grass.

Had hoped to do more but work insists on interrupting my training. The cheek !

Was feeling quite tired anyway. May take Thursday and Sunday off this week. I'll see how I feel after fartlek tomorrow.

I'm starting to feel some niggles, nothing serious, so I will make sure to do some dynamic stretching for the next few days. If the niggles don't improve I may go to the physio again for a minor adjustment on Friday.

Any good resources on "Dynamic Stretching"? It seems to be getting mentioned more and more on these forums. I assume it relates to a moving as opposed to a static stretch. Some of the exercises my physio has recommended for my injury, lunges etc. are probably close enough. However now that I have spare time I can do some reading

if people have some references.

TheRoadRunner

stmochtas wrote: »

Any good resources on "Dynamic Stretching"? It seems to be getting mentioned more and more on these forums. I assume it relates to a moving as opposed to a static stretch. Some of the exercises my physio has recommended for my injury, lunges etc. are probably close enough. However now that I have spare time I can do some reading if people have some references.

yeah you move when you perform a dynamic stretch. I have hip and back tightness so I do a lot of swinging motion with my legs, as if it was a pendulum.

Sorry but I don't know of any good resources off the top of my head.

I do static stretching also. I have a very tight muscle in my ass and this needs regular stretching or lengthening as I like to think of it.

TheRoadRunner

Wasn't feeling great today. I have an all over tiredness that I cannot shake. I've had a bit of a head cold for the last 3 weeks so I'm blaming that.

Still managed to get a decent session in today though. 8 miles in total with 4 miles at fartlek pace. was nearly all on grass also. I may take tomorrow off. I haven't decided yet. I'll see how I feel tomorrow. I'm planning on doing my long run of the week this Friday as I won't be able to get out Sunday.

TheRoadRunner

Decided to run today. There is a chance I won't be able to run Saturday and definitely not Sunday so wanted to make sure I got a few miles in. Took it nice and handy and feel the better for it. I'm planning on doing 90 minutes tomorrow so hopefully that will go well.

As I've previously mentioned I'm very tired lately. I'm going to bed nice and early but I'm still knackered during the day. I was in bed by 9 last night which is very early for me !!!! Hopefully the dark nights have me groggy. If I'm still feeling crap in a couple of weeks I might get a blood test to make sure nothing is amiss.

Still haven't devised my marathon training plan !!!!

TheRoadRunner

Nice day for a run today.

I am still feeling quite tired (I'm a money auld $hite) but managed to get the 90 minutes in today. This is great as I won't have time either Saturday or Sunday. I think I'm going to take the weekend off. If I get out Sunday then it will be a bonus but I could probably do with the rest.

I've been thinking about my plan long and hard and I have the guts of it together.

A typical week will include a session of sort sort on a monday. The session will change week to week but will include 400/800/1000/1200 and miles. Some weeks it may be just 400 others it may be 4s and 8s. Other weeks may be just mile reps.

Wednesday will be a long run of 90 minutes.

Saturday is the day when I will do my long run anything up to 22 (maybe more) miles.

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday will be around 10 miles each. Hopefully longer though.

Thursday will be a tempo run at or close to marathon pace (maybe).

I will take Fridays off completely. Obviously this plan will be flexible depending on work races etc. But the main goals will hopefully be met most weeks

Obviously I will have to build up to this plan. As long as I get the Monday session, long mid run and long weekend run in the rest will look after itself.

I'm going to put this on paper this weekend.
Enjoy the weekend

Peckham

Sounds good. Looking forward to seeing it progress.

TheRoadRunner

Bit of a poxy day weather wise today but felt great after 2 days off over the weekend.

Tempo run was slower than normal due to bad underfoot conditions. Happy enough with the run overall though.

TheRoadRunner

Runners were ringing wet from yesterday so I took my new beauties out of their box and hit the road. Did 7 miles easy. Felt like I was jogging but I was actually moving at a nice pace. I was thinking of running 9 miles but decided against it as I'm going to do 8-10 miles tomorrow.

My appetite for marathon training is slowly coming back. A couple of weeks back thinking about resting, going to bed early and running on average 10+ miles a day wasn't that appealing. The marathon event itself was what I was looking forward to. Now when I think of the training required I'm thinking lets bring it on like donkey kong !

TheRoadRunner

Got 10 miles in today so I'm very happy.

I started off with 5 miles on my own. These were meant to be slow but I felt great so I ran a little quicker than planned.

Jumped in a fartlek session. Felt brilliant.
The last few weeks I've been just about holding my own but today was a totally different ball game. I was flying.

The group I train with for fartlek is a good one. There are loads of different levels. The rule is, if you are going well, take extra long corners or zig zag so the group stays together.

Today I was zig zagging and giving the lads a head start on some legs.

This happens to me regularly. For a couple of weeks I feel no improvement in my fitness and then bang, it moves up a considerable level. Hopefully I will see another improvement around the turn of the year.

Today was a good day.
Easy run tomorrow

shels4ever

Nice session there, Would love to be able to do that now, used to do one like it years ago and it really did bring me on.
Do you have a big group doing it?

TheRoadRunner

yeah there are around 5-6 people in the group. As I said all different abilities and ages, but you adjust the course you run individually so that all runners start and finish the session together.

TheRoadRunner

Handy enough run tipped around nicely on grass loop. Nothing really to say about this run apart from I felt good.

TheRoadRunner

Headed out this afternoon.

Didn't realise it was soooooooooooo cold until I went outside.

I was in work today and hadn't packed any leggings/hat/gloves/snow boots etc.

My legs are red raw from the cold.

Had planned running easy but was afraid I'd die of frostbite so had to up it a bit to keep the cold at bay. Got 7 decent miles in so I'm happy.

TheRoadRunner

I was prepared for my run this morning. I had leggings, long sleeve top, hat and gloves on. It was actually a great morning for running. Nice and bright and without the freezing fog that descended yesterday it was very pleasant once I got going.

Ran entire distance on grass and felt like I could have went on to do more if I so pleased.

Not a bad week. Marathon training officially starts tomorrow :eek:

It won't be too different from what I've being doing lately but I'll want to get my mileage up to about 60 miles per week by the end of December. I'm hitting in or around 50 at the moment.

I also need to add some extra quality but I'm not getting too stressed about this. I'm just going to plug along and see what happens. I find it too hard to be flogging myself in December. Running wise it is never a good month for me usually

Stupid_Private

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Ran entire distance on grass and felt like I could have went on to do more if I so pleased.

Identical day today - 12 miles on the grass really easy, could of gone on but likewise stopped at 12. The park was perfect today. If the rest of winter could be like this I'll be delighted!

TheRoadRunner

Stupid_Private wrote: »

Identical day today - 12 miles on the grass really easy, could of gone on but likewise stopped at 12. The park was perfect today. If the rest of winter could be like this I'll be delighted!

Good man. We will have to set up a running date soon

TheRoadRunner

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Not a bad week. Marathon training officially starts tomorrow :eek:

Right lesson number one boys and girls never put anything down in writing.

I planned on starting my marathon training yesterday, and what happens I get hit with a really awful bug Sunday evening. I was in ribbons. Feeling a lot better today thankfully but missed the last 2 days. To make matters worse my back injury has resurfaced and I'm having trouble sleeping. I think this was the result of me lying down for the last 2 days and not stretching also. Some stretching has given me great relief, so touch wood that is that nipped in the bud. I may go to the physio again this week if I can still feel it though

Disaster is probably a bit of an over exaggeration but still I was rightly annoyed.

All joking aside January 2006 I wrote down in my diary "marathon training starts tomorrow" and have a guess what happens. Yep you got it, hit with a similar bug.

Anyway hope to do an easy run tomorrow (not promising anything in case any nasty viruses hear me !).

shels4ever

snap.. I wrote in my log my plan for the next few months, right after that I miss a few days training .. first in 3 months...

TheRoadRunner

I had the maddest dream last night.

It was the night before the marathon and I was ready to roll. I was trying to get some carbohydrates into me but the other diners in my hotel wouldn't let me near the buffet.

Then I caught my reflection and I was incredibly obese. Next minute I'm on Oprah Winfrey explaining why I can't run he marathon to raise money some sick babies because I haven't prepared properly.

I woke up in a sweat. A combination of day time TV, no running and weighing myself over the weekend all contributed to this crazy dream.

I'm heading out today thankfully so that should help ease some of my craziness !

TheRoadRunner

Took it nice and easy today after missing 2 days through illness. It was absolutely freezing out. I could have done with a running jacket over my long sleeve top. Apart from that it was ideal conditions.

Ground was hard in places but that was welcomed as it hardened up some nasty muddy sections. Hopefully will have no adverse reactions and get 8 miles in tomorrow.

Marathon plan is near completion, will post it soon. Have to convert it into electronic form from its present loctation, the back of a beer map !

TheRoadRunner

I didn't run yesterday. I could use the excuse of being busy in work etc but to be honest I was too damn lazy. I was disgusted with myself and my mood only lifted at about 12.30 today when I was 5 minutes into todays run. I was heading for another runless day today until I managed to kop myself on.

I managed to get 8 miles in on grass at a nice clip. On Wednesday my feet were freezing while I was running, during the run I somehow managed to get a large crack in some very tough/thick skin on the ball of feet. The soles of my feet are like leather. Anyway it was quite sore but once I got running the pain went away. I think it maybe slightly infected so I'll soak the feet in salt or urine

later !

Plan for next 7 days is
Saturday 12-13 miles
Sunday 8 miles
Monday 2 mile warm up 4/5 * 1k 2 mile warm down
Tuesday 6-8 miles
Wednesday 10 miles
Thursday 6-8 miles
Friday 12-13 miles

I may have to miss 3 days training then (Saturday, Sunday & Monday) as I'm away but I'll see how that pans out.

TheRoadRunner

Had to do my long run today. I'm heading to a family party tonight so might be in bits tomorrow. Roads/paths were pretty bad in places so had to take it handy. Most of the local park was frozen as well but this was great.

It was a real struggle to get out the door this afternoon. Physically I was fine but I didn't feel like running on my own today. I was glad I stayed out for the full 13 miles as well. Initially I tricked myself into 8 miles then 10, then 12 and finally 13. This week has been a bit of a disaster training wise but his run got things back on track thankfully

TheRoadRunner

Was at a party last night and drank way too much beer. Thankfully I had the good sense to drink a few glasses of water during pints so overall I didn't feel too bad this morning.

Decided I'd be happen if I could get 6 miles in instead of my planned 8. After 20 minutes of running i was feeling good and managed to get the 8 in. I was also moving pretty well but I think half the reason for that was the cold temperatures.

I changed my runners today. My old Keyano's owe me nothing. I probably should have changed a month or so ago but I got away with it as most my running has been on grass so I don't feel the lack of support in them.

I also ordered a new watch today. I splashed out on a Garmin forerunner 405 so I'm looking forward to getting this

TheRoadRunner

Decided to change from 1ks down to 800s today. Did this for a number of reasons, firstly I wasn't too sure of an exact 1k loop but knew an 800 stretch. I was also pretty tired and not really feeling 100% if I'm honest.

800s themselves were pedestrian compared to what I would normally do. I think the underfoot conditions did have a part to play in this. I'm obviously not as anaerobically fit as I am usually either which is not a surprise considering I haven't been doing any sessions of note.

I'm glad I completed the session though. It's nice to mix the training up a bit and I feel like I really worked this afternoon. I'm actually very tired now. I'm going to take it very handy tomorrow, I don't want to come down with a cold.

TheRoadRunner

Ran really easy today. All on grass. Was pretty enjoyable. It was cold enough but I was well wrapped up. I had company today for the first time in a while and it helped me keep it easy. Sometimes when I'm on my own I up the tempo without even realisng.

I'm going to run into work tomorrow so that is around 10 miles all on the road. Already not looking forward to it. But if I don't run in I probably won't get out tomorrow so its a bit of a no brainer !

TheRoadRunner

Had to run into work this morning. It is just about 11 miles in total. I'm not mad on running first thing in the morning.

When doing my long training runs for the marathon I usually get up 2 hours before the run and eat something. I only had an hour before I had to start running this morning. I ate a couple of bagels and they hadn't been fully digested so the first half hour was a little uncomfortable but after that I was grand.

The entire run was on the concrete. I have some mild joint pain now in my hip. This is probably due to some muscle stiffness rather than a joint problem. I have a couple of stretched to help relieve this pain so I will work on them this afternoon.

I plan on doing a handy run tomorrow anything between 30-50 minutes depending on how I feel. I have a party tonight so I won't be 100% tomorrow !

TheRoadRunner

I was dying today after Christmas party last night. I didn't go over the top drink wise and made sure to take some water on board through the night. Didn't make a blind bit of difference felt $hite this morning.

Ended up running this evening. Started off at a nice pace but ended up pushing the last 3.5 miles. Dropped down close to 6 minute miles which was stupid really but once I got going I felt great. Today was supposed to be an easy six so maybe I'll pay for my folly tomorrow. I plan on doing my long run tomorrow. I'm away for the weekend and I think I'll leave the runners at home. Probably won't gt out until Tuesday.