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DCM 2015: Mentored Novices Thread
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Delighted to see this thread started... Funny, I was on the lookout for it for the past couple weeks. I hadn't been on boards for a few days, and it is suddenly there! And DG as mentor - fantastic news for all aspiring marathoners. I've already learned plenty from DG's advice and experience in other threads.
Haven't fully decided to take the plunge yet, but definitely interested and will be following with great interest.
Thanks N, we'd love to see you here so as soon as you're ready.....*no pressure*
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FairPlayToYa wrote: »What is your athletics background? Have you run before?What other sports have you taken part in and at what level?
Have a love/hate relationship with running....run for 2months, stop for 6months etc Started light jogging in March, no other sports participated in.
Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
Never done a proper race before. Have trained for a 10km but tore my calf before the race
Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training ? (No problem if you do)
Nope
How much training do you currently do ? Distances, cross training - whatever you think is relevant to your current fitness level.
Currently running a 9km route four times weekly in average of 46minutes. No gym work or cross training as of yet, but do plan to join a gym ASAP.
How many days a week can you train?
At least 5days.
What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?
I just want to complete it, prove to myself I can do it, I'll worry about times at future marathons.
What marathon programme are you following/intending to use?
Not following any plan yet, currently just increasing my mileage by 10% each week. Open to suggestions!
Hi FPTY
you seem to be taking a sensible approach but I'm just going to suggest that you might try to fall in love with running for a little bit longer before you commit to the marathon this year...cos there's nothing like falling out of love with running at mile 14 in the marathon because you just haven't got enough running in your legs :eek: Would you consider building up a training and racing base over the next 12 months and starting a marathon plan this time next year? 0 -
Thanks Dubgal.
I find judging my 'comfortable' pace to be like finding the holy grail.
Example: During the week I went out for a deliberately easy run at a conversational pace (I had a few little out load chats to myself to test this - I worried a bit that people might think I was a bit mad, but tbh its hard to distinguish the demented from people talking into those bluetooth thingies). It ended up at 8 miles @ 9:21, so I guess that's a comfortable pace for me for 8 miles.
BUT, the first 5 miles were a bit more more comfortable than the last 3. And, I'm fairly sure that if I was to have run for another 3 miles, they might have been less comfortable again.
I'm guessing that when people say to run at a comfortable pace that its a comfortable pace for that run and, as runs get gradually longer week by week, so does fitness, so a comfortable pace at, say, eight miles at the start of a plan, should end up being around as comfortable at the same pace mid way through a plan when the run is up to 14 miles?
It's all a bit of a mystery to me.
Same with trying to pick a realistic planned marathon time - having never run a marathon. The most I've run is 16 miles so I guess I could say it's that, plus however long it takes to crawl 10.2 miles. I heard formulas like your half marathon time * 2 + 20 minutes or whatever algorithm Mcmillan uses.
It's really hard to come up with a number without the benefit of training for a marathon, but the plans tell you to do some runs at a race pace (that can only be very vague, since I haven't run one).
Anyhoo. That's a bit of a rant - typing it helps me get it organised in my own head at least. Probably over thinking the whole thing - I should just shut up and run.
Hi again Phoebas, rant/monologue away, that's what this thread is here for For me, the important thing is finding a range for each pace. So, my easy pace might fall anywhere between 8:30 to 9:30, depending on what's gone on the day before training wise, weather conditions, time of day, nutrition, hydration, sleep last night...you get the picture it doesn't have to be - indeed it shouldn't be - an exact time. This is where getting in tune with your body really really helps. As well as the 'comfortable conversation' test, you might also use a HRM (heart rate monitor) and a gps watch but the most important thing is to listen to your body and what it is telling you. Even if it's telling you it's feeling great and it's ok to speed up....it's not because that all too easily turns an easy day into a hard day. It'll be difficult at times but running isn't just about getting out and running as fast as you can...it takes discipline to keep the pace slow too.
Another innocuous thing which prevents you getting to know your body is listening to music so I'd recommend to anyone listening to music when running to run at least twice a week without...and build to never. Ok, you can listen to music once a week :rolleyes:0 -
Hi FPTY you seem to be taking a sensible approach but I'm just going to suggest that you might try to fall in love with running for a little bit longer before you commit to the marathon this year...cos there's nothing like falling out of love with running at mile 14 in the marathon because you just haven't got enough running in your legs :eek: Would you consider building up a training and racing base over the next 12 months and starting a marathon plan this time next year?
I think this is a very sensible suggestion FPTY, nothing to say you cant do one this year but personally i think you'd enjoy it much more with a years consistent training & a few 5k, 10k & half marathons under your belt before you dip your toe into 26.2.0 -
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What is your athletics background? Have you run before? What other sports have you taken part in and at what level?
Since Secondary school Iv been quite active (a bit less so during the college years and a bit less again during my holiday visa year in Oz but always doing some sport or activity). I started running about 10/11 years ago just for fun, not time or distance measured. About three years I started doing short distance races.
Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
I'm still getting used to racing and trying to deal with the race day nerves but 2015 was the year I really wanted to push my running to the next level:)
10km: 43:15
Half marathon: 1:42
Marathon: 3:52
Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training ? (No problem if you do)
Nope.
How much training do you currently do ? Distances, cross training - whatever you think is relevant to your current fitness level.
I currently train 5/6 days a week. I do a long run of about 20miles one day a week and 2/3 other runs during the week. I cycle 2/3 times a week. I also do weights at the gym twice a week. I always plan to do 3 swim sessions a week too but that isn't going so well!
How many days a week can you train?
6
What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?
Sub 3.30
What marathon programme are you following/intending to use?
I haven't decided yet but ill keep an eye on what other people here are using.
Obviously because iv run marathons before I'm not a total novice but ill take any advice I can get!! I'm 100% determined to make this my best running year yet:)
Hi Windorah and welcome to the thread. You have a really solid base behind you which will stand to you. Loving your commitment this year Be careful you don't peak too soon, a 20 mile lsr every week is not necessary this soon and you'll get just as far by spreading the load throughout the week with a mix of quality and quantity. And sssh about the cycling and swimming or the *other forum which shall not be named* might try poach you 0 -
What is your athletics background? Have you run before? What other sports have you taken part in and at what level?
I started running 3 years ago to keep fit after my long drawn out
soccer career eventually ended(age 42 :eek:)
Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
My PBs- St Coca's 5k June 2014 19:43
- Ferrycarrig 5m Jan 2015 33:35
- K Club 10k April 2014 40:42
- Bohermeen Half March 2015 1:32:00
Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training ? (No problem if you do)
No
How much training do you currently do ? Distances, cross training - whatever you think is relevant to your current fitness level.
I am currently following a 10k plan that ends with my goal race
on the 11th of july. The plan is a P&D plan which peaks at 42 miles,
the goal is a sub40 10k.
By the end of the 10k training i should have covered 900 miles for
the year, hopefully this will be a good base for marathon training.
How many days a week can you train?
5 days
What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?- A goal is 3:20:00
- B goal is sub 3:30
What marathon programme are you following/intending to use?
P&D 12 week plan which peaks at 55 mile per week.
Thanks Dubgal for taking this on.
Hi Jake and you're welcome You're perfectly placed to enter the marathon cycle, now and July when you finish the 10k cycle. Looking forward to seeing how you progress! 0 -
Hi Windorah and welcome to the thread. You have a really solid base behind you which will stand to you. Loving your commitment this year Be careful you don't peak too soon, a 20 mile lsr every week is not necessary this soon and you'll get just as far by spreading the load throughout the week with a mix of quality and quantity. And sssh about the cycling and swimming or the *other forum which shall not be named* might try poach you
+1, even for an experienced runner there is no need to be doing a 20 mile run every week. You are only running 3-4 times a week a 20 mile run is too high a percentage of the weekly total. As a general rule the long run should be less than 30-40% of total weekly mileage. It would be better to take 5 miles off your long run and add in an extra run day of 5 easy miles for now.0 -
Thanks for that Singer and fingers crossed the foot niggle has healed fully. Don't ignore it if it's still lurking as there is nothing like a marathon cycle to expose every single weakness in your body!Thanks for the reply
I'll do at least one gym session during the week for the next while so.
Below is my last 3 weeks running. I'll do a long run tomorrow (probably 14 miles).
Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
April 18th | 12 miles | 8'46 | First long run in a month.
April 20th | 6.75 miles | 8'24
23rd April | 10.2 miles | 9'26 | A not great run home from work (City Centre to Swords, mostly uphill, was tired)
28th April | 13.2 miles | 8'52 | A half-marathon PB according to the Nike App
30th April | 6.2 miles | 7'58 |
1st May | 10 miles | 8'35 | A good run home from work! Ate later at lunch and had plenty to drink during the day.
4th May | 7.5 miles | 8'35
5th May | 14.1 | 9'09
7th May | 3.1 miles | 7'27 | Treadmill in gym, alternating between 8 minutes per mile and 6'43 minutes per mile
9th May | 7.3 miles | 8'40 | Run in hilly local park (about 500 ft climb in total)
10th May | 16.6 | 8'56 | Longest training run yet.
11th May | 3.5 miles | 8'51 | Recovery run. Very difficult to slow down! It was raining, that didn't help.
13th May | 6.25 miles | 7'44 | 10k PB according to Nike App
16th May | 6.8 miles | 8'49 | Run in hilly local park (about 650 ft climb in total)
Prior to this I had some sort of injury on my left foot. I got it just before the Patrick's Day 5k, and raced on it. I was happy with my time etc. but could barely walk for the next few days. I didn't go to a physio - Dr. Google reckoned it could have been a stress fracture on my fifth metatarsal, but it was probably some sort of strain. It was very sore to walk on for a week or two. Either way it needed to be rested, so I took it easy for a month, and it's fine now.
The PBs in training jumped out at me there and told me that you need to slow down!
See my last post to Phoebas, it applies to you too
So try to keep your lsr as no more than 25-30% for now of your weekly total and always follow a hard day with a rest or recovery run.0 -
Hi FPTY you seem to be taking a sensible approach but I'm just going to suggest that you might try to fall in love with running for a little bit longer before you commit to the marathon this year...cos there's nothing like falling out of love with running at mile 14 in the marathon because you just haven't got enough running in your legs :eek: Would you consider building up a training and racing base over the next 12 months and starting a marathon plan this time next year?
Hi Dubgal thanks for the reply and suggestions. I can see where you're coming from but I'm still going to go ahead and pursue DCM this year. Im absolutely 100% committed, I'll be taking part in various races over the next few months to build up my experience. If I don't complete DCM 2015 then its not the end of the world, at least I'll know that I've tried and I'll give DCM 2016 a go then. I'm under no illusions about the enormity of the task ahead of me but its something I'm focused on conquering!0 -
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Welcome on board! Delighted to see you here. Another runner we've been expecting I'm familiar with your background, support and approach so all I'll say for now is that you're building a solid base and that you will benefit from introducing another day of running into your schedule over the next couple of weeks. Get the WMM out of the way first though.
Re your q on cool down, half a mile to a mile is usually fine. The idea is just to slowly relax your hard working muscles and tissues. The work has been done in the session/run. It can be a shuffle, easy jog or combined with walking too. And I know you're not going to forget stretching in a hurry again
Thanks for the welcome! I ended up doing just under a mile cool down on my 7 mile LSR. And stretched afterwards!
I can't wait for the WMM. It's going to tell me a lot about how I'm doing so far! I'm nervous too, but more excited!Another innocuous thing which prevents you getting to know your body is listening to music so I'd recommend to anyone listening to music when running to run at least twice a week without...and build to never. Ok, you can listen to music once a week :rolleyes:
+1 to the no music! I used to think there would be no way I could run without it, but two friends challenged me to try it, so I did and that run was my most consistent run yet. Without music I can pay attention to my footsteps, my breathing and the cool things happening around me. I'm far more focused on my running, which has actually really improved since I gave up the music. I do bring it with me for my cool down, and consider it a little reward for a run well done. 0 -
Hi All,
Missed 2013 marathon due to injury. Don't know what I was doing last year. Booked race series and marathon so am fully committed. Enjoyed this thread briefly in 2013.
What is your athletics background? Have you run before?What other sports have you taken part in and at what level?
Do the odd park run. Have always wanted to run the marathon. Did a 10k last sat and booked marathon afterwards. I jump around between sports quite often. I have never quite committed to one.
Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
5k parkrun PB: 20:12
10k(first with obstacles): 55:25
Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training ? (No problem if you do)
No.
How much training do you currently do ? Distances, cross training - whatever you think is relevant to your current fitness level.
Currently doing 3-4 runs covering 12 miles a week. Working up to 20 miles before plan starts.
How many days a week can you train?
3-4
What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?
I just want the medal and tshirt. I'd be happy to get in under 4:30. I've been chasing a sub 20 5k for a while. Want that.
What marathon programme are you following/intending to use?
Boards one looks good
Hi Nappy and welcome back You have a very healthy 5k time and you are right to be conservative with your marathon time as a 5k won't translate to a predictable marathon time without a solid endurance base which is what I am guessing you are lacking. You're cutting it a little fine to get up to scratch for blast off day on June 22 but as long as you build slowly, you should be fine. Let us know if you'd like a hand modifying the boards plan for the first couple of weeks. And you realise now that you have committed to running....? 0 -
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I think I'll ease back on the longer runs over the next few weeks, maybe keeping my longest runs below about 12m, transferring that lsr mileage into a fourth day running (I've been mostly running on 3 days a week up to now) .Definitely don't decrease your mileage It depends how long you'd have to 'hold'. If you have to hold for too long, it may not be the plan for you. What stage would your training and the marathon plan merge?
I'll then add an easy fifth day around the time that the plan begins and start building the lsr back up gradually to gracefully merge into the boards plan at around week 14 (the 15m lsr week). The plan has an lsr progression of 8m, 10m, 13m, 13m, 15m, so I'd be looking at something like 11m, 12m, 13m, 14m, 15m.
Does that sound reasonable?0 -
Doing DCM,first timer. Trying to sort a achilles injury at moment.
Was doing about 3days 16 miles before injury. Have ran 3-4 10k
& have signed up for Race sereis, just bought bike to cross train
Hopping, to do 10k in ST Anne's next Sunday. Hope to follow boards
Trading plan & get back up to speed in next few weeks.
Great forum, lots of good advise.
Thanks for that Kennyg71, take it easy when getting back into it and keep us up to date with your progress. There's a few questions on the bottom of the first post on this thread for your homework 0 -
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Hello Dubgal and thanks for taking the time to mentor. I'm dabbling with the idea of DCM this year!
I'm currently training for the race series but the dream is to run DCM! My training is building up to it - but I won't sign up until August or September.
What is your athletics background? Have you run before?
Running with a club for the last 2 years. 3-4 times a week. I joined for fitness and weightloss - have no other athletics background whatsoever :S
What other sports have you taken part in and at what level?
None apart from the gym, I like to go most mornings before work for a spinning class, weight lifting or a swim. My job has a running club at lunch hour so 2-3 times a week we all head out for a 5k.
Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
Not too many, I done the race series last year and really enjoyed it. My most recent race was Samsung at 62 mins which was a PB for a 10k - I don't run fast but I get there eventually!
My best 5k (Parkrun in Feb - 29.3)
Best half marathon (Dublin half 2014 - 2hr 24mins.)
I've done two half marathons and have signed up for the R&R and Dublin halves in Aug and Sept.
Do you still need to take walk breaks in your training ?
No. I run slower until I feel better than try speed up again.
How much training do you currently do incl cross training?
3-4 days running and 2-3 days gym classes.
How many days a week do you run only?
Usually 2, 3 if I do a Parkrun on a Saturday.
What do you want to achieve?
I want to get to the finish line! Hopefully injury free
Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time?
Dream time - 4.40
Realistic - between 4.50 and 5.10
What marathon programme are you following/intending to use?
Whatever plan my club gives me! Usually builds by a mile a week with the longest run being 22 miles.
I need to work a lot on my nutrition, I'm a vegetarian and tend to go for a lot of quick and easy meals instead of cooking from scratch. I also need to build core strength, I think if I can get these two issues sorted I'll have a good base for training for DCM!
Thanks for taking the time to help out us poor novices, I'm sure I'll have lots more questions! 0 -
Hi Jake and you're welcome You're perfectly placed to enter the marathon cycle, now and July when you finish the 10k cycle. Looking forward to seeing how you progress!
Im looking forward to getting to the start line of a marathon after 2 previous failed attempts. last year i picked up an injury(due to my own stupidity) 3 weeks out from the Limerick marathon and this year i had planned to do the Cork marathon and 9 weeks into training my wife got ill and i missed 4 weeks of training so this will hopefully be 3rd time lucky
i will be lurking around here for the next 8 weeks just to see how everyone is getting on and i will get more involved when my training starts.0 -
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I think you need to commit earlier than that, for me anyway I would need to know I was doing it to fully dedicate myself. A "I'll see how I am 8 weeks out" attitude would lead me to making easy decisions to skip runs etc.
Maybe that's just me though!
It's common enough for people to wait a while. I think a good few of us last year waited until closer to the time to actually sign up, I did anyway. It was always 100% committed to in my head and my training. But like a lot of novices I was putting my body through months of unknown in terms of a higher level of training and I wanted to see how it would hold up before forking over the money etc. You can see from previous threads and even some posts on this one referring to previous years that there's always some pull outs due to injury.
Everyone is different obviously, some sign up at the start and others wait. But don't just use registration, or lack thereof as your motivation to get out there folks - plenty of other reasons to put the training in when you're finding the going tough 0 -
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