DCM 2015: Mentored Novices Thread

TheBazman wrote: »

Hey all

Have only been lurking for the past couple of weeks as I've been concentrating on physio and core work and still struggling with my hamstring...with a few runs in between.

Did the 5mile this morning in the Phoenix Park. Excellent event but the heat was a struggle. I also need to up my mileage a bit as my fitness was struggling in the second half. Didn't help that I was just in from an overnight flight from the states. All in all I came in at 35.06 which I was very surprised and happy with.

Great atmosphere around before and after. Unfortunately I won't be around for the next race in the series.

Hey good to hear from you. Well done, that sounds like there's plenty more in the tank when circumstances stop lining up against you :eek: Well done!! Keep in touch

betty swollox wrote: »

1 down, good run today felt good all the way around and came in comfortably in 37:51. Well done to all who got around as it was hot out there.

Big thanks to the woman who threw her arms around me in the finishing area only to realise I wasn't who she thought I was .

Dubgal maybe next time I will get one of those flapjacks, spent a lot of time smiling and nodding at women in pink tops each time receiving a smile which was more scared than friendly

Haha that made me splutter a bit visualising that well done on a good race too

FeenaM wrote: »

Well done to all that did the 5 mile today and any other races or indeed runs at all in that heat. Found the last mile of the 5 mile so tough this morning and really didn't have anything left to push on in the last stretch but happy enough with my time of 36.48.

Hadn't checked the forum or I'd have looked out for you dubgal (and your flapjacks) but might spot you next time!

Anybody have any suggestions for a nice 5k race between now and the Race Series 10k?

Thanks for that FeenaM, you definitely should be happy with your time, well done. I will be making firmer identification arrangements next time to avoid incidents like Betty's

PJD wrote: »

So..... Learning curve for today at the Irish runner 5 mile. I was due to get collected and was running late. First I couldn't find shorts as they were all in the laundry. Eventually found a pair in the clean dry laundry pile. I quickly dressed and lashed on some tape and body glide and was back on schedule. Quickly grabbed my race number 465 (in case you forgot!) and tried out some fancy race magnets which I had bought to hold on my race number. But could I get the feckers lined up- no chance. Then my lift arrived resulting in me panicking and dropping a magnet under the bed. Solution- back to safety pins which subsequently took the entire trip to the park to get comfortable! After the initial clothing incidents, all went well and the highlight was meeting some boardsie friends. The event was well organised and as predicted by FBOT01 I went much quicker than planned but managed to sustain my usual parkrun pace for the entire run. Some hugs and high 5's at the end rounded off the day and the gps was quickly uploaded to strava to see who had been out in the park. Kudos to you all. The downside- well, I missed dubgal and the flapjacks. Gutted! Next time go in fancy dress carrying a helium balloon so we can find you. The learning- preparation, preparation, preparation! I was a wee bit blasé this morning just rocking up and going for an old jog! I guess you get out what you put in. All good though..... I'm off to foam roll now. Better late than never!! Paul

Hehe I'll say no more except for at least this wasn't 26 October :pac: You wouldn't have got any flapjacks either if I'd heard about your *preparation*

donglen wrote: »

Also, to add as a suggestion, at the moment it just seems to be a random sort. Would it be handy to sort by "plan" then "name" thereby enabling you to quickly see how you're doing compared to others following your plan. It'll give you an early readable indication of whether you need to push on a little or even scale it back a little.

No, no! No comparing!! Everybody has different things going on during the week and I don't want anybody eyeballing someone else's mileage feeling like they should be doing more. Different things work for different people, you could cross the line in October half an hour ahead of someone who has done more mileage than you...it has been known

eyeball kid wrote: »

Did a 10km road race today in Dunlavin, Co Wicklow including a 1km warmup and a 1km cool down. Lovely setting for a race out there though it was pretty warm, 20 degrees according to the car.

I took it handy enough during it. Didn't want to race it the whole way this early into the programme. Came in at just under 55 minutes and the last 3 kms were the quickest for me which I was happy with.

1 week down, 17 to go

Well done, sounds like you had an enjoyable race alright. Was it the Funlavin one? Heard good things about that race.

Omeceron wrote: »

First LSR done today, 8 miles. Didnt go too well. Good bit of walking between mile 2 and 4. Was going to call it a day at 6 but kept going.

Not sure what was wrong, legs and breathing felt fine but the energy wasn't there.

Sorry to hear that. Could be a number of things, sleep, heat, too fast first mile etc but unless it happens again this week, chalk it up and keep moving forward.

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Good to get legs moving a bit faster
Again at 5 miler,

MrsMC hope u got recovery run done,
I'm sure ur coach had u up & out early.

Did my run at 9.30, much easier to run
Slow after long day yesterday.

Heard a girl calling to runners at about
Half mile to go, it's easier if u smile, not
Sure if it was Dubgal, as I see her quoting
Often, anyway who ever it was, gave a bit
Of boost at end.

That was me Glad it helped! Sorry I didn't get to meet you, next time!

Phoebas wrote: »

I'm definitely finding running in warm weather to be energy sapping and dehydrating. In cooler temperatures I can run around 10 miles or so without feeling the need for water, but not in the warm weather.
I'd say the difference for me between running on a warm humid day and a cool evening is about a minute a mile.

But, is there any advantage to be had in forgoing water? (I'd imagine not and its probably dangerous, but thought I'd ask)

Definitely second Clearlier's advice, drink to thirst!

jake1970 wrote: »

33.1 miles for the week and a new 5k PB(19:06).
the 5k PB is a nice confidence boost for a sub 40
10k attempt in 2 weeks time.

well done to everyone on completing the first week of
marathon training.

Fantastic result, well done! Sub 40 is looking very good, best of everything!

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Hey G yes was out today, decided to have a lie in this morning not sure if I was tired from the 5 miler or the glass of something nice the DG suggested we have, she is our mentor after all !! Went out at 1.30 for a 5 mile recovery run, was a lovely day, no headphones which I am really surprised I am not missing at all. Bumped into PJD on the way home and had a catch up with him. We were both cursing M having us out on a recovery run today !!:)

Glad to see somebody's doing what they're told Nice about the headphones too!

PJD wrote: »

The recovery run was draining today. Feet up this evening. Thankfully a rest day is listed for tmrw! Yes!! Is it wrong to relish the rest days! Glad to see kennyg doing his recovery run round st annes this morning but he was running too fast to recognise me (I was pushing the baby in her pram) and MrsMc as I plodded round on my own recovery run this afternoon. Seems like we are all feeling the same. That's why this group works!! You will not suffer alone!!

Hmmmm, too fast on a recovery run :mad: I have eyes in the back of my head, I see everything....

Singer wrote: »

Here's my weekly training report update posted on my training log: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=96047287&postcount=17

How not to train for a marathon.

I came across two excellent blog posts with very similar stories - both involved under-preparing for marathons and completely falling apart as a result. They're both brutually honest writeups, and provide a lot of inspiration to follow a structured plan - if you're on this thread you almost certainly don't need this advice, but I thought they'd be worth sharing with the group anyway. When reading them I was reminded a bit of a comment made on last year's novices thread about male runners being more likely to be over-confident with training before marathons etc.

http://scriptogr.am/conorwinders/post/marathon

http://greatist.com/fitness/jason-shen-first-marathon-blunder

Hehehe thanks for that. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: That is all

Morning novices, one week down and 17 more to go!

REVIEW:
Last week, on the boards plan, you will have had a gentle introduction to pace via strides and completed the first official lsr of 8 miles. The HHN1 group will have done a lsr of 6 miles so congratulations to both groups, you are officially in training for the marathon
Some of you will have raced over the weekend, well done in what were trying conditions. Believe it or not, you may need this warm weather training come October, last year's marathon saw very unseasonal heat and humidity. Clearlier has given great advice on running in hot conditions; get out early if you can (see below) and get into the habit of drinking plenty of water throughout the day (you want to be seeing straw coloured wee/something in between dark and clear urine). Most importantly, on your lsr, drink to thirst.

THE WEEK AHEAD:
This week sees the HHN1 plan increase the lsr from 6 to 7 miles. Make sure you stretch after this run and book a bath in the evening if you can. Got shares in Epsom salts yet?!

The boards plan has its first proper session this week: a 'pace run' of 3 miles after warm up. A pace run is done at your PMP (planned marathon pace). 'But I'm a novice, I haven't a clue what my PMP is :eek:!'

"Pace Runs– these are done at your (realistic, not aspirational) planned marathon pace (PMP). Again you can use McMillan to work out your current marathon pace by plugging in a recent race result but note that McMillan is not always very accurate at working out marathon pace for novice marathon runners. Don't be afraid to run a bit slower than your predicted pace. You should feel like you're working a little harder than during your lsr but you should still be able to talk in short sentences and it should be a pace you feel you can sustain for a long duration. It's better to start out very slow and pick it up a bit as you warm up rather than starting too fast and having to slow down. Do a mile very slowly to warm up and the same to cool down at the end rather than just stopping to a halt."

This week, focus on two things:
1) give yourself a range of 20-30 seconds per mile this week. So if your target is 4 hours, this gives you a PMP of just over 9m/m pace. For the pace run, aim to keep the pace no faster than 8:55 pace and allow yourself a range of up to around 9:20 pace.
2) the important thing at this stage is to go by effort: it should be comfortably hard so you should be working steadily but not eyeballs out.

This is the first session of its kind on the plan, you are not expected to *get it right* this week: from Wednesday's run, you will be able to establish more accurately how you felt, what you are capable of right now and 'pace' for future runs of this kind.

The boards plan sees the lsr move from 8 miles to 10. Which brings me to...

THE LSR AND FUELLING
You should all be aiming to make the lsr a morning run. The marathon is...in the morning so it makes sense to practise morning running. Now is the time. Four weeks out is too late, eight weeks out is too late...now is the time to start fitting those pieces of jigsaw puzzle together

Establish your routine: get up early, find out what breakfast works for you (usually a light carbohydrate-based one) and at how long before running is comfortable. For me, it's at least two hours but I know of one - successful - runner who scoffs a bowl of porridge 20-30 minutes before a run.
You need to find out how much/little water works too. Trips to the bushes are pretty inevitable but you want to minimise these as much as poss. You should get into the habit of hydrating throughout the week. If you do this, you don't need to worry too much about liquids on the morning of a lsr; I find a glass of water and coffee is enough and don't send me to the bushes mid-run. Again, now is the time to find what works for you.
You also want to leave that bowel as empty as possible. Coffee works great here too so if you don't drink coffee, let us know what works for you. The legs are not the only piece of anatomy that needs training here

FUELLING:
You should also be reading as much as you can about refuelling in training and on marathon day.
- you might decide to forgo any kind of refuelling and train your body to utilise its own resources. In that case expect Enduro to add you to his Christmas card list.
- you might decide to use chemical free/natural foods to refuel
- you might decide to go down the gel etc route

All these are valid choices and each one has worked for runners. You need to find out which one is for you and....now is the time
There is a lot of information online. Use your discretion when reading. Just because it's online, doesn't mean it's *true*. Source personal feedback and more reputable sites (Runners World etc). If you're in a club or know marathon runners, ask them. Real life experienced people are the best source of information, use them but remember what works for them may not be what works for you. Yep...now is the time

TAPERING:
Those of you who are racing this weekend: follow the plan but reduce the intensity and if you feel it necessary, take an extra day rest or recovery towards the end of the week. Too much rest will not necessarily make you fresher, it may even make your legs a bit lethargic. As the weeks and races progress, you will find what works for you. The important thing is, we start to fit the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle into place now.
Good luck and strong legs!!


FOCUS FOR THE WEEK:
This week, I want you to continue practising the elements of strong running from the last two weeks summarised as:







I have one more very important ingredient to add this week:




Believe me, it makes a difference. Yeah, I've had you looking somewhat unhinged by making you talk to yourself in the conversation test and now I'm making you look like manic sweaty crazed runners by smiling on the hoof. Trust me, it works
You don't need it to be a full-on gum-baring gurn (although if that works for you....), it can be a little Mona Lisa style smile.
- you will immediately relax when you smile
- you will be reminded of how bloody good it is to just get out and run
- you will send some (more!) feel good thingys flooding through your body

Happy running Novices

nop98 wrote: »

Thank you for the advice, DG, it is much appreciated. One week down, 17 to go!

I also try to do the LSRs as early as possible. I have a 6yo alarm clock who trundles in <7am every morning and the best mornings are when I can get her installed with Paw Patrol, Sofia the First, or Frozen (and a bit of breakfast), and out the door before everybody else wakes up!

As for feeding: I have started experimenting with the gels, I'd like to get used to the ones that they're handing out on the big day itself - I forgot the brand name now. So far, it seems OK, I can't really say I am noticing a difference tho.

I am struggling with water-intake tho. I don't really like running with a bottle in my hand, but I guess best to start the practice now. Do people bring bottles out on their run with them? I saw the conversation about hiding bottles in the Park, but that isn't going to work on the day itself

Well done to everybody racing and LSR'ing this weekend.

Hi N, thank you for the great work on the tracker sheet! The gels used on the day are Hi5, Amphibian King in Bray stock the full range. You probably won't see a noticeable difference but you will find out how many you are comfortable with or if they make you nauseous. You will also be able to plan your strategy ex water, unwrap, gulp, water etc.
I don't like carrying a bottle either. Have you come across belts? I used a double carrier last year. I picked it up in Aldi, one bottle was for water, the other for my isotonic drink. You might get one with a pocket for holding gels/keys/€5 for emergencies too but I found my multiple-pocketed and zipped Ron Hill shorts held everything I needed. Got them in AK Bray too.
On the day, I left the water belt at home and just used the drinks stations but that's a personal decision.