DCM 2015: Mentored Novices Thread

Did lsr with PJD & another companion 9.30 this
Morning, nice to have company. Able to chat away
All of Run, all comfy trough out, last couple miles,
With home in sight picked up a little, legs feel good
Well done all who did r&r half, sounds like great event.
Mrs MC, Mrs KG says still not doing half, she's bit sore, but
Very little milage done with Hols during week.

Splits
9.44
9.41
9.42
10.14
9.52
9.35
9.53
9.32
9.43
9.38
9.27
8.43
8.44

Well done everyone with all the races and runs today. Can't believe that we are nearing our seventh week on plan :-)

Did the Rock and Roll this morning and I really enjoyed. I also found it to be a very well organised event and I look forward to racing it next year.

As planned, I didn't race it but stayed with my club mate at a pace that I found very comfortable and this meant that I found the whole thing really enjoyable. I learned so much from doing this 1/2 marathon which will hopefully stand to me when I go for a pb in the Dublin HM.

I wasn't sure whether to put something under my singlet as it was raining and I felt cold but I decided in the end to go with just the singlet and i was very glad by mile 2 that I did. However if I am racing again in that kind of weather, I will hopefully be really organised and bring either an old t-shirt that I can discard of at the start line or a disposable poncho type thing. I realised just as i was checking my bag into the bag drop that I had forgotten to take my watch from charging so this ended up being a naked run, although I was running with someone that had a watch and was like a talking clock (every fecking mile).

The route itself was great, a few hills but no really long drags and lot's to look at and keep my mind busy. I tried to use the run as an opportunity to work on my form and fell into what I thought was a nice relaxed gait but having now seen photos, I am heel striking in nearly all of them (which I don't usually do). This brings me back to not being as good at maintaining good form when I am at a slower pace and definitely something I am going to have to work on.

I also used the run as an opportunity to see how I feel when I take lot's of water and fuel and it really worked. I took water at every station. I had a few glucose sweets, 1 of my own fruit 'gel' and I also experimented with taking a Kinetica Fuel gel (the one with caffeine). At no stage did I feel tired or start to get fed up mentally so I can see now that this was a big mistake I had been making up until now with my long training runs.

I had planned to stick to a 9 min/mile which would have brought me in at 1.57. As I didn't have my watch and I wanted to help my clubmate get through it in the best time she could, we ended up coming at 1.52 so not too far off and I was delighted that the body still felt really good at the finish line.

And now I am off for a very different type of RnR, involving a bath and maybe a sneaky glass of vino :-)

Tomorrow is a bank holiday.

On the next one, you'll be running a marathon......

Appreciate input on this one. It may have been covered already, but when a thread is 65 pages long it takes a while to get through.
Q. How do you guys travel with your runners? ( I want to still run a little when I holiday, next week, but don't want to stink my whole suitcase up)

I had signed up for this months ago even before I had signed up for this DCM thread. I was also half planning to be away this weekend, so I didn't really know if I was going to do it, and I was getting advice here to treat it as an LSR, so I was in a number of minds how to approach this race, or if I was going to do it at all. I also went out for a couple of after work pints on Friday that turned into a lot of after work pints, so I was feeling a bit ropey for most of Saturday. I went for a short 3 mile run on Saturday night to sweat the last of the alcohol out of me.

By this morning I was feeling pretty good, so I made it down to the start line (after a bit of a hiccup - I didn't realise that most Dublin Bus services don't operate that early on a Sunday). When I had originally signed up, I had put 2:00 as a projected finish time, so the organisers put me into Corral 8 for that time - the 2:00 pacers were ahead of me in Corral 7 (there was a minute or so between the start time of each corral). I hadn't bothered to make any changes because I hadn't really made a decision about how I was going to approach the race.
Anyway, I was feeling good, so I decided to race it and try to compete with my recent 1:51:xx for the Clontarf Half (tbf, this was probably inevitable; in hindsight, I was never realistically going to treat this as an LSR - sorry @Dubgal).

I started at the very front line of Corral8 and started pretty fast. I couldn't quite figure out my pacing because I was all on my own (in a race with 5000 runners! - felt weird for a while) until I caught up with the stragglers from Corral7. After a couple of miles I had settled in, overtaken the 2h pacers and I was enjoying overtaking people. The hill up to Christchurch and another one at the IMMA and the subsequent downhill sections were messing with my pacing, but after 6 miles I did a mental calculation that if I maintained my current average pace of abound 8:30, I would come in under 1:50 (that calculation wasn't quite right, but I wasn't to discover that until the 11 mile mark).

I enjoyed all of this race. I loved the music at the mile markers, there was a good atmosphere and plentiful water. It was nice and cool out and I was feeling good and I was overtaking people all the way, which was providing me with lots of positive reinforcement. I was feeling pretty good all the way, no bother on the legs, but some effort getting air in on some of the uphill sections.

There was another unexpected hill in the park and a long drag up Chesterfield Ave and when I looked at my watch at 11 miles I figured that I was in real danger of not making the 1:50. With the end in sight, I upped my pace a bit and finally crossed the line at 1:49:48 (beating my PB from last month in Clontarf by just under 2 minutes).

7:51, 8:42, 8:20, 8:45, 8:19, 8:21, 8:30, 8:48, 8:40, 7:53, 8:12, 8:17, 7:36, 6:55

p.s. I feel a bit guilty about disregarding advice to run this race as an LSR. I'm really appreciative of the effort that Dubgal and others are putting in here. I'm rationalising it - post facto - that having the memory of a good race experience is going to help me dig deep during some the the really long upcoming LSRs.

yaboya1 wrote: »

Wear them on the plane. Also stops them getting squashed out of shape on your luggage.

t

That was my original thought. Herself doesn't like the idea, but sure who is going to be paying attention to my feet when I am flying. Moving about a bit when I am away too. Not sure on all our movement but, will be travelling with a suit, so don't want to smell of the locker room. Anything I can do in the meantime to remove any odour that might be lingering in the running shoes. Shoes are New Balance 860v5 don't want to take out insoles if they are not supposed to come out. They cost me enough money.

Greenmachine wrote: »

Anything I can do in the meantime to remove any odour that might be lingering in the running shoes. Shoes are New Balance 860v5 don't want to take out insoles if they are not supposed to come out. They cost me enough money.

I've never tried this myself, but I've read that some cat litter wrapped in light material like old tights left in your shoes is good for getting rid of odour. When you're not wearing them of course!

yaboya1 wrote: »

Tomorrow is a bank holiday.

On the next one, you'll be running a marathon......

Thanks for that P really needed to hear that !!

Well done to all RnR runners..!

I took a cheeky day-off running on Sunday and used the bank-holiday to visit the physio (DG, thumbs up for the recommendation) and get the 7M (5M@PMP) session over and done with.

It's week 7 already!

No cat unfortunately. Read something about the fragrance sheets, that go in the tumble dryer in each shoe, with a word of caution that if your a guy not to leave it in too because of the floral scents??? I laughed when I read that, how fresh could I end up smelling? And what would be peoples reactions. Run the other way that guy is bringing floral scents.

JacEim wrote: »

Last two days:

Mon: nice recovery run: 10k in 58.37 at 1% incline
Tues: interval run
1m w/u
11 x 500m @ 2.09 (5k pacing) and 11 x 200m @ 1.20 (recovery)
1/2m c/d
Total: 10k in 51.25
Had to shorten cool down as stuck for time and wanted to spend 10 minutes stretching. Is stretching more important than the c/d if stuck for time??

BTW - I am in a very hot country this week - 26C in the gym, and the first time ever I was denied access to Boards.ie due to govt filters - must be all the subversive activity here
All sorted now !!!

Lol - have my days wrong .... Today is only Monday, should read Sun and Mon, was working today and got mixed up. I'm now a day ahead of my plan again!!
Wait, is today Monday ?

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

Question!

I have my race report ready from the RnR half but it's really quite long and I'm not sure I should post it all here. I can post the highlights if you want? Or post it all? It'll be up on a blog shortly anyway. Normally on my training log I would post the highlights and say the details are on my blog but I'm not sure if that's what you want me to do here?

Any preferences?

Long race reports are more than fair game on this thread, they're actively encouraged!

I don't mind either way if you just post a link to your blog (I'll read it there anyway ), but don't hold back on posting the same/similar content, especially if you want to make reference to insider novices thread stuff but wouldn't do that in your blog post.

Ok, here's a shorter, edited version of my race report. Full report on my blog complete with photos and acknowledgments for those interested.

But first can I just say how grateful I am to Dubgal and this thread. I know not everyone agrees with my training to run a marathon but the acceptance and support I've gotten from you guys has been really great and I appreciate it more than I can say.

So, on to the race!

Pre-race routine was normal, the usual early breakfast and prep and starting line shenanigans. Before I knew it the race was starting and it was time to get running!

Mile 0-1: 13:56 (I'm working off my Garmin splits here which were slightly ahead of the course mile markers.)

Not a bad mile although I did run it a tiny bit too fast. I had a pace in mind for the race but my plan was to start a bit slower and work up to it. I ended up running this mile bang on pace though so I didn’t really run it too fast but didn’t run it slowly enough, if that makes sense. My not-so-secret goal of running the half in 3 hours also went out the window here. I had hoped to stay behind the 3 hour pacers, keep them in sight and then catch up with them if I could. Yeah, it sounds alright in theory but in practice it just wasn’t doable. I lost sight of them towards the end of the mile and never really saw them again!

Mile 1-2: 13:59

Bit boring this mile, just running through the city. I kept to my planned pace though, and felt pretty good. These are streets I’m well familiar with so there were no surprises here.

Miles 2-3 and 3-4: 13:56, 14:09

This was a tougher section for a few different reasons but I kept to my pace and still felt ok with it. I continued on and made it to Kilmainham with no issues. This was a tough part of the course with more hills than I’m used to but I just kept going and managed to hold on to my pace. I’m not really familiar with these streets so it was all new to me.

The 4th mile was a tiny bit slower for me but this is when I decided to take on some fuel so that may have something to do with it. I had half a Clif bar and 3 Clif shot bloks. I had packaged them this way the night before so I wouldn’t have to fumble around with them in my belt pouch.

Mile 4-5: 13:49

One of my faster miles which is odd considering my Garmin profile shows it was hilly! I was running more and more on my own now as I was passing walkers but not catching up to runners.

I did grab a bottle of water at the water station and dumped most of it on my head. Despite the rain earlier in the morning and the overcast sky, it was really humid and I found it quite hot out. The water was nice and cooled me down a bit.

Mile 5-6: 13:59

It was great to get some high fives off some kids during this mile. Really does give a boost!

I did think just before I hit the 6 mile marker that I’d just run a 5 mile ‘race’ and had another 5 mile ‘race’ to go and that wouldn’t even be the end of it. I remembered back to my previous 5 mile races and thought about just how far I’ve come in my training and abilities. I think sometimes it’s important to look back in order to see ahead and it really helped here.

Mile 6-7: 13:49

I realised during this mile that I hadn’t seen any mile markers up until now. I’m not sure if I just missed them or if they hadn’t been put up. It was here I realised my Garmin was out by a bit.

I’m not sure exactly where I took an Isogel but I think it was once I passed the 10k mark. I really can’t remember!

I do remember thinking during this mile that I was still not even half way there. It was a sobering thought for me and I had an inkling that before the end I was going to have to ‘dig deep’ as they say. I’d been running for an hour and a half with the same again ahead of me. I really was afraid of falling back on my time and ending up on the cut-off bus. Not that I think anyone should feel ashamed of that but I really wanted to prove to myself that I could do this, I could run this and finish it. I wanted to test my training and my discipline. If I ended up on that bus…well, for me it didn’t bear thinking about. So I kept on. Kept moving. And from here on in that was foremost in my mind. Just. Keep. Moving.

Mile 7-8: 13:55

This mile was one of my favourites. It was the end of a long stretch of road and finished by turning into the Phoenix Park, which is where I normally do my training runs. As I turned the corner there was a small crowd of spectators cheering, with one guy holding up a ‘Run Forrest Run’ sign which was great. I also saw a woman with a sign here that said ‘Runners have balls, other sports just play with them’ and I had to chuckle at that.

Mile 8-9: 14:16

More of the same. I was passing more and more people at this stage and feeling happy with the familiar route.

Anyway, mile 9 is a long stretch and on an incline and here is where I started to struggle. I realised that I had come a long way but still had a long way to go. Looking at my Garmin I knew I still had an hour’s worth of running to do. It was here and during the next two miles also that I started seeing runners with their medals heading away from the course. I tried not to feel disheartened because this was my race and I don’t want to compare myself to others but it was hard; I guess I was mostly feeling envious that they were getting to go home!

But again, I had to turn my thoughts inwards and reach for that voice inside me that was saying ‘just keep moving’. I found that it was also saying ‘you can do this’. So I kept going, kept moving forwards towards my goal.

Mile 9-10: 14:11

Oh downhills. How I love you. That is all.

Mile 10-11: 14:53

My slowest mile and that is understandable. I slowed down at the water station to dump more water over my head and drink some down as well. I had been slowly sipping from my water bottle during the race but was starting to run out. I also took another Isogel. I’m not entirely sure that I really needed it but I felt at that point with 3 more miles to go that anything could happen and I could fade at any time so I went with caution and took it.

This mile was also slow as it had a hill which I walked up. With the finish line still a ways off I didn’t want to risk running up the hill and fading too fast. I think it was a wise decision.

It was also during the mile that I started struggling with my inner voices. Part of me was thinking ahead to the marathon and wondering if I really wanted to put myself through this pain and effort for 6 hours? I’d been on the go for nearly 3 hours and wasn’t even finished half a marathon and feeling the pain, what state would I be in for a full marathon at this point? The other part of me was saying ‘shut up, you’ll have more training under your belt by then and you know how it feels now so get over it’. I let my voices argue for a bit before shutting them both up. I would deal with it later.

Mile 11-12: 14:07

It was getting to be crunch time. So close to the finish but still so far. I knew I was fading a bit but also knew that if nothing bad happened I would make it to the finish. That spurred me on a bit and I picked up the pace. I knew the route well, I’ve raced it before, so I could concentrate here on moving forward, on putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. That was my one focus. I stopped caring about my time, ignored the pain in my legs and kept moving forwards. I didn’t run it all out though, as I wanted to finish strong and upright with a smile on my face so I saved some of that energy for the finish.

Mile 12-13: 14:09

In some respects this was the hardest mile for me but also the most fun. Knowing how close to the finish I was but feeling the pain and having to really push myself to keep moving. Being familiar with this part of the course was a huge help for me as I could visualize the finish. As I got closer I could also hear the cheering. It helped that someone (a volunteer? first aider?) on a motorbike was joking with me and another runner as we moved along and he motored beside us for a while. We were also getting cheers from runners who had finished the race which was encouraging.

The other runner surged on ahead and I didn’t catch her again, but that was ok as I needed to finish the race on my own, to chase down those voices in my head and end the argument once and for all.

The Finish 3:09:08

I’ve learned, over the history of my racing (this was my 15th race) that I prefer a short stretch to the finish instead of a long one. So a finish line that’s ‘just around the corner’ for me is perfect. The Rock ‘n Roll finish line was perfectly placed for me. As I turned the corner I wanted to cry with relief because there it was, the finish and it wasn’t impossibly far away.

I can’t say I quite sprinted to the finish as I didn’t have much left in the tank to sprint with, but I definitely sped up and, smiling, crossed the finish line of my first ever half marathon.

Yes. I cried.

Final Thoughts aka TIL

Of this race report the one thing that might have stood out for you was the argument with myself about the marathon. You might be wondering if I’m going to keep on training for it. I have to admit I thought the same thing. The answer, for now, is yes.

Of course I know things change, things happen and it’s possible that down the road I might pull out.

But that moment isn’t now.

I always knew this race was going to help inform my marathon training and I’ve learned a few things that will definitely help going forward. I’m being brutally honest here so....

Firstly, my running form is all over the place. I found myself leaning forward way too much and I lost count of the times I had to force my head up to look forward and not down at the road. To combat this my trainer and I will be upping the core work to strengthen the muscles that will keep me upright. I’m going to concentrate far more on my form during my training runs until it becomes habit to run tall, head up, eyes forward. And not just in my training runs. My overall posture needs a lot of work so that’s something that will be foremost in my mind.

Secondly, I’m going to step up my efforts to lose more weight. I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to do that because it baffles me that I haven’t lost much weight during this journey. But I’ll do what I have to, maybe go for some updated blood tests and really get to the bottom of why, despite my healthy and active lifestyle, I haven’t lost the weight I should be losing. This hasn’t bothered me before, I mean the first time I met my trainer I told him I wanted to be a better runner. If I had said ‘I want a bikini body’ he would have taken a much different approach! I don’t want to imagine what kind of race I would have run had I been lighter, but I do know that losing weight will only help my marathon training so I’m going to make it more of a priority.

Thirdly, I need to rethink my pacing and racing for the marathon. I wasn’t all out racing this run as my coach and Dubgal both advised I run this as a training run not a race. My average pace was placed evenly between my hard run pace and my easy pace but I still struggled at the end. I’m not sure what this means but I will be talking it over with both my coach and Dubgal. If anyone on the thread has any ideas/comments please pitch in but please, be kind.

Fourth and probably most importantly; I really enjoy endurance running. Ok, I’m slow but I enjoyed the time on my feet, moving slowly but steadily towards my goal. I enjoyed the challenge of pushing myself forwards, of battling my inner voices and winning, of getting to know myself and my thoughts better as I went along. A six hour marathon might be the most painful thing I’ll put myself through, but I have a feeling it will also be the most enlightening. Imagine the conversations I’ll have with myself and what I’ll learn about myself! The idea sounds exhausting but exhilarating!

So those are the highlights! Thanks for reading!

Oh, I should mention I went for a walk today to loosen the legs although they are mostly fine. I did stretch for about 20 minutes after I got home from the race. My abs and glutes are the sorest but I think that's down to running a hillier route than usual and also leaning that my form isn't the best. I'll definitely make that a priority for my next round of training runs!

Thanks again for the great help, advice, ideas and support. Especially Dubgal. You're amazing. You really are.

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Is that the short version ? (*)

well done on your first HM. Can often be the second day after a race that you'll feel the DOMS in my experience...



(*) Please don't anyone make a comment about some of my log entries

Thanks!

I'll keep you posted on the DOMS. Hoping being stuck behind my desk at work all day won't make it worse! :eek:

Well done, TFGR!