DCM 2015: Mentored Novices Thread

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

Actually feeling a complete lack of confidence at the moment. I don't know if it's the weather getting me down, or other life stresses going on, or what but I feel zero confidence in my running or training at the moment I guess I should more accurately say I feel no confidence in myself. I'm still sticking with the plan though and was happy enough to have hit all my mileage last week. This week is 26 miles with a 14 mile LSR on Sunday. The plan will change a bit in September so maybe that will help.

Anyway, I'm not looking for pity or compliments or pep talks or anything either, just wanted to be honest about where I'm at. I'll report back on my LSR at the end of the week. Cross fingers and toes it goes well.

Hi TFGR, nice to meet you on Saturday. No pep talk, but just to say that it's perfectly normal to feel this way at different times during a training plan. Especially with something as big as a marathon looming. Some days it's easy, some days it's blah... some days you feel like you can really nail it, other days you think there is no way... as someone advised me recently:

'you're only one good run away from turning it around'

Murph_D wrote: »

JacEim, another possibility for you might be tha Charleville HM on 20 Sept. Closer to home. No experience of this race myself but there's a thread about it on Running Events subforum I think. They claim it's fast and flat.

Or the John Buckley 10 mile in Cork City on the 13th of September.

JacEim wrote: »

Was taking a look at my plan again last night (all I'm bloody thinking about is running, eating, sleeping !!), and thinking about the fact that there is no race scheduled at all since I did my HM 1.5 weeks ago. At the same time I see all these races that are planned as "Ideal DCM prep Races" - FD, Dublin HM, Athlone 3/4 etc..
The Athlone 3/4 is only 3 weeks before DCM so assume that it is probably the last long run for everyone that does it before they start to taper. I have looked at the 2014 finish times for the race and I notice that they are quite fast (even for the 'average' athlete!!). Are a lot of people running these as races or does the race just attract a higher calibre of runner than the normal time distribution would suggest?

Since my HM was on my own I effectively don't have a formal running race event at all this year (If you exclude the Fota duathlon way back in Feb). Should I be trying to fit in a race to re-familiarise with the differences from training? I haven't completed in that many formal events and as am also coming back from knee surgery my last 'proper' event was Gaelforce in 2013!!!
Also like the idea of having a good hard run in a race environment (if it is going to be beneficial to the DCM)..
Any thoughts ?

JacEim wrote: »

I'm down in Cork - long trips up to the big smoke take even more away from the family (who have been ultra understanding so far!!!), but I might see if we can spend a 'family day' incorporating the zoo etc

Helps re Athlone - must be a lot of sub 3.30 marathon runners in that field!!!
EDIT: Just checked the boards page for this race last year - they have pacers who set the pace for this race as your LSR for your target DCM time (am I making sense). Might be good for someone like me!!!
Cheers

menoscemo wrote: »

I actually paced it with AMK. We were the 3;30 group and our instructions were to run it 'steady' i.e. about 25-30 seconds/mile slower than PMP.
Unfortunately as you say we were mostly followed by runners who were actually targetting 3:50/4 hours so a lot of them were racing it and many of them blew up as a result on the hills towards the end or else were really struggling to keep up.
My advice is don't be that soldier!! I don't think I have ever heard of anyone who raced the 3/4 and went on to run a good marathon. If you run it as an LSR or at a steady pace (slower than PMP) it is an excellent idea to do it. But If you are the kind of runner who is going to go faster in a race environment it's better to avoid it IMO.

Murph_D wrote: »

JacEim, another possibility for you might be tha Charleville HM on 20 Sept. Closer to home. No experience of this race myself but there's a thread about it on Running Events subforum I think. They claim it's fast and flat.

JacEim wrote: »

Thanks Murph!
Have heard this is a really fast course and lots out to get PB's, so might try to avoid this. Next year I might consider this as I think I might have a shot at a 1:30 HM by then :D

menoscemo wrote: »

Most people will be racing the Dublin half the day before. It's 5 weeks out from DCM so there is no problem racing it.

+1 to both Meno's and Murph's comments above.

The Dublin Half is scheduled to allow people to race it and get a sense of where they are with plenty of time to recover and move on to DCM with a good yardstick to plan from. Seems like Charleville is the local equivalent for you so if you really "like the idea of having a good hard run in a race environment" sign up. This will be much more beneficial than the Athlone 3/4 IMO.

In relation to Athlone this race is scheduled and designed to allow people to get a good LR/PMP Run in a race environment. I ran it a couple of years ago as a progressive long run with last 6 miles at PMP. I will be planning to do similar this year. Probably with a few more PMP. I won't be racing it and neither will the majority of the field or at least all those with the sense and patience to keep theirs eyes on the prize. The prize being DCM of course. As Meno said if this is not you give it a miss. This is only race I ever did that nobody wanted to toe the line. Everybody was happy to start slow and go from there. On a softer note I am not sure I would be using up the brownie points to travel from Cork to Athlone to do an LR even if it is in a race environment. For what its worth if I had to chose I would be doing one of the half on the 19th or 20th.

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

Actually feeling a complete lack of confidence at the moment. I don't know if it's the weather getting me down, or other life stresses going on, or what but I feel zero confidence in my running or training at the moment I guess I should more accurately say I feel no confidence in myself. I'm still sticking with the plan though and was happy enough to have hit all my mileage last week. This week is 26 miles with a 14 mile LSR on Sunday. The plan will change a bit in September so maybe that will help.

Anyway, I'm not looking for pity or compliments or pep talks or anything either, just wanted to be honest about where I'm at. I'll report back on my LSR at the end of the week. Cross fingers and toes it goes well.

Just to echo what a few others have said in that it is normal to have ups and downs throughout the plan. Maybe try writing down your vision for running the marathon and the goals that you will achieve in doing so (guess who has been reading their chi marathon book recently) and it might help focus you on the purpose of the plan and feel a bit more confident.

FeenaM wrote: »

Anybody thinking of doing the East of Ireland 20 mile on the 26th of September as a lsr?

Where is that on? Do you have any details?

There's been some chat about meeting up and do a good chunk of the marathon course that weekend, but maybe this is an option too.

nop98 wrote: »

Where is that on? Do you have any details?

There's been some chat about meeting up and do a good chunk of the marathon course that weekend, but maybe this is an option too.

It's on in Longwood, near Trim. It says 20 euro for the 20 mile and I checked last years results which range from 2.55 to 4.30 for the 20 mile but numbers are small. I'm also after reading now that it says it's for experienced marathon runners so actually I don't know if that rules me out, although if I have completed a 20 mile run (or two) before the day then I don't see why I couldn't do it?

Is it yourself Nop that is also doing Dingle next week?

menoscemo wrote: »

That's really just a discalimer to be honest.
The longwood course is a flat 3 mile/5k loop and they have water and sportsdrinks at the start of each lap. The 20 mile will be run at the same times as the Marathon and Half so there will be plenty of people on the course for company. I'd definitely recommend it, The EOI do a great job. Just don't get tempted to do the extra 2 laps at the end :pac:

I don't think there is any fear of that

(well, maybe one more for fun;))

FBOT01 wrote: »

Hi Conor Mc, I am with Murph and NE. The plans says easy runs on Monday and Tuesday so why not stick to that. In relation to the double even more advance plans don't add in doubles until they are absolutely necessary to achieve high mileage targets. And even then they would have a particular goal i.e. am recovery run to prepare for pm session or double recovery to aid recovery from previous day session, etc. If you are already running 6 days throwing in a 7/7 double looks like you may be mileage hunting with no particular training stimulus in mind and could in fact have a negative impact. As the lads said if it is mileage you are craving then add an extra mile or two onto you Wednesday MLR but be careful of trying to do miles for miles sake rather than with a particular goal in mind......that being said looks like you put in a good shift last week so keep it up. Be patient and there will be plenty of time to experiment when you graduate

Won't triple-quote, but thanks Murph, NE and FBOT01, for your feedback.

On the short runs, since work is an immovable object in time terms, I guess I'm trying to maximise a short period of time that doesn't impact on family life if I can. I'll take your advice and stick as close as possible to the plan on Mondays and Tuesdays (easy runs) and maybe give the legs an occasional stretch every second week or something. I'll start extending one of the commute runs to meet the longer MLR runs on the plan rather than trying to do the mileage through running doubles. Thanks again for the feedback!

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

Actually feeling a complete lack of confidence at the moment. I don't know if it's the weather getting me down, or other life stresses going on, or what but I feel zero confidence in my running or training at the moment I guess I should more accurately say I feel no confidence in myself. I'm still sticking with the plan though and was happy enough to have hit all my mileage last week. This week is 26 miles with a 14 mile LSR on Sunday. The plan will change a bit in September so maybe that will help.

Anyway, I'm not looking for pity or compliments or pep talks or anything either, just wanted to be honest about where I'm at. I'll report back on my LSR at the end of the week. Cross fingers and toes it goes well.

Also to echo all others, every one has bad day or week running
Just look back at all miles put in to date see how far you've come
Don't look to far forward, it scares everyone a little, only couple
Miles more each week, nothing you can't handle .

Pity,pep talks and good advice, this is where we all come.

Back on the wagon for the first run in almost two weeks, nice four miler

10:35
11:08
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10:45

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Hi Sudzy and welcome,
Your mentor, Dubgal, is off for the week and has left a motley crew in charge :rolleyes:. Don't worry, normal service will resume on Saturday . Well done on your progress to date. I just wanted to ask a couple of additional questions to give us more information to work with. You mention you're currently doing up to 20 miles p/w. Could you give a breakdown of, say, the last 3 or 4 weeks with details of pace/distance/type of run. Have you had a look at the programmes most of the Novices are following ? There's a link to them from the first post. My concern would be that you would be starting a little behind both in terms of overall mileage and the length of the LSR (HH1 programme calls for 15 miles this week with a total mileage of 29). And finally, have you any current or recent injuries that are causing you any concern ?

Hi Sudzy, just to add to Bungy's comments. Both of the marathon plans here (see first post) are up to well over 20 miles per week at this point in the training cycle. It might be an idea to see how you get on up to the HM (assuming you mean Dublin race series HM towards end of sept?) and make a call then on whether to tackle the marathon this year or continue to build your base towards a spring marathon or DCM 16. You will have a much better experience if you have a good base and more miles under your belt in training.

TFGR- I'm fecking knackered and its only Tuesday. You are NEVER alone on this journey!