DCM 2015: Mentored Novices Thread

20M LSR done today in the company of some fine fellow novices, it was a pleasure to meet you all today.

My knee felt okay this morning so said I'd give the LSR a go, had 20 quid in my pocket and a plan that if my knee niggle went above 3/10 on the pain scale that I would call it quits. All the way up to 10 miles it felt fine but in the 11th mile then I started to feel tiredness a little bit and I was finding it a little bit hard for a bit to keep up with nop98, oirishfruitie & neilthefunkeone. I could feel a small twinge in my right calf but nothing bad so I was able to maintain pace if the effort was up a bit. We ran up heartbreak hill without issue...it was nice to run it with a bit more miles in my legs this time and felt it fine really. The nice downhill down to Stillorgan Rd was lovely, onto the N11 then I was deciding was it still 3/10 for the knee and it was. We had about 12 miles done and I said I'd assess again at 14miles, we bumped into denis_b and FeenaM then along with lurker Declan on the UCD flyover so we'd a nice group then. I decided to hang back a bit on pace then with Declan and we got down towards Ballsbridge....we were only a minute or two behind the others so was happy to keep them is sight to stay on track on the route. Declan decided to drop back then on the pace so I was on my own for a bit but thanks to traffic lights I caught up a bit of ground on the main group by the British Embassy. My knee was feeling fine at this point so I was glad that I continued when I was having doubts a few miles earlier.
We ran then towards the finish area at Merrion Sq passing the Schoolhouse Pub near Mount St bridge, the pub where I meet my wife 10 years ago. Next time I see it I will be almost completed my first marathon!

Back onto the start of the DCM route and then onwards for the last 5 miles, the pace dropped significantly at that point. For myself I had been suffering a bit of an upset stomach for the duration of the run, I was out for food last night with some mates and a puck load of chicken was not a good idea ahead of today plus the crap food we ate playing poker last night. It was not a late night at all but not ideal preparation.
This section was busy with plenty of road crossings, tight foot paths and tourists around St Patrick's Cathedral but we ploughed on. My knee thankfully at this stage was absolutely fine as was the calf from a good few miles earlier. My efforts on focusing on getting my knees up a bit more in my stride seems to have helped the loading I was normally putting through my knee.

The last mile then as we were running on the North Circular Road then and into the park was hard but every last mile or two on these LSRs are very tough but you get it done the best you can.

FeenaM had some lovely flapjacks for us when we got back to the car park and then we all shot the breeze for a few mins about our training and then the next few weeks to come. I look forward to seeing these nice people again on DCM day when I'm next back up in Dublin.

Thanks so much to Duffer247 and his daughter for the lovely pitstop at Bushy Park. Fingers crossed all is okay for you getting back into your training.

Odd thing happened to me when I was in my car and just out onto Parkgate St, as I was sitting in traffic for a min for some reason some of my emotions of the week passed came to head when I had genuine concern about what had happened with my knee and my DCM chances. Whilst my knee is not perfect and I am back to the physio on Wednesday it is in much better condition than it was last Wednesday morning. Ultimately I shed a few tears but it was out of joy as much as anything.
I might also blame the slightly mournful singing of Danny O'Reilly and The Coronas that were on the radio for a few mins at the time but no matter I was just delighted to have completed my first ever 20 mile run.

Back down in Laois tonight at my parents place before going up to Naas tomorrow to pace my wife around a 10K race, the pace will be 11-12min/mi so grand recovery run and should leave me with 31 miles for the week which is not bad after the two missed sessions on Tues/Wed.

Distance 20M
Avg pace 9:56m
Avg heart rate 163bpm

9:41
9:51
9:34
9:25
9:46
9:32
9:42
9:30
9:35
9:40
9:49
9:33
9:57
9:48
10:42
10:10
10:41
10:42
10:56
10:20

great reports all, well done on the effort whether you were able to finish or had to pull up short. To those who are saying to themselves that this is their one and only marathon, I think this is purely natural. Until you've done the distance for the 1st time, you will always be thinking its too far. Even as I train now and my head is telling me 'stop for a walk nancy', I know running isnt a head thing, its all about the legs and lungs. If I could play go fetch with my head as I run I'd be bringin a bag of stones just to get it to leave me alone while the rest of me gets on with the tuff stuff.

Took two days rest myself since Thurs when I developed a new pain in the R knee, grew from nothin as I ran. Not sure what caused this, trying a few plantar stretches for the 1st time 45 mins pre run? or wearin knee length swimmin shorts which might have caused an irritation havent a clue. So for tomorrow its hit the road and hope to run 20m niggle free, worry free, head free, dog free, hill free, work free, tax free, hangover free, fly in the eye free, ebola free, pothole free, dead donkey free (that did happen), dangerous driver free, sugar free, chaff free, .... anything I missed ?

Completed this weeks LSR yesterday morning [then back home, and straight to bed for a couple of hours sleep before heading into work for the night shift....it was a very long day]. I was planning 18 miles but stopped after 17miles after I ran out of water around the 14 mile mark and just couldn't go any further. I had an avg pace of 11:03/mile which I was happy with. I took the most amount of GELS for a run so far, using one every three miles - I slowed right down while taking the gel and a sip of water which worked out really well. Things really seem to be coming together at the moment. All I can picture in my head the whole time is crossing that finish line......weather its running, walking or crawling ...... but either way that line WILL be crossed on the 26th.

Chops and Dubgal hope u are both OK flippin scary stuff. I love the weekend reports they are so informative. Had a lsr of 14m yesterday first 7 where fine but really felt it for the last half. Very fatigued and the legs where tired. I was nauseous and had to go the loo every two minutes for the rest of the evening headed on to work which was a bit of a torture. I have so many doubts going through my head. Hopefully I will be well rested for next weeks 20m mentally I need it to go well fingers crossed.

Emsy 1 wrote: »

Chops and Dubgal hope u are both OK flippin scary stuff. I love the weekend reports they are so informative. Had a lsr of 14m yesterday first 7 where fine but really felt it for the last half. Very fatigued and the legs where tired. I was nauseous and had to go the loo every two minutes for the rest of the evening headed on to work which was a bit of a torture. I have so many doubts going through my head. Hopefully I will be well rested for next weeks 20m mentally I need it to go well fingers crossed.

You'll be fine Emsy. It was a tough week. I know there's another long one to come but then that's it. Have no doubts, you did great in the HM and looked fresh when I met you so there's no need to doubt. Just believe in yourself!

It's also much easier with company and we'll all be with you in the day!

Dubgal72 wrote: »

More great lsr reports and thanks to everyone who took the time to write!



Stevo also had a fast and tough 20 miler (for a sub 4 hour target). There is a real danger between now and taper that you 'run your race' in training and leave it all out on the road...easy miles now this week, what's on your plan?

I went far too fast yesterday. I was hoping to get it done in a longer time but just got carried away.
Route I picked wasn't easy on the legs on the way home. Far too much elevation.
The plan going forward is 5k runs at the end of training for the next few weeks.
Next weekend will be a Slow run.
15 to 18 miles.
The weekend after I was hoping to see what was on the plan here.
The weekend before the big one I'm doing an indoor triathlon. Shorter than a sprint distance though.:D

Dubgal72 wrote: »

No harm slotting in to the boards plan for the next few weeks. And the triathlon....up to you to weigh up the risk but how would you feel if you picked up an injury that stopped you lining up on the 26th? So near..... :eek:

It's only a 3k run on a threadmill and I've been swimming and spinning throughout my training so I should be grand.

Really enjoying reading people's stories here, always very interesting hearing about the lsrs at the weekends.
I was off work last week and ended up climbing Croke Patrick as well as running most days and playing a bit of soccer, had a great week!
Normally do the lsr at about 9am but had to do it at 7am yesterday, which made it a bit harder as was up much earlier than I'm used to and hadn't slept enough. The run was 18 miles, went fine, kinda took off a bit fast around miles 14-16 but slowed up again. Had eaten too late the night before as well and stomach wasn't right, but I guess it's good to deal with these type of things in training.
I've a lot of training this week and a22 mile run next weekend but the tapering begins then.
At the moment I am eating more than an average buffalo, massive appetite to fuel all these miles!
Yesterday afternoon I went to visit a friend who is recovering from cancer. He's in his 30s and was extremely fit until diagnosed. It showed me how lucky I am to be able to train like this, loads of people can't. Thankfully he's recovering well now.
Just a query, I bring my phone on the runs to measure speed/distance etc, presume it's fine to bring it on Oct 26?

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Chrislad, sorry to hear it's becoming a grind. If I'd heard this earlier in the thread I would have advised you to pull out and focus on what you enjoy. What we do as runners can seem fairly punitive at times so it is really important that the enjoyment is there. However, it is a bit late in the plan to recommend this, you have invested too much and you deserve to see the payoff.

I would however recommend that you up your 'positive mental game' even more. Remind your self from now until then why you are doing this, the positives you are going to get from it....and our reaction if you report back here not having done this

And remember, muscle fatigue is normal at this stage. Chalk that one up and remember that conservative pacing is the key. A too-fast first mile or even few miles will come back to bite you disproportionately.

It wasn't even my pace. I went out very slow, as I had been tired during the week. It was a whole 40 seconds average slower than my last 20 mile run, so it wasn't that!

At the end of the day, I got a 3 hour run. As has been discussed, the benefits of any running after 3 hours aren't great, in comparison to the gains in the first 3 hours.

I was just feeling sorry for myself as it was my first 'failure' as such, and I was probably just disappointed in myself. I'll still work away at the plan, and finish what I started - I'd be mad not to at this stage, quit when all the hard work is essentially done.

On a plus (?) note, I now have a black toenail so officially in marathon training now

Woh Woh ..... 20 miles in the bag. Sorry but I am very excited at reaching this milestone and was so anxious about this run all weekend even more so that my usual running gang were all busy or away so it was looking like a solo run for me today. However my friend who has recently returned to running said she could run 5 or 6 miles with me so I organised to hook up with her for the last 5 or 6 when I needed her most. My weekend so far...

Had a 1 mile easy 3 miles fast 1 mile easy Saturday morning on the plan so took in the St Anne's Park Run 2nd birthday celebrations to do this was a great day with smooties and cake for everyone and great to catch up with everyone afterwards.

Today was the dreaded day 20 miles LSR thankfully with none at MP. This mornings routine was the usual 6.30am up for porridge raseberries, berroca boost and tea, some stretching and foam rolling. With the boss away for the weekend the eldest Mc took over and last night gave me my instructions to check I had my phone my money and my id band from park run in case anything happened to me. I told her the time I would be back and she went off to bed happy. I headed off at 8.30 this morning. My route brought me along Clontarf coast I have to say I love running here and this morning was the perfect morning for running, it was crisp, sun was up, very little wind just fab. As AnnaPr had in her log yesterday it was a good day to be alive. As DG suggested I took all the negative thoughts and put them in a box and locked it and left it at home. Miles ticked away nicely and lots of runners out greeting me this morning including KennyG & co it was proving to be a very positive experience. Being on your own you tend to do a lot of thinking about life and stuff and I got a reminder on FB this weekend that this time last year I had posted a picture of FBOT's running gear all laid out on the bed in Berlin the night before he took on his sub 3 hour marathon attempt. I got caught up in the whole atmosphere of Berlin last year while AnnaPr and myself supported FBOT, Yaboya and Murph_D on their personal marathon goals. I did say when asked that weekend would I ever attempt a marathon my response was never ! but do remember sitting at lunch the following day having had such a great time as a supporter in Berlin asking FBOT what would actually be involved in marathon training. I still can't believe that here I am a year later training for Dublin, having just completed a personal milestone of 20 miles its really surreal. Anyway as you can see I had a lot of time this morning !! Anyway had some stomach issues at mile 9 so into Insomnia for a toilet stop and back on the road. Found mile 10 to 14 tough, had some inclines in the run and my stomach hadn't been well that morning so that was also playing on my mind a bit (forgot to put that one in the box DG !). As I approached 14.5 miles I could see my friend in the distance I was never so happy to see her. Had to run into West Wood for another toilet stop after a while don't believe it was related to the gels just an upset stomach. Hit the road again had a pleasant few miles and as my watched beeped a mile 20 the two of us let out a roar throwing the arms up in the air, much to the curiosity of people around us but I didn't care. She left me at my gate and ran on home and my two girls greeted me at the door, more roaring and throwing the arms in the air ! So as you can see I am on a high after this personal milestone, longest distance ever, and first time to get into the 20's. Avg pace was 11.34. My only issue apart from the stomach was that I could not get enough liquid into me. Had two bottles on my belt drank both, my friend also gave me another, then I remembered the previous week when I was feeling the same when I came home FBOT told me to stop drinking got me to take a thumbnail of sea salt crystals and that seemed to do the trick. I did the same when I came home and felt much better so will talk to him about this when I get home as I can't carry the salt cellar with me on DCM day must be lacking some salt when I do the long runs anyone else experienced this ? Anyway apologies for the long post will do the splits sideways to make it shorter !! Mile 1 11.23, Mile 2, 11.21, Mile 3 11.15, Mile 4 11.00, Mile 5 11.03, Mile 6 11.01, Mile 7 11.14, Mile 8 11.10, Mile 9 11.04, Mile 10 13.59 (toilet break), Mile 11 11.09, Mile 12, 11.23, Mile 13 11.36, Mile 14 11.31, Mile 15 11.23, Mile 16 11.25, Mile 17 14.12 (another toilet stop), Mile 18 11.13, Mile 19 11.38, Mile 20 11.41

Oh and my Garmin battery was about to die so my watch wont last the marathon. Ive a forerunner 10. Now to catch up on all the LSR reports am a few pages behind so well done to anyone who completed theirs this weekend.

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Evening all, bit of a medical near-emergency today, suspected detached retina, damn bungy cord... All ok now though Spent most of this afternoon in A&E reading lsr reports until my battery died...Pupils very dilated due to eye drops so no reading for me tonight.of course my main priority was 'ok to run?????' So missed a 10k today but will be good to go for the lsr tomorrow phew :cool:

Just managed to read that you're feeling better now chops, glad to hear. Talk tomorrow, recover well all!

Oh My God mind yourself that sounds nasty.

Peter D61 wrote: »

When you've just run 20 miles you are entitled to ramble a bit.

Ah Thanks don't feel so bad now !!