DCM 2018 - Mentored Novice Thread

Great to see lots of activity here and loads more joining - and the thread has become a sticky!! Just trying to catch up now.

aloooof wrote: »

I'm signed up for Cork Half-marathon at the start of June and am hoping to go sub 2 hours.

Best of luck with it. I’m doing the full in Cork. Fingers crossed we get nice calm and not too warm weather for it and you’ll do that sub 2 no problem. Do you know the route?

effibear wrote: »

Not getting the time for consistent training.

It’s hard with young kids, no doubt about it. As Ariana mentioned earlier you can work the plan around you. I twist all plans around so my long run is a Wednesday and there’s been one night recently I’ve been running around in the dark doing 18 miles! The main thing is to concentrate on getting that long run in each week and if you have to miss a run make it one of the shorter runs.

Hedgehoggy wrote: »

Will likely be doing all my training by myself so this forum will be a great support!


Currently training 4 times a week - one long run and three short runs - will introduce one more run over the next few weeks and then up to 6 times per week after a while (at least thats the plan - but dragging myself out of bed sunday morning on my only chance for a lie is is going to be a challenge)

I do all my long runs by myself and run with friends if they are available for the shorter runs. The support here is great in terms of plans and also maybe using Strava as we’ll see what you are doing then and might make you more accountable if needs be. If boredom is a factor then maybe you could try options like radio or podcasts. Music didn’t work for me but I love radio talk shows on my long runs.

In terms of the 6 days per week, that’s brilliant if you can do it but remember rest is very important too - definitely take a lie in some Sundays!

chabsey wrote: »

Not sure if I qualify for this thread but would like to join for the support. I have run the marathon before in 2015 but have since dropped to only doing 5ks regularly.

How many days a week can you train? And what plan do you intend to follow?
Can manage 3 days a week at this stage.

Absolutely you qualify!

You don’t mention what plan you intend following. Have you thought about it and how you’ll manage your training in 3 runs a week? Either way, I’d slowly start building the distance in one of those runs a week from now. It’s recipe for injury to build too fast. Your previous times are great but keep those long runs really slow.

aloooof wrote: »

Cheers, and good luck with your full too!

A friend of mine has mentioned the weather has been very warm for it in previous years alright, so I'm hoping it won't be too bad.

I'm not very familiar with Cork, so don't really know the route, but I'll have a look at the elevation for it before the day itself and will try and come up with a plan for it. It'll actually be the first race I do where I don't know the route at all, not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I just hope it doesn't go near Patrick's Hill!

You only look at Patrick’s Hill, don’t worry. :-)

There’s a thread about it in the events section that might help anyway.

RunningFlyer wrote: »

Thanks for the encouraging messages!

One question that I have always been curious about - why are the long runs always on a Saturday yet the race is on a Sunday? Just an extra rest day before the big day I guess?

The plans can be adjusted to suit your day to day life. No problem doing long runs on any day. I do all mine on Sunday. Just make sure to keep the day before and after to same type of runs as the plan suggests. Also try to make it a regular day. Don't do a Friday one week and a Monday the next so you get adequate recovery.

chabsey training for a marathon on 3 runs a week will be difficult (but not impossible ) - is there anyway you could get a 4th run a week. Many people run during their lunch break at work or early in the morning so it doesn't impact on family life? Even a 4th run every 2nd week would be a benefit, think about it

Agree it's not ideal, I can't remember off hand but I think it's what I did for the 2015 marathon, while also juggling moving house and a new baby (not literally juggling).

Somehow I made it work. I think as I got closer to the event I ramped it up a bit, my training for 2015 was pretty ramshackle so it's surprising I managed to finish at all. I'll push for 4 runs a week though.

Hi all

My plan is to possibly tackle the DCM next year, but I am hoping this year to at least follow the training plan - certainly to follow the plan as far as the half marathon anyway.

I am hoping to be ready to go by the start date but was hit with plantar fasciitis and a visit to the physio last week has left me in limbo a bit.

Fingers crossed and best of luck to those who are signed up!

The best of Luck to everyone taking this on this year , ye are in good hands .

Hi Folks,


Firstly, thanks to everyone who takes the time to read and respond to posts from beginners like myself!

I took up running in 2013 and completed a few 10k races but never took it any further than that and just let it slide.

Watching the Dublin marathon last year inspired me to take up running again and I have been running consistently now since the beginning of November 2017. I have been taking it very seriously ever since and have always made sure to do things properly and not get carried away by doing too much too soon.

Until recently, I was covering distances of 10k in about 46 mins and completed last month's Great Ireland Run in 43:45 which I was extremely happy with. In the last couple of weeks, I have been increasing my distance by doing a few 8 mile runs which I am hoping to gradually increase to 10 miles as I am considering doing a run commute within the next week or so.
I have my training schedule ready which does not kick in until July so what I am concerned about is not really knowing what sort of distances I should be covering until I actually start my marathon training schedule. My mid-week runs tend not to follow any particular pattern other than the fact that they gradually increase in distance.

A typical week for me is as follows:
Monday - 10k run (Approx 46 mins)
Wednesday 10k run (approx 46 mins)
Thursday - 8 mile run (Approx 1 hour)
Saturday (Park Run, PB 19:42)

Does anyone think that the distances I am covering at the moment are sufficient at this particular stage? I would appreciate any tips for how to manage your runs prior to commencing your pre-marathon training schedule? (if that makes sense).

By the way, for the last two years, I have been cycle commuting to work every day (approx 14km each way)


Thanks!

Hi Coogy and welcome. That's a great number of miles you have worked up to since November. Both mileage and PBs would indicate you have potential for a very good marathon.

But, and there's always a but, I think your concern for now is in the wrong place. I'd be more concerned about paces than distance if I was you. Large amounts of slow running is the staple of marathon training and you are doing none. Off a recent 10k race of 43.xx you should probably be running your 10k training runs in over 52/53 minutes or slower. Personally I train even slower. Slow runs help improve endurance and should enable you to get your long race times faster ironically. It's a difficult theory to trust but the benefits will accrue. I posted a link a few posts back on the same subject...it's a hobby horse of mine. :pac:

Edit: here's a link. I think I posted similar on another thread, not this one.

https://runnersconnect.net/wrong-long-run-pace/

Welcome Coogy,

Have a look at the two plans at the start on the thread and you’ll see where you need to be for them starting -on June 25th I think it is.

As SkyBlue says you distance is absolutely fine but you will need to pull back on paces as all of your runs are very fast. As distance creeps up it’s all about time on your feet and endurance as well as staying injury free so I’d say start working on slowing down now as it’s hard to learn to do. We all found it hard last year to adapt to going slower and it is strange at the start. Even though I’m a faster runner this year I actually run my long runs slower than I did last year. I would say that goes for most of us from last year.

I hope everyone else had a good weekend running. If you did any races pop in and let us know how you got on? And don't be shy if you've any queries on the two plans after having the week to analyse them a bit more?

My laptop is on the blink so maybe it’s because I’m viewing on a phone but I can’t see the long runs on the boards plan?

skyblue46 wrote: »

I can't see Saturday or Sunday either. Apologies. We'll get it sorted out.

Pity looked like a very doable plan ;-)

Kellygirl wrote: »

Your Dad is doing well! He’s obviously gotten the bug!

What has your training been like until now? Have you thought about what training plan you will use etc?

Fairly fit, run 5 and 10k.
Not sure on plan yet

Thanks for the sound advice everyone, makes a lot of sense.
My main focus to date has actually been on the distance and not the pace and i dont think ive ever felt that I was running at a pace that felt unmanageable or uncomfortable. I suppose i was just illustrating my times to give a sense of where I was at.
It seems that the consensus is that i need to take it down a notch so I'll definitely try to be more wary of that from now on.
Thanks again!

I think I'll sign up too, but I need some reassurance! My first child is due at the end of July so I'm worried about being tired when training, and maybe it's a mad thing to consider this year. I only started running with purpose in January in order to do the Mullingar Half. I'd a plan, stuck to it and was super happy with my time. All the training was based on HR so if I was to do DCM, I'd stick to this zone based training too cos it seems to work for me

Have you raced before? If so what are your PBs? (Date and distance please!)
Here's my stats according to Strava

• 5k: 21:31 (not a race, just went one Saturday to set a new record for myself a few weeks ago!)
• 10k: 44.57 (22/04/18)
• HM: 1.39:33 (17/03/18)

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, how many days a week, cross training - whatever you think is relevant to your current fitness level.
Varies, but usually 5, sometimes 6. Of that, there's 2 gym classes doing weight training. Plus the runs then and lately I've been cycling home from work one day a week
What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?
Realistically, I want to get to the end just to say that I've done it. Few friends have jumped in and done marathons before, so there's no reasons I can't do it too. Realistically, I'd like to do it under 4 hours, but I reckon I can get closer to 3.45 or so.
How many days a week can you train? And what plan do you intend to follow?
At the moment, I can get in 5 or 6. Most of it is done at lunch time during work which is fierce handy. Then the weekend stuff would be Sunday as I'd be farming all day Saturday. As things stand, I can get in the 5 or 6 sessions.
What is your biggest worry/fear/doubt (if you have any!) in signing up?
Blowing up and not being able to train. The new baby could scupper training time and training quality.
Why are you running this marathon?
To do it. As I said, a few friends in work have done one and I'd like to be able to say I did one too. Plus I could train with the lads at lunchtime and thats great motivation.

Welcome Roosterman.

Congrats on the impending arrival. I think the fact you do a lot of training at lunch time will help no end as shouldn’t get in the way of home life. Just think about your long runs as they get longer and take up more time. How will your wife / partner feel about that and is she ok with you being gone for 4 or 5 hours once a week for most of September and first couple of weeks in October.

Besides all that, your times are great and I’d guess 3:45 would be very doable assuming you build up nice and slowly and don’t get injured etc.