Marathon Training

[yetanotherdeskmove]

Have anyone else just started marathon training and wants to support each other?

I've got a spinning bike at home so think I'll start that as well. Went on short run last night in the howling wind and rain. I think actually it'll be easy to fit the short ones in early in the morning when I don't have much time.

I've got 10 weeks to train for the marathon. First long outing today of 2.5 hours and it wasn't great, should have done the last 30 mins in 12.5kph but it was impossible against the wind. Hopefully next week's long run will be faster. Agree that cross training is great. I like cycling but can never work out how long you should cycle for (I average about 20k/h) to equate to the effort of running 60mins.

My 16 week countdown starts Monday. Scared!

Ten miles done this morning and just made it home before the rain, result

summerhouse try and enjoy your training, don't be scared, you'll be fine.
yesanotherdesk you were lucky - my 10 miles today was in the driving wind and rain. Didn't really enjoy it much but it is done

8 miles today due to slightly painful ankles, but did 10 on NYD so not too worried.

12km in howling wind and rain today, plus two very kind people decided to drive through the puddles and give me a shower. I only have 2 choices of long run routes and it was either the really slippy way, or the hilly with lots of field run off.

Our house looks like a shoe drying centre as there are 3 sets of trail running shoes from parkrun yesterday (ours is through the woods and really muddy), dhs cycling shoes, and my road shoes from today. And the sports wash is getting out of hand!

I entered my first olympic/standard distance triathlon for July, so that keeps the pressure on to keep up the swim/bike stuff while upping run miles

Character building Anglaise!

CMOT you're going to be busy!

Horrible of those people to drench you :( people round here have been pretty good at avoiding the splashing which is good. My shoes are in the sink, I went round the reservoir today which was very wet.

8 miles today, I waited til the rain stopped and there were huge unpassable puddles everywhere so I had to keep turning back and finding new routes. Also a big hairy muddy dog jumped up at me and got muddy prints all up my side at the beginning of my run. Not impressed

8 miles and a massive confidence builder for me. I won't go into detail further than to say "runners trots". Seem to have found the problem for me thanks to Dr Google. CMOT I also got a double soaking!

Anglaise thank you! You are always encouraging and it makes a difference. I have found a lot of runners are massively generous with advice and encouragement and you are one of them.

Here's to happy training!

A pox upon them Summerhouse! I know sometimes its unavoidable, but this wasn't the case in either incident, and the lorry sped up

At least tomorrow is my swim day so warm inside!

I did Brighton last year.

It isn't hilly as such, but it does have hills. Make sure you include them in your training! Invaluable even for a flattish route.

I also did Bournemouth last year. Now that was hilly....

CMOT a swim day sound excellent. Any splash you make you can imagine its in the face of that bastard lorry driver!

I was running beside so many puddles I was quite liking the thrill of getting soaked.... Until it happened...

Thanks for the heads up sandunes! Can't really avoid hills where I live tbh. It's not majorly hilly but I live at the high point so it's uphill home whichever way I go.

I did 23 miles today as the final long run for my 50 km ultra in three weeks time. Was meant to do 29 miles but the temperature hit 30 deg C and suddenly the last 6 miles just didn't seem such a smart idea. I'd even gone out at 4 am to try and beat the heat. It was 38 deg by mid afternoon. Now I'm hoping I've put enough training in.
Don't live in uk...

Lol yes I think we guessed that

yetanother I also live at the top of a hill, so always get a hill in at the end of the run. I still included hill sessions in my training for both marathons. It makes a massive difference, I promise it's worth it!

Brighton starts in Preston Park; down one road, turn the corner along a flat and then you turn uphill. It's quite steep and is about a mile long - there were LOTS of people walking it. As you head out to Ovingdean (around mile 9) the route is a consistent uphill. Low gradient but goes on forever - again lots walked it and I was grateful for my hill sessions. There's one other short but very steep hill in the first half. The second half is pretty much flat.

Yes I'll include them don't worry! I've got a nice steep hill I do them on that's about a mile away so it is s good warm up there.

Thanks for the route info, that's really useful! I don't know Brighton at all so wasn't sure what it would be like, the second half being flatter sounds good.

This was mentioned on the running thread - the Food Programme on Radio 4 this week was all about food and running and very interesting. A listener and runner (training for the VLM) wanted more information on sports nutrition specifically for running and the programme goes into the high carb, hih fat diet debate, how Brendan Foster ate before races, how the Kenyons fuel for their training etc. I really enjoyed it and learned from it too.

I'm doing Brighton too. I'm hoping I might finally crack sub 4! First time at Brighton but 7 th attempt at that time . Ivenever included speed work in marathon training before , instead just went for lots and lots of miles. This time my plan includes one speed work session a week and a faster session in the middle of the long run. I'm hoping it will make the difference.

pippi what's your closest time? I alternative speed interval sessions and hills on the treadmill. Just 30 to 40 minute sessions but intense! I would love to get 4 hrs 30 and I think that challenging but achievable for me. My best times are 57 for a 10k and 2.06 for a half so I will never be fast.

I had help with marathon training from a very experienced coach. I talked about nutrition with him, and he always told me to eat what my grandmother would've put on my plate! He said most people don't carb load for long enough or properly and so called pasta-parties the day before are pointless as a one off.

Hydration is interesting too. Too carb load well you have to be very very well hydrated - when I did Bournemouth I started drinking more in the 2 weeks before hand, along with carb loading and I felt much better on race day for it.

I love running in Brighton. There's always something to look at to take your mind off the distance. The crowd support is amazing, too. I've done several 10kms there, as well as the half and marathon and there's always been loads of supporters.

I don't know why but I am really bad at drinking water. Its such a simple thing to do but when it comes down to it, I always seem to make excuses not to.

sandunes I love the grandmother diet idea. This totally makes sense to me.