London marathoners assemble

[KittyandTeal]

As the ballot spaces start being allocated I thought I'd start a thread for those of us lucky enough to get a space.

I was rejected through the ballot but I have had a charity space since June so I'm running (and raising £1400) I've been training for a half so I can get the distance under my belt. Im up to 11 miles now in just over 2 hours. I'm slow but getting there. I'd like to get in under 5 hours but I'm happy to just be running it.

Welcome StillMaid, the more the merrier!
Tapering - my plan has the longest run 3 weeks before the race, then eases off after that so as this is my first marathon that's what I'll be doing! I have heard that more experienced marathoners have shorter tapers once they've figured out what works for them.
Long runs- I've always done these at an easy pace and most things I've read say that too, with the idea being to build time on your feet not work on pace. Plus I think if all your sessions are hard then your muscles don't get the recovery time they need to benefit from the speed work.
However on my training plan I see that some of the long runs include sections done at race pace, later on in the plan mostly.
We were talking about pace earlier. There are calculators where you put in the time you did for a recent race and it will work out your marathon time, which you can then use to give yourself an estimate of pace. Of course, you might be faster or slower, I think it's something we might find ourselves adjusting in light of how training goes.
As for your other activities I guess you could just see how it goes? And then ease off on something if you find yourself too tired when the volume of running starts increasing.
Shoes - I have had good experiences with my Saucony shoes, which are Guide 9s I think, but a trip to a running shop to try on a range of shoes is always good!
Whew! Epic post! And not an expert opinion by any means!

Yay, welcome everyone.

I think tapering for marathon is about 3 weeks usually. Unless you're going for a hardcore time then long runs would be slow slow (I'm not very good at that, I've run most of mine at marathon pace)

The online calculators emummy says are really good. They've really helped me.

I was in Nike flyknits but they were far too minimal for me as I run trails usually. I went to up and running who were brilliant. I have 2 pairs now, both hoka one one's one fore trails and one for road. I had my gait done as well which was helpful.

I'm loving how many people we have now. I'm very excited, I'm officially in the system. Woo hoo

Just to say, Women's Running magazine are running their Project 26.2 again. They pick 4 women and give them personalised training, nutrition advice and kit. Worth a go if you don't mind blogging about your training etc

Oooooo that sounds really good! How do you apply?

You email [email protected]. You tell her about your marathon goal, which marathon you're doing, your running background, age, and why you want to be part of the Big Marathon Challenge ( got the name wrong before!). Closes 27th Nov. It's in the December magazine. Good luck if you do it, I'm debating as there is a London photo shoot.

That sounds really cool. I think I might do it. Was it advertised in the mag? I follow them on fb but don't get the mag

Yes was in the magazine

OK, my predicted pace is 6:30 min km. That's gonna take some focus to hold myself at that. But cool, got a number to work at!

Next question then: in order to run slower, do I shorten my stride or take slower strides? I guess minimising the number of times your feet hit the ground is better?

Good luck everyone - the LM is how I started running and I never looked back as it was SUCH a blast. Forget about the time you do and just focus on having a fab time! It really is the world's greatest marathon/carnival!

I think slower strides. I think, from what I've read, is it's better to get your form comftable and then take more strides to quicken up. I'm guessing it's the same the other way round if you want to slow down.

Ah thanks Lisa. I'm really excited about it. I think my rough time is around 5 hours but I mainly want to just have fun and get round tbh

Right, thoughts on weekly plan.

Sunday - long run.
Monday - easy 5-8km.
Tuesday - hips/back/shoulders weights, 40min netball (I'm counting this as sprint intervals).
Wednesday - tempo 8-10km, 40min netball.
Thursday - rest.
Friday - hips/back/legs weights.
Saturday - easy 5-8km.

Thoughts? Non-negotiable days are Tues/Wed netball - everything else is flexi, except weights have to be in the week, not weekend.

That's a lot!

I do:
Monday - long run 8-12miles (it'll down to 8-10 once HM is done)
Tues -Zumba but I skip sometimes if my long run has knocked me out.
Weds - recovery run 4-6 miles and strength training after run
Thur - rest
Fri - speedwork (tempo or intervals) strength training
Sat - Pilates and core or kettlebells
Sun - rest

My strength sessions are about t20-30 mins. I read it's good to do them on tired legs as it gives you proper rest days and helps endurance. The Pilates and core is about 45mins total.

I've found after about 9 miles on a mon I find Zumba tough and weds run is very slow.

Have you looked at the plans on the marathon website? I used one and just tweeted the days a bit

Would be nice to have different speed sessions, not just tempo. So maybe some intervals, fartlek or hills, doing a different one each week. At the moment am doing a strength session on Monday, speed work Tues, boot camp Wed, hilly run Thurs, recovery run Fri and long run of 6-10 miles on Sun. Oh plus yoga Thursday night. I am trying to do some shorter faster stuff just now until the training my programme starts in December.
I think the main thing is a mix of stuff so you don't get bored and gentle progression. And pray for a mild winter!

Yeah, I'm trying to tweak published plans to suit.

I can't strength train after running, nor before. My weights are very heavy and I work to fatigue in 8 reps. I can manage netball and weights on the same day. I'm not keen on no rest day on at least one side of long run. Probably better before as I don't feel the effects of a long run until 2 days after.

Will keep fiddling!

Agree with different types of running sessions - I guess I'm just trying to schedule 'runs' and can change the type as fits.

Although the Manchester marathon is really really flat, so might avoid hill running....

Hills make you stronger! good for your glutes

Hills are horrid but my ass is round and rock solid because of the hills I run, can't avoid them here

I live in the Peak District - I manage to avoid Strong glutes here, courtesy of deadlifts and squats and some terrible exercises that my personal trainer makes me do, involving running on a treadmill that isn't even on

Actually, what constitues a hill? Maybe I'm underestimating the amount of hill running I do hopeful, but doubtful

Not aware of the Peak district as a particularly flat area! Like my runs here in Aberdeenshire, it's finding a flat route that's the challenge!

Hi all, keep meaning to check in on here but life/work been a bit mad the last week! Very impressed with all your training schedules and mileage! I've managed three runs in the last week, one rubbish, one ok and one I managed 10k which is further than I've done in over a year so hopefully that's a decent start. I've decided to aim for 10 miles by Christmas.

I've been looking at training schedules and also think I might improvise a bit, mainly due to shift work. But roughly speaking I aim to do one gentle, one speed/hill run and one long run each week, with a yoga or Pilates class on one of the days. I read somewhere about decreasing mileage for a week every few weeks to allow you to adapt, which sounds appealing. Slightly worried about fitting in long runs though as my 'rest days' will probably involve 12-15 hours on my feet at work.... Not sure how it will work, but will give it a go.

How's everyone getting on?

My training is going to plan so far, but very early days!