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.

I am still muddling through my training plan design. I am not a beginner runner (although am a beginner marathon runner) and am currently running well enough for a three month plan. But stuck on what to do best between now and January. Am hammering the weights, running at the same level. Not sure whether to start upping my mileage yet?

I guess I'm wondering how to train for my training plan

Rocky, what are you currently running?

I've changed my training plan to a 17 week one on the Vmlm website as it had more speed work and more variation.
Just now am mostly doing shorter distance and speed work, with a long run of 6, 8 or 10 miles. am also doing a food log to identify weaknesses in my diet - unsurprisingly it's looking like the snacks! And I've started a little strength & conditioning workout at home once a week. Have a cross country race on Sunday so it will be interesting to see if I've got any faster.

Can anyone share their long run distances for each week of training? Just a list of numbers is fine.

60 min, 1 hr 10, 1hr 20, 1hr 30, 10 miles, 10 with miles 3-7 at marathon pace, 50 min, 14 miles, 16 m, 18m, half marathon, 20m, 20m, 22m, 13m, 8m, race day.

Not totally sure about the 20, 20, 22 weeks, will see at the time if 22 is feasible

Thanks emummy!

I'm currently working on a plan that involves one long run, one (very) short easy run, one mid easy run and one mid tempo run a week. My long run days are either Sat/Sun/Mon, depending on weights schedule (I don't want to lift weights the day after). Short easy run the day after. I can run the other two any time in the week.

My paces are 5:20min km tempo, 6:30min km easy, 5:30-7:15min km long.

Sorry, typo, 6:30-7:15min km long.

Looks good Maid. I think the key is to have varied pace runs to make you stronger and avoid boredom!

I did my half yesterday in 2:18 which I'm happy with. Makes my race pace about 10.30min miles.

Sounds like everyone is well in the way. I'm taking a break for training a bit now to focus on core and strength stuff as well as some 4-10mile runs. I'm taking a whole week off running and doing swimming, Pilates and yoga to recover properly.

I was hoping to get in under 2:30 so I'm really pleased with 2:18

Well done Kitty!

Great stuff Kitty. A very respectable time.

lost the thread for a while so hello again everyone!
My training is a bit all over the place at the moment. Still frustrated that I'm nowhere nearly as fit as I was earlier in the year. I'm a good half stone heavier too.
Running the Brighton 10k this weekend. Realistically I'm not going to beat my PB (will probably still be disappointed though)
I

Brighton 10k sounds fun two.

I think I've put on a bit of weight recently too, I just can't stop eating! The next few weeks are going to be lots of strength, good eating and loose a few pounds I think.

I went swimming yesterday which was brilliant, really enjoyed it.

What time would you realistically like to do it in? I have a New Year's Day 10k, I'm not sure if I should run it fir fun or try for a sub hour. It's pretty hilly so a pb might be hard.

Well done Kitty! That's the same time as my half PB.
Good luck in Brighton Twodogs, I hope you manage to relax and enjoy the race, whatever your time.
Think I will take it easy this week, after the excitement of last weekend's cross country! Will just do some steady runs in nice places.

Thanks emummy. It was a very flat course along the sea front although the wind and rain were horrific so I'm really pleased. I think with a bit of work I could get in around 5 hours for London.

How was the cross country? I do love a good trail run.

Cross country was tough but good fun. Was pleased with my time of 28:07 for 3 miles and had fun racing for the line against - and beating - one of the men!

Wow, that's a brilliant time! It's always a bonus to beat a guy to the line 😄

Well done emummy. Always enjoy a race across the line (especially at Parkrun) .

Kitty my fastest 10k was 55 mins and so realistically with my current fitness I am aiming for under an hour. The course is flat and hopefully we won't have gale force winds like last year.

Maid thanks for posting your speeds- think I am still trying to run too fast on my 'longer' training runs.
have a good week everyone

Two
I really tried today on a slow run, made a slow playlist and everything. Felt like I couldn't pull it anymore. km splits between 5:42 and 6:45 (6:30 target). It's better than I've had before, where I couldn't rein it back slower than 6km splits.

I need to think about how I run.

Maid I'm no we're near as quick as you but I also find it hard to run as slowly as I should for long runs.

My comfortable pace is 10.45min miles, race pace is about 10.30 atm so my slow runs should be 11-11.30min miles. The only way I can hit those times is running very hilly courses.

I've been trying the effort running rather than pace now. I like the idea of being able to hold a conversation easily at long run pace, I make a point of greeting people I pass to be able to judge that.

Is effort running going along at your natural, comfortable pace? I think I might make a concerted effort to not look at my tracker on my next long run, just to see where I fall (predict around 6 min km for 15k). I've made a promise to myself to not get too competitive over my time on this marathon, so running to a pace isn't necessary. But I am a numbers geek!

Oh, I bought some shiny new running shoes. Asics Gel Nimbus 18. They are like running on cushions - fab fab fab.

Very impressed with all your times- running slowly is not a problem for me, sometimes think I might go quicker if I walk I've not yet managed to run quicker than a 6km split, even on short runs.

I've been looking at training plans, and am contemplating designing my own. The beginner plan in the magazine looks too easy in the early weeks but then progresses extremely quickly in the latter weeks (I'm a total amateur at this so correct me if I'm wrong!). But other plans need four or more runs a week which I can't fit around work. I have a half booked late February (my first) so was hoping to get long runs to 10 miles by the end of the year (currently at 8) then maybe aim for 14 by mid February. I also like the idea of dropping training back every 3-4 weeks before progressing further.

I have done 90 min long runs last week and today; 25 min run/5 min walk (times 3) last week, 26 min run/4 min walk today. Today was exactly 13k, average pace 6'51, fastest split 6'18. I don't feel ready to increase the distance yet so was thinking of doing 27/3 run/walk next week then after that maybe going back to 5 min walks but increasing distance to 10 miles. Does this sound sensible? It definitely doesn't feel easy or fluent though, and I certainly could not of held a conversation!

And I think I need to invest in some shiny new trainers too...going to head to a running shop on Friday and get proper gait analysis.

Random question but can anyone reccomend some good socks for running? Feet are rubbing a bit on long runs and I think will start to blister if I go any further!

Maid effort running is based on how much you can speak/% effort. So easy long runs at 60% so you can happily chat away to a friend, steady around 70% so you can talk but laboured, tempo is around 80% so you can just about get a sentence out at effort, hard 90% can just about speak a word or 2.

I had my gait done and bought new shoes a while ago and it has made running so much better. I'm so much more comfortable! I wear fox socks (I think) which are good but warm, think I need some thinner ones for when it gets a bit warmer.