I’ve done Frankfurt. As YKK says, it is potentially quick (WR was broken on the day I ran it) but pretty soulless. I didn’t do well and managed to run every mile slower than the one before and had a very miserable day. Not very bothered about going back. It was easy to get to and close to the station (500m) so we stayed outside Frankfurt and got the train in on the morning.
Training has been going well for me. Managed my biggest run week outside of racing last week with nearly 90 miles in the bank. Included a 25 mile (easy effort) run before parkrun on Saturday which was interesting as I didn’t find an open shop until 22 miles in and had no supplies other than water when setting out.
So volume is good and now hoping to start gaining some speed. 2 speed sessions a week planned (+ parkrun when possible) - Tuesdays session is 10x500m with 1min rest and Thursdays is 5x1000m with 1 min rest. Currently, I dread these sessions as I am rubbish at them and don’t like running so hard but realize they are key sessions for me. Hoping these sessions plus the good volume will mean my average speed starts dropping over the next few weeks. MP runs will be introduced from 4-6 weeks out
No!!! Four 20+ mile runs in the next seven weeks
Miles per week are as below;
35 45 55 27
38 49 60 30
Final week:15 + Chester Mara
I’m counting Outlaw as one of my long runs, but looking at doing four more in weeks 2 and 3 of the above cycle.
I managed 27km at M-Pace there.
Just need to hold that for another hour
(It sounds so simple)
Why not do more long runs? You’ve obviously got the speed already so surely more endurance training would be beneficial.
I am impressed about being so specific about what you’re going to do in terms of weekly mileage. I just can’t guarantee I can make any session so just have a rough idea of what I’d like to do in a week and if I manage 60% of it then I’m happy. That’s why last week was a big week for me as I only missed 1 session.
Yeah that’s my approach now as well. I have a rough plan in my head, but it has to flex around how I’m feeling and generalife stuff. It also takes away the stress of falling behind ‘the plan’.
I’ve found that after many years of endurance stuff now I’m confident in knowing my body much better. I know when I need rest and I know when I’m just being soft!
I’ve also found when looking at training history that without even thinking about it I almost always have a lower volume every 4th week. I assume my body/mind need a break at this point and I automatically adjust
Ended-up being quite a positive split then! Would you recommend the 4% for a wet marathon with mud and puddles? (the pics I saw it looked pretty crap on the path, and very water logged in places)
Yes. I’ve abandoned the 70/30 split, as I wasn’t getting injured (hamstring is now dodgy from that tumble) and I know I need more long runs.
Triathlete based training hasn’t worked in the past and I’m now happy to let my bike and swim slide, as I know I can drag them back up in six month to be at the pointy(ish) end.
Those numbers are sketched out.
I’m happy to let it slide.
Since coming back, I’m much more relaxed and that’s (I feel) contributing to faster times, even though I’m
8-10kg heavier.
The 4% are a terrible cross country shoe.
Felt great around the lake and I’d happily run in the wet in them. They never felt waterlogged to me?
Though the lake has good drainage and is quite rough concrete/tarmac.
I meant the shoes, to what the pro runners were saying and what prompted the change in material.
Yes.
That path was atrocious.
It was that chalky type of gravel (the hardpacked yellow stuff) then the grass at the sides wasn’t much better.
It was certainly “an experience”
I’m out for this year
Just too tired and the legs aren’t playing ball again yet.
There is no way I am going to recover enough to hit my target for October - I just won’t be able to get the long runs in and will end up injuring myself.
That sucks dude. What date were you planning on running? Why not take a few weeks off and just come back with a more gentle build and see how you feel - without a weekly training plan. If things are going well you could always look for a race in December.
I don’t know where I’m at yet fitness wise. I am hoping some speed will turn up at some stage. Struggled again at parkrun on Saturday, with legs feeling so slow. At least I was finally able to run 3 miles at sub-3 pace. Just couldn’t go any faster.
But today, managed 6 miles at sub-3 pace and this felt comfy - in terms of HR. But again, I couldn’t have run any faster but just felt I could keep it up for longer. I could have kept going at this pace for a bit longer. Still just ticking away until the end of August before proper training starts though so not fussed yet.
You’ll be ok Poet… your run on strava the other day didnt look like someone who was ready to throw in the towel. Maybe just adjust the target slightly ?
Into week 9 of 18 for me which should see me hit 72km. Had my first ‘knock’ on sunday when i struggled to hold marathon pace on the 2nd 5km section of 3 planned at MP during my 20 miler. Ended up struggling a bit and cutting short at 17.5 miles having only managed 7.5 k in there at MP. I was tired from a hard week in work, not enough sleep etc and knew i’d struggle…
Cut to 2 days later, still with sore legs, and i ran 8x800 at the track at pretty much pb paces, a 2m40s and 2 x 2m45s 800s in there and average rep pace at 3.30/km
At least my 5km time should be improving…
Cheers, but I’m still f00ked.
Took Tuesday off to recover from that
Plus, that’s was in my older 4%. Just to reaffirm how much easier it is in them over the FKs.
We will see, but at the minute, I have little motivation to get out and feel tired a lot.
I don’t think this weather helps with motivation and tiredness!
I think the changable conditions plays tricks on your brain and when it starts to cool down your body wants to go into hibernation mode.
Thats my excuse anyway
Training seems to have gone backwards for me in the last week. Felt knackered at the weekend and didn’t do anything and this week have struggled with easy pace runs.
However, a friend of mine wants company for a long training run on the Norfolk Coast Path this weekend so it’ll be good to get a big distance in and run with some company. He’s a seriously good ultra runner so I hope I don’t hold him up when I get miserable in the middle of the night. Hope to recover well and be more enthusiastic next week
I know I am going to regret this, but entered Lucerne Marathon at the end of October, It will be my third stand alone Marathon. I did 3:08 earlier this year, so aiming for sub 3 hour.
This just tells me that I am ‘not good enough’ (is there a tri acronym for that situation?!).
I’d like to be able to run sub 3, or thereabouts, as it would put me the ball park for a sub 10 IM.
But I reckon the fastest I would ever have been able to do (based on training runs blah blah) might be sub 3.15.
More importantly, speeds that start with a 3 in the min/km are solely for efforts of less than a KM for me and I’ve never really been able to change that. (I’ve run a 39.4x 10km once, a long time ago at the peak of my historical running speed)
If I solely focused on large running volume I can imagine it would become some kind of inverse wack-a-mole, where my swim and bike would dramatically fall off.
(the pics I saw it looked pretty crap on the path, and very water logged in places)
