First road marathon

[Penguin]

Ta for that Chris. I usually stick with Adidas for trail shoes etc since they fit my wide, (relatively) short feet! But I'm open to trying another brand so will put these on the list.

..and change your shoes after 500-600 miles!! (Road)

[jodg]

Good advice - I have tears in both my pairs of current shoes. Wisely invested in a new pair of Inov8s the other week, prior to coming up with the idea to run the Snowdonia marathon. Doh!

Will have to raid the piggy bank again.....is there much benefit to be had in going for the dearer running shoes? I know they're all much of a muchness, but is it worth spending £100 when £60 will do?

[bestathlete]

Mr A Injured
Thats a super marathon training schedule you've proposed there, simply set out and easy to implement to an individuals ability. Nice one.

[Epocian]

If you're an Adidas fan (I am) try looking at the Adizero KAHA I've found it brilliant - very light but giving me lots of cushioning
http://www.bournesports.com/Public/A...Kaha/12119.htm

[alwaysinjured]

Always Injured,

I like the sound of your training plan - I think it could work for me.

I ran London and missed my target by just over 2 mins so have entered Amsterdam in October looking for a sub 2:45.

Could you tell me what sort of time your plan gave you?

Thanks

MH

Hi -

Clearly actual times are as much about genetics and body build - I am not built for speed ( or running for that matter), my son is an elite hammer and discus thrower to give you an idea! - and I only have to think about cream cakes to put on 3lb, I dont actually have to see one, or eat it!

But my fastest times were just over 2.50 - a couple of years I was in shape to go under 2.50, but a ruptured ligament, high temperatures , work and other things meant I never managed it:

What I can say is that when I changed from the oft quoted diet of lots of miles with just a couple of quick sessions, to that essential diet of the four key runs knocked 15-20 minutes off in one season after my times had already plateaued for 18 months,

I noticed from people around training for the same events - that the worst thing you can do is a long run at 15-30 sec over marathon pace: because it trains your body to do the wrong things when you get tired, and run at a pace which wont get you there, but if you increase it it starts feeling hard. So I reckon it is important to make sure your long run is just that! Long but well slower than marathon pace, so your body doesnt learn something wrong.

The semi long run isnt my idea, it is there in the training schedules of a lot of the worlds historic great marathon runners. And training your body to go a tad too quick, combined with tapering means you get a good sense of "holding back" till 15 miles rather than pushing it, which is what happens if you only do one long run 10-15 secs slower than marathon pace.

With the interval session, I tried all sorts of things: I found mile reps were too long to concentrate on 6* mile, and the workout left me too knackered - where I found it hard to keep focussed on the middle reps of 12* half mile, so thats how I got to 9- or 10*K which is a really good workout for setting 10mile to 1/2m PBs

Finally the pace run is interesting: I found a 6 mile pace run worked well the day after the intervals!- Used to feel effortless and generally not too far off the pace from the night before - but remember the intervals were controlled pace, they werent the fastest I could do and delibately not!

So the whole program that worked best for me was:

M rest
T hill sprints - 1 warm up, 3 sprint/jog , 1 warm down total 5
W semi long 10 building to 17 , faster than M
T rest
F intervals build to 10*K, 0.5 K jog recovery = 10M total
S pace run 6 -8 mi
SU long run build to 21 or LDWA pref Off road.

Paces at my best were
semi long - 6.25 pace.
intervals, pace run - around 6.00 pace depending on number, distance.
long run 7.30-8 pace.


On race weeks, take sat off before race sun, and if going for a time reduce reps to 6-7 on fri.

Even still that is over 60 miles in the highest weeks, with 2 days off.

But that worked for me, and everyone is different.

[Epocian]

Reference my post on the Adizero I notice that Start Fitness have got some on offer at £40.58 if you take any of the following sizes 7.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 11.5, 12
http://www.startfitness.co.uk/acatal...ghtweight.html

[bestathlete]

Again, an excellent explanation of your training week.

Personally I like to run 'long' ever second weekend because i build up to eventually go over distance (26,28 and 30) and this would be too much for me to run every week.

For my Autumn marathon I will be experimenting a bit more, with a proper (slow) long run every fortnight and the other weekend doing a run of about 10 miles less.

I don't do hillreps but every two weeks I do 200s and 400s at the track. This is because I believe if you want to run fast in a marathon you need to be able to run fast at every distance.

[Mountain Hare]

Yep,

Really thorough explanation AlwaysInjured - I will definately give it a go for Amsterdam this October. I am after a sub 2:45 so the pacing won't need altering much. It even fits in with my normal rest days - Monday and Thursday - perfect!

Thanks again

MH

[Wylie Coyote]

One of my favourite topics for discussion: I've done a few marathons, never done any training so get between 3:15 and 3:30 every time. (the lack of training is not intentional)
I want to do a faster marathon this autumn and have decided to put in some proper training.

1) The Long Run - as a fell runner we are always doing long runs, I feel I don't need to train to be on my feet for the duration but I do need to train myself to run on the roads consistently for 26. I thought if I did all my long runs (15 - 20 miles) at a pace equal to that of my marathon target it would teach my body to run at that speed. As an experienced distance runner what would I gain by running them slowly?

2) Hill Reps - Paul Tergat reckons that you need to run hills in order to get strong legs and further more that if you run on the flat you get weak legs!

3) Flat intervals - As previous mention I reckon a varied approach but always at a fast pace, teaching your body to un fast over different distances. If my body can sustain a few 5:30 minute mile intervals then it should find 26 lots of 6:30 a piece of piss!

4) Mid length Session - Faster than 1/2 marathon pace (shorter than 1/2 marathon distance 5- 10 miles.

That's an absolute maximum of 4 sessions a week, but each one hard.

Do you think this is realistic, is it flawed and if so in what way. Training starts 2nd week in June but gets interrupted for 4 weeks in the summer by accursed holidays, mind you I will be running the Sierre-Zinal race in Switzerland which is probably as hard as any marathon over here.

[bestathlete]

Mountain Hare
I hope you enjoy Amsterdam marathon, I ran it last year. You should have no trouble getting to start very near the front. Crowds aren't huge except for around the stadium (to which you return after about 6miles). The long leg South can seem a bit of a drag, especially when you see the leaders across the canal from you running North and you cant even see the bridge crossing.

I am going to run Dublin marathon a couple of weeks later than Amsterdam. Hopefully around a similar pace to you. Windermere marathon in two weeks time should give an indication of where I'm currently at fitness-wise.