Tag Archives: Training plan

British10k only 3 days away – last minute preparation time

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Less than 72 hours to go until the race on Sunday!

Training pretty much all done.  Not too worried about the distance, it’s more doing it in a good time and with 25,000 other people running, not being caught up in the pack and my starting pace not what I want.  Want to get sub-45 minutes which I know I can do.  Sub-44 even better and race day adrenaline might get me there.

The race starts at 9:35am and it’s a 2km walk to the start from tube / rail drop off.  Not a problem, just need to leave enough time.  Still trying to figure out where Nic and the little Nobles can go to get best views of the runners, with a hope of seeing me!

2 minutes before the start, the Band of Her Majesty’s Lifeguards, will be playing the National Anthem.  A very cool way to start.

Sounds like it’s going to be a busy busy start.  25,000 runners is huge and all on the streets of this great city – closed off again to traffic.

Day of rest today after a 10k training run yesterday.  Was aiming for sub-45 minutes but got hit by a car – nice – when crossing a drive.  Nothing major, all ok, just pushed back a little bit and think the driver was more shook up than me!  Forgot to stop the watch though so it meant about 45 seconds extra on the time.

So what to do in the last 3 days to make sure we’re all ready for the big day…

  1. One last easy training run tomorrow – 48 hours before.
  2. Sort out train and journey times for Sunday morning – it’s an early start.
  3. Figure out where the Noble fans will go and where to meet them after.
  4. Pasta action for the next few nights – carb loading.
  5. Plenty of water – hydration.
  6. Make sure the trusty Garmin watch is fully charged and ready to go.
  7. Drinks and Jelly beans (Jelly Belly of course) for post-race refreshments.

And – the big one – don’t forget the Vaseline (to stop chaffed legs and the deadly runners nipples).  Forgot this a few times over the last few weeks – stupid mistake – and chaffed legs (top of thighs) are back.  Very sore.  Daily moisturising needed to fix it.  Lots of Vaseline needed for Sunday.  Go for Vaseline – not the expensive creams.  See my last blog post on this – “Runners nipples the conclusion – I’ve cracked the problem“.

Wish me luck!

Love this quote from Mo Farah…

Don’t dream of winning, train for it.

10 top running tips

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10 tips from my previous blog posts on how to get the best out of your running…

  1. Always use Vaseline – read more (this helps with the infamous runner’s nipples)
  2. Don’t run on empty – read more
  3. Don’t run when not feeling well – read more
  4. Vary your training and run some hills – read more
  5. Ignore the weather and just run – read more
  6. Do some intervals (run slow and then fast and repeat) – read more
  7. Have a plan – read more
  8. Don’t forget to recover – read more
  9. Be motivated – read more
  10. Set a pace and keep to it – read more

These are tips that I’ve found work very well and help you improve – both speeds and distances covered and they help to keep injuries at bay.

One extra one not mentioned – let’s put in as number 0 – so right at the top, get good shoes!  So so so important and it makes a huge difference.  Go to a specialist running shop – like Sweatshop – and get professional advice.  Try the shoes out, test a few pairs and see which suit you best.  And the blog post about the good shoes tip is here.

These should not have been hard runs. What happened?

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2 very very hard runs this week.  Neither should have been particularly challenging – by the planned distances and paces alone.  8 miles yesterday – should have easily done it in under an hour but pace was all over the place after 1.5 miles in and finished up taking almost 1 hour 10 minutes.  Then 4.5 miles today – intervals – but way slower than normal. One other run this week – on Monday – only 5 miles but good pace and felt good.  So why so slow these last 2?

This is week 2 of the 10k plan.  One run from the 4 planned runs last week was missed – due to my little sister coming to stay with her family.  But wanted to do 3-4 this week and get back on track.  Started off ok on Monday with a good 5 mile run but then 3 days off and late nights and long days on trips – so too long a break between runs.

I picked up a cold on a work trip to London last week, which never helps, and it’s still lingering on the chest a bit.  And also has been passed onto the rest of the family as well.  To top it off, it’s very very hot, and pollen season here in the UK, so hayfever is kicking in.

Add all these together and running (or any other exercise) is going to take a hit.  When I set out yesterday for the 8 miles, I planned a nice easy 7:30 minutes per mile but finished at over 8:30 – rubbish.  Legs were so heavy as well.

Back to the normal plan next week – only 6 weeks to go.  And need to focus on pace and speed work more.

The moral of the story this week…

  1. Don’t leave big gaps between training
  2. Don’t run when sick or set realistic expectations and take it very very very slowly
  3. Come up with a plan on how outdoors to run during the pollen season

Number 3 is in progress and I’m open to all suggestions.  Do you suffer from seasonal ailments like hayfever and how do you train around them?  In previous years it’s not affected my running like this and never in May.

Some pointers that I’ve found to help me before (though not this week):

  • Wear wrap around shades
  • Run in the early morning where possible
  • Stick to roads and avoid parks and grassy areas
  • If you belong to a gym, use a treadmill – air conditioned enclosed spaces a big big plus
  • Rub Vaseline on your nose and up your nostrils – stops pollen particles getting up

Vaseline as a miracle running medicine again – you’ll remember the previous post on sore nipples.

Tempo runs, intervals, Kenyan Hills and threshold runs – it could get complicated

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The 10k training plan is ready!  Research done from ones in magazines like Men’s Running (which conveniently enough this month has a section on 10k training) and some online plans I’ve found.  4 runs per week starting next Monday – my birthday – and lasting for 8 weeks.  244 training miles and 6 and a bit race miles, a nice round 250 in total.

The 4 weekly runs are:

  • Hills
  • Intervals or tempo
  • Long
  • Recovery

With distances building up over the first 5 weeks and then dropping back slightly, and focusing then on the actual 10k distance (and pace).  Again some cross training in there with karate – for core and stretching.  2 sessions of karate a week most weeks, cutting back to one and then none in the last few weeks, focusing more on the running and getting enough rest days in.

Long runs up to 12 miles – nice and easy!  And tempo and interval runs (at threshold level) up to 10 miles.  Again all building up over the first 5 weeks.

Sounds good and again it’s about pace – and this time running at my target pace.  What’s my target pace?  Good question – that’s the next goal to figure out.  The 10k run I did last week was at 7 minutes 14 seconds per mile.  Would like to improve on that.  7 minutes per mile – just under 44 minutes?

A good link here to what the different types of runs are – all these new terms can get a bit confusing.  And these descriptions are care of “full potential” by Keith Anderson (a pretty awesome marathon runner – around 2:17).  Kenyan Hills, Threshold Runs, Long Runs, Fartlek and more all here!

And last but not least the infamous tempo run and a great description from Runner’s World by John Hanc…

This will be fun and challenging.  Just what I like.

The best training plan for 10k?

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A good question.  Having done a fair few 1/2 marathons and now 2 full marathons over the last few years, I know the sort of training you should do for those distances.  And yes how important the long runs are.  But 10k?  That’s just over 6 miles.  Do you need to train for that?  Obviously the answer is yes!  And more so if you want to push yourself and do as well as you can, PB’s and the rest.

8 weeks looks to be a standard training programme length for 10k, so not as long as for the longer distances but a good few months and with some intensive runs in – assuming you want to push yourself.

And all the normal types of training runs should be in there:

  • Long runs – up to say 90 minutes
  • Tempo and interval runs – for speed work
  • Hill runs – I didn’t do too much of this last time so one to add for me
  • Actual 10k runs – the real distance of the race
  • Speed work – just speed work

3-4 runs per week with some cross training thrown in – karate again for me (with a real focus on core work and stretching).  And I’ll get the Swiss Ball out as well to do some more core work at home (and try again to keep up the regular stretching – daily would be good).

Since the London Marathon – just over 2 weeks ago – I’ve done 5 runs:

  • Nice slow and easy one with Nic (Mrs. Noble) – about 4 miles 4 days after
  • 10k – and at a nice pace (managed just under 45 minutes)
  • 8 miles – also at a nice pace (just over 59 minutes)
  • 5.5 miles interval training
  • 5 miles – ok pace (today’s run – struggled for some reason)

Next week the official plan starts and will do 2 more runs this week around 10 miles each.

On a side note, for the interval training I did last week, I ran 1.5 miles warm up, then 6 sets of 1/4 mile fast and 1/4 slow and finished with a mile cool down.  On the 1/4 mile fast section – one of them – I managed a pace of 5 minutes 7 seconds per mile for short distance (just).  And that was hard.  The elite marathon runners – let’s call them supermen from now on – run 26.2 miles at a pace of 4 minutes 35 seconds per mile.  That’s nothing short of super human awesomeness.

I love having a training plan to follow and focus on.  Really does something for me and pushes me on.  For me it’s important to have the plan with the goal to run the race.  Need to get some goals outside of running in place now with Mrs. Noble.  Goals are good!

Do you set goals for yourself outside of any sport activities?  And if you do, how do you do it?  Any tips and tools you have to share?

 

The longest run

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All sorts of theories about how long your longest run should be in your marathon training and 20 miles looks about the normal maximum.  Very very few plans suggest running the full 26.2 miles – at least the plans for the non-professional athletes out there.  I’ve never quite understood why, and surely it’s more about you knowing what your body can do and how much recovery you need.  There’s nothing magical that happens when you cross the 26 miles barrier, and it’s about training your body to cope when you hit the wall and its physiological challenges.

I did a few 20 milers back in my training in 2009 and one 22 miler.  This time round, I wanted to go a bit further – in terms of max. distance – and do less of the long long runs.  Last time round the difference between the longest training run and the actual marathon was huge – both in terms of doing the run, the physical and mental effort to finish and the recovery period.  I’m convinced it was starting off too fast, getting caught up in the buzz at the start, and then hitting the wall at about 18 miles.  Not fun.

So the plan was for 23 miles early this last Saturday morning.  Up at 7am, breakfast and even a small coffee (something I never do before running normally) and out for 8am, and at planned pace of 8:30 to 9:00 minutes per mile.  Good starting pace and managed to hold it for 10 or so miles, before slowing down slightly.  Great route as well – up past Hampton Court Bridge and up the tow path – it just goes on and on.  A bit of rain on the way and no rainproof gear on so got wet.

This is how far 23 miles is…

Good old Garmin battery warning came up just after starting and then it died completely just 0.6 miles from the finish.  Rubbish.  Very frustrating as it normally warns you several times that it’s running out.  A lesson learnt though – make sure it’s fully charged before the long long runs.

The breakfast coffee shot had an effect and I had to have a little stop on route.  But maybe a small coffee could work on marathon day – breakfast normally 2+ hours before, so plenty of time for stops before.  And took an energy drink on the run this time and had a drink every couple of miles ish from about 6 miles in.

The results?  A good finish – even managed to pick up slightly for the last mile and then a nice strong finish for the last 1/4 mile.  Pace about 10% slower than planned marathon pace – which is bang on target.  More energy drinks and some bananas when I got in, and stretching.  Managed karate training on Sunday morning and legs working fine.  Now 2 days after and all good.  The training plan looks like it’s working.

More fast runs and interval training this week with one 1/2 marathon somewhere (and looking for sub-100 minutes this time).

 

London Marathon mileage count

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My 22 week training programme started on 21st November officially – and I’ve been doing 3 or 4 runs per week, plus 1 or 2 karate sessions per week (my cross training).  Up until mid-September my running schedule was 8 x 3.2 mile sessions per week (my commutes) at a slow pace – all the same, nothing pushing me; not great.

As of today the marathon training total is just under 368 miles, an average of 28 miles per week.  By a complete fluke, my total for the same period back in 2009 was virtually the same – literally to within a mile or 2.  Very different plans – far more focused on quality runs this time, and less just on mileage.

Longer run breakdown so far:

  • 1 x 18 miles
  • 1 x 17 miles
  • 1 x 16 miles
  • 1 x 13.1 miles
  • 1 x 12 miles
  • 1 x 11 miles
  • 10 x 10 miles

And my favourite distance is 10 miles – by a mile!