Marathon Plan

Hi all,
Strange place to put a Marathon training plan, a sprinting site - but some have asked to see how i plan to attack this event.

Background - 800m - 1min51s - a solid 13yrs ago
- 1500m - 4:04 - On grass 13yrs ago - potentially went faster in a 5km road race last month - but pulled out at 2km…
- 8km - 24min 40 - again 13-14yrs old

Current times - 10km - 35:06 - Very Hot and slow course
- 20km - 1hr 25min - Hot but really only a jog
-Half Marathon - 1hr 27min - Woke up that day with a head cold, so pretty slow.

Goal race - Gold Coast Marathon - normally the end of June, start of July (Winter here)

Current weather - 1st month of Summer

Current condition - Struggling with the Heat - can run ok when ready, but running Everyday is a struggle simply from trying to re-hydrate from the last run workout. Looking to hopefully adapt to the heat in the next couple of weeks, and in January start running every Day.

Current Goals - Adapt to heat
- Adapt to LONG runs - One 2+HR run each wkend and 2 x 1.5hr runs during the weekdays. (these one could include some circuit session which can total up to 8km or so)

Max Heart rate - 183
Lactate Threshold - 156 (last tested in Feb this yr)
Resting HR -43 (it’s been 6months since i last tested)

As from Tue the 6th
8km of Circuits - 45min rest, then 11.1km in 47.21 with Avg hr of 151

Wed - off

Thurs - 20km in 1hr 25min - avg Heart rate 144

Fri - 5km of circuits - suffering from Thurs - avg HR 122

Sat - Warm up jog 5min

Sun - Off - Rain

Mon - 10.22km avg HR 152 - avg temp 32Deg C - The 8.16km of circuits in 46min, 150HR, Avg Temp 29dec C. Then 5.24km jog Avg HR 144

Tue - Lots of foamrolling - pretty dehydrated - worked including travel time, 15hr day.

Wed - 3km of Tempo runs, avg HR 116 - Max 146. So pretty easy going.
Then 14.66km - HR avg 148 - time 1hr 02min
Tried to keep to the grass for the 1st 10km as much as possible - might be slower, but much more forgiving to the joints. the last 5km was pretty flat, on smooth asphalt and holding 15km/hr at 149-151 Heart rate was pretty easy going and recovered pretty quick once finished.

Thurs - planned on an evening 10-14km - it’s looking pretty wet - might just go and foam-roll and do some extra KM’s tmr morning.

Good to see and worth following. Worth noting that while the race will be winter it will be what, around high teen C’s so low to mid 60F.

I know you told me but, what are you using for the HR and distance?

Interesting that it appears hydration is currently one of the major issues for you.

Hi John
The following, from the website of the Marathon
Fast, flat and scenic course: The marathon course runs next to the Gold Coast’s surf beaches and broadwater and has a reputation as a great course to set a personal best time.
Awesome running conditions: The weather conditions in July on the Gold Coast are traditionally great for running – low humidity, little or no wind in the morning with temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 degrees Celsius.

Heart rate monitor = Polar Rs800CX with Foot Pod.

Also to note - during long runs, no Carbs are to be eaten until the run has finished - and only Low GI foods before - this is to teach the body to utilize Fats as an energy and build up the carb holding ability of the muscles - so you can store more carbs. This is only during Training runs - races require carb drinks (and a couple of wks before race to adapt to the carb loading) You can get pretty hungry by the end of a long session. I’m also going to Treble my Magnesium drinks volume during Hot long run days to keep hydration up - zero carb for the runs, and carb versions for Afterwards. At least until i adapt better to the heat.

Fri Morning - rained again - so foamrolled some more, esp calfs and Hips, they were very tight. Should get a chance for a 10km or so this arvo.
Goal sat morning - 2hrs run - so around 28km?

Fri - ended up sleeping instead of running…

Saturday - Long run, 1hr 45min - 23.6km. Stopped about 4-5km short of target - ran out of steam :slight_smile:

Sunday - 10km very easy recovery run - joints starting to feel stiff and sore, hips, knees and feet.

Monday - Off day.

Tuesday - 6.2km of Tempo with exercises - total time, 44min. Very stiff in the 1st 1km

Plan for the rest of the week = De-load till Fri - only 5-10km runs till Fri. Reduce the stress on the joints/feet. Then if all going good - a solid 2hrs on Saturday.
The Heat has been bearable the last 10days - clouds keeping it cool - but very muggy.
Adapting to the Heat - but now suffering from the Jarring effects. New shoes Monday - and ordered another Pair today which with all the holidays, probably wont arrive till Mid Janurary… but that’s ok.

Hi Bold, good luck. So what’s your target time?

How have things been going?

FYI seeing how much foam roller stuff you were doing inspired me to drag mine out again which has really helped and made me realize I need to continue with it all the time.

Sorry guys. I have posted a couple of times but forum updates prevented uploading.
Steff, A goal = sub 2hr 30min
B goal = sub 2hrs 40
C goal = sub 2hrs 45

The 10days around Christmas n new yr was a good rest and chance to relieve some annoying leg pains. No long runs, just a trott every 2nd day.

Lost my heart monitor due to band breakage :frowning: Not happy about that.

This week so far.
Monday 17km run. Had no idea of pace but knew roughly where 10km was, mapmyrun.com confirmed. Pretty much 40min at 10km and it felt a solid couple minutes slower. So nice surprise.
finished the last 7km a bit slower (dehydration setting in I guess) but still ran 1hr12min total.

Tue - outdoor circuit. Typically around 6-8km total with abs, push ups, dips and shoulder presses. It’s similar to doing say a Tempo workout. Pretty big day at work also.

Also, got in touch with a Lydiard coach from NZ who is also a Naturpath. Says I might have Adrenal Fatigue from years of training. As a result, have started to include Pink Himalayan Salt to diet (source of many minerals) and also reducing most carbs except for fruit n veggies and upping oils n protein.

Wednesday. 45min workout just like Tue except for doing abs we did a bunch of shoulder work. Approx 6km?
Then just under 10km run home. Was very hungry by last 5km and legs were pretty heavy by end (goal achieved) This is working the Energy system in teaching it to burn fats vs carbs.

This is 3 days in a row now with a decent workout. I think the new diet is working as feelings of dehydration seen far less.

Thursday
Easy Tempo day - 30min all up including situps in-between
Had a small hammie and calf massage earlier on and hopefully will have some time for a basic foamroll later on.
Lets feeling a bit tight today - so just an easy one with plenty of therapy.

So far, 4hrs training this week - so looking good

Friday.
45min total.
4*60m EFE with 300m jog recovery’s.
Ab tempo circuit

Later in day, full leg self massage. Now upperbody wants one…

So far week to date, 4hrs 45min.

Interesting story about training for a marathon.
A day in July a few years ago I was approached by a young female who was selected to train for the NY city Marathon in the first week of November. ( it’s a lottery to get to run in this race) She went to her doctor to ask him what he thought and he said, " you have to go and see Ange".
She had a strong athletic background from highschool sports but her training had never been methodical. She was still fininshing her undergraduate work when we met.
The time frame was tight ( less than 4 months to race day) and there were two serious issues she faced = One, she needed to loose at least 20 pounds and two, her lifestyle meant reduced supervised training and therapy.
I suggested pool as a large aspect of her training. She appeared interested.
Her goal was to tackle this event in a respectable time.
I showed her the official NY marathon website programs and explained that large the volumes of running are problematic with a very short prep phase. ( I might argue they are unrealistic for most for a variety of reasons but for the sake of this story we will not get into this)
I had her in the pool as much as possible. I got her as fit as she could tolerate and carefully guided her in one long run a week maybe two depending on what the distance was. Another
noteable item changed to to make sure the last long run was far enough away from the event that she would be ready to feel great come race day. ( at least 10 days out to unload)
An interesting fact = She did her last long run in October with a male friend who was following the official NYCity Marathon web site training volumes. When I asked her how it went she smiled and said " I kicked his butt. I never knew the pool could make such a difference".

Amazing. Ange,you’ve been too quiet too long.

Thanks Angela - I noticed in the Jane project there was Pool work, and it reminded me of when i used to do it some 12 years ago. So I’ll be sure to use it as much as one can - esp in the heat, it’s the middle of summer here. Getting access to water is ok for half the week, and a struggle for the other half.

Side note - Himalayan Salt is working wonders. There are not too many things that I can take and really notice the effects. ZMA is one, and this Salt is another. Fantastic stuff. Esp during summer here, so much sweating.

Saturday - had a heap of family arrive for my Nans 90th party - and just ran out of time to train.

Sunday - 1.5hr run - was going fantastic, was pretty hot but bearable for the 1st 65min - then the Shade disappeared… what an absolute shocker. Was hoping to rip out another 30min once i got back, but noway - not in that heat.
Lucky where we stayed there was a Pool - so managed to knock out 10min of pool running before we got kicked out (10am have to hand keys back)
How good is pool running after a Hot and long run!! Really relaxes the muscles and feet and joints. I need a pool at home :slight_smile:

Total weekly time - 6hrs 25min (my best week yet)

Monday - easy day to follow the long run from Sunday - so 30min of run - water run - run - water run - run. Done bare foot, at a beach.
Today was the Hottest day we have had so far, and the beach was fantastic.
Beach running though, might need some Vibram 5 finger “shoes” to avoid the anchors, shells, rocks and so forth. Cuts on the feet are not very conductive to lots of training.

Tue
Half hr of foam rolling and self massage - hips very tight - but loosened up nicely

  • 55min training. 14min warm up
    Circuit training, run - Upper body - run - lower body - run - abs - repeat for 41min
    Finish with stretching

Very steamy this morning, even at 6-7am - incredibly hot

so you did the foam roll pre run? you doing much else as a warm up?

For sure - sometimes i started a run, and was hitting the ground that hard and felt that slow, i turned around withing a few hundred meters and foamrolled for half hr instead. After which, i would run like i was floating on clouds…
My goal this morning was to run for 30min before training started, but i could feel things were pretty tight, foamroll and massage was great. Ended up a good workout.

For workout days - or circuit days - a 1km jog, then leg swings, drills and run through s until everything is flowing nicely. On normal say 1hr or 1.5hr runs - just a slow 1st 1km and i’m right. And normally before i run, a quick loosen up of hips and calfs for 5min is normally enough.

Wednesday - Another hot day, felt like we were training in a fan forced oven…
60min of trying to keep the shade running and Circuit
Circuit - 10 reps Upper body
Lower body
Core
Then run 700m around the park
Keep repeating for 60min.

Had to stop a couple of times just to cool off. But all went well otherwise.

Thursday
No where near as hot today :slight_smile:
Got some Beach Shoes (basically a rubber glove) - so 1hr of beach running and deep water running. Approx 50/50%
Wanted to do 1.5hrs worth but, well, need some Skins under the shorts next time - ouch…

total time, week to date, 3hrs 25min