Marathon Plan

//youtu.be/4zrOQ8aQyI4

This is where i ran yesterday

Saturday, 10km hilly run, I think a pb by 1min, keeping heart rate under control and trying not to enter La+ which is hard on some of the hills, i think it went ever so slightly over on a couple of hills. Time, 39:09. Avg hr =84% and avg cadence is 85 which is pretty good for me over that type of speed.

This was followed by about 8 200’s on a grass padock, in around 38sec avg, which was a touch slow, but ok. This was followed by running circuits for 60min.

Total daily km was 19.3km.
Total time, 2hrs

Sunday, 4:22km recovery run. 19:26min, avg hr 130 or 71% avg speed 13km hr.
Nice and cool day, felt good running.
Was a big day building flat pack furniture all day!Back was sore as a result.

Monday,
Back even more sore…
10km run, avg hr 1152 or 83%, so not very hard.
time, 40:15minWas nice n cool into the breeze on the way out, but hot as on the way back with the wind. Tried to keep the pace nice and consistent.
Was pretty tight from two days of of building flatpack stuff… time to foamroll.

Tuesday,
52min of running circuits,
Ran 9km
avg hr 74% or 136
Max hr 90% or 165

even though foamrolled last night, there is still a bit of left over tightness from Sunday. I should be able to attack it some more today.
Pretty crap sleep last night for some reason? Normally i sleep like a log.
I noticed on Fri after running in the rain, that my joggers are worn out, the foam has completly gone in them. I have spare Average quality shoes ill use untill the new ones arrive (from wiggle) Asics, Kayano 18 Best shoe for distance work by a long long way!

Wednesday
22 x 200’s on a 60sec cycle - avg speed 36sec - Max hr 89% or 162, typically in the 20odd sec in waiting for the next rep, HR would drop roughly 10beats.

This was followed by Running circuits for 55min - max hr of 159

All up, 1.5hrs worth - and 13.5km

Thurs
Day off

Fri
Very hard 14min challenge involving around 3.5km of running and other exercises. Heart rate peaked at 172 - that’s 7 higher than previous This years highest. Still 11 beats off what the max i have seen (now 3yrs ago)
All up, 5.43km and 38min of training in the morning.

PM - 4km of recovery running - 19:32min and avg heart rate 126

As of Fri - 4hrs of training this week

Sat, 7km in 32:50.
Recovery run, avg hr 70% or 129
avg speed, 12.8km/hr
running index 82 - this is by and far the highest index i have ever achieved. The cooler weather is certainly helping. The higher the Index the better.

Sun
Day off, very fatigued day.

Monday Was a rather hot afternoon
Recovery run with a hard 1km towards the end as i got caught up chasing some dude who was doing intervals, just to see what sort of pace he was doing… (about 3min per km)
6km
avg hr 143 max hr 166 avg speed 14km/hr
running index 69

Tue
Ended up being a super HOT day (a heat wave it seems has hit a lot of Australia) but they do recon a cold front is on it’s way!???

Plan was for a 10km run to a park, do a few 200’s until the guys turn up, then do an Hr of running circuits.
After only 3km of run, i was struggling due to heat, after 5km the sun was smashing me!
AFter the 10km run, that was it - game over for the day.

But - I do have some Q’s for myself and You guys
1st Reason for doing Marathon - It’s part of an Aerobic Base building for some Fast 3km - 10km races later in the year.
1st Marathon = Gold Coast (one of the biggest marathons in Aust) Date = 1st July - Making the top 10 would be insane, making the top 50 should be well within what i could do. A top 10 would be possible at some stage - but it’s hard to say. It’s a very Flat course, and Fast.

2nd Marathon = 5th August - A brisbane based run, that potentially may not have a full marathon - they are asking for those interested before committing. From what i have seen Brisbane based guys, or Qld based guys for that matter, also being only 1 month from Gold Coast, then really Top guys wont go hard in this or wont do it. It will include hills, so will be slower than Gold Coast. But it is One month later

3rd Marathon = August 26th - Sunshine Coast - A good chance of Being in the top few - Course will be dead flat in areas, and Very hilly in other areas. So wont be as fast as Gold Coast.

There doesn’t appear any prize moneys for Brisbane or Sunshine coast, if they do, it’ll be small. A Top 10 at Gold coast wont get any $$ either - So racing for Cash in these events is useless - But a good time and the Aerobic endurance will be used for fast times for shorter events that attract Cash.

The shorter events

6th May - Half marathon with Prize $$.

11th June - 18.5km, race the Rattler (it’s an old steam train) Avg pace is about 17km/hr for the train - but it is hilly. Not sure about $$ but would be a good run race.

22nd July - Pomona king of the mountain - It’s been won by a guy like 6 times in a row. And the winner gets a paid trip to New Zealand to run a mountain race over there! That’s pretty cool

5th Aug - a 15km run with decent price $$ - attracts a decent field as a result.

19th Aug - a 3 or a 8km race with decent prize $$ - the 8km winner is pretty fast over the last 2yrs, and i can 2nd in the 3km by 3sec last year. The winner of the 3km gets more than 3rd in the 8km. Plus i would like to smash out a really fast 3km time (it does have a big hill in the middle, the hill is where i lost it last year)

27 Oct - the mountain race in New zealand, Kawera - the prize event if one wins the race on 22nd July

31-4th Nov - a 5km road race that is the Fastest road race in Aust. Plus maybe a 10km run the next day as part of a Triathlon team.

I think the 2nd and 3rd marathons are out of the Q - too close to other better events that attract Cash prizes.
I could do the Half marathon in May then the Full marathon in end of June - but then i wouldnt do the Race against the Train on the 11th June.

If i wanted to race the Train - I would do the Half marathon as my Longest race for the year and Not do a full Marathon.

Thoughts?

1st Reason for doing Marathon - It’s part of an Aerobic Base building for some Fast 3km - 10km races later in the year. hmm ok, but why a full and not 1/2?

1st Marathon = Gold Coast (one of the biggest marathons in Aust) Date = 1st July - Making the top 10 would be insane, making the top 50 should be well within what i could do. A top 10 would be possible at some stage - but it’s hard to say. It’s a very Flat course, and Fast. Aiming for top 10 first time up is a BIG call. The perils of marathons even for the experienced are well known. Maybe finish and see what happens may be a better, even if more conservative option.

I think the 2nd and 3rd marathons are out of the Q - too close to other better events that attract Cash prizes. agree

how important is racing the train to you?

Thanks John
Re- racing the train - You’re right. I might just use the 1/2 Marathons as a training session. I have done 29km in training this year - might as well do it in a race eh?

Last week
Thurs - off

Fri - 53min of running circuits (easy)

Sat - 4km easy - then a 5km Hard hit out in 17min (not time trail pace) - then 3km easy

Sun - Off

Mon - 5km easy recovery run

Tue - off

Wed -
3km Time trail - in training joggers - into a strong 20-30km/hr head wind on the road.
Tried to keep it even without going out too hard.
9min 51sec
Heart rate only got to 167

Max heart rate recorded in the last 3 yrs is 183 - and that was 3yrs ago.
I have had it to 174 over the last couple of weeks - Im sure it can go somewhat higher

I’m sure it can go sub 9min min soon.

Also ran another 2km to wind down, then another 30min of running circuits at the park.

Just did a google seach, and found that 1mile handicapt race - it’s in 3.5wks time. Or 2 weeks after my 10km - the 5th of May - this is the day before a Half Marathon - so i think it’s out of the Q.

Just realized, that 3km TT - was 17sec quicker in same shoes (same type - heavy trainers) than in Aug last year.
With a max HR of 175 and Avg of 166

If i also remember - i was swimming in a pool of La+ and H+ ions real bad… Whereas this time, it just hurt (esp the cooler drier air in the lungs, seemed to burn?)

Thur - off - foamrolled

Fri - 10min on the spin bike, then 42min of running circuits, 7.2km all up. Nothing too hard.

Sat - 1hr Time trial - 15.9km. Hr avg, 158 - max 168 (max was in the last 500m) typically avg 162ish after the 1st 10min
Lungs were hurting after 12km till about 14km - sort of felt cramping?? weird. Otherwise, the pace was pretty consistent the entire way, 8km in 29:50 and the 2nd 7.9km in 30:10.
Even though it’s cooled off - there was rain about and therefore high humidity, so still lost 1.5kg of sweat in the HR.

1week to go before 1st 10km race of the season.

apologies as we have discussed this before, but do you us HR as a fitness monitor (compare afterwards) or pace monitor (during session), or both?

I know that lung thing, bloody sore and in my case more lower throat. Can’t believe you haven’t had it before, often it is cold weather related.

Depends on what the Plan calls for.
That run, was trying to keep to 16/km/hr - and just see what the heart does.

Other runs, esp recovery runs, are to keep the HR down.
Runs that are for base training, are to keep the HR UNDER La+ at all times (a couple of sec here and there due to road conditions…) But yeah, there are deff runs that are done watching the HR instead of speed or whatever else. This makes training easier to recover from, and allows for more volume.

Re- lung thing - I have had the burning throat thing from cold - i think i have had the crampy lung thing before, but - not for such a long period of time (in terms of time eg months or yrs, and in terms of time eg During a 1hr run, or Time Trial - if it was during a normal training run, i would have stopped for a minute or two…)

Sunday -
21min easy recovery run or 3.8km
then 35min of Running Circuits - 4.2km

Total for the week - 4hrs 11min
2 x time trails
2 x days off

Mon - off - lots of foamrolling, legs very stiff
Tue - 20min of easy jogging, more foamrolling, legs still very stiff (new areas, not same as yesterday)
Wed - warm up, then 3km of run at race pace (18km/hr) then jog (12-14km/hr) around a park, North/South runs were Race pace, East/West were Jogs. Felt really good at the end.
Thurs - Off

New mattress arrived Wed - for when i’m away from home working (typically 2 nights a week). The old one was very bad…
Two nights in a row i have used it, and this morning, woke up feeling Awake! First time in ages, Months, maybe 6 months.

1st race of the season is this Sunday. 10km as part of a team Triathlon.

Up coming Races and Training Plan

Training Plan (after this weekends race)
Base for 2 x months
Hills for 1 x month
Intervals for 8 wks
Hold racing form for 1.5 - 2 months

Racing Plan
6th May - Half marathon Falls in Base
11th June - 18.5km Falls in Base
1st July - either half or full marathon?? Falls in Base - Next week is start of Hills
15th July - 21k or 10k? Falls in Hills
22nd July - king of mountain (about 25min) Falls in Hills
29th july - 5,10 or 21k Start of Intervals / La+ workouts
5th Aug - 15km Falls in Intervals
19th Aug - 3km Falls in Intervals
26th Aug - 5km Falls in Intervals
2nd Sept - 5km Falls in intervals
14th Oct - 10km Peak racing form
1st Nov - 5km Peak racing form
3-11th Nov Pan Pacific Masters Peak racing form

I need more races during Sept/Oct - Hopefully will get some 800m and 1500m races, but there are none planned this far out except for Pan Pacific

Hi Bold,

I am very much looking forward to hearing how your first race goes. Keep us posted!

Thanks T-slow.
To explain what the race is - Triathlon, It’s a 1.5km Swim, 40km Ride, 10km run.
Conditions were very Calm, zero breeze and started cool at 7;30am but 99% humidity, and by 10am it was 28deg C and still around 80% humidity - so like summer (it’s nearly winter here…)
As a team, we have three guys, each doing One Leg each (i did the run)
With 600 people competing, and nearly 100 teams, They had to start the event in Wave type starts.
Elite men start, then elite women, then Age group Individuals in various wave starts.
By the time Out team Swimmer had started, The elite individual men already were on their bike, around 35-40min before us.

Out swimmer swam great, he was 60sec behind the winner, in a pack of about 4 fighting for 2-5th.
On change over, you have to swap over a Timing chip, which our cyclist lost about 30sec doing…

At the end of the cycle race, we had moved into a solid 2nd and still 60sec behind - and past a lot of individual guys in the process.

During the run, i was keeping Pace with the 1km markers perfectly for a 35min run - this lasted 3km and i didnt see any more 1km markers till 1km to go!!
Constantly passing guys due to starting so far behind, eg, perhaps passing one person on average every 50m (it makes you feel like you’re going faster than you really are)

I felt like the pace was consistent till around 4km - then the Heat started to really effect me - started to make the Heart rate go higher and the pace go slower. (Normally the only thing to make the Heart rate go higher is a Faster Pace - otherwise it just sits there if pace is the same)

Eventually, i got sight of the Leader runner and caught him by around 800m to go - Where i sat till we got to the Finishing park (around 300m to go) After which, i passed him and just sprinted away and put around 100m on him. (seems the spring wasnt really needed, but i was in pain and just kept running)

Wasnt too happy with my time - I lost way too much speed between 3km and 9km - during the km splits i could see, i was running for 35min pace, when i didnt see them, it slowed way down to 4min per km avg. So overall time was just under 38. It was hot as all buggery, but even in that heat, wasnt a very fast time. Oh well. Heart rate graph didnt really show a very high Heart rate, it was up, but nothing specially high. Considering it was hurting a lot - i thought the HR would have been somewhat higher (Heat Stress??)

I was that Hot, that later when i went to bed, even when it cooled off, i couldnt sleep under sheets - i felt burning.

So - have to release my calfs (a bit sore) and get ready for a 2 month big base (more km and more hrs, with hopefully faster base km pace)

Mon - 5.6km recovery run. Lower legs sore, not so much the calfs, but underneath them, the tibilas Posterior was shattered

Tue - 7.1km of running circuits in 50min

Wed - 8.5km of running - felt pretty good

Ordered a new Gell Mattress today with 7 different spring zones, with pocket springs. The goal being a better mattress gives a better sleep, and lets the muscles recover quicker and better. It arrives in around 1week.