The long haul starts

[turnturtle]

I have gone with a MyAsics plan for marathon training as it seems gentler and less frightening than some of the others out there. Also so far Ironson's promised plan has not materialised. He is all mouth and no trousers,a bit like his father. It turns out it is actually 20 weeks until Berlin not 18 which is ages isn't it? No need to panic yet. Unfortunately the unexpected extra weeks have given me thinking time and as I started my 6k run today I suddenly thought 'I wonder what will happen if I run it instead of run walk which I've been doing for the last two years. So that's what I did and you know what? I loved it! For the first time for ages I felt I really got into the 'zone'. It was so nice. No buzzes from my Gymboss. No accelerating and gliding. Just steady plodding. And that was the trouble. It was a plod. About a minute per K slower than my usual walk run pace. If I ran Berlin like that I would be picked up by the sweeper bus at about the 20 mile mark. So what should I do? The jury's out but I think I will try it for a couple of weeks anyway and see how it goes. Surely the Pilates and a bit of hill work will help speed my jog? I just think Galloway's method is a bit of a man's thing. It's too full of calculations for my liking. Lots of the men I know will spend hours conversing about a cars fuel consumption and calculating miles per litre or even more complicated stuff. Whereas when I get into a car I just want to put my foot down and go. And if I run low on fuel well I just fill it up with petrol (cf jelly babies) and set off again as long as I have enough pennies. And so it is with running... 😄

[Dunder2004 Half Marathon]

It is 'only' 18 weeks, TT.

[turnturtle Marathon in reply to Dunder2004]

Oh yes. I just realised the last two weeks were post marathon recovery runs. And there was me thinking that after the race you just stop!

[Jaxsy_runs Half Marathon]

Well done TT and happy training..looking forward to following your progress and pics of lovely trails. You have to run when you have a plan 😊

[misswobble Marathon]

I chose the easy plan based on 3 days a week. The intermediate plan nearly killed me 😊

[turnturtle Marathon in reply to misswobble]

Oh gosh I couldn't possibly run more than 3 days a week so it's the easy plan for me too!

[benwill Marathon]

Good luck with the plan it's the same one I did for Brighton, towards the end I added a few KM's to the long runs as I thought the final long run wasn't long enough I am glad I did. Other than that it's good especially as it works out the speed you should be running, it also gave a 5k run on a Saturday to fit in with parkrun. I would import your runs into it so it can adjust the speed depending on how your doing. If you have runkeeper that's easy to do.

Good luck

[Realfoodieclub Marathon]

You will sail through your plan. I'm thinking of going back to a more structured plan of 30/30 sec intervals but for the last year I have been running for as long as I want at a fast or slower pace depending on the sort of run then taking a break. I did find it gave me more freedom and my pace was better. In essence I ran to my body's needs rather than a controlled amount. The only reason I'm changing is because I am watching my heart rate and that really sliows everything up as I have to walk sooner than I want. Maybe try a few different methods and see what happens. At least then on race day you could change and be confident if needs be. Happy running.

[old_git Marathon]

You know us blokes well TT!! I spent ages examining different plans, paces, diets, etc. etc. and discussed them endlessly with fellow runners at my running club.

As an 'old timer' I realised it was more important that I train for the full 16 weeks rather than push too hard and end up on the Injury Couch. I have therefore tended to work on the cautious side. Fingers crossed, I have got there and I am sure you will too!

I don't know if you are doing it, but I would recommend keeping a journal. It helps you see how you are improving, what works for you and what doesn't.

The main thing is to enjoy the challenge and the journey.

[old_git Marathon in reply to old_git]

Ps lovely photo and a very happy running partner!

[turnturtle Marathon in reply to old_git]

Well it certainly worked for you IG! Good idea about the journal , I write quite a lot about my runs on Strava which serves as a sort of journal I suppose. I am at the age where if I started a paper journal I would undoubtedly lose it after a week!

[old_git Marathon in reply to turnturtle]

How about a blog?

[ju-ju- Marathon]

You are doing well, and just fine. I ran Brighton with someone doing galloway and all that stopping and starting would do my head in!! HOWEVER I always have a walk every 15 minutes or so for 30 seconds as it enables really good recovery and rest and I also do this on 'fast' runs and i am always faster... just a thought

[turnturtle Marathon]

I think this is the next ploy I will try jj. I did my second run of the plan today and jogged non-stop for 6K. which I haven't done for two years and it was no problem. I enjoyed it. BUT, I was about two minutes slower than when I Galloway that route. So maybe I'll return to walk/run but lengthen my run portion to five minutes or more (it goes against all Jeff Galloway's rules, but that just encourages me) Thanks for the idea. I also want to incorporate a weekly Parkrun into my training schedule but cant see how to do this on the MyAsics site as yet. Can anyone enlighten me?