2021 Fretboard Running Club

russpm

It’s really important to have at least one slow run per week in your routine.  This really does help performance. I try to do 1/2 steady runs, 1 long slower run, 1 speed session. This is the backbone of most good training plans. 

I’m doing the rearranged Manchester marathon in October.
Great to hear so many people getting some good mileage in.

26.2

russpm said:

It’s really important to have at least one slow run per week in your routine.  This really does help performance. I try to do 1/2 steady runs, 1 long slower run, 1 speed session. This is the backbone of most good training plans. 

I’m doing the rearranged Manchester marathon in October.
Great to hear so many people getting some good mileage in.

Totally - I do 3 speeds mainly - intervals, tempo and easy. I sometimes do a hybrid - say 5 miles east and then 5 at tempo. 

How much slower than ‘normal’ do you do the slow runs? I think I still go a bit too fast, but I’m learning to control it better. 

russpm

26.2 said:

russpm said:

It’s really important to have at least one slow run per week in your routine.  This really does help performance. I try to do 1/2 steady runs, 1 long slower run, 1 speed session. This is the backbone of most good training plans. 

I’m doing the rearranged Manchester marathon in October.
Great to hear so many people getting some good mileage in.

Totally - I do 3 speeds mainly - intervals, tempo and easy. I sometimes do a hybrid - say 5 miles east and then 5 at tempo. 

How much slower than ‘normal’ do you do the slow runs? I think I still go a bit too fast, but I’m learning to control it better. 

You are absolutely bang on with that, and yes the slow runs need to be slower than you think. If you steady runs are 8 min/mile the the slower run should be 9 min/mile ish. In reality it is tricky running slower than feels naturally comfortable.

Also, I tend to do half my runs measured in time rather than distance. The reason is that as you improve you are actually running less and less if you run by distance. So, if you run say 6 miles and your time improves by a few minutes then you are running less in terms of time. This is important as ‘time on your feet’ is a key factor.

joneve

russpm said:

26.2 said:

russpm said:

It’s really important to have at least one slow run per week in your routine.  This really does help performance. I try to do 1/2 steady runs, 1 long slower run, 1 speed session. This is the backbone of most good training plans. 

I’m doing the rearranged Manchester marathon in October.
Great to hear so many people getting some good mileage in.

Totally - I do 3 speeds mainly - intervals, tempo and easy. I sometimes do a hybrid - say 5 miles east and then 5 at tempo. 

How much slower than ‘normal’ do you do the slow runs? I think I still go a bit too fast, but I’m learning to control it better. 

You are absolutely bang on with that, and yes the slow runs need to be slower than you think. If you steady runs are 8 min/mile the the slower run should be 9 min/mile ish. In reality it is tricky running slower than feels naturally comfortable.

Also, I tend to do half my runs measured in time rather than distance. The reason is that as you improve you are actually running less and less if you run by distance. So, if you run say 6 miles and your time improves by a few minutes then you are running less in terms of time. This is important as ‘time on your feet’ is a key factor.

Training in time rather than distance is the best thing I ever did. Helps manage when you’re training 15-17 hours a week for an Ironman as planning your time becomes far easier. 

Obviously I don’t heed my own advice and mostly exclusively have been running with distance goals in mind since starting re-running this year. What a knob. 

Chris_Scotland

Just found this thread, hello! I'm training for a virtual marathon in 3 weeks. Managed a 20 miler last weekend in just under 3 hours. 

joneve

Chris_Scotland said:

Just found this thread, hello! I'm training for a virtual marathon in 3 weeks. Managed a 20 miler last weekend in just under 3 hours. 

Sounds like you’ll be fine then chap! 

Bidley

Some great advice here, this thread is awesome.

Managed 12km last Saturday with the most negative of splits. Felt good despite the heavy legs!

My goal is to eventually do 5km in 25 mins but at the moment getting under 5min/km consistently is tough.

russpm

Bidley said:

Some great advice here, this thread is awesome.

Managed 12km last Saturday with the most negative of splits. Felt good despite the heavy legs!

My goal is to eventually do 5km in 25 mins but at the moment getting under 5min/km consistently is tough.

Bidley said:

Some great advice here, this thread is awesome.

Managed 12km last Saturday with the most negative of splits. Felt good despite the heavy legs!

My goal is to eventually do 5km in 25 mins but at the moment getting under 5min/km consistently is tough.

Well done mate.
If not already doing it, You could try some shorter interval sessions in your training rather than trying to run the full 5km in your goal pace. 

Try doing 3 x 1km faster than your goal pace with walking in between. Then increasing the number of fast efforts over a 4 week period. That will make a huge difference. Also make sure you are doing at least one slow run per week.
Good luck.

Bidley

russpm said:

Bidley said:

Some great advice here, this thread is awesome.

Managed 12km last Saturday with the most negative of splits. Felt good despite the heavy legs!

My goal is to eventually do 5km in 25 mins but at the moment getting under 5min/km consistently is tough.

Bidley said:

Some great advice here, this thread is awesome.

Managed 12km last Saturday with the most negative of splits. Felt good despite the heavy legs!

My goal is to eventually do 5km in 25 mins but at the moment getting under 5min/km consistently is tough.

Well done mate.
If not already doing it, You could try some shorter interval sessions in your training rather than trying to run the full 5km in your goal pace. 

Try doing 3 x 1km faster than your goal pace with walking in between. Then increasing the number of fast efforts over a 4 week period. That will make a huge difference. Also make sure you are doing at least one slow run per week.
Good luck.

Thanks mate. I'm doing exactly that with Garmin Coach - drills, intervals, a slow run and a big run every fortnight. I am improving slowly! Not sure I'll get under 25mins before the end of the program but I'll be miles better either way.

26.2

Kew Gardens 10K today. Did 48:09, which I’m pleased with. Weird run really - did the first half in 23:45 and expected to have to drop the pace a touch later, but the tiredness never came! I feel I should have pushed a bit harder in the middle to break 48, but there’s always next time!

Actually next time is Richmond Park Marathon in 5 weeks - a totally different challenge  

Iamnobody

Nice. Do you follow any sort of training programme for the marathon? Or do you do enough activity all year to not require too much prep?

15.2m for me today and got the HM under 2 hours. 

Only by 35s but still. 

26.2

Iamnobody said:

Nice. Do you follow any sort of training programme for the marathon? Or do you do enough activity all year to not require too much prep?

15.2m for me today and got the HM under 2 hours. 

Only by 35s but still. 

Good work! That’s a nice distance - good stuff. 

Yes I run a lot but to get ready for a marathon I increase the mileage and do a few 17-21 milers, plus a few more interval sessions. I ‘sort of’ follow a plan but it all tends to blur a bit! 

russpm

I’m just debating which marathon training plan to follow for the Manchester marathon in October.I’ve used the London Marathon training plans in the past so think I’ll use one of those. I’ll be due to start in June although my current running schedule is probably like week 6 of the plan. So it will mean reducing what I’m doing initially which is a probably a good think to get some recovery. I do enjoy doing the training plans, I like the structure.

russpm

26.2 said:

Kew Gardens 10K today. Did 48:09, which I’m pleased with. Weird run really - did the first half in 23:45 and expected to have to drop the pace a touch later, but the tiredness never came! I feel I should have pushed a bit harder in the middle to break 48, but there’s always next time!

Actually next time is Richmond Park Marathon in 5 weeks - a totally different challenge  

Well done mate, great stuff.

Iamnobody

russpm said:

I’m just debating which marathon training plan to follow for the Manchester marathon in October.I’ve used the London Marathon training plans in the past so think I’ll use one of those. I’ll be due to start in June although my current running schedule is probably like week 6 of the plan. So it will mean reducing what I’m doing initially which is a probably a good think to get some recovery. I do enjoy doing the training plans, I like the structure.

I’m looking at the FIRST plan (or variation of it) - mainly as I only really have 3 runs in me a week and like that it encourages cross training and strength training. 

I’d be on week 6 in terms of the long run although I haven’t done much speed work. So no harm in starting it from the beginning for me. 

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/health/a762493/the-first-three-day-a-week-marathon-schedule/

26.2

Iamnobody said:

russpm said:

I’m just debating which marathon training plan to follow for the Manchester marathon in October.I’ve used the London Marathon training plans in the past so think I’ll use one of those. I’ll be due to start in June although my current running schedule is probably like week 6 of the plan. So it will mean reducing what I’m doing initially which is a probably a good think to get some recovery. I do enjoy doing the training plans, I like the structure.

I’m looking at the FIRST plan (or variation of it) - mainly as I only really have 3 runs in me a week and like that it encourages cross training and strength training. 

I’d be on week 6 in terms of the long run although I haven’t done much speed work. So no harm in starting it from the beginning for me. 

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/health/a762493/the-first-three-day-a-week-marathon-schedule/

Yes I base my running off the FIRST plan. The good thing is that there are lots of different paces, also the distance ramps up pretty quickly. For me though, I need more running to keep in decent shape and it’s not enough miles for me. You might find it’s perfect for you though, so don’t take too much notice of me  

Chris_Scotland

russpm said:

I’m just debating which marathon training plan to follow for the Manchester marathon in October.I’ve used the London Marathon training plans in the past so think I’ll use one of those. I’ll be due to start in June although my current running schedule is probably like week 6 of the plan. So it will mean reducing what I’m doing initially which is a probably a good think to get some recovery. I do enjoy doing the training plans, I like the structure.

Nice one. I am entered for Manchester too. I hope it goes ahead as a full public race. 

GavRichList

Got an 11.2k in yesterday morning. Nothing like my pb 10k pace of a couple of months ago, but nice to be back doing distance again and a thoroughly pleasant start to my weekend. 

BahHumbug

Monthly summary for May.....
I ran 107k in May, the first time I’ve exceeded 100k in a month.  I got to 95k with several days left so gave myself the luxury of a few extra rest days

12 runs in total, between 7 and 12k.  I’m finding that my Achilles starts to twinge at greater distances, so trying to be careful.

The general highlight is that my aerobic fitness has noticeably improved over the last few months. I can tell that I’m breathing less deeply, to achieve my usual pace and distances.  And my HRM data is showing lower heart rates both while running and at rest.  Yes I know they aren’t completely accurate, but the difference is quite marked.

GavRichList

Did 10.2k in 51:59 yesterday, so that was a PB ten for me. Pleasing.