Sounds like you’ve entered then Molly?

Please girls, not another “have you entered” stand-off. 😐

Sorry Darcy. I can definitely say that the Nevis tri doesn’t really interest me this year. If I have to do it, I will… but I don’t have the passion for it that Molly does.

Also, I don’t think there is any competition, Molly obviously feels like he needs to proove himself. I’m glad I’m providing some motivation for him.

right, my goal is a 3’30” marathon (haven’t decided which one, but I’ve just entered the oxford half), ideally a bit quicker. I’m in a club, although it’s more a social thing rather than an athletics club. So, I’m aiming for 8 min miles. I did a 1’56” in a 15 mile race the other month, so I was hoping to hang onto that pace for the 20 miles I did this weekend, but my last 5 miles were just awful. 😥

I do lots of speed work during the week anyway, so How about if I carry on doing that, plus just hanging onto 7.5 mins/mile on my longer runs for as long as I can, then 8mins/mile for the marathon should be about right.

Does that sound ok?

Each to their own etc, but the only run training I’ve every done is 8x2minutes flat out, with 1 minute rests, and flat out runs of between 10k and 10 miles, none of this slow,steady stuff
Worked ok for me.
Sounds simple but I think to run fast you have to run fast.

If I have to do it

❓

Darcy – it’s one of the grimmest events on the calendar… a test of suffering rather than fitness.

a test of suffering

I thought that was any tri, no? Although I take your point. Are there any other events that you think might be worth entering then?

richmars, trust me, that’s about the fastest I can go over that sort of distance 😆

You have two options with tri IMO.

1) iDave stupidity.
2) Work up more gradually.

I’m going for option 2.

iDave mumbled something about the half IM in the New Forest Aug/Sept time. Lake swim and relatively flat terrain?

If you don’t fancy starting with a sprint (ideally with an open water swim) I’ll search out some Olympic distance ones… July time?

July time

Latter half, yes.

richmars, trust me, that’s about the fastest I can go over that sort of distance

Yes, so do shorter, faster pieces.

I’m not really a runner but would hill training help?

emsz – Member
I do lots of speed work during the week anyway, so How about if I carry on doing that, plus just hanging onto 7.5 mins/mile on my longer runs for as long as I can, then 8mins/mile for the marathon should be about right.

Does that sound ok?

I’m not an expert but I’d say that you need to remember the purpose of each session – running your longer runs faster than race pace with slower bits thrown in is going to break you!

Your intervals look after your speed, intensity and power. Your long runs are about building endurance.

If you want to simulate a race, go off slower than race pace and build to race pace for a chunk of the run (or >1 shorter periods at race pace).

If you want to go a bit faster than race pace, wait til the end of your run. This simulates having tired legs without causing you to need a few days’ recovery after your training run – remember that you’ve got the next set of intervals to do in a couple of days and you need to be fresh to do them properly!

I’d suggest starting at 8:30, then 8:15, then 8, then maybe a bit at 7:45, then slow to warm down.

remember that you’ve got the next set of intervals to do in a couple of days and you need to be fresh to do them properly!

Important point. Your interval sessions and longer runs are the key building components, dont run excessivly hard on your long runs so that you are too tired to maintain the intensity in you interval sessions. otherwise you will not see the improvement.
Having said that dont run your longer runs slow either. They need to be taxing to provide benefit. Avoid long social runs unless they are at “your” target pace.

OK, so run faster at the end of long runs instead of at the beginning, and carry on with intervals and stuff mid week.

Cool

Emsz – your intervals have to be really fast. Esp the sprint ones. There’s running fast, and there’s sprinting absolutely flat out. As above you have to be somewhat fresh to do them otherwise you won’t be able to go flat out and you’ll be wasting your time I think.

I would be tempted to do the long runs at a slow pace (maybe a pace at which you can hold a conversation), and if they are not hard enough just make them longer NOT faster. That was the advice I had for base training on the bike, anyway.

OK, I’ll do it.

Great!

And Yeti – I am only having a laugh with the competitive stuff – the trash talking amuses me. I’ll stop if you don’t like it, I would not want to offend.

your intervals have to be really fast.

what does “really fast” mean? I suggested some estimates above but i would not class that as really fast and the OP should be able to handle them I suspect given what he has said. They need to be taxing but you should aim to complete them at the pace planned and you need to experiment.
Aim to complete them all at the same pace, not fast slow etc and you should be close to exhaustion at the end of the last one.
You could also take a few minutes break then 10 x 100m strides. This helps to improve form when you are tired in races i have found.

As fast as possible, I reckon. So if it’s a minute, go all out for a minute.

I think I did intervals too slowly for many years.

A short run with 30-30s in the middle. Warm up for ten minutes then accelerate for 30 seconds before returning to a slow jog for thirty seconds. Each time you accelerate go a little faster until you’re struggling and slowing down by the end of the fast 30 seconds. Do a few more reps at that speed then jog comfortably for five minutes to warm down.