Today on Run with Coach Parry, we have another one on one coaching session with one of our athletes - Janine Mazery. Lindsey guides Janine with her weekly schedule and some of her goal race times for this year.

Lindsey then gives some insight into the different training paces on the program and why those prescribed times overlap.

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Transcription

BRAD
Welcome on to this edition of RUN with Coach Parry. My name is Brad Brown, thank you so much for joining me today. And on behalf of myself and Lindsey a massive, massive welcome. If this is the first time you are listening to the podcast, we had some great feedback after last week's podcast and I wanted to ask you if you haven't let us know yet. Please, I'd love to know what you think of the slight change in format from the audio podcast, these sort of fly on the wall coaching sessions.

I love them, absolutely love them. And I hope you do too. So please do let us know you can reach out via social media. You can do it on Twitter or Facebook or just drop us an email support at coachparry.com. That's how you can reach out to us as well. And today we've got another one of those one on one fly on the wall coaching sessions today. It's with Janine Mazery. And I hope you're going to get a lot out of this one as well. If you're looking for a training programme, I've got some good news for you. On coachparry.com we've got a whole host of training programmes, running cycling, as well as triathlon. Enough of me yakking, let's catch up with the coach and Janine Mazery.

Lindsey's initial thoughts

LINDSEY
I'm going to start with the real basics here, and that is what you have done in relation to what you are aiming to do. And so if we take all of your times your 5k, 10k, 21, 42 marathon and Comrades, I kind of put those into a little grid in a matrix, so that I can get a feel for potentially where your strengths and weaknesses lie. So that I mean, the place where this falls a little bit flat, of course is that it does rely on you having run your hardest if you like, in each of these distances.

So when we look at at these, your best relative performance was your half marathon. So your 2:05 half marathon has been your best running performance by quite a long way. And it predicts that you should be able to run 5k in 27 minutes, 10k in 56 minutes, and a marathon in 4:23. So that's why I say it's your best relative distance. Because if we look at, if we look at your best 5k, it predicts a 4:36. If we look at your best 10 k, it predicts 4:32. Interestingly, you're 4:36 points you to an 11:30 hour Comrades, and you did 11:40. And to be honest, 10 minutes, either way in Comrades is still fairly close.

So when we paint that picture together, what it tells me is that, and you need to just point out if I'm right or wrong here, it tells me that likely your best, or the race that you gave your best effort in was the half marathon, it was probably the race that you were the fittest for, and then the carry over into the marathon would be due to either not quite doing enough kilometres to translate over to the marathon, or a bad day. However, the fact that your marathon then translates fairly well into Comrades tells me that it's probably more to do with the fact that the km's were a little bit light or the training balance not 100% right. So that's kind of an analysis of where you've been.

I have a good idea of what you have been doing running wise and the time that you've got available to train. I like the days, 4- 5 days for me is always plenty, I enjoy the fact that there is some cross training in there and high intensity gym sessions, although with that type of high intensity session, we just have to be careful not to do too much intensity in your running, because then the two may clash and predispose you to injury. The last thing I'm going to say and then I am going to hand over to you talk for a bit and to ask me some questions is that in order to achieve your marathon goal, we do need to get a bit quick on the shorter distances. And to give you an idea of what you're targeting.

For that, let me just quickly do a calculation, so you're targeting a sub 1:55 half, sub 25 five K and a 51 minutes 10 K. So that's kind of where you want to be to know that you've got the speed to get the job done. Then obviously, the rest will come down to are we doing enough in the way of long runs, etc. So fire away with some questions, based on those questions, I'll then kind of wrap up the call, give you some advice of where I think you can go in terms of what you're currently doing, and obviously you've taken a sub four hour programme. So that's going to address some of the issues that you have or shortfalls should I say. Okay, so fire away.

JANINE
Thanks, Lindsey. I think you actually, amazingly enough hit all your analysis is spot on, I did probably run the hardest this year in my 21. It was still quite early in the year, it was quite up there and in the early February. So it was on minimum mileage, did the 5, 10 and the 21, all those times in that race. It was all in one race. I've actually all these years, in the nine years that I have been running. I've just been one of those plodders. I've never focused time. For me, honestly, time has been irrelevant. I've had the privilege of running with my very old dad, who dusted his retired running shoes off and said let's start running together. And we've had amazing adventures along the way. So time's been irrelevant.

And I wouldn't actually say that any of these have been hard runs for me. My Comrades have all been just journeys. And I think that's the main thing for me now is next year, I feel I really should be putting on some running shoes to actually see what am I capable of. And from there, so for me it is, it's a big head space. That's probably my biggest obstacle is getting my head around these times because I've got so accustomed to running at these paces. I know I'm capable of more. And it's just how do I go about doing that? How do I increase my speed without fighting my head as well as not getting injured? So yeah, that's pretty much, so yes.

My question was with these current terms, am I asking too much? First off, do you think I'm asking too much in such a short period of time to be going from 4:36 down to a sub 4? My first question, is 12 weeks of training just too hard to try and knock almost 40 minutes off a marathon time? And then the other question was with the programme that I have downloaded, the sub 4, I see your paces for your easy, long and recovery, they all seem to overlap in the times, your 5:35 to 6:47. So how do I actually differentiate each of those into easy, long and recovery, if I'm running at pretty much a similar pace?

Is the goal too ambitious?

LINDSEY
Okay. Cool. So those are two nice questions. So let me deal with those and then I'm sure you'll have a couple more. So based on your ability, and I use that word loosely, because from your description, your ability is probably beyond what you have done so far. So we just have to say, okay, currently where are we and there's going to be no improvement whatsoever from following a structured programme. Then I really do feel like a 4:20 is very doable. And on Kaapsehoop provided that the pacing is conservative, you should go under 4:15. So I really, I think in 12 weeks, you may struggle to go under four hours.

However, I think you'll get yourself close enough to it to know that it is something that is in your future. So certainly I think that 4 hour is quite possible. So I can see, following a structured approach, even without actually doing speed work, just following a structured approach, training well, and getting in enough long runs, I kind of see you being somewhere in the 4:05, 4:10 ballpark. And of course doing these high intensity strength sessions are ideal for the type of marathon you've chosen. Because you're going to have nice strong quads, you're going to be able to withstand that eccentric load.

The high intensity stuff that you're doing in between the skipping and the running up and down steps and the sprint to the other side of the room and back, those sort of things will also bring an element of speed in. So it could into much closer to that 4 hour and you should have an idea of what sort of time you're capable of around three weeks before so if you do every four weeks or so either a 10 k race, and possibly even a half marathon three or four weeks out. And you really do give that a good go. That'll also then give us a much more realistic idea and you can pop into the forum and ask a question. Okay.

Working out your training paces

Now on to the training paces, that's a great question because people try to look at human beings and physiology as these lines where on thing changes to another thing, and it really doesn't work like that, okay. Our physiology essentially works on a continuum where we start it very easy and move over to running very hard, and there are kind of grey areas in between there where you probably still doing a recovery run, but you're starting to move into the easy run, okay. So what I try and encourage people to do is to target more or less the middle of each of those zones.

And if you do that, then it does make some subtle differences and the differences are subtle like I often tell people to go out and run a five k as hard as they possibly can and then the following week to go there and purposefully run at three to five seconds a k slower. Now that sounds like nothing but then the difference in how you feel is quite enormous. So small changes will make a difference.

So aim for the middle. But just know that on a day that you are feeling really bad and tired and you think well, I still want to do my run, you know that you've got the lower end of the recovery zone there that's available to you. So you can run very easy and still get some physiological stimulation that you're looking for. But at the same time, it's low enough that it actually allows you to recover so that the next day, you actually feel much better. However, if you do that, and then the next run, you're still feeling that rubbish, that's when I would recommend that you actually take an unscheduled rest day and run three days that week, for example. So you do get in that recovery.

JANINE
Okay, great. I think you actually answered my question with the Kaapsehoop, that's great. I wasn't sure if I should be going for a more flat marathon or if the downhill is a suitable marathon to try and go as close to a PB as possible. But I think you did answer that one.

LINDSEY
Look, I always have to say this because it is reality, you know, if you were chasing records or trying to get on a world list somewhere, it wouldn't count because it's a net downhill race. When you get into a circle of pure runners, and you tell them I ran a 3:50 and they ask you where, tell them Kaapsehoop. But for me, it's often about getting the confidence to do this. If you go and you do it, and you get close enough, it gives you the confidence that next time you can do it at the Durban marathon or Peninsula marathon or wherever. And it's about giving you the confidence to know that actually, I can go for a comfortable sub 11 Comrades. That's probably ultimately where this is leading you to.

Pushing yourself to reach your goals

JANINE
Yeah, I have, in the past, I have managed to get that bronze Comrades. It was the one year that I ran on my own. I left my dad at halfway and I said cheers. Tthe whole idea was to get that sub 11 and I paced myself well for 10:45 came in at 10:47 and to be honest, for me at that stage, it was just the most unmemorable run because it was all on my own. And that's why I just went well let's just rather run with friends and family and went back to running those slower paces. So yeah, I am excited about pushing myself a little bit further. And hopefully getting to that elusive sub 4. If not at Kaapsehoop like you've mentioned, then possibly in the new year. I think I'll focus then going for the Durban marathon or one of the Hillcrest or Maritzburg marathons.

LINDSEY
Yeah, so I'm just doing some more math for you quickly, because it really tells us a lot. That tells us that your potential based on that Comrades almost definitely lies in the sub 4:20. I mean, Kaapsehoop we can say it's at least five minutes quicker. So if we were not to really improve you as a runner at all, I think you're looking at a 4:10, 4:15. But hopefully with a bit of structure, doing the strength training, applying yourself, doing the long runs, going out at a conservative effort, of course there's a lot of downhill. So it's not really about too conservative a pace, but it's about a very conservative effort, then I really do see you getting close to four hours.

JANINE
Great. Thank you, Lindsey.

LINDSEY
So I just want to quickly have a look at what you are doing. So look the programme will take care of a couple of these things. But I'm quite happy with those high intensity sessions. Those are a must, you need to keep them in place. It's great that you have a rest day, so I also really am a big fan of that. So that's really good. What I would look to do, and the programme as I said should help you with that, is to kind of get yourself to between 10 and 15 K's on one of the Tuesday or Thursday runs.

And then your Saturday run will get you over 30 K. So that'll build up over time and you want to look at possibly hitting two runs of between 30 and 35 k's, that'll just give you that endurance. Then your Sunday run i'm fairly happy with that about that 15 to 18 k's, but the Sunday run is alright. Following the programme, you should nail all of those kind of landmarks if you like and then there'll be a bit of variety coming in from those strength sessions. So I think you've got a good balance to give yourself a really good shot at Kaapsehoop.

JANINE
Great, thank you. I really appreciate the time that you've taken to chat me. It's given me confidence and motivation. So I appreciate it. Thank you.

LINDSEY
Keep popping into the forum. Let us know how you are going. And definitely let us know how the actual race goes. That will be the important one.

JANINE
Correct. I will, thank you very much, Lindsey. I appreciate it all.