Run Your Next Marathon under 3 hrs 30 minutes

I recently was asked how I would train someone to run a sub 3 hr 30 min marathon. That is 8 minute per mile pace for 26.2 miles.

No problem. I like to keep it simple when it comes to developing training programs. No complex formulas, just hard work. Ask everybody from a particular race that breaks 3 hr 30 min, and you will likely get countless different training methods that enabled them to run that time. Pop your survey at about mile 19 or 20, and I guarantee most will tell you they wish they had done a few more long runs, and they are probably right.

First of all, you need enough speed/endurance to run at least 22 minutes for a 5K. If you cannot do that, I would say a sub 3 hr 30 min marathon might be tough. If you are already that fast, then you need to focus on 3 key components when preparing for a big race.

Total weekly miles: The number of miles you have run in the previous 12 weeks correlates well with your ability to maintain pace the last 10 miles of a marathon. The questions are, how many miles should you do and what is too much? Without conducting the survey, my guess is a peak of 40 miles per week will be necessary to break 3 hr 30 minutes. You can go more, but here is where you need to develop a feel for balancing training and recovery so you can avoid burnout or injury.

Long run: The second component you need for a successful marathon is the long run. No way around this one either, but again the question is raised, how long is too long? You will want to build up your long run gradually. Once you can do a 10 miler I would just add 1 or 2 miles per week until you reach 17 or 18 miles. Do not worry if you have to cut some of these runs a little short because your legs cannot handle it. If you average 9 minutes per mile, that is going to take you in the neighborhood of 2 hr 40 something minutes. Long enough.

How many of these do you need? The more long runs you do beyond 2 hours the better, but my recommendation is try for at least 4 in the 17-18 mile range, completing the last one 4 weeks before your race.

Pace training: You should run miles at 8 min per mile pace or faster, but how many? Set aside one day per week to work on your race pace, using either an interval program or sustained tempo runs. If you choose intervals, then I use the old Yasso 800s, starting with 6 and moving up to 8, with maybe 1 peak workout at 10 if you can handle it. According to theory, these would be done in 3 min 30 sec or under, with at least 3 minutes to recover. If you choose sustained tempo runs, then I would begin with 3-4 miles and work that up to 7-8 miles at 8 min per mile pace or faster.

You might like to race 5Ks, which are usually held on Saturdays. If that is the case, just cut your Friday run in half. You should still be able to run long on Sunday without too much trouble.

Other issues you must consider are preparing for hills and hot weather, but for now lay out the basic plan to see what it looks like.

Sunday is your long run, adding 1-2 miles each week. Four weeks before your marathon, do a 13-15 mile time trial.

Monday is a rest day, or light cross training.

Tuesday is an easy 5 mile run.

Wednesday is 800 repeats, starting with 6 increasing to 8 by week 4 or 5.

Thursday is another easy 5 miles.

Friday is an 8 mile run.

Saturday is off or light cross training.

You end up with approximately 40 miles per week, 4 quality long runs, and a good solid base of tempo work. As you can see, the 2 days off provide a great opportunity to add some easy miles if you feel the need, or even better cross train. Let the taper begin!

Most taper programs are designed over 3 or 4 weeks. Here is my suggestion.

4 weeks to go: Schedule a time trial 4 weeks before your race. If a half marathon just happens to be on the calendar, perfect. Otherwise take it easy for a couple of days then see how well you can handle your goal pace for 13-15 miles. Wear the gear you plan to use on race day, eat and drink the same way. Lay out an accurate route that simulates the hills that you will encounter on race day, and you can even start at the same time of day as your race. Do not worry if your pace is a littl slow- often the extra rest you get the week before your big day makes all the difference.

You should feel some soreness for a day or 2 following this effort, which is exactly what you want. Take a couple days off and slowly ease back into running. I tend to believe that my legs always come back stronger a month after a hard effort like this.

3 weeks to go: Your long run is now down to 90 minutes. Everything else stays the same.

2 weeks to go: Same long run, but during the week there will be a difference. On Wed and Fri, run a 1 mile warm up then 4 or 5 mile temp run at your 8 min per mile or faster if you can. You will want to feel comfortable running the pace you need to hold on race day.

1 week to go: Your last long run is 60 minutes, then two more mid-week 4-5 mile tempo runs ought to do it, preferably Tuesday and Thursday if your marathon is Sunday. Anything else is just easy.

Day Before: Just relax, eat and drink!

The time to work hills into this schedule would be Friday or actually in the middle of your long run. To prepare for heat, you might want to wear an extra layer or run later in the day starting 3 weeks before your race.

Dave Elger is a well respected authority within the running community having written hundreds of articles on the topics of running and wellness. You can contact him at http://www.daveelger.com. He also supports the Okinawa Running Club

Difference Between Child Internet Monitoring And Employee Monitoring Software

There are two main types of internet monitoring software available. Each one provides a set of internet monitoring tools working together to protect you from different types of computer threats.

The first type of program is PC monitoring software designed for online child safety ? which will protect your child from the dangers and hazards of the internet. Are you sure that your child is surfing safely on the internet and doing their homework rather than accessing inappropriate adult sites? BBC news reported in 2007 that children in Britain as young as eight were found to have performed indecent acts after visiting pornographic websites. This could have been avoided by using internet monitoring software which blocks access to all adult sites. Internet chat rooms being stalked by pedophiles are traps for innocent children. When British judge Lord Reed jailed a man for ten years for serious sexual assaults on two girls, he warned parents that chat rooms are targeted by older men who are ?predatory and manipulative?. Monitoring your child?s chat room and email activity is easy if you use keylogger software. A family keylogger records all keystrokes made on a computer ? so you can see every message sent and every password used by your child.

Internet monitoring software used in the workplace is designed to protect you from being exploited by your own workforce. It will protect employers from ?cyber slackers? ? workers who spend hours sending personal e-mail messages and surfing the internet ? who cost Britain's small businesses almost ?1.5 billion per year. Research has shown that businesses can lose 15% of their profits to computer abuse. But if you employ PC monitoring software with encryption and security tools you can eliminate the problem. You can prevent employees from accessing websites which you choose to block; catch those who download music and video files in work time; check if they are using unauthorized programs like games programs. A perfect keylogging software will show you every keystroke they make and reveal every email message they send. Network monitoring software can keep surveillance on up to 100 computers at once ? and the users will never know because the program remains invisible to them and solely in your control.

Here at Spysure we have developed cutting edge keylogger and internet monitoring software products to fit all your needs ? from an easy-to-use internet monitoring software and family keylogger package for the home to the most sophisticated Network monitoring software for the office. Spysure?s Home Version; Office Version and Network Version will give you the ultimate in computer control and peace of mind.

Nawaz is an author of this article.

Read more articles at http://www.spysure.com/internet-monitoring-software/articles.php

Synchronised Digital Clock Systems

This article discusses the methods utilised to achieve synchronised digital clock time displays throughout an organisation. Focusing particularly on Ethernet Networked NTP Digital Wall Clock Systems utilising Power-over-Ethernet.

Synchronised digital clocks allow a number of individual time clock displays to show identical accurate time. Individual stand-alone digital clocks each drift at different rates eventually all display differing times. This article discusses the methods utilised to achieve synchronised digital clock time displays throughout an organisation.

Radio-Controlled Digital Clock

Many digital clocks are available with radio receivers that synchronise to radio time broadcasts that are freely available in many areas. Time and frequency broadcasts such as the DCF-77 broadcast from Germany, the MSF-60 broadcast from the UK and the WWVB broadcast from the US. These time and frequency broadcasts provide an accurate timing reference for digital clocks to synchronise. However, often installation problems are encountered due to the fact that in particular locations the radio signal quality may be very low or even non-existent. Mounting radio-controlled digital clocks in basements or inside metal structures or too close to electrically noisy equipment can all cause radio reception difficulties. Also, radio transmissions are local to the transmitter and do not extend beyond a finite range.

Wired Digital Clock Systems

Many synchronised digital clock systems operate on a bespoke serial network. They utilise a multi-drop RS422 or RS485 wired serial network. Each clock is generally mains powered at the point of installation. The digital clocks synchronise to a master clock on the wired network that may be synchronised to a GPS or radio external time reference. Only an optimally located single external timing receiver is required to synchronise all the clocks. The advantage of such systems is that the equipment costs are fairly low. However, this can often be outweighed by the installation costs of a dedicated network for the clock system.

Ethernet NTP Digital Clock Systems

Ethernet NTP digital wall clock time displays utilise NTP over Ethernet to display a continuously accurate synchronised time. The digital clocks connect directly to an Ethernet network and periodically synchronise using SNTP to a NTP Time Server.

Ethernet NTP digital clock time displays are available with four-inch high numerals with four or six digits. The large time display makes the clocks easily visible from a distance of up to 150 feet. The large wall clock obtains time from an intranet or Internet based NTP server, to provide an accurate time display, synchronised to one-fifth of a second. Ethernet NTP digital wall clocks operate with any NTP or SNTP time resource such as a dedicated NTP Time Server. Additionally, the units can utilise Internet based time sources, such as NIST.

For simplicity of operation, synchronised digital clocks are Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) devices (IEEE 802.af) using the same network components as IP telephones. The large digital wall clocks plug into an Ethernet jack on a local area network. No mains socket is required; the device is powered from the network jack plug. Installation is therefore very straightforward, and it's easy to move units around.

A synchronised Ethernet NTP digital clock system has a number of advantages. Firstly, installation costs are reduced due to the use ?common' network components, such as CAT5 and Ethernet hubs and switches. In many cases the network infrastructure may already be present. Additionally, no mains spur is required at the clock location, reducing installation costs. The clocks can also reference multiple time sources in the event of failure of a time reference.

The devices are powered over standard CAT5 cabling using Power-over-Ethernet (IEEE 802.af), the same Ethernet standard as Voice-over-IP telephones. If your network is not PoE enabled, single or multi-port mid-span converters (power injectors) are available at very reasonable cost.

Ethernet NTP Digital Clock Configuration

Networked digital clocks can easily be configured from any PC on the same network segment as the clocks. Configuration simply consists of opening a telnet session to a specified clock and entering password information. Once a connection is established there are a number of configuration commands available to the administrator. All digital clocks can therefore be configured from a single point.

Time Zone Configuration

NTP Ethernet digital clocks can be configured to the display local time in any time zone. There are a number of pre-configured common time zones that can easily be selected. Alternatively, any time zone and daylight saving configuration can be specified by supplying offsets and daylight saving start and end times.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

Dave Evans develops Digital Clock and NTP Server synchronisation systems to ensure accurate time on PC?s and computer networks. Click here to find out more about NTP Server and Digital Clock Systems.

 

Protect Your Data through Software Mirroring

Protect Your Data through Software Mirroring

* Mirroring is the automated process of writing data to two drives simultaneously. Mirroring is used to provide redundancy.

* If one drive fails, the redundant drive will continue to store the data and provide access to it. The failed drive can then be replaced and the drive set can be re-mirrored.

* This is quick HOW-TO setup your mirroring with two exactly the same hard disks. It assumes you're building a new system from scratch, and setup mirroring at install time. But let's get something straight first: Software mirroring does not mirror the disks - it mirrors partitions. Thanks to Ed Wilts from Redhat General Newsgroups for this remark. So in this guide I'll show you how to setup your partitions on one disk and mirror them to another. After that, we will learn how to rebuild our mirrored partitions after one disk dies.

Why Software Mirroring is Required?

Mirroring is an easy way of protecting the data, from beeing lost from disk crash. For example, If you keep your private stuff on one partition you can mirror this partition to another on the second drive, and if one disk fails, you will not lose your data, since you have the exact same copy of your files on the second disk. The same goes for the whole filesystem. If you setup mirroring correct, you might never have to reinstall your system again.

Software Mirroring vs. Hardware Mirroring

* Disk mirroring can be implemented entirely in software. Software mirroring can be less expensive, but it is also slower. Software mirroring requires the host computer to write the mirrored data twice.

* Disk mirroring can be implemented in hardware on the host I/O controller. The burden of writing each bit of data twice is placed upon the I/O controller, which is specifically designed for it.

* Disk mirroring can also be implemented in hardware on an external storage device, such as a RAID array. In this case, mirroring is completely removed from the hosts responsibility

Benefits of Software Mirroring
* Data is backed up as changes are made keeping the backup copy current.
* Immediate access of an up-to-date remote data backup in case of local server failure.
* Rapid disk to disk data recovery from the central server to remote server.
* When data is restored, data loss is reduced to a minimum.
* Continuous real-time disk to disk backup operation minimizes impact on network performance.
* Backup windows all but eliminated.
* Provides 24X7 data availability and disaster recovery.

For more details Click here.