A 2.30 Marathon

thirstywork2

Hope you have a good one !!!

Krusty_Clown

Best of luck with it. Looking forward to hearing how you get on. Remember, don't get cocky until mile 24. Reign in the pace until then.
Next step: Sub-5, so we can finally settle the debate.

myflipflops

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Next step: Sub-5, so we can finally settle the debate.

Barring disaster, I will have a pop within 2 weeks of the marathon.

claralara

Have a bit of time on my hands today so just read your entire log - the highs and lows make for great reading.

myflipflops wrote: »

Athletics is a very simple sport: do the hard graft and you will be good at it.

Amen.

TRR wrote: »

(hope I don't sound like a dick).

He always sounds like a d*ck but I suppose he's worth listening to the odd time...


Wishing you the very best of luck with the marathon this weekend - looking forward to hearing how it goes for you.

pconn062

Have being following your progress, good luck with the marathon, sub 3 is looking good. Would love to see what you could do with proper training and a bit less weight (no offence!).

myflipflops

pconn062 wrote: »

a bit less weight (no offence!).

Absolutely none taken. I have not weighed myself in a while but i guess i will be a bit under 14 stone tomorrow. Still 2 stone off any kind of racing weight and nearly a stone heavier than what i wanted to be for the marathon. Strapping a 14lb bag to your body to run 26 miles is not going to make you quicker.

myflipflops

2.48.xx

Boom.

That hurt.

TRR

myflipflops wrote: »

2.48.xx

Boom.

That hurt.

Magic. Had just checked your result and wondered was it correct. Unbelievable stuff that is some running for your first marathon with interrupted training etc. it's actually a bit scary. Well done again. Onwards and upwards.

TRR

myflipflops wrote: »

Whatever natural talent I have (and it is not that much), it won't come into the equation for a long time.

A sub 3 marathon will depend if I get the hard work in or not. Athletics is a very simple sport: do the hard graft and you will be good at it.

Remembered these two posts. Obviously a little natural talent did kick in but it did require work as you pointed out

myflipflops wrote: »

Ran Bohermeen 5k against my 2 brothers. Despite a bit of farce at the start (including a D'Unbelievables character with a loudspeaker and someone wth a starter gun who should certainly not have been allowed hold one), it was a well run race and an enjoyable evening. the weather helped but it is great to see a small club run a fantastic event like that.

I went in thinking 19 minutes would win against the brothers. I got home in 19.23 with one of my brothers shocking me by running 18.23. The other one was a few seconds behind me. Ran very poorly after going off too quickly and just not having the balls to tough it out. I gave up the ghost with about a kilometre left when i could have hurt and ran 19 flat. It's an indication of how much work i have in front of me.

You ran 19.23 for a full out 5k back in may. In the marathon you averaged 20.15 * 8 and then some.

I still can't believe your time. I knew the pace wouldn't be an issue but I honestly thought you'd lose a good few minutes over the last 10k or so due to lack of longer runs. Looking at your splits you seem to have ran a near perfect even pace. Add to that you still reckon you're carrying a stone, jaysus.

Krusty_Clown

Fuppin hell! Had a good idea you were going to achieve it, but...wow! With that kind of time you must have gone out well below sub-3 pace. That's some result, congrats.

Pisco Sour

TRR wrote: »

Remembered these two posts. Obviously a little natural talent did kick in but it did require work as you pointed out

Would agree with TRR here. There's no doubt that your natural talent helped you. Very few people go from very overweight to a 2:48 debut marathon in 8-9 months. However you worked damn hard, and you are only scratching the surface. You're still very young and have a great future in marathon running ahead of you. At proper racing weight with consistent training over the coming 3-4 years, well who knows what you can achieve.

What was the atmosphere like in Melbourne this morning? Was there much support along the streets?

Congrats on a great result.

pconn062

Jesus man, fair play that's some run. You're an animal!

dna_leri

Great going MFF. I had been following your log and I knew you had come a long way and had the right background but my instinct was that you would struggle over the last 10K. I'm no marathon runner but I have seen a few others fail at the 3hr hurdle. But that's some way to prove the doubters wrong, fair play, no limits now!

shotgunmcos

Way to go and smack a sub 3 out of the park! Impressive result, well done.

shels4ever

Well done only heard about your run last night! savage

myflipflops

dna_leri wrote: »

my instinct was that you would struggle over the last 10K.

TRR wrote: »

I honestly thought you'd lose a good few minutes over the last 10ks.

I will do a race report but this is interesting.

I did die horribly in the last 10km (last 7km really) but I had bought enough time in the previous 35km to keep me on track. The fact that I was able to grit my teeth and tough out the last 5k seems to have been the key to my performance.

cwgatling

That is some run, well done lad.

thirstywork2

myflipflops wrote: »

2.48.xx

Boom.

That hurt.

Was chatting to a mate only saturday and i guessed between 245-2.49

well done lad !!!

Krusty_Clown

myflipflops wrote: »

I will do a race report but this is interesting.

I did die horribly in the last 10km (last 7km really) but I had bought enough time in the previous 35km to keep me on track. The fact that I was able to grit my teeth and tough out the last 5k seems to have been the key to my performance.

Post up some splits. Would be interested to see how the 5k segments went. Did you run by feel, or set out to run sub 2:50?

myflipflops

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Post up some splits. Would be interested to see how the 5k segments went. Did you run by feel, or set out to run sub 2:50?

Official 10k splits below. It took me 8 seconds to get over the line to chip first 10k was a 40.33 really. I suspect there was a 10 split of sub 38 somewhere between 22k and 34k. I still don't have a Garmin so these are the only splits i have. I know I went through 1km in 4.10 though!

10k 00:40:41
20k 00:40:04
30k 00:38:12
40k 00:40:40
42k 00:09:14

I ran off feel. Just was looking to go out anywhere under 3 hour pace that felt relaxed and I caught the 2.5 pace group after 5k.

Doing up a full report but struggling to keep it under novel length at the moment!

thirstywork2 wrote: »

Was chatting to a mate only saturday and i guessed between 245-2.49

well done lad !!!

More confidence than me! I reckoned 2.55 was there on a good day but it depended on my body holding up when i hit the unknown at 19 miles. The 2.48 is dreamland.

myflipflops

This is a long one but it was good to go back over the race in my head.

Sat 13th
4 mile jog down to the expo and back to pick up the 'goodie bag'.

Sun 14th
26.2 miles in 2.48.46 (79th place overall)

Splits:
0-10km: 40.33
10-20km: 40.04
20-30km: 38.12
30-40km 40.40
Finish: 9.14

Up at 4.30 am for a banana and bagel breakfast. I weighed myself before hand and I was 13.8 stone. F*ck me. That is a lot of weight to carry around a marathon.

I did the 2mile jog down to the MCG at 6am as a warm up and felt fantastic. Had a bit of a stretch and then had my issues finding the bag drop but got sorted and jogged the 5 mins to the front of the race. Preferred start sticker got me right up near the front.

I lined up about 3 rows behind the 2.50 pacer. My idea was to run at about 2.55 pace for the first half which I suspected would be comfortable so having the 2.50 pacer in sight would be perfect. The gun went and we headed off into a 300 meter uphill start. They do everything in km over here so without
a Garmin, I only had the kilometer markers and my $20 watch to check splits but I was running off feel anyway. I ticked off an easy first km in 4.10 and thought 'perfect'.

The conditions were a marathoners dream. A beautiful, bright morning with very little wind and no heat in the air. I got chatting to a guy looking for 2.50-2.55 and the first 5km ticked along in bliss. I was fulflling my first aim. I was enjoying it. Without meaning to or trying to, I got the 2.50 group at around 5km and decided it was a very comfortable pace for me so I joined them. We ticked off the KMs and i was loving every minute. It felt like a Sunday stroll on a beautiful day through a great city.

I took my first gel at 9km and we went through 10km in 40.41 including the 8 seconds it took me to cross the start line. There was a constant thought at the back of my mind that I may be going out too fast but I was sticking to the principle of listening to how my body felt. I was the only person in the group of 20-25 who did not have a Garmin on and I was amazed at how everyone was obsessed with checking the pace. What can that little machine tell someone about what pace they should run that their body cannot?? Surely reacting to how you feel is much more important than clock watching in a marathon??

We left the city and the park we looped around and went out to the coast. This was a long up and back stretch that would take us from about 12km to nearly 30km. We continued to tick off the miles and at about 13km I went to the front of the group and stayed there. I'm a big, awkward bloke and I much prefer running at the front if I can.

The group still had the guts of 20 people in it and we began to pass people going backwards. It scares me to think of people starting to suffer at 13km when they started at 2.40 pace. We went through 20km in 80.46 for a 40.04 10km split and I still felt superb. I was breathing normally, I was not sweating much and the legs were fine. I took a gel at 20km. We would have hit the half in 85.xx (no official split) and the pacer was encouraging some of those at the back of the group to hang on as a couple were struggling. This is the point of the race that I probably got a bit wrong. Despite only aiming for sub 3 and being in a great spot with a good group, I unconsciously started to push on. At about 23km, I began to move away from the group and went on to run a 38.12 10k split between 20k and 30k. As I said to someone yesterday, it was nearly attempted suicide. When i noticed that I moved maybe 50 meters in front of the group, I considered easing back and letting them catch me but at that point I decided 'F*ck it, let's find out'.

Even looking back now, having gotten a time I am delighted with, i acknowledge this move was a mistake. All the advice i had gotten from experienced marathoners was not to make a move until very late. I don't necessarily regret it because I firmly believe you need to put it all on the line to be satisfied in running but it was far from the best way for me to attack this marathon. Who knows though, I may have blown up even worse if I had stuck with the group.

I got to 30km and was beginning to hurt. There were uphill sections around here with one relatively bad one. I was gritting the teeth and still moving well. It helped that I was carving through the field and passing people all the time but I was crying out for a group running close to my pace that I could join. Everyone was moving slower than I wanted so I kept catching them and passing them.

At about 34km I was really hurting. I had no real idea what time I was on for but I knew the 2.50 pace bus was well behind me. Trying to work out kilometer splits when tired is not a great idea. I passed a friend supporting at this point and he reckons I was on about 2.45 pace. The wheels weren't coming off but it felt like I was getting close to my limit. Looking at the splits, I ran a 40.40 10k between 30k and 40k but I suspect the last couple of km in that were much slower.

I was back in the city now and we hit a U-turn then a long incline at 35km that went on for maybe 1500 meters. It was hell. I have never wanted to stop and lie down more in my life. It was a grit the teeth and get through it moment. I felt like I was at proper jogging pace (I must not have been as maybe 2 people passed me) but i knew had had enough time banked that some 6 minute kilometers would get me home in 2.55. 7 minutes KMs would be good for the sub 3. How could I not knock out 4 kilometers in under 20 minutes??

One of the things I am now proudest of in my running is how I toughed out the last 3km on Sunday. I had heard plenty about how tough the end of a marathon could be and now I was feeling it. Aerobically, it was fine but my legs were just dead. I have suffered in races before but it is different on the track. Track pain is in your chestand lactic burning in your legs. Marathon is different. The last 4km were completely lacking in supporters but I had a couple of mates there shouting me on. They are proper runners and could tell how I was feeling so they shouted the right things. It was a huge boost.

When i hit about a kilometer to go, there was a downhill slope towards the G and I knew I would get there. I enterred the stadium and onto the 300 meter loop to the finish and it was just a wonderful experience. They had put all the spectators into one section beside the finish line so there were 15000 people or so clapping and cheering. I also got a look at the clock with 200 to go and saw 2.47.xx which brought out an embarassing fist pump and some expletives. No windmill from me unfortunately. No lite beer afterwards either.

The sense of satisfaction on finishing was enormous. Not to sound too w*nkerish but it has been a journey over the last 8 months to lose the weight and get running again. The sub 2.50 marathon is an end point to that journey. I can now officially say that I am fit again. There is still weight to go but I can get back to training with confidence that the engine is still there. I will sit down and set some goals in the next week or too but first up, i will focus on getting my 10km times down towards the 33/34 mark.

I want to thank Boards version of Prince - ARTist formerly known as The Road Runner - for some great practical marathon advice over the last couple of months. It's great to get advice that you can trust and encouragment from people who have been there and done that. Krusty is also a mine of logic, even by just following his log. There is some superb information and advice on marathons to be found on Boards if you listen to the right people.

Krusty_Clown

Still in shock an awe of your finish time. Those splits are damn near perfect too. I hope you keep the log going, as tracking your progress to 33/34 and beyond for 10k will be a good learning experience for many of us.

myflipflops

TRR wrote: »

Obviously a little natural talent did kick in but it did require work as you pointed out


You ran 19.23 for a full out 5k back in may. In the marathon you averaged 20.15 * 8 and then some.

I was still a big, heavy unit at Bohermeen. I had also been on the beer the night before and I ran poorly on the day. I'm mainly surprised at the improvement since I ran the 37.56 10km in July. I felt I had a good race that day and it hurt. I suspect I ran a quicker 10k than 37.56 mid marathon yesterday.

As for the talent thing, I don't think there is any doubt that I cover the miles a bit easier than some others. I was strolling to half way yesterday when guys half my size who looked much, much fitter were struggling beside me. I clearly have a big engine.

I still think that by far the biggest thing is attitude though. I think I have been back in the mindset of a runner and I have had the right mentality in training and in the race. 1% talent, 99% work. Cannot underestimate the HTFU factor either. It came into play over the last 6 miles in a big way.

Pisco Sour

Great report.

Will you do anything on the track over the coming months now that the season is getting going? Maybe the Zatopek in December? Plenty of grades in that. Good chance to knock out a good time.

myflipflops

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I hope you keep the log going

I think I will. The plan had been to bin the log after I achieved the stated goals but I reckon I will keep it up, especially if I keep 'coaching' myself.

Pisco Sour wrote: »

Will you do anything on the track over the coming months now that the season is getting going? Maybe the Zatopek in December? Plenty of grades in that. Good chance to knock out a good time.

I'm sure I will jump in the odd race. Probably not a 10km on the track though. Maybe some 1500's and 5000's for the craic. Focus will be on training for the next while with some races thrown in. As I said, the engine is still there. I will try and find out if any of the limited speed remains too.

sideswipe

Holy S**t that is a savage run! Excellent race report as well, very enjoyable. I've just read back through your log and have to say you bloody deserved the 'embarrassing fist pump'!!! The one thing that shines through from your report is your mental strength and ballsy attitude to meeting the challenge head on, fair play and congrats again.

Pisco Sour

myflipflops wrote: »

I think I will. The plan had been to bin the log after I achieved the stated goals but I reckon I will keep it up, especially if I keep 'coaching' myself.




I'm sure I will jump in the odd race. Probably not a 10km on the track though. Maybe some 1500's and 5000's for the craic. Focus will be on training for the next while with some races thrown in. As I said, the engine is still there. I will try and find out if any of the limited speed remains too.

Yeh I think you should definitely keep the log going. It's a good way to track progress as much as anything, and by updating your training on it regularly it's a good way of staying honest and not letting the training slide.

Good shout with the 1500's and 5000s. I still think you have a good 10000m on the track in you though.

TRR

I don't know if you remember the thread on the main forum from last year regards the obese lad who ran Dublin in 10+ hours and was now an "inspiration" to the fatties of the world. I think you were one of the posters like me who had a pain in their hole with the Ray Darcy bandwagon.

Well I think you're progress is much more inspiring and could be related to a lot more people that the lad who weighed 40+ stone. I bet there are literally thousands of lads who have "potential" at some sport be it running, soccer, GAA or rugby but are not involved anymore because they are out of condition. Well you are a good example of what a bit of hard work can achieve. I'm off to give a few journalists a call Maybe Claralara can use some of her press contacts to get the ball rolling, her press manager digger will be in touch

ThePiedPiper

Absolutely savage result mff. I thought from looking through some of your log previously that 2:55 was a stretch goal, you completely nailed that race. Amazing. And the race report, Jesus, to push hard in the middle part of the race, and hang onto it. Brilliant. And the scary part is, this is just the start for you. Best of luck with your training and racing after this, the sky's the limit!

nerraw1111

Savage stuff. Love the race report, it's inspiring. (not in the oh isn't he great sort of way but the toughing it out part and holding on.)