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Chucky ár Lá... DigDig's gonna get you!
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Tuesday - Went to club for the first time in a year (or something like that
) Did a mile w/up followed by 2 sets of 3 x 200's with a 1 min recovery and then 2.5 miles on my own. Although I was told I shouldn't jump back into 200's I was happy to wake the legs up and careful not to push it. Now that I have gone back I'm looking forward to club sessions during the Summer. 0 -
Tuesday - Went to club for the first time in a year (or something like that ) Did a mile w/up followed by 2 sets of 3 x 200's with a 1 min recovery and then 2.5 miles on my own. Although I was told I shouldn't jump back into 200's I was happy to wake the legs up and careful not to push it. Now that I have gone back I'm looking forward to club sessions during the Summer.
Classic. Nice to introduce a bit of speed work back into training the week of a marathon.0 -
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Best of luck Digger!
I know your training has been less than ideal(!) so the main consideration should be to get to the finish in one piece rather than having a Boston experience again.
Sooo, start off much slower than you think you should and maintain til 10 miles. Slowly up the pace if feeling strong. This way you'll be passing lots of people all the way through the race to the finish and should lead to an enjoyable run with a decent time.
Any target in mind? Would you be happy with a comfortable sub 3:30 at this stage?
Btw: Is your other half running or is she going in a coaching capacity?
Also, has she lost her boards.ie login details??
A comfortable sub 3.30?? That's 9 mins off my real PB
I think it's going to be around the 3:45/3:50 mark, starting off slowly, will be passed by quite a lot of people in the first 5 miles, something I'm not too keen on. But will hopefully feel strong throughout.
CL will be running alongside me, slightly worried she has a plan to propose to me on the finish line :eek::eek::D;)0 -
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Pre race -
As those of you who know me and/or keep an eye on the log, my training had been poor. A combination of a couple of niggles and a lack of focus/desire had me doing little or nothing and I only managed to up the mileage in the final 4/5 weeks. So, the decision had been made that this would be no faster than 3:45.
Met up in the airport with Meno, Red Runner, Boston Dave, Gavlor and his red lipsticked OH Arrived safely and got the Expo done an dusted and later that evening met up for dinner and myself and CL had a couple of drinks later with TRR's missus. Got to bed early and slept okay.
Race -
A little bit of misdirection had us on the wrong train so it was a little fraught trying to get to the start area and use the toilets etc. on time but we got it sorted. It was a beautiful morning and we were in the Red Good For Age Fast Section 1 which would have been great if the original plan to go sub 3 had been still on the agenda but I was very much aware of keeping out of the way as the race started.
In truth, I felt pretty good during the early part of the race and decided to keep 3;30 pace in view, just in case I felt strong at 20 miles and could kick on.....typical digger!!
Anyway, after about 6 miles I copped on a little and eased a bit. Getting toward halfway and I started to feel tired, CL was jumping around whooping and hollering at the crowd as well as taking photos and doing video interviews with me :pac: It was great to see Kipsang and then Mo flying past us and that gave me a boost but the next few miles began to get tough.
Just after 18 miles I said to CL ''This is the longest I've run in 6 months'' and by mile 19 the legs started to go. I'd say that mile 20-23 were the worst of the lot, when your legs are feeling that bad and then the head starts to follow it just seems such a long way home. I had two sets of preventative stretches during this part and drank quite a lot of water as I began to feel very thirsty. I managed to find some slow rhythm in the last few miles but the legs were on the edge and I stopped for one final stretch with a mile to go so that I wouldn't fall apart in front of the world's media in the finishing straight
800 metres to go and time for one final CL video interview where I confirmed this would be my last marathon, she indicated the distance left and that I should sprint but I think I made my feelings very obvious
We crossed the line together doing a dual windmill and I have to say that I was very relieved it was over.
5k Splits were 25's and 26's for the first 20k, went through the half at 1:49:49 but the back 9 wasn't so pretty with splits between 27 and 32 :eek: to come home in 3:55. Disappointed not so much with the time but looking back I could have run a 3:55 evenly without any of the cramp dramas but I guess that's one of my main issues. That said, had I run a comfortable 3:55 it would have been bothering me in case I had a 3:30 in me on the day, so, fcuk, I tried and failed, so be it.
Post Race -
A great afternoon with Liverpool beating Man City followed by a couple of pints with the gang (including our lost to Ireland Rainbow Kirby and Briantherunner as well as a few of Marthastew's friends) and then a return to my hotel to have a sleep/watch some of The Masters, too excited to sleep which was real concern to Missus TRR as she knows how I need my naps. Back over to The Coal Hole and the most obvious thing about the whole group was that Meno was, by this stage, sh1tfaced and drinking what he could get his hands on before he bought a load of Sambucas :eek:
Great night with a little deviation late on but we'll leave frothy the chowder blower's story for another time
All in all a very good trip, excellent marathon with the best vocal support I've ever witnessed. It was a pleasure to run with CL and we had good craic along the way with the camera despite the picture which makes it look like I'm puk1ng!! I know I said that was definitely my final marathon but I'll take time to consider this. What I've learned is that you can't cheat marathon prep but I need to decide if I'm prepared to commit to a 14 week plan again.
Lastly, for those of you who wondered if and pondered over the possibility of a finish line proposal... I'm not a spa
Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen:D 0
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