Dublin Marathon 2011 Novices Mentored Thread

Younganne

Hi Lads, Thanks for keeping me sane over the past two weeks when i couldn't run.
Thankfully I'm just back from a 4 mile lovely comfortable run...did ave pace of 10.28 with ave heart rate of 158, so needless to say I'm a happy bunny .. I am planning to stick to the schedule of 6, 3 and 8.... for the rest of the week..
again thanks lads for all the wonderful advice and encouragement over the last few months...fair play to ye..

2 x your half time plus 10% is more realistic.

going by this it gives me 4:17 but to be honest 4.30 would be great.

Mr Slow

Younganne wrote: »

going by this it gives me 4:17 but to be honest 4.30 would be great.

Here's my race from last year, have a look at the course profile and remember it on race day, don't kill yourself to stay on pace going uphill and let gravity do it's work on the downhills. Hopefully it'll help you save a bit of energy for the final push in the last 10k.

RayCun

dang wrote: »

Hi Ray, do you recommend any isogels? I've used PowerBar and lucozade gels. I found the lucozade one really good but I can't find them anywhere now

These are the only ones I've tried, possibly the only ones I've seen. They have them in most cycling/running shops.
I don't get much of a kick out of them myself, but they are easier to stomach.

Mr Slow

RayCun wrote: »

These are the only ones I've tried, possibly the only ones I've seen. They have them in most cycling/running shops.
I don't get much of a kick out of them myself, but they are easier to stomach.

Haven't heard of anyone having an issue with these, the orange ones are gack though!

ManFromAtlantis

Ray
is it that the sub 3 30 pacers at at the top of wave 2.
but in the main those who put dowb sub 3 30 on the application form can be in wave 1 if not going with the sub 3 30 pacers? thks

Mr Slow

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

Ray
is it that the sub 3 30 pacers at at the top of wave 2.
but in the main those who put dowb sub 3 30 on the application form can be in wave 1 if not going with the sub 3 30 pacers? thks

That's my understanding too!

RayCun

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

Ray
is it that the sub 3 30 pacers at at the top of wave 2.
but in the main those who put dowb sub 3 30 on the application form can be in wave 1 if not going with the sub 3 30 pacers? thks

I know, I had this conversation with the pacers
they're aiming to be in place early, so people will see the balloons and go to the right spot.

RayCun

The word back from the organizers is we will have the 3:30 and the 4:15 pacers, starting from the front of waves 2 and 3 respectively. This is what we tried during the half, and it worked very well, it helps with congestion, and ensures more runners start in their correct area. Feel free to let people know this. so anyone targeting 3:29:3x doesn't feel they should start at the tail of wave 1. Their race will benefit more from the congestion free start of wave 2 (likewise 4:15). The aim of the pacers is to bring the groups home in 3:29:3x and 4:14:3x, as with the other groups.

The other item that came up, was ensuring that the pacers are in place early, as this will help runners find their correct place at the start line. ...we'll aim to get into position about 40 minutes before the gun, to give runners plenty of time to find their correct starting position.

which you read and thanked on the pacing forum, Mr Slow :pac:

BobMac104

For ISO gel recomendations the kinetica ones are great and taste nice too. The berry ones especially. Ive never had issues with them.

dang

Mr Slow wrote: »

Haven't heard of anyone having an issue with these, the orange ones are gack though!

Never tried them, all I see are PowerBar gels in most of the running or health shops. I might stick with what I am used to at this stage.

Also does anyone know if you can track each runner if you have their number? I heard you can see someone's time at certain points along the route on a website if you have their race number, but I can't find any info online about it.

Mr Slow

RayCun wrote: »

which you read and thanked on the pacing forum, Mr Slow :pac:

My understanding was correct then smarta5s, I thank a lot of posts that I don't read so as to be supportive to the inept poster, come to think of it, I only apply that to yours!!! :P:P:pac:

conseng

Aiming to run 9 minute miles, which gives 3 56ish, maybe picking it up towards the end if things go very well.:p. McMillan suggests 3 46 based on a couple of 10k times from about may this year but that seems too ambitious. Would be happy with anything under 4 hours I think. Most successfull LSR's were done about 9 30 - 9 45 / mile.

KittyMittens

Hi Ray, how familiar should you be with the course prior to the day? I know someone previously suggested cycling around it, havent done that yet. Was planning on going with a pace group and taking it as it comes, will that be okay? Thank you

Mr Slow

Mr Slow wrote: »

Here's my race from last year, have a look at the course profile and remember it on race day, don't kill yourself to stay on pace going uphill and let gravity do it's work on the downhills. Hopefully it'll help you save a bit of energy for the final push in the last 10k.

See Above

KittyMittens wrote: »

Hi Ray, how familiar should you be with the course prior to the day? I know someone previously suggested cycling around it, havent done that yet. Was planning on going with a pace group and taking it as it comes, will that be okay? Thank you

RayCun

dang wrote: »

Also does anyone know if you can track each runner if you have their number? I heard you can see someone's time at certain points along the route on a website if you have their race number, but I can't find any info online about it.

I don't think that's a live service - you can check a runner's splits at the end of the race, when the results go up, but not during the race itself. As far as I know.

KittyMittens

Thanks Mr Slow, I had just read your race overview and thats what got me wondering....
Thanks!

RayCun

KittyMittens wrote: »

Hi Ray, how familiar should you be with the course prior to the day? I know someone previously suggested cycling around it, havent done that yet. Was planning on going with a pace group and taking it as it comes, will that be okay? Thank you

Cycling it - or even driving it - in advance is a good idea, if you want to get more of a feel for it, pick out some landmarks and so on. It's not really necessary though.

Mr Slow

RayCun wrote: »

I don't think that's a live service - you can check a runner's splits at the end of the race, when the results go up, but not during the race itself. As far as I know.

That is my understanding also :P

RayCun

Mr Slow wrote: »

That is my understanding also :P

phew

RayCun

conseng wrote: »

Aiming to run 9 minute miles, which gives 3 56ish, maybe picking it up towards the end if things go very well.:p. McMillan suggests 3 46 based on a couple of 10k times from about may this year but that seems too ambitious. Would be happy with anything under 4 hours I think. Most successfull LSR's were done about 9 30 - 9 45 / mile.

Go out with the 4 hour pace group, they'll keep you on track and you can run on ahead at the end.

pistol_75

RayCun wrote: »

I don't think that's a live service - you can check a runner's splits at the end of the race, when the results go up, but not during the race itself. As far as I know.

There is an iphone app Rumnmeter which has functionality to publish updates of someones workouts to facebook or twitter as they are doing it.

Wouldn't be for me but it's a way or providing progress updates to friends if you really wanted to I suppose.

kit3

RayCun wrote: »

I think going with the 5 hour pacers is a good idea. McMillan is the most optimistic of the calculators I've seen (the only one to give me a sub 3.30 prediction ), doubling your half time and adding 10% gives you an estimate closer to 4.50 for example.

I think it's hard to overstate the value of finishing the marathon strongly, especially your first.

Yes -I think I remember reading that about McMillan somewhere here before. Would be really happy to finish around 5 hours (under if at all possible) but really just want to enjoy it and be raring to go again after it !

Thanks for the advice

Fazz

Hi Ray/anyone,

I'm just wondering is the best way to pace a marathon, to go out at/just below threshold pace and then kick it up a gear if you can in last 10k?

I recently got a VO2 max done and have my threshold hr.
I've checked this against previous long runs etc and it does match pace, however is 15-20secs per km slower than my planned pace.

So I guess I'm asking those that have paced marathons off hr, how thy have done it? Start just below and finish above I assume? Assuming legs/hydration/nutrition done correctly.

Does it all depend on the day as well, but important to stay in line with threshold hr?
When I say threshold, I mean aerobic threshold which I can sustain for long runs

Do you guys all know and run in accordance to threshold hr so as not to hit the wall?
Or do some run above threshold, then ease off and repeat etc?

RayCun

Fazz wrote: »

Hi Ray/anyone,

I'm just wondering is the best way to pace a marathon, to go out at/just below threshold pace and then kick it up a gear if you can in last 10k?

'Threshold' usually means lactate threshold, the pace at which you can clear the lactic acid from your muscles as quickly as it builds up. Threshold pace is usually around 10 mile/half marathon pace, which is much faster than marathon pace.

I don't use HR in training, I can't really help with that side of things, but the optimum strategy is to maintain a constant pace throughout. If you can pick it up towards the end, fine, but that's a bonus.

TiptoeMushroom

Nules10 wrote: »

My original goal time was 4.30 but sine i got injured i have decided to go out with the 5hr pacers or maybe just ahead and see how things pan out for me at the half way point. Goal is to finish but as close to 5hrs as possible.(hopefully under )

Nules I am in the same boat.

Between loosing my garmin, having a throat infection, antibiotics, working 60+ hour weeks and a bad ankle I need to be happy with sub 5 hours.

sunflowerRo

Did anyone do as I did and look up the predicted 14 day weather forecast from completely unreputable sites?
No sign of snow

chinguetti

Ah don't be bothered about the weather folks, you can do nothing about it and its 10 days away. Whatever the weather, know what you're going to wear and stick with it regardless.

If its cold, bring some extra gear to wear until you warm up by about entering the Park which is 4 miles. Pennys is the job. If its wet, XL bin bags doubled are your only man with a bit of string to tie them tight. And don't worry about looking daft, you'll be dry while others will be cold and wet before they start.

Wearing an extra layer on a wet day cause its raining will only mean that you have to carry extra weight which is wet and running off your skin and may cause a fair deal of pain. Don't wear a jacket that you're going to carry round the course.

A snow shower would be really cool though:cool:

sunflowerRo

chinguetti wrote: »

If its cold, bring some extra gear to wear until you warm up by about entering the Park which is 4 miles

Probably a silly question but as its my first marathon......I had an old casual jacket I was going to wear while waiting for the gun. Not one you'd run in though. Can you throw the gear away pretty much after you start? Or are you better wearing layers that you can take off as you run along?

This is the start of my panic questions.....:eek:

RayCun

In the last minute or two before the start, the bystanders on the side of the road are buried under a rain of old clothes from the runners in the pens.

chinguetti

Yeah last year it was crisp and cold and sunny. The announcer started to count down and everyone started throwing off clothes and throwing them to the side of the street. There was a great shot on Setanta last year from the front of the field of the clothes flying everywhere.

Personally i got rid of the hat in the Park and the gloves in Chapelizod and the jumper in Fitzwilliam Square.

All the clothes go to the homeless IIRC so a good cause will benefit.