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Dublin Marathon 2012 - Mentored Novices Thread
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career_move wrote: »NIce race report Blocky......impressed.com!
Forgot the part about nearly knocking out a 6yr old with my over eager high 5 but you had it covered!!0 -
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Wow! I've been away for 2 weeks & have 40+ pages to catch up on (& it's growing as I'm reading...) I'll have to catch up the other 20ish I've skipped or I'll never get to bed!
Was travelling (for study & holidays) since last Sunday morning (1 Sept) til midnight last night; got in a 17m with FiiFii the night before I went away, and was very glad of it. Was lovely to have some company for such a long distance, and encouragement when running up the looooongest road in the world (Blackhorse Avenue, does it ever end???
) We got to FiiFii's car at the top of the avenue & had only done 15.5m so had to continue on running (past my front door 
) to cover the distance. The 14 & 15th miles were horrible, but the last one seemed to be much easier. Sure what's one more mile when you've done 15.5? 
Heading off on my travels I was full of good intentions :rolleyes: & packed the runners. Only did 2 x 5m the first study week, then came down with a throat infection, completely lost my voice for a few days, missed my 18m LSR, & just did 1 x 5m on my holidays. Trying not to beat myself up about skipping the LSR; when you're sick, you're sick. So 6 weeks of head down & sticking to the plan by the letter now & I think I'll be ok.
For the half-marathon this morning, I achieved a PB of 4/5m25s (home in 2:15:27 by my watch, 2:16:27 by the chip).
Good points: My legs felt nicely rested, so the time off wasn't all bad. I didn't run it flat out, kept a decent steady pace, but actually was running faster than I expected I would. The training is paying off! I think I could have run a teensy bit faster but I wanted to be consistent & not find the tank was empty when I came to the tough hills.
For the last half-mile-ish I fell into step with a gent in a pink/white top (anyone here?), & the two of us were kind of gently picking up our paces for the home stretch. Then in the very final stage we both BOLTED for the finish line. I just pipped him at the post but he definitely shaved a few seconds off my time. No hard feelings on the other side of the line & I shared my cola bottles with him; felt like a team effort finishing together 
Bad points: Could NOT stop thinking how much I needed to pee for the first 8 miles. Queues were too long before the race, so I popped in when I passed again near 8m. Added a minute to my chip time, but the last 5 miles were far more comfortable! Next time I'll just wait & start the race late if that's what I have to do. Didn't help that I've still got a bit of a cough from last week's illness :mad:
Also had a really bad night's sleep, but I expect I'll be the same the night before the DCM so it's all training! :rolleyes:
Dark nail polish (or a few coats of something pale on that one toe) is your friend! :cool:God darn it, got my first black toenail end of May and waited patiently for over 3 months. JUST about grown out and what happens..? Toenail sore after Saturday's 18 miler and newly grown nail gone black again...:eek: Guess that's put paid to wearing strappy shoes before Christmas...0 -
Saturday 15th September Sligo Half Marathon - Beat The Squirell
Day started off quite early as I had to pick up race number beforehand. The organisers had advised that pickup could be done between 7 and 8. I reckon they were still there at 9 when we headed off for the half. Anyway being the obident person that I am I was there at around ten past 7. It took all of one minute to do that so I had time to kill. At around quarter past 8 I started getting ready and headed up to do a warm up. Headed out the road for half a mile and back in. Quick toilet stop and then moved over to the track and done a few laps with a bit of stretching thrown in. Felt quite good and done last lap at around HMP.
There was a decent crowd there for this, the first running of this event. Results have under 200 finishing but I would have sworn there were more starting off. Anyway my plan was to try going for a 1.55 or below. Plan B was to get a sub 2 hr. So I was aiming to head out at 8:40ish pace. I had it in my head to start behind the two hour pacer and overtake them early so that I knew that I had a couple of seconds on them on chip time. But when we lined up, the small crowd that was there, I was behind the 1:45 pacer with the 2hr guy a bit back. I reckon I would head off and do my own thing and hopefully not see the 2hr pacer again.
So away we went, 7 seconds later I decided to start my garmin! Early pace was too fast but I eventually managed to settle myself behind a small group and a guy wearing a camel back. He was my pacer for the rest of the first mile (8:27). Miles 2 and 3 had some on and off climbs (8:45 & 8:57) but I was managing ok. I changed my pacer as he was slowing a little too much on the hills. From memory mile 4 was flattish and then 5 was mainly downhill (8:40 & 8:13). Was feeling quite good at this stage and was really just holding myself back as I knew that "The Squirrel" was coming up after the half way point. Mile 6 probably took a little more effort but time (8:41) was ok and I was feeling quite good. Went through the 10k mark (actually I think they had marked 10.17 km for some reason) and checked my time and noticed that I had a new (unofficial) 10k pb (which was quite soft anyway).
The scenery along this route was quite impressive at times. But I knew that when the pretty lake that was on our right hand side ran out then it was time for the squirrel. It actually came upon me by surprise. I had just taken a gel in advance and then we were turned to the left and faced with this almost vertical climb. This is where the wheels came off. I thought I had trained over hills but this made me think again. I just do little bumps in training!
It probably only took 30 seconds of climbing for me to throw in the towel and start walking. It wasn't even easy walking up. (Mile 7 10:54, Mile 8 10:39). It was probably shorter than I thought it would be but it was nearly all walked. Mile times don't look too bad but I had most of mile 7 nearly done before the climb start and got running again near end of mile 8. At this stage I was overtaken by someone I didn't want to be anywhere near me. The 2 hr pacer:(. I decided to put the foot down a little and pass him again. Made a little gap on him too but the next climb put an end to that. I tried to hold on but just didn't seem to have the energy to keep with him. Seating here now I reckon I didn't try hard enough but that's easy to say now. Once he started to pull away I mentally just gave up for a while and started walking again. A mixture of walking and running followed (Mile 9 10:22, Mile 10 11:04, Mile 11 11:21) before I decided to put a bit of effort in a savage something from the run and tried to get in under 2:10. (Mile 12 10:19 and Mile 13 9:51). Was starting to feel good again and back in a decent rythm. But when I went through the 13.1 mark (going by my garmin) there was no sign of the finish line. It didn't come until I had clocked 13.86 on my garmin. (Last .86 8:17). Thought it might have just been my watch but spoke with couple of the pacers afterwards and they were all showing over the distance. It was very hard to judge out there as the markers on route were few and far between and when they were there they were in km. Mental maths on the run not so easy.
Whether it was long or not it doesn't really bother me that much. The biggest regret is that I didn't put the work in when the going got tough. I had around 3 minutes on the 2hr pace at mile 6 and lost that on one climb. I should really have tried even a slow pace up that. And then not tagging on to the pacer when he did catch up. I ended up with a time of 2:14:41 which doesn't really help with guiding me for DCM. Bloody squirrel!0 -
Saturday 15th September Sligo Half Marathon - Beat The Squirell
Day started off quite early as I had to pick up race number beforehand. The organisers had advised that pickup could be done between 7 and 8. I reckon they were still there at 9 when we headed off for the half. Anyway being the obident person that I am I was there at around ten past 7. It took all of one minute to do that so I had time to kill. At around quarter past 8 I started getting ready and headed up to do a warm up. Headed out the road for half a mile and back in. Quick toilet stop and then moved over to the track and done a few laps with a bit of stretching thrown in. Felt quite good and done last lap at around HMP.
There was a decent crowd there for this, the first running of this event. Results have under 200 finishing but I would have sworn there were more starting off. Anyway my plan was to try going for a 1.55 or below. Plan B was to get a sub 2 hr. So I was aiming to head out at 8:40ish pace. I had it in my head to start behind the two hour pacer and overtake them early so that I knew that I had a couple of seconds on them on chip time. But when we lined up, the small crowd that was there, I was behind the 1:45 pacer with the 2hr guy a bit back. I reckon I would head off and do my own thing and hopefully not see the 2hr pacer again.
So away we went, 7 seconds later I decided to start my garmin! Early pace was too fast but I eventually managed to settle myself behind a small group and a guy wearing a camel back. He was my pacer for the rest of the first mile (8:27). Miles 2 and 3 had some on and off climbs (8:45 & 8:57) but I was managing ok. I changed my pacer as he was slowing a little too much on the hills. From memory mile 4 was flattish and then 5 was mainly downhill (8:40 & 8:13). Was feeling quite good at this stage and was really just holding myself back as I knew that "The Squirrel" was coming up after the half way point. Mile 6 probably took a little more effort but time (8:41) was ok and I was feeling quite good. Went through the 10k mark (actually I think they had marked 10.17 km for some reason) and checked my time and noticed that I had a new (unofficial) 10k pb (which was quite soft anyway).
The scenery along this route was quite impressive at times. But I knew that when the pretty lake that was on our right hand side ran out then it was time for the squirrel. It actually came upon me by surprise. I had just taken a gel in advance and then we were turned to the left and faced with this almost vertical climb. This is where the wheels came off. I thought I had trained over hills but this made me think again. I just do little bumps in training!
It probably only took 30 seconds of climbing for me to throw in the towel and start walking. It wasn't even easy walking up. (Mile 7 10:54, Mile 8 10:39). It was probably shorter than I thought it would be but it was nearly all walked. Mile times don't look too bad but I had most of mile 7 nearly done before the climb start and got running again near end of mile 8. At this stage I was overtaken by someone I didn't want to be anywhere near me. The 2 hr pacer:(. I decided to put the foot down a little and pass him again. Made a little gap on him too but the next climb put an end to that. I tried to hold on but just didn't seem to have the energy to keep with him. Seating here now I reckon I didn't try hard enough but that's easy to say now. Once he started to pull away I mentally just gave up for a while and started walking again. A mixture of walking and running followed (Mile 9 10:22, Mile 10 11:04, Mile 11 11:21) before I decided to put a bit of effort in a savage something from the run and tried to get in under 2:10. (Mile 12 10:19 and Mile 13 9:51). Was starting to feel good again and back in a decent rythm. But when I went through the 13.1 mark (going by my garmin) there was no sign of the finish line. It didn't come until I had clocked 13.86 on my garmin. (Last .86 8:17). Thought it might have just been my watch but spoke with couple of the pacers afterwards and they were all showing over the distance. It was very hard to judge out there as the markers on route were few and far between and when they were there they were in km. Mental maths on the run not so easy.
Whether it was long or not it doesn't really bother me that much. The biggest regret is that I didn't put the work in when the going got tough. I had around 3 minutes on the 2hr pace at mile 6 and lost that on one climb. I should really have tried even a slow pace up that. And then not tagging on to the pacer when he did catch up. I ended up with a time of 2:14:41 which doesn't really help with guiding me for DCM. Bloody squirrel!
I'd say you were having a bad day. Myself and yourself are doing about the same training and times were close enough in 10km race too. I expected you in under 2hrs.
I do know the feeling you were having though, something similar has happened me in the past and once you decide to walk I reckon you just lose faith and thats it. Its a bummer.0 -
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Saturday 15th September Sligo Half Marathon - Beat The Squirell
Day started off quite early as I had to pick up race number beforehand. The organisers had advised that pickup could be done between 7 and 8. I reckon they were still there at 9 when we headed off for the half. Anyway being the obident person that I am I was there at around ten past 7. It took all of one minute to do that so I had time to kill. At around quarter past 8 I started getting ready and headed up to do a warm up. Headed out the road for half a mile and back in. Quick toilet stop and then moved over to the track and done a few laps with a bit of stretching thrown in. Felt quite good and done last lap at around HMP.
There was a decent crowd there for this, the first running of this event. Results have under 200 finishing but I would have sworn there were more starting off. Anyway my plan was to try going for a 1.55 or below. Plan B was to get a sub 2 hr. So I was aiming to head out at 8:40ish pace. I had it in my head to start behind the two hour pacer and overtake them early so that I knew that I had a couple of seconds on them on chip time. But when we lined up, the small crowd that was there, I was behind the 1:45 pacer with the 2hr guy a bit back. I reckon I would head off and do my own thing and hopefully not see the 2hr pacer again.
So away we went, 7 seconds later I decided to start my garmin! Early pace was too fast but I eventually managed to settle myself behind a small group and a guy wearing a camel back. He was my pacer for the rest of the first mile (8:27). Miles 2 and 3 had some on and off climbs (8:45 & 8:57) but I was managing ok. I changed my pacer as he was slowing a little too much on the hills. From memory mile 4 was flattish and then 5 was mainly downhill (8:40 & 8:13). Was feeling quite good at this stage and was really just holding myself back as I knew that "The Squirrel" was coming up after the half way point. Mile 6 probably took a little more effort but time (8:41) was ok and I was feeling quite good. Went through the 10k mark (actually I think they had marked 10.17 km for some reason) and checked my time and noticed that I had a new (unofficial) 10k pb (which was quite soft anyway).
The scenery along this route was quite impressive at times. But I knew that when the pretty lake that was on our right hand side ran out then it was time for the squirrel. It actually came upon me by surprise. I had just taken a gel in advance and then we were turned to the left and faced with this almost vertical climb. This is where the wheels came off. I thought I had trained over hills but this made me think again. I just do little bumps in training!
It probably only took 30 seconds of climbing for me to throw in the towel and start walking. It wasn't even easy walking up. (Mile 7 10:54, Mile 8 10:39). It was probably shorter than I thought it would be but it was nearly all walked. Mile times don't look too bad but I had most of mile 7 nearly done before the climb start and got running again near end of mile 8. At this stage I was overtaken by someone I didn't want to be anywhere near me. The 2 hr pacer:(. I decided to put the foot down a little and pass him again. Made a little gap on him too but the next climb put an end to that. I tried to hold on but just didn't seem to have the energy to keep with him. Seating here now I reckon I didn't try hard enough but that's easy to say now. Once he started to pull away I mentally just gave up for a while and started walking again. A mixture of walking and running followed (Mile 9 10:22, Mile 10 11:04, Mile 11 11:21) before I decided to put a bit of effort in a savage something from the run and tried to get in under 2:10. (Mile 12 10:19 and Mile 13 9:51). Was starting to feel good again and back in a decent rythm. But when I went through the 13.1 mark (going by my garmin) there was no sign of the finish line. It didn't come until I had clocked 13.86 on my garmin. (Last .86 8:17). Thought it might have just been my watch but spoke with couple of the pacers afterwards and they were all showing over the distance. It was very hard to judge out there as the markers on route were few and far between and when they were there they were in km. Mental maths on the run not so easy.
Whether it was long or not it doesn't really bother me that much. The biggest regret is that I didn't put the work in when the going got tough. I had around 3 minutes on the 2hr pace at mile 6 and lost that on one climb. I should really have tried even a slow pace up that. And then not tagging on to the pacer when he did catch up. I ended up with a time of 2:14:41 which doesn't really help with guiding me for DCM. Bloody squirrel!
Hi dazza, the 1:45 guy was myself. Don't be too hard on yourself, that was a tough course and you'll have learnt a lot from it today!0 -
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Just in the door from a hen party - surprisingly enough I was one of the most energetic on the dance floor tonight even after the half this morning, must be all those endorphins...:D
So I did say here on Fri that I was gonna take it easy on the half but iced and massaged the leg that evening and woke up feeling fine... Gentle jog to warm up and the start line and all still good so figured go at comfortableish pace until feel a twinge and then could back off. V busy for first couple of miles so lot of jostling and skipping in and out of people to get through. Halfway through 1st mile going downhill was some guy cycling a rickshaw type thing... Not sure if he was part of the race or just got caught up.. Think for charity which fair play but took up half the road so we were all edging each other trying to get by..
Got to see the penguins as past the zoo just after the 2 mile mark which always puts a smile on my face.. Didn't target a pace but found myself doing 10min miles for first 4 miles (freakily bang on without even trying..) and everything still good so started to think maybe if could keep this up might get a 2.10. Opened a gel at this stage as learnt from the 10 miler to not eat too close to race and was starting to feel hungry. Route through Farmleigh was lovely (esp the nice downhill when you come out!!) and by time got to 7mile mark found I was doing bout 9.30min miles and still feeling relatively fresh..
Hit the 10 mile mark outside a whole 3 mins faster than the race a few weeks ago (did NOT have a good day) and that's when it got REALLY tough... Had done that route up military hill and beyond a few times on training runs but can slow right down then, so tough when you're trying to keep a pace.. Could see everyone around me in same position. Started to feel nauseous and trouble breathing so lent forward a bit to help the stomach, stared at ground so wouldn't be put off by hill and just started counting to 60 - figured if did this 20 times at my pace it would bring me to the home stretch... Worked cos when finally turned off towards the finish line breathing and stomach back to normal and managed to sprint in the last bit. Got a txt only 2 mins after crossing - just over 2.06 which was 3 mins better than the half I did in July that I struggled a lot more on.
Delighted with the improvement, on both time and that I did it non stop (which I find v tough..). Not just physically better but mentally I was comfortable most of the way & even when got tough, knew from my LSR's that I could easily do the distance if i chose to slow down a bit. Also, confidence boost after 10 miler went so bad so for those who it didn't go as well for, take heart that it was just a bad day and your hard training will pay off next time.0 -
Very happy with how today went. I was quite nervous heading into this, and interested to see if I would be able to up my pace after all the slow training.
Things started badly as I was about half way down the group headed by the 1:40 pacers, and I knew that this would mean congested roads for the first while. My previous PB was 1:43 (ish) and I was aiming to go a few minutes quicker and beat those pacers home. The congestion meant I was losing ground for the first three kms, but I now feel that this slower pace stood to me later in the race. After that, I was able to settle into my target pace of 4 Mins 44/km as we made our way up the North Road. At this stage I set a new target for myself. I could just about make out the blue pacer flags in the distance and I resolved to at be at least within striking distance of them once I got to the hills.
My pace picked up slightly once I got up close to the Castleknock gates, and this continued all the way down to the Parkgate exit. I was feeling reasonably good at this stage. I knew the hills were approaching and was worried that I might lose too much time tackling them. As I passed the water station, I had a clear view of the flags. My pace actually increased slightly as I started up the first hill, but I wasnt sure if I could keep this up. I could. By the time I got to the last ascent I was up with the pacer at the back. Happy that my jpb was done, I evened out the pace and just focussed on keeping going. I had no intention of trying to catch the other two pacers who were only slightly further up the road. On the final straight, the encouragement from the crowd and the announcer really got to me and I picked it up once more. I overtook the first pacer as I crossed the line, coming home in 1:39 even.
I am very pleased that all the training is paying off. Id like to thank the pacers for their help today, even though I wasn't running with them for most of the race. The very sight of those blue flags kept me going at times. I thought the event was very well organised overall, but wonder about the wisdom of the bag-drop set-up. Was waiting ages for my bag afterwards and can only imagine it got worse as more and more people finished.
All that remains now, is to set a goal pace for the big one 0 -
Pageant Messiah wrote: »Up early (not been a great nights sleep - our little one chose last night to have a series of nightmares only sorted out when she set up camp in our bed )
Well done on your HM run esp after being up with your little one. I've had something similar last night.
Yesterday, I decided not to do my 12 mile lsr. It sounds a bit dramatic but I couldn't mentally or physically face it. Instead I'd a relaxing day with my family and went for a swim in the new local pool - first day opening. All the half marathon stories are encouraging. I'll head out soon as I'm trying to get used to running nearer the start time of the marathon.0 -
All that remains now, is to set a goal pace for the big one
Be interested to hear what you decide on/what your thoughts are right now - I had a similar time yesterday. The McMillan calculator puts us at 3:28; 2 * 1/2 time + 10% is around 3:38 both of which sound much faster than I thought I could do. I'm starting to think about trying to hang onto the 3:45 pacers or maybe I should cop on and be happy to go with the 4 hr guys in the hope of finishing...0 -
Be interested to hear what you decide on/what your thoughts are right now - I had a similar time yesterday. The McMillan calculator puts us at 3:28; 2 * 1/2 time + 10% is around 3:38 both of which sound much faster than I thought I could do. I'm starting to think about trying to hang onto the 3:45 pacers or maybe I should cop on and be happy to go with the 4 hr guys in the hope of finishing...
Be conservative for your first, make sure to enjoy it, there's nothing surer to make it a nightmare than heading out with too fast a pace band.
Go with the 3:45's, (Menoscemo was the rear 1:40 pacer yesterday, he'll be in the 3:45 band for the full) if you're feeling good at 22 miles you can push on, if not you won't be suffering......a lot 0 -
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