Dublin Marathon 2012 - Mentored Novices Thread

PaulieC

miguelk wrote: »

12 mile LSR this morning (my running week works a little later to most).

This time I did the latter section of the course to the finish line (templeogue, Milltown, clonskeag to finish line) testing out new gels (honey stinger, Elvery's all out of kenetica, did the job), but more importantly to take the mystery out of the Clonskeagh hill.

So here is the verdict. You come into Clonskeagh after a bit you have a long (slight) incline. At 2 occasions when I met a rise I thought, "So, this is the famous hill??" and powered on no bother (sniggering) Then I hit the actual hill and while it is steep, it doesn't go on forever, definitely do-able and if you know its coming you will charge right up it, just keep a strong in the knowledge that there is a nice long downhill stretch after it to enjoy.

I would highly recommend it for anyone who runs around the Dublin area. Conquer those hills and you know what’s in store on the day

I would agree with that, it's definitely good to get the mystique of the killer hill out of the way. It is steep, but it's only about 100 metres long

snowman224

So is that the worst part of the course?

100m hill isnt that scary. This Marathon will be a piece of cake......

PaulieC

snowman224 wrote: »

So is that the worst part of the course?

100m hill isnt that scary. This Marathon will be a piece of cake......

That's actually the easy part. It's the other 26.1 miles that are the problem

Deedee2012

snowman224 wrote: »

So is that the worst part of the course?

100m hill isnt that scary. This Marathon will be a piece of cake......

I've done the Clonskeagh stretch a few times, it's not too bad, I suppose it's just we'll be tired by then, I'm doing my 20 miler tommorrow on the course the bit I don't like the look of is Dolphins Barn to Fortfield rd, no real "hills" but uphill the whole way, will see how that pans out.

docrock

snowman224 wrote: »

So is that the worst part of the course?

100m hill isnt that scary. This Marathon will be a piece of cake......

LOL:D:D

folan

27 days.

~ 80 miles till race time.

several hills.

bollox

coalshed

In the spirit of getting organised for the big day I took an opportunity to look at how I might get from my home in Lucan into the city in good time for the race. It appears I won't be doing so by bus as the bank holiday schedule seems to kick off at a leisurely 8AM.

Looks like I'll need to organise a lift or turn this event into an ultra-marathon

bren69

Talking of hills....doing 20mile LSR this weekend and have 2 routes in mind. One has an elevation gain of 450 feet, the other is nearly 600 feet (according to BikeRouteToaster.com). I guess doing the hillier one will stand to me come marathon day but tempted to do the less hilly run as I was wrecked after my 19 mile LSR. Any thoughts?

FiiFii

Donal112 wrote: »

Hi Fiifii, if you haven't used the Kinetics yet, I managed to get a pair of Nimbus 13's from Sportshoes.com as I didn't want to change runner type. They are based in UK but free delivery to Ireland. Was a little bit skeptical ordering runners online, but just ordered the exact same type/size as my old pair and had a brand shiny new pair in 5 days!

Oh cool, will check them out tonight so as I'd prefer to stick with what I know at this stage. Thanks

Runchick

FiiFii wrote: »

Donal112 wrote: »

Hi Fiifii, if you haven't used the Kinetics yet, I managed to get a pair of Nimbus 13's from Sportshoes.com as I didn't want to change runner type. They are based in UK but free delivery to Ireland. Was a little bit skeptical ordering runners online, but just ordered the exact same type/size as my old pair and had a brand shiny new pair in 5 days!

Oh cool, will check them out tonight so as I'd prefer to stick with what I know at this stage. Thanks

+1 on this website, as long as you know the shoes and size their prices are hard to beat. I had a pair from them that turned out to be half a size too small and they exchanged them even though I'd run in them. Good luck getting the right shoes fiifii:-))

FiiFii

coalshed wrote: »

In the spirit of getting organised for the big day I took an opportunity to look at how I might get from my home in Lucan into the city in good time for the race. It appears I won't be doing so by bus as the bank holiday schedule seems to kick off at a leisurely 8AM.

Looks like I'll need to organise a lift or turn this event into an ultra-marathon

Red Line Luas starts from 07.10 on Bank Hols so should be in town by 8- If you're in Lucan the Citywest stop not too far in car if can get a lift or there's a free car park beside Citywest business campus so could drive down, leave the car and pick up next day (or ask someone to pick up for you at a more reasonable hour..)

Skidrow

Deedee2012 wrote: »

Ok this is probably a silly question but.... What do people do for for visits to the loo during the race, I know there are portaloo's at the start/end but what about the rest of the course, it's a given I will need the loo during it, probably a couple of times, i dont over hydrate. I'm looking at a five hour finish, I can't hold that long!!

Funniest memory from my first DCM marathon in 2009 - less than 1 mile into the race all along the railings of ST STEPHENS GREEN EAST hundreds of lads stopping for a pee!! I think I was in the Phoenix Park before I stopped laughing.

Walkedit

ncmc wrote: »

StephenRooney wrote: »

Running gear in lidl this thurs!

Going to be there first thing in the morning! Need a couple of long sleeve tops and I just can't afford to fork out for expensive ones. Whoever said running was a cheap sport is a big fat liar! I reckon I will have spent close to €1000 this year on runners, race entries, clothing, gels etc, physio, accomodation the night before the marathon... the list goes on!

That makes me feel frugal (poor) and lucky. No injuries yet so no physio and training in last years shoes. Tops from previous races and shorts fron penneys. And i will still be waiting on someone reg'd who cant race to get to start. Then i sponsor myself to reg value. CONCERN needs money more. Recession racing

Will defo have a look in Lidl
Can physio costs go on MED1 ?

Walkedit

Trampas wrote: »

Deedee2012 wrote: »

Ok this is probably a silly question but.... What do people do for for visits to the loo during the race, I know there are portaloo's at the start/end but what about the rest of the course, it's a given I will need the loo during it, probably a couple of times, i dont over hydrate. I'm looking at a five hour finish, I can't hold that long!!

You could try what I seen in the 50km walk in the olympics. Person took a sponge and next thing he was taking it out of his shorts. Hate to think who picked it up.

How about doing a Paula (Radcliffe) ?

career_move

bren69 wrote: »

Talking of hills....doing 20mile LSR this weekend and have 2 routes in mind. One has an elevation gain of 450 feet, the other is nearly 600 feet (according to BikeRouteToaster.com). I guess doing the hillier one will stand to me come marathon day but tempted to do the less hilly run as I was wrecked after my 19 mile LSR. Any thoughts?

I'd go with the hills :P

Dilbert75

Walkedit wrote: »

i will still be waiting on someone reg'd who cant race to get to start. Then i sponsor myself to reg value. CONCERN needs money more. Recession racing

So just so that I understand you're planning to moonlight as somebody else, take part in a race you haven't paid to enter and then make a donation to Concern to the same value as the entry fee? Is that allowed?

snowman224

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Walkedit wrote: »

i will still be waiting on someone reg'd who cant race to get to start. Then i sponsor myself to reg value. CONCERN needs money more. Recession racing

So just so that I understand you're planning to moonlight as somebody else, take part in a race you haven't paid to enter and then make a donation to Concern to the same value as the entry fee? Is that allowed?

Given DCM haven't been too cooperative about refunds or postponement of race fees when people have got injured (as mentioned in this thread) I think it's a brilliant idea.
Was hoping my number wouldn't go to waste should I not be able to start.

RunningKing

bren69 wrote: »

Talking of hills....doing 20mile LSR this weekend and have 2 routes in mind. One has an elevation gain of 450 feet, the other is nearly 600 feet (according to BikeRouteToaster.com). I guess doing the hillier one will stand to me come marathon day but tempted to do the less hilly run as I was wrecked after my 19 mile LSR. Any thoughts?

If you are going to do the hills on a LSR, do them this week, leaving it too near the race could cause injury or ruin your taper.
I heard of someone who done big hills out by Rush area last weekend that nearly killed the group they were running with, also killed their energy levels for running this week.

My plan has hill repeats 2 or 3 weeks before the race, so I guess hill repeats are ok' just in case you wanted to do some hill work.

RayCun

About 15% of the people who enter DCM don't run it.
If DCM gave them all refunds, the cost for everyone else would have to go up.

Concern do a lot of good work, but they don't organise the marathon. DCM isn't run for profit, nobody is getting rich off your entry. There are a lot of volunteers putting in a lot of hard work to put on an enormous and very expensive event. If you want to take part in that event, you should pay your share of the costs.

snowman224

RayCun wrote: »

About 15% of the people who enter DCM don't run it.
If DCM gave them all refunds, the cost for everyone else would have to go up.

Concern do a lot of good work, but they don't organise the marathon. DCM isn't run for profit, nobody is getting rich off your entry. There are a lot of volunteers putting in a lot of hard work to put on an enormous and very expensive event. If you want to take part in that event, you should pay your share of the costs.

Dont think there is any question that he/she wouldn't be taking their share of the costs. Running with a number, whether that number was obtained directly or indirectly is still running with a paid entry.

I think there should be transfers of numbers at least.
I understand its an expensive event to organise, but its very expensive for those who pay, train hard and then are unfortunate enough to not be able to start.

RayCun

snowman224 wrote: »

Dont think there is any question that he/she wouldn't be taking their share of the costs. Running with a number, whether that number was obtained directly or indirectly is still running with a paid entry.

No, it is explicitly against the rules. If you want to run the race you have to enter yourself and race under your own name.

snowman224 wrote: »

I think there should be transfers of numbers at least.
I understand its an expensive event to organise, but its very expensive for those who pay, train hard and then are unfortunate enough to not be able to start.

If there was transfer of numbers it would be a lot more work for the organisers, and it would reduce the number of people entering. 500 people who buy a transferred number is 500 people who aren't buying their own entry, is 40,000 euro that DCM don't get. Which means everyone else has to pay 3 euro more, or the organisers have to cut costs somewhere.

RayCun

Walkedit wrote: »

And i will still be waiting on someone reg'd who cant race to get to start. Then i sponsor myself to reg value. CONCERN needs money more. Recession racing

This is just annoying me more :rolleyes:

I understand, you want to enter the marathon, and you want to give money to Concern, but you only have enough to do one. Fine. So pick one and do it. Enter the marathon or give the money to Concern.
DCM give a lot of money to charity every year (not just the money raised by runners). You don't get to donate your entry fee on their behalf. If Concern is more important to you than the marathon, give them the money and don't do the race.

snowman224

RayCun wrote: »

snowman224 wrote: »

Dont think there is any question that he/she wouldn't be taking their share of the costs. Running with a number, whether that number was obtained directly or indirectly is still running with a paid entry.

No, it is explicitly against the rules. If you want to run the race you have to enter yourself and race under your own name.

snowman224 wrote: »

I think there should be transfers of numbers at least.
I understand its an expensive event to organise, but its very expensive for those who pay, train hard and then are unfortunate enough to not be able to start.

If there was transfer of numbers it would be a lot more work for the organisers, and it would reduce the number of people entering. 500 people who buy a transferred number is 500 people who aren't buying their own entry, is 40,000 euro that DCM don't get. Which means everyone else has to pay 3 euro more, or the organisers have to cut costs somewhere.

I don't want to take this thread totally off topic but the fact is that numbers will change hands. Why not have a facility where this can happen legitimately for say 50% of race fee? but look, if DCM doesnt want entertain that, that's ok and entirely their right but perhaps it's a lost opportunity and source of extra revenue.

RayCun

snowman224 wrote: »

I don't want to take this thread totally off topic but the fact is that numbers will change hands. Why not have a facility where this can happen legitimately for say 50% of race fee? but look, if DCM doesnt want entertain that, that's ok and entirely their right but perhaps it's a lost opportunity and source of extra revenue.

Or maybe they've worked out the numbers and it would cost them more in lost entries than they would make in that 50% charge. (Would the people who swap numbers today pay 40 quid to get their number transferred legitimately or would they complain about that charge too?)

This is pretty standard, by the way, for marathons and road races in general. Some do allow transfers and cancellations, but most don't.

snowman224

RayCun wrote: »

(Would the people who swap numbers today pay 40 quid to get their number transferred legitimately or would they complain about that charge too?)

Would be nice to have the option

How about I PM you my home number and we can discuss this at length without boring everyone else here! Haha.

bren69

RunningKing wrote: »

If you are going to do the hills on a LSR, do them this week, leaving it too near the race could cause injury or ruin your taper.
I heard of someone who done big hills out by Rush area last weekend that nearly killed the group they were running with, also killed their energy levels for running this week.

My plan has hill repeats 2 or 3 weeks before the race, so I guess hill repeats are ok' just in case you wanted to do some hill work.

Thanks RunningKing. My problem is trying to find a flat route near where I live (Sligo). I just checked the elevation on my 19 mile LSR and that was also around 600ft. Guess, I'll just do the hillier route as it includes looping past my house.

Deedee2012

Walkedit wrote: »

Trampas wrote: »

Deedee2012 wrote: »

Ok this is probably a silly question but.... What do people do for for visits to the loo during the race, I know there are portaloo's at the start/end but what about the rest of the course, it's a given I will need the loo during it, probably a couple of times, i dont over hydrate. I'm looking at a five hour finish, I can't hold that long!!

You could try what I seen in the 50km walk in the olympics. Person took a sponge and next thing he was taking it out of his shorts. Hate to think who picked it up.

How about doing a Paula (Radcliffe) ?

I was waiting for someone to suggest that!

niteowl1

+ 1 on the sportsshoes.com website. saved myself €35 on my runners. no delivery charge on orders over €50 either. Happy days:)

blockic

Signed up for Athlone on Sunday anyway to get my 20 miler in.

Shall see some of you then!

tomred1N

Hi all, following this thread since june. Brief overview, male,37, 14 stone, started running in march this year after being inactive for years after finishing gaa. was gone over 16 stone at one stage. bought a lab dog and walked her a 5mile route most days and bit by bit started running it. just csme accross this thread in june and i said i'd give it a go to put some structure on my running. thought i would pack it in when mileage got big but to my surprise i have followed the plan 100% so far and after the 18 mile lsr 2 weeks ago i signed up for the marathon. problem is i have never ran a race not even a 5k and have done all my running on country roads on my own where i loop around or drop water in ditch etc where i can pick it up. i used few gels on lsr recently but was wondering are these handed out on marathon route. i carry nothing with me except my phone in a belt for the endomondo. do i need to carry gels myself? With regard to day of marathon how long before do you need to be at start?i plan to try and follow 4.30 time pacers. This is based on my lsrs 18 mile took me 3.02 hours. i did run a 10k in 52 mins about a month ago as it was raining so hard i pushed on a bit. All my running is on hilly undulating runs round west cork countryside so hopefully will have benefits. however every time u go up a hill u have the other side to look forward to! I have found this thread invaluable and it has kept me going reading everyones progress so far. As a complete novice to running a race im hoping to pick peoples brains over next few weeks. Thanks