DCM 2014: Mentored Novices Thread

Tigerandahalf

Pre race
I got the train to Dublin on Saturday and had arranged to go for a run with Yaboya in the Phoenix Park through the thread here. It is a really lovely place to run right in the heart of the city. We did 3 miles and chatted about our race plans etc. My plan A had been 7.30 miles which would have given me a time of around 3:17:00 but given that the garmin would measure longer this would probably mean a finishing time closer to 3:20. When I was reading various bits on boards about times, doubling my half time and adding 20 seemed like the right thing to do so a 3.20 time would have been the limit of my capability at present. I felt going in that I was well prepared and that my lsrs especially had gone very well. I had the following done
2 19 milers
2 20s
2 22s
1 24 miler
1 17 mile (at 7.20 pace, after it I realised 7.20 wasn't feasible)
The 24 miler was a risk but I felt that the plans out there weren't long enough. I was surprised when I saw that the longest run on various plans (even at intermediate/advanced level) was only 20 miles. I did all my lsrs at MP plus 30 seconds, or thereabouts.
I was lucky in that I had no injuries or sicknesses throughout the period. As time went on I used the midweek runs as easy runs and just concentrated the effort on the lsrs at the weekend. Taper went fine but I was never sure whether to do more or less and just decided to go by feel.
Sunday came around and I just took it easy for the day. I went to RDS to collect my number, had a quick look around and headed back. My wife was coming up that evening so it was just a case of killing time, watch some tv and do some reading. I slept quite well on Saturday evening so wasn't too worried about sleep on the Sunday night. The night before the Longford Half I only slept about 3 hours but it turned out ok. I was in bed by 9.30pm and reluctantly switched off the tv when Love Hate came on. All seemed good for a good sleep as I was feeling quite tired. Then the crowd in the next room decided to turn up the tv. I thought they might have been watching Love Hate and that it would be switched off around 10.30pm. Later I looked at the watch and it was 11.30 but the tv/music was still blaring. Pissed off I got up and knocked on the wall and asked them to turn it down. No response. So I went back to bed, half drifted off and when I looked at the watch again it was 2am and the same crack. I was worried now I wouldn't get any sleep so I rang reception and within 5 minutes the sound went. Back to bed and thankfully I slept.
Alarm went off at 6am and went down for breakfast. Lovely porridge with honey and cream and a great selection of nuts available. I met another lad who was also doing the marathon and we decided to get a taxi. Off we went around 7.30 and very quickly got the bags dropped off. We then needed to go for a wee but the portaloos had massive queues so went through an arch and did our business. We then went for a little jog up a dead end only to be greeted by about 10 ladies spread eagled with the pants down. The queue for the portaloos was obviously too long! We wished each other luck and went to get into the correct positions.
The previous night I had laid all my running gear out, made sure race number was attached ok, etc. I had a small tin of vaseline that I took with me to the startline. I got a lot of thigh chaffing when doing the lsrs and I was worried that the vaseline would dry if I put it on too early. 15 minutes before the buzzer and I layered on the vaseline, had a quick wee against a railing and turned on the garmin to locate the GPS signal. I positioned myself a bit behind the 3.20 pacers. All set and hopeful of a good day.

0-7 miles
The buzzer went and off we set. The first 2 miles were quite crowded and it was a struggle to get upto the right pace. I was worried I would lose too much time but decided to just let things flow. We turned onto the quays and the biggest problem was avoiding the bottles thrown on the road. I stepped on one at one stage and nearly twisted an ankle, so I tried to keep the eyes on the floor as well as everything else. I found the first 5 miles uncomfortable feeling sluggish and the legs just didn't seem fresh. I found it very humid and I was beginning to wonder if I was struggling then what was it going to be like later. Up Chesterfield Avenue we went and I tucked in to avoid the wind. Going along here my 3.17 pace band broke off. Damn, now I was reliant on the pacers in front of me. I decided to just stick behind them until half way and reassess then. Great crowds along here and it was even better in Castleknock. When we turned off in Castleknock we came to a hill which I wasn't expecting but just took it easy going up and soon enough we were going downhill. At this stage I really settled into the race and my times were much better. I made a conscious effort to take on water at each station and this proved very important. I had 4 gels in my running belt and the plan was to take them at 5,10, 15 and 20 miles. This worked out very well. I also brought an electrolyte tablet. Since it was too big to fit into the top of the bottle I had broken in 2 and wrapped each piece in tin foil so they wouldn't melt. As I sweat a lot I was worried that all the good training would be undone if I didn't get electrolytes into me during the race. I planned to add these to water after the first half of the race. I hadn't planned to take any Lucozade sport but given the warmth I decided to drink some whenever it was offered. This again worked out well.

8-20 miles
I don't know Dublin well so the rest of the race was a bit of a blurr. The support everywhere was fantastic. I was going well at this stage but knew it was still a long way to go until home. The climb up Crumlin presented a nice breeze so I tucked in behind a tall lad in front of me and just tried to tick over rather than sticking to a pace. I knew I could get some time back later. Race was going good and at this stage a lad came beside me and we chatted for a few mins. He had been planning for a 3.15 marathon but his prep in the last couple of weeks hadn't gone to plan and he had also hurt one of his ribs. And as soon as he arrived we parted our ways. I was making good progress now. Then bang I just hit a big wobble. Not sure exactly where as my time doesn't seem to reflect it but it felt like I was hitting a wall. I think it was around the RDS but I am not sure. Luckily I recovered quickly enough. I was beginning to come across lots of casualties at this stage, people walking, in cramp, stretching out or wobbling all over the road. It was warm as the sun came out. I poured water over my cap and onto my wrist sweatband. Rubbing it across my face gave a cooling effect. Heartbreak hill came up and I managed to get up ok. But I'd say I looked a sight. Not far to go now.

21 - finish
I knew the next few miles were relatively downhill and it was lucky as the quads were beginning to shout. I had high 5'd a few kids earlier on but at this stage I couldn't acknowledge the crowd around and just had to dig in and keep moving. The last couple of miles were long and I didn't know the route. At one stage some guy watching on shouted "Pacers coming behind you, keep going". "Feck, they couldn't be that close", I thought. I was watching for the mile markers and the sight of the 25 miler was a relief. I tried to up the pace during the last mile but each time the legs just said no. Support was great but in truth I wasn't taking much of it in which is a regret in a way. Just keep the legs moving. I came around a corner and I could see a finish timer in the distance. Yes...nearly there. Got to it and it said just 400 metres to go! Ah christ! Looked up at the clock and I knew I was inside 3.20. Raised my arms and crossed the line. More relief than elation. Scuttled down to get my medal and t-shirt. Some guy beside me was laid across a barrier puking his ring up. Gave him a pat on the back and he said he was grand and then he puked again. Lot of people had maxed it out.

After Race
I spotted my wife in the crowd and proceeded back to the drop bag area. The fabulous young volunteers had my bag ready in a split second. I bumped into Yaboya, had a quick chat and then just went to the side and changed and got some bananas and water down me. Legs were banjaxed. Got a taxi to the hotel, ate and had a welcome bath. Apologies for not making it to McGrattans but I was too wrecked.
Overall a fantastic experience and it was a superb event. The good day favoured the spectators and they were superb and the city looked beautiful running throughout. I need to see more of it. A big thank to you to everyone who helped out from volunteers, spectators, pacers and everyone else who has done something.
Finally a big thank you to Ososlo (she was on here nearly every day) and everyone else who has contributed on here. I run by myself so this forum has been a brilliant resource. I am going to take a couple of weeks off and just give the body a break. I started off running about a year ago having finished up playing junior B football and wanting to stay active and keep the belly down. It has given me great enjoyment. I hope to bring down my 5km/10km times over the next few months. After that I am not sure. The marathon requires such work and everything needs to go right on the day. It is a big commitment. Despite my time being decent for a first one I doubt if my preparation could have gone any better so the improvement from here on may not be huge. I am not sure if I have enough natural pace to go sub 3 but who knows.
Sorry for the very long report but I read some great reports on here so felt I should give something back. Below are my splits.

Split Time
1 07:39.1
2 07:25.4
3 07:35.2
4 07:42.5
5 07:35.7
6 07:20.9
7 07:39.4
8 07:14.2
9 07:22.8
10 07:26.6
11 07:32.4
12 07:18.2
13 07:26.6
14 07:41.0
15 07:31.9
16 07:20.7
17 07:33.8
18 07:19.9
19 07:22.7
20 07:24.9
21 07:33.1
22 07:53.1
23 07:27.5
24 07:31.8
25 07:53.8
26 07:41.5
27 02:45.8
Summary 3:18:20


Half 1:39:12
30km 2:20:41
Finish 3:18:20

Average Heart Rate 169 bpm
Max Heart Rate 183 bpm (my max is around 192 bpm)
Average Pace was 7.31 mins/m, so I was pretty much on target.

Ososlo

^^^^ congratulations Tigerandahalf. That is some time for a first marathon. Exciting to see what you'll do in the future. Hope you recovery well and quickly!

neilthefunkeone

Right.. I have had the day to reflect on my first marathon.. at first I was so frustrated with the way the day went and my finish I forgot that I just completed a marathon! All the texts and congrats from family friends has snapped me back!..

So where to start.. from the start would be good.. lining up in wave 2 my Garmin watch packs in.. no life out of it.. Right not to worry.. 4:00 pacers in sight.. let's go.

100m in I lose 2 gels from my belt.. no problem.. I have support from the gf with extra gels.. keep motoring..

So I'm off with the 4 hour pacers and I'm loving the athmosphere.. running down the middle of the road in Dublin city with thousands of people, I was feeling great.. up through the park feeling good and the support in castleknock was unbelievable! Saw my sister and nephew at the second stage in the park and my parents at chapelizod..

Now the two following hills did catch me at a shortness of breath but I was still on the heels of the pacers.. I dropped back a bit from them after kilmainham, 100 ft maybe more but still felt good!

So 13 miles official time has me at 2:00:41.. by walkinstown roundabout I was drifting off the pacers a bit more.. saw a few friends then and was feeling ok..

Now the fun.. next mile up to the kcr my groin began to get very tight and all sight of the Pacers was lost.. I got up to 17m but had to stop and try stretch, my groin was very tight now and pace was really slow.. I was only able to take small strides and very slow pace.. stopped again briefly at 18m to talk to the girlfriend and stretch again..

So the groin was now gone.. I was in a half walk/jog mode.. So I slogged through this watching pace group after pace group pass me..

Anyway this far in I was not stepping out.. I was finishing.. on I went and as I hit 25 I seemed to cheer up a bit on to 26 and suddenly I felt no pain and hit the last 100 metres like It was the start line.

So across in 4:54:38.

Silly to be so disappointed when I think of the people I seen in way worse shape at the side of the road around the course.. hope everyone was ok..

All the reports were great to read and glad everyone got the job done in one way or another..

So when's the next one.. I have something to prove!!

Laois_Man

Another long post alert:

I want to write a properly detailed review of the day as I am trying to think of the lessons learned - already thinking of preparing for next year. And I don't want to forget anything in the meantime

The day:

Up at 5am for porridge brekkie and got a lift to Dublin from a fellow runner who swung into Carlow to collect me on route from Kilkenny.

I had bought cheap throw-away gear in Penny’s the other day for standing around at the start but I ended up leaving it at the bag drop as it was so warm.

Lined up in wave 3 at the 4:30 pacers with good banter and a great atmosphere all around us. Massive cheers when the other waves were going off on the big screen.
We were stood at the start area for over an hour but it flew by.

Wave 3 got its turn and off we set. Pace of the first couple of miles felt very slow and I found myself ahead of the 4:30 pacers but not by much and there was a bit more room there so I was happy to stay ahead. My running buddy had been warned to stay with the 4:30's, but he took off like a hare - so I let him on, knowing I would catch him later when he bombed.

I was very comfortable all the way through, out onto the quays, over the bridge etc. Although I was slightly concerned with a pain in the right glute that I haven't felt in ages. But it didn't trouble me much at any point in the race.

Onto Parkgate Street, I got a surprise when I saw my 2 sisters there, they hadn't told me they were coming up. Then into the park which I hadn't been looking forward to at all but which I actually really enjoyed. Here I had a brief chat with annapr and her hubby which was brilliant.

Out onto Castleknock road, popped my first gel and down to the village where the noise might have been the loudest part of all. Crossed the 10K marker in 1:03:33 - bang on intended target. I absolutely loved that first 10K and it flew by.


Crossed the 13.1 marker at 2:14:52. Still bang on intended target. But doubts were starting to creep in and I was feeling more tired than I would have liked. In fact, they weren't even doubts, but certainty that I would soon lose the 4:30 pacers. I had continued to enjoy myself in and out of the park but the first section I really hated was that hill after the underpass on St. Laurences Road. It wasn't madly long. But the 4:30 pacers were pulling away a little. After mile 11, I was starting to gradually get a bit slower but wanted to at least stay on target until the HM split.

Then, the joint worst part of the entire race. Crumlin Road. I will for the rest of my life hate the sight of Crumlin Road. Sun in the face, strong head-wind, and never ending. I had a spell of about 3 miles here where I was suffering but not as much as many many others. It was carnage from here to the end with the amount of suffering going on around me. I had gone with the intention of taking 5 gels with the middle one being caffeine. So I popped that caffeine gel around mile 14/15 which helped.

I did a bit of swearing at myself when the 4:40 group caught me but I had made up my mind even before I started not to get too caught up in the finishing time. Although I had missed none but one of my LSRs, I had missed a lot of midweek mileage and I knew the pace was likely to drop off. The Kimmage road area was my slowest of the first 22 miles. But I got a bit of life around Bushy Park and improved the pace a bit. I had been focusing on getting the miles remaining down to single digits and once I knew there was only 9 to go, I got a lift and pushed.

Coming up to Clonskeagh Road, I felt I needed to take a walk break and after passing the 21 mile marker, I gave in. This is where I should have been taking my 5th gel, but I had felt a bit nauseous after the 4th one so I decided not to take it. I grabbed every sweet going, someone even gave me a banana here....life saver.....was just what I needed, and after gobbling all that up while walking, I was able to go again. The sugar and banana did me the world of good and I gradually got faster from here for the 4+ miles all the way to the finish. In-fact, the last 3 miles were the fastest one's out of the last 12. But overall, I had a negative split of 27 minutes 57 seconds. Finishing chip time: 4:57:41

I didn't feel sick or close to collapse or anything. Walking through the finishing area towards the bag drop, I met some friends and was told my buddy was still a couple of miles out and walking in - I hadn't seen him when I passed him. Apart from feeling stiff and a bit sore, I felt great. Massive buzz. Got my bag, back to my friends, took a few snaps, everyone in flying form, off for food.

Although I missed my target time by almost 28 minutes, I didn't give a rats ass and still don't. I said all along that this was a practise run for 2015 and the main thing is that I have some experience now and I still want to do it in 2015 - in-fact, I want to do it more than ever. It’s not like I feel I deserved more, I would have deserved more if I had been able to train more, but then I’d have gotten my target – a more aggressive one.



So the lessons learned - the first one is pretty obvious but easily said, not so easily done. Don't miss training runs. Weekly mileage wasn't high enough. LSRs were too high % of my week...but I knew this before the marathon, I just couldn't do anything about it. That’s the biggest thing for me. TRY to get the root cause of the injuries sorted so that the don’t hamper me again next Summer. I want to get some professional advice on that.

The second lesson, should I have been taking a bit of sugar or something else on board all along in the race to supplement the gels? Maybe!

The pacing was obviously wrong - but although I suffered badly at a couple of points, it's not as if I didn't enjoy myself. coz I loved it

Because of all my niggles, ALL my training running was very slow. Sometimes VERY VERY slow and I did feel like giving up on the whole thing a few times. I remember one particular 8 mile run on Sept 29th where I was so so miserable and sore and disheartened and on the verge of giving up. But I'm so glad I stuck at it and my charity is the only reason I did. So maybe that’s another lesson for me and others, give yourself as many great reasons as possible why you have to succeed. Amen!

Ososlo

^^^^^over the moon for you Laois_Man:D

aquinn

Sat down to read all reports and was all perfect earlier from swimming, being active all day and dog walk. COMPLETELY seized up again now so won't be so smug it seems in work tomorrow. I hope I sleep better than last night.
Well done to all. Wrecked now.

digger2d2

rainbow kirby wrote: »

I've noticed quite frequently that women are both more conservative with their goal setting and more likely to hit their targets.

I didn't want to turn this into a battle of the sexes, that's for the rant thread....

They can't park....

I'll get my coat

yaboya1

Just an opinion I have and posted on Calvin Johnson's log.Thought people might find it interesting. Anybody agree/disagree?

yaboya1 wrote: »

It's already been said, but it was a tough day out there yesterday. Something I've learned from yesterday, Berlin and last year's Dublin HM is that Irish/English people don't seem to take the conditions on the day into account when devising their race strategy. I'm including myself in that category so please don't take that as a personal criticism.
In Berlin I wondered why I was struggling at 16 miles having run 18 at the same pace in training (heat/humidity? Probably). In last year's Dublin HM, I saw 5 people being medically attended to (one of those died as we all know ) on my way around. And that was only what was ahead of me. I'd imagine there were many more behind. Another unseasonably warm/humid day where most people tried to run their original target time regardless. Yesterday I passed many, many runners who were walking in the second half. I made up 281 places in the final 13.1 miles, despite running a positive split by almost 6 minutes. Africans, Americans, Continental Europeans and basically everyone else who's not Irish or English seem to take the weather into account. I've seen Gebrselassie interviewed and he'd be talking about having a different race strategy based on a difference of 1 or 2 degrees in the temperature. He's an Ethiopian who was raised not a million miles from the equator at high altitude. So maybe if elites like him see the weather as that much of a factor, people way down the field like us should be taking even more note and adjusting accordingly. We seem to believe: I've trained for this time, I'm running this time, no matter what the conditions. It generally doesn't end well as we've seen from the events I've mentioned and lots of others.
Anyway, I think that's why you and everyone else struggled so badly. As I was more of a spectator yesterday I can see this now and realise the same thing probably happened me in Berlin. I plan to take the weather conditions much more seriously in future.

Pm1e

Marthastew wrote: »

Congratulations to all who ran yesterday, tough running conditions for a first marathon and you should all be immensely proud of yourselves!
I was lucky enough to be running as one of the 4 hour Pacers and I really enjoyed it. We had a really great bunch of people (I think one or 2 of you may have posted above, massive congrats and well done!) but not surprisingly we lost a good few after 21 miles, the sun and wind seemed to sap the energy out of so many people. My 3rd year pacing DCM and definitely the toughest one!

It was great to very briefly meet some of you in McGrattans before Mr Stew and I had to rush off, a lovely touch presenting Ososlo with her very well-deserved card:D

Very best of luck with your recovery over the next few weeks, it's a good idea to target a race in a couple of months (Jingle Bells has been mentioned) as it's not uncommon to go through a period of post-marathon blues and a new goal always helps.
Congrats again to one and all

Thanks so much Marthastew, we had a brief chat yesterday coming through the railings after finishing, I thanked for you all the support throughout the day. At mile 25 I asked you what the best bet was to get in under 4hrs and you just told me to "go now". I went off like a light, dont know where the energy came from, made it at 3:58:50 for my first marathon finish and a day I will never forget. Thank you so much once again.

Pacing Mule

yaboya1 wrote: »

Just an opinion I have and posted on Calvin Johnson's log.Thought people might find it interesting. Anybody agree/disagree?

Very interesting point. From my perspective I didn't actually realise how hot it was until it was too late. I did know that I wasn't too cold and that the tracksuit I left behind at the start was almost unnecessary but it didn't register at all on me that the heat was high enough to be goal changing territory. I've heard stories like Rotterdam last year where all hell broke loose in heat. Just didn't see yesterday as being near that league at all. I for one will definitely be learning from that aspect.

adrian522

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Very interesting point. From my perspective I didn't actually realise how hot it was until it was too late. I did know that I wasn't too cold and that the tracksuit I left behind at the start was almost unnecessary but it didn't register at all on me that the heat was high enough to be goal changing territory. I've heard stories like Rotterdam last year where all hell broke loose in heat. Just didn't see yesterday as being near that league at all. I for one will definitely be learning from that aspect.

I noticed it was warm at the start as my throw away top was put into the bag drop as it was warm enough for just a t shirt. Didn't adjust my race strategy though.

Was it really any warmer than most of our training runs though? I felt the wind was a much bigger factor.

MaggotBrain

Good point. In my humble opinion I think the conditions were deceptive and didn't really become obvious until the Crumlin Rd 11am on in my case. In future I will definitely take into account the weather and other variables.

Like many Irish I spend year round in at t-shirt, but you'd never catch a continental like this in the rain

Jelly Legs

Hi all, just want to log my endeavours from yesterday - sorry this is another long post but hey we only get to do our first marathon once and it's important to log it right? The short version of this is I came in 04:54:32 having missed my target of 4:40 - for those who like to be bored here is the long version -

Had a bit of a scare last Wednesday walking home from work when I thought I pulled or tore my right calf high up behind my knee. Emergency physio visit on Thursday where I was assured that wasn't the case and I was cleared to run. Had ongoing pain in it though and that definitely dented my confidence going into the race. Also had stomach problems yesterday morning so essentially had no breakfast in me by the time I got to the start line From the very beginning it just felt hard and like it wouldn't be my day, my legs were sluggish and I was sweating heavily.

One of the best bits of the race for me was turning the corner onto Parliament Street. A runner up ahead must have been playing to the crowd because as I turned the corner there was a huge eruption of sound. It was brilliant and for the first time in the race I got excited about what I was doing.

My first gel didn't go down very well and that continued throughout the race - was able to keep them all down but my stomach wasn't happy. Was thirsty throughout the race so drank far more water than I would have trained with which didn't help. Castleknock was brilliant and I enjoyed that. My leg started to twinge on the downhill back into the PP and then again on Glen Road so eased off a little. Was still concerned at this stage that it wouldn't last the entire race. I hate that hill in Ballyfermot so had planned in advance to walk up it and take a gel while doing so and that all went to plan. Got a surprise in Kilmainham as I saw my boyfriend sitting on the side of the road (he was targeting 4:25 so it was the last thing I was expecting). Turned out he had a massive blister on his foot so he had pulled over to investigate that. A very kind runner had given him a blister plaster to put on it so, if you're reading, thank you very much from us both. He got back on his feet and went on ahead of me. I was still feeling ok at that stage. Another favourite memory was the party that seemed to be going on in front of that house in Kilmainham with everyone in fancy dress and people standing on the pillars - that gave me such a lift. Went through halfway feeling ok and then it all went wrong. The Crumlin Road stretch really broke me. I was running on my own with no one around me and the wind was head on and it just took everything out of me. That stretch went on forever. I could actually see my boyfriend in the distance, I knew I couldn't close the gap but I really wanted to catch him to have someone to run with.

Don't remember a whole lot about the next couple of miles, it was a matter of one foot in front of the other. Met up with my boyfriend at some portaloos near Darty and asked him if we could run together given that he pretty much hadn't gained any distance on me since Kilmainham. Felt much better once i had company on the run and we knew we had support on Foster's Avenue so that gave me something to focus on. Walked all the hills at Clonskeagh and Miltown. I was so lucky to be with my boyfriend there as I think the temptation to keep walking would have been too great if I was on my own. We met up with his sister on Foster's Avenue. Support makes such the difference - at this stage I felt I had blown the race but she was so positive about what we were doing that it gave me a boost. Had a slight lease of life but that wasn't to last and began to struggle again around Merrion. Really wanted to get in under 5:00 hours but also still really wanted to walk. Was looking at my watch trying to do the maths and knew that 5:00 hours was out the window unless i kept running so it was one step in front of the other. Miles 23 - 26 actually ended up being quite quick and consistent but they didn't feel like that. I was so happy turning on to Mount Street and being able to see the finish line. Right after that we passed my parents and my mother actually looked like she had won the marathon she was so happy. That kept me going and we crossed the line in 04:54:32 hand in hand

I missed my target but not disappointed about that as I did my best and that's what I had on the day. It was horrible seeing so many people suffering on the course and I'm just thankful that both of us made it through ok. I am so grateful to my boyfriend for staying with me for the second half of the race - he kept me going on the tough bits and gave up a better time to support me. The supporters were also really amazing - so many people calling out my name and giving extra encouragement when they saw I was struggling. I'm extremely grateful for both those things. I thought that I would have a greater sense of accomplishment after finishing and was surprised that I actually feel pretty ambivalent about it. Maybe I suffered too long, maybe it was just the conditions on the day or maybe the marathon just isn't for me, I don't know. Going to take two weeks off to allow the body to recover and will then decide on what's next. I've been focused on this marathon for so long it feels a little weird not having a plan at the moment.

Just want to say a final thanks for all the support and advice on the thread. Sorry to read that so many people struggled yesterday but have really enjoyed reading everybody's reports today and seeing so many different perspectives on the race. Good luck to you all in whatever comes next.

ice9

adrian522 wrote: »

I noticed it was warm at the start as my throw away top was put into the bag drop as it was warm enough for just a t shirt. Didn't adjust my race strategy though.

Was it really any warmer than most of our training runs though? I felt the wind was a much bigger factor.

For me the temp was a bigger factor than the wind for everyone but even more so for those of us with a high sweat rate. I struggled to stay hydrated and that was with drinking the full bottle at every station plus a few extra donations!!

Tigerandahalf

I was just on the DCM site there. It seems if you enter your number and search your result the option of buying video clips of you at different stages of the course is available, for about €13.

denis160

'Was it really any warmer than most of our training runs though? I felt the wind was a much bigger factor.'

+1 for me. I found the wind hard to fight & everytime we turned a corner, for the first part of the course my heart sank as it seemed it was another climb going against the wind. I did notice yesterday my face was sunburned, hard to believe in October!

rainbow kirby

yaboya1 wrote: »

Just an opinion I have and posted on Calvin Johnson's log.Thought people might find it interesting. Anybody agree/disagree?

Interesting point. I've heard huge amounts of giving out about heat after a *lot* of races this year - London Marathon was 16-18c which seemed to ruin a lot of people's days even though it is very much within the normal range for April, Great North Run was slightly warmer than usual (and the race date was early, it's usually mid-September rather than the hurling final weekend) and you're in full sun for most of the route because they use A-roads and a lot of people couldn't adapt to that and had a bad day, now DCM relatively warm too and the wind not helping matters. Same recurring theme - small variations from the ideal seem to really put people off.

Apart from not adapting race strategy, I think a lot of Irish and Brits don't give themselves a chance to prepare for warmer conditions. We're great at avoiding running in the heat of the day during the summer and avoiding learning how our bodies handle warmer conditions. How can you know what adaptations you need to make if you don't know how your body reacts to reasonably hard efforts in the heat?

aquinn

Tigerandahalf wrote:

I was just on the DCM site there. It seems if you enter your number and search your result the option of buying video clips of you at different stages of the course is available, for about €13.

Yes I noticed that and hoping someone else has already purchased and let us know if it's worth it and what the quality is like? Anyone?

chinguetti

yaboya hit the nail on the head - pacing yourself correctly. (I'm leaving out the bit about heat as that's been covered in a couple of threads already from what I've seen) This comes with experience and doing it wrong the first time and the second time and the ...

My first marathon was Cork 2009. Did my lsrs at 7.40 pace and without knowing it, I was in bits before the big day as I did daft training, 60 miles weeks, 5 days a week. Raced like a loon from the start & managed to get to 25 miles when right calf popped and the left one went at 26.1 miles. Still finished though.

My second marathon was scuppered by a cracked rib two days before it in a car accident (got to 20 miles on target) and my third was only coming back from injury so I jogged round. Also trained for 4 others but got injured before the start line.

Yesterday was my fourth marathon and fairly sure it was my last. Spent 6 months from last November building up my core by weights & stretches with my physio while doing long slow runs and gentle short stuff until the end of May.

Started the marathon training program in June with an extra two weeks factored in for more rest and recovery. Took up Pilates and had a sports massage every 2 to 3 weeks to prevent injury. Knocked out pbs at 10k & half marathon in the program. Ran less days and did less sessions (no speed sessions or fartlek either) but did over 100 miles more in the training plan. Had no major injuries (thank God) but a few niggles. All lsrs were never faster than 8.40 average pace. I ate healthy as best I could and enjoyed my couple of pints a week.

Ran every inch of the course in preparation, drove it twice and made a plan. Knew to start slow and not to start to up the effort until 15 miles. Some things in the plan didn't go the way I wanted (lost my energy blocks so had to take more gels which caused me to have a very scary couple of hours when my body started to shut down last night) but I got my sub 3.30. I past 1,200 people in the second half of the race. I couldn't have gone a second faster and left it all out there.

In essence a I said to a friend this morning, I've spent 5 years training for a 67 secs improvement in my time. And yes, they think I'm nuts.

So if you learn from your mistakes and you really want it, you'll get what you plan for, maybe not yesterday, maybe next year or maybe the year after. For those who had a bad day yesterday, we've all had them. Its how you react is the difference.

And now I'm going to the pub:D

Tigerandahalf

denis160 wrote: »

'Was it really any warmer than most of our training runs though? I felt the wind was a much bigger factor.'

+1 for me. I found the wind hard to fight & everytime we turned a corner, for the first part of the course my heart sank as it seemed it was another climb going against the wind. I did notice yesterday my face was sunburned, hard to believe in October!

My 2 pence. I found yesterday warm but manageable. I wasn't going at full tilt which made a big difference. The fact that the sun mostly stayed behind the clouds made a big difference to me.
I ran the Mullingar 10 this year and it was 20c+ with no cloud cover. I ran to the limit (max heart rate) and was whacked after 5 miles, dehydrated. I was running on the limit. The wind I didn't find too bad but I drafted behind others most of the time. I may have been lucky as the wind can come in bursts and phases swirling around so runners within a couple of minutes of each other could have different experiences.
I think the bottom line is once you are on the limit (max HR) it doesn't take much to knock you back.

Tigerandahalf

aquinn wrote: »

Yes I noticed that and hoping someone else has already purchased and let us know if it's worth it and what the quality is like? Anyone?

If you look at the side of the page you can see a link for an example from 2013 of Sean Hehir running at different stages.
I presume it is done through number recognition so I wouldn't fancy buying unless I could get some bit of a preview.

Pacing Mule

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

If you look at the side of the page you can see a link for an example from 2013 of Sean Hehir running at different stages.
I presume it is done through number recognition so I wouldn't fancy buying unless I could get some bit of a preview.

Not sure if its changed this year but in previous years you could look for people with similar times to you and look at their video to preview yours. I couldn't find a single video working though today in anyone around me. So either they no longer have the paid for videos accessible through the results page or they have yet to upload / turn them on.

Joleigh

Racing is different to training. If it's hot in training you take it easy or stop for a drink etc. I didn't stop yesterday apart from a wee behind a tree at mile 8 (tmi sorry) and I didn't walk at all. I did feel it was very warm which bothered me most when the sun was in my face. I drank most of every bottle of water and poured the rest over my head. I took 5 gels as planned and no sports drinks until after the finish. I had some tough moments but there will always be tough moments. It's a marathon!

I scrolled through 69 pages of racepix and I'm not in one of them. My photo was on Ireland am this morning though

Realt Dearg Sec

adrian522 wrote: »

Anyone have trouble sleeping? I got home after a few too many beers, got some takeaway, hit the bed early enough but by 1am I was drifting in and out and by 3am I was wide awake, ended up getting up, getting more food(hadn't eaten after the race) and going back to bed around 5, woke again at 7 and couldn't get back to sleep.

I was expecting a solid 13 hour sleep after all that but wasn't to be...

You probably needed a few more beers.

Well done to everyone who ran yesterday,was nice meeting ye in McGrattans.

ice9

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Not sure if its changed this year but in previous years you could look for people with similar times to you and look at their video to preview yours. I couldn't find a single video working though today in anyone around me. So either they no longer have the paid for videos accessible through the results page or they have yet to upload / turn them on.

it's a not a system I'm a fan of - last year when someone paid for their videos it unlocked the footage for everyone to see. I think if you pay for your videos only you should be allowed to access them. I also think they should do a better job by allowing you to see a sample of your own footage before deciding to purchase.

If it's the same as last year, let a few more days go by and as Pacing Mule says there will be folks around your time unlocking their footage allowing you to get an idea of yours. Just keep trying the links for those in and around your time.

MaggotBrain

Prawn cocktail crisps and a can of Smithwicks giving out about my bajaxed legs. I could get used to this!

The race reports are brilliant keep em coming!

adrian522

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

You probably needed a few more beers.

Well done to everyone who ran yesterday,was nice meeting ye in McGrattans.

Trust me, I've had a few more beers.

Ososlo

MaggotBrain wrote: »

Prawn cocktail crisps and a can of Smithwicks giving out about my bajaxed legs. I could get used to this!

The race reports are brilliant keep em coming!

Absolutely. The longer the better:D

So lovely to meet you and that legend of a girlfriend/wife? you have who shopped in the city while you bust a gut running around the streets of Dublin:D Hope she got some nice stuff:D

MaggotBrain

Ososlo wrote: »

Absolutely. The longer the better:D

So lovely to meet you and that legend of a girlfriend/wife? you have who shopped in the city while you bust a gut running around the streets of Dublin:D Hope she got some nice stuff:D

Wife, she will kill me for posting this, but I got my own back

She couldn't walk after all the shopping so I offered to go get the car around the corner to the hotel door. As it was part of the course I had to persuade the guard to let me up, as she had done a marathon and couldn't walk. Eventually he did but he kept an eye on me. Herself skipped out of the hotel with me shouting "hobble will ya!". When we drove back he stopped the car with an angry look "If she can't walk she certainly shouldn't be driving". "It was a shopping marathon" I said to us laughing merrily all the way home.

Ososlo

MaggotBrain wrote: »

Wife, she will kill me for posting this, but I got my own back

She couldn't walk after all the shopping so I offered to go get the car around the corner to the hotel door. As it was part of the course I had to persuade the guard to let me up, as she had done a marathon and couldn't walk. Eventually he did but he kept an eye on me. Herself skipped out of the hotel with me shouting "hobble will ya!". When we drove back he stopped the car with an angry look "If she can't walk she certainly shouldn't be driving". "It was a shopping marathon" I said to us laughing merrily all the way home.

LOVE IT:D Hope she's recovered well today! Can't be easy bless her:D