Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
BQ or Bust!
Options
Comments
-
-
Monday 1 Jun
Cork City Marathon
Preamble
The build-up to this event has felt very low key, despite a good training block and a few PBs along the way in the tune-up races. Based on the most recent of these, a 3:26 marathon was a possibility although the main goal was always going to be sub-3:30 – a psychological barrier that would also “legitimise” my Boston qualifier time from last September.
Nevertheless the anticipation finally kicked in over the past few days, as the Mrs and I shipped the kids off to Donegal and enjoyed a quiet weekend including a good night’s sleep before heading South on Sunday. A lot of the talk on the drive down was about the weather, which was promising to be biblical. It looked like the second half of the race (and most of the HM, which the Mrs was doing) might be pretty tricky, although having no local knowledge at all it was hard to know how exposed the course would be.
We were staying in the Clarion which couldn’t be handier for number pickup and start/finish line convenience. Nice room, but didn’t sleep well at all. Up at 6 for a decent breakfast of porridge, fruit salad (possibly a mistake), toast and coffee, then it was a matter of killing time before the short walk to the start line. I dithered about what to wear – clubmate PaulieYifter had warned me about the Cru vest’s potential “cheese grater” qualities when wet, and there were wind chill warnings too. I finally opted for the singlet-over-tee look, figuring I could ditch the tee later if necessary.
The Race
Lined up and after a quick hello to Paulie I found the three 3:30 pacers. The plan, as I’d posted here the night before, was to stick with them through the worst of the weather and kick on if possible over the final few miles with the wind at my back. Ha! Wishful thinking, as it would turn out, but at least it was some sort of strategy. The race started with a minimum of fuss and we were off through the city centre, hitting the required pace fairly handily after a little bit of the usual congestion. There was a sizeable enough group of us, and the going was very handy once we weathered the first downpour and got out of town, heading along the Glanmire Road towards the Jack Lynch tunnel with the help of a nice tailwind. The pacers had strung out and I opted to stick with the first one (Declan, I think). He announced that we’d be taking advantage of the good going, banking a bit of time for the second half. I was glad to hear this, as the conditions really were pretty good. First taste of the celebrated atmosphere at the relay changeover points – really electric.
Miles 1-7: 7:56 8:03 7:53 7:39 7:42 7:48 7:52
Through the Jack Lynch tunnel and the long drag out of it didn’t feel too bad, although it did sap the legs a bit after such a nice opening stretch. Passed a guy I recognised from St. Anne’s parkrun in mile 9. Said hello and he smiled back but looked like he was starting to feel it. Brief chat along here too with a guy who tuned out to be dintbo, but generally I was keeping to myself, concentrating on staying with pacer Declan, who was still making hay while the sun shone (metaphorically speaking, of course). All good through half way at 1:43:39, through a lonely little gantry out at Jacob’s Island.
Miles 8-13: 8:17 7:55 7:43 7:45 7:51 7:54
By now there’d been a couple of windy stretches but had managed to shelter pretty well in the pack. The course entered a lovely greenway stretch along a disused railway line under tree cover so there was plenty of protection from the elements. By now there were maybe nine or ten runners with the lead pacer and I was lagging a bit behind when the field merged with the faster end of the half marathon race and for a while there was the disconcerting experience of being passed by hundreds of runners, including a big 1:30 HM pace group. I lost sight of my pacer for a while but eventually caught back up, and I could see that a few of our little group had either got swallowed up or pushed on, either way I didn’t see a few of them for the rest of the race. Was still moving well, although the digestive system didn’t feel great, and I’d found the couple of gels I’d taken so far a bit nauseating. There seemed to be water stations everywhere but with the cool conditions I skipped a lot of them, just taking on a few sips when necessary. Entered that zone I often notice in the third quarter, reeling off the miles in a sort of trance state. But I noticed I was starting to fall behind the pacer, and each time I caught up I would drift back again. So I was getting isolated and feeling the wind more but in general all seemed OK. I considered dropping back to wherever the other two 3:30 pacers might be, but thought better of it. A couple of noticeable climbs around here, including one nasty little hill in the middle of a housing estate. Just past the 20 mile mark I caught up with pacer Declan again and asked how we were doing, more to let him know I was still there than anything else. He said there was 1:40 in the bank (which had been pretty constant since mile 10). So far, so good.
Miles 14-20 7:55 7:42 7:40 7:41 7:57 8:16 7:56
Of course you can never take anything for granted towards the end of a marathon, and right on cue in mile 21 I started to feel pretty leaden. Don’t know what happened exactly. It didn’t feel like bonking, just a general fatigue seeping in. The Model Farm Road was quite exposed and there weren’t many bodies to hide behind anymore. But I knew that after a couple of turns we’d be on that wind-assisted home stretch, so that kept me going. But when the turn finally arrived the tailwind felt more like a crosswind – helping, but not as much as expected. The rain started to really bucket down here and my shirt got so heavy it was starting to bother me around the shoulders. Lost concentration for a bit because with about 2.5 miles to go I looked up and noticed that the second 3:30 pacer had somehow passed me and so there were two of them up ahead now, maybe 30 metres in front. ****, how had that happened? I’d missed a couple of mile markers too, and didn’t realise how much time had been leaking away until I heard the pacer should “Mile 24, 40 secs ahead!” Crap! That woke me up a bit, and then I started to get a few crampy twinges around the top of my left hamstring. Fear of seizing up wasn’t improved by running behind a guy whose knees had obviously stopped lifting miles back. But I just tried to keep in range of the pacers going down the Mardyke. At 25 miles another stabby little pain; really hurting now. Glanced at the watch and could only see the hours and minutes (too blind to see the small digits denoting seconds) so couldn’t be sure how we were doing. Across a footbridge and through a narrow wooded parkland section to kick off the final mile. Exited onto the quays and a woman pulled up in front of me. I gave her a shout to keep it going and she zipped ahead. Wasn’t going to let her do that to me so I overtook her again, along with another few walking wounded. Could see the turn across the bridge to the finish on Patrick St now. The Pacers turned around on the bridge and roared at everyone in earshot to push for the line, about 300 metres away. I high fived one of them and pushed again. Could hear the announcer counting down to 3:30 gun time so that helped me give it a bit more to get in at 3:29:44 on the gun (3:29:16 chip).
Miles 21-26(.3) 8:02 8:31 8:07 8:14 8:13 7:57 (7:29)
Reflections
So what to make of that? Had been talking beforehand about 3:27:xx and on a better day that might have been achievable (no “Full McMillan” today). While the conditions felt a good bit better than feared, a 2-min positive split tells its own story. My dream of a strong finish was a bit naïve maybe. In the end, considering the near collapse, I’m happy indeed to have achieved the main target. If I’d ended up the wrong side of 3:30 I would have been very disappointed, after a very decent training block that at no point suggested that the target was overambitious. The final result is a 7 minute PB, eight months after Berlin on a considerably tougher course, under challenging conditions. So naturally I’m delighted.
And what a change to finally get to follow some pacers. My previous race targets have never really been compatible with the available pacing (except the Waterford HM last December when I got dropped and never caught back up). Delegating the mental work to those lads is a huge weight off the shoulders, and I hardly looked at the watch at all for a change. I think the “bank time” strategy was the right one: the effort felt pretty even all the way up through 20 miles and as we all know you can never predict what happens after that anyway. Looking at the results I don’t think a lot of the original group made it home on time, including the third 3:30 pacer, so I’m glad I went with the one I did.
All in all a good day’s work, I think. The Mrs had a very good day too at the Half. After drying off and thawing out we had a very enjoyable afternoon and evening including a nice few pints with yaboya1 and friend in The Sextant (where we also enjoyed the excellent “Marathon Finisher” BBQ, definitely one of the best burgers ever).
So that’s the big 2015 goal race out of the way. It’s been a good few months of running and I was glad to have company for a few of the important sessions (FBOT01 deserves a shout out for being sporting enough to amble along at a relative snail’s pace for him). Special thanks of course to menoscemo for putting the original plan together: that’s three times now that it’s done the job for me. Not sure what’s next. No more marathon racing before Boston 2016. Assuming of course I get in, but that should be a formality now with more than 10 mins under the QT.
Oh, and here are the 5k splits for the benefit of those of us who think metric.
24:42 24:11 25:06 24:17 24:15 24:45 25:20 26:00
(10:37)
Target: 3:27:59
Previous PB: 3:36:17 (Berlin 2014)
Time: 3:29:16 (234th overall; 9th M50)
Verdict: Grateful – many thanks to pacers Declan Egan and Grellan McGrath.0 -
-
Nice work! Great result in horrendous conditions.
This is meant to be awesome for recovery. I'd say it tastes like muck though 0 -
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
Very well done again D, your a tough auld so and so!! Throughly deserved.
Thanks B - it all started in Bundoran this year, thanks for the help!Bungy Girl wrote: »Nice work! Great result in horrendous conditions.
This is meant to be awesome for recovery. I'd say it tastes like muck though
Cheers G - no loose mad dogs on the course, thankfully! Cider vinegar? How about just cider? Mmm! (The quads were very sore yesterday but actually a swim (and a difene) this morning has done wonders.)Well done Murph.
Very solid splits, especially towards the end where the weather was really awful.
What's the target in Boston? 3:20?
3:20 would be a London QT, so why not? (Plan B - NY QT 3:23). You've put me on the spot and I'm calling it. :pac:Well done Murph, that's a nice PB. I was in West Cork yesterday and if the weather was anyway like what we had it's even more impressive. You seemed to have a very good block of training behind you, it paid off.
Thanks L. Weather was ugly enough but it's all about expectations and it had promised to be worse so didn't seem so bad. At least not until just like the mrs I took the long way back to the hotel and nearly froze to death. Couldn't get my shoes off either for ages - at one stage I considered wearing them in the shower!PaulieYifter wrote: »Well done chief - that's great running - glad the conditions didn't undo all that good training. You're gonna love Boston
Well done yourself P and thanks for the wardrobe advice!Brilliant, great report and absolutely delighted for you. Sounds like you needed a cattle prod at times as you were trancing out
Thanks A - cattle prod, there's a thought! Definitely will need something next time out. Mesmerisation can be dangerous.Great stuff D all the hard work has paid off.
It has, A. Looking forward to being able to give another parkrun a lash soon. Well done yourself yesterday.Great report Murph and super running. These marathons are becoming easy for you at this stage. I'd say there is more to come off that time alright.
Thanks R. I wouldn't say easy but I do love the distance. And yep, there's no point in doing it if it can't be faster next time (see above).Well done again, Murph. You had a really solid training block and I am glad you got the sub 3:30 that you deserved. Boston here we come! :pac: :pac:
Cheers M. Finally got the benefit of that HM pace segment up Glandore Road and Sion Hill! Yes, Beantown will be a blast, we'll need to get plenty of downhill training in though.Hey D fab report, the marathon distance really suits you. Your training is a brilliant example of consistent sensible training paying off. Delighted for you
Thanks a mill A - I think Jantastic really helped this year. Getting out five times a week through the worst of the winter really sets things up nicely for the rest of the year. As Woody Allen says, 90 percent of success is just showing up!0 -
-
-
-
Tue 2 Jun
Rest. Quads suitably sore. Almost as bad as after that Donegal 22 miler last month.
Wed 3 Jun
More rest. Legs a bit better today. A swim and a sauna helped, and some Difene.
Thu 4 Jun
30 mins recovery in Marino/Clontarf. Feels normal enough if a little dead-legged.
Fri 5 Jun
Another 30 mins easy on the treadmill at DCU.
Sat 6 Jun
3.4 mi (5.5 km) including St. Anne's parkrun at ~MP.
Nice and easy for the first half, picking it up a little on the second lap, then opening it up for the last 400m. Legs a little jelly-like still at the start but this felt great by the end. Good to see RedRunner out marshalling today. That's it now for the week, will take another day off tomorrow and maybe work towards a 5k PB attempt next Sat or the week after.
WTD: 36 mi (59 km)
MTD: 36 (59)
YTD: 835 (1,352)0 -
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
ThebitterLemon wrote: »Murph, you might want to bring a compass for
Yaboya
TbL
No chance of him leading in St Anne's so he will always have someone to follow 0 -
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement