Marathon Improvers Thread.

Jakey Rolling

Well done on breaking the 3:30! (I see your targets for the year were remarkably similar to my own)

Seeing as it wasn't a warm day it's probably hard to say if the salt tabs helped you, but so long as they are not upsetting your stomach then no harm in taking them.

jaggiebunnet

Jakey Rolling wrote: »

Well done on breaking the 3:30! (I see your targets for the year were remarkably similar to my own)

Seeing as it wasn't a warm day it's probably hard to say if the salt tabs helped you, but so long as they are not upsetting your stomach then no harm in taking them.

yeah, i was thinking pretty much the same thing. i also got a good sports massage at the start of the week and my calfs apparently were incredibly tight so that might have helped too - but i will keep with the tablets, at least until they cramp up again!

MollsGap

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

Just an update. I did the full in clonakilty yesterday using salt tablets. No cramp a couple of twinges at m24 and up the rest of the hills but no cramp. Not 100% convinced but I broke
3.30 for the first time on a hilly as feck course so it is good enough for me!

Many congratulations. Super result considering Clonakilty is not an easy course and the weather is far from ideal.
3.30 is 2.59 in Berlin you know!

jaggiebunnet

MollsGap wrote: »

Many congratulations. Super result considering Clonakilty is not an easy course and the weather is far from ideal.
3.30 is 2.59 in Berlin you know!

Haha yeah I must start telling everyone that ðŸ˜

MollsGap

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

Haha yeah I must start telling everyone that ðŸ˜

Try the Canyon City Marathon with a -5,000 ft drop start to finish, 3.30 Clon, 2.59 Berlin, you are practically on for Olympic Qualification if you head to Canyon!

OOnegative

martyboy48 wrote: »

I'm currently looking into next years schedule. Fairly sure I'm happy to go with
a plan of Donadea50k, Limerick marathon, then DCM.
The reason for Donadea is to try and get my running consistently over the winter. Hope to meet a few boards crew at it as I didn't hang around the last time I ran it. My unsuccessful attempt of getting into Berlin pushed me towards Limerick. Limerick also gives me a few extra weeks to play with over the usual spring marathons.
Plan on taking a non running holiday after Limerick sometime before focus turns to DCM.

Still doing Donadea Marty?

martyboy48

OOnegative wrote: »

Still doing Donadea Marty?

Hmmm. Possibly... I've had a bad couple of weeks. I've been sick since pretty much Jan 2nd. The few runs I've done were a real struggle even at supposedly easy pace. Totally drained. Just out of it now but legs/energy ect are still feeling a bit off.
I'm signed up for Tuam 8k on Sunday so maybe that might give me a kick in the hole and get me going again.
Was flirting with the idea of masters XC before I realised it was on same as Donadea...
This weeks running will dictate my next move

boydkev

martyboy48 wrote: »

Hmmm. Possibly... I've had a bad couple of weeks. I've been sick since pretty much Jan 2nd. The few runs I've done were a real struggle even at supposedly easy pace. Totally drained. Just out of it now but legs/energy ect are still feeling a bit off.
I'm signed up for Tuam 8k on Sunday so maybe that might give me a kick in the hole and get me going again.
Was flirting with the idea of masters XC before I realised it was on same as Donadea...
This weeks running will dictate my next move

Glad to hear that i am not the only one, From Cold to cough to straining muscle in my ribs and now perforated ear drum. I was in full training for Rotterdam till 2.5 weeks ago and only managed 3 runs. Getting angry now and need to get back into it and leave me with 11 weeks of training before rotterdam.

Dub13

zulutango wrote: »

I'm hoping to do Seville at the end of February, followed by Limerick on the May bank holiday weekend. Is a two month gap between marathons too little?

I am doing Berlin & Dublin with only 6 weeks between them, but plan on hopefully only trotting around Dublin.

OOnegative

Seeing the Spring marathons are over more or less who is targetting an Autumn race? Where you running and any target in mind?

hot buttered scones

OOnegative wrote: »

Seeing the Spring marathons are over more or less who is targetting an Autumn race? Where you running and any target in mind?

Frankfurt - originally booked with a sub 3 target in mind. That target is getting more flexible as the date get closer!

OOnegative

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Frankfurt - originally booked with a sub 3 target in mind. That target is getting more flexible as the date get closer!

2.55 flexible i hope .

hot buttered scones

OOnegative wrote: »

2.55 flexible i hope .

I let you know when I've strung a couple of good races together and I start getting cocky!

Itziger

OOnegative wrote: »

Seeing the Spring marathons are over more or less who is targetting an Autumn race? Where you running and any target in mind?

Bit of respect for Limerick and Cork, man. 

Well, Cork anyway.

OOnegative

Itziger wrote: »

Bit of respect for Limerick and Cork, man. 

Well, Cork anyway.

You’ve ran sub 3, your in the wrong thread!!!

hot buttered scones

Itziger wrote: »

Bit of respect for Limerick and Cork, man. 

Well, Cork anyway.

Cork's a summer marathon for lunatics who like running in sauna like conditions, and freaks of nature running their first sub 3!

Itziger

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Itziger wrote: »

Bit of respect for Limerick and Cork, man. 

Well, Cork anyway.

Cork's a summer marathon for lunatics who like running in sauna like conditions, and freaks of nature running their first sub 3!

Ah, c'mere. 'Twas about 16 degrees    Some contrasting weather for Boston and London, eh. Shows you what can happen even with the best training and preparation. Of course we could all target Valencia in December for the Winter marathon of 2018.

and still ricky villa

Itziger wrote: »

Ah, c'mere. 'Twas about 16 degrees    Some contrasting weather for Boston and London, eh. Shows you what can happen even with the best training and preparation. Of course we could all target Valencia in December for the Winter marathon of 2018.

Valencia is getting booked come payday.
It was the biopark that swung it

hot buttered scones

Itziger wrote: »

Ah, c'mere. 'Twas about 16 degrees Some contrasting weather for Boston and London, eh. Shows you what can happen even with the best training and preparation. Of course we could all target Valencia in December for the Winter marathon of 2018.

I was just talking about London and Boston with one of the lads in work here. I agree, the best laid plans etc.
And it was definitely about 20 degrees and 90% humidity - felt more like 25. Sure, I wouldn't have melted otherwise!
Valencia might be an option for a lap of honour for a fella after getting his first sub 3 alright....

conti

My target is a sub-3:10 before the year is out, my two chances are Longford in August and Dublin in October. As soon as my recovery is done (did Brighton last week) I'm going to start into Pfitzinger 18/70 plan with some tweaks to suit myself.

Murph_D

NYC for me. Won’t be pushed about PB-ing but would like a decent run.

Singer

I've signed up for Dublin, and actually intend to train for it! I may as well unlurk on this thread

Marathon history:
DCM 2015: 3:32 - first few months ever of largely structured training, peaked at 55 miles, 4 x 20 mile runs and a 22.
DCM 2016: DNF - was possibly in 3:12ish shape, got a calf injury 3 weeks out and then a cold and blew up on the day. Did 9 20+ mile runs(!), peaked at 90 miles (!!) coincidentally around the time of the injury.
DCM 2017: Took an entry going around on the week. Was in decent shape after doing a 1:27 HM at the Dublin half, having peaked at 70 mpw and up to 18 mile long runs. Ran a conservative negative split 3:14.
Disney 2018: Didn't commit on training, though did some 20 and 22 mile runs. Hurt my back a few weeks out and took it easy in between. A lot of not very avoidable errors on the day led to blowing up after 20 miles having gone out at PB pace. Finished in 3:21.
Donadea 50k: Finished in 4:09, got through the marathon distance in 3:2x or so. Blew up again. 4 weeks after Disney and didn't do anything serious in between.

Probable races in between now and then:
May: Bob Heffernan 5k (or an all-out parkrun)
June: Dunsaughlin 10k
July: SF HM
Sept: Frank Duffy 10M

I might do the 3/4 marathon and/or Dublin Half as a session. No idea of a plan to follow - the reality is I will end up doing a lot of run commutes as base milage, whatever session is going on at the club, some parkruns and other random stuff. Sub-3 is probably beyond me this year, but low 3s is possible. I think plenty of LT work and closer some MP stuff mixed with good milage and a decent base should result in a solid PB.

and still ricky villa

and still ricky villa wrote: »

Valencia is getting booked come payday.
It was the biopark that swung it

Aaaand I'm in
Now to ask for forgiveness from the wife

Van.Bosch

and still ricky villa wrote: »

Aaaand I'm in
Now to ask for forgiveness from the wife

Better to seek forgiveness than permission!

The Black Oil

Just off the back of Connemara, really enjoyed it. 4:30:46, pretty much as planned. Have registered for DCM for third year in a row. Could do the graduates intermediate plan for the third time, or Meno for the first time. I am a bit concerned about making a muck of Meno, particularly the Wednesdays bits.

Also not sure what to do now re training paces. Use the time from Connemara, or re-use the paces I had before it? If I put 4:30:46 into the calculator the suggested places look frustratingly slow. DCM 2017 was 4:11:31 and I'm keen for 4:10 this October, maybe even a little under that.

Huzzah!

The Black Oil wrote: »

Just off the back of Connemara, really enjoyed it. 4:30:46, pretty much as planned. Have registered for DCM for third year in a row. Could do the graduates intermediate plan for the third time, or Meno for the first time. I am a bit concerned about making a muck of Meno, particularly the Wednesdays bits.

Also not sure what to do now re training paces. Use the time from Connemara, or re-use the paces I had before it? If I put 4:30:46 into the calculator the suggested places look frustratingly slow. DCM 2017 was 4:11:31 and I'm keen for 4:10 this October, maybe even a little under that.

You could run a race once you've recovered and base your training paces off that?

*I should probably run a marathon before I give advice in an improvers' thread.

ariana`

The Black Oil wrote: »

Just off the back of Connemara, really enjoyed it. 4:30:46, pretty much as planned. Have registered for DCM for third year in a row. Could do the graduates intermediate plan for the third time, or Meno for the first time. I am a bit concerned about making a muck of Meno, particularly the Wednesdays bits.

Also not sure what to do now re training paces. Use the time from Connemara, or re-use the paces I had before it? If I put 4:30:46 into the calculator the suggested places look frustratingly slow. DCM 2017 was 4:11:31 and I'm keen for 4:10 this October, maybe even a little under that.

I don't think you should use your time from Conn - you enjoyed it far too much I'd use DCM2017 until you have done another race... Or if you've anything else from earlier this year. I should think 4:10 is very achievable - i'll be going for something similar myself but i'd have a lot more confidence for you :cool:

The Black Oil

Huzzah! wrote: »

You could run a race once you've recovered and base your training paces off that?

*I should probably run a marathon before I give advice in an improvers' thread.

That's on my mind. Park run maybe not the best, I guess, as it's not a professional race. I see there's a 10k in Tramore in a few weeks, and also something in Malahide the week after. Will look into other possibilities just in case, though I am a little concerned about falling flat on a 10k because of not doing it right/well. Conscious of the usual routine of the 6 week base plan before DCM training too.

My right thigh is a bit sore at the moment, just since yesterday. Dunno if it's related to last Sun.

Unthought Known

Can anyone advise the best way to shorten the P&D 18/55 plan to 16 weeks? Planning on using it for DCM this year, but I'll be away for the first 2 weeks and realistically I'll only be running 15-20 miles a week while away.
I was wondering about doing the first 2 weeks before going away and then picking up week 3 when I'm back. Or is it better to maybe cut 1 week from mesocycle 1 and one from mesocycle 2?

Murph_D

If you have the base mileage recommended for the plan, just jump in in week 3. When you're away, if you're getting the 15-20 miles, try to match them to a couple of the sessions or long runs from weeks 1-2 (but don't skimp on the recoveries).