DCM 2018 - Mentored Novice Thread

skyblue46

bucketybuck wrote: »

First world problems, trying to decide upon a 30km route I'm happy with...

When I did the Hal Higdon 1 plan in 2016 there was only one 30k+ run included and in retrospect I felt that wasn't enough. Now I'm going to be doing 4 such long runs in the next 7 weeks, its definitely a step up!

I know technically there are 10 weeks of training still to go, but to be honest I don't count the last 3 weeks, they are for the taper and should be a piece of cake really. So in my mind I am past the halfway point and its now just these 7 weeks that are important, there are a lot of miles in them but hopefully they will pass by quickly enough!

I wish I could say I found the taper easy. For me it felt alien not to be bashing out the miles! :rolleyes:

juke

coogy wrote: »

Any fellow novices on the Board plan as excited as me about this weekend's 18 mile lsr?

When I think back to the moment I first took a look at the training schedule, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw '18 mile lsr' and '20 mile lsr'. It was like that scene from The Wicker Man when Edward Woodward is dragged kicking and screaming into the wooden effigy before being burnt alive...........or something like that. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I think my eagerness for tomorrow's run is testament to the wonderful advice and support from the mentoring folk on this thread. I know we're only half way there but thanks to all of you!!!

Excited...that's the same as 'petrified', right :pac:

coogy

juke wrote: »

Excited...that's the same as 'petrified', right :pac:

The same, but different.

Strawberry Swan

braynewbie wrote: »

whats the RISC study? tia[/quote


The study is basically trying to find predictors of future injuries. They looked at flexibility, strength and running form. It was really interesting and well explained. I'm fairly flexible for a female. Apparently women are more flexible than men. I never knew that. They thought I was quite strong which again I was surprised by as I don't go to the gym very much. But best of all, I could see on the screen that I land midfoot, which is what I thought anyway but so cool to have it scientifically confirmed.

My right side is stronger than my left, which is fairly normal. But in the future if I wanted to train for faster / shorter distances I would need to strengthen my hamstrings. So that was good to know as I definitely want to increase my speed.

And most running injuries occur from doing too much too soon. But we all know that anyway, in our heads if not our hearts.

Comic Book Guy

Took to the roads just before 7 this morning and did my 16 mile run, furthest I have gone in 5 years!
With young family etc it’s a matter of doing the runs when it suits but the one thing that catches me is not eating before I go. I’m one of those people that would feel a bread crumb repeating on me through the whole run even if I had it an hour beforehand! Haven’t used gels yet but would anyone recommend a very light one on the stomach?
I prefer doing single loop long runs so it means I don’t get to take any water on board from start to finish which isn’t ideal. I don’t trust myself to do 2 shorter laps to take in my house at halfway! What do people do in this situation? Leave a small bottle behind a pole or something around halfway the night before or something?

Just a general question but what effect on your pace does losing a kg of body weight have. I would expect to trim 5 kg off in next 9 weeks just being a bit more regimented with my diet and drinking more water.

juke

juke wrote: »

Thanks. I've a 29k LSR this week, so I'm going to run to Dolphin's Barn (c. 8k) joining the DSM route at about 20k and take it from there towards UCD and then maybe turn home. Daunting

I've written it, it must now happen

It happened :eek: Glad I did it.

Through Crumlin, Terenure, Rathgar was fine, Milltown was tougher - a nice warm up for the challenge of Clonskeagh.

I turned for home at the top of Roebuck Road - and didn't even try to run up the hill at Mount Anville. That would have just been showing off :P

Journey home was slow - feeling it in my legs now.

effibear

18 miles done. Usually do mine on a Sunday but whole area is on lockdown for pope tomorrow. Slowest lsr to date but more stopping and starting as I decided to include a parkrun to break it up. I was up late so parkrun was at only 2 miles in. But weird finishing and thinking I’ve just to do another half marathon now ðŸ˜.

racersedge

Over the halfway point for myself today as I took part in the Tullamore Half. Morning warmed up quite quickly after a chilly start. Great atmosphere around the grounds. Actually, the grounds themselves were something to behold. Saw the running track and the fact we would finish on it and was already imagining the buzz of that.

So out I went with a plan to push on and see how I got on. Like I did last week in Kilcock, I shadowed the pacer group - this been the 1:45'ers. They had three so for the first stint I was behind the last one. Bit of a rubber-band effect at times. At one stage I was with them, others I was sitting probably a hundred or so meters behind them. As we approached the half-way point I had caught up to the the third of the pacers and stuck with that group for a short time before my steady pace had me pull away from them. Over time, I ended up catching up with the middle of the pacers for that time group. I stuck with them up until the last few klicks before trying to push on it. I had to laugh at some of his kudos as we went. "The last few klicks is all downhill" he says, neglecting to mention that before them there were some minor inclines to face!

Definitely helped when you could hear the loudspeakers in the last two klicks or so. I could feel the legs starting to feel a little heavy. Getting out to finish on the track was a buzz - a first for myself. It's a lot bigger than it looks from afar! I thought I might have something in the tank for that final push but I waited until we were on the home straight to do it. Came in with an official chip time of 1:44:09 (my watch read 1:44:05 so at least they were really close!). Delighted with that. When I compare that to what I did in Mullingar back in March, that is an improvement of eight minutes. Also delighted with the consistency of my times across it. I matched the pace I was doing at Kilcock and still did for the following 5K after.

Really happy with that. Going to celebrate it tonight for sure and maybe adjust some of my training paces based off that. That's likely to be my last 'push hard' run until the big one. I have signed up for a 3/4 in late September in Donegal (some trek that will be - Longwood would be closer but I'm away that weekend) but that is likely to be in LSR mode... maybe.. :P So back to normalcy and building up the mileage again next weekend.

Kellygirl

Comic Book Guy wrote: »

Took to the roads just before 7 this morning and did my 16 mile run, furthest I have gone in 5 years!
With young family etc it’s a matter of doing the runs when it suits but the one thing that catches me is not eating before I go. I’m one of those people that would feel a bread crumb repeating on me through the whole run even if I had it an hour beforehand! Haven’t used gels yet but would anyone recommend a very light one on the stomach?
I prefer doing single loop long runs so it means I don’t get to take any water on board from start to finish which isn’t ideal. I don’t trust myself to do 2 shorter laps to take in my house at halfway! What do people do in this situation? Leave a small bottle behind a pole or something around halfway the night before or something?

Just a general question but what effect on your pace does losing a kg of body weight have. I would expect to trim 5 kg off in next 9 weeks just being a bit more regimented with my diet and drinking more water.

The lightest gels are High 5 isogels. Already diluted so easier to take and digest.

Do you pass a shop en route? If so, you could carry €2, stop and buy a bottle and carry it until you pass a bin. This morning I carried my bottle in my flipbelt but it wasn’t really enough and I was quite dehydrated when I finished.

In terms of eating beforehand you are probably going to need a breakfast on Marathon day so it would really be no harm to find something that suits you. Could you prepare overnight oats and eat them as soon as you get out of bed and then head to get dressed etc after that and hopefully be digesting while you are doing that?

Weight definitely makes a difference. Can’t remember the exact figures but I remember being told last year if I lost 4lbs if would make a difference of 10mins or so - obviously that varieswith lots of factors.

skyblue46

I think the most optimistic of all the research into this has estimated a 10lb weight loss would lead to a 9 minute improvement in time. But please put this out of your mind. It assumes the weight loss is of the right variety, namely not muscle but fat. It also assumes a gradual loss. To be honest it shouldn't even come into the conversation at this point. I would hate anybody reading to think that a crash diet would lead to a faster time. Good training will do that.

Applegirl26

First 18 mile lsr done this morning. I freely admit distances like this and further, intimidated me from the moment I signed up for DCM last November.

Positives from today:

I genuinely loved the run today. I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed running my lsr outside the PP, it's something I will be making a habit of.
I managed my isogels well, no nausea/vomiting today! I'm thrilled with myself for completing the 18 miles. In my head that was/still is a mammoth distance. I don't think I'm as bothered about the 20 mile lsr which doesn't make any sense!

Negatives from today:

I struggled badly in the final miles. I had brought water but it wasn't nearly enough and I was seriously dehydrated at the end. I could feel myself becoming more unwell but I was darned if I was gonna stop. I could live with slowing down I kept thinking, but not stopping and giving up. I will never run a LSR again without money on me to buy water. Another reason to run outside the PP.
My left Achilles is aching. I've iced it and taken ibuprofen. It usually starts to throb when I need new shoes. A trip to the run hub might be on the cards. Maybe I should list that under positives...

Unfortunately my family are all freaking out now about me training too hard after they saw the state of me crashing through the front door earlier. I reminded them gently that I'm training for a marathon and that's going to be tough. I've had lots of marathoners tell me the training was harder than the marathon itself. Today I understood that a little more. There will be great runs and then runs like today where not only did I hit the wall, it buried me! I'm okay with that.


I know I can finish 18 miles now and I know what went wrong today. I'll be kicking ass next time!!
18 miles...you don't scare me anymore! 😀

happyfriday74

Rain please go away. The plan is for an 18 miler this morning ☹

coogy

Applegirl26 wrote: »

I don't think I'm as bothered about the 20 mile lsr which doesn't make any sense!

I'm exactly the same. When I first laid my eyes on the training schedule, the thought of running 20 miles somehow seemed way more daunting than running 26.2.
But after yesterday's 18 mile run.........20 miles? HA!! I laugh in the face of 20 miles!!!!

Applegirl26

coogy wrote: »

I'm exactly the same. When I first laid my eyes on the training schedule, the thought of running 20 miles somehow seemed way more daunting than running 26.2.
But after yesterday's 18 mile run.........20 miles? HA!! I laugh in the face of 20 miles!!!!

You had an incredible run yesterday!

Applegirl26

happyfriday74 wrote: »

Rain please go away. The plan is for an 18 miler this morning ☹

Good luck! You'll be fine. Let us know how you got on ðŸ‘

skyblue46

happyfriday74 wrote: »

Rain please go away. The plan is for an 18 miler this morning ☹

Oh it's gone away! The weather gods took the pi$$ out of me big time today. It lashed rain and the wind howled in off the sea until I took my last step and stopped at the local shop for my post run chocolate milk....since then not a drop has fallen and the wind has gone too...:(

Go out there and enjoy it

The Black Oil

I had an 18 miler too, different plan. Decent rain for about half of it. Think we had a saying in past threads - running in the rain builds character.

ariana`

Plan|Monday|Tuesday|Wed|Thurs|Fri|Sat|Sun
NNH1|2-3 easy or rest|3m easy|5m easy|4m easy|rest|rest|10m race
Boards|rest,cross or 3m rec|4m easy|4m with 5 x strides|5m easy|rest,cross or 3m rec|2m easy|10m race


Congratulations you are now half-way through your 18 marathon training plan! Well done on making it this far! You have some of the hardest weeks behind you. Look at what you’ve achieved already - for some of you following a structured plan was all new, you have increased your number of running days, you have embraced long long runs and running more slowly, you have stuck out tough runs, some of you have run on holidays for the first time, you have run in weather conditions that normally would have put you off - give yourselves a slap on the back folks

This week some of you will be racing The Frank Duffy 10m Race, this is a great opportunity to practice for October. Some things to think about

Two days before
Drink plenty of fluids (water preferably), eat well
Make sure the gear you plan to wear (preferably the same gear you plan to wear for the marathon) is clean
Get the logistics worked out - how you plan to travel to the race, what time you need to get up at, leave the house at etc
Decide on a race strategy - if you plan to wear a pace band then get it ready, if you plan to carry gels or other fuel make sure you have them in the cupboard
Get to bed early!

The day before
Drink plenty and eat well sticking to foods you’re used to, I’d cut down on fibre today myself!
Charge your watch if you wear one
Lay out your racing gear and warm clothes for before the race
Pack a bag with warm, dry clothes for after the race and something to eat and drink for afterward - preferably a protein based snack to aid recovery.
Organise your running belt with whatever fuel or water you intend to carry in the race.
Prep the breakfast you plan to have
Set your alarm and get to bed early!

The morning of
Get up in plenty of time, eat the breakfast you planned the day before (preferably the same breakfast you plan to have on marathon day!)
Get to the race start in good time, you need to allow time to use the toilet facilities and there will likely be long queues!
Do a light warm up and line up for the race

Race
Pace yourselves, don’t get carried away in the crowd at the start, hold yourself back, start 10 seconds per mile slower than your planned pace. It’s quite likely going to be very busy for the first mile. Don’t waste energy trying to get around people, you may lose a few seconds in the first mile but conserve your energy here and you’ll easily gain those seconds back in the second half of the race when you hit your planned pace. Race hard and race smart, you’ve got this!

Have a great week runners

coogy

ariana` wrote: »

Plan|Monday|Tuesday|Wed|Thurs|Fri|Sat|Sun
NNH1|2-3 easy or rest|3m easy|5m easy|4m easy|rest|rest|10m race
Boards|rest,cross or 3m rec|4m easy|4m with 5 x strides|5m easy|rest,cross or 3m rec|2m easy|10m race


Congratulations you are now half-way through your 18 marathon training plan! Well done on making it this far! You have some of the hardest weeks behind you. Look at what you’ve achieved already - for some of you following a structured plan was all new, you have increased your number of running days, you have embraced long long runs and running more slowly, you have stuck out tough runs, some of you have run on holidays for the first time, you have run in weather conditions that normally would have put you off - give yourselves a slap on the back folks

This week some of you will be racing The Frank Duffy 10m Race, this is a great opportunity to practice for October. Some things to think about

Two days before
Drink plenty of fluids (water preferably), eat well
Make sure the gear you plan to wear (preferably the same gear you plan to wear for the marathon) is clean
Get the logistics worked out - how you plan to travel to the race, what time you need to get up at, leave the house at etc
Decide on a race strategy - if you plan to wear a pace band then get it ready, if you plan to carry gels or other fuel make sure you have them in the cupboard
Get to bed early!

The day before
Drink plenty and eat well sticking to foods you’re used to, I’d cut down on fibre today myself!
Charge your watch if you wear one
Lay out your racing gear and warm clothes for before the race
Pack a bag with warm, dry clothes for after the race and something to eat and drink for afterward - preferably a protein based snack to aid recovery.
Organise your running belt with whatever fuel or water you intend to carry in the race.
Prep the breakfast you plan to have
Set your alarm and get to bed early!

The morning of
Get up in plenty of time, eat the breakfast you planned the day before (preferably the same breakfast you plan to have on marathon day!)
Get to the race start in good time, you need to allow time to use the toilet facilities and there will likely be long queues!
Do a light warm up and line up for the race

Race
Pace yourselves, don’t get carried away in the crowd at the start, hold yourself back, start 10 seconds per mile slower than your planned pace. It’s quite likely going to be very busy for the first mile. Don’t waste energy trying to get around people, you may lose a few seconds in the first mile but conserve your energy here and you’ll easily gain those seconds back in the second half of the race when you hit your planned pace. Race hard and race smart, you’ve got this!

Have a great week runners

Thanks Ariana! For those of us not running in the Frank Duffy 10 mile, what should we replace it with?

Also, for the strides, should we approach those the same as when did we strides during week 5?

ChippyRun

For anyone who doesn't fancy running the 20m LSR on their own, there is a 20 mile run that takes place on 6th Oct.in Lusk, the same day as the Lusk Marathon and the same day as HHN1 plan 20miler.
There is only 4 tickets left as of this morning Sunday, €25 pay on the day Sportzone.ie
I've booked a place myself and I've heard good reports about it.

Mr. Guappa

Completed the Clonmel Half Marathon this morning. Looked out the window to monsoon-like conditions at 07:00 this morning, but thankfully the rain had stopped before the start of the race. Felt fresh following my mini taper last week. My only previous HM was a disaster at the start of July, blew up on a roasting hot afternoon and walked home in 2:09. 1:55 was the target today.

I started off back from the 2:00 pacers, and let them pull away from me in the early going as I knew the first 2 miles was largely uphill. Once I passed the 2 mile mark I upped the effort slightly to PMP (9mins/mile), and passed through the 2 hour group at approx the 5 mile mark. Took an isogel at this point, and felt really strong.

Managed to maintain a pace of 8:35/mile through to mile 10. Took a second isogel at the 8.5 mile mark. Mile 11 was a long drag and once through that, I still felt strong and at this stage I was regularly passing people. Increased the effort again for mile 12, and really put the hammer down for the last mile. Crossed the line in 1 hour 54 mins, which I was delighted with.

Felt strong over the closing miles, and that I had something left in the tank. It's a much preferable feeling to starting fast and fading to a disappointing finish. So many people passed me in the first few miles, but I just stuck to my pace, so I was pleased that I got the reward for that over the closing miles.

I thought the race itself was fantastic. Superb organisation, loads of refreshments at the finish, parking really well organised, decent crowds out and about, a surplus of on-the-ball stewards, and a class medal. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone for next year.

Not sure how this affects my target time for DCM. I'd like to crack the 4 hour barrier, for which I've seen a 1:50, or even 1:45 half marathon being mentioned as desirable for a 4 hour marathon. Today's 1:54 seems to put me outside that target, but I did finish strong, and lots of time left to DCM too.

Edit: I've also struggled a bit with the idea of running long runs at 10+ minutes per mile, then expecting a 9 min/mile pace to be there come race day. I've stuck to the plan anyway and trusted that it would work out, and today proved to me that the plan does work. Just removes that little mental doubt I guess.

sann

So as promised. The dreaded race report. Well i said good bad or ugly i would put some few words together. Dissapointed to report it ended up some where between bad and ugly.

Did a 2 miler on Sat morning just to wake the legs up after the day off on Friday. To be honest even at the very leisurely pace i ran these at yesterday the legs felt tired and heavy even though i was under no pressure. I just put it down to the day off and i usually need to be up around mile 3 anyway before i can manage to convince the body to co operate with me and the whole running thing..

Drove the hour and half to Clonmel yesterday evening. Registered at Lit and headed for the the leisure centre in the hotel to relax for an hour before heading for dinner. Didnt want to be too adventurous with that so stuck to roast chicken with salad.
Didnt get a great night sleep due to being woken several times with wind and rain hopping off the window. Headed for start line around 9 after a light enough breakfast.
Had some fruit with yogart and sipped on tailwind for an hour before race.

At this stage thankfully the rain had passed and conditions looked good.
I had a previous Pb from around March of 1hr 42 so i decided to sit in with the 1hr 40 pacers and see how it went. Had a few niggles with hamstring and shinsplints about 2 weeks ago so i promised myself if i was even getting a tingle i would pull back and run it as a Lsr.

I did my warm up and was feeling confident. Great buzz at the start line. After a stoppy start first few meters we headed off. Took a few minutes to get in to my stride but with one mile down i was feeling good and while i knew the pace was a step up for me i was confident it was sustainable for the 21k. On to mile 3 and happily chatting away to the pacers i found myself drifting off the front. While feeling good i resisted the temptation and reigned myself in and sat in for the next 3 miles with our 2 pacers.

I was just giving an odd look at the watch and noticed we were on and around the 4.35 split. This had me slightly worried as this is around the pace i was running at the 10k a few weeks ago and i suffered at the end.

My worries were begining to materialise around 12k. We had come over a few little drags and i knew the heart rate had to be up around 190 and while i was under serious pressure i thought if i could get the breathing under control i could recover and kick on for the last few k.

Unfortunately it wasnt to be. While i was dreading the hamstring and shinsplits being an issue it was the calf that finally put paid to my race. I had let the pacers go at this stage and was just distraught. Searching for anwsers over the next mile. What to do? Stop? Walk? Keep going? I imagined the long drive home and the dissapointment of not achieving what i had hoped for a few hours earlier. So that was stopping off the list. Decided to turn it into a Lsr. While the calf was at me it seemed to ease if i just kept thr pace handy. I did stop and stretch it a few times to give me every chance of finishing it out without doing too much harm.

Finished the race anyway. Think the clock said something like 1hr 51 or something. I didnt give too much looking at it with the frame of mind i was in.
It was a very well organised race. Nice route. Friendly and experienced bunch of marshals and i would definitely recommend it.

Conclusion........
Straight up. My plan at the beginning was to get in under the 4 hours in Dublin but as some of you may have noticed going by my running paces over the last few weeks, my pmp was around the 5m/km.
The one good thing to come out of today, was a conversation i had with an experienced marathoner lady in the last 2 miles. She was having an off day also and was happy to plod along and offer plenty of advice. She said to save the target times for marathon 2,3,4.... Just enjoy your first one. Dont suffer the whole 26 miles. Do it with a smile on your face. So with that in mind. Im going to take a few days off. Let the legs come back to life. Start back on the plan but change that Pmp to 5.30. I think if i dont im either not going to make Dublin due to injury or just keep dissapointing myself.
I am already registered for the Dublin half in 4 weeks time so will approach that alot more conservatively than today.

So thats it. My first race report. Sorry for it being a bit long winded and a bit of a downer but you have to take the bad with the good. Good luck to all in the week ahead.

ariana`

Sorry guys here you go for anyone not doing FD10

Plan|Monday|Tuesday|Wed|Thurs|Fri|Sat|Sun
NNH1|rest|3m easy|6m easy|4m easy|rest|14m LSR|rest
Boards|rest,cross or 3m rec|4m easy|7m easy|4m easy|rest|17m LSR|2m rec


Happy running

coogy

ariana` wrote: »

Sorry guys here you go for anyone not doing FD10

Plan|Monday|Tuesday|Wed|Thurs|Fri|Sat|Sun
NNH1|rest|3m easy|6m easy|4m easy|rest|14m LSR|rest
Boards|rest,cross or 3m rec|4m easy|7m easy|4m easy|rest|17m LSR|2m rec


Happy running

WHAT???? Only 17 miles? Pshaw!:p

ariana`

coogy wrote: »

WHAT???? Only 17 miles? Pshaw!:p

Yeah only

For anyone who doesn't venture out of this forum too often there is a Frank Duffy 10m thread in the Events forum which has some advice on the course profile if you read through it.

Helenasca

Slightly disappointed in myself today was supposed to do 10miles and was all set in my head all week to go do it but just could not make myself get out there today. Was feeling a bit ill this morning so pushed it out to the afternoon then in the afternoon just felt meh.

So decided to just leave it be. I've the bag packed for tomor after work and I'm hoping I'll just nail it and feel optimistic again afterwards. Going to have to start making myself get out on Friday evenings and enjoy the rest of the wkend and not end up having a repeat of today's scenario.

On another note my appetite has gone through the roof can't stop eating and nothing will fill me, after deciding I wasn't running today I had two lunches and now waiting for my dinner. I've only done 20k this wk so it's not like I can blame it on increased miles. I dunno I'll just have to get it back under control somehow!!!

Huzzah!

sann wrote: »

So as promised. The dreaded race report. Well i said good bad or ugly i would put some few words together. Dissapointed to report it ended up some where between bad and ugly.

Did a 2 miler on Sat morning just to wake the legs up after the day off on Friday. To be honest even at the very leisurely pace i ran these at yesterday the legs felt tired and heavy even though i was under no pressure. I just put it down to the day off and i usually need to be up around mile 3 anyway before i can manage to convince the body to co operate with me and the whole running thing..

Drove the hour and half to Clonmel yesterday evening. Registered at Lit and headed for the the leisure centre in the hotel to relax for an hour before heading for dinner. Didnt want to be too adventurous with that so stuck to roast chicken with salad.
Didnt get a great night sleep due to being woken several times with wind and rain hopping off the window. Headed for start line around 9 after a light enough breakfast.
Had some fruit with yogart and sipped on tailwind for an hour before race.

At this stage thankfully the rain had passed and conditions looked good.
I had a previous Pb from around March of 1hr 42 so i decided to sit in with the 1hr 40 pacers and see how it went. Had a few niggles with hamstring and shinsplints about 2 weeks ago so i promised myself if i was even getting a tingle i would pull back and run it as a Lsr.

I did my warm up and was feeling confident. Great buzz at the start line. After a stoppy start first few meters we headed off. Took a few minutes to get in to my stride but with one mile down i was feeling good and while i knew the pace was a step up for me i was confident it was sustainable for the 21k. On to mile 3 and happily chatting away to the pacers i found myself drifting off the front. While feeling good i resisted the temptation and reigned myself in and sat in for the next 3 miles with our 2 pacers.

I was just giving an odd look at the watch and noticed we were on and around the 4.35 split. This had me slightly worried as this is around the pace i was running at the 10k a few weeks ago and i suffered at the end.

My worries were begining to materialise around 12k. We had come over a few little drags and i knew the heart rate had to be up around 190 and while i was under serious pressure i thought if i could get the breathing under control i could recover and kick on for the last few k.

Unfortunately it wasnt to be. While i was dreading the hamstring and shinsplits being an issue it was the calf that finally put paid to my race. I had let the pacers go at this stage and was just distraught. Searching for anwsers over the next mile. What to do? Stop? Walk? Keep going? I imagined the long drive home and the dissapointment of not achieving what i had hoped for a few hours earlier. So that was stopping off the list. Decided to turn it into a Lsr. While the calf was at me it seemed to ease if i just kept thr pace handy. I did stop and stretch it a few times to give me every chance of finishing it out without doing too much harm.

Finished the race anyway. Think the clock said something like 1hr 51 or something. I didnt give too much looking at it with the frame of mind i was in.
It was a very well organised race. Nice route. Friendly and experienced bunch of marshals and i would definitely recommend it.

Conclusion........
Straight up. My plan at the beginning was to get in under the 4 hours in Dublin but as some of you may have noticed going by my running paces over the last few weeks, my pmp was around the 5m/km.
The one good thing to come out of today, was a conversation i had with an experienced marathoner lady in the last 2 miles. She was having an off day also and was happy to plod along and offer plenty of advice. She said to save the target times for marathon 2,3,4.... Just enjoy your first one. Dont suffer the whole 26 miles. Do it with a smile on your face. So with that in mind. Im going to take a few days off. Let the legs come back to life. Start back on the plan but change that Pmp to 5.30. I think if i dont im either not going to make Dublin due to injury or just keep dissapointing myself.
I am already registered for the Dublin half in 4 weeks time so will approach that alot more conservatively than today.

So thats it. My first race report. Sorry for it being a bit long winded and a bit of a downer but you have to take the bad with the good. Good luck to all in the week ahead.

Well done on sticking it out. It's honestly not a plamas to say that that run will stand to you for a number of reasons, not least of all being the ups and downs we'll go through on marathon day. You'd the mental strength to finish when the going got tough.

I'm agreeing more and more with the view that letting my time goal go will be for the best. I really just want to finish without walking!

OOnegative

sann wrote: »

So as promised. The dreaded race report. Well i said good bad or ugly i would put some few words together. Dissapointed to report it ended up some where between bad and ugly.

Did a 2 miler on Sat morning just to wake the legs up after the day off on Friday. To be honest even at the very leisurely pace i ran these at yesterday the legs felt tired and heavy even though i was under no pressure. I just put it down to the day off and i usually need to be up around mile 3 anyway before i can manage to convince the body to co operate with me and the whole running thing..

Drove the hour and half to Clonmel yesterday evening. Registered at Lit and headed for the the leisure centre in the hotel to relax for an hour before heading for dinner. Didnt want to be too adventurous with that so stuck to roast chicken with salad.
Didnt get a great night sleep due to being woken several times with wind and rain hopping off the window. Headed for start line around 9 after a light enough breakfast.
Had some fruit with yogart and sipped on tailwind for an hour before race.

At this stage thankfully the rain had passed and conditions looked good.
I had a previous Pb from around March of 1hr 42 so i decided to sit in with the 1hr 40 pacers and see how it went. Had a few niggles with hamstring and shinsplints about 2 weeks ago so i promised myself if i was even getting a tingle i would pull back and run it as a Lsr.

I did my warm up and was feeling confident. Great buzz at the start line. After a stoppy start first few meters we headed off. Took a few minutes to get in to my stride but with one mile down i was feeling good and while i knew the pace was a step up for me i was confident it was sustainable for the 21k. On to mile 3 and happily chatting away to the pacers i found myself drifting off the front. While feeling good i resisted the temptation and reigned myself in and sat in for the next 3 miles with our 2 pacers.

I was just giving an odd look at the watch and noticed we were on and around the 4.35 split. This had me slightly worried as this is around the pace i was running at the 10k a few weeks ago and i suffered at the end.

My worries were begining to materialise around 12k. We had come over a few little drags and i knew the heart rate had to be up around 190 and while i was under serious pressure i thought if i could get the breathing under control i could recover and kick on for the last few k.

Unfortunately it wasnt to be. While i was dreading the hamstring and shinsplits being an issue it was the calf that finally put paid to my race. I had let the pacers go at this stage and was just distraught. Searching for anwsers over the next mile. What to do? Stop? Walk? Keep going? I imagined the long drive home and the dissapointment of not achieving what i had hoped for a few hours earlier. So that was stopping off the list. Decided to turn it into a Lsr. While the calf was at me it seemed to ease if i just kept thr pace handy. I did stop and stretch it a few times to give me every chance of finishing it out without doing too much harm.

Finished the race anyway. Think the clock said something like 1hr 51 or something. I didnt give too much looking at it with the frame of mind i was in.
It was a very well organised race. Nice route. Friendly and experienced bunch of marshals and i would definitely recommend it.

Conclusion........
Straight up. My plan at the beginning was to get in under the 4 hours in Dublin but as some of you may have noticed going by my running paces over the last few weeks, my pmp was around the 5m/km.
The one good thing to come out of today, was a conversation i had with an experienced marathoner lady in the last 2 miles. She was having an off day also and was happy to plod along and offer plenty of advice. She said to save the target times for marathon 2,3,4.... Just enjoy your first one. Dont suffer the whole 26 miles. Do it with a smile on your face. So with that in mind. Im going to take a few days off. Let the legs come back to life. Start back on the plan but change that Pmp to 5.30. I think if i dont im either not going to make Dublin due to injury or just keep dissapointing myself.
I am already registered for the Dublin half in 4 weeks time so will approach that alot more conservatively than today.

So thats it. My first race report. Sorry for it being a bit long winded and a bit of a downer but you have to take the bad with the good. Good luck to all in the week ahead.

Clonmel is a tough auld route, but you done the right thing in plowing on. Great training run under your belt that will stand to towards DCM. We all have crap races, learn something from it move on and you’ll be better the next time. Well done.

sann

OOnegative wrote: »

sann wrote: »

So as promised. The dreaded race report. Well i said good bad or ugly i would put some few words together. Dissapointed to report it ended up some where between bad and ugly.

Did a 2 miler on Sat morning just to wake the legs up after the day off on Friday. To be honest even at the very leisurely pace i ran these at yesterday the legs felt tired and heavy even though i was under no pressure. I just put it down to the day off and i usually need to be up around mile 3 anyway before i can manage to convince the body to co operate with me and the whole running thing..

Drove the hour and half to Clonmel yesterday evening. Registered at Lit and headed for the the leisure centre in the hotel to relax for an hour before heading for dinner. Didnt want to be too adventurous with that so stuck to roast chicken with salad.
Didnt get a great night sleep due to being woken several times with wind and rain hopping off the window. Headed for start line around 9 after a light enough breakfast.
Had some fruit with yogart and sipped on tailwind for an hour before race.

At this stage thankfully the rain had passed and conditions looked good.
I had a previous Pb from around March of 1hr 42 so i decided to sit in with the 1hr 40 pacers and see how it went. Had a few niggles with hamstring and shinsplints about 2 weeks ago so i promised myself if i was even getting a tingle i would pull back and run it as a Lsr.

I did my warm up and was feeling confident. Great buzz at the start line. After a stoppy start first few meters we headed off. Took a few minutes to get in to my stride but with one mile down i was feeling good and while i knew the pace was a step up for me i was confident it was sustainable for the 21k. On to mile 3 and happily chatting away to the pacers i found myself drifting off the front. While feeling good i resisted the temptation and reigned myself in and sat in for the next 3 miles with our 2 pacers.

I was just giving an odd look at the watch and noticed we were on and around the 4.35 split. This had me slightly worried as this is around the pace i was running at the 10k a few weeks ago and i suffered at the end.

My worries were begining to materialise around 12k. We had come over a few little drags and i knew the heart rate had to be up around 190 and while i was under serious pressure i thought if i could get the breathing under control i could recover and kick on for the last few k.

Unfortunately it wasnt to be. While i was dreading the hamstring and shinsplits being an issue it was the calf that finally put paid to my race. I had let the pacers go at this stage and was just distraught. Searching for anwsers over the next mile. What to do? Stop? Walk? Keep going? I imagined the long drive home and the dissapointment of not achieving what i had hoped for a few hours earlier. So that was stopping off the list. Decided to turn it into a Lsr. While the calf was at me it seemed to ease if i just kept thr pace handy. I did stop and stretch it a few times to give me every chance of finishing it out without doing too much harm.

Finished the race anyway. Think the clock said something like 1hr 51 or something. I didnt give too much looking at it with the frame of mind i was in.
It was a very well organised race. Nice route. Friendly and experienced bunch of marshals and i would definitely recommend it.

Conclusion........
Straight up. My plan at the beginning was to get in under the 4 hours in Dublin but as some of you may have noticed going by my running paces over the last few weeks, my pmp was around the 5m/km.
The one good thing to come out of today, was a conversation i had with an experienced marathoner lady in the last 2 miles. She was having an off day also and was happy to plod along and offer plenty of advice. She said to save the target times for marathon 2,3,4.... Just enjoy your first one. Dont suffer the whole 26 miles. Do it with a smile on your face. So with that in mind. Im going to take a few days off. Let the legs come back to life. Start back on the plan but change that Pmp to 5.30. I think if i dont im either not going to make Dublin due to injury or just keep dissapointing myself.
I am already registered for the Dublin half in 4 weeks time so will approach that alot more conservatively than today.

So thats it. My first race report. Sorry for it being a bit long winded and a bit of a downer but you have to take the bad with the good. Good luck to all in the week ahead.

Clonmel is a tough auld route, but you done the right thing in plowing on. Great training run under your belt that will stand to towards DCM. We all have crap races, learn something from it move on and you’ll be better the next time. Well done.

Cheers for that.
Sitting up having a few beers for myself and after reading through the few posts from here today, im feeling alot more positive.
Sure no one said twaz gona be easy anyway...

bucketybuck

sann wrote: »

Conclusion........
Straight up. My plan at the beginning was to get in under the 4 hours in Dublin but as some of you may have noticed going by my running paces over the last few weeks, my pmp was around the 5m/km.
The one good thing to come out of today, was a conversation i had with an experienced marathoner lady in the last 2 miles. She was having an off day also and was happy to plod along and offer plenty of advice. She said to save the target times for marathon 2,3,4.... Just enjoy your first one. Dont suffer the whole 26 miles. Do it with a smile on your face. So with that in mind. Im going to take a few days off. Let the legs come back to life. Start back on the plan but change that Pmp to 5.30.

Unless I am missing something, isn't a 4 hr marathon pace 5.30 min/km?