DCM 2019 - Mentored Novices Thread

Laineyfrecks

Wow Bananaleaf what a post!!!

NO HEADPHONES & all in caps :eek:

Hope you feel better soon

Mr. Guappa

Sunday Runner wrote: »

I always wear leggings! I just can't bring myself to wear shorts. I need to decide what to wear, especially if we are doing a race/dress rehearsal this weekend for the main event.

On a related topic - if you have an old hoodie or tracksuit bottoms that are earmarked for the charity shop or similar it is worth hanging on to them for DCM. The morning of DCM will involve a good bit of hanging around beforehand, and given the time of year it's likely to be cold. Most people will have an extra layer or two on for that period and then discard those extra layers just before the off. The amount of clothes lining the sides of the course near the start line and over the first mile or so is unreal!

Bananaleaf

ReeReeG wrote: »

Bananaleaf...that is some post!!!

Huzzah! wrote: »

We can retire now

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Epic stuff Bananaleaf!

* rips up notes for the next six weeks :pac:

Thanks guys. I hope it was okay to post all that. Truth is, I hadn't planned on it and I was just killing time making a few notes for myself. But the more info I collected, the more devious I felt if I kept it to myself because it was all such great info

Bananaleaf

healy1835 wrote: »

Keep going! 2015 was a particularly good vintage

Not even joking - that's tomorrow

Mr. Guappa

greentea is just wrong wrote: »

Hey Folks,

Hope your week went well! The home stretch now, starting to feel a little nervous!

- How was week 12 for you?
Found the 8 milers mentally v tough – went out too late after work and in the dark was not in the form for it.

Wed and Thurs done in the morning, felt good.

Sat, started out fine, but struggled with the heat. I wore thick black leggings (idiot) , which were a terrible idea in the heat. Good learning point now, and starting to wonder if shorts, or cropped leggings are best for the main day.

Tues 7.92 Miles @ 11.52 p/m
Wed 4.1 Miles @ 10.59 p/m
Thurs 5 miles @ 10.57 p/m
Sat 11.8 miles @ 11.45 p/m


- What did you learn this week?
Don’t wear thick long leggings for long runs (d’oh) – heat up too much!-It’s much harder to go out in the dark, so get the runs done early in the day if possible


Wondering about a pace I should aim for, for the HM this weekend?

I'd really like you to slow all those runs down a notch - try get to at least 12:30/mi.

On the goal time for Saturday - how does 2:30 sound? Maybe pick it up over the closing miles if it's in the legs. What were you thnking yourself?

Sunday Runner wrote: »

This never even crossed my mind! I suppose it's an option. Over the Summer I've done the PWC relay, Braveheart, the KBC 10km, the KBC 10 mile and Rock n Roll half. I was hoping to get a half marathon time to gauge PMP and an estimated marathon time. That said I doubt i'd drop significantly from 1:58 though.

One more wedding the week before DCM. Nothing on between now and then, as far as I know. :rolleyes:

Yeah - I'd agree with ReeReeG on this. The best option for you would be to run the HM as part of a LSR. It will take discipline to stay at your LSR pace while those around you are bombing on, but that will stand to you for the opening miles of DCM, when you'll be keeping everything nice and handy while those around you charge up Chesterfield Avenue.

bucky08

Hi all,

How was week 12 for you?
This was a bit of a taper week for me as i was running charleville half on sunday.

Went for two short runs during the week and my knee was feeling fine so i decided i would run the half on sunday.

So got up early sunday morning had breakfast and headed off for charleville , everything was going good or so i thought that was up until mile 10 when my knee started to get very sore and i had to slow it down.
Mile 11 i had to stop and tried to get going again only to continue with the stop start stop start for the last 2 -3 miles.

Finished the half and was feeling pissed off at how badly the day had went.
So got home and iced the knee for the evening and was feeling that there was no way that i could even think about doing the full marathon in 6 weeks time.

Went and got Physio this morning and going to see how this whole things plays out over the next week or so.. Fingers crossed that this is only a blip..

Sorbet

:eek:

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

.......me to return stronger and mentally fresh for the next challenge. I'm just putting my view on DCM recovery across now while ye are still listening to me :pac:

Hmmmm. I wonder what Bananaleaf thinks though :pac:

Huzzah steered me right for the Frank Duffy (1:34)- thinking of trying 6min kms for a sub 2:10 half. Sound reasonable to the mentors (and Bananaleaf!)?

DBB

Charliebull wrote: »

DBB on the porridge , with milk or water and how long before

Just water. My tummy is not a friend of dairy. Always preferred it made on water anyway, with a good pinch of salt. And honey poured on top.
Now I want a bowl of porridge, damn you

Bananaleaf, you have an uncanny knack of making me spit out me tea with lolling at your posts... but you surpassed even yourself this time.
I didn't just laugh though... you reminded me of stuff I'd forgotten from reading those threads in real time over the years, AND you have now legitimised me having to eat pretzels and crackers for 3 days before DCM
You are now officially my hero

Bananaleaf

DBB wrote: »

Just water. My tummy is not a friend of dairy. Always preferred it made on water anyway, with a good pinch of salt. And honey poured on top.
Now I want a bowl of porridge, damn you

Now I want porridge too - and I don't even really like the stuff!

DBB wrote: »

Bananaleaf, you have an uncanny knack of making me spit out me tea with lolling at your posts... but you surpassed even yourself this time.

Oh no .... I'm really going to disappoint you in the flesh :pac:

Sunday Runner

Bananaleaf, epic summary! Hope you feel better soon. Come back with more handy hints and advice from the archives!

Welcome back Fraggle. Good to see you again!

I feel better mentally for doing a long run this evening. Physically I found it tough, I’m full of aches which I normally don’t have.

A story from today: I finished my run and was about to sit into my car, while a bakery delivery was being unloaded. One guy said “oh look at all these cakes and you after your exercise,” and then the other (chubby) guy said “isn’t that why she is in the situation she is in.”

Eh WTF?! I almost went back and said WTF. Not sure if he equated running with burning food or if he was calling me fat, but what a pair of plonkers. My Dad rolled around the place laughing when I told him.

So I should take it handy on Saturday. Can I ask a daft question? When you add miles to a race and convert it into a LSR, how does one do that? Run a bit, pause watch and then join in with the rest of the runners? 🀔

Bananaleaf

py wrote: »

Late Wednesday the cold and sore throat (perhaps the same issue Bananaleaf had) kicked in after it worked through everyone else in the household... I thought I escaped it. This explains the elevated HR as it's about 10bpm higher than it usually is. Decided against taking any medication for it and stuck to the diet which is rich in nutrients and was happy to see the HR return to normal today on the LSR.

Looking forward to the DCHM next week, going to try rest as much as possible this week so I'm as fresh as possible for it. I'm just hoping for more suitable conditions than we had at the FD10 but right now the temperature forecast is showing 19 degrees by midday

Glad to hear you got over your illness so quickly. Like you I was trying not to use medication and was hoping my decent enough diet would get me over it. I caved today and am on the paracetamol and Diflam spray, but I am 100% certain that my decent diet up to now means I'm fighting this better than I would have any other time.

The windy.com link is cool. Weather-wise it is far too technical for me, but I have just spent about 30seconds watching a live link of St Mary's Church in Navan before coming to the conclusion that there is nothing creepier than watching a live link of an empty altar in the dark. :eek:

Sunday Runner wrote: »

A story from today: I finished my run and was about to sit into my car, while a bakery delivery was being unloaded. One guy said “oh look at all these cakes and you after your exercise,” and then the other (chubby) guy said “isn’t that why she is in the situation she is in.”

Eh WTF?! I almost went back and said WTF. Not sure if he equated running with burning food or if he was calling me fat, but what a pair of plonkers. My Dad rolled around the place laughing when I told him.

:eek: Typical dad response though, lol. Dads are great craic
Well done on getting your LSR done on a Monday!

Sunday Runner

Thanks Bananleaf! It actually is a typical Dad response! It was a slog after working all day and on a Monday too.

My Mum also told me that she has booked in for a blow dry the evening before the Marathon. She is making the trip to Dublin to cheer me on. S**t just got real.

Night all. Hopefully some of uswill meet face to face this Saturday!

Laineyfrecks

Sunday Runner wrote: »

Thanks Bananleaf! It actually is a typical Dad response! It was a slog after working all day and on a Monday too.

My Mum also told me that she has booked in for a blow dry the evening before the Marathon. She is making the trip to Dublin to cheer me on. S**t just got real.

Night all. Hopefully some of uswill meet face to face this Saturday!

Love it your mam getting her hair done

I am raging i won't get to meet any of ye now probably till D day

Bananaleaf i bagsy the stool beside you in McGrattons...shur the craic will only be 90

jake1970

healy1835 wrote: »

Keep going! 2015 was a particularly good vintage

That is the best one, but I might be biased

Mr. Guappa

Bananaleaf wrote: »

Thanks guys. I hope it was okay to post all that. Truth is, I hadn't planned on it and I was just killing time making a few notes for myself. But the more info I collected, the more devious I felt if I kept it to myself because it was all such great info

Of course it was ok to post - the more information here the better! Great work again.

Sunday Runner wrote: »

Night all. Hopefully some of uswill meet face to face this Saturday!

There are rumours that one of the mentors will make flapjacks to mark the occasion. (Hint: It's not me or Huzzah!)

gypsylee

Just noticing the late hour that some of you are posting on this thread!!

Last year skyblue46 banned us all from posting after a certain hour cos we should be asleep!! Think it was from 10 o'clock!!

Great post bananaleaf, loads of good info there.

Good luck to all running the Half on Saturday.

Mr. Guappa

bucky08 wrote: »

Hi all,

How was week 12 for you?
This was a bit of a taper week for me as i was running charleville half on sunday.

Went for two short runs during the week and my knee was feeling fine so i decided i would run the half on sunday.

So got up early sunday morning had breakfast and headed off for charleville , everything was going good or so i thought that was up until mile 10 when my knee started to get very sore and i had to slow it down.
Mile 11 i had to stop and tried to get going again only to continue with the stop start stop start for the last 2 -3 miles.

Finished the half and was feeling pissed off at how badly the day had went.
So got home and iced the knee for the evening and was feeling that there was no way that i could even think about doing the full marathon in 6 weeks time.

Went and got Physio this morning and going to see how this whole things plays out over the next week or so.. Fingers crossed that this is only a blip..

Sorry to hear this bucky. I had checked the results and seen you came in behind where you anticipated so knew something was up. You've done the right thing anyway by getting to the physio - hopefully it's something that will be a simple fix. Did the physio give an indication as to what the issue Is?

py

Bananaleaf wrote: »

• Roebuck ‘Heartbreak Hill’ isn’t the killer – it’s the Milltown hill/ Clonskeagh drag before it that’s the real beast

The Milltown/Clonskeagh section is the first ~3Km of this Strava segment, the last ~200 metres of the segment is where the road really kicks up. I've been led to believe that this segment is where the most casualties will occur.

Bananaleaf wrote: »

From the 2018 DCM thread I learned ...

• Cut down on fibre the Thurs/Fri before DCM. Tuc crackers or pretzels each evening from then

What's the reasoning behind the tuc crackers/pretzels? Extra salt/carbs? I'm all for the bacon flavoured tuc crackers.

Bananaleaf wrote: »

The second is for anyone who can answer. I have been getting regular sports massages the whole way through the programme. My next one will be next Wed and when I go she is going to put together my pre-event programme, which I suspect - from how she was talking - is going to involve a pre-event massage the Saturday before DCM. As in, the day before. Is that not too close to the event? Or is it okay considering I have been going all along so won't have to be worked on too vigorously? I suspect that this will be a conversation that needs to be had with the therapist and that is fine, and I know I'm asking super early, but I will have to agree to an appointment date next week, so if the day before is under no circumstances an option please let me know.

It would need to be a really light sports massage the day before. The physio won't be able to (or shouldn't) do heavy work on knots/tightness that close to the race as the legs won't have recovered prior to the race. My plan is to get physio treatment the Monday prior to allow the legs to recover from a potential hammering from the physio and perhaps another on the Friday if required which would be much much easier.

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Just a general point on running post-DCM. Popular advice would be to take it handy for about 4 weeks (no hard days for every mile raced). Last year I didn't run at all for 10 days (probably excessive compared to general guidelines) and my first hard run was a parkrun 4 weeks after DCM. I ran just 34 miles in November (again probably on the cautious side), and I really felt that easing back into it like that allowed me to return stronger and mentally fresh for the next challenge. I'm just putting my view on DCM recovery across now while ye are still listening to me :pac:

Ye, while I've signed up for RTL, it's not something I have to do as such (it would be great to ofc) but if the body is not right then I'll be skipping it as I don't want to ruin my chances of running the Donadea 50K in February.

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

There are rumours that one of the mentors will make flapjacks to mark the occasion. (Hint: It's not me or Huzzah!)

On that note, one of the big mistakes I made at the FD10 was not bringing post run fuel with me. The cycle home was torture and I ended up having to stop off about halfway home to get some carbs/protein in to the body.

DolG

Bananaleaf wrote: »

How was week 12 for you?

It started off great, but ended rather miserably as I am now sick.
Mon - Fri was all good - had a very satisfying run on Tuesday which almost didn't happen, only for my super organisation skills :cool: and Wed's PMP session was a great boost. Woke on Saturday feeling a little sore in the throat and Sunday consisted of a quite miserable LSR as a result. Weather was as bad as I felt.

I made the decision last night to take 2 days off work to try get over the illness. Last year I got sick after returning to work and I didn't take any time off. I ended up being sick for 7 weeks. That's no good for my marathon, but it's no good for my employer either, so I am hoping that the 2days in bed will do the trick.

What did you learn this week?

Well, I know that this doesn't exactly answer the question, but since I have had nothing to do today except sit in bed and rest, I read through the Mentored Novices Threads for 2018, 2017 and 2016 :eek: so I will share with everyone what I have learned this week from my reading!!

From the 2016 DCM thread I learned ...

• The Tuesday before DCM is called ‘Toenail Tuesday’. We cut our toenails that day :pac:
• Roebuck ‘Heartbreak Hill’ isn’t the killer – it’s the Milltown hill/ Clonskeagh drag before it that’s the real beast
• Go to the expo on the Friday – early as possible if you can to give you more time off the feet on Sat
• NO HEADPHONES!
• When the going gets tough, start encouraging everyone around you – it will take your mind off your own struggles

From the 2017 DCM thread I learned ...

• Remember to bring ticket and ID to the expo
• Don’t overdo it on the carbs the night before and end up bloated
• Meeting family/friends on course? Be extremely specific about where, down to the exact point and whether it will be the left or right hand side of the road. This will mean you can position yourself properly on approach

From the 2018 DCM thread I learned ...

• Pacers go at an even pace – allow them to pull away from you on the drags and reel them in on the descents
• Run the 1st 7miles slower than target pace
• Cut down on fibre the Thurs/Fri before DCM. Tuc crackers or pretzels each evening from then
• Pack some food for mile 20+ - you might be v sick of gels and bloks by then
• Zero tabs in water from the Thursday before race day. 2 a day spaced out over the day or at least on the Sat.
• Bring tissues for the portaloos
• Start queuing for portaloos after bag drop even if you don’t need it. You will by the time you get to the top of the line
• Grab water bottle at every water station, even if you feel like you don’t need it
• Halfway mark to 30k seems to be the optimal time to push.
• If you go out fast for the first 10k, you have a 70% chance of hitting the Wall
• Run the first 10k @5hr pace (this is advice for myself specifically, based off skyblue's 3:47:20 plan) – I have a question for skyblue about this
• Pace bands: Findmymarathon.com generates pace bands specific to certain marathons and depending on whether you want a conservative start, negative split etc.

All years there seemed to be 4 common issues that I noted:

• A lot of novices seem to get ill during taper time. Up the vitamin dose around this time and sleep sleep sleep
• Taper looks to be a bit of a head melter - you'll need to trust the plan more than ever here it seems
• Nobody appears to get much decent sleep the night before - don't be panicking if this happens as apparently it's common. REST is the important thing the night before, not sleep
• Clocks go back the weekend of DCM and a lot of people were worried their phones wouldn't automatically change. They did.

I know that most of this advice is for later on in the journey, but I won't have this kind of time again so I decided to spend today gathering any useful nuggets I could find.

My swotting session has still left me with 2 questions:

The first is aimed specifically at skyblue - you said that you couldn't have achieved your 3:47:20 with a pacer. Why is this? Too distracting?

The second is for anyone who can answer. I have been getting regular sports massages the whole way through the programme. My next one will be next Wed and when I go she is going to put together my pre-event programme, which I suspect - from how she was talking - is going to involve a pre-event massage the Saturday before DCM. As in, the day before. Is that not too close to the event? Or is it okay considering I have been going all along so won't have to be worked on too vigorously? I suspect that this will be a conversation that needs to be had with the therapist and that is fine, and I know I'm asking super early, but I will have to agree to an appointment date next week, so if the day before is under no circumstances an option please let me know.

Sorry for the super-long post!

Hi. That’s fantastic information. Thank you. Get well soon🌟

Rossi7

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Bananaleaf wrote: »

Thanks guys.  I hope it was okay to post all that.  Truth is, I hadn't planned on it and I was just killing time making a few notes for myself.  But the more info I collected, the more devious I felt if I kept it to myself because it was all such great info

Of course it was ok to post - the more information  here the better!  Great work again.

Sunday Runner wrote: »

Night all. Hopefully some of uswill meet face to face this Saturday!

There are rumours that one of the mentors will make flapjacks to mark the occasion. (Hint: It's not me or Huzzah!)

What time are we meeting at ?

ReeReeG

Sunday Runner wrote: »

Bananaleaf, epic summary! Hope you feel better soon. Come back with more handy hints and advice from the archives!

Welcome back Fraggle. Good to see you again!

I feel better mentally for doing a long run this evening. Physically I found it tough, I’m full of aches which I normally don’t have.

A story from today: I finished my run and was about to sit into my car, while a bakery delivery was being unloaded. One guy said “oh look at all these cakes and you after your exercise,” and then the other (chubby) guy said “isn’t that why she is in the situation she is in.”

Eh WTF?! I almost went back and said WTF. Not sure if he equated running with burning food or if he was calling me fat, but what a pair of plonkers. My Dad rolled around the place laughing when I told him.

So I should take it handy on Saturday. Can I ask a daft question? When you add miles to a race and convert it into a LSR, how does one do that? Run a bit, pause watch and then join in with the rest of the runners? ��

For some people, the only reason someone could possibly do exercise is to lose weight, forget about all that being healthy malarkey - MASSIVE EYEROLL! I won't get started on how much it annoys me that on Instagram and the rest of the internet is all about being skinny as opposed to healthy but anyway.


With the extra miles pre-HM, it's up to you. You can pause or just do it in 2 parts. If you can, time it well enough that you're not going to be stopped for too long in between, but it can be difficult I know.

Rossi7

Just on the massage front , I wouldn't recommend getting a massage a day before the race. A week before is time enough as a massage is as good as a session on the legs that they'll need recovery too. I've put off a massage this week because of the 1/2 this weekend

Huzzah!

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Just a general point on running post-DCM. Popular advice would be to take it handy for about 4 weeks (no hard days for every mile raced). Last year I didn't run at all for 10 days (probably excessive compared to general guidelines) and my first hard run was a parkrun 4 weeks after DCM. I ran just 34 miles in November (again probably on the cautious side), and I really felt that easing back into it like that allowed me to return stronger and mentally fresh for the next challenge. I'm just putting my view on DCM recovery across now while ye are still listening to me :pac:

I don't think 10 days is excessive. I was advised not to run for two weeks and I lasted about 10 days. One thing (of the many) that I've picked up from this thread over the years is you can't be too cautious in your recovery post marathon. Those that rush back often take longer to bounce back properly. I think this happened me. I really should've taken longer to recover.

Huzzah!

Bananaleaf wrote: »

Thanks guys. I hope it was okay to post all that. Truth is, I hadn't planned on it and I was just killing time making a few notes for myself. But the more info I collected, the more devious I felt if I kept it to myself because it was all such great info

Absolutely - thank you for posting. It was an invaluable contribution.

This thread is for you all to chat and share your experiences.

Huzzah!

Sorbet wrote: »

:eek:

Hmmmm. I wonder what Bananaleaf thinks though :pac:

Huzzah steered me right for the Frank Duffy (1:34)- thinking of trying 6min kms for a sub 2:10 half. Sound reasonable to the mentors (and Bananaleaf!)?

I think start at 2:10 pace but I believe you'll be able to push on to run a slightly faster time.

eabha19

py wrote: »

The Milltown/Clonskeagh section is the first ~3Km of this Strava segment, the last ~200 metres of the segment is where the road really kicks up. I've been led to believe that this segment is where the most casualties will occur.

Strava's name for that segment is hilarious! That is where I stood to cheer on team mates last year and the walking dead is not an inaccurate name for it. I was there for a couple of hours and in fairness the elites were powering through running faster than I could do a 100 m sprint! As time went on the participants passing looked more and more zombie-like. You would think that that would have shown me enough to put me off signing up but no, a few weeks later I was signing up for the Walking Dead 2019!!

As for post-race running my clubmates are trying to persuade me to sign up for a half marathon in Waterford on december 7th but I've said that I have no intention of doing a 7 a.m. 20km on a Saturday morning for the month of November! An 8 a.m. 10km yes but that's where I draw the line!

Sunday Runner - I love that your mammy is getting the hair done for the marathon, that would be my mam too. Sadly she died 11 years ago - I'm planning on having her name written on my arm to remind me that those last tough miles of DCM are for her. She would have been there probably trying to hand me a ham sandwich mid route!! And on mammy's my friend's mam died yesterday and the funeral is going to be Thursday and not Saturday so the Dublin Half is back on my plan for this week. I'm off to the Recovery Rooms in Maynooth on Friday evening which will supposedly freshen the legs with boot massage thingys, ice baths (skipping that thanks!), jacuzzi and saunas. I'll be so chilled on Saturday I'll just sleep mid course!

Laineyfrecks

eabha19 wrote: »

Strava's name for that segment is hilarious! That is where I stood to cheer on team mates last year and the walking dead is not an inaccurate name for it. I was there for a couple of hours and in fairness the elites were powering through running faster than I could do a 100 m sprint! As time went on the participants passing looked more and more zombie-like. You would think that that would have shown me enough to put me off signing up but no, a few weeks later I was signing up for the Walking Dead 2019!!

As for post-race running my clubmates are trying to persuade me to sign up for a half marathon in Waterford on december 7th but I've said that I have no intention of doing a 7 a.m. 20km on a Saturday morning for the month of November! An 8 a.m. 10km yes but that's where I draw the line!

Sunday Runner - I love that your mammy is getting the hair done for the marathon, that would be my mam too. Sadly she died 11 years ago - I'm planning on having her name written on my arm to remind me that those last tough miles of DCM are for her. She would have been there probably trying to hand me a ham sandwich mid route!! And on mammy's my friend's mam died yesterday and the funeral is going to be Thursday and not Saturday so the Dublin Half is back on my plan for this week. I'm off to the Recovery Rooms in Maynooth on Friday evening which will supposedly freshen the legs with boot massage thingys, ice baths (skipping that thanks!), jacuzzi and saunas. I'll be so chilled on Saturday I'll just sleep mid course!

That's a lovely idea writing your mams name on your arm, will give you the strength you need! So sorry to hear about your friends mam - life is so unfair at times

Enjoy the recovery rooms & Best of luck on Sat : )

Lombardo123

Rossi7 wrote: »

Just on the massage front , I wouldn't recommend getting a massage a day before the race. A week before is time enough as a massage is as good as a session on the legs that they'll need recovery too. I've put off a massage this week because of the 1/2 this weekend

I have something booked in Thursday evening as I couldn't get an appointment any other time and feeling a few little niggles and bit of tightness that I wanted sorted before HM.

Should I cancel it and push on, or another option to not have him really go at the niggles too hard?

Sunday Runner

ReeReeG wrote: »

For some people, the only reason someone could possibly do exercise is to lose weight, forget about all that being healthy malarkey - MASSIVE EYEROLL! I won't get started on how much it annoys me that on Instagram and the rest of the internet is all about being skinny as opposed to healthy but anyway.


With the extra miles pre-HM, it's up to you. You can pause or just do it in 2 parts. If you can, time it well enough that you're not going to be stopped for too long in between, but it can be difficult I know.

Oh I could rant for Ireland on this topic too ReeReeG!

I'll try do the warm up beforehand, but it will be tricky with lifts and all that. I'm thinking of going with the 2:10 pacer too.

Mr. Guappa

Sunday Runner wrote: »

Oh I could rant for Ireland on this topic too ReeReeG!

I'll try do the warm up beforehand, but it will be tricky with lifts and all that. I'm thinking of going with the 2:10 pacer too.

A 2:10 half would be close to PMP for you. For this to be a Long Slow Run you should really be falling somewhere between 2:20 and 2:30. If you intend to follow a pacer go with the slower one (2:30).