Marathon Improvers Thread.

Can you do it? Absolutely.

Should you do it? Hmm. What I would be thinking is, what is your goal for the year or do you have any? Are you doing Connemara just to do it or do you think it will aid you in your targets this year? We sometimes gloss over how tough a marathon is in our minds. I did connemara years ago. It was lovely. But by Christ was it hilly. And I am very used to the hills. Its also quite lonely. Not many people doing it, no crowds to cheer you on etc. You get picked up by a bus in Galway, get landed out to connemara and when its done you get some food (lovely food tbf) and then put on a bus back to Galway. Its very different to Dublin is all I am saying

You can 100% do it but just genuinely bare in mind it can be a lonely place when you are at mile 20, its raining, its windy, you're on your own, you're misjudged the training and with the worst hill yet to come.

Cheers Folks. I'm not sure the idea of what looks like a 45 min bus ride to the middle of nowhere is all too appealing, but I think I'll see how I get on this week and make a decision next Monday. I've nothing on till DCM23 where I am hoping to break 3:45 (done 4:11 last year).

@event : Given Connemarathon is more hilly and exposed, any idea of how much slower I should expect to do it in compared to Dublin? I'm thinking as things stand, if I get around in < 4:30 I'll be happy.

Just want to thank @Murph_D for this comment. I have been pretty consistent with my base building since the end of december on the back of this, currently between 40-45 miles per week. I do one long run 13-15 miles, one session or parkrun and 3 easy 70 minute runs.

So far this year I have managed PBs in 5km, 5 mile and half marathon all of which were prevously set in 2016!

That is brilliant, Nuttzz, great to see.

What is your approach to the sessions and and long runs, as a matter of interest? i.e. effort or pace targets etc.?

Just be careful about those long runs - I don’t know anything about power meters but if that particular effort range is important I would try to stick with it. Many runners who run by feel run too fast, and while there is certainly a place in any good marathon plan for faster long runs, doing easy ones too hard is a mistake you don’t want to make. Congrats on the improvements to date.

I would have thought good hydration in the weeks and months before the race is more important for avoiding cramp - but that’s easy for me to say as it’s rarely been an issue. The issue does come up quite a lot around where but not sure there’s ever been a consensus.

100% agree with Murph here, the cramps are not a result of the day but what you did in the weeks and months leading up. Are you taking salts during or before the training long runs? The decathlon ones I use can be taken before the race and you only need one.

Fuel-I have been mixing it up lately, Maurten 160 carb drink an hour or so before the Marathon, three decathlon and three Maurten gels during. 1 of which is caffeine. Dublin and Manchester both had bottles which is good cause I usually take a gel over the span of about 1km, sip water, sip gel. I carry a 250ml soft bottle in a belt for emergencies. I drink about 1.5 liters including pre race hydration(then four pints of lager and a dead animal with chips)

I don't do shakeouts either, at least two days rest prior to running a Marathon.

My own 2 cents on cramping is that it can be caused by racing at a faster pace than your body is actually able for.

I was a serial cramper at both the half and full, when I'd look at HR data, it was always through the roof.

I've made a conscious decision to start racing a few beats below the above cramping efforts and I've been cramp free since.

Now its only been two races, Valencia full and Berlin half, both negative splits and both PBs. I'm hoping the trend continues.

I've watched a lot of the Matt Fox YouTube videos and he's tried all the sweat test and taking the sodium and additional supplements but he still cramps.

And I'm baaaaack 😂

Despite vowing never to do a marathon again I won a place in the DCM at work today.

Have been tipping away gradually for the last few weeks after a very slow recovery from flu over the Christmas.

Trotted around Mallow in ~70 mins a couple of weeks ago, might do the Limerick Racecourse 10 Miler next weekend and likely to do the Limerick half marathon at the end of the month as well (I won't be racing either of them fwiw .. basically treating them as group long runs)

Wouldn't be my approach - by all means start out with the 3:30 pacers but you'd want to be pushing on well before halfway to get the best out of yourself (and seven would be an awful lot to make up over 6-10 miles). I would be far more comfortable running the whole race at 3:23 pace - and yes it's possible, I've done it!

Where is the marathon? Pace groups are great but only if the time suits you. There's always someone running around your pace (well, nearly always, depending on the marathon). If you've trained well the 7:49 pace will feel easy for at least the first half of the race and you just need to not get carried away and be disciplined. Second half then you are digging in and finding groups of runners to work with. If you're a low 3:20s female marathon runner, you've probably got the experience and the resolve to carry it off.

Thanks all.. I love the community side of Parkrun and I'd find it hard keeping the feet up all day. Trying to keep off them as much as possible today though.

Thanks Lazare, Limerick actually. I haven't enjoyed the past week tbh. Normal routine disrupted and a lot of doubts in my head. Looking forward to doing it tomorrow 🙂

Hi got a pb of 3:28 and delighted. Started with the 3:30 pacers but after about 3 miles found myself edging ahead of them. Around 18 miles I started to hurt considerably, had to let go somebody I had been 'following'. Times dropped back as the legs really hurt in the last 5 miles, It was about hanging in going up hills and trying to go down a bit faster. Tried to take in the atmosphere and the crowds as much for distraction as anything else. Anyway a marginal acceleration on the home straight saw me finish in 3:28.

My ideal time would have been 3:25, but 3:28 was still a big pb and I crossed the line delighted.

Learned quite a bit about marathon running, about following other people and someone told me afterwards that they were following me!

I suppose soreness and pain in the last 10K is probably unavoidable? I don't know if I had less energy but I remember the hurting. And if it is unavoidable not sure if I have much room for further improvement?

But anyway very happy and thanks to the Boarders here!