DCM 2023 Mentored Novices Thread

I’d say just don’t glue yourself to them. You could start with them but as soon as you come to an uphill you pull back and keep your effort as it was on the flat. Reel them back in again then on the downhills but try keep your effort even throughout. The first 2 miles or so are flat enough … then you start into drags up until Castleknock … do your own thing there and then you’ll naturally speed up on the down hill after that. Just listen to your body. If you feel like it’s an effort to stay with them then drop back. You want to stay feeling fresh for as long as possible.

Week 15!

57km on the clock. And the last of the really long training runs. Took 2 (not consecutive) rest days as I was feeling it a bit after the previous week.

Saturdays lsr was pretty uneventful thankfully and weather was good. I wore my marathon shoes and they were grand, however at the end of the run I felt a bit of very specific ankle fatigue. In reality they're probably not as supportive as the asics Nimbus 25 as they have a lot going on around the ankle.

I took 5 gels which might seem excessive but it really paid off. Didn't have general fatigue during the run and was able to go about a busy day after, rather than taking a load off. I'm probably going to bring 10 gels on the day.

I've been thinking a lot about my phone and have decided that I need to carry it on race day. The 32km disaster really got me thinking about needing assistance on the day from my husband if the worst happens and I need fresh shorts or something. He's going to be following me around the course anyway so might as well have him carry a few emergency items. It's not ideal but I have to be practical and realistic. Some training days have been fine and some really bad and I still cannot make predictions about same unfortunately.

I've also decided to let pace go. I'm not getting tied up on pace and I'm not settling on a time. I'd love 4.30 but if it turns out to be 4.59 so be it. Just want to take it all in on the day 😃

We've made it!!!

They wear a balloon with the time they're pacing in it. It is very visible. You don't need to be on top of them. In fact, you might be better off being a bit back from them if there's a lot of runners near them.

If you're targeting a pace groups time, a good place to be for the first six miles or so is with the pace group behind.

My novice marathon ended up being perfect, from following the same advice you guys are now following.

I was targeting 3:58.

The 4:10 pace group went by me in the first mile.

I didn't catch up with them until almost Castleknock. It was part of the plan, but admittedly I did have to put a lot of faith in it.

The 4 hour group were way up ahead.

I eventually caught up with them at mile 20, ran with them until the RDS and had enough in the tank to pull ahead to finish on target for a negative split.

The reason it worked out so well was because of how held back and conservative I was in the first half.

Use the pacers, but don't run with them.

Hope the start of everyone's taper is going well.

I went for my first ever sports massage yesterday evening. My God - I should have been getting them for the last few months. Some areas were really tight and a bit painful. But by the end it was like I'd a new pair of legs! 😁 I'd been put off getting one after seeing someone avail of a post race one at the finish line of a race this year and the runner was writhing on the massage table in agony - but it was fine, bit uncomfortable at times but so well worth it.

I've ordered a new bra for the marathon. I felt last Sunday that I didn't feel supported enough, it may have gotten quite worn over the training block. So I've literally ordered the very same bra, hopefully it lands tomorrow for my long run on Sat morn - 10 miles.

Something I just copped onto was my running socks. They are not something I have given any thought to until I was reading some marathon checklists. In them it said to have moisture wicking socks. I never realised there was such a thing. So I did more research and found that cotton socks are a no no for longer distances. I went to the site to find the order I made 2 years ago for the 6 pairs of socks that look the part which I have on constant rotation for runs since then, and sure enough they are 85% cotton. It might explain a little why my feet are well sore towards the end of the LSR and take days to stop throbbing. So I treated myself to some Balega Hidden Comfort Athletic Running Socks and DANISH ENDURANCE Cushioned Ankle Running Socks. Should have new socks for my long run on Sunday. I'm almost looking forward to it now!

Before I read the above about pacing, I had settled on starting at easy pace for the first 10k. And possibly stay at that until halfway. To keep me in line I was going to use my HR reading, so I'm tempted to wear the HR chest strap just in case the watch reading has one of those inaccurate days. And once I feel comfortable and confident I could up the pace slightly but still keeping the HR maybe 5 beats per min more than easy and after each 5k consider whether to stick with that or allow for another 5 beats more.

The Runderwear stuff isn’t bad and I got very similar in Decathlon too. I would use Body Glide though for long runs or races and it prevents the chaffing.

Another +1 to Runderwear. 2 years since I started wearing them. I will still use anti chafing crème on long runs of 2+ hours but anything under that is never an issue with chafing.

I bought my new shoes early July (Nike zoom). But the sole is already worn down to the foam in places. Approx 700km in them. Too late to get a new pair and break them in on time?

Plenty of time to break them in. A couple of runs will do it.

I bought a pair of Invincible 2s from Nike last year and sent them back at about 50k due to noticeable wear on the right heal. I really liked running in in them for my easy runs so got another pair. Unfortunately same thing happened again. I've never had this with any other pair of running shoes 😞.

Just after throwing it on there.

I've a friend who is running it who I'm following on the app, she's doing great with very consistent 5k splits.

It must be nerve wracking tracking your husband! Hope it's going well so far for him

He did great. 3.15. 11 min pb! 🥳🥳🥳

They all pulled it out of the bag!

I was looking at how I'm going to get to the expo to get my ticket.

Train to heuston is 2 hours, and then at least 30 mins of a bus + walking.

Similar to drive, probably a bit less, even with traffic.

But overall, a serious pain to travel for 2 and half hours to collect a ticket and basically go back home.

I'll go on the Friday to try minimise the impact of travelling that much.

A friend from the run group sent this on (not sure where she got it), I thought I read before that you could collect one persons ticket if you have their ID, so I'm not sure if it's stricter than previous years or if the below was always the official line

Worth sending them an email to enquire … people used to be able to collect for others in the last but they clamped down on a few people running the half in other people’s numbers so maybe that is what they are at here.