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Sub 3h15
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I’ve heard a whisper that Minni also got into VLM- maybe she’ll be tempted back to the thread
its almost certain I'll be at VLM 2019, as my son has decided to take up his Championship Start place, so you never know - the VoGit wallet might be unleashed . . . .
OO that would be lovely but just here working for a couple of days, then back to the sweaty gym from hell on Sunday. Starting to forget my own address.
BTW this is what the Commonwealth medal looks like. Big and heavy too. Fancy going to work Monday morning and someone asks what you did at the weekend....
Won't stop me being in Chandos though.
Little bedtime story for the sports fans.
Jersey Marathon 2018
Build up to the race
This year's Jersey marathon would be my first attempt on my local course for 3 years. The build itself had gone ok. I wasn't injured which was the first time in years and although I was very light on mileage and proper long runs I was feeling quite relaxed about the whole thing. The place was to run it at a pace that felt very comfortable and try not to completely detonate in the last 10k.
The legendary OO was coming to Jersey!
The fact that one of our fellow theadsters was coming over to Jersey to visit and do it as well was another major bonus and it was all getting very exciting. I thought it would be nice to run with someone quicker than me and keep me in check. OO arrived with his lovely wife Amanda and after pacing Amanda to a new parkrun pb we went for brekkie in the local sports centre and we discussed the race strategy. I explained to OO that the course was unusual and different to most marathons in that it was hilly, had mixed terrain and was quite a sparsely attended run. I said that I thought it had to be broken down into about 4 different parts and OO said "sounded like his knee"! Lols. More about the knee later.
The weather – Uggh!
The weather had been glorious all week and the temps hit low 20's with a light wind from Wed-Friday. I was thinking to myself this is to be good to be true. However, by late Saturday morning the weather had turned absolutely horrendous, it was pouring with rain and about Gale force 8 wind and stronger later into the night and early hours. I was consigned to the fact that the conditions would possibly play a major part in the race but wasn't overly worried. Again I felt quite relaxed about the whole thing.
Pre-RACE
I woke up around 6:45am on race day and had my usual pre-race of porridge with milk and freshly made coffee. I had a poor sleep the night before but nothing new there. I strolled down to the start (it's about 10 mins walk from my place) and could feel a very fresh cold northerly breeze but was glad to see that it had stopped raining and it was actually sunny. Met a few friends' pre-race and OO and chatted away nicely. I felt great and was looking forward to our very long jog.
The RACE!
The race started at 9am prompt and we made our way up a slight incline in the first mile and then around the town. Mile 1-3 were pretty spot on pace wise and we reached the 3 mile marker (3.05 miles) in around 22:21. OO and I had agreed that we would try stay together for as long as physically possible and that we would pace it very sensibly. The target in my mind was to get to halfway in around 1:36 and hopefully jog it in for a 3:14 allowing for a slight fade. Once you hit around 2.5 miles you steady to hit a steady incline and the 1st big climb is around 4 miles in. OO said is this as steep as it gets and I looked at him and said "NO"! There's much worse to come but it doesn't go on for too long. A quick pace check and we were still bang on sub 3:15 pace even factoring in the climbs. The previous night's storm didn't help that there was so much debris strewn across the road in the valley. There were conkers everywhere, lots of wet leaves and some nasty twigs hidden under the leaves that could have caused a trip. I almost went over on my ankle nut luckily I managed to stay upright. The biggest climb is at mile 5 and I was saying to OO that we should just take it easy up this part and run it so it feels easy. We did just that and to be honest I was feeling great and didn't even notice any of the hills. Miles 6-10 seemed to fly by which is a great thing in a marathon. OO and I ran with a friend of mine up to about this point and the banter was great. OO was gaining me feedback and were regularly hitting 7:15-7:17 miles at this point. I didn't bother to look at the 10 mile split but we were cruising and the miles just seemed to pass quickly.
We reached halfway in just under 1:36 which was exactly spot on. The next two miles were good and we made our way along the airport road until we reached our first part of the course which is a gravel trail path. I really don't enjoy running on that surface at all but I still felt ok. It was at around the 15 mile point that OO said his knee was starting to feel bad and that I should just go. I decided that I should just keep going and to try to hold the same pace. I was worried that OO may not finish because it was still so far away from completion. What I didn't know was that OO was the North Shields Lazarus but would find out later.
Miles 16-18 are on the trail path and it's a gradual decline which just aout makes up for the crappy running surface. It is pretty though, but this part of the course is very sparse and I just zoned out and focused on my running. When you reach 18.5 miles you leave the trail path and head back on to the road. This is a tough section as it's a slight incline and there was a strong headwind. I started to feel not so great! All of a sudden I could hear a runner coming from behind but had no idea it was Lazarus himself! OO said something like " Hi it’s the old git again with the dodgy knee". I was thinking to myself. He looks very strong and I tried to tuck in behind to get some respite from the headwind. Mile 20.5 is where the last chip timing mat is (it's because of the relay) and OO was pulling away from me. We were now back on the trail path and would be up to about 22.5 miles. Luckily it’s downhill. OO disappeared into the distance but I had got my 2nd wind and passing runners. Aside from OO I hadn't seen another runner for about 12 miles! I was looking at my watch now as I no longer had the luxury of OO telling me what the miles where. I was hitting sub 7mm and feeling good. I now was starting to think I think I have this in the bag but I was worried it would go wrong as it can so badly and quickly in a marathon. Anyway I reached the 23 mile mark and the wind hit me again. I was feeling bad and thought OH NO! Here we go again. I managed to hold it together but was barely running 7:50's but I didn't panic as I knew I had a few minutes in the bank to spare. I saw the last mile marker and lifted the pace a bit back up to about 7:30's and somehow managed to finish very strongly for the last .2. It was really sunny as I approached the clock I could see 3:1x but couldn't make out if it was 3:14 or 3:15. I thought it said 3:15 and felt a tiny bit if regret but then as I got closer I could see it was 3:14:1x! Whopp! It wa sin the bag and I jogged across the finish line in 3:14:21. A new pb by 6 minutes and the first time EVER that I hadn't detonated in a marathon and it was actually a very enjoyable VERY LONG JOG! I was delighted to hear that OO finished like a train and very impressed that he ran a negative split. It was a great day and such fun. Now time to about whether I want to give a Spring marathon a serious crack or just carry on enjoying my running and have a break from marathons for a wee while. Hmmm, what to do.
Track session tonight of 10 x 800 off 45s recovery. Managed to keep everything controlled and not feel like I was pushing too hard. Average of 3.02 per rep with most of them bang on that time.
Definitely a slightly different approach to tapering from last time but I'm happy Lewis knows what he is doing!
Big congrats to Poachette. Surely lurking to pick up tips?
Great report Gerard, it was a painful wait but such a relief to see you finish sub 3:15 with your pals all cheering.
For me I would remind one of the old marathon adage that it’s a 20 mile warm up for a 6 mile race. The pain in my knee subsided by 20 and once I knew it would get me home I let rip over the 3 downhill miles and the 3 last flat ones to the finish. I’ve never felt so strong at the back end of a Mara and the course played to my strengths. All this bodes well for NY in 4 weeks, just need to tick over for 2-3 weeks then taper.
Jersey is a lovely place and I’m already booked up for a return next Spring to continue the Bromance
I think the intersection of places I'd most like to visit and fast marathon courses is very small if not empty, unless there's a mountain with a track marathon on a plateau at the summit.
Email rejection from the VLM ballot for me - so could be looking at Boston if I want to do a spring marathon next year. (Boston, Lincolnshire, of course).
5 easy miles this morning. Resting heart rate is now up 4 or 5 bpm from normal and I feel a cold coming on, so taking lemsips today.
Poacher - lovely bling, which will be treasured I am sure.
GM- really great report. A well deserved big PB; hope I can follow suit.
Stevie - will be interesting to see the schedule for the rest of your taper.
Gul- Footy is tomorrow. Shame it isn't today as the weather is lovely for a day out. I ended up at gp's last night with some maranoia. Thought I had a ear infection, turns out it's a bit of 'swimmers ear' so I have some steroid drops to use.
Poacher, nice medal but hopefully it's just the first of many for her.
Gerard, nice report. You definitely need to find a fast course to see what you can do.
Nice reps, Stevie. Definitely a different approach to taper. I was reading an article on 'fast running' last night about accountability in terms of training. I think this is something I suffer with. As I train alone and set everything myself I am not accountable to anyone and the lazy side comes out. So often I plan 5 at threshold and end up persuading myself to do 4 or even downgrading it to hmp or slower. With a coach, even though you are paying for it etc, it does create that degree of accountability.
5K at mp some point today. It's going to be warm but at least I know come sunday it'll be a good bit fresher, unlike this session just before London.
I have been pretty chilled up until I woke up this morning. Starting to feel tense about it all.
Gul - I hope the cold clears up quickly. Shame about the VLM ballot, we will both be back in 2020 with GFA
Schedule for the rest of this week is:
Today - 8m Easy
Thurs - 4m Easy + S+C
Fri - 2m WU, 10m MP, 2m CD 14 total
Sat - Rest
Sun - Rest (I think)
DT - I would agree with that. I bailed on some of the longer MP runs I had planned for London when I set my own plan. Also this way I don't have to think about training I just do as I'm told haha.
Stevie, Yep that is definitely a very different taper to anything i've seen.
Just trying to make the best of tomorrows carb load options as I am at an expo in the morning then travelling to Cardiff then at the stadium. My best chance of getting a decent amount in is if I go to pizza hut and order a medium pizza. That will contain over 200g or carbs against a 500g target. I am a bit reluctant to eat a pizza as it wont have the nutrional value other foods I would usually eat. Any thoughts on whether this would be acceptable?
My preferred method is to eat normally (but with carb-biased meals), with a glass of SIS PSP22 energy (or similar), which is made from maltodextrin, which is over 98% glucose polymers. It is therefore very light on the stomach and very easy to drink at each meal - this removes the need to "overload" with bulky carbs, but ensures levels are optimum. I do this 2-3 days, with a very light race day breakfast (piece of toast, or a few cornflakes, maybe, so no "bloated" feeling). I understand that each of us has a "personalised" approach, but this has worked well for me. Maybe making a bottle or two to take to Cardiff could be the answer?
whatever you decide , have a great time with your boy !!!
yes I prefer 3 days, though I ease off Saturday pm, albeit I have a table for 1 booked at Prezzo Saturday night.
I have always got my easy carbs from orange juice and luc sport, however there is only so much I can handle as both are high in sugar. This product looks great, however having looked around the next I cant see that it is available anywhere that I could just pick up off the shelf.
Thanks for all the positive comments guys. I'll take some stock before I decide what my next move will be but I'm very tempted to have another crack at Amsterdam.
Poacher - OO & were saying that you would probably knock off a decent chunk of time from your Berlin marathon in Chester and you did, so, well done.
OO - That's great news re Spring. You must let me know your dates. I'd imagine you'll want to give parkrun a good go? I think NY could be a good one for you and hopefully your legs will have recovered in time.
Gul - I hope your wrong about the cold and it's nothing, they are such annoying things. Not long now until your race!
DT - Have fun!
Stevie - Manchester is great but I'm not certain I will do it yet.
Birch - Interesting to hear about your carb load approach. I guess I've never taken it serious enoughto really worry about that sort of thing.
In terms of carb loading don’t forget the 5 course breakfast option
Will message you the dates Gerard. A full on parkrun blast is a dead cert
Lorenzo - Boston is the only USA one that's on my radar. Looking at the qualifying times for 2020 I think I may get in. It's 3:20 for a V45 and it looks like 5 mins below the qualifying time would be good enough.
Gul - I am certain you will smash your mara pb all things being equal. Do you have a race strategy i.e. how will you pace it?
OO - Shame about the man flu. Speedy recovery! Great stuff re your next Jersey visit. I look forward to another run and bit of craic.
My legs and body felt ridiculously good on Monday. I had no stiffness or aches whatsoever which came a real pleasant surprise. So much so, I went for a lovely cliff path walk on Monday afternoon. I usually apply at least a 3 day zero running rest after a marathon. So I went out for a jog tonight. 5k very easy @ 7:4x and it felt sooooo good. Didn't expect that. Bonus!
Liking the 5 course breakfast option, but it should have included chips and couple of loaves of bread.
Nice to see the bromance blossoming
GM she's done 16.09/5k, 33.58/10k but fairly new to halves. I'd love to see her smash a mara one day but doing that to the standard which would do her justice would be hard with a very full time job. Just needs to keep on enjoying it really.
I'd urge anyone who can to run Boston if there's a chance. Running teaches humility but just for one day you can allow yourself to know that you earned a place through hard work. A challenging course too.
Stevie - 14M with 10@MP 9 days before your marathon (is that right) is certainly a bit unusual, but your coach seems to know what he's doing judging by your HM PB!
OO - get well soon. Got to be 100% fit for NY.
GM - nice one. Waiting to see how I do on Sunday before setting a target for the marathon.
Poacher - I like the microwave story! One day I would like to make my race day routine as much like a normal training day as possible. So stay adjacent to the start line, push all my meals back about 4 hours the day before, go to bed at 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, get up 15 mins before the race and come out of the door without any breakfast, hit the start button and run
csorthofeet - hello. Glad you found some orthotic shoes that work for you. Do you run in them?
Overslept this morning and only did 4 miles with 6 x 0.25M. Still got a bit of a temperature and elevated resting heart rate and taking more paracetamol today.
Gul there are some races which start at Gul o'clock - eg the GUCR which begins when revellers are leaving nightclubs about 0530. Or the Dubai marathon. No excuses for you!
The first part of the course goes along a very wide dual carriageway and we disappear into a tunnel type complex. This immediately blew out the GPS accuracy. The first few mile splits were all over the place. From the mile markers and the clocks fixed to them, I worked out that I crossed the line 3 mins after the gun and so all I had to do was deduct 3 mins and do my 7 times table and I was OK. This went really well and kept my mind active.
Also went for a recovery run along the shores of Lake Michigan yesterday, it was a lovely run but my legs were proper sore. Ouch! Back home and jet lagged again.
Poacher - you're not, are you ?