A marathon in 4:15 (or maybe less)

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  • Busy day today as my daughter had arranged to see a friend who has moved to Leicester.  We'll have to take her through getting the coach/train if she carries on wanting to do this but as it  was the first time I said I'd drive her.  it is 50 miles each way so I did debate hanging around Leicester myself but decided that on balance I was liable to spend more than I would have saved on fuel.  So I came back home and went for a run instead image

    My legs felt a bit off again at the very start but within half a mile a glance at my Garmin showed an average pace starting with a 10 so I decided they couldn't be that bad really.  Intended doing around 6 miles but ended up going out as far as the lovely new visitor centre at Stowe and trying out the loos there!  By the time I got home I'd done 8 miles instead!

    Average pace was 10:45 mm and the only mile starting with an 11 was the first one and that was 11:01 image

    Debating at the moment whether to do my long run tomorrow before doing the supermarket shop (might be a bit traumatic for the other shoppers) or on Saturday after taking charge at parkrun.  I'm intending to do part of the MK marathon route, just need to work out 18 miles of it.

  • Found the full map for the MK marathon on the Map My Run website and managed to make a copy of it to edit and save.  Then some fiddling around and advice on here to get it onto my Garmin and I was off image

    parkrun was fab as usual.  The volunteers make life so easy for us Race Directors.  We had over 300 runners today and a super speedy winner. Unfortunately the cafe wasn't serving anything so after getting the results done I headed off to supplement the porridge that I'd had first thing.  Big queue in Costaso went to the Tesco cafe instead - latte and an egg/cheese muffin for £3.50 so definitely saved some money.  Then drove back to where I intended to start running from.

    Had to fiddle around a little on the footpaths to get myself onto the route but after that the Garmin guided me really nicely image  Was going a bit fast to start with (perhaps the shock of not having any updulations) but managed to slow down a wee bit although the pace never strayed slower than 11:00 mm and that was only the once.

    First 9 miles took 96:01, second 9 miles took 93:53  so a very solid negative split.  I actually did 18.53 miles in total and I found afterwards that I'd run that bit at an average pace of 9:48, it wasn't all downhill either.  The average pace for the whole run was 10:35 (time of 3:16:08)

    Throughout the run my legs felt pretty good and I didn't feel I was using the whole of my tank. Felt like I could have carried on at that pace for a few more miles.

    Now it is time to taper so no more double figure runs till 29th April.

  • Well the taper has been a bit more than planned as I've had vague cold symptoms all week.  Achy head, sinuses and ears, tickly nose and throat.  It hasn't really come to anything but I've also been shattered so simply haven't done any running.  Feeling rather better this morning despite missing a lie in as my daughter has gone to Thorpe Park with school and had to be dropped of to get the coach.

    Will get 8 miles done today

  • 8.28 miles done and dusted image

    Wasn't at all sure how this would go after 6 days off and (as for most runs recently) the bit that gets me away from home felt tough.  Soon settled down though and managed another negative split for a training run!  First 4 miles in 43:43, next 4 miles in 41:46 image

  • Hi USB, glad to hear you got your run in today despite not feeling up to it for the last 6.

    Is it normal pre race to feel exhausted/ illish/ unfit/ fat/useless? image

    I fell really weird and am in need of your wisdom....

    As you may remember MK will be my first full marathon. I have to confess my training has gone suprisingly well and I've managed not to miss any sessions through illness or injury but have occassionally cut back on a few miles or a session due to fatigue. I've got new PBs in my half and I have got up to 20 miles x2, 1x 19 and 1x 18 with others at 16, and 15.

    Now i'm in a tizzy! I know I should aim to finish and set myself a sensible pace stratergy to get round but (though it sounds mad) I don't want to be running slower than my legs are used to ( most of my long runs have come in around 9 min mile). And i just can't get my head around how far 26.2 miles is!!!

    I also feel sooo tired at the moment, is this normal or have I overdone it? And I feel like I've got a sore throat....

    OMG as you can tell I'm turning into a gibbering idiot.

    On the plus side we had our trial run of the Northampton parkrun today which was fab. First run is the 5th May if you can make it. It would be lovely to have a parkrun guru give the coarse their seal of approval or offers f constructive feedback!

    I might even get to say hello to you in the flesh next week, I think we will be shoe twins if you wear the bright pink ones! image

    Hope I am not sapping you positivity.. please give me a virtual slap if I am image

    best wishes H

  • I was starting to wonder where you were and nearly messaged you via 'other' means image  I'm guessing that was your comment read out on Marathon Talk?

    During taper all sorts of niggles and worries come to light.  You've got more time to think about stuff because you are running less and you also develop a paranoia of getting ill.  Taper is the time to let your body recuperate from all that high mileage while keeping things ticking over.  Plus if you are going to get a sore throat now at least you have a week to ditch it in.  Enjoy the rest!

    I shall be doing a couple more short runs and then it is:

    Wed - 40 min
    Thurs - 30 min with the middle 10 min at MP
    Fri - 20 min
    Sat - rest

    Or I can swap Fri and Sat round if I wish.

    Where is the parkrun going to be in Northampton?  I should be able to get there as I've already turned down an engagement party and a wedding reception due to it being the weekend we will be celebrating MiL turning 91.

    Hopefully you have some idea of what I look like from pictures on here last year.  I'm debating which vest to wear at the moment - club vest which is white with red/blue bits and has my name on or my Fetch vest which is very red/yellow but has no name.

  • Ooops! I realised in the middle of the night I didn't answer your question about pace. What time did you do the half in?
  • Yes it was me on marathon talk, I was so proud I nearly cried!

    Thanks for your calm words. My half time is 1.48.14 at bournemouth 1.4.12 and 1.48.59 at MK half in march.

    The Northampton parkrun will be on the Racecourse and starts at the SE corner near the car park and chinese restaurant. Would be fab to see you there.

    I'm feeling less tired today (despite being an on call day for me) and slightly less anxious though I do have a bad case of London Marathon jealousy and I wish I was Nell McAndrew image

    Wear your vest with name on...

    H

  • Will dig out my club vest.  Obviously the number will be different but the rest of the get up will be the same image

    /members/images/17438/Gallery/6250611951_9688b1c3b0_o_0.jpg

     I think my husband wishes I was Nell McAndrew image

    OK.  Putting your Bournemouth time into the Macmillan calculator that is a pace of 8:16 min miling and predicts a marathon time of 3:48:16 which is 8:43 min miling.  That means that your long runs have been slower than the predicted pace but perhaps not by as much as most people would advise.  Macmillan has a training pace for long run of between 9:13 and 10:13.

    I suppose the big question is how did you feel after 20 miles at 9 minute miling?  Would you have been able to run another 6.2 miles at the same pace?  If the answer is yes then start at 9 min miling, that would bring you in at around 3:56 so you'll have plenty of time to get the drinks in!  Alternatively start with the 4 hour pacer (who is 'emdee' on here) as that will be just a smidgeon slower than 9 mm.  Which pen are you in?

    If the answer is that you couldn't imagine another 10K at that pace then I'd suggest you start off slower and then see how you feel at 20 miles.  Remember you'll get a PB regardless and will have a better idea for next time (if there is a next time of course).

  • I did feel tired at the end of my 20s but one was a bit undulating and one was with a heavy running week. That is the unknown thing of how I will get on on fresher legs with the buzz of the day but over a longer distance. 

    I have made a hilarious error of being in the 3.45- 4.00 start pen whilst managing to put Mr vavoom down as 4.00-4.15 when I filled in his entry. We only noticed when he got a green and I got a blue number! OOOPPPSS

    Do you think they'll police the pens v strictly? I hope I might start just behind the 4 hour pacer (with mr vavoom) and see how it blows. If I feel rough on the day I will stick to the 4.15 pacer. My priority will be to stick to a conservative pace to start with and not get carried away. Overall, its getting round and experiencing the day that counts (and after the news from VLM staying healthy).

    And yes hopefully there will be a next time.

  • I have a green number but even the 4:15 pacer is back in yellow so have no idea how they sorted the pens.  Possibly had to fiddle around a bit to balance numbers as the reason for the staggered start is to feed us onto the redways without a log jam occuring.

    No running for me tonight, I went to a physics lecture instead image

  • USB:  have a fantastic run on 29th, enjoy it.  Sounds like you are excellent form.  Got my medal for VLM this year, my last marathon ever, unless I want a divorce!!!  Am going to stick to halves and beach running and cliff paths.  Again, best of luck for 29th (is it manchester). 

    image

  • Hope to see you on Sunday Bridget... hope to be at a few places all the best.

    I managed to do 4.46 at London which was a P.B by 11 minutes happy with the timeimage

  • PF!  Lovely to hear from you and so pleased you have your London medal to hang on the wall image  I'm staying close to home and doing Milton Keynes on 29th April (another new marathon like Manchester).  I am only 20 min drive away on a bad day.

    Flo - fantastic stuff at London from you too image It will great if I manage to see you on Sunday

    Nipped out and did just over 4 miles tonight before going to visit MiL.  Decided to go out towards Stowe on the untarmaced footpath and then back on the tarmaced one so wore my trail shoes as I expected mud.  Turned out I could have got away with my road shoes.

    4.14 miles averaging 10:58 pace.

    Nice splits of:
    11:24
    11:14
    10:50
    10:32

    Jacket potato for lunch today (followed by sponge pud and custard).

  • Weird dreams this week.  On Tuesday night I was off to the Olympics in a spaceship with Steve Redgrave becasue I was competing in the gymnastics, last night Tony Blair stopped in the middle of speech and took me over to see some grape vines in the conference hall image  Aren't I supposed to be having running nightmares at this point?

    I'll confess to having developed a case of CBA over the last couple of days.  Last night I opted not to run but nearly regretted that when I dropped a knife on my foot while getting into domestic goddess mode.  Thankfully it was the handle that hit me and not the blade which Mr USB keeps nice and sharp.

    Tonight I managed to persuade myself that 30 minutes would be over in no time, especially if I was running MP for the middle bit.  I ran for 10 min at 11:02 pace, 10 min at 09:59 pace and then 10 min at 11:06 pace.  Although I do have a bruise on my foot the shoes didn't press on it image

    More potato for lunch plus a granola slice.  Risotto tonight.

  • Hi USB,

    Just wanting to wish you well for the weekend and look forward to the race report

    Suze.

  • Thanks Suze.

    Did just over 20 min tonight and wore the kit that I intend to wear on Sunday. I wanted to see how it was in rain as the forecast is for lots of wet stuff. Generally fine but I've decided I'll add gloves as my hands were uncomfortable due to cold.

    Checkout girl at Sainsbury's asked if I had anything planned for the weekend! Turned out her step-dad is running and she will be supporting at one of the pubs.

    Pasta salad plus granola yoghurt for lunch today. Fish and chips tonight. Need to make sure I eat properly tomorrow now.
  • On Saturdays my eating tends to be a bit haphazard but I have disciplined myself today.

    Laid in till gone 10, then had toast and jam with my latte

    Banana bread and hot cordial for lunch.  First time I'd tried something instead of malt loaf and it was lovely

    Wholemeal bread and sandwich spread for tea

    Going to have steak, potato wedges, mushrooms and spinach in a bit

    I've also done very little walking around.  Tiny bit down the town so I could get my fringe trimmed and then in and out of the rehab hospital.

    The wind is getting really gusty here now.  Glad we are nowhere near the coast after listening to the shipping forecast.  Rain expected by the morning too.

    Heard a bit of this on Radio 4 earlier (yes, R4) and remembered that is came onto my MP3 player during my training for my very first marathon:


  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Good luck tomorrow USB! image
  • So I woke up a couple of times in the night, lay there listening to the wind and then went back to sleep again.  The wind is sort of low level with big gusts but it is hard to tell how much rain there is as when the wind blows it drives it against the windows but when it drops again I can't see many drops on the puddles outside.  I shall be asking my daughter for full details when she gets back from her paper round image

    I'm really don't intend to go off too quickly but am fighting the temptation to start at a nice round 10 mm as I'm terrified of blowing up and crawling to the end.  Possibly 10.15 mm at the most for the first half and then see how I am feeling.  I'd rather get a small PB than nothing.

    EDIT: A says it was raining hard when she when out but it now as I thought.  She's now getting back into her nice warm jamas and going back to bed!

  • dprovandprovan ✭✭✭
    Ultra Sparkly, how did you get on? I hope it went well.
  • Hi dp.  I am going to do a proper post but have not been firing on all cyclinders this week.  I ended up doing 4:50:41 in the delightful weather that Sunday threw at us.  Enjoyed it though and not disappointed in the circumstances.
  • dprovandprovan ✭✭✭

    well done USB, by all accounts the weather was increadibly bad, and people were really in a bad way. From the sounds of it anyone who finished put in one gutsy performance. Well done to you image

  •  

    So finally a race report for the MK marathon (or should I say aquathlon). We knew from the forecasts all week that the weather did not look good and sure enough I woke to lashing rain and gusting wind sending the trees all over the place. However I dug out my man suit and told myself “I’ve paid for this, I’ve trained for this, now go and f**king do it”

    Porridged up and with a variety of items of clothing in my bag I set off for the short drive into MK.  Although I knew I would be walking from the station car park to the stadium I decided to wear my race shoes on the grounds that I would surely want a completely dry pair to put on afterwards (wise decision).  Got to the station around 9.10 and to the stadium itself at 9.35.  Very civilised these local marathons image

    Quickly found my way to McDonalds and got changed in the warm and dry before joining a pretty short queue for the toilet. I’d dithered about clothing but went for vest over t-shirt plus shorts which turned out to work well for me.  Also a peaked cap to keep the rain out of my eyes.  I had intended to wear a long sleeved Aldi top that I hadn’t worn for some time and then dump it but then when I put it on found I really rather liked it still. So back it went into the bag and I just put on the plastic bag I’d brought back unworn from Paris last year. Bag to the storage at 9.50 and just a short wander to the start.

    It was hard to work out the dividing lines between the coloured pens or find the pacers and despite positioning myself at what seemed to be the rear of the yellow pen I was surrounded by a variety of coloured numbers. Later I found myself passed by both pacers who had allegedly been in the yellow pen. Actually I wasn’t really in the pen to start with as it was too crowded but the way we were sent off in waves made it easy to get into it after the first wave had gone. The rain had almost stopped but I decided to keep my plastic cover on for a while and was glad of that because just as I pressed my Garmin on the start line the rain came back with a vengeance.

    I tried to settle into a pace no faster than 10:15 min miling with the crazy idea in the conditions that I might be able to speed up later on. After a mile and a bit on the road (and past the MK pipe band) we swung off onto the redways that criss cross the city allowing non-vehicular traffic to avoid the roads. I finally got rid of my cover at about 2 miles and then shortly afterwards we were faced with a taste of what was to come. A marshal stood at a bend in the path warning us of a large puddle ahead. Essentially the entrance to an underpass had almost completely flooded and everyone was trying to tiptoe round the edge. I went through a bit of the water but didn’t really want my feet completely soaked at that early stage.

    We were now onto the enormous loop that would eventually have us passing the monster puddle again at around 24 miles but without having to go through it.By now I had been passed by D and the 4.15 hour group which was fine as I had abandoned any ideas of that some weeks before. I was now onto the part of the course I had run a couple of weeks ago so knew what was coming up and when .................... apart from the standing water of course.

  •  

    I was still managing to keep the pace pretty steady. That meant that I knew very clearly that when the 4:30 pacer caught and passed me before 6 miles that he was going too fast and it would be very stupid to try to go with him (he finished in 4.17 so a wise decision).

    10:21; 10:02; 10:13; 10:14; 10:16; 10:17

    We then went through the first of the relay changeover points and I suddenly found that we were directed to the left, up through the pub car park and down to the side of Caldecott Lake. I’d been expecting to go straight on to the lake at that point but even then took a few miles to work out why the 7 mile marker took 1.25 miles to get to according to my Garmin. Yes, the course had been rerouted due to flooding (we found out later that the river had burst its banks after the race had started).

    My pace stayed reasonably stable over the next few miles although with my Garmin and the markers being so different for the miles I began to forget to check for the mile splits and was just looking at the lap pace and average pace setting instead. I kept having debates with myself about stopping at a portaloo but there were always short queues and I didn’t want to stop unless I had to. Anyway there are plenty of bushes around MK ............... or so I thought.

    10:08; 10:21; 10:19; 10:24; 09:59 (oops, I think we were going gradually downhill for the whole mile); 10:08; 10:27; 10:19; 10:29

    Between 14 and 15 miles I was suddenly struck with stomach cramps and knew I would have to stop. In an area where we were running through one of the original villages that make up MK. I knew we were going to swing back towards a lake so began looking ahead of me for greenery. What I actually spotted was the blue of a portaloo with a queue of 4 ladies. So I stopped and joined them. Thankfully when I explained the situation I was able to jump up a couple of places and so disaster was averted. This did however lead to a mile that took 14:38.

    Initially on the next mile I found myself running at sub 10 min mile pace so forced myself to slow down only to find that I slowed further turning up to the canal due to the narrowest path that we ran on. Then it was along the familiar towpath with a couple of humpbacked bridges to negotiate as we needed to avoid a section of board walk. Towards the end of this section my stomach began to grumble again and then just after crossing the canal for the third and final time I had to stop in the bushes.

  •  This was the point where I almost completely stopped looking at my watch and just ran how I felt. As I left the bushes and began to run again I was faced by yet another stretch of flooded path with water sodden and muddy grass the only alternative surface. To add to that the rain that had been on and off till then became a sudden downpour and I possibly made the mistake of thinking that I was so wet already that there was little point in putting my lightweight jacket on. So it stayed there in its tiny bag strapped to my belt for the duration.

    10:36; 10:52; 12:24

    Despite all of this I was in fact still enjoying myself. I chatted with fellow runners, smiled at the spectators, thanked the marshals and eventually gave up trying to avoid puddles and ran through them! As we went through Linford Wood I even tried to rewrite The Teddy Bear’s Picnic on the run.

    Despite my rapid slowing of pace I was still managing to pace plenty of runners and there also some lads running for the local hospice who I kept leapfrogging along the last few miles.As I got towards 26 miles I saw a friend standing at the side of the road in support and gave her a huge, soggy hug. Then I headed off on the final stretch. We were back by the stadium but had to run past where we started before turning and going down a big tunnel to the pitch itself. A quarter lap of the pitch and I had finished!

    11:39; 11:36; 11:36; 12:07; 11:57; 12:11; 11:50

    The last bit took 5:19 which was 10:48 pace. That may have been helped by the fact that I fought a battle for the line with another runner which I won by just 1 second image

    So according to my Garmin I ran 26.49 miles and it took me 4:50:41. My chip agreed with this exactly. The organisers estimated that the detour added 0.23 miles which fits with my measurements.

    After picking up my ecofriendly canvas goody bag I managed to quickly retrieve my bag and headed into the stadium toilets to change into dry clothing. Then a chance meeting with friends led to a lift back to the station on a heated car seat and 20 minutes later I was home.

    So no 4:15 and no PB but a race that I enjoyed and would do again. Dry weather would be nice next time though.

    I’ve got a few different ideas about why I slowed up so much. Some I’ve already mentioned but there was also the fact that I left it until Friday to pick up a caffeine gel, found the running shop only had a disgusting chocolate one, thought I’d be ok for the local bike shop on Saturday only to find out he’d run out too. I also wonder whether the fact that my SiS gels were a month out of date or my taking a couple of the freebie High5 ones en route could have contributed to my stomach troubles.

  • Epilogue
    I was back over at Caldecott Lake for a run this morning.  The original marathon route remained blocked by flood water, so was the diversion that we used and so was the only other route under that particular dual carriageway.

    Perhaps it was just as well we were running last weekend!

  • Hi Usb

    it was lovely to read your report and for once enjoy the shared experience rather than feeling a bit jealous and wondering if I could one day run a marathon. I can and I did! I just wanted to say a special thank you to you for all your wize advice and humour that I've got from reading your posts. Every time I ran past/ through a huge puddle at MK i thought of the vicar of dibley falling in the puddle. image

    I love the fact I am also an ultra runner due to a full river but I won't be joining you in your real ultra later in the year.

    What's next on your list? I've started running again but can't quite bring myself to enter any races. Not sure why, must enter July MK half as it is a tradition for me now (wonder what the weather will be for that??) I've looked at Leicester marathon and also had a sideways glance at the Purbeck marathon or the New Forest marathon, both of which I imagine would be right up your street. (figuratively of course)

     The first Northampton parkrun went well, if you know of anyone at work that would want to run or more importantly volunteer point them our way.

    Hope Mil thing is all ok.

    H

     

  • Hi H

    What time did you do at MK?  Glad to have helped with the puddles image

    I am entered for the JW Ultra towards the end of September which is a 'baby' ultra of 30 miles.  Goes from near Stratford to Bourneville, mostly along the canal.  I ran it in 2010 so I now have a time to aim for.  Planned to do it last year but then deferred in order to focus on Abingdon.

    I too need to think about what to do next but am finding it hard when I had to fork out over £300 to get a repair done on the car this week image  I have to confess to missing parkrun due to taking the approach of seeing if I woke up in time (7.45 am so not really doable).  I think one of the consultants runs so may give him a prod about it.

    MiL thing is now a part of normal life really.  Having got rid of stuff like Saturday swimming and tap lessons we now have the hospital instead. Mr USB commented this weekend how he never has time to think about baking, we have all the ingredients for pretty macaroons brought back in February!

  • Bourneville- mmm chocolate, sounds good.

    Make time to bake! I had a conversation with a colleague recently about as the kids grow up and gain independence it'll be the parents we have to worry about and look after soon.... always something, thank goodness for running to escape.

    I did MK in 4.06.26. I only looked at my garmin a few times at the beginning to gauge pace and at the halfway point for a time check and just ran at sustainable/ survivable pace throughout. At the end I didn't want to look as I couldn't have changed what I was doing!

    When I was looking at my garmin data last weekend I was delighted to discover that I ran a completely even 2.03.13 split. image I couldn't have done that if I had tried, but I suppose the detour was in the first bit and so that means I did a slower second half image

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