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Abingdon Marathon 2013
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That's a good run Lee - with that under your belt you should be brimming with confidence for a good time at Abo. I'd be very tempted to drop the target MP down to 6:52 at least after 22miles in 7:12.....
Blisters - I know what you mean about wanting a day off but daren't! My legs feel smashed at the moment - just got to nurse them through to Saturday's long run then its taper time!
Cross post Zirion - not sure about a 2:50 - 2:55 (though that's what MacMillan reckons) depends on how many marathons you have done, but a 1:20 half and 7:12 per mile 22miler definitely suggests a couple of minutes under 3 at least...
If you can run MP + 12 secs with no taper/carb load/race adrenalin I reckon you can go under 3 easily so long as you pace evenly and fuel correctly.
Good luck whatever you decide but don't leave anything on the course, About is a very fast course remember.
Thanks for the advice all.
I've had a look at 'the calculators' and it does suggest a sub 3 but I just wasn't sure I could achieve it having entered and started training so late. Listening to your advice though I think I might have a go at dipping under 3. After all whats the worst that can happen?
Ziron good luck with your last 20+.
Hmm. Is there an 'Abingdon marathon' thread for mortals?
We're all mortals. My PB is over 5 hours and that was set on a flat road course, so I can hardly judge anyone else! Jump in, and who knows, maybe you'll encourage other people to come join the fun.
Sorry, looked like you were all a little bit on the speedy side which, of course, isn't a bad thing.
My marathon PB of 3:35 goes back to 2008 done on this course. I think because the field is fast you get pushed along. I'd be pleased to get into the 3:40s this year.
I mainly do off road ultras now and I am in serious danger of becoming a plodder so I will have to see what I can do. I will have my brother for competition who has done the last 17 Abingdon marathons. I've only done it 5 times.
My last long run will be about 7 Oct.
T Rex I bet you my bottom dollar, the winner of the race will go through the same emotions, worries, highs, lows as the person who comes in last. And also I bet the person who comes in last will achieve the same sense of satisfaction as the winner. That is what is so amazing about the sport, it is pretty irrelevant where in the field you finish everyone has their own goals and has the same journey along the way.
Today was 8 @ MP for me went surprisingly well considering how smashed my legs were yesterday. First two miles felt quite tough then seemed to fly by until the last when tiredness crept in. Managed to do 7.5 @ MP - 4 secs .5 mile w/d brought the 8 in bang on MP (I must admit my OCD made me run the last 400m home hard as it was showing MP)
T Rex - 3:35 is a time to be more than proud of. Even in Abingdon, which is hardly a fun run, that would put you in the top half. As MG says - it doesn't really matter where you finish relative to other people. We refer to these as races, but unless you're likely to finish in the top 10, I'd argue the only race is against yourself and the clock. Personally I have more respect for the slower runners than the faster runners. I was musing on this when I was in the middle of my long run last week. I was two and a half hours in and feeling pretty good. For my target pace, that left me with another half hour to run. Back when I was slower, my long run would have been close to four hours and the idea of doing four hours of running, even at an easy pace, just for training, seems madness.
Woke up a little late this morning, so today I have the decadence of a day time run! Quick 10k at lunch time methinks.
I've dug this out again ... all we all on target?
Abingdon Marathon pre-races
September
1st - Kent coastal marathon, Keir
3rd - Wooburn Park 10k, bus
8th - Challenge Henley (IM tri) Blisters
8th - Warrington HM, Hissy fit
8th - Beford 10K, James F
15th - Lake Vyrnwy HM, Dr.Dan
22nd- Malmesbury HM, Leebe
29th - 10K trail race, rosie rr
29th - Horsforth 10K, Dr.Dan
29th - Folkestone HM, Keir
October
6th Cardiff HM, James F
13th - GE HM, rosie rr
13th - Ridgeway 15.5K off-roader, The Bus
13th - Flintshire 10K, Martin G
Abingdon Marathon Predicted Times
Martin G - 2:42
Keir- 2:48
Millsy1977 - 2:58
The Bus - sub 3 or bust!
Leebe - 3:00 -3:15
Jamie F - 3:04
Ballesteros - sub 3:10
Simon W - 3:10
Blisters - 3:15-3:20
Dr.Dan - 3:25
Rosie rr - 3:35
Paulie B - 3:45
Hissy fit - 3.50
Afternoon - I have managed to studiously avoid this thread so far, not wishing to curse my build up, but with 3 and a half weeks to go, thought I should throw my lot in.
Training has gone reasonably so far, lost about a week through illness in July and a week and a half with a shin issue at the end of August, but I think I'm in OK shape. Mileage peaks this week (85+) with a 24 at the weekend, then start to gradually taper back.
Sounds like some tasty times being aimed for. Hope everyone gets there in one piece now. It does sound like there are long runs being done quite close to target marathon pace (e.g. within 30s per mile). For what it's worth, I think that running long runs within 20s per mile of what turned out to be my marathon pace was one of the key mistakes I made in the build up to my debut marathon at Berlin last year, in that I'd run them too fast. I've slowed down my long runs this time round, and introduced sections at target marathon pace on occasion, virtually never running in the middle ground. That said, there's always a place for one or two of them as part of a mix.
Hello Dachs! I hope you are right about the LSR pace - mine have been around a minute per mile behind target marathon pace
You'll have to stake your colours to the mast and add your target to Dan's list now you're here!
I'm with you Bus (and Dachs). My long runs were about a minute over target pace, except for the ones where I accelerated during the last quarter/third. Was wondering whether I was doing it wrong, and should make Friday's long run faster, but you two have brought common sense back to me - the last long run will be at a nice slow pace (well 8 mins/mile).
Can't wait to get my last long run done - it feels like that's my last chance to screw up my body before the big day. (lunchtime run done - 11k @ MP + 30s. A little quicker than I wanted because I kept thinking about the race and accelerating!)
I think sub 3 is still possible. I just have to convince my brain now.
Bus, I forget whether I've already mentioned a target in your presence? If not I've still got an opportunity to do some sandbagging...
If you have, I've forgotten - but I know what it should be
Millsy - just count it as carbo loading! Have a good hol!
Zirion - like the outlook for the last long run! I feel the same.....
Current target is 2:39:59, but I reserve the right to change my mind at any point up to 2 minutes after the race finishes
Anyone got a feel for the accuracy of the course, length wise? I realise that Garmins aren't perfect, but slightly concerned looking on Strava at some of the distances people's Garmins measured. Link below to the worst case, but most were 42.4 - 42.6 km. My goal's already tight, so an extra 0.5-1% would be painful.
http://www.strava.com/activities/25668476
I'm counting it as an ultra if my Garmin registers more than 42,195m
PS Dachs - wow. Just wow.
Hey, Zirion, reserve the 'wow'ing til he does it
. To be fair though, barring an incident or accident it should happen. He has certainly put in the work for it and has the talent to boot....
T-Rex, my marathon pb is 3:38 which was set at my first and only marathon last year at Brighton. Funnily enough I actually entered my first ultra this year and I think the training for that along with my cross country commute to work has really helped to improve my road times.
Zirion, Good luck with your last long run, sounds like a sensible approach.
Millsy, Have a good holiday!
Dachs, that's an impressive target, but sound's like you've put the hard work in to achieve it.
That's a quick progression to ultras, Leebe. I've found over distance running is useful for the marathon and perhaps helped me get a PB at marathon no. 26.
It's considered you don't realise your potential at the marathon normally until about your 6th one so you have a lot of improvement to come, likely to be in the order of half an hour. I knew someone who was able to knock an hour off his debut marathon time and got down to the 2:50s.
List editor - put me down for Cardiff HM 6 Oct and time 3:40.
Abingdon Marathon pre-races
September
1st - Kent coastal marathon, Keir
3rd - Wooburn Park 10k, bus
8th - Challenge Henley (IM tri) Blisters
8th - Warrington HM, Hissy fit
8th - Beford 10K, James F
15th - Lake Vyrnwy HM, Dr.Dan
22nd- Malmesbury HM, Leebe
29th - 10K trail race, rosie rr
29th - Horsforth 10K, Dr.Dan
29th - Folkestone HM, Keir
October
6th Cardiff HM, James F and TRex
13th - GE HM, rosie rr
13th - Ridgeway 15.5K off-roader, The Bus
13th - Flintshire 10K, Martin G
Abingdon Marathon Predicted Times
Dachs - 2:39:59
Martin G - 2:42
Keir- 2:48
Millsy1977 - 2:58
The Bus - sub 3 or bust!
Leebe - 3:00 -3:15
Jamie F - 3:04
Ballesteros - sub 3:10
Simon W - 3:10
Blisters - 3:15-3:20
Dr.Dan - 3:25
Rosie rr - 3:35
T Rex - 3:40
Paulie B - 3:45
Hissy fit - 3.50
Sub 2:40!
Well, as you know
, I wasn't too happy with having my final long run (planned 22-24M) on Sunday cut short to what turned out to be 18.5M at easy pace, finishing with plenty in the tank ... so I went out again yesterday and did 20 miles with 5 miles at MP. The "5 at MP" was the absolute maximum distance I could manage at that pace (I tried for longer but the legs said "no") but I'm not too worried given how close it was to the last long outing (and I've already managed a full 16M at MP). Feel happier to have that in the bag.
So, since August 10th, I've done 20.3, 20.3, 19.5, 22.3, 18.5 and 20 ... plus racing two parkruns and a HM ... also a 16.3M run at MP and a planned 10K race on Sunday. I'm happy with this but slightly worried that my average mileage over this period has only been 42 mpw... but have to hope that all this is going to be enough.
24 miles @ 8:01 mins/mile. Last long run in the bank, injury free (although way more tiring than the faster, longer one last week). Good luck to the rest of you in your last ones.
(Dr Dan - You can put me down for 3:05)
Abingdon Marathon Predicted Times
Dachs - 2:39:59
Martin G - 2:42
Keir- 2:48
Millsy1977 - 2:58
The Bus - sub 3 or bust!
Leebe - 3:00 -3:15
Jamie F - 3:04
Zirion - 3:05
Ballesteros - sub 3:10
Simon W - 3:10
Blisters - 3:15-3:20
Dr.Dan - 3:25
Rosie rr - 3:35
T Rex - 3:40
Paulie B - 3:45
Hissy fit - 3.50
Dr. Dan those long runs are more than adequate and I bet psychologically you're glad you re did the 20. They say your five longest runs need to add up to 100 miles and you're over that so all looking good.
Zirion always pleasing to get the 24 in the bank, again psychologically on race day you can tell yourself you did 24 already so the distance won't seem so intimidating.
10 @ MP for me this morning ran with a club mate which was a good thing as I was pretty tired and on my own I'm not sure I'd have stuck at pace. Three hard runs in four days took its toll but the final week of hard work so more out of necessity than anything else. The wind was back with a vengeance too so to hit MP over ten miles on an undulating course in the wind will do nicely. I have had to change my Physio appointment from Saturday morning to next Thursday which means another long run with a dodgy hip, not ideal by any means but it does ease off overnight and I'm sure it's just tight muscles around the piriformis which is easily remedied.
10 @ MP is always a hard but valuable session Martin.
So... there's light at the end of the tunnel for us all now (at least after this weekend)...what are everyone's taper plans?