Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
P&D Autumn Marathon Training Thread
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Morning all. Did a parkrun this morning. Ran the 3mi there...had to hurry a bit so wouldn't miss the start. Came 3rd, just under 18mins I think. Then very slow jog home.
Debutant - good luck with the discipline tomorrow, I always fail at that!
Ryan...ok?!?
Ah - we were writing at same time. Sounds like you are ok. Don't go drinking/eating too much stuff you're not used to...just in case you get upset stomach. Apple juice has more fibre right?
It does, but I'm veggie so eat tons of fibre every day with no bother. I'm eating exactly the same stuff as last time so hopefully there will be no issues.
Nice Parkrun 15W - how's the taper treating you?
Ok thanks Ryan. I always find the 2nd week to be when the TAPER MADNESS begins. Off to a local mini festival this afternoon so might not be on here again till tomorrow...or if I am I may be drunk...so best of luck tomorrow Ryan. Remember you've done all the hard work already...
Hi everyone. Just got back from 2 weeks holiday in Michigan and thought I'd stop by. Leicester - 3 weeks and counting. So far so good!
Good luck to those racing tomorrow!RI
Go Ryan!!!
Yes. Go Ryan. Hic.
Number on vest, chip on trainer, bag packed, shitting myself!
Better now than during the race, Ryan.
Not surprised after all that apple juice.
Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!! Just about to leave, looks like half decent conditions.
Exciting stuff
Weather looks very nice where I am...maybe a bit warm for a marathon though!
Probably too late...but good luck Ryan.
Just out for 17 hungover miles...and disaster, Garmin 305 has stopped working. Won't come on, won't charge etc. RIP. So - need a replacement, any recommendations. Meanwhile I've got to guesstimate my 17mi.
Garmin is back to life! Found on web how to do soft reset and that worked. Phew.
Oh, and I got 17.52 in the parkrun yesterday.
It's overcast and muggy - if the cloud stays then it should be ok
Suicidal first half in 1:22, horrendous 2nd in 1:41 to give 3:03.
Full report to follow when it's sunk in
Ouch, 'suicidal' sounds like the word. Sorry it didn't go according to plan, Ryan, but I will be interested to read the report.
Ok then, here we go.
Arrived in good time (with Mum in tow) and mooched on down to see the start of the half which set off at 9:15. It wasn't hot but definitely close and a touch warm for my liking. Loads and loads of toilets with hardly any queues which was good. Wandered back to the car, got changed and jogged down to the start - the sun came out and I adjusted the main goal to sub 2:52 for a PB. Got escorted to the start by a troop of bagpipers and felt good on the line.
6/7 guys flew away at the start and I ignored them completely, just doing my own thing. The first sign of trouble was the 1 mile marker which gave me a split of 7:04, which I one was wrong, and the second gave me 5:14 which was a joke. The next 2 followed a similar pattern - 7:xx and 5xx. I had my Garmin on but that seemed to but jumping about and losing signal so I was left to pace it myself. Ran alone until 8 miles and then caught a guy who I ran with until about 19. We were chatting and it was really difficult to talk which should have been an indicator that all was not well!! Markers 9 and 10 were missing but I was ignoring them by then anyway.
At the halfway mark (just passed the 13 I glanced at the Garmin and it said 13ish and 1:22:40. Now I was certain that it was too fast and also certain that it was too late to do anything about it - i thought that just maybe I might be in better shape that I thought so carried on. Markers 14 and 15 were also missing and two different marshalls weren't paying attention as we came through and nearly sent us the wrong way!!
By 16 I could feel the lactic building up and just tried to keep punching out a decent rhythm. By 18 I knew that any hope of a PB was gone and made the decision to not push it too much and just concentrate on relaxing and getting to the finish. My run ing partner was in worse shaper than me and he disappeared at 20, leaving me in fourth. From this point I actually started to enjoy it a little bit, as the pressure was off - that was until the big hill at 22. Even at the slow pace, my legs felt like tree trunks and for the first time ever, I walked up the last 200m or so, and dropped to fifth
Got moving again at the top and was relieved to see the 23 marker. About 2 mins later, my left hamstring cramped completely and I was at a standstill for a minute or two, stretching it out. I was now reduced to a shuffle and stayed that way until the end. At 26, as the crowds got bigger, I sped up and bit and the hamstring went again with about 100m to go. Someone else went by and I hopped over the line for 6th. A very lovely St Johns Ambulance lady sorted out my cramp and I was handed a 'goody bag' (piece of paper, bottle of water!)
Overall, the course is beautiful, but tough - not a place to PB hunt with hindsight. The plastic cups were difficult and probably didn't get enough in. The support was very sparse and it was incredibly lonely for long stretches. Some marshalls were very good and some were not interested. I actually feel relatively ok as 18-23 was steady and 23-26 was a shuffle!! Hopefully that will mean that I recover quicker. There were a few small contributing factors but the pace was responsible for 95% of my problems. I'd say that given the course and conditions on the day, 2:53/4 would have been a realistic goal which makes my 1:22 first half seem even more ridiculous.
I really hope that noone else has a run like mine and maybe it will help cement in your brain that starting too fast is a bad idea. Good luck to alll
Nice report Ryan and impressive positive split! I was thinking of you when I was sweating round my 17mi this morning...
That sounds hardcore Ryan, and, as you say, probably not the best course for a PB attempt. But they certainly didn't help with the dodgy mile markers - okay, you could have been listening to your body more, but especially on a course where you can't use GPS to pace yourself it seems even more important to put the markers in the right place! I'd be seriously pissed off about that if I were you. And it sounds like you weren't the only one either, if 7 people went zooming off at the start but you still came 6th...
Yeah, one DNF and i picked up one at about 16 who ended up with 3:16 off approx 1:21 first half!. It's my own fault really though - i'm actually ok about the whole thing at the moment and am already planning sub 80 HM and sub 60 10 mile attempts.
Just had a look at the garmin data - if it can be trusted, 3 of my first 10 miles were 6:15, 6:14 and 6:11 - all of which are faster than current HM PB - what an idiot!
Thanks for the report Ryan. Pacing a marathon based on erratic mile markers sounds awful. It doesn't sound like an event you would want to attend again to be honest.
A half of 1:22 is very fast in its own right so I don't think sub 80 HM should be a problem!
Had a great last long run today. 16 miles at 7:50 pace which for me is MP + 20s. Better be more restrained on my 12 miler next Sunday!
Sorry things didn't go your way today Ryan. Good report though and some great running regardless.
15W - good parkrun! I ran yesterday in 22:48 (dressed as a seagull for a fridnd's hen night); was stung by a wasp that got inside my costume! To say the air turned blue is an understatement. I had to apologise to the stranger running next to me.
Bet that looked pretty funny Clag!
Ryan - you live and learn. Also - new forest marathon needs to sort out a few issues obviously. Any spring marathons planned?
I'm in London 2014 - more determined than ever for sub 2:50 already. Although that may be the beer talking
thanks for the report ryan- very helpful. Good luck with the recovery weeks.
Thanks for the detailed report Ryan, as Shamo says at least you know where it went wrong so i'm sure you will come back stronger once you have recovered. It's a lesson to all of us to get our pacing right.
Hope the hangover isn't too bad this morning.
Richmond HM yesterday at MP which felt a little tough for the last two miles hopefully the taper will put a bit of life back into my legs!
Thanks for all the kind words - a bit wobbly this morning but ok overall.
Good luck to everyone in all your races. I shall check in here to see you how you all get on.
15W - all the best with your sub 2:50 attempt. I hope the Chester weather is kind to you and try not to run any miles at faster than HMP! (although I'm 99% sure that you're not THAT foolish!)
Sounds like lesson learned Ryan... that's one positive to take out of it.
HM for me too yesterday... complete disaster.
I knew it was supposed to be a bit hilly but it was 1200ft of ascent in total. Went off following the 1:30 pacer as I was convinced I had this in me... he went off pretty hard but I was feeling good till about 5 miles when I could feel my left calf starting to strain, which it promptly did... stopped and stretched, walked a while, then gingerly started running again but the uphills were agony. Finished in 1:39 totally deflated. Load of energy left in the bank but once again my calves couldn't hack it... my last HM in May (pan flat) derailed at about the same distance after the other calf strained.
I've had some really good training sessions in the last few months without problems which makes it even harder to take.
I'll need a week to get over this injury.... seriously debating whether the marathon is even worth the effort... cost/benefit says not... I wouldn't be happy running slower than 3:15 and it's going to take a big toll physically.
At least it's sunny this week... can get out on my bike.
Morning all.
That doesn't sound good Mark...will your marathon be hilly? I'm not a big fan of hilly races, the downhill bits always kill my legs. Good luck with the recovery.
Day off for me today. Got quite a few niggles going on at the moment, hopefully the reduced mileage this week will help.