2017 Marathon Training Thread

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  • Great result at Stirling, Nessie. I really hate those races that take you past the finish with a few miles to go. It's like they want to torture you.
    Fort William sounds hard as hell. Credit to you for just getting through it!
    It sounds as though you really have the marathon bug now!
  • Doing Yorkshire Half on 8 October... Long run training not gone the best but did manage just over 15 last weekend.

    Really hope to break 4 hours as this is meant to be my last marathon !

  • DadAgainDadAgain ✭✭✭
    Fort William sounds challenging! - But there's always a price to be paid for spectacular scenery. 

    I've had a challenging couple of weeks. Been feeling tired and sluggish and a recent check shows I'm about 3kg over race weight at the moment.

    Melbourne marathon is still 8 weeks away, so theres plenty of time for everything to come back together for that - but I have a half marathon on Sunday where I had hoped to have a good crack at a PB. Its my only half I'm tackling this year, its a flat course and small field, so should have been a great opportunity, but I am not feeling it.

    It doesnt help that yesterday despite being mid winter it was 34C during the day and even at 5:30pm when I got home with the sun about to dip below the horizon it was still 29C.. Thats just nuts. I had a little bit of a run about 8:30pm but it was still muggy and unpleasant and I was just painfully slow, wheezy, heavy and unenthusiastic.

    Perhaps the old "bad final training session = good race" formula will prove to be valid?


  • DadAgainDadAgain ✭✭✭
    All gone quiet in this thread? Is everyone still ok?

    Been a good couple of weeks for me since that last post! Last weekend I cracked a 4minute PB in the half marathon running a really strong last 5km and finishing with a 90 second negative split! I was absolutely delighted.

    Then after a gentle week to recover - today I had a 10km race and thought it would be see if I can back up the HM PB by bettering my 10km time. Its same course I set my PB last year, so I figured it was worth a crack. The race starts with an epic downhill and then has loads of bridges each with a bit of a climb.  Cutting a long story short, I nearly broke my 1km PB at the start, went through 5km in 19:51 (first time under 20 for me!) and finished in 41.02 - nearly 2 minutes faster than last year!!

    I've now completed the 3km, 5km , 10km, 21.1km, 42.2km set of PB's for the year!!!!   WOOOO HOOOOOO

    Now... time to get back to the long stuff and build up to Melbourne on Oct 15th :) 
  • Still alive, DA - but the thread's been so quiet I've not really bothered with it (after all, I've done my marathons for the year). Got a half next weekend, then three more over the rest of the Autumn before I start next year's marathon training.
    Well done on the PB! It's really hard to get a negative split. I've only done it once, when during my post-groin strain comeback half when I was being cautious at the beginning.
    Good luck with Melbourne!
  • On Sunday: I ran a 12km fun run in 48:04, a day after a sub 19 minute Park Run.
    First 2 runs in the Nike Zoom Fly! 
    I will aim for a sub 3:30 marathon in my mid-October marathon. 

  • NessieNessie ✭✭✭
     Marathon training has gone a bit awry recently.  School holidays and a busy time at work don't make for a lot of free time. 

    Had a tiring weekend - parkrun on Saturday morning, then took the girls to shinty training, followed by a viking parade.  Then later, a midnight Runway Run (5k) at the local airport.  Got home at 2am, and by the time I'd showered and unwound, it was 3am before I got to bed.  Up yesterday to take the girls for their(our) first go at orienteering.  Lots of fun, but it was a struggle to get moving.  At least I had the 5 year old with me, so there was a fair bit of walking/slow jogging with a few sprints when we spotted the checkpoints.

    Back to work today for a rest.  4 weeks to Loch Ness, and I'm probably working this weekend, so I'll just be doing what I can, when I can and hoping for the best.
  • First 37km run of my Melbourne campaign yesterday and a first outing for my new watch (Garmin 935). 

    Had a good morning and enjoyed a gentle pace. By 20km I (and my buddies too) was already feeling a bit tired and heavy but we all kept going and actually got a bit quicker as our terrain flattened out.

    By 30km I was really over it, but decided to experiment with a "Revvie" strip given to me by my coach. It's a dissolvable paper strip you put on your tongue that delivers a caffeine boost. I was a bit skeptical - but always happy to experiment with new things in training.

    My final 7km saw me leave my buddies behind and accelerate away at much faster than target marathon pace! 

    The final km of the run coincides with a Strava segment and it's one I've apparently run 151 times. Yesterday was the quickest ever despite being the very end of a very long run! 

    Perhaps theres something to this caffeiene things after all? Further experimentation required!

    What so you guys think - is this crossing a line in terms of performance enhancing drugs and ethical behaviour? It feels a bit wrong to me.... I'm unsure! (I know caffeine is perfectly legal and even recommended by some very highly regarded athletes, nutritionists and sports doctors)
  • I drink coffee in the morning, and often nothing but before a race. Can't say it's ever had an effect on my running (although it does help bring forth a productive toilet visit). Do you think it might be a bit of a placebo there? Then again, you could be a much better caffeine responder than I am.

  • Definitely could be placebo - hence more testing required.

    That being said I'm a non-coffee, non tea drinker - so no doubt have an extremely low tolerance to caffeine.


  • Well that'll be it, I expect. I'm a habitual coffee drinker (I have my own fancy bean to cup machine, so it's not like I'm drinking weak instant) so I doubt it'd make much difference. I guess it's like the fact I only drink a few times a year so I can get tipsy on a glass of wine.
  • Slowly building up after hernia op last month.
    targets:
    Mamores Half (Glencoe) on 2 October
    GO33 on 4 November

    Am running but only Day 19 ...
  • Glad you're up and running again, OH. I'm doing Richmond half this weekend. After the year I've had, I'll be amazed if I manage to go sub-2 again.
  • 2 weeks ago I ran 18:34 and today  I ran 18:23 in my Park Run. Opening mile in 5:30 but I dropped away after the opening mile. Times improving, so close to getting back under 18 mins again. My next marathon is in a month's time and I need to rest enough to be up for surviving 26.2 miles! 
  • 11 more days to go before Melbourne Marathon.

    I'm starting to get a bit nervous now - no more distance to cover , just a handful of 10km runs and a 5km left.

    Upside is fitness is great. I'm in brilliant shape and certainly ready to tackle a PB effort. Weather forecast is for a cloudy day of 10-20C (ideal).

    BUT... and this is a tough one.

    I've started having a really uncomfortable right hamstring/hip. It really aches when I'm sat driving for more than 5 minutes and is causing me significant discomfort when I'm sat down. If I run for a while it feels better  - so I'd be happy enough to run a marathon....

    So in 10 days time I have a saturday morning flight to Melbourne (2 hours), sitting in a cramped discount economy seat, followed by 2 hours at the theatre in the afternoon with a few friends before running the marathon on Sunday morning (fortunately just a 2km walk from where I'm staying - so no sitting down required on race day)!

    Eeeeek...... wish me luck!
  • So.....

    Physio had told me that my hamstring tendinopathy shouldn't stop me from running hard in the marathon and gave me a few exercises and stretches to help with the flight. Walking down to the start line on race day I could still feel the leg wasn't right - but was determined to have a red hot go anyway. 

    The plan was simple: stick with 3:20 pacers for as long as possible. I knew detonation was likely in the back half of the race - but it'd give me an indication of what running at BQ pace was like and what I'd have to do next year to qualify for Boston 2020 and join the squad group trip that is being planned. If I could stick to the pace for 30km, I could have a pretty horrendous positive split and still nail a new PB (3:28 to beat).

    Weather was cool and still - perfect compared to Brisbane's oppressive humidity over the last couple of weeks.

    The first km was super crowded and consequently I was already 30s behind where we should be - but the pacers were stuck in it too so I figured as long as they weren't getting away from me I was still executing my plan. Soon enough the crowds thinned a bit and our pace picked up. I was feeling strong and very comfortable -but then doesn't everyone in the first 5km?

    By the time we passed the 5km marker we'd made up the deficit from the congested first km and settled into a rhythm. I had a bit of a chat with a guy running marathon number 59 and a woman on her first and the three of us compared notes for a while before we gradually drifted apart. I enjoyed the scenery of Melbourne's Albert Park and imagined myself as a speedy formula 1 car as we ran through the pit lane. A bit further on and we were running along the shorefront at St Kilda, still lovely cool weather and the gentlest of breezes - a stark contrast to last year when I'm told it was blowing a gale on marathon day.

    Through km's 10, 15 and 20 my pace stayed perfectly even. I was bang on target the 3:20 pacers right by me. As we went through half way I checked the watch - 1:40:00. Not a lot of room for error to get 3:20, particularly with the likelihood of a late race fade and the prospect of 'the hill' at km 37/38!

    At 30km we truned the corner and headed away form the beaches and back up St Kilda road again. Its not steep at all - but it is a relentless very slight incline, just enough to make some people start to feel it and I seemed to be passing more and more people. My hamstring was still ok and I was determined to 'make hay while the sun shines'.

    Pretty soon we merged with the half marathon competitors. It was close to the back of their pack (I'd estimate 2:20-2:30 half runners) and despite having 3 lanes of road it seemed all the marathoners were squeezed into single file on the right hand side up against the fence as we all raced past the hordes of shuffling zombies. A few of the half runners shouted encouraging things as we past them, but most just concentrated on getting in the way!! at 36km ish we peeled off away form the halfers and started the loop through the botanic gardens. I was still feeling pretty good - and surely had a PB coming so I gritted my teeth in anticipation of the hill I'd been told about.

    There was a slight rise and I'll admit it did slow me a little - but my mind was focused on keeping going. I was not in the mood for quitting, I was having an EPIC run! I saw one unfortunate woman collapsed by the roadside. She was out cold, looked grey and was being urgently attended to by a couple of spectators who were yelling out for someone to call an ambulance. I really hope she was ok - it did not look good at all.

    The last few kms had a little downhill section and I couldn't believe I was pulling away in front of the 3:20 pacers! This was in the bag!!!  The last corner with 1.2km to go I felt a tiny ripple of cramp in my left calf. I muttered a quick expletive but stood tall and prepared for pain (I was expecting hammy failure - not calf!).

    With 800m to go I passed the point on the road where our squad were camped out and got a huge roar or support and the associated psychological boost. Running alongside the MCG stadium I was still passing people (by this stage a mixture of halfer and marathoners) and i yelled a few words of encouragment at a couple of people who were fighting exhausted mental demons and walking.

    When we turned into the stadium there were 2 tracks seperating the marathoners form the others and I looked up and saw thousands of people in the stadium  (although many many thousand of empty seats!). I got a lift and looked across at the finish line. I was going to enjoy this! a guy came up on my right shoulder and attempted to pass with 80m to go. Something in me said "NO" - so I put in a burst and we battled it out in a final sprint before I leapt up in the air across the line and gave the clock a good joyous slap.

    3:18:05

    A 10 minute PB (20 minute improvement from last year in Chicago)!!!!  2 minute negative split.... and a BQ!!!!!!

    Thats 4 years from couch to BQ...   I am VERY proud of me :)



  • Surprised no-one has commented, DadAgain! Brilliant report reflects a great race! Well done!
    Progress is rarely a straight line. There are always bumps in the road, but you can make the choice to keep looking ahead.
  • 2 weeks ago I ran a 3:20 marathon, my half splits were 1:30/1:50. Good course and great conditions, but I missed the start and  slower runners locked in at 4 hour pace made the opening 5km slow. I tried to make up time after a slow start of 24 minutes for the opening 5km. I went through halfway in 1:30 but fell away in the second half. I lost most of my time over the final 10km, as I slowed to a jog/walk. 

    Last 2 weeks in my Park Runs, I have ran 19:23 and yesterday I ran 18:24. Not bad considering I crashed and burned in a  marathon only 2 weeks ago. If I can get my Parkrun times below sub 18 mins, I may have a chance to run a better time than 3:20 in my next marathon.



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