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I don't think it will be this one Charlie. It could be that having the period of high mileage in your legs a campaign of less miles more quality for the next marathon could change things up again and help? I'd quite like to try it but for the fact that I've consistently broken when trying to do speed work and am now banned from hill repeats which is what I did instead and that I can't hit any pace in training.
Sounds like a nice weekend Padams.
I wish I were running 8 miles in less than sixty minutes selbs!
CW - your commute is short and you could do a mix of bike and run commutes to bring in single run days, and up the quality. Your recovery would actually improve, at our age gains arnt going to come from repeating the same things over and over.
LMH- same for you, you are more robust now and its only actually about 10 to 15% of the week that needs to be quicker. I must do 6m out of 80ish quicker than 8mm some weeks.
Selbs - another session ticked off.
Berlin had been the target all year and training had gone well indicated I had a shot at my ambitious sub 2.45 goal. Arrived in Berlin on Friday morning so after leaving the luggage at the hotel we headed straight for the expo. Its located in the old Tempelhof airport building which was really good to see, have to say the organisation left a lot to be desired though. Had to stand in a long queue to have my wristband put on and then walk through the entire expo to get to number pick up at the end. Again there was another long queue to get into the pick up area with people skirting down the sides and jumping in at the front. The positive note was on the way through I put my email address into a computer on the Hoka stand and found out I'd won a pair of Cliftons! Had a little look round the rest of the expo then headed back to the hotel.
Saturday morning I met up with a mate who had come over from the states and did a short shakeout run including some strides in front of the Brandenburg gate which were cool. Spent the rest of the day taking in the sights on a bus tour and relaxing before the traditional Italian dinner.
Race morning I set off at 8 to meet my mate who's hotel was round the corner. Narrowly avoided a disaster as last minute I realised I hadn't even thought about attaching my chip to my shoe! Luckily spotted a lady in the lift with hers which reminded me! Met Nath then took the short walk to the start area, after the obligatory toilet stops we walked towards the starting pens. The wheelchair race was just about to begin so Pens A & B weren't open, we wrongly assumed this would be the same for C. After the race started we walked over to C to find it was open and absolutely rammed. Some bright spark had decided the entrance should be at the front of then pen which meant there was no way to get in. So we had to jump over the fence which I was very reluctant to do 20 mins before a marathon! Also we noticed that strangely for a 2.50-3.00 pen the 3hour pacer was next to us and another one at the front! We knew this would be a problem but hoped we could clear through the traffic quickly and get on pace.
Gun went off and we tried to get through the crowds as quickly as possible, this proved to be a problem. The first 5k split came up in 20.13 so we were already 40s down on target pace. We skipped the first water station to try and take advantage of the gaps opening up. At around 9k it finally opened up and we could try and get on pace. Even so we hit the 10k marker 90s on pace, started thinking here that 2.45 but could be off but I couldn't let myself write it off that early. 5k split was 20.04.
Over the next km or so I decided I was going to need to go for it from here if I was going to make the time up. So coming out of a water station I kicked on, unfortunately this coincided with Nath getting stitch so this is the last I saw of him on the course. My garmin measured mile 7 as 5.54 which I was sure couldn't be right as it didn't feel that fast. Tried to keep 6.10 pace up which felt fairly comfortable. Saw my coach on course at 13k who told me to try and make the time up gradually, he later told me he wondered what had happened in the first 10k as the splits were so slow. My garmin had me averaging 6.03 pace for 10-15k (18.47 pace) however my official split was 19.53. I was struggling a bit to work out where I needed to be timewise so just concentrated on keeping the hammer down and trying to stick to the blue line.
Saw my parents and girlfriend at halfway which was a nice boost and came through in 1.24.09 so still 90s down. my watch was reading 13.57m at this point. Tried a mental calculation and thought it if could get my average Garmin pace down to 6.10 I might still do it. 20k split was 19.43 and 25k at 19.42. Spotted the chairman of our club at 28k who was struggling with stitch. Shouted some encouragement at him as I went passed. There had a been a few minor rain showers by this point and I was starting to struggle for grip from my On's. Also noticed my hamstrings were aching slightly which I tend to find in slippy conditions. Kept the hammer down and concentrated on overtaking people. 30-35k was my fastest split of the day in 19.39.
Started to stuggle at around 4km out and it also started raining heavier. While still just about overtaking people I could see my pace was dropping and I couldn't go any faster. Saw my coach at 39k who gave me some encouragement when I told him I had nothing left! Was just trying to drag myself past people at this point. Passed 40k at 2.39.21 (20.39) so knew sub 2.45 was off. Took all my willpower not to just jog it in as I was really struggling. Got a huge shout out from my family at the Brandenburg Gate and picked my pace up for the final 500m. Felt a twinge of cramp in my hamstring as I went for the full sprint so kept a lid on it.
2.48.05 final time which is a PB of 5.12. I wont lie and admit I was a tiny bit disappointed at the finish, in hindsight though its a huge PB in only my 4th marathon and I left everything out there which is always the target. Took me 30mins to get back to my family as there was no signage and unhelpful marshalls. Was drenched and cold by this point. Had a few celebratory beers in the hotel and met back up with Nath who while disappointed still managed a small PB in 2.55. Then headed to the BRLO brewhouse for some more beers and met up with my coach and some more of his athletes.
LMH - what comparative paces do you do your running at generally - do you do any running in the MP-MP+30s range?
Padams - I like a bit of DIY (luckily as whenever we manage to sell my house I reckon the lower price I'll get will mean we'll be buying a doer upper), but just need to learn to slow down and not rush it as much. Nice 7m.
lol selbs. I think a lot of the high jumpers look a bit sickly thin tbh, but to each their own (having said that I haven't seen any of the latest ones so don't know if that's still the case). You sound like you could do with freshening up.
SWh - sounds like the start might have messed up your 2:45 target. It's always hard to make up time lost, especially if you're having to weave.
Shocker of a day here. I'm convinced my car is jinxed as I've had numerous small incidents. Today a woman decided to do an emergency stop just after she entered a roundabout. With no other traffic coming around it was completely unexpected, but as I couldn't stop in time I guess that makes it technically my fault. A small dent on each car, but no other damage done thankfully.
Unfortunately my hamstrings and knees are no more robust TR and they are what break if I try to do speed work.
Glad you're not hurt TippTop.. I just run to feel which mostly comes out at MP +60-90 seconds. I can't get near to MP in training even when I try. I might get the odd mile at pace at the end of a taper but that's it.
TT - good that you arnt hurt after that prang
LMH - you wont know how robust you are nowadays until you try, you can obviously run a 1/2 without injuring yourself.
TT - Sorry to hear about the prang, good its just a minor one
CW - Im a big fan of doubles as a means of bumping up my mileage but rarely run them at anything faster than recovery. The sports health consultant who did my MRI is an advocate of Higher mileage for marathons. Seems Im in the minority camp on this one.
56miles for me for september. Boo.
Thats a shame menn to be on 56 with a mara looming later in year. Surprised that a medical professional advocates higher mileage.
LMH, CW - i will add that you need to do what makes you happy, its not all about trying to get better.
TT.. glad you're unharmed. I am also amazed by motorists who seem to grind almost to a halt on roundabouts when there is no hazard to be seen.
The river here is very high again in the town so I'm crossing my fingers for the football club who got flooded last year plus any houses & businesses at risk.
TR - Really impressive mileage and shows your motivation is also high. Look forward to you having a really good run at Abingdon.
CD - Cracking LR and must be good to be able to run with such a fast group at work.
TT - Snap. I had a van reverse into my car today at the supermarket.
Menn - Hope your problems are addressed soon. I can do a few more miles than that, but awful feeling having your training compromised by injury and forward running plans affected.
182 miles for September, so ticking along until my hernia problem is sorted out. Optimistically, and as I have had enough of the rain, have booked the Gran Canaria marathon for January, 4th year on the trot now.
Hope your car is ok OuchOuch - not long until your appointment now is it?
Do you have a date for the next stage yet Mennania?
Wardi - we have loads of flooding. It was really difficult to get my miles in yesterday morning (ankle deep in places and impassable in others) and we had more rain all afternoon so I've decided to postpone my long run until tomorrow in the hope that I'll be able to find somewhere to run rather than paddle.
TippTop - I get the odd mile at that pace in the taper.
CD - sounds good, i like the sound of that group session as a mara session.
LMH - sounds familiar. Hammys is my wesk point es at the end of a mara, but i guess thats the same for most older runners. Im taking the approach that they wont improve on race day without working them in training, but i can feel mine today after recent tempo sessions and racing. Same for you i guess, i dont suppose they'll improve without working them. But as i said yday, im only doing a small percentage of the week at quicker than 8mm, maybe i need more and with more varied paces.
Hope everyone tapering for York/Abo isn't going to crazy yet
TT - annoying about the car, I'm afraid that is probably technically your fault even if the other driver was a muppet!
SteviewWh -- congrats on the big PB! If you haven't heard this tip before, if you want an accurate min/km or min/mile pace in a big race, turn off AutoLap and have 'time - average lap' displayed on a field on your watch. Then press the lap button manually at each mile/km marker. That doesn't depend on GPS, just arithmetic (saving your brain from having to do it). I also display number of laps so I can tell if I've got it wrong (requiring an extra button press at the next one). Worth practising during training first.
OO.. you do keep going back to Gran Canaria, how big is the marathon field? Sorry to hear about the car.
LMH.. hope you managed to find a dry route today!
Stevie.. enjoy the break, the Telford 10k should be a stacked field so plenty of runners for you to chase! FWIW I'm not tapering yet - this tends to be a pretty full on week for me then a 2 week taper.
I hear you on the injury free Charlie. So difficult to know what to do for the best.
When's Telford Stevie?
I had a better run again this morning - apart from more stomach issues. I'm at a bit of a loss as to what else to try to be honest. Think I'm going to have to see my GP but that's unlikely to help for York.
Happy birthday Wardi!
CW - I had thought about lapping the watch but it doesn't really appeal to me, I even tend to miss km/mile markers sometimes if I get into a zone! Might have helped with my mile to km conversions though. FWIW I think a change of training could make a huge difference for you, you see it happen in elites when they change coaches.
CW - I used to use that method (not available on 235).
Wardi Happy Birthday!
Wardi - happy birthday, enjoy the beers. Im cleaning my act up a bit before Abo, so i wont join you.
Surely a watch on elapsed time and the course distance markers are all you need on race day ? No good stopping at 26.2m on the gadget.
5m easy peasy pace today the taper is happening.
No beer TR? You are taking this seriously!
6m tempo (again), ~45 sec quicker than Tues (which was only just slower than last wks quickest of the campsign), and around 15 sec quicker than the same run at the same time before Yeovil. 5m instead of 15 the night before helps.