Abingdon Marathon 2013

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  • Thanks Jamie Farmer.image 

    I always get plenty of inspiration from the Abingdon marathon thread as 

    you are all quite seriously prepared to put the miles in.   

     Did my 5th session today  since getting notification of a place. 11 miles in 1:14:30.

     (45 miles so far , should hit 60 miles this weekend.)  

     

  • Jamie - as a guide (and granted we are all different!) Abo 2006 was my first marathon so I also had no real baseline to compare at the time (other than halves etc) and I did 2:57. My fastest long training run over 20M was done at 7:20 pace.

  • That's good to know Bus, so it looks as though sub-3 is definitely on the cards then. I'm the same with only half marathon times to go by. On paper, my half marathon PB should get me a sub-3 marathon time.

    My previous 20M long runs have been around 7:00 pace.

  • If you can do 20 miles @. 7 min miles in training then 6.52 ( I think) should be doable in a race.
  • Too darned right Jamie, Millsy.
    I also understand the desire to get one under the belt before raising the bar. Make sure you introduce yourself on the sub 3 thread now, and I man NOW. They are top afleets, with a training ethos that you'd appreciate. Some do actually have National vests. Some don't. However, if you pay attention and keep up to date there's a lot of good stuff to learn. They aren't snooty or sniffy, but get pissed off with the Johnny One Posts who turn up for one day, just after VLM to try and top the charts!

    FYI, I've got a couple of sub 3's, at senior age, and they were flipping hard work. My HM time was 1:23:xx for that. I was doing 21 mile runs at 8:30 pace for that, but as part of a 50-60 mile week. Not much but just enough.

    Now I've got 2 marathons bagged this year. 3:24 and 4:43. Abo is a new target.

  • TRTR ✭✭✭

    Jamie Farmer, I agree with Blisters go and tell the sub3 thread that you did 20 av 6:39 and are hoping for a sub3 at Abo that wil make them smile.........FWIW, general consensus on that indeed thread is that most folks can do somewhere between 10 and at a push 13 or 14M at MP in training, and its a hard hard run a bit TT ish. 6:39 is 2:55 pace, and you did 20 at it. If you have the endurance in place then you are looking at well under 2:50 (6:30 pace)...........also worth adding that if you run your long runs too hard to often then you are running the risk of burning matches that you should be saving for race day. Especially with only 5 weeks left. 

  • Thanks Blisters and TR, I'll have a look for the sub-3 thread an introduce myself. I definitely feel as though I have got the endurance in me to go the full distance at that pace, but I know what you mean TR about running the long runs too hard, that's why Saturday's long run is being planned at a slower pace to save the legs. I'll be saving that 6:39 pace for race day from now on. 

  • Exactly TR  ( but we don't want Jamie revising his target down from 3:05 to 2:45 now do we image). End of the day though Jamie, slow down the long runs to stop burnout or injury risk, and take what you can on the day without pressure of a tough target - barring incident, accident or just plain bad luck it'll be a comfortable sub 3, an easy VLM qualification and then you can go out and blast the sub 2:45 that that your training runs suggest (and bear in mind that marathons are a funny old game, and anything can happen on the day!)

    Anyway - double for me today. Tired legs on the way home to start, but warmed up and after the half way did some fast fartleks just for the hell of it - long time since I've felt like that!

  • Don't worry Bus I'll leave my target at 3:04! All you're points have been taken on board and I'll be slowing down my long runs from now on. Thanks again for all the advice and encouragement. 

    Good work with the double run today Bus and adding in some fartek. 

  • Even I started runnning again today. Big whoop.

    5 weeks you say?

    1 week build up.
    3 weeks peak
    1 week shagged (taper)

    sorted, innit?

    I wonder how many 20's I can bag?

  • TRTR ✭✭✭

    Blisters - 3 ?

    Bus - we dont want to encourage him to go off too fast indeed, but there has to be a certain amount of ROI and doing the training justice. I cant quite work out what MP should be given that Jamie did 20 av 6:39. If we take the 12-13M as a guide, Jamie ran for ~45 to 50min more at the same pace, which is a long way, and a long way from MP. Looks like its more about finding a comfortable rythmn on the day for Jamie really.

  • MIght have to use Jamie as a pacer for the first 13M image

    Should be able to squeeze at least 5 20's in there Blisters image

  • I reckon you could get 4 20's in before race day Blisters! Just take it easy.

    I think you're right TR, come race day I think I'll start at my planned MP (7:03) and see how it's going about half way and when I get to the 20M marker. Don't worry Bus, I've heard and read lots about marathons being funny old things and can chew you up and spit you out with little warning, so I'm not going to take anything for granted and go out too hard or fast early on.

  • Jamie Farmer wrote (see)

    Don't worry Bus I'll leave my target at 3:04! . 

    Scuse me butting in... but if I could do 20 miles at 7.00, I would definitely be setting off at 6:52 pace for the first 20 miles and see how I felt then.  Hopefully I'd be able to maintain it to break 3hr, but if necessary, I could ease back a touch to hit 3.04.... 

    If instead, you do your first 20 miles at 7 minute miles, and find yourself feeling good, you'd need to surge to do the last 10K at 6:27 per mile to duck under the 3 hour barrier. That's probably not realistic, and you might end up achieving 3.01, and finish with something left in the tank.

    It depends on how much risk you're personally prepared to take.... but  I would say that you should pick a pace that gives yourself a shot at going sub-3.

    (I will be taking a similar approach to breaking the 3:50 barrier next month.  My training says I can break 4hrs... with 3:53-3:57 being my most likely time.  But I'm going to give myself a shot at getting below 3:50 - even though I know that adds a small risk to me achieving sub-4 for the first time)

  • I'm just aiming to beat the time from my last marathon.

     

  • Thanks for the input Runny Knows. That usually always happens to me anyway in that I set off at a quicker pace than planned and manage to hold on to it. That's how I PB'd at the Milton Keynes Half Marathon back in March. From what everyone has said, I think it probably realistic that I can hit sub-3 fairly comfortably, so adjusting my planned MP to 6:52 is now the plan. If all else fails, I'll hopefully be able to then hang on to plan B of sub-3:05.

    Good luck with your training and going sub-4. If you're training suggests you can do it, then go for it. That's what everyone has been saying to me!

  • Jamie Farmer wrote (see)

    Good luck with your training and going sub-4. If you're training suggests you can do it, then go for it. That's what everyone has been saying to me!

     

    I'm aiming to knock an hour and a half off my last marathon time.....

  • I think the "warm-up" let you down on the last one Blisters. image

    (JF ... he did an Iron Man Tri).

  • Ah, ok fair enough, that makes sense then!!

  • Talking of warm-ups, what do people generally do for a marathon? (obviously not usually as extreme as  an iron-man length swim and bike!!)

     

  • KeirKeir ✭✭✭

    2 laps of the track at a jog, maybe with some stretches.

     

  • KeirKeir ✭✭✭

    Long hard week at work with a late night on a mates couch last night. Followed up by 6m this morning and a 5k race tonight. 3rd place won me a drinks bottle and an energy gel, but it was a humid but fast night and 18.10 although close to my pb is not indicating sub 2.50 in a few weeks time. Starting to question my target time. image

  • The Bus wrote (see)

    Talking of warm-ups, what do people generally do for a marathon? (obviously not usually as extreme as  an iron-man length swim and bike!!)

     

    The first mile.

  • This will be my 20th marathon, and I've adopted various approaches depending on my state of readiness, and just how cold it is.

    Under-prepared.
    -Keep warm. Gentle stretches over an extended time scale. A bit of stiff walking. 3 vists to the crapper.

    Peak fitness, race head screwed on.
    -Keep warm. Gentle stretches. More stretches. A couple of laps of the track, including a few 50m strides (sprintervals). 3 visits to the crapper.

    Out to enjoy it.
    -Keep warm. Do those stretches. Chat to people. Go to the crapper. Join the pack at the start line. Suddenly realise that I need that 3rd visit and sprint to the crapper and back to the start line with mere seconds remaining before the gun.

  • image

    That's what undid my VLM last time Blisters - didn't make that third visit until just before the 10M mark!

    looks like a couple of laps of the track is fairly standard. Difficult balnce to really - I would normally do a couple of miles with strides for a half or 10k, but adding 2 miles on to the 26 just seems mad! 

    Anyway, out in the rain now for the LSR image

  • KeirKeir ✭✭✭
    I think the best warm up is running the first few miles 5m/m slower than target pace. With the taper and excitement these miles always feel easy and many people go flying off. After the 3m mark slowly pick up to PMP and then a bit faster to be back on target by 13.1m



    Sons 7th birthday this wkend and I am going to get any runs it, let alone the planned fast finish 22 miler.
  • Keir, if you go out at 8pm you'll be back by 10pm. Alternatively, get up early.

    3rd alternative, make people aware that you really value this family time. Bank the Brownie Points and avoid the negativity when you DO put that awkwardly timed run in.

    3 hours aerobic on the bike for me. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's forecast deluge.

  • Up at 5am and a 22 miler in the bag for me this morning (to avoid the rain).

    7:19 pace and I must admit it didn't feel as easy as I would've liked. Might be due the three nasty hills and the fact that I've already had a race mid week or is that just me making excuses?!

    Malmesbury HM is now out the window due to work, so I might have a go at Cricklade 10k on the 6th Oct instead.

     

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