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P&D spring marathon 2017
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Tom - I enjoyed your report, dramatic stuff and I was listening to some emotional music at the time which helped. Despite the pain you really did keep it going, sterling stuff.
HA - Abingdon is closer than Chester, I think.....
Tom - good question, I think my pacing on the day probably cost me more than Paris, it does leave me thinking there might be a bit more to squeeze out.
SQ - I've torn the recovery pages out the book and put them in the bin (metaphorically speaking) but don't do as I do.....
Tom - I can feel the disappointment. No matter what we all say you'll still smart from the thought of it for awhile, but, having had a similar feeling of annoyance post Ironman I can tell you that it will eventually go away and you'll be able to appreciate the achievement.
SQ - Great report, amazing that you do all of this while managing diabetes. I have wondered how diabetics cope with fuelling in endurance (I don't know why), now I know!
FBT - I used to cycle over Itchen bridge every day for work, I would not have made it over there on Sunday, well bloody done!
HA - A well executed race, well done!
Macca - Solid double marathoning, now I know how hard this is I fully appreciate your performance.
Tommo - I also envy your ability to walk up or down stairs.
Joe B - Great to meet you briefly before the start on Sunday, if only I'd known how famous you would become I would have asked for an autograph. Very jealous you met Chrissy.. she looked well chuffed to meet you too!
Jooligan - Sorry to hear about the cramps.
Millsy - Solid pacing, good work.
15West - I don't believe you'll not do another marathon.
Did I get everyone? Apologies if I missed someone..
Ok, race report, which should answer all questions.
The first mentionable moment of the day was Joe B introducing himself by showing me his underpants.. other than this, the lead up to the start was standard, though the green start toilet queues were ridiculous. I was pretty anxious about the whole thing, because my legs had defied me, turning sore after a mere 5M run the Thursday before the race. I was struggling up and down stairs still on Saturday and when they were still sore Sunday morning I strapped them up with KT tape and just hoped for the best. They were actually ok somehow, KT tape must have magic properties. So I started and my budget flipbelt decided it wasn't going to stay on my hips because of the nice shiny lycra of my suit and shuffled instantly to my waist. This was fine in principle, but it bunched up my number which then had to be moved further up my chest, and then my guiness branding had to be moved up. After stabbing myself with safety pins for a bit I decided I should probably stop and sort myself out.
Once I was on the move again I realised just how tired my legs were, and tbh the rest of me as well. I decided to accept the inevitable and run to just make the WR cut off. Fast forward 10 miles and I was starting to wonder if that was even possible. By the time I was at 15 miles I was close to tears. But, I remembered how Paula R. used to count to distract herself and started counting to 100. It was awful, but it worked and that was it for the rest of the race. I counted to 100 over and over again. There were a couple distractions when I spotted friends and family along the way (Bananas worked so well, especially my sisters giant one) but I would then go straight back to the counting. 1,2,3...
I wasn't convinced I would make it until I was heading up past St James Park, every single last bit of me wanted to stop. When I turned the corner to go down the mall I was spotted by the commentators and they announced I was coming and about to break the record - I was definitely in tears then. I was so happy I'd made the record, but also that I didn't have to run anymore. I've never had to draw on any kind of mental strategy before, and am really proud of myself for getting around. If I hadn't been going for the record and hadn't had people sponsoring me there is no way I would have finished. It was awful, but at the same time I have never felt so accomplished and happy at the end of a race. Go figure.
The costume really didn't bother me past the first mile of adjustments. I was warm initially, but managed to remain relatively cool by dousing myself with water whenever possible. The support was amazing, and I tried to acknowledge the Bananaman fans (less well the more I focused on counting). I especially loved how everyone tried to be politically correct, there were so many 'It's Banana...(panicked pause) lady! Lass! Woman! Man, no woman!' and also a lot of it's 'Bat girl!' from the kids.. who I had to google post-race because it was so common. Understandable when seeing this:
So in summary, I am very much look forward to taking up my GFA place at London next year and not running another marathon 3 weeks before. Maybe I will come back as the real Batgirl..
Havent had a chance to read back over all the reports yet, but congratulations everyone some very inspiring performances!
Spoons - genuine laugh out loud!
Re the recovery - there is a theme. Do what you want! Thanks for the advice.
JCG - that is a great report. Really well done. Double marathoning is so hard, nevermind in a banana suit. I got genuinely emotional reading about the latter stages of your race. Chuffed for you!
Good to hear you've entered Abo SQ, could be a good thread day at this rate.
JCG... I'm not sure that Joe B showing you his underpants should really qualify as a "mentionable" - you're right that you showed great mental strength on Sunday... to come though that trauma before you'd even started.
And I like Macca's reference to the golden rule following a wee stop is "to make up lost time as quickly as possible!" But Tom's report is really valuable to us all. No one will learn more than him from his marathon, but the honesty is still really useful for us. It's still a great time Tom.
I'm happy with my recovery. Not looking at the recovery mesocycle in P&D but got up to 30 miles last week. Playing with Hadd.
Here's mine:
Slept poorly Friday & Saturday in London was awake from around 3am on race day so I had bowl of muesli at 3:30 then tried to go back to sleep. Eventually dozed off to be woken by the alarm at 6:15. 3 bagels with honey for breakfast then a 2 mile walk to Stratford DLR. Got to Greenwich & decided to walk to Green from there. Bumped in to a group of runners from my club & wished each other luck before splitting for our different starts. Went too far & so it was almost 9am by the time I got to the pen & joined the ridiculously long toilet queue. Had to get ready whilst shuffling along it then my warm-up consisted of a jog over to drop my bag off moments before the lorries closed whilst someone saved my place. I then entered the now full pen 2 & managed to worm my way halfway along. Necked a caffeine gel about 10 minutes before the off.
Crossed the line 17s after the start but first mile was ridiculous & was struggling to find any rhythm as I tried to weave through the slow celebs then this congestion worsened as we merged with Blue. I spotted the Blue 3hr pacer just ahead but the gap widened considerably over the next 400m. 7:25 as I went under the arch! I then worked my way gradually through the throng towards that blue flag. 5K in 21:10 so I was nicely on track but still hadn't caught the 3hr pacer.
First water station I took a swig & poured the rest over my head. I continued to do this almost every mile. It was a bit easier going now except at the water stations & I was into a good rhythm. 5-10K 20:50 so a little quick but nothing too stupid though I did consciously try to ease up a little. Took a gel a bit earlier than usual at 9 rather than 10K then passed the blue flag towards the end of the next 5K which went by in 21:09. I heard him say they were about a minute up so I was happy with that. Running was still comfortable though legs started to feel like they were getting a hammering from the tarmac in the lighter Bostons & I was aware that my right foot was occasionally getting funny nerve signals as it came off the ground so I was apprehensive that this might be a sign of impending cramp. Had another gel before Tower Bridge & was feeling good as I crossed it. 15-20K in 21:17. At this point 2 clubmates caught me & we exchanged a few words. I considered hanging on to them but they were going ever so slightly faster than I wanted to & aware that I was already slightly up on target I let them go once we crossed half-way. 1:29:03 for me vs 1:27:54 for them so it was a wise decision. 20-25K was uneventful though I was starting to be aware that I was putting some effort in for another 21:17 so had another gel.
25-30K I slowed a bit mile 18-19 so went through in 21:39. I was finding it harder to adjust my pace after taking water & was aware that my legs were starting to feel sore so was very conscious of where I was putting my feet.
30-35K the effort level increased but the pace was dropping so around mile 20 I had the SiS Go caffeine shot (Expo freebie) I'd been saving for just this eventuality. Pushed on & managed a 6:51 for Mile 20 but the 5K was 22:37. At this point I realised the sub 3 was gone but a PB was still a possibility if I could push the pace so with thoughts on why I was doing this & all the sponsorship I'd wrung out of people again I tried to hold on but I was spent really & by Mile 23 I knew it was well & truly over as 8:xx on the downhill there was as much as I could do so stopped for a walk back up the incline. I was staggering though & seriously considering my first DNF but a tap on the back from a guy I know got me jogging again before cramp in my adductors & hamstrings reduced me to a walk again. 35-40K was 29:25! This was the rest of my 'race' & the final 2.2K took me 14:59.
Overall massively disappointed & broken. Almost the same positive split as 2016 when I'd raced Brighton 7 days prior but a far more severe crash in the final 5K this time around
Still can't put my finger on what I did differently that meant it went so wrong at the end. HR was consistently 3-4bpm below my recent HM HR, I had gels slightly more frequently, doused myself in water to keep cool etc
I am in awe of the results that you all put in, knowing the journey you've been on up to and during the race. HA77 - outstanding and exceeded all expectations, well done and you'll be running with the elite UK women next year! Joe - that was a stand out performance and really happy for you as a new GWR holder. Tom13 - tough day and may have left you down but that is still an awesome performance and you still have a fast time in you for sure. Macca - can't believe you went sub 3 so soon after missing it in Paris, that is some endurance engine you have, very jealous! JCG - hard earned GWR but well done also so soon after your last race. Jooligan - sorry to hear it has a hard finish but the weather might have something to do with it, the signs of sub 3 were all there so am sure you can recover well and go again. SQ - great performance as well and really enjoyed your report (and all the others). Muddy - you are hard as nails to be able to run the times you have in your 2 marathons despite pain from such a long way out, well done on the PB and 2:45 must be a real possibility. Millsy, Tommo, AWC, Westy, FBT - all great runs and leave me wanting to go out there and run another ASAP.
It's great to hear talk of Autumn marathons already and I'll probably give Melbourne another go but try 12 weeks instead of 18 so that I can have a bit of a break and work on speed and strength. Will also apply for Tokyo but odds don't seem to good at around 10:1.
Jooligan - Tough day but great work. Put it out there and gave yourself a chance at sub 3, good to see. I'm sure you'd manage it without the niggles and interruptions you've had in the build up.
John - Great to see you raring to go again. For me the 18 weeks is too long and will only really consider a 12 week program in the future.
Nice one Spoons.
As for me, no more marathons this year, may do another next spring as that will take me to 10 marathons...and then not sure after that. My days of big PB's seems to be over, so the buzz has gone a bit....and now it's a case of lots of pain, no gain!
Jooligan - the sub-3 will come, your training and racing suggests it's definitely just a matter of time. Sometimes it just doesn't come together on the day but I'm sure it will for you very soon. What's next, something in the autumn?
John - thanks very much mate. I really want to do Tokyo also, got an eye on Boston next year as well maybe. Amsterdam for me in October.
Westy - pretty sure every year you say no more marathons, so I'm sure we'll see you again soon
Some easy running and cycling here, need to get around to writing the blog at some point soon..
Joe B - Lunch? What is this lunch? I know nothing about a lunch.. it must be for the celebrity record holders only
I agree with you HA, Bananaman is the coolest.
I feel Joe is akin to Peter Andre now, everywhere you go he seems to be there, standing in his pants.
Right, just had a proper read back through. Congratulations again to HA77, AWC, Tom, Jooligan, Macca, Tommo, 15West, Muddy, JCG, Millsy, Joe, Nayan and FBT. All very inspiring stuff, even those who suffered a bit and had to work hard just to finish. I love the wide range of abilities we have on this thread, and how supportive everyone is. I really cannot wait to be toeing the line in London next year.
Regarding the P&D recovery schedule, like others I’m loosely following it although I took the entire first week off. Legs felt better than they ever had after a marathon, I just felt like I'd earned a rest! I managed to drag myself out of bed this morning instead of being lazy and delaying the run until the evening. Was impressed to see SQ out running and looking remarkably fresh. My heart rate is doing it’s usual thing of going really high for the effort after a marathon/bit of time off. Trying to ignore it, I know it will return to normal but it’s always a bit dispiriting.
DCT - Congrats on the little one!
HA - What a great day, everything just seemed to come together perfectly for you. What an amazing time!
SQ - Sorry to hear you struggled with the blood sugar. As others have said, a complication most of us don’t have to worry about so well done for keeping going in the circumstances. Don’t forget you were struggling with injury at the start of the year, so you’ve done well to get yourself to 2:55 shape even on a bad day.
Millsy - That tunnel sounds nasty! Great run.
Joe - Amazing performance, with the WR icing on the cake. I told you you were a lot closer to championship start status than I am… see you there in a few years!?
AWC - Great time given the problems you had in the build-up.
Macca - Great time especially so soon after Paris, congrats on another sub-3.
Tom - Really sorry to hear how you struggled, you definitely deserved a much better time after all that hard training. Sometimes it just isn’t your day, I’m sure you will be well below 2:40 when it all comes together a bit better.
JCG - Great report and congrats on the WR!
Jooligan - Sounds like a very tough final few miles, well done for keeping going. As I said for Tom, sometimes for whatever reason it just isn’t your day. You were putting in some great training, and I’m sure sub-3 is there for the taking on a better day.
P&D go for between 79% and 88% of max for the marathon pace zone which gives a zone of 142-158 for me with a max of 180. For me that's pretty broad - it maps onto paces of 6.30 min/mile and 6 min/mile and I would never run mp at 6 min/mile !
I used this spreadsheet (http://www.markrice.com/running/running_heart_rate_reserve_category_calculator.xls ) and my measured race marathon efforts are pretty much bang in the middle of the P&D zone displayed there and that's also where I do my training.
My Garmin has an LT test which gives me a heart rate of 162 for LT, and even before I had that function on my watch I tended to pitch half effort just below that, so I'm inclined to agree with the validity of my half measurements too.
Great Reports JCG and Jooligan.... true grit from both of you.
I might send an email demanding BananaLass / Woman goes to the Lunch, it was totally deserved!!!! LOL
John Oz - reading all the pain people have gone through and myself included makes me wonder if I want to do another marathon.... but I got a GFA - So I have to......Its the Law!
As for the recovery schedules, yes I decided to follow them and am on week 4, but really feel like running faster now, but luckily have a 10k on Sunday to race (not in schedule). Will likely use the last week of recovery in the plan then move onto ultra training.