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First Timer Tony: #asics262
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hi Tony
Yes you're absolutely right - I would never advise trying to catch up on 'lost' miles at this late stage of the game. Great that you've got Tuesday's run done and if you fit in the 5 miles slow tomorrow, great. But in this part of the taper, rest always wins over cramming! The rest and nice weather is probably doing you a world of good (providing you can avoid the culinary delights that might weigh you down!!)
For everyone's interest, I thought I'd share below what I discussed with Tony regarding his pace. This followed on from his Twitter post when I mentioned planning race strategies that he was thinking of going out at 8.55 and then seeing what was left for the finish....
Your '8.55 and whatever's left in the tank' approach could work fine. But mindful of your tendency to go off too fast, I wondered if a planned slower start might be good.
8.55 all the way - which you did the 20 milers in = 3.53.37. If you did 8.55 up to the last 5k and then sped up to 8.50 you'd do 3.52.43. If you did it and sped up to 8.30, as is your trademark sprint finish, you'd come in at 3.51.56! 9.00 all the way = 3.55.48 An average pace of 8.45 would be needed to run under 3.50, which I think you're more than capable of, but it's about weighing up the importance of finishing/finishing under 4/finishing in a specific, optimal time. If you did the slow start it could look like this: 10k at 9 min pace 10m at 8.55 pace 10m at 8.50 = 3.53.26. If you added in your faster final miles, this would be a bit quicker.... Whatever you decide, the heartening news is that your threshold pace (calculated from recent races) is well over a minute slower than any of these paces (approx a minute slower than the sub 3.50 8.45 pace) so it should feel comfortable. The secret is knowing that the fact that a pace feels comfortable is not a reason to speed up. What feels comfortable at mile 5, 10 15 or even 20 needs to be sustainable to the end, by which time it will feel 'less' comfortable!Are you serious about the jaffa cakes? Who knew!! Going to google!
Dear Tony, I wish you all the best for Sunday!
Time has finally come and I can imagine how excited you must be to run your first marathon. Running a marathon is just beautiful and you are about to do it with the best support!
You have trained so hard and well that there is only one possible outcome: a superb sub 4 marathon.
It has been great to follow your thread, great progress and pictures. I have carefully saved your plan and it is waiting for me once I am back to running. Enjoy every moment of your big day and well deserved success. It will be a day to keep in your memories forever.
Can't wait to read your write up and see your pictures.
Have a lovely weekend in Paris with the team and the lovely people from Asics and RW!!! Please say hi to them!!!
All the best!!!!!!!
All true - LU, the French biscuit producer, has a whole range of flavours. See my fav:
https://www.frenchclick.co.uk/p-741-lu-pims-poire-150g.aspx
Bring in the carb loading!
Hi Tiger Tony. Hope you had a fabulous time in Venice and Rimini. You are quite the jetsetter.
All the best for Paris. Your training has been top notch so just enjoy the race and that sub 4 will be a doddle as long as you don't eat too many of those interesting flavour jaffa cakes.
Safe travels. xx
Tony
Go smash it on Sunday! Enjoy the whole weekend.
The very best of luck.
Rtuh
I seem to be following Ruth round this evening!
Tony, just wanted to wish you the best of luck for Paris. Have an amazing trip and savour every moment!
You will be awesome.
Hi Tony just wanted to wish you lots of luck for Sunday. You've done the work enjoy the weekend and get the pacing right stick to the plan!!!
Sorry Tony, went running in Regents Park yesterday and couldn't resist taking a photo and making this up! Sorry to jump on the band wagon of previous jokes from your forum!
In all seriousness Tony its been great following your journey and I am sure you are going to enjoy and savour these last few stages.
Trust in your training and the great progress you have made and feel positive about what you can achieve.
Hi Tony
I have enjoyed reading your posts on the forum, and learning about your training. Nice to know a 'local lad' is doing so well!
Enjoy yourself on Sunday.
Just a brief post on my forum to say thank you for all the support and good wishes over the last few months. I will post a more detailed race report and reply to everyone individually a little later.
Cutting to the chase though, I am now officially a marathon runner having got my first marathon under my belt after four years or so of being a runner. my official marathon finish time was 4:00:45 so I just missed that all important sub- 4 finish. I'm not sad though as my Garmin said I did 26.49 miles in just under four and so that's the time that I'm going to say I did my first marathon in!
I was running pretty comfortability and I think on for a clear sub-4 finish until about mile 18 or 19 when I felt a twinge in my hamstrings. It was only by backing off to a much slower pace - 9:20/9:30 - that the twinges/spasms/cramps went away. having to pee breaks in the Bois de Vincennes didn't help either. Other than this though - and I think the hamstrings were maybe due to going for more than a week without my foam roller - I really enjoyed the race. I felt comfortable and in control and didn't experience any great fatigue or sense that miles 20-26.2 were so very different to miles 14 to 20 for example.
I'll post again soon but for now please accept a really big thanks from me. I couldn't have done it without you as your interest and support was a real spur!
Well done Tony. You did the sensible thing to make sure you finished and not get a dreaded DNF. The important thing is you enjoyed it so maybe there will be a next one???? It has been great following your thread and fab pics, especially the camels. Loved their good luck message courtesy of Gareth Davies 21.
I didn't stick to my plan as I couldn't find the 3:30 pacer at Brighton. His balloon marker burst so impossible to spot in the massive crowds. I started too fast with inevitable results. The last 6 miles were hell and not even stirring mantras could motivate me not to walk at my lowest point. Managed to pull myself together and shuffle/fall forward with style rather than run the final 3 miles. Finished in 3:36:38 with an 80.7% age grade so not all bad. Will attempt a more sensible first half pace in London and see what happens.
Hope you are able to walk today. My glutes are pretty sore and not enjoying the foam roller torture. Off for a jacuzzi at the gym in a while and massage booked for Wednesday morning.
Look forward to reading your report later but for now just relax and bask in the glory of being a Marathon runner.
Well done Tony. Great time for a first time. 45 seconds is nothing for the next one - I knocked 42 mins of my Paris time so you'll be fine : LOL.
Well done.
GJE
Hi Gareth, thanks for the post and ... well ... although I have a little bit of regret that I didn't officially make it under 4 hours, I still feel I'm a sub-4 marathoner now with just the cramping/spasming hamstrings and too many toilet stops getting in my way first time round. The Asics 5 2015 are already planning a return to Paris so who knows!
HI Tony - nice to hear from you.
I'd love to run Paris again. As it happens I was at Disneyland Paris - up until Saturday but was travelling home before the Marathon otherwise it would have been great to pop over. Should have planned it better.
As you know - I was injured during the training which meant three weeks out - so don't beat yourself up about it too much. It played on my mind for a while but eventually faded - and I ran Chester.
Plus like you - it was my first Marathon - so maybe we shouldn't beat ourselves up about it. Maybe one thing that ASICS should put in place is a follow-up day. I honestly felt dumped to one side once the whole event was over - a visit to Victor would/could have helped.
Of course I still talk to the ASICS 2014 runners - but nobody else. That is a shame.
GJE
Hi Merilyn, thanks for the posts and sorry for not having replied sooner - that strangely jet-setting lifestyle of mine these last 10 days got in the way!
I did take your advice to enjoy the marathon which I certainly did - I'll write a report in a minute once I've made myself a cuppa (ah ... the joys of being home!) - but I certainly lapped up the the warm weather, sights, crowds and buzz of the event.
Funnily enough, I'm feeling really well today with no discernible DOMS. I think it's maybe because I held myself back in the last 7 miles (9:20 min/mi) for fear of cramping up and not finishing at all. I feel I could do a bit of running now although I've promised Sam not to do anything until Sunday at the earliest.
Sorry to hear that Brighton didn't go quite to plan but it's great that you have London so soon to make up for it. Both Superman Tim and Chris Bramster are doing it too - crikey that's not much recovery time!
Hi Ruth, thanks for the earlier posts - only really catching up on my replies now. As you'll have seen, I didn't quite make my sub-4 hour time (I missed it by 46 seconds - 4:00:45 and position 17,143) but I:
So, I've come away from the race a proper marathoner and with a new sense of confidence at what I can achieve at this distance. Luckily for me, my Garmin doesn't store the official marathon time but it's own stats which include 90 seconds or so when the watch auto-paused during an essential pee stop:
As you see, I actually ran more than a marathon in less than 4 hours and this is the cheeky version of events that I'm going to stick to. People can wave the official results at me as much as they like; it's what's on my Garmin that counts!
Even though I had to slow my pace down for the last 7 miles due to what I think was cramping in my hamstrings, I was still overtaking loads of people. For example, at 25km when I was running without problem, I was in 21,771 place but by the end of the race I had overtaken so many people - even at my slower speed - that I'd gone up to 17,143 place. The nutritional strategies must have played a big role in this I think.
Thank you so much for all your help along the way. I was probably the most rubbish of the Asics 5 at sticking to your advice but I certainly took much on board and it really helped.
Hi Malcs, thanks for the post - it was great to read the encouragement before the race. I didn't hit my target but, do you know what, I'm not that bothered as I've come away with a much better understanding of what it is to run a marathon (not the beast I'd made it out to be) and how to be a better runner. I also had just a fantastic time amongst the crowds and 40,000 + runners - definitely an event to savour.
Gareth, this is awesome! I've downloaded the pic and I'm going to stick it in my running diary. It's currently just a load of text but I'm going to print some pics from the last 4 months and stick them in the empty pages as a kind of scrap book to remind me of the journey.
Anyway, I saw the pic on the Saturday and it certainly gave me a laugh! Those camels were a regular feature of my Regents Park runs en route to the running track. Btw, have you run on it yet? Not bad really and about 400m if you stick to the outside lanes. Catch up with you soon.
Hi Sarah - thanks for the good luck message earlier. I did pretty much stick to plan - although there were a few pinch points and it was hard to always achieve the faster pace I was aiming for - until I experienced some cramping/spasming in my hamstrings. The only way I could sit the sensation - which I feared might get worse - was to back off pace-wise and slow down. I'm not really sure what caused it but suspect that:
might have played a bit of a role. Anyway, no tears or feelings of failure; just really happy to have cracked a marathon and to have finished in a decent time.
Thanks for all your help along the way - I will have fond memories of being on the yoga mat watching your videos on my phone and copying the moves!
Hi Sally - thanks for the post. You may have picked up that I had a great race (I finished and enjoyed myself) but narrowly missed out on my sub-4 hour target (official time 4:00:45). I'll post a proper race report soon with all the details!
Hi Liz, thanks for all your support along the way and for this last message which I picked up before the race. You'll know now that I missed my target by 46 seconds but otherwise had a really enjoyable race. I was 50:50 about whether I'd run another marathon after this, but feel I've got a bit of a measure of what it is to run 26.2 miles now and have maybe got the marathoning bug. The Asics 5 of 2015 are already planning a return trip to Paris in 2016 and I, for one, would definitely be up for it!
I'll be checking in on your progress on Twitter so be sure to post your marathon time asap - we all have high hopes for you now too!
Hi Tony. Just wanted to pop in and wish you the biggest congrats ever for your run yesterday. You are absolutely a sub 4 marathon runner in my eyes, your Garmin agrees. The course was fab but did have a number of points that became very narrow and meant that we had to slow right down to almost a walking pace in some cases, plus with all the zig zagging in and out of others whilst over taking then the distance will have increased above the 26.2. Your attitude towards running and the marathon is the best; Tony enjoyed the course and running for what it was - a gorgeous day to sight see around Paris with a group of like minded people in a buzzing carnivel-esk atmosphere. And while competition and self achievement and improvement and performance etc etc is always a great thing to strive for, I think it is important to not forget the reason that we run for enjoyment, and Tony is the best advocate for this that I know. Tony you have been my bestest buddy through this process and your family have been great and so accommodating of me, I cannot thank you enough. Tony and I ran the first mile - mile and half together and there is no one more that I would have rather run those miles with. Happy running
Argh! Amy has beaten me again! Wanted to say a massive well done. You trained like a pro and absolutely nailed that race yesterday. Maybe next time cut back a bit on the fluids
Hope to see you again soon for that London mile xxx
What a man! Congratulation on your first marathon Tony – I know you loved it and really hope you’re not too disappointed not to have broken the 4 hour barrier. In cooler conditions you’d have smashed it! When is the next one? Don’t tell Sarah
I feel very fortunate to have shared the asics target 26.2 experience with you and am already looking forward to the reunion run!!
Congratulations again Tony! For your first marathon and in what sounds like tough conditions its a brilliant time!
sounds like you had to be mentally tough to keep going with your hamstring issues so that was a real triumph.
it was been so enjoyable following your journey as right from the beginning you have embraced the experience and enjoyed learning and taking everything on board and have really took to the whole experience.
I am sure you will run more marathons in much faster times in years to come!
we will have to meet for a Regents Park run and I definitely owe you a celebratory pint! I have been on the running track before a few years back when I used to work on the other side of the park and am planning on getting back on it soon for some speed work so hopefully see you there soon!
Tony
So pleased, happy, delighted and all those sorts of words that you just enjoyed it all so much!!! You have such a great attitude to running AND what a time for your first ever marathon- I bet your family are so proud.
Really enjoyed meeting you and watching you on this journey. Well done Tony!!
Take care and keep on running!