Sub 3h15

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  • brixtonrunner wrote (see)

    Been a bit of a lurker in the shadows since my showdown with PMJ at the Wokingham half. 3.13 for me yesterday. Went through halfway in 1.31 in search of a GFA 3.05, but knew I'd worked too hard for it and was going to suffer. And suffer I did, were it not for the amazing crowds I'm sure I'd have been crawling instead of running. Still, a 16 minute PB so I'm pretty happy.

    Well done everyone else, seems like there were some absolute brilliant runs yesterday! 

    Good run and I expect GFA is just a matter of time: big improvements there.

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    /members/images/36105/Gallery/13528_10152698148471637_8359553966654071383_n.jpg

     My sprained cankle that carried me 23 miles to my first sub-3! image

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    My other one is nothing like that in case you were wondering.

  • MsE wrote (see)

    Oh and I checked. I beat Winchester Lady image Final thoughts?  I must keep a better eye on the gun time. And stop locking onto others and run my own race.  The entire way.

    I had a quick look at I raced Winchester lady at the Maidenhead 10 on Good Friday and she came by me at about 6 miles and took about 90 seconds out of me over the last 4 miles. Incredible form she has and you beat her!

    I have to admit that watching the 5k marks come by on the tracker was nerve racking. Jools is just a machine and her predicted and delivered times matched all the way but I was most worried about MsE but it all came good.

  • OO54OO54 ✭✭✭

    Very moving report MsE, most enjoyable & very happy for you.

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭

    VLM report -

    As most are aware, I was prevaricating over race plan; quandary due to this year’s  form & half marathon time suggesting around 3:15 may be feasible, after last year’s 1:38 half & 3:32 & 3:34 marathon times. Could I realistically go 17-19 mins faster, especially as a VoGit?  I decided on an attempt for a new club record at V60 – currently 3:16:54. No point in being timid.

    So, I took my place at Green pen 3 (based on the aforementioned times). Only 25 metres or so back from the start line, but found myself hemmed in by 8 min milers, when I wanted to be at 7:25 or so pace. First mile was therefore over 8 mins, but no worries – plenty of time to ease into things.  I saw the 3:15 flag up ahead, and aimed to latch on in due course.  By about 5K I’d done so, and stayed more or less 50 metres behind until halfway – reached in 1:37:29, so on target.  Saw my son & daughter at  9 miles (hand touching as I went by) & 11 miles (blew them kisses). 

    Still with pacer at around 15, but then just started to drift.  Felt OK mentally, though – still on course for a shot at the record.  By Canary Wharf I’d lost touch (son later told me I was a minute down at the 18 mile point) .  20 miles came and went – still positive, although aware I was tiring, but still propelling myself onwards. It was at about 22 I really began to feel proper fatigue – the 35k-40k split shows this – slowed to 24:36 – so over 49 min 10K pace.  (Although the official stats show a net gain of 144 places in last 7.2K – passed 235, was passed by 91).

    The voices kicked in now, but I banished them with my “don’t give in, don’t give up” mantra.  The last section of the Embankment was very tough – felt like my quads were being whacked by an invisible rolling pin with each stride – but just before the turn to head down Birdcage, I heard (and spotted) my lovely daughter  (no blown kisses this time),  but this gave me a last boost to head for home. I knew by now that club record was out of reach, but calculated sub 3:20 still on, and so it panned out – crossed the line in chip time of 3:18:43; the only emotion at that point was a feeling of relief.  

    Made my way to the reunion point to meet son & daughter  (very special to me that they were there – my last London), gave them proper kisses this time, and exchanged congrats/commiserations with clubmates.  Finally reached Chandos, but as mentioned earlier, it was too packed to have a chance of spotting anyone I might accost with “are you Poacher, Lorenzo etc”  . . . .

    So, on reflection, I’m pretty happy – yes, I missed the record by 1:49, but I wasn’t timid, and I managed to be quicker than my previous 4 marathons, and the best part of 16 mins faster than the last one at Mablethorpe. 25th VoGit from 521 in the category, and 76% WAVA (same as my PB).   I was fortunate enough to secure my goal of 26 completed marathons (one for each mile of the distance), as hoped for in London (my favourite course),  by the age of 60, and with the (to me, anyway) pleasing stat of 50% of the completions being at London.  So, 13 not unlucky for me.   

    Regards, all.

  • SlokeyJoeSlokeyJoe ✭✭✭
    Cankles! All the more impressive MsE. You are a warrior princess!



    Well done on a perfectly paced race RFJ. They are always very satisfying (so I've heard).
  • SlokeyJoeSlokeyJoe ✭✭✭
    Well done again Birch. Will there be a 27th?
  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    Great report. That was an impressive and gutsy performance, Birch.  76% WAVA is fantastic and to equal your highest WAVA rating tells you that you are still on the up, marathonly-speaking.  Well done! 

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Haha! I once approached someone on the Town Moor in Newcastle and asked if he was Poacher, Birch. Turned out he was not...!



    Going to enjoy the race reports one the laptop in a bit.
  • Good run & report Birch. Always like to read the reports after they tell the whole story. Enjoy the rest!

  • Awesome run MsE, especially as it was only on one leg.

    I didn't realise that Birch was SUCH an old geezer. A proper coffin dodger. Puts me to shame. Time to pull on those slippers and fill the pipe.

  • PoacherPoacher ✭✭✭
    Birch you crafty fox - on a weekend of standout efforts youve come v close to GFA fo chaps 20yrs younger than you. Bl***y brilliant! As for dodging your round, cant say im surprised - you can take the VOG out of Yorkshire but.... (insert winking smiley here)



    Oddly im staying just off Trafalgar Sq. tonight for work purposes. Yesterday seems like years ago already
  • Gul DarrGul Darr ✭✭✭

    MsE - excellent report on a massive achievement. Well done.
    RFJ - sounds like you really enjoyed that one.
    Birch - great report and again, tremendous achievement. Really pleased for you.

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    am I the only one to have a chip time that is exactly the same as gun time? It is not right as I definitely stood at the back of the champs pen and took a good 10-15 seconds to cross the start line (which is when I started my Garmin). I also waited until after crossing the finish line to turn the Garmin off and yet there is a 13 second discrepancy between my official time which is slower than my Garmin time. I'm thinking chip times weren't used and all times were based instead on gun start times but wanted to see what the rest of you thought?

  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭
    MsE: I think someone said they've gone back to chip times for those of us on the champs start, which makes me glad I pushed hard to get under 2.50 on the clock but a bit peeved I've missed out on 11 seconds which elapsed before I crossed the start line.
  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭

    Yeah, gun time. Bastards. I think I lost 9 secs there, but at least I get the exact same time as Jenson Button, which is more amusing than the slightly faster time would have been.

    /members/images/699204/Gallery/button_0.jpg

     I saw you pass me somewhere in the second half, Jools, looking really fresh. I was too knackered to race you though.

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭
    I'm racing the gun from now on.
  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭
    Obviously I meant gun times. Pfft. Silly post race brain! That's still a big pb, Lit. Well done! I ran with JB for about 5 or 6 miles so he probably thought he was seeing double when another girl in a red and white top turned up.
  • That's lovely, Birch.  Must have been great to have your kids out supporting you.  Stunning progress from Race Jase and Jools over the past few years.  MsE being underwhelmed by her sub 3: What a crackpot.

    I think I had almost stopped moaning about the Expo by the time Sunday rolled around.  The journey, the DLR, the horrific 'Ideal Home Exhibition' setting, the over-enthusiastic sales people and their endless guff about running....  Still, they did give me a free carrier bag full of leaflets, so that's alright then.  Anyway, as I said, I stopped moaning about all that ages ago. 

    The start line was great.  A friend had bought me a disposable poncho.  I'd always wanted to wear one of those at the start of a race, but had dismissed the notion as being one lofty ambition too far.  I felt ace, standing at the start in my pinkish poncho, looking like a runner.  Looking like I knew what I was doing. 

    Sadly, that feeling didn't last.  Somebody must have said '3,2,1, go,' as everyone started moving forwards.  And then we had to go and do a load of boring running stuff. 

    Actually, it was quite good fun for a while.  I phoned my young niece from Tower Bridge.  I thought she might like to hear that wall of noise, but she didn't even pretend to be interested.  She was much more impressed when I showed her my medal.  "Course I won the race.  How do ya think I got this?"  

    Eventually, it all became a bit of a nuisance, quite frankly.  The last three or four miles were particularly annoying.  I was desperate to stop but somehow managed to avoid doing so.  Which, I think you'll agree, makes me a bit of a tough guy hard nut. 

    I crossed the line and felt decidedly wrong.  I wasn't sure which would happen first:  the instantaneous bowel release, the throwing up or the passing out.  While I was wondering which option I'd prefer, I bumped into a bloke with a bowl of fruit on his head.  Annoyingly, he looked as though he'd just been for a stroll in the park.   

    It was great to see you, Poacher.  I couldn't make it to Chandos, as my friends had arranged to meet in a pub on the other side of the park.  In any case, I don't really deserve to mix with the folk on this thread.  In fact, I'm not fit to lace your drinks.

    3:53 might sound dreadful.  Well let's not be coy, it is rather dreadful.  But it was only about a 5 minute positive split.  So at least it was uniformly dreadful from start to finish.  It seems a five week training schedule doesn't really work.  Who knew?

  • SlokeyJoeSlokeyJoe ✭✭✭
    TAR, you are exploring the boundaries of running science on all of our behalfs. Thank you.

    Great report! image
  • SlokeyJoeSlokeyJoe ✭✭✭
    Lit, what was your time? Well done on the PB!
  • Leslie HLeslie H ✭✭✭

    MSE- 23 miles with a twisted ankle , well battled and well deserved time image

    Birch- you need a comeback to smash that club record its yours for the taking now image Everybody says no more and when the pain fades they are back image

    Literatin-cracking run and finish time image

    Tar-sounds like a world of pain, well done for toughing it out but don't be lacing anybodies drinks image Enough crackpots on here already image

  • Lit, any comments on how last year played out versus this year? Last year you were half in 1:28:49 and full in 2:56:33 so a very slight negative split: pretty much textbook with a strong finish and your fastest 5ks in the second half. This year half in 1:24:01 so almost 5 minutes quicker at halfway and full in 2:52:18 so a 4 minute positive split and the 5ks show a steady slow down from 19:34 to 21:19 with your fastest the first and slowest the last.

    Don't get me wrong: this year was a better run by far and a big PB and great improvement, but very different races. To me, last year was a toe in the water with the aim of going sub-3 and when that was in the bag you unleashed what you had left. This year seemed to be more ballsy (bad adjective I know) with the aim of going out and shooting at some target and accepting that it may or may not be achievable and there was a risk of a nasty end. Did you have a target in mind (sub 2:50?).

  • MsEMsE ✭✭✭

    Yes! Chip times are now up for Champs runners.  Take a peek Lit and Jools. My official chip time is 2:58:55. Half way in 1:28:55, slight positive split with 1:30 second half.  I don't feel quite so hard done by now image

    That's a brave effort, TAR! Well done for sticking it out. I hope you are niggle free? 

  • BirchBirch ✭✭✭

    Haha; excellent reporting, TAR . . . . .

  • Congratulations on your PB Literatin!!

    And even better MsE, dipping under 2.59!

    TAR - you still managed to run the marathon without stopping off 5 weeks training. I class that as a result in my book.

  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭

    PMJ: I have always thought that a reasonable strategy is to get to halfway at a slightly faster pace than you think you can run for the whole race. Last year I was obviously a lot fitter than I thought; I wasn't sure if I could manage sub 3 (thought I was likely to run 3:02) but wanted to keep my options open, so planned to get to halfway in 1:29, and that would allow for a slight fade in the second half to get the 3:02, or if I managed to pace it evenly I could get my sub 3.

    This year I thought I would run 2:52, and therefore that it would not be insane to get to halfway in 1:25. So exactly the same strategy, but with faster paces. I wasn't expecting to run 2:50 as I didn't think recent training or races indicated that, but I still believed that running at a slightly too fast - but not suicidal - pace for the first half was a good strategy (I did slightly overcook this, as you point out).

    As it turned out, I think I was right: I ran more or less exactly the time I expected, but with the planned-for fade near the end. I didn't 'hit the wall', but I did get tired and slow down. If I'd been more cautious in the first half, I suspect I might have run maybe 30 seconds faster overall at the most, but maybe not. I'd have had a pleasanter race, but I would have finished wondering if I could have squeezed any more out of it.

    So in conclusion, I think this confirms what I have always thought: when people say 'one second per mile too fast at the start = one minute slower at the end', I think that is bollocks. I think there's a range that's not stupid, and if you don't try to be a little bit (but not crazily) ambitious you might not meet your potential.

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