London Marathon

robbicosta

Thanks to all on the boards for your advice over the last few months. While I'm not a regular poster, I read the forums for tips and advice whenever I have the time.

I managed to finish the London marathon in 3:36:15, knocking over 20 minutes off my previous PB from Dublin in October.

I was 8 minute miling it until around mile 20 when I fell back a bit so I'll have to work on my endurance for my next marathon, hopefully San Francisco in August.

Cheers,

Rob

Deliaquad

Well done on completing with a nice PB. Can I ask, what were your longer runs in training? I ask because I'm off similar times from my two marathons (3.49, 3.31) and my max was one 19 miler: I intend doing a proper program with 3 20's for the next marathon.

Thanks,

-DeliaQuad

911sc

Well done. This is an impressive improvement of your PB.
So you are aiming for 3:16 in Dublin now, knocking another 20min, right?

robbicosta

I did 3 long runs. One 18 mile, one 20 mile and the third 21. I managed the 20 and 21 in sub 8 minute miles but found them tough towards the end.

I've had the same problem of slowing down in my last few marathons at the 20 or so mile mark so going to work on that for next time. Very happy with my time but I feel I can do better.

Rob

robbicosta

Cheers, I'd love a 3:16 or even a 3:10 but realistically I'll be happy with sub 3:30 in San Fran this August. I've applied for New York this year so if I get in I'll run that. Otherwise, I'll probably stick to the two or maybe Amsterdam.

I want to enjoy Dublin as a spectator this time. Two of my mates are running it for the first time and I want to support them along the way.

Rob

Stupid_Private

Congrats on a great time. If you can plan another marathon with the lactic acid fresh in your legs its a good sign!

Just a quick note on your long runs. The number you did and the distances are perfect. It'd be over kill to do much more than that. You may want to adjust your pace slightly. On a long training run you shouldn't come home dead or struggling - it's ok once in a while but not all the time. Don't set out on them at your race pace - the idea of the long run isn't to run at your marathon pace but to get used to the time on your feet. Anywhere from 45 seconds to a minute slower than your target pace is a good aim. The training sessions you do during the week should add a bit of pace to your legs. If you run everything at race pace your legs will be knackered and you'll struggle towards the end.

The ideal situation is to finish your long runs and be able to think to yourself that you could have kept going for a further few miles if you had to - but you don't!! Same way the ideal situation in the marathon is to pass people who are struggling at the end rather than being passed.

Anyway, congrats again. Put your feet up for a week and enjoy the time off before setting out on your new training plan.

SUNGOD

robbicosta wrote: »

I did 3 long runs. One 18 mile, one 20 mile and the third 21. I managed the 20 and 21 in sub 8 minute miles but found them tough towards the end.

I've had the same problem of slowing down in my last few marathons at the 20 or so mile mark so going to work on that for next time. Very happy with my time but I feel I can do better.

Rob

hi rob great run,just completed my first marathon and i ran all my long runs at least a min per mile slower then my race pace just to get the body used to running for that length of time on the day and i also ran at race pace never going over 10 miles at race pace. got the programme of the hal higdon site and it worked really well for me as i was nearly out for as long on my long 20 mile runs as i was on the day of marathon .

robbicosta

Stupid_Private wrote: »

Congrats on a great time. If you can plan another marathon with the lactic acid fresh in your legs its a good sign!

Just a quick note on your long runs. The number you did and the distances are perfect. It'd be over kill to do much more than that. You may want to adjust your pace slightly. On a long training run you shouldn't come home dead or struggling - it's ok once in a while but not all the time. Don't set out on them at your race pace - the idea of the long run isn't to run at your marathon pace but to get used to the time on your feet. Anywhere from 45 seconds to a minute slower than your target pace is a good aim. The training sessions you do during the week should add a bit of pace to your legs. If you run everything at race pace your legs will be knackered and you'll struggle towards the end.

The ideal situation is to finish your long runs and be able to think to yourself that you could have kept going for a further few miles if you had to - but you don't!! Same way the ideal situation in the marathon is to pass people who are struggling at the end rather than being passed.

Anyway, congrats again. Put your feet up for a week and enjoy the time off before setting out on your new training plan.

Cheers for the advice. I will definitely take it into consideration once training for San Fran kicks in. I found I was being passed by people from mile 23 to 25 but I put that last bit of effort in at 26 and finished as strong as I could, passing a handful along the way.

robbicosta

Thanks. I followed the Intermediate 1 programme from the Hal Higdon site. I'll be following the no. 2 programme next time.