Becoming a Real Runner

RacoonQueen

Alf did WHAT?!! :eek:

chinguetti

What about if it is Alf from the series 'ALF', that would be far more scary i'm thinking

pgmcpq

Loiks like you're finishing strong. Good luck Monday - I'm sure I'll see you at some stage.

menoscemo

pgmcpq wrote: »

Loiks like you're finishing strong. Good luck Monday - I'm sure I'll see you at some stage.

Hope you make goal. You really deserve it. Maybe see you in the pub for one after? You'll be waiting a while for the other to come in and McGrattans is right at the finish line...
I feel a cold coming on :mad: I felt it has been threatening all week but the floodgates of the nose just opened on the way home from work along with a few sneezes. I am hoping this is just taper madness. I have already took some preventative action (lemsip)

Brianderunner

menoscemo wrote: »

That's class You should start a thread about dreams. unfortunately i can never remember mine.

Maybe you're better off not remembering, saves you from posting embarassing sh*t on message boards.

Don't worry too much about any potential cold, remember how well you ran when we did the 18 with 14 @pmp, you were dying that week remember. You should be more worried about a cold interrupting your drinking session on Monday

Relax you're gonna kick ass on Monday.

kennyb3

Meno,

Best of luck on monday.You are an absolute shoe in for 3.30, in fact im surprised you havent revised your target downwards - but at same time i understand why not with the endurance thing in your mind. You ve done all the training made all the long runs and more and missed nothing. There are no stamina issues!!I ve no doubts you ll get to the line in about 3.28 fresh as a daisy. 8m/m is an easy jog for you.Just believe in yourself.

metamorphosis

id echo kennyb3. The progress from this exact time last year to now is grade A. You'll certainly enjoy the hard earned pints Monday.

Best of Luck N.

misty floyd

Have a great race Menoscemo. Easy does it first half. Good luck.

RAL3

Good luck Meno

RedB

Best of luck Menoscemo, knock it out of the park!

menoscemo

Thanks for the well wishes lads.
Up until last night I would have said I was dead confident. Now I am not so sure. (warning the following may contain taper madness)

I got up this morning and the cold had not got worse, still a few sniffles in the nose and a bit of a dry throat but that's all. It was a lovely bright day so decided to wrap up well and continue with the programme as normal: 5 miles recovery.
Since getting the dodgy garmin readings I have turned off the HR field as it used to just annoy me, but recovery should be <140bpm. This morning I ran at what felt an easy/ recovery pace. I didn't feel bad at all, and was happy with the run.
When I saw the stats on the watch and a 154 av HR at the end, I put it down to the HRM being on the blink again, however after checking the graph on Garmin connect it seems to be correct. The HR line is very steady in the 150-160 area instead of the continual peaks and troughs of when it is not working properly. So basically my normal recovery pace had me working 18 BPM harder than a few days ago, in fact harder than during my MP miles n thursday. I doubt I have lost fitness so It has to be the cold.

5 miles@ 8:50 pace, 154 HR :mad:

I am hoping I have sweated the damned thing out of me in that run as I don't feel too bad since. Just hope the bloody thing goes away by monday, drinking lemsip now so hope that helps....I'll do my scheduled 4 miler in the morning and hope the HR is lower.

Picked up my number today in the RDS and met lots of boardsies. I nearly had myself convinced that the cold was a figment of my imagination but RQ (ever the honest one) just confirmed that I did indeed sound like I had a cold. Thanks RQ :pac:

RacoonQueen

The baby Jesus doesn't like it when I lie. Sorry. Would you rather I lied and said noooo you're sound fine don't have any lemsip...I don't want to sabotage your race.

menoscemo

Last little run out before the big day. Wrapped up with several layers again, it was cold despite the fact the sun was splitting the trees.
Again the run felt easy and it was a very easy pace, but the HR stats are all over the place http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54140289
I am thinking maybe my first instinct (that the HRM is on the blink again) must be correct- It has me steadily in the VO2 max zone for the first mile (9:28)....

The cold is still there but it has never got beyond a mild annoyance. I'll just have to trust myself and go with the 3:30 pacers as planned. As Brian said I did 18 w 14 PMP a few weeks ago with a much worse cold and managed to grit it out without issue

3.1 miles @ 9:25 Av HR 152 :rolleyes:

Woddle

I wonder is it the extra layers playing havoc with your readings.
Anyway best of luck, not that you need it.

xebec

Funny after talking about it yesterday, my HR monitor has fecked up this morning too - one of the readings is 250 which I think is a little high, even for me! Settled back down to the 150s after about a mile, but average was 174 for the 2.25 miles...

Looking forward to sharing a pint with you tomorrow after the race, hope it all goes as planned for you.

metamorphosis

All the best for tommorrow. 3.30.

Slogger Jogger

Best wishes for tomorrow men'o.

metamorphosis

Some time today - Well done menopause!

Slogger Jogger

Congrats, well done.

menoscemo

3:32.54. A race of two halfs. The firt six miles being the hard half! Report to follow tomorrow. Delighted and enjoying the pints!

gerard65

Well done menopause. I saw you at Bushy and thought you were'nt looking too good, but you got there. Deffo sub 3:30 next time.

menoscemo

gerard65 wrote: »

Well done menopause. I saw you at Bushy and thought you were'nt looking too good, but you got there. Deffo sub 3:30 next time.

Thanks Gerard, I actually thought I was feeling good at that point

Anyway Race Report.
As you know from following the log I have had a cold for the past few days, I was doubting following the 3:30 guys but lined upt here anyway alongside Chiguetti and Brianderunner. When the gun went off I immediately felt awful. It was like the damns opening. Despite the slow first mile (8:15) and the almost subzero temperatures I was sweating badly. It was literally flooding down my forhead. I said to Brian on Pearse st that I was in trouble and it wasn't going to be my day. I was feling sick and sluggish to boot. I held onto the back of the 3:30 group up to about 5 miles but as we entered the park I decided I was going to enjoy this race and let the pacers drift off. I slowed down to what felt comfortable and this was actually only about 10 seconds per mile slower, however it seemed the pressure of not having to chase baloons really helped me.

By the time we left the park at about mile 8 I was starting to feel much better and even began picking up the pace again. At half way I realised I was feeling a million times better than last year and by 18 I knew it was ll good. The hills were no bother and to be honest the last 6 miles were great. I really enjoyed the crowds and was high fiving all the kids and raising my arms all the way!! I finished strong and incredily my legs werent even sore afterwards (and still aren't today). I don't know what happened after thoe first four miles yeasterday. My theory is that I sweated the cold out of myself. I was actually making plans to quit at that point , I am so gald I gutted it out though as it ended up being my most enjoyable race! Feeling good for the last 6 miles of a marathon is not something I ever thought I would do, I actaully feel like an endurance athlete now!! Bring on the conemarra ultra :pac:

Splits: 8:16 (180 :rolleyes:) 7:44 (159), 7:51 (159), 7:46 (156), 7:55 (155), 8:05 (157), 8:03 (153), 8:25 -pitstop (147) 7:46 (151), 8:09 (154), 8:12 (149) 8:08 (151), 8:12 (152), 8:03 (152) , 7:58 (151) 7:59 (152), 8:01 (150), 8:00 (149), 8:04 (150), 8:24 -slowed to talk to chinguetti- (152), 8:20 (153), 8:15 (147), 7:55 (151), 8:07 (152), 8:02 (153), 7:57 (154), last .4 at 7:44 pace (157)

Overall Av pace: 8:03, Av HR 153.

as You can see, I was probably a little too comfortable for the second half. I had expected the HR to be mid 150s for the first half and near 160 for the second half. I am sure in retrospect if I had stuck to the pacers I would have made 3:30 no problem, but to be honest I am not going to lose much sleep over 3 minutes. It's a PB by 43 minutes after all. I am Just happy to have ran a strong marathon!!

Much fun was had after the race, another 12 hour drinking session. Met loads of boardsies and had a great night. As always, the memories are a little hazy towards the end of the night!!

shels4ever

Well done on a great time, Don't think sub 3:30 will be even be in your mind come your next marathon.. 3:20/15 going on the progress your making.

chinguetti

You were talking some manure when i left the pub last night. And bouncing around like a pinball too.:D

Well done on a great run and thanks again for those sweets at the flyover, they kept me going to get through the pains.

Brianderunner

chinguetti wrote: »

You were talking some manure when i left the pub last night. And bouncing around like a pinball too.:D

I'll second that. You said you were gonna run home just before you left the pub. :rolleyes:

Anyway well done on the race. I thought you were done as we entered the park if i'm honest.

RacoonQueen

chinguetti wrote: »

You were talking some manure when i left the pub last night. And bouncing around like a pinball too.:D

Talks that when sober too...:rolleyes:

menoscemo

Since monday the legs haven't been sore at all, but funnily enough I have not been able to sleep properly. I must have caught something off RQ :pac:
I wasn't able to eat at all after the race or again on tuesday (though that could be booze related) though thankfully the appetite was back by wednesday.

Last night I signed up to the Barcelona Marathon in March and the conemarra Ultra (39.3miles) in April. I am unsure or not wether to go out in Barca for a PB or just use it as a long training run for the ultra. I am afraid with it only being 5 weeks before conemarra, it may affect my training and performance if I race it for a PB????

Tonight I was just dying for a run. Also I said I may as well follow the P&D recovery plan for the next few weeks, since it served me so well before and it had me down for a run tonight.

So Anyway: 3.4 miles pace 9:24, HR 126. A bit shocked with the heart rate, the lowest ever by far in any run and I did a fair few recovery runs at this pace. The legs felt quite weak though so I think it will be very slow miles for a while. Hope to be back in top form for the waterford Half.

metamorphosis

menoscemo wrote: »

I wasn't able to eat at all after the race or again on tuesday (though that could be booze related) though thankfully the appetite was back by wednesday.

/QUOTE]


From what i hear, you were doing the dog in those old Gin and tonics :pac:

So, if you are going for a fast one in Barca, whats the target?

menoscemo

ULstudent wrote: »

From what i hear, you were doing the dog in those old Gin and tonics :pac:

So, if you are going for a fast one in Barca, whats the target?

Jesus have you got a batphone? Despite never showing up you seem to be aware of every movement everyone else makes :P

If I were to go for a fast one in Barca I suppose sub 3:25 would be the target, especially given it's a much flatter course than Dublin.

I don't think I will go fast in Barca though. I'll leave a fast marathon for later in the year. Sub 6 in the conn ultra is the main target for the first half of the year. I might look out for a few pacing gigs to keep me ticking over as well.

menoscemo

4.1 miles tonight. Pace 8:47, HR 145.
Legs felt a lot better tonight, much more spring in the step. I am surprised to see the HR was so High, especially after the mega low HR the other night, I'll put it down to goign straight out tonight after eating.
I'll look to get a slightly longer run in tomorrow.