Is it Now?

tisnotover

donothoponpop wrote: »

You may have saved my race, I owe you a pint. Just took out the kitchen scales, weighed my tried and trusted saucony's- 700g the pair. Put on the Ds trainers- 700g. Jokes on me:rolleyes:

I think we've all weighed our shoes from time-to-time, is it a sign of madness, or that we've graduated to a new level of obsession, i'm not sure :rolleyes:

All best with DCM, great log+training put in by ya, looking forward to the report!

donothoponpop

Cheers lads. I felt I'd finally made it to the big boys table, when I put those shoes on the scales:D

Sat 2 miles EZEZ

There's a calm beauty about running the last training jog before a marathon. You have all this pent-up energy, have to keep the pace way down, fretting about twisting an ankle, and watching out for those little niggles. My pre-marathon ritual is down by the forest river where I first started jogging four years ago or so. It's always different with the season, and today was golden leaves with a setting sun low among them. The sort of evening you want to keep on running forever- a feeling I hope to summon again in a couple of days time.

Bring on the race. The focus will be to run through the pain from miles 18-22, and start counting down from there. I know what I have to do.

seanynova

all the best D'pop will see ya on monday...

misty floyd

likewise dono, you have excellent runs in the bag. Lots of positives. Have a cracker. 100%

asimonov

Best of luck; you've had a really solid block of training for this one, enjoy the race.

ELFOYZER

Best of luck D'pop - see you on Monday;)

Slogger Jogger

Hard work is done. Stay with Jason in the 3 pace zone, believe and it will happen for you.

Krusty_Clown

I hope all your dreams come true.
Nail it, and keep smiling. Next year you're manning the pacing table.

Abhainn

Be positive all through P. Find that zone again
Relax and let others do the work.

RacoonQueen

Best of luck tomorrow boss. Some great training done, relax and ease into it, you'll smash it. Look forward to hearing you succesful tale after the race.

BeepBeep67

Have a good one DNHOP - set me a target and I may do one of these marathon thingys that everyone goes on about!

donothoponpop

Mon 25th Oct Dublin marathon, 3:25 finish

All the pre-race prep was perfect, carb loaded, well rested, empty bowels. I started with the sub3 pacers, who set off a bit quick for the first couple of miles, but I relied on the Garmin and held back a bit. The big red balloon soon came back, and we ran through to the Park, a big bunch of runners, with Jase doing a great job in hitting perfect miles. A low branch at 7 miles put an end to his balloon though:) This stage was just about running easy, ticking off the first miles.

Exiting the Park, and I felt good, checked my breathing and form, all was spot on. The only complaint was a small stitch, probably from drinking water, but nothing major. By ten miles, I felt like this was running, and the effort levels crept up a tad. No problem, this was as it should be. I hate the drag along the Crumlin road, so was glad to count off the two miles here. Hit the halfway point on target, all was going to plan.

At mile 14 I noticed that this was taking more effort than it should, but stayed on pace. However, at 16, my energy levels crashed, and I started to slow. It felt like I was running at threshold level, and I knew there was no way I had 10 more of these miles in me. Maybe this is what it takes to run a fast marathon, that you're in this severe pain for 10 miles, but there was no way I could handle it. I know from training and racing what it means to up a gear, and run through pain, but this was like upping several gears, and I just didn't have them. Race over. I stopped at the water station at Milltown, and figured I'd DNF, and hobble back to the hotel. However, my old coach from 25 years ago, Liz McDonagh, was handing out water, and she recognized me. She asked if I was alright, and said there was an ambulance there if I needed attention. "No hassle Liz", I said, "I've just bonked, think I'll scrap the race and walk home". There was a look that flashed across her face, a look I recognized that said "you never drop out of a race", so I smiled and said I'd finish the damn thing. Fair play to Liz, I wonder how many other kids her and Eddie have helped understand that "you run to the line".

The next 10 miles were a slow death all the way home. SJ passed me, and I tried to keep up, but couldn't. At this stage, there was very little will left, I had no interest in time, just in completing the damn thing. The 3:15 pacers passed me at 21 miles, and I managed to soak Krusty with a squirt from a water bottle. He took it in good form, and it's my hope that more runners will try squirting him, hopefully we can make it a tradition. Tried to stay on the back of the pacers bunch for a bit, but my legs were seizing up. A fair few other Boardies passed me, some of them on the way to great pb's fair play to them. Merrion road finally came, and then it was a matter of ticking down the last few miles. I was in a lot of pain, and took the finish line with some relief.

So. post mortem, what went wrong? I was unable to stand the pace after 15 or 16 miles, crashed quickly. Don't know what to say, other than I might not have the endurance required for a marathon, which just means I'm not good enough. I enjoyed the training, and I enjoyed most the parts of the training where I was running fast, so the obvious thing to do is to ditch marathons, and maybe try a few half's or 10k's. Also, I actually get very little out of road running, and find the "achievement" of running to the top of a hill, more satisfying, so roll on the winter league.

*Edit* Who am I kidding? The first thing I though of when I stopped at 18 was "Clonakilty";)

Thanks to all the Boardies who suffered my boorish drunkenness post-race, it was great to meet so many of you. Big well done to all those who hit their targets, especially those who joined the sub3 club yesterday. Who'd have thought that Robinph's smile goes even wider than that photo?

theboyblunder

hard luck dnhp. In longford the wheels started to come off for me at about that time too so I know how it feels. Its one bad race though - would hold off on ditching marathons for a few weeks and see how you feel then?

tunguska

donothoponpop wrote: »

So. post mortem, what went wrong? I was unable to stand the pace after 15 or 16 miles, crashed quickly. Don't know what to say, other than I might not have the endurance required for a marathon, which just means I'm not good enough. I enjoyed the training, and I enjoyed most the parts of the training where I was running fast, so the obvious thing to do is to ditch marathons, and maybe try a few half's or 10k's.

Fair play for finishing. Thats a big deal in istself, dragging yourself to the line even though your target is gone. Trust me that kind of determination will stand to you somewhere down the line. I know of certain so called elites, who dropped out yesterday as soon as their target had gone, and thats just pandering to an ego. So give yourself credit because its due.
As for the "Im not suited to marathons, I have no endurance" I dont buy that. Its just about nailing the training and learning from mistakes. Go again next year and I have no doubt you'll get your sub 3.

Woddle

Hi DP, it may not have gone as wished but you soldiered on and finished and it's races like that which will make the achievements of others to come worth so much more.
Kudos for you my friend.

donothoponpop

tunguska wrote: »

As for the "Im not suited to marathons, I have no endurance" I dont buy that. Its just about nailing the training and learning from mistakes. Go again next year and I have no doubt you'll get your sub 3.

You're right, I don't buy that either, so I edited my post above. Cheers, I'll tick that box one day soon.

Slogger Jogger

Good battling qualities dp. Few sub 3ers get there at a first real attempt. Many have persevered through and ticked that box after perfecting their training and racing over time. You did great preparation and you're as fit as you've ever been. Keep it ticking over, keep that confidence up and focus on the next time out. Your time will come. Hmm, Clonakilty...

shels4ever

Fairplay for getting around, you passed me about the 24/25 mile mark , Tried to give you a bit of puch but could see you were hurting. Think I may have gone a bit OTT.....

BeepBeep67

Finishing = more experience, so well done on that.
Something worth looking at, if you review your videos you look like you are running very upright, almost leaning back in the early stages [not sure if that's just the camera angle] - potentially not running efficiently early on?

shotgunmcos

ahem... sub3 IS your hill until you conquer it and find another peak!

Gutted to hear you crashed yesterday sir but kudos for braving on. I'd have done the very same if a former coach had looked me in the eye at that point.

Thanks a mill for organising all the pacer stuff. No doubt you will join the sub3 club at some stage. Keep trucking!

ecoli

I agree with alot of peoples senitiments you were in the shape to beat it and i have no doubt you have the capabilities. If you look to your training you did 15 miles in alot quicker than 3 hour pace at the end of a week which involved 9 miles of HM paced running. It takes some achievement to run 10 miles after you have bonked and this is mental strength that most elites would kill for (especially a certain South african/ Irish elite )

The only thing that i can think of was maybe the taper i set out didnt work as looking at Micks time he seemed to be a bit off what he was hoping for to so i would maybe put it down to the plan and for that I am really sorry that. I let you guys down after you putting in all the work you guys deserved alot better.

Still you are in great shape and what i would say is push on from this and use the fitness you have to take a few pbs

There are other races however so onward and upward it will come for you dont worry

kennyb3

Tunguska is spot on, fair play for finishing, its important to finish regardless after all that training.

You know yourself you were in the best shape of your life and all that training wont be lost, find a 5k or 10k 4 weeks from now and i ve no doubts you ll trash your pb.

smmoore79

Hard luck DNHOP. I feel your pain! Had an absolute howler out there myself. These things happen, sometimes there is no explainin why energy levels are high one day and low the next. It took [EMAIL="b@lls"]b@lls[/EMAIL] to run the last 10 when all ya want to do is quit, so hats off for that. I reckon, dust yerself down and launch an assault on another marathon early next year! thats my plan anyway. Think Clonakilty might be a bit soon..

seanynova

hard luck D'pop...take your recent training and go forward with it though....it will happen for ya.

RacoonQueen

Hard luck again Boss, there is always next time and you'll smash it with ease, we all know that. There's always Barcelona in March! :pac:

RAL3

I passed you at the UCD flyover and you were obviously suffering.

However you were more concerned with shouting encouragement to me as I went by to keep pushing on and how well I was going etc. - it was much appreciated and showed the type of character you are.

Well done for finishing and thanks again.

donothoponpop

ecoli wrote: »

The only thing that i can think of was maybe the taper i set out didnt work as looking at Micks time he seemed to be a bit off what he was hoping for to so i would maybe put it down to the plan and for that I am really sorry that. I let you guys down after you putting in all the work you guys deserved alot better.

Lets stop that nonsense before it gains legs! You were (are) a great coach, and put an awful lot of effort into the plan we followed. In no way at all did you let us down, in fact your program was the best I've used in marathon training. I'll certainly get the benefit from it in the next few (shorter) races I do. I've got nothing but admiration and praise for the effort you put in to the mentoring program- any shortcoming was on my part, and not on your program!

Thanks again, coach:D

ultraman1

hard luck and well done ,its not easy finishin when the wheels come off,but you did........................and you got ur mug on the six1 news.

aero2k

Sorry to hear about your ordeal D'pop - it's probably no consolation to know at least one elite runner was in the same boat. Well done for finishing, it really is a long way to go when you're running on empty.

Take heart, and remember the margin between making your goal and missing it is a lot less than the 25 mins you were off by - when it goes wrong it goes really, really wrong. Misty floyd, seanynova and myself have all had bad experiences and knocked similar chunks off next time out. You have a solid block of training to build on, so rest up, lick your wounds, and before you know it you'll be Googling "Spring Marathons".....

kaymin

Hard luck - you've the form to achieve sub 3 in my view - just one of those bad days at the office.