Sorry, I thought you said get faster before the 100th Marathon

Aimman

The buzz at the start of the race was great with a introduction from Ken and Gerry about what it's all about. Despite the odd heavy downpour, we all left the hotel for the start line and I spotted a few lads from the Bogtrotters Marathon last week. There was a good turn out for the 10k and Half marathon, Not quite sure how many were doing the full, but think it was about 20, but some half marathoners decided to go the whole way, once they hit 13M.

I wore my compression socks, which is a first for a race, as I only tried them on a a few training runs.

Started off feeling very good and running at a pace 8:10. I was leading the marathon for the first 4 miles (excluding the couple of people ahead of me doing the half) and then slipped back into 3rd over the next couple of miles where I held the position until the 20 mile mark.

The course was nicely designed. Four laps of just over 6M with only a couple of water stations in place. Unfortunately, there were no mile markers to be seen, so anyone without a GPS was running blind for the while race. Only 3 hills on the route, but for 4 laps, turns into 12. Nothing to worry about for the first couple of laps, but on the third and fourth lap, one of them started to look like Everest without the snow on top.

I was happy with my pace which was under 8:30, but for the last lap, I just dropped pace for a couple of miles. Coming up to mile 20, I gave a girl one of my gels, because she was only registered for the half, but decided to try to carry on and complete her first marathon. She headed off to finish 3rd, and I slipped back another place in mile 20 and ended up finishing 5th (apologies for constantly mentioning places, but its probably the only time in my running 'career' that I'll end up so close to the top spot, so I'm milking it, lol.)

At mile 24.2, I reckoned that even though I was gradually dropping off pace, If I even knock out 10min miles for the last 2 miles, I'll have a PB. Pulled myself together and got 9:00 and 8:40 miles at the end to finish 3:54:16 which is a new PB for me. Two sub 4s in 8 days. Whoo Hoo.

There was no official finish line and the overall distance was 26.7M but I think that was just to bring people up to the house where the massages were. Everyone took the 26.2 time off their garmins for the final time.;)

Got a great massage at the end, which should stand towards me for tomorrow and I think the Compression socks helped the legs for the first 20 miles at least anyway. Enjoying a couple of beers and a chilli con carne tonight as my carb up plan.

Oh, Ken came in about 2 mins behind me and Gerry finished about 4 mins after him. They finished in great form and didn't look like two guys that just finished their 31st consecutive marathon. Bet they are looking forward to tomorrow afternoon.

Oisin11178

Where is the second report bud. im waiting:D
Congrats on the pb.

Aimman

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Where is the second report bud. im waiting:D
Congrats on the pb.

Patience bud, been writing it for the last half hour, lol.

Can I just say from the start, that today's race was brilliantly organised, stewarded and catered and there are a lot of organisers that could take a few tips from this event!! If I was to rate marathons, this would get my top vote for overall satisfaction.

Registration was quick and painless, we had great warm up session with BootCamp Ireland and Michael O'Leary taking a fancy to the instructor. There was a group photo at the start and we were off.

I felt good this morning with only a little bit of tiredness in the legs, but felt ready for a whole marathon. I deliberately set out at a slow rate, not sure what the second 26M would have in store. During the first mile, Mithril ran passed me and I upped the pace briefly to have a chat with him and talking about our training for Dingle etc. Mithril looked and me and said 'You know you're running at a 3:20 pace'. I knew I was going out too fast, but just wanted to have a chat with him. He offered to slow back the keep me company for a while, but I didn't want to interfere with his plans so eventually let him go ahead. Hope he finished well.

There were plenty of water points stocked with fig rolls and some gel stations and there was a great banter with the other runners (because they were mostly local and knew each other), but would still chat to the non locals anyway.

My first half was done in just under 2 hours. The spur in the ribs was when the Rose of Tralee passed me at mile 9. Granted I spent a couple of miles running behind her (cough..ahem) but got the second wind to charge ahead and cross the finish ahead of her.

The second lap was a bit more lonely for a while, until Gerry and Ken 's group caught up with me. I stayed with them for a while but had to let them off, because I was starting to wain at that point.

As the main group pulled away, a woman on a bike kept me company for a couple of miles until we reached Belvedere House. She was part of the organisation and her husband was just ahead with the main group running the second half, but stayed with me to chat and give me encouragement until I caught up with them.

After closing and running with Ken and Gerry's group I did my usual 20mile drop off and began running out of steam until mile 24, where I got a burst and finished in 4:12. I was lucky just finishing behind the lads, because the main crowd of supporters were still lined up along the finishing stretch. I got them to cheer me on, and shout louder and clap which was great fun (well, I had the whole park stretch to myself on finishing, so I took the opportunity to milk the last 200m and have a bit of a laugh along the way.)

Had a fantastic massage at the end and good craic with the other runners. I didn't avail of the free hot grub at the end, because my protein bar and drink filled me, but it smelt yummy and people looked like they were enjoying it.

The lads raised €490,000 from the overall event and it was a massive achievement. Well done lads!

From my own experience, the run today was much better then I was expecting. To be honest, it was the exact same as any other marathon. Starting off strong, slow and fast paces in the same spots, dying a bit at mile 20M, regaining energy by mile 24 and a very enjoyable finish. Just the pace was a bit slower. Hope it helps anyone else planning a back to back.

Sorry for the long reports for the last couple two runs. Technically, they are not race reports, because these runs probably wont be done again, but in fairness if today was on the race calendar next year with the same organisation, I'll sign up like a shot.

I'll keep it short an simple from now on... (until Dingle... :P)

Oisin11178

Well done. What sort of fluids and gels did you take on board during the 2 days?

xebec

Just back on boards today after a few days off and I find these two massive race reports to read!! Must make time at some point during work tomorrow...

Fair play on getting the back to back and even more impressive with a PB too!

Aimman

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Well done. What sort of fluids and gels did you take on board during the 2 days?

I started off both runs with 4 Powerbar gels and two small bottles of water with chia seeds and some powdered carbohydrate drink. I only used three of the gels and one drink during each run. I gave a gel away to a girl in Leitrim (got a lovely thank you note from her on Facebook yesterday) and a guy offered to swap be a bag of sport beans for one of my gels in Mullingar. I hung onto them until I had 3 miles to go, but when I looked at the packet, the instructioned were torn off, so I didnt know if I only take one at a time or the whole packet, so I took four and hoped for the best. Cant say I noticed any significant improvement from them, so probably should have taken the whole packet.

They were handing out bananas and figrolls at a lot of the stations too. My only problem with figrolls it the flakey biscuit. If you eat them dry on the run, you can easily inhale a load of crumbs. Best way to eat them is take a bite, then a swig of water in the mouth to mush the biscuit before chewing.

Aimman

xebec wrote: »

Just back on boards today after a few days off and I find these two massive race reports to read!! Must make time at some point during work tomorrow...

Fair play on getting the back to back and even more impressive with a PB too!

Cheers xebec. Dont get caught by the boss reading my log though. I take no responsibility

Aimman

4.4 miles in the park in 45:15 (10.17 pace)

Had a bit of a dodgy tummy, so was uncomfortable all the way around. kept the pace very slow. Just wanted to check the legs after the weekend. Everything seems ok. Little bit of tightness in the hammers, but it should loosen out over the next couple of days.

Made a batch of Cereal bars tonight to experiment with. I'll try them out over the next couple of weeks to get used to them for Dingle, along with bananas, seeing as that will be all on offer for the day.

I reckon I'll only have the next two weeks to put in decent milage before tapering, so will incorporate some double runs for working days so I dont have it all to do when I get home from the office. The last big push for me will be the Frank Duffy 10M at a good race speed then ease off on the intensity till Dingle

Aimman

15 Miles today. Planned to do 5 in the moring and 10 in the evening, but seeing as I was wide awake till 4am and then broken sleep after that, I was in no mood of getting up at 7 to run, so lumped it all into the evening run.

Dodgy tummy was feeling better, but I still had a bit of a stitch on the right side if i run too fast, so I decided on a comfortable longer recovery run. took in the long climb from Churchtown up to the top of Foster's Avenue along the way, just for a bit of exercise. Kept the pace very slow so as not to irritate the 'stitch' and it wasnt anyway noticable when I ran @ 10:15 min miles. Took forever to get home though. Legs seem to be in good shape after the weekend, but dont think I'd have had the power to lash out a long quick run if I tried.

I tried one of the home made Cereal bars at mile 8 along with a swig of water and it sat very comfortable on the tummy. I felt full, but no bloating or cramps etc and I had a better run back for the last 7 miles. I'll try them out for a few more runs, but its looking good for Dingle.

15 Miles in 2:33 (10:15 pace) forgot about HRM

Aimman

15M run this morning.

Ran the Tarmonbarry Half Marathon route today (race should be coming up in September. I think). Probably the one half marathon with the least amount of turns ever. Run towards Strokestown on a side road for over 6 miles, cross main N5, and run back to the start on another side road. Simple. Who needs satnav? (not looking at Xebec.... :P). Then added another 2 miles on top of it to make 15M

Think the 3 marathons in 8 days has eventually taken its toll. Wanted to run this as an LSR as I have another one to do tomorrow, but probably couldn't have run it any faster if my life depended on it. I wanted to, but legs said 'no'. Not enough power. Kept it at a 10 - 10:15 pace all the way. Dint really mind, but just felt like forever to get back. However, sun was shining, locals were giving a wave/nod/wink and every uphill had a downhill. What more could you ask for on a Sunday morning run?

Just before heading out, ate a couple of flapjack squares. Halfway into the run, tried a banana (seeing as that's all on offer in Dingle), not a big porn star sized one, just a moderate sized one. Easy to eat on the run, but after a mile, felt like a well placed Portaloo would be nice. Thankfully, the urge went away quickly. Didn't make any difference to the run, but wont be shy about grabbing one if it's on offer.

Since last Sunday (1st Aug), I've clocked up 86 miles which is a busy week for me and probably my longest yet. I don't think I did myself any favours doing 15M on Thursday then taking a 2 day break before doing another 15M today. Perhaps even 2-4 miles runs on Friday and Saturday might have been more beneficial on the legs then sitting on my a**e for two days enjoying wine, cake and pizza.... em.. ok, think I know why I was so slow today

***makes mental note to ease off on the wine and eat more salad...***

15M in 2:35 (10:15 pace, avg HR 140)... tomorrow might be better.....

AJCOT

It's time to get rid of the wheels entirely, 86 miles in a week, half man half machine! Fierce impressive stuff.

Aimman

20M LSR today.

Was sort of dreading it today after yesterday. Got home from work, packed a couple of flapjacks and a banana and headed out.

In complete contradiction to yesterday, started off great and knocked out the first 5 miles @ 8:25 pace. Took the first flapjack at that point, then carried on to the 10M mark with the pace kept at 8:30 and scoffed the banana. After the 10M mark, I had a few hills lined up, so I eased off the pace to make it an LSR. By the 15M mark, I munched the last flapjack, pace was down to 9 min miles.

Have to be honest, I was running out of steam after this point. Not tired, just not running quickly if I wanted to (except for the downhill stretches)

Finished the 20M in 3:10 - 9:30 pace

Thats the end of my long runs now. 35M this weekend, 106 miles in 9 days. Thats about as busy as it gets for my training, I'm tapering off now with probably 10M as my longest runs. One of them will be the Frank Duffy 10M

I'm happy about eating those flapjacks and bananas on the run, along with with gels, no impact on the tummy. Just have to work out when and where.

Aimman

Light slow recovery run today before breakfast. Nothing special,

5M in 48mins (9:40 pace)

Aimman

Summary of past week

Friday 13th, 10k in the heat 55:27 (8:57 pace)
Saturday 6 x 0.25mile hill runs in the heat (3.24miles in 31:48, 9:48 pace that's up and down)
Monday, 6M run in the heat (53:09 @ 8:52 pace
Wednesday, 4M run in the heat (38:15 @ 9:24 pace) (including large hill @ 177ft climb over half mile)

Hot weather running was great. It noticably affected the speed, but the intense hill work should have really helped. The incline was quite a challenge @ 108 feet within 0.25 of a mile, with gradients of 20% in some parts. Temperature was 34 degrees, so hoping it will be a bit cooler in Dilgle for Connors Pass.

Put on a half stone over the last week relaxing with beer etc, so not planning on a sub 80min tomorrow in the Frank Duffy race. Just going to use it as a bit of an LSR. Hoping to give back that half stone before Dingle.

Aimman

Probably my least prepared race, as I wasn't really too pushed about completing it in a good time. Was funny though, My number for the series is 457, and I grabbed a bib number off the locker and was about to pack it away when I realiesd it was my old one from the Mullingar marathon earlier this month. I seen the 45 on the bib and assumed that was it. Never mind Frank Duffy, it would have been a Frank Spencer moment showing up at the start in the wrong number.:eek:

Robinph was up near the front, but was a bit too adventerous for me. didnt want a herd of people overtaking me from the start. Seen Gerard65 further down the pen, so went over for a chat. He was hoping for a sub 75, so I figured I wouldn't see much of him on the route after the start. I'd have been happy with sub 90, because of the extra weight and alcohol over the last week.

Race was a bit slow to start with everyone heading down Chesterfield Avenue, but I was in the first wave, so it was probably worse for the other wave starts. Got comfortable by the time we were heading around the zoo and I was at 7:50 pace for the first 3 miles. I was a bit disappointed in the water station because I was expecting a bottle that I could carry with me to the next station, but as it was a cup, I had to stop, gulp it and move on, trying not to lose too much time.

Coming back onto Chesterfield Avenue, the wind was behind us and there was a bit of a downhill, so I was able to open the throttle a bit more. I got confused when we were diverted off the Avenue towards Acre Road and I was starting to doubt myself as to the route and wasn't sure if we were going to head down the Furze Road, which would have been good for me to catch up on pace which was starting to slip to 8:10 average pace.

Back onto the Chesterfield Avenue path, I went onto the grass verge to take advantage of the shade from the trees and comfortably gained pace and overtook a few people who looked like they were starting to run out of their main cylinder of boost and switch to the reserve tanks (apologies for the space shuttle analogy,:cool:)

Picked up the pace on the dip before the military road hill and dug the heels into the hill quite well. Maintained a happy pace right up to the top and had minimal recovery time before I was able to speed up again, reckoned the Upper Glen hill would be a bit tougher. Hugged the inside edge of the S bends and any corners I came across ( but not cutting any) and again, had to stop for the drink. Didn't really need it, but didn't want to risk a dry mouth a couple of miles later. The next hill was brilliant. Again, kept a good pace all the way up and was able to get past a few more people on the bends to the Ordnance Survey.

Seen Woddle at the 9 mile mark, but don't think he got a photo of me, as i seen his face and not his camera lens. Have to search the 700 odd photos to check.

An ambulance pulled up at the 9.5M point to assist some poor chap that just hit a wall. Hope he's OK. probably wasn't allowed to finish. On the last visit to the Chesterfield Avenue, it was like as if someone hit a turbo button as you could feel the people around suddenly get a spurt of energy and start the mad dash for the finish. One guy went past me coughing and spluttering and he was finding it really difficult to keep it up. Onto the Furze Road, he only had about 300M to go and suddenly stopped and two spectators had to catch him before he fell to the floor. Not sure if he was helped to the finish line, but the poor guy just burnt out in front of me.

With about 200M to go, I just stared at the finish line and opened out into a sprint finish. A last attempt to gain a few placed and know off a few seconds off the chip time. Not sure how many people I overtook, but it felt like loads.

Finished in 1:22:29 which I was very happy with, considering my condition and expectations. I have run faster during training runs, but discovered afterwards that it was a new race PB for me which made it all the more sweet.

In summary, I felt I ran the race well, as there were no times where I was flagging off or had to struggle to keep the pace up. There's people who would say that its an indication that I didn't run the race as best as I could, but after planning to just make a mini LSR out of it, I'm happy with the end result.

Enjoyed the drink in Ryans and got to meet a few more Boardsies like RAL3 and Braintherunner. Met RayCun at the finish line too. Would have liked to have stayed for another one, but had the car with me. I'll leave it behind for the half marathon and hopefully, there'll be another session.

Oops, another long entry. Have to start putting editing skills to use, if I get the time.:o

10 Miles in 1:22:29 (approx 8:13 pace)

menoscemo

Good stuff aimman. That holiday weight will drop off in no time. Give me a shout if you want a run during the week. I am back in work tomorrow so Tymon will be my regular haunt again.

RayCun

Good to meet you at the finish line, however briefly. Sorry I was still too frazzled to ask how you did!

Saw that guy at 9.5 too, he was being put in a wheelchair as I went by, seemed to be completely out of it.

Aimman

menoscemo wrote: »

Good stuff aimman. That holiday weight will drop off in no time. Give me a shout if you want a run during the week. I am back in work tomorrow so Tymon will be my regular haunt again.

Nice one. I'll be free any evening from Wednesday to Friday for any running. On the offical taper now, but any distance or pace is appreciated, to get me back on track. ;-)

Aimman

RayCun wrote: »

Good to meet you at the finish line, however briefly. Sorry I was still too frazzled to ask how you did!

No worries. Sure I'll probably see you out and about in Tymon, but only in the evenings. I dont get to run the early morning sessions you do. I suffer from comfibeditus in the mornings and find it hard to get up. :cool:

menoscemo

Aimman wrote: »

Nice one. I'll be free any evening from Wednesday to Friday for any running. On the offical taper now, but any distance or pace is appreciated, to get me back on track. ;-)

I have a 6 and a 14 scheduled this midweek. Take your pick

Aimman

menoscemo wrote: »

I have a 6 and a 14 scheduled this midweek. Take your pick

I'd take both, if they are between Wednseday and Friday. If its only one run, then the 14 might be handy if I can keep up.;)

menoscemo

Aimman wrote: »

I'd take both, if they are between Wednseday and Friday. If its only one run, then the 14 might be handy if I can keep up.;)

14 on wedensday so and we'll see about the 6 recovery the next day?
6 at the car park so? (don't park in it though, will probably be closed by the time we are finished...

Aimman

Bloody hell, just realised, can you physically do 14 miles in Tymon witout going mad? we could do a lap there, head to Bushy, do a lap there, then finish with another lap of tymon, haha.:D

menoscemo

Aimman wrote: »

Bloody hell, just realised, can you physically do 14 miles in Tymon witout going mad? we could do a lap there, head to Bushy, do a lap there, then finish with another lap of tymon, haha.:D

sounds good!!

rainbow kirby

Aimman wrote: »

Bloody hell, just realised, can you physically do 14 miles in Tymon witout going mad? we could do a lap there, head to Bushy, do a lap there, then finish with another lap of tymon, haha.:D

I did just under 10 miles of a 14 mile LSR in Tymon without going nuts, and I think I could manage 14... maybe I'm just weird :eek:

Aimman

rainbow kirby wrote: »

I did just under 10 miles of a 14 mile LSR in Tymon without going nuts, and I think I could manage 14... maybe I'm just weird :eek:

OK RK, you're joining us for the 14M and you're showing us the route. Safety in numbers. No backing out now.

rainbow kirby

I'm far too slow for you guys

Aimman

rainbow kirby wrote: »

I'm far too slow for you guys

I seem to be getting slower and slower. think old age is catching up on me.

4M recovery today in 35:28 (8:52 pace)

Haven't done any core work in the last month, so just making a point of putting aside a bit more time at the end of a run to do some crunches, push ups, weights etc until next Thursday.

Hoping to double up on the runs over the next week by incorporating small 3 - 4 mile runs at lunchtimes and then a bit longer in the evenings.

ultraman1

Aimman wrote: »

Hoping to double up on the runs over the next week by incorporating small 3 - 4 mile runs at lunchtimes and then a bit longer in the evenings.

taper madness setting in early i see.....

xebec

Aimman wrote: »

4M recovery today in 35:28 (8:52 pace).

Snap! 4.07 miles in 35:25 for me...