Dublin Marathon 2011 'improvers' thread

EauRouge79

Good stuff, thanks Clearlier.
Thanks for the confidence boost. Ill have a bash but if all goes belly up I should still have a pretty good PB.
I agree with ecoli also, i believe 3.02-3.05 is where I am generally. If I feel good on the day ill try to keep up.

Thanks again guys, ill sleep better tonight.

Nialler73

Quick taper question..better late than never. I cycle / run in and out of work...Should I sub the bike for the bus for the last stretch and just do my scheduled taper runs? What's the verdict on cross training during the taper?

Brianderunner

Nialler73 wrote: »

Quick taper question..better late than never. I cycle / run in and out of work...Should I sub the bike for the bus for the last stretch and just do my scheduled taper runs? What's the verdict on cross training during the taper?

Best to stick with whatever you've been doing all along.

RacoonQueen

Nialler73 wrote: »

Quick taper question..better late than never. I cycle / run in and out of work...Should I sub the bike for the bus for the last stretch and just do my scheduled taper runs? What's the verdict on cross training during the taper?

I always started leaving the bike at home for the last week before the marathon. Just to give my legs that little extra bit of rest.

--amadeus--

Nialler73 wrote: »

Quick taper question..better late than never. I cycle / run in and out of work...Should I sub the bike for the bus for the last stretch and just do my scheduled taper runs? What's the verdict on cross training during the taper?

The point of a taper is to maintain sharpness but rest so that you arrive at the start line fully rested but also fully recovered from any minor little bumps and strains. This combination of freshness and fitness is what gives you your peak. So tapering is about balancing those two conflicting demands. Before every taper training session you should be asking if this session will make you sharp and will it make you tired?

The general advice to a good taper is to maintain the intensity as this will maintain your sharpness. So if you have a session of intervals scheduled during your taper and you normally run them at 80% intensity then run them at 80%. However to avoid fatigue you should greatly reduce the volume of training; maybe you did 8 - 10 intervals during the main program but during the taper that should be 4 - 6 (for example).

So to answer the specific question about the bike I personally would leave it at home - it will add fatigue to your legs but is probably at too low an average intensity to be of benefit in maintaining fitness.

heffsarmy

How long is the cycle? If you have been only cycling a few months and your commute takes longer than 30 minutes, get the bus if not you will grand.

Nialler73

The cycle's 10k, mostly downhill into town and uphill home...think I'll leave it for the week and hit the dreaded bus.I get tight quads despite plenty of stretching and rolling so i'll give it a break for the few day's..getting the usual taper fever and feeling plenty of niggles and resurfacing knocks so I'll give myself the best chance I can and just stick with short runs and maybe a light swim or 2. Thanks everyone for answering...

coco0981

quick question about the wave start system this year, will the 3.30 pacers be at the back of the sub 3.30 group or at the front of the 2nd wave?

RayCun

coco1981 wrote: »

quick question about the wave start system this year, will the 3.30 pacers be at the back of the sub 3.30 group or at the front of the 2nd wave?

Front of the second wave

itsalltrue

RayCun wrote: »

Front of the second wave

I know there is probably a very good reason for this but would it not make more sense fro them to be at the back of the first wave as this is the sub 3:30 wave. The second wave is for people who are going for above 3:30 and below 4:15

RayCun

itsalltrue wrote: »

I know there is probably a very good reason for this but would it not make more sense fro them to be at the back of the first wave as this is the sub 3:30 wave. The second wave is for people who are going for above 3:30 and below 4:15

I know, I had this discussion with the pacers...

The same thing was done at the half-marathon (1.40 pacers were in wave 2, 2 hour pacers in wave 3) and it worked well enough. The pacers should be in place much earlier this year, which will help people find them and line up in the right spots.

It's probably slightly easier like this for the 3.30 (and 4.15) runners, because we'll be right at the front of a wave and won't be fighting congestion so much in the opening miles. It should help all the people behind us - people going for 3.35, 3.40 times - from shooting off too fast as well.

menoscemo

itsalltrue wrote: »

I know there is probably a very good reason for this but would it not make more sense fro them to be at the back of the first wave as this is the sub 3:30 wave. The second wave is for people who are going for above 3:30 and below 4:15

There will be no problem with you moving back a wave at the start, they just won't let people move forward a wave.

Also the pacers will be in place for half an hour before the gun this year. This means anyone looking to use a pace group will have plenty of time to place themselves alongside it at the start.

dev123

Just a heads up that there are rail disruptions for the DART and people coming up from the sout-east on the Rosslare train:


Southside DART & Rosslare disruption: No trains operating Grand Canal Dock to Sydney Parade by Corporate Communications
Friday 28th October, 06.30hrs
Iarnród Éireann advises customers that there is serious disruption to southside DART services and Rosslare / Gorey rail services.
The line is closed between Grand Canal Dock and Sydney Parade due to flood damage in the vicinity of a bridge pier at the Dodder Bridge, to the south end of Lansdowne Road Station.
Services affected are:
DART: DART services will operate Howth/Malahide to Grand Canal Dock, and from Sydney Parade to Greystones (note Southside service will be reduced in frequency, operating every 30 minutes, to the scheduled Greystones DART timetable). There will be no DART service between Grand Canal Dock and Sydney Parade. Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for customers affected.
Rosslare/Gorey: Rosslare and Gorey services will operate Rosslare/Gorey to Bray, with bus transfers between Bray and Dublin Connolly.
Other commuter: Other commuter services which operate from Drogheda or Maynooth to Dun Laoghaire and Bray will now only operate from Drogheda/Maynooth to Pearse. Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for customers travelling south of Pearse.

The length of time this disruption will continue for is currently being assessed, and it is hoped to confirm this today. However, it will be for a number of days at least.
More detailed service information will be provided as soon as possible.
Iarnród Éireann apologises for the inconvenience caused.

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/travel_alerts.asp?action=view&news_id=1226

Mr Slow

I've just discovered sub the first wave takes off at 9:50

http://dublinmarathon.ie/general_faq.php

RayCun

Mr Slow wrote: »

I've just discovered sub the first wave takes off at 9:50

http://dublinmarathon.ie/general_faq.php

He doesn't run very fast either

slowsteady

It doesn't matter how you get there as long as the clock reads 3:29:xx:p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUPadKgtYHw&NR=1

Mr Slow

RayCun wrote: »

He doesn't run very fast either

Faster than you! :P (5k to come:rolleyes:)

slowsteady wrote: »

It doesn't matter how you get there as long as the clock reads 3:29:xx:p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUPadKgtYHw&NR=1

Thanks for that.:(

slowsteady

slowsteady wrote: »

It doesn't matter how you get there as long as the clock reads 3:29:xx:p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUPadKgtYHw&NR=1

Thanks for that.:([/Quote]
I have a distinct feeling it could be me- but I don't think the clock will be close to that - we live in hope!

SucCes09

Anyone know if there is a live online tracker for tomorrow?

groovyg

You should be able to follow it on http://www.tds-live.com/ns/index.jsp

Clearlier

A little late but I hope that everybody has a great race. Wishing I could be there right now!

brownian

while jealous of the fact that you're all running, the wind-driven rain beating on the window looks pretty ugly to run in. :eek:

Hope it's mainly behind you at this stage!!:)

Van.Bosch

Absolute disaster, dunno what happened but game over at mile 15. Aimed for 3:50 based on 4:14 PB, came home in 445. Pretty gutted, but at least it should make my next go an easier target!

Clearlier

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Absolute disaster, dunno what happened but game over at mile 15. Aimed for 3:50 based on 4:14 PB, came home in 445. Pretty gutted, but at least it should make my next go an easier target!

Sorry to hear that Van Bosch, it seems like the conditions were pretty tough yesterday. A lot of people struggled. In fact despite the second half being easier the first person to do a negative split was the ladies winner and the first man was in 37th place.

Good luck next time!

donoughf

I finished my second DCM in 4:14:58, I am gutted. I ran into trouble after 14 mile mark and from there on it was a struggle. I wanted to break 4hr mark but from 15 mile on I knew it was gone. I ran my first marathon last year in 4:32:06, and I had some left in the tank in the end and enjoyed the experience much more. I though I followed a good program. Here is a summary. I was doing 4 runs a week since early June.
1) 5 X 1k Flat out with 1/2 lap recovery walk, on average of 4:04
2) 10 miles snappy average 83 mins
3) Started with 10 miles @ 9 minute miles and work up to 20 miles and did this for 4 week and averaged 3hrs for 20 miles and 1hr 59min for 13.1 miles.
4) Recovery run, 10k in 60 minutes.

I planned to do Dublin next year in 3:30 but after this year I feel this is gone. I feel 3:45 would be more my time. I am only running 2.5 years male and in my mid forties. I have 2 questions.
1) What would be the best schedule out there for me?
2) Prior to starting a 16 week schedule, what could I do between now and then to improve? I want to stay fit over the winter but don't want 4-5 days as I swim and want to start cycling. 2 days running would be ideal until spring.

Appreciate any suggestions.

Mr Slow

Try this

neilc

^^^ +1

SucCes09

Great day out...
Went to the starting line undecided between 3:45 and 4:00... not ideal but my last 20 miler was close to the 3:45 mark (32.22km in 2:53) so when the pacers arrived and the 3:45 guys stood in front of me, the decision was made... I'd ran DCM in 2009, hoping for a sub 4 time, but blew up around roebuck, so was keen to get that monkey off my back...
I struggled with the first few miles - HR running at around 160 when ideally it should have been around the 140 mark... Thoughts flooded in to dropping back to the 4:00 pacing group, but i figured that the HR would probably remain around the same mark, as the heat is probably playing a part on having it so high.
Once i started to ignore the HR, and remain focused on the ballons (which when down to the singular during the run thru the park:D) the race seemed to go very well. Started taking gels around the 13-14 mile mark, and pretty much at every water station. Hitting Roebuck and the "Heartbreak Hill" was a delight (after my 2009 experience) and once we topped that, I knew it was all downhill from there. The crowd were brillient on the way home, but special mention to the pacers who did a fab job -- keeping us all amused with banter and whipping the crowd up. "All" we needed to do was keep in touch with them - seemling made more difficult by the traffic coming back towards the group. After some hard fought miles, I arrived at the finish just in front of that pacers in 3:44:21. Delighted!:D