a sub 3hr marathon after connamara ultra

ray lanigan

im running the belfast marathon on sunday and i just got a mad idea in my head to go for a sub 3hr,only problem is i just done the connamara ultra a few weeks back and have only done one speed session since my 2.57 in dublin last year,that was a hour ago 6x6.24min,what you all think?

thirstywork2

depends how your body has recovered after the ultra.How would you compare your fitness now compared to last year running the 2.57?
Why did you sign up for both ???

ray lanigan

why did i sign up,another metal in the bag and i just love doing these,if i could aford to i would run them everey week,newry after this then cork,then a break as our baby is due in the end of june,my endurance is great but not realy any speed in the legs due to lack of any speed work.

Gringo78

ray lanigan wrote: »

my endurance is great but not realy any speed in the legs due to lack of any speed work.

What do you mean by speed & speed work? Do you mean you have done no running at a pace faster than your ultra pace, no running at planned marathon pace or do you mean genuine faster than 10k pace speedwork? I would say that you may find it uncomfortable running at sub 3 pace if you have done no running at or faster than that pace but on the flip side, your endurance will not be found wanting and running at ultra pace and slower will have honed your fat burning so I doubt you will hit the wall or anything. Not much to lose by going for it I would say and you'd surely be there or thereabouts.

ray lanigan

hi gringo,i hanvt ran under a 7 minute mile since dublin marathon,only today i did,been running at about 7.30 pace for the ultra,yep i suppose i have nothing to loose{maybe a few toe nails}going for it,thanks for the feed back.:)

menoscemo

ray lanigan wrote: »

hi gringo,i hanvt ran under a 7 minute mile since dublin marathon,only today i did,been running at about 7.30 pace for the ultra,yep i suppose i have nothing to loose{maybe a few toe nails}going for it,thanks for the feed back.:)

I did Barcelona Marathon while training for the Conn Ultra. I had done all my training at 8:30-9:30/mile and had originally planned on using Barca as a long training Run. However I decided on the day to have a lash at the PB (3:32) and ran 7:40 pace on the day without much bother, So I'd say go for it. You've nothing to lose really.


Savage time in Conn By the way.

liamo123

ray lanigan wrote: »

im running the belfast marathon on sunday and i just got a mad idea in my head to go for a sub 3hr,only problem is i just done the connamara ultra a few weeks back and have only done one speed session since my 2.57 in dublin last year,that was a hour ago 6x6.24min,what you all think?

Hello there running buddy ... IMO u would have run faster in Conn if I didnt hold u up :eek: so give Belfast a lash...I remember u telling me u were coming back from an injury so u should b fresher than most....

Best of Luck...

ray lanigan

thanks everyone for the positive feedback,off now to get a massage into the legs and rest up untill sundays 2.59,ye ha bring it on,keep up the good work everyone,liamo u never held me up if anything u helped me,it better to pace yourself well in the eary stages of the ultras,i would rather b passing people in the later stages then going out to quick and being past in the later stages of the race,c u at connamra next year.

tunguska

ray lanigan wrote: »

im running the belfast marathon on sunday and i just got a mad idea in my head to go for a sub 3hr,only problem is i just done the connamara ultra a few weeks back and have only done one speed session since my 2.57 in dublin last year,that was a hour ago 6x6.24min,what you all think?

Feck that just go for it. You might blow up.......but then again you might pull it off and run even quicker than a 2:57. Training is all well and good but sometimes its great to just show up on race day unprepared and see what happens. Yes I know, Injury this, hitting the wall that, blah blah blah......F u c k it. Just turn up and run your heart out.

jaymack75

ray lanigan wrote: »

better to pace yourself well in the eary stages of the ultras,i would rather b passing people in the later stages

definitely go for the sub3 ray, nice pacing in conn - u went flying past me on the road from leenane, looking very strong....u must have enjoyed the final third??

TFBubendorfer

Good Luck! I had a similar idea last year when I decided to go for a new half-marathon PB in Wexford, 3 weeks after running the Connemara Ultra. Five or six miles into the race I realised that that wasn't a very good idea after all. But I wish you all the best.

TheRoadRunner

go for it whats the worse that could happen (blow up or inflict an injury )

ray lanigan

hi jaymack,yep loved the last third,its them hills that make me enter the race in the first place,i wasnt slowing down at the end so was a little frustrated it was over,maybe a double marathon would suit me better,for anyone that hasnt run connamara its a special race and well worth the efford,thanks for all the replys, you all have me pumped up and raring to go looking forward to sunday now

spurscormac

ray lanigan wrote: »

hi jaymack,yep loved the last third,its them hills that make me enter the race in the first place,i wasnt slowing down at the end so was a little frustrated it was over,maybe a double marathon would suit me better,for anyone that hasnt run connamara its a special race and well worth the efford,thanks for all the replys, you all have me pumped up and raring to go looking forward to sunday now

Don't get yourself too worked up for Sunday, you'll find you'll be hyped 24 hours too early.
http://www.belfastcitymarathon.com/opencontent/?itemid=1

Mick Rice

Completely possible...

Managed a reasonable London seven days after the Conne Ultra. It might happen, it might not.

My advice would be to go for it and find out..

We'll all be dead a long time.

ray lanigan

yep belfast is on monday think i was getting it mixed up with the newry marathon which is on the sunday,thanks mick for your advice will defo be going for it now.great running from yourself at connamara,keep up the good work.

Magnet

Ray are you doing the Connemara 100miles this year?
Good luck in Belfast, one of my favourite marathons, for the people rather than the course!!

ray lanigan

hi magnet,no wont be doing the connamara 100,if i spent any more time training the missus would have her bags packed,but defo one for the future,yep nice crowds in belfast and i like the course aswell.

ray lanigan

us irish are deffintly mad,i put the same question as the one i posted here on a running site in england,and everyone advised me against it,so you all no what im going to do now,2.59 coming up.:p

robinph

I'm currently thinking of going for Amsterdam marathon on 16th April, but I just spotted that it's only 3 weeks after a half marathon I'm already entered in, and that half is two weeks after another half I've entered as well. I really should pay more attention before signing up for all these races.

I think the three weeks might be a bit close between a half and full, but I also should really do a test run marathon before London next year.

Woddle

No better man to break the trend

ray lanigan

off i went to the belfast marathon,standing on the start line today and the heat was to much for me,so shall i go for the sub 3hr or not,i new i dont run well in the heat, a feck it i went with the pacers,off we went and the first mile in 6.20,i struggeled to keep up,to fast for my slow twich muscels after the conamara ultra,2nd mile 6.30,3rdmile 6.40,ok there slowing down now felt a little easier,just wish the heat would go away and the wind,got to mile 7 and my hamstrings were sore and tight already,shall i slow down or keep trying to stay with the pacers,ok i shall keep pushing until i get to half way,mile 10 my legs were battered and every time i tried to drink water from the plastic cups i neary choked,i cant get the hang of drinking from them,we got to mile 13 almost 2min ahead of planed time,to fast for me,desided to ease off and take the rest 13 easy,well for about 3 sec i did,no keep pushing on use your ultra running exsperence and do another mile and battle on,took 2 pain killers at mile 14,and a energy gel and choked on some more water,so i just kept pushing and pushing and would not give in,every time i went to ease up a sec later i would push harder more took anoyher gel at 18,21 and 24,and got over the line in 2hr58.02,i learned today that anything in life that comes easy is not worth having,i had to earn that time today with shear guts,so newry in 3 weeks,think i might do things the right way for this one and do some speed work, i will leave the taper bit out haha, thanks everyone for giving me advice and good luck with all your future goals.:)

cwgatling

Great stuff, well done.

TFBubendorfer

Blimey!

Mick Rice

Fair play Ray!

Another blow struck for the loopers :-)

liamo123

Well done Ray.. Altough TBH after running with u in Conn for so long I was'nt one bit surprised!!!!