Not Quite Four Laps

ray lanigan

youve done savage training for this marathon,now just go up there and do what you where born to do:)

Rolex_

Best of luck mate, you're well set.

KielyUnusual

Friday

Rest

Saturday

5 miles @ 7m40s/mile

No real reason for this run other than to soothe the mind. Felt good on the run and was eager to up the pace a little bit, so happy out.

Cheers Rolex and Ray. You've given me some good advice over the past while which I've really appreciated.

pconn062

Good luck on Monday Kiely, hope it goes well for you.

theboyblunder

Best of luck!

ThePiedPiper

Enjoy the race Monday KU. I'll give you a shout out if I see you. Best of luck

beeduybe

Good luck on Monday. You've put in some great training over the last few months. Will be interested to see how you get on.

liamo123

Long time lurker, 1st time poster.....Best of luck tomorrow man... Great training so go and give it socks!

KielyUnusual

Hey RFR,

If you're on the course, I'm number 2531 and I'll be wearing either a plain grey shirt or one with Marquette written on it, some navy blue running shorts too most likely. Give us a shout if you see a blurred version of that as I flash by:D.

ThePiedPiper

Will do. I'm planning on heading out towards Milltown to cheer on the runners before the long drag up Clonskeagh. Judging by the forecast, looks like I'll be needing plenty of layers of warm clothes. Hopefully the weather won't be a factor for all the runners. Enjoy the race.

ronnie085

Best of luck tomorrow, super training over the last few months, this is the easy bit

Clearlier

Just wanted to wish you the best of luck tomorrow.

theboyblunder

Best of luck ku!

Micilin Muc

Go n-éirí leat, a Chadhlaigh Neamhghnách!

Looking forward to seeing a good result from you!

KielyUnusual

2:48.36

Couldn't have went better really. I'll knock up a report tomorrow evening after work. Now back in for a few pints.

ThePiedPiper

Absolutely savage. I think I shouted out at you at Milltown but you were moving too fast to notice I'd say. Well done, serious performance. Enjoy the pints, well deserved.

KielyUnusual

RunForestRun wrote: »

Absolutely savage. I think I shouted out at you at Milltown but you were moving too fast to notice I'd say. Well done, serious performance. Enjoy the pints, well deserved.

Aye, I heard you giving me a shout just as I was going by but I was taken by surprise and a little bit too far past to acknowledge, Much appreciated though. I got in a few celebratory hand claps with family and friends round Trinity which I really enjoyed.

liamo123

Absoutely superb performance.. U ran the perfect race...was following ur progress on the tracker and ur splits just got quicker and quicker... Enjoy ur pints..U deserve them!!!

ray lanigan

top class performance,its great to see ya putting in the hard graft and then getting the results

myflipflops

That's how you pace a marathon!

theboyblunder

well done KU! only one person passed me after 20 miles. It must have been you! Savage second half. looking forward to the report.

cwgatling

Jesus you nailed that one Kiely. Great running.

nerraw1111

That's some negative split. You must've been going like a train in the second half.

ronnie085

Great running Kiely, you deserved that, some great training over the last while and you ran the perfect race, congrats

KielyUnusual

This was my third marathon after Dublin (3.30) last year and Edinburgh (3.06) last May. My training for both was a little erratic, missing weeks here and there and running nearly all my runs at a similar pace. Even looking back at the start of this log, I was preparing for the 5 mile race by running 5 miles 4/5 times a week at almost full pelt. I was probably heading for an injury and wasn’t going to improve much the way I was going. After some great advice from different boardsies, I devised a schedule for Dublin consisting of three tough sessions a week with recovery and easy runs in between. My tough sessions were generally mile repeats, a short to medium length marathon paced run and a long run. I peaked at about 70 miles in the weeks before and after the race series half marathon. I got some good weeks in after the half and I was confident going in to the marathon proper.

I had a bog standard taper in the week leading up to the race with just three or four short runs. I was knocking back the carbs but no more than usual. Like any young Irishman I like a good shovel load of spuds to accompany all my meals. Woke up on the morning of the race, well rested and no sign of any niggle that might be of concern. Cycled into town and the weather conditions seemed ideal. No strong winds or humidity, which is all I was concerned about. Was at the start with 10 minutes to go where I bumped into runsir. Had a bit of a chat, which kept any potential nerves at bay that might have accrued.

To Halfway
Mentally, I had the race divided up into four sections. I wanted to take it out easy and be a bit behind pace at 5 miles, run at my race pace (6m30s/mile) up to halfway. If I felt good here, I was going to try and pick up the pace to make up time after my easy start. By twenty miles, I figured I’d need to put in a massive effort just to maintain pace and come in some time just above 2hr50min. The most important thing I felt was to start at an easy pace so all that was going through my head on the start was ‘ Don’t get carried away, don’t get carried away, don’t get carried away’. The gun went and there was little or no congestion at the start so I could dictate my own pace very easily. I somehow managed to miss the first two mile markers, so I was slightly worried until I got to the third mile marker and saw I was 40 seconds behind pace. This was basically where I wanted to be. At this pointed I spotted some lads from Raheny AC whom I had run with in both the ten mile and the half. I found out they were aiming for 2.50 as well, so I slotted in and enjoyed their company until half way. At 5 miles (33.3x) I was about a minute behind pace and this was exactly where I wanted to be. Managed to keep this minute difference till halfway, knocking out what I’d say were fairly consistent 6:30 miles. The stretch in the park was particularly enjoyable with the morning mist providing a lovely vista for all the runners. I was feeling really good and at halfway I decided I would move off on my own. Looking back I was shocked to see that our original group of four had swelled to about 50 runners.
Up to 20 miles

After breaking away from the group, it took me a while to make headway. I was determined not to look back but I was hearing the ‘Come on Raheny’ shouts for 2 or 3 miles so I knew they weren’t too far away. The field was really strung out ahead but from about 15-16 miles, I started to make my way through them. I was just concentrating on the person ahead and decided not to calculate my pace until the 20 mile marker. I was really surprised how well the race was going. My mind flashed back to the race last year when the first 15 miles of the race had been tortuous and it took all my willpower just to hang on to the coat tails of the 3.30 pacers. Now I was running a minute and a half quicker per mile and felt like I could have kept going for hours. There was a slight bit of anxiety there given I had felt almost as good in Edinburgh and died a death at the 20 mile mark. I was much better prepared this time so reaching the 20 mile marker in 2.10.27, I drove on and put all thoughts of a dramatic collapse to the back of my mind.

To the line

I threw caution to the wind and really started racing for the final 10K. One big psychological boost came when I passed a guy from the Blayney Rockets club, whom I had paced out a few miles with in both the 10 mile and the half. He had finished stronger than me in both and pulled away over the last couple of miles. I went past him at 22/23 miles and really kicked away just in case he decided to stay with me. Having picked up the pace, I didn’t really slow down and I reckon I finished the last three miles at close to 6 minute mile pace. There was one really bizarre moment on Pearse Street when I got caught in a no mans land and I didn’t see another runner for about half a mile. It crossed my mind that this is exactly as it would be for the leader as he finished out the last mile of the race. One can dream, can’t they. Coming around Trinity, some friends and family were cheering me on from just outside the main entrance. I got in some celebratory high fives then turned the corner and went flat out for the last 500 or so metres to the finish. Looked at the clock and couldn’t believe it when I saw 2:48.3x. Amazing feeling.

Analysis

I had a plan and it came off far better than I could have expected it. My splits made for very satisfying reading after the race

10K 41:16 Average pace: 6:39
Half 1:26:29 Average pace 6:34
20M 2:10:26 Average pace 6:23
Finish 2:48:27 Average pace 6:08

Conclusion

I'm putting down a lot of my improvement to the 1600m repeats I started running for this training cycle. I really felt that after each of these sessions I was running a lot easier and my running economy came on leaps and bounds as a direct result of running fast. I couldn't recommend these sessions more as part of a marathon training plan. They were much tougher than any point in the actual marathon. Actually looking back, there were 10 or 12 sessions I did that were a lot tougher than the marathon itself. I suppose I just banked a bit of pain so I could relax and enjoy the day. Most of my race day strategy came from this interview with Bart Yasso. Some man, I'd recommend anyone planning to run a marathon to have a listen
http://marathontalk.com/podcast/episode_85_bart_yasso.php

Thanks to everyone for all the advice over the course of this training log. There's some people on this forum who really go out of their way to share the benefit of their experience. I hope to contribute a bit more now that I've run a marathon that I'm happy with from start to finish. Give a little back.

pconn062

Great report Kiely, those splits make for awesome reading. I'd say you could run a cracking 5/10k now, and sub 2.40 next year is definitely achievable.

TRR

pconn062 wrote: »

Great report Kiely, those splits make for awesome reading. I'd say you could run a cracking 5/10k now, and sub 2.40 next year is definitely achievable.

+1 I didn't realise you had improved by so much so quickly. That's great guns, those splits are animal. I wouldn't say one person passed you the second half of the race. Do you train with a club? What's your next short and long term goal?

myflipflops

You averaged 6.08 for the last 6+ miles and finished flat out for the last 500m? No leg cramps or struggle? Superb effort.

Way more in you over the next year. 2.36 a very realistic target.

ThePiedPiper

Great race and very enjoyable report KU. Incredible improvements over the last few months, and seemingly loads more potential. Best of luck with wherever it takes you from here.

theboyblunder

I remember that guy from Blayney Rockets at nutley lane, we must have been very close to one another at that point.

Jesus, I was speeding up then and you still put a minute into me over the last 4 miles.

Oh well there goes my post race buzz.....it was good while it lasted

Fantastic finish,well done. Please post a photo so I have you marked for next time .