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A Slow Journey to Faster Times
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Sunday 12th March - Ballycotton 10'
10m @ 6:16p/m average (163bpm)
A solid effort.
Plenty to be happy with, but also the annoyance of knowing I could have done better.
Pre-Race
Was staying in Killeagh with three other Ballycotton participants. It's not far away. We left at 12pm and were in Garryvoe before 12:30. It seemed we got the very last shuttle bus though and even moving towards the start with half an hour to spare, I knew I'd probably struggle to get close enough to the front of the field to be in the 'right' position. That proved to be the case, when after spending fifteen minutes of squeezing through, I'd only barely managed to get in line with the 'Under 65 minutes' sign. Spotted adrian522 as I got ready to race and we exchanged good wishes, before I settled in behind my old sparring partner paddybarry. Quick hello to him too and we were off soon after that.
The Race
In theory, lining up at the 'Under 65 minutes' sign should see my first mile no slower than 6:30 right? We all know that's not really the case, especially in a race with a start as narrow as Ballycotton.
Mile 1 (6:34)
Boxed in. I could go nowhere. Just ran at whatever pace the field was moving and didn't bother looking at my watch as I could do nothing about the pace. There was nowhere to go. I sat and suffered going downhill in what probably should be the fastest mile of the race. It ended up being my slowest. I believe I lost at least 30 seconds. I decided to just run the rest of the race as planned and not let it upset me. If I tried to start clawing it back by pushing too early, I could blow up before the end and ruin my entire race. This way I'd only lose 30-40 seconds and I could justify that to myself at the end. Detonating in mile 7 chasing lost time would be much harder to take. Decision made.
Mile 2 (6:15)
Around halfway through this mile, you take the first obvious turn right and the road opens up a bit. Now was my chance to get back on track. I eased the effort up a notch and immediately started overtaking people. Wasn't paying much attention to the watch, but automatically felt when I was at the correct effort and focused on maintaining it. Pleased to see 6:15 flash up. That seemed about right.
Mile 3 (6:14)
Field was starting to thin out a little bit now. Never spotted Murph_D, even though I know he started up beside Mick Clohisey :pac:. Up ahead I could now see Ferris B & paddybarry. I gradually reeled Ferris in and grunted that I'd been "held up at the start" as I passed. He informed me afterwards that he thought I'd said "I really have to fart". This caused him to laugh, which led to his stitch that cost him sub 64 (or so we're to believe
). I then moved past paddybarry. I was going to mutter something to him too about pushing on, but I was gasping a bit and decided against it. I expected him to sit on my shoulder anyway, as he said he was going to pace off me before the race.
Mile 4-6 (6:16, 6:18, 6:17)
From what I remember, these three miles were the toughest of the race. We seemed to be running straight into whatever wind was blowing during this section. I just about held the same pace, but it definitely felt more difficult. There were lots of spectators in different spots along here, making plenty of noise and offering great support. My own crew gave me a real boost at the four mile marker with a brilliant shout out. In general though, I thought the crowd were fantastic. I remember thinking the atmosphere out on the route was the closest I've come to a big city marathon in a road race of a different distance. Out in the middle of the countryside we were treated to huge encouragement from large pockets of people, who picked out names & club singlets and roared them on enthusiastically. Far from partisan either. Whether it was Dublin, Derry, Galway or Cork, they all got the same treatment. Super stuff!
Mile 7 (6:11)
We must have turned out of the wind here, as my pace started to pick up at the same effort. I still felt ok, but was starting to pass more and more people. From knowing the course, I also knew I was now heading in the right direction. That always helps me pick up the pace, no matter what the conditions.
Mile 8 (6:11)
My crew had managed to get themselves to the turn just before the 8m marker and gave me another massive shout out. A realisation that I was still in good shape and had less than twenty minutes of running left helped to produce a little injection of pace. I was passing a lot of people now, which only helped me keep up the pace. I started to look forward to the final hill, knowing I could pass even more. I can't remember how long it's been since I enjoyed the final stages of a race so much.
Mile 9 (6:16)
This mile is a little bit lumpy. I didn't feel like I dropped effort or pace, but the clock says otherwise. I think momentum suffers a bit here as you're going up and down little rises and falls which makes it harder to find a rhythm. I ploughed on while passing a few more and eyeing the final left turn, knowing that I only had a straight 1.5m run home from there. A group of 5/6 with a Mallow AC female were just ahead of me. All I was thinking turning the corner was there was no way anyone in that group was finishing ahead of me. It just wasn't happening.
Mile 10 (6:06)
My fastest mile of the race. My slowest came in reverse back down the hill. If I can run 6:06 up a hill after nine fastish miles, I think I could have at least matched it in mile one in reverse coming down. Anyway......
I started to pass a few in the little group I mentioned. After I got by them all, one guy in a blue shirt came back by me. This guy and me had been exchanging places since early in the race. Other than that, I wasn't passed by anyone. I wasn't going to let him win our personal battle that easy. "Go ahead" I said, "but you'd want to take a fair auld lead if you don't to be overtaken again. When I empty this tank, I'm taking everyone within 100 yards". Obviously these words all took place in my head and the guy in blue probably wasn't even aware of our personal duel. I'm going to pretend he was though :pac:. I held pace passing through the town, getting another great shout out from annapr & co. half a mile from home. Then as we reached the 300m metre mark, I hit the gas. I think I made up another 6/7 places. Flew over the line. The boy in blue didn't stand a chance. Or the other few ahead of him
. I had 5:58 on the Garmin for the last mile, but it measured 10.03, so I guess I'll have to add that 8 seconds too. Still happy with that though, in what is a pretty tough closing mile.
Garmin trace here.
Official Time: 62:38
Post-Race
Hung around for Ferris B to see how he'd got on and gave paddybarry a wave before we left the finish area. He was obviously lurking on my shoulder as promised. Quick catch up with Murph_D & adrian522 too and I was off back to my lodgings. Big feed, then the long drive back to the Capital. Legs fine. Everything fine in fact. This week's training will be tough, but I'm not dreading it as much as I expected to.
Thoughts
I think I ran better today than I ran in Trim. Without the self-inflicted slow first mile, I think I may have gone sub 62. If not, I'd have been very close and although today offered pretty good conditions, Trim was even more ideal. The main thing though, was the difference in effort. I was flat out in Trim all the way. I didn't ever feel like that today. That's progress to me. I'm looking forward to London.0 -
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P
Just to be 100% you are not selling yourself short with the 6:30 MP.
Could you have kept that pace for another 3-4 miles on Thursday ? Remember this was done on your biggest mileage week so its not the same as doing 10 mile MP on fresh legs, the accumulated fatigue make it more like the last 10 miles
You have admitted that the legs are heavy/in need of a rub combine this with the taper they should have more bounce/freshness on the day
Again you are experienced enough to make the correct choice but maybe leave it till the week of the race before making a final decision on MP on the day.
Hi Ger.
What you're insinuating is exactly the philosophy of the authors. They feel that other plans focus far too much on the weekly long run and the hallowed distance of 20 miles (or more). Their attitude is to load the week evenly with tough workouts, so that you're almost always running on tired legs and that the long run (and probably the MP sessions too) feel like the final miles of a marathon rather than the the early ones. The long runs in this plan are generally 25-30% of the total weekly mileage and always coming off two tough sessions in the previous five days. You don't get a 'taper' ahead of them as you do in some other plans. They don't feel a run of further than 16m is necessary as you'll spend too much time on your feet and need more time to recover from that, which in turn will affect your training for the following week. My longest run timewise has been about 1:53/54. This doesn't worry me at all. Seems to worry anyone else I tell about it though. Anyway, I guess we'll find out who's right in three weeks. The Hansons or the rest
You could be right about the 6:30 MP, but I'm happy enough to realise that halfway into the race and pick it up. Boston & New York are the two worst races I've ever run at any distance in my life (Boston especially by a long way). The funny thing is the exact same thing caused both horrific experiences. I went out at too fast a pace for my fitness level at the time and paid for it (still paying interest on Boston :rolleyes:). I am adamant I am never going to repeat them again (especially Boston). New York was unpleasant, but was a far more gradual slowdown. Boston was hell. I think it's the worst I've ever felt physically after a race too. I was in a bad way for a while afterwards. I was done after 7 miles there. It's a long way home when you've nothing left with almost 20 miles to cover. Even though I've been in plenty of pain in many races, I still enjoyed them at some stage during and reflecting on them after. Not so those two. I'm ashamed of both of them (especially Boston). And I can't blame anything bar my own stupidity.
For London, I have three main goals:
1. - Run a significant pb (5mins+)
2. - Run a negative split (have still yet to manage it, even pacing DCM :pac:)
3. - Mile 1 to be my slowest of the race. Mile 26 to be my fastest.
If I achieve those three goals, I will be over the moon. Going out at 6:30 and blowing up doesn't interest me. 6:30 per mile for the distance still wouldn't get me under 2:50, so I'm happy enough to be more conservative starting off. If I feel really good, who knows? I may pick it up and get close to that number, but I'd much rather be chasing that down at the end than clinging onto 2:52 or so and going backwards. My last two raced marathons have featured bigger detonations than Hiroshima and I don't think anyone wants another one of them. I achieved goals 2 & 3 in Ballycotton and felt a million dollars climbing the hill in the last mile. That's the feeling I want going by Big Ben.0 -
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London Marathon - Week 16/18
Another week over with. The Hansons have me knackered though!
Monday 3rd April
6m @ 7:50p/m average (129bpm avg)
Early run into work. All done by 8:30am, giving me almost 36 hours to recover for Tuesday's strength session.
Tuesday 4th April
2m w/u @ 7:53p/m average (123bpm avg)
4 x 1.5m @ 6:17p/m average with 800m recoveries (155bpm)
2m c/d @ 8:08p/m average (130bpm avg)
Had been a little worried about this with the fatigue really starting to build in the legs lately. Found the first one a bit difficult, but the other three were fine. Never really felt like I was pushing too hard and the HR bears that out.
Wednesday 5th April
Rest
Thursday 6th April
2m w/u @ 7:52p/m average (132bpm avg)
10m @ 6:28p/m average (159bpm)
2m c/d @ 7:50p/m average (148bpm avg)
As mentioned last week, this will not be my MP. I don't think it will do me any harm to continue running at this pace for the remainder of the plan though. Was out early for this, which seemed to make it even more difficult! There was a howler of a wind blowing which made some of the miles a hell of a lot tougher than others. Mile 9 was one of those and the 6:29 there took much more of an effort than it should have. However, having taken a turn out of the wind early in Mile 10 I kept up the effort and finished off with a 6:16 mile. I've only actually noticed it now on review, as it was completely unintentional. I hope I haven't done any damage.
Friday 7th April
6m @ 8:02p/m average (122bpm avg)
Took this very easy after yesterday's session. Felt more like a recovery run.
Saturday 8th April
10m @ 7:48p/m average (136bpm avg)
Didn't get out for this until the afternoon due to various other commitments. Didn't feel great and HR is higher than ideal for the pace, but it was quite warm outside.
Sunday 9th April
10m @ 7:45p/m average (134bpm avg)
Golfing in the morning while simultaneously trying to stay updated with exploits in Rotterdam. Some truly heroic performances there. We've almost come to expect it at this stage from those involved, but serious kudos nonetheless. I can't find the words to justifiably describe how impressed I was. Anyway, onto my own far less inspiring run. This week is almost identical to last week without the long run, so not really surprising that I was completely wiped before I even finished the golf. Getting off the couch afterwards was hard work, but I eventually managed it for what felt like a real plod. An ordeal. No fun.
I am exhausted!
The Wednesday session (Rest Day) has long been my favourite part of the Hansons plan. I'm hoping I'm supposed to be this fatigued, because I'm fcuked otherwise
. I've deliberately put back the sports massage until after I complete my final two sessions this week. The thinking being I'll get some bounce back in the legs. Couple that with a week of easy running and I'll be raring to go on the 23rd. Right? 0 -
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London Marathon - Week 17/18
Thought today would be a 'good' day to update the log......:rolleyes:
Monday 10th April
8m @ 8:01p/m average (127bpm avg)
Did this one early again so it would act as recovery for the previous day and give me plenty of time before the strength session on Tuesday evening.
Tuesday 11th April
1.5m w/u @ 8:27p/m average (128bpm avg)
6 x 1m @ 6:19p/m average with 400m recoveries (152bpm)
1.5m c/d @ 8:20p/m average (129bpm avg)
The lack of a 'long' run last weekend and the 30+ hour gap between runs seemed to really help me here. After the intial struggle to get up to strength pace from the warm-up, I found this fairly comfortable.
Wednesday 12th April
Rest
Thursday 13th April
2m w/u @ 7:58p/m average (127bpm avg)
10m @ 6:32p/m average (151bpm)
2m c/d @ 7:50p/m average (135bpm avg)
Did this in the PP at around 6pm. Couldn't believe how empty the place was. Virtually no car traffic and not many pedestrians, runners, cyclists etc. either. A bit weird. Anyway, got this one ticked off as planned. Was wary of doing something stupid at this late stage and made sure not to.
Friday 14th April
7m @ 8:27p/m average (126bpm avg)
Over to St Anne's this morning to run this with DNS crew. Chatted away throughout and it's pretty obvious we made sure not to go too fast. Coffee afterwards, but the AGM had to be postponed due to Murph_D's absence :pac:.
So that's just about it.
68.2 miles left to cover to complete the Hansons Marathon Method. 42 of those are at prescribed easy pace, with the final 26.2 not so easy!
I've really enjoyed this plan and can definitely see the philosophy of the authors. I guess only time will tell how effective it's been.
Other than the easy miles over the next eight days, the only other thing left to do is get psyched up for the race with some of the book's recommended pre-race tunes
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