Improved Marathon Times

Mr abbey

Hi guys, am running my third DCM next month and am currently contemplating pacing for this one. I know everyone is different but just out of curiosity would love to hear how much some of your finishing times improved (or not) over your first several attempts, if anyone would like to share.

Thanks.

TFBubendorfer

My first 8 marathon times were 4:06 - 4:36 - 3:55 - 4:11 - 3:28 - 3:12 - 3:09 - 3:05

After that it didn't improve quite as smoothly any more but I did eventually get my time down to 2:55

rom

4:27 - 3:18 - 3:04 - 2:58 - ?

rainbow kirby

Have done 3: 4:24, 4:27 (training broken by an injury and finishing my masters thesis), 3:59.

RayCun

3.58, 3.29, 2.59

Rantan

DCM 09 4.21
Kildare 11 3.44
DCM 11 3.38
Kildare 12 3.33
DCM 12 3.28
Cork 13 3.27!
DCM 13 3.26!!

the last 3 are intriguing/annoying

aim to go sub 3.20 this year if it effin kills me -

ooter

RayCun wrote: »

3.58, 3.29, 2.59

Jaysus,well done.

RayCun

2.5 years between marathons 2 and 3!

career move

RayCun wrote: »

2.5 years between marathons 2 and 3!

You must be psychic! I was just about to ask how long it took because we have similar times for marathons 1 and 2 but I'm a long way from 2:59! Do you think joining a club was the biggest factor in your improvement? Do you think you'd have improved as much on your own if you did the same solid consistent running over the 2.5 years?

RayCun

career move wrote: »

You must be psychic! I was just about to ask how long it took because we have similar times for marathons 1 and 2 but I'm a long way from 2:59! Do you think joining a club was the biggest factor in your improvement? Do you think you'd have improved as much on your own if you did the same solid consistent running over the 2.5 years?

It seems anything but consistent to me...
I had a good year of improvement, from post marathon 2011 to late 2012. Half marathon time in 2011 was 1.37, in 2012 was 1.24, and through the winter I had more good PBs at 5k, 5 mile, 10k. During that year I raced quite a lot (mainly BHAA), attended club sessions regularly, and was training consistently (2600 miles for the year). If I'd run DCM in 2012, it probably would have been about 3.05 (though I might have blown up going for the 3)
Spring of last year I got injured, **** all running for months. Started back properly in late summer/autumn. Training on my own because of coaching commitments. Didn't make as much progress as I'd have liked - maybe partly the Daniels plan I was following was too much, or I was over-reaching, whatever. The last month before the marathon was more or less a write-off, so in the end I was lucky/happy with anything under 3.
This time around, I have more of a base, I'm doing regular club sessions but also they're pretty much the only sessions I'm doing, and I'm happier with how things are going.

eh, short answer - regular, faster runs are important, either plenty of races or club sessions that will have you pushing yourself BUT not at the cost of injury. All the gains I made in the second half of 2012 were wiped out in 2013 by pushing too much

ooter

RayCun wrote: »

2.5 years between marathons 2 and 3!

My debut marathon @ DCM 13 is a similar time to your marathon 2 time,if I could make the same improvement @ DCM 14 I'd be a very happy bunny.

menoscemo

October 2009 4:15
October 2010 3:32
February 2011 3:24
March 2012 3:10
April 2013 3:04

For the first year or two it is easy to make massive marathon gains on the back of year long consistent, structured training. After that it gets harder....

Itziger

Rotterdam '11 - 3.32
Echternach'11 - 3.25
Metz '12 - 3.14
Valencia '12 - 3.12
Metz '13 - 3.09
Frankfurt '14 - ????????

ThePiedPiper

DCM 05 - 3:36
DCM 06 - 3:23
Conn 06 - 3:15
DCM 07 - 3:12
Paris 08 - 3:00
Berlin 08 - 3:05
Boston 09 - 3:33
NYC 09 - 3:17
Drogheda 10 - 3:39
Amsterdam 10 - 3:05
Seville '11 - 2:58
DCM '11 - 3:07
London '12 - 3:22
Budapest 12 - 2:58
Chicago 13 - 2:50
Cork 14 - 2:58
Frankfurt 14 - ???? Hopefully 2:4x

Rubbish pacing, an injury, children, building houses, going back to college meant at times running wasn't top of the agenda, but the stagnation between 3:00 and 2:58 was pretty annoying!

SamforMayo

RunForestRun wrote: »

DCM 05 - 3:36
DCM 06 - 3:23
Conn 06 - 3:15
DCM 07 - 3:12
Paris 08 - 3:00
Berlin 08 - 3:05
Boston 09 - 3:33
NYC 09 - 3:17
Drogheda 10 - 3:39
Amsterdam 10 - 3:05
Seville '11 - 2:58
DCM '11 - 3:07
London '12 - 3:22
Budapest 12 - 2:58
Chicago 13 - 2:50
Cork 14 - 2:58
Frankfurt 14 - ???? Hopefully 2:4x

Rubbish pacing, an injury, children, building houses, going back to college meant at times running wasn't top of the agenda, but the stagnation between 3:00 and 2:58 was pretty annoying!

Bloody hell with that list you picked your name well!

ger664

Of the ones I have raced

Dublin 09 3:58
Belfast 10 4:01
Athens 10 3:51
Sixmilebridge 11 3:43
Portumna 13 3:52
Seville 14 3:21

I am done with my marathon PB unless RC goes faster then me.

jfh

RunForestRun wrote: »

DCM 05 - 3:36
DCM 06 - 3:23
Conn 06 - 3:15
DCM 07 - 3:12
Paris 08 - 3:00
Berlin 08 - 3:05
Boston 09 - 3:33
NYC 09 - 3:17
Drogheda 10 - 3:39
Amsterdam 10 - 3:05
Seville '11 - 2:58
DCM '11 - 3:07
London '12 - 3:22
Budapest 12 - 2:58
Chicago 13 - 2:50
Cork 14 - 2:58
Frankfurt 14 - ???? Hopefully 2:4x

Rubbish pacing, an injury, children, building houses, going back to college meant at times running wasn't top of the agenda, but the stagnation between 3:00 and 2:58 was pretty annoying!

Fair going to keep running amid building a house & children.
Some list, what was your favourite?

ThePiedPiper

jfh wrote: »

Fair going to keep running amid building a house & children.
Some list, what was your favourite?

London probably the best in terms of atmosphere, course, access, etc. but, loved Chicago too, for the savage fast course, the craic with the boards team we had..

PaulieYifter

Here goes:

Dublin 2010 - 3:47
Cork 2011 - 3:41
Berlin 2011 - 3:27
Rotterdam 2012 - 3:25
Cork 2012 - 3:14
Dingle 2012 - 3:18
Dublin 2012 - 3:06
Boston 2013 - 3:02
Cork 2013 - 3:00
San Sebastian 2013 - 3:09
Longford 2014 - 2:58

PVincent

1982 Dublin - 4.11
2003 New York - 3.36
2004 Dublin - 3.24
2005 New York - 3.24
2009 - Chicago - 3.35 ( after two years out of running with serious illness, and I consider this to be my best achievement )
2010 - Dublin - 3.20 a dream day and run
2011 - Dublin - 3.41 ( injury at 16 miles, my worst experience in a marathon)
2012 - London - 3.25

Yes a long gap between 1 & 2 , I was just 20 when I ran my first and 41 when I ran my second and 48 when I ran my best. So age is not a barrier to getting better. It's just takes a little more clever training and looking after the body. Still have hopes to better that at the age of 52 ..was meant to go to Berlin but nasty injury has meant its London next April for maybe one more go at the PB .
People should always remember that even with better training and more experience , you still need all the cards to fall in your favour if you are run a PB .

Ososlo

PVincent wrote: »

1982 Dublin - 4.11
2003 New York - 3.36
2004 Dublin - 3.24
2005 New York - 3.24
2009 - Chicago - 3.35 ( after two years out of running with serious illness, and I consider this to be my best achievement )
2010 - Dublin - 3.20 a dream day and run
2011 - Dublin - 3.41 ( injury at 16 miles, my worst experience in a marathon)
2012 - London - 3.25

Yes a long gap between 1 & 2 , I was just 20 when I ran my first and 41 when I ran my second and 48 when I ran my best. So age is not a barrier to getting better. It's just takes a little more clever training and looking after the body. Still have hopes to better that at the age of 52 ..was meant to go to Berlin but nasty injury has meant its London next April for maybe one more go at the PB .
People should always remember that even with better training and more experience , you still need all the cards to fall in your favour if you are run a PB .

So interesting to read that.
You're only 52. Why would you say maybe 'one more go at the PB'? You weren't far off it in 2012.
You should start a log in your quest for your pb;)

PVincent

I suppose the question is whether I will still have the desire to go that bit faster in a marathon. I will never knock the competitive edge out of me , that is born into you , but other challenges are maybe driving me. Shorter races,and being more competitive at my age category is really what gets me going. I made the Dublin team for the Masters CC last year and that was as big a thrill as anything for me , so it's not that I don't want to do well, it's just maybe in a different area . I still want to do all of the marathon Majors . That's what is annoying about missing Berlin. Still London is a stunning marathon.

And sorry , I am not into the blog stuff. I do sometimes keep a running diary , but nearly always lapse out of keeping it.

SamforMayo

PVincent wrote: »

1982 Dublin - 4.11
2003 New York - 3.36
2004 Dublin - 3.24
2005 New York - 3.24
2009 - Chicago - 3.35 ( after two years out of running with serious illness, and I consider this to be my best achievement )
2010 - Dublin - 3.20 a dream day and run
2011 - Dublin - 3.41 ( injury at 16 miles, my worst experience in a marathon)
2012 - London - 3.25

Yes a long gap between 1 & 2 , I was just 20 when I ran my first and 41 when I ran my second and 48 when I ran my best. So age is not a barrier to getting better. It's just takes a little more clever training and looking after the body. Still have hopes to better that at the age of 52 ..was meant to go to Berlin but nasty injury has meant its London next April for maybe one more go at the PB .
People should always remember that even with better training and more experience , you still need all the cards to fall in your favour if you are run a PB .

Wow that's an interesting journey, super stuff after coming back from illness. Best of luck with your goals.

TFBubendorfer

RayCun wrote: »

3.29

I remember that well

PaulieYifter wrote: »

Cork 2012 - 3:14

and that

Krusty_Clown

<35 years no running + 16 months fluting around>
Longford 2008 - 3:25
<8 weeks>
Dublin 2008 - 3:22
<1 year>
Berlin 2009 - 3:00
<6 months>
Barcelona 2010 - 2:55
<6 months>
Berlin 2010 - 2:48
<13 months - ultra stuff>
Chicago 2011 - 2:48 (hot!)
<5 months>
Boston 2012 - 3:03 (very hot!)
<4 week rebound>
Kildare 2012 - 2:46
<6 months>
Dublin 2012 - 2:43
<6 months>
London 2013 - 2:38
<6 months>
Dublin 2013 - 2:38
<12 months>
Frankfurt 2014 - .........?

nobody told me

Ran dublin last year as my first marathon and broke 3 hours by running 2:55, since the marathon, training has been poor if not non-existent.
Went for my first run last night in 3 months and can barely hold 9minute mile pace, disgusted with myself, it's going to be a long road back to fitness.

ooter

nobody told me wrote: »

Ran dublin last year as my first marathon and broke 3 hours by running 2:55.

Jaysus that's impressive,well done.

BeepBeep67

DNF (stomach cramps)
3:09
DNF (unseasonably hot - was all over the shop)
2:57
DNF (rib injury)
To be continued
I see a pattern.

ThebitterLemon

First marathon: Amsterdam: 3.18

90 odd marathons later: Limerick: 3.17

About a month later: Waterford: 3.15

Two years later: Limerick: 3.09

Back to where it all started: Amsterdam October 19th: 3.0x?

TbL

opus

Had to do some digging to find my first three times but anyway.

Cork '10 - 3:26:41 (first running event of any kind for me)
Berlin '10 - 3:18:24
Leipzig '11 - 2:59:49

I managed to improve my time a small bit in the VLM in '12 but since then I've been concentrating more on the Comrades ultramarathon so getting a good few marathons & ultras as training runs. Haven't given up on improvement at some stage but find it hard to muster up the enthusiasm for an Autumn marathon after the Comrades efforts. Yes I know I just need to HTFU

Itziger

opus wrote: »

Had to do some digging to find my first three times but anyway.

Cork '10 - 3:26:41 (first running event of any kind for me)
Berlin '10 - 3:18:24
Leipzig '11 - 2:59:49

I managed to improve my time a small bit in the VLM in '12 but since then I've been concentrating more on the Comrades ultramarathon so getting a good few marathons & ultras as training runs. Haven't given up on improvement at some stage but find it hard to muster up the enthusiasm for an Autumn marathon after the Comrades efforts. Yes I know I just need to HTFU

You're being a bit modest not throwing up your London time. 2.55.xx was it?