From 20 a day to 3:30...

NetwerkErrer

All the best tomorrow JD! Have a gud un!

JohnDozer

Kilnaboy 10 2015 - 1:11:00

Kilnaboy 10 2014 - 1:19:22

It's PB beer time...

Proper report to follow tomorrow sometime...

A happy man tonight!

adrian522

Crazy improvement in the space of a year enjoy the beers, consider them training for the beer mile!

Ososlo

Congrats JD! That's fantastic improvement!
Looking forward to the report.

JohnDozer

Monday 6th - Rest. I now know that the second day after an LSR is my sweet spot when it comes to feeling the stiffness and soreness. Maybe the recovery run yesterday was ill advised. Had a good few opportunities to get out as I had a day off work, but just couldn't face into battering the legs any further.

Tuesday 7th - All was good in the world again this morning, fresh legs and a fresh mind. Decided to try out a session that featured a lot in the last marathon plan I did, which was 2 marathon pace intervals of 15 minutes each. The most challenging part of this was selecting a marathon pace as I don't really have one, as the objective of this one is to run from start to finish without walking and to learn as much as I can from it. I don't really fancy 10+ miles of purgatory yet again. I'm viewing this as a learning curve, with a view to building confidence ahead of a proper effort in the Autumn. As the log title suggests, 3:30 will probably be the goal for that effort, so decided to pick a goal pace for the session half way between the then and now pace - around the 8:15 mark. I've no idea where the logic for that came from, and the less said about it the better! I'll be running Limerick well within my comfort zone for the first 16/18 miles and see what happens then. Anyway, the session ended up with the two Mp intervals at around 8:10 pace. Total 9.5m, 82 mins, avg pace 8:35

Over the course of the day I managed to decide that a second run might be a good idea, seeing as I had all the extra time to spare and it was a beautiful sunny evening. I also knew I might miss a run later in the week due to work, and reduced weekend mileage due to an upcoming race, so decision made and off I went about 8 hours after the previous run. I hadn't intended to go as far or as high as I ended up, but I felt good so I did. Total 6.4m, 56 mins, avg pace 8:45

Wednesday 8th - Headed off early to the club run to get a few miles in by myself. Decided on doing 5 on the normal club route first. Had a real spring in the step so decided to just go with the flow which ended up in a nice progression run which had me working hard on the hilly terrain and back to the club in time for a 10 minute breather. Total 4.9m, 38 mins, avg pace 7:35 (Strava is doing this weird thing recently where if the run ends in a 0 after the decimal point, it rounds it back down to .9, so 5 becomes 4.9, 6 becomes 5.9 and so on)

5 of us headed off then for what seemed like a nice relaxed pace for the first mile. One of the others pushed it on a bit and I went with him, winding it up all the way to the finish. I really have no self control at the moment, but I hope I'll earn it as I get older and wiser!! Total 4.9m (5 on the garmin), 38.5 mins, avg pace 7:42.

This is definately not ideal running, and is the kind of thing gets me in trouble. I guess I lack a bit of discipline to stick with the plan or the pace sometimes. In any event, a good blowout before Sundays 10 mile race.

Thursday 9th - 4 easy miles in the early evening. No hangover from yesterdays efforts. Felt the heat a little bit on this one, it must have been high teens. Total 4.2 miles, 37 mins, avg pace 8:44

Friday 10th - 10 o'clock meeting in Dublin so decided to head up early and get my run in, thus avoiding all the traffic by being up ahead of it. Got parked up just before 8am, and headed for Clontarf at a leisurely pace. Hit 4 miles on the Garmin, turned and headed back to base. Total 8.1m, 72 mins, avg pace 8:50...

To be continued....

JohnDozer

adrian522 wrote:

Crazy improvement in the space of a year enjoy the beers, consider them training for the beer mile!

Not quite as impressive as knocking 10 minutes off a 10k time in the same period!

Ahm, if last night's efforts are anything to go by, I'll be having a little nap after 800 metres... which rules out any chance of a decent time so might have to put similar dedication into my drinking after Limerick...

JohnDozer

Ososlo wrote:

Congrats JD! That's fantastic improvement! Looking forward to the report.

Cheers, you played your own part in some of that improvement. You'll have to wait another little while for the report... Got interrupted earlier so still a work in progress, not that it's very long, mainly a lot of talk about pain and stuff!

JohnDozer

Saturday 11th - Handy 4 miler early in the morning on the usual Tralee loop. Threw in 5 * 30 second strides at the end. Bit sluggish today despite the easy easy pace, possibly just the earliness of it all. Total 4 miles, 38 mins, avg pace 9:34

Sunday 12th - Kilnaboy 10 mile - Garmin and chip time 1:11:00

I had been thinking about this race with quite some time. Entered Run Clare 2015 back in December which culminated in this event. The added appeal was that I had ran it last year so it would be a very clear indicator of 12 months improvement (I ran 79:22 last year having ran 20-30 mile weeks from January on). Late January a decision was made to enter the Limerick Marathon so while Kilnaboy was a goal race, it became secondary to the the overall goal. The other races in the series offered me possible times of VDOT and McMillan between 69 minutes and 72:30. For some reason I accepted the latter figure and accepted 7:15 as a target pace for the solitary session I did geared towards the race around 10 days before. Thinking a lot about the race on Saturday I pretty much convinced myself that 72:30 was the likely outcome, given the tough Kilnaboy course and the bad day out at the 10k not all that long ago the main reasons for the lack of confidence.

Headed off early Sunday morning from Tralee, allowing myself about 4 hours for a journey a little over two hours. I was up anyway and I wanted things to be as relaxed as possible. One coffee stop, another supplies stop and a potty stop later, I found myself at registration two hours before the race, having read the weekends paper and the latest Irish Runner for inspiration in the car for an hour beforehand, having seriously misjudged the travel time required 

Checked in the number and got the tshirt (not the nicest one ever, given last years is one of my favourites) and a plaque for finishing all 4 events (won't be pride of place on the mantelpiece for aesthetic reasons). Got back in the car and drove the course and it was funny how much of last years run came back to me, some parts of the course were very vivid, especially the last two miles! Starting to get nervous now.

Parked up the car. The organisers must be commended here, they normally use a big field for parking right at the finish line, but because of the overnight rain they could only make limited use of it, so had to execute plan B of parking 15/20 cars at every available spot stretched out over the first half mile of the course. It worked well and no issues. Pinned the number on and headed for a 2 mile warmup. Just mixed up the pace from gentle to strides and if I'm honest I wasn't feeling too fast at all. It was still early and myself and the eventual winner were the only two on the road. That was the last time we saw each other!

A little non-running highlight of the day was having a few words with one of the stewards on the way to the start line, who I think was Seamus Clancy. For those of you who don't know, County Clare's football team have only ever one All Star award, and this is him, in 1992 when we bate Kerry in the Munster Final. I was voicing my issues about the local lumps and bumps, especially the last 1/4 mile, and he ended up telling me about a friend of his who decided to do it in 70 minutes one year without having trained for it apart from twice weekly football training sessions. He ran about 9.75 miles on target, collapsed in a heap and couldn't even walk another step for three hours.

The clocked ticked slowly towards 1 o'clock and eventually the crowd of 500+ gathered behind the start line on the little boreen. As with the other races in Run Clare 2015, most of the walkers were up front and the runners were further back. I suppose I could do more to force myself further up but I don't like doing that. I could be a bit more clever and wait on the course side of the start line until just before the off, but then I'd end up further up than I should be. I won't be the first or last to give out about it I guess, just hope that individuals take responsibility for figuring out where they should be.

Off we went at 1:02pm and the result of the above was after 200 or 300m the pace was 10:00 on the garmin. Fortunately the road widened a bit and the overtaking began. Met a clubmate a little further on, few brief words wishing each other luck and on I went. I only have average pace on display so the pace started to wind itself up in the right direction and by the time I passed the first mile marker I had the pace at 7:18 so not too bad at all. Feeling nice and controlled and starting to pass people 1 by 1. I was not passed all race and I did plenty of overtaking. I am noticing the benefits of a slower start, you catch people who are pacing it evenly or have started a little quick, plus people who are fading late in the race. Its a very good distraction for me, and keeps the thoughts off the pain. At this point I was feeling good, and tried to focus on feeling nice and relaxed and controlled. It was working and I was motoring away nicely, avg pace reading 7:08 at the end of mile 3 which I did think was a little fast but still feeling fine. It was warm enough so got a small bit of water on the lips and splashed over the head which was welcome. Took a right turn about 4 miles in and into a breeze, not too strong but enough to up the effort levels. After a gradual climb, this is where the fun starts in terms of the up and down, rolling nature of the course. None of the hills are massive but there is little or no flat bits. Was a little isolated now having caught most of the stragglers, but there were two pods of 3 people up ahead so concentrated on reeling them in. One of the things that was very noticeable here was that from miles 4-8 the road is very windy, and a lot of ground can be made up running the tangents, and I seemed to be the only one doing it, from the people I could see anyway. I guess 7 people is not a good sample size in a race of 500+. All I know is I could definately feel myself gaining more on the groups with each bend. Another interesting thing here was going through the 10k mark only 30 seconds slower than a 10k two weeks ago. I had a bit of a panic because of this, and it took a whole mile to shake myself out of an 'I'm f@*ked, I've gone out too fast' mindset. Caught and passed the second group coming into Corofin at the 8 mile mark. The average pace was now showing around the 7:03/ 7:04 mark. While I was suffering it was still so tantalising close to have me doing maths to see the pace required for the last two miles to come home in 70 mins. Doing maths at close to 7 mm pace is so so so difficult. At the same time, I was having thoughts of 'you know what, 72:30 is secured, just jog it home'. Fortunately, I managed to fight off these demons and kept pushing away. There were now 3 runners further ahead, stretched out over 200m or so. Started reeling them in, again using the shortest route possible, again the only one of the four to do so. Getting a good buzz out of doing this but could not get the pace to go below 7:03. The last person I passed (guy in a white Sligo AC singlet) gave me either a very serious deja vu moment, or else I did actually pass him at the exact same place in the same race last year. A results check suggests it actually happened. With 1/4 mile to go I passed the All Star steward and kicked on for home, passing under the gantry bang on 1:11:00.

Splits were 7:18, 7.02,6.59, 6.55, 7.06, 6.56, 7.10, 7.02, 7.06 and 6.55
Had to head for the field immediately after for the now customary purging, which I take as a positive as it suggests I've ran to my limit when that happens. I really could not believe I had just ran a 71 minute 10 miler. I've always considered it my favourite distance to run but have never ran below 1:16:46 in a 10 mile race before today. SO, 8.5 minutes off the time set at last years Kilnaboy 10, nearly 6 minutes off the official PB and nearly 4 minutes of the unofficial PB set in a half marathon last September. I'm liking the numbers.

One of the weirder things I noticed while messing around on the interweb Sunday night, was the consistency of the 4 results of this series. The races were 5k, 5 mile, 10k and 10 mile. If I put the 5k result of 20:24 into VDOT the predicted times were 34:10, 42:50 and 1:11:05 for the other 3 events. I ran 34:04, 42:55 and 1:11:00. Given that there was 10 weeks between the 5k and the 10 mile, should I not see a little improvement? I presume because there wasn't much specific training done for any of them I didn't improve that much. Still, consistency is good for the confidence. It is weird to see such a close prediction over 4 events though.

Overall, apart from the usual gripe about the start line, Run Clare 2015 could not be faulted, and especially Kilnaboy AC for Sundays race. It has suffered badly with numbers for a few years (around 100 is normal), but 500+ on Sunday should mean numbers will be up for the next few years. I know I'll be
back, I really like the Kilnaboy 10. For obvious reasons.

adrian522

Well done, nice report and I wouldn't worry about not seeing any improvement on the mcmillan times. Essentially meeting the time for the 10 mile shows a good deal of improvement as I believe those times get more optimistic as you go longer because endurance is often lacking.

If I put my recent 5K time into mcMillan I get 71:37. but in Ballycotton I ran 73:57, so I think it's quite good to hit those times.

JohnDozer

adrian522 wrote: »

I believe those times get more optimistic as you go longer because endurance is often lacking.

So I can't run a 3:19 in Limerick is what you're saying then?

Dubgal72

Just catching up JD, fantastic shave, well done!

JohnDozer

Sunday 12th - (cont'd) Had to head away immediately after the race so got no cool down done. After getting to Tralee and doing what I had to do, headed out around 6pm for a 5k recovery run on lovely soft grass. Total 3.1m, 30.5 mins, avg pace 9:50, giving a total of 57 miles for the week.

Monday 13th - Texted one of the lads in the club as he normally heads for a handy 5 on a Monday evening. Much to my dismay, he said he missed the weekend run and wanted to top up by doing 7 after work. Couldn't really back out after making contact so decided to just suck it up. The pace ended up being a little bit quicker too and the pressure was telling, sweating buckets and having to work hard at an easy pace. Got a bit of respite towards the end with a nice downhill gradient and some shelter from trees cooling me down. Nice to get a bit of feedback that my race result surprised him, from running a good bit with me he had me at around the 73 mark. Anyway, got it done... Definitely an easy easy day tomorrow. Total 7.5m, 64 mins, avg pace 8:27

Tuesday 14th - In Dublin for a meeting today, starting an hour later than usual. I still decided to hit the road at the usual time, park up and run. The usual plan lately has been to get to where the meeting is and go for a run towards Clontarf. Didn't make it in before traffic buildup on the Quays, so swung around and headed for the Phoenix Park, knowing the traffic would have dispersed again before I was ready to head in. Parked up near some cricket pitch and headed off, with no idea where I was going really. I had a rough idea in my head from seeing it on so many Garmin and Strava links that a lap of the southern half, below Chesterfield Avenue, would be in or around 6 miles. I was conscious that I was probably retracing the steps of so many Boardsies before me, and passing so many landmarks frequently mentioned here, but still had no idea where I was going. I took the option of running on grass as much as I could. Headed towards town and took a right shortly after, winding my way in a westerly direction. Time passed by easily enough with distractions in the form of deer, grey squirrels and gel wrappers! After around 3 miles I became conscious I needed to be getting back but Chesterfield Avenue came into view again so relaxed again and got to the car with enough time left to chill and tidy myself up a bit. Total 5.5m, 51 mins, avg pace 9:19

Wednesday 15th - Didn't get out during the day so late evening in Tralee it was. Decided to run on grass again today. Proud of myself for this, choosing to give the legs some respite from hard surfaces. I had planned an easy 4 miler, but managed to get very bored after the first 2 laps (about .4 miles each) so it turned into an impromptu speed session. Remembered from a previous run here that half a lap was about 300 odd meters, so decided on a half lap speed, half lap recovery for 8 repeats. No idea if thats of any benefit or just a plain stupid thing to do, but it got done anyway so we will move on. Splits for the 8 * 300ish intervals were 72, 74, 79, 68, 73, 72, 72, 69. Quite a variation and quite slow for the interval length but good to get the legs turning over again after 2 easy days. Not sure what happened on number 3 at all, must have stopped for a smoke or something. Total 5.5m, 46 mins, avg pace 8:26

Thursday 16th The rough mish mash plan I had put together for this marathon had 7 miles today, with 5 @ MP. All well and good, if I knew what my marathon pace was. After an easy warm up mile, I decided to take 8:15 as the MP target, just like the last session with MP miles. Was misjudging pace all through the session and it ended up being closer to an 8mm average for the 5 miles. I clearly am not tuned in to that particular pace target (8:15) at present. I hope that the 8mm MP sessions stand to me next time around. Mile warmdown and back to work. Total 7m, 57 mins, avg page 8:10

Friday 17th Wanted full recovery before tomorrows last 18 miler so an easy 5 miles in beautiful morning sunshine on the banks of the Shannon in County Clare. Heavenly conditions and feeling good. Happy Friday! Total 5 m, 43.5 mins, avg pace 8:42

Saturday 18th - And this is it, the last LSR in training for GLR 2015. The plan was to dress in my planned marathon uniform, meet at the club, run to the half marathon course (second half of the marathon), run that, and then run back, giving the 18 mile total. Stashed a few waters on route and met up with the other two nice and early. Vaselined up and off we went. First few miles clicked by perfectly at 8:40 average pace, with every second mile alternating between being 10 seconds too fast, and then 10 seconds too slow (unintentionally!). This continued for the first 8 miles with us chatting away and observing the various memories each of us had about running Limerick. I've only run the half so felt a bit of a lightweight, but anyway. It was apparent that the warmer weather was taking more out of us than usual, and everyone commented at various times about feeling sluggish. The water stops were welcome and plenty got emptied over heads as much as was consumed. If its like this in two weeks I may have to adjust expectations slightly, wont be making DCM 14 mistakes again, so will probably end up paying too much attention and giving too much respect to weather conditions. Was enjoying spotting the various mile markers, not so much enjoying the various drags and considering how they might feel on the day. I'm not entirely sure how this course knowledge will work out on the day. Can be a good think and a bad thing I guess, depending on how the day is going. The miles from 10 to 18 started alternating from being on target, to being 10 seconds to fast. Again, this was not deliberate but just what felt natural. After mile 16 passed on the Garmin, decided to put on a push for home and one of the others came with me, 'twas fun! Mile 17 was 8:10 and mile 18 was 7:26!!! It certainly didn't feel like that. Not the first time to say this, but that was possibly a bit stupid... Anyway, finished out bang on 18 garmin miles, and thats it, job done, que sera sera, taper time. I've decided on a two week taper, partly because my racing schedule didnt suit a three week version, and I also think a 3 week taper wouldn't suit me. Cooled down, changed, got refreshments, emptied the bladder and hit for Tralee for a lazy evening of sport, sunshine, BBQ and the last few beers till Sunday 3rd of May. Body and mind are fine, but confidence is still low about 26.2 mile races after DCM 14. I hope to change that soon. Total 18m, 2 hrs 33 mins, avg pace 8:30. Total for the week 48.5

Sunday 19th - Rest glorious rest, could get used of this!

My one and only concern at present is my shoes. Decided a month or so ago that my adidas Boston 4's would be my marathon shoe, so used them for my races and my LSR's. The only issue now is they are feeling a little dead. Might have to change plans about footwear, but I have minor issues with my other shoes also. Still looking for that perfect shoe!

JohnDozer

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Just catching up JD, fantastic shave, well done!

Cheers, your own progress is quite impressive! Not so long ago you commented somewhere we were at similar levels... Ahm, don't think so! Different class you are

adrian522

Maybe get another pair of the same shoes?

JohnDozer

adrian522 wrote:

Maybe get another pair of the same shoes?

I did give that some thought alright, but if I was buying I'd probably be looking at upgrading to the 5's or something else in the Adidas range. Also thinking about trying something new in the Saucony range, the zealot or the breakthrough. I've outgrown the Ride's I'd say. I have looked around for the Bostons on special offer, but no joy. Trying something new so close is a bit risky.

JohnDozer

Monday 20th Home at the parents this evening. Intended to go out for a few easy miles as soon as I got there. Got chatting and ended up having to head out after a Mammy sized portion of dinner. Could only wait an hour as daylight was fading and I had no lights with me. I could feel carrying the extra load so any notions of a few extra miles were quickly forgotten... Total 4m, 35 mins, avg pace 8:35

Tuesday 21st Rest

Wednesday 22nd Club Run tonight. No text regarding extras so headed off on my own for 5 miles first. Really like the new route for these runs as there is one decent hill and lots of little testers. Averaged about 8:30 pace for the first 5 miles. Met up with the others then and off we went for another 5, doing the same route in reverse. It appears I surprised a lot of people with my recent race result. Maybe I'm not training hard enough! The group spread out and myself and one other kept the average pace to the top of the hill with 2 miles to go and off we went, knocking out the last two in 7:35ish pace. This route is being used on Friday (24th) for a 5 mile race... Hope nobody is going for a PB! Total 10m, 84 mins, avg pace 8:21

Got home to Tralee and the missus was in work till midnight. Boredom got the better of me so went and ordered a new pair of shoes. Thanks Adrian, I'm blaming you if I get in trouble with herself anyway Had been hearing good things about other shoes in the adidas range, so had a look see, was hoping to take a little step back from the Bostons. Might go back to them at some other point but maybe a little more cushion for now might do me better. Settled on the Supernova Glide Boost 6 as it seemed to tick all the boxes and offered a similar fit to the Bostons so I knew I could probably get away with it so close to the big day. Ordered them online, spent a few extra euro to make sure I'd have them by the weekend. Waiting patiently... Aha...

Thursday 23rd - Rest. Hamstring on the right leg annoying me. Haven't had issues here since GAA days. Bit of stretching and its fine walking around, only bwhen idle its at me. Must not idle!

Friday 24th Day off today so headed out after the school run for 5 easy miles. Threw in 6 strides on the 4th mile. No hamstring issues, although it appears the Summer has departed. Not sure whether to be happy about this or not, as I do enjoy sun and heat, except when I'm running as it takes a lot out of me. Total 5m, 43 mins, avg pace 8:31

Had to do an easy 5k on grass in the evening too as her eldest has some 5k event in the school next Friday so he has decided to train for it - ah youth... And I have no idea how to train a young fella other than to see how long he can run for. Anyway, he is naturally quick, scarily quick actually at shorter distances (100m - 400m) but has no stamina. Anyway, he bailed after 20 minutes of 10m/m running. Finished off the 5k by myself... Total 3.1m, 30.5 mins, avg pace 9:47

Saturday 25th Flying solo on this one today, for the first time in a long time on a long ish run. Picked up the shoes as they had been delivered to work yesterday. Opened the box and... I'm in love!! Fitted them on and its almost orgasmic. Decided to do the club 5 mile loop twice and a smaller loop to make up the 13 mile distance. The plan was to do the first 9 miles at around 8:30 pace and up the pace to what felt right for the last 4. What transpired was 8 miles at an average pace of 8:20, with 5 at an average of 8:00. It just felt easy, it felt right, and I just couldn't restrain myself. I lack discipline still and I'm putting it in my ever increasing folder containing a list of 'stupid things to do'. The shoes feel great, even doing 13 miles straight from the box. I'll use them for two runs early in the week and leave them alone then. It's a little bit risky but I'm happier in these than I would be in any of my other shoes. I can always fall back on the Bostons if I'm not fully sure of them. They've had a good break now so might have a little bit more spring in them. Total 13m, 1 hr 47 mins, avg pace 8:12

Total for the week - 35 miles, bang on target. 20 - 25 more next week and all set.

Anyone ever have dream about the start of a marathon similar to ones people have about school or college exams? Like turning up late or going to the wrong place? I don't normally have dreams that I recall upon waking, but this one on Thursday night was as vivid a dream as I have had in a year or two... Madness I tell ya

Dubgal72

Nice result about the shoes! (Let's not talk about dreams...one of my recent ones involved letting a (male) boardsie take the first leg in a recent (female) road relay race :eek: )
I suppose you can put yours down to taper madness, mine might just be madness....

NetwerkErrer

Done that 5 mile route last night JD. I'll never moan about another course being tough again. Nearly reduced me to tears and my slowest ever 5 mile time. Best finish line ever, Grand pint in the pub after which made up for it!:D

NetwerkErrer

All the best on Sunday JD! Hope it all goes well and you have a good one. And whatever you do, don't get beaten by a minion.:)

adrian522

All the best D, you didn't get the time your training deserved in Dublin, I'm sure you'll have a great race this weekend!

JohnDozer

NetwerkErrer wrote:

All the best on Sunday JD! Hope it all goes well and you have a good one. And whatever you do, don't get beaten by a minion.

Cheers! And I won't!! That minion won't be passing me, by any means necessary. Legs up now, ready for the off, waiting impatiently... whatever about a minion, I'll try and get up O'Connell street before you do...

adrian522 wrote:

All the best D, you didn't get the time your training deserved in Dublin, I'm sure you'll have a great race this weekend!

I'm not sure about that, I think I got exactly what I deserved then. Training was broken and I still went after the optimal goal. Much better training block this time around and a bit more use of the head so unless things go really bad, the sub 4 should finally be there, by how much is the question. I think I'll try reminding myself that you're out there tomorrow smashing my best 5k time and try and catch your marathon time! How's that? Just joking, I'll leave that for another day I think. Might have to do the beer mile after all...

Bulmers74

Best of luck JD - might catch up at some stage tomorrow.

JohnDozer

Well that's it now, two handy miles done earlier and the last 26.2 miles await. The miles are ran, the pasta is eaten, and the water is drank. I'm happy enough with where things are at. About 700 miles done since January. 2 18 milers, 1 21 mile and a 22. A good few midweek 10 milers mixed in with all that. Only one bad week all year where I only banked 18 miles but got back on track straight away. A 5k, 10k and 10 mile PB all happened too.

Despite all this, still caught in two minds. The main reason for this is previous batterings taken over the distance, but the main reason for those was being under trained and naive. Still, it's left me a little bit cautious and the approach for tomorrow reflects that. I'm heading out for the first 16 miles at 8:40 pace (which is pretty much LSR pace) and reassess from there. The hope would be that I'll be feeling strong and start to wind it up very gradually, nothing too significant. Reassess again at 20 and again at 23 which should be at the crest of the last hill. That's the plan A anyway. Plan B is to hold the same pace all the way. I should be well able to do that, I've felt strong at the end of all the long runs so it should be possible. Plan C is to go sub 4 at all costs. If I leave limerick on Monday with a time starting with 3 ill consider it job done. I'd rather leave time out there tomorrow than have another negative marathon experience in the bag.

Might see some of you tomorrow, best of luck everyone!

adrian522

Good race plan, I'm sure it will go well for you!

Dubgal72

Really hope it all comes together for you, you've done the work so looking forward to seeing 3:xx in your report tomorrow JD

annapr

best of luck today!!

JohnDozer

C Target achieved - 3:59:13 or thereabouts. Eerily similar experience to DCM 14, where I failed to judge the conditions properly on the day and it cost me in the end. Also didn't execute the planned pace which also cost me. Neither a minion or a NetwerkErrer passed me though so some objectives were met, although a bear did finish ahead of me. Another tough learning experience, but onwards and upwards. Been chasing sub 4 with a while so it's nice to have it in the bag, even if it was by the skin of my teeth...

Ososlo

Well done on the sub 4!! Nice to have that in the bag and push on to the next goal. Will you do another marathon this year?
Hope you recover well and quickly

Murph_D

C goal is a goal nevertheless. Well done.

JohnDozer

Ososlo wrote:

Well done on the sub 4!! Nice to have that in the bag and push on to the next goal. Will you do another marathon this year?
Hope you recover well and quickly

Thank you! Had been thinking about Amsterdam, but after today I think I'll do Dublin instead. I've no real plan for the next two months until that training plan starts. Had been thinking about doing lots of short races but I think some work on my endurance might serve me better. I'll see in a few days when the dust settles.