DCM 2016 Graduates: Keep On Running

tailgunner

kin9pin wrote: »

Fantastic performance that should inspire all 2016 grads (and 2017 novices).

Definitely. I seem to spend a lot of time poring over plans and sessions, and worrying about the correct paces for tempo runs and intervals and all that stuff.

Just goes to show what you can achieve simply by putting in the miles consistently. Brilliant performance, well done.

diego_b

Well done paddy, super effort to have gone again so soon after DCM and you got some fine reward.

Wubble Wubble

Great report Paddy! Super improvement over 6 months.

Btw for those interested...DCM 2017 Novices thread will be starting this weekend, under my direction so there ye go!

ToriV

paddydriver wrote: »

Good Evening All.. I won't even begin to come near my extremely long report for DCM 2016 so will keep this more brief, well a little..

I ran Limerick Marathon on Sunday last and all went great Thankfully. I started my taper with an 11M run last Sun week and then ran twice during week, on Weds for 3+M and then Sat leg stretcher for 3M. Went for physio sports massage on Weds morning early. I did not have a great week of sleep last week as I have been very busy with work and lots of other fronts with kids soccer etc.

I had it in my head to have faith in the taper as I did start to feel lethargic during the week and my legs had a few niggles, especially my right knee, but nothing major. My Sat run was extremely lethargic but I remembered this for DCM in that the taper was lazy.

Anyway, we headed down to Limerick Sat afternoon and I drove 2nd half.. I always do the driving so my wife was amazed I let her drive! Kids were up for an overnight adventure so all was good. Got checked in and I then ate down the still slightly warm rice, bean and beef burritos that my wife had made for me before we traveled.. why change a proven formula from day before DCM 2016.. Rest of the family then got pizza in Super Macs.. I had 2 slices..

Got up around 7 on Sunday for a 9AM off.. we were 5-10min walk from start. Arranged a late check out for latest 1:30 to try get shower.. Was I being ambitious.. just in case. Had my usual porridge and coffee for the laxative effect.. it worked!

So I got ready to start and weather was kind, forecast had not been good but on the morning it was good. Was overcast but mild enough with a little wind, but no rain.

I set my virtual pacer on the Garmin to 3:50 as I figured worth a rattle. I knew my training pace had been well up on DCM 2016 so felt confident. On the morning as I walked to start I really felt that taper had worked perfect, I had no niggles and legs felt strong. I was ready to go!

I set off and quickly found the 3:45 pacers so figured lets go with them and see how it goes, if all fails I can drop back to my A target of 3:50.. But all went really well. I comfortably stayed with the 3:45 group and it was a nice tidy group and the pacer (Declan) was very encouraging and knew we had banked some time as we progressed so kept us informed on this. I remember in DCM that the 4:00 pacer (Remember Red Balloon Man!!) kept getting away from me and I had to try catch them.. this time around I was cruising with no issues.

As we went thru 17, 18, 19.. I started to wonder will it hit me soon but I started to feel as though that I should be feeling the pressure at that stage but I wasn't. I was sub 8min miles all the way.. 5.10-5.15km.. Then at around mile 20-21 it just clicked.. we were going up a steady climb and Declan said we had plenty of seconds in the bank so we could pace it easy but my legs just wanted to kick on so all of a sudden I was now out front and I just got a rush of adrenaline as I passed into clear air, so I straightened up and just kicked off up the hill. The group behind me, and Declan's encouragement, started to get more and more distant and my times started to come down more and more. I knew I was moving well now and I was passing a lot of people.

I was now in my own little race as I did not want to get reeled back in to the 3:45 group as that would be defeat for me. I pushed and pushed to get clean air between us and it worked. The final few miles now looped a little and we had some sharp hills and a few double backs where I could see the half marathon and marathon traffic coming back and that did tease a little but I felt ready for anything. I found mile 24-25 a little tough but once I went thru mile 25 I knew I was killing it.. compared to DCM where I was just struggling to stay upright, I now knew I was going well and no matter what time I did now it was going to be a massive step up for me.

I came home in 3:41:59 which was a full 18 minutes better than DCM. All sub 8 minute miles and consistent pacing throughout with my best miles saved for the end. I crossed the line with 2 of my kids and held their arms aloft - whereas I practically fell over the line in DCM :eek:

What I learned from this is that if you put in the training then your body will perform for you on the day - assuming no injury and right racing conditions; and not going way too ambitious on pace! I took water with me between all water stops in order to constantly have a sip. For the sports drink stops I took a great tip from my pacer and just used it to rinse my mouth and get it under my tongue - that helped. I ate at mile 8 before I needed it and then nibbled again later on. I only took gels at planned intervals and did not take any for a placebo effect. My tummy did not give me any trouble this time, I was able to walk afterwards and head straight back to hotel for a shower and I got to enjoy and savour the moment.

Training wise.. I did not follow any special plans. I just got the miles in each week, never missed my long runs since DCM and did lots and lots of hills during the winter - proper hills! My weight is exact same as the day I started DCM but I feel to take it up a level now I need to get maybe 6-7kg off and that could be a big challenge but well worth it!

A great experience overall and absolutely delighted with my performance on the day. Didn't dare to dream I could get such a good time and I will definitely be back for more in DCM 2017!

Thanks for reading..

Great report and what a time! Congrats - amazing stuff!!

paddydriver

Thanks Everyone.. Yep, was very happy with how all went. Can't say what I did training wise will work for everyone but I am glad I kept up the long runs and will continue to do so from here on in.

@kin9pin.. my wife saw one of my splits go skew ways and she was briefly concerned, but not sure how it happened as I did stay fairly consistent on the times.

Looking forward to the new novices thread.. Hopefully as good a crew as we had last year! It's been a great experience to date. Best of Luck Wubble Wubble. Will be happy to give as much input as possible and will be sure to follow it the whole way thru.

Pomplamousse

I can't believe it's been a full year since the 2016 novices thread began!!
Yet at the same time it feels like a million years ago.

*confused face*

hot buttered scones

Great result paddydriver, it's always good to kick on towards the end. From the sounds of it I'd say there's more good days to come for you.

jameshayes

Well...I haven't posted in this log for a while!!

Post DCM 2016 I didn't do too much running because it was the lead up to my wedding in December and then straight to a honeymoon for a few weeks - it meant running was the last thing on my mind!

I was still doing my regular 3 sessions in the gym for conditioning work which I was really enjoying and after I came back from honeymoon I went on an 8 week strength programme to try improve my running muscles. I started to run a little more regularly but nowhere near pre-marathon levels... I had lost a good bit of speed and my HR readings looked like I was a different (less fit) person!

I had a friend training for the Belfast marathon and I said I would join him on some of his training runs when I was in his neck of the woods and eventually I joined him for his 32km long run and secretly said to myself that if I can run the 32km without issue I should run the full thing with him and thats what happened.

So fast forward to bank holiday monday, we lined up (myself, the marathon man and another friend) outside city hall in a really warm, sunny Belfast with his target of 4:45 in mind and we went off.

Belfast has a mixed reputation as a marathon, some really dislike it and others love it. For me, it was good - what irkes a lot of people is the relay runners and the constant change of participants but for me it was really handy as a marker, I knew I would be running with people with 'A' on their back for a few miles, then the 'B's would come, followed then until the 'E' runners and I'd know I was close to home! The event itself is well organised, water stations were a bit randomly spaced out to be honest but it was not too much bother and the first gel station didn't exist "Gels Station Ahead" - yeah, in 3 miles haha! It was really warm and thankfully the St. Johns Ambulance crews were out giving people Vaseline - worked a treat on the eyebrows to stop the sweat!

All the participants and spectators were great including firemen around 30k with the firehose set to mist and the hundreds and thousands out giving jellies and alsorts (and the bar giving free pints of beer!)

The course was not the best attribute of the event... from 10KM to 22KM you are on a constant climb, the elevation is not much more than Dublin but the fact that you have to do it all at once with minimal downhill break is the tough part, and when the decent comes it falls over 2km's so that takes the energy from your legs too as its hard to control your speed. Some sections of the course follow a path that doesn't allow for many spectators so its a bit demoralising but when you get back through the city centre and near the finish line it picks up brilliantly.

The 3 of us ran together for 99% of the run which was perfect, I had hamstring cramp at about 35km but caught back up to the other 2 shortly after and it didn't bother me again but my calf cramped at 41.8km and I nearly fell to the ground involuntarily.. It looked fairly narly - all contorted and twisted - I sent the others on to the finish line but one stayed with me and the main man had enough in the tank for a sprint finish.. I took 30 seconds to pull myself together and ran the final 400m.

I was sore afterwards, clearly under-trained - I foolishly thought that my legacy fitness coupled with 5 or 6 long runs and with 2/3 midweek runs leading up to the event were enough!

We finished in 4:48 so timewise it was all good and the recovery is going well but I don't think I'll run again until next week at the earliest..

The next plan is starting in the coming months for NYC which I was lucky enough to get ballot entry to so I'm hoping to knock 3 minutes off my DCM PB of 4:03 and come home under 4!

The Black Oil

Thanks, James. Still remember you posted a pic of the 25km sign (?) somewhere in the novices thread, not long before proceedings. Look forward to hearing about NYC.

fatherted1969

Can't believe it's been 6 months since DCM. Was my first marathon. Trained fairly well considering I gambled on entering it in the first place. Had 130 miles run in the first 6 months through illness and injury.

Committed to the training and was able to remain injury free in the lead up to it. Time was 5:06 not quick at all but the brother got into bother so I stayed with him and we crossed together which was an amazing experience.

Broke my back in 2 places in 07, 7 months in brace followed by 3 years of recovery saw me baloon to over 18st and in 2014 I said enough was enough. Coming up to 3 years running at end of this month. Had 2 spells of 4 months out with injuries in the 3 years but I've been out about 380 runs and nearly 2000 miles since I began.

Plans for this year from January was run at least 3 times weekly. Am averaging between 17 and 22 miles each week just to be ticking over until marathon training comes around again. First 6 months is just to maintain a half marathon in the legs with a few races to keep me focused.

I've entered Amsterdam half marathon in the middle of Oct which will be right at tapering time hopefully. Learnt a painful lesson in mullingar on paddy's day at the half marathon there. Got cocky cos training was going great and made a huge mistake in going out too fast. Worst experience of my life. Suffered more after that half than I did after DCM last year.

Decided after that that I had gotten way too serious about my running and the fun was becoming less and less. Have ran a few races since then but a bit slower but far more enjoyable runs. I'll never be quick but have met some fantastic people I can now call my friends. If training goes well this year I'm hopefully going to cut some time off last year's event.

Sorry for rambling,

The Black Oil

Had a great time doing the 10k in Inishbofin, will write it up in full when I get a chance. Half marathon was a good test for those folks, I'd say.

And here's why you should visit.

nop98

Nice one TBO, that is definitely on the bucketlist. If you have more pictures worth sharing, put them on the "Photos of where you run" thread, some great stuff there already!

The Black Oil

So, we've got graduates, meno and Asics plans on the go this year. Anyone else?

jameshayes

The Black Oil wrote: »

So, we've got graduates, meno and Asics plans on the go this year. Anyone else?

I'm on the FIRST plan - I'm actually astounded by it. my fitness has come on leaps and bounds from it. I was on the Asics plan last year.

I picked FIRST because of the low mileage and the cross training, it would kill me through boredom running 4 or 5 times a week so the 3 sessions were perfect. It also has scientific backing which a lot of other plans lack!!

FIRST Plan:

https://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/run-your-best-marathon-with-less-training

The Muppet

That's really interesting , are you running DCM on Sunday?

jameshayes

The Muppet wrote: »

That's really interesting , are you running DCM on Sunday?

New york on the 5th :pac:

Annie get your Run

jameshayes wrote: »

I'm on the FIRST plan - I'm actually astounded by it. my fitness has come on leaps and bounds from it. I was on the Asics plan last year.

I picked FIRST because of the low mileage and the cross training, it would kill me through boredom running 4 or 5 times a week so the 3 sessions were perfect. It also has scientific backing which a lot of other plans lack!!

FIRST Plan:

https://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/run-your-best-marathon-with-less-training

That IS really interesting, I was just looking at that the other day likewise because of the low mileage - will be very interested to hear how you get on. Best of luck in NYC!!

The Muppet

jameshayes wrote: »

The Muppet wrote: »

That's really interesting , are you running DCM on Sunday?

New york on the 5th :pac:

NYC Oh even more interesting . Definitely let us know how you get on ...

Good luck with the run