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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 776 ✭✭✭MisterJinx


    A very late update on marathon training. Because of holidays etc I wound up doing a shortened block of 10 weeks starting straight after the hols. It is short however with the 2HM blocks and the racing in June and July the fitness was there and a good amount of mileage so far this year already. In fact I just reach 2,000km this week, which is about 400km ahead of last year.

    I went from a few flux weeks straight up towards 80k/week which was a bit of a risk but the body handled it fairly well and I wasn't concerned about injury at any stage and would have reduced if needs be. I'm on 6 weeks now in and around the 80K with last week being a peak week of 95K and probably much the same this week before starting to taper back down.

    I'm made most runs however there were a couple of easy ones missed which account for the fairly flat 5 weeks but in those weeks I was varying intensity so even there was step back in intensity even if the mileage stayed the same.

    I've been doing mid-week tempo work and speed work. The speed work has been fine, 5k reps, some of the tempo has been more challenging at HM and MP pace. I've also been working good blocks of MP into the long runs. I was pretty doubtful on MP for a few weeks but it is starting to feel a bit easier now. Last long run was 5K intervals for 35K and I was holding 4.30m/k and not completely fecked by the end of the 5K intervals which was a great confidence booster! Legs were very tired though but that is to be expected and I know fresh tapered legs will make all the difference.

    I use the HR to gauge where I'm at and the HR keeps decreasing for all my paces including MP efforts and they seems to be hitting low Z3 for those efforts which is where I'd want it to be. Once the legs freshen up on the taper I should be better able to predict a Marathon time for myself but the signs are ok at the moment. It still feels "fast" but the effort level is definitely in the right space and I'm hitting the paces for all the sessions I'm doing.

    I've only had one niggle worry. A little bit of hamstring pain on the left side, actually lost power in the leg on the long run on Sunday for about 30 seconds but it came back. A pain running from the top of the glute down the hamstring, if I get it again I'll book straight into the physio (she hasn't seen me yet in this block so that is another good sign!).

    Stomach has been a little iffy at times. I'm just using decathon gels this time as I couldn't get a hold of the Torq ones and the decathlon ones had been fine. It might just be the few beers of a Saturday night, hopefully not an issue and I think sometimes i just get like that, doesn't even have to be a long run with gels, just a bit windy/crampy at times. I suppose all the effort will put some strain on the system in one way or another. I think I remember it from other blocks too but I was fine on the day.

    Speed, tempo and the longest run this week, getting through it and then staving off any sickness will be the main battle until race day :-)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 776 ✭✭✭MisterJinx


    DCM ’24 – A goal time – 3.09.59; Result 3.09.36, a 10 minute pb

    Where to start, firstly I’m really happy with the result but secondly and probably most importantly I was so impressed with the race and support on the day, it’s only my 3rd marathon but easily the best atmosphere I’ve experienced in a race and one that I won’t forget. All the hot spots along the course felt bigger, louder and more supportive. The crowd really roaring everyone on and it felt like there were much fewer quiet spots than in the 2 previous years.

    I know there has been a bit of debate about the start and finish changes but I thought both worked very well, I’d no issues with the wave start and I thought that not hitting the corner of Leeson street was a good change.

    The final mile was a hella noise and crowds and the twists and turns were actually good imo, the only thing I thought was a little less successful was the final 300 meters where you turned onto the pepper canister church where the crows either seemed a bit removed or less crowded compared to the previous stretches however I was working hard at that point and wouldn’t really have fully taken it in so it didn’t matter to me so much.

    I’m very happy with the race execution and I’m going to start there as, for me, getting that right made the whole experience so enjoyable. I was just so pleased with my performance on the day. I had said in previous posts that I did feel that the 4.30 m/k pace felt fast in training, and it did in training, but after my now traditional super hard taper, and one MP chunk on the Saturday prior to the race which was horrible, I wasn’t 100% that I could do it. I’m happy to accept what happens on the day and go with it but this was a really good outcome.

    The stats are good

    First Half 1.36.25 Second Half 1.33.22

    Last 10k was the fastest of the race at 43:36 (4.22 avg pace)

    Last 5K was my fastest 5K of the race at 21.24 (4.17 avg pace)

    Last Mile was the fast mile at 6.38 (4.07 avg pace)

    Last K was the fastest at 4.04

    It goes on however the takeaway is the strong finish. I actually can’t believe I finished that strong and was able to ramp up to the paces that I did towards the end. Conservative first half and then a steady progression in the second half made it really enjoyable. I'm not sure 100% on the stats on the chiptime website but from that it looks like I passed over 500 people in the second half. If you were being super critical, and I’m not, then you could say I was a little too conservative in the first half and maybe there was another minute or 2 in there but that wasn’t the aim so I’m happy with it. 

    I’ve been catching up with race reports etc while writing this and I see that @crisco10 has just done the same as above and with a similar trajectory, promise I wasn’t copying you!!!

    I’ll pre-empt a possible question, in case anyone reads this! and asks, what do I think made that possible then I’d say the fact that I had speed work every Tuesday and in those sessions I made sure I was working hard and going at a very solid (if slightly ambitious, for me) 5K pace. Thursday's tempo sessions tended to have a block (usually 5K) at MP and then a shorter block (3k usually) at HM pace, I think this might have really trained the legs to pick up the pace from MP to HMP when you are tired and working hard already. 

    To the race itself. We got in plenty early and had a little hanging around to do but this was fine as I was a little concerned about the walk to the start line as I did cut it a little fine last year so erred on the side of caution. I was down in Wave 1 corral by 8.20 ish and in my mind had expected to meet loads of people I knew but that didn’t happen but I was quite happy just taking it all in. Positioned myself between the 3.20 and 3.10 pacers and it was a happy, if slightly nervous start. 

    It was the usual bustle and I just made sure to keep to the inside, not get tripped up, keeping the pace steady and not trying to weave and bounce around too much. It was all fairly manageable with the bit of experience behind me now.

    Down parliament street and onto the quays  where I drew alongside @Lazare. We had a quick chat and then, as he said to me afterwards, to his great relief, I said goodbye as I was doing my own thing.

    The kids were in Stoneybatter where I gave them a hug and trundled on. At this stage I was just keeping it at the right effort and not getting carried away with myself. Again going up Chesterfield avenue I was keeping to my approach to be conservative on the hills, which meant I was going backwards compared to those around me but I’d accepted it and just had to let everyone head off around me. Castleknock was a sea of noise and then the lovely downhill through the park where I shook out the arms, relaxed into it , let the HR drop and made back a bit of time.

    No issues through Chapelizid or Ballyfermot, up Saint Lorences hill where my club had a little station and I got a call out :-) . I think after the few days have passed I’ve kinda of forgotten a lot of the detail however I also think I was in a running zone for most of it, just trundling along and keeping to the plan. Halfway came before I expected it. I clicked the watch and saw 1.36, very within the range I’d set myself.

    I remember tucking behind a couple of runners going up through Crumlin, getting a little wind break and then around towards Walkinstown. This was the only real part where I thought I might have an issue. My foot was getting quite sore, on the sole of my right foot and what felt like the tongue slipping. I wasn’t sure whether to stop and adjust it or not. In the end I just tried to kick the sole a bit to see if I could center it or settle it a bit. I decided I’d stop in a bit if it got worse but it didn’t, so I didn’t, and on we trundle. 

    I fell in behind Lazare again at this stage, I wasn’t catching him, he was just about 50 meters in front of me, moving at the same pace so I fixed on his back for a while and kept moving until he had to stop a stretch out a calf in Terenure. I gave a holler and held back a little to see if he could catch back up which he did soon enough and I checked how he was doing. I had an ibuprofen in the back pocket and was carrying a bottle of water so I offloaded them to him and then, very politely said again that I was doing my own thing, put the music back on and trundled on again, sometimes with him close beside me and other times just behind. 

    I’d been more conscious of pace since half way, in that, looking at the 2 previous years I noticed that I could have pushed on a bit once over the half way stage, so without over exerting and keeping the HR in check I had been gradually upping the pace and watching the average pace, very slowly creep down. Orwell Road help here and down to Milltown and the slow crawl up the hill, backing off as usual and running over the top. It seems to works as I usually get back ahead of anyone who passed me within a few meters over the top. 

    Round onto the Clonskeagh road and I was, as I had been for most of the race, using the racing line as best I could. I’d added 90 meters to the first half but I know that the route in the second half had more potential to have you running long, so I’m sure I was being quite annoying, but I made sure to run the tangents as best as possible. It was here that I noticed some people passing me, 3 girls who seems to be running/racing together in particular as the passed me at the turn for Clonkeagh road however I passed them, 3 times, on the next 3 sweeping bends as I took a better line. A few other passed just before the Mosque and this was the stage where I knew I needed to concentrate. I was happy that the legs responded and I was able to up the pace a bit when needed. 

    Getting onto Foster Ave was great and I was again able to keep up the pace and it was steadily getting a little faster. I was relaxed and had been since half way as I knew there was a big pb here and how much didn’t really matter so it was about maintaining the rhythm and managing myself but the check-ins didn’t report anything bad with the exception of some tight calves which didn’t seem anything more than that.

    By the end of Fosters I was catching and passing a lot of runners and it was a great feeling and added to the sense of confidence. My friend was at RTE again and the boost just here was amazing for heading down Nutley. I looked at the watch and I was doing 4.07 pace at that split second and feeling good, a strong finish was definitely on the cards.

    When I turned into the embassy belt I could see the green balloons of the 3.10 pacers probably 400 meters ahead of me and that was now my goal.

    I set a steady pace, not too hot, to catch them and was doing great until I realised the final pacer was a good bit away from the other 2, then he stopped and had to stretch out his calf!! Oh no, he was a a good bit off the others and I still had a lot of work to do. I was hitting the 40k mark now and looked at the watch as it literally clicked on 3 hours. I was still able for quick maths and I’d 10 minutes for the 2k plus the .2 and whatever additional I had run, it was going to be tight but I decided I was going for it, with a HM pb of 1.30.01, and along held 5K pb of 20.01 I wanted to get under the arbitrary marker that means nothing but does all at the same time.

    Off I went, aggressively taking the line round by the RDS and across the road opposite Rollies. @skyblue46 stuck his hand out there and again a little boost to see me to the end!. I seemed to be on the other side of the road to most of the other runners at this point but I did seem to have the shortest line so I just kept going for it and trying to reel in the green balloons ahead of me. 

    I could have? / should have? taken the final mile in more, I’d the music off such was the noise but I was really concentrating now and I wanted that time, wanted to catch those balloons, wanted to pass anyone I could to get there. I had to go on the outside rounding onto the canal and then I had a momentary bit of confusion as I thought the balloons were the finish line and then had the realisation there was no clock and it was finishing where I thought it was supposed to, so it was a matter of keeping on going as fast as I could and getting to the line, a final push for 300 meters, I gave it everything that I had left.

    I think I finished 2 seconds after the green balloons! What a feeling of exhilaration, I felt on top of the world. 

    Some great chats afterwards and then pints with Skyblue, Lazare, @MiniMonstera and MrsJinx to round off a great day. 

    I’ve gotten loads of compliments and congratulations from fiends and family which has been lovely. Quite a few questions about What’s Next, just like the title of this log, and to be honest I don’t know yet, I think I just want to let it all settle, enjoy the moment and maybe not set any marathon goals. It was a fair bit of work to get here and I probably don’t want to think about all that again right at this second. I’ve a BQ with a buffer of probably 5.30 on the new bands and there there is a sub 3 attempt that a couple of others have suggested. I’ll mull it all over. I do have Jingle Bells in December and I will give that a good rattle, but that is a completely different type of effort and pain! 

    Post edited by MisterJinx on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,483 ✭✭✭Lazare


    Absolutely fantastic P. So very well done.

    I said it to you on Sunday, you can either be the boss of the course or you can let the course be the boss of you.

    You were the boss on Sunday.

    Bravo sir!!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 776 ✭✭✭MisterJinx


    Thank C, you had a great race yourself and a super result! Well done you



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,358 ✭✭✭crisco10


    Brilliant report MJ - a great read. Delighted you got under the arbitrary time on this occastion.

    10 minute PB is no joke, and I really think we had similar races just 10 mins apart.

    See you at Jingle Bells where you should drop under another arbitrary time!



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 776 ✭✭✭MisterJinx


    The breakdown looks eerily familiar except for the pace !!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 177 ✭✭MiniMonstera


    Brilliant report! The pints anf chats were lovely!



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