2024 DCM Mentored Novices Thread

witnessmenow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748511#Comment_122748511

The Garmin live track is very good ok as it provides real time updates for anyone following you but it requires you to have your phone with you.

Just one warning about the Dublin tracker, it had a bit of freakout with me last year (and I heard others had similar issues). It seemed to miss me passing the starting mat originally, so when I passed the first on course mat (5k?) it assumed I started at 8:45 when I actually started at 9:45, so on the tracker is showed the first section taking 1 hour 3X mins when it only took me 3X mins. It caused one of the people spectating to be panicked that something had went wrong with me that it took me 1.5 hours to run 5k and she ended up running to a different spot to try meet me earlier. (My chip time in the end was correct so I don't know what happened)

Sunny Dayz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122747971#Comment_122747971

that all sounds completely normal! Some vitamin c and hand sanitiser should hopefully keep the sickness at bay.

Sunny Dayz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748270#Comment_122748270

have you ever run with pacers before? It’s not for everyone. It can be busy around the pacers and I’d say especially with the 4 hour pacers. Maybe let the crowd a little bit in front of you and use them as a guide to reel in rather than being stuck to them like a lot of people are.

rosenallis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748443#Comment_122748443

This is a great report, thank you.

rosenallis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748969#Comment_122748969

No, never before. I like to be a bit more on my own than a big group! I don't actually have to catch them or pass them if i want to attempt 4 hours though… if i start 30 seconds after them?

It's starting mat - end mat isnt it? I get confused with the timings!

Sunny Dayz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748297#Comment_122748297

haha you’ll know your answer to that next week! 😁

But seriously though I think they say no running for at least a week. The day after the marathon, get out for a short walk/ waddle to loosen the hips and stretch the legs. Then the next day walk a bit further. By the end of the week you should find yourself feeling back to normal.

Don’t put pressure on yourself to get back running quickly after and don’t mind what others are doing. You’ll find your body and mind will get to a stage where you will want to get out for a run. When you do, keep it short and easy.

you’ve been following a training plan for months and months. It’s natural that you might want to give your body and mind a break from running and from “having to run”.

Sunny Dayz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748394#Comment_122748394

look up Irish Life Dublin Marathon in your App Store. The icon is blue and white. You can add people there by name already.

The Davestator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122749048#Comment_122749048

I recommend running close enough behind the pacers for the following reasons;

You can keep an eye on them and aren't looking over your shoulder

The crowd normally reacts better to big pacer groups so it is a bit of a buzz

The pacers will be shouting instructions and letting you know what pace they will approach an uphill or downhill (mostly)

They'll remind you when the water stations are coming up

My experience has always been positive with them anyway

niallo27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122746267#Comment_122746267

If you miss the 3k or do it it should make no difference to you on race day, i would prefer myself to do something short on the friday just to get the legs moving.

Louis 2018

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122749048#Comment_122749048

Similar thought process to you when I ran my first DCM last year around 4hr pacers, I hung off the 4 hour pacers but pulled back after approx 6km, they went out quicker than I thought they would and I felt it would cost me later in the race if I kept in with them. Remember pacers won't stop for water, toilet breaks etc and won't look to come in at 3.59.59, they will look to be anything from 20-30 seconds under 4hrs. Taking all of that in to account it is unnecessary pressure to put yourself under, if you have no experience at all with pacers I would advise (in my opinion) against it. Run your own race, trust your fitness and the plan.

If you are 100% adamant you are going to go with them ( I was) I would say keep them in your line of vision as opposed to running beside them, re-evaluate the pace and how you are feeling every few km's and abandon the pacer idea if needs be, it will serve you better later on in the marathon.

LostArt

How are you feeling?
Legs felt very heavy last week. I went out for a short run last night and felt ok once I warmed up. I'll probably go for a shorter one tonight then that's me until Sunday as I know I'll be on my feet for a while at the expo.

How are you set for race day?
Pretty good. I'm prepared for it to get tough, but training went well so I’ll make it around.

Have you any questions, concerns, musings?

Re pacing, should I build in a minute for a probable bathroom break or just keep with the 4 hour pacers until I absolutely have to go?

witnessmenow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748443#Comment_122748443

To highlight one piece of this as I feel somewhat called out by a post made 6 years before I ran my Marathon:

"Slowed right down to a crawl going up the hill in Chapelizod, real easy effort, again remembering sage advice from Eoin. This hill will end your race and you won't even know about it for two hours. Easy peasy does it, don't worry about all those foolhardy ones romping past you."

This hill was probably the beginning of the end for me, and it is the main place I'm thinking about when it comes to places to watch myself for this year around. It comes after a couple of quick KM too so its easy to get carried away.

Trampas

4 hour pacer will be a huge crew going with them and a lot of nervous, stressful, anxious people in it. It’s a huge goal for a lot of people from first timers to people who’ve ran a lot of them. You’ll find the 4:10 group a lot calmer and you could probably say the same for every half hour group but 4 the biggest one.

TheRef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122749741#Comment_122749741

Great your feeling good.

You should not be trying to bank time for any reason, as the run will be very arduous, and it is very easy to mess up your day by going out faster than you should. As the recent posts have been saying, if you are planning on running with the pacers, they should be running even paces, whereas to be succesful in Dublin, you should really be running a negative split.

So, run your pace that you feel confident will get your around and if you need to take a toilet break, you will hopefully still have the pacers in your sights so you can try close that gap later on if you are feeling strong. If you think you will need a toilet break at some stage, maybe run 100m in front of the pacers so they don't get too far away when you do break. Also, you might find there are queues for the toilets when the pacing group arrive as the groups are normally quite crowded.

Just one other thing to bear in mind - if you take a 60 second break and you can't make that back up over the next 90 mins, then maybe you are running too fast to start with…

mossiepark

I feel like it's shouldn't qustion the plan but a 5 miler tomorrow with 3 mile at MP? Is everyone doing this?

marathon2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122750765#Comment_122750765

4 days out is fine for that session. But as they say" the hay is in the barn". This will keep you limber and you will only stress out about not doing it if it's on the plan

TheRef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122750765#Comment_122750765

3 miles at MP, 4 days before a first marathon? No, its not something I would do. I'd suggest you would be much better off with a very easy run with 5-6 sets of strides if you wanted to give your legs a stretch.

Sunny Dayz

a reminder that the Tues before the marathon is affectionately known as “toenail tuesday”! 😁

Trim those toenails, round out the corners of the nail.

Sunny Dayz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122750765#Comment_122750765

make sure you go absolutely no quicker than mp and no longer then 3miles. Your mile before and after should b v slow - a shuffle, jog, recovery pace.

SuspectZero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122750765#Comment_122750765

It's a completely normal session for this time, your volume is the lowest it's been in months and 3 miles of marathon pace isn't very intense, it's really just a workout to get your legs in gear for Sunday and will do no harm.

What I will say is because the group here is all at different levels, I'd cap it at 20 minutes and not look at the actual mileage of it because for some, 3 miles could be 20 minutes, for others it could be 35. So I'd personally just do 20 minutes at MP for everyone in the group.

The Davestator

Remember, you will run more than 42.2k so your target pace needs to be adjusted. (from someone who was 400m away from the finish line as my target time ticked past in a previous marathon!)

rosenallis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122749644#Comment_122749644

That's very helpful, thank you. I think i'll hang back and run my own race with them in my field of vision.

TOYO

How are you feeling?

Tyring my best not to think about it much or talk about it…just prefer the Nike mantra of "Just Do It". That said I want to run it all and hope to achieve something like 4:30, 4:40, 4:50 anything under 5hrs is for me a win. 6k run today and 3k tomorrow and I'm done. Carb loading begins Thursday though I'm hungry all the time these days. Just trying to sleep well but failing miserably in the run up.

How are you set for race day?

Mostly got it in hand I think. Ordered new ear buds and trialed them yesterday. Made some flapjacks to take in the car…I can't stomach porridge. Will take a small bottle with me in case the stations are busy with walkers etc. gonna try to run through these to keep my pace consistent. Going to run behind the 4:30 pacer as I don't want to have to think about timings focusing only on run tempo, breathing well, fueling and soaking up the atmosphere.



Have you any questions, concerns, musings?

Went for a Thai deep tissue massage yesterday and she literally stood full weight on my legs :s I thought this is one of those "don't do anything different moments"…thankfully despite her best efforts she didn't break me…back is tender today though..lots of elbows where used!

Ran my last long run on Sunday 13k and I had to lie into the wind on the way out along the nortside causeway with the wind speeds literally carrying me on the way back into a fast pace I wouldn't normally run…..I had no choice….I was trying to apply the brakes!!

As an accident prone person I have the fear of something going wrong between this and the starting line. Not so much during the run as I think I'll be hyper vigilent…though I can trip myself up walking! I haven't managed to hit the deck on any runs but I've had some epic trips :)

chabsey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122752782#Comment_122752782

Jumping in here without context so ignore if has been covered before but I wanted to add my two cents with regards to the use of headphones / ear buds. I used to run with them in marathons and thought it was fine, which it was in theory. But then it was mentioned to me that I was missing a lot of the atmosphere along the run itself so I tried it once without them and won't ever go back. In some places along the course the crowd will make you feel like a rock star, you'll get energy from them you didn't know you needed, you'll be smiling in spite of yourself even when in pain. For me it's one of the main reasons for running such an absurd distance, so keep it in mind. Maybe you don't plan on using them in the race already, I'm reading without having followed the thread but figured I'd say it anyway.

Lazare

Totally agree with Chabsey.

Ditch the headphones folks, you won't regret it. There is so so much going on with crowd noise and chatter of other runners. Shutting it out is crazy.

Put them in a pocket at least.

Mantis Toboggan

I'll only be taking one earphone with me on raceday. Mainly for listening to an audiobook or podcast and or to take a few phonecalls on the run.

I'll only be listening during the quieter parts or for something to take my mind off the pain.

ILikeBoats

I'll probably do the same as Mantis. There are parts I'm sure where I'll need the distraction but also don't want to miss the crowd, buzz or motivation

Sunny Dayz

I have to echo others here - if you can go without the headphones - please do. Or put them in your pocket for when you might need them. I’m lucky I ran most of the race last year with a friend so I had company. But my god you honestly will not believe the crowds and support!!! Some spots in particular for me - passing Stephen’s Green at the start, the Phoenix park around mile 4, going from the crowds in Castleknock village to the calm back into the Park to then the pure madness in Chapelizod - the hairs stood up on my arms here! Then you have to shout “oggie oggie oggie” as you under the N4. The crowds were wild in Kilmainham - practically meeting us in the middle of the road! Mile 22 at the top of Roebuck had brilliant crowds when you are flagging and need a boost. Then from mile 25 onwards it’s packed and honestly the crowds will take ya home! There are other busy spots but I can’t really remember where. And there were some quiet and boring stretches along the route too.

If you can- write your first name in big letters on your bib - seriously the boost you get when strangers cheer your name!

nullObjects

I think it's just personal preference, I wouldn't go to the shops without my earphones, never mind being alone with my own thoughts for 42.2km

Having said that, mine are cheap and not noise cancelling so will definitely mute them when passing by the crowds or if I'm running close to a group of folks.

JohnnyChimpo

I'll also be part of the one-headphone gang. Probably only even that for the more boring stretches after Ballyfermot. Though there is something soothing about having one earphone in when you're corralled at the start, at least for me it cuts down on the crowd noise a bit to keep me Zen