Dublin Marathon 2016 - Mentored Novices Thread

Well done tailgunner that was a great race report and congratulations on finishing your first marathon.

Weekly report:

Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: 9 miles
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: 20.17 miles 3 hours and 9 minutes

My longest run and new pb. Last mile I was hurting and the legs are tired but overall I enjoyed that run. Could only fit the 20 this week in due to family commitments next weekend. Any advice on what my last LSR should be before the taper starts?

Best of luck everyone doing your runs this weekend.

Oh my gosh! You guys are running a marathon this month!!

20 mile LSR in the bag. It rained for all except the first mile and a bit. Delighted with the outcome though! I'll give a bit more info tomorrow. Until then.... "Ádh mór oraibh go léir, agus Na Dubs Abú!!!"

"Good luck to you all, and Up The Dubs!!!"

Did not enjoy today's 20 miles. Left leg was screaming at me from mile 15. Hopefully it's ok, going to go curl under a blanket with a protein smoothie now & feel sorry for myself.
On the plus side, no more 20 mile training runs left \o/

Final 20 mile Lsr done. It stopped raining just as I headed out at 10 so perfect cool conditions for me . Was feeling it in the last few miles but could still run , that's mad ted.

JackieChan wrote: »

Is the marathon route marked in miles only? I can't remember seeing km markers used at half race?

It's marked in miles for each mile, possibly there are 5K markers but I can't recall or see anything on the FAQs for it.

As our esteemed leader is away it was time to take advantage and go off the rails and have loads of Saturday beers..........it's OK nop I am only joking;up at this time to have my pre LSR breakfast; will be hitting the road at 0700.

Heading out for the Phoenix Park to cover a good portion of the last 20 miles of the marathon route.

Day|miles|pace|Heart Rate|Time Minutes
Monday cross|-| |-|60
Tuesday Easy|4.07|11:49|132|48:26|
Wednesday pace|8.2|10:55|134|90:24
Thursday Easy |5.00|10:57|-|55:17|
Friday Rest|-|-|-|-
Saturday LSR|20.01|11:06|131|222:06 mins
Sunday Recovery|3.47|10:53|-|38:08
Totals|||40:75 Miles|07:34:21 Hours



It was a tough week but I enjoyed it.


Only 4 weeks ot go :eek:

Extrasupervery wrote: »

I'm looking at all this advice about clean eating and treating your body as a temple and I'm squirming. I treat my body more like a casino. I eat good solid meals but in between that it all goes to ****. I get a 30 minute break in lunch and by the time I get to eat I have about 12 minutes left and choose all the wrong things. Also we are manic at the moment, I usually get to eat at about 8.30 but then not again til 16.00 by which time I'm wall faint and just want sugar. I do drink a lot of water though cause that's all I have access to in between those times so hey, that's a plus.

I also eat my main evening meal way too late. And last night I ordered from four star pizza just to get the cookies. No regrets there, those cookies are heavenly. But yeah...I've been eating pretty ****ty. I tried a few months back to correct my diet a bit, I filled the house with beautiful wholegrain foods and ate green smoothies from the nutri bullet twice a day but it was all a bit gross and I gave up. Anyone looking to buy a nutri bullet?

This is the part I disapprove of. Seriously. Have some standards. Papa Johns, Apache, Pizza Hut, Pizza Max, hell even Dominos. Anything but Four Star. :pac:

Fri 30/9 - Rest

Sat 1/10 - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

The anxiously awaited last 20 miler was on this morning. It would be my first, having abandoned the previous attempt, which took place on a cruise ship three weeks before. Up in the dead of night for breakfast before my wife dropped me to Castleknock Gate, still in the darkness, as I intended to run the DCM course from there to the finish. I had it timed that I'd have a bit of light by the time I came back into the park at Knockmaroon Gate; we had tickets for the All Ireland, so it would be a very busy day ahead.

Away I went around 6:45 AM; shortly afterwards I saw another runner across the road...consoling to know someone else is apparently as crazy as I am! Well before I'd even passed the back gate of Farmleigh (where we exited in the HM) the first rain began to fall. Not even a mile and a half gone! Running in the Phoenix Park was a bit spooky, as there was only halflight as I came in, and there's no actual lights in that part of the park. I was glad to get out of there and into Chapelizod. The hill up to Ballyfermot was fairly testing, which was a concern as in my opinion it shouldn't have been that hard that early in the game (about 4 miles).

Coming through Inchicore and Kilmainham felt straightforward, even with the rain getting heavier, as I was managing my pace fairly well (9:45 p/m approx). Turning right at Dolphin's Barn, I decided to just get the head down and keep going into the wind and rain through Crumlin and Drimnagh.

However, having negotiated that section, alarm bells were going off. The ITB niggle surfaced again approaching the Walkinstown roundabout. It was stinging pain which I hoped wouldn't force another abandonment; I'd only about 8.5 miles completed. Turning left at the Walkinstown roundabout and heading for Kimmage wasn't bringing a whole lot of relief.

Eventually though, for whatever reason it seemed to subside, and the halfway mark at the KCR (1:40) brought a smile, as I reached familiar running territory for the first time in quite a while. I took my first gel here, as I followed the route down towards Terenure. Somebody beeped at me from the opposite side as I was coming down Templeogue Road; a southside Boardsie? Being from DNS, I wouldn't know the roads here so well, and crossing into Rathgar was another new experience. I handled the hill in Milltown fairly well, and took my second gel in Clonskeagh, as I passed the entrance to the Leinster rugby centre at UCD. Still not feeling under too much pressure.

I have to say the Roebuck Road wasn't near as bad as I imagined. For most of it I was thinking, where's the hill? Having said that, it'll be a bit trickier with 22+ marathon miles under the belt. There was a lad in a red top going along here; thankfully I resisted the temptation to tag along, as he seemed a fair bit faster! He disappeared into the distance as I turned down the hill on Fosters Avenue, and then left onto the Stillorgan dualler.

The feeling that I was going to see this out brought great joy. Anyone driving by who saw me with a big smile on my coupon would think I was a total maniac! The rain was a lot heavier by now too. Even so, I turned onto Nutley Lane still with plenty of bounce in my stride, and swung left onto Merrion Road feeling fantastic. Last couple of kilometres remaining, and relatively comfortably I saw the distance out . I visualised the scene on the 30th, with massive crowds cheering us on as we give it everything coming up to the finish. This time I didn't hang around on Merrion Square; instead I made my way around to Pearse Station to do my stretches in the dry, before I made my way to where my wife was waiting to give me a lift home.

I felt so happy having got through this. I wasn't sure if I'd be able having raced the half last week; maybe I should trust the training more Average pace here about 10 minutes per mile; this isn't factoring in time stuck at crossings, or the two occasions where I helped people reverse from their houses onto the road (in Ballyfermot and Rathgar).

Sun 2/10 - We Are The Champions

Recovery day today, and boy do I need it. My legs felt fine, but everywhere else was feeling more than a little bit tender, after the drama of Dublin's All Ireland final replay victory, and the celebrations that followed! Two laps of Porterstown felt tougher than usual, but I completed my three miles at 9:41 p/m average pace, to wrap up a 40 mile week and the highest weekly mileage in the Boards plan. I'm very tired typing this, but delighted with how yesterday in particular went.

Only 4 weeks to go!

My week....week 14 HHN2 Plan

Mon - rest
Tue - 8k @ 5.47 pace
Wed - 13.4k @ 5.56 pace (on grass)
Thu - 8k @ 6.01 pace
Fri - rest
Sat - 20.2k @ 6.14 pace (on grass)
Sun - 5k @ 6.39 pace

Decided on grass again for this step back 20k. Does anyone else find the step back LSR boring?? Just has to be done!
Looking forward to Longwood for the 3/4 marathon next Sunday, plan to run it approx. 6.05 / 6.10 pace, all going well.
Glad not to read any further injuries this week and great to see kin9pin clocking up miles again, hope aceygray gets back soon. Tony1980 - how are things with you??
This day 4 weeks we should (hopefully) all be finished

Well, I'm not running today. Woke up woozy as anything and just not up to it. Next weekend is the 20 mile run and I'm looking forward to that. I wish the marathon would just come already I feel ready! I'm off the drink and late night eating as well too, going to be a fun month... I hope everyone is getting on well!

Hey Wubble Wubble, fair play on your 20miler yesterday. Did my own 7 miler first yesterday then ran the last 13 miles of DCM route, rain was atrocious , of course it stopped when I arrived home.

Great seeing all the other lone runners out on the roads, even through the rain everyone seemed to be acknowledging each other which was nice, as felt you weren't only lunatic running 20 miles on a typical October day. Kept playing that you tube 'it's 5am..I am a Marathon runner' in my head.

Anyway imagine this time 4 weeks......DCM will be over well hopefully although I might still trying to get to the end.

Happy running all