Getting Back To My Best

^ I don't think many people would back me at odds on. 7/4 is my own odds, being realistic. It was 4/1 after the Newark Half so that's a good thing. Sometimes i wonder if i should have become an odds compiler instead of a civil engineer, would be so much more fun :rolleyes: Happy enough to do it part time on here though

Thurs 22nd Sept, 4 mls slow and easy in the heath in 35'30 (8'53). Ran in the race shoes (DS trainers) and they feel fine.

Marathon thoughts

So thats my last run done (bar a 2-3 mile jog in Berlin Saturday) and i can say that i've steadied the ship over the last 6 weeks. I nailed some crucial training runs and feel like i'm ready to rewrite all my road pb's in the coming weeks and months. Newark was disappointing, no doubt. However Dunshaughlin and the 17'51 5k were fantastic and exceeded expectations.

My marathon pb is a soft enough 3'12'00 (from Barca 6 months ago) and i should be on for a pb at worst. My average mileage has been over 10 mls p/w higher than it was before Barca and the tempo's and sessions run at a faster pace. Plan for Sunday is to stick like glue to the 3 hr pacers as long as i can and not push on until the last mile, assuming i'm with them that long. I've mentioned before that 3'10 is an important secondary goal as a gateway into London 2013 and if the wheels are coming off i'll sense it and not let myself blow up and ensure the sub 3'10. Not much i can do about cramp, the calf gaurds, the higher mileage and the electrolyte tablets are my best bet to prevent it i think, but if it happens it happens. I won't be too downbeat if the sub 3 doesnt happen, what will be will be.

Flying out tomorrow evening and looking forward to the weekend. Thanks to everyone for their good wishes. I'll be printing it out and reading them Sunday morning before the race, as well as my Dunshaughlin and Reading race reports. I'll try to update where possible over there.

Berlin, ich bin beriet. der irischen kommen!

Sat 24th Sept, 2.9 mls fairly slow (around 9'20 pace) with Meno in Berlin from our hotel down through the Tiergarten past the "phoenix monument" and the Brandenburg gate/Reichstag as well as the start and finish area. Off to the expo shortly. Garmin is well slow these days to get a signal.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116591343

Race number is 7888 for those who want to check how i'm doing.

Bis spater.

3:09:01 today. Got to mile 15 on target for sub 3 but i always felt like i was going a bit faster than i wanted to go. Close to stopping at mile 20 ish but re-rallied to get under 3'10. No cramp to speak of thankfully, right hamstring almost went up the home straight though. 3 min pb. Happy enough i got the secondary goal. This marathon game isnt for me i think.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116875171

http://results.scc-events.com/2011/index.php?content=detail&fpid=search&id=00000005C9AF0A000027067C&lang=EN&event=MAL&ageclass=

Berlin Marathon 2011

Lead up;

Ever since my 1'25'01 in the Reading half last March, 2 weeks after my 3'12 in Barcelona this was always gonna be a sub 3 attempt. I've failed twice in the past in 2007 aged only 22 and quite naive and this time round i was better trained, educated, etc so in reality it was my first realistic sub 3 attempt. A 37'30 in the Dunshaughlin 10k and a 17'51 5k in a local race in London had me on track over the summer. Blew up badly though in my target half in August (1'31) but a solid block of training since then had me back on target.

Flew over Friday evening after work. Hotel was close to the start. Felt fine after a 3 mile shake out with Meno on Saturday morning and after negotiating the impressive expo out at the old airport i was feeling good and ready for the battle ahead.

The Race;

Headed down with Meno about an hour before the start and hopped into block C (2'50-3'00 Pen) about 20m behind the sub 3 pacers. After the formalities the gun went and the balloons shoot off into the distance, some 100-150m up the road. No big deal i thought, i can keep them in my sights. First km was a bit slow (4'33) but eased into 4'10-4'15 (sub 3 pace) pace thereafter.

However this just didnt feel comfortable i have to say. It just seemed a bit faster than i wanted to go for a marathon. There really is a world of difference between 3'10 and 3'00 pace. After a few k's though i settled in and felt better, not cruising like i was in Barca but back on track somewhat. There were a couple of drags just before the Reichstag and they weren't easy. Hit 10k on track after a slightly slower than ideal first 5k. My third 5k was my fastest and i was gaining on the pacers, only 50m down on them now, thought that i might be able to sneak up them bit by bit. The next 5k things slowly unravelled, it became tougher and keeping the balloons in sight was a struggle. Passed halfway in 1'29'42, on target on paper but nearing the end of my tether if the truth be told.

The gels were going down well and the water was no big issue. The electolyte tablets not so much though. I carried the tube with me and crushed them so they would dissolve in the water quicker. The bulk of it hit the water but the dust just dispersed forming an electolyte cloud in front of me :rolleyes: It was a struggle to drink it and ended up chewing the tablets in the end. Mile 14 was slightly downhill and i felt better, thinking that it may be back on track. I was still ahead of schedule at mile 15 but i was unravelling big time. The pacers started to pull away as i got my first lol moment of the race. Started thinking of the bishops father ted episode when they ask Ted how much of a distance to keep the media and i applied it to the balloons. "I think we should keep them close, but at a distance" "How much of distance?" "A couple of miles"

Mile 16 was ugly, as was mile 17 as i slowed right down to 8 min miling. If the truth be told i was thinking of quitting here. It was game over essentially and my race was run. I was thinking though, 4:50's would have got me in under 3'10 i thought which was the secondary goal. This pace in comparison felt much easier than the 4:15's and i reckoned i could hold it till the finish. Highlight of the race for me was at a tight bend (like the one at mile 16 in Dublin) and was Rammsteined with spectators and the YMCA was blaring over the speakers. Of course i spelt out the Lyrics for the chorus amidst huge cheers from the crowd which gave me a huge lift and i got back to 4:30 pace for a couple.

After that i kept the pace around 4:45-4:50, dont think i could have gone much faster, legs were starting to hurt and the cramp was threatening in the hamstring. It was just a matter of ticking off the kilometres. Chatted to a few around me, even managed to hold a german conversation (did it for the leaving). Met Village Runner at 37km and got a bottle of Lucozade Sport off him, which was a huge help. Drank the whole bottle in about 30 seconds, a sure sign of dehydration. The sun was beating down though and it was getting uncomfortable. With 3k to go i needed 3 x 5 min km's to get under 3'10. Barring a cramp or a father Neil Horan i knew i could do it . I got great support from fellow Londoners and i must have had 50 “Come on Heathside” shouts, even those from rival London clubs.

We swung onto Unter Den Linden for the last km and i just focused on keeping the pace up, even though it was torture. I was well warned about the length of the finishing straight though so i was ready for it. Coming up to the Brandenburg Gate with 300m to go the right hamstring starts to wobble. It didnt cramp but it was a warning. No way could i up the pace after that as i said i'm well under 3'10, no point pushing it. Really enjoyed the last 200m with the crowds and highfived Berlino the Bear (2009 World athletics mascot). Stopped the clock in 3:09:00 (3:09:01). Didnt particularly care about the extra 2 seconds, sub 3'10 was the clear secondary goal (for London 2013 qualification) and i made that so i was actually pretty happy after despite the fact that i missed the primary target by over 9 mins. It just wasnt to be though. No way was i going to let myself be disappointed by a pb. I've had way too much disappointment in marathons for that. The calf guards worked a treat, calf cramps were never on the way and they felt fresh afterwards (weird) and they were the only part of my legs without DOMS yesterday.

Garmin Link;

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116875171

Great night on the beer afterwards with assorted boardsies (Meno, TheRoadRunner and clubmates, Liamo, Martha-Stew, Opus, Jb-ski et al). Think i managed 10 pints, a lot for me these days.

Post Mortem;

The overriding thought from the weekend is that i’m not suited to the marathon distance. I’ve invested a lot of time and effort chasing the sub 3 and i think the time has come to give up on it for a year or so. I’m approaching my peak years for a runner (27,28,29) and it’s time to set some solid pb’s over 5k, 10k, 10 miles etc. Dont think i did anything wrong in training really, there’s no regrets. The 26.2 mls just doesn’t bring out the best in me like a 5k does and with 9 marathons under the belt it’s time for a change. That’s my initial reaction, i may feel differently in a week or 2, but it’s not the first time i’ve said this (as followers of this log will know). Long runs have been a drag this time round and i haven’t enjoyed a lot of the marathon specific training. I’ll do the Twickenham 10 miler in 3 weeks and the Waterford Half in December and use the residual fitness from the marathon to set a couple of pb’s hopefully. Pacing DCM too in 5 weeks which should be a laugh and be comfortable enough.

As a race Berlin didn’t tick all the boxes for me. 3 negatives that come to mind are the water in cups, no finisher t-shirt and a terrible goody bag. Quite good support though. I honestly thought Barca and Rotterdam were better marathons but it's a race everyone should do once.

Thanks to everyone for the support over the last few days and indeed the last few months.

04072511 wrote: »

Agreed, but you could apply that all the way down to the shortest events, where he is clearly strongest. You say why focus on marathon's when he has the potential to go sub 17 over 5k, but could as easily say why focus on 5k's when he can go low 50's in 400m. He's gone sub 54 seconds for 400m (albeit a few years back), which is bloody fast. Faster than probably 99% of people on this forum I'd say. In Ireland of course, there's no future for a 54 second 400m runner but I'm assuming London actually have a decent setup in place that focuses on athletes of all standards?

Whatever you chose I'm sure you'll nail many PB's in the future. The marathon is overhyped anyway

It's in the back of my mind to go back to the track i know. 13 years is a lot of time doing it though, pretty much the length of a premier league players career. I'd be worried that if i did i'd lose all my fitness when i went back. 5k's/10k's would keep me sharp and improve me as a runner overall. I could do a few track races for the craic that way then. Cant forget the sub 5 min mile as well of course, which is clearly much easier than the sub 3