Race report thread

Here is my report from the Le Cheile festival of running on Saturday, 22nd June.

belcarra wrote: »

I have (very belatedly) updated my blog with a report from the Energia 24 hr race last Friday/Saturday week in Belfast.

Thrilled for you J:) 100 miles!!! Having read your report I'm seriously tempted to give it a go, you make it sound like so much fun.
I'm also very happy you made it home in one piece, as you say, next time it'd be wise to book a hotel.
Well done you!!!

Marthastew wrote: »

Thrilled for you J:) 100 miles!!! Having read your report I'm seriously tempted to give it a go, you make it sound like so much fun.
I'm also very happy you made it home in one piece, as you say, next time it'd be wise to book a hotel.
Well done you!!!

career_move wrote: »

Haha me too .... definitely not going to read it again

Well done J. Fantastic acheivement

It'd be no bother to the pair of you! Claralara ran 3 x 2 hours in the relay and was flying it around. It really is just as much mental as physical and it's amazing how far you can run if you just tweak back the pace a bit!
See yez there so!:D

Great to see you back out

tunguska wrote: »

Cheers Ray. I passed your brother at about 5 miles and he seemed to be struggling a bit, which I was surprised at. He's normally around 74/75 for the half. Has he been injured?

His training has been very interrupted this year, a lot of work trips abroad, but yeah, that's a slow time for him. I haven't seen him since the race, don't know what happened yet.
Maybe I should just find out what his next race is, could be my best chance to beat him

pansophelia wrote: »

DUBLIN CITY MARATHON 2013

Tried to speed up a little but the legs literally couldn’t move any faster

Felt a bit tearful running along Nassau St, then got really breathless, so had to stop myself crying! Crossed the finish line and allowed myself a tear.

26.2 miles in 4:27:12 – Av Pace 10.12

As walked back up to get a taxi I couldn’t believe the amount of ‘well dones’ and congratulations’!
Now ensconced on couch, trying to get up the courage to have an ice bath. Deep Heat is at the ready!

several hours after saying never again, I’m thinking, where next?!

Great report and well done. You had an incredibly tough day and gave it everything, with noting held back, and you achieved your goal!! Bask in the deserved glory!

I had a big piece written up about my injury from early in the year but reading back over it honestly it was boring so to make a long story short, I got injured at the start of the year, was out for 4 months, got back running a bit in july, but wasnt able to string together consecutive days running until the end up august. Decided to do the marathon because I just really wanted to. Not the best reason to be honest and if it was someone else I would've told them for sure that it was a silly decision. But at the same time my plan was to not flog myself in training and get to the start line feeling really fresh and carrying no niggles. Which is exactly what I did. It came at the cost of training sessions though.
For this marathon I was seriously under trained, I did one session of 4T + 10easy + 4T, I did the athlone half marathon, the eco run(20miles) and athone 3/4 marathon, and 2 sessions on the treadmill. And that was it. Everything else was just easy running and training on the spin bikes in the gym. Mileage was pretty low, the lowest I did since my first marathon(where it was ridiculously low, 30miles a week). So I knew going into this marathon that I needed to run a negative split, I just didnt have the work done to go at it any other way. I continued training as I'd been doing right up until 2 weeks to go, where I back it off a fair bit. I was a bit wary of doing this as my mileage was already relatively low. But I said feck it, I had promised myself that I;d get to the startline feeling really fresh and niggle free even if that meant not doing any sessions and reducing mileage to a crawl.

The Race:

Had been keeping an eye on the weather situation in the days leading up to the race. It was looking hairy and I was prepared to knock it on the head and run Florence in a few weeks time. I know I hadnt put in the training that most others had but I wouldn't waste even 2 weeks of training racing against storm force winds. But thankfully we dodged a bullet and things looked ok.
Got to the warm up area but did very little in the way of a warm up, just sat down had a laugh with the lads and relaxed while watching everybody else run up and down nervously. I treid to go to the jacks twice but nothing was happening so I just figured all was well. ALthough I was thinking to myself that this may come back to haunt me during the race. And then all of a sudden we got the call to head to the startline. The bulid up to these races is so long and drawn out but I find that on the morning of the race itself things move along very swiflty and before you know it the start gun has fired. I walked to the startline and it was an awesome sight, this big mass of bodies that stretched back as far as I could see. I line up alongside a friend and then we were off. My plan was to go off easy and thats what I did. 6:33 for the first mile. Im always amazed at how fast some people tear off in a marathon. Its nuts, you can just tell by the look of them that they're not in any shape to be running so fast at the start of such a long race. But they still shoot off like its a 5k and then very quickly die a death.
Mile 2 was 6:28, mile 3 was 6:15 and things were starting to settle down in terms of people and pacing. The stretch up chesterfield ave wasnt easy, even though we avoided the storm that lashed the UK the wind was still pretty strong and on this part of the course it was fairly tough to hold pace. I backed it off a touch and crossed the 10k point at 39:02. We had made the turn at this stage and so the next mile or so was thankfully not into a headwind, mile 7 was 5:35. It was at this stage that I caught up with Paddy and Simon from the club. The two lads seemed to be very comfortable and the 3 of us exited the park near the Donore clubhouse. Massive crowds here but I was conscious not to get caught up in the moment and start flogging the pace. I knew there was a significant hill coming up which would put the hurt on me big time if I tried to get cheeky. So I backed things off again and let the two lads go off ahead. I literally tapped up this hill, I didnt expend any effort at all but I did feel a cramp in my stomach. I was thinking to myself, fcuk off, no way. Once I'd gotten to the top of the hill there was flat for a bit but then I knew there was another incline just around the corner, so I slowed it again and took it very handy until I was on flat land again. I caught up with the lads again but then I remembered there was yet another incline just up ahead. Its a pretty short hill but enough to hurt if you attack it aggressively, so the lads went off again and I hung back again. I was like a human YO-YO. So now we were heading towards dolphins barn and the turn onto the crumlin road. There was a monster crowd at dolphins barn but worryingly my stomach cramps were getting worse and I knew I'd have to stop in the not too distant future, which was very frustrating because things were going to plan big time. That stretch up the crumlin road was soul destroying. I've run that marathon 4 times before and it was never anything close to being this bad. We got to crumlin shopping centre and I had to stop urgently. I legged into a portaloo and it was well over a minute before I was back on the road again. I felt panic trying to take me over but I stayed calm and worked my way up through the odd runner I came accross sporadically came across. Got to the childrens hospital and the wind was so strong here for whatever reasons. I felt like I wasnt getting anywhere and expending a whole lot of effort in the process. I passed the halfway mark in 82:06 which, had it not been for the jacks break, was spot on.
Once I turned at the walkinstown roundabout the wind was out of my face and I instantly felt great. I caught up with the lads at just after the 14mile mark and got a big shout from Orla (who I almost missed because I was yappin' away with the two boys). I had planned to leave it until the turn at bushy park before I made my move but for some reason my legs decided the time was now, and that was it. Game on. I started running at 5:50 pace at first, made the turn at bushy park which is a quick section and clocked a 5:33 mile. I was feeling pretty fcuking awesome and I knew the next couple of miles were flat and quick so I tore into it knocking out consecutive miles in the 5:30s (For some bizarre reason the opening scene from "They shoot horses dont they?" started playing in my head). Got to milltown where I knew there was a hill. Nothing major in terms of length but its sharp and can fcuk you up if you mess with it, so I backed the pace of until I got to the top then started flogging it again.
Man I felt so good, it was 19 miles in and I've never felt so good at that stage in a marathon, usually my achiles or calve would be acting the bollox but nothing. But then........out of nowhere I was coming down a slight decline when my calve gave me a bit of a jolt. I couldnt believe it, I slowed right down and was in a state of shock. One second Im ripping it up the next my race is over. I really thought I was gonna have to pull off to the side of the road. A movie was playing in my head where I walked off the course and hobbled my way to the next aid station whilst being passed by masses of runners. But I kept going. I was on the hill at clonskeagh and I was very careful not to tear up it even though I felt very strong. The hill flattened out and my calve was fine again. Jesus that was scary, I really thought I was a goner but then the opening scene and music from They shoot horses dont they kicked in again and off I went. I got to the hill at Roebuck which is about 21 miles gone and as I very gently made the climb I realised that the race was nearly over. How the hell did that happen? It had flown by. I knew the last couple of miles were flat so as soon as I made the turn onto fosters ave I absolutely tore into it. Crossed over the UCD flyover and the wind hit me again but only briefly before I turned onto nutley lane were a friend was waiting with a gel. Up the road about 400m I could see Maria mc cambridge and Gary Crossan. That was all the carrott I needed and I upped the pace to try to reel them in. As I got closer to Maria I saw that there was a fairly big motorcade just ahead of her, and in the middle of all the comotion was a leevale singlet belonging to claire Gibbons. Maria seemed to be struggling a bit while claire looked strong and fluid in her movement. I dont ever say anything to anybody if I pass them in a race, personally if it was the other way around and someone was passing me I'd prefer them to just go by and say nothing, I find it very irritating and not at all motivating. But I broke my rule here, I really like Maria, shes a genuine and really nice person and it killed me to not see her in the lead, so as I came alongside her I told her that she could still catch claire and that she should jump in behind me. I didnt look around again so I cant say for sure that she was directly behind me but she was thereabouts for sure because when I passed the claire gibbons motorcade the shouts went from "c'mon Claire" to "c'mon Maria" They were having an epic battle and talking to hardworker a the finish line he said it had been going on for the entire race. This was aorund the RDS area and the place was going nuts. Theres nothing like being in the middle of a championship race like this with both girls having lots of support on the sidelines. I definitely felt like an "also starring" but that was fine by me. I cant remember exactly where it was (it was after 24miles anyway) but I got to one point where the crowds were fairly thick on both sides of the road and there was only a small sliver for the runners to get through. It was like L'alp Dhuez in the tour de france, it was amazing and right on cue a there was a friend of mine just like one of those lunatics you see running alongside a cyclist screaming and gesticulating. Big red face on him shaking his fist at me and screaming for me to come on. Brilliant.
25 and some miles gone and it only dawned on me that there was less than a mile to go. Heading down to towards pearse st I caught up with 3 lads who werent letting me go by them without a fight. Pearse st was a battle. The wind was full whack in our faces. I thought with the racing and all that I mustve been doing 5:20 pace easily but I looked at the watch and it was only 5:55. We were now on nassau st. One lad in an orange jersey had about 10 meters on me, the other two boys were just off my shoulder. Part of me wanted to just coast into the finish. The usual excuses of, you've done enough already forget racing, running through my head. But I knew that if I let it slip now I'd be disgusted with myself later on. So I dug in. We had the corner with about 250m to go, one of the lads from the club was there, he screamed at me to finish it off and that was it, I kicked like crazy and blew off the the two boys. With about 50m to go I caught the lad in the orange shirt but he wasnt giving it up easily. I went ahead of him but then he drew level again, but then I kicked once more and got ahead of him, dipping on the line just to be sure.
I was so happy. Maria mc came in about 10 secs behind me and I was delighted to see she'd gotten the win. That was some run from her, I mean when I passed her she looked cooked but she dug deep and came back and thats what its all about. I watched for a while for lads I knew at the finish but I was freezing so I headed to get my gear. I was amazed at how my legs felt, for the first time after a marathon my legs felt fine, no injuries.

All in all in delighted with the way I ran. I just didnt have the work done to try and run even splits so the big negative worked brilliantly. I felt so good in the second half of that race and I have to put a lot of that down to training on empty. Even while I was injured Id do the bike sessions on empty, even the hard sessions. And when I got back running I kept that up. So I know its a controversial subject and Im not advising or recommending it for anybody else, but for me training in a fasted state works.
My legs feel good today, bit of DOMS but no injuries. I think I've finally broken the marathon-injury cycle I'd be locked into for the last 3 years. Im gonna take a few weeks off and get fat then start into the 10k plan with the goal of hitting 30mins in april, 31 at the very least. Then I'll see what happens. I might do back to back 10k plans and forget about a marathon completely next year, I'll see what happens.
I still cant figure out the "They shoot horses dont they?" thing. Freud & Jung would have a field day with that one. Im sure the significance of it will come to me at some stage. A friend said to me a while ago that I was always searching for the perfect race, well man, this was damn near perfect.....

Time: 2:38:41
Place:42*

*I checked the results and the guy I out kicked at the end was given the place ahead of me. Im gonna e-mail dublin marathon and get that sorted.

I'll post up my splits tomorrow at some stage but it was 82 first half and 76 second half

Looking good with a mile and a half to go!

aero2k wrote: »

@tunguska

Eoin,

Congratulations on a terrific performance - that time would be impressive even without your restricted training.

I saw you just before the 10k mark and I thought you looked strong, though perhaps a minute or two off the pace I'd expect - obviously I wasn't aware of your cunning plan!


Knowing your background and usual no-compromise approach to training, I'm wondering if you plan to do anything different for future marathons?

Hi Sean good to hear from you again, I was asking Andy if he'd seen you lately just the other day.
For future marathons Im gonna use the same philosophy, i.e. less is more and get myself to the start line feeling fresh. Obviously I'll be able to do more training sessions now that Im not carrying any injuries but having said that Im not gonna be flogging myself. I read an article on letsrun.com a while ago(I think it was written by one of the founders of letsrun) and he talked about the difference between training hard and training fast. What he said had a big impact on me so from now on I'll be training fast as opposed to hard and any marathons I do I most definitely wont be killing myself for.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Tunguska, whats your pb?

The only training I witnessed from you was you sitting in the jacuzzi in Wespark! :P

Thats my PB now. Not by much, just a few seconds and if you looked at the the two times you'd think that I hadnt improved much over the year. But the difference between the runs is the difference between night and day and next year will be the first year I get to go into training not carrying a knock so Im pretty sure I'll take lumps out of that PB.
Yeah that jacuzzi is like my spiritual home at this stage, I had a funny encounter with 5 Bikini clad Brazilian chicks recently though......

Paranoid Mandroid wrote: »

Please tell me this is another 'stomach cramp, had to go' story

Well done man, great run, well deserved.
Andy

No nothing gross or anything like that, its pretty funny, you of all people will crack up when you hear the story.

tunguska wrote: »

A friend said to me a while ago that I was always searching for the perfect race, well man, this was damn near perfect.....

By the way you probably dont remember saying it, but that was you man.

Background.
Had being looking for an alternative to Dublin, which I've ran for the last 3 years. Settled on frankfurt after seeing there was flights from Kerry airport, which is a half an hour down the road. Good old ryanair added the airport journey time at the other side. We payed 91 euro entry as we were late to sign up. Had a PB of 3.19 from portumna this year and headed over in good form and a target time of 3.15.Frankfurt Hahn is 1.5 hours bus to the city, Frankfurt main airport about 20 mins. Bus stop was frankfurt central train station, a place we were to become very familiar with over the next few days. It had everything a runner could need pre marathon (pasta bars) and post(burger king & starbucks, pharmacy). Our hotel was the Monopol, which I'd highly recommend. Free wireless, tea & cake in the lobby til 6, free minibar and free ironing of 2 items of clothing per night . Great selection for breakfast and it was open from 4am onward for the marathon. Rooms were a small bit dated but overall the place was very clean.

On saturday myself and the girlfriend headed up to the expo. It was a decent sized expo, with the usual high prices you get at those things. After collecting our race packs we used the coupons attached to the race numbers to avail of the free pasta and minerals, although declined the free beer.Took a quick look at the indoor finishing straight which would be a first and looked forward to seeing it the following day when the crowds were there. Headed off home and did the usual meal and sleep thing.

Race day arrived and I took advantage of the early breakfast, I was down there at 5 and probably ate a bit more than normal. Usual I don't eat a big pre race breakfast, but the 10.30am start gave me that option this time. Back to bed for a while then, although no sleep. We headed up towards the start line about half 9 and got the toliet duties out of the way. Saw the elites warming up, group of about 10 or more which was pretty cool, only a second seperated 1st and 2nd at the end of the day. Queues weren't too bad, had time for a decent warm up and then headed for the asics corral for runners from elite to 3.15. It was easy enough get into the corrals with 10 mins to go so no need to be standing around if ya didn't want to. The weather was good, about 15 degrees although a little breezy at times.

We're off. Things got off pretty smoothly down the first straight which was wide and about 1k long. Had it in my head to start very conservatively and stuck to my guns, although the garmin was playing ball. After the frist straight things very narrow and twisty for a while amongst the sky scrapers. Pace for mile 1, 7.45, mile 2 5.58...What the f**k? First time I've used a garmin in a race so it took me a while to figure out what was going on. In fact the first 8k is tight enough although if wouldn't really be a problem for the front runners. Planned to get to 10k in 44.30, got there in 47mins. Regrouped at that stage, had figured out what went wrong and made the decision to try regain the time 10 seconds per mile to mile 20 and just settled into that rhythm. The course had started to open up now and I settled in with a group of similar paced runners. I was finding the new pace comfortable enough and feel good. Water stops were on both sides in the first 10k which saved a lot of hassle and limited the near misses that usual happen. Things were warming up and my race pack sponge was to be my best buddy for the rest of the day.The run from here to half way was on good flat road and pretty straight. I was impressed with the support as well, especially in the city.Before I knew it we were at 30k, miles were just flying by. What wind that was there now, was behind us and the straight road 30-35k was great. Picked off a lot of people here and I was reaping the benefit of my slow start. Its a great feeling to be passing people and a real confidence booster at that stage, instead of just hanging in. I had to stop myself a few times from dipping under 7.15 pace in the excitement, didn't want to risk blowing up. We were now back into the last 7k and it mirrored the twisty turny nature of the first 7k. I didn't mind this as it kept your attention, looking for the shortest route. Winds got very gusty back in amongst the skyscrapers, bad enough to bring you to a near stand still at times. Found my pace slowing slightly here but no serious leakage. We turned back onto the finishing/start straight and saw the Festhalle in the distance. You followed the road until past the start/finish and then vere off to the left for the last 400 metres before entering the arena to pumping music, disco lights and cheerleaders on the home straight. If ever there was a time to pull up with cramp that was it . Crossed the line in 3.17.02 and knew I had a new pb, just a matter of by how much. I had reset the watch at half way as it was putting me off when the distances were so far out at the start. Meet the girlfriend as soon as I crossed over the line. She had ran a PB of 3.02 off the back of 8 weeks training. She was over the moon. Checked my result back at the hotel later, 3.14.46 Job done...

Didn't half set myself up for that one expect an edited version..

Seville Marathon 2014 Report here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=89177632