Off the Fence....and looking to go sub 3 hrs

FBOT01 wrote: »

After doing DCM in Oct 13 on the P&D <55mile 18 week program, I decided to do my first spring marathon in 2014 and give the P&D 55-70mile program a go. I started in early Dec 13 - 18 weeks before the Connemarathon. The plan was to see how the training was going and if all was going well I might skip Connemarathon in favour of a flatter Kildare course 3 weeks later. Having run the half a couple of times, I knew Connemarathon was not a PB course but Kildare could be if I was in the right shape. Kildare was cancelled so Connemara it was.

The training went very well up to week 13 and I was really loving the extra mileage and chewing up the hill of Howth at least twice a week. I started to think that maybe a PB would be an option in Connemara. In week 13, I had a hamstring problem that resulted in me being “banned” from running up hills or doing real speed sessions. I didn’t know it until the weekend but following this I lost my focus and had no real goal heading to Connemara. My floor goal was only really set on Saturday when I heard that TBL won the director's run in 3:18:xx......no way I was finishing slower than that:) but other than that anything would do.

The plan was to go out in 1:35 and keep it steady for as long as possible. With a fair wind and a bit of luck 3:12:xx (PB is 3:13:22) might be possible but a more realistic target was probably sub 3:15 given the fact that is 2013 only 2 of the top 50 finishers had a negative split and only 9 had positive splits less than 5 mins.

Clifden was the base for the weekend. Took in Munster match on way down - good start to the weekend. After registration headed to EJ Kings' for pasta and the Ulster match - red card was a tough call. In bed by 10:30 and slept like a log. Rolled out of bed about 7:15 well rested. Brought me own brekie to keep in the routine and avoid potential stomach problems later.

Jumped on the bus at 9 and headed out to the start. Met a couple of lads John and Ken on the bus and past the time chatting to them. That turned out to be the story of my day. Meeting people along the way and having a chat. Great way to pass the time but not the way to run a race....so cutting a long story short I ended up running rather than racing. Only really figured that out when I reviewed my day to write this report and could break it down by who I met at what point in the road and what we chatted about. I am not going to relive it all here as you all have better things to do than trudge through it. I would only say that I really enjoyed meeting all the people I met along the way and passing the time with them in a wonderful part of the world.

Miles 1-6 (07:19, 07:17, 07:15, 07:26, 07:25, 07:18)

Got into my rhythm quickly and settled nicely. First mile marker was at mile 3 and I passed it dead on 21:45 or 7:15 avg pace so all good. Miles 4 & 5 I started chatting to a few lads and I let the pace drop down to 7:25ish. Decided to move on and picked up the pace a little.

Miles 7-13 (7:30, 7:15, 7:17, 7:12, 7:08, 7:22, 7:18)

Mile 7 we hit the first and most straightforward of the hills for today. Slowed a little but kept thing steady. Next few miles I was back on track pace wise. I was waiting for the steep decent into Leenane to pick up the time lost on the uphill. The decent was gone before I noticed it as I had heard it was quite severe so was all the time holding for it. All of a sudden I was running at sea level and the opportunity to recoup time was gone. The mile into Leenane along harbour seemed to go on forever and I actually found this tougher than I would have liked. Maybe that was because I was running solo and had no one to chat too:). Passed half way at just over 1:36 a minute down with nothing to blame other than me enjoying the company and scenery a little bit too much. I even had time to wonder on the run into Leenane, at around 12 noon, whether AMK had managed to break 3hrs in Manchester. Talk about not being in the moment.

Miles 14-21 (7:38, 7:43, 7:06, 7:21, 7:23, 7:24, 7:23, 7:20)

I hit the hill out of Leenane, the wind and the hail all at the same time. This helped me get my head in the game temporarily and I pounded up the hill weaving between the tail end of the half that had just started. Managed to pass a couple of marathoners as I went. When I got to the top of the hill I was cruising and mile 16 was my fastest mile of the day. Next 5 miles avg pace was c 7:22 again I was losing 5s plus per mile for no reason other than lack of focus or maybe starting to think of the HOTW a little too early.

Miles 22-26.2 (7:32, 8:06, 8:29, 7:31, 7:54, 2:49) - Garmin clocked it at 26.37 miles

As I turned right across the bridge, the wind hit me like a wall. It actually felt like I was knocked backward at one point between the bridge and the water station. This was the toughest mile of the day to that point and I had to dig in. This mile took me to the base of the hill and the next couple of miles were as tough as I would have expected although I didn’t expect the gusting wind to knock me sideways on a couple of occasions. If I wasn’t running in the middle of the road I would have ended up in the ditch....race weight doesn’t help in the wind.

At mile 24 (c3hrs on the clock) I hadn’t written off sub 3:15 but when a crested the hill and got the wind in my face I knew it wasn’t happening. Got a little tug in my right hamstring in mile 25 and had no desire to test it. PB was not happening, sub 3:15 was not happening BUT I was going to finish quicker that TBL’s training run so I just sat back a toddled home with a moral victory;)

Post run pint would have gone down better with a Leinster win but I think they were a little like me and not really at the races.

Summary

As per previous post Official result was 3:16:54, 35th overall and 6th O40. Great day, course and event. Thanks to all involved. I will be back with lessons learnt.

PS....would recommend Clifden over Galway as a base for this event. A great buzz around the town and everybody is engaged in it for the weekend. EJ’s was our base for a lot of the weekend and we were very well looked after.

FBOT01 wrote: »

Cheers TbL, still taking the meds alright but might need a stronger prescription for next training block.....

Have targets/aspirations for the year as follows:
5K - 17:xx
5M - 30:2x
10K - 37:xx
10M - 63:xx
HM tbc
Berlin - 3:04:xx but if all goes well I will be making my first assault on sub 3.

Berlin is the main target for the year.