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Child Item

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

FBOT01

New Year with new challenges ahead…..going to try this log thing out and share my experiences in the hope that the boys and girls of the “boards.ie” community might be able to help me on the road to a sub 3hr Marathon. Yep I said it and it is now out there. No more sitting on the fence..... sub 3hrs is the next big goal!

A little bit of background to put my goal and the challenge ahead in context.....

I’m a 44 yr old 5’ 6 “ late starter with no history or background in running. After hitting 40 and been given a choice between Statins or exercise I choose running. I kicked off my running “career” in January 2011 at the Raheny 5 with the Connemara Half in April 2011 as the target goal. After graduating to the DCM in October 2011 I caught the running bug and have been ticking along enjoying almost every step since.

Marathon History
DCM 2011 03:42:12 (‘FIRST’ training programme)
DCM 2012 03:28:12 ( ‘FIRST’ programme again with extra running days and 10 week pilates course)
DCM 2013 03:13:16 (P&D 18wk /55m – no pilates and it showed in the last 2 miles)

PB’s
5K - 18:19 Parkrun St Anne’s – Oct 2013
5m - 34:20 Raheny 5 – Jan 2013 (only 5 miles I have run is Raheny 5 and until this year I would have been coming off a Nov/Dec break and a heavy Christmas)
10k - 39:05 Docklands – Jun 2013
10m – 1:04:36 Frank Duffy – Aug 2013
½ marathon - 1:28:56 Kildare - May 2013
Marathon - 3:13:16 DCM – Oct 2013

Total Mileage for 2013 was 1,900 miles.

Diary for 2014 starts with Raheny 5 at end of Jan and will be followed by Ballycotton 10 in March and Connemara Marathon in April. Original plan was to work towards a crack at 3hrs in Berlin but didn't manage to get a slot in the lottery so I guess I will have to try it on home soil in DCM 2014 all going well.

I am currently on week 7 of the 18 week P&D 55 to 70 mile program and all is going OK at the moment touch wood........did my first +60 week 2 weeks ago and still motoring.

Last week runs were as follows:
Mon – 7m @ 8:02 avg pace
Tues – 12.39m @ 8:19 avg pace
Wed – 5.87m @ 8:34 avg pace (Recovery)
Thurs – 10m @ 8:09 avg pace
Fri – 5.22m @ 9:02 avg pace (Recovery)
Sat – 12.28m @ 7:58 avg pace followed by St Annes Parkrun 5k @ 6:20 avg pace
Sun - Rest

Week = 55.9m
MTD = 95.8m
YTD = 95.8M

Look forward to getting your views, thoughts and advices over the coming weeks, months, years............and for all they might be worth sharing mine!

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FBOT01

Wednesday 24/09/2014
7.15m @ 07:35 avg pace (Gen Aerobic w/3 @ MP)

Warm out there this evening for Dublin in the back end of September. This was supposed to be 7 Gen w/2@MP but I stuck in an extra MP just to try to help remember the feel/effort levels.

The MP ended up a little slower than I had planned as for some reason I kept finding my comfort zone in the high 6:50's rather than the low 6:50's so everytime I relaxed I was in high 6:50 zone.......I better make sure that it is the other way around on Sunday:) That being said it was all comfortable with no niggles (TW). Legs felt good and I could have rolled off a couple of quicker miles if I had to but that wasn't the purpose of the exercise.

MP miles were 06:57/06:55/06:56. They will need to be closer to 6:50 on Sunday.

RayCun

MP is always going to feel more comfortable in the race environment. I don't think you can really dial in effort level in advance, because its going to change so much from mile 2 to mile 22

FBOT01

RayCun wrote: »

MP is always going to feel more comfortable in the race environment. I don't think you can really dial in effort level in advance, because its going to change so much from mile 2 to mile 22

Hi Ray, I would tend to agree with you and that is pretty much why I didn't worry too much about trying to push the clock down or the effort up.

FBOT01

Thursday 25/09/2014
5.11m @ 08:15 avg pace (Recovery)

Nice easy recovery run. Ignored the watch and just trotted along at a relaxed pace. Another one ticked off.

ThebitterLemon

Best of luck M.

You're in great shape (for an auld lad) and come Sunday, you'll finally be off the fence

TbL

Gavlor

Best of luck!

FBOT01

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Best of luck M.

You're in great shape (for an auld lad) and come Sunday, you'll finally be off the fence

TbL

Gavlor wrote: »

Best of luck!

Cheers Gents.

blockic

Very Best of luck FBOT! Bring it home

AuldManKing

Go get it on Sunday, trainings gone great, enjoy the experience.

FBOT01

blockic wrote: »

Very Best of luck FBOT! Bring it home

AuldManKing wrote: »

Go get it on Sunday, trainings gone great, enjoy the experience.

Cheers. I hope to do both:)

viperlogic

Best of luck. Do the P&D plan we are on proud!

Calvin Johnson

Good luck FBOT.

ecoli

Best of luck FBOT. Give Zee Germans (or your PB) Hell

Duanington

Good luck on Sunday FBOT01 - again, I doubt luck will have much to do with the outcome though, your preparation has been top notch

FBOT01

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

Good luck FBOT.

ecoli wrote: »

Best of luck FBOT. Give Zee Germans (or your PB) Hell

Duanington wrote: »

Good luck on Sunday FBOT01 - again, I doubt luck will have much to do with the outcome though, your preparation has been top notch

viperlogic wrote: »

Best of luck. Do the P&D plan we are on proud!

Thanks for the good wishes, Folks.

FBOT01

Friday 26/09/2014
3.45m Recovery

Gentle recovery run around St Anne's with the dog pretty much brings this training cycle to an end.........just the main event to come.

Thanks for the messages of support on here and I will post my result on Sunday. Race no is 19591 for anyone interested in tracking.

Early flight tomorrow so I will sign off now until Sunday.........Good luck to all those running. See you on the other side!

Finnt

Best of luck Sunday FBOT, there'll have to be a log title change on Monday!

FBOT01

Berlin Marathon
Official time 3:00:59

Missed the sub 3 but got a 12min + PB so happy out. Chilling in Oscar Wilde with Yaboya, and withcheeseplease both of whom managed to get the job done....fantastic support crew of Mrs FBOT, Ferris B and Mrs Ferris B still supporting!!

Report will follow.

Finnt

Fair play, tough to miss it, but fantastic time all the same.

ecoli

Super time.

I know you may be a little disappointed missing the 3 but it really is an arbitrary number, the 12 min PB is truly the only time that matters

Enjoy the post race celebration

tang1

Well done M, great running. The sub3 will come, enjoy the beers very well deserved.

annapr

Well done! Great PB. see you in a few!

Killerz

Super PB FBOT! Hard luck on missing the sub3, but you have a great springboard now to nail it next time (if Mrs. FBOT can put up with another training cycle

AuldManKing

good man and super attitude.

Looking fwd to the report.

Duanington

Great stuff FBOT01 - congratulations on a smashing time and well earned PB

FBOT01

Official Chip Time - 3:00:59

On Jan 1 2014 this was the big one for me.........I was off the fence and looking to go sub 3 hrs (in Berlin)

It was a long 9 months coming but was worth all the hard work despite not actually getting sub 3. The Berlin Marathon was an wonderful experience and I had a great weekend to boot. It was great to be able to enjoy it with old friends and new.........big shout out to Yaboya, Murph_D, Mrs Murph, Marthastew, Mr Stew, the Crusaders crew, withcheeseplease, Loughie, Mrs L, Belcarra, Roisin, Terry049 plus1 all of whom helped make it an event to remember but most of all it was great to share it with Mrs FBOT, Ferris B and Mrs B my very own and very dedicated support crew. As you all know Ferris should have been toeing the line beside me on Sunday morning and I can only imagine how hard it was for him to be sidelined for this one but you would have struggled to find a louder and more enthusiastic supporter than him on Sunday morning.

Prerace
Training had gone well and I was pretty much where I wanted to be by the time I got to the startline. So now it was about getting the job done. The plan was to run my own race and not worry about pacers or anybody else. I had set out my stall to go out at 2:59 pace and if all went well I would nip in under that and if all went pear shaped hopefully I could hang on....forgot my pace band on the day but numbers are my thing so doing the maths on the go kept me distracted......5k split targets where 21.12 and as long as I kept the garmin showing 6:4x min/mile I should be still in the hunt coming down the straight.

0-10k
Great buzz at the start and lined up beside Yaboya and withcheeseplease with Terry049 not to far away. From Block D we were over the line in just under a minute and by keeping down the left hand side for the first straight as advise the congestion was pretty much non-existent. Got a huge shout out from the support crew at about the 2k mark. I don't normally do emotional but this really took my breath away and it took me a few minutes to get my head back in the game. 5k and 10k splits were very slightly under but nothing to be concerned about. I was moving well and was settling in nicely. By the second water station I had refined my technique for getting water from the tables safely. I took water at every station along the way but the cups meant I got relatively small amounts in at each station.

10-20k
Splits here remained consistent and my simple strategy continued...if I looked at the watch and it gave me a lap pace that said 6:3x then I had to dial it back and if it said 6:5x I needed to pick it up. Still feeling good but kept telling myself that this was not what I had been training for, the race I had been training for wasn't starting until 32km.......I had over 2000 mile in the bag YTD training for a 10k that was now less than 50 mins away.

20-30k
The support crew had relocated and they were now front and centre just before the half way point. Great lift when I saw and heard them and was still feeling good at this point. I know that when I saw them again it would be somewhere around 37km and that it would be a different story.

30-35k
This is were the wheels started to come off. Just after the 30k mark I started to over heat. The air felt must thinner and it was harder to get enough air in. I also started to feel a little empty. I had run all my training on water only but had brought a couple of emergency gels just in case today. I took one of these at 32k but dumped the other one as I was afraid two would lead to stomach issues and that there was no point carrying it any further if I wasn't going to use it. Probably a mistake of the day....maybe I should have just held onto it and throw it into me when the going got really tough. It was towards the end of this 5k that withcheeseplease passed me an gave me a shout out. I thought about going with him but thought that I should try to steady the ship....at this stage if I could finish out with sub 7 min miles I would still be OK.

35-40k
Next came the 3 hr pacer. He passed me like a steam train with a very small tailing group. I didn't panic though as I was still OK and I know the pacers were a bit all over the place . Much needed shout out from the crew at 37km with Ferris B reminding me that I only had a parkrun to go....I really thought that I could still hit the sub 3 at this stage. By the time I got a shout for annapr at about 39km I had slowed badly. The life/energy just seemed to drain out of me in mile 24 and it felt like I was going backwards but rightly or wrongly I still wasn't giving up the ghost. If I could hang on until the finishing straight then maybe I could muster a last dash at sneak in under. Mile 25 didn't get any better and as we headed into the last mile I was almost spent.

40-42k
The many turns at this stage were torture. I didn't know the city or the course well enough to know which one would eventually bring me on to the final straight. When I eventually turned the corner and saw the Brandenburg Gate for a brief moment I thought that the clock and finsh line were at the Erdinger sign before the gate. This gave me a lift and I checked my watch I was still in with a shout. As I got closer I could see that I had it wrong and that the sub 3 was indeed a job for another day. However, I decided that 3:00:xx might not be as good as 2:59:xx but it was better than 3:01:xx. I dug in and kicked on for the finish line. I took a small moral victory from being able to drive for the line and at least be able to say I was a 3 hr marathoner at the end of the day. I crossed the line ala Marthastew with my hands in the air to bring to a close my first international Marathon.

Full splits available here : http://http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/602360163

Aftermath:
I met Mrs FBOT, Ferris B and Mrs B just after the finished and after a brief break in the shade to cooldown and start the rehydration process we headed off with Yaboya and withcheeseplease to meet up with plenty of happy runners and supporters in the Oscar Wilde. We celebrated some great times and performances among which was the legend that is now Yaboya, withcheeseplease, the Crusaders crew (including the Stews) and two men that smashed their targets on what I felt was a very tough day Loughie and Murph_D. Well done to these and everyone else from here and elsewhere that came and concurred in Berlin

Monday was spent enjoying the sites of Berlin and mulling over the events of the day before. Body held up well and recovery is going well.

Reflection
I believe that I was in good shape and well placed for my first attempt at sub 3 when I toed the line in Berlin better than at any stage of my short running career. I would put my failure to complete the job down to one of two things or a combination of both. Firstly, I found it very warm/humid in the latter stages of the race and struggled to take on water and secondly, unlikely my previous marathons I trained for this one without the use of gels, etc. and didn't have a structure plan to take them during the race. Nor did I carb load at any stage either during the cycle or in the days before the race. On the plus-side I didn't suffer from any of the stomach issue that I have previously experienced from 16/18 miles onward.

At the end of the day, am I disappointed by missing the sub 3? Yes. But am I happy with a 12min+ PB? Abso...fooking...lutely. But in the big scheme of things I am thankful that I could stand on the start line, cross the finish line, give it a good lash in between and enjoy it all with family and friends afterwards.

Where to next? Who knows?............I will enjoy a little rest before pacing at DCM and hopefully, catching up with the Berliners and others in McGrattans afterwards.

It is late and I am off to bed so please excuse the typos, etc.

yaboya1

Good stuff M. Unlucky regards the sub 3, but on the plus side you don't have to change your log title

(too soon?)

Seriously though, the more I look back at this, the more I think the heat was a factor, especially in the second half. Too many people seem to have been affected by it not to be a legitimate reason for slowing us all down. On another day we all come home below the pre-race targets. As both you and I have alluded to though, it just makes loughie & Murph_D's performances look even more spectacular.

martyboy48

Great report FBOT01 and a great PB

Delighted with your outlook on it and not being to hard on missing the sub 3. As was mentioned earlier the heat wouldn't have helped and as Ecoli said, your 12+ min PB is the main point along with your enjoyment of the race.

Well done again..

blockic

Well done FBOT, and the good thing is that you'll have the motivation to go again!

When you go sub 3, sometimes its hard to see where to next, difficult to build yourself up again, but unfinished business been motivation won't be an issue.

And sure after all, all the cool dudes take a couple of attempts to go sub 3, an extra chapter for the book!

Marthastew

Excellent report with an even better performance M, we are thrilled for you!
I've decided that I'll combine yours, yaboya's and murph's for my report :-)

As ecoli says, the most important number on the day was the 12 minute PB, congrats again.
It was great to spend time with you and Mrs FBOT, I hope you're proudly wearing that fabulous jacket she bought you. Next stop DCM pacing for lots more fun for us all :-)