nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

A Slow Journey to Faster Times

yaboya1

So I finally decided on Seville for my Spring Marathon. The date & costs suit me well and the race seems to be pretty well reviewed by anyone who's previously run it.

This is my first attempt at a training log so please go easy on me!

I've run three previous marathons (3:39, 3:35, 3:34). The aim in Seville is to finally go below 3:30. I've had various things go wrong on me in all of the above, so I think my target is pretty achievable. I haven't done any running since Chicago last month, so I plan to ease back into it gradually for the next month by doing a couple of short/medium runs during the week with a long one at the weekend. Then from the beginning of December I've decided to follow the 12 week 'Up to 55 miles per week' marathon schedule from the Advanced Marathoning book by Pfitzinger & Douglas.

My biggest problem in the past has been going too quickly on my long runs. There are 7 different paces in this plan. I have estimated what pace I should be running them at as follows:

MP runs: 8 min/mile
Long runs: 9 min/mile
Med-long runs: 8:45-9 min/mile
General aerobic runs: 9:30 min/mile
LT runs: 7:35 min/mile
Recovery runs: 12 min/mile
VO2 max intervals: 7 min/mile

If anyone has any comments/observations, I'd be delighted to hear them. Otherwise I'll be back as soon as I get back out on the road.

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

yaboya1

Saturday 25th October - 4m Recovery (with 6 x 100m Strides)
4.73 miles @ 8:24min/mile average

Met Tigerandahalf in the PP for this penultimate shake out. As always in company, the miles ticked by without noticing and even though the pace was a little quicker than we'd intended, we were chatting throughout so it couldn't have been too damaging. Tiger seems very well prepared for his first assault on the marathon and should make a successful debut, assuming he gets the little bit of luck that runners of every level need in such a long race. I threw the strides in myself at the end. Just a final 2-3 mile trot left tomorrow to leave me all set for Monday

Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:54
Mile 2 - 8:45
Mile 3 - 8:49
Mile 4 - 8:11
0.73 - 5:07

*Strides in the final 0.73 mile

Tom Joad

Best of luck Monday yaboya!

skeleton_boy

Good luck Monday. Hope you enjoy it and hope to see you out there

Tigerandahalf

Cheers for the run yaboya. Lovely spot for it. Best of luck if I don't see you before the hooter.

Murph_D

Have a great run, P. No idea what you're going for but I have a feeling you won't be out for a jog. All the best!

yaboya1

Sunday 26th October - 5k Recovery
3.11 miles @ 8:23min/mile average

Wanted to get this out of the way as early as possible, so hit the road as soon as I woke up. Nice easy run that now brings my mileage up to 1,975 for the year, meaning I will hit the 2000 mark in the marathon tomorrow once nothing goes wrong

. After that, I'm on a three week running break. Now it's time for a shower, breakfast and some live tracking from Frankfurt before I head to the Expo later this afternoon.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:00
Mile 2 - 8:03
Mile 3 - 8:03
0.11 - 1:01

yaboya1

Tom Joad wrote: »

Best of luck Monday yaboya!

Thanks TJ. Much appreciated.

skeleton_boy wrote: »

Good luck Monday. Hope you enjoy it and hope to see you out there

I think we could end up together all right. If the body doesn't let me down, I have very similar intentions to you.

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Cheers for the run yaboya. Lovely spot for it. Best of luck if I don't see you before the hooter.

No problem, any time. Best of luck yourself. Pray the sun stays away

Murph_D wrote: »

Have a great run, P. No idea what you're going for but I have a feeling you won't be out for a jog. All the best!

Thanks Murph. The plan needs to be flexible as I'm going to listen to my body, but I'm hoping to go with the sub 3 pacers as far as Castleknock then make a decision after that. I'll see you in the pub afterwards (I have your €20

). Best of luck to you and annapr

annapr

yaboya1 wrote: »

Thanks Murph. The plan needs to be flexible as I'm going to listen to my body, but I'm hoping to go with the sub 3 pacers as far as Castleknock then make a decision after that. I'll see you in the pub afterwards (I have your €20 ). Best of luck to you and annapr

Go on Yaboya!! I knew you couldn't resist going for it. Best of luck tomorrow and might see you several hours later!!!

ger664

Best of luck tomorrow.

Ideal conditions for a negative split PB. Uphill wind in your face first 14 Miles (hide in pace group). At the top of Crumlin kick for home. Dont be too drunk by the time the rest of us finish

Ger

yaboya1

ger664 wrote: »

Best of luck tomorrow.

Ideal conditions for a negative split PB. Uphill wind in your face first 14 Miles (hide in pace group). At the top of Crumlin kick for home. Dont be too drunk by the time the rest of us finish

Ger

I am also going for a PB in McGrattans

yaboya1

annapr wrote: »

Go on Yaboya!! I knew you couldn't resist going for it. Best of luck tomorrow and might see you several hours later!!!

Thanks anna. You will.
Enjoy the breakfast run, and the race tomorrow of course

Gavlor

Best of luck, see you in mcg's

Duanington

Good man Yaboya1 - best of luck tomorrow, enjoy that 2000th mile

paddybarry

Good luck Yaboya1, i'm glad to see you racing. Hopefully we will be working together at some stage.

yaboya1

Gavlor wrote: »

Best of luck, see you in mcg's

Thanks. Enjoy the pacing gig

yaboya1

Duanington wrote: »

Good man Yaboya1 - best of luck tomorrow, enjoy that 2000th mile

Thanks D. I'll try my best

yaboya1

paddybarry wrote: »

Good luck Yaboya1, i'm glad to see you racing. Hopefully we will be working together at some stage.

Thanks paddy. It's definitely a possibility. See you tomorrow.

viperlogic

Congrats on your 3:08:42 after just running a sub 3 a few weeks ago. Looking forward to the report

yaboya1

3:08:42 on a very windy day on an equally tough course. Delighted with that

. Sometimes you don't have to run a pb to feel satisfied.
Now for pints! Anyone joining me?

blockic

yaboya1 wrote: »

3:08:42 on a very windy day on an equally tough course. Delighted with that . Sometimes you don't have to run a pb to feel satisfied.
Now for pints! Anyone joining me?

Sensible to pull back in the end when it wasn't on. Enjoy the beers.

aero2k

Hi P,

Really enjoyed the beer and the chat after the race. Remember we spoke about BOD - when I got home and unwrapped my birthday present from the OH she had got me his autobiography. (I would mention that she also got me Keano's book, but that might cause controversy!)

Well done on a great performance in your third marathon since Feb.

Might pop up in some more of your race photos soon....

yaboya1

aero2k wrote: »

Hi P,

Really enjoyed the beer and the chat after the race. Remember we spoke about BOD - when I got home and unwrapped my birthday present from the OH she had got me his autobiography. (I would mention that she also got me Keano's book, but that might cause controversy!)

Well done on a great performance in your third marathon since Feb.

Might pop up in some more of your race photos soon....

Thanks S. Same here.
Haven't read that one yet, but I'd say it's worth a look. I read Keane's a couple of weeks ago and found it enjoyable. Happy Birthday again

yaboya1

Monday 27th October - Dublin City Marathon (3:08:42)
26.2 miles @ 7:12min/mile average

Yesterday's splits for those who are interested. I'll do up a report later today/tomorrow. Really tough day out there yesterday. Definitely the most difficult conditions I've ever endured in a marathon. Tough course, strong wind and unseasonable heat/humidity in the second half. Not a day for pb's imo.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:04
Mile 2 - 6:59
Mile 3 - 6:46
Mile 4 - 7:01
Mile 5 - 7:04
Mile 6 - 6:57
Mile 7 - 6:58
Mile 8 - 6:44
Mile 9 - 6:50
Mile 10 - 6:38
Mile 11 - 7:11
Mile 12 - 6:55
Mile 13 - 7:00
Mile 14 - 7:33
Mile 15 - 7:21
Mile 16 - 7:11
Mile 17 - 7:30
Mile 18 - 7:13
Mile 19 - 7:13
Mile 20 - 7:12
Mile 21 - 7:20
Mile 22 - 7:41
Mile 23 - 7:05
Mile 24 - 7:23
Mile 25 - 7:39
Mile 26 - 7:23
0.43 - 2:55

yaboya1

This was always supposed to be a bonus race for me. A lap of honour with no pressure, having run my sub 3 in Berlin. I managed to do that, but felt I'd have nothing to lose having another go at a PB in Dublin. Having sought the advice of some experienced runners and read many opinions on my log, the common theme shining through was to be sensible. Don't stupidly injure myself chasing a goal so soon after a huge effort in Berlin.

Pre Race

I had taken a full 9 days off since Berlin, and any runs I had done since had been at an easy pace. This made it hard for me to gauge how my body would react to sub 3 MP on the day. I decided that I would run completely by effort and not worry about the clock too much. Hopefully I could hang onto the 3 hours pacers for long enough to have a go at kicking on in the closing miles. However, I wasn't going to work hard to keep up. If my comfortable effort wasn't quick enough to keep up with them, so be it.
I met Calvin Johnson in Stephen's Green at 8am and we made our way to the start. MKDTH was also supposed to be there, but his timekeeping is a bit like his marathon preparation, so we left without him. We were through the bag drop and into the starting pens in plenty of time. I met Marthastew, menoscemo, AMK, Gavlor, FBOT01 & ger664 as they made their way into position for their pacing gigs. Also grabbed a quick word with WithCheesePlease before lining up behind the 3 hour pacers. paddybarry then appeared, so we chatted for a few minutes until it was time to go. Then the gun went and we were off!

The Race

Miles 1-6

Like the start of any race, there were a fair few ahead of me who probably shouldn't have even been in the same wave. Within 50 yards, fifty people had sprinted by me trying to catch the 3 hour pacers. I fell a bit behind due to congestion at the sharp dogleg turn onto Leeson Street. I wasn't worried though. In 2010 I made the rookie error of trying to catch the pacers immediately zig zagging up the NCR using up energy that I would be relying on later in the race. Not this year! If I continued to run comfortably, the Red Sea would open in front of me as the field thinned out later in the race and I'd be in a position to claw them back in if I was still capable. Got into a nice easy rhythm and was happy enough with the first mile split considering the traffic. Miles 2 & 3 were a little faster due to the widening roads and the slight downhill, but most importantly the effort was the same. Really enjoying just lobbing along at this stage, thinking to myself that holding anything around 7:00 min/mile pace would still have me in with a shout for sub 3 throughout the race. As I was running almost totally by feel and ignoring the pacers ahead, I only checked the watch going through each mile pole. We took the turn at Heuston Bridge and headed up our first significant climb of the day from Parkgate Street into the PP. Ferris B was just inside the gate and advised me to tuck in and get some cover from the wind. This was easier said than done as at this point I was in between pace groups. The run up Chesterfield Avenue was pretty lonely. There were a few supporters every so often, but the most noise came from the howling crosswind grabbing hold of peoples bib numbers. Towards the end of the drag. I took my first gel passing the 5 mile pole and had no trouble getting it down. As usual I'd been taking on mouthfuls of water at each station as well. No fueling issues so far. I bumped into the Crusaders girl (Aisling?) who had the tremendous 3:08 in Berlin (without a Garmin) a few weeks ago. I commented to her that at least I wasn't the only nutcase racing both marathons. I wished her well and moved on towards Castleknock. A pretty tough section, but kept the effort even and moved past six miles with just under 42 minutes on the watch.

Miles 7-14

I was really enjoying it at this stage. As we came into Castleknock village I could hear the noise beginning to build. The atmosphere here was unreal. The place was rammed. I took the turn at Myo's, taking in the roars of what seemed like walls of people. So loud in fact, that I could barely hear the DJ who had a microphone! Just as well I soaked that up though as the run from College Road all the way to Chapelizod was quite the opposite. I'm not sure if I saw a supporter before we got back to the park. We moved down the outside walls back downhill towards the Knockmaroon Gate. I knew not to push too hard here having read ecoli's advice about mashing the quads by trying to make up too much ground. Even just moving along at what felt like an easy effort was hurting though. I don't think it can be avoided when running downhill (I need to practice hill running before I go to Boston in 2016!). Eventually we came down to the turn back into the park and moved up the little rise onto the Upper Glen Road. Now we're falling again all the way down into Chapelizod. I took a moment here to assess how I was going. I was feeling great! I knew I was still on for around 1:31/2 to halfway and felt a second half kick might still be on. We came out the Chapelizod gate and I downed my second gel, before taking on water at the station there. Similar to Castleknock, I could hear the noise ahead as I moved closer to the Liffey bridge. Super atmosphere again here and I even got a shout out from a friend of mine (he's particularly fond of my Chicago t-shirt - private joke

). We turned sharp left and I got myself ready for the biggest hill on the course. If there's a Heartbreak Hill in Dublin, this is it. Forget that mickey mouse hump out on Roebuck. Again I kept the effort even and was pleased to see I was now ahead of 7:00min/mile pace passing the 10 mile marker. Taking this into consideration, I took the climb very easily trying to expend as little energy as possible knowing I would need it far more later in the race. Decent crowd as we hit the peak in Ballyfermot, before moving on into Inchicore. I saw my friend's brother here and had to give him a shout as he was obviously out supporting someone else and hadn't noticed me. I knew Ferris B would be outside the Hilton, but he missed me too and I had to call back to him as I moved around towards the SCR. I took this as a good sign that I was so alert and relaxed at this stage. We were almost at halfway and I didn't feel I was expending much energy at all. Going down through Rialto I got a shout out from Mrs FBOT01, which was a nice bonus as I didn't think I'd see anyone I knew around there. I had another friend waiting at the Dolphin's Barn bridge so that was my next focus, which is far less stressful than watching splits every mile

. Dolphin's Barn, like the other suburbs before it was unreal. From the turn off the SCR until we got past the Maxol garage, the crowds appeared to be five deep. It was unbelievable. Managed to pick out my friend despite the massive crowd and moved on towards halfway. Then - BANG! A ridiculously strong headwind was straight in my face. It's about a two mile drag from the SCR to the Walkinstown roundabout, but into that wind it felt like a mountain. I wasn't even watching the pace, continuing to try and hold an even effort, but this wind was destroying me. I doubt I was the only one. I still went through the halfway in sub 1:32, so was happy with that but knew the next mile would be a lot slower. We finally came to the turn at Crumlin Hospital, but when we did the wind was hurting even more! How was this possible? My parents were outside the Super Valu here and I was so beat up by the wind that all I could mutter as I went by was "F*&king breeze". I passed Netwerk Errer here who I recognised from his picture. I knew he had been going for a sub 3 and I just got thinking at that stage that I pitied anybody who had targeted this marathon for a PB. We were only halfway, had seemed yet to have run on a flat piece of ground and were getting battered by the wind in all directions. As we approached the roundabout, he drew back alongside me and I introduced myself. We chatted for a few minutes and I warned him not to let me hold him back as I wasn't intending pushing myself too hard. As we took the turn towards Kimmage, the noise was deafening from the throngs of people gathered either side of the road. The support in this race is really hard to describe unless you see it for yourself. Finally the wind was out of our face.....for a while.

Miles 15-21

Netwerk Errer kicked on again as we headed down into Kimmage. I was feeling like I'd been beaten up by the wind, but the same effort now had me running a bit quicker since it was no longer in my face. I was still happy enough at this stage, realising that my projected finish time had probably suffered as a result of the previous two miles. Got my third and final gel in here. Continued to take water at each station, but realised I was now drinking more from each bottle than earlier in the race. I had also started to douse myself too. The wind had disguised what was actually becoming a pretty warm day. Don't remember a lot about the next few miles apart from another fantastic crowd going through Terenure. Netwerk Errer had now come back to me and said he wouldn't be kicking on like that again. I slowly began to move away from him and felt sorry for how his race had gone. I was really starting to feel the heat now. Around Orwell Road/Park I downed a full bottle going through a water station and had to grab a second as I was still thirsty. Spraying the leftovers on my face also provided some welcome relief. I got a little boost coming into Milltown with a few kids calling out my name having read it on my bib. The little rise here was the hardest climb I faced all day. I knew what to expect, but for whatever reason it just seemed to take more effort than anything that had come before it. Once I got to top of that though, I started to feel like I was on the home stretch. We came down and took the turn onto Clonskeagh Road, which I knew was only about three miles from RTE. Less than 5k. Once I get to there it's all plain sailing I thought :eek:. Ferris B told me to bring it home as I passed him coming up to 21 miles. I wanted to say 'I'll try', but I think all I could manage was a thumbs up.

Mile 22-Finish

Yet again the wind seemed to be straight in our face going up Clonskeagh Road. What a nightmare. Running in the opposite direction to the finish with the wind in your face is as demoralising as it gets. I took on another full bottle of water here somewhere and also managed to swallow a couple of jelly babies I had stashed in my belt. I decided I had taken on enough of everything at that stage. I hadn't got any stomach problems, but I felt any more water/food/gels may change that. I was starting to hurt now (as anyone does after 22+ miles). The next thing that happened just goes to show how much this game is in the head. I came around towards the famous Roebuck Hill and started to get a bit annoyed that it had such an unearned reputation. I saw people ahead of me stopping to a walk, so decided I wasn't putting up with this sh*t. I ran up it as fast as I could, through the Wall of Support trying to make eye contact with someone in the crowd so I could say: "Heartbreak Hill my b*%&@x". However, the cheering crowd seemed more interested in supporting runners who were struggling here, so I moved onto Fosters Avenue, glancing at the watch which now told me I was about 3 minutes down on 7:00min/mile pace. A comfortable sub 3:10 was in the bag once I continued at a similar speed, and I could even slow down a bit if I needed to. Conscious of this and the fact that my heroic effort up Roebuck Hill was probably coming back to bite me, the pace slipped a bit here. I was aware of this, but made sure not to let it get too slow. After scaling the flyover and turning right down Nutley Lane I heard the noise of another DJ ahead. Expecting a big gantry as I turned into Merrion Road, I was surprised to see it was the efforts of just one man and a megaphone. The legendary Mr Stew. He gave me a fantastic shout out as I continued along towards Ballsbridge. I had some well meaning people giving me some inaccurate information here, telling me I had 'only 1 mile to go', despite the fact that I had just passed the 24 mile pole. I saw RedRunner further down Merrion Road and had to give him a nudge as he didn't see me. I'd like to think that's because I was going so fast I was unrecognisable, but my Garmin split blows that theory out of the water. After passing the RDS I noticed Sean Hehir in the crowd on my right. I just smiled and said hello. He responded like an enthusiastic volunteer, asking was I ok and offered me his bottle of water. The guy who won this race last year is out on the course making sure a joker like me is ok for water? What a legend! aero2k confirmed afterwards that this is true

. I sailed down onto Shelbourne Road after that feeling a little bit special. I remember looking at my watch here and it was showing 2:59:xx. I started thinking "If I really busted a gut here, I could get in below my Seville time last February". Then thankfully, a sensible voice of reason appeared in my head: "Peter, you're not going to run a PB. Who gives a flying f*ck if the second best time you ran was in Dublin or Seville? This is the last mile of your hometown marathon. The streets are lined by screaming crowds from here to the finish line. Why don't you just soak it up and enjoy it all the way home? Or else, kill yourself, take none of it in and probably still fail to beat the Seville time by a few seconds (even though it's irrelevant). Your choice." So I listened to the second voice. A guy about 20 yards ahead of me was waving his arms encouraging the crowd to cheer as he passed. So I decided to copy him. And they reacted - loudly. It was brilliant. I started doing windmills and all the other stuff I didn't get to do in Berlin. I really enjoyed that last mile. I saw Duanington just before the right turn into the straight with a half a mile to go. He said I looked as cool as a cucumber. That's because at that stage, I was. I was enjoying the moment. So relaxed, so happy knowing that I was going to run a very respectable time on a day where I had feared my legs might just cry 'Enough'. But they didn't, so I'm going to give them the three week break they deserve now. I ran up over the canal milking the support continuing to flail my arms about. Then I looked up and saw the clock: 3:07. No way! My suspicions were correct. The clock was placed beside a 400m to go sign. I could now see the real clock and the finish line. I knew I was going to run 3:08:xx. I was over the moon. It's the first race in my entire running 'career' that I've failed to run a PB, yet I think I was happier yesterday than on many of the days when I did. Over the line with my arms in the air and a smile on my face.
Magic!

Garmin data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/621577011

Post Race

I felt so good after this race. The atmosphere beyond the finish line was heartwarming. Myself and fellow runners congratulating each other on a great race. We're all in this together lads

. When I leaned on the railing to do a few stretches, a volunteer rushed over to help me as he thought I was struggling to stand up. Everybody so willing to help everyone else. The girl draping the medals offered me a sincere 'Well done' as I moved on towards the baggage area. I bumped into two DSD runners here, who were a bit disappointed with their own times having targeted a 3:05. I consoled them that in my opinion if they'd run 3:07/8 today, 3:05 and better was definitely there for the taking next time. Make no mistake about it, this was a really tough day on a tough course. They seemed happy with that reassurance and we went our separate ways. I picked up my bag and headed to a portaloo for a quick DIY wash and a clean change of clothes. When I came out , I met the Crusaders girl again. She seemed happy enough with her race and also survived so we might be mad, but we're ok

. As I made my way towards the exit, Tigerandahalf joined me and told me of his superb 3:18. A phenomenal debut in the prevailing conditions, especially since he was targeting 3:20. Much more to come there. He was heading straight back to his hotel, so we said our goodbyes and I went straight to McGrattans. Myself & aero2k were the only ones there for a while and had a good chat and a birthday pint while we waited for some more to arrive. Many more did arrive and this report would go on forever if I was to mention everyone. All the usual suspects were there. Great to meet everyone old & new on a thoroughly enjoyable day. I think yesterday's marathon has now replaced Berlin 2011 as my favourite ever race. I really, really enjoyed it.

Verdict

For a race of it's size and stature, Dublin must be up there with the best in the world. I was actually reading the reviews it gets on marathonguide.com the other day and it is very, very highly thought of across the globe. It's a really special race that just has to be experienced at some stage if you're a runner. I'm going to give it one negative though. I've run it twice now and both times I've been given a goodie bag at the finish that has just one bottle of water in it. Other than that, there's no other water. There really should be more available at the finish line. That's my only gripe. Every other marathon I've run has endless supplies of the stuff. I feel it's something that's necessary.

Thoughts

Delighted with my run yesterday. I'm happy with the time, but feel it's probably even better than the bare figures suggest. When you look how many people missed their very realistic targets, it seems that on another day it might have even been a few minutes faster. I have to be happy with that, especially since I had a nagging feeling that my body might not play ball coming so soon after Berlin. I'll now take three weeks off running and come back in the winter with some more lofty goals for myself.
Can't wait!

skeleton_boy

Congrats as always. Glad to see you enjoyed it. A nice way to round out the year.

yaboya1

I also achieved my mini goal of hitting 2000 miles during the race yesterday

FBOT01

Well done again, P. Great running and report as usual. I would agree that DCM is a great event and I don't think there's anything like your hometown marathon. Glad that you listened to the body, as they say and soaked it all up yesterday. You deserved it after a fantastic 12 months training and racing. Quote of the report for me was "...."Heartbreak Hill my b*%&@x"...." I can only imagine the stare that would have met anyone who caught your eye as you crested the hill:D

RedRunner

So, did you PB on the beer front? You were in flying form when I left.

yaboya1

RedRunner wrote: »

So, did you PB on the beer front? You were in flying form when I left.

I'm not sure

I was first there, but I definitely wasn't last to leave.
Was a great day.

Ososlo

yaboya1 wrote: »

I'm not sure
I was first there, but I definitely wasn't last to leave.
Was a great day.

did i leave before you? I can't remember:o