The Sub 3 Support Thread

beeduybe wrote: »

Haven't posted here in a long time but thought I'd dust off the old boards login and share some of my thoughts having joined the sub 3 club in DCM last weekend. Might be useful for any aspiring sub 3 runners or anyone looking to improve.

A few years ago I would have looked at other people running sub 3 and thinking they were at a level above of what I would ever be capable of reaching but last week I ran 2:59 in Dublin and believe I can run faster than that again. My training for the last 3 years leading was all with one eye on the long term goal of breaking 3 hours for the marathon. Consistent training week after week, month after month, year after year had me in great shape even before I started adding tempo runs, intervals, marathon pace runs etc. Lots of running at an easy pace over hilly routes gave me great strength and I haven't had an injury in years. Set a few goals along the way over different distances 5k, 10mile etc as intermediary targets.

Always maintain a positive attitude and believe in yourself. Don't get disheartened if you don't hit your targets as soon as you would like. So many people want things to happen overnight but patience is a great trait in a runner. Keep at it and your time will come.

Well done Barry, great to see you breaking 3 hrs.

beeduybe wrote: »

Haven't posted here in a long time but thought I'd dust off the old boards login and share some of my thoughts having joined the sub 3 club in DCM last weekend. Might be useful for any aspiring sub 3 runners or anyone looking to improve.

A few years ago I would have looked at other people running sub 3 and thinking they were at a level above of what I would ever be capable of reaching but last week I ran 2:59 in Dublin and believe I can run faster than that again. My training for the last 3 years leading was all with one eye on the long term goal of breaking 3 hours for the marathon. Consistent training week after week, month after month, year after year had me in great shape even before I started adding tempo runs, intervals, marathon pace runs etc. Lots of running at an easy pace over hilly routes gave me great strength and I haven't had an injury in years. Set a few goals along the way over different distances 5k, 10mile etc as intermediary targets.

Always maintain a positive attitude and believe in yourself. Don't get disheartened if you don't hit your targets as soon as you would like. So many people want things to happen overnight but patience is a great trait in a runner. Keep at it and your time will come.

That's super - delighted to hear that - I thought you'd lost the love for running a few years back.

I'd love to hear how the progression has been over the last couple of years to hit the sub 3.

Dcm 2018.2:54:59
I did a 16 week block. As I've said already things were going badly in my personal life just before Derry marathon and I ended up with a 3:12 disaster but partly down to 6 week lay off with injury in Feb/March. In this programme I did 93 of 96 runs instructed by the coach and covered 903 miles before the marathon... I think! I peaked at 72.5 miles in one week. The 3 20 mile runs ended with 3 miles at 6:30 pace, the 22 mile run ended with 5 miles at that same pace. Then I felt really unwell for a fortnight and struggled with every run. So I missed 2 of them during the second last week, including the last real tempo run. Otherwise I just made the sessions and no more. I found my breathing a bit laboured in training and wasn't sleeping well. So I was going into the race knowing that my miles were good but unsure of whether or not I could bring my best.
[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The day before the marathon I called with the coach and he looked at some key sessions. He wanted me to go for 2:50 but I thought that was cuckoo talk so I told him my plan was a bit like KerryLad to run conservatively for the first half and then see how I felt.
On marathon morning I did my usual in terms of food etc, clocks going back was a great job. I drove down to Dublin thinking this was probably going to be one of those days. [/font]

[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The first 10k I found the most difficult. I couldn't get my breathing into a pattern and I found myself irritable. It measures well out of sync with the watch but on the app it reckons I did that bit on average 6:54 - I'd imagine closer to 6:48 but the mile markers are what dictates. I just kept in view of the sub3 pacers.[/font]
After the park I increased speed to keep with the balloons. They were churning out sub 6:40 miles and that helped me but I maintain it was much too hard for anyone going for 2:59. That said I don't have data or experience on what works best so I'm happy to concede to expertise. I came through halfway at 1:28:49 with pace increasing to 6:44 average.
From half to30k it all went right. I was running along and it felt like a slow recovery run. the pacers were dropping backa  little and I told myself I'd just go with that. We were back around sub3 pace and I found myself looking around me. At 15 miles I was with the leading sub3 pacer and I kept having to slow down for another fella in front of me so I said to myself I'd take advantage of feeling good and take on a gel. I expected it to slow me a bit but I nearly ran into him again so just around 16 I overtook the group saying to myself that if you don't back yourself now then you never will. My average pace for this section was 6:41 and I felt like I were running on a cloud.
As I crossed 30k lads were beginning to drop and I felt for them, I've been there 3 times myself. But I felt so powerful so I just ambled on. From there to the finish my average pace was 6:30. At mile 23 I tried to catch a falling leaf then at 24 I wondered what the HR would be like - it was 130 somehow after having been at 185 the day before during a slow 20 min jog. It came into my head then what a great half marathon I might have done. Very surreal. I'm not a very chilled out person but I was so relaxed. My left calf and hamstring felt tight but I decided not to cut the pace - if they go they go...
[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When I came to the last mile I took a time check and was surprised to see that the 2:55 might be on. I did mile 26 at 6:21 pace and then saw the 400m to go. I could see the clock.  I took a deep breath and went into a full sprint, doing the 0.37 at 5:20 pace. Those weren't paces I thought I'd be capable of.[/font]
[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So looking back I guess the main lesson I'll try to take is to trust the preparation and grind it out when you're struggling. I think I can kick on a bit from that but I am really happy with how I performed. I did something I didn't think was possible for me and that's as well as anyone can do, I guess.
Huge thanks to all of the guys on here who cut the sh1t and told me the things I needed to hear. The wisdom on this thread is fantastic. What's the plan for 2019?[/font]

Looking ahead to plans for 2019...

Think I'll focus on 5k for a bit and work up on speed over the year.

I followed P&D for the marathon but would be interested in getting some coaching from here (for 5k up to half marathon etc.) as still don't really know a huge amount and am sure that I can be training much smarter and need to add the likes of proper speed work and s&c etc..

I live in Dublin (South) and with kids etc. its difficult to make it to local club sessions.

Could anyone recommend a coach that I could contact with a view to guidance and specific plans (5k, 10k, half marathon, nutrition, speed work, s&c etc.)?

Also - from experience, what should you expect to pay for this?

Thanks

Emmett Dunleavy from Perfect Pacing is excellent

Cracking report Squinn.....delighted for you. Have you had any calf/hamstring issues before? I was in a pretty similar situation last Sunday and backed off sub 2:55 pace to bring things home in a PB. Still waiting on your log to be started

Brilliant run squinn. Great read.

squinn2912 wrote:

Ha don’t know about a running log

For what it's worth I'd be very interested to follow and I'm sure a lot of others would agree. The logs are the core of this forum. Yours would be a very welcome addition.

Diablo Verde wrote: »

Time for me to finally have a proper crack at this. Last marathon was in Valencia last year and I had a hard time from about 30kms in. Still managed a PB of 3:06:16 but suffered all the way home. Heading back to Valencia in December. Other PBs are:

5k - 18:11 (2018)
10k - 38:39 (2014)
Half - 1:24:27 (2018)

10k is soft and I’ll be hoping to improve on that in a few weeks. Going to follow the Hanson plan, after using P&D for my last three efforts.

Well I'm glad to say that I ducked under the 3 hour mark. Delighted with how the training and race went.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=108795907#post108795907

Plan for 2019 is to run 2 marathons Boston and Dublin and have signed up for both . Marathon pb is 3.09.48 .
Got a bad groin injury middle of May and ran a total of 5.8 miles in June July and August . Got the injury sorted by middle of October . Ran 60 miles in November and after today will have done 157 miles in December. Am 6 ft 1 and weighed 191lbs at start of December . I believe my ideal race weight to be around 172 lbs . Am around 184 at the moment.
My official plan starts this week. In preparation for Boston have signed up for the following
Tom Brennan 5k tomorrow
Raheny 5 Jan
Trim 10 Feb
Carlingford Half March
Am really curious to see how much my fitness will improve over the next few mths through consistent training and coming from such a long way back. Tomorrow will be my first race in over 7 mths. Am estimating 20-21 mins . My 5k pb ran in 2016 is 1845 .

Just a quick update for those interested since last at start of January. Ran Raheny 5 yday. Time was 32.15. Average pace 627 per mile. average HR 167. Weight now 179lbs. Miles ran in January so far 173.2 miles...expect Janaury total to be about 187 miles. I do 6 sessions a week. 3 structured and 3 easy recovery runs.
Mon, Wed Fri 6.30am Easy runs down to 8.12 per mile 130 HR
Tues & Thursday Structured day sessions
Sat Long structured run start at 7.45am finished by 10. Rest of weekend off. Which is a mental win imo.
I also do Yoga once a week (Thursday evenings and try to swim 2k easy at lunch once or twice a week.)
11 weeks to Boston and however many to Dublin
Trim 10 mile next Sunday.
Really enjoyed yesterday even though the 1st mile aint great.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Are you following a plan for Boston or doing your own thing (sounds structured)? So you are running Monday to Saturday and Sunday off? Why all the races?

Hi Mike hope all is well. Just following the club marathon plan set by the club coach. I actually really like the plan because its structured. Had to change some days around to fit in with family life but think we have it nailed down now.Running Monday to Saturday. 6 days. And taking Sunday's off. What i seem to be benefiting from is consistent running and the structured/measured sessions while managing the workload. 11 weeks from Boston judging by Sundays run sub 3 is probably not realistic but curious to see how close i can get once i get the next 60+ sessions done. Am only doing Trim this Sunday,then Carlingford Half March 2nd then Boston April 15th. What's your thoughts? All advice welcome.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Sounds like sense. How were you after the 32:15 5 mile? If you had some gas left and could class it as a solid tempo run then sub3 may not be off the cards. If you were spent, that may be different. Hard to know this early either way.

Was pretty spent after Sunday. Left it all out there so that's were i am at right now. Was able to hold a faster pace over 5 miles than i did in a 5k on January 1
that was a flatter course. so heading in right direction

Regarding Trim 10 and Carlingford Half.....i hear what your saying ....i just believe you get a big bang for your buck racing and pushing the limit and if it means having to do 3 or 4 sessions easy after it instead of the focused sessions then it might be worth it.
Big emphasis for me is Recovery...that includes sleep, diet and doing the easy runs easy and not getting carried away just because i feel good.