Marathon Improvers Thread.

Well done on what sounds like a really well paced and well executed marathon. The last 10k is always going to be uncomfortable, just look at the expressions on the faces of elite marathoners towards the end of the race. There's undoubtedly room for improvement if you go again and complete another marathon programme, ideally on the back of a good spell of base building. That said, there are plenty of other distances, and indeed types of running, to tackle so if you're happy with your PB you shouldn't feel obliged to keep running marathons. Some people will only run one marathon, for others it becomes an annual thing, and then you have those who will run several each year. It's whatever works for you.

Thanks all for the positive comments.

I didn't actually look at my watch but so long as I couldn't hear the 3:30 pacers I knew I was maybe a minute at least ahead of them. Even when as it transpires, I was slipping a bit in the last 5 miles, I still couldn't hear them, and there is always additional noise from cheers etc for a band of pacers, so I just remained steady...

The last 10K is considered the hardest in Limerick, slightly more climbs and I suppose it comes at a stage when you're really tired. But the last Kilometre is at least, mostly downhill so a nice finish!

Maybe there was another half a minute or minute in me but that's 'knit picking'. It was a day when I got the best out of myself.

Struggled to walk for about 2 hours, remember staggering into a chair in a Cafe afterwards, but that passed while the pb is for life.

Am entered for the Full in Galway in October (didn’t get a place in Dublin) and while that's a flat course it can be very windy and there's been no pacers the past few years.

Might do it for the weekend in Galway by the sea, but making an effort like I did on Sunday and the preparation, not sure if I would go for it again as soon as October. Might do Galway at a more leisurely pace, in the wind, but who knows?

For now anyway I can 'rest on my laurels'🙂

How long before others resumed a bit of speedwork? I was thinking of doing a bit at Parkrun next Saturday, maybe at a different Parkrun to my 'usual' venue. . Of course it's psychological as well as physical. Mentally a bit of a break from intensity is needed too.

Thanks for feedback as regards Galway Ariana. Will probably do it for a nice weekend away in early October. But not with the same intensity as Limerick.

Totally agree with this.

I think it was about four weeks after DCM last year before I did anything intense.

You know your own body of course but I would certainly advise being cautious.

To give the other side of that coin, I ran my 10k PB 3 weeks after DCM last year. Between DCM and the 10k, I did one run of 2 miles. So it was the fitness from the marathon that got me through

Only you will know your own body, its a very personal thing IMO

I'm still debating about what plan I will follow for DCM23 and currently edging towards Daniels 2Q (peak 89km/week). It meets a key goal of flexibility with the midweek run on either Tue or Wed, and allowing me a lot of freedom of making up the easy miles the rest of the week.

The tricky part seems to be tracking Q sessions which have a lot of variation during the run (e.g. 2E + 6M + 1E + 6M + 1E), but maybe its easily programmed into my watch.

Another concern is the max distance in this plan is 17m, but I understand the logic and could always adjust later if I really felt I needed to.

Anyone have any experience with the 2Q plans? My target time is "somewhere close" to 3:45.

Errh, I think sub-3 is not something I'll ever get close to at my age ;-)

I'll get a copy of Hanson and give it a read. I know there is plenty of folks who have used it around here. The only thing I am apprehensive about is balancing kids activities during the week, and the need for multiple 90 min weekday sessions. That's why I was steering towards Daniels.

Trying to decide myself what plan to go with for Dublin. My goal is to break 3:30. Same goal as last year and I had used a Breaking 3:30 plan from Evan Scully. Didnt follow it 100%. On the day, I think my nutrition let me down. I badly cramped near the end and my HR was very high from mile 2 or 3 (was up in the 170bpm) and stayed there. Came home in 3:39. All my other races and times indicate 3:30 should be no problems to me

5k - 19:41

10k - 40:51

Half - 1:32

I might go with the same plan again this time and try to follow it 100%. I really enjoyed it and think it works, just my nutrition. I have looked at other plans and dont really like the look of a lot of them.

I am doing Cork in 2 weeks but thats with a friend who's goal is Sub 4 so pacing him to that. Should help in the long run though

This is Evan - https://www.evanscully.com/

A friend is coached by him so I took a look at one of his plans and took it.

But yeah, I absolutely know I am able for the 3:30. Its just getting it together on the day

Would you use a coach TBO? I went from 4:03 to 3:45 last year. Strength work was a big factor as that was new in the previous 1.5 years prior to DCM 2022 but I’d a running coach who built me up perfectly also.

Has anyone any recommendations for Marathon plans they have used in the past? Have a bit of downtime before I start training for Dublin, just finished Cork there on Sunday. I am looking to go sub 3:30. In general, I like having runs around 20-22m as the LSRs. I know some plans only go up as far as 18m and have longer runs midweek, but those arent for me.

I tried 80/20 by Fitzgerald before and couldnt get used to it either so maybe not that one, though I could try it again if recommended

Oh and realistically, we are talking about 4 runs a week. Potentially 5 one some weeks but with work and life, 4 is usually it

Do you have a link by any chance?

Thank you both

Life.

I'm a member of my local GAA committee which takes up some time.

I'm in the middle of doing a lot of work to my house which takes up every evening and most of the weekends.

I've a good few social events this summer, family weddings etc.

I've recently started a new job which will have erratic work hours.

I'm running 10 years now so I know there's nothing like consistency to get results. But I also realistic. I usually commit to the plan I do so if I said I would do one that's 6 days a week and I didn't do that, I'd be very annoyed.

4 days a week is what I can do at the moment realistically