Decent run tonight at Sale. Ran with B group who were aiming for 30 minutes tempo around 6:30 pace.
Didn't want to kick it hard as its only been 8 days or so since Abingdon but found myself ticking along for 5 other guys in a second B group pack. After the first mile or so felt pretty good so pushed up to the front and held that until the end of the effort. It was good to get the legs turning over again and they felt pretty decent. Easy miles either side to round off 10 miles.
Sunday 21 October 2018
Abingdon Marathon Report
Arrived nice and early at the local college where parking was located at 7:45am. Walked the mile or so to the race start and jumped straight into a queue for the portaloo. Time went pretty fast as the queues had not built up too much by the time we arrived. I managed to calm some nerves I was feeling.
Conditions were very good with a cool mist which made me do a gentle warm-up. Warm-up consisted of a pre-amble around the running track a couple of times whilst sucking down the spare gel I had with me.
Got into position as the starter announced 5 minutes to go and met Jooligan from RW forums. Chatted briefly about race plan and then we were off. A reasonably slow start as quite a few runners were ahead of us and I crossed the line maybe 10 seconds after the starters hooter. We exited the running track and out onto the roads. First mile ticked by in 7:00 exactly mainly due to picking the pace up in the second half of the mile. So far so good. Legs felt good and stomach issues had subsided. I had decide not to risk my running belt as it adds pressure to my abdomen which I wanted to avoid so carried my gels in hand. This last minute decision wasn't a problem as I had previously carried my gels and it hadn't bothered me.
Miles 2-5 slipped by in 6:43, 6:48, 6:48, 6:46 which was a perfect start. During the first couple of miles another RW forum poster Stevie spotted me and we ran and chatted along merrily as we headed through the small woodland trail section. We talked about targets and anything else running related to pass the time. We both noted Jooligan was 20m ahead of us and that a large group had formed. I suggested we take our time moving up to them rather than bridge the gap using up too much energy.
I took my first gel just after 5 miles and took on water at the next aid station which luckily arived just after I finished my gel. I wish I could say it was planned that way, but it wasn't. Miles 6-10 flew by in 6:42, 6:47, 6:45, 6:31 (slight downhill) and 6:43. By now we were well into the first of two laps that would take us around the town square.
The course was quite twisty in places and wasn't traffic free so we had to share the road with traffic on occasion. It wasn't a major issue as roads were wide enough and well marshalled. By now we had caught up with Jooligan and the group he was running with. Myself and Stevie settled into this group, which had thinned to four of us, and headed on towards the half-way mark.
Miles leading up to half-way (11-13) 6:41, 6:46, 6:38. I didn't take a split at the half marathon but Jooligan did and told me afterwards it was 1:29:03. I felt really good at this point and didn't feel as though I had worked that hard which was a great relief and further boosted my confidence. Our group was rolling well but somewhere around a feed station we lost contact with Jooligan. I think he remained 10m back for a while as I glanced round a few times to see where he was. I later discovered he was having issues with his legs feeling heavy.
I noticed from my splits that I had slipped off the ~6:40s, miles 14-17 were 6:50, 6:42, 6:51, 6:45. The 17 mile split was pleasing as it stopped me thinking I was struggling an restored some confidence. I think there might have been a small incline somewhere in there which may have accounted for the slightly slower miles.
At mile 16 Stevie pushed on and a 10m gap opened up. I knew he was going well so didn't try to get back to him.
Miles 18-20 were good as I managed to keep the gap to Stevie at 10-20m and splits went 6:32, 6:39, 6:39. These splits were great to see and got me to 20 miles still feeling good and going well with no issues. I felt tired at this point but with the boost the gels were giving me I seemed to have timed them well.
My HR had remained consistently around high 150s since the first mile. HR didn't increase much above 160 until the last 5k. Miles 20-23 were the start of things becoming a little more difficult. I managed to latch onto a local runner from Headington RR. We exchanged a few words and I asked about the remaining course logistics, as much to think of something other than the tiredness that I was beginning to feel.
Miles 20-23 were 6:39, 6:54, 6:44, 6,46. I still felt pretty decent as I picked off runners who were struggling a little. It was around 23 miles that I passed TR from RW forums who was digging in. I passed on some encouragement and moved forwards. I was thinking at this point that I only had 20 minutes of running left barring a catastrophic failure. This was the info I passed on to TR, whom I am sure was equally aware of this too. Stating the bleedin' obvious!
Into mile 24 and the course gets a little twisty as you pass back through the town square. Lots of support and encouragement here. I was passed by a guy who I guess was in his 50s but rolling along well, I told him so too to which he replied - so are you, cheers fella.
After safely negotiating the underpass around 23.5 miles? I knew I wasn't far away. I found the last stretch along the road and pavements back towards the running track hardwork. Miles 24-26 were 6:50, 7:09, 7:16. The last two miles involved my now customary counting in my head up to 100 just to try and keep a rhythm going (a Paula technique). Good support here from marshalls and locals sat in their cars waiting for the roads to re-open spurred me on.
Turning back into the running stadium was a very welcome sight. I was initially disoriented to be entering the track the opposite way round however I soon realized it was only 300m to go. The desire to stop was big now and as I rounded the first bend I tried to see the timing clock next to the finish line. The sun-glare meant I couldn't, so I just hurried myself to ensure I got in under 3 hours. I picked up the pace as best I could and rounded a couple of other runners not finishing as strongly. I think I re-took the V50 who had cruised past me at 23 miles. Into the final straight and the relief at seeing the clock on 2:58 was massive.
As I crossed the line I allowed myself a few clenched fist pumps. I was almost instantly greeted by an exstatic Stevie who had pushed on to set a massive PB of 2:55:49 - well played fella. I was relieved and delighted to have executed the plan pretty much perfectly. Splits were 1:29:03/1:29:35. Most definitely my best performance over the distance in terms of pacing and strategy. Maybe that little bit of experience paying off.
Closing thoughts:
During the latter part of training I had allowed myself to think a better result was possible. However, experience told me to not be greedy. My goal before this campaign was to run another sub 3 hour marathon, a legitimate one, since Manchester 2015 was a short course.
Despite training going well and hitting peak form just at the right time, I still had doubts going into the race. I felt tired and my left achilles and calf were sore from the months of accumulated training. The increase in intensity in later stages probably contributed to the aches and pains so wisely not over estimating my goal was crucial. The splits show I ran the best race I could on the day with not much fade in the second half. Had I pushed more earlier on I may have lost more time later on and blown the sub 3.
Finally, this result was mainly due to the consistent training I was able to commit to. I ran the most long runs I had ever done, averaged the most weekly miles I had ever done in a training campaign. Whilst this wasn't a PB which remains at 2:57:15, I feel confident pushing on from here into the new year and training as consistently to try and better this result in Manchester in April.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1918486832
Arrived nice and early at the local college where parking was located at 7:45am. Walked the mile or so to the race start and jumped straight into a queue for the portaloo. Time went pretty fast as the queues had not built up too much by the time we arrived. I managed to calm some nerves I was feeling.
Conditions were very good with a cool mist which made me do a gentle warm-up. Warm-up consisted of a pre-amble around the running track a couple of times whilst sucking down the spare gel I had with me.
Got into position as the starter announced 5 minutes to go and met Jooligan from RW forums. Chatted briefly about race plan and then we were off. A reasonably slow start as quite a few runners were ahead of us and I crossed the line maybe 10 seconds after the starters hooter. We exited the running track and out onto the roads. First mile ticked by in 7:00 exactly mainly due to picking the pace up in the second half of the mile. So far so good. Legs felt good and stomach issues had subsided. I had decide not to risk my running belt as it adds pressure to my abdomen which I wanted to avoid so carried my gels in hand. This last minute decision wasn't a problem as I had previously carried my gels and it hadn't bothered me.
Miles 2-5 slipped by in 6:43, 6:48, 6:48, 6:46 which was a perfect start. During the first couple of miles another RW forum poster Stevie spotted me and we ran and chatted along merrily as we headed through the small woodland trail section. We talked about targets and anything else running related to pass the time. We both noted Jooligan was 20m ahead of us and that a large group had formed. I suggested we take our time moving up to them rather than bridge the gap using up too much energy.
I took my first gel just after 5 miles and took on water at the next aid station which luckily arived just after I finished my gel. I wish I could say it was planned that way, but it wasn't. Miles 6-10 flew by in 6:42, 6:47, 6:45, 6:31 (slight downhill) and 6:43. By now we were well into the first of two laps that would take us around the town square.
The course was quite twisty in places and wasn't traffic free so we had to share the road with traffic on occasion. It wasn't a major issue as roads were wide enough and well marshalled. By now we had caught up with Jooligan and the group he was running with. Myself and Stevie settled into this group, which had thinned to four of us, and headed on towards the half-way mark.
Miles leading up to half-way (11-13) 6:41, 6:46, 6:38. I didn't take a split at the half marathon but Jooligan did and told me afterwards it was 1:29:03. I felt really good at this point and didn't feel as though I had worked that hard which was a great relief and further boosted my confidence. Our group was rolling well but somewhere around a feed station we lost contact with Jooligan. I think he remained 10m back for a while as I glanced round a few times to see where he was. I later discovered he was having issues with his legs feeling heavy.
I noticed from my splits that I had slipped off the ~6:40s, miles 14-17 were 6:50, 6:42, 6:51, 6:45. The 17 mile split was pleasing as it stopped me thinking I was struggling an restored some confidence. I think there might have been a small incline somewhere in there which may have accounted for the slightly slower miles.
At mile 16 Stevie pushed on and a 10m gap opened up. I knew he was going well so didn't try to get back to him.
Miles 18-20 were good as I managed to keep the gap to Stevie at 10-20m and splits went 6:32, 6:39, 6:39. These splits were great to see and got me to 20 miles still feeling good and going well with no issues. I felt tired at this point but with the boost the gels were giving me I seemed to have timed them well.
My HR had remained consistently around high 150s since the first mile. HR didn't increase much above 160 until the last 5k. Miles 20-23 were the start of things becoming a little more difficult. I managed to latch onto a local runner from Headington RR. We exchanged a few words and I asked about the remaining course logistics, as much to think of something other than the tiredness that I was beginning to feel.
Miles 20-23 were 6:39, 6:54, 6:44, 6,46. I still felt pretty decent as I picked off runners who were struggling a little. It was around 23 miles that I passed TR from RW forums who was digging in. I passed on some encouragement and moved forwards. I was thinking at this point that I only had 20 minutes of running left barring a catastrophic failure. This was the info I passed on to TR, whom I am sure was equally aware of this too. Stating the bleedin' obvious!
Into mile 24 and the course gets a little twisty as you pass back through the town square. Lots of support and encouragement here. I was passed by a guy who I guess was in his 50s but rolling along well, I told him so too to which he replied - so are you, cheers fella.
After safely negotiating the underpass around 23.5 miles? I knew I wasn't far away. I found the last stretch along the road and pavements back towards the running track hardwork. Miles 24-26 were 6:50, 7:09, 7:16. The last two miles involved my now customary counting in my head up to 100 just to try and keep a rhythm going (a Paula technique). Good support here from marshalls and locals sat in their cars waiting for the roads to re-open spurred me on.
Turning back into the running stadium was a very welcome sight. I was initially disoriented to be entering the track the opposite way round however I soon realized it was only 300m to go. The desire to stop was big now and as I rounded the first bend I tried to see the timing clock next to the finish line. The sun-glare meant I couldn't, so I just hurried myself to ensure I got in under 3 hours. I picked up the pace as best I could and rounded a couple of other runners not finishing as strongly. I think I re-took the V50 who had cruised past me at 23 miles. Into the final straight and the relief at seeing the clock on 2:58 was massive.
As I crossed the line I allowed myself a few clenched fist pumps. I was almost instantly greeted by an exstatic Stevie who had pushed on to set a massive PB of 2:55:49 - well played fella. I was relieved and delighted to have executed the plan pretty much perfectly. Splits were 1:29:03/1:29:35. Most definitely my best performance over the distance in terms of pacing and strategy. Maybe that little bit of experience paying off.
Closing thoughts:
During the latter part of training I had allowed myself to think a better result was possible. However, experience told me to not be greedy. My goal before this campaign was to run another sub 3 hour marathon, a legitimate one, since Manchester 2015 was a short course.
Despite training going well and hitting peak form just at the right time, I still had doubts going into the race. I felt tired and my left achilles and calf were sore from the months of accumulated training. The increase in intensity in later stages probably contributed to the aches and pains so wisely not over estimating my goal was crucial. The splits show I ran the best race I could on the day with not much fade in the second half. Had I pushed more earlier on I may have lost more time later on and blown the sub 3.
Finally, this result was mainly due to the consistent training I was able to commit to. I ran the most long runs I had ever done, averaged the most weekly miles I had ever done in a training campaign. Whilst this wasn't a PB which remains at 2:57:15, I feel confident pushing on from here into the new year and training as consistently to try and better this result in Manchester in April.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1918486832
Wednesday 3 October 2018
Crappy run tonight. Decided to run a different loop just for a change down Manchester Old Road, past the City stadium, then back up Manchester New Road.
Pace was quite fast initially as it's downhill to start with. Felt ok but then started to feel pretty tired. Managed to keep going but the desire to stop was strong.
Was supposed to be 8 but ran 7 miles instead.
7 miles - 52 mins - 139 bpm avg
Pace was quite fast initially as it's downhill to start with. Felt ok but then started to feel pretty tired. Managed to keep going but the desire to stop was strong.
Was supposed to be 8 but ran 7 miles instead.
7 miles - 52 mins - 139 bpm avg