Training Log Archive: Jon XIn the 7 days ending Apr 21, 2013:
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Sunday Apr 21, 2013 #
Event: London marathon
10 AM
Running race 2:55:25 [5] 42.19 km (4:09 / km)
shoes: Saucony Kinvara 2013
Before this marathon I really struggled to set myself a meaningful target. Getting under three hours was a huge motivational thing that drove me on in the final kilometres in Berlin, but I couldn’t see what might have a similar effect this time.
I spent a bit of time thinking about how my half-marathon time from March might convert to a full marathon, and whether my shape was improved from then, and whether dropping 1-2kg since then would make some difference. Depending on which of the many conversion formulae I looked at, it seemed I should be looking for anything between sub 3hours (felt quite defensive) and sub 2:50 (felt outrageously optimistic).
And of course a factor not too be ignored in setting any marathon pace target is that going out too hard in a marathon can be a source of painful disaster!
In the end what I wrote down for myself beforehand was:
“Simply running a pb is always good and you never know what will happen on the day, so it may be that if I run 2:59:15 to sneak a pb, I will be perfectly happy with that afterwards. But this is not afterwards, this is beforehand, and I have higher ambitions for this race than treating that as my goal.
I think I am in good enough shape to want to find out whether I can run sub 2:55 (6:40s)……and I am tantalised by the possibility of 2:52:xx (6:35s)…..but I am intimidated by even the idea of sub 2:50 pace (6:29s).
So if everything seems okay on the day I will go out with an idea of ‘no slower than 6:40s’ and see what happens in the first four or five miles including the descent in mile three/four.
If I am running 6:35s and it feels okay, I will try to hold that pace and accept whatever consequences that brings.
If I am not doing 6:35s or it feels like slightly too much effort, I will look to run 6:40s and try to hold that pace all the way......”
The big day itself. Clear blue skies and very little wind. A bit of heat in the sun even before 8am. The weather coming to a peak at just the right time. Let’s hope it is not alone in that.
Fast Good for Age start. Tents for changing and staying out of the sun. Minimal queues for coffee and baggage and toilets. Space to warm up. Lots of serious and speedy looking people. Ben and Dan and Tom all there looking relaxed and ready.
Silence for Boston.
The whistle sounds. A shuffle then a walk then a jog then across the start line. Game time.
It is crowded. Deal with it, don’t rush, don’t trip. Concentrate but relax, don’t waste energy , settle into a pace. Mile 1 is 6:33, just the job. Mile 2 is 6:34. Still pretty crowded but getting better, less risky.
A sweeping descent ahead, relax and take the bonus seconds it brings. Splits looking good. Feeling smooth and easy and enjoying it. But going faster than expected or intended.
Maybe I should back off a bit? I said I would get to five miles and see how it was going. We are there now.
Decision time. I gather up my chips and push them all into the centre of the table - I’m sticking with this effort level and the pace it brings me for now, along with whatever it brings me later…..
And it is fun, moving well and appreciating the crowds. There are my supporters at mile 9 and again at mile 11, I tell myself they think I am looking strong and in control. I think I am.
Tower Bridge so soon? Work up the slight slope then take it easy, don’t let the crowd here cause a surge in pace.
Under the arch at halfway. Through in 85:35. Less than three mins outside my half-marathon pb from last month.
Past 14 miles, gather a gel for now and one for later. Onto Narrow Street, very conscious of the closeness of the spectators here and it is really loud, really atmospheric. A runner in a mankini just ahead is causing a surge of crowd excitement and volume as people spot him, and I am catching him so the noise is all around me. I am past him and moving well but I have lost concentration and made a mistake, picked up my pace with all the noise.
Furious with myself I try and settle back into my previous pace as we head into and out of the underpass at Westferry. I hear then see MC shouting at me from the wall. I wave, look at me, I’m fine. Not so sure who I am really trying to convince.
Conscious I am working now but not in trouble, although with each mile my focus is tightening, less aware of the landmarks, less aware of the crowds, more and more it is about the road ahead.
The Isle of Dogs. Many a runner is strong at Westferry at mile 15 and toiling by Canary Wharf at mile 18. Let that not be me. Pace slips back a bit to a 6:43 in mile 17 but no need to panic, keep concentrating, keep your form, keep your cadence. Back under 6:40 for mile 18. Good. Measure the effort. Not too hard but not too slow.
Back past MC and the posse at Canary Wharf. More waving. Now it is definitely me I am trying to convince. Not far to 20miles now. Only 10km from there. Take an extra drink. Focus. Head up. Run tall.
Pace has drifted by a few seconds but only a few. 2hours 11mins at 20miles. Hold the pace for a 2:52? Not sure I can, it is getting very hard.
Through towards Limehouse at 21miles and I am over 6:50 for the first time. But there are Alfie and Lucy screaming at me, welcome encouragement indeed. It might not speed me up but it stops me slowing down. Another in the 6:50s and then a 7:01. Come on. Fight. 5km to go. That’s nothing. One poxy parkrun. Don’t fall apart now.
Here’s a little descent. How good is that. Use it. Relax down it. Pick it up. Keep it going. Better. Through the underpass. Rosco warned not to let the pace drop here where there is no crowd. Remember that. Focus. 6:45 for mile 24. Nearly there. Supporters soon. The Embankment section from here took hardly any time on Friday or Saturday. It is short. Although it looks long today.
Wish there was something in my legs. Swing your arms. Swing them faster. Just keep moving somehow. I can hear MC. I can see her. No idea if I waved this time. Where is the mile marker. I can see Big Ben. It is getting nearer. Mile 25. At last. Split is 7:28. Shit. Shit. Come on. Don’t let it go now.
Come on. If you can’t speed up at least don’t slow down. Turn right at Palace of Westminster. Here we are. Don’t slow down on the slope. Use these people who are passing you. The guy in the Stafford top has passed me again. I’ve seen him the whole race. Stick with him. Hold the gap. Hold it I said. St James’s Park. Birdcage Walk.
800m to go sign. Three and a bit minutes to break 2:55. Can’t go any quicker though. 600m to go sign. Takes ages to get there. Come on. So close. Don’t fall over. Round the corner. 385yds to go. Come on. Last corner. There’s the finish and the clock. Come on, get there somehow.
The finish. Going to make it. Got there!
Very broken the moment I stopped running. Took almost twenty mins to walk through the finish system to get my bag and make it to the exit!
Great to get out and see MC and the others, a shame Rosco had to stop but surely the right decision even though he was going well. Very enjoyable couple of hours in the pub enjoying the successes of the SLOW boys and Mike Sprot - really glad to see everyone run so well.
So....I ran myself pretty much completely to a standstill but very satisfied with the outcome.
Maybe a slower first half might have yielded a marginally faster time but it would just have left me wondering what might have been if I had gone out less defensively. Very content that I challenged myself as I did and left it all out there on the day.
Much stats geeking to follow.....
I spent a bit of time thinking about how my half-marathon time from March might convert to a full marathon, and whether my shape was improved from then, and whether dropping 1-2kg since then would make some difference. Depending on which of the many conversion formulae I looked at, it seemed I should be looking for anything between sub 3hours (felt quite defensive) and sub 2:50 (felt outrageously optimistic).
And of course a factor not too be ignored in setting any marathon pace target is that going out too hard in a marathon can be a source of painful disaster!
In the end what I wrote down for myself beforehand was:
“Simply running a pb is always good and you never know what will happen on the day, so it may be that if I run 2:59:15 to sneak a pb, I will be perfectly happy with that afterwards. But this is not afterwards, this is beforehand, and I have higher ambitions for this race than treating that as my goal.
I think I am in good enough shape to want to find out whether I can run sub 2:55 (6:40s)……and I am tantalised by the possibility of 2:52:xx (6:35s)…..but I am intimidated by even the idea of sub 2:50 pace (6:29s).
So if everything seems okay on the day I will go out with an idea of ‘no slower than 6:40s’ and see what happens in the first four or five miles including the descent in mile three/four.
If I am running 6:35s and it feels okay, I will try to hold that pace and accept whatever consequences that brings.
If I am not doing 6:35s or it feels like slightly too much effort, I will look to run 6:40s and try to hold that pace all the way......”
The big day itself. Clear blue skies and very little wind. A bit of heat in the sun even before 8am. The weather coming to a peak at just the right time. Let’s hope it is not alone in that.
Fast Good for Age start. Tents for changing and staying out of the sun. Minimal queues for coffee and baggage and toilets. Space to warm up. Lots of serious and speedy looking people. Ben and Dan and Tom all there looking relaxed and ready.
Silence for Boston.
The whistle sounds. A shuffle then a walk then a jog then across the start line. Game time.
It is crowded. Deal with it, don’t rush, don’t trip. Concentrate but relax, don’t waste energy , settle into a pace. Mile 1 is 6:33, just the job. Mile 2 is 6:34. Still pretty crowded but getting better, less risky.
A sweeping descent ahead, relax and take the bonus seconds it brings. Splits looking good. Feeling smooth and easy and enjoying it. But going faster than expected or intended.
Maybe I should back off a bit? I said I would get to five miles and see how it was going. We are there now.
Decision time. I gather up my chips and push them all into the centre of the table - I’m sticking with this effort level and the pace it brings me for now, along with whatever it brings me later…..
And it is fun, moving well and appreciating the crowds. There are my supporters at mile 9 and again at mile 11, I tell myself they think I am looking strong and in control. I think I am.
Tower Bridge so soon? Work up the slight slope then take it easy, don’t let the crowd here cause a surge in pace.
Under the arch at halfway. Through in 85:35. Less than three mins outside my half-marathon pb from last month.
Past 14 miles, gather a gel for now and one for later. Onto Narrow Street, very conscious of the closeness of the spectators here and it is really loud, really atmospheric. A runner in a mankini just ahead is causing a surge of crowd excitement and volume as people spot him, and I am catching him so the noise is all around me. I am past him and moving well but I have lost concentration and made a mistake, picked up my pace with all the noise.
Furious with myself I try and settle back into my previous pace as we head into and out of the underpass at Westferry. I hear then see MC shouting at me from the wall. I wave, look at me, I’m fine. Not so sure who I am really trying to convince.
Conscious I am working now but not in trouble, although with each mile my focus is tightening, less aware of the landmarks, less aware of the crowds, more and more it is about the road ahead.
The Isle of Dogs. Many a runner is strong at Westferry at mile 15 and toiling by Canary Wharf at mile 18. Let that not be me. Pace slips back a bit to a 6:43 in mile 17 but no need to panic, keep concentrating, keep your form, keep your cadence. Back under 6:40 for mile 18. Good. Measure the effort. Not too hard but not too slow.
Back past MC and the posse at Canary Wharf. More waving. Now it is definitely me I am trying to convince. Not far to 20miles now. Only 10km from there. Take an extra drink. Focus. Head up. Run tall.
Pace has drifted by a few seconds but only a few. 2hours 11mins at 20miles. Hold the pace for a 2:52? Not sure I can, it is getting very hard.
Through towards Limehouse at 21miles and I am over 6:50 for the first time. But there are Alfie and Lucy screaming at me, welcome encouragement indeed. It might not speed me up but it stops me slowing down. Another in the 6:50s and then a 7:01. Come on. Fight. 5km to go. That’s nothing. One poxy parkrun. Don’t fall apart now.
Here’s a little descent. How good is that. Use it. Relax down it. Pick it up. Keep it going. Better. Through the underpass. Rosco warned not to let the pace drop here where there is no crowd. Remember that. Focus. 6:45 for mile 24. Nearly there. Supporters soon. The Embankment section from here took hardly any time on Friday or Saturday. It is short. Although it looks long today.
Wish there was something in my legs. Swing your arms. Swing them faster. Just keep moving somehow. I can hear MC. I can see her. No idea if I waved this time. Where is the mile marker. I can see Big Ben. It is getting nearer. Mile 25. At last. Split is 7:28. Shit. Shit. Come on. Don’t let it go now.
Come on. If you can’t speed up at least don’t slow down. Turn right at Palace of Westminster. Here we are. Don’t slow down on the slope. Use these people who are passing you. The guy in the Stafford top has passed me again. I’ve seen him the whole race. Stick with him. Hold the gap. Hold it I said. St James’s Park. Birdcage Walk.
800m to go sign. Three and a bit minutes to break 2:55. Can’t go any quicker though. 600m to go sign. Takes ages to get there. Come on. So close. Don’t fall over. Round the corner. 385yds to go. Come on. Last corner. There’s the finish and the clock. Come on, get there somehow.
The finish. Going to make it. Got there!
Very broken the moment I stopped running. Took almost twenty mins to walk through the finish system to get my bag and make it to the exit!
Great to get out and see MC and the others, a shame Rosco had to stop but surely the right decision even though he was going well. Very enjoyable couple of hours in the pub enjoying the successes of the SLOW boys and Mike Sprot - really glad to see everyone run so well.
So....I ran myself pretty much completely to a standstill but very satisfied with the outcome.
Maybe a slower first half might have yielded a marginally faster time but it would just have left me wondering what might have been if I had gone out less defensively. Very content that I challenged myself as I did and left it all out there on the day.
Much stats geeking to follow.....
Note
The numbers....
Mile Splits
6:33
6:34
6:23
6:25
6:24
6:43
6:39
6:25
13:02 (6:31 pace) (65:08 at 10miles)
6:34
6:33
6:37
6:39 (through halfway in 85:35)
13:02 (6:31 pace). (on 6:32 pace after 16miles = 2:51:18 pace)
6:44
6:37
6:42
6:45 (66:13 for second 10miles, 2:11:21 at 20miles)
6:52
6:55
7:02
6:46
7:28
7:25 (69:16 for 10miles from 16 to 26)
1:37 for final 385yds (7:17 pace)
Finish time 2:55:25 (second half 89:50)
5km splits
20:07
20:19
20:16
20:27
(half 85:35)
20:22
20:38
21:13
21:58
10:05 (23:00 pace)
giving 10km splits of
40:26
40:43
41:00
43:11
10:05 (46:00 pace - ouch!)
(last 10km 44:04)
Mile Splits
6:33
6:34
6:23
6:25
6:24
6:43
6:39
6:25
13:02 (6:31 pace) (65:08 at 10miles)
6:34
6:33
6:37
6:39 (through halfway in 85:35)
13:02 (6:31 pace). (on 6:32 pace after 16miles = 2:51:18 pace)
6:44
6:37
6:42
6:45 (66:13 for second 10miles, 2:11:21 at 20miles)
6:52
6:55
7:02
6:46
7:28
7:25 (69:16 for 10miles from 16 to 26)
1:37 for final 385yds (7:17 pace)
Finish time 2:55:25 (second half 89:50)
5km splits
20:07
20:19
20:16
20:27
(half 85:35)
20:22
20:38
21:13
21:58
10:05 (23:00 pace)
giving 10km splits of
40:26
40:43
41:00
43:11
10:05 (46:00 pace - ouch!)
(last 10km 44:04)
Saturday Apr 20, 2013 #
10 AM
Running 22:06 [2] 2.8 mi (7:54 / mi)
shoes: Brooks Ghost 5 2013
With Ross and Fi in the London sunshine :)
Along the Embankment again, a few accelerations/strides included on the way back today.
Rosco looking fast and smooth and very much like a marathon runner.
Feeling easy and feeling good myself.
Game on.
Along the Embankment again, a few accelerations/strides included on the way back today.
Rosco looking fast and smooth and very much like a marathon runner.
Feeling easy and feeling good myself.
Game on.
Friday Apr 19, 2013 #
12 PM
Running 21:49 [2] 2.82 mi (7:44 / mi)
shoes: Brooks Ghost 5 2013
Trot along the Embankment and back along the South Bank, with Rosco. Expo time now :)
Thursday Apr 18, 2013 #
Note
(rest day)
Flying to London after work.
Wednesday Apr 17, 2013 #
Note
4 days to go.
Weather forecast suggesting a clear sunny day on Sunday in London but not too warm, and with very little wind, but easterly if any. I would settle for that!
Weather forecast suggesting a clear sunny day on Sunday in London but not too warm, and with very little wind, but easterly if any. I would settle for that!
5 PM
Running 44:24 9.69 km (4:35 / km) +1m 4:35 / km
shoes: Saucony Kinvara 2013
Whatever the forecast for London on Sunday, it seemed to be monsoon season in Stirling today. So again deferred lunchtime run and again got lucky with a window of dry weather later.
Favourite final week taper session of 2mile warmup, 2mile at MP, 2miles back, in race shoes.
Went well despite the wind, 6:33 out and 6:53 back. No prizes for guessing wind direction!
Favourite final week taper session of 2mile warmup, 2mile at MP, 2miles back, in race shoes.
Went well despite the wind, 6:33 out and 6:53 back. No prizes for guessing wind direction!
Tuesday Apr 16, 2013 #
6 PM
Running 28:59 [2] 5.53 km (5:14 / km) +83m 4:52 / km
shoes: Brooks Ghost 5 2013
Planned to run at lunchtime but changed that given driving rain in 50mph wind combined with a forecast for a dry (if still windy) evrning.
By the evening I was a bit lacking in inspiration so just a short trot to turn the legs over. Aware of the bruising on my shin but it settled down okay. Felt a bit lethargic but probably just because not really getting heart rate up at that pace, it was back down to 75 by the time I had taken my shoes off at the back door!
By the evening I was a bit lacking in inspiration so just a short trot to turn the legs over. Aware of the bruising on my shin but it settled down okay. Felt a bit lethargic but probably just because not really getting heart rate up at that pace, it was back down to 75 by the time I had taken my shoes off at the back door!
Monday Apr 15, 2013 #
Note
(rest day)
In Reading today, then back this evening from Heathrow, where I managed to walk full speed into a shin high table. Right on the bone - nice graze and quite a lot of swelling too. Fantastic.
Back home this evening treating leg to some ice etc - my minor woes then put firmly in context by the shocking news and pictures from Boston. Just horrible.
Back home this evening treating leg to some ice etc - my minor woes then put firmly in context by the shocking news and pictures from Boston. Just horrible.