Berlin Marathon

Congratulations, super result! Appreciate you sharing your report/training, hoping for successful sub 3 assault in 2020.

I read Jack Daniel’s running forumla a “few” years ago so my memory is a bit hazy, but I recall the long runs being very complex which put me off a bit. The P&D plans just had 7-14 miles of MP (depending on stage of the plan) within a long run so was pretty simple to remember :grinning:

Last couple of campaigns I have been building to 4x5k or 2x10k efforts at MP (long receoveries of 1-3k easy) during weekend long runs and one 20M race 4-5weeks out. The 20M race does require a reduced volume before and a few days recovery, but seems to be worth it.

Not familiar with that acronym?

Autocorrect did something weird there lol. Fixed now.

My feeling on marathon pace depends on where you are relative to your goal marathon and also what else you are doing. My first marathon I did on three runs a week with quite a large percentage marathon pace and was doing four bikes a week with a long run only every second week. This got me a 2:58.

Now with a more running focus I think you want to mostly running either easy or hard (threshold or intervals) earlier in your training schedule and slowly roll in marathon pace as you get nearer to your race to get your body used to working at that effort. 18-12 weeks out (and maybe even closer) growing your threshold and vo2 Max is more beneficial it seems from most training plans:)

Well done itom, I’ve used JD in the past and thought it was pretty useful, getting the paces from his chart was fairly simple, even if sticking to them isn’t!

Aren’t some of the longer Q sessions something like 5K@MP, 15k steady, 5k@MP so that you are doing marathon pace on tired legs.

I think the key to it is doing the easy runs easy, too many of us getting carried away and do them far too fast, and a lot of it probably still isn’t far off 80/20 training?

Jeff

Yeah that’s some sessions like that where like you say target MP on tired legs.

When you work at how much quality mileage a week it probably is about 80/20. The key to remember with easy I think is easy is an effort to me not a pace. Usually that means HR Z2 and just have to be conscious if there is something around you affecting your HR such as illness or sleep

great running itom150.

a rather sub standard 4:04 for me - no training for 4 weeks before other than a couple of 10km’s and a lot of focus on 100’s this year makes me feel like I have lost speed (not that there was a lot beforehand)

our work marathon for this year - 16 of us so god social.

lashed it down from 21km

ran with a guy from work to 25km, wheels started to come off at 34km

with 3x100’s under my belt this year and rubbish training for the last 2 months overall cant be too grumpy

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I had a different race, started in group H, wasn’t feeling 100% before the race and had a bit of a head cold, had trained for a 4.30 and honestly thought i’d still get it, by 10k in it poured it down. I was soaked through to the skin by 15k, kept going but was getting one thing after another bug me, cramps in the calfs, then in the shins, then in the hamstring area.

I slowed my pace and just thought get around but there was so many people walking, I was overtaking people from groups F and G around 30k, and it gave me a bit of a boost, still around 40k the roads were busy and people walking two or three across, my watch was telling me i’d done 42k when I went past the 40k marker.
I plodded on and got a 4.50.12.
it was my pb by 6 minutes but nowhere near the 4.30 I wanted. still I got through it and got my medal, I’ve never really known such a crowded course before, wasn’t that busy last year and all in all I don’t think i’d do it a 3rd time.

still have the poxy head cold that won’t go away and Dublin is next up followed by the thames Meandre. think i’m gonna go easier on myself with these and aim for 5 hours pace.

over Christmas I plan on gym and speed work.

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Marathon club at work have Dublin pencilled in for next year AndyMiles - interested to hear what you think of it.

Hope your cold goes in time!

It was okay, you get to go through a decent (phoenix)park for about 2-3 miles around 6 miles in, a few little hills before it, then you get the loud little towns on the outskirts, miles 13-16 were slightly uphill or so it felt and I had foot pain from a bruised bone.
After that it became a bit of a just get finished race, I dropped down to a run walk strategy the finish straight was quite busy, I did it in 5.12.

Was a decent marathon but no real sites of interest on the course except the park so it’s a head down and get around one.

Thames meander 6 days later was surprisingly faster, was wet, muddy, windy and flat. not sure how I but I did that in 4.43. on extremely tired legs I took 7 mins of off my best time.

Anybody got their confirmation / rejection emails yet? First time applying for two friends and myself so doubt we will all get in

See the rant thread, rejected for the second year :frowning:

Ah bugger. Same