Dartmoor Vale Marathon

I got around DMV marathon yesterday, but I can't say that it was a particularly pleasurable experience.

I got to the start line at my usual 1 or 2 minutes before the start.  I had been at the course for about an hour, but just pottering about.  I get nervous before these things, and just tend to do my own thing.  I am rarely seen in any club pre-race photo as I always arrive so "promptly".

This is the course profile:

When the start happened, I went off steady (which was the plan) and was running with clubmate for a mile or two.  I also ran/jogged up the first hill and got to 10-mile mark in good shape, which was where my wife was for the first lap.  We exchanged a few words and I was off again.

I was still running comfortably and got to the half marathon point in 1hr59.  Just before this point, all the half marathon runners I was with turned off to head for home and at this point I was running more or less by myself, which I had prepared for so it wasn't a shock.  I was still feeling fine in myself, but at about 17 miles I felt some tightness in my hamstrings and I got to 18 miles (which is just before the big hill, for the second time) in pretty bad shape.  By this time, I knew sub-4 wasn't going to happen so at this point it was just doing what I could to get around.  My wife was here and she gave some words for support and off I went again.

At about 20-miles I was well and truly on my own with no one in sight ahead or behind me, and then the rain started.  It was ridiculously heavy, and I was questioning why I was out there.  Out loud I'm afraid I uttered the words "I'm never f'in doing another one of these f'in things ever a-f'in-gain" and I found those last 6 miles hard.  Someone I know who has ran over 300 marathons has said it was the heaviest rain she has ever known in over 20-years of running.

At around this point I was struggling to run up hill or down hill as my hamstrings were sore, and also my hips were hurting.  I was really just walking, with a bit of shuffling every now and again at this point.  At about mile 23 it was the home stretch, and by this time I was with a drawn out line of people who all looked equally dejected in one way or another and we were passing and repassing each other all the way to the finish.  I managed to jog through the finish line in an official time of 4:21:26.  A marshall offered me a seat, but I declined as I didn't think I would be able to stand back up again!  My wife was at the finish and she shepherded me to the car where I got a change of clothes and did some stretching.

I was home in 10-mins (the great thing about this one is that it's so local) and had a bath and went straight to the pub.  I was hungry so had a Gourmet Burger meal....and then had another one for dessert   I was still under my calorie goal for the day, so that was all fine!

This morning whilst writing this, I'm pleased I've done it but I realise (yet again!) that I have so much to learn.  I don't know why I cramped up so badly.  I feel the training I've done has been representative of the course profile (i.e., I feel I was prepared for the hills) but I was just in pain.  Yesterday, I was wondering if I'd "thrown the towel in" and "wasn't willing to push through the pain", but this morning I honestly don't think that was the case.

So, on reflection, I'm glad I have ticked one off and I am pleased I completed the event.  OK, I'm not delighted with the time but, deep down, I know it is the best I could have done on the day.  I am taking some positives from it as well.  I think my food/drink strategy was fine as from an energy perspective I was okay on the race and I don't feel too bad this morning, apart from the soreness in my hammies).
Apologies if this is coming across as a negative report, but it is accurate :)

A running-related update

A quick update
I haven't blogged for a month or so, but I'm still keeping things ticking over.  I did pick up a bit of a cold so had to take it easy for a week or so, but since my last post I've done the following which isn't where I wanted to be, but it's not too bad.

w/e 22nd September: 38.53 miles
w/e 29th September: 18.15 miles
w/e 6th October: 32.98 miles

Next up for me is still Dartmoor Vale Marathon and I'm still hoping to do it.  I've been considering dropping back the half marathon but at the moment I'm still planning on doing the race.  If I do it, the target time is 4hrs to 4hrs30mins, so we'll see how it goes.

Since my last post many thousands of people have had the disappointment of not getting a  ballot place on 2014's London Marathon and unfortunately was one of those people.  I do still have a chance of a place via by club (I've marshalled at 4 events, which ensures I'm eligible for the club ballot) but obviously that's not guaranteed.  My sister-in-law is talking about doing the Edinburgh marathon (which is a fast one!) to get a GFA time for London 2015 but I can't commit to that yet as if I do get the London place I'd prefer to do that one.

P&D for me?
Even though I haven't got this marathon out of the way yet, I'm thinking ahead to the spring already and (reluctantly) find myself revisiting P&D again.  I'm again looking at the 18-week 55-mile plan and think I should be able to start it in reasonable shape mileage-wise.

P&D is quite technical (I'm quite a simple soul at heart....) but I have come up with the below based on my current Half marathon time (1hr42) with a view of getting into the sub-4 category next Spring.

- Long/Medium Long runs-  10:21 to 10:48min/mile.  This is based on 15-20% slower than MP).
- Marathon Pace runs.  9min/mile.
- General Aerobic runs-  10:21 to 11:15min/mile (15-25% slower than MP).  11:15 is slow, even for me.
- Lactate Threshold - 8min/mile.  P&D says between 15K and Half pace.  I've never ran a 15K but 8min/mile is 1hr45 for a Half.  My PB is 1hr42 on a fair course.  P&D say that people on this training plan should be at the slower end of the range for these LT sessions so I came up with 8min/miles.
- VO2 max -  7min/mile.  This is very slightly slower than my 5K average PB on a flat course and looking at the schedules, the VO2 max sessions are interval sessions where I think I could do this pace (or slightly quicker for the shorter intervals).
- Recovery - P&D doesn't really specify the recovery pace, although it says it should be the slowest session of the week.  Slower than the 11:15 GA pace seems very slow though....

I do these paces anyway in various sessions, with the exception of the GA run which is slower than what I would do currently and I think I'd do the LSRs at 10min/mile pace.  However, it's the mileage increase that is a concern for me in terms of tiredness.  The most I've done for this marathon is 45 miles in a week but I've done several high 30s and a couple of low 40s.

The other big difference compared to what I do now is the amount of miles at Marathon Pace that are in the Medium/Long runs, but I can definitely see how this would improve my chances of getting the sub-4.  I think if I can do these it will be a confidence booster, if nothing else.

Sub-4 should be within my grasp based on my Half PB (probably not in October though).  Some predictors even say 3:45 but I'm well off that currently with my PB currently at 4hr08.

Another concern with P&D is the stories I hear of people getting injured.  I'm still not sure yet on if I am going to follow the plan.  I may follow it loosely with a view of getting some more miles in as I think that is what I need to do if I want to see sub-4.

A couple of specific session that I enjoyed

5K individual time trial
For one reason or another I haven't done a parkrun for a few weeks so I decided to go out and time myself on a flat loop I know.

There's an industrial estate near me that my running club use for various interval sessions as it is pancake flat, and it's very quiet when everything is shut (evenings and Sundays), apart from the odd learner driver.  It's 2 miles from my house, so I jogged down there and warmed up.  I had set my Garmin up to count down from 5K so altough I know it's not 100% accurate the Garmin read 21:38 for the 5K effort.  My PB at a flat parkrun is 21:29 so I was pleased with my effort, and then I jogged the 2 miles home.

6x600m with the club
Last night I did a 6x600m session with the club, with 200m recovery, in one loop.

Interval     Time       Dist         Av Pace
1        2:29.4 0.37         6:39
2          2:35.0 0.38         6:53
3          2:34.6 0.38         6:48
4          2:33.3 0.37         6:51
5          2:33.5 0.37         6:50
6          2:28.0 0.37         6:35


It's not a measured course so it relied on me clicking the lap button on the efforts but 0.37 of a mile is 595m (according to Google).  I'm pretty pleased with that; it's relatively consistent and I finished strong, although I was gasping at the end which I suppose is the point!