The Sub 3:15 Marathon Thread
3 lurkers |
336 watchers
May 2023
11:50am, 15 May 2023
3,112 posts
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tipsku
I read your blog and it sounded familiar. I had a bad experience in Leipzig 2018, same conditions, cold throughout my training block, hot on race day, 23°C. It was a sufferfest. I can see how it can shatter your confidence. After this frustrating experience, I stopped racing for a bit, went back to the basics and tried to get used to the heat in Germany. I still don't like racing in the heat and I need time to get used to it - the 10k about 8 weeks ago is proof of that. I could barely run it faster than the marathon because it warmed up so fast from 2°C on Tuesday (club intervals) to 18°C on Saturday. My HR was really high that day even though I slowed down. It could have dented my confidence to run the marathon close to what 10k pace is in the heat. On marathon day, I got lucky that it rained in the morning and the sun came out only in the second half. Plus, I had done a few runs where I overdressed to simulate being hot. I think that's something I'm going to do in any training cycle for a spring marathon because you never know if winter is going to make a late appearance or if summer decides to have an early start. In your next attempt in autumn, you'll have the advantage of having trained in warmer weather. |
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May 2023
11:53am, 15 May 2023
3,113 posts
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tipsku
PS: I recently blogged about the transition from running in milder weather in Wales to running in hotter Germany. It took me a while to come back after the horror show of Leipzig 2018.
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May 2023
12:02pm, 15 May 2023
2,243 posts
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Brunski
Not a lot to add Bowman but read your blog, fully emphasised with just about every issue you had and think the main point you need to do before your next marathon is decide are you running it to pace, or are you running it to effort? I’ve tried to run it both ways and they don’t always align. If you settle on effort (HR) it’s very hard to let the time drift as you experience HR higher than you thought you’d see. If you’re running it to pace I’d seriously think of just turning off the HR display. I’ve even tried doing a mixture but that doesn’t really work either for me. I’ve had runs where I think I could run at a higher HR and still be ok and then try to pick it up slightly and then boom your HR jumps 6/7/8 beats. I now know, or knew, the HR range I think I needed to keep below until late in the marathon, but again that may have changed in the last few years as I think my max has dropped slightly with age. It’s a minefield. I’ve used HR well twice, London 2018 when it was baking hot, and the virtual marathon when it was cool and I was well under the HR curve I thought I’d follow until about 20 miles and boom HR jumped and the last bit was the usual struggle. |
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May 2023
12:02pm, 15 May 2023
2,244 posts
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Brunski
*Empathise
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May 2023
12:30pm, 15 May 2023
46,678 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
(and wowsers to Larkim jnr and a big win!  G )
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May 2023
12:34pm, 15 May 2023
24,860 posts
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Bazoaxe
HR can be very variable in my experience and I wouldnt use it as a race guide although I know many do and do so succesfully. I have seen some marathons where my HR ends up in a place I didnt think was sustainable, but it clearly was ! |
May 2023
12:42pm, 15 May 2023
21,105 posts
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larkim
[At London I was more worried that my HR was too low, compared to previous race days, but at least having two devices giving me the same answer (+/- 1bpm) meant I knew that it was valid. Nonetheless, the overall pattern (stable to about 18/20 miles, then gradually rising) was pretty much the same in London as it was in Manchester, even though the averages were quite different (4bpm over the race distance) for what I thought were pretty comparable weather conditions.]
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May 2023
12:44pm, 15 May 2023
5,751 posts
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K5 Gus
I would certainly ignore the HR as you stand on the start line - nerves, adrenaline, etc will no doubt mean its higher than what it is as you step out your front door for a training run. But that should settle down after the first few miles to more accurately reflect the amount of work the body's doing. Perhaps if there was an accurate way of measuring Power, as their is in cycling, then that would avoid artificially high HR. The latest watches do now show Running Power, but I think different companies use differnt formulas and 2 different watches on the same person can show quite different results. Not done enough reading to know whether as long as you are comparing the data to your own history with that device, if it's a reliable metric. Anyone use Running Power in their training ? |
May 2023
12:53pm, 15 May 2023
2,659 posts
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Bowman 🇸🇪
Yes that's a fair assumption for sure. That's how it felt, now in retrospect. It might be good to have a second source of data from HR, all though i wasn't really unsure about the data per say, i just didn't have a plan of what to do with the fact that my HR was hitting the roof. Strangely enough.. Well done on your Lad, he did know what to do Yes, lost head is sometimes hard to recover from, maybe i learn to handle it better next time.
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May 2023
12:57pm, 15 May 2023
2,660 posts
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Bowman 🇸🇪
It was to you larkim the post here above
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