Dublin marathon 3.28.23- Go figure

Go figure.... 5 weeks ago I ran the Berlin marathon, flat course, big occasion, months of great training, on target at mile 20 for a sub 3.20 time only to blow up and scrape in at 3.31.22. I ran the Dublin marathon yesterday...hilly course..crowded field...very little decent training...slow pace and I came in at 3.28.23.

I'm still trying to get my head around it. Obviously I am chuffed. The search for a PB goes on (and on and on) but to get a sub 3.30 (third time with two close calls) is a feeling of immense satisfaction. The difference lay in simply selecting the correct pace. I went into Dublin with a very relaxed attitude. I had no notions of running even close to a 3.28. When asked I simply told people a sub 4 marathon was the plan and that was the truth. Even during the preliminaries I met a number of club runners - John Collins, Darragh Wiley, John Paul Buckley and so on, and it was the same answer every time "A sub 4 finish, relaxed run".

The first couple of miles I didn't even look at the watch. I just kind of sauntered along with the crowd. By 10k we were well into the Phoenix Park and about to enter Castleknock and I looked at my watch for the first time. It read around 50.25 and I suddenly realized I was doing pretty alright. The pacer ballons weren't all that far in front of me, around 30 seconds or so. At that stage I resolved to just tip away, dont force the pace and see what happens after that, the complete opposite to Berlin.

Mile 7/8/9/10 all continued in the same vein.7.45/7.28 (rapid downhill)/7.35/7.50. Time at that stage was 1hr20mins (course time) which meant I was on the shoulder of the pacer balloons as were John Collins, Dan Collins, Jim O'Mahony. Jim said his calf was giving him a bit of gip and figured he would be doing well to hang on for a few miles. John and Dan were in good fettle as was Barry O'Callaghan who wasn't too far behind. I felt pretty good but was anxious not to get over excited and kept it all very lowkey.

I pushed on a bit after Portobello ,namely to get near the water station and before I knew it I was creeping ahead of the pacers, a mirror image of previous Dublin marathons in 2010, 2011, 2012. My splits at mile 11 were 7.58/ mile 12 7.47 and the half way point in Walkinstown was around 7.45. I was around 30 seconds ahead of the pacers and while I would hardly say I was confident I was happy with my form.

And so it went - slow but steady, not fast, not too slow, all even pace running. I was thinking if I kept it around 7.50 - 7.55 I might have enough to keep me going for a while yet. A couple of seconds faster and I could have been cooked. My endurance from Berlin and the two long runs I did in the previous weeks (fast MP 17 miles and a slow LSR 18 miles) were also helping. By mile 16 I was pretty determined to give the sub 3.30 a shot. However it was this very point that I started to get into trouble.

The breathing was getting laboured and the tiredness started to kick in. 10 miles was a hell of a long way to go. Time really started to drag and the head began to go through the mental agonies. Again I kept telling myself, keep at it, you have nothing to lose here. I also poured the entire contents of a water bottle over the head, arms and legs. The cooling effect helped dramatically. I was obviously suffering from heat loss. The other factor was I was also started to run with two young runners from the Brothers Pearse club. They both looked as if they knew what they were doing. One guy was pacing the other guy and they were keeping a excellent beat. I just kept abreast or behind them and followed their lead. It was that simple. No heroics this time. By mile 17 I was feeling good and with the two lads doing all the hard work in front of me I was happier. At mile 18 I timed myself at 2hrs22mins30seconds, a full 90 seconds ahead of the pacers. Less than 8 miles to go. Down to single digits.

As I say the marathon was a slow steady crawl. It was wasn't very dramatic, fast or much different in terms of pace from mile 8 to mile 26. At mile 20 I was beginning to figure this was going to be my day jogging past a number of familar faces, including my buddy Aidan McGee. He was having a rare rough day at the office and I was disappointed to see him struggle.

I had banked nearly 2 minutes at this stage and I was wondering could I push the pace a bit more but when I tried at mile 21 the legs didn't like it at all. It was back to the conservative, park the bus style after that.

The hill at mile 22 didn't provide much problems at all. It never does. In fact it is the downhill afterwards all the way to the Stillorgan flyover that does the most damage to the legs. It's those miles 22 - 24 that are the toughest. Nearly there but plenty of work, I only had 70-90 seconds in the bank at this stage.A couple of bad miles where I am forced to stop or walk and I was done for. I was hanging in here at this stage even getting cranky at some clown who ran across the route with his bike.

Mile 25 took me past the RDS. I checked my watch, the time was around 3hr19mins maybe slightly faster...Just one mile to go running  down Lower Mount street. The legs were beginning to buckle at this stage and it was a mile that dragged on for ever. 800 metres to go and everyone started to pick up the pace. I was going a bit mental at this stage determined to milk it for all it was worth. I knew it wasn't a PB but it was probably the best marathon I have run in many years. 26 miles were up and the clock read 3.26.45. The last 200 metres seemed to go for another mile and the legs were completely packing in before I crossed under the clock at 3.28.23. After that it was completely overwhelming...a mixture of delight, exhaustion, emotion and disbelief. Where the hell did that run come from? I hadn't even backed myself.

Thankfully I managed to compose myself bumping into Aoife Caroll on the way to get my medal before meeting with my clubmates and my friend Aidan. We hung around for a few hours around Dublin with Emer (Aidans wife) and their son Declan before I drove back to Cork via Portarlington.

A great day. No need to think much more beyond that. Lets soak it up.

Comparison of my Garmin splits between the Berlin and Dublin marathons. Amazing how a slow steady pace can yield a 3 minute faster finish despite a 5 minute difference at mile 20 between Berlin and Dublin.

Berlin                       Dublin

Mile 1     8.28            Mile 1    8.32

Mile 5     38.30          Mile 5    40.34

Mile 10    1.15.42      Mile 10  1.19.00

Mile 15     1.53.10     Mile 15  1.58.16

Mile 20     2.32.38     Mile 20  2.37.20

Mile 25    3.18.43      Mile 25   3.17.21

Mile 26.2   3.31.22   Mile 26.2   3.28.23

Treading carefully

Week ended 22nd October

I got a lucky break on Tuesday when I was informed my place of employment would be closed on Tuesday but the creche was reopening. That allowed me to drop Iseult into the creche and me to run 18 miles without worrying about getting the time to do so. The run itself was pretty average, 8.35 pace and the legs felt heavy for all of it. I considered tacking on another 2 miles but at this stage it may do me little good. On Wednesday I tacked on another 4 miles (recovery pace), resting Thursday and running 7 miles with a 5 mile tempo at 7.10 pace on Friday.

The latter run reaffirmed my faith that my legs weren't totally dead. I ran during my lunch break going out towards the Straight road and back. That run felt great. Rest day Saturday and a 13 mile run on Sunday in Charleville (8.25 pace). The legs were still finding it tough going.

Thats pretty much it now. A couple of short snappier runs during the week and then its up to Dublin for the marathon on Sunday week. No expectations.

Miles for the week 42 miles

Ophelia, Ophelia, Ofuckit!!!

Monday morning here in the house at 10 am waiting for the worst of Ophelia to hit us. Obviously no chance of a run this morn not because of the impending ex-hurricane but because the schools and creches were closed today and the wife is up in Dublin so parenting responsibilities come first. Adult maturity has very little to do with it.

It has been 3 weeks since Berlin and I have spent a lot of time thinking about it. First off I was delighted to get around and get finished but there was no hiding I left a great chance of PB'ing a marathon behind me. It's probably unlikely I will get such a good training cycle up on my legs again. I should have stuck to a more conservative plan. Maybe it may not have made a difference I don't know. I won't be stopping running marathons though I have signed up for one in April and have my eyes on a fun marathon in early summer with ideas to take on another serious one next year.

For the present moment I am entered in for Dublin in a few weeks. Training was going ok enough the last 2 weeks but hit a bump this weeek. First week back after Berlin I ran 2 X 5 miles and a handy 11 miler on the Sunday (8.38 pace). The massage off John O Sullivan did the trick. That week was all about recovery running. The second week back was very good indeed. 3 miles recovery on Monday, 8 miles at 7.30 pace on Tues in Cork, 7 miles handy on Wednesday (hilly Mayfield run - 8.10 pace), 7 miles at 7.30 pace in Blackrock on Friday and a a great 16 miles run at 7.37 pace on Sunday. The last run was a key workout. I ran it at the same pace I ran the first 20 miles in Berlin. The intention was to train the legs to run at a faster pace but run the marathon at a slower pace. Intensity over endurance especially with a short turn around.

The third week back (last week) started off well enough. 3 mile recovery jog, 7 miles on Tuesday with sprints (6mins/5mins/4mins/3mins/2mins/1mins/4mins/3mins/2mins/1mins). By Wednesday I wasn't feeling great. The small one had a tummy bug all week and Aoiffe had a chest infection so it was my turn this time. It was essentially a mini flu, a viral infection, achey limbs, headaches, ear ringing, lack of appetite. I've got it before (for years). Just one of those things but no running for the rest of the week. Managed a strained 7 miles on Saturday before feeling wiped out again on Sunday and Ophelia today so no run either today.

It's the way it goes. Aoiffe is away for the week so no evening runs this week either. Next run will be Wednesday (babysitters required) and then Friday (between lunch) and Sunday. One of those will have to be a long run. Then it's a week to the marathon.

Don Ryan Ironman 2017 - 11Hours00minutes05seconds

Ironman – A Year in the making!

Background:

I started running in 2009 with the intention of getting fit, faster and maybe

completing a Marathon or two in the future. Honestly at that stage I had no idea that by 2017 I would complete 8 individual marathons, start doing Triathlon’s and complete an Ironman distance event.

My Ironman journey started in 2016 when my Wife entered me into the Half Ironman in Dublin. For those that do not know, the half Ironman is a 1.9K swim, 90K bike and a 21K run. I remember having sleepless nights even in January worrying about the swim distance. I knew I would be fine on dry land but I had only learned to swim in 2015 when I took up Triathlon. Every swim at that point filled me with dread. Even training swims worried me. I worked hard at it and lined up with everyone else in Dublin August 2016 to complete my very first Ironman 70.3. Instantly I fell in love with the concept of Ironman. These guys really know how to put on an event. I completed the event in 5 hours 15 minutes.

Within two weeks I had entered the full distance event for Barcelona 2017. The full distance is exactly double the IM 70.3. It’s a 3.8K swim, 180K bike and a full marathon at the end. There was a bunch of us entered from Cork, some from my own club South Coast Triathlon Club, a number from Midleton CTC and a number of friends in Cork Tri Club. Some of the guys were completing their second or third Ironman. We started training immediately in October 2016.

The Training:

I read all round about Ironman race plans and came up with a plan that would involve three runs, three bikes and three swims every week. The runs would be intervals, tempo and a long run at the weekend. The bike would involve some turbo sessions during the week with a long bike at the weekend. The swims followed Don Finks plan. Training would start with about 8 hours and build up to about 20 hours a week over the year. Some of my friends thought it was a good plan, others were less optimistic about it feeling I was doing too much too soon. In order to fit training around an extremely busy job and family life, I would swim early in the mornings, run during lunch hours, bike to work (I live 36KM from work), and do the long stuff as early as possible on weekends to free up the rest of the day for everything else.

By April I was biking up to 145KM, running 28Km and swimming 3KM in the pool. I was way ahead of targets but felt that I would need the buffer in case I got injured. It was around that time that I came across a review about IM Barcelona and about a coach in Waterford called Martin Kirwin. I liked what I read. How the entire race was about the way you ran the marathon at the end. This coach was training his athletes to work to power and heart rate on the bike, maximizing their potential while leaving them enough in the tank to run well off the bike. He is a serious athlete with incredible marathon times and lots of sub 10 hour Ironman races. I contacted Martin and arranged a meeting.

Martin looked at my plan and what I was doing and felt I was doing way too much. He suggested I complete the double Olympic race in Athy and we would look at the numbers after that.  He also felt that my expectations of a 12 hour Ironman were a little low. His view was a 10 and half hour was very possible but to work towards 11 hours for my first attempt at the distance.

For the next 4 months I trained under Martins plan. Every week the plan would go up on line and he would mark my homework afterwards telling me to put more or less effort in on each discipline. Martin introduced me to the concept of power on the bike and with a power meter we were able to come up with zones that I could maintain over various distances. I still had 9 workouts a week (three per discipline) but every one had a purpose now. There were no junk miles.

Three weeks out from the event I developed a pain in the arch of my foot after a speed running session. I thought initially it was just a phantom pain, but the next day I could hardly walk. Physio was called for and I was advised that it was an overload strain to the Planter ligament, to not run on it, keep it strapped up and there was every chance it would be fine on the day. Martin immediately changed all the workouts for me to accommodate this.

The week before:

A week before the event I dropped my bike to Ship My Tri Bike for transport to Spain. I cannot recommend this service enough, as they take your bike fully assembled and transport it to and from your race. The stress of disassembling and reassembling your tri bike is taken out of things and you can concentrate on getting ready without any distractions. We travelled out four days before the race to acclimatize and I could not recommend this enough.

Martin called and could not make the race. He had raced the previous month at the world championships 70.3 in preparation for the full IM Chattanooga where he came 4^th in his category and qualified for the world championships in Hawaii 2018. His Ryan air flight had been cancelled like so many others. We had a long discussion around pacing and power numbers and agreed to pull back the run pace by 15 seconds due to my injury. I have to say I felt ready and really well prepared.

Race day:

Race day arrived a 6AM. A quick bowl of porridge and two coffees and I was on my way to transition to make final preparations on my bike setup. The race started at 8 but due to the rolling start I did not enter the water until 8:30. Martin had suggested going out with the 1 hour 20 swimmers. I had never swum faster than 1:30 but followed the advice. The swim was tough, lots of pulling and dragging, which I did not expect. Goggles and hats were flying to the bottom of the sea. On top of this there was a strong current flowing against us, which made the first part of the swim feel like forever. On the way back though, it was heaven. We were flying back to the finish.

Swim Completed: 1:21.  Expected swim time 1:30 – 1:40. I was ecstatic.

The 180K bike is over 2 ½ loops out toward Barcelona and back to Calella. The first 15K is rolling hills followed by 40K flat. There was a strong headwind coming from Barcelona on the way out but I stuck to my numbers and didn’t worry about the speed. The pace really picked up on the way back to Calella with the wind behind me. The second loop led to an unusual incident where I rolled over some sticky paper which lodged in my brake. Took a few minutes to get it out but the glue residue got all over the brakes and wheel rim and caused my brakes to lock on when I used them next. I needed help from a mechanic at the next water stop to help free them using a can of wd40. In total I was stopped for 9 minutes with this incident but still managed to close out the bike leg in 5:35. It could have been worse like a crash or a puncture. Over 180K anything can and will go wrong, its how you deal with it on the day that counts. Now just a matter of a marathon to run!

Bike: 5:35. Expected bike time: 5:15.

The run, we had agreed should start out with 5:15 pace per KM for at least 22K. I could not slow down. I was running 4:20 per KM and ended up stopping at the 8K mark to get my heart rate down and restart running at the agreed pace. The support was just amazing. Far better than any marathon I had ever done with the exception of NY in 2013. I walked through the water stations to pour water over myself and take on fluids. The run was a three-loop course of 13K plus a bit at the start and end. The first and second loop went by quickly. The final loop I decided to push a little to try to get under the 11 hour mark. I upped the pace and ran through a couple of the water stations. The final 5K went by very quickly and before I knew it I was crossing the red carpet to the finish. It was touch and go to get under 11 hours so I didn’t do the typical crowd-pleasing stuff but sprinted for the line. I stopped my watch at 11:00:00 dead and turned to look at the clock, which registered my name and 11:00:05. I could just hear the announcer saying the immortal words “Don Ryan You are an Ironman!”

Run: 3:46

What an experience. I will definitely do one again and I really believe 10:30 is in me by getting the bike right and upping the pace a little on the run. After that it will get a lot tougher to get the times down.