Sub three hour marathon effort - The result - (3 of 3)

 This blog post is part of a three blog series.

My final pacing plan was as follows:
The plan
So the plan was to get to the 30km mark at 4:10/km pace. Then have a little bit of a cushion to ease off to 4:25/km for the final 12.5km to sneak in at the 02:59:00 mark.

So.... how did it go...

All went to plan until 36km, then the energy just disappeared


I knew I couldn't let it slip to 4:30+ in the last section of the race - but lost all energy

So, all went perfectly until 36km, then if 4:30/km was the pace I needed to keep under I then lost:
  • 37km : -6s
  • 38km : -19s
  • 39km : -43s
  • 40km : -58s
  • 41km  -80s
  • 42km: -107s
  • 200m : -68s
381seconds lost - 6min21s. Resulting in a 3:05:56 instead of what could have been 2:59:35.

A particular disappointment was cramping in both hamstrings on final downhill and having to stop for 30-40s to stretch them off (the crowd gave great support).

After five or six hours to think about it. Two immediate thoughts for the next one...
  • Train a little faster and longer.
    Doing my long runs at 5:10/km pace was maybe a bit too easy with hindsight. Next time I'll go at a harder pace in training. Maybe 4:45/km.
    Never going further than 36km in training - left me a bit exposed for that bigger distance. Think I'll train up to 40km twice before the taper.
  • Take more fuel on board
    Think the gels need to go down every 30 minutes and not every 45. 
All of this said, still delighted to do my first marathon. I knew that this one would be a bit of an experiment that I'd learn from.

What's next? Maybe Manchester next spring. :)



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