Manchester Marathon - Reflecting on the race

Got a 4 minute PB. Dropped my time from 2:58:18 to 2:54:13. Nothing too exciting about how the race went - just kept my splits below 4:10km and managed to hold on without slipping until around the 39km mark. Check out training reflections to see how I trained harder to run more strongly and push the PB down.

That's my fourth marathon now...

1 of 4 - Yorkshire Marathon 2021

Pace fell off a cliff at 35km. On reflection wasn't good enough for a sub-three. But learnt that I needed to train harder. The fact I kept things strong until 32-33km is probably typical of a decent 80minute HM runner. But first marathon is really going into the unknown for the first time.

Yorkshire Marathon 2021

2 of 4 - Edinburgh Marathon 2022

A really sold first 35km without letting any 5km split drop below 21minute gave the foundations. The pace fall-off still happened, but it wasn't as dramatic - stronger legs meant it slowly drifted from 4:10/km to 4:30/km which meant the sub-three goal had been achieved.
Edinburgh Marathon 2022

3 of 4 - London Marathon 2023

Got my pacing wrong (lots of little reasons and poor GPS) and found myself at the 35km mark fresher, but with a lot to do still for a PB. Managed to keep up pretty much even-splits to scrape a PB. Had hoped for around 2:55, a PB is a PB, but felt I didn't do justice for how hard I trained. Determined to get it right in 2024.
London Marathon 2023

4 of 4 - Manchester Marathon 2024

Close to perfectly executed. Pace only dropped in last three km - and even then - only losing about 25s. 35-40km 5k segment at a 20:48 which is still sub 4:10/km. Delighted.

Manchester Marathon 2024
Final reflections
Knew it would be hard late on - but held the <4:10/km until final three km. 4:13, 4:19, 4:23. Not the same as holding the pace for a 10k or a HM - more about managing legs to the finish line with cramp starting to tweak in the hamstrings. Losing 25s is not as bad as pushing on and having to stretch off by the side for 60s (then getting going again). Time for a few days off to reflect on what I want next year in terms of marathon attempt.

At the start of the year I set myself three challenging running goals. Goal 1 was sub-2:55 marathon. That's ticked off - now on to the next goal.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The day before the marathon

Image
Manchester Marathon tomorrow. My fourth marathon and have trained harder than ever before. Back in January I blogged what my plan was for the marathon training block . I've pretty much followed it. Only difference being instead of two runs on a Tuesday I just started the day with a double session. But in summary: Go into the training block doing 90km (55mi) a week. Take it up to 120km (75mi) a week. 12 weeks of increasing efforts, with a three week taper at the end. At the maximum do four weeks in a row with 36km (22mi) long runs on the Sunday. Long runs to be at decent pace with at least an 8km (5mi) mara pace section on tired legs. Run every day - alternating between efforts and recovery Tue - hard session (Typically 4x1mile efforts followed by 5k tempo) Thu - hard session (Typically three sets of 5km at mara pace with floats inbetween)  Weekly distances Not sure how much to read into the Strava Fitness and Freshness chart. But fitness went from +59 to +103 to +86. Form went from
Read more

Running goals for the year

Image
2023 was a good year. PBs in parkrun, 5k, 10k and Marathon. With the right conditions I feel I could have got 10mi and HM too - but cannot grumble. Particularly happy with parkrun as that is now eight years of incremental improvement through improved training and focus. Power of ten score card So what are the 2024 goals? It's a big year as I am 50 in July. Entering the V50 category gives me a real chance to pick some goals that weren't possible in recent years at the top end of the V45 category. So I'm intending on training harder than ever - and putting down some stretched goals that may not be possible - but are worth going for. Goal 1 - 2hr55 marathon Goal 2  - Top 50 in the UK runbritain ranking for V50 at 5k distance Goal 3  - England masters vest for V50 Goal 1 - 2hr55 marathon With hindsight I think I should have done around 2hr55 at London last year but a few things didn't go to plan and I ended up with a 2hr58. This year I'll try and put things right and
Read more

North East Half Marathon Running Routes

Image
Since 2020 I have been plotting running routes on Strava for my Sunday morning long runs. I've been trying to cover the areas from above the River Tyne down to around the River Tees. Check out the images of some of the routes below. Blog posts covering each route are linked to at the base of this post. North East Half Marathon Routes - from north to south : Holy Island loop The Cheviot Bamburgh Castle Blyth - Cullercoats return Wallsend to Whitley Bay loop Wallsend to Gosforth loop Wallsend to Tynemouth loop Wallsend to Newcastle loop River Tyne  (starting Newcastle city centre) Newburn to Prudhoe loop Swalwell to Chopwell Woods loop South Shields loop  (starting Temple Memorial Park) Jarrow to Durham Sunderland to Seaburn loop Herrington to Sunderland loop Washington Eighton Banks to Tanfield loop Derwent Reservoir Seaham Maiden Law loop Durham loop Durham riverside to Hett loop Croxdale to Willington loop Brandon to Crook loop Castle Eden Dene Hamsterley Forest
Read more