Long Weekend

I pushed out the boundaries a bit last weekend by doing back to back Marathons. I say "a bit" because I am not new to back to back weekend long runs, having covered 53, 60 and 64 miles on consecutive back to back runs over 3 weekends in May 2011, when training for the Portumna 100k. Although last weekend was different in that the marathons were organised by the Director of the Clonakilty Back 2 Back Marathons as a bit of a taster for the real event, next weekend. The main reason for running the Back 2 Back(s) is to see how my body copes with running a marathon on tired, fatigued  legs, while attempting to keep a relatively even pace across the 52+ miles - trying to find my "Forrest Gump" pace perhaps. The target last weekend  (set by my running partner, John D) was to run 2 x 3:45 marathons, with the intention of pushing that up to 2 x 3:30 marathons next weekend, assuming the 3:45's were achieved.


The short story is that we acheived our target on both days, managing a 6+ minute improvement  on Day 2 to push under 3:40. Strangely enough Day 1 felt tougher for me, with my breathing heavier than normal from the first mile but not getting any worse, managing to build up a cushion and keep it until the finish despite the rising fatigue over the last 4 or 5 miles. We eased up a little over the last mile as we were well within target and were already thinking about recovering for the following day. The weather was perfect for running, with clear blue skies and the warmth of the sun taking the sting out of the morning chill. The physio on hand at the finish line was great for keeping my legs in shape for Day 2, particularly as the queue was short ;-) - Thanks Meadbh.


The opening miles on Day 2 were slower than the day before as I expected my legs to be stiff and achy, requiring a few "warm-up" miles to get into any sort of rhythm. John was talking away about keeping on pace for another 3:45 finish - although I wasn't as confident, giving myself a 50:50 chance of hitting the target - my main motivation being that I have never run a marathon slower than my first marathon (3:47:08.) By mile 5 we were behind target, especially given that all the hills were still in front of us. Over the next 5 miles we picked up the pace and were back on track by mile 10 and running at a comfortable steady pace - making hay "while the sun shone", half expecting the wheels to fall off at any time. Thankfully the wheels stayed on long enough to get us to the top of the last hill at mile 20 and heading for a sub 3:40 finish. John wasn't the complacent sort of guy though and kept pushing the same steady pace until I told him that we had less than a mile to go with 3:28 on the watch. Those last few miles were tough going but at least we didn't have to worry about saving our legs for the following day and pushed on for a 3:36 finish. Thanks to Bob for organising the weekend and his Wife Ia (and Killian's mum)  for the support out on the road and at the finish line.

Splits Comparison between Day 1 and Day 2



Official Results

Day 1 - 12 Starters



Day 1 Finish

 

Day 2 Finish



With Ia - Official Starter, Timekeeper, Mobile Water Station & Race Marshal



Post Race Picnic with the Marathon Moms