Pacing My Way to a Marathon PB

I am a fan of the cut-in, particularly for the longer races. My Marathon PB in 2011 was achieved using a 6 mile cut-in - I didn't catch the 3 hour pacers until Mile 8.  A few weeks ago a plot began to hatch in my head. The Cork Marathon was two weeks out from the goal of my training programme - Portumna 26.2 on 15th June. Pacing 3:30 (my normal gig) would only tire me out and be of no training benefit so I opted for the 1:30 half, which would give me some decent race pace miles. However the 1:30 slot was congested with high quality pacers already so, in the absence of an overall 3 hour pacer, I recruited Conor Anderson to pace one half of the 3 hour full (with yours truly doing the other half), although with a 58 minute result in the hilly Cobh 10 miler, Conor was more than capable of pacing the whole distance. I even gave him the second "glory" half to pace, although I had an ulterior motive (sneaky fecker me). Firstly I wanted to get at least 15 miles in at MP and I wasn't going to run a 2 mile MP warmup/cooldown. Secondly (and here's where the real sneaky bit came in), if the form was good (and the weather conditions allowed!) I would push on for a full 26.2 mile MP run. To be quite honest, there's no turning back if i'm still running out of town along the South Link Road at Mile 16.5.

The first half went pretty well, although I had to do about a mile warmup around the back streets of the City Centre, to get me to 6:50 pace effort. I had a good crew with me from the off, including clubmate Ken (who was gunning for his first sub-3)  - christ, what am I talking about! Last time out I was part of that crew - I was a hairs breadth away, ability wise, from those around me (and that hair could be in either direction) - "faking it" big time ;-)

The morning was a bit humid, but the cloud cover kept the sun from striking. I lost my baloon around mile 5, but still had a laminated card on my back "3:00 - 1st Half", strategically velcro'ed on, so that I could whip it off later. I had built up a cushion of about 20 seconds by the time Conor joined us at Mile 12 on the Mahon Walkway, mentally relaxing over the next mile as Conor took over - passing the half way in 1:29:43.

After crossing the timing-mat I whipped the "bill board" from my back and bid Conor and the gang "Adieu" and struck out on my own, still unsure of my plan, other than to pick up the pace and see how I get on over the next 3 miles, which would take me back into town (where my car was parked anyway). I pressed the lap button on the Garmin to assess pace and would not touch the watch again until I finished. The pace in the walkway towards the Marina was reasonably steady in the high 6:20's (Garmin), as I passed one or two - a bit more lonely out there now. I had expected to merge with the HM runners before the 15 mile mark, where both courses converged and shared the same route to the finish. The half was to start 1:30 after the full so I would expect to be surrounded by the sub-1:30 half marathoners. No sign of them - maybe they started a little late - turns out they started nearly 30 minutes late, so the course would remain pretty lonely.

By the time I got to the 3rd relay changeover (Mile 16.3) the average pace on the Garmin read 6:23 (so about 6:26/27 real pace). My better than best plan was to keep the "real pace" sub 6:30 to the finish for a sub 2:55 result, but with the toughest part of the course in front of me that was going to be a tough ask.

My fuel consisted of a gel flask in my pocket containing a mixture of honey (90%), black strap molasses (9.9%) and salt (0.1% pinch) watered down a little to make it reasonably squeezable but not too watery so as to minimise weight - plenty of water out there on the course (ps water stations were excellent). The "gel" did turn out a bit on the viscous side and required a fair bit of coaxing out of the flask. I waited until the half was complete to take my first swig of it's sweet nectar, forgetting that there was no water station around to wash it down. I used it again twice (miles 17 and 22 approx).

The pace slowed to 6:27 average running out the South Link, up the ramp and down to Turner's cross, still running reasonably strong, spotting a group of 5 ahead including clubmate Tony, who ran 2:56 4 weeks ago in Limerick. I gradually reel them in and pass by at Ballypheane Church (Mile 19), one of the guys worriedly querying whether or not I was still pacing 3 hours and relaxing when i assured him I wasn't.

I am still keeping a steady pace although the average reading on the garmin fluctuates between 6:27 (bottom of downhills) and 6:29 (top on inclines). I pass the 20 Mile mark with 2:14:23 showing on the garmin - over a minute and a half ahead of the 2:16:00 I had for my 2:59:19 finish in Dublin 2011and feeling stronger.

The legs were feeling the effects now, particularly on the uphills but still able to open up on the downhills until they are behind me as I turn right on Inchagaggin Lane and then right onto the Straight Road, where the gentle easterly wind blows directly into my face for the next mile and a half, passing Miles 23 and 24 with the average pace now showing 6:30 - at least 30 to 45 seconds behind my 2:55 finish. The last 2.2 mile are all about holding it together as the effort become noticeably harder and "6:31" comes on the garmin - knowing that each second creep in average pace is a 13 second addition to my goal.

I divide the closing 2 miles into 5 sections -

1. Kingsley to Top of Mardyke - keeping the pace as solid as I can
2. Mardyke Walk - Long and straight, can't wait until it's over (40km mark) - finally left onto
3. Distillery Walk - Over the bridge - past the 25 mile mark - very quite here as there are no spectators on the walk - finally onto the
4. North Mall - finally a bit of support and encouragement from the crowds, although the route along the north bank of the River Lee to the Opera House Bridge becomes a bit of a drag until at last I am on
5. Camden Quay and turning right onto Particks Bridge and Pana, being pulled home by the crowds, but as the street is curved I cannot see the finish line and when I think I can see it, it turns out to be a "timing-mat" to "introduce" runners to the MC at the real finish line, hearing him welcome home the second and third placed women, Angela McCann and Nollaig O'Neill. I spot 2:55:5x on the clock, but my final push isn't enough to get under 2:56 - funny how a 2:55:57 feels so much better that a 2:56:01, which is my final chip time, delighted with my result, which is a PB by over 3 minutes and a finish that is certainly less dramatic than the last time. Clubmate Ken crosses the line a few minutes after me, punching the emotionally charged air in sheer delight after his 2:58:58 finish.

My half splits were 1:29:43 (60th overall) and 1:26:19 (30th overall), indicating that I passed 30 of the 59 that were in front of me at the halfway point - the only way to run a marathon ;-) What a day!

Since I broke 3 hours in Dublin 2 years ago, I had wondered whether or not it was a "once off"

and would I be able to do it again and today was all about proving that I wasn't a "one hit wonder"

What to do in Portumna on Saturday week is the next challenge - upgrade to the 50k perhaps and try for a different PB! The best part of today was the pint and sandwich in good company at the "Long Valley" after the race - much better than honey and black strap molasses any day - the best races are always run (relived) in the pub.