u/ddarrko

Sat writing this on the train back to London with very mixed feelings. It was my second marathon and I finished in 3:15:04 (very annoyed I had to stop twice to tie my laces) which is a pretty big improvement over my first marathon (3:37) however I can’t help but feel disappointed as I felt my half time and peak training weeks indicated I had more in me.

My block started in January at a not so ideal time as I’d just had 4 weeks off proper running due to Christmas and a holiday in Bali where I only managed 3 runs in 3 weeks however prior to Christmas I had just ran my first sub 40 10k so came in high spirits.

Over the 12 weeks (not including the race week) I averaged 63km with 5 weeks of 75km. Considering the mileage I think most people will assume I got a pretty good result however….

4 weeks ago I ran a half marathon and finished in 1:27:57. It was a tune up race and I was not flat out finished with a fair bit in the tank and my average HR was 170. That puts my pace at an average of 4:10 a km. Seven day later was my peak 34k session where I did 3x8k @ 4:25 with a 1k float (4:55) my average for the entire 34k was 4:38 per KM and my HR 156.

Based on these results I went into the taper feeling like I could start around 4:27/4:28 (which according to my MP sessions would put me around a 158–165 HR) and potentially push on or just hold for a < 3:10.

During the taper I noticed my HR was a little elevated the further into the taper I got but I trusted the process and enjoyed the fresh legs at least. Week of the marathon I slept well every night did an appropriate carb load and stayed off my feet the day before the race.

The race started and immediately I noticed my HR was already creeping to 170 3km in - I thought to myself this was just adrenaline and tried to control however did not want to drop the pace too much early. Long story short obviously this was a mistake and I managed to get through to 30km with an average pace of 4:28 however I clearly didnt have the ability to maintain the pace the whole distance and I limped home over the last 12km (including 37&38 at 5:05 a km) I did speed up slightly for the final 3 and get back to 4:55 however it was painful.

My annoyance is due to the fact my first half was an average of 170 HR 15/16 seconds slower per KM than my half 4 weeks ago and this is after a taper which is supposed to help my fitness.

I have felt like every race I have done I run better without the taper (my recent half/my 10k and another 10k race I did) every time I have followed a proper taper I seem to not enjoy the result. But every single bit of logic says I should taper and will not lose fitness in 2/3 weeks.

This is kind of long and a bit rangy/pathetic but wondering if anyone else has similar experiences?

Also Manchester is absolutely not as flat as people make out 😂