Quote Originally Posted by djglover View Post
Another manchester marathoner here.

It was my first marathon and I was chasing sub 3. I ended in 2:57:59 - totally over the moon

With regards to training, what went well for me was doing lots of miles, up to 55 a week, average pace of a midweek run 7:00 min miles at about 75% of MHR, then a long slow run at marathon pace -1minute at the weekend.

I did make one a progression run where I did 19 with the last 5 at race pace but it was hard to recover from

I also did a 10 mile tune up race two weeks out and a 1/3 marathon at race pace 7 days before..

All the stuff about cramping hamstrings happened to me too, I have done plenty of fell runs an hour longer than the marathon, but I found the marathon much more intense, no downhills to 'let go' on and no uphills to sneak a quick rest on! - really no hiding place in the marathon
well done, but I think you can go quicker... if thats your training pace?

A marathon paced run should be hard work.. X in Y runs, say 2 miles easy 4-6 miles at MP then 2-3 miles easier should be a hard session.. what was the pace of your long runs?

I probably average 7:30 for 90+ mile weeks.. my marathon pace is probably around 6:00.. currently my pb is 2:39, but my half is 73:30 and my 10 mile 55:57 so 2:35 ish is probably a more realistic time for me to go for.