Calling all PCF runners (4 Viewers)

[Highli99]

I realize I never did a race report for Stockholm Marathon! My second ever marathon.

I arrived in Stockholm the day before the race and did a short run to get the muscles ready and to do some cultural sightseeing:
View attachment 1349692

The plan for the race was pretty simple. Run at a little under a 5:00 min/km pace (~8:00 min/mile) and I'll run a sub 3h30min race. I am very good at sticking to a plan, I never get carried away or let emotions take over!

But after the first km I thought "Naaaaw, screw it!! This feels great, I'll run at a 4:30 pace (~7:15), no problem!! 28°C (~80F) heat, no problem! What could possibly go wrong!?"

After about 12 k's I had to slow down to about 5:00. At about half marathon I started to realize that I was an idiot. A stupid f#cking idiot. After 30 k's I was totally spent, the pace was down to about 6 min (~9:40).

Still gotta smile for those cameras though!!

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The heat was overwhelming. At one point I started to freeze like I was taking a cold shower! Not a good sign!

At the 40km mark there was a watch showing 3h 30min 25s. I realized that if I just stopped feeling sorry for myself for 2.2 km I could run sub 3h40min. I ran as fast as I could! It wasn't more painful than running slow, just differently painful, if that makes sense. Closing in on the finishing line helps of course. Anyway, I got there in 3:38:48!

It feels like I through my inexperience missed the result I was looking for, but I am very happy with the last km's and my new PB.

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Congrats thats an awesome time. Nice job!

 

[Benjaminotaur]

I realize I never did a race report for Stockholm Marathon! My second ever marathon.

I arrived in Stockholm the day before the race and did a short run to get the muscles ready and to do some cultural sightseeing:
View attachment 1349692

The plan for the race was pretty simple. Run at a little under a 5:00 min/km pace (~8:00 min/mile) and I'll run a sub 3h30min race. I am very good at sticking to a plan, I never get carried away or let emotions take over!

But after the first km I thought "Naaaaw, screw it!! This feels great, I'll run at a 4:30 pace (~7:15), no problem!! 28°C (~80F) heat, no problem! What could possibly go wrong!?"

After about 12 k's I had to slow down to about 5:00. At about half marathon I started to realize that I was an idiot. A stupid f#cking idiot. After 30 k's I was totally spent, the pace was down to about 6 min (~9:40).

Still gotta smile for those cameras though!!

View attachment 1349703

The heat was overwhelming. At one point I started to freeze like I was taking a cold shower! Not a good sign!

At the 40km mark there was a watch showing 3h 30min 25s. I realized that if I just stopped feeling sorry for myself for 2.2 km I could run sub 3h40min. I ran as fast as I could! It wasn't more painful than running slow, just differently painful, if that makes sense. Closing in on the finishing line helps of course. Anyway, I got there in 3:38:48!

It feels like I through my inexperience missed the result I was looking for, but I am very happy with the last km's and my new PB.

View attachment 1349704

Sure, you may lose points for not sticking to your plan, but you get points for adjusting on the fly, and even more points for still coming that close to your goal. It’s so easy to have a plan totally unravel in the heat.

Besides, with runner rounding, you’re going to round that down to a 3:35 marathon whenever people ask, so you’re practically at your goal as it is.

Hell of a kick too! Major kudos on kicking it up to that pace

 

[Mr Winberg]

Sure, you may lose points for not sticking to your plan, but you get points for adjusting on the fly, and even more points for still coming that close to your goal. It’s so easy to have a plan totally unravel in the heat.

Thanks! But it wasn't really me adjusting, it was more me getting adjusted. You know, by physics!

Besides, with runner rounding, you’re going to round that down to a 3:35 marathon whenever people ask

So it's like fishing? An 8.7 pike gets rounded to an even 10kg. Then you add .2 so the figure doesn't seem rounded (because then nobody will believe you), so the official weight is 10.2!

 

[Benjaminotaur]

So it's like fishing? An 8.7 pike gets rounded to an even 10kg. Then you add .2 so the figure doesn't seem rounded (because then nobody will believe you), so the official weight is 10.2!

Kind of, but with more flexibility. If your marathon time is over 5 hours, round down to the nearest 15 minute mark. Over 4 hours, round down to the nearest 10 minute mark. Over 3 hours, round down to the nearest 5 minute mark. Anything under 3 hours you round down the seconds to an even minute.

I think it does a pretty good job of giving a good idea of your finish time and what you could have done if conditions (or running choices) were marginally better.

I will say that I don’t follow the rule mostly out of bitterness. I finished my only marathon in 5:00:08, and those 8 seconds will usually make it right past my lips out of pure spite. If I run another one, I’m going to have to include things like “Pee faster” into my training plans just to be safe

 

[Eriks]

Been able to drag my ass out running at a decent frequency again and am currently working on increasing the weekly volume. Right now I’m at 40 km/week spread over 3 runs, with a recovery week with shorter runs every 4th week.

Plan is to slowly build towards 60-70 km/week and start adding some varying types of speed intervals. I’ve started to actually believe I could eventually reach my long term runners dream of doing a sub 40min 10k. I’m gonna go for it!

There is a perfect, completely flat race in Stockholm around the island of Södermalm in the beginning of June every year and I’m shooting for 2026 to give me a realistic chance to get where I need to be. I’ve asked Chat-GPT to come up with a training program based on my specs and goal. I was quite impressed with what it came up with and I will be following it with some adjustments here and there

Knowing myself, I’m aware I could be just one bad cold or small runner’s injury away from fucking it all up, so I figure that by putting it up here I can’t back down without at least being properly shamed.

 

[Freudeus]

Sounds like a GREAT goal to aim for!

And don't you worry one bit, of course we'll shame you if you back down

 

[WedgeRock]

Sub-40 minute 10k is no joke!

 

[Eriks]

Sub-40 minute 10k is no joke!

I know, for old men it’s basically a 10k sprint - it’s gonna take some real dedication. But I need something like this to stay motivated. I believe I stood a good chance of making it in 2020 if it hadn’t been for covid canceling all races. I was fit af. If nothing else I would’ve shattered my current stupid PB of 43:11

I’m really inspired by @Mr Winberg making the sub40 not too long ago. Since we’re the same age I don’t see why I should be any worse.

 

[merkong]

I'm in. Not for this blazingly fast 10K but simply as a runner...

What are we running from again?