Official Running Thread

[Driver8]

I have never broken 4hrs before despite 16 attempts. I seem to get to 22 miles and fall apart but I have never been this fit. Took 12 mins of my PB this morning so fingers crossed. 3.59.59 will do me. How about you what are you looking for?

Its only my second marathon but I was hoping to try for four hours but don't think I'm up to it. I will probably aim for 4.15 which will be 40 mins quicker than my first attempt (although I did run with an injured knee and really struggled).

 

[Steve Foster]

Do you have to hold your arms out and make aeroplane noises all the way round?

2:36 for me today & I didn't take off!

 

[Lord Bamber]

Its only my second marathon but I was hoping to try for four hours but don't think I'm up to it. I will probably aim for 4.15 which will be 40 mins quicker than my first attempt (although I did run with an injured knee and really struggled).

Good luck Driver, hope we both come away with a cracking time!

 

[Driver8]

Good luck Driver, hope we both come away with a cracking time!

Cheers. Same to you.

 

[chimneys]

I have never broken 4hrs before despite 16 attempts. I seem to get to 22 miles and fall apart but I have never been this fit. Took 12 mins of my PB this morning so fingers crossed. 3.59.59 will do me. How about you what are you looking for?

Come on LB!! You have just run 20 miles in 2 40, and are only targetting a sub 4?! That run was at 3 30 pace as you well know. Will look forward to seeing you in the sub 3'30 pen in Preston Park!!

Very well done!!

Think you could go close to a sub 4 Driver8 with a 1 53 half! Many congrats.

Steve Foster-how was the Dunsfold Aerodrome, which I recall is the Top Gear test track. Appreciate you would have gone off it on the 20 but have read several reports on the 10k they run on it that its pretty flat, but very dull?

 

[Steve Foster]

Come on LB!! You have just run 20 miles in 2 40, and are only targetting a sub 4?! That run was at 3 30 pace as you well know. Will look forward to seeing you in the sub 3'30 pen in Preston Park!!

Very well done!!

Think you could go close to a sub 4 Driver8 with a 1 53 half! Many congrats.

Steve Foster-how was the Dunsfold Aerodrome, which I recall is the Top Gear test track. Appreciate you would have gone off it on the 20 but have read several reports on the 10k they run on it that its pretty flat, but very dull?

The 20 was more interesting than I thought.
Two laps. Approx 1/3 on the test track & rest on country roads.
More interesting than Goring 20 that I usually do.

 

[Lord Bamber]

Come on LB!! You have just run 20 miles in 2 40, and are only targetting a sub 4?! That run was at 3 30 pace as you well know. Will look forward to seeing you in the sub 3'30 pen in Preston Park!!

Very well done!!

Thanks Chimneys. I could not put one foot in front of the other at the end. after 16 attempts of going under 4 hrs I am conservative of my ability over 20 miles but I am feeling a bit more bullish after today.

**reaches for his cold beer**

 

[Richy_Seagull]

I managed 20 in 3 hours and 3 mins last week. Managed 4:40 in my only marathon a couple of years back and was hoping to beat the 4 hour mark this but don't rate my chances too high after that. The 20 almost killed me.

 

[chimneys]

I managed 20 in 3 hours and 3 mins last week. Managed 4:40 in my only marathon a couple of years back and was hoping to beat the 4 hour mark this but don't rate my chances too high after that. The 20 almost killed me.

Richy

You are bang on 4 hour pace with that run. Well done!

Dont forget on the day you will have crowds cheering and fellow runners to push you along. Keep going on the training runs, get your last 2 weeks taper right, carb up in the 3 or 4 days before, stay off the beer for at least a week before marathon and set yourself a steady 4 hour pace from the off. You will have every chance of a sub 4.

 

[chimneys]

Thanks Chimneys. I could not put one foot in front of the other at the end. after 16 attempts of going under 4 hrs I am conservative of my ability over 20 miles but I am feeling a bit more bullish after today.

**reaches for his cold beer**

You should be very proud of yourself and that cold beer is very well earnt Lord B. Effectively you have left yourself 1 hr 15 or so for the last 10k if you reproduce that to get your sub 4!! Dont want to tempt fate but you really should be targetting a 3'35 with 20 at 2 40.

Am I right in thinking you are doing more than 1 in quick succession? Suggest with the form you are, you go for the time on the first one, and do the rest for fun!

I'm looking to run at 7'50 min miles (to allow for pees and for a slight drop off in last few miles) to get around a 3'28/3'29. Main concern, apart from injury, is weather on day being on the sea front as mentioned before.

 

[Lord Bamber]

You should be very proud of yourself and that cold beer is very well earnt Lord B. Effectively you have left yourself 1 hr 15 or so for the last 10k if you reproduce that to get your sub 4!! Dont want to tempt fate but you really should be targetting a 3'35 with 20 at 2 40.

Am I right in thinking you are doing more than 1 in quick succession? Suggest with the form you are, you go for the time on the first one, and do the rest for fun!

I'm looking to run at 7'50 min miles (to allow for pees and for a slight drop off in last few miles) to get around a 3'28/3'29. Main concern, apart from injury, is weather on day being on the sea front as mentioned before.

Thanks for the tips Chimneys.

I did the Dunsfold 10K a couple of times now where it is two laps of the aerodrome track. I would not have said it was scenic however it was quite interesting the first time as you do go down the runway and the top gear track, maybe not scenic or interesting the second time.

 

[Richy_Seagull]

Richy

You are bang on 4 hour pace with that run. Well done!

Dont forget on the day you will have crowds cheering and fellow runners to push you along. Keep going on the training runs, get your last 2 weeks taper right, carb up in the 3 or 4 days before, stay off the beer for at least a week before marathon and set yourself a steady 4 hour pace from the off. You will have every chance of a sub 4.

Cheers. How exactly should I approach the 2 week taper?

 

[Richy_Seagull]

Double post.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Top running Driver! I did 2hrs 40 for the Worthing 20, a lovely morning for it.

Well done LB. Well on target for your sub-4 marathon.

 

[chimneys]

Cheers. How exactly should I approach the 2 week taper?

On the taper, everyone does it slightly differently, but the main thing to bear in mind is, in the last 2 weeks you cant add anything to your overall marathon ability/stamina, but you can detract from it if you are not careful.

For me, I will do my last long run/20, 2 weekends before race day, at approaching marathon pace for a good deal of it. Hopefully you will have done 5 or 6 long runs (15+ miles incl at least 2 at 20 miles over the 2 months prior in order to give you the marathon stamina you will need for the crucial last 6 miles on race day).

I will then do a couple of 5-8 mile tempo runs in the penultimate week before race and a half the weekend before. Pre race week I will do prob a 6 on the Tuesday and same on Thursday at modest pace and then that will be it until the race on the Sunday.

As I said in previous post, I try to avoid alcohol for 2 weeks before marathon, but def for last week (prob a mental thing as much as physical), and take on loads of carbs from the Wednesday before race.

I then feel I have done all I can to put me in best possible shape for PB. (watch me pull up after 5 miles at Brighton after all that!).

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

On the taper, everyone does it slightly differently, but the main thing to bear in mind is, in the last 2 weeks you cant add anything to your overall marathon ability/stamina, but you can detract from it if you are not careful.

For me, I will do my last long run/20, 2 weekends before race day, at approaching marathon pace for a good deal of it. Hopefully you will have done 5 or 6 long runs (15+ miles incl at least 2 at 20 miles over the 2 months prior in order to give you the marathon stamina you will need for the crucial last 6 miles on race day).

I will then do a couple of 5-8 mile tempo runs in the penultimate week before race and a half the weekend before. Pre race week I will do prob a 6 on the Tuesday and same on Thursday at modest pace and then that will be it until the race on the Sunday.

As I said in previous post, I try to avoid alcohol for 2 weeks before marathon, but def for last week (prob a mental thing as much as physical), and take on loads of carbs from the Wednesday before race.

I then feel I have done all I can to put me in best possible shape for PB. (watch me pull up after 5 miles at Brighton after all that!).

This is good advise. In the week prior to the I also jog on the Wed and the Friday and Sat before but only 2-3 mile light jogs just to keep ticking over and keep my body loose and I really hold back on the speed. I will run in my race day kit as well on the Saturday including number just to make sure everything is fine.

Wed onwards loads of carbs but have sensible portion sizes. My secret battle weapon is ice-cream and crisps. I have a bowl of ice cream and a pack of crisps (Lord B knows my brand of choice) every day without fail from Wed onwards.

Go for it and good luck.

 

[Richy_Seagull]

On the taper, everyone does it slightly differently, but the main thing to bear in mind is, in the last 2 weeks you cant add anything to your overall marathon ability/stamina, but you can detract from it if you are not careful.

For me, I will do my last long run/20, 2 weekends before race day, at approaching marathon pace for a good deal of it. Hopefully you will have done 5 or 6 long runs (15+ miles incl at least 2 at 20 miles over the 2 months prior in order to give you the marathon stamina you will need for the crucial last 6 miles on race day).

I will then do a couple of 5-8 mile tempo runs in the penultimate week before race and a half the weekend before. Pre race week I will do prob a 6 on the Tuesday and same on Thursday at modest pace and then that will be it until the race on the Sunday.

As I said in previous post, I try to avoid alcohol for 2 weeks before marathon, but def for last week (prob a mental thing as much as physical), and take on loads of carbs from the Wednesday before race.

I then feel I have done all I can to put me in best possible shape for PB. (watch me pull up after 5 miles at Brighton after all that!).

Oh god, I was hoping I would only have to hit 20 once before the race! Did it last Sunday and only running again for the first time today because of the damage it caused. Maybe I could try one more this weekend. Going for a nice 10 today just to make sure everything is still working. Am stopping with the booze from after next weekend onwards I think, have noticed what a difference that makes as been drinking far less in last couple of months.

 

[Deleted member 18477]

This is good advise. In the week prior to the I also jog on the Wed and the Friday and Sat before but only 2-3 mile light jogs just to keep ticking over and keep my body loose and I really hold back on the speed. I will run in my race day kit as well on the Saturday including number just to make sure everything is fine.

Wed onwards loads of carbs but have sensible portion sizes. My secret battle weapon is ice-cream and crisps. I have a bowl of ice cream and a pack of crisps (Lord B knows my brand of choice) every day without fail from Wed onwards. Go for it and good luck.

superstition surely?

brown pasta would be the sensible choice...

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

superstition surely?

brown pasta would be the sensible choice...

Have you not heard of Heston Blumenthal's brown pasta and crisp ice cream?

 

[sully]

Oh god, I was hoping I would only have to hit 20 once before the race! Did it last Sunday and only running again for the first time today because of the damage it caused. Maybe I could try one more this weekend. Going for a nice 10 today just to make sure everything is still working. Am stopping with the booze from after next weekend onwards I think, have noticed what a difference that makes as been drinking far less in last couple of months.

I guess it really depends if you're planning to even pace the whole race or leave yourself open for a very slow last few miles.

I found in my training that every time we went further, the extra miles were a real struggle. We did a couple of over 20s before the day and still I found the last three miles an absolute killer.

I'm hoping that having done the full distance only a couple of weeks ago that I'll be ok for Brighton now, but still planning to do another long one next weekend before tapering down again. It hasn't helped that I missed yesterday's run with a bout of man-flu, though. At least it's knocked another few pounds off the weight I have to carry around!