Official Running Thread

[Ninja Elephant]

Found my extra stone to last marathon. It's unfortunately not all in leg muscles. Have to wear a suit Monday morning post marathon. Just tried it on and I can't do the trousers up. 31" waist has become 35" in last couple of weeks of recovering and tapering and drinking and eating. I'm going to have to buy a new pair of trousers, keep the label on them till Monday and hope I'm down to 32" post marathon and able to wear the matching trousers......at least I'm well fueled.

If you can wriggle yourself into some 34" strides, you're welcome to borrow a pair of mine! You might need to roll up the legs a bit but saves buying a pair!

 

[knocky1]

If you can wriggle yourself into some 34" strides, you're welcome to borrow a pair of mine! You might need to roll up the legs a bit but saves buying a pair!

Thanks. Very kind but i think the legs would need a big roll up.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

So I kind of kept quiet about this to Gareth, Mike & Brett and I think only posted once on here about it but here goes...

I was due to run Brighton marathon last year for REMF. I’d done the fundraising and was up to about £300. I’d done a fair bit of training and had just done Lydd 20 miler when something pretty major happened in my life that hit me extremely hard and still is fairly tough now, although much easier than it was... [MENTION=3887]Uncle Spielberg[/MENTION]

So I tried to run Hastings half a few days later and my body had just shut down. I hadn’t eaten & mentally just couldn’t run. It was so hard to see all that training and hard work go out the window & I was pretty embarrassed to have to email Gareth & Mike to pull out. They were great and understood.

A few months later in the Summer, some mates of mine mentioned they’d signed up to Paris Marathon for the following April. I just thought something to aim for would be great for me so I went for it. It was my chance to put things right and not be defeated. So I kind of decided to run it for REMF as I’d raised the money but not completed a marathon.

Due to time and work I wasn’t able to train to quite the level I’d liked but I still put the effort in from January to get on it and the weekend of the 7th April quickly came around. This was my time to put last years disappointment to bed!

We drove over to Paris Saturday and collected our numbers from the exhibition. I was excited yet very nervous to do my first marathon. When we arrived Sunday morning at the start, the atmosphere was electric. 55,000 runners and hearing the clapping and music made me have goosebumps.

The marathon itself was great. Amazing famous landmarks and a terrific atmosphere. I felt my hamstring injury after 10 miles which I had to stop and stretch out regularly. Four of us ran it together at a leisurely pace. It was actually around 23 degrees and very hot for what we were used to. We just had a great laugh all going around and interacted with the crowd and other runners constantly. ‘PEs (personal experience) not PBs’ was our motto. We all managed to stick together and help each other along and finished at 5-29. Crossing the finish line meant so much to me on so many levels and I just felt pleased to have been knocked flat out and to have got up and held my head high to complete my challenge a year later. I’ll never forget Sunday! So I’m proudly in the marathon club, ran unofficially for REMF, and here I am proudly donning the stripes (well sort of!) while running. Thanks for reading

* for some reason my pic won’t upload so will have to try again later!

Fabulous story – it sounds like one hell of a journey you've been on – and I'm not just talking about popping over to Paris...

Maximum respect to you for picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and getting back out there. Your run sounds ideal – running with mates, bit of sightseeing around Paris and crossing that line in good shape.

You never forget your first marathon. Welcome to the club

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Hit full blown anxiety mode today for some reason, worrying about issues from getting a cold to tripping over my shoe laces.

This has lead me to thing hard about my race plan which is now:

Mile 1 - 12: 7m10s a mile
Mile 13 - 20: 7m00s a mile
Mile 21 - 26.2: 6m50s a mile or as fast as possible.

Overall idea of keeping it steady and taking on plenty of fule for the first half of the Marathon.

This would get me 3h02m on the dot.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

The weather forecast is getting even better, with the SE wind becoming a S wind by 1pm meaning the finish should now be fully wind across rather than against.

My toe can now be walked on without pain for the first time in almost a week which has lifted my mood today. Hopefully that suggests it was just bruising and nothing worse. I don't mind failing on Sunday if I'm not up to the job or I've underestimated the challenge, but being affected by an injury now really would be a kick in the teeth. Plus, I don't want to spend the rest of my life like David Haye, sounding absolutely pathetic for blaming something as small as a toe for messing up on the big stage.

Weather looks perfect at the minute, still plenty of time for it to go tits up though.

 

[Simgull]

Haha good old maranoia. Yesterday I ran 5k at marathon pace, this morning in wake up with my legs aching!

It is just maranoia, er, is nt it? Shall I go to A&E, get an appointment with Jesus or just pray

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

So, who’s running Sunday? Can we get a definitive list of runners?

 

[knocky1]

Haha good old maranoia. Yesterday I ran 5k at marathon pace, this morning in wake up with my legs aching!

It is just maranoia, er, is nt it? Shall I go to A&E, get an appointment with Jesus or just pray

Birch pollen for me. Since turning 52, or running Brighton marathons, i get hayfever every April for a month. Thought I'd get away with it this year with the late spring but the blossom popped out yesterday. No problem with performance just makes me look more knocky than usual. Southerly winds off the sea, please.

 

[Simgull]

So, who’s running Sunday? Can we get a definitive list of runners?

In.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

So, who’s running Sunday? Can we get a definitive list of runners?

Bobkin, Greg – reporting for duty!

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

So, who’s running Sunday? Can we get a definitive list of runners?

Might have a meander along.

 

[knocky1]

One knocky1 and I can account for at least 9 from last weeks Strava plus a couple from Parkrun. Pushing 20 I'll have for the sweepstake.

 

[soistes]

So, who’s running Sunday? Can we get a definitive list of runners?

Me - assuming this cold stays off my chest (or turns out to be no more than psychosomatic maranoia....)

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Elephant, Ninja - reporting for race day!

 

[Guinness Boy]

So, who’s running Sunday? Can we get a definitive list of runners?

Survived 5 gentle miles this morning with a couple of 10 yard sprints so I will be doing BM10K followed by sitting on the beach in a deck chair with a beer watching everyone else suffer.

 

[Curious Orange]

I'm running... provided I don't break down on today's twenty minutes easy!

 

[Ninja Elephant]

My confidence has taken a significant hit today, my hip doesn't feel right at all so my active recovery sessions are now being relegated to total rest with plentiful stretching.

I'll be fine to compete on the day, but I don't think I'm going to be at close to the 100% I need to be to run the time I want to run. I'm resigned to trying to break my existing 3:29 record and then target another marathon later in the year for the sub 3 attempt.

 

[Simgull]

My confidence has taken a significant hit today, my hip doesn't feel right at all so my active recovery sessions are now being relegated to total rest with plentiful stretching.

I'll be fine to compete on the day, but I don't think I'm going to be at close to the 100% I need to be to run the time I want to run. I'm resigned to trying to break my existing 3:29 record and then target another marathon later in the year for the sub 3 attempt.

Mind games have started early I see