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Amsterdam Marathon 2009
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Hi John
Unfortunately, until you've uploaded something, there's nothing for me to see. You should be able to see a white button with a blue upwarding pointing arrow, on the top right of most pages. It says "UPLOAD".
Try that
and remember to mark it public otherwise we won't be able to see it. Right, time to get my kit on a dodge the showers. Just a short one but good to see if my calfs are OK!
Did you get anything uploaded John? I was a bit disappointed after running a mazy half-marathon through the woods yesterday. About half-way round I stopped to use the navigate function on the watch as I was a bit lost. Well, made it home OK but the watch had correctly recorded distance, splits, timings etc perfectly, but it had only recorded the GPS coordinates up to the point where I looked at the navi screen. So half my run is missing and there's no obvious error message to search against to work it all out. Bit annoying, but not as annoying as the fact Mrs. TD had locked me out of the house by mistake
im workin on it now! it should be public!
ran 8 miles yesterday as per RW program, felt strong even after my race friday so pushed the pace on the last two miles to with the legs ok today
tomorrow is1 mile jog, then 3 x 1 mile fast, with 400m jog recoveries, then 1 mile jog the fast miles are at 8:00 min/mile pace cant wait!!
JM - still can't see anything under JM92 username at Garmin Connect....
Have the same reps tonight, except I have to do 4 x 1m and the pace for me is around 6:60mm (4:10m/km). That's going to be tough, especially with only 400m recovery. I think I will bias towards longer recovery to keep the speed high, if I have to.
I think these are they key sessions to getting faster marathon times, so they are worth the effort.
Hi John, any lurkers going to Amsterdam....
Tonight's intervals session on Garmin Connect. 4 x 1m reps, target was 4:09-4:22m/km. Was hard but I feel virtuous now
Signed up a couple of weeks ago for this one - it will be my first (and hopefully not my last) marathon. I'm in the ballot for London next year, but wanted to get a marathon under my belt beforehand, and ideally one that was a similar-sized event - this seems to fit the bill pretty well. What are people's experiences like from previous years? It appears to be extremely well organised - I'm not much of a complainer, and as long as they've got my t-shirt and chip to collect the day before and there's enough water available around the course, I'll be happy.
Looking forward to it with increasing anticipation as each day passes - it becomes quite addictive ticking off the training runs on the log! Still 14 odd weeks to go though...
My target time is under 4 hours - my PB on 10K is 48.15, and 1:50 for a half-marathon I did back in May, so there's a bit of work to do, but I've really knuckled down to the interval training in the last couple of months - from everything that I've read on here and elsewhere, there are no shortcuts to running a successful marathon!
Welcome aboard Crewsader. This is my 3rd marathon and I've not run in Amsterdam before so can't make particular comments about that.
Still, we can do a good job of encouraging each other with the training. Sounds like you are following a schedule - where did you get it from? Do you have much prior running experience?
Cheers, TD
Yes, this is the angle I'm after. Not looking for massive crowds of support, don't want to feel crammed in by thousand of other runners (although surely we will have some feelings like this). Just want to run, with all the course carefully laid out so I don't have to worry where I'm going, don't have to worry about carrying drinks, a few people to shout encouragement, and most of all, to focus on running hard.
dublin 5 mile today in near perfect conditions first two miles downhill and last two up hill,
managed a pb of 39:03 with last mile at 7:16 after getting stuck in traffic at start( bloody walkers decided to start at the front) so happy now!
@ Tricky Dicky BELGIUM:
I'm loosely following this training plan: http://www.runnersworld.ltd.uk/4hr.htm
I'm doing some cross training in the gym once a week so am compensating by missing one of the shorter runs - trying to work on core strength particularly. However, it's a 9-miler for me later this morning...
@Nevergiveup Girl:
Having done a bit of research, I seem to remember reading that Amsterdam is expecting to sell out race place allocations for the first time this year, with a maximum capacity of 25000 runners - perhaps not quite on the scale of London, but not too far off? I just hope the crowd support is reasonable.
I've spoken to a few people about the experience of running London, and they've said very much the same about it i.e. it's crazily packed in the first couple of miles - also that the support from the public crowds is something else. I'd love to do London for the experience - I can hopefully pickup my PBs elsewhere! The good thing about the first race over a new distance is that it will be a PB whatever happens
JM - nice result in the 5M. Bit of speed helps whatever distance you are going for.
Crewsader - that cross-training will help for sure. I'm doing the same thing with my schedule too. The Monday easy recovery run after Sunday's big 'un is cross training. Did a 24K run today. Am shocked by how quickly the distance is adding on. My general stamina is not there yet to make this comfortable. Was utterly shattered at the end.
H. happy business trip - where are you going?
Hey Crusawader - Amsterdam takes a while to sell out its really not at all on the scale of London - this is a blessing
Suspect the crowds will be just as good as Paris possibly better
Do London for the wow experience if you can its something else dont beat yourself up re timing just accept it is what it is. You are right PBs are there to be beaten.. Dont worry if you dont get there in the time you want to the first time... you'll get there eventually 
H- blue skys and sun for me but OH totally rained on
Said it make him realise what running was really about.
Legs are aching today (which is fortunately a rest day)... Apart from yesterday's 9 miler, I suspect this is because I got beasted by the personal trainer on Saturday - she had me doing 20 x 295kg leg presses followed by 10 x 120kg presses using just the left then the right leg, before immediately switching to the exercise bike for 1:15 maximum effort on level 20 hill climb
Chuck in a few reps on the "Seated Row" weight machine (which apparently improves posture and therefore respiratory function by working the muscles of the lower back), and repeat the circuit four times - I knew I had been working hard after that session - had some pretty nasty cramp in the hams.
6 mile run tomorrow morning down to the gym starting @ 6am - weather doesn't look too good though... no blue skies for me!
Did my cross-training tonight after I got dinner in the oven, so had to make it short and snappy. Don't go to a gym but have a room in my basement which I call "The gym". Some mats, swiss ball, bike, eeliptical trainer and some dumbells, blockls of wood to jump on and off of. Felt suitably pumped when I'd done. Which watch the scales over the next 2 days to see how it adds to the muscle. Is nice to bea ble to actually measure the effect. Now for a glass of red wine- great for the heart!
Ooh, ached a bit today after all those squats and stuff last night. Definitely made those glutes work. Body muscle went up from 40.1% yesterday to 40.6% today (fat went down from 16.2% to 15.5%).
Did a killer intervals session late this afternoon. A rainstorm just finished and I went out right afterwards. With the bright sunshine, the humidity was a killer. This session felt really tough. 7 x 800m reps between 3:59 - 4:10/km pace (6:24 - 6:42mm). It was definitely one to make you grit your teeth!
Couple of weeks holiday starting in the morning. Will try some mountain running which is probably ideal preparation for running in Amsterdam!
Don't leave it too long before settling in to a structured training schedule Thorney. It takes time to rebuild that endurance and you don't want to go into the race tired from doing lots of last minute training. Good luck.
7 miles Tuesday morning, weights followed by hill interval training Wednesday, more weights, core strength work plus a quick 5K blast on Thursday morning with 5-a-side football Thursday evening...
5 miles this morning, with a nice slow 12 miler in 2 hours tomorrow morning on the schedule. I was going to do that on the treadmill to be sure of the pace but seeing as the forecast for London is decent I'm going to get the outdoor shoes on and hit the streets...
Question - how far in advance do I need to book a hotel in Amsterdam for the weekend of the marathon? Seems like availability and pricing are still reasonable currently, but I'd prefer to leave booking it until a bit closer to the race. In other people's experiences, can I wait until the end of August before booking accommodation?