Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Great South Run 2012
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Just popped by to have a read as my buddy and I are doing this and who should I bump into but The Green Fairy
great to see you again!
I ran a lot last year but let it all slip and am now struggling to get back up to distance. Luckily my friend is keeping me motivated, it's her first race apart from Race for life so I can't wait for her to experience the buzz!
@Green Fairy - happy to have a chat on the way round. Welcome to the new people on the thread- how are you doing? How is your training going?
Chat AND run, now that's what I call impressive multi tasking guys!!!!!!
@Nelly - the best runs for me are when I can distract myself from the distance by talking. I did a marathon this year where I barely noticed the miles because I chatting to a girl the entire way round
Just over 6 weeks left to go!! So excited! Can't wait.. But a loooot of traning left to do.. Haven't run any further than 11.5 K yet..
I'm due to do it as well. Excited but worried as it is my furthest distance yet. I've got one 7 miler in the run up (two weeks time) then the GSR four weeks later. I've got up to 8.5 miles in training so fingers crossed.
G'afternoon all.
This will be my longest run too, quite a daunting feeling going from 10k - 10m but I'm quietly confident.
My biggest issue is that I fear the starting congestion will really mess my times up. Previous 10k''s i've managed to do the 3.3k laps in fairly consistent timings of around the 15 minute mark. I was hoping to do the GSR in about 1hr20-1hr25
Training wise i find it's impossible to not have a week here and there where something screws the regime up, whether thats work commitments or finding somebody has put all your running gear in the washing machine! So far my longest run is 8.3 miles at 1hr11mins4secs and then I do a further 6 mile run with the plan to do a 30minute speed session but I either never get around to it or just do another 6miler instead (need to sort that out).
Diet wise I've find having read a previous RW article somewhere that dates are my energy food. The work incredibly well for me, never tried the jelly babies as mentioned above though.
Main concern at the moment though is accomodation! Having watched a bit of the GNR this morning I jigged my memory a little and thought I'd have a little look into accomodation. It seems most of the big hotels are already booked up and I can't justify more than £100 for a night in a hotel just so I can wake up at the crack of dawn to run 10miles. And then when I seem to find a B&B or small hotel, they charge around the £60 mark but all are for like a minimum two night stay! Anyone know of anywhere decent to stay at a reasonable rate?
oof essay.
Joe, I live in Gosport and will be getting the passenger ferry over, from there its about a 20 minute walk, you could always look at B&B's in gopsort, there are some within walking distance to the ferry or you can park nearby.
I did the Victory 5 today and now need to step up the mileage, its going to come round so quick!!!
Cheers for the headsup Zoe! I'll consider it but that's quite a way to go considering i'm heading from Essex as it is
Might see if I can organise a sofa from one of my mates Pompey uni friends at this rate.
Hi Julia T !!!
I can still recall that sweaty hug at the 18 mile mark of the first Brighton marathon
clarinho - if it's any reassurance for you I just did my longest run so far today and that was 5.75 miles (9.2k). I'm quite happy with that and will be increasing the long run by 1.15 miles (once round the park!) every fortnight. That will give me a very decent base for doing 10 miles on 28th Oct
. And don't forget to taper!
JB 2 - bit late for getting a decent booking. How about a bit further along the A27 and then drive the last few miles on the day? UPDATE: have alook at travelodge site for rooms for one night at Arundel Fontwell £39-50, Chichester £49-50. Even better value if friends travelling with you.
@GreenFairy - The travelodge idea is a great one. I've just seen an advert for it and they still have relatively cheap rooms.
@JB2 - also look at trains coming in /out of southsea. They might also be a good bet for you
My buddy and I are having a weekends beano on the Isle of Wight then hopping over on the hovercraft. Just hope it's not too choppy on the way over! I'm convinced she's only doing it for the post race celebration......:
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3qapze/
Up to a 7 mile shuffle in training but having had a year off running it's a struggle to get back into it!
I'm no use with accommodation. I'll be coming over from Southampton on the day. After an appallingly lazy weekend, this is the week to get back on it. Did an interval session today (yuck - I hate these). Long run tomorrow should pick my motivation up. Here's hoping........
@julia - I like your idea of a weekend in the isle of wight. Seems like a great way to avoid the traffic!
For those that weren't on the thread last year. I run this race with my mum. I was her first 10 miler last year at the age of 60 and it's her "a" race of the year. This year she's been struggling with arthritis quite a fair bit so we're changing her plan to a walk/run and giving her a longer build up. She's up to 5 miles slowly and we'll see how she gets on in September to know if she'll be ready for race day.
I did 8 miles today, legs felt tight after the Victory 5 I did on sunday.
Not the best of times today but still plenty of time yet!
Hedgepuffin glad to see someone else doesn't like these sessions anything speed related is just a painful chore
Just completed a 5 miler with running club in just over 45 mins so training is going well, only problem is there's going to be no chance of a long slow run this week as i have a super sprint triathlon on saturday and marshalling a race on sunday. Do you think one week missed will make much difference?
Well done and good luck to Emma_H's Mum!
You seem to be taking things sensibly so I hope you get there and round ok on the big day. See you at the back of Green coral! I'll be gutted if I'm in any other as I like to be colour co-ordinated
At last, I've found myself able to post on here (after scrapping an old username and trying again. Anyway, its my first time doing this, despite living in Portsmouth over 14 years. 12 Years in the Royal Navy put paid to that. Training is going well and I achieved 10 miles on Sunday (well 9.68 miles if you look at my Great Run profile). Time was 1 hour 35, so that gives me some indication of how I will do on the day. Whats all this about jelly babies? I must be missing something here, having survived on water so far when out running. If anyone wants to help on this one, please feel free. Anyway, glad to get on here at last, and cannot wait till the 28th. Sounds like it will be a fantastic day!
jellybabies seem to be a favourite with lots of people, but I prefer dates or raisins myself (despite my name!)
They gave jellybabies out on the last mile last year and I did appreciate them - just not always easy to chew and swallow whilst running!!
JB2 I'm staying in Fareham at the Lysses hotel it's undergoing refurbishment at the moment so I'm only paying £40.00 for B&B no restaurant for the evening on Saturday but I'm not bothered about a bar etc, as long as I can get a good night's sleep .The train on Sunday is just a couple of stops away so no problem there either if you're still in need of somewhere to stay!
Did interval training with running club tonight and again tomorrow and then a 10k race on Sunday then back into long runs the following week.
Excited now - not long to go !!!
I got given some Jelly babies at the GNR on sunday and when i say some it was two big handfuls!!! I don't know why I got so many but ended up passing them out to the other people around me. I'm sure they appreciated it but nearly chocked on my last one. Thank goodness powerade was only 2 mins away.
I'm staying in fareham this time round but booked with Nirvana this time so will be interesting to see what the organisation is like.
Emmy_H how lovely to be doing the race with your Mum, it must be very special for you
The Green Fairy how about a nice contrasting bit of red for your number? (I too remember the sweaty hug with fondness, it's what kept me going at a time of great emotional stress!!)
I like jelly babies too but always feel bad eating them, I know some people bite their heads straight off but if i look them in the eye i just cannot eat them because of the guilt. Give me a nice clif shot blok any day!
Did 5 miles yesterday without any walking (hurrah, finally) and running pace a bit quicker than it has been so very happy
Good question Clatters is it best for anyone new to know about the wind or not? Last year was my first GSR and that last 2 miles was hell. Overall I think it's best to warn anyone new keep something in the tank for two miles of wind smack in you face, I think I was something like a minutes a mile slower over that last two miles (and i'm not fast in the first place!!).
I think the key to the car park is to turn up with the knowledge that it's going to take ages to get out of the car park, don't plan anything for the evening, bask in the glory of having finnished the race and just go with the flow.
@Nelly - that's a good point to make about the car park. The last time we took the car (2007) we had no problem getting out of the car park but getting out of pompey was another matter!
@Julia - she likes the race so i'm happy to go along. But she's like Nelly and really struggles in the last 2 miles along the sea front.... that's when i come into my own and start singing to make her run faster
As for car parking, I now park at the (expensive) Gunwharf Quays, and stroll there after the race for 're-hydration' then it's an easy route out of town...
After the race I now have a 'ritual' of going to Mozzarella Joe's on the seafront for a well earned pizza and watch the cars queueing to get out while I sit there munching!
Given my finishing time and time for a pizza the car park is well empty by the time I stagger back to mine
.
Julia T - don't you know that those shots are made from melted down jelly babies!!??
And they are treated quite cruelly by having their limbs chopped up before being tipped into the vat! So go for the free range ones as you are doing them a favour by removing their heads quickly.
Oh no TGF, I had no idea! And I suppose energy gels are liquidised jelly babies.....???
Why do you think I eat dates!!! Couldn't cope with eating their heads and then got choosy about which colour I preferred......
Dates always make me think of Christmas. We used to religously buy a pack of Eat-Me dates every year (the ones with the wobbly plastic tool to spear them with)....... nobody ever ate them.................!!