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Rotary Shakespeare Marathon
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Ha ha – these last comments (twitchy, sleeping poorly, nervous, hopeful, excited…) ring so true with me. Its race week so nothing else matters. I get nervous too as I know those last 6 miles are going to hurt, but I don’t know how much. I had a good run on Sunday which rather foolishly turned out to be a comfortable 12 miles at target MP – I now need to ram it into my head that this does not mean having a crack at 3:14:59 (unlike Crash) as that will surely mean the wheels coming off big time on the Greenway!
Paul – at least you’ll have done the last hill by the time you get to 20 miles (or at least that’s what I’m telling myself). Fingers crossed No 7 is the one where it comes good for you.
Ah, go on, join me in a heap at the side of the Greenway
12 miles at MP is some session, 1 week out!
Paul, the two things I'd look at would be pace of your long runs in training (you may be going too quickly) and race day nutrition (you could just be running out of carbs) Yep, I've done both of those...
...and might just be doing them again on Sunday.
Does anyone know if the Park & Ride is operational early on Sunday for runners?
Don't tempt me!! I will look out for a pirate-coloured heap on the Greenway - hopefully won't find one - but if I do then I will give it a friendly 'aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh' and possibly even pull it back up on to its feet.
the 12m was supposed to be an easy run - daft thing was that effort-wise it was. Hence me wondering if I've under-estimated target MP - and the risk of revising target and heaping up on the Greenway. No no no no no - stick with your original target pace, at least until 20 miles!!!
Not sure about Park & Ride - sorry.
Anyone know where the best place to park is? I am coming to support my sister.
I know what you mean about finding it easy at the moment; I ran 6+ miles last night, HR of 140 (my mara HR is 160) in 8:09s (and went through 1 gate and 3 stiles in that)
I was desperate to give it some welly and was really struggling to hold back
No idea about the p'n'r, sorry, but we park in Western Road, which is maybe a mile from the start and finish, but is absolutely free
There is the multi-storey car park on the gyratory opposite the leisure centre and the car park on the Rec./by the butterfly farm, which are closer to the finish. (all the landmarks will show up on a google search!)
Free parking - thanks v much for the top tip. That also looks like its just off the Alcester Road - handy as I'm in the Alcester Travelodge the night before. Could things all be falling nicely into place?
Parking in Stratford is easy, even on marathon day.
There is a big pay/display ground level car park behind the sports/leisure centre, that's about £6. There's a multi storey car park (only about 3 floors) but draped like the hanging gardens. I guess that's the same price. I also spotted a private pay/display car park with its entrance just AFTER the one for the other two (same road) and that was just £4. All these are an easy and short walk from the start/finish area.
I used the Park and ride before for this race and it's brilliant, just a short drive from the Alcester Travelodge.
Just a general note of caution; the traffic wardens in Stratford are right evil bast..., er, extremely efficient at their jobs and WILL slap a ticket on your vehicle if you overstay by so much as 30 seconds.
Strange place, Stratford. You certainly get the gist of it (retired colonel lamenting the loss of Englishness while happy to take Johnny Foreigner/common Brummie's money) from the way the race pack is written. I was once swimming in the leisure centre when a rather handsome and muscular black bloke walked in, clad only in Speedos. There was a collective intake of breath from the locals, half of admiration and half of horror that a black chap was allowed to swim with the respectable white folks. You could tell that they wanted to hate him, but couldn't help but admire him. I was killing myslef laughing, which wasn't helped when he dived in quite gracefully, then did lengths of the worst front crawl ever
Having frantically googled 'taper' yesterday, it seems my plan of 5 miles with about half of that at MP meets the approval of Mr Pfits, er Pfitz, er Daniels.
I'd completely forgotten that car park, Blisters; the Marina car park!
Oh, and 'Obsessive weather forecast watch' has started; sunny 10 degrees and 11mph wind at the moment. Could do with the wind easing down...
Indeed - or at least changing direction so its not blowing right in our faces on the Greenway.
Shades - after reading your comments I was hoping to use the Park and Ride so rang them about an early service. Unfortunately they said they won't be running any early buses this year - first bus leaves at 10.00
. Marina Car Park here we come.
senor spam - thanks for phoning the Park and Ride folks, pity they're not going to offer an early service this year.
Think I'll try for the Western Road and if no luck there will go for one of the car parks.
You may have to go past the car dealerships and round the left-hander, but we've never had difficulty in parking there.
Very nearly 6 miles done with 3 at marathon HR in 7:24 7:45 7:26 (there's a hill in the middle one!)... so that's it, my plan is formulated; run at 160HR for 20 miles then see what happens from there. As plans go, it's a bit vague.
Obsessive weather watch continues; currently, Sunday is sunny, up to 11 degrees and with a 9mph wind from the SW; this is ok
Vest, t shirt, long sleeves short sleeves, long skins short skins, the choice is limited somewhat as I'm running for help for heros so have a vest to wear as opposed to my club shirt. But will I be cold will I be hot, only the finish will give me the answer.
Obsessive aches and pains have began, every twinge is a stress fracture, every sniff is man flu, every sneeze is tropical bird flu.
Have a nice little 5 mile x country race tonight so should keep me nice and stiff
Pirate monaco and shorts for me; looks ideal running conditions so far
Certainly better than last year, anyway!
Oh, and maybe a bin bag at the start
Good luck with the 5 mile XC! DOn't go too hard and get an injury!
I've done 15 miles on the bike today, but that's it. Nothing tomorrow except eating Italian food, then Saturday a 2 mile jog and more pasta...
Having had a dress left/dress right conundrum with the pirate shorts on my last long run, I may wear a minor layer underneath them. Friction burn in that area was humorous for the spectators.
You can wipe the mascara streaks away now you've stopped laughing.
friction not good! It does look like it will be a bit fresh at the start - I'm probably going for shorts, (technical) t shirt and a bin bag. 6 miles today with the middle two at MP - will probably do a gentle 4-5 tomorrow if I can find time in between inhaling carbs.
I was half expecting a heatwave after the extended winter - I'll be happy to take sunshine and 7-11 degrees instead
Oh yeah, just wear normal racing gear. It may be a chilly start, but it will feel warm in the currant bun, but it's the same forecast as last weekend, and there were people griping about the "heat".
The 'OMG it was roasting!' brigade always crack me up; it's 18 degrees and there's plenty of shade and they're giving the impression that it's MDS temperatures out there. I've done 2 IM marathons where it's been 30 degrees plus (and that was getting a little warm) but Britain in April generally IS NOT HOT!
Obsessive Weather Watch now reports 7 degrees, sunshine and showers, with a 9mph wind from teh SW. This is still ok.
Isn't there a theory that there is an optimum temperature (something like 16C) and that for every x degrees above that you need to allow an extra Y seconds per mile? So if you don't allow the extra time then things do get a bit interesting? I guess it all depends on how iron you are. Anyway Sunday looks like getting progressively windier and damper as time goes by - so good incentive to get the job done quickly
Yep, the temperature can always make a difference, but in Britain in Spring or Autumn, it would be freakishly lucky to get perfect conditions. I guess runners all like to have a good squawk about the weather
Rule 4 always applies in the end, though: it is what it is.
So on that note, OWW says wind speed rising to 13mph by the end. Boo!
Wind speed rising, skies clouding over; OWW is looking a tad worse...
I may rethink my monaco and shorts to shorts and a Monaco
The 1 o'clock drip has disappeared (from BBC) - and the wind looks like it will be behind us on the Greenway. Now that can't be bad.
Yep, I could live with the wind getting up for the last hour if it's from the SW
Good evening! I am getting nervous... fifth marathon and hpoing for under four hours. PB of 4:03 White Peak in 2009. Two horrendous marathons in 2012 - MK and White Peak clocking times of 4:13 and 4:17.
A question about the Greenway... flat? old railway track? how long? My long runs have all finished with a five mile railway track run into Thame, Oxon which seems to really focus me and I enjoy running (and is slightly uphill).
Not sure if the tapering and eating has gone well this week but we'll see.. three miles tomorrow and some pasta!
Good luck everyone!
Hi Stuchbury, I reckon your long runs will have set you up nicely for the Greenway. I've not done this one before so it might be worth waiting for the voice of experience, but it sounds flat and old railway line and approx 5 miles long - and with the wind behind you, a sub 4 will hopefully be yours! Good luck!