Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Monday 22nd April
We go home....
Wabo pb'd and GFA'd!!!!!!
4.11.46, 26.48 on garmino, happy happy happy and foot sore...
what: nothing
why: done it!
last hard: thatreally was
last easy sat
My daughter was there at mile 18 and said she has never seen me so in the zone, and I was! Hope others achieved their dreams I most certainy did. Now I just cannt sleep!
possunt quia posse videntur - we can because we know we can
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
Great result yesterday Wabo! And a great race from you as well!! GFA?!
No wonder you can't sleep.
What: long walk/run
Why: put to shame by 5 daily thread PBs yesterday
Lyrics: no
Congratulations Wabo - fantastic, well earned result. My Garmin measure 27.19!
Thanks largely to the lovely masseur at the Macmillan Recovery Centre I can just about do the stairs forwards this morning which is nice.
So, what can I tell you about my race? I thought that it was warmer at the start than last year which is good for me - I'm better at adapting to heat than cold - and that the first few miles were more crowded whilst the atmosphere was, not unsurprisingly, slightly more sombre. I had no real idea what I could do or what to expect with having been under the weather for so long and only having finished my steroids on Thursday but as I'd said to Paddy, whatever I got was going to be the best that I could on the day.
I crossed the line after little more than a minute and the first mile went comfortably, if a little quickly, however I decided there and then to stay with it, run to feel and see how long I could keep going for then give it anything I had left. This worked quite nicely and without incident until about mile 17 when it started to get a little harder to take a good deep breath. I did think about stopping to have a cough and take my inhaler but I didn't know if it would actually help and I was worried that I'd regret the time later so I just pushed on. My feet hurt - most unusual, same trainers and socks, body glide applied etc.
I was hanging on a little here, felt as though I was slowing but once the Garmin had recovered from the tunnel (and my 5.42 mile - I wish!) my splits were still ok. I started trying to do the math, how fast did I need to run to achieve the magical 3.3x.xx? Unfortunately I was a little tired and this was far harder than it should have been! The miles still seemed to be passing quite quickly and 20 was there, which I consider to be about half way, so now was the time to really start digging, I kept thinking 'no regrets' and 'this is up to you'. I must admit the temptation to use taking the inhaler as an excuse to walk for a few steps was strong but I knew that if I did it would be hard to get going again and that I would then have a big stick to beat myself with if I didn't PB so I kept pushing on. Thought of all those who would have liked to have been in my shoes, achey feet and tired quads and all, and did what I was there to do. A friend who has been unable to run for over a year now emailed me Saturday to tell me that she wanted Mile 22 which proved a real help on the day. I couldn't walk in Sarah's mile could I? Of course once I was at Mile 23 there wasn't really an option. I thought that if I could just hold 9 min/miles I might just do it - but I'm not sure that I really knew quite what 'it' was at this stage!
I felt as though I were running through treacle and going backwards at this point but I wa sstill catching and passing people - though quite a few seemed to be doing the same to me. I did remember that there was no mile marker for 26 which was good psychologically but when I hit the 800m to go sign I had 4 minutes to make the line and I knew that wasn't going to happen. I tried to pick it up, I really did, and I think that I managed to slightly increase my pace but the 385 yards got me - finish time 3.40.17 so a PB by two minutes and 15 seconds.
Don't you dare Alehouse! Doing the best that you can do at the time is all that any one of us can do, keeping at it when circumstances have conspired against you for so long is inspirational.
Yesterday's lyrics by the way were Sunday by The Cranberries.
When I eventually got to look at my feet yesterday I had three blisters on my left foot - the painful one being a hugely inflamed end of the toe next to my big one. Sports masseur at Macmillan said that my calves were still running about an hour after the rest of me had stopped, even the masseur at the next table commented that she could see them twitching!
What: walk with Grace, maybe a gentle swim
Why: recovery
Last hard: losing those 18 seconds
Last rest: 20/4
Lyrcs - yes.
Morning
Well done's to Wabo and LMH
What:Hill Session x 6 with jog down recovery. Mile Warm Up and Down. Hard.
Why: It's my new Mon session off road.
Catch up time
Lyrics: Nope.
Morning all.
Once again congratulations to all of you. You have inspired me to sign up for my next marathon, I think an Autumn one. Chosing between Amsterdam, Munich, Frankfurt and Brussels at the moment. Any tips?
Dustin let me know if you do sign up for Bacchus. I'm not racing it as doing it with non-running friends and OH but we're going for the fun of it.
What: hopefully yoga then maybe a gentle run/cycle
Why: depends on work constraints for the day/still all bunged up/hip still dodgy
Lyrics: Nope
Take it easy you marathoning lot!
Have a good day all.
Hey! Way to go folks!
Wabo, RFJ, postie, blisters, chickadee, you done us all proud yesterday! I am sitting here with tears in my eyes. I am delighted for you. We have listened to the ups and the downs, and that means that I can understand in my bones what it cost to get that pb, not only digging deep on the day, but exercising equal determination, and sometimes restraint, in the months before. I will celebrate your victories
!
I know, or think I know, what Alehouse meant. I too have spent sufficient time holding the coats as it were, and know the burn I feel with in, not shame, not jealousy, but a huge huge longing to be on the other side of the barrier, running and hurting with the crowd. I feel this, even though I never was half the runner that Alehouse was in his prime. I have seen it too, just occasionally, in the eyes of older people as i run past them - admiration, solidarity, and the desperate ache to be part of the race.
As it is, I hold the coats, and feel honoured to be holding yours.
Me? today, run to work. I feel ok. Oh yes, and some twit locked their bike to mine on Friday so I had to take a cab home. Have to get to work somehow.
Go well, heros all!
morning all,
well done RFJ, LmH, wabo & postie good to see all that hard work paying off.
Excellent stuff. LmH console yourself over those missing 18 seconds with one of my clubmates, he ran 3:00:03.....
Emzap - will do, Bacchus and Pilgrims both on the list, but september is when we normally have our (junior) club champs, so that tends to get priority. but if its not that week I may well jog round too.
What - 5 or 6
Why - missed long runs at the weekend and I need a kickstart
last hard - they all seem to be these days
last rest - a week ago
What an excellent day for the thread
- a whole bunch of PBs bagged. Brilliant brilliant stuff.
. Great stuff.
Massive congrats to (in no particular order) to: Wabo, LMH, RFJ and Postie
Especially pleased for you LMH, what with the problematic build up. You must be dead chuffed!
Thanks, Paddy. Yeah, there is sub 3:15 in the distant future somewhere ....
No autumn marathon for me this year. It's time for some serious cycling over the summer and to work on my speed for a 1:30ish half by the autumn.
Emzap: I've not done it but heard good things about Frankfurt - fast course and a stadium finish. Cue loads of cheering and a roaring crowd ...
Rfj just amazing splits and an amazing time! Well done.
Postie, wow, I know you didnt get what you aimed for but you did pb! Well done you!
Chickadee, just great!! Happy f
Rfj just amazing splits and an amazing time! Well done.
Postie, wow, I know you didnt get what you aimed for but you did pb! Well done you!
Chickadee, just great!! Happy for you!
Wow didnt we do well????
nice wava nzc!
what a great day yesterday was
I am going to do a race report, bit later, all the aches pains and zones!
or you!
Wow didnt we do well????
nice wava nzc!
Cycled 2 miles to gym to find yoga cancelled! Cycled home. May run in a bit instead!
Wow - busy on here this morning (wonder why
)
Well done wabo
Good report (sounded tough) LM.H
What: just bits around house
Why: active weekend and feeling like a rest. Also chucking it down and blowing a gale!
Last rest Friday
Last Hard: the last 2 miles into Scapa bay yesterday (Kayak)
Lyrics: no
Morning again!
Having been "shamed" into getting off my backside and putting my kit on ("inspired" is perhaps a better word), the "what" changed when a 68 year old neighbour ran by just as I was setting off for my walk (he ran 22:00 for 5k on Saturday so he is in considerably better shape than I am!). The walk therefore changed into a steady run: he was running 9 miles off road, so I ran the first 25 minutes before taking a short cut home, stopping at 35 mins so as not to do too much, that being the furthest I have run post-ops, and indeed, for almost 18 months.
Great lyrics, Wabo, now that I have googled them!
Morning
What 2 mile light walk
Why Had to pick up my bike from town
Lyrics no
Well done Wabo you must be really chuffed!
All in all not the best of days out. Got spooked before the start when my phone died on me so had no means of contacting the family afterwards, for some reason it failed to charge over night and I didn't realise until I was half way to London.
As for the race itself I went out too fast and failed to reign in the pace. I hit 10 miles in about 62 minutes and was halfway in 1:22:46. It was after tyhis that I started to get into trouble. The legs started to rebel and the loop around Docklands was pure hard graft. I made my self keep going as best as I could running mile by mile. At some point near either 21 or 22 I stopped, gathered my self together and picked up some jelly babies from the crowd. I then started to jog on and slowly increased pace only to stop and walk a bit more. took my final gel started to jog again and was running by 24. Eventually saw the 25 marker and put everything into it realising that although I had missed my target a pb may still be on the cards. Virtually sprinted the last 800m (under estimating the length of foreign measurement) passing the line in 2:52:00 giving 2:51:59 off the chip.
Good things: used manual lapping
Bad things: pace discipline, refuelling, running in sunlight.
Will take a bit of a break now before training starts for Abingdon in June.
Run done. 15 mins slow then 15 mins at 5:30 pace 3.4 miles done in total.
Wow, well just wanted to say well done to all you marathon runners out there. I alwas thought I would never be able to run a marathon and have so much admiration for those who do ... regardless of times (although fab for all those PBs out there
) ... however have recently started thinking that maybe I can do it. I have a very 'insane' niggling feeling that 27 is old and that my time is running out to do all these things that I want to do (marathon, triathlon, ironman, ultra one day ha!) I have no idea how old all you guys are but everything I read is very inspiring and I hope I do get there eventually. Furthest I have run is 18 miles, so I guess another 8 'aint so far fetched.
Well done all of you and thank you for the inspiration...
What: 3 miles easy
Why: hardly eaten all day, was too hungry basically and 10 miler tomorrow so thought I might as well save myself.
Last rest: last tuesday
Last hard: saturday
Lyrics: Nope
Keep up the good work everyone
Solerunner: You are never too old (I hope!). I'm at the higher end of my 50s and whilst I don't plan to run a marathon there are others on here who are a not dissimilar age who have run them, including yesterday. In terms of finishing I'm not sure that age comes into it a great deal, but speed does: in fact had a similar discussion on my run this morning with my 68 year old friend: he gave up marathon running at 60 only because of the greater risk of injury. He still runs up to half marathon regularly.
Welcome Solerunner, I ran my first marathon a week after my 40th birthday and only a couple of years of running under my belt. I dare say LMH can advise you on the more insane multidiscipline events but I'd rather hang onto my sanity!
sr I am 55!!
postie hats off to you given all I have read in your report.
Stickless as always I love your words and feel inspired.
report is done,needs chopping a bit now..
postie - great post! Huge well done getting it together after things had begun to shake loose.
sr - I am 60, ran my first mara 10 years ago, and have Parkinson's on top of age and general decline. No, I don't think you are too old, not quite. Enjoy it!
alehouse - sounds like a great run, hope there are no evil consequences of pushing a little hard.
Me? Run to work, with sharkie bits. I named them. Two were named Wabo, two were named RFJ, two were named Postie, two were named chickadee, two were named Blisters and two were named LMH. The last which was in walz time (therefore slightly longer than 4 steps to a bar) was for Alehouse and all who are holding coats.
Will have to see whether I have gotten away with this one. Coughed up some gunk afterwards, but feel ok so far. Tomorrow stairs, if all goes well.
(editing - never could count, typical mathematician, but I can just about remember the names of the sharkie bits).
Stickless - love the "sharkie" bits
. Like Postie I started aged 40. I will turn 45 in May. Try stopping me 
Solerunner: am with the others - never too old
Postie: great report! Well done for pulling it together at the end and getting a PB.
Hamburg Marathon 2013 When I started training for this marathon my main goal was a sub 3:25, i. e. roughly 5 mins off my PB from October 2012. Then I ran a really comfy HM in 1:34 at the beginning of April and I thought I could probably bag something closer to 3:20. I had never trained at this pace though. With hindsight that was probably a big mistake. All in all I'd done a lot less MP work than last year due to the mostly inclement weather. I did all my runs and hit the mileage but many days it was too dangerous to run fast or the snow would simply slow you down.
After a surprisingly good night's sleep I woke up to brilliant blue skies and - shock, horror - ground frost. Quickly raided my wardrobe for an old jumper. Usual pre race brekkie of porridge and green tea. Arrived 1 hour prior to the start. Dropped bag, joing loo queue and then lined up in the pen about 20mins prior to the start. It was very very cold and too congested to jog around to keep warm. I prefer to run for 10 mins or so before lining up but that was simply not possible yesterday. At 8:45 they played Sweet Caroline which apparently is played at Boston, followed by a minutes's silence as a tribute to our stateside running friends. Then the wheelchair racers got on their way at 8:50, followed by us lot at 9am. I was pretty close to the front and crossed the startline after roughly 90secs. Took it easy for the 1st k. No weaving. From the 2nd k I had free reign and settled into race pace for 3:21. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. My legs felt really strange. I wonder whether it was down to the cold but I couldn't really feel them for the first 3 or 4 k. Utterly bizarre. And somehow they never seemed to feel like they were mine. This is especially strange coz the winning lady said she suffered from heavy legs and the best placed German said she felt disconnected and had to concetrate really hard to stick to her pace. In the end she missed the world champs qualifier by a minute
Plan was to hit 5k in 24mins and 10k in 48. Got there in 23:58 and 47:44 so bang on pace. Then the fastest 5k split followed (23:37) but it was largely downhill and therefore came pretty naturally. After that flat terrain for next 5k (23:59) and a gradual incline (24:06). By halfway (1:40:35) my quads really started hurting. It got worse as I carried on. It felt like the DOMS on the Tuesday after the marathon and from then on the legs just refused to turn. It was frustrating because I could breathe easily and I felt I had in in me to go quicker but the legs were just saying no. By then it was a mental battle to keep going. Quick calculation in my head told me if I slowed to about 7:55-8mm I would still hit a sub 3:25. The next 5k splits were 24:28, 25:00 and 24:56. Final 2.2 in 10:46. I threw everything I had at the last 0.2 (7:30 mile pace). The announcers were shouting out my name as I came down the finishing straight and onto the red carpet. That was great!
Certainly not my best race, despite the PB. The final 12k really hurt and just like the German elite Lisa somehow I never connected with this race. I know there's lots of crowd interaction but somehow I stayed in my own little bubble. I was surprised though how quickly each k seemed to come, even towards the end when it I rode the hurt train. When I ran 3:29 in October I felt strong, worked the crowds and loved the whole thing. Yesterday it never really came together. This sounds a bit negative - in the end I'm really happy with nearly 5 mins off my PB in only 6 months. And I'm proud that I kept pushing and fighting and willing those damn legs to keep going
stickless, I wore my club vest but raised money for Parkinsons (best mate's dad has PD) so when I ran past the PD support I shouted 'I am raising money for PArkinsons - suffice to say I got a huge cheer, choked and elated.
SR so there you have it,go for it!
Great race report Chicka
Wabo where's yours!?
SR I did my 1st marathon last year (26). Like everyone on here says, you're definitely not too old to start!
I have to say I woke up feeling so so like I wanted to stay in bed, like I wanted the finish line to just be here. Those of you who have done a marathon know that feeling maybe? I knew I had done all the training, my weight was better than ever and I had kept all the germs at arms length. However I also knew that so many people had said to me that I was going to smash it, which meant that this year's marathon was going to be a whole different bag!
First thing I need to say about this marathon was somehow up until about 13 miles I seemed to know every mile – not that they went slow, far from it. I couldn't put my finger on it, I did later....
I had been told my a club mate, your 5k's all need to be under the 30 mins. I did check this and the first was 27+, here are the splits:-
5K 00:27:51
10K 56:25
15K 01:25:29
20K 01:54:43
HALF 02:01:08
25K 02:24:21
30K 02:55:05
35K 03:26:25
40K 03:58:17
Finish time 04:11:49
So at mile 13 I had my first shout out, from a mate and boy did it lift me! I knew I was running well but I also knew this was not me, not how I have done marathons before. I have always allowed myself to slow and give in and this one I just knew I couldn't do that. So I trundled on checking every 5k.
According to my garmin I did a sub 2 half, I also did 26.48 miles!
The next target for me was to get to 18 see Jodie, Cleo and Kristian's family (raising money for them). Before I got there, maybe at 16 ish, my feet started to play up. I felt as though they were rubbing and burning. I thought for a second stop sort your shoes or whatever is needed, then I thought no no stopping no losing this momentum now! So I just pushed on. Got a shout out from another mate which was nice! As soon as I entered Canary Wharf I was looking out for Jodie, I knew she would spot me. She did, apparently she was shouting Mum for ages and I was oblivious but somehow I saw her and stopped enough to give out two kisses and collect a handful of jelly babies and be on my way – I was getting hungry at that point so the Jelly Babies were more than welcome. Jodie did tell me later she has never seen me so in the zone, my eyes were glazed apparently! Trust me Jodie has cheered me on at most of my marathons.
So the next marker for me? Get to 20 miles in less than 3.10, I knew that would give me enough to play with to achieve my sub 4.15. I passed 20 miles in 3.07, feet still sore, me still ignoring...
I had a shout out from a Loughton runner, that was maybe at 21 ish and then on to the highway where I hoped I would see some club mates, I think I saw or some others saw me at some point? I was in such a zone at this point though it was all about GFA! Scalped a runner who was in contention for my clubs best time for my age group at 22! Shortly after, I mean a few hundred yards
Afternoon
Well done Wabo great you got a GFA superb. Hope to see you next year if I behave.
LMH you too Great new pb and as I've said considering you haven't been well a great time even though its not sub 3:40 its as good as and a GFA again
Will have to read how others have done
Good to see you Stickless been wondering about you not that I've been here my self
SR welcome age is immaterial I know of plenty of runners all ages that do marathons. I was 38 when I did my first.
I'vr been bad hence not posting mad at my self
But a short run done today
Lyrics No
chickadee, bubble yes I think that was where I was yesterday.
thanks and hi pammie x
Just caught up well done to Chickadee RFJ and Postie good results all round even if you wanted a little quicker
Recover well all of you
Fantastic Wabo, well done!
Great reports from everyone, I feel that I can identify with every twist and turn.