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Thanks BT, I'll be so excited to finish you'll probably hear me screaming from where you are
If you read this today, plan things out in your mind, think of your reaction to if things go slightly wrong in places, and plan your mental response, you need to be able to tell your self ok x plan isn't working I'll change to y, this is a mental game as much as anything, so if you have thought about these things in advance then i find them less worrying if they happen in the race.
yoy just need to be ready to put positive spin on any hiccups, I pulled a muscle half way round my last mara, but you just find ways of laughing about it to yourself and continuing, you dom't let things like thst worry you. It's all part of the rich story of your marsthon
Thanks BT. In my long runs the battle in my head has always been the hardest. I'm wishing I had got a long run in the rain In too, but not a lot I can do now other than as you say have a plan for whatever might go wrong.
Watto - how are you getting on? Your race must be soon now too.
Good luck Nicola
and remember, the rain is your friend on Marathon day
First hiccup for me: the main Ferry off the Island has been disrupted so it mean the little one I was going on will have massive queues (but I have almost a whole day to get there lol).
What a day! in order of importance:
1) I GOT A HIGH 5 FROM PAULA RADCLIFFE!!! (as I crossed the start line)
2) then I completed the marathon
Amazing day. Started off far too fast (new 10k PB, whoops!) finished in 5:49 as I seriously paid for it in the second half. But I did it and there's room for improvement next time! The crowd were incredible, but 'the road to hell' was pretty quiet but everywhere else there were people handing out jelly babies, chocolate (?!), oranges etc and shouting encouragement. Amazing amazing day!
Oh and 2 miracles: it didn't rain!!! Slight breeze, cloudy and 12'c. Perfect! And my Garmin FR10. With the 5 hour battery lasted the whole mara and is still on now!
Andi - how did you get on??!
Nicola: awesome, well done.
How does it feel knowing that you are a marathon runner
Bloody amazing! It was all so emotional, even right from the gun, I guess so much has gone into getting to the start line (though I could and should have done more training!).
I'm going to sign up for a half in September and try and get faster between now and then. I'll put in for the London ballot too and if I don't get it then I'll hopefully try and do another at some point next year.
i find it's mot really the race that is special, it's the unknown training that you have put in, that is what the non marathon runners don't appreciate!
Yeah, it is just so many hours and miles but it's those 26.2 that everyone else sees!
I think of it as an iceberg, the marathon is the visible part, but it's the hidden 90% that makes you a marathon runner
CONGRATULATIONS NICOLA!!!
And a cool high five too!
2nd Marathon and the second time things fell apart for me, this time it started with a stitch (that lasted about 9 miles!). Pouring rain and the 30mph winds were with us most of the day - am truly gutted but glad I ran it and a new PB by 00:13:11 so shouldn't be too unhappy I didn't crack 4:40 this time (4:41:51 according to the Garmin).
I had a fun first half and spent lots of it chatting to a South African guy that walked it and beat me by a country mile lol.
What's your next race/goal Andi?
Cheers Nicola, next 'race' is the Mull Half in August but won't be doing any specific training for that as my 'A' race this year is Loch Ness in September and my H2H with our very own Booktrunk! You should pop up there too
Thanks for the stitch idea, I read about that last night (along with many others) so the fact it works for you could be good news for me - now I want to get a stitch so I can try it out lol
It's a bit far for me
and I'm going to a wedding that weekend, seems a busy weekend for running though as I found a few halves then that I couldn't enter. I think I'm going to do a half in early November and then start training for the marathon, have decided to do Brighton again! Hoping for 2:15 half and sub 5 marathon, we shall see!
How you feeling now Nicola? still floating with joy or a few post marathon niggles?
And how are things going with you Watto?
my legs were ridiculous for Monday and Tuesday, literally could hardly walk! Been back to normal since Thursday and planning a run tomorrow. How is your recovery Andi?
Can anyone recommend a good plan for a half? I've put my mara time into myasics and it's given me a plan for a 2:18 half in November, but it doesn't really seem achievable. It starts out with slow, short runs of 13-14m/m' which is fine, has a couple of build up' runs which start slow and peak at about 11m/m which is probably doable, but in the fifth week it throws in a 6 mile pace run at 10:42 which is basically my fastest ever mile so I'm not sure if that's realistic!
I've looked at Hal Higdon and the runners world plans and might make up my own with a combination of those an the asics.
Watto, I hope you are getting on well!
Oh, by the way I've entered the Grand Union Canal half in November and Brighton Marathon 2015, booked my hotel too so no 6am wake up for me this year
Hi guys, So sorry for my cr4ppy non existence on here lately, I rarely go on the computer at home - rather do my updates and all other computer stuff at work. Anyway work has been stupidly busy for the last two weeks which has resulted in no time to do anything else!
Anyway - first things first, Andi and Nicola.....
Well DonE!!!!!xxxx
BT - I was watching the London marathon today and thought about you .... why did I think you had a charity place? Need to catch up on your diary but it moves so quick I need a good hour to catch up!!
Secondly - bit of an update with me, as I said the last two week have been mental, work has been crazy and it has meant a number of days I have been in from dawn until 9 / 10pm. I have therefore only managed to fit in a couple of runs over the past two weeks, mainly interval training in the week as I can do this at the gym, did a nice road run last Sunday - think it was 7k, then been out today and done my 10K!
So happy to have finally conquered the distance, I think the prize for beginner who has stuck around the 5-7k region for the most amount of time goes to me!!
My garmin died halfway through the run but my sister had her phone which has an app that clocked us at 1.18 for the 10k. The app seems to go at a quicker pace than my garmin, so unsure how accurate that is but even if it is a bit out, it is only out by a few mins.
Happy with that time, this was a purposely slow run. We are aiming for a 1hour 10min 10k at the Great Manchester 10k ....5 WEEEKS TODAY
I go on holiday on Tuesday for two weeks so I doubt I will be updating, however I do plan to take advantage of my free time and no work and run at least every other day. There is a decent gym there and my boyfriend has said he will come road running with me in a morning before the sun is out.
I am hoping to do a road run one day (aiming between 6-8k) and then interval training the next day and alternate day by day with a couple of rest days.
Concerned that I was doing very well with my training plan, but the last month or two...between colds, illness and work I have sort of been freestyling and just running what and when I can.
Therefore really want to use my time whilst away to get some good training in so the 1hr 10min 10K could be achievable, or at least not a million miles away!
Sorry for all the rambling and lack of updates really.
Well done again for all on the running and good work Nicola in signing up for next year. I def want to do a full marathon next year (2 half's booked for later this year), did like the look of Brighton but I think I am going to give VLM Ballot a stab and then if unsuccessful have a look for one a bit closer to home!
Sounds like you've been lucky even to get any runs in Watto! and good work on getting the 10k done! I think you will get your 1:10 target! my 10k pb (training) was 1:17, then a week before the marathon it went down to 1:16 then the first 10k of the marathon was 1:14, and I would have gone out a lot faster if I had been stopping after 10k! And if there are 2 of you doignr it together you can help eachother keep a good pace. Enjoy your holiday! Oh and I'm going to try for the London ballot too
Nicola: Good luck
It's 22nd April it will be full by 11 ish at the latest possibly earlier. i've set my alarm to remind me at 11:30 on the Monday evening so that I can stay up and enter just after midnight, there will be the usual 10 minutes of teething problems whilst lots try at once but it should be easy enough to do at that time of night. Then I know that i've at least tried.
Watto: Good running (when you could) freestyle is fine if it's that or nothing
So well done on still getting out there running. Good luck for your 10k in a few weeks. you'll be great 
Hmm I wasn't sure what time it opened so I set mine for 7am. Makes more sense to stay up the night before though and not have to worry about snoozing and losing
Watto, Nicola - yoohoo!
It's gone quiet in here, hope you are both ok?
This may (or may not) interest you...
I started running 22 months ago with a 5k in 43:11 (13:53mm) with an Average Heart Rate of 80%
Today I ran 5k in 32:08 (10:20mm) at an AHR of 62.7%
On Monday I ran 5k in 28:55 (9:09) (6 seconds slower than my PB) at an AHR of 75%
Things definitely get easier
Today I've started the RW run less/run faster programme, which is 3 runs a week, 1 track repeats, 1 tempo, 1 long, and then 2 cross training sessions, so I've been on the exercise bike today. Looking forward to having some more structure to my training as up until now it's just been a case of get the miles done at a comfortable pace and I feel like if my Garmin isn't telling me I've done a new record then I haven't made progress! Looking forward to some variety!
Go Nicola that sounds good.
Hi All,
Back from a fab holiday in Turkey - weather was hot hot hot which was great for the tan but not so much for the running!
Too hot and didnt feel particularly safe to run outside of the complex so i stuck to the gym on site. HOwever with no aircon (seriously WTF???) i was melting after 1 km. Did a couple of 3-4km runs but really couldn't do any further than that as i just felt like i was going to melt into a pool of sweat on the treadmill!
Back on Thursday and did a gentle 3km run on the treadmill at the gym on Sunday to ease me back in and then aimed to do 10k yesterday (same route as the 10k i did the Sunday before I went on holiday but backwards which meant three hills within the first 3km), only ended up managing 6km in total. Really annoyed with myself to start with but then realised that there is only one person who can improve things and that is me.
So - the 10k race is less than two weeks away. My plan is to get in a couple of strong 5km runs this week (ideally two and ideally both on the road) and then attempt the 10k again on Saturday. However instead of the previous route, I am going to a nice flat circular route - each lap is 2 miles which means if I do 3 laps that is 10k by my reckoning or until my garmin tells me I have done 10K!
Then another couple of 5k's the week after and then the race is the Sunday after that!
Have to say I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things running wise - before I went away I had a few weeks of messing about due to illness and injury and work so really looking forward to getting back into the routine and seeing the benefits in my fitness, times and endurance.
Whilst away I did manage to get on the London Marathon website to apply for a place for next years, but if I do not get in, I want to start thinking about what other Marathon to try. I really do want to do a full marathon next year and with not being much of a fan of hills I would like the flattest one going ideally.....any ideas??
Hope all are well, Nicola how are you post marathon? have you booked another race to keep yu going?xx
Hi Watto
welcome back to your thread
good to see you got some running in whilst on holiday.
It really wasnt a lot - feeling very guilty!! Glad I got my 6km in yesterday!
Aiming for at least 4-5km tonight!