Loch Ness marathon 2014

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  • I think I'm going to do lots of hills (which I secretly like and can't easily avoid where I live) and run using my HR monitor on the day to maintain a steady effort. Accommodation booked today. Sorted. 

    All except the training image

  • booktrunkbooktrunk ✭✭✭

    It's weird, as some sites say a lot of elevation and others say less.

    The majority of them seem to average around 950ft of elevation and around 1900ft going down ? Has the course changed recently? 

    If not, don't know why there seem to be such differences in total elevation on different peoples plots? 

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭

    The course has never really changed. It's always ran alongside the Loch back into Inverness. In the same way different GPS software/hardware will record differences in distance the same is true of elevation.

  • Yup, you'll probably get as many different inclines/declines as there are runners each year - in fact, you could get more!

    My Garmin Training Centre said an incline/decline of 2164/3087 (feet). The same data uploaded to Connect.Garmin says 2555/3503 (if I enable elevation corrections I get a foot different so guess Connect.Garmin is most accurate?).

    An average training run for me has an incline/decline of around 90 feet/mile so hope to have the incline sorted without going out of my way to find a hill. If I turn right from home I climb about 400ft in 3 miles then if I turn round apart from a few inclines I get almost 6 miles downhill image

  • Anyone racing this weekend?  I'm doing the Baker Hughes Aberdeen 10K. I've only ran 4 times in the 6 week since Paris due to a niggly calf. Not sure whether to take it easy or just go for it. Once the race day adrenaline kicks in, I think I know what the answer will be....

  • I'm doing some kind of BMAF women 45+ relay in Birmingham. Only because someone put my name down for it and I failed to withdraw in time. If I drop out now there is no team but I can think of better things to do with my Saturday. It might end up being fun image

  • Glad to see a lot of new faces or posters or bloggers or what ever were called.

    Having done this last year I remember a number of sharp, steep uphills which aren't that long but can seem a lot of effort when you've been going down hill so much. Don't under estimate the down hill bits as some are steeper than comfortable. But the main hill is on 18 miles at Dores. It is a long not too steep climb that goes on for about 2 miles and hits you right when the fatigue is starting to kick in.

    There aren't many spectators but that gives it a different feel than the usual big city event.

  • Macperky - My tip for niggly calves on race day is to get on the painkillers for 24hrs beforehand and pop a handful at breakfast and again 30mins before the start, you won't feel a thing image , it's a tried and tested method, my calves are wretched (and yes I've had time off blah blah but no one died of a sore calf so my view now is to power on through!)

  • A two mile long hill ! Really ?



    Macperky - I'm doing the Helensburgh 10km tomorrow , it's not strickly the weekend but it's close enough
  • I envy you lot and your hills. best I've got around here is probably 100 meter long 'hill' with elevation gain of about 2 meters, figure if I run up and down it 500 times I might be somewhere close to hill fit! 

     

    *Note: this whole post might be made up or at least exaggerated so much it is total fiction. Well fiction based on the truth it is pretty flat around here*

     

  • Andy your post is still more truthful than the average MP, so in that respect you're winning!

  • I took mild pain killers at the 12 mile mark in Paris mara. Not for any specific pain although I was worried about my feet getting really sore.  They wouldn't have been strong enough to mask any significant pain but I'm sure they made the experience better.

  • HIHS and BM - When you say painkillers, does that include iboprofen? I have been advised to avoid those... I rarely listen to advice though.

  • I did take ibuprofen yep, but I know that I tolerate them well. Normally you shouldn't take them on an empty stomach or if you have bad asthma or something like hiatus hernia. Running a marathon is stressful enough on the body so don't take anything that you shouldn't have at the best of times. I took paracetamol as well.

    AndyRuns - drive to decent hill once a week?

  • booktrunkbooktrunk ✭✭✭

    NSAIDs including ibuprofen are a bad idea when running a lot, it's very, very infrequent but there are a lot of very nasty side effects including kidney failure. more common it causes problems with the stomach lining, basically steer clear of them. Paracetamol in moderation and that's about it.

    frankly if you cannot just put up with the pain without drugs then should you be running. Sorry if it seems a bit of a lecture, yes it's slightly over the top, but it does need mentioning. 

     

  • I used to pop ibuprofen like smarties, but have pretty much given them up now. 

    Went for a steady 8K tonight, with a few wee hills thrown in, and the calfnigglyitis didn't feature, thankfully. Looking forward to the 10K on Sunday.

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭

    I do remember the good doctor from the Paris thread warning people off ibuprofen due to possible serious issues relating to it's use.

  • I agree that regular or long-term usage of NSAIDS, unless prescribed and monitored, can be dangerous in many ways, and clearly isn't the way to deal with issues in running. I reckon I'm safe with 400mg during a marathon but point taken booktrunk

  • If I stopped every time I had a niggle then I'd be about 25 stone and slumped on the couch! image

    If your leg is falling off then fine, taking a paracetamol isn't going to help you but just the odd strain that goes away with a paracetamol is not a life-threatening injury so I tend not to count it! When I twisted my ankle and also when I did something horrendous to my back I couldn't even breathe without pain, I sure as hell wasn't going to pop a paracetamol and get on with it then! image

  • Owwwww Glad I found this thread. Really want to do this one but wont be ready for this year. Hoping to do both London and this in 2015 - last marathon was 2006 !!

    Be interesting to read all your progress

  • Hi 3:30 or bust. Still 4 months to go - plenty of time to get ready...?

  • Mac

    Only on around 6 miles at the moment so I don't think I will be. Want to spend the next 6 months getting a good base down follow a good training plan - get London done and then be more confident.

    Have run a dozen marathons before but last one was 2006. Really want to do Loch Ness and want to be ready. But will be following the thread closely and hope someone starts one up for 2015. If they don't maybe I will !!!!

  • This is my first Loch Ness Marathon 3:30 or bust (I've ran 10K many times) and I'm really looking foward to the challenge. We'll keep you posted. Did you ever break 3:30?

  • So glad to find this thread. I have not been on the forum for a long time but decided I needed help and encouragement having signed up for Loch Ness this year, 20 weeks to go! I have completed 2 marathons in 4:47 and then 5:01. My sainting went well for both but my times do not reflect my training times. I really want to get near to 4:30, break that if I can so I am starting  my training plan this week and have gone with a 4:15 plan. Is this too ambitious? My PB for a half is 1:59. Really looking forward to the banter ver the next few weeks and all the help I can get.

  • Hi Helga, your half marathon time suggest that 4:15 is possible if your training goes to plan. Maybe you should start on  a  4:30 plan and, if your training is going well, you could consider aiming for 4:15?

  • Thanks MacPerky. I have a half marathon planned for next weekend in Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, so will use that as my marker and starter for 10. There is one hill on the route which is likely to slow me down (I don't cope with hills very well) but it should give me a good gauge of where my fitness is at the moment.

  • Helga - what plan did you follow for your first two marathons and what plan are you going to use for Loch Ness? Good luck with the half next wekend. As you say, it will be a good marker for a Loch Ness target.

  • I was given a customised plan by a friend who is a personal trainer. I have printed off the plan from runners world, the sub 4:15 plan which includes 5 runs a week. My thinking was that if I trained to this plan I may achieve a sub 4:30. I have recently reduced my hours at work to 4 days a week and feel I can commit to this. I have been running for 5 years now and completed quite a few races but would really love to master the marathon distance. I am by no means quick and at the age of 47 and weighing in at a sturdy 11.5 stone I am not exactly built like a whippet (Ha Ha)! I have managed to lose 3 stone over the last 2 years and the weight is still reducing however very slowly now.

  • Mac

    No I never did !! Closest I ever got was 3:42. However, back in those days I never really followed a schedule (well I did but not fully) or out the miles in, I know I could have with a little but more effort

    No idea what time I could aim for at London will do a alf in August then go from there as to what schedule I follow

    Herlga good luck with it am sure you can get 4:15. Looking forward to watching everyones progress over the coming weeks

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