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Paris Marathon 2017
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Do people tend to run with headphones?
Ive thought a lot today about all the mistakes I made last year. I'll post them all here at some point if anyone finds it useful.
1. Entering the marathon
Then any advice is great, I'm really glad I've found these forums, they have been a huge help already.
ive entered 5 more since Katey so that's not one of them.
- Listen to your body during the race. I run to heart rate and feel rather than pace so I can see when something isn't right. If you're pushing it at 5 miles, something isn't right.
- There's no shame in a run/walk strategy. 1 of my fastest marathons was a 9+1 run /walk!
- Follow through your fuelling and hydration strategy
- Be pragmatic when/if things goes wrong. I've forgotten socks, gels, been late, lost stuff along the way. Realise that your race isn't made or broken with one problem or within 5k. You can solve pretty much everything.
- Don't try anything new or eat anything new. It's not worth it.
- There are cobbles in Paris and yes they can be slippy with the fruit skins but it's easy to avoid.
- have some solid mental strategies when things get rough. Counting, singing, whatever you want.
- It will hurt but it's going to be OK.
I think I might benefit from a 9+1 strategy. How do you time it? I don't want to be a slave to my running watch so is it best to set my phone doing beeps every 9+1?
I have tried 9+1 strategy in some of my training runs and one race. Even though i didn't manage to get a personal best in the race, I felt much stronger at the finish.
Katey, another way at planning Run/Walk is to stop near the water/drink stations, refuel your self with gels+water (or whatever works for you), relax and resume running. By doing this you are giving your legs/lungs/heart a bit of rest and giving rest of the body to absorb the fluids/nutrients that it needs for the rest of the race!
Katey: as Nells said, a lot of watches will do these intervals for you.
The proposed venue is a bar called Frog Revolution, which is close the the Bastille Metro Station. They serve food, which apparently got good feedback last year. The current idea is to book it from 5pm onwards, so those wanting to grab a bite to eat can get something there. http://www.frogpubs.com/pub-frog-revolution-paris-8.php
All interested say aye! Last year the upstairs section of the pub was booked by us and we're looking to do the same again.
We are driving back Sunday evening so I don't think I'll be able to join you, I'll have to check what time our Eurotunnel is booked for but I think it was 9pm from memory. I'll probably still be running at 5pm mind you!
This will be my first Paris that I'm not rushing off to the airport to catch a flight back home immediately after the race. I will certainly be having some drinks after and hope to get to the pub with you all. But I will be with friends so it may depend on their willingness to to join in (although if I mention alcohol I don't suppose it will be difficult :-) )
Setting Walk Break Alerts
Some running programs use timed walking breaks at regular intervals. For example, during a long training run, you can set the device to alert you to run for 4 minutes, and then walk for 1 minute, and repeat. Auto Lap® functions as usual while you are using the run or walk alerts.
Each time you reach the alert value, a message appears. The device also vibrates if vibration is turned on (System Settings).
1. I started to taper 3 weeks out. I dropped my mileage far too quickly. Some might say it should matter that much, but it might have caused some of my issues
2. Don't carry heavy suitcases up a very very very long escalator that isn't working in Paris. We went via Eurostar with 2 kids and their Godmother (who is amazing and looked after them). Our journey was: walk from house to bus stop, bus to train station, train to London, on the underground up and down stairs, get to Eurostar, lug 2 heavy suitcases onto it, take them off, RER across Paris and the station we got off at the escalator and lift wasn't working. I carried both big suitcases all the way up in one go. I was knackered. Next day was the start of my Achilles issue that lasted all summer. Get someone to pick up your heavy bags for you or travel light!
3. If you have a target time, think about a plan B if you realise at some point in the race it will won't happen. I ran with a self made pace band. I was pacing 3:52. I also had a pace band for 3:39:59 so I knew where I could slip to. I got ahead of 3:52 which was daft. I should have held back. I then had a quick pee and ended up 30 or so seconds behind. I tried to claw some back but shouldn't have done. I got to the end of the long underpass around 16-17 miles or something and I lost GPS signal and a mile marker was in the tunnel. This threw me big time. I then had to walk up the ramp out of the tunnel. My head dropped and I gave up. I didn't even adjust to 3:39:59 pace.
4. If you are pacing for a specific time, don't rely on your watch alone. You will run more than 26.2 miles. Know what your splits need to be each mile and use the mile or km markers to check your pace. In my first marathon I relied on the app on my phone. It spoke to me through my headphones every half mile. The race only had km markers (Paris has both) and only towards the end with a bit of maths I realised my app was saying I had run a bit further than I actually had done.
5. Do not underestimate your ability to think straight and work out your pace when you nave already run 20 miles. Last Saturday I had run 20 in 2:58. 6.2 to go, 62 minutes left. I couldn't calculate what pace I needed to run to get under 4 hours so phoned my wife and asked her to work things out. I was fortunate I was able to do that.
6. There will come a point when you think you need to stop. This will happen, keep running and you will get through it. It is supposed to be hard.
7. Last of all, if it doesn't work out, it's only a race. Learn from it and come back and give it another go.
I echo what you say about not relying on your watch alone - especially with the tunnels in Paris. If you plan to aim for a time, create a pace band and check your time as you pass each marker.
Also, the GPS in phones is not as accurate as that in dedicated running watches. When I used my phones for runs it used to show me running through people's gardens.
Now that was tricky to explain to the police
I'll add something. The start of the race has a slight downhill. You will find yourself running faster than you intend and feeling great. Try to reel yourself in and slow right down. It will feel wrong but it isn't.
I think my training is seriously under mileage and it's giving me sleepless nights. Have my half this weekend and then was going to try 18 miles next weekend. I seriously underestimated how hard it would be to fit in training with a job, commute, four year old who hasn't started school yet and a baby who has an aversion to sleep. When I do run I'm sometimes knackered before I'm even out the door!