Shades Marathon Training

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Comments

  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Cross post there lily.  Looks very good :)  
  • E mmyE mmy ✭✭✭
    Hi all,

    Slowkoala- i'll message you :)
    Lily - Nice to 'see' you again! 
    Nick - Wow! That's speedy! 

    I managed the most amazing run this morning. It was just me and Boyska... and it was AWESOME. I could let him run off lead (first time ever) and he was really good! I'm struggling a fair bit with the weather at the moment as my hayfever is making it hard to breathe.

    Hope that everyone is doing well!
  • mowzermowzer ✭✭✭
    Nick - that's some speedy mile. Well done  :)

    Ian - I've got one of those Kalenji Trail Vest-bags too. Didn't get the women's as it didn't have any storage on the front. I wore it on the Ridgeway 40 and it seemed fine - and no pressure on the shoulders like with my running backpack.

    It is mega hot here today, so I'm not even tempted to run  ;)

    Good luck to all who are racing this weekend  :) I'm off to North Yorkshire to make sandwiches for those who are doing the LDWA 100, so I won't be back on here until Tuesday.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Nick - good to know your club is all inclusive and encouraging to the slower runners, I'd have been one of the last :)
    There was talk this year that the 2018 GFA times would be altered but they weren't so I guess that numbers are manageable.   Obvious target for you now is a GFA, but there's no rush.

    Big G - that was a bit of luck with the Aldi purchase.   I've never tried a camelbak but I can't even run next to someone wearing one, the sloshing noise drives me mad.   Apparently the fluid gets really warm, takes some getting used to :#

    Trail shoes don't make that much difference in off road events to the running surface, unless you're fell racing and need special grip.   But trail shoes do give more support to the ankles and the fabrics are usually a bit more resilient.

    Ian - you'll have a chance to try out your new trail bag in this weather on your long runs.

    lily - great use of the towel rail, they look really good

    Emmy - hay fever season again :'( , sounds like you had a great run with Boyska

    mowzer - have a lovely time in Yorkshire, I think you'll have a lot of sandwiches to make for those 100 mile walkers.

    Another nice morning, warm and sunny.  I go out earlier on a Friday and on the path today the rabbits were still out (too early for the dog walkers) and there was a rabbit, probably three quarters grown but he didn't have normal rabbit ears, he had small ears more like a squirrel.  I saw him again on the way back, he did look a little odd.
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Nick/Shades, I was surprised when the organisers didn't make the GFA times harder for 2018.  I would love to get a GFA time (currently 3:15 for me), but obviously I'm way off that.

    I just went out with the rucksack and bladder and I didn't really enjoy it.  It all fit fine with no rubbing or anything, but the sloshing about was as off-putting as I thought it would be :(  There was a slight leak in the mouthpiece of the bladder I borrowed, so I had to stop and adjust that which was annoying.  Another thing was the extra weight - I put 2L of water in which isn't that much, but I seemed to really notice it on the hills, probably because it was on my mind.   I think I need to go out a couple of more times to see if I get used to it or not, but as I type I'm not a fan.  I'll hold off from entering that race, until I get a bit more used to it I think; the problem is, they're selling out as they are already over half full.
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    Big G - can you just carry a bottle for your potential race, and then refill it at the water stations? I've don't get on very well with belts/backpacks when running (though I haven't tried many options), so on long runs I just carry a bottle if I think I'll need a drink. It's a little bit irritating but you get used to it.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - I hate carrying water but do so a few times on my long runs.  I have a simple bottle belt that takes one bottle and I have used it in the past for off road ultras where I've had to carry water.  I've never needed to carry more than a 500ml bottle as that is easily enough for what I would call a missing drink station.  

    You are welcome to borrow mine and have a trial run and see if you get on with it, rather than spend money on something that you don't like/find uncomfortable.   I bought mine in 1997 but as I hardly ever use it its still in good nick.  I can give it to you at DD if you're around that day.

    Or you could enlist/bribe a friend to be on the course to give you water
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    edited May 2017
    Thanks for the offer Shades.  I do have a bottle belt that carries a 500ml bottle, and I do use that on some marathons; I wore it at Leiden, for example, mainly because I was concerned it was going to be too hot.  I didn't use it at London as there were so many water stations.

    Shades/Nick, the reason I'm thinking of a Camelbak-type of thing is that for this City to Sea race there is smallish kit list, which each runner needs to take (including water).  So I need something to carry that stuff in too.  I could see if the kit list (jacket, map, fully charged mobile) fits into a bumbag type of thing, and then use a bottle belt as well, but that would then be two belts to wear.  Hmmm.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Big G - is the Aldi pack too big just to use for the map, mobile and jacket, then use your bottle belt for your water?
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Shades, that's another option as the pack isn't too big.  I'll have a try of a few things and see how I get on.
  • mamafoxmamafox ✭✭✭
    Well that was a massive catch up. I haven't been on the thread for a week and I've got over 60 messages about posts!
    Sorry I can't comment on everyone so just to say well done to Shades, Big G, Emmy, Ian and speedy Nick for some great races. I loved that photo too SK.. all those grins!
    We've finally got eldest son's projects done and handed in. I'm probably going to have to remortgage the house to pay for all the printer ink cartridges we've used up. Anyway it's done now.
    I have also been quite ill.. I ended up with a nasty chest infection which completely wiped me out. I am putting this blame firmly on the camping showers at Blaye. When I did Carcassonne I had a lovely jacuzzi bath afterwards and was fine so I obviously picked up some germ in those poxy showers. I haven't run for 2 weeks now but am feeling better so will go out in the next day or so and hope I haven't lost too much fitness. On a positive note maybe the rest has helped the tendonitis. Paranoid about that flaring back up again after the marathon.
    I have also finished my report. Will try and get it up now. I've gone on a bit as usual and I think the middle part can get a bit boring but I'm not going to edit it otherwise I'll never get round to posting it.
  • mamafoxmamafox ✭✭✭

      Marathon de Blaye – 13th May 2017


    I woke pretty early, ate my porridge and painted my toenails green. There was the usual last minute scramble to get into the car but as mum was staying in the house to take care of animals, children etc this wasn't as stressful as it usually is. We also had a modern, functioning car to drive us down to Blaye so arrived in plenty of time after a suspiciously uneventful journey.


    Blaye is really somewhere to visit. It has been a fort since medieval times and in 1685 Vauban was commissioned to turn it into a citadel to protect the city of Bordeaux, further down the Gironde estuary, from invaders.. This he did with great success and the fortified citadel was home to a garrison of soldiers. The site has been restored and you can now walk through the narrow cobbled streets and get a sense of how things used to be when it was an active garrison. I have probably made loads of historical errors there but that is the gist of it. The campsite is actually set within the city walls and although I am not a fan of campsites I have to admit that they have made a pretty decent job of it. More importantly, our tent was thus 1 minute away from the departure line in the citadel itself. Result.


    We set up our tent. I say set up but it is actually one of those « 2 second » ones the size of a frisbee that you throw up in the air and it comes down a tent. Getting it back in to the frisbee pack is another matter involving considerably more time and a fair bit of swearing. Anyway, once it was up we then went off to pick up my number and have a walk round to take in the atmosphere. Blaye marathon offers quite a few incentives for runners who want to dress up so there were a lot of people in unusual costumes to look at. The bloke in the tent next to ours was dressed up as a wolf.. I'm not just talking a pair of wolfy ears here though. He'd gone the whole way, a zip up furry onesie topped off by a massive furry head. If you looked carefully into the long muzzle, past the fangs and lolling red tongue you could just about spot a pair of eyes. Afterwards he told me it was the hardest thing he's ever done. He was an ultra runner and used to a bit of discomfort but running in that costume had just about finished him off. He'd never been so hot in his life. I listened sympathetically but I couldn't help thinking that he should have seen this coming. I mean, even if I was even thinking about dressing up as a furry animal then the only sort of marathon I'd be considering would be, I don't know.. Finland in January or something…. South West France in May ??.. No thanks !


    As the coutdown to the departure approached the runners were asked to walk down to the lower half of the citadel then file back up the red carpeted narrow alley leading up to the departure (and arrival) arch itself. As you can imagine this was fairly congested and I ended up being wedged next to a ladybird and a drag queen a fair way down the line. I tried not to dwell on how steep this narrow, cobbled path was and how on earth I would be able to run back up the thing in a couple of hours time.


    With the usual fanfare we were off. Well the people at the front were. Our group just stayed locked together until we were able to move then just eased slowly forward. Once under the arch we turned right and followed another wider cobbled drive down back out of the main entry gate to the citadel at a sedate jog. Back down on the main road around the town and things opened up a bit. I don't normally worry about the first km, and in situations like that I don't think much is to be gained from ducking and diving around. However, when my garmin bleeped and showed that the first km had taken a whopping 6 minutes instead of the 4:50/5 min that I was aiming for then it did make me ponder a bit.


  • mamafoxmamafox ✭✭✭


    My time goals for this marathon had always been a bit vague. I reckoned that if I pulled my finger out I could be in with a chance of being placed. The ultimate goal would be to be placed in the first three female finishers which would then result in a prize of a fair few bottles of Cotes du Blaye. After analysing the results from the past three years I decided to go for a target of around 3:25/3:30 which should do the trick. The course had changed a bit this year but I dismissed that as not being really important and something that would not affect the results that much. I also didn't really take much notice of elevation details (In any case I can never work out what they mean) I knew it wouldn't be pancake flat and there would be some running on grass but thought it would be just a bit undulating. I am actually embarrassed to say that as I assumed it was near the sea then the land would be more flat than undulating. Actually, Blaye is not near the sea at all. The Gironde is an estuary where the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers join and run out to sea. Blaye is on the right estuary bank and Medoc on the left. Thus absolutely no reason why it should be flat. I have said this before but I can be incredibly dim at times.


    The first inkling that things were not going as they should be happened around the first 5km mark. Although I felt fine within myself..my tendonitis problem was not giving me any problem and the rest of me felt ok... I was just working too hard to maintain a pace which wasn't even at the bottom end of my goal range. I put this down to the fact that we had seemed to be climbing a fair bit and that surely this would level out sooner rather than later. How wrong could I be. We just kept climbing and climbing. Although there were a couple of downhills they were very steep and short and then those bloody hills just started again. I just don't remember any part of this course being easy. There must have been some reasonably long flat bits but for the life of me I can't remember them. The only thing I can think of is that they must have fallen when we were running through vines or over loose stones and I was too busy concentrating on not falling over to appreciate the flatness.


    By 15k in it was clear that I wasn't going to go under 3:30. I decided to carry on running to effort and if I managed to get a couple of km out at under 5 min then great. However. there was absolutely no way I could allow myself to slow down at all. The pack had thinned out quite a bit and, keeping to my pace I just kept clocking down the kms.


    The course itself was varied and interesting which kept my mind off worrying about the pace. We passed through a succession of villages whose names I have forgotten. All pretty, honey coloured stone houses decked with balloons and often homemade banners with the locals hanging out of their windows or screaming children running alongside me. A granny in her blue overalls tending to her geraniums gave a toothless grin as I lurched up the hill by the side of her house and told me it was « the last one ». Five minutes later it became horribly apparent that she had been lying through her teeth (gums) but I like to think she was trying to boost me on. There was the odd makeshift band or accordéon player and I really enjoyed listening to them and pretending to dance as I ran past. Well I kept the pretend dancing up until about 38km anyway. Running though the chateaux themselves was an experience too. There were some real beauties and they'd all gone to an effort to look their best and put loads of tables out groaning with different wines and food to taste. I could have done without running through the vines themselves mind you. I know this whole marathon is about discovering the wines and the region but running through vines seems so difficult. The ground is uneven, often gravelly and in certain cases downright stoney and you seem to twist and turn a lot. I got the feeling I wasn't moving at all some times.. I'd look around – vines – get my head down and plug on a bit then lift my head up as I crested a hill to see even more vines stretching in their lines as far as the eye could see.


  • mamafoxmamafox ✭✭✭

    The weather, which had started a bit overcast seemed to have warmed up a bit too. At every water station I would have a drink of coke then pour a plastic cup of water right over my head to try and cool me down. It wasn't boiling though.. just a bit hot. After doing Carcassonne last June I have a new definition in my head of a hot marathon and this wasn't one of them. The water stations were frequent and well stocked with water, coke, orange juice and.. er.. red wine. At one point I picked up a white plastic cup of coke and realised at the last minute that it was actually wine before hurriedly changing it for a coke one. Only did this once though.. had wised up by the end. They also had fruit on offer but I fuelled on my usual method of cramming half of a sports jelly fruit bar into my mouth just before a water station then washing it down with coke or water after. Did this every 5k until about 30k when I just can't stomach any more. Seemed to do the job though and at no point did I feel I was running out of energy. Running out of legs maybe but energy levels were fine !


    Since about the 20k mark I had being gradually but methodically picking off the runners in front of me. From memory I don't remember anyone passing me from this point. It wasn't that I was getting any faster, just that the runners in front seemed to be slowing. Bearing in mind my goal I was getting anxious to know whereabouts I was with regard to the women runners in front of me. There had been two girls in front of me for a while that I had mentally been reeling in and once they were passed I couldn't see any others at all in front. At around 28k we dropped down into a village by way of a snaking road and it was then that I set eyes on my next target. She was just passing through the centre of the village and a man with a microphone announced her as the fifth placed woman. My heart sank a bit. She was some way in front and that meant that I had not only her to pass but two more again if I was going to be in with a chance of winning my wine. I got my head down and ploughed on. It took me a while but gradually I realised I was gaining on her. When she got close enough I tried to pick up the speed a bit. There is nothing worse than trying to overtake someone when you're actually not going that much faster than them. The girl made it easy for me. She was lovely. She had a couple of men from her club running with her and they all encouraged me to keep going, saying that the other girls weren't all that far ahead. I kept up my quicker pace until I was a comfortable distance in front of her then slowed a bit so I wasn't working so hard. The next girl wasn't that far in front and looked as if she was struggling a bit so I managed to pass her with a few words of encouragement. I was now starting to believe that I just might do this in spite of being outside of my target pace.


    My final obstacle between me and my wine appeared below me as I crested the next ridge. That was it. I had to get in front of her. I accelerated until I was just behind her then as we were climbing (for a change) decided to sit there until I could overtake her with less effort. When I finally did get past it felt brilliant. We passed another village (this must have been round about 38k) and the commentator confirmed that I was the third placed woman. With my joy came a crashing wave of pressure as well. Now I just had to hang on, I had no choice. I knew I couldn't go any faster but I just couldn't lose this place now. I thought of Mr Fox looking forward to his wine, I thought of Shades and all you Shadies, I thought of all the miles I'd run, all the early morning running in the dark, the constant juggling to fit my running in and I imagined myself on that podium receiving my prize. I wanted it so much it hurt and I knew I would hang on no matter what.


  • mamafoxmamafox ✭✭✭


    From this point on I felt as if I was running in slow motion. I definitely slowed down, creeping into the 5:20min/km as my legs just seemed to turn to wood beneath me. For a while my Garmin had been out of kilter with the course km markers so I'd just been ignoring overall distance markers and running the km I was in (A blinding bit of advice given to me by SK and Shades a couple of years ago). When I got to the 40km marker however I thought it was a bit on the quiet side. With only 2km to go I'd been expecting to see more people around. As the 41km marker passed I began to feel a bit uneasy. I was on a dusty white path in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I didn't know the area at all but surely I should be running through the town of Blaye by now with the citadel and that glorious finish just ahead of me ? As I began to run through a few outlying houses I passed the marathon mark and with disbelief read what someone had scrawled with an orange aerosol spray on the road..


    « From now on it's just a bonus for you ! »


    What the… I couldn't believe it, I'd been counting down those markers and now I just had to keep going. I could hear the sounds of distant music.. but it felt just that.. distant ! I passed a hospital and began to run through the outskirts of Blaye. I'm saying run but it just felt like I was hobbling. I just had nothing left in my legs and it took all my effort to just put one foot in front of the other. Looking back km 42 was the slowest of the race at 5:50 but km 43 came in at 5:35 so I was still moving reasonably well even though it felt like I'd slowed to a crawl.


    Finally the citadel came into sight. I could have wept with relief. However, the path brought you up to the main entry gate then the markers indicated that you had to turn left and run round the bottom of the walls in the old moat (there's another word for this but it escapes me) until you reached the gate on the estuary side of the citadel. Running round this grassy path was bad enough but then I turned to enter the citadel and saw this long narrow cobbled path stretching right up to the top of the citadel and realised I was going to have to get up there. I'd checked behind me and no other person was snapping at my heels so I knew if I could get up there then the wine would be mine. However, the sides of the path were crammed with people so a sense of pride meant there was no way I could hobble this in front of everyone. I summed up any last remnants of energy I had in a last ditch attempt to do something resembling a run up to the top. I pumped my arms to try and will me forward, I must have made the most awful faces as every cell in my body just screamed at me to stop. I finally put a foot on the red carpet for the last 50m and propelled myself forward until I passed under that arch and the blessed feeling of sheer relief when I could finally stop.


    The commentator shoved a microphone at me, congratulated me on being 3rd placed woman and asked me a couple of questions.. he may as well have been talking to one of the Teletubbies for all the sense he got out of me. He introduced me to the second placed woman who had finished one minute before me.. she was in a similar state so we just clung on to each other in a sweaty hug while this bloke just garbled on and on.


    Someone put a medal round my neck and I crawled on up out of the arrival area to the windmilling figure of Mr Fox at the top. I was very pleased to see him and threw myself on him in true drama queen fashion. He knows it is pointless trying to talk to me at this point – he just gives me my chocolate milk and waits until I come round a bit. Feeling a bit more human I creaked in to the recovery area and had a lovely leg massage from an adept Indonesian woman then straight into my camping shower, changed and back out to soak up the atmosphere.


  • mamafoxmamafox ✭✭✭


    The organisers had laid on a free meal for the runners in a marquee so we showed up, ready to collect my meal and buy one for Mr Fox. There was some problem with an American couple in front of us which ended in them stomping off and the server waving his hands about as apparently they had felt the food and wine offered was not appropriate. This had not gone down well as you can imagine. However, this worked in our favour as the indignant staff then offered the free meal to Mr Fox.. when they found out I was third placed woman they also fussed round us and plied us with extra red and white wine. We settled down with our trays of oysters, wine, charcuterie, cheese and bread and were serenaded by the local Banda who blasted away with their trumpets and drums as they walked around the tables. I met up with a few people I'd seen on the course and we had a good chat. It was a lovely atmosphere and I was really, really happy.


    The prize giving ceremony was held just after and I felt I was going to burst with joy as I climbed up on the podium and received my trophy. The other girls were great, it was funny to see the ones I'd gradually passed in the final half as I'd spent so long focusing on each and every one of them and we had a good laugh together. Incidentally the girl who came second had recently won a record for the fastest HM with a pushchair. She'd done it in 1h30 which is pretty impressive.


    I think if someone had told me beforehand that I'd do a time of 3:40 for this marathon then I'd have been disappointed. In spite of my tendonitis making my training a pretty hit and miss affair I felt I was on form and another sub 3:30 was possible. However, the nature of the course, the extra distance – coming in at around 43,5km – justified the extra time maybe and whatever, I honestly don't care. I am happy with my result. I ran the best race that I could and had nothing more to give.


    And, more importantly.. I won my wine ;-)


  • mamafoxmamafox ✭✭✭
    Mr Fox with my wine (on the right)
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    Great report MF, and nice photo too. The woman on the left looks very jealous of your wine :) It sounds like you ran a really good race to overtake so many in the 2nd half.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    mamafox - a truly outstanding race report, what a tough race but you did so well to pick off all those women that were ahead of you and trying to deny you the wine.   I so enjoy your race reports, I feel like I've run over every dusty hilly cobbled street with you.

    Great photo of Mr Fox, he looks very satisfied with the spoils of your win.

    Sorry to hear you've had a chest infection, no more slumming it for you in camping showers, get that hotel room booked for the next one.

    I like to have my nails painted but have never actually painted them on race morning!

    Now when you're better you can try a little run in your Hokas.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    I must admit I am interested in the woman on the left and her get-up...

    Very well done, though. Hope you're both enjoying the wine.

    Walk (about 3 miles) and massage today. He taped the bejeezus out of my butt and leg, as well as the laser and massage. Let's hope it gets me around. I now have a niggle on the outside of my right ankle, too. No idea what that's from - hopefully it won't be a factor. I'll stick a bit of tape on it anyway.

    It's hot as hell here, currently - more than 27 degrees in my room, which is a real annoyance. Can't cook because it raises the temperature more, can't game on the PC for more than an hour at a time in the afternoon because it gets hot (this'll be the GPU - it's fine running a browser) and my sleep is pretty poor too. Glad I'll be in a nice hotel tomorrow night!
  • E mmyE mmy ✭✭✭
    Mamafox: what a wonderful race report!!  I love your reports and I feel like I'm right there with you :-) how much of the wine is left?  

    That doesn't sound good at all regarding your chest infection :-( 

    Cal: hopefully the taping will hold you together (bad joke I know...). Im never sure of the weather forecasts  as they're changing a lot. 

    Shades: what a lovely run. Do you think it was really a rabbi with such short ears?  

    Mowser ; I'm with you. Way too hot to run today.  It was measuring 36c in our garden this afternoon and I started feeling a bit light headed and dizzy. 
  • Not the wisest decision this afternoon to run a  5 mile Tempo run in the blistering heat but once I get something in my head I just have to do it. Managed my target pace of 8.45 for the middle 3 miles. But I was glad traffic stopped me running a couple of times tbh. I'd drank loads of water beforehand but was so dehydrated when I got home. I'm so glad my marathon is in October. I would find running a marathon in the hot weather very hard I think.
  • SlowkoalaSlowkoala ✭✭✭
    Fantastic Mrs Fox
  • SlowkoalaSlowkoala ✭✭✭
    Ha! Just posted a longish post, but only the first line ended up posting, weird!

    So MF - loved the fact that you properly raced that marathon, picking up the ladies at the end and keeping your eyes on the prize. A true elite! And you made me very nostalgic for SW France with mentions of the Garonne (my dissertation was on the bridges of Toulouse which the river Garonne goes through!) and the post-race feast with lots of nice food and drink. What a lovely memory for you.

    Did another track session last night which was tough (and hot) but I think not quite as bad as last week's. Although I'm still a lot slower than a year ago. Then 9 miles today which was also too hot (had planned to do 10 but kept stopping in the heat and walked last mile home).

    Cal - good luck for Liverpool! What's the forecast there this weekend?
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Currently it looks like 14 degrees and cloudy, which is much better than here.

  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    Good luck for Liverpool cal!

    shades I've lost track but think you have another marathon this weekend too, so good luck for that

    john - well done doing a tempo in this heat, must have been tough!

    sk - good training

    I played squash yesterday and legs felt pretty tired today. Haven't felt my knee at all though so think/hope that it's better. Still feel my foot slightly first thing but defo improving.

    Haven't slept well this week so pretty tired, if I get a good sleep tomorrow will do a long run, prob include Parkrun but haven't decided whether to race it or not, will see how I feel.

    Enjoy the long weekend everyone!
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Mamafox-That is a brilliant report,are you sure you don't run with a dicta phone the amount of details. 
    Cal-We're forecast thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon so hopefully that will clear the air for you. 
    John-It's very tough running in this heat so well done for getting out.
  • mamafoxmamafox ✭✭✭
    edited May 2017
    Thank you for your comments everyone!

    Nick/Cal - I have no idea who that woman eyeing up my wine is! I was going to cut her out but then I thought it was quite funny and left her in after all.

    Emmy - Thanks! There is still lots of wine left, it is just too nice wine to knock back on a daily basis. Each bottle is from a different chateau so I'm just savouring looking at them at the moment. Well one or two may have disappeared and we gave a bottle to brother in law for lending us his car (again).

    SK - Liked that first post :) glad you enjoyed the report. You should try and come over and do a marathon here one year. You'd love running round areas you know - and you're so fast you'd win everything! I'm actually not sure if Toulouse have a marathon but apparently the Montauban one in the Spring is quite good.

    Ian - Thank you for your comments and no I don't use a dictaphone! I am a terrible rambler and when I write a report I relive it in my head and just write it all down. Which is why it takes so long. When I'm running if I see something funny or unusual I think "Oooh I'll tell the Shadies that.." and then I just write as I think.
    There you go.. I've gone off on one again.

    Shades - Thank you for your comments and in particular the firm instruction not to use camping showers (or indeed tents I imagine) ever again. Will inform Mr Fox.
    Chest still a bit wheezy so no running today.. but yes, looking forward to giving those pristine Hokas an airing soon.

    Good luck to Iain tonight, to Shades for Dorchester and Cal at Liverpool (hope those injuries hold up.. just take it easy). Sending cool weather vibes your way.
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Cal Jones said:
    I must admit I am interested in the woman on the left and her get-up...



    Cal - not thinking of dressing up for Liverpool then! ;)   She definitely doesn't look happy with the amount of wine that Mr Fox is carrying off.

    Very warm and muggy here too, but we haven't had the high temperatures that you've unfortunately had to suffer.  But it will be cooler in Liverpool, have a good trip today and enjoy your hotel room and good luck for tomorrow's race.

    Emmy - definitely a rabbit I was only about 3 feet away, they're quite tame as long as you don't have a dog with you and they only move to the edge of the path until I've run past.

    36 is hot :'(

    John - well done on the tempo run in the heat.  Marathons in very hot weather can be tough, fortunately for you the weather should be perfect marathon weather at Abingdon in October.

    Nick - yes, I'm off to Dorchester marathon this weekend, there's a yellow warning for torrential showers/floods/thunder for here and Dorchester on Sunday which means it will be humid.   We had that at Yeovil marathon last year, had to run through a flood there to get to the finish.

    mamafox - you remember everything so well from a race it's impressive.   There's a guy on the Hadd training thread and he does his race reports mile by mile even his marathon with great detail, I don't know how he does it.

    Rest day for me today.

    Hope everyone has a good weekend and good luck to all racing.

  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    MF, great report there.  I loved reading it, and well done again for your prize :)  

    As for me, I did my run yesterday morning, then a 4 mile hilly walk around an country estate, followed by a walk to the beach and back for drinks with friends in the evening, so a total of about 12 miles on my feet yesterday.  Quite tired today, but going for a parkrun soon, as a friend is making his first appearance there.  He's a runner, but never done a parkrun before, so I hope he enjoys it.

    Best of luck to everyone racing this weekend.
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