Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
Shades Marathon Training
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
Cal, other than York and Chester, do you have a shortlist of events you're thinking of - let us Shadies decide where you should race
Don't really need a rest day today but only just started running 5 days a week again and don't want to jump to 6 just yet.Should still hit 50 which is my target.
Big G-Thats a tough session,but hopefully get the mojo going again.
No running today - went to yoga. I don't want to start back too quickly - that way lies injury. Left calf is a bit tight. I'll run tomorrow and Sunday (volunteering at my local parkrun on Saturday).
The warm weather shouldn't be a problem as we had a hot summer so plenty time for everyone to be used to it and the humidity will be low in Lanzarote. Everyone moaned about London being too hot but it was the same temperature as Berlin and I didn't see a single complaint that Berlin was too warm.
Ian - I'm pretty sure I saw in the reviews of my Frankfurt hotel that they allowed late check out for the marathon runners so they could get a shower before going home, not sure if there was a charge but it would be worth asking your hotel.
I spent some time yesterday musing over my 2019 budget to see if I could afford Frankfurt next year and I can't unless I have an unexpected windfall
Cal - Dublin will be full in the next week, only 2,000 places left as of yesterday, they don't allow transfers so no chance of grabbing a place that way.
Shades, on the subject of having some kind of plan between marathons, I did a bit of Googling and there is stuff out there, but I feel it didn't really relate/hit the mark for me. It was advice like "If you're planning 2 marathons in 6 weeks, think of the two as a single event, so do the first one slowly" and "let your body be your guide" (which is good advice, I suppose). I think I would benefit from some kind of plan and would definitely follow a plan if I was targeting a single event (and not doing many events in the lead up), but I am still not really sure what plan I can follow that would be that strict. I feel I do listen to my body quite well and often I just don't feel I can do that much medium/high mileage between events. This current phase of loss-of-mojo is probably just tiredness and general grumpiness around having a cold, plus possibly being a bit more tired than usual as I did properly race San Sebastian. What you would recommend - would a rough plan like what I set out above kind of work, but still listen to my body if I just feel I can't do the mid-week long run? It's a bit odd as even though I am struggling a bit at the moment I am looking for to next Thursday's event, whereas for other events (Enigma, mainly!) I really wasn't looking forward to it.
It's a travel day for me today, but I got up early (for me!) and went for a run. I was out the door just gone 7am and just did 4-miles, in wet conditions. It wasn't tool cold for me though and I did quite enjoy it, and it certainly woke me up as I came back feeling quite refreshed from the rain! I am taking my running stuff this weekend and have a couple of 5k routes sorted, which I can join together if I want to do a slightly longer run. I'll just see how I am.
5 of us (all blokes) are going away for the weekend and we've found a very cheap hotel. But it's 5 of us in a single room, in bunk beds. Could be, errrrrm, "interesting". I think we're paying something like £15 a night each, which although cheap probably says something about the quality of the establishment... Should be good though, and I'm looking forward to it as a couple of them I haven't seen for a few months.
Ian - you've had a busy time, that's not a bad price at all for a marathon trip.
Big G - I don't think you'll find anything to help you on the internet, I suppose as everyone differs in their speed of recovery. So you'll just have to write it yourself. You can be kind to yourself and on some days option of easy run or rest and if you have a weekend without a marathon pencil in an interval session or club session for that week.
Even if I'm not in the middle of a training plan I usually put my intended mileage on my running spreadsheet for the next month, otherwise it's too easy to let the mileage drop.
Have a good weekend, I think you'll have a few laughs. You're quite tall for bunk beds! Hope you manage to get some sleep.
I went out just a little earlier than you and despite the rain it was nice and mild and not unpleasant. Stopped raining for the 2nd half of my run but my feet are wet again as had a few big puddles/minor flooding to run through. Stopped on the way back to look for my kingfisher, not really expecting to see him as the water was so high but he was there, so beautiful.
Anyway, 6 miles, at a back-to-normal pace.
No rain for me today but very windy,one of the windiest days I've ran in. Original plan was 8@MP but with the wind it was pointless so did 8 easy.
Have you found a marathon to do in the next few weeks so as not to waste that training, or will Manchester be your next one?
Ian - no point fighting the wind.
Re Frankfurt start times, there were only 2 waves, one at 10 am and 2nd at 10:10. I was in the 2nd wave, you'd probably be in the first wave, maybe you can find info on website.
I stayed at Motel One Frankfurt Messe, it's in Europa Allee, there are several hotels there including a Hilton and Premier Inn. From my hotel it's less than a 5 minute walk to the start/finish and about 1km walk to the main train station. You can't get to the airport by train in 10 minutes. I believe the train takes about 30-35 minutes. Frankfurt is a huge airport. we checked in quickly but going through security was very slow. The quickest way to the airport is by taxi, that takes 10-15 minutes, about 40 euro. We got to the airport 2 hours before our flight and after checking in/security we only had about 30 minutes in the café before we were called to our departure gate, we travelled back on a Monday afternoon. We used taxis but there was 6 of us.
Got here (Amsterdam) ok yesterday but flight was very, very bumpy. It’s the worst landing I’ve had actually. Schiphol is massive but they only had one runway open, but there were only minor delays. There were a group of 8 girls in front of us and they were all telling each other they loved each other, incase anything bad happened! I must admit, looking out the window and seeing the wings flex like they did was a bit disheartening at the time
It’s a youth hostel-type place that we’re staying in but I slept ok, it’s clean, tidy, a good location and a decent buffet breakfast available so can’t complain!
Interesting flight!! Glad you're enjoying your student type holiday.
Cal - sorry I forgot Vienna is the same day as Manchester, for some reason I though Vienna was the same day as London and you were doing both.
Mud in January, lovely
Shades, moping as unable to run, feeling confident should be back soon. I'm quite lucky as all my routes have pavements so the traffic doesnt bother me. Shades I've been looking at budget again this year too, think DD could be my most expensive race, step daughter is off to uni this year so will need to buckle up for a bit and see how it pans out.
Cal, another option if you're looking for low key is Thames Meander from Kingston down to putney, did the November one in 2015 was pretty flat and if the weather is crap there wont be many about.
Big G 5 full grown men in a cheap room bought flashbacks of my chelsea supporting days, sounds like its a good place though! Enjoy amsterdam only been once for football and was in and out of the city in about 10 hours unfortunately. Will have a look at Gdansk marathon later.
Cal mud is fun! you'll probably be cold/ wet doing a training run may as well go for some fun.
Steven sounds like you've enjoyed the trail stuff, I really enjoy going longer off road and a great way to mix up the training.
Ian sounds like you got Frankfurt organised, sounds like a great marathon.
I'm very close to going for a run, The PF in the foot has gone about 95%, the glute feels okay, however the hip still got great, so will go for a few easy miles on the flat to see how the foot responds then rest up for a few more days and see if the hip feels any better.
We've got that weather down here now, very strong winds. Last night I opened the window to see how cold it was and the wind nearly ripped the window from my grip
steven - even your perfect running weather didn't last too long!
Robert - hope you can get out soon for a gentle run, you've been very patient. Maybe the hip doesn't like the prolonged rest period.
I'd rather not run on pavements, the road is a much nicer surface, usually smoother and no kerbs, plus I like to get away from the traffic.
Hopefully DD won't be too expensive for you, you've already paid the entry and cheques have been cashed.
I'm budgeting carefully for 2019 as my 2 trips to Ireland are quite expensive, for Connemara I'm going for 3 nights and have booked a fabulous 4 star hotel but the race and the whole weekend are quite special to me so I don't mind as I think that's worth the luxury. For my Lap of the Gap race, limited choice in accommodation so have booked a guest house but the flights are expensive that weekend as it's BH weekend here, need to book a hire car too and that will be more than I usually pay, again as it's BH weekend.
Just waiting for daylight to go out for my run.
Shades, I’m thinking I could twist the arm of a non-running mate of mine to go to Poland with me, even if I did a marathon. He loves it over there, especially Warsaw. It’s one of those things that is kind of ‘on the list’ to do at some point. Very unlikely to be next year though.
I’m enjoying Amsterdam - I’ve been before but recently it was just for an afternoon/evening. Before that I came years ago so it’s good to return. My OH is Dutch so she’s been giving me a few tips of food to try over here, in the Xmas markets especially. She also recommended an indoor food market (called Foodhallen), which we went to yesterday that was fantastic. It had lots of different food stalls (Vietnamese, Dutch snacks, cakes, wraps, pizza, pasta, sharing platters, beer bar, gin bar, coffee shop etc etc) all under one roof and you could sit anywhere. Very few tourists out there but the place was heaving. Just my kind of place.
We went around one of the main museums (Rijksmuseum) which was good, but I again confirmed art isn’t really my thing. However, in the last year or for some reason I’ve started becoming quite fascinated with libraries and they had a cracking one in there.
In the afternoon my mates went out to a bar so as the weather got a bit better I went for a run. Just 3 miles but it was a nice run around the large park nearby. It was dark but well lit - a few runners and loads of cyclists around. I then caught the tram out to the bar to see them, by which time they were well on their way (ie, they were drunk). The beers over here are strong!!
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to run tomorrow, regardless of the weather, as we’ve booked to see Anne Frank’s house fairly early. It pays to book in advance there as the queues are massive. Flying home tomorrow afternoon.
Talking of OH, who isn’t a runner, she casually mentioned that she noticed a marathon in Turkey where it takes you in and out of two continents (she was flicking through the mag they handed out at San Sebastián). I made a mental note of the fact that she seems to be encouraging me/us to go away to do marathons
Do you know what the hip issue is? My right hip and groin are dodgy and I think a lot of that is from sitting rather than running (though the groin thing is probably down to the injury I had a couple of years ago). I know rest did absolutely zip when I had the really bad problem with my TFL.
Still, I'm rather looking forward to the track 5K next weekend (I'm in the slowest race - I was last in the slowest race two years ago despite running a PB, but I think I can avoid that this time as there seem to be one or two slower peeps than me this time around).
Big G great news the OH is looking for options and enjoys the travelling, Istanbul can be dangerous but so can London. Anywhere between may and september would be too warm unless it started at 4am. I have considered Lycian Way Marathon/ ultra towards the end of september, I know it changed hands last year so looking for reviews. It's in a holiday destination area so be a great way to relax after.
Cal believe the hip is due to a tweaked glute, then overuse of the TFL. I ran in awful conditions at TM 3 years ago, think it helped I ran the 1st 15 miles with people and had a nice chat. I also dont get the opportunity to run in london that often and being a Chelsea fan feel at home in West london.
3 weeks of resting and £300 of shockwave and its looking positive. 3.7 miles and hip seemed okay and the PF in the foot wsn't too bad either. I'll keep on with the s&c and am not going to get carried away or believe I'm fixed until I'm running properly again in Jan. I will probably try and a couple of 3-5 mile runs in during the week before deciding if I'll have one last blast of shockwave.
Cal, I’ve never done a track 5K. There aren’t many around where I live, sadly. Fingers crossed it goes well.
I’ve had a good day, but tired now. My mates headed back out but I’m staying in with a cuppa tea
All the major Polish marathons have been recommended to me, so must make an effort to do at least one of them soon.
Sounds like you've had a great weekend. Anne Frank's house must have been very interesting, read the diary many years ago, very moving.
Great that your OH is going to be a strong supporter of your marathon trips. I saw that Turkish marathon in the Distance Running mag, got a copy at Frankfurt. I really like that magazine. Last year we looked briefly at doing Istanbul marathon which is supposed to be a good race, Foreign Office advice at the time was to avoid Istanbul, due to the bombings, that advice may have changed now.
Just as well you took your running kit to Amsterdam, you've been enjoying your running there. It's so nice running in new places.
I got lost when I did my recovery run in Frankfurt on the way back to my hotel, had to stop and ask a man waiting for a bus, he was very kind and put me back on the right road.
Cal - shame about missing Valencia but these things happen, just book another one ASAP.
Robert - there'll be the Jail Ale for you to enjoy at the DD disco, will help with the post run sore legs, until the next morning that is
I haven't done Manchester (yet) but I suppose the hotels are very expensive if you're not driving up, quite a hefty entry fee too.
I had to Google Lycian Way, didn't sound like a Turkish name.
Good that you're back running now, hope that's lifted your spirits a bit
Thankfully that bitter wind from yesterday has gone, lovely and calm, perfect running conditions for December anyway, 6 miles done.
Big G/Shades-the Gdansk August marathon is midweek,I was looking at August marathons incase I need one for a last GFA attempt and that falls just after the cut off.
Shades-what time would you suggest I get into Frankfurt,I have 2 mornings,one gets in at 9.10,the other 12.25.I was going to get the early one but if I get my number easy,then lunch I'll have nothing to do all afternoon with going on my own,but not sure if the later one will be too much of a rush.
Re Frankfurt up to you really. Arriving at Frankfurt we were at hotel quite quickly and very efficient at Expo to collect numbers. But that was the Friday, it will be very busy when you go. I enjoyed the Expo and went back on Saturday for a bit of shopping. There's also a free bowl of pasta on the Saturday pm so chance to mingle with the other runners. Definitely one of the friendliest marathons I've been to, people chatted to us wherever we went, I don't think you'd find it hard to fill any spare time.
IOM is on my birthday next year and is the day of the cut off and it's an easy hop from here so it's very possible if I need it.
My usual easy 6 after work today,finding it very easy now and it's a good way to get some miles in,only takes me 52 mins so no real time out my evening and the miles soon add up.