Paris Marathon 2013

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Comments

  • Emmy - I can but dream..........and keep playing the lotto!!image

  • E mmyE mmy ✭✭✭

    I'd love to do it. I have the midnight sun marathon on my todo list... but flying there is extortion!

    @Eggy - I dunno - I like a medium temperatures ranges. On the cool side but not too cold. 

    We're getting your snow tonight/tomorrow and i'm already dreading it. It was -6 stepping outside at lunch in Brussels so I wonder how cold it'll get tomorrow.

  • Hi Eggy, during winter it's not unusual for it to be 2-5 degrees minimum and will run in shorts/tshirt/windbreaker but when living in the UK found it very hard running when it got below 0.

    Was working on a training camp in the Victorian Alps over the New Year, some mornings were around 5 degrees and there had been snow about 2 weeks prior to Christmas.

  • yer majyer maj ✭✭✭

    Emmy - it usually warms up slightly to snow...only marginally, mind!

    This lot os going to freeze tonight - tomorrow is going to be interesting image

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭

    Peter - I must admit I deal far better with the cold than I do with heat. Even just walking about in 25 upwards I become very crabbit and irritable unless I can cool off and keep hydrated. I really struggle to deal with warm weather. It's lucky I'm Scottish, so it's not much of an issue.

  • A happy Tricky here. Ran my first intervals session this lunchtime since Feb 2012 - did it on a treadie. Boy did it feel good to run hard. Did 1km reps, first at 15kmh pace (4m/km), then 4x 16kmh (3:45m/km) and a final 500m at 18kmh.  Managed to peak at 98% MHR.  Threw in some short, sharp weights for leg power to finish off. Smashin'

    image

    Dannirr - I try to go around naked as much as possible - sorry, should qualify that. When i say naked, I mean bare footed. Didn't want to mislead anyone image  Think it is very good for foot health/ strength to have an unsupported foot.  I naturally have very high arches, which could possibly be a factor in why I have some knee trouble (less effective shock absorption by running towards the outside of the foot - a dose of supination)? Who knows?

    As for the Doprah interview with Lance, I would say he is executing his PR strategy to revive his tattered brand image.  In many ways he did make admissions and this is intended to make the uninformed masses think that he's not such a bad guy, just in the wrong place at the wrong time and was singled out for his success and talent.  Maybe he should be given another chance and his athletic bans should be reduced (that is his end goal).

    The informed detect that he continues to lie ("I never doped after 2005" when his blood analysis clearly shows he did exactly that right through to the end of his cycling career). And he also tried to shift blame at several points on to others (Christian Vandervelde for example) and he failed to express proper remorse or even acknowledgement for the way he tried to crush individual's reputations.

    It's a strong opinion but I consider him to be an unrepentant Sociopath and to use a term you are probably more familiar with, a 'douchebag'. And normally I am so mild and reserved when sharing opinions image

    Orbutt - I think you can do a fair amount of cardio work on a bike, but you might have to make a harder than expected effort to get the same level of training benefit - this is my experience so far, running v. cycling.

    Kaz - as Eggy says, have a clear idea of what you want to use your bike for, before parting with any money. Is it for training, transportation, will you use it twice a year in god weather or 5 times a week in all weathers, what kinds of places will you ride it on, how long do you expect it's working life to be? Mountain-bikes are good all round machines and fairly robust. I ride what was a cheap, no frills MTB (cost me about 350 EUR 12 years ago) and it's still going and I ride it 3-5 x week.

  • yer majyer maj ✭✭✭

    Tricky that's ace - delighted for you, fella image

  • Tricky - Thats Brilliant, and such speed!image

    As for the bike, I already have a mountain bike which I use lots from March to October when its not so windy!! Cycle on road, trails and up over hills. Sometimes just to get to work, a lot of the time with junior, sometimes just for a change from running etc. I am thinking about cycling more, so was thinking about a new bike but have decided that a road bike on the roads here would not work - I would spend more time replacing tubes than cycling!!

  • OrbuttOrbutt ✭✭✭

    Kaz - won't you get a bike with your new job image

  • So Kaz, what's inadequate with your current bike that makes you feel you need something new?

    Emmy - sorry, missed your earlier Q. It's about -4 -5C here today. No additional snow. Don't think we'll get much over the weekend either. Ideal conditions for a fast Relais Givrès cross-country relay race this weekend - shame I'm not participating this year. Put my sensible head on.

    Peter/ Mausey - you guys must be frying over in Oz. That's tough conditions to take, day after day. I'll post you some ice. Tell me when it arrives image

    Leeds Rob is normally absent from the forums when he has no chance of running. It makes him miserable to talk bout something he can't do. Maybe he needs some loving and joyful text.... messages, or PMs?!

  • TD - Its seen much better days and nights!! Absolutely knackered, but it is 20 yrs old. I bought it when I was still a teenager!! The only reason I need something new! I have thought about just sticking with it and getting an indoor bike?

    3rd walk of the day done, 1 more later to bring the total to 10 milesimage

  • Armstrong. From hero to zero. Cancer survivor, potentially greatest athletic accomplishment in recent history, all a damned lie.



    None of it is remotely surprising given what we know from others... However, when you think about, here's an interesting medical question too:



    Would he have had cancer if he hadn't abused testosterone, growth hormone, steroids and EPO in his first career?



    Also, in view of his - to paraphrase TD - post-cancer sociopathic nature, was this caused by the frontal lobe damage caused by the removal of his 2 discrete brain lesions/tumours? His post-cancer attitudes seemed to be more forceful and an exageration of his pre-cancer attitude/demeanour...



    Who knows. We can still feel upset and let down. But most of us did not have our lives/livelihood destroyed by him. To those people indeed, he has not apologised.
  • Kaz - I've got a pretty good looking (he's blue and special) 2007 specialised hard rock disc brake mountain bike that's going to waste if you want it.  Only problem would be getting him up to you...

    on Lier Lance...phucking twat.  Woo hoo, he went on oprah and said the sky was blue.  I'm too livid to even rant when he's brought up now.

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭

    No snow forecast for here tomorrow, but due to the wind and cold it's taken me an hour to defrost from a short walk home from the train station. Tomorrows run could be grim.

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭

    RS - You could cycle the bike up. There would be a lovely calm sailing over to Orkney at this time of year at the end of it! image

    Lance, vile human being. The drug use is the least of the issues. The wrecking of peoples lives and careers is what put me off brand Armstrong years ago. I don't think I could watch his stage managed performance without swearing at the telly.

  • The absolute best piece of writing I've seen on Lance Armstrong written by American journalist Bonnie D. Ford from ESPN. Very revealing I think. If you only read one thing about this whole debacle, read this.

    Kaz - you are an outdoor girl. Believe me, indoor biking eats your brain up it's soooo boring. It's noisy, it's too hot, takes up space. Spend money to update your MTB for outside. RS's bike sounds good if you can get it.

     

  • DannirrDannirr ✭✭✭

    I think we are all being a little too harsh on Lance.  Sure he made terrible mistakes, but he has taken a first step, no matter the motivation (which we don't know and only assume), to accept responsibility for what he has done.  Surely we all deserve the chance for forgivness and compassion?

  • not looking forward to my 14 tomorrow  ... I feel a tantrum coming on ... I don't want to go out and run in the snow, I'm an adult and I don't have to if I don't want toimage , time to take up knitting instead of running.

    Eggy you have the right description... grim image

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    Audrey - I'm pretty sure there's a link between this weather and me browsing Fender telecasters. Dark and cold outside or coffee, warmth and guitar!



    Dannirr - I grew up with the likes of Fignon and Lemond as people I loved to watch race. It was Armstrong's treatment towards Greg Lemond that really disgusted me with him. The drug use I can accept. It's his actions covering up that drug use and the way he was more than willing to destroy others that makes me angry with him.
  • Crisis at work has now ruined my weekend. I have to work all day tomorrow so no LSR. (Quite relieved as it's bloody freezing).



    Kaz - I am a proud owner of a Specialized Hard Rock mountain bike. Great bike and it's tough enough for Orkney if you can sort out the transport.
  • I mean for RS's bike - I still need mine!
  • Dannirr - you make a good point. Perhaps I've been hanging about TD too much, figuratively speaking.



    Have you read Tyler Hamilton's book? I'd recommend. Read most of it, really interesting and quite revealing really.
  • yer majyer maj ✭✭✭

    Moooooooorning image

    I've just had my breakfast - back to bed for an hour or so now before I head out....

  • ok if yer maj is out then there is no excuse for me.... baaaaaaa

  • RS - Thank You that would be wonderful!! We could meet half way, you cycle, I'll run then cycle home?!? I may need some logistical help thou!image

    No snowflakes here today, but its still really windy, and the wind chill is far worse than any snow!!

    I'll be taking things a bit easier today. Not particulary sore, just uncomfortable.image

    Good luck with your runs everyone.

  • OrbuttOrbutt ✭✭✭
    Dannir - agreed everyone deserves forgiveness but it seems to me that given the opportunity he would do it again. He didn't accept that he was a cheat, preferring to twist the dictionary definition to demonstrate that if he was doing the same as the other cyclists then he wasn't cheating.

    I think that his remourse is at being found out rather than a true belief that what he did was wrong.

    I would be able to accept his apology if I thought it were genuine but I don't think he's quite there yet.
  • Dannirr - I'm going to disagree with you here.  He's only fessing up (and not really apologising as he's saying "everyone else was doing it") because of the life ban and he wants to compete in other sports.  It's a calculated PR exercise so he can complete again, nothing more.  If he was truely sorry etc he'd have faced the cycling officials, not used a soft focus interview with a chat show host.

    Iain - interesting point about how the cancer treatment may have affected him.

  • Bikes..   my experience of bikes is that they are very personal.  Like cars in some ways.  I love Porsche 911, my friend likes Aston's.  We can discuss the finer points for hours and will never convince each other that our choices are 'better' than the others. Whether one is faster or better at corners or has more gadgets is not the point.  We just like what we like.  I think bikes are the same.  Mrs DV has gone to the bike show today at the Excel centre in London to buy a new bike and a bike frame.  I'm sure that whatever she buys won't be what I would have bought...  but she has done her research and knows what she wants..  so..  when choosing a bike, I think this is key..  look around, see what's on offer and buy what you feel comfortable with.

    Lance Armstrong..  I'm not sure what to make of all of this.  On the one hand I do think that we all make mistakes in life and deserve a second chance once an appropriate punishment has been served.  I've known several people who have criminal records or done time in prison and then turned their lives around to make a success and live a life playing by the rules of society and the law.  I'm compassionate to giving people another chance.  The case with Lance, though, is rather more complicated.  I don't think the details are fully in the public domain yet, maybe they never will be, and whether this public statement is a calculated PR gamble or a genuine admission of guilt remains to be seen.  In some ways its like telling a naughty child off.  "say sorry", we tell them, and begrudgingly they do but only because we told them to and because the threat of losing a toy or a tv show scares them.  Lance's cycling life was a different world to what we know of.   It has been widely discussed that the sport was rife with drug taking - not just by him.  His competitive personality and drive to win by any means perhaps took over though.   I'm keeping an open mind at this stage on what I think until more details come into the public domain.  It will be interesting to see what happens next.  There are legal implications from this too and whether this all leads to a legal battle remains to be seen.

     

  • More advice needed - I will only have approximately 8 weeks to build for this marathon, at which point I will not have run for 7 weeksimage, although I am getting some X training and lots of walking done. In my plan to get to the start line in one piece, do I forget speedwork and concentrate on getting miles in?? Or what is the best approach for this?? I have been trying to find 8 week plans, but not many around!!

     

  • Kaz..  don't worry at this stage...   you've done it before and you can do it again...   you can get round on the day even if you don't run a single mile between now and then...   you know you can...  time will be slower, but that doesn't matter...   the important thing now is to focus on your health and getting better...

     

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