Loch Ness Marathon 2013

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  • Hi Andi sorry for delayed response, been away on hols! not sure I'm really qualified to give tips but I try to run really slowly to start with just so that I know I won't run out of steam. The good thing is that you start along with people that intend to take the same amount of time - there are markers - so I find that's a really good way to pace yourself is to try to keep the pace of those around you. The only other thing I would say is to relax and try and enjoy it as much as possible. I don't start thinking about timings etc until at least halfway but not sure that's very good advice! 

    Hope your 20 miler goes well this weekend, good luck! 

    I'm just doing a 1/2 marathon this weekend, it's the helensborough one, I may well struggle having done very little whilst on holiday, but it should give me an idea of how my training is going.

    Northseatiger sounds like your training is going really well - well done!

  • Hi Andi,

    If thats the way it works I will be shouting you home all the way!

    Of course until I actually do the distance for real predictor's are only that a possible future event might just happen! Who knows how the body reacts at 20 plus miles image unchartered ground to date. Im closing in on my first 20 miler this week as well, but as im offshore right now it will be done on a treadmill. Have to say the Stonehaven half gave me some confidence as it really was a slog right from the start! 

    Thanks Jen D, all encouragement greatly appreciated! image

  • CC82CC82 ✭✭✭

    Unfortunately, I'm out of the marathon this year.  I say "unfortunately" but it's probably a blessing in disguise...

    I've no doubt I'd be able to beat last year's time, but the targets I was setting myself and the necessary training to get there were probably way too ambitious!  My running has gone well this year, with a PB in all 4 races (42:52 10k, 97:33 HM, 42:01 10k, 34:19 5m - down from 46:51 10k and 1:54 HM!), but I only started training properly in January and in hindsight, I think I should leave the marathon out of the plan for a few years to build up a bigger base and come back to it when my body will be ready for some proper marathon training...

    Oh - the excuse for missing it this year is pretty good.  I'm best man at a wedding on the day of the marathon.  I will be thinking of you all... image

    Best of luck with it!

  • northseatiger- good luck with the tready 20 miler- been there , done that- it's mind blowing! hope you have a TV screen with a good movie to watch -best way to pass a couple of hours plodding that I could come up with ( although doing my long run whilst watching london marathon on TV was also a good plan- you felt like you were running with the elites!- but of course, they finished 26.2 a VERY long time before I finished 20 miles.

    Just been out for 19 blustery miles- now I'm tapering for an ultra in 3 weeks- unusual way to train for a marathon, but at least I will have done a very. very, long very slow run!

  • Jen, even pacing round here just isn't possible though a £7 bus ride got to nice flat10 mile stretch today image Good luck with your half, let us know how things went. 

    northseatiger, am guessing by your username whe know where you areimage good luck on the dreadmill and as tricialitt says I hope you have something good to watchimage

    Calum, that's not an excuse, it's a (very) valid reason! Your long term plans sound good and building a good base along the way will only do you good when you move up to Marathon distance again image

    Tricialitt, I've heard some people go overdistance for Marathon training but an ultra! your the second person I know doing that, madness I say, madness but wish you good luck and enjoy the taper.

    So, took the bus to Craignure today an waited for the 80 or so cars to leave the Ferry before heading off on the 20 miles between me and my hot bath! The first 10 miles were flat and follwed the last 10 miles of next weeks Mull Half, I won't be fast but feel more confident I get close to my target of 2:20 then. The weather was terribe and after 5 miles the heavy rain started to wear me down and coupled with some strong gusts of wind found myself slowing down a fair bit.

    Most of the 445 metre incline came in the next 10 miles so the full run sort of followed the last 20 miles of LN. Target time for LN is anything under 5 hours as it's my first ever Marathon and finished today in 3:54:45, just over 5 mins faster than my target time and with an AHR of 74%. 

     

  • Well I did 15 miles yesterday and felt good.  Will up mileage again next week, then I'm back down to 14 miles for race the train before kicking the mileage back up again from then on in.

  • CC82CC82 ✭✭✭

    Despite not specifically marathon training, I've decided to try and keep up the distance of my long run at the weekends.  I completed a couple of marathons last year off of terrible training and I reckon the furthest I'd ever ran without stopping/walking before this year was 15 miles.

    I trained specifically for 10k, with a longest run of 11 miles earlier in the year, then spent the next 2-3 months building up to HM, with longest run of 15 miles.  Since then I've not been following a plan as such, but just running what I feel like running.  I do have a 17.5 mile "race" in a few weeks' time, so I've been trying to keep up the long runs.  Before the weekend, I'd got up to a 17 miler with no stopping/walking but hadn't done anything particularly long for about 3 weeks.  Set out on Sunday and managed 20 miles with no stopping/walking.  Consistent 9 minute miles (with about 5-6 miles in the middle of 8 minute miles) until I got to about 17.5 miles and then I had to run uphill all the way home.  That slowed me right down to about 12 minute miles, but I kept plodding home!  If it had continued to be flat, I think I could have kept going at 9 minute miles for at least a couple of miles.  Pretty chuffed with that!  Proof that the marathon this year wouldn't have been a good idea - my body isn't ready to do it justice yet...

    I did the 17.5 miler last year in 2:39 off of terrible training.  I'm aiming for sub 2:20 this year... It is a brute of a course - elevation gain of 1,325 and elevation loss of 1,299 according to my Garmin stats from last year.  The last couple of miles are downhill though, so that's always good!

    http://www.brgchallenge.co.uk/Pages/default.aspx

     

  • Loz, well done on the 15 miles and good luck for' race the train'image

    Calum, the fact that you ran faster after a 3 week LSR lay off shows it is a good reason to taper image good luck for the 17.5 mile race later this month and be sure to let us know how it goes.

    Did my first ever HM at the weekend (Isle of Mull) and came 3rd from last! Nomatter, my time of 2:13:08 means (with the right training) I should 'easily' beat my goal time of sub 5 hours and won't be 3rd from last again lol. Less than 7 weeks to go now guys and gals so just 4 weeks of proper training before taper!

     

  • Thanks Andi, managed 18 miles along the Thames on Sunday so all set for RTT.  Well done on the half, must have been a good field for you to run 2:13 and be 3rd from last. 

  • All the best for tomorrow Loz and looking forward to your reviewimage

  • I did LNM last year - summed up as Stunning Scenery but Hellish Hills.

    Enjoy it, great organisation, food before & post is fab and loads of it. 

  • Thx Andi, run went well but ended up 77 seconds behind the train image

    2nd half of the race was pretty tough going, hilly, boggy and wind and rain in your face so all good practice. Thoroughly recommend it and will definately be back to try it again.

    Have signed up for Dunstable Downs 20 miler in a few weeks image

  • Well done Loz! shame you missed the train mind.

    Dunstable on the 8th just fits in with the start of your taper if your doing a 3 week one though not sure you should 'race' it?

  • I'll just use it as a final long training run.  In hindsight I could have run the 10k Race the Train event in the morning followed by the 14 miler in the afternoon but I was trying to give myself a chance of beating the train.  Didn't quite work out for me and obviously it's cost me a long run so I really need to do three 20 milers before I start the tapering.

  • Loz, maybe you'll beat the train next year image as for 3 back to back 20milers do you think that's ok? I missed my LSR at the weekend so was thinking about running 20 milers for my last 3 LSR's before taper. I had read that the nearer your 5 longest runs are to 100 miles the better prepared you'll be? 18 & 20 are my longest thus far so 3*20 will take my total to 98.

  • To be honest Andi I would just go with what you feel comfortable with.  I've run 15, 18, 14 for my last 3 LSR's so I definately need to run three 20s just for my confidence. I had a terrible marathon experience last year due to a combination of illness and bad weather so I want to better prepared this year image 

  • txs Loz, I did a slow 20 miler on Saturday (4:16). It had a 2200ft incline/decline so the decline was about the same as LN and about double the incline. Wasn't pretty as had a stitch for about 10 miles and my HRM strap cut into my chest (again) so had a nice bloodied shirt. Was my first ever 50 mile week and will try to keep that up for the next two weeks image

    Fingers crossed you stay illnes free thenimage

  • Well done Andi, weather was pretty bad here all day Saturday.  I left my LSR until the Monday and managed 19.3 as route wasn't quite as long as I'd hoped but it'll do. 

  • Txs Loz image the weather here is 'inclement' but only run in rain 3 days his month (a first), it's the wind that gets me image

    Yup, 19.3 isn't quite 20 but close image I wonder if the LN peeps will let me settle at 25.5 miles?

    I'm (sort of) following HADDs phase 1 training and finally got a 10k run under 70% average HR and less than 30 seconds slower than my planned marathon min/mile pace. I'm liking this run slow and easy methodimage

  • Well- while all of you are doing your last couple of long runs prior to taper, I'm resting up, nursing a bruised toenail after last week's 36.5 miler in Speyside. It was great!- 7.5 hours slow running/ hill trudging, so my endurance should be well up there, I did manage to run a tiny bit on thursday ( mainly 'cos I had had such a shit day at work that it was necessary to blow off steam). I think I was too quick trying to get running again after just 5 days, and have been limping a bit since , with a toenail that hasn't ecided whether to stay or go.

    Once that settles, I will just do some tempo runs, and rely on the ultra traing for endurance. I am not at all confident that I can actually run as FAST as marathon pace, but I know I can run all day if needed.- Diferent way to train, we will see if it works!

  • Sorry for joining this forum late. I am running LN for the first time this year. (4 weeks....GULP!) How much hanging around for the coaches is there and what facilities are there at the start?

    This will be marathon number 11 for me and I'm aiming for sub 4 hours. My PB is 3:36 on a flat course.

    All the best to everyone taking part from a Swindon Shin Splinter

  • tri, congratulations on the Ultra! whats that? about 12:30 min miles? am sure you have plenty of endurance for a piddling 26.2 miles hehe. Hope the toenail makes it mind up soon, might be better to lose it now?

    Alastair, sounds like your a seasoned Marathoner image Have you been doing plenty of downhill training? I think LN is about 2,000ft down and (just) 1,000ft up? 

    No LSR for me this weekend and just 20 miles for the week so not a happy bunny with just a week before taper (bad back, glute and 45mph winds). I'll try to get 1 more 20 miler in this week if I can.

  • Tricia, well done, I can't remember the amount of times I've lost my big toe nail.  I sometimes wish it wouldn't bother growing back.  A work colleague had both of his surgically removed and I almost did the same thing a some years back, even had the operation all booked up but you have to take a couple of weeks off work so bottled it.

    Alastair - this'll be my 5th but 1st time LNM.  I have similar PB of 3:31.  I was hoping to have half a chance of breaking it but maybe that was being unrealistically ambitious if you're just hoping to get under 4. 

    Andi - Sorry to hear you've had a bad week, maybe that 50 mile week took it out of you more than you realised.  I managed 20.3 today but was still feeling Monday's LSR.  I must admit I've not been doing any specific downhill training so now you've got me worried image

  • WOW, Loz! surgically removing big toe nails seems pretty hardcore! Me? I think i'll just keep them cut short image

    Yup, I think the 50 miles (off the previous week of just 18) wore me out more than I thought it would and know I shouldn't be 'chasing' missed miles at this late stage. I didn't mean to scare you about the terrain but read a lot of horror stories about negative incline marathons and people not being prepared - maybe reign things in for the first third, pick it up on the flat(ish) third then got for it from the hill at Dores?

    I have a black tie dinner down in 'that' London this weekend so my final LSR will either be Thurs/Fri or next Monday then the taper begins - good luck all.

  • Andi.  I've being doing my long runs over the hilliest routes I can. I'll be interested to see how I react to a some really long downhill stretches. I ran the Windermere marathon in May which was hilly and that took me 4 hours.

    Runlozrun. I'm picking 4 hours because I feel there is little chance of a PB on a hilly course so I intend to take it steady so I don't fall apart later on.

  • Hi everyone - some amazing runs and times on here!!!

    Hope you dont mind me joining in but imnot in your league im afraid!!!! Im a very very slow plodder image(

    My aim is to get round in a better time than 2011 (which was pretty awful) but hey ho i DID finish and raised a load of cash for 'Help for Heroes' !!

    This year for my 60th i thought i do a bit more - soooooo after LN im cycling from Inverness to Fort Willliam all for Cancer Research and MIND.

    Good luck to you all - see you at the start but definately not at the finish cos you will be done and dusted and sat with your feet up by the time i crawl in - LOL

    Nessie ( no pun by the way - that is my name!!) Xx

  • Hey Nessie, welcome and good luck, I'm aiming for 5 hours so will be nearer you than the faster peeps here  guess image  you got a goal time? Personally I think us slower folk have more stamina than the fast peeps cos they are not on their feet as long as us lol Oh, 60th? birthday or Marathon?? and well done with your fundraising.

    Alastair, I'll be getting a PB providing I finish as it's my first - good luck to you and sub 4 hours.

    Say hi if you see me...

    Race No: 1117

  • Ha ha Hi Andi - its my 60th year - boo hoo image(  

    So decide to mark the occasion by ' doing something' LOL i suppose i could have entered a knitting competition????

    Nessie

  • Don't be putting yourself down guys and gals! No matter what time you do, it is one hell of an acheivement finishing a marathon. The distance is the same for all of us. Anyone prepared to toe the line of a marathon has my total respect. I'll be wearing a blue shirt with white sides and "Swindon Shin Splints" on the back, please say hi.

  • hehe Nessie but, think how many scarves you could have knitted in 'training' image

    Alastair, good point, well made Sir! And yup, I'll probably give more credit to those finishing behind me - cos they would have been out there for longer.

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