Amsterdam 2013

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  • Sorry - My browser posted itagain when I logged back in last night.

    Not to worry, place is secured now. Just on the hunt for some accomodation options.

    Good luck with the last few weeks of training everyone.

  • WiBWiB ✭✭✭

    Cheers for the info BigChief.

    I will have someone out there able to pick my number up so good to know what they need.

  • BigChief - that is so good of you!! - I might just get you to do that - I land 1 hour before expo closes on the saturday so I doubt i will make it in time. I'm staying at the Okura quite near the start I think.

    Well done Slinkz - good to have you on board.

    Has anyone here done the Barcelona Marathon? - looking at it as a possible warm up in March to London 2014 (April)

  • E mmyE mmy ✭✭✭

    Wenty - im due to run it in march as well if youre interested

  • A marathon as a warm up for another marathonimage – is that stretching it a bit far? An expensive warm up race by the time you include the flights and accommodation. Also, expensive as it could well impact on your time for London but then if you have done multiple marathons off one training cycle or no training cycle in particular then you will know better than me.

    Having said that I am thinking of running the A20 Paths and Downs Marathon in November, if I don’t fancy it I can always drop down to the half. Only reason is an experiment to see how I cope with multiple marathons off one training plan for future reference. Amsterdam obviously remains my target and the A20 would just be a more sociable plod round.

  • BigChief - when you collect my number, can you pin it on your running top.  That way I can stay in the Coffee Shop and get a PB at the same time.  Just make sure that you don't repeat Berlin - a Manchester or Edinburgh time would do me fine.  Thanks very much.

    Wenty/Emmy - I'd like to do Barca but I've signed up for Paris in April.  No way I'd be doing 2 maras within a month.  Maybe Barca in 2015.

     

  • Emmy - are there any marathons you dont run??? - you are a marathon machine!!! - you dont need to train as you must be running them all the time image

    Have you done Barcelona before? or heard anything about it? I did Rome last year before Brighton marathon which was 4 weeks before, and Barcelona is 4 weeks before London so timeing looks ideal and flights are cheap and hotels look quite reasonable.

  • Wenty wrote (see)

    Emmy - are there any marathons you dont run??? - you are a marathon machine!!! - you dont need to train as you must be running them all the time image


    And so the legend spreads image

    Wenty - She does so many that the IAAF have decided to rename the marathon the Emmython

  • Err I was actually thinking of doing 3 marathons in 1 month - Barcelona, London and Brighton!!! - but might drop brighton to try and get a sub 3 in London.

    I dont fancy the idea of running 2 marathons 1 week apart as my legs are pretty dead for a week or 2.

  • This is an intersting thought - if you run enough marathons (sorry i mean Emmythons) a year do you need to train for them?

    Surely you could just treat them as your long runs as training! (not sure what pace you could run them at though!!!)

  • SweatySock wrote (see)

    Wenty/Emmy - I'd like to do Barca but I've signed up for Paris in April.  No way I'd be doing 2 maras within a month.  Maybe Barca in 2015.

     

    Sweaty - your long runs are almost as far as a marathon anyway!

  • Wenty - if you saw the state of me after a 20mile run you'd understand.  22miles this weekend!!

  • 22 miles!!!!!! image - 4 more and you have done a marathon - cant be in much more of a state then 22 miles!

     

  • I am beginning to feel left out with all this talk of marathons in a month or even a week. This leaves me to ask how many marathons have people on this thread  completed?

    I know someone who has finished 91 marathons - he moaned about having to go on a specific long training run the other week as he hadn't done a race for 5 weeks or so. He turns up and near enough races every week for parkrun also, madness. Do your times improve as a result of completing so many of them or do you have to race/run/plod with your mind on the next one?

     

  • WiBWiB ✭✭✭

    The best way to get good at racing is to race. However, week in week out marathons at top effort you are not going to constantly get faster, I think it is the going through the process that brings out the improvements. Consistent training build up, race, recover...

    I certainly couldn't go out and run a marathon PB every weekend... Will be going out to run one at Amsterdam though!

  • I have only run 5 marathons, but to be fair I have only been running just over 2 years and 4 months of that were injured!

    I would only ever try and race 1 marathon a year as the training and race takes it out alot on the body (well my body anyway image)

    also I only started in my 40's so would like to get some good ones in before its too late - I only have New York and Boston left on my must do list!

  • WiB - How much slower would you pace your marathons at in relation to your PB pace?

    Wenty - impressed with 5 marathons in 2 years.

    After next year I may look to run a few more marathons but don't want to spend 16 + weeks training for one at a time.

  • E mmyE mmy ✭✭✭

    Ok. My iPad won't let me quote and reply in the same message so I'll try to remember everythingimage

    goal- it's not that difficult if you do it properly and don't fudge up recovery/ mental preparation

  • WiBWiB ✭✭✭

    GoalPost - It would be very hard to put a specific time on it as it would depend on a number of things. 

    • Your fitness at the time, obviously you will be at your most fit heading into your main race after your training build up and resting up before the race.
    • Your training during the lead up to it, would be hard to go through a taper each time if you are doing a lot of races so will be racing slightly tired each time.
    • The race itself. A hilly trail marathon in winter will be slower than a flat road race in spring.
    • The effort you are willing to put in. Unlikely you will run 100% each time.

    As long as you can manage the above, and your expectations of the race. i.e some of them are just a good day out and some miles in the bank. Then no reason you cannot run a number of races in reasonably close succession.

  • I only train for a spring marathon and thats the way i will continue. then the training from the spring marathon carries you through till autumn then start he process again in december / January!

    I run my non race marathons 20-30 minutes slower than race marathon, so 3:13 from last spring i would expect 3:30 - 3:40 for Amsterdam this year.

    Emmy - how many do you run?

  • Slinkz, what kind of thing are you looking for?  How many people?

  • Wenty - almost exactly the same as me.  I started running in my 40s - Amsterdam will be by 5th:

    Chester in October 2011, Manchester in April 2012, Berlin in October 2012, Edinburgh in May 2013, Amsterdam in October 2013 (hopefully) followed by Paris in April 2014.

    There's a pattern developing - 2 a year.  One in spring, one in autum.  One in the UK, one overseas.  Running out of ideas for UK marathons (hoping Glasgow get their act together) so looking at Dublin, Rome and Barca over the next couple of years.

    Ambition is to PB in Amsterdam, even if only by 1 minute.

  • Hey H,

    Literally just somewhere reasonably close to start/finish... obviously I appreciate most decent places on reasonable budget will have been pre booked already. But looking at either Fri & Sat or Sat & Sun... just for myself as its a last minute thing, most others I run with are in for Chicago or Frankfurt.

    Good to be on board, may see some of you for some pre race Pasta or post race beers!

  • Same as me - normally one in spring and one later in year. But last year i did Rome as well as Brighton in spring. I did Berlin last year as well - probably one of the best so far, although i have done brighton twice and both have been awesome the support has been the best by a long way!

    amsterdam will make 6 and then barcelona and london in spring will be 8 and might do mont blanc in summer, then new york next autumn - makes 10 then i can finish!

  • Autumn 2014 will be next after November -  not sure where to run yet though.

    Agree with Wenty about Brighton and will certainly look at getting in to this race once again, the first one will always be special as I was also running in memory of a relative. I hope Bournemouth follows its lead.

    Slinkz - I have gone with Citizen M (the airport option) so I can get on the train to the Zuid station and work my way to the start from there. Trains go direct from the airport and once at Zuid I can walk if needs be - 20 minutes tops according to directions on google maps. Everything else can wait until I have completed the race.

    I had a good read on last year's thread for Amsterdam earlier on. Useful to read, they notched up around 1,000 posts so I just looked at the last few pages.

  • Goalpost - Cheers for the heads up, i'll look at that place, do you know how long the train ride is to Zuid from the airport?

    If I can get something for close to the £100 night range i'll take it, just as long as its not crazy far from the actual race start/finish!

  • Wenty and Emma H     -    ran barca in 2012 , it's a great marathon pretty flat apart from a few inclines especially the drag up to the finish , not to busy , good support and for me the best thing was staying in a hotel a 10 min jog away from the start . Like Amsterdam it's easy to get a place ,

    some of you guys doing back to back marathons and even 2 a year I take my hat off to you , my body just could not take that sort of punishment , I am happy doing a marathon every 18 months , for a 2 or 3 weeks after a marathon I do no running , then for another couple of months the legs are still recovering , I just don't seem to recover that fast.

    Has any one done Merdoc ? that looks fun

  • Hi everyone. Doing my first Amsterdam this year with only 2 previous marathons under my belt - albeit over 7 years ago. Just aiming to get round at this stage as training has been really tough going. I have a question about energy gels please - essentially how much and how often? I notice they have energy drinks and energy gels stations. Anyone with experience of those?

  • Channon - if you intend taking gels then I'd advise you do at least a couple of long runs with them before Amsterdam so that you get used to them.  I wouldn't recommend trying new gels on the day - you don't want to be getting stomach cramps or going to the loo if they don't agree.  I do use gels (High 5 with caffiene) but I think it's more physcological than anything.  My best advice is to get a routine that works and stick to it.

    I intend running Amsterdam with a bladder on my back with 2 litres carb/isotonic drink but this is more because of my excessive sweating (hence the name!!) and related loss of salt - I get salt crystals formulating all over my body after about 18miles.  I ran Manchester last year with a backpack and it worked well.  Plus, I hate the drink stations and drinking out of a cup while running.  The downside is you have to carry an exra 2Kg/4Lbs on your back.

  • Slinkz - I'll be heading to Zuid from the airport on the Saturday.  Just checked google maps - it reckons about 20mins by train.

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