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Paris Marathon 2015
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I feel a cold coming on. No I don't, it's hayfever. Or is it? What's that ache in my left hamstring? doesn't feel right. Should I be eating fat? Or not? Shall I use the bag drop? Don't need it. Or do I? Maybe I should have got some lighter trainers? is it too late? Or am I being silly? Should I eat breakfast before catching early flight on Friday? What should I eat in Paris? Should I take my own porridge? Should I take a caffeine gel? How much carbs? Is it actually worth it if taking on gels anyway? Right ankle feels weird. What's that? Why am I watching The Voice? Should I get my haircut before the race? Is that a cold coming on?
etc.
15West - this weather stuff is awful. I demand you stop it! That will make it go away, right?...
I suspect I'll be using the bag drop. I'm coming in from Montmartre, so not far, but travelling myself I don't much fancy lugging keys and anything else I don't need round the course with me.
Safely navigated a 10-mile stretch of the legs yesterday, and this morning's Dundee parkrun. My word, that's one heck of a hilly 5k! Came as a big of a shock to the system.
Will start packing my bag tomorrow just to help make this whole thing seem that big more real.
Hah! I share some of that pain, 15West. Haircut's a must, it will make you faster
Also; TD, a shame you won't be with us all on Sunday night but it'll be a relief to've made a decision on the running front.
15West your last post is the exact same conversation I have had in my head for the last 2 days!
As long as you've packed your trainers that's the most important! ...Have a safe journey Formaggio ...see you in Paris
Delighted to be flying back to Europe tonight, losing 8-10 hours of time, so will have a bit of jet lag in me still by Paris, then having to add another 3 or 4 hours when going back to the Middle East on Sunday. It's a really good job I'm not running this weekend!
As for supporting, I don't have a Stool Flag (after being on the forum for so many years, the turd joke kind of wore a bit thin a few years back!! but I accept others find it funny). I'll be waving a Belgian Flag with a love heart in the middle, which TinkerBEL fashioned into her own dress last year - modelled below at La Defense in Paris
Has everyone now made their race timing predictions? It's kind of usual to set out Bronze, Silver and Gold targets. Bronze is the level you award yourself if you feel like you got the result your training deserved, that you would be happy with. Silver is perhaps the target level that you are aiming to do at a push, something you will have to work really hard for. Gold is a stretch target, something aspirational, something you could only achieve with an exceptional performance and with everything going right on the day - a level you kind of dream to hit.
Most years we make a list of targets. You don't have to of course. Some people are 'target averse' and aim to just run for fun which is fine. But many people find it helps to set their goals out, as it gives them some mental leverage during the race to keep on consciously suffering (a public reward thanks to their efforts). So, lay them all out, Bronze, Silver, Gold.....
Ouch. Looks like it is going to be a hot one next weekend. My weather app says 23C and sunny all day in Paris next Sunday. Be prepared! Light clothing, a cap, some sunscreen (if you're Scottish and have light blue skin) and a rethink of pacing strategy maybe.
Can someone lend Ralf a few quid so he can buy his own photo for the Rogue's Gallery?!? And a few photos from other years to get your juices flowing...
Any more pictures people want to submit - anything goes, including tasteful nudity - after all, you're all going to have to expose a fair amount of skin next weekend so you might as well be able to recognise each other? Any previously unseen tattoos maybe? Dirty Leeds Rob had the Paris Marathon logo done on his calf..... Send pics to running richard at gmail dot com
This year's forum started straight after the race, it was a good idea to put the links to the marathon site and ASO, also to invite people to jump in. I don't who who's going to have the keys this year but is there any other information which should be added ?
Morning, and Happy Easter. One week to go.
Ok, it's going to be hot, forecast is nailed on now. This will most likely slow us down a bit...so take that into account when thinking of goals. For me will make PB hunting even more harder than it was. Now thinking clothing...do I buy a white vest? do I buy a cap? Hmmm, Will be nice for the rest of the trip though...Paris in nice, warm, spring sunshine, quite lucky really!
Worry worry.
Also - if sweating buckets need electrolytes to avoid dehydration right? And not many sports drinks handed out...so I guess top up with electrolytes in the days leading up to the race. Any suggestions?
Is the expo a good place to buy things like white vests and caps and electrolytes and carb loading drinks/food?
For electrolytes, what about carrying a couple of High5 zero tabs to drop into the vittel bottles along the way?
Up early Easter Sunday with slight hangover - have to go get my legs pummelled by a sadist.
Due to fading injury, first marathon and frying weather , my bronze silver and gd targets will be:
Bronze: to finish
Silver: finish alive
Gold: finish alive and smiling
Happy Easter peeps!
Back to weather....
Looking at google weather thingy (uses weather.com) which breaks the day down into 3 hour units it doesn't look so bad. At 6am forecasting 9C, at 9am 10C, 12pm 14C and 3pm 18C. Obviously will be tougher for those who are out there the longest...so make sure take on plenty of water and also use some to splash over yourself to cool down.
15West - I think you store enough electrolytes for a marathon, unless you're a 5hr+ runner, that's an ultramarathon concern? Dannir and RRwould have some good info on that. You've got sodium in gels the gels you use, right?
Wouldn't mess too much with your game plan at this stage, hot or not. Eat well and early nights before the race, yes. Properly hydrate before race, yes. Be sensible it's a marathon, yes.
Personally, I'm much happier running in warm or hot conditions
TD, ha, in the spirit of the rogues gallery, had to pinch a photo, still, if you've got a quid chuck it in the pot, rattle rattle.
Some thoughts about hot weather running.
Don't overdo the drinking. Over hydration is more dangerous than dehydration. 15West - you're spot on about electrolytes. Think about using something like salt sticks http://www.saltstick.com, nuun or High 5 electrolytes. I know the rule is 'nothing new on race day' but I've not heard of anyone having problems with them if you follow the instructions.
Wear a hat. And soak it with water regularly. You can also do the same with a buff for the back of your neck.
There is some evidence that you can acclimatise to heat in the period immediately before a race. So if you have the chance this week to use a sauna or steam room, or to do a run in a sweaty gym on a treadmill instead of outside, this may help.
The rule about not using ibuprofen during the race is especially important in hot weather. Ibuprofen + dehydration = kidney damage. The majority of people who are hospitalised after Comrades are there because they ignored this advice. They actually send out an email before the race specifically to warn us about this.
But apart from all that, Paris in the sunshine is lovely
!
Makes it difficult to know how much to drink pre-race. For my first marathon I usually drank quite a bit, usually a bottle of sports drink plus a cup of tea or two with breakfast...and always needed to stop for a wee during the race. At VLM last year I just had a small cup of tea and so didn't need to stop, and just took on drinks during the race which worked well. Was going to do same for Paris...but now not sure if I should down a sports drink too.
Anyway, I'm over worrying. I'll shut up about the weather. For now.
Thanks for the advice RC and LOR.
15 West. - weather forecasts are like opinion polls. Different sites give different results and the final result can be different still. Last year I was obsessed with the weather, don't worry too much. It's good to have a strategy if too hot. Last year i ran down the right handside of the rue de Rivoili because it was in the shade. They give out sponges at the expo, there are water buckets along the route to refresh yourself.
They usually put a small piece of sponge in the race bag at the Expo which is useful for keeping with you and at water stations they have big buckets that you can drop the sponge in and wipe yourself down, which is very good for high temps. I did my PB in Paris in 2012 when it hit 21C, so it doesn't HAVE to prevent a good performance! But one thing to be very careful of when dousing yourself - don't get water down your legs and in to your running shoes. If your feet go soft, this will very likely lead to horrible blistering. So get your head and face wet but lean forward so no excess water gets on your feet.
I start drinking sports drinks on Saturday morning. These contain electrolytes and of course, sugar-based carbohydrates. I have one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Lots of sipping. On Sunday morning, I get a sports drink in with breakfast. Not nice, but necessary. I then have one more that I take with me to the start and make sure I finish one hour before I start racing (so I have time to expel the excess liquid).
You should not need anything more than that to start the race with good electrolyte balance. A couple of electrolyte tablets to drop in water when you go round is a good idea if you are going to be out a long time, or are a particularly salty sweater. Dehydration is really not a big issue so don't panic about being thirsty or a bit parched - it has marginal affect on running performance. The body deals with this problem quite easily. Too much water intake without sufficient salts (Hyponatremia) can lead to sudden death - just like Running Rodent says.
Some talk of possibility of French Air Traffic Control strike on Wednesday. Still seats on Eurostar available as at yesterday.
Will try to catch up later, just off for a plod.
Hope all are well or will be by next week x
Morning Nodster and everyone.
Do you like the fireman? He's got a six-pack, oui? As in six full days to go. And he's guaranteed non-offensive, unlike many of the 'fireman with six-pack' photos I could have chosen
Last practice run at MP today - pace still all over the place but a bit better than Friday. Feels incredibly fast but trying to remind myself race pace IS going to feel fast compared to LSR run pace and it's normal.
Targets - my other race times and 800m pace indicate between 4:15-4:20, I've been training for 4:15 and am going to pretty gutted if I don't get it, mainly because I haven't done as well as I could in any of my other 3 marathons and could do without the heat mentally defeating me, am trying not to let it but I've barely done any of these runs in daylight let alone heat! Anyway:
Gold - assuming all out effort, no loo breaks, everything good - 4:15
Silver - some wiggle room for issues - 4:20
Bronze - 4:29 or less
Previous PB is 4:42 so to be fair anything sub 4:30 is big improvement, I just know I'm capable of even better.
Going to do some packing and calculating of carb content today to keep myself busy. I really wish I'd booked Tuesday and Wednesday off work now, it's probably one of my busiest times and I'm really not interested in having to think about work for two days!
What to wear - I'm not sure on vest vs short sleeve top - vest more ventilating but also more skin out to get burned!
One note of caution - my Garmin helpfully reminded me today by telling me my laps were nearly full and it was about to start deleting stuff which would have been really stressful in the race. So might be worth clearing out your Garmin laps!
And turning AutoPause off (from your Garmin), otherwise it will stop recording time in the tunnels and you'll be even more stressed!
what a time for French Air Traffic to be calling strikes...
Reading that also threat of general strike in France on Thursday.
Have Air France flight booked for Thursday am
Thats all I need.Just wanted to focus on marathon,not be worried about even getting there
Ordinateur- only just translated your name and worked it out. Why the change?
On the heat thing:
2011 was 25 degrees by the end - now *that* was hot and had a definite impact on me.
If this year turns out to be 18, that will be fine. Important not to obsess over it, weather forecasting is just educated guessing.
Anyone seen Jokeybhoy around? I have a friend who has a medical certificate problem...