Manchester Marathon 2017

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Comments

  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    Daz - I am guilty.  1 ibuprofen every day, race day or not. Advised by my GP as a remedy to my inflamed knee problems (and he was right!)
    Ian5 - What is the injury as rest is an amazing cure and the effect on any finishing time will be very little.
    LittleNell - Congratulations, great time to get a PB, and 2 weeks out is ideal.
    MrPH - Good confidence building tough run and plenty of time to recover.
    RacheyD - Good to hear your training is back on and no major after-effects.
    Northender - Manchester in early April, got to be Morrisey weather, dull, damp and about 10C.

    Enjoyable 13 miler for me yesterday along the Seine in Paris, no real pace but a few quicker miles. Amazed at the number of people running. Followed by 5 hours of sight-seeing walking around - such a beautiful city.   Back home and aiming for a fastish 5 miler this evening.  Like many glad have got to this stage with no major niggles or worries.  Number arrived.
  • How many of you have trained for a certain MP, then got to the starting line and decided on aiming higher? Or decided on a quicker MP during tapering, as there is a huge temptation to do it. What have the outcomes been?

    The inner battle of "imagine if" with the fear of "what if I reach 20 miles and..." has been very common the last couple of days. I will do my utmost to not change my MP.
  • Nell...  I guess that if it was an accidental pb, that you weren't really tanking it. Hopefully it's just a sign of how your training has improved your HM capability.
    Ian...not sure what experience you've got, but for sure, if you're going to miss 3 weeks of training, then missing the first or last 3 are the ones to choose. Probably missing the last 3 is best of all. Sure, you lose a little edge but you gain such a lot of adaption too that the net loss is small. If you recover, then go with confidence!
    Nick... I'll come back to you on that pacer / start pen question... it needs a dedicated post!
    Daz - painkillers would be a no-no for me... but if you're tempted, please do much more research.  I'm seem to remember that one of them does have a specific health danger for endurance racing I think... I was going to guess at Ibruprofen... but for OuchOuch's sake, I hope I'm wrong!
    Martin...  in a marathon, no. Not me!
    Weatherwatch from weather.co.uk...  since yesterday, they changed it from 40% chance of rain to 10%. No change in temperature predictions. Wind prediction increased by 1 to 18km/h.

  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017
    Nick... and anyone else who read my post about moving starting pens.

    I just read the relevant part of the race booklet for 2017 and I see that they have changed the instructions this year.  In 2016, they wrote that runners should 'be realistic' about the pen they started from.  Now they say that you can move backwards, but NOT FORWARDS.

    I also see that they have changed where the starting pens will be.  They divide us into pens A-G and the start is still near the big arch... but instead of all lining up in a long straight line along the A56 dual carriageway, the starting queue now snakes round the roundabout and back along the A5081. Have a look at the booklet.  As for the question about which pens the pacers will start in, it isn't made clear this year what estimated times are associated with which pen. But perhaps an indication...  last year, they did... and they also had pens A-G so maybe they are the same. They were: A= 3hrs and below.  B=3.01-3.29.  C=3.30-3.44  D=3.45-3.59  E=4hr  F=4.01-4.30  G=4.31+

    You can see which pacers will be available in this year's booklet and you can match them up with the above time-ranges... but really, they might have tweaked the time ranges this year.

    Opinion... personally, I think last year's stance of 'be realistic' seems mature and sensible.  To allow people to move back but not forwards simply encourages people to select overly ambitious starting pens when they enter a race - which means you get slower runners in faster  pens.  It might be difficult to allow changes of pen in some races... but as Manchester say that you can move back does suggest that moving is not impractical.
  • That's interesting NorthEnder re the starting pens. I think they may have tweaked it slightly as I (rather optimistically) predicted 3:40 and am in pen D.  <b></b>
  • Thanks guys - surprise PBs are the best kind! :smiley: I actually tailed off quite a lot towards the end, not because I was tired but because I knew I was going to be first female home in my work team - which was the only goal I had for the event, so I relaxed a lot. I'm pretty tired today though!

    Thankfully, my number arrived in the post today *phew* ... need to find something else to stress about now - LOL!I have got a bit of a sore throat and some of my colleagues have come in to work with some really rampant colds and flu - the coughing and sneezing in the office is UNBELIEVABLE at the moment, so I keep setting up camp in the lab instead to try to avoid them.

    Ian - gutted to hear of your injury. You've certainly put in the mileage, so hopefully suitable rest will put you right in time! If you do make it to the start line - I might just see you as I'm in start area E too :smile:

    Rachey, that's a good week of running there... and you managed to hit that pesky elusive goal marathon.

    Well done on your final leg tester, MrPH - before the taper sets in.

    Daz - glad you got your number today as well... it's a relief isn't it!

    Thanks, Nick... yeah, I'll cease and desist from racing next weekend... hahaha... You sound like you're hitting form at exactly the right time - 3:15 seems like a good target for you.

    Sounds like a lovely run in Paris, Ouch - I do like Paris... hubby and I honeymooned there 15 years ago exactly on the weekend of the forthcoming marathon (31st March is our wedding anniversary and we went to Paris the following day for a week's honeymoon!). 

    Great question, Martin - I can't comment as this will be my first marathon... but I'm interested to read the answers.

    NE - many thanks for all your valuable contributions! I like your weather updates... the wind is getting up to the levels we had yesterday - not great! Re: the lining up at the start - that dog-leg thing was how they did the Manchester Half last October, it worked pretty well... later pens smoothly fed up onto the dual-carriageway. I was in the first pen "round the corner" for the HM (effectively "C" on the mara map)... bit further back for the actual mara though. Your list of time divisions makes sense - I think I probably would have put 4:00 as a predicted time with no real evidence to go off... although I really can't, for the life of me, remember!

  • Daz BromsDaz Broms ✭✭✭
    Done a quick search for info on painkillers during marathon and found this http://www.coachmag.co.uk/exercises/marathon-training/4467/should-you-take-painkillers-during-an-endurance-race
    think i will give them a miss. 
    Looking at long range weather forecasts, something else to keep us all busy. 
  • Nell - I am glad I work from home at times like this! I visit the office about once a month but it is full of germs so I am staying away until April.

    I usually put in an optimistic (but not hugely unrealistic!) finish time because you're usually allowed to move back pens but not forward, as NorthEnder mentioned is the case for Manchester.

    Martin - for my last marathon (it was my 2nd, 5 years after my disastrous 1st), I didn't really decide my pace until I was in the 1st mile!  I ended up going with the pace both a coach at running club and my physio suggested, which I didn't believe I could maintain, and it worked. I did lose sleep trying to decide what pace to go for and am feeling undecided this time too ...

    Weather watching here too! High pressure due to be on its way and staying for a while so hopefully we'll have good weather.
  • weather.co.uk weatherwatch.

    Today they adjusted up both the max and min temps by 1 degree (14/7). The chance of rain rebounded from 10 back up to 40%.  No change in the relatively windy forecast of 18km/hr
  • DL34DL34 ✭✭
    Hi. New to the forum and first timer at Manchester. Looking for a bit of advice on how crowded the race gets. I'm in Pen B but looking to go sub-3. I see some discussion on moving up/down pens but will it be crowded and if so for how long?
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Nell-Give me a nudge if you see me,10789 tall fat bloke in glasses ;-) 
    Leg seems to be getting better but not getting my hopes up too much incase I don't make it.Keep calm everyone and no last minute changes to your taper.
  • Ian - glad your leg is improving.

    NE - tne weather forecast on Breakfast and my phone both said it would pour while I was out running this morning but it didn't rain at all. They can't even get the forecast right for the next few hours  :D

    Anyone got any advice for spectators?  My husband and daughters will be travelling by tram, and will meet up with my sister and her family who will be driving. Looking at Timperley or Altrincham?  They could see me twice there and get coffee in between  :)
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    Aber - Don't know if it's a good idea or not but we are staying near Timperley so my wife was planning to try and see me at about 10.5 miles, and then stay in the same spot to see me again (hopefully not too much later!) at 14 miles, then head to somewhere near the finish.
  • FayaFaya ✭✭✭
    Daz - I'd read something along those lines a few years back. Was horrified at the London Marathon when a woman who was racing that day showed me her "pill plan". She was taking a good 4 odd pills at different points of the race. 

    I've got my number through. I'm in the last pen, but that's no shock. I'm looking at about 6 hours to get around. Going to try for a PB, but not sure if I'll be able to this year. 

    Week and a half to go! 
  • cant run as injured but still coming up as hubby is running....does anyone know anywhere near that it would be safe to park up the mobile home the night before
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    Unlucky seren nos and good luck to your other half..
    Going to reduce my one pill a day habit to one every other day...
    Just ran another 5K tt (19.04) to ensure my taper isn't just a case of general slow running.  Ever so slower than of late but its a work day and I am a bit tired. 
    DL34 - at your pace, the race will already be stretched out after a few miles or so, it is in London with 3 times the number of runners.  Prob a good idea though to start close to the front of your pen.

    Time for a list? 

    OuchOuch     1024     A        Aim:  2:54:36 (yes, I have a hint of OCD)
  • OuchOuch - I have A, B, C and D times!!!!
  • I know I'm joining this discussion a little late but thought I'd say hello.

    Doing the Manchester Marathon for the 3rd time this year (3:15 (adj 3:17 short course) and ran to halfway 1:28 then dropped out). Training has gone relatively well and looking for a 3:15-3:30 clocking. This is my first event for a few years (I have 32:30 10k PB from 18 years ago) and pretty excited.

    I mixed my training up this year and have done everything in KM's - surprisingly looking at my Garmin seeing 4:40 km's was quite easy to get used to. Long runs have been a bit limited and the last 3 weekend's have seen me do 30k, 35k, and 32.2k, with a mideweek run of 15k (10k hard, then 5k flat out).

    I live pretty close to the start area, so if anyone has any local questions, drop them on here and I will help out as much as I can
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Hey guys, just got back from Dubai. Good holiday - didn't do any running although I walked quite a lot of steps each day around the theme parks and malls.
    Anyway, arrived back to find my number. I'm rather annoyed - it's a blue number (the slowest group) rather than pink like last year. Which means I won't be able to start with the 4:30 pacer. I was actually hoping to run a bit ahead of him. Not sure what to do about that. :/
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    Aber - A is for my starting pen.  B will be anything slower than 2:54:36.
    Welcome SQRunner80 - looks like you have a very decent training block under your belt and plenty of speed in your DNA.
    Cal - mmm.  
  • Do you have any pink felt-tips Cal?  Personally, I would seek out the pacer in the 15 minutes before the race to ask for advice.  How terrible it would be if you couldn't then work your way back to the back in time for the race.

    I'm No  917.  3rd time Manchester runner. 2015 3:46*  2016 3:24**   [*adjusted for the the course distance.  ** based on a big increase in training and reduction in weight]

    This year, had hoped to get to 3:20 (Good for age time) but missed a lot of training.  Signs are that I can still run short distances pretty well, but only averaged 27.7m over the last 13 weeks.. so the endurance won't be there. Not yet decided what I'm going to aim for.  
  • Weather. Forecast weather, temperatures, precipitation are the same as on Tuesday but they've adjusted the wind speed up a lot... to 23 km/hr.

    Like Aber said... who knows how accurate it will be. Probably not very. But it passes the time.   Aber... are you from Wales.  If so, which Aber?
  • Well it's bright and sunny this morning in Trafford, although a little chilly in the air.

    Regarding pen movement, this has been very relaxed in previous years (up and down) although I cant remember the exact text in the race guide, with few or any Marshalls present.

    Did notice it mentioned the waves being released in sections to reduce congestion on the course so whether that means they may hold each pen for a minute after the one in front has cleared?
  • 10 days away now! Starting to get the phantom niggles and aches in my legs! Gym session last night, will do a decent 7 or 8 miles tonight with a few strides. 
    Currently spending my days and evenings trying to plot my positive split timings to perfection :-) Again it will all go out the window withing half a mile of the start line!!

    I will add to the list!

    OuchOuch        1024      A        Aim:  2:54:36
    MrPotatoHead  3871      B         Aim:  3:04:00

  • vodkabobvodkabob ✭✭✭
    Starting to get nervous now.....ran 8 miles of hill efforts last night, probably shouldn't have during taper but it was the club session, 15 miles easy planned at the weekend then a couple of short ones before the day.

    Not sure what my number is but I am in C pack, and Target A is 3:20, Target B is to beat the time for my previous marathon at York of 3:27.
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    10 days to go!

    I unexpectedly have a bit more free time than usual this week, trying to stop myself doing more running than usual lol

    8 easy miles with my club last night, have a couple of minor taper niggles but nothing hurts when I run which is a good sign I guess.
  • NE - Abergavenny (though originally from Cheshire).

    Vodka - I did York too. Loved it!

    Family are enjoying having food in the cupboard. Freezer stocked up with homemade soup. It's nice having a bit of extra time although I am getting twitchy!

    Off to running club tonight. Then only another 4 runs before the big day.

    Added my time below. That's my C time. My A and B times are in my dreams and my D would be beating my PB by 1 second!

    OuchOuch 1024 A Aim: 2:54:36
    MrPotatoHead 3871 B Aim: 3:04:00
    AberSnail 923 F Aim: 4:22:59
  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017
    This is the thread list, as far as I can see.  Could be a good idea to copy paste it, and amend or add to it. 

    OuchOuch 1024 A Aim: 2:54:36

     MrPotatoHead 3871 B Aim: 3:04:00

     DL54     Pen B   Aim 2:59:59

     NickW2   Pen C   Aim 3:15

     vodkabob             Pen C    Aim 3:20     B target 3:27

     NorthEnder   917   Pen C   Aim 3:30   (stretch 3:20 GFA)

    RacheyD1978    Pen D    Aim 3:40?

    Ian5 10789   Pen E  Aim 

    AberSnail 923 F Aim: 4:22:59

    Daz Broms   Pen F   Aim  [sub-4]?

  • Aber...  I'm in Monmouth.  With you being 923 and me 917, it makes me wonder if they allocated running numbers based on geography!
  • Daz BromsDaz Broms ✭✭✭
    Northender- spot on, pink number so pen F and sub 4 was aim originally even though I'm aiming to run a pace between 8:00 and 8:15 and see where I end up. 
    What's everyone's last long run this weekend ? I'm planned to do 8 miles at MP then 3 runs in the week with longest being 7.5, Getting nervous now. 
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