Manchester Marathon 2017

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Comments

  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    MrPH - Two benefits (1) Caffeine encourages the burning of fat not glycogen which helps the availability of glycogen as fuel through a marathon (2) it blocks neural pathways/ messages from your body telling the brain 'hey buddy slow down I am tired' so mentally you do not "feel" so fatigued.  So some will have a strong expresso pre-race. To get the biggest boost I avoid caffeine leading up to a marathon and 30 minutes before the race start drink a 500 ml can of Monster and c90 minutes from the race end take a caffeine gel.  it does though make you feel slightly wired post-marathon and it does not agree with everybody. Your spot on about decaff - much better.
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    @Stapes2 (and anyone else who was planning to stay at the Altrincham Lodge Hotel)

    I got a reply back from Expedia today who I booked through, they said the hotel will be undergoing maintenance during my stay and my room will no longer be available.

    I was getting a bit worried as although they (Expedia) said they would honour the booking and find me a comparable hotel, the guy in the Expedia call centre who I was on the phone to
    (who given his attempts to pronounce "Altrincham" clearly had no prior experience with the area) didn't seem to understand my needs when looking for a replacement hotel, but he has got me a room at the Amblehurst Hotel in Sale which looks comparable and a similar distance from a tram stop so am pretty happy with that, all things considered.

    I'd suggest contacting whoever you booked through asap as it sounds like there is a good chance the Altrincham Lodge Hotel won't be an option for Saturday night.


  • @staples2 I've just had a call from hotels.com to rearrange accommodation in the Altrincham Lodge as they will not be open by Saturday. The man called from Arizona, USA so didn't know the area and it took 20 mins to sort out an alternative.
  • Si CSi C ✭✭
    Hi hope everyone is enjoying the tapering and carb fix, and that everyone is fit with no injuries?

    Can anyone recommend a decent pub that serves food quite near the finish location so i can meet up with the family?

    Good luck for sunday and fingers crossed that we all get to the finish line within our planned times
  • @Si C : Not a great choice of pubs near the finish but there is a Wetherspoons (Bishops Blaize?) on the main road between OT Football Ground and OT Cricket Ground (Finish Area). A little bit further past the football ground is Hotel Football which does a nice selection of food. Otherwise another 15-20 mins walk takes you to Salford Quays/Media City where there is a good range (Prezzo, Pizza Express, CAU, Harvester, Beefeater).

    For those thinking about the race route on Sunday I ran from Mile 0.75 to Mile 4 tonight. This year at Cornbrook station you turn a sharp right instead of the sharp left back up the dual carriageway. The road to the right does narrow considerably with quite a lot of road furniture including railings to stop you getting on the pavement - just take care as no one wants an accident less than a mile from the start !!! The rest of this part section looks pretty wide with a bit of road furniture and a bit of a camber/uneven gutter too
  • NickW2 and Evcooke. Thanks for the updates regarding the Altrincham Lodge.  Reckon there must be thousands booked in there!!

    I too had an email from hotels.com.  To be fair, hotels.com were great and whilst we will have a bit further to travel on the day, think it's turned out in our favour.  (Took 75 minutes mind!!)

    Now on to the weather.....
  • 4 miles in the fog for me this morning. Only 1 more run before Sunday....

    Hope everyone gets the hotel situation sorted. Not what you need.

    Thought I had my pace decided but the coach at my club and my physio both think I am being too conservative.  So of course that is all I can think about   :o

    Weather still looking okay. Fingers crossed the forecast doesn't change.
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    Stapes and evcooke, glad you both got sorted
  • Weather forecast does continue to improve... close to perfect really with wind at 4 to 5 mph, dry and pretty cool. But not much leeway. One day either side the wind speed doubles. WATER STATIONS... I had a closer look at the map this evening and notice that there are generally plenty of water stations... but there is a danger area I think is worth being aware of. There is only one water station between those at 15.7m and 21.7 miles... and that water station (at about 18.7m) looks like it might be on the outside of a sharpish bend. It might be tempting to cut the corner and avoid the water station but that would be a mistake, as taking on water is important at that stage of the race. The 18.7m water station doesn't have gels either, so that's a 6m stretch without gel stations.... quite a long way. So really important not to miss out on the station at 15.7m.
  • NE - Thanks for the tip. By 18 miles I will have forgotten... I need a sheet of all the tips from this forum that I can revise and memorise  :D
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Thanks NE. It's worth noting that water is bottled, not in cups, so it's worth hanging on to the bottle (rather than two gulps and toss) to drink at your leisure. That makes hitting all the stations a bit less critical than it would be in a cups race.

  • You can tell it's marathon week when I start getting to this level of detail!
  • FayaFaya ✭✭✭
    Anyone else getting the pre-race jitters? 

    I have a feeling I might do something stupid. My current pace fluctuates between 12 min miles and 14 min miles depending on if it's road or trail and just how I'm feeling. My last marathon time was 5:41 on my watch, although the course was 5:47 (London, so there was lots of running around people and my watch thinks I did closer to 27 miles than 26.2). I might see how long I can chase the 5:30 pacer for. Go big or go home, right? 

  • vodkabobvodkabob ✭✭✭
    Faya - massive pre-race jitters here. I have woken up at half 4 yesterday and today and just cannot get back off to sleep, which is worrying as sleep is so important in the lead up to Sunday :neutral:
  • Sorry to hear about the hotel situation, hope you all get sorted. Manchester is pretty easy to move around with the trams - much less hassle than other marathons I've done. 

    I wouldn't worry Vodkabob, it's normal to be nervous and less tired during the taper, thus less sleep needed. Try get a good sleep Friday because that's the most important night, Saturday doesn't matter so much.

    I'm enjoying your detail NorthEnder. Weather does seem perfect at the moment.. fingers crossed!   
  • NickW2NickW2 ✭✭✭
    Detail is good - it's what this thread is for :)

    What time are people aiming to get to the start, considering that I'll probably use the bag drop? I was thinking aim for 7:30 at Old Trafford tram stop - is that early enough?

    Cal - I think I saw in the race pack (online) that they encourage you to hold on to the bottles - is this a big thing or is it perfectly acceptable to drink a bit and then chuck it when you don't want it any more?
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Nick-Lots drop and run, just watch out for stupid people who drop them on the floor rather than throwing to the side. 7.30 will be plenty,my coach doesn't get in to city centre until 7.20 and I had plenty of time last year.
    Little wary that I've barely run in the last 3 weeks but hoping the last 5 months make up for that.
  • What a nightmare hotel situation for some of you - glad they've managed to find you somewhere else though :-)

    Definitely discard bottles to the side of the road and also watch where you place your feet in the 1/2 mile after water stations because discarded bottles can be an ankle breaker if you step on one.

    Loving the level of detail. I'm currently in denial (still got a cold and feel dreadful) but will be studying the route map in earnest later in the week when/if I feel better. Am spending my time googling marathons for next year now because I've decided Sunday is probably a wipeout in terms of goals.
  • For those of you not consuming any lactose, the SIS mint chocolate protein bar they are handing out at the finish line contains milk.
  • DL34DL34 ✭✭
    RacheyD1978, that's tough luck - hope you get better in time. I'm suffering from a fever and headache today. Had it since yesterday lunchtime. Couldn't even face dinner last night. Hope it goes in the next day or two or that 3 hour goal is truly out the window.
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Managed a 5 mile MP run today with no pain so hopefully all good now.The positive of it all is I haven't had time to worry so suddenly it's here with no stress.
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    Rachey - Think about changing your strategy for the race.  Last Sept, I ran a marathon where training/ injury meant I was no where near able to run the time I wanted. I ran it  purposely slowly as a training run, recorded my first ever - split and absolutely loved it.  I think if I tried to run it even 5 minutes faster, I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much and also had a major training benefit for the next one.
    DL34 - Same here + congestion answer is: eat spicy food.
    Ian5 - That's great news - excellent.
    NE - Thanks, take a bottle at mile 15.7
    4m this morning with 2 hm pace 600m or so.
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    Rachey - If your still ill nearer the time don't run.
  • Daz BromsDaz Broms ✭✭✭
    great to hear , in a weird way , that everyone else is getting the jitters closer to race day, thought it was just me.  2 runs this week of 4 miles at MP with 1 more planned for Friday and that's me done till Sunday. Keep going over and over my travel and hotel plans and all seems good so far, nightmare for those people with hotel issues, hope its sorted now .    Hope to bump into the Toilet lurkers on Sunday morning.
  • I always get the jitters. Anxiety dreams/ nightmares in the 7 days leading up to the race usually around missing the start, losing my number!!!!
  • Just reposting this to see if anyone can help out please?

    "Does anyone have any experience of completing this race in the 5:30-6hr range? My wife is aiming for this and she has a bit of a worry that the feed stations will start to run out of gels/water as it gets to the back of the pack. Just wondering if anyone knows whether in previous events they've stocked up well enough to feed the whole field as I've heard tales of issues like this in other races."
  • @Ron247 - Unfortunately I've not got experience of this event around the 5:30-6:00 range, but I expect as one the biggest UK marathons water/gels should be ok.

    Saying that, all my marathons have been between 3:15-3:25 but I always ensure a couple of safety nets incase the organisers let the runners down (or suppliers let the organisers down)

    I carry at least 4 gels with me (using a gel belt) and then my support team (my wife !!!) will be on the course near Brooklands (8/16M ish) Metrolink to hand me an iso drink with two gels (in case I drop the ones on the gel belt) sellotaped to the bottle. for me at 16M, then she can get the tram back to the finish. I usually end up finishing with 3 unused gels but always good to cover for worse case scenarios.

    Hope that helps
  • Thanks for that. I think she's just going to carry as many supplies as possible, but here is the option of having her family act as support at several points too. 

    For myself, I'm aiming at 3hr, and am thinking of carrying just one, maybe two gels and relying on the stations for the rest, but will finalise a plan before Sunday to make sure I'm definitely covered. 
  • Glad the hotel nightmares got sorted in the end - that was the last thing you guys needed!

    NE - thanks for the constant weather updates and water station details... I've decided to carry what I need with me but my little squishy bottle only holds about 300 mL so it's good to know about the later stations.

    Yep, Faya and vodka... I'm suffering massively with nerves at the moment - I'm virtually useless at work at the moment, I'm so distracted.

    Nick - yikes! That's way earlier than I was thinking... I was planning on being parked by 7:45... maybe I should move that forward to 7:30... hell, that's another thing I'm second-guessing now!!! :o

    Good to hear your leg seems better, Ian - hope to see you at the loos or else in Pen E. Gaz - how will we recognise you and differentiate you from any other random non-thread toilet lurkers!? :smiley:

    Did track intervals today for a nice speedy leg shake out - so just 3 or so miles left for me on Saturday. Also had a nice final sports massage to give my muscles a work over.

    What are people's plans for Saturday? I don't want to do anything that takes up too much time on my feet but I also don't want to sit around too much... I'll be at home as I'm heading in to the city on Sunday morning - any suggestions/advice?
  • Ian5Ian5 ✭✭✭
    Nell-I'm off to watch the football so I'm hoping it's not too exciting for jumping around,other than that just eating carbs really  :)
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