FLM 09 - 3.45ers!

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Comments

  • HeTiger - well done - particularly after seizing up with cramp. And LifeOfRiley - sympathy on screaming toddlers after that much running! They're bad enough on an average day.

    AmandaZ - that sounds great. And am very impressed that you're not too stiff afterwards. I could hardly walk for about 5 days after my first half marathon!

    GymAddict - definitely stay here. You're already a whole lot further on than me - I've never done more than a half marathon. And frankly I think I may be in dreamworld with ideas of a 4 hour full marathon. But one can but dream .... !

    Velociraptor - love the piccie - what mile was that at? You all look jolly relaxed and happy. I was so ashamed of the Windsor pics - I look like I'm about to pass out in all of them - I didn't even let my mum have the web address!!
  • That piccy was quite early on, I think around three miles? It hadn't started raining there anyway!

    It's the day after a marathon I always regret working in an office on the first floor ...
  • Not sure where "HeTiger" came from. Particularly as you're not!! Sorry about that.

    Stairs are bad after long runs I find. I work on the 4th floor and the lifts were out of action after Windsor. Witness much comedy, particularly trying to go downstairs having seized up in front of my computer all day!
  • Sympathies on the Windsor pics, pidge! I look very, very unwell in mine too. After the race, I thought XFR Bear and dan dan were exaggerating when they said they'd had doubts about my ability to finish at all, never mind do sub-2hrs, when I passed them at Mile 5 looking like death on legs. Then I saw the photos they'd taken and could see exactly what they meant.

    The piccie, as Tiger says, was early on, but I managed to be irritatingly bouncy for 21 miles. RichK took lots of photos during the day (he was EVERYWHERE, bless him) and I'm looking forward to seeing those.

    GymAddict, something tells me that you're not going to like this, but letting my gym membership lapse did my running no end of good because I wasn't wasting time and energy doing activities that didn't benefit my running in order to justify the membership fee. Yes, I've got Scottish roots too!

    Mostly, though, it's involved a change of mindset. eL Bee said something just a few months ago that shook me out of "plodding" mode and made me take more control of my training and racing, and he couldn't be more supportive of my running. In return, of course, I'll do everything I can to make sure he gets a good pop at a sub-3 marathon.

    I've been shopping today, and bought a pair of Nike Vaporflys. Do you think I'm getting a bit carried away?
  • AAAHHHH I can't leave the gym. I already look like a sprinter compared to most runners I know,(more muscles than sense) but I do concentrate heavily on strength endurance rather than pure strength alone.

    Off to the track at lunchtime INSTEAD of the gym - 800's today methinks depending on how hard it rains!
  • Way to go GymA. You know it makes sense and think of all that fresh air.....espescially in Jan and Feb!!
  • Thinkng about the long run being only a third of your weekly miles, it makes it rather difficult when, like me, you only run 4 times a week. It becomes even harder when your long run is 22 miles - implying a weekly total of 66 miles!!!!
  • Oi, conker man !
    How much vinegar did you put on those feet of yours ? With a long run of 22 miles, I think you've overdosed on the Sarson's.
    And what do you mean, you "only run 4 times a week " ?
    ONLY ?!!!?!!?

    Gymbo, thanks for the pics.
    I've somehow stumbled my way to doctoring the man boobs off and getting it down to less than 12whatjamacallits, but am now waiting on the image being approved. Does that take long ?

    As regards the gym thing, we all enjoy the running, and the ever improving times and distances, but it is not the only thing in life. Fresh air IS grand, but I'm sure you also enjoy the social side of the gym, as well as working on things other than your legs ! You can do both, and still achieve your running goals.

    Ms Raptor, if Nike Vaporflys cost more than £35, then 2 things are certain...

    You ARE getting carried away !

    You CANNOT have Scottish roots !
  • The 22 miles is one run I plan in Feb/March not this week!! And that depends on getting in the Ballot. If not I'm going to stop running for 2 months and get my foot truely sorted: white wine or balsamic thats all we have in the house. Which do you reccommend?
  • The only time I ever use vinegar is when I treat myself to a white pudding supper !
  • Is that one where the blood is replaced by lard or is it just connective tissue?
  • Mainly gristle, cartliage, crushed bone, floor sweepings, bulls bollock, pig snout, butchers elastoplast, a drop of sweat, a handful of oats, and a soupcon of dandruff, deep fried in a delicious batter, best served on a bed of chips with a side order of a huge pickled onion, and washed down with a cheeky 500ml bottle of Diet Coke whilst reading a Bill Bryson book, between appointments, in early February, approx 7.45pm, in the Golf, parked up in some glamorous location like Macduff, with only Nina Simone for company.

    P.S. I eat 3 weetabix in skimmed milk for brekkie, never use salt on a meal, cut the fat off all meat, dont allow fizzy drinks in the house, poach my eggs, never fry, spend a fortune on fruit, drink water in the car everyday, no sugar in coffee etc, only go out for maybe 6 pints on a Monday night, and so feel justified in occasionally treating myself to the culinary equivalent of crack cocaine !

    I would recommend we all try one the night before the marathon.
  • Am I the only veggie on the thread?
  • Gristle etc could hardly be described as meat, so I think you are safe to enjoy one on a technicality !
  • You make it sound SOOOOO appealing, how could anyone resist. I love your justification - I do the same for my coffee addiction.
  • I'll be a veggie this weekend because I've got veggie friends visiting, and since my oldest daughter and the oldest Buzzlet are veggie too (well, actually, they're not, they're just fussy eaters, cos they both eat fish) I think there will be a lot of tofu and lentils in the Cavern cauldron.

    I think a decision was made last night that it would be financially worthwhile to buy a weights bench and some of those big pennies with holes in the middle rather than joining a gym. Roll on pay day!

    (To me the gym social scene is all about wobbly girls chatting as they walk at 2mph on adjacent treadmills, scrawny old ladies wearing tight lycra and tight facelifts desperately trying to flirt with the instructors, and waxed blokes teaching one another free-weight techniques that are bound to get them injured. But maybe I've just been to the wrong gyms.)

    I don't think it's universally agreed that your long run has to be no more than a third of your weekly mileage, HRR.

  • The thing with the gym is that after I finish I stretch better and for longer, I do much higher quality strength work (i.e. more press ups, situps etc) than I ever do in the house and so I get more all round fitness than I do when I only run. I also do more cross training as warm ups.

    I think maybe you have just been hitting the gym at the wrong times. All gyms have the people you describe but there are always a few serious ones too. I go at lunchtime when it's really quiet and only the dedicated nutters are there.

    Although last week there were some young trendy blokes in their early 20s trying to do weights - only they couldn't cos I had the size they wanted (oh how I laughed to myself!!!)

  • Loving the picture LS!

    I love white pudding. Is it true that they fry mars bars in Glasgow or is that just a myth? Sounds really nice!

    The Ripped Dap loves nothing more than to sink his teeth into a rare/medium steak.

    Abingdon runners......how you feeling today? Any soreness?
  • The deep fried Mars Bar originated in a wee chippie in Stonehaven, in the much more desirable and picturesque North East of Scotland, which proudly tells the world this fact with a large plaque on the wall. In 40 years time, the owner has plans to open a shop selling portable defibrilators to the locals who were the gullible schoolkids of today.

    Mr Dap, I couldn't believe that the photo Gymbo sent me just happened to be an informal snap of myself taken a few years ago !?
    What are the odds ?
  • I was a veggie of convenience at college, when it was cheaper, and everyone else seemed to be veggie. Now I'm in the rare steak lovers club!

    Is it true if you didn't bequeath to FLM you should know end of this week / early next if they've cashed your cheque?
  • Brilliant pic, LS. Pure dead brilliant ;o)

    RD, you don't have to go as far as Glasgow to get a deep-fried Mars bar. Apparently they're also a staple item in the Walsall diet. but in Glasgow they'll batter and deep-fry anything you ask for.

    GA, I suppose it depends on what we're looking for. I'm not athletically gifted, want to run the best I can and have very limited time, so all my training has to be running-specific. My mileage in preparation for Abingdon was very similar to my mileage in preparation for London in 2003 when I did 4.41, and in 2003 I was also doing two BodyPump classes and at least 2km of swimming a week, plus a 30-40 minute interval session on the stepper, little bits of rowing and using the elliptical cross-trainer (but only little bit because I got bored) and some free weights and balance work. I was also amenorrhoeic for a short time despite being no lighter than I am now, and had to eat about 1,000 calories a day more than I do now to stop my weight from dropping.

    Of course, the gymming may not have been what limited my running performance, because at the time my oldest daughter's behaviour was causing problems and during the next year I walked away from a dysfunctional work situation and called time on an unhappy marriage. So in retrospect my running then was probably about running away from life rather than trying to run as well as I could. When I found myself in a happy work environment, created some personal space within the house and the acute crisis with my daughter had settled, I went through a spell of not feeling the need to run a great deal for quite a long time.

    The impetus only returned a few months ago in response to a specific training goal - doing TrailWalker (100k) in under 15 hours next summer and not wanting to be the rate-limiting member of the team.

    >Slaps self around head< Dinosaurs talk too much!

    DOMS bypassed Raptor Cavern when he did his post-Abingdon round. I ran late last night after putting the kids to bed and rattled off 5 not-very-evenly-paced miles without any discomfort. The fastest mile, surprisingly, wasn't the one during which a group of silly boys seemed inordinately keen that I should accept a lift in the back of their pickup van, and kerb-crawled alongside me for what felt like quite a long way. It was really difficult not to engage in banter, but I thought I'd be safer just legging it and hoping they'd get bored driving at 8mph. It was a fairly busy road and they weren't likely to try anything, but if it had been in the middle of nowhere I'd have been quite frightened. Fortunately, there IS no middle-of-nowhere in my neighbourhood.

    My legs felt a little heavy this morning but are improving as the day goes on and I'll try to get out for a very slow 7-miler after work tonight.

  • LS, what are the chances of that eh?

    Got a photo of me in my Flares somewhere.....
  • Now my legs are coming back to life I've decided to do the Gosport half marathon on 19th November and make the most of my marathon fitness.

    I'm starting to feel the need to go out for a run again, but I shall resist till Saturday when I'm supporting at Beachy Head marathon and will no doubt be doing quite a fair bit of jogging around from place to place :)

  • Tiger, aint it amazing how quick the fit body recovers? The fact that you feel like running is superb.
    Best of luck at Gosport.
    I entered the Llanelli half in March. I gotta a huge sense of doom about my FLM entry.
    Can't wait to get it out of the way now so at least I can enter Lochaber and get travel arrangements sorted etc.
    LS, I am going to bring you same lava bread up for you boyo,theres nice isn't it?

    It's foul actually! Give me a battered, deep fried Mars bar anyday of the week.

    Would anybody on here know what I was talking about if I offered you all a Rissole?

    Wey Hey! Start carbo loading for Snowdonia tomorrow! I got that down to a fine art.
  • Oh I know what a rissole is - hubbie is from newcastle and sister-in-law lovingly prepares them for him everytime he goes home. THankfully I don't have to partake of that particular feast.
  • Little Stoker
    I'm age 30 - almost 5ft3 - 8st7 - female, and a store manager. Enough info?
    I'm checking my bank account everyday to see if my cheque for London goes out or not. I know it won't (if it does goes out) leave my account until the 28th ish. I'm just hoping!!
  • Mr Dap, although our chances of being interviewed by Sue Barker, or sitting in Nell McAndrews slipstream disappear with a "SORRY" magazine, at least the air in Fort William will be purer, with a higher O2 content, and we can run with an air of defiance, counting hairy coo's, which may result in PB's for us both !?

    We can taper on a diet of said deep fried Mars Bars, white puddings, lorn sausage, potted hoch, stovies, mince n tatties, whelks, dulce seaweed, Forfar bridies, Arbroath smokies, Aberdeen butteries, neeps, kail soup, shortie, Dundee Cake ( as in that famous square-go put down " I'll put more nuts on you than a Dundee Cake !", all washed down with a few pints of heavy, or Irn Bru for the teetotallers.
    I think that's mostly carbs, with just a trace of essential oily fats ?

    What are DOMS ?
  • Lows5,
    Sorry, but you have to be male, 37, and 13 stone-ish, OR a 42 year old fully qualified doctor of either sex to be on this thread.
    So, your options are...

    In the next 7 years, eat lots of pies, and book yourself in for a complex hospital procedure.

    OR

    In the next 12 years, read lots of books, and accept that not every patient will be Brad Pitt and his troublesome groin strain. The choice is yours if you fancy the complex procedure here, but I can tell you that it results in improved driving and navigational skills, no more violent mood swings, your bum not looking big in anything, and ALWAYS wearing comfy shoes !
  • >Lobs all the cups in the cupboard at LS, misses every time, and grasps handle of still-hot chip pan in case he dared to cast a sideward glance at the calendar instead of assuming he's done something wrong again.<

    Wow! Have you never met DOMS yet, LS? I'm well impressed. DOMS is that evil fiend who creeps up on you the day after the day after a run, just when you think you've Got Away With It. Otherwise known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

    I think I have that compulsive shopping thing, but it's also possible that the quantity of food I've just stuffed into my cupboards will just about last a long weekend with 8 pre-teens, one full-time and an undetermined number of part-time teenagers, three adult runners, three cats and whoever else happens to drop by.
  • Tiger, sensible decision :o) I hope you have a great race at Gosport. My next race is that weekend too, but it's the Suicide Six, which is really just a big obstacle race and will break me of the expectation of PBs at every race (though I should get s Suicide-Six-specific PB since I only have to beat 72 minutes).

    I have a sense of doom about London too. I really don't think they're going to accept my "five strikes and you're in" plea, and eL Bee is relying on the ballot. And we really need to get a fast spring marathon tucked away before ploughing into TrailWalker training. Lochaber looks tempting (especially if there are lots of people from the thread going) but I love supporting at London ... no doubt the decision will become clear in time.
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