FLM 09 - 3.45ers!

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  • Velociraptor - I thought you were a 5 times rejected certainty?

    Maybe they're just sitting on your cheque?
  • I am a five-times-rejected certainty and hope they're just sitting on my cheque, pidge :o(

    Wish I was doing my long run tonight. I'd probably collect a lot of small change and sweeties running around the roads of Solihull on October 31st dressed as a skeleton. Tomorrow night I'll just look as if I didn't check the calendar properly.
  • I feel like I did when I passed all my school exams, and excitedly rang up my mates, only to find not everyone got the same results !?

    I hope the cheque cashing DOES mean I am in. The wife has already suggested I run for the old folks day care centre where she works. I think a local charity will drive the good people of the town to dig deep, but I'd be useless fronting my own campaign for an obscure charity.

    Everything is concrete now, and nothing is pie in the sky or hypothetical. I think I'm as excited at the thought of how far I can go, and how much time I can shave off my PB's with this place almost certainly in the bag.

    I have been walking on air today. Might have something to do with the new sneakers. Tomorrows time will reveal how big the extra bounce in each step is !

    Read the reviews of Snowdonia, and its amazing how many said it blew away anything they'd ever run before. I hope for those heading North in April, the Highlands leave such a lasting impression.

  • Little Stoker ... many congrats on the place.

    Personally, I wasn't really expecting to get in through the ballot, so am not disappointed. I'll hang out here a bit in the hope that I might still get a club place.

    Otherwise, currently mulling over doing the Shakespeare one week later than London.
  • Brilliant news, LS :o)

    Pidge, the Shakespeare marathon is on my doorstep and, having watched it in the past, the words "barge-pole" feature in my feelings about ever running it. It's a dreary, poorly-supported two-lap course, a little too undulating to be a true PB course, and the weather is always boiling hot that day.

    I'd like to know what date to start counting back 18 weeks from for the schedules, but otherwise, well, there are other marathons and I WILL get a GFA time for 2008 :o)
  • I've been rejected the last 2 years, and fully expected that trend to continue up until the 5 year mark.
    Plus I'm getting old, and would stand no chance with Nell McAndrew if I left it until I was completely bald !
    Hope you get a club place, or can shake off the flat feeling soon, and join the others up here in Sweaty Sock Land in April doing the Lochaber one on the same day. Your training is going really well, and so don't let things slip. Stay positive and keep setting new goals, and new PB's, even if they are just for your wee local training run.

    Todays run was a good one in the new trainers. I think the pair of Saucony's the wife got are super light, and probably won't last that long, but they'll get me through Winter, and if I continue to feel as good as I did at 6 am today, then the times will plummet, and the distances grow .
  • No cheques cashed :-(
    Just as well I haven;t been training then!!
    Might look at Stratford instead - probably only the 1/2 though - not sure I can face doing the Greenway twice.

    Well done to all those with money taken - enjoy!
  • Isn't anyone gonna go for a charity place, or does the total they demand put people off ? I guess its an added pressure you can do without, especially when there are other options.
    Are other forums discussing the same topic ?
    Is Funkin in or out ?
  • Hmmm - that's interesting Velociraptor. Trouble is, I suggested to my other half me doing Paris which at least one of my clubmates is doing, and which sounds great. But he vetoed it on grounds of expense (we are stoney broke with two kids in childcare at the moment!). So that rules out any other tempting options like Copenhagen (where we have friends), Lochaber, which sounds great etc.

    So it needs to be something close to home to save on travel and accommodation expense. Maybe I should just enter another half, and do a 16mile and 20miler in spring / summer and then do a marathon like Abingdon in the autumn.

    And you never know ... my club might still provide the key to FLM.

    I have thought about the charity option too - would love to run for Asthma, since I'm asthmatic. But again, rather daunted by having to raise £1500, particularly as we have no money ourselves, normally I'd be happy to shout them a few hundred myself!
  • I've run FLM for charity three times in the past and have thought about it for this time round but can't face the can-rattling, especially as my OTHER target race for 2007 - TrailWalker - carries a fundraising obligation.

    Lochaber's only a possibility for us if neither eL Bee nor I gets a FLM place, because it's on the same day. Paris would be the obvious alternative choice but Zurich looks a lot more tempting. It can't be too late in the spring because we're doing Windermere as a training event at the end of May. Possibly as a double with White Peak.

    >Memo to self - float THAT idea past other team members before committing to it, preferably after wining and dining them generously.<

    Back in the real world, I've got a 15-miler scheduled for this evening and feel a great deal less tired than I have for the past couple of days. I'm quite looking forward to it. Planning 7 miles at 9.30mm pace and 8 miles at 8.45mm pace but will probably end up running whatever comes out of my legs of its own accord.
  • Good lord Vrap that sounds fast for a wednesday evening, rather you than me.

    Today was a rowing challenge at the gym then lots of weight training .... not likely to speed me up but never mind.

    I've got a place at FLM but it's a GB one. They called me up weeks ago and asked me if they could reserve a place for me.

    Also no cheque cashed so looks like the GB it is.

    Find the raising of the dosh pretty hard work but this will be the last time i do it for a few years so will be begging like there is no tomorrow.
  • Well no cheque cashed for me, and I thought it might be 3rd time lucky.
  • The speed was a little overambitious, GA, since it was based on my aspirational rather than current marathon pace. But I managed 15.44 miles very comfortably at an average of 9.30mm.

    I'm now rediscovering the impossibility of opening a 450g carton of yogurt and just eating a little bowlful of it after a long run. Which is OK, because if I want to run again tomorrow (which I do - just a 4-mile recovery run) I have to replace all the calories used in the run within 4 hours of finishing. I don't want to get injured as a result of doing something avoidable like running on glycogen-depleted muscles. Only 200 calories to go now :o) Three digestive biscuits with my last cup of decaf, I think.

    Must be nice to know you've got a FLM place whatever happens! I'm still half-tempted to give the charity I ran for before a call, but know I'd regret it.
  • I take it, it's tasty yoghurt then.

    I have to do a fast 3 miles today at lunchtime but my reward is that my dance classes start tonight. Very excited despite knowing that we will probably get as far as a ball change and no further. Hoepfully it'll be to somthing funky like ricky martin(as opposed to something instrumental or a PIANO!!!!)

    I really really struggle with my food and running. It has transformed my body shape - but I am no smaller than when I started. Running more miles just makes me more hungry and whatever I do, I just cannot lose a pound. AND, I don't even look like an endurance runner - I look like a sprinter with big muscular legs, must be the way I run.
  • Very tasty yoghurt, GA. Full-cream, full-sugar, of the variety I advise invalids to eat to help build them up :o) I did offer to share it with my 8-year-old, but she refused because it had bits in.

    I don't cast a distance-runner-shaped shadow either. My legs are quite substantial and I look more like a carthorse than a racehorse. But carthorses are strong and racehorses are fragile and temperamental, so I'll settle for that. Elite female distance runners of my height weigh at least a stone less than I do, and that's obviously part of the genetic make-up that sets them aside from those of us who will never be paid by the organisers to run marathons. If I tried to look like them I'd just get ill and very, very hungry and extremely frustrated about being unable to find clothes to fit.

    Your weight's OK for your height, as I remember. And with all that gym work and rowing and stuff, you've probably got lots of upper-body muscle.

  • Thanks for that - I am obsessed with doing press ups so it's my own fault if I have muscle LOL!
  • Hello all,

    Am back from three days in Prague, which was very pleasant :) Now need to do something about all the food and drink calories that seem to have settled on me!

    It looks like the FLM organisers do not wish to see my fancy dress costume in 2007. Pah! And I'd got my eye on a jolly garish pink cowgirl outfit too, will just have to get that sub 3:45 and run off the green start in it the following year then ;o)

    Tis fortunate I'd already got Barcelona lined up for the Spring mara treat :))

  • Tiger, you need to remind the FLM organisers that you and Snoop are an institution and HAVE to be allowed in ;o)

    Glad you enjoyed Prague!

    Kevin the Teenager asked me if I'd take her to Prague since she liked the city when her father took her during his post-divorce gallivanting phase. I said "Interesting idea - I wonder when the marathon is?" Obsessed? Me? Never!
  • HE's in! Double pah!!

    The marathon crossed my mind while I was over there :) They do a half marathon as well, don't know if they are on the same date - will have to research it ;o) There's an awful lot of cobbled roads in the centre!
  • There are just so many tempting marathons around! I can see why people just HAVE to do them all again and again and it's going to be difficult to restrict myself to one or two a year, or to think "If I do Abingdon again, I won't be able to do Dublin/Snowdonia/Langdale/Prague that year." Or "If I get a GFA for FLM, well, I'll have done FLM several times already, but I've never done Boston ... "

    Must check my bank account again, and phone the FLM people if nothing's happened by the end of the week.
  • V. Rap, I totaly know what you mean about there being so many tempting marathons. I have got to do Lochaber, it just seems such a beautiful course. After doing Snowdonia, I have really been turned onto scenic events, I mean you just can't compare it to a big city marathon.

    However, saying that, I really really want to do Belfast. You actually get to run down the Falls road. Why does that excite me? Not sure, just so much history I guess.

    Alright, down to brass tacks. When are we going to actually draw a line in the sand and declare that's the day I start my training? What schedules are people going to follow?

    As for charity FLM places, I did that in 2005. The stress of raising the money actually took away from the event for me. I worried so much about it. I always run for charity, but I would rather do it on a voluntary basis if you know what I mean. I would like people to donate because they want to rather than me stalking them for money.

    The charity I just ran Snowdonia for, means so much to me. I will always run for them from now on as without them I doubt my family would still be here today. I owe them everything. However, they are so small and cash strapped I doubt they could afford to purchase a BG place.

    Whatever we all decide to run; remember we are all in this together. Cant wait!

    Congratulations again to everyone who is in the FLM 2007. To those of us that are injured please accept my best wishes for a speedy recovery. Don't forget they are injuries of excellence. Your normal couch potato does not get stress fractures or torn calf muscles etc.

  • Can anyone tell from reading the above that I have just opened my third tin of Stella?

    Going to try and deep fry a mars bar later on.......
  • RD, one more can and you're going to start getting incoherently affectionate!

    My training for a spring marathon started on Monday this week. Last week was recovery; now I'll be building mileage until 19 weeks before my planned marathon, when I'll pick up the Pfitzinger & Douglas 18-week up-to-70mpw schedules (the extra week is because I'll have a week off to go ski-ing in February). I'll do just over 40 miles this week and a few more next week, with no speedwork apart from races until the schedules call for it.

    Had a nice recovery run this afternoon :o)

    We're going to have some interesting practicalities in the Cavern, with two of us training seriously for spring marathons but with different training requirements and with a great deal of real life around which the training will have to be fitted. I suspect tiredness is going to become a big issue as the mileage increases!
  • Got a copy of Pfitz & Doug in front of me now. Great book, especially chapter 2. Kind of know how it all fits into place after that. I am aiming to do a 16 - 18 week programme. Will chop and change from various schedules, all based around my past training logs.

    Not sure my body could handle up to 70 miles a week though. Perhaps if I gave the old stella a miss for a while, lost a bit of weight etc etc.

    If you all want a laugh, go to Marathon-Photos.com Click on Snowdonia enter bib no 620. The fat git with the grey top on is the Dap. One day I will get round to finishing my race report and actually tell you why I am carrying all those sponges! The guy next to me is my butty Stu.
  • Thankyou so much for all your supportive messages.
    This is how I am going to look at it;
    Between 6-10 weeks to recover (as long as I'm really sensible and don't do any running), I've done 3 weeks already and so that takes me up to Christmas.I'm going to try and gt out on the bike to keep fitness levels up..hopefully this will be OK. I'm in the FLM with a charity place and training starts in Jan ....so fingers crossed by then all will be well and I will still be on track for the marathon. I'm not sure whether sub 4:00 is still on the cards but if you don't mind I would like to stay on this thread as you're all so friendly.

    Hope training is going well for everyone....I am so envious!! Good luck for anyone racing this weekend.

    HH
  • HH! Brill news all round. Glad your sounding so positive!

    Take it nice and easy
  • Hi RD - re starting training. I am going to do marathon type speedwork while keeping my mileage at the 25 mark. THen come jan work out a new schedule with the increased miles depending on how the speedwork goes. I have had a tendancy to get injured if I do too much speedwork so that's why I am trying to do it 'on it's own' over the next couple of months.

    I have read Pztinger et al and found it brill but scary. I may well adapt one of theirs but it's only with extremem planning and a very very sympathetic husband am I going to get up to 50 never mind 70. I'm just not that dedicated.
  • So, work this out for me...

    In June, I ran my first half, died at 9 miles and plodded/walked the rest to do 1:53:40. The plodding partner knocks it on the head end of September coz of bad knees, so I run on my own, but am able to pick up the pace a bit, and start to lengthen the long runs from 8.6 to 13.1. Do one 13.1 in 1:43:30, and the other 2 in 1:47.
    Fellow forumites indicate I should get new sneakers as I've done 600 miles in the old pair. The wife gets me a very soft light pair of Saucony Tangents. No runs last week as I had a cold. Do an 8.6 on Mon in 1:08, then a 5 in 37:09 on Wed. Today I do the 13.1. Take it easy, as I never want to die early in a run or race again, and its steady all the way round without feeling either fast or slow. Feel quite good at the end, considering I didn't have any water or gels during the run. Glance at the watch expecting maybe 1:45/46, but am absolutely gobsmacked to see 1:39:00 !!?
    Mr Saucony makes exceedingly good running shoes !
    The wife looks at me when I talk about running, but I know its just to be polite, as she's still listening to Frasier in the background, so I tell you lot, coz I gotta tell someone !!!
  • That sounds VERY positive and sensible, HH :o) I hope everything goes according to plan. Please do stay on this thread!

    I'm quite fortunate in that I can do my three highest-mileage sessions from work, and eventually those should account for almost 45 miles a week. I may eventually have to move my long run from Wednesday to Friday so that I can do the recovery doubles on a Saturday.

    Even if I never get beyond consistent 40-50 mile weeks, I'll still be better prepared for a spring marathon than I have been for any other race I've ever done. It can't go on forever, though, and after TrailWalker in July I'm going to drop the mileage back a long way and concentrate on improving my time over shorted distances. And on getting to know my family again, of course ;o)
  • LS, you are way too fast for us and you are going to post a stonking great Thread PB after the Glen Clova half. Now, please don't do anything to sabotage it!

    You're already running faster in training than most of us run when we race :o) You richly deserve that FLM place.
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