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Well done Clean Shoes
Ruffles - well done too. Cooler weather and you'd have got your target no problem
I think the best thing you can do is relax
There is more hype this time purely because you've got more vested in it. A great idea to get the expo done early!
Cleanshoes - A great write up! I'll add Zurich to my list
Stewart - Good to see that you're out and about already. What;s your plan now?
Ruffles - Well done on sticking it out. Paris wasnt easy so to get so close shows how much you could smash it.
Great stuff Ruffles, that's a fantastic time.
Sunday appears to have buggered my ankle a bit, so currently necking plenty of ibuprofen. Hopefully it will clear up quickly so i can get out for a couple of gentle miles at the weekend or ill be crawling up the walls!
ExCel done and the nerves have settled as well.
Had my feet scanned and analysed on the New Balance stand. They check your arches, the way you bend and the way you walk etc. Interesting that it came back as neutral.
I may have made a cardinal sin. I am not happy with my gel belt as I have lost two gels from it already whilst out running. I bought one that holds seven gels and has a pouch. I want to carry a seventh gel in there and a couple of spare plasters for my nipples. I will try it out tomorrow on my last training run but it already feels extremely comfortable. I guess that shows me that spending a bit more pays off. RRP is £24 but they were selling at half price. That is the only thing I may do differently than my longest run.
I also got my name added to my East Grinstead AC running vest. I may just need to boost of hearing "Go on Lee"
Be careful about necking the ibu. What seems to be the issue with it?
Lee- sounds like you were right with your neutral shoe choice. Did they give any recommendation about which shoe for you now?
What belt did you get? I find the Nathan or SiS ones really comfortable. It's not a cardinal sin but just be aware of any chaff issues and make sure that it's comfortable around your body (not bobbing up and down).
You will LOVE hearing people shout your name. I have a few supporters that will be carrying stool flags around the course on Sunday and i've made sure that they give you a boost if they see you
Do you have a picture of you in the shirt?
One question: your Garmin. Does it have a footpod or just a regular one? The reason I ask was from a mistake I saw at the weekend in Paris. One of the girls had a footpod calibrated so it worked through the tunnels - but it was set to running on a treadmill rather than the road so be careful of this.
Also - one bit of advice as I was scouring my friends who have a better memory of the VLM than I do
Docklands - Around the 16-20 mile mark your garmin is very likely to play up so make sure that you have some pace bands or know to hand what your 5km/mile splits should be - this will ensure that even if your garmin goes off track - you can keep an eye on it.
Also.... Autolap - if you have autolap on your garmin - turn it off for race day and manually press lap each mile. This is because you will always run more during the race (typically a marathon comes in at between 26.5-27miles due to swerving) so you have a steadier reading of where you're at per mile.
NB recommended their 880/980/1080 shoes which were their neutral shoes.
The band I got was by iFitness. It does seem a lot more comfortable than the other belt (more of a strip). I'm going to try it fully loaded today.
I have worn my name on my shirt on most of my half marathons and the Brighton marathon. It does make a difference. I remember well when I hit the wall a small group of ladies shouting at me to start running and when I did they cheered like mad. Fantastic stuff. I'll post a pic of the shirt I am running in this Sunday. I'll listen out, thanks, it all helps massively and takes your mind off negative thoughts for a while.
I use the Garmin Forerunner 410, no footpod. I did wonder if I would lose the signal around Canary Wharf and the embankment tunnel. Great advice about hitting the lap button instead of auto lap. I'll try it out on a quick walk later. I picked up a 3hr50 paceband from the Lucozade stand. It also highlights where their gels can be picked up although I think I'll have enough on me but might carry one incase I need one right at the end.
Good luck for Sunday Lee!
Zurich print your name on your race number which I thought was a nice touch.
Emmy - I think I've sprained it as it's swollen up on the inside where the ankle meets the foot. I've switched to ibuprofen gel this morning which seems to be making more of a difference and I spent time icing it last night and this morning which should also help. Obviously if not improved after the weekend I'll be off to the GP to get it checked out.
It's weird because I don't recall turning over on it during the race and it didn't really hurt at the end. Actually that's a lie because everything hurt but it didn't feel especially like I'd done anything to it if that makes sense? It was fine Monday as well but gradually got worse on Tuesday and was really painful yesterday. Seems better today though so hopefully it's calming down. I had planned a very very gentle 2 mile jog tonight (thought I'd follow Hal Higdon's novice recovery schedule) but that's obviously out of the window and I think it will be next week before I do anything active. Luckily I was going to spend the weekend on my backside watching the various sport and I live just off Narrow Street in Limehouse so no need to go very far to watch and cheer on Lee when he zooms past
Lee - Good plan to try the band out fully loaded. if you can - wear the same top so you know how it adjusts.
That's good to know. I think 80% of people lose it in the tunnel and then around the isle of dogs. When I ran it in 2012 - I lost all information (pacing/minute miling etc) and it really put me off knowing if i was going too fast/too slow etc. so if you have the ability of knowing the time you should be at xx mark - it'll put your mind at rest.
RE: Lucozade gels - have you used them before? If not - dont try it out on race day (even at the end). I made that mistake during the the Great South Run... and it came back to haunt me a mile later!
When you reach the water/aid stations - dont go for the first table. There's normally 8-10 tables lined up with water/refreshments so you'll have the chance of getting one further down and it wont affect your pace.
Emmy, I haven't entered any races yet but I plan to run a local 10k race in around 5 weeks, so I'll see if I've got any faster of marathon training, I'm going to do Loch Ness again, it is a tough course but I did enjoy it last year, plus there will be a few from the group doing it too, I'll do Nairn HM and Moray HM in the build up it appears that Moray Marathon is back on again
Cleanshoes, take care of the ankle no point risking it just for the ske of a few recovery miles
Lee, I'm getting nervous for you can't wait to hear how you get on, what is your race number so we can do some online stalking
Ruffles, hope you're recovering well
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First run after Lochaber, bit of a strange one, felt totally uncoordinated, the legs were obviously heavy and the HR elevated but apart from that it was good
4m, 40:24, 10:01 avgHR 136(71%)
Stewart - there's a group on the paris thread running Loch Ness. I'd give yourself a little respite for a week. Your body is recovering - so give it a break
Ooh - good idea for the online stalking!
I put my time down as 4hours but when I got to the Expo they had put me in pen 8! Not sure if because my first marathon? Anyway I managed to negotiate and get it changed to pen 6 - does anyone know whether I still have a chance of keeping sub 4 hour pace at the beginning? Thanks
That's it. All of my training is done. Easy 4 Miles done with a fully loaded new gel belt. It is very comfortable.
This is what I will look like at the beginning of the VMLM on Sunday. Anyone looking out for me should look for a sweatband on my head too!
I certainly hope pen 6 is ok for keeping sub 4 hour pace, I'm in pen 7!
Welcome to the thread! As the race is done on chip - you could start at the back and still do sub 4 just with more weaving!
I started at the back in Berlin and it was suprisingly easy.
Lee - well done on the last four miles. It was really good to see how your heart rate was! You're looking great for this weekend!
Any last minute questions? nerves? issues? Just let me know
Good luck to all on Sunday!
Emmy, the only question I really have is about travel timings on Sunday. From your experience, how long does it take to walk from Blackheath to the blue start and then how much time do you think I need to give myself once there? I always turn up to races too early. This is my timetable:
6:40am - Taxi from home to Three Bridges station
7:13am - Train to London Bridge (8:13 arr)
8:25 (or 8:10 if quick enough) - Train to Blackheath
8:40 - arrive at Blackheath
I'm tempted to get the 7:32 train and hit the 8:40 to Blkhth (8:56 arr) but that might be too little time to prepare (toilet) for the race and drop bag off. I'm not really sure that would give me an extra 15 mins in bed anyway!
Lee - just want to wish you good luck on Sunday. You've trained really well and deserve a great PB.
Lee - The start is 9.30, correct? I would aim to get there roughly an hour before the start. I think i had 90 minutes and that was OK. A few notes:
- Walking from the station. It took us 10 minutes if i remember correctly as we were taking it a leisurely pace and taking photos.
- Allow 30 minutes for the loo if you need a #2. Or pop into a cafe before you hit the pen
- Allow 5-10 minutes for bag drop (and remember to have either old clothes or a plastic liner to keep yourself warm)
- 5-10 minutes per pee yóu'll need if you queue... A lot of gents take a bottle into the pens and pee into that.
Always give yourself more time - so if you take the earlier train - then do it. What i'd also consider is if you need a coffee or something - get it before you hit the field at blackheath. I think there were a few little cafe's open.
Thanks Emmy. It starts at 10am, so I'll have plenty of time. I'll take a bin liner with me as the weather looks like it may be a bit chilly until we start moving.
One other thing. Shades mentioned taking water every three miles. I trained without water, only gels, so how much should I take on at each 3 mile? Just 2 or 3 sips (not gulps)?
Cleanshoes - I've just looked up Narrow Street on the course. I'll look out for you there and thanks in advance for turning out.
Lee well done with the easy run, looking good in the photo, good luck for Sunday I'll be a stalking
Nicole, welcome and good luck, stick to the plan don't go off to fast and enjoy your day
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just a little over 6 miles last night I did a mile before JS as I want to get 5 in as I was in the 4 mile group, however the group ended up doing 5, I wasn't leading so it wasn't my fault this time, all the same it was an enjoyable run with some hills and steps thrown in, and the good news the legs didn't complain
Stewart - When you stalk - please do not post the end time on here. You can post what he's doing but not the time. Let the glory go to Mr. Clark himself.
Lee- then you've got plenty of time. If you have any old clothes to throw away - wear those. I normally use it as an excuse to get rid of old shirts/t-shirts etc.
For water - i'd drink to thirst. If you're thirsty - drink in sips. Never gulps as this will disturb your breathing pattern and you risk a stitch. I normally take a bottle with me and just sip whenever I want it. As the VLM has them every mile - you could just take what you need and then throw the bottle away.
Just to confirm - on your LSRs you never took on liquid? What about for your 20milers? Are you a camel?
Emmy that goes without saying
Just popping up from my lurk to wish you all the very best Lee... You've done all the training - now go and enjoy yourself
I relied solely on the Gels for my 20 mile and 22 mile runs. No wonder I was thirsty afterwards! I guess I took the fact that water isn't required with the isoGels too literally.
In that case I plan to grab a bottle every 3 miles and take 2-3 sips before throwing the bottle away. I don't want to drink too much especially after hearing what Tom on MT said about the people who drank too much water during the Manchester Marathon and were throwing up large amounts of water at the end.
Lee, take on board some water every three miles, even if your not very thirsty, you will dehydrate as the race goes on
Emmy, good luck at the weekend I see your running another marathon
Thanks Emmy for looking after them all
Good luck Lee - have a great time and a great race
Last minute panic has set in! I'm worried now about the pen I will be in. I'm in 7 and I can't find out what pen the pacers are in other than the 3:45 is in pen 4. I suspect I could even be behind the 4:15 pacer.
Anybody with any experience of London and specifically the blue pen know how much the start really hinders you? I am going to try and push forward in the pens and once I cross the start line will just try and keep on pace without weaving. How much time can you lose in the first few miles? I don't want to be trying to make up minutes rather than seconds.
Lee - one of the friendlier officials 'unofficially' said that if you wore your bin bag over your number and upgraded yourself to a higher pen you would likely have no problems
Lee. Don't panic
Its normal to lose roughly 2-3 minutes in the first threemiles but keep your head about you. The pave you set will be fine.
Nicole -I can't comment on that. When i did it - they had strict controls. He who dares wins?
Good luck Lee!!!!!!!
Its been 50/50 sinceFriday as I've come down with the lurgy. Am feeling proper rank so will go on a sightseeing tour this morning