First marathon next Spring? Share the journey!

21 watchers
Apr 2014
9:38am, 30 Apr 2014
820 posts
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Chris the Fish
Cheers, and you :)
Apr 2014
11:31am, 30 Apr 2014
2,136 posts
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RevBarbaraG
Chris and RoadRunner - best of luck to both of you. I found the last few days before London quite hard psychoogically... all I could think about were all the things that had gone wrong and could go wrong, how lethargic and unfit I felt, and part of me wished I could slink away and not do it. But do you know what? I had the best time ever!!

I wasn't aiming for a time, in fact I had a minimum time in mind and used that to pace myself over the first few miles, so I didn't go too fast. And I think that's why, despite having lost a lot of training miles through injury and only having run 18 miles once, I didn't slow down as much as many people did (though I did slow down), crossed the line feeling human (though very tired), and was not that much more stiff in the few days afterwards than I had been on my long runs. No trouble with stairs!!

So - stay calm, you've done the hard work. As RR says, you can't add to your fitness now, though you could stuff it up by doing too much. Look forward to hearing your stories :)
Apr 2014
11:37am, 30 Apr 2014
2,996 posts
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Carpathius
Good luck both, and have fun :)
May 2014
12:58pm, 3 May 2014
2,193 posts
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RevBarbaraG
SO, Chris and RoadRunner... how's it looking? I hope you're both getting plenty of rest today and tomorrow. When it gets to Monday, stick to your pace plan, whatever that is (you have got one, haven't you?), and don't be tempted to speed up because you feel good early on. 26.2 miles is a LONG way.

I think the MK course is fairly flat, isn't it? That should make pacing easier.
May 2014
3:00pm, 3 May 2014
824 posts
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Chris the Fish
Bit nervous now tbh, although all I can do now is turn up with the right kit and hope for the best!

My pace plan was 4.30, but I think it'll be nearer 5.

Thanks for the support and I'll report back when I can (probably wed!)
May 2014
5:32pm, 4 May 2014
71 posts
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Chris_T117
Hope I'm not too late to wish Chris and Road Runner a great race at MK.

As Rev said, stay calm in the first few miles and you'll be fine :) Looking forward to your race reports
May 2014
6:00pm, 4 May 2014
825 posts
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Chris the Fish
Thanks Chris, depending how things go I may even update mid race!
May 2014
10:04pm, 4 May 2014
62 posts
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afeitar
Good luck Chris & RR! It's taper time for me now, done my final 20 miler today. Can't believe I've made it all the way through training to be honest. Only 3 weeks to go!
May 2014
6:21am, 5 May 2014
826 posts
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Chris the Fish
Been up since 5, cacking it!!!!
May 2014
5:51pm, 5 May 2014
1,124 posts
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Longwayround
Hope it went well Chris.

This morning I was taking photographs of a local 5k race with Podkin while AKG and Small ran. This afternoon I ran the Preston Guild Wheel with various running club types and Howard who had never run further than 14 ½ miles before. The Guild Wheel is a 21 and a bit mile shared footpath and cycle route so I rather expected Howard to start struggling around fifteen miles. He was having none of it. He was off the front and looping back enough to run an extra mile.

Great plaudits must go to my friend Jenny who ran the 5k race, won her age category and then ran the wheel. She also taught me something exceedingly useful: more of that in a bit.

The run started well. Without any astonishingly quick runners in our group, we agreed to aim for a pace of around 11m 27s / mile which is roughly 5hr marathon pace. We pretty much stuck to that for the first seven or eight miles. Again, though, my legs weren't happy. The poor tired things that they are were sore, my feet felt horrible. My pace began to dip so that, by fourteen miles, I was running at more like 13m / mile pace. Which, realistically, for a slightly overweight amateur like me isn't bad but wouldn't be enough to get me round in the time I've been looking for.

The weather was pleasantly cooler than on our previous long runs so my water supplies were not drained as swiftly as before but by sixteen miles I was seriously struggling to manage faster than 14 minute mile pace. This was when Jenny offered me a little pink performance enhancing drug. Cuprofen. Rather a powerful dose of ibuprofen. Within twenty minutes my pace had picked up again. Soon I was off the front, running above our originally agreed target pace. I finished with a last half mile of about five minutes. Wow. That's definitely going into my nutrition plan.

About This Thread

Maintained by RevBarbaraG
A place for first-time marathoners to encourage and support one another

Ceratonia - Barcelona - 16th March - bunting
Sue - Shah Alam Women's Marathon - 16th March 2014 - withdrawn
24hr Ryan - Brighton - 6th April 2014
Blades Rio - Paris - 6th April 2014
Chris T117 - Brighton - 6th April 2014 - bunting
Daz1 - Brighton - 6th April 2014. - bunting
DrNat - Manchester - 6th April 2014
Laura L - Brighton - 6th April 2014
PaulAshYoung- Brighton - 6th April 2014 - bunting
Thisisnatty - Paris - 6th April 2014
Carpathius - VLM - 13th April 2014 - bunting
Gromit - VLM - 13th April 2014 - bunting
HermanBloom - VLM - 13th April 2014 - bunting
kateg - VLM - 13th April 2014
MrBanners - VLM - 13th April 2014
Pedro_Perez - VLM - 13th April 2014 - bunting
Revbarbarag - VLM - 13th April 2014 - bunting
Poochie - Great Welsh Marathon - 13th April 2014
Chris the afish - MK - 5th May 2014. bunting
RoadRunner1981 - MK - 5th May 2014
redeaston - Windermere - 19th May 2014
afeitar - Liverpool - 25th May 2014 - bunting
alzabob - Edinburgh - 25th May 2014
dianeb10 - Edinburgh - 25th May 2014
Longwayround - Edinburgh - 25th May 2014 - bunting
Mattdb - Edinburgh - 25th May 2014
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