Alli & Tina's London Marathon Blog (a record of 16 weeks training for the London Marathon)
Friday, 27 April 2012
22 Apr - The Marathon
Crossing the start line was amazing, crowds completely lining both sides of the road as we started off at a gentle trot, but I was really surprised at how quick the pace started to speed up, I think most people had obviously allocated themselves appropriately, although saying that, within 1/4 mile there was one man who was walking! I really don't understand why people set themselves so far up the field and then do that, where's the logic, it only slows down the people behind you. I'm sure we'd gone less than a mile when there was a whole line of blokes peeing up against the trees, it does make you wonder how much they'd had to drink in only 1/2 a mile.
We had gone less than a mile when I was amazed to hear the first of many "Go Alli!" I'd completely forgotten I'd got my name across the front of my vest, it was lovely to hear and really made me smile. After about a mile, a friend of Louise's from University called out to her from the runners, small world, I'm not sure whether Lou knew she was running too :) Then after about the second mile I started to let Louise ease ahead as was always the plan, as although the course was starting to head downhill, I didn't want to tire myself out too much by starting too fast. I was still putting in a good pace at 8:35 min/mile but reasoned that with it heading downhill it wasn't such a strain. In actual fact it was beginning to feel really quite comfortable.
At mile 3, our Red Start runners, started to merge with the Blue Start runners who had set off from Blackheath, which was really quite exciting. Initially we were running down the same road, but with a dividing barrier down the middle. It was at this point that the the downhill really started to kick in, all the time there were crowds completely lining the route. The children were all holding out their hands for high 5s and it was great to slap their hands as we ran through. Fantastic crowds, it was just incredible, I'd had texts from friends who were going to be trying to spot me en route, but it wasn't going to be for a while yet, and to be honest the support from the crowd was so good, I didn't really need it at that point, I was just enjoying it. People in the crowds were giving out jelly babies and sweets , shouting our names and the pubs were playing really inspiring music.
At the 10K point, my time was just over 56min and only a minute off my PB, so I started to slow down a bit more as I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up that pace for the whole run. It was really difficult to spot the runners and supporters for ES as purple was quite a popular colour with the charities, with Scope and Great Ormond St amongst the other purple runners. But at the 9 mile point I spied the first of the other Epilepsy Society Runners, Ian, who was running in a Tutu, very brave.
Friends had said they were going to be out from about 9 miles, so scanning the crowds kept me distracted and sure enough at mile 11, I spotted the ES banging sticks that my my mum had in her hands and screamed out to the whole family so excitedly at seeing them all and it was so great to see their big smiles coming back at me. And as if that wasn't fab enough, a 1/2 mile around the corner, I spotted Craig, Jo, Maria and Brian, so big yell-outs there too. I must have had the cheesiest grin. You couldn't imagine how brilliant it was to spot every body in such big crowds. It certainly spurred me on for the next couple of miles to get me to Tower Bridge. It was such a high point seeing the approach to Tower Bridge, not only is it one of the most iconic sights in London, it was also just approaching the 1/2 marathon point so I then knew the distance left was going to be shorter than that already ran. There were really thick crowds at London Bridge and as we crossed over the river on the other side, we passed the 23 mile point runners, where the loop ran back on itself. At this point according to my Garmin, I'd been running for 1hr 59 min and the men's runners running in the other direction had only 3 miles to go! What a pace! And actually looking back on it, my PB for a Half Marathon is 1:59:35, so without realising I'd actually been putting on a good pace for myself at this point, but I always knew that I would end up running slower in the second half of the marathon than the first.
For the next mile and a half we ran opposite the faster runners before setting off for the Isle of Dogs. At the 14 mile mark, my tummy started to grumble, so I kept going looking for the next block of toilets - How come there seemed to be so many before and when you need them, they just seem to disappear? The sign in the distance kept saying they were approaching but it wasn't til 2 miles later that I spotted them, only 4 of them, for how many runners!!! I stopped for 30 seconds before realising it would probably take me 5 - 10 minutes so set off trying to make a plan in my head. There seemed to have been a lot of pubs earlier, so I thought I'd try for one of those but they seemed to be in short supply too, so finally as we get to 16 1/2 miles I gave a newsagents a go and they were absolutely fab. So many thanks for the guys at West Quay News for letting me use their toilets ;-) Not too long a delay and I was a much happier lady as I set off from there with a spring in my step. It wasn't to last long though, as I needed another stop just past Canary Wharf at mile 20, unfortunately this time a well-used Portaloo :( (but at least no queue).
From now on I was just determined to see it through to the end. I'd lost a bit of time with the stops and was obviously getting tireder,so just wanted to get it over with, although 6 miles still seemed like an awfully long way to go. Going along Commercial Road at mile 21/22 the crowds were absolutely Awesome! People were starting to flag and there were a lot of people on the sides of the road stopping and stretching, but the crowds seemed to pick up on the names on the vests and for what seemed up to a mile it seemed like everybody was shouting my name. It was absolutely amazing and will be forever imprinted in my memory! It just kept me going. As we passed Tower Hill at mile 23, I caught up with another of the ES runners a guy called Garry who had slowed down and I started chatting with him and tried to keep him going, we ran together for a bit and when he next had to walk I carried on. I checked his timing afterwards and he only came in about 5 minutes after me.
The next big marker for me was the Epilepsy Society's meeting point at mile 25, I just wanted to still be going at that point and was determined not to be walking. I got a fab boost about a 1/2 before when Jo spotted me along Embankment and let a big shout out to "run for Tina". OMG what a fantastic boost! just what I needed, although it really brought tears to my eyes, but there was no better reminder of why I was doing this. What fab friends I have to have come along and support me the way they did :-) So there I was at mile 25 passing the Hispaniola and the ES crew with the biggest grin on my face, as captured by one of their group on the photo below
At Westminster Bridge it was a right turn past Westminster and Big Ben. Tina's sister's partner Tracey had planned to be in the crowd with their daughter Millie at this point (Tracey herself had ran the London marathon 2 years ago for Epilepsy Bereaved, the charity who had helped the family out so much when Tina died) and so I know she's someone who's been exactly in my shoes. Unfortunately though, I didn't manage to spot them, it would have been so fab to have seen them. I think my crowd spotting skills were starting to fade with the tiredness :(
We had gone less than a mile when I was amazed to hear the first of many "Go Alli!" I'd completely forgotten I'd got my name across the front of my vest, it was lovely to hear and really made me smile. After about a mile, a friend of Louise's from University called out to her from the runners, small world, I'm not sure whether Lou knew she was running too :) Then after about the second mile I started to let Louise ease ahead as was always the plan, as although the course was starting to head downhill, I didn't want to tire myself out too much by starting too fast. I was still putting in a good pace at 8:35 min/mile but reasoned that with it heading downhill it wasn't such a strain. In actual fact it was beginning to feel really quite comfortable.
At mile 3, our Red Start runners, started to merge with the Blue Start runners who had set off from Blackheath, which was really quite exciting. Initially we were running down the same road, but with a dividing barrier down the middle. It was at this point that the the downhill really started to kick in, all the time there were crowds completely lining the route. The children were all holding out their hands for high 5s and it was great to slap their hands as we ran through. Fantastic crowds, it was just incredible, I'd had texts from friends who were going to be trying to spot me en route, but it wasn't going to be for a while yet, and to be honest the support from the crowd was so good, I didn't really need it at that point, I was just enjoying it. People in the crowds were giving out jelly babies and sweets , shouting our names and the pubs were playing really inspiring music.
At the 10K point, my time was just over 56min and only a minute off my PB, so I started to slow down a bit more as I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up that pace for the whole run. It was really difficult to spot the runners and supporters for ES as purple was quite a popular colour with the charities, with Scope and Great Ormond St amongst the other purple runners. But at the 9 mile point I spied the first of the other Epilepsy Society Runners, Ian, who was running in a Tutu, very brave.
Friends had said they were going to be out from about 9 miles, so scanning the crowds kept me distracted and sure enough at mile 11, I spotted the ES banging sticks that my my mum had in her hands and screamed out to the whole family so excitedly at seeing them all and it was so great to see their big smiles coming back at me. And as if that wasn't fab enough, a 1/2 mile around the corner, I spotted Craig, Jo, Maria and Brian, so big yell-outs there too. I must have had the cheesiest grin. You couldn't imagine how brilliant it was to spot every body in such big crowds. It certainly spurred me on for the next couple of miles to get me to Tower Bridge. It was such a high point seeing the approach to Tower Bridge, not only is it one of the most iconic sights in London, it was also just approaching the 1/2 marathon point so I then knew the distance left was going to be shorter than that already ran. There were really thick crowds at London Bridge and as we crossed over the river on the other side, we passed the 23 mile point runners, where the loop ran back on itself. At this point according to my Garmin, I'd been running for 1hr 59 min and the men's runners running in the other direction had only 3 miles to go! What a pace! And actually looking back on it, my PB for a Half Marathon is 1:59:35, so without realising I'd actually been putting on a good pace for myself at this point, but I always knew that I would end up running slower in the second half of the marathon than the first.
For the next mile and a half we ran opposite the faster runners before setting off for the Isle of Dogs. At the 14 mile mark, my tummy started to grumble, so I kept going looking for the next block of toilets - How come there seemed to be so many before and when you need them, they just seem to disappear? The sign in the distance kept saying they were approaching but it wasn't til 2 miles later that I spotted them, only 4 of them, for how many runners!!! I stopped for 30 seconds before realising it would probably take me 5 - 10 minutes so set off trying to make a plan in my head. There seemed to have been a lot of pubs earlier, so I thought I'd try for one of those but they seemed to be in short supply too, so finally as we get to 16 1/2 miles I gave a newsagents a go and they were absolutely fab. So many thanks for the guys at West Quay News for letting me use their toilets ;-) Not too long a delay and I was a much happier lady as I set off from there with a spring in my step. It wasn't to last long though, as I needed another stop just past Canary Wharf at mile 20, unfortunately this time a well-used Portaloo :( (but at least no queue).
From now on I was just determined to see it through to the end. I'd lost a bit of time with the stops and was obviously getting tireder,so just wanted to get it over with, although 6 miles still seemed like an awfully long way to go. Going along Commercial Road at mile 21/22 the crowds were absolutely Awesome! People were starting to flag and there were a lot of people on the sides of the road stopping and stretching, but the crowds seemed to pick up on the names on the vests and for what seemed up to a mile it seemed like everybody was shouting my name. It was absolutely amazing and will be forever imprinted in my memory! It just kept me going. As we passed Tower Hill at mile 23, I caught up with another of the ES runners a guy called Garry who had slowed down and I started chatting with him and tried to keep him going, we ran together for a bit and when he next had to walk I carried on. I checked his timing afterwards and he only came in about 5 minutes after me.
The next big marker for me was the Epilepsy Society's meeting point at mile 25, I just wanted to still be going at that point and was determined not to be walking. I got a fab boost about a 1/2 before when Jo spotted me along Embankment and let a big shout out to "run for Tina". OMG what a fantastic boost! just what I needed, although it really brought tears to my eyes, but there was no better reminder of why I was doing this. What fab friends I have to have come along and support me the way they did :-) So there I was at mile 25 passing the Hispaniola and the ES crew with the biggest grin on my face, as captured by one of their group on the photo below
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| Only 1.2 miles to go! |
From there, the route headed up Birdcage Walk with the end almost in sight, when suddenly I heard big shouts from my left and all my family were there shouting at me, Big smiles again :D so pleased to see them as I headed for the final 1/2 mile.
I must admit the final run seemed never ending, there were banners going across the road for 800m, 600m 400m and 200m and each of those 200metres seemed sooooo long, such hard work to try and put every last bit of energy into the finish and then suddenly there I was running along the Mall with the Finish line in front of me. And there you go I was over the line and I'd done it! Yayyyyy!!!!!
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| Mum banging her sticks and my bum heading into the distance |
22 Apr - Pre-Race
Didn't get much sleep the night before - nerves I think. I'd got everything precisely laid out the night before and had an instant porridge pot and strong cup of coffee. When it came to taking my codeine tablets, I wasn't able to find them (must have left them in Nottingham), so had to make do with some co-codamol and Neurofen Extra from the chemist and just as an extra precaution a couple of immodium to make sure my tummy was settled (or so I thought) We then had our pre-marathon photo by Jeanette, my Auntie before the two of us set off.
We'd planned on it taking an hour to get there and as soon as we set foot on the underground, there were runners all around us. We had a smooth trip to Greenwich Park, where we handed over our kit bags to the Lorries to meet us back at the end. I had a banana and a sports drink to keep me topped up and we made our way straight to the toilet queues and had another photo-shoot whilst waiting.
We were really lucky with the weather, gorgeous blue skies, if a little cool to start with, (so we kept our thin long sleeve layer on until the start) but that didn't matter as we knew we'd be warming up once we got going. And so we headed to the start. I'd been allocated to pen 5, but Louise who hadn't put down any time on her application was allocated to pen 9 at the back. But she was always going to be putting in a better time than me with those long legs and age on her side (my excuse and I'm sticking to it) so we managed to get us both into the same pen. All very exciting with 1,000s of people all waiting to go, we even had a pantomime horse in our pen, although I had no idea how they thought they were going to do it in 4 hours. Then we heard the start and started to walk forward, I was surprised how little time it took us to cross the start line, only around 7 minutes and then we were off!
Marathon Eve - Jane Tomlinson, Expo and a walk around London
It was a luxury I
rarely get, being driven on a coach, I’m normally always the one driving
somewhere, so I took the opportunity to start re-reading Jane & Mike
Tomlinson’s autobiography “The Luxury of Time”. Jane was the most amazing woman who did so much to help others, raising nearly £2 million for cancer research despite herself suffering incurable breast cancer. She made me re-evaluate my health and life and I thought if someone going through all that can keep themself fit, there's no excuse for me not to. She had died the previous September and it had been my intention back in April 2008 to test myself by running the first Jane Tomlinson 10k Run for all that June, but it was already fully booked, so I ended up organising a few local events building up to the Robin Hood Half Marathon that September. At the time, the Half was the limit of my aspirations, there was no way at the time that I could have conceived running a full marathon. This year is the 10th anniversary of Jane's death and in tribute and to raise further funds, her husband and daughter are running both the Paris and London marathon's with a 6 day cycle ride in between. What an amazing family!
On arrival we (myself and my teenage children Harry and Sarah) headed for the Marathon Expo to pick up my race number pack and have a look around the stalls. My number was 39304 one of a series being ran by the approx 40 runners for the Epilepsy Society. I was then able to meet up with fellow skydiving mates Shell and Jules Bergel who had arrived earlier at the show. It was both of their first marathons.
I then met up with Becs Noble on the Epilepsy Society's stand to introduce ourseleves and say thank you for allowing me to run for them. Topped up with sweeties, we came away from there with a couple of ES T-Shirts for Sarah & Harry and banging sticks (which proved invaluable later for spotting them in the crowds) .
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| Shell & I, all numbered up and ready to go! |
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| Hispaniola - Embankment - Mile 25 |
After the Expo, it was back across town to meet up with Mum & Dad. We took a walk down the river from where the hotel was and took a few photos (I don't know how many times I've taken the same photos before from when I lived in London or visited it, but somehow this felt a bit different ). A couple of photos were along the route but thye're going to be a lot more crowded the next day.
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| I hope there are lots of these |
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| I'll be running along here down the Mall ! |
We then met up with my cousin Louise and her family (who's also running tomorrow) for a final carb meal of pizza and pasta. Just need to get some good kip before the big day
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
The full story will be coming soon
What an amazing and unforgettable occasion! But I want to sit down and do it justice because after sticking with the Blog that long you deserve the full story. I didn't have good internet access till I got home and had lots of catching up to do before starting my 3 night shifts, but will hopefully be back in the next couple of days. Needless to say it was a hard slog and definitely the most difficult run ever, but the crowds were absolutely wonderful and I had the most awesome support from friends and family that kept me going. I am absolutely blown away that only 3 days after the run, the donations for the Epilepsy Society are so close to the target.
See you soon with the full story! :D x
See you soon with the full story! :D x
Saturday, 21 April 2012
21 Apr - On our way to London
Wakey Wakey! Rise and shine, we're off to London. Everything packed and setting off for the coach station. Just had a last minute check of the weather for tomorrow and if it stays like forecast it won't be too bad. Less than 5% chance of rain in the morning and then 40% light showers after 1pm, enough to cool us down may be - we'll see.
See you later in London
See you later in London
20 April - Wow what a day!
So much to catch up on.
It started this morning with collecting my running vest from the printers and it is Awesome :) They always say that having your name on your shirt is a really good idea because then the crowds can see it and shout it out which helps especially when you're starting to flag - Obviously the vest, very importantly is sponsored by the Epilepsy Society, but the print is very bold white so I did wonder if my name next to theirs would really stand out, so instead I went with pink to try and make it stand out a bit. I really wanted to get Tina's name on it 2, but there wasn't much space on the front once the number is on, so I got them to add '4 TINA' on the back
The printers, http://www.shirtysomething.com/index.html were really helpful and although the VLM (Virgin London Marathon) people have sent lots of links through for their preferred printer, I was really pleased to keep the work local. The VLM printers had been asking £8-12 , but when I picked it up this morning, Shirty Something refused to take any payment - How lovely, it made me smile all morning :D .
I finally got out for my 3mile run today which I'd put off from Wednesday, because of the horrible weather we've been having. Even though I've ended up doing this run closer to the race than is ideal, I thought it was better to do that than risk catching a cold so close to the date by running in the rain. I thought I'd give the Runkeeper App that my friend had used in Paris, a go , but I got a bit confused (a frequent occurrence with me) and actually set off another running app instead, Doh! I'm going to have to give it a bit of a playaround in London tomorrow to see if I can sort it. If I don't manage to sort it, there's always the official VLM tracking at http://results-2012.virginlondonmarathon.com/2012/ which should hopefully work. There wasn't any official real time tracking last year, but they did have it a couple of years ago and it worked really well.
And the other brilliant news of the day? Lots of sponsorship for the Epilepsy Society. Over £400 donated today alone (not to mention the 25% extra with Gift Aid). There were quite a few big single donations in today too and it really does make me feel quite emotional to have such a response. Sunday is really going to be a day of so many different emotions - Just the thought of the money people have donated will make me well up, but I know I'm going to be weepy because Tina is not going to be here to see how much she has inspired people to give and help others - I'd better take a few tissues with me
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
17 Apr - 5 days to go! Last Interval session
Last interval session and it went really well, they were supposed to be 7:27 - 7:47 min miles, but the majority of them were less than 7:27 so very happy with that - they were 7:36, 7:30, 7:25, 6:59, 7:03, 7:28, 7:46, 6:56, 7:13, 6:54.
I think I may have started off with the wrong plan, because it's funny that by the last couple of weeks of the plan I can actually attain all the pace's that I was supposed to be able to do at the beginning, 16 weeks to late ;-/ Oh well.
Yesterday I had the loveliest card from the Epilpesy Society thanking me for running the marathon for them - the ironic thing is I feel that I should be thanking them for giving me this great opportunity to raise funds for them. A timely reminder to get those last few reminders out there this week for people to dust the cobwebs off their charity purses ;o) .
I think I may have started off with the wrong plan, because it's funny that by the last couple of weeks of the plan I can actually attain all the pace's that I was supposed to be able to do at the beginning, 16 weeks to late ;-/ Oh well.
Yesterday I had the loveliest card from the Epilpesy Society thanking me for running the marathon for them - the ironic thing is I feel that I should be thanking them for giving me this great opportunity to raise funds for them. A timely reminder to get those last few reminders out there this week for people to dust the cobwebs off their charity purses ;o) .
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Final week - only 3 runs left before the Marathon!!!
Long runs are all over with for the last week of training and only 3 more short runs before the actual Marathon. Hopefully I've done enough to get around the course in a half decent time (I dream of anything shorter than 4:15, but who knows with the weather and how I feel on the day)
The other top thing for this week is that this is where the carb-loading starts! Lots of pasta, potato, rice and all things sweet :D.
General advice is to split the whole marathon down into 4 - 6 parts in your head. I think the first 10K (approx 6 miles) will be an important point for me. It usually takes me this long to start feeling more comfortable, but it's also where my feet and tummy can start playing up. 13.1 miles is obviously really important as then the distance will always be less than I've already run. Maybe 20 miles after that, because I'll be into single figures, around 22-23 miles I think I'll have an idea of what pace i'll be able to keep up for the rest of the race and then finally the last mile!
Apparently there were 50, 200 slots given out for the London Marathon and they usually have 34-36000 finishers. Hopefully I'll be one of this years. I don't think that means that 15,000 don't finish the marathon though as some people may have had problems in training and may have deferred their entry till the following year. It's one of the biggest marathon's in the world, second to NewYork, and competing with Chicago and Berlin for 2nd place
15 Apr - 12 Steady miles
I was feeling a bit of a fraud today, as whilst I had only a 12 mile run to do today, my friends were running the full 26.2 miles around Paris. The Paris Marathon had a downloadable App that was supposed to track where they were in the race, but unfortunately after the first 5K it gave up, must have been overloaded by the number of runners. Fortunately Craig had signed up for the Runkeeper Elite App and that seemed to do the job most of the race and gave us an idea of how it was going. It was Jo and Craig's first marathon and they were storming! Far better than my 5hr 2 minute it took me to do my first one. As the Endomondo App doesn't seem to be working for me so far I may very well give it a go next weekend. Maria, Audrey, Ian and Martina also put in great times. It's making me very apprehensive about next week though, I really have no idea how it's going to go, despite the fact that I put in quite a good run today.
I didn't take any codeine today, but used the equivalent of Diacalm (I know too much information, but I didn't want to experience a visit from the infamous gingerbread man (an in joke for the listeners of Marathon Talk). I also used two running gels, one normal and one caffeine and one bottle of sports drink. I wore my nice new purple running shorts and they did feel nice and loose and comfortable, no chaffing ! ;) . It was not a bad day out there, it started off fairly bright and sunny and then clouded over towards the end. The plan was for a steady 12 miles, which according to the 4 hr plan (even though I now think this is out of my league) that I've been doing is @ a 8:50 to 9:10 pace, and blow me down if I didn't do it in 1hr 50 bang on which is a 9:10 pace. I really don't think it's the kind of pace that I could keep up for the full marathon, and probably a better predictor of my Half Marathon Pace (which would be the best I've done for 18 months!!) so I really surprised myself , but to be fair the course was much flatter than the one I've been using previously, so much easier to pace without the big hill. Just the one episode of Marathon Talk today on the ipod and some of Sarah's running playlist - some classics on there, such as Thin Lizzy's Whisky in the Jar and David Bowie's Golden Years ( she's old beyond her years ;) ) but also the Foo fighters Best of You
Another highlight to the run was that I saw one of my work friend's husband out on his bike today and he waved at me. It's great when you see someone you know, it's usually the other way around and people tell me they've seen me out on a run and I'm totally oblivious to it.
Well that's it for the long runs until the big one next Sunday!
I didn't take any codeine today, but used the equivalent of Diacalm (I know too much information, but I didn't want to experience a visit from the infamous gingerbread man (an in joke for the listeners of Marathon Talk). I also used two running gels, one normal and one caffeine and one bottle of sports drink. I wore my nice new purple running shorts and they did feel nice and loose and comfortable, no chaffing ! ;) . It was not a bad day out there, it started off fairly bright and sunny and then clouded over towards the end. The plan was for a steady 12 miles, which according to the 4 hr plan (even though I now think this is out of my league) that I've been doing is @ a 8:50 to 9:10 pace, and blow me down if I didn't do it in 1hr 50 bang on which is a 9:10 pace. I really don't think it's the kind of pace that I could keep up for the full marathon, and probably a better predictor of my Half Marathon Pace (which would be the best I've done for 18 months!!) so I really surprised myself , but to be fair the course was much flatter than the one I've been using previously, so much easier to pace without the big hill. Just the one episode of Marathon Talk today on the ipod and some of Sarah's running playlist - some classics on there, such as Thin Lizzy's Whisky in the Jar and David Bowie's Golden Years ( she's old beyond her years ;) ) but also the Foo fighters Best of You
Another highlight to the run was that I saw one of my work friend's husband out on his bike today and he waved at me. It's great when you see someone you know, it's usually the other way around and people tell me they've seen me out on a run and I'm totally oblivious to it.
Well that's it for the long runs until the big one next Sunday!
14 Apr - Easy 3 miles & shopping
First of all spent the day shopping for a few of those pieces of running kit that I'm needing before the big run next week. Embarrassed to say my shorts were chaffing a bit when I did the Oakley 20 a couple of weeks ago (7lb heavier than I was last year unfortunately, but at least I've lost 1/2 of the stone I'd put on over the winter) . And how lucky was I to find a pair in purple that match my Epilepsy Society running vest :) . Hopefully it will make me an easier target for my family to spot me in the crowds next week. Next job on the agenda was to sort me out with (hands over your ears guys) ....... a sports bra! Lots of them around, some of them a bit too thick a fabric and heavy and others unfortunately a bit too heavy on my budget. But on the fortunate side of the equation my boobs aren't too big ;) and hence don't need too much support so a fairly cheap one from Decathlon seemed to do the job. It got a brief try out today but only 3 miles, so will be checking it out again tomorrow on the 12 miler.
And as to how the run went today, pretty good actually, although I nearly forgot to do it with the shopping trip. An easy run for me is supposed to be 10:05 - 10:25 pace, but just couldn't run that slow (funny how over 16 weeks perception of easy changes). I ended up running it at 09.39 min mile. It'll be interesting to see if I can keep up the steady pace tomorrow as well.
One important thing to be mentioned is that most of my other skydiving friends that dabble in long distance running are doing the Paris Marathon tomorrow. So I'm wishing all the best to Audrey, Maria, Jo, Craig, Ian and Martina for their run tomorrow :D I'm really envious of them out there running it as a lovely group, just as 7 of us did 18 months ago in Budapest. But I've got my fit cuz Louise to start off with me next week, even if we don't finish together :). Oh yes and my lovely family and the amazing London crowds :) Only 4 more runs to do first.
And as to how the run went today, pretty good actually, although I nearly forgot to do it with the shopping trip. An easy run for me is supposed to be 10:05 - 10:25 pace, but just couldn't run that slow (funny how over 16 weeks perception of easy changes). I ended up running it at 09.39 min mile. It'll be interesting to see if I can keep up the steady pace tomorrow as well.
One important thing to be mentioned is that most of my other skydiving friends that dabble in long distance running are doing the Paris Marathon tomorrow. So I'm wishing all the best to Audrey, Maria, Jo, Craig, Ian and Martina for their run tomorrow :D I'm really envious of them out there running it as a lovely group, just as 7 of us did 18 months ago in Budapest. But I've got my fit cuz Louise to start off with me next week, even if we don't finish together :). Oh yes and my lovely family and the amazing London crowds :) Only 4 more runs to do first.
Thursday, 12 April 2012
12 Apr - 3 mile brisk run with warm up and cool down
After missing the bright start to the morning due to my normal procrastination and then having to wait for heavy rain showers to finish, I finally got out there.
It's funny how some-days it physically feels easier than others. Yesterday I could feel myself struggling for breath for the first couple of miles and but then today surprisingly even in the warm-up it felt so much more comfortable. After the warm-up the plan was for 3 miles at a brisk pace (ie. 8:27 to 8:47). I ran it pretty well but had to have a brief stop after 1.5 miles as my tummy was playing up again :o( For each of the 3miles my pace min/mile paces were 8:37, 8:38 and 8:42 so not bad although I had the benefit of a 30-60 second break at the half-way point which would have helped.
Day off tomorrow :)
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
11 Apr - 5 miles Slow
A fairly nice day out there this morning, and although the run was down as a 10:00 - 10:25 pace, it just felt incredibly slow so I ran how I felt and ended up with a 9:33 pace
I also noticed a friend using a new gadget on facebook today which records the runs/cycles live in realtime. It is called Endomondo and the idea is not only that it records your trip on GPS with speed and altitude as per Garmin Connect/Mapmyrun/Runkeeper etc. but that it tracks it on a map which can be accessed by others whilst you're doing it. Not I'm not trying to attract stalkers or anything, but I thought it might be a good way of tracking me next week during the marathon, either that or recovering the body afterwards ;) .
I'd already done my run today, but will give it a go tomorrow, in the meantime, this is how my run today looked once I'd uploaded it 5 'slow' miles on Endomondo
I also noticed a friend using a new gadget on facebook today which records the runs/cycles live in realtime. It is called Endomondo and the idea is not only that it records your trip on GPS with speed and altitude as per Garmin Connect/Mapmyrun/Runkeeper etc. but that it tracks it on a map which can be accessed by others whilst you're doing it. Not I'm not trying to attract stalkers or anything, but I thought it might be a good way of tracking me next week during the marathon, either that or recovering the body afterwards ;) .
I'd already done my run today, but will give it a go tomorrow, in the meantime, this is how my run today looked once I'd uploaded it 5 'slow' miles on Endomondo
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
10 Apr - 8 x 400m intervals
I got a bit mixed up with the pacing for the intervals today, as I'd originally downloaded the plan to my Garmin back in January and the runs on the plan from Runnersworld have changed a bit since then. The Garmin had them down at a 10K pace 8:05-8:25 but I think they should have been at 5K pace which is 7:27-7:47. Fortunately I exceeded the 10K paces on most of them and even attained the 5K pace on a couple of them too. They were 8:03,7:35,7:51, 8:11,7:39,7:27,8:11 and 07:51, so pretty happy with that.
According to the Garmin, I worked off 514 calories, unfortunately I think I may have consumed far more than that when Sarah left a lot of Macaroons which she had made for a friend's birthday, which weren't good enough to take. Oops!
According to the Garmin, I worked off 514 calories, unfortunately I think I may have consumed far more than that when Sarah left a lot of Macaroons which she had made for a friend's birthday, which weren't good enough to take. Oops!
Monday, 9 April 2012
Week 15 - Taperrrr! :)
So glad that I finished last week's plan yesterday rather than today. It was so tempting to postpone it until today with my friends being up for a weekend's jumping but with all the horrid rain today it was definitely the right move and although I didn't get to jump yesterday, I still got to have a fab evening catching up with them all, when one of them, Jim, had us all around his place for food.
Only 13 days to go now and this is where the real taper starts. The idea of the taper is to have a bit of a rest after all the hard training and build up energy stores for the final marathon. It's going to be a bit strange next Sunday only doing a 12 mile run and the longest run I'll be doing midweek will be 5 miles.
Over £240 donated this week - including £100 from Lou alone
What a week for donations! :D I have some wonderful & generous friends and colleagues who have given so much this week to the Epilepsy Society and it is so gratifying to see the amount raised increasing. With getting so close to the marathon (12 1/2 days to go!) it's really uplifting to know that what I am doing is working and is going to give me a lot to think about and inspire me during those 26.2 miles
8 Apr - Slow 18 miler
I'd thought about putting this run off until tomorrow as I'd wanted to go jumping with my friends today, but unfortunately the weather was exactly as forecast with complete cloud cover, so I decided to take full advantage and get the run done and dusted today.
I loaded up the ipod with a couple of Marathon Talk podcasts and a running playlist that Sarah has been promising to set up for me for months. I decided to give the orthotics their first long run outing to see how they went and took 3 SIS gels with me for good measure. The plan was to run just as instructed - a slow 18 miles (around the 10 min/mile pace). I'd been feeling a little stiff all week so it seemed like a sensible plan. As usual it took me a little while to get going - speaking to Maria last week and she reckons it takes her a few miles before she feels comfortable too. It was the same route I normally take, with the long slow uphill slog from 2 to 8 miles, but once I'd got to the top I actually felt quite comfortable and had been averaging 9:53 even though it was uphill. So with the downhill stretch ahead of me, I decided to up the pace to the intended marathon pace of 9:10 for the next 5 miles. I managed to pull out 8:55, 9:05, 8:50, 9:09, 9:08 which was brill and averaged out to 8:59..... Nice :) .
For the last 5 miles I managed to average 9:58 and overall for the full 18 miles the average was 9:40 so pleased to say it was another good long run :D
The podcast was interesting and interviewed Kathrine Switzer who was the first lady to run the Boston Marathon in 1967 but whom they actually tried to pull up and stop her running it, as it wasn't thought to be the done thing for women to run marathons ;o) . She actually continued to run the full marathon but had her result voided. She subsequently played a big part in promoting women's running culminating in the inclusion of the women's marathon in the Olympics. A very inspirational woman! I had a chuckle to myself after the podcast had finished when Sarah's running playlist unexpectedly kicked in very loudly with Beth Ditto and the Gossip's "Standing in the way of Control" . Quite a contrast, but quite a good beat to run with :)
Tummy was absolutely great today thankfully. I could feel the orthotics on the arch for the first couple of miles, but then that feeling went and they generally felt pretty comfortable. Unfortunately, come 7 miles I was getting the old metatarsal discomfort coming back again. The orthotics have definitely improved the foot pain and I'm sure will do the job for London, it's bearable, but I might also consider wearing the pads I made previously. The orthotics have obviously not solved the problem completely and so I think it may well be a case of experimenting with stability shoes and/or prescription orthotics once this race is over with. Incidentally my friend Ian went to see a podiatrist this week with similar symptoms to me and it turns out he has the same problem, but unfortunately he has a week less than me to sort his orthotics/shoes out.
Another problem that has cropped up over the last couple of weeks is chaffing from my running bra on the sternum (too much information I know for the guys that might be reading this I'm sure) but that's obviously down to the lbs I've put on in the last 6 months, so have remeasured myself and it looks like I need to up (and down) my bra size to cope with the growing me :(
I loaded up the ipod with a couple of Marathon Talk podcasts and a running playlist that Sarah has been promising to set up for me for months. I decided to give the orthotics their first long run outing to see how they went and took 3 SIS gels with me for good measure. The plan was to run just as instructed - a slow 18 miles (around the 10 min/mile pace). I'd been feeling a little stiff all week so it seemed like a sensible plan. As usual it took me a little while to get going - speaking to Maria last week and she reckons it takes her a few miles before she feels comfortable too. It was the same route I normally take, with the long slow uphill slog from 2 to 8 miles, but once I'd got to the top I actually felt quite comfortable and had been averaging 9:53 even though it was uphill. So with the downhill stretch ahead of me, I decided to up the pace to the intended marathon pace of 9:10 for the next 5 miles. I managed to pull out 8:55, 9:05, 8:50, 9:09, 9:08 which was brill and averaged out to 8:59..... Nice :) .
For the last 5 miles I managed to average 9:58 and overall for the full 18 miles the average was 9:40 so pleased to say it was another good long run :D
The podcast was interesting and interviewed Kathrine Switzer who was the first lady to run the Boston Marathon in 1967 but whom they actually tried to pull up and stop her running it, as it wasn't thought to be the done thing for women to run marathons ;o) . She actually continued to run the full marathon but had her result voided. She subsequently played a big part in promoting women's running culminating in the inclusion of the women's marathon in the Olympics. A very inspirational woman! I had a chuckle to myself after the podcast had finished when Sarah's running playlist unexpectedly kicked in very loudly with Beth Ditto and the Gossip's "Standing in the way of Control" . Quite a contrast, but quite a good beat to run with :)
Tummy was absolutely great today thankfully. I could feel the orthotics on the arch for the first couple of miles, but then that feeling went and they generally felt pretty comfortable. Unfortunately, come 7 miles I was getting the old metatarsal discomfort coming back again. The orthotics have definitely improved the foot pain and I'm sure will do the job for London, it's bearable, but I might also consider wearing the pads I made previously. The orthotics have obviously not solved the problem completely and so I think it may well be a case of experimenting with stability shoes and/or prescription orthotics once this race is over with. Incidentally my friend Ian went to see a podiatrist this week with similar symptoms to me and it turns out he has the same problem, but unfortunately he has a week less than me to sort his orthotics/shoes out.
Another problem that has cropped up over the last couple of weeks is chaffing from my running bra on the sternum (too much information I know for the guys that might be reading this I'm sure) but that's obviously down to the lbs I've put on in the last 6 months, so have remeasured myself and it looks like I need to up (and down) my bra size to cope with the growing me :(
Sunday, 8 April 2012
7 Apr - 3 mile easy run
We're currently in Torquay at my parents after coming down straight after my 7 miler on Thursday. for a bit of an early Easter weekend. A nice relaxing time with my parents and my brothers family including my little 5 year old nephew Finley (having teenagers now with the lowest energy levels, it's like being faced with a whirlwind when we see Fin :) ).
Torquay's not the flattest part of the country for running, (Mum and dad live on a near vertical hill) but I managed to find somewhere slightly flatter with views over the cliffs and out to sea to just crack in my 3 miles, definitely nice and easy.
Torquay's not the flattest part of the country for running, (Mum and dad live on a near vertical hill) but I managed to find somewhere slightly flatter with views over the cliffs and out to sea to just crack in my 3 miles, definitely nice and easy.
5 April - Steady 7 miler
Not really feeling that energetic today unfortunately so although the Garmin said I'd just about got my pace right, I'm not sure it was very accurate as I bumped into an old friend on the way back at the 4.5 mile point and spent 15 minutes catching up over what had been happening over the last 5 or 6 years. On the one hand I got the benefit of a 15 minute break, but on the other if I have any kind of break beyond a couple of minutes, my back starts to sieze up and it's really painful and difficult to get going again. Not a bad incentive to marathon running I suppose - just don't stop! ;) .
And my feet today? For about 3 miles I could feel the orthotics pressing against the arch, but then it disappeared so that all sounds positive :) .
And my feet today? For about 3 miles I could feel the orthotics pressing against the arch, but then it disappeared so that all sounds positive :) .
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
4 Apr - 6 miles slow
This morning started with heavy sleet and was raining for most of the day, how different from 3 days ago when we came back from our 20 mile run with tan liines. The forecast was for it to ease off at the end of the day, so I finally made it out in the evening. Orthotics back in the shoes, I just took it gently and they were generally feeling more comfortable than yesterday. The only thing to note was that I was beginning to get a 'feeling' from my toes (not pain or discomfort) in the last mile, so it will be interesting to see how my longer runs are going to go
3 Apr - 800m (1/2 mile) intervals x 6
Quite a toughy today.
The aim was for 8:03 intervals, but I really couldn't sustain the pace and I managed the first in 8:11 but the others being 8:42, 8:17, 8:47, 8:45 and finally 8:58 :o( .
I ran with the new orthotics in the shoes and could really feel it in my hamstrings on the sprints. I've never been very good at sprints anyway (usually better at endurance than stamina) and I am also wondering if the legs were still tired from the 20 miler on Sunday. Well a few good excuses there :o) but I did give it everything which is the important thing I can just be thankful that there are no cameras around when doing sprints, I'm sure they wouldn't make for a pretty picture
The aim was for 8:03 intervals, but I really couldn't sustain the pace and I managed the first in 8:11 but the others being 8:42, 8:17, 8:47, 8:45 and finally 8:58 :o( .
I ran with the new orthotics in the shoes and could really feel it in my hamstrings on the sprints. I've never been very good at sprints anyway (usually better at endurance than stamina) and I am also wondering if the legs were still tired from the 20 miler on Sunday. Well a few good excuses there :o) but I did give it everything which is the important thing I can just be thankful that there are no cameras around when doing sprints, I'm sure they wouldn't make for a pretty picture
Week 14 - Sort of the start of the taper, only 18 miles to run on Sunday ;)
Feeling a lot more optimistic this week about the kind of pace that I'll be putting in for London now. If I put in the same pace I put in at the weekend I'm looking at a 4hr 10min Marathon. On the plus side it was quite undulating with 100ft and 60ft climbs whereas London is a lot flatter starting off downhill (although unfortunately it will probably be slow going due to the crowds) with no more than a couple of 40ft climbs. I also felt quite comfortable at Oakley and then again I'll have tapered by London, so you never know I might have a spring in my step, we'll see. I still think 4 hours is out, but maybe 4hrs 5 min.
Cross my fiingers my tummy is now sorted, just need to make sure my feet are sorted too.
Sunday, 1 April 2012
1 Apr - Oakley 20 mile
What a difference 6 days makes! :D
A gorgeous day to be running and a real result - there's no way I expected to be putting in a 9:32 pace today and get such a good time 3:10:46 and a lot of it is down to Maria who ran around with me and kept me going.
Being a dumb clutz 10 miles down the road from home on the way to Bedford, I realised I'd forgotten my Garmin GPS so wouldn't have an idea on pace. I tried using the Mapmyrun App on my iphone, but the phone is a bit old now with a dodgy GPS and kept losing the signal. At 14 miles it told me I'd only done 11 miles (not what you want to hear) and it completely gave out when it thought I'd done 12 miles. Thankfully Maria's app worked and the miles were well signposted. I also had the best pace setter running with me as we chattered away around the course. They say if you can talk when your running, you're at a comfortable pace, so with all our catching up from over the winter months, some might say we were running a little too comfortably (a few of the Marshalls made a few comments that they could hear us approaching ;o) ) . Ipods were banned from the race, but it was a little bit like having my own personal podcast (I suspect that Maria was the one doing most of the chatting & running at the 'comfortable pace though).
It was a lovely course, nicely undulating and I think that as my normal long run route has a 6 mile long slow hill, it made the smaller shorter hills feel a little bit easier. My tummy was completely fine today, I had porridge for breakfast with a large coffee before setting off, and then a banana, a bottle of Lucozade Sport and 2 codeine tablets about an hour before the start. I took 3 SIS gels on the way round @ 6, 11 and 16 miles, the last was a caffeine gel, so I'd better stick to that combination from now on. For my feet, I kept to my old insoles but wore the ball of foot pads and my home made pads on both feet. They started to hurt after about 9 or 10 miles but it was just about bearable, so stuck with it without stopping. Hopefully by next week I will be running with the new orthotics and will be a bit more comfortable.
Photo of us trying to look perky,taken on the second lap coming up the hill - Whose bright idea was it to have photos taken at the top of a hill???
A gorgeous day to be running and a real result - there's no way I expected to be putting in a 9:32 pace today and get such a good time 3:10:46 and a lot of it is down to Maria who ran around with me and kept me going.
Being a dumb clutz 10 miles down the road from home on the way to Bedford, I realised I'd forgotten my Garmin GPS so wouldn't have an idea on pace. I tried using the Mapmyrun App on my iphone, but the phone is a bit old now with a dodgy GPS and kept losing the signal. At 14 miles it told me I'd only done 11 miles (not what you want to hear) and it completely gave out when it thought I'd done 12 miles. Thankfully Maria's app worked and the miles were well signposted. I also had the best pace setter running with me as we chattered away around the course. They say if you can talk when your running, you're at a comfortable pace, so with all our catching up from over the winter months, some might say we were running a little too comfortably (a few of the Marshalls made a few comments that they could hear us approaching ;o) ) . Ipods were banned from the race, but it was a little bit like having my own personal podcast (I suspect that Maria was the one doing most of the chatting & running at the 'comfortable pace though).
It was a lovely course, nicely undulating and I think that as my normal long run route has a 6 mile long slow hill, it made the smaller shorter hills feel a little bit easier. My tummy was completely fine today, I had porridge for breakfast with a large coffee before setting off, and then a banana, a bottle of Lucozade Sport and 2 codeine tablets about an hour before the start. I took 3 SIS gels on the way round @ 6, 11 and 16 miles, the last was a caffeine gel, so I'd better stick to that combination from now on. For my feet, I kept to my old insoles but wore the ball of foot pads and my home made pads on both feet. They started to hurt after about 9 or 10 miles but it was just about bearable, so stuck with it without stopping. Hopefully by next week I will be running with the new orthotics and will be a bit more comfortable.
Photo of us trying to look perky,taken on the second lap coming up the hill - Whose bright idea was it to have photos taken at the top of a hill???
31 Mar - 3 Mile Easy run & visit to the podiatrist
I finished my night shift this morning and had a 1/2 hr kip before I was off to get my feet checked out. He seemed to give me a thorough checkout including using this TOG Gaitscan system . The good news is it doesn't look like I've got Morton's Neuroma and that it's probably metarsalgia caused by my gait and incorrect advice on running shoes. Turns out that even though I'd had my gait checked out on a treadmill they'd got it wrong and that I don't have a neutral gait but actually overpronate, so without the correct support, all the forces have been forced onto the metatarsal area rather than being more spread out across the whole of the base of the foot. If I'd been wearing slightly different shoes I probably wouldn't have been having the pain. So my options are to change shoes or continue with the current shoes but with orthotic support (ranging from £25 to £200. Whichever way I go, the problem I'm faced with is that it can often take quite a few weeks to wear in orthotics and shoes, til I get used to the change, starting at 30 minutes a day and working up the time spent wearing them. Unfortunately I've now only got 3 weeks to go before the London Marathon. On the plus side, I'm off work for the next 2 weeks, so can wear whatever foot wear I like. But the reality is that I'm currently in pain running anyway so I can't see there is anything to lose in going ahead with it now. I've decided to go ahead with the simpler (and cheaper) orthotics, but next time I need new trainers, will probably buy shoes for overpronators.
As today's run was only a 3 miler, I gave the orthotics their first try out. They felt a bit weird when I first used them, particularly the right foot, but as I continued they actually became quite comfortable which I wasn't expecting. Unfortunately tomorrow's run is a 20 miler, and both the podiatrist and I had decided it would be better not to use them for what could be a 3-4 hour run on just the second day of wearing them and to just use the padding I had previously used. But after todays run I am very tempted to try them because they really were very comfortable. I'll have to mull it over tonight and make a decision in the morning.
As today's run was only a 3 miler, I gave the orthotics their first try out. They felt a bit weird when I first used them, particularly the right foot, but as I continued they actually became quite comfortable which I wasn't expecting. Unfortunately tomorrow's run is a 20 miler, and both the podiatrist and I had decided it would be better not to use them for what could be a 3-4 hour run on just the second day of wearing them and to just use the padding I had previously used. But after todays run I am very tempted to try them because they really were very comfortable. I'll have to mull it over tonight and make a decision in the morning.
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