Marathon '13

TheStone

.... well that wasn't suppose to happen!

Any tips for turning average cycling form into being able to run a marathon? I don't think I'm designed for running!

Anyone else in?

clarkey cat

I bought this book and found it really useful as you write in when you've done your runs and its quite good seeing your improvement down on paper and remembering those lovely long 3 hour runs at 10pm on a sleeting February night.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Experts-Gui ... 1842229400

Get fitted up properly for some trainers.
Don't be too worried about taking a day off if you're knackered.
Try not to eat too much. (easier said than done - you will be starving).
Do some speed work.

I did it 2007 when it was about 28c. I'll never do another one.

rubertoe

Good luck with that.

The only running i am designed for is Bath Running, I really cant think of anything worse than running for runnings sake.

But Qudos to anyone that runs a marathon.

Gussio

Good luck

Start now, but don't overdo it. Getting used to running, accumulating some base miles, will reduce the chance of injury when you up the weekly mileage. Find a training plan (Runners World have some good ones) which you can choose to either stick with rigidly, or adapt slightly. When it comes to the longer runs, and you don't want them to take over your life, think about running the commute that you would normally do by bike on some days. Reduces the amount of weekend time that has to be given up.

Short runs now will help to get your legs accustomed to running. If anything starts to hurt beyond aching muscles, back off. Injury really is your enemy.

Enjoy the dark, cold winter sessions

kieranb

Your aerobic fitness from cycling might mean you start off going too far too fast too soon, take your time for the body to get used to it, this happened to me, and it took my third attempt at running to slow down enough to not get injured.

bigmat

Start off running off road. Tooting, Clapham and wandsworth commons are all good. I eventually built up to a route taking in laps of all 3. Once your legs get used to the impact, run the commute. Run up Cavendish road / abbeville road to Clapham north to avoid balham / Clapham town centres, then cs7 - gets a bit busy from London bridge but you're almost there then. Endomondo is good as it tells you your split times as you are going which adds a bit of interest. Good trainers are a must, also keep your knees warm. Don't run through an injury. Finally, weight loss is key - massively reduces the impact on your joints. Fortunately I found running burnt a lot more calories than cycling. I also found I could run for 2 hours without food / drink, so when I actually got to the marathon and they were giving out lucozade every mile it felt like Christmas!

dhope

BigMat wrote:

Start off running off road. Tooting, Clapham and wandsworth commons are all good. I eventually built up to a route taking in laps of all 3. Once your legs get used to the impact, run the commute. Run up Cavendish road / abbeville road to Clapham north to avoid balham / Clapham town centres, then cs7 - gets a bit busy from London bridge but you're almost there then. Endomondo is good as it tells you your split times as you are going which adds a bit of interest. Good trainers are a must, also keep your knees warm. Don't run through an injury. Finally, weight loss is key - massively reduces the impact on your joints. Fortunately I found running burnt a lot more calories than cycling. I also found I could run for 2 hours without food / drink, so when I actually got to the marathon and they were giving out lucozade every mile it felt like Christmas!

I used to do my City-Balham commute running along Embankment and then over the bridge. Was quite nice apart from cursing everyone flying past on bikes. Always found that doing 15k was easier than 5 - in that you'd settle into a rhythm after half an hour and the next 45 would feel like less of an effort.
Running to/from work though was always a good way to get some mileage out of the way without it feeling like it was taking up a huge chunk of the day. (I've only done half marathons though, so never actually done a couple of hours running, I imagine it gets tough after that)

craker

Which marathon have you signed up for? I've never done one - it's on my 'To Do' list but I do plenty of shorter races. In fact I can't get any motivation for a run unless I've paid my money and have an event coming up... my advice would be to enter some local 5Ks and 10Ks. Once you're running once or twice a week you just want to crank up the mileage at an appropriate rate.

Good luck!

Stag on

Assuming you're speaking about the London Marathon. I started training for mine (2008) that December from pretty much a standing start.

I got a programme off Runners world. You want to stick a long run in every week, building up the distance gradually so you can get about 20 miles under your belt in March time. I did my weekly long run on a Saturday.

Running into work is good, and in midwinter I found getting out during the lunch hour is preferable to pounding the streets in the dark. I would echo the benefits of going off-road in terms of strengthening your lower limbs which will help to prevent injury.

A HRM is useful if you havent got one. A mistake I made was trying to bury myself on every run. This is quite an ineffective way to train and not the best way to prevent injury. If I was approaching it now, I would stick an intervals session in every week but only once I had built up a decent level of base fitness (e.g. able to run comfortably for an hour).

Good luck.

clarkey cat

BigMat wrote:

Start off running off road. Tooting, Clapham and wandsworth commons are all good.

I lived around Clapham way when I did it and I did the '3 commons route' alot. Also, when looking to go a bit further on your long sunday morning runs from Wandsworth Common you can drop down St Johns Hill, across to Battersea Park, over Chelsea Bridge, up Sloane St and do a lap of Hyde Park. Then when going really far drop down into Green Park, St James Park and up Embankment and down South Bank. Ah I loved those Sunday mornings. Just cruising along, listening to Capital FM: Calvin Harris, Mika and Kaiser Cheifs somehow seemed acceptable at 7am running through a deserted London.

Gussio

If you do use the commute as part of your training, invest in a decent pack to carry your stuff. The OMM Classic Marathon 25L is hard to beat for a running pack. I'm on my second in 10yrs - the first finally gave up the ghost after a battering on 3 mountain marathons and about 30k miles of commute on the bike. For lightweight kit, it is remarkably tough. Very stable and comfy.

TheStone

Anyone else running?

Just 4 days to go!

essex-commuter

TheStone wrote:

Anyone else running?

Just 4 days to go!

For the first time in 7 years...no I'm not in! I've been training a friend up to run it thsi year so have done runs up to 20 miles with her, but I'm enjoying the lack of pressure from not 'having to run'. Will be up there on Sunday to support her, looking forward to it.

Enjoy the day, it will be amazing. Have a good one, it looks as if the weather will be good for you (i.e. not too warm).

itboffin

Are you saying you're doing this years event with 4 days of training?

TheStone

itboffin wrote:

Are you saying you're doing this years event with 4 days of training?

No, been training since January.
Ready, but concerned!

itboffin

TheStone wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Are you saying you're doing this years event with 4 days of training?

No, been training since January.
Ready, but concerned!

rule #5 & #42 plus MTFU its only a little run, does that help?

also mrs itboffin did it 2 years ago so if a bird can finish it i refer you to Z rules above ^

running seriously next thing you know you'll be swimming and drinking babycham

do you want to end up like this?



I didnt think so, now pull yourself together man!

mbthegreat

As long as you don't start swimming as well you might come out ok...

TheStone

itboffin wrote:

running seriously next thing you know you'll be swimming and drinking babycham

It's worse than that, I've sacrificed months of Marmotte training for this running thing!
.... and I haven't had a beer for nearly two weeks!!!

Blandiblub

First marathon? FWIW, best advice is to concentrate on completion, rather than aiming for a target finish time as you might be disappointed. Get round the course for the first one, then look at times if you run more of them.

I've done London twice and the mistake I made on the first was to stop and walk a bit at about 19/20 miles. My legs really seized up and I couldn't really get going again for miles. On the second one, I stubbornly refused to stop and walk and made it all the way round, albeit a bit 'shuffly' towards the end.

I did find that no matter how good your training goes (esp. that 20 mile run near the end of your training), it's completely different on the day. You end up doing a longer course as you don't necessarily stick to the shortest path (and often you can't due to other runners!) and it's just much more draining.

If using some sort of GPS/app, look out for Docklands as you go through a tunnel at one point and lose the signal.

That all said, the bit as you run down Birdcage Walk and head right around the front of Buck Pal is awesome! Take in the atmos of the final stage at The Mall. It feels amazing to finish. The whole course is often quite loud with crowds but also bands and music, etc. It's great.

greg66_tri_v2.0

TheStone wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Are you saying you're doing this years event with 4 days of training?

No, been training since January.
Ready, but concerned!

Well, if you've been training since Jan, you're ready and have no need to be concerned IMO. I've yet to re-start running, and my d-day is the end of Aug.

Many years ago one of my mates decided to go out hard and see where he ended up. He went through 13 miles in something completely ridiculous - 1 h 20 or so - with the people who were being dropped from the lead group.

The explosion when he subsequently blew up could be heard for miles. Came home north of 4h, IIRC. SO don't try that trick. It doesn't work.

Good luck!

itboffin

After that last post from the OP ....dead to me now

stu-bim

Ignore all the advice about going out slow, go hard and see how fast you can do it

Look at this guy on his first half marathon, he went and won it of all things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CSxo-7plmw

mrc1

Best of luck.

The tunnel on Embankment is the worst bit of the course. You'll be knackered by that point and used to running with all the crowds cheering you on, then you enter the eiry silence of the tunnel which will be full of people that have given in to the "I'll just rest for a minute while nobody can see me" mentality. Best bit of advice is to keep moving at all costs and get out of the other side and back into the cheering crowds as quickly as possible!

davmaggs

Useful tip I read (and used) if you are sticking to some kind of pacing for a target time then write the timings for each mile marker on your race number. Write them on upside down so that you can read them looking downwards. The idea is that aren't trying to do maths after the 10 mile marker in order to work out your pace.

bigmat

davmaggs wrote:

Useful tip I read (and used) if you are sticking to some kind of pacing for a target time then write the timings for each mile marker on your race number. Write them on upside down so that you can read them looking downwards. The idea is that aren't trying to do maths after the 10 mile marker in order to work out your pace.

Doing the maths gave me something to think about! I always do that though, constantly working out miles to go, splits, projected times etc. Helps me focus.

davmaggs

I found that once tired then trying to multiple some pacing that isn't a round number (e.g 9 minutes 40 by 15 miles) becomes harder. Doing both sounds ideal, that way you have the answers to check whether your mental calculations were good.

The London marathon is also very distracting so its easy to lose track of the maths or get swept into going too fast.

essex-commuter

Updates on yesterday?

bigmat

essex-commuter wrote:

Updates on yesterday?

The boy did good - 4:33 in the end. All silent today, potentially nursing the mother of all hangovers!

essex-commuter

BigMat wrote:

essex-commuter wrote:

Updates on yesterday?

The boy did good - 4:33 in the end. All silent today, potentially nursing the mother of all hangovers!

Excelent stuff.

I was supping a pint on the massage table within 30 minutes of finishing last year. The masseuse advised me against it saying it would go straight to my head. Err, didn't see that as a problem!!!

TheStone

Training went really well, but the second half of the day itself was a bit of a nightmare.

Not sure what went wrong, but was much slower, much earlier. The whole of Docklands was a painful blur. Picked up a bit after that, but my outside chance of 4hrs was long gone.

Might have been the heat (which I couldn't train for) or related to the massive bruise I now have behind my knee.

I've learnt that absolutely no-one cares what time you get and after the tenth pint, neither did I.

Big struggle to walk today.

itboffin

TheStone wrote:

Training went really well, but the second half of the day itself was a bit of a nightmare.

Not sure what went wrong, but was much slower, much earlier. The whole of Docklands was a painful blur. Picked up a bit after that, but my outside chance of 4hrs was long gone.

Might have been the heat (which I couldn't train for) or related to the massive bruise I now have behind my knee.

I've learnt that absolutely no-one cares what time you get and after the tenth pint, neither did I.

Big struggle to walk today.

Well done even if it does break the rules, funny enough though mrs itboffin was saying that she hit a wall at Docklands as well, she even admitted that quitting was almost on the cards, almost!