This will probably be my last blog post before the Berlin Marathon, so wish me luck!! I only had a half day at work today so left at lunchtime, I leave tomorrow from St Pancras, taking the Eurostar/train to Berlin, and arriving tomorrow night. Saturday I'll go to the expo and pick up my race packet! Sunday is the big day! I can't wait.
This week I have taken it pretty easy. Having done the 20 miler at the beginning of September, and then another 20 and two half's in a short space a couple of weeks ago, I'm really confident about the distance. I decided not to do a "long run" at the weekend though, instead I did a very gentle 3 mile jog round the fields on Saturday, and a sprint distance triathlon (pool based) with the club on Sunday morning. I didn't want to over do it on Sunday though so took the triathlon pretty easy. I also marshaled at Park Run on Saturday which was good fun and will certainly help out again soon.
On Monday I didn't do much, cycled to work as usual but didn't go swimming with Tri-Force in the evening. Tuesday went for a run with Darren before work and did just under 5 miles, probably a bit faster than I'd have liked too so that'll be my last medium-effort run then!
Wednesday was also quite relaxed, I only cycled to work, and this morning I did a VERY easy 20 minute run with a walk to start and cool down. It was probably under 2 miles altogether - spending longer getting ready than I did running! I wore a new vest that I may need to wear on Sunday, along with my Camelbak, to make sure it was comfortable.
Started sorting out my stuff for Berlin including printing out the runner's guide off the internet, marking all the important points on the map and making a list of clothing to take. Yet again I am torn about what to wear top-wise. Every marathon I am undecided for the simple reason that it's nearly always going to be warm, which means wearing a vest, and none of my vests are that comfortable for 26 miles (and I have at least 15 in my wardrobe that I've bought over time so it's not like I haven't tried and tested many different makes! I just prefer sleeves!). This time I will be running with my camelbak, which chafes the back of my neck and needs to be worn over a top with a high neck. As mentioned above I FINALLY found a high-necked running vest from TK Maxx. Only problem is I have only jogged 2 miles in it so really hope it does the job for 26.2. Never a good idea to run in new gear but anything must be better than the backpack taking the skin off the back of my neck for 5 hours! Anyway hopefully it will be fine, after 18 miles I will probably not care much by that point anyway.
So now I just need to think positive and know that I've done as much training as I can. They say 90% of running a marathon is in the training, so this will just be the icing on the cake...
Thursday, 26 September 2013
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Tapering
It is that weird time of marathon training call the taper. Having done all my long runs I am just on the count down til the marathon itself, which is only 10 days away now.... eeeek!!
Been double checking my hotel booking, and the Eurostar tickets should be coming tomorrow, just need to get myself a map of Berlin and/or a travel book and try and work out how to get from the station to the hotel, and then to the expo and of course the race starting point.
I've been quite tired the last day or two and I think the 2 half marathons and 20 miler has taken it's toll. The first week of the taper never feels any different anyway as you are just doing what you did last week, only more knackered because of the final long run. Even though your brain knows the runs are only getting shorter, your legs do not!! So the days I have not been running I have not managed much apart from swimming, I haven't taken the car into work instead of cycling and had lots of early nights. Monday's swim session felt like hard work but luckily as a group we did not swim at a very fast pace so I was ok - although there was an odd moment feeling like I was about to fall asleep whilst swimming with my head under the water!!
Tuesday I was feeling a bit better and no longer sore from the GNR, and that morning went out for just under 5 miles with a fellow early bird runner. Took the scenic route - but had I been alone I would probably have not ended up running along a main road without a footpath trying not to get hit by cars!! Bit of adrenaline before work anyway!
Wednesday I cycled into work the short way and did another swim at the sports village, about half an hour in my lunch break. Had a very lazy evening watching TV and trying to get an early night but ended up lying awake while the worrying side of my mind plagues me with thoughts about injuries, niggling knee, and mainly how many Euros I could afford to convert for the trip and when my tickets would arrive (they said by 7 days before travel and I'm leaving in 8 days!).
Today I drove into work again am just to about to head out of the door for a 4.5 mile run. Glad to see it has stopped hammering it down with rain - I wanted to wait for the sun to come out at last!
Been double checking my hotel booking, and the Eurostar tickets should be coming tomorrow, just need to get myself a map of Berlin and/or a travel book and try and work out how to get from the station to the hotel, and then to the expo and of course the race starting point.
I've been quite tired the last day or two and I think the 2 half marathons and 20 miler has taken it's toll. The first week of the taper never feels any different anyway as you are just doing what you did last week, only more knackered because of the final long run. Even though your brain knows the runs are only getting shorter, your legs do not!! So the days I have not been running I have not managed much apart from swimming, I haven't taken the car into work instead of cycling and had lots of early nights. Monday's swim session felt like hard work but luckily as a group we did not swim at a very fast pace so I was ok - although there was an odd moment feeling like I was about to fall asleep whilst swimming with my head under the water!!
Tuesday I was feeling a bit better and no longer sore from the GNR, and that morning went out for just under 5 miles with a fellow early bird runner. Took the scenic route - but had I been alone I would probably have not ended up running along a main road without a footpath trying not to get hit by cars!! Bit of adrenaline before work anyway!
Wednesday I cycled into work the short way and did another swim at the sports village, about half an hour in my lunch break. Had a very lazy evening watching TV and trying to get an early night but ended up lying awake while the worrying side of my mind plagues me with thoughts about injuries, niggling knee, and mainly how many Euros I could afford to convert for the trip and when my tickets would arrive (they said by 7 days before travel and I'm leaving in 8 days!).
Today I drove into work again am just to about to head out of the door for a 4.5 mile run. Glad to see it has stopped hammering it down with rain - I wanted to wait for the sun to come out at last!
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Great North Run 2013
Sunday was the morning of the excellent Great North Run - one of my favourite races and certainly the best half marathon by a long shot! This would be my second year running it - I got a charity place with Farplace Animal Rescue last year and this year bought the membership package which let you by-pass the ballot and gives guaranteed entry for 3 years (for the princely sum of £100 plus entry fees!). Couldn't wait!
I'd booked my hotel and train ticket in advance, so all there was for it was to catch the train up to Newcastle. A long but easy journey, and always good to arrive at Newcastle coming over the Tyne River, and seeing the major Tyne Bridge in the distance over which we'd run the next day. This year it has a huge Bupa Great North Run logo constructed on the side of it to mark the occasion.
Got into Newcastle early afternoon, so checked in, dropped off my bags and headed to the pasta party. Too late to catch the Great North City Games, but we got to see plenty of action from the Junior run (a 4k run for kids up to 15 years old - and the winners of the older age groups are seriously impressive!). It was very crowded getting over the bridges though, and took a while to get to the pasta party. But got there and had a look round the small expo and had a bowl of pasta while watching the live music and talks on stage - they had Mara Yamauchi giving a talk.
Had a pretty quiet evening in as did not want to be tired for the big day. Did wish I'd come up with someone else though, as it was a great atmosphere but was a bit of a loner having no'one to share it with!!
Next morning I was up and having breakfast at 7am - kept it simple - 2 croissants, a cup of tea, bottle of water and a banana (which I'd paid £7 for). Was sitting waiting for the shuttle bus to take us to the start lines when I was recognised by another runner I'd met last year! Emma, who had also stayed at the same hotel and run the year before! We had a really good catch up about the races we'd done. We also got chatting to another lady, Daune, and before we knew it we were all huddled up excited about the race. Shame we did not meet up the night before - could have had our carb-loading dinner together!
By the time we got to the start it was cold and a bit drizzly! Knew it was forecast to rain so it was no surprise, but for the first time it really felt like autumn. I kept my jacket and layers on for as long as possible before dropping it all off in the baggage bus. Photo of the three of us below with ponchos and space blankets!
The GNR is massive - over 55,000 runners all starting on the central motorway. The crowd from the start line to the runners at the back of the final pen was over a kilometer long! Usual crowding, queues for loos and clothing/rubbish discarded everywhere. But there were also huge TV screens, helicopters circling overhead, TV and radio reporters, charity reps and sponsors of the food/drink giving away Powerade. The atmosphere was electric! Oh, and did I mention the display by the Red Arrows?!
The three of us went our separate ways and headed into our start pens. It was freezing and i scrounged an old fleece someone had thrown aside to wrap round myself. But it wasn't too long - about 25 mins (faster than last year) that our pen was moving forward - and crossing the start line!
I went off gently, having already done a 20 miler on Thursday I was not looking to get any PBs here (I did want to beat RTTB's time though - which probably wouldn't be difficult considering the hold ups last week!). The first few miles are quite fast as it's mostly downhill. This year I was on the right hand side of the motorway which means that you go over the interchange (or whatever it's called in the UK? Junction I guess? Overpass?) while the left hand side go under. Those going under tend to yell the whole "oggie oggie oggie" chant and the guys take a leak while out of sight of spectators, while us on the right had a short hill to climb but better views!
At mile 2 you cross the Tyne Bridge, which is excellent. The Red Arrows did another display flying over the bridge - lots of famous photos out there of this scene. The crowds were good now, even though it had started raining quite heavily. The bridge is certainly many people's favourite part of the course, and reminded me of crossing Tower Bridge at VLM. There were bands along the way and loads of charities lining the roads. Even though many people ran with music, you certainly don't need an mp3 player to get you round this race!
From there on there the course is quite undulating, with a fairly long but not steep climb up to mile 5. After about half way, you come into more residential areas rather than the dual carriage ways so you get a lot more spectators. They set up camp outside their homes and hand out everything from ice pops to beer! Legs were feeling pretty good up until about mile 9 or 10 - at which point they started to remember the 20 mile run 3 days before and felt very sore! The last few miles were hard work, but the route had a bit more gentle downhill and the support was getting better and getter.
Just before mile 12, you head down a short, steep hill and turn left onto the seafront. Great views over the sea and this is where the crowds are at their strongest - 10 deep near the finish line! The Red Arrows flew over again, although I couldn't watch them as much as I'd liked to or I'd run straight into the people in front! The last mile feels long, as you think you're almost at the finish but that final stretch is over a mile long so it's difficult to hold back from doing a sprint finish too early. Soon you see the 20k marker, then 800m to go, then what seems like ages til 400m, then you realise it's just the distance of 1 lap of a race course and before you know it you're on veering off the road and onto the grass - and crossing the vast, wide finish line!
The finish area is massive. Hundreds of runners cross the line every minute so it's bascially just a sea of faces like a crowded festival. Made my way through the finish zones and picked up my water and goody bag, then headed off to the charity village. Farplace had a tent there so got to enjoy a few hot cups of tea and something to eat, and met some of the other runners. It was getting very cold now, as I only had my space blanket and buff round my head, so would eventually have to leave the charity village to find the baggage buses. Picked up my bag and got changed, but whilst in the changing tent the rain started to hammer down like a storm! Didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon so I had to put on all my layers, rain jacket, wrap my space blanket round me and head back out to get the metro to the main station (very long queue - but the sun did come out eventually!).
Wish I could have stayed longer at the race venue, but looking back it was cold and wet and I think I just wanted to get back to Newcastle and find a warm Pizza Hut for dinner before getting my train home.
Finally got home about midnight - thanks Dad for picking me up from the station when I missed my connecting train at 11.30pm!! Had booked the day off on Monday so enjoyed a lie in and then a relaxing day watching the highlights on catch up TV.
Excellent weekend - I truly recommend entering the ballot for this race (it opens in Feb) or thinking about a charity place (they are easy to get, expect to raise about £200-£400, Farplace let me set up a standing order last year to donate £300 over a 12 month period). If you get in let me know and we'll make a weekend of it next year!
Finish time: 2.22.25
PICS!
Daune, Emma and me before the start - trying to keep warm!
Race number, magazine and finisher's goody bag - tee-shirt, medal, 2 cereal bars, 1 Powerade bar, water, bottle of Powerade, a High5 energy gel sample pack, sachet of muscle rub, all in a plastic drawstring bag (the drinks and energy bars are examples from what I had at home when I took the photo, since I scoffed the lot at the finish line and on the way home).
Great North Run member's tee-shirt (ignore the pink rim as this is just the vest top I had put with it to pack on the night before and was low on hangars!). Loose fit for ladies who prefer a fitted tee but nice design and technical material. You get this if you join the as a GNR Member, it costs £100 + race entry fees and gives guaranteed entry for 3 years (year 1 is included in the £100 but the 2nd and 3rd years need to be paid for later).
The greatest line-up ever?!
Finisher's certificate
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Friday, 13 September 2013
20 Miles done! Plus tapering means time for GNR 2013!
At long, long last, the final "big" run before the marathon is done! 20 hard miles over just under 4 hours completed yesterday, with 17 days to go. Feels really good to have got that far, as I think many runners would agree that the hardest part of running a marathon is the training. Pretty much know that there's very little I can do in the way of training, except for recover nicely and try not to get injured or ill!
So that's 2 x 20 mile runs done, and at least 4 runs prior to that of at least 16 miles. Most weeks with a medium run of 8-9 miles or interval training in between, plus a recovery run and cross training.
This week has been slightly odd, as I ended up doing the Run to the Beat half marathon on the day I would normally have done the final 20 miler. I don't think it's made too much difference though as I have had to use up holiday so have taken a few days off yesterday and today to do the long run and recover in a lazy fashion. Looking back, although I was planning to do RTTB at a fast pace (aiming for a season's best) that might have interfered with doing a decent 20 miler yesterday. So perhaps a good thing that the race had so much congestion and hold ups - frustrating at the time, but it felt quite easy and didn't take long to recover. Still, I'm not planning to do that again - I want a good solid 20 miler that is not sandwiched between half marathon events.
Tuesday I was back running, 4 miles before work with a friend, always good to run with someone else and makes it more fun especially when it's early in the morning. I probably put more effort in as if it has just been me running solo I would probably have just done 3 miles at an easy pace and called it a day but we did 4 miles.
Wednesday I took it easy and just cycled to work. No cycling on Wednesday evenings as it's too dark now.
Yesterday was the big run. It went well, which was great, and can see that my times have improved since the training I did for London and are roughly the same as what I was doing before Loch Ness. Yesterday's run wasn't quite as good/fast as the previous 20, which I put down to it being too close to the RTTB. The first 5 miles were a bit slower than expected, even though they are mostly uphill, but got the pace going after about an hour of running. All good through the cross country part, through the park and onto the long cycle track into Hatfield. Didn't manage to get any miles under 11 minutes though this time. Started feeling the pain at about mile 15, and was daydreaming of food, such as fruit and orange juice! Just before 17 miles I was running past work, and running a little low on water. So I quickly nipped into one of the buildings where there is a water fountain and had a good drink and a gel.
Pretty much decided what I'm going to wear for the marathon as well. Basic shorts if hot, and Nike tights if cold (shorts will be more likely). Then either the Shelter vest if warm or Adidas Supernova tee-shirt if slightly cooler. I will definitely take my hydration backpack, but I have still not found a way to prevent the straps rubbing the back of my neck so that is always sore after a long run. I ordered a high-necked trail tee-shirt last night to wear with it to provide some protection from the chaffing, but think it will be a bit too warm for the marathon.
Final 3 miles were tough but persevered as I was on for a sub 4 hour time. Bit of a slog up a slight incline that is barely noticeable when walking but feels like it goes on forever at this stage in the game, and the ground was very rough underfoot as well. Again, the distance on the Garmin seemed to clock up the final mile so slowly, I was shocked when I looked down having just crossed a road and saw I had passed 20 miles!
Walked the rest of the way home very slowly with a couple of pauses along the way - I was totally spent! So good to get home and rest! Needless to say I skipped the Tri-Foce swimming session in the evening as I don't think I'd have managed much!
Time for 20 miles: 3.58.34
Garmin link here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/375015807#.UjM8WzwAWys.facebook
So immediately into the house I resisted the urge to just flop onto the sofa and instead go through all the post-run rituals. Shoes and socks off. Backpack, sunglasses, iPod off. Make up the recovery shake and drink (at the moment the drink of choice is a Maxifuel recovery shake, orange flavour). Have a cold bath which apparently helps the soreness but is almost as torturous as the run itself (I lasted about 4 minutes before having a hot shower instead). Put on Skins compression tights and a comfy tee-shirt. Have a fried egg on toast with a chocolate milkshake. Go to bed and crash out for an hour or so. When woken up, try and walk around a bit but mostly spend afternoon lying on sofa watching DVDs and having a bowl of ice cream.
Today was pretty lazy as I had the day off work again. Legs felt pretty good considering what they'd been through the previous day, so I went to the pool and had a very gentle swim. Tomorrow I head up to Newcastle for Sunday's Great North Run, so i am about to pack for that. Again, not planning to break any records for the GNR but it doesn't matter as it's such a good day and well organised even that I just want to run it for the atmosphere. Second year running for Farplace Animal Rescue, can't wait to see them after the race! Plus 50,000 other runners and the Red Arrows display is going to make for an amazing event! It's the second year I've run it and most races have been 2 weeks before my marathons so the timing is always good too as it fits well into the taper.
Below - Memories after the 2012 Great North Run. An epic race! Bring it on for 2013, 2 days to go!!
So that's 2 x 20 mile runs done, and at least 4 runs prior to that of at least 16 miles. Most weeks with a medium run of 8-9 miles or interval training in between, plus a recovery run and cross training.
This week has been slightly odd, as I ended up doing the Run to the Beat half marathon on the day I would normally have done the final 20 miler. I don't think it's made too much difference though as I have had to use up holiday so have taken a few days off yesterday and today to do the long run and recover in a lazy fashion. Looking back, although I was planning to do RTTB at a fast pace (aiming for a season's best) that might have interfered with doing a decent 20 miler yesterday. So perhaps a good thing that the race had so much congestion and hold ups - frustrating at the time, but it felt quite easy and didn't take long to recover. Still, I'm not planning to do that again - I want a good solid 20 miler that is not sandwiched between half marathon events.
Tuesday I was back running, 4 miles before work with a friend, always good to run with someone else and makes it more fun especially when it's early in the morning. I probably put more effort in as if it has just been me running solo I would probably have just done 3 miles at an easy pace and called it a day but we did 4 miles.
Wednesday I took it easy and just cycled to work. No cycling on Wednesday evenings as it's too dark now.
Yesterday was the big run. It went well, which was great, and can see that my times have improved since the training I did for London and are roughly the same as what I was doing before Loch Ness. Yesterday's run wasn't quite as good/fast as the previous 20, which I put down to it being too close to the RTTB. The first 5 miles were a bit slower than expected, even though they are mostly uphill, but got the pace going after about an hour of running. All good through the cross country part, through the park and onto the long cycle track into Hatfield. Didn't manage to get any miles under 11 minutes though this time. Started feeling the pain at about mile 15, and was daydreaming of food, such as fruit and orange juice! Just before 17 miles I was running past work, and running a little low on water. So I quickly nipped into one of the buildings where there is a water fountain and had a good drink and a gel.
Pretty much decided what I'm going to wear for the marathon as well. Basic shorts if hot, and Nike tights if cold (shorts will be more likely). Then either the Shelter vest if warm or Adidas Supernova tee-shirt if slightly cooler. I will definitely take my hydration backpack, but I have still not found a way to prevent the straps rubbing the back of my neck so that is always sore after a long run. I ordered a high-necked trail tee-shirt last night to wear with it to provide some protection from the chaffing, but think it will be a bit too warm for the marathon.
Final 3 miles were tough but persevered as I was on for a sub 4 hour time. Bit of a slog up a slight incline that is barely noticeable when walking but feels like it goes on forever at this stage in the game, and the ground was very rough underfoot as well. Again, the distance on the Garmin seemed to clock up the final mile so slowly, I was shocked when I looked down having just crossed a road and saw I had passed 20 miles!
Walked the rest of the way home very slowly with a couple of pauses along the way - I was totally spent! So good to get home and rest! Needless to say I skipped the Tri-Foce swimming session in the evening as I don't think I'd have managed much!
Time for 20 miles: 3.58.34
Garmin link here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/375015807#.UjM8WzwAWys.facebook
So immediately into the house I resisted the urge to just flop onto the sofa and instead go through all the post-run rituals. Shoes and socks off. Backpack, sunglasses, iPod off. Make up the recovery shake and drink (at the moment the drink of choice is a Maxifuel recovery shake, orange flavour). Have a cold bath which apparently helps the soreness but is almost as torturous as the run itself (I lasted about 4 minutes before having a hot shower instead). Put on Skins compression tights and a comfy tee-shirt. Have a fried egg on toast with a chocolate milkshake. Go to bed and crash out for an hour or so. When woken up, try and walk around a bit but mostly spend afternoon lying on sofa watching DVDs and having a bowl of ice cream.
Today was pretty lazy as I had the day off work again. Legs felt pretty good considering what they'd been through the previous day, so I went to the pool and had a very gentle swim. Tomorrow I head up to Newcastle for Sunday's Great North Run, so i am about to pack for that. Again, not planning to break any records for the GNR but it doesn't matter as it's such a good day and well organised even that I just want to run it for the atmosphere. Second year running for Farplace Animal Rescue, can't wait to see them after the race! Plus 50,000 other runners and the Red Arrows display is going to make for an amazing event! It's the second year I've run it and most races have been 2 weeks before my marathons so the timing is always good too as it fits well into the taper.
Below - Memories after the 2012 Great North Run. An epic race! Bring it on for 2013, 2 days to go!!
Monday, 9 September 2013
Planning for multiple marathons
The other day I linked to this page, 5 Strategies to Nail Back-to-Back Races, when I was looking for advice on running multiple marathons. Most of the guides out there seem relate to the traditional plan of planning for and running a single marathon, then entering a period of rest and recover - and either stopping there, or waiting at least 6-12 months before training for/running the next.
But now there's a trend for people to push themselves further than just one marathon - and running multiple marathons is the latest thing! In my case, it will be 4 marathons in 2 months, with 2 of them being with a week of each other.
Others may run 2 races in a day/a weekend (the Disney marathon has the Goofy Challenge option, where you run a half one day and a full the next). Or how about 10-in-10? People who are looking to achieve a high number of recognised official marathons, such as the 100 Marathon Club in the UK and the 50 States Marathon Club in the US will want to squeeze in as many as they can over the year - often doubling up on the weekend if races are a feasible drive from each other.
They might not all be marathons - I'm sure there's plenty of people who do a half marathon every few weeks, and bling-chasers such as myself just like to do as many races (whether 5ks, halfs, triathlons or even ultras) as possible for the fun of it!
Seems there's loads of options out there, and everyone's multiple or back-to-back marathon schedule is going to be slightly different. Plus everyone has a different goal when it comes to finishing time and whether or not a PB or strong finish time is important every race.
So looks like there's more and more articles out there which acknowledge that you are not just training for a one-off marathon, which is great because I really need some advice, and the regular "do's and don't's" including the usual advice never to run a full marathon in training, make sure you take 6 months off, and taper your training, well they just aren't going to be possible each time.
This is all quite new to me, and food for thought, but here are some interesting points I've learned so far.
For regular non-professional marathon runners, (running one every 1-2 weeks all year round), looks like the thing to do is keep at a very high mileage all year, but it might be a slower pace. No "peaking" - just run, recover, and run again. Training might be little more than 2 or 3 short runs over the week, with the race as the long run every weekend. With 2-3 weeks between marathons, there's no need to do anything more than that. Their bodies should be so used to running long distances often that they will always be ready to run.
The opposite might be a "long weekend" or "tour" style challenge where someone will training in the normal way i.e. start training, peak, taper, race and recover, but instead of one marathon there will be 2, 3 or more, back to back for several days.
Biggest advice that I've ready everywhere is RECOVER!
And the other one is not to expect a PB every time. Either run one "seriously" and one "for fun" (like I did with London and Prague, or do them all at an average effort.
So what's my plan? So far it looks like this:
Autumn marathons
Berlin, 29th Sep and Eden, 20th Oct - 3 weeks apart
Train as normal for Berlin. I've done plenty of long runs, and am going to do a final 20 miler before tapering. Run Berlin at a good pace.
For Eden, this is going to be a "fun" marathon. I won't do much more than 5-6 miles in-between the two, as I'll just need to keep my fitness from dropping of and staying mentally ready. Mostly I'll rest or do cross training. Eden will be very hilly, which I've not really trained for, so I will just take it has it comes, walk when I need to and hopefully finish unbroken.
Spring marathons
Marathon 1 - Brighton (6th April)
4 week gap until Milton Keynes on 5th May
3 week gap until RnR Liverpool on 25th May
(London 10k on 26th May)
1 week gap until Kent Roadrunner Marathon on 31st May
(1 week gap til Blenheim Palace triathlon and St Albans Half long weekend).
Train as normal for Brighton, but schedule in fewer rest weekends (a shorter long run every 4 instead of every 3 weekends) This will get my body used to running long runs on consecutive weekends.
Run Brighton as normal (5.05-5.20 time) and have a full week off to rest. Short runs and cross training in between.
3 weeks after Brighton, do 6-8 slow miles, then taper for MK. Try and stick to cross country instead of hard tarmac.
Run MK at a reasonably good pace, but don't worry if not at normal pace (would like to get in under 5.30).
Do no more than 3-5 miles at the weekend between MK and Liverpool, and short 3-4 miles during the week or cross training.
Run Liverpool at an easy pace - they'll be bands along the way so good excuse to walk/dance/watch the music every mile! (5.30-5.45).
The London 10k is just 24 hours after Liverpool so will have to be extremely slow with regular walking breaks. Allow at least 90 minutes (it's a massive London charity run - they'll be people taking over 2 hours anyway).
Rest between the 10k and Kent - do some light cross training but in general just rest and recover.
Run Kent at a very easy pace with regular walking breaks (5.45- 6 hours?).
Do the triathlon working hard in the swim and cycle, but ease very gently into the 5k run.
For the half marathon, easy pace with walking breaks (allow 2.45 mins). I think this may have been a mistake signing up for this, but now I have, the challenge remains!
Hopefully that will get me round the Grand Slam Marathon challenge and earn a few awesome shiny medals!
I may wear each finisher's tee-shirt for the next race so people can see that I am running back to back marathons..... hehehehe.
But now there's a trend for people to push themselves further than just one marathon - and running multiple marathons is the latest thing! In my case, it will be 4 marathons in 2 months, with 2 of them being with a week of each other.
Others may run 2 races in a day/a weekend (the Disney marathon has the Goofy Challenge option, where you run a half one day and a full the next). Or how about 10-in-10? People who are looking to achieve a high number of recognised official marathons, such as the 100 Marathon Club in the UK and the 50 States Marathon Club in the US will want to squeeze in as many as they can over the year - often doubling up on the weekend if races are a feasible drive from each other.
They might not all be marathons - I'm sure there's plenty of people who do a half marathon every few weeks, and bling-chasers such as myself just like to do as many races (whether 5ks, halfs, triathlons or even ultras) as possible for the fun of it!
Seems there's loads of options out there, and everyone's multiple or back-to-back marathon schedule is going to be slightly different. Plus everyone has a different goal when it comes to finishing time and whether or not a PB or strong finish time is important every race.
So looks like there's more and more articles out there which acknowledge that you are not just training for a one-off marathon, which is great because I really need some advice, and the regular "do's and don't's" including the usual advice never to run a full marathon in training, make sure you take 6 months off, and taper your training, well they just aren't going to be possible each time.
This is all quite new to me, and food for thought, but here are some interesting points I've learned so far.
For regular non-professional marathon runners, (running one every 1-2 weeks all year round), looks like the thing to do is keep at a very high mileage all year, but it might be a slower pace. No "peaking" - just run, recover, and run again. Training might be little more than 2 or 3 short runs over the week, with the race as the long run every weekend. With 2-3 weeks between marathons, there's no need to do anything more than that. Their bodies should be so used to running long distances often that they will always be ready to run.
The opposite might be a "long weekend" or "tour" style challenge where someone will training in the normal way i.e. start training, peak, taper, race and recover, but instead of one marathon there will be 2, 3 or more, back to back for several days.
Biggest advice that I've ready everywhere is RECOVER!
And the other one is not to expect a PB every time. Either run one "seriously" and one "for fun" (like I did with London and Prague, or do them all at an average effort.
So what's my plan? So far it looks like this:
Autumn marathons
Berlin, 29th Sep and Eden, 20th Oct - 3 weeks apart
Train as normal for Berlin. I've done plenty of long runs, and am going to do a final 20 miler before tapering. Run Berlin at a good pace.
For Eden, this is going to be a "fun" marathon. I won't do much more than 5-6 miles in-between the two, as I'll just need to keep my fitness from dropping of and staying mentally ready. Mostly I'll rest or do cross training. Eden will be very hilly, which I've not really trained for, so I will just take it has it comes, walk when I need to and hopefully finish unbroken.
Spring marathons
Marathon 1 - Brighton (6th April)
4 week gap until Milton Keynes on 5th May
3 week gap until RnR Liverpool on 25th May
(London 10k on 26th May)
1 week gap until Kent Roadrunner Marathon on 31st May
(1 week gap til Blenheim Palace triathlon and St Albans Half long weekend).
Train as normal for Brighton, but schedule in fewer rest weekends (a shorter long run every 4 instead of every 3 weekends) This will get my body used to running long runs on consecutive weekends.
Run Brighton as normal (5.05-5.20 time) and have a full week off to rest. Short runs and cross training in between.
3 weeks after Brighton, do 6-8 slow miles, then taper for MK. Try and stick to cross country instead of hard tarmac.
Run MK at a reasonably good pace, but don't worry if not at normal pace (would like to get in under 5.30).
Do no more than 3-5 miles at the weekend between MK and Liverpool, and short 3-4 miles during the week or cross training.
Run Liverpool at an easy pace - they'll be bands along the way so good excuse to walk/dance/watch the music every mile! (5.30-5.45).
The London 10k is just 24 hours after Liverpool so will have to be extremely slow with regular walking breaks. Allow at least 90 minutes (it's a massive London charity run - they'll be people taking over 2 hours anyway).
Rest between the 10k and Kent - do some light cross training but in general just rest and recover.
Run Kent at a very easy pace with regular walking breaks (5.45- 6 hours?).
Do the triathlon working hard in the swim and cycle, but ease very gently into the 5k run.
For the half marathon, easy pace with walking breaks (allow 2.45 mins). I think this may have been a mistake signing up for this, but now I have, the challenge remains!
Hopefully that will get me round the Grand Slam Marathon challenge and earn a few awesome shiny medals!
I may wear each finisher's tee-shirt for the next race so people can see that I am running back to back marathons..... hehehehe.
Race recap: Run To The Beat - a disappointing let down
Sunday was the day of London's Run To The Beat half marathon. I had been looking forward this one for weeks, having taken part in it last year and (overall) had a good day and a PB.I wasn't planning for a PB this time, but did hope to get in under 2.20 which would have been the best for 2013.
Last year's race was good but was frustrated by a number of organisational problems including over crowding in the venue (O2), huge queues to drop off and pick up baggage and lack of decent way-finding. Once running however, the course was good and the crowds excellent.
So when I heard they had moved the venue to Greenwich Park and adjusted the route slightly, I was hoping for big improvements. Still, I decided to take precautions and avoided the baggage drop by taking my own running backpack which just about fitted everything I needed (including a long sleeve top and long tights to wear before and afterwards) and a foil space blanket as we didn't get those last year. Transport was much better as there were several train/tube/DLR stops in the area unlike the O2 which is much more difficult to reach especially if there are delays on the one tube line that goes there. Was looking forward to the Greenwich Park start as it was the same place as the London Marathon start.
The race started at 9.45am and I wanted to be there an hour early, so tot the first train from St Albans. At the station I got chatting to a couple of other runners, Pete and Jim, also doing RTTB. There were quite a few people on the train - very easy to tell as we all had the same mint-green tee-shirt plus trainers on, and who else is going to be mad enough to be on the 6.22am train on a Sunday?!
I had originally planned to get off at Blackheath, as i knew the route but Pete said that getting off at Greenwich was quicker, so we went that way instead. We got there early, about 8.15, but there were plenty of people around. It was signposted well from the station so off to a good start. We walked up what appeared to be mile 12 of the run course - a rather nasty hill that was tiring just walking it! Going to be really tough later! The park was a much better venue, as even when crowded it was easier to find your way around and there was a good atmosphere with a huge stage, music playing, a mass warm up and plenty of charity and food tents. I put on my timing chip (which was a very annoying triathlon type that is meant to be worn on straps - however they had not included these nor any cable ties so you had to thread it through your laces. I'd bought my own cable ties though as knew it was going to be a faff trying to undo my laces after 13.1 miles!
As there was going to music played along the course, I wasn't sure whether to bother with my iPod. However since this is one of the only ones where they are perfectly happy for you to listen to you mp3 player ("it's all about the music!") I thought I'd make the most of it and bring it along to listen to between DJs/bands. The three of us went our separate ways to our starting pens, I headed off the the Black start (finishing times of 2hr to 2.30). Got there about 9.30am so I was going to have to hang around for a while. I could't hear the music much anymore, so i listened to my iPod as the pens filled up. They were soon very full! Unfortunately I then saw the pacers enter the pens, and I was very close to the 2.10 pacer and a long way in front of the 2.20 which I planned to follow. Sadly it was way to packed to try and move 100m backwards to be with the correct pacer so I would just go by my garmin instead.
Had a long wait before we were off, and as normal for a large race it was about half an hour before we got near enough the start line to start running! But the crowds were good and I was quite excited. The view from the start line looked very familiar although I was sure I'd never been to this exact place before. A few moments after crossing the start line we turned through some gates and headed out into Blackheath - I looked back and realised this was the same start as the red VLM start line!! Pretty awesome! I'd been in the blue start earlier this year but seen so many photos of the red area as that was the largest start - which was why i had such a sense of deja vu.
First few miles were very good. There was a nice downhill for the first mile, but I didn't go all out as it would only mean hurting later on. The crowds were not as big as VLM (and missing a few hot air balloons and blimps too!) but still very good. Good to be running alongside 19,000 other runners in London again! So far so good, seemed as though the organisers had really improved on last year.
Sadly, it all changed soon after mile 4. The route was meant to enter the Royal Artillery Barracks through the east gate, do a lap of the barrack field and then come out again through the same gate. For 19,000 runners?! This was total chaos - we hit a gridlock. There is no other way to describe it other than being like the M25 on Friday night rush hour. I was running along but had to slow right down - and saw a large group of runners in front has just come to a standstill! I actually thought something bad had happened (being in a military area in London after what happened in Boston) and that the race was in danger. But no, it was just poor organisation. The gate into the barracks was far to narrow to let runners both in AND out at the some time, and queues were backing up in each direction. The had to stop "traffic" in each direction for a few minutes at a time to let one lot through, and then switch and let the other direction exit. Madness. We couldn't believe it and agreed that we could kiss goodbye to our target times.
I don't normally do this during a race, but... I paused my garmin. I wanted to only record what I'd actually run and needed to see how my pace was going as I am still in marathon training mode. Having a 7-8 minute pause would totally skew the results. Anyway so we were held at a total standstill for about 6-7 minutes to get into the barrack, run a loops of about 500m, and then wait 2 more minutes to get out again. Crazy. I'd lost about 8.5 minutes and could have run the best part of a mile in that time (I heard later some waited over 10 minutes and less seasoned runners were cramping up from the sudden standstill!).
The next few miles were like the start line again, really congested as people were all bunched up again. I also heard later that they shut off the barrack loop and just let people go straight past - so more congestion not to mention some people didn't run the full distance. We had another out and back loop a mile on, which was hugely crowded and I felt very sorry for the residents whose paths outside their front doors were blocked by slow runners and pedestrians were getting bumped into time and time again.
It was crowded until about mile 9, and my pace suffered. It was still not bad, but I was wearing myself out putting in extra effort to dodge people or moving on and off the pavements. There was one particularly hazardous stretch along a dual carriage way. We ran this exact road during VLM, but had nearly all of the road expect a lane for emergency vehicles. During RTTB however, we had just ONE lane of one side of the road! For all those runners! It was not working. I was forced outside the cone area (i.e. into traffic) so i went and ran along the central embankment. Took the earphones out here as there were cars trying to get through - yet being blocked by runners. You could tell the drivers were getting just as frustrated as the runners. They had to deal with closed/limited roads, and we'd paid £50 to endure being squeezed like sardines. Later, as we moved off the road and onto cycle tracks, it was still busy with a lot of bottlenecks and the view was very grim going past a quarry. Nice. Shame they couldn't take us round Cutty Sark!
Normally I enjoy a race even if i am missing out on my target time or just running for a laugh and not worried about time. But ever since the hold ups I had felt stressed and disappointed, and didn't really enjoy the rest of the race. I also kept forgetting to concentrate on my gait, and now my knee feels a little sore as I was striking with the heel of my foot which is what I do when being lazy. I felt like I spent most of the time concentrating on not getting bashed by other runners or tripping up a curb. I ended up listening to my own music most of the way round (when safe!) as the DJs and bands were few and far between, and not very loud. One was basically just speakers out the back of a van. Rock and Roll Dublin was far better!
The congestion eased off at mile 9 at the O2, where you then double backed the last mile or so, although the hairpin turn meant another slow down to do the 180 turn. Had a mainly clear run to the finish now which was better. Went up that hill at mile 12 - it was hard work! I ran the whole thing, but it was very steep and probably could have walked it faster! Very good crowds here though, they were cheering on runners and we were almost at the finish.
There were two more cheeky hairpin turns though before the actual finish line, which was annoying as you got the impression they hadn't worked out the route distance accurately enough as otherwise you'd have got a nice clear run to the finish line. Oh well - there's often a sting in the tail in many half marathons so this was nothing new! Did manage a sprint finish though, in front of lots of applause! Always feels good to finish!
Made out way through the finishing funnel, and was given drinks (coconut water and a bottle of normal still water) and a medal. The coconut water was not very popular and although they appeared to be running short, no'one was drinking them and there were endless almost-full cartons on the ground. I don't mind the coconut water so took an unused one (having paid £50 i wanted a bit of nourishment on the way home). Felt a bit bad for taking two if they did run low though. Heard later they gave out energy bars but ran out very quickly.
Hung around the finish area for a bit as they had Jessie J singing live. Good for a bit and many people loved it, but I couldn't help but wonder why they spent so much of my £50 on a famous headline act and not enough on a decent, organised course. I left fairly early, as it was getting chilly and starting to rain, and I didn't have much to keep me warm (the last thing I want right now is a cold). Used the changing tents to pull on my tights and sort out my gear, but it was hardly ideal as one side of the marquee was completely open facing a row of portaloos! So it was not private and here were girls trying to get changed! It was also windy and rather dark inside. I was very glad I did not need to get anything from the baggage drop as the queues were horrendous! They had not improved there! Reading comments on Twitter later I found out one of the shelving areas had actually collapsed causing danger to the volunteers and damaging people's property. Not good at all.
I left Greenwich Park without the normal post-race high I usually enjoy, and walked down to Blackheath station, which was quite nice as it reminded me again of VLM - and the expert organisation of that race. Had a few minutes before catching my train so i bought a milkshake as a recovery drink (tasty carbs and protein!). My legs were getting cold and stiff so I sat on the benches on the platform with the space blanket wrapped round them like a towel. Still another long run to do before Berlin so I did not want to delay the recover process.
On the second train back to St Albans I found myself sitting next to 2 guys also wearing medals but who had bikes with them. Turned out they'd just finished a London to Brighton charity event and were on their way home! We swapped stories about our respective races. Got back to St A in the pouring rain! I was soaked by the time I got to the car and must have looked a right sight in my space blanket and pink running tights!
It was very nice to get home and have some ice cream, pizza and a bath.
Overall not a bad day but was left feeling quite flat and disappointed it the route. Expected a lot more after last year and they just didn't deliver. I am not even sure which time to use - my official time, or the Garmin time which was paused whilst we stood stationary by the barracks.
Overall I doubt I will do this race again. It promised a lot, but over a 6 year period it has failed to deliver most of what it set out to do. This is very odd as the organisers, IMG Challenger World, are also the same as those behind the excellent London and Blenheim Palace Triathlons - which run like clockwork. Perhaps they should stick to tri's and let Nova (those behind the Great Run event) or the Rock and Roll Marathon series do RTTB.
I am not keen on paying a large sum on money and seeing such bad organisation.
Official finish time: 2.31.09
Garmin finish time taking account of the queue: 2.22.44 at 13.1 miles
Garmin download details for 13.16 miles as recorded
EDIT: Due to so many complaints from runners, the organisers have said they will refund £10 to all runners. That's something then. Let's hope I see that!
PS - search for #RTTB on Twitter or see the facebook site for some entertaining comments on the event!
Below - image of the medal (I'll get a proper snap later but it was quite nice - big and solid feeling with a green and purple lanyard. There's a space for an itab but I am not sure whether to fit mine as I don't trust the finish time!
Below that - Terri_Willis's image of the Woolwich barracks - runners queue to exit the gate but it was even worse trying to get in. @Terri_Willis
Bottom pic - finisher's certificate with chip time.
Last year's race was good but was frustrated by a number of organisational problems including over crowding in the venue (O2), huge queues to drop off and pick up baggage and lack of decent way-finding. Once running however, the course was good and the crowds excellent.
So when I heard they had moved the venue to Greenwich Park and adjusted the route slightly, I was hoping for big improvements. Still, I decided to take precautions and avoided the baggage drop by taking my own running backpack which just about fitted everything I needed (including a long sleeve top and long tights to wear before and afterwards) and a foil space blanket as we didn't get those last year. Transport was much better as there were several train/tube/DLR stops in the area unlike the O2 which is much more difficult to reach especially if there are delays on the one tube line that goes there. Was looking forward to the Greenwich Park start as it was the same place as the London Marathon start.
The race started at 9.45am and I wanted to be there an hour early, so tot the first train from St Albans. At the station I got chatting to a couple of other runners, Pete and Jim, also doing RTTB. There were quite a few people on the train - very easy to tell as we all had the same mint-green tee-shirt plus trainers on, and who else is going to be mad enough to be on the 6.22am train on a Sunday?!
I had originally planned to get off at Blackheath, as i knew the route but Pete said that getting off at Greenwich was quicker, so we went that way instead. We got there early, about 8.15, but there were plenty of people around. It was signposted well from the station so off to a good start. We walked up what appeared to be mile 12 of the run course - a rather nasty hill that was tiring just walking it! Going to be really tough later! The park was a much better venue, as even when crowded it was easier to find your way around and there was a good atmosphere with a huge stage, music playing, a mass warm up and plenty of charity and food tents. I put on my timing chip (which was a very annoying triathlon type that is meant to be worn on straps - however they had not included these nor any cable ties so you had to thread it through your laces. I'd bought my own cable ties though as knew it was going to be a faff trying to undo my laces after 13.1 miles!
As there was going to music played along the course, I wasn't sure whether to bother with my iPod. However since this is one of the only ones where they are perfectly happy for you to listen to you mp3 player ("it's all about the music!") I thought I'd make the most of it and bring it along to listen to between DJs/bands. The three of us went our separate ways to our starting pens, I headed off the the Black start (finishing times of 2hr to 2.30). Got there about 9.30am so I was going to have to hang around for a while. I could't hear the music much anymore, so i listened to my iPod as the pens filled up. They were soon very full! Unfortunately I then saw the pacers enter the pens, and I was very close to the 2.10 pacer and a long way in front of the 2.20 which I planned to follow. Sadly it was way to packed to try and move 100m backwards to be with the correct pacer so I would just go by my garmin instead.
Had a long wait before we were off, and as normal for a large race it was about half an hour before we got near enough the start line to start running! But the crowds were good and I was quite excited. The view from the start line looked very familiar although I was sure I'd never been to this exact place before. A few moments after crossing the start line we turned through some gates and headed out into Blackheath - I looked back and realised this was the same start as the red VLM start line!! Pretty awesome! I'd been in the blue start earlier this year but seen so many photos of the red area as that was the largest start - which was why i had such a sense of deja vu.
First few miles were very good. There was a nice downhill for the first mile, but I didn't go all out as it would only mean hurting later on. The crowds were not as big as VLM (and missing a few hot air balloons and blimps too!) but still very good. Good to be running alongside 19,000 other runners in London again! So far so good, seemed as though the organisers had really improved on last year.
Sadly, it all changed soon after mile 4. The route was meant to enter the Royal Artillery Barracks through the east gate, do a lap of the barrack field and then come out again through the same gate. For 19,000 runners?! This was total chaos - we hit a gridlock. There is no other way to describe it other than being like the M25 on Friday night rush hour. I was running along but had to slow right down - and saw a large group of runners in front has just come to a standstill! I actually thought something bad had happened (being in a military area in London after what happened in Boston) and that the race was in danger. But no, it was just poor organisation. The gate into the barracks was far to narrow to let runners both in AND out at the some time, and queues were backing up in each direction. The had to stop "traffic" in each direction for a few minutes at a time to let one lot through, and then switch and let the other direction exit. Madness. We couldn't believe it and agreed that we could kiss goodbye to our target times.
I don't normally do this during a race, but... I paused my garmin. I wanted to only record what I'd actually run and needed to see how my pace was going as I am still in marathon training mode. Having a 7-8 minute pause would totally skew the results. Anyway so we were held at a total standstill for about 6-7 minutes to get into the barrack, run a loops of about 500m, and then wait 2 more minutes to get out again. Crazy. I'd lost about 8.5 minutes and could have run the best part of a mile in that time (I heard later some waited over 10 minutes and less seasoned runners were cramping up from the sudden standstill!).
The next few miles were like the start line again, really congested as people were all bunched up again. I also heard later that they shut off the barrack loop and just let people go straight past - so more congestion not to mention some people didn't run the full distance. We had another out and back loop a mile on, which was hugely crowded and I felt very sorry for the residents whose paths outside their front doors were blocked by slow runners and pedestrians were getting bumped into time and time again.
It was crowded until about mile 9, and my pace suffered. It was still not bad, but I was wearing myself out putting in extra effort to dodge people or moving on and off the pavements. There was one particularly hazardous stretch along a dual carriage way. We ran this exact road during VLM, but had nearly all of the road expect a lane for emergency vehicles. During RTTB however, we had just ONE lane of one side of the road! For all those runners! It was not working. I was forced outside the cone area (i.e. into traffic) so i went and ran along the central embankment. Took the earphones out here as there were cars trying to get through - yet being blocked by runners. You could tell the drivers were getting just as frustrated as the runners. They had to deal with closed/limited roads, and we'd paid £50 to endure being squeezed like sardines. Later, as we moved off the road and onto cycle tracks, it was still busy with a lot of bottlenecks and the view was very grim going past a quarry. Nice. Shame they couldn't take us round Cutty Sark!
Normally I enjoy a race even if i am missing out on my target time or just running for a laugh and not worried about time. But ever since the hold ups I had felt stressed and disappointed, and didn't really enjoy the rest of the race. I also kept forgetting to concentrate on my gait, and now my knee feels a little sore as I was striking with the heel of my foot which is what I do when being lazy. I felt like I spent most of the time concentrating on not getting bashed by other runners or tripping up a curb. I ended up listening to my own music most of the way round (when safe!) as the DJs and bands were few and far between, and not very loud. One was basically just speakers out the back of a van. Rock and Roll Dublin was far better!
The congestion eased off at mile 9 at the O2, where you then double backed the last mile or so, although the hairpin turn meant another slow down to do the 180 turn. Had a mainly clear run to the finish now which was better. Went up that hill at mile 12 - it was hard work! I ran the whole thing, but it was very steep and probably could have walked it faster! Very good crowds here though, they were cheering on runners and we were almost at the finish.
There were two more cheeky hairpin turns though before the actual finish line, which was annoying as you got the impression they hadn't worked out the route distance accurately enough as otherwise you'd have got a nice clear run to the finish line. Oh well - there's often a sting in the tail in many half marathons so this was nothing new! Did manage a sprint finish though, in front of lots of applause! Always feels good to finish!
Made out way through the finishing funnel, and was given drinks (coconut water and a bottle of normal still water) and a medal. The coconut water was not very popular and although they appeared to be running short, no'one was drinking them and there were endless almost-full cartons on the ground. I don't mind the coconut water so took an unused one (having paid £50 i wanted a bit of nourishment on the way home). Felt a bit bad for taking two if they did run low though. Heard later they gave out energy bars but ran out very quickly.
Hung around the finish area for a bit as they had Jessie J singing live. Good for a bit and many people loved it, but I couldn't help but wonder why they spent so much of my £50 on a famous headline act and not enough on a decent, organised course. I left fairly early, as it was getting chilly and starting to rain, and I didn't have much to keep me warm (the last thing I want right now is a cold). Used the changing tents to pull on my tights and sort out my gear, but it was hardly ideal as one side of the marquee was completely open facing a row of portaloos! So it was not private and here were girls trying to get changed! It was also windy and rather dark inside. I was very glad I did not need to get anything from the baggage drop as the queues were horrendous! They had not improved there! Reading comments on Twitter later I found out one of the shelving areas had actually collapsed causing danger to the volunteers and damaging people's property. Not good at all.
I left Greenwich Park without the normal post-race high I usually enjoy, and walked down to Blackheath station, which was quite nice as it reminded me again of VLM - and the expert organisation of that race. Had a few minutes before catching my train so i bought a milkshake as a recovery drink (tasty carbs and protein!). My legs were getting cold and stiff so I sat on the benches on the platform with the space blanket wrapped round them like a towel. Still another long run to do before Berlin so I did not want to delay the recover process.
On the second train back to St Albans I found myself sitting next to 2 guys also wearing medals but who had bikes with them. Turned out they'd just finished a London to Brighton charity event and were on their way home! We swapped stories about our respective races. Got back to St A in the pouring rain! I was soaked by the time I got to the car and must have looked a right sight in my space blanket and pink running tights!
It was very nice to get home and have some ice cream, pizza and a bath.
Overall not a bad day but was left feeling quite flat and disappointed it the route. Expected a lot more after last year and they just didn't deliver. I am not even sure which time to use - my official time, or the Garmin time which was paused whilst we stood stationary by the barracks.
Overall I doubt I will do this race again. It promised a lot, but over a 6 year period it has failed to deliver most of what it set out to do. This is very odd as the organisers, IMG Challenger World, are also the same as those behind the excellent London and Blenheim Palace Triathlons - which run like clockwork. Perhaps they should stick to tri's and let Nova (those behind the Great Run event) or the Rock and Roll Marathon series do RTTB.
I am not keen on paying a large sum on money and seeing such bad organisation.
Official finish time: 2.31.09
Garmin finish time taking account of the queue: 2.22.44 at 13.1 miles
Garmin download details for 13.16 miles as recorded
| Time: | 2:23:22 |
| Moving Time: | 2:20:56 |
| Elapsed Time: | 2:31:09 |
| Avg Pace: | 10:53 min/mi |
| Avg Moving Pace: | 10:42 min/mi |
EDIT: Due to so many complaints from runners, the organisers have said they will refund £10 to all runners. That's something then. Let's hope I see that!
PS - search for #RTTB on Twitter or see the facebook site for some entertaining comments on the event!
Below - image of the medal (I'll get a proper snap later but it was quite nice - big and solid feeling with a green and purple lanyard. There's a space for an itab but I am not sure whether to fit mine as I don't trust the finish time!
Below that - Terri_Willis's image of the Woolwich barracks - runners queue to exit the gate but it was even worse trying to get in. @Terri_Willis
Bottom pic - finisher's certificate with chip time.
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
The fun and perils of buying new gear
I love a bit of new gear now and again. Who doesn't! It involved both clothes shopping and running shopping! As long as I don't go over board though haha.
It can be a bit of a gamble buying new clothing though, as I've found over the years. Sometimes, you find a great tee-shirt or shorts, which fit perfectly and feel great in the shop - but halfway into a long run you find it chaffing! Or too loose, or too tight - just not as perfect as you thought. And now you can't take it back, as it's been worn, so that's money lost. A few of my items have been relegated to the back of the wardrobe for this reason, and only get worn on the short/easy runs when comfort for many hours isn't necessary.
Most of the problems have been with shorts. I prefer tight ones, but they tend to bunch up after a few miles. I got a really cute running skirt with shorts underneath, and after a few miles they just irritated me as the undershorts just weren't comfortable.
Ironically, a lot of my best summer clothing was dirt cheap, or free. For long runs in hot weather, I've got 4 pairs of basic school PE shorts from Asda - 2 for £6!! There's nothing special about them (no pocket, or drawstring on the waist) but they do the job. And my best crop tops were both under £10 each from TK Maxx and the London Marathon Expo (yet you can shell out £40 for a ShockAbsorber!). For anything over 15 miles, I usually wear one of 2 charity vests i was given for raising money for some races last year.
Winter running is different though - my favourite gear is what I have paid for most for. There's a huge difference between my £30 basic Nike tights and the higher end £50 Nike nights - and tights can make or break a long run. I think you get what you pay for with tee-shirts and long sleeved tops as well, I've only bought cheap or mid range tops (haven't brought myself to pay £45 or more for anything by Gore yet) and I prefer all my mid-range to the cheaper tops.
Finally my running backpack. I have a love/hate relationship with this. It's brilliant for carrying my drink and other essentials, leaves my hands free and spreads the weight evenly. But the webbing material isn't soft enough, and rubs the back of my shoulders badly. I have to put on loads of plastics and tape to try and stop this happening, but after a few hours of running and getting a sweat up, the tape peels off. I'm sort of used to it, but it does look like I am always burning the back of my shoulders! It would be good if I could find a high necked top to wear under it, but I only have one which is not that suited to running. The backpack also wears away at the clothing worn underneath it, so a few of my tops are getting very bobbly.
It can be a bit of a gamble buying new clothing though, as I've found over the years. Sometimes, you find a great tee-shirt or shorts, which fit perfectly and feel great in the shop - but halfway into a long run you find it chaffing! Or too loose, or too tight - just not as perfect as you thought. And now you can't take it back, as it's been worn, so that's money lost. A few of my items have been relegated to the back of the wardrobe for this reason, and only get worn on the short/easy runs when comfort for many hours isn't necessary.
Most of the problems have been with shorts. I prefer tight ones, but they tend to bunch up after a few miles. I got a really cute running skirt with shorts underneath, and after a few miles they just irritated me as the undershorts just weren't comfortable.
Ironically, a lot of my best summer clothing was dirt cheap, or free. For long runs in hot weather, I've got 4 pairs of basic school PE shorts from Asda - 2 for £6!! There's nothing special about them (no pocket, or drawstring on the waist) but they do the job. And my best crop tops were both under £10 each from TK Maxx and the London Marathon Expo (yet you can shell out £40 for a ShockAbsorber!). For anything over 15 miles, I usually wear one of 2 charity vests i was given for raising money for some races last year.
Winter running is different though - my favourite gear is what I have paid for most for. There's a huge difference between my £30 basic Nike tights and the higher end £50 Nike nights - and tights can make or break a long run. I think you get what you pay for with tee-shirts and long sleeved tops as well, I've only bought cheap or mid range tops (haven't brought myself to pay £45 or more for anything by Gore yet) and I prefer all my mid-range to the cheaper tops.
Finally my running backpack. I have a love/hate relationship with this. It's brilliant for carrying my drink and other essentials, leaves my hands free and spreads the weight evenly. But the webbing material isn't soft enough, and rubs the back of my shoulders badly. I have to put on loads of plastics and tape to try and stop this happening, but after a few hours of running and getting a sweat up, the tape peels off. I'm sort of used to it, but it does look like I am always burning the back of my shoulders! It would be good if I could find a high necked top to wear under it, but I only have one which is not that suited to running. The backpack also wears away at the clothing worn underneath it, so a few of my tops are getting very bobbly.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Tumble turns and morning run
So we had a quick few goes at tumble turns in swimming last night. Results my end were rather hilarious! I was so paranoid about hitting the wall with my head during the turn that I kept turning too far instead, usually veering off to one side while I was at it. Hopefully we'll have a proper go at these soon!
Rest of the session was ok, although I was a bit knackered from the long run the day before so i couldn't really give it 100% - it was just nice doing a bit of active recovery.
I then went for a short (4 mile) run this morning before work. Bit depressing that it still wasn't light at 6am when i got up, but at least it fine when I was having breakfast and cycled to the gym. I debated cycling in my running kit so I wouldn't need to bring a large backpack (plus all this nice triathlon clothing that I have plashed out on which can be used from bike to run!), but then I'd have to ride home in used running gear - which is not the most pleasant thing to do! So I cycled in my normal gear and changed into my running kit when I got to the gym.
It was a really good run, I started off slow incase I was still sore from Sunday's long run, but felt good so got into a faster pace. The route was a bit of a mixture - some nice bits out in the field and down the cycle track, but then then a few areas where you have to cross motorways and get held up trying to cross the road. Dilemma - do you pause your watch at crossings? I usually do - I feel a bit cheated if my time is slower just because I had to wait for cars, it's not my fault! And usually in a race you don't need to stop as the roads are closed. If I have to pause and walk, or get a stone out of my shoe or whatever I would keep the clock going though as that's my own choice.
The weather was very nice, a bit of a chill in the air but good for running, plus clear blue skies. September is very nice weather for running! I also got to try my new running Craft skirt in action, which is really nice. Wore it over the Nike tight shorts with a black vest for a girly look! (re the Nikes - I've never been too keen on these to be honest - they were lovely when I tried them on in the shop and very cheap but just end up riding up after a mile or two. But my New Balance ones were in the wash). By the way, I'm not that fussed about how I look when I'm running (who cares when you're at mile 18 and with tears and sweat over your face!!) but it can be a bit off fun to show off the latest gear and go shopping for some stylish clothes once in a while especially for a race (I swear Park Run and some of the 10ks can be a bit of a fashion show sometimes).
Total time for 4 miles was 41.29.
Oh and check out the below - a bit old but it's a screenshot I found on my phone from the iPhone app I use to log my runs. It shows the runs (by distance) from June 12 to May 13. You can see a nice rise and peak for the Loch Ness Marathon, and then again from January to April/May for London and Prague! (With a nice break of very short runs during the taper or between the 2 marathons).
Rest of the session was ok, although I was a bit knackered from the long run the day before so i couldn't really give it 100% - it was just nice doing a bit of active recovery.
I then went for a short (4 mile) run this morning before work. Bit depressing that it still wasn't light at 6am when i got up, but at least it fine when I was having breakfast and cycled to the gym. I debated cycling in my running kit so I wouldn't need to bring a large backpack (plus all this nice triathlon clothing that I have plashed out on which can be used from bike to run!), but then I'd have to ride home in used running gear - which is not the most pleasant thing to do! So I cycled in my normal gear and changed into my running kit when I got to the gym.
It was a really good run, I started off slow incase I was still sore from Sunday's long run, but felt good so got into a faster pace. The route was a bit of a mixture - some nice bits out in the field and down the cycle track, but then then a few areas where you have to cross motorways and get held up trying to cross the road. Dilemma - do you pause your watch at crossings? I usually do - I feel a bit cheated if my time is slower just because I had to wait for cars, it's not my fault! And usually in a race you don't need to stop as the roads are closed. If I have to pause and walk, or get a stone out of my shoe or whatever I would keep the clock going though as that's my own choice.
The weather was very nice, a bit of a chill in the air but good for running, plus clear blue skies. September is very nice weather for running! I also got to try my new running Craft skirt in action, which is really nice. Wore it over the Nike tight shorts with a black vest for a girly look! (re the Nikes - I've never been too keen on these to be honest - they were lovely when I tried them on in the shop and very cheap but just end up riding up after a mile or two. But my New Balance ones were in the wash). By the way, I'm not that fussed about how I look when I'm running (who cares when you're at mile 18 and with tears and sweat over your face!!) but it can be a bit off fun to show off the latest gear and go shopping for some stylish clothes once in a while especially for a race (I swear Park Run and some of the 10ks can be a bit of a fashion show sometimes).
Total time for 4 miles was 41.29.
Oh and check out the below - a bit old but it's a screenshot I found on my phone from the iPhone app I use to log my runs. It shows the runs (by distance) from June 12 to May 13. You can see a nice rise and peak for the Loch Ness Marathon, and then again from January to April/May for London and Prague! (With a nice break of very short runs during the taper or between the 2 marathons).
Monday, 2 September 2013
Awesome 20 miles at marathon pace
If you've been following my blog you might be aware that my pace has been quite slow all summer. It was getting really frustrating, although I tried not to let it bother me as my end goal has always been to finish marathons rather than get PBs or strong times in them all. But yesterday, I FINALLY did a decent long run at the sort of pace I was hitting in the Loch Ness Marathon last year! I'm not certainly how it suddenly changed so quickly, i'm sure changing my gait helped, but perhaps the rest I had on holiday and/or the fitness from previous long runs has been been absorbed. I also took more fuel this time (clif gels and shots - the drink was plain water) and took a block roughly every 20 minutes and a gel every hour.
My 20 miler is a course that starts as a from home to Sandridge, then heads all the way up towards Harpenden. There's then a few miles of cross country back into St Albans, and then it joins the Alban Way for the entire stretch into Hatfield. Finally it returns to St Albans through a college along a track road, and back home. It's hilly at first, but after about 10 miles it's pretty much flat. It's really odd being in Hatfield at mile 15 and looking at a pylon in the distance which marks one of the highest points of the course early on at mile 2, and thinking, I've just run from there! The best parts of the run are the views from the countryside, and the long tree-lined cycle track going from St Albans to Hatfield. The worst is the long 2-mile hill up towards Harpenden alongside a main road.
As it's September and no longer so warm, I got up a bit later and set off at 8am - a much more sociable time. It was lovely weather, blue skies, a light breeze and not too warm. There's not quite a chill in the air yet, so I opted for normal vest (a Shelter charity vest) and shorts. I carried my water in the hydration backpack (it didn't explode this time!). Set off easy like I always do for long runs, and didn't think about how far 20 miles was or how long it would take. Whenever I do a long run I just try and forget all that and just put one step in front of the other for as long as it takes.
Was feeling very good about 4 miles in (2 hills out the way), and a great Christian song came on my iPod (Mighty to Save) which really gave me a boost. I may have missed church yet again but I really enjoy my time running along with Jesus with my iPod and some praise songs! I took my first gel (I'd bought 3, plus a pack of shot blocks). Was glad to see that at mile 5 I was still under the hour, which meant I was on track for a sub-4 hour run. My speed certainly felt faster than last week, event though I didn't feel like I was putting any more effort. So just shows how much different adjusting your gait can do.
But I didn't take the time for the first hour too seriously, as it's normal to feel good at mile 5 at that pace but would it hold up later on?
Well it did, and miles 6-10, despite having the long 2 mile uphill slog, were also at a decent pace, and by 2 hours I was halfway. By the way, I'd put some different songs on my iPod, including a few songs by Beverley Knight, where turned out to be excellent motivational songs. I got to the highest point of the run, Childwickbury Estate, and the views were beautiful. Another gel and a great downhill after that, too! This led back to the town, and I ran a small part of the Park Run course past the lake. My pace still felt good, although I would expect that at 10 miles - my Garmin had shown mile splits at mostly under 12 minute miles, which was unheard of last week.
The second half of the run was mostly a long 5 mile cycle track through town, which has both lovely parts and one or two dreary areas. It was nice and cool as the areas are all shaded by trees, and pretty much flat. Was beginning to get a bit sore now, and when heading into Hatfield onto tarmac with no shades it felt quite hot. My water was running low as well, but I decided i had enough to last me until I got to Oaklands, which has the best water fountain (I'd bought my ID card to get into the gym in Hatfield, but it would involve stopping, getting my backpack off and generally faffing around and using up time while I found the water fountain and had a drink). Although hot and tired, I still got to 15 miles in 3 hours. On the home stretch now.
The final 5 miles were tough, and I became regretting now getting a drink at the gym as I was paranoid about not having enough water. But the run was going well, I was sore and tired but almost home. At 19 miles I paused for a good drink, and felt good for the last mile home. The whole route is actually further than 20 miles, so I decided to go by the garmin and stop when it reach 20. At 19.6 I kept looking at the watch, willing it on - it felt like passing the 26 miler marker on a marathon and the finishing being so close yet so far! At 19.8 I barged past a couple walking their dog (sorry!) just because I was almost done. I could hardly believe it when it finally showed 20 miles. Totally time was 3hr53, which I was chuffed with. I'd fun faster than last week - despite it being an extra 1.4 miles - got my pace to an average of 11.38 min/miles and set a new 20 mile PB!
So an excellent weekend! First 1 mile swim within target time, and a new 20 mile PB! I really hope that lasts for the Berlin Marathon. 4 weeks to Berlin, and although i could probably taper now if i wanted, I think I would prefer to get in one more 20 mile run next week and then will taper for the big day. I have 2 half marathons in between now and the marathon, (both at weekends, which means I need to do the final 20 during the week, which will feel odd) one of which I'll take seriously, but the other will just be a slow medium run in place of the mid-week run. Might discuss this in another post!
My 20 miler is a course that starts as a from home to Sandridge, then heads all the way up towards Harpenden. There's then a few miles of cross country back into St Albans, and then it joins the Alban Way for the entire stretch into Hatfield. Finally it returns to St Albans through a college along a track road, and back home. It's hilly at first, but after about 10 miles it's pretty much flat. It's really odd being in Hatfield at mile 15 and looking at a pylon in the distance which marks one of the highest points of the course early on at mile 2, and thinking, I've just run from there! The best parts of the run are the views from the countryside, and the long tree-lined cycle track going from St Albans to Hatfield. The worst is the long 2-mile hill up towards Harpenden alongside a main road.
As it's September and no longer so warm, I got up a bit later and set off at 8am - a much more sociable time. It was lovely weather, blue skies, a light breeze and not too warm. There's not quite a chill in the air yet, so I opted for normal vest (a Shelter charity vest) and shorts. I carried my water in the hydration backpack (it didn't explode this time!). Set off easy like I always do for long runs, and didn't think about how far 20 miles was or how long it would take. Whenever I do a long run I just try and forget all that and just put one step in front of the other for as long as it takes.
Was feeling very good about 4 miles in (2 hills out the way), and a great Christian song came on my iPod (Mighty to Save) which really gave me a boost. I may have missed church yet again but I really enjoy my time running along with Jesus with my iPod and some praise songs! I took my first gel (I'd bought 3, plus a pack of shot blocks). Was glad to see that at mile 5 I was still under the hour, which meant I was on track for a sub-4 hour run. My speed certainly felt faster than last week, event though I didn't feel like I was putting any more effort. So just shows how much different adjusting your gait can do.
But I didn't take the time for the first hour too seriously, as it's normal to feel good at mile 5 at that pace but would it hold up later on?
Well it did, and miles 6-10, despite having the long 2 mile uphill slog, were also at a decent pace, and by 2 hours I was halfway. By the way, I'd put some different songs on my iPod, including a few songs by Beverley Knight, where turned out to be excellent motivational songs. I got to the highest point of the run, Childwickbury Estate, and the views were beautiful. Another gel and a great downhill after that, too! This led back to the town, and I ran a small part of the Park Run course past the lake. My pace still felt good, although I would expect that at 10 miles - my Garmin had shown mile splits at mostly under 12 minute miles, which was unheard of last week.
The second half of the run was mostly a long 5 mile cycle track through town, which has both lovely parts and one or two dreary areas. It was nice and cool as the areas are all shaded by trees, and pretty much flat. Was beginning to get a bit sore now, and when heading into Hatfield onto tarmac with no shades it felt quite hot. My water was running low as well, but I decided i had enough to last me until I got to Oaklands, which has the best water fountain (I'd bought my ID card to get into the gym in Hatfield, but it would involve stopping, getting my backpack off and generally faffing around and using up time while I found the water fountain and had a drink). Although hot and tired, I still got to 15 miles in 3 hours. On the home stretch now.
The final 5 miles were tough, and I became regretting now getting a drink at the gym as I was paranoid about not having enough water. But the run was going well, I was sore and tired but almost home. At 19 miles I paused for a good drink, and felt good for the last mile home. The whole route is actually further than 20 miles, so I decided to go by the garmin and stop when it reach 20. At 19.6 I kept looking at the watch, willing it on - it felt like passing the 26 miler marker on a marathon and the finishing being so close yet so far! At 19.8 I barged past a couple walking their dog (sorry!) just because I was almost done. I could hardly believe it when it finally showed 20 miles. Totally time was 3hr53, which I was chuffed with. I'd fun faster than last week - despite it being an extra 1.4 miles - got my pace to an average of 11.38 min/miles and set a new 20 mile PB!
So an excellent weekend! First 1 mile swim within target time, and a new 20 mile PB! I really hope that lasts for the Berlin Marathon. 4 weeks to Berlin, and although i could probably taper now if i wanted, I think I would prefer to get in one more 20 mile run next week and then will taper for the big day. I have 2 half marathons in between now and the marathon, (both at weekends, which means I need to do the final 20 during the week, which will feel odd) one of which I'll take seriously, but the other will just be a slow medium run in place of the mid-week run. Might discuss this in another post!
Great London Swim
It's strange to think that only last November I had just taken up swimming, and could only do breast stroke and not even a length of front crawl in a pool. Now I'm an open water swimmer and just done my first mile swim!
The event was the Great London Swim, organised by Nova, the company behind the Great North Run, so I was looking forward to a well organised and fun Saturday. The swim was to be held at Millwall Dock, on the Isle of Dogs, just south of Canary Wharf (which was actually a back up venue, as it's preferred site, the Victoria Dock, was deemed not to be clean enough for swimmers at the moment). There were about 3000 people entering, from elites to first timers, setting off in waves from early morning to late afternoon. My wave was at 12.30, so no stupidly early start, and had plenty of take the train down there. It was a gorgeous day, warm and cloudless blue skies (perfect for skydiving really, but I was not there to jump, I was there to swim!). I had a bit of time to spare, so watched some of the earlier waves set off, and wandered around the event village (it was very similar to a running event, with charities and retail tents set up).
We had to "check in" for our swim half an hour before out start, so I got changed (takes ages to get the wetsuit on) and headed for the start at about 12pm. My backpack with clothing etc all goes into the baggage tent. There was a short walk (barefoot, in a wetsuit) from the changing area to the start, including crossing a road, but it was all well organised and there were so many swimmers around that it felt normal.
At check in, the swim hats we were provided with went on (we had blue hats to show we were the blue wave, each wave had different colours so you can tell waves apart when in the water). Then, we had to check the timing chips were activated by fastening them round our ankles and holding them against a sensor. Not had to do that before the swim in a triathlon before. Whilst we were waiting, we were given bottles of water, which was nice as it was really hot standing around in the wetsuit and we couldn't wait to get in.
We got a few minutes to enter the "acclimatization zone" - a small, sectioned off area of water to get used to the temperature and warm up. I spent most of the time in there trying to loosen up my wetsuit and adjust it, as it was all bunched up too low and I wanted more movement around my shoulders! I then took a quick swim around the zone, and the we had to get out again!
When everyone had been in the water, we were put into sub-waves with fastest swimmers in the first group and slower ones (or those who were slow entering the water) at the back). The first set were off - down the pontoon and into the dock! Followed by the second, and then the third (which I was in) - I was quite nervous now, but we were off!
Set off at a nice comfortable pace, trying to get my breathing right. It was really nice to have already been in the water as there was no sudden shock of being in cold water, so it was easier to get straight into front crawl and head off. The course was like a big L shape loop, where you did the long side of the L first, then the short side, and then came back again on the other side of the dock (swimming anti-clockwise). You swam pretty close to the end of the dock most of the time, and there were a lot of spectators lining the route so got some good cheers - when you could hear them! Think the loudspeakers woke up the residents in the flats though, but they seemed good-natured as loads came outside or sat on their balconies to watch (they were nice flats with an awesome view, wouldn't mind living in one of those). Decent views from the dock too, and could just about see Canary Wharf, too!
The swim all went well. Had to pause a couple of times to adjust goggles or just take a short breather. Open water swimming is so different to the pool as you can't just stop and rest by the side, all you can do is tread water or do a bit of breast stroke. The final long stretch back was excellent, I had a good rhythm going on and over took quite a few people. I'm by not means fast, but like running once I get going at a steady pace I can usually hold that for a while.
Finished in 38:56 which I was happy with!
Got out the water (with a bit of help from the marshals!) and it was great not to have to get the wetsuit off really quickly and run to transition for a bike ride. It was all over, so could just relax and enjoy the rest of the day. We were given our goody bags, and there were showers set up (well, more of tents with hoses in the roof!) and shampoo/conditioner sachets in the goody bag to use. Once dried and dressed there was a cool finisher's medal and tee-shirt to wear as well (these events are getting more and more like running races every year!).
Spent some time watching other swimmers, for a bit before heading off. It's always amazing to see people of all experience, from those taking well over an hour, really struggling but still carrying on, those with disabilities taking part, and of course the elites.
Rest of the day was nice as we went out for a family meal at the local pub. Over all really enjoyed it and recommend it as a good day out. It doesn't matter at all if you can't do front crawl as there were plenty of people doing breast stroke, and you can take as long as you need as there are so many marshals in canoes looking out for everyone's safety and well-being.
Bring on 2014! Below - my finisher's certificate, the starting areas, and a pic of One Canada Square (canary Wharf) which I got to actually be inside briefly (tiny bucket list item ticked off there!). Taken on my old iPhone 3GS so sorry about the quality!
The event was the Great London Swim, organised by Nova, the company behind the Great North Run, so I was looking forward to a well organised and fun Saturday. The swim was to be held at Millwall Dock, on the Isle of Dogs, just south of Canary Wharf (which was actually a back up venue, as it's preferred site, the Victoria Dock, was deemed not to be clean enough for swimmers at the moment). There were about 3000 people entering, from elites to first timers, setting off in waves from early morning to late afternoon. My wave was at 12.30, so no stupidly early start, and had plenty of take the train down there. It was a gorgeous day, warm and cloudless blue skies (perfect for skydiving really, but I was not there to jump, I was there to swim!). I had a bit of time to spare, so watched some of the earlier waves set off, and wandered around the event village (it was very similar to a running event, with charities and retail tents set up).
We had to "check in" for our swim half an hour before out start, so I got changed (takes ages to get the wetsuit on) and headed for the start at about 12pm. My backpack with clothing etc all goes into the baggage tent. There was a short walk (barefoot, in a wetsuit) from the changing area to the start, including crossing a road, but it was all well organised and there were so many swimmers around that it felt normal.
At check in, the swim hats we were provided with went on (we had blue hats to show we were the blue wave, each wave had different colours so you can tell waves apart when in the water). Then, we had to check the timing chips were activated by fastening them round our ankles and holding them against a sensor. Not had to do that before the swim in a triathlon before. Whilst we were waiting, we were given bottles of water, which was nice as it was really hot standing around in the wetsuit and we couldn't wait to get in.
We got a few minutes to enter the "acclimatization zone" - a small, sectioned off area of water to get used to the temperature and warm up. I spent most of the time in there trying to loosen up my wetsuit and adjust it, as it was all bunched up too low and I wanted more movement around my shoulders! I then took a quick swim around the zone, and the we had to get out again!
When everyone had been in the water, we were put into sub-waves with fastest swimmers in the first group and slower ones (or those who were slow entering the water) at the back). The first set were off - down the pontoon and into the dock! Followed by the second, and then the third (which I was in) - I was quite nervous now, but we were off!
Set off at a nice comfortable pace, trying to get my breathing right. It was really nice to have already been in the water as there was no sudden shock of being in cold water, so it was easier to get straight into front crawl and head off. The course was like a big L shape loop, where you did the long side of the L first, then the short side, and then came back again on the other side of the dock (swimming anti-clockwise). You swam pretty close to the end of the dock most of the time, and there were a lot of spectators lining the route so got some good cheers - when you could hear them! Think the loudspeakers woke up the residents in the flats though, but they seemed good-natured as loads came outside or sat on their balconies to watch (they were nice flats with an awesome view, wouldn't mind living in one of those). Decent views from the dock too, and could just about see Canary Wharf, too!
The swim all went well. Had to pause a couple of times to adjust goggles or just take a short breather. Open water swimming is so different to the pool as you can't just stop and rest by the side, all you can do is tread water or do a bit of breast stroke. The final long stretch back was excellent, I had a good rhythm going on and over took quite a few people. I'm by not means fast, but like running once I get going at a steady pace I can usually hold that for a while.
Finished in 38:56 which I was happy with!
Got out the water (with a bit of help from the marshals!) and it was great not to have to get the wetsuit off really quickly and run to transition for a bike ride. It was all over, so could just relax and enjoy the rest of the day. We were given our goody bags, and there were showers set up (well, more of tents with hoses in the roof!) and shampoo/conditioner sachets in the goody bag to use. Once dried and dressed there was a cool finisher's medal and tee-shirt to wear as well (these events are getting more and more like running races every year!).
Spent some time watching other swimmers, for a bit before heading off. It's always amazing to see people of all experience, from those taking well over an hour, really struggling but still carrying on, those with disabilities taking part, and of course the elites.
Rest of the day was nice as we went out for a family meal at the local pub. Over all really enjoyed it and recommend it as a good day out. It doesn't matter at all if you can't do front crawl as there were plenty of people doing breast stroke, and you can take as long as you need as there are so many marshals in canoes looking out for everyone's safety and well-being.
Bring on 2014! Below - my finisher's certificate, the starting areas, and a pic of One Canada Square (canary Wharf) which I got to actually be inside briefly (tiny bucket list item ticked off there!). Taken on my old iPhone 3GS so sorry about the quality!
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