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I’m chuffed a lot of people are saying they’ll be coming along on Sunday morning (or watching on TV), so I thought it’d be worth saying a bit about my rough plans for the day, and point folk in the direction of a few websites that might be useful.

I’m hoping to get somewhere around a 3:45-4:00 marathon time. Whilst I hope I may be able to manage a bit faster than that (based on race predictor times), I’m conscious this is my first ever marathon. It’s so much more than a double half marathon: I also don’t know how I’ll feel after 23 miles, given I’ve never run more than that before. If I do find myself going a bit faster, I’m hoping I’ll have the presence of mind to back off and save my energy for the final 6 miles. But best laid plans have a habit of falling by the wayside, and I’ve also something of a history of underestimating my own race ability.

A sub-3:45 marathon time has me doing miles at a pace of about 8:30 (over a minute slower than my half-marathon pace). A sub-4:00 marathon time has splits of 9:10. If I’m careless, splits of 8:00 put me close to 3:30 – 30 seconds a mile difference roughly equates to fifteen minute time, which is quite easy to remember.

It’s fun to put my pace up against the elite runners. But when I quote these figures, I sometimes sense incredulity – even amongst runners – at just how fast marathon pace is. They’re running almost twice as fast as me. Faster than I can run even in short race, running flat out! And they’re running that for 26.2 miles! To put the world-records into perspective, the men are running with 4:44 splits (2:03:59 world record) and women in 5:09 (2:15:25 world record). I can’t even run a mile at that speed! The best I’ve managed is 6:09, about a year ago. Impressive stuff, so give them a cheer if you see them. They’re world class athletes.

Anyway, what does this mean for “Richard spotting”, if you’re thinking of coming along on the day. Remember that there are over 35,000 other runners, and it’s incredibly hard for runners and supporters to spot people in crowds, even when you’re expecting them! And that’s before the hours of running that may well have preceded my morning!

So drop me a note if you plan to be along, and roughly where. The course map is here, but best of all there’s also a spectator guide. If you see me, shout loudly. Even if I don’t see you (which is quite likely), the support still means a huge amount for me and every other runner, and really does make a huge difference. There are times when things will be really tough. A cheer can change that in an instant. Lots of support for other runners from my running club appreciated too (’Go Bella!’ works).

Start is at 9:45, and I’m on the ‘Blue’ start on Blackheath. I’ll post my number in due course. I’ll probably be looking something like this, although the size of my smile will be inversely proportional to the distance run, until I cross the line at least

Cutty Sark (~6.5 miles): 10:40am
Tower Bridge (~12.5 miles): 11.40am
Canary Wharf (~19 miles): 12.30pm
Tower of London (~22.5 miles): 12.55pm
Embankment (~24 miles): 1.10pm
Finish: (26.2 miles): 1.30pm

All this of course presumes I cross the line on time, which is unlikely, and also presumes a steady pace, which will be difficult given congestion on the course, especially at the start. The theory is similarly paced runners start at the same time, in pulses, with faster runners at the front, and slower runners to the back. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work like that

After the event, my goal is to go and meet up with Frances and fellow club runners, and then collapse in my very convenient hotel, for a few hours. I hope to go out for a celebratory drink or three later in the afternoon/evening, if you’re in town. Frances will, hopefully, be contactable on her mobile. I’ll probably be reunited with my iPhone on Monday morning

Tracking runners

Well, after 15 weeks of training, I finished my last long run on Saturday. Best of all, I bumped in to Frances who’s just starting training for the Race For Life she’s doing in June, and got an extra two miles with her. A great way to top off my training, and pleased to report Frances did very well too for her first run in almost a year.

The training has gone very well. My previous post summarised a few niggles I’d had, but all the issues have been put to bed. I’m only left with a bit of a sock and blister problem – something I’ve not experienced before – and one that I’ve not had a chance to properly sort out. So I’m going to have to take a tiny bit of a gamble with a pair of socks I think have been ok, and hope things work out ok.

My longest run was 23 miles, which I was very pleased with, particularly when compared to how I felt after a 20 mile run a couple of weeks before. The difference between the two was nutrition, and I’ve got that licked. I’ve also discovered that whilst I don’t have an adverse reaction to Gels, they’re not exactly nice, particularly if you get it on your fingers, and the sweetness is just icky. I really begin to crave solid food! So I’ll definitely be putting some food in my gear bag, something I can get my teeth into when I finish!

I’ve thankfully been injury free, which has meant I’ve followed my coaches training programme quite closely. The best thing about it having done that is I’m as certain as I can be that I’ll get around the course, and I’m told the atmosphere in London is something special, so should hopefully help pull me along when the going gets tough, after, I suspect, the 20 mile mark. It’s carb loading over the next week to ensure I’m as properly prepared as I can be.

The taper is certainly proving to be quite difficult. I had to stop myself running to pick up our car from the garage yesterday (a 30 minute jog away), conscious I need to be taking it easy and reducing my mileage and effort. It’s also confirmation to me that running is very much part of me these days. Certainly if I’m trying to find excuses to run places, and convincing myself not to!

I’ve also had so many great words of advice from fellow club runners, and park runners. Whilst I know it’s my own race, and I need to run it to my plan, I’ve absorbed as much from people as I can. It’s the only way a new-marathoner can really get an idea about what’s involved. I’m determined to enjoy it – I’ve heard a good few horror stories of setting off too fast, changing plan too early, or struggling through injuries. Finishing, I hope, with a smile on my face is my primary goal. Faster times can wait. I settled on a sub-4 hour time as my primary goal, with 3:45 as my ideal. Anything better than that would be delightful, but I’m not going to push myself too hard, at a distance that is such a serious test over the complete distance. I’ve never run more than 23 miles, and those last 3.2 miles will surly be the hardest.

This last week is busy on the work front, but I will find myself in London at the end of the week, and should be able to get registered with plenty of time to spare. An early start on Saturday to get out to see the Bushy parkrun so I can check out what a properly busy ‘funnel’ looks like, to take some tips away to Glasgow parkrun, where we’re experiencing phenomenal growth and, given we’re so far away from other parkruns, having to learn a lot through experience. Sunday morning I’m close enough to the railway station that will take me out to Blackheath it shouldn’t be too bad. My goal then is to get up, scoff my porridge, stuff a few things in my bag, and just get out there. I’d really rather be there very early, than stressing about not getting there at all. I’m a rotten traveller when there’s time pressure.

If you’re going to come along on Sunday to watch (and I’d highly recommend it even if I wasn’t running, it’s a great atmosphere), be sure to allow plenty of time to get around. It’s a bit busy, and crossing the course is very difficult. Drop me an e-mail, or a comment, if you’re planning on looking out for me. It’s hard for runners and spectators to see each other, given it’s so busy (and the runners can be a bit preoccupied!). I’ll post some rough times for key points if my race goes according to plan, but could be some way either side of that.

All that really remains is for everybody to keep their fingers crossed for cool and overcast weather. Sunny is not good. Rain is not good. But cheer everybody taking part, even if you don’t see me. The amount of training most people will (should!) have put in is, I can say from experience now, huge. The marathon is just the icing on the cake, and I can certainly say it makes a huge difference on short distances, it’ll be something else on a marathon course!

The Scottish Athletics forum closed down rather abruptly over the weekend, but I’ve just seen this rather ominously worded news item:

In order to protect sponsors and public partners, the forum section of the scottishathletics website is now closed.

Whilst the forum did sometimes feel a bit opinionated, and not particularly ‘relaxed’, it still seems rather a shame to take this rather drastic action, and shut it down completely.

Building an on-line community, particularly from one that is already well established off-line, can be a very hard thing to do. Sometimes discussions that might seem quite harmless off-line, can seem quite hostile on-line. Without a bottle of beer and a smirk to highlight somebody is making light of something, conversations can rapidly become far too serious. Plus, of course, there’s nothing quite like an empty or poorly populated forum to generate an empty, chill, wind, publicly emphasising few people care as much as you’d hoped.

In the Scottish Athletics case, it seems a bit harsh to shut it down entirely, and then to be public about its reasoning. I’d have thought it might have been a better first step to move to moderate posts, or review the forum setup (fewer categories etc). As it is, they’ve cut off a forum that was already being used by a fair number of people, and known about by a lot more. It may well be a calculated decision based on a number of factors (not least that it’s not hugely widely known about in the wider community), but I fear their abrupt closure, they really risk annoying athletics supports that – from what I’d seen on the forum at least – had valid contributions to make, even if it wasn’t always to the benefit of Scottish Athletics.

I’d certainly be interested to hear what others think.

So with just over seven weeks to go until I run in the London Marathon, I’m in week 9 – over half way – through my 16 week training programme. I’d been planning to write a bit more in way of updates, but as you can see, my weblog writing mojo has taken a bit of a back seat the last few months.

In the general sense, things are going well. I’ve got most of my long runs in – I just missed one – and I’ve been working through the issues that have come up, as I encounter well known endurance running issues for the first time. Until starting my training I’d never run more than about 14-15 miles.

There’s not really a discrete way to say this, but it boils down to three things, first of all chaffing. Run for 18 miles straight and if you’re not wearing the right gear, things that are usually fine start to rub. I’ve learnt to hate cotton. And it’s never nice, so liberal doses of, er, Vaseline or similar (Favourite training quote so far “There’s no problem that Vaseline can’t solve“).

So with that solved, and the distance increasing, I really start to struggle after my first 20 miler. My pace just dropped, and it was tough to get around and hit the 20 mile mark. My body had just run out of energy. A long run can easily burn 2000 calories. Look on the back of your cereal packet, and that’s the recommended daily intake for an adult. In just a few hours! So last week I spent a small fortune on what are best described as “orange flavoured wallpaper paste”: Yup, I’ve got some gels at last. I’ve also “rediscovered” Jelly Babies. Ok, I’ve always liked them (head first, natch), but they were pretty much a long car journey treat. Now they’re a great reward on long runs.

The goal in all of this is to make sure I’ve tried everything out, so that on race day I’m as prepared as I can be. I’ll be worried enough as it, and the weather will no doubt provide enough randomness for my tastes!

My third, and – I’d feared biggest – issue was sore legs, particularly my right leg. I’d begun to worry I’d picked up an injury – a hamstring or calf strain or similar – so had backed off a little. In talking it through with some fellow runners, I was strongly recommended to try getting a sports massage. People seemed marginally surprised I’d not actually had one before.

The reason is I’m a bit funny about massages. Just don’t particularly like people touching me, so whilst Frances is usually first in the queue for a spa massage, I’ll content myself with a run and then a shot in the pool. However, it was such a consistent “you’re training for a marathon, therefore you must have a massage” from so many running friends that I figured I’d give it a shot. As one of my clubs coaches is a qualified masseur, popped along early and had the full ‘Oscar treatment’. Painful? Yes, but in a really good way. I was very surprised by the difference I felt, and where the problem (such that it was) seemed to be located. I’d not actually expected to be able to run afterwards, but felt really good, so I opted to skip the hill session my group was scheduled for and went for an ‘easy’ run around Glasgow Green with a few others. Whilst the pace wasn’t quite as easy as I’d hoped, it was eminently manageable, and my legs felt, and still feel, fine. I may even go for an easy run this afternoon. The last few weeks they’ve been stiff for a fair while after any long-ish run. So, I’ll be most certainly going back!

This weekend I’m running the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon as part of the training plan. Not sure what pace I’m going to run it at yet though. Coaches advise is largely “just see how it goes”, which seems sensible enough to me, perhaps as a pacing run for the marathon, perhaps a bit quicker. I’ll be saving any attempt at half marathon PB’s for later in the year. Then it’s a few more weeks of long 20-22 mile runs before starting the taper.

I’ve also rediscovered running with music. I’d stopped listening to music whilst running a couple of years ago, but trying to motivate yourself for a 20 mile run on your own, you do need something! As my running club weekend long runs normally clash with the parkrun, I’ve been running on my own a lot, unless I managed to find a few others happy to get up early on a Sunday morning. But when that doesn’t happen, I’m off on my own with my music, and quite enjoyable it is too.

So all going quite well, and I’m quite relieved my recent worry about injury was, it seems, misplaced. I’ve overcome the challenges I’ve encountered so far, and learnt a lot about my body in the process. It’s far from over though: There’s a lot that can happen even when it’s “just” a case of getting a few more long runs done, but I’m enjoying the experience, and if that’s happening, fingers crossed it’ll come together ok on the day.

Firstly, very best wishes for a recovery to Shannon, who I understand collapsed during the race, and was airlifted to hospital as a precautionary measure. Look forward to seeing you at a run again very soon. 

Last year I ran this race, and set a new 10k PB of 45:01 and came away thinking what a great race it was. It was a bit narrow in places, and the slightly icy conditions we’d had made it a bit perilous, but all in all it was a great run. This year, despite setting a new PB of 44:21, I’m feeling a bit disappointed.

Conditions didn’t help. Whilst the conditions had been great at the earlier Glasgow parkrun, the wind had picked up a bit, and the canal course was much muddier than last year. A much larger turnout too (347 participants, compared to 262 last year) meant a lot more passing, and my poor start positioning (I almost always start too far back) meant I had to do quite a lot more, and got held up a fair bit.

My splits tell the story: 4.21, 4.36, 4.22, 4.24, 4.29, 4.34, 4.36, 4.28, 4.36, 4.03. Whilst my Garmin got the course distance correct, I wondered along the way if the km markers were perhaps a bit squiffy. But from my own experience with the parkrun, Garmin’s are a bit of a nightmare for race organisers: So many experts are created with these GPS devices, and they’re usually wrong.

I’d been aiming for times consistently under 4.25 to get close to a 43 minute time. After setting off and winding through the housing estate, the 1km marker was a short distance along the canal. At this point I really realised my poor start position choice, as I was stuck behind a few slower runners that took me a while to get past. Too many trees, and the narrow canal path. I managed to squeeze past, and past a few others at the first turn when we crossed the canal. I settled in and set a good couple of splits, passing fellow Bella Iain, and setting my targets on Norman, who’s always been a great pacer. I decided to just hang on and see how I felt. Eventually I managed to edge pass Norman around the 6k split, but my timing wasn’t good,  as we rounded a corner into a stiff and cold headwind, and started the gradual incline up for the second canal crossing.  My splits between 5k and 8k are much worse than I’d wanted, and the stiff headwind and incline took their toll. Norman eased back past me between 7k and 8k, and it was all I could do to hang on.

The 8-9 km section was tough. The canal path gets a bit more uneven, and I found myself in a pack of runners. There wasn’t too much hope of finding enough in me to get past, but we all managed to keep each other going, although Norman was easing further away. Whilst I somehow managed to find a bit more in my legs in the last 1k, it wasn’t enough to catch him. Norman finished in 44.12, and I managed 44.21.

As fellow club runner Andy commented afterwards, “A PB’s still a PB”, and I certainly take some delight from reducing my 10k PB from last years 45.01, I’d taken a full minute off my Nigel Barge time last year. This year I managed to take only 15s off the time. But if I’m searching for excuses for not getting a 43 minute time, the larger competitive field, and less than ideal conditions, combined with my poor start position, are probably the answer. As well as finding my 10k times don’t quite fit with what I’d expect from my half marathon and 5k times.

This will probably be my last 10k until after I’ve finished the London Marathon. I’m taking some succour from fellow club runner Ewan’s comments that after finishing the Florence marathon last year, he’s found a new burst of speed in his legs. The marathon training improved his endurance, and it’s precisely endurance I struggle with, at the brisker 10k pace.

So, despite a new PB, I’m still feeling a little bit disappointed it wasn’t faster. But there’s a definite challenge for my post-London running, and that’s no bad thing

See also

• 2009 Jack Crawford 10k Results 
• Norman’s write-up

After my previous post on my marathon plans for 2009, I managed to forget all about my club’s ballot for places. I convinced myself that I was quite happy with Edinburgh for a first marathon, and I really didn’t care about not getting in to London in 2009.

I’d also discounted going for a charity place. I suppose I felt that asking people for sponsorship, when I (expect to) enjoy it all so much, was a bit of an ask. 

With the draw for club places taking a bit earlier than previous years, due to a change in the deadlines for applications, I got to thinking about things afresh over the weekend. It’s very clear to me that London is THE marathon to try for. It’s one of the biggest marathons in the world, and the support along the route is, I’m told, second to none. And that’s even before my running club’s support crew are factored in. It’s quite an expedition of other halves and supporters. Quite the club event. I understand there are usually between 20 and 30 participants as we’ve got a good few ‘Good for age’ entrants, in all age groups.

So I figured I couldn’t not put my name forward. I could always recant to my original position of not being bothered if I didn’t get picked. 

So on a cold evening, the names were in the hat. I was quite surprised by the odds. Six names in the hat, for four places allocated to the club. Much better odds than in the main ballot! Two names were drawn out without my being mentioned, so it was down to a 50/50 chance of a place. The third name was drawn, and after what felt like an eternity (un-peeling post-it notes with gloves would appear to be quite a challenge), my name was read out.

Suffice to say I’m absolutely delighted, and chuffed by the congratulations from many of my fellow runners. I don’t think the grin came off my face for a good few miles into last nights session, which was quite tough, as I’ve a feeling I’ve the onset of a cold. Didn’t help that I was running with the faster ‘B’ group, when I should probably have been taking it a bit easier.

Training kicks off early in the new year, and what with the Glasgow parkrun to organise (at least until a few other volunteers step forward to help with things), my Saturday mornings are going to be quite busy. But I’m really excited about the prospect. Despite this rather amusing video sent by my friend (and fellow London 2009 marathoner), David.

I’m delighted to finally be able to announce the launch date of the Glasgow parkrun: A free, weekly timed 5k around Pollok Park. This joins the 10 other parkrun events that take place around the UK, and is the first parkrun event in Scotland. 

The provisional start date we’ve agreed with Pollok park management is Saturday, 6th December at 9.30am, outside the Burrell museum. The all important sociable coffee and chat follows in the Burrell cafe. The parkrun occurs every week at the same time. Plenty more at: 

http://www.parkrun.com/glasgow_home.aspx 

If you want to take part in this, or any of the other parkrun events, you just need to register with parkrun before your first event: http://register.parkrun.com/ - It’s a one-off process. No need to repeat each week. 

parkrun’s are run entirely by volunteers, so please get in touch if you’d like to help. You might be racing later in the day, want to give something back to the running community, or be recovering from injury and want to stay in touch with running friends. 

We’re particularly keen to get names down for the first few weeks as the event establishes itself. See the Volunteer tab, drop me an e-mail, post a comment, or speak to me in person. 

A bit more on the parkrun idea follows below.

Regards, 

Richard Leyton and Iain Brown, Event Directors  Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve just stumbled on this marvellous collection of running frustrations at DebsOnWriting. Well worth having a read: If you’ve ever been out running, I’m sure you’ll agree with most – if not all – of the items included! I’ve certainly tried writing my own compilation of frustrations and annoyances, but don’t think I’ll come quite as closed (or anywhere near as well written!).

More here at DebsOnRunning, from the same author.

Whilst locking up the house last night, I noticed the postman had wedged a package behind our storm doors. Annoyed that they’d not at least tried to ring, I dug it out and wondered who on earth had sent me a fleece. I’m afraid I’ve reached free-garment overload with all the free t-shirts I get as a runner and a techie.

Only after a moment of silence that must have been quite noisy in the way that important moments are, did I realise this was the official are-you-in-London-2009 Marathon letter. So after ripping open the package, the magazines words of “It’s not over yet”, and “You have been unsuccessful” stared back at me. 

Oh well. According to wikipedia, in 2007, as many as 125,000 people applied to run, but only 49,963 applications were accepted. So that’s quite a ratio, especially given there are charity places allocated out, good-for-age runners, and places made available to running clubs to take out of that figure. So my chances were always slim, and I really don’t know if I fancy trying to raise money for charity – the minimum figures for guaranteed entry are quite high. Oh, and I rather like my running club top

So as I decided some months ago that I would run a marathon of some sort, I’ve today applied to run the 2009 Edinburgh Marathon, which is a bit easier to get to, still has places, is much smaller, and according to their publicity at least, has a fast course. It’s also very popular with my running club, so there’ll be a good number of people to train with. Plus a hotel we rather like is a short train journey away from the finish line, and it has rather good spa facilities. Which I expect will be very welcome indeed after the event.

I’m probably still going to have a go at London 2009, through my clubs allocation, but as I write that I’m wondering if that’s going to be such a good idea. I quite like the idea of a smaller race (If 11,500 participants is ever considered small? Compared to London it is!) for my first marathon, and perhaps leaving the ballot to people in the club who want it more. Plus the Edinburgh entry is non-refundable…

No matter. That’s still some months off. In the meantime I suppose I need to have a think about what sort of time is reasonable to aim for in this, and all the other distances I’ll be running next year.

We recently went live with a new website for my running club, Bellahouston Road Runners. I did a fair bit of tinkering for it, and hope to bring some of the widgets and tools to good effect here too. More details on some of the sites changes here.