Beachy Head Marathon

If the weather stays like it is now I might be wearing these

Someone was wearing flip flop type things during the South Downs marathon! 

Yep Redhead I ran with a guy wearing them for a couple of miles at the SD Mara. Apparently he doesn't always wear them and I think he was suffering abit with cramp, he still beat me though(not difficult though)

Unfortunately I'm injured and am not going to be able to run so if anyone wants to buy my place off me, just send me a message.  The entry fee was £32.  I think the deadline for transfers is only up until this Friday 21st September so don't delay if you want to run.

There was a guy wearing them at Bacchus and he went well ahead at start of second lap only to pass him in last couple of miles of descent as he too was suffering a bit of cramp

Science proven against these therefore, so I'll look for a pair of the other shoes you pictured ahead of BHM!

Redhead wrote (see)

FB, no I won't be bringing it with me before you ask   How's Petal?  I haven't seen you 2 for ages.

we're fine ta Red and likewise - not seen you for a while.  quiet year for us this year and ongoing injury (PF) has curtailed a lot of my running since January.   

it does still look like flip-flops are the shoes of choice at the mo  must try and get up on the Downs at the w/e now we're back from hols to see what the trails are like but they will be bone dry I'm sure

Yay! Found a current BHM thread!  I'm running it for the first time this year.  Well, walk/running - that's the advice I'm getting from people for a first-timer.  Prepping well without overdoing it - last long run had 1,000 metres of ascent, so just a mere 500 metres more to get used to, right?  Have fun preparing everyone and fingers crossed everyone stays injury-free.

Hi QFS. I ran BHM for the first time last year and loved it, despite it being difficult. Like the others I'm hoping the weather is as good as it was for us last year. I did run the whole route and with little training, but did struggle on the hills (and there are a lot of them). I posted my garmin elevation chart a couple of pages back. 4862 ft of ascent so pretty much 1500m as you say.

I have been upping my running recently but my max distance for a single run has only been 14 miles so far. Need to seriously hit the hills too!

Hope everyone elses training is going well.

Hey Lombster and All

I'm only up to 12 miles, but my training is not going to involve any long runs. It's an experiment. I'll let you know if it works. Basically i'm using an online trainer and he does ironmans. The principle is the long runs may well prepare the body for the endurance, but they also weaken it. There are so many theories out there, but if it works I will be very happy. I am doing plently of hill running, and still cyling 120 miles a week.

No injuries at all so far and did a 10 mile race last week which has me around the same times as before the Brighton Marathon.

I'm really looking forward to this as I'm hoping the scenery will give me a lift. The boredom of the Brighton Marathon was probably the worst part about it.

Hey Rondo,

That's a very interesting experiment.  Do let us know how you get on.  I've often thought of doing this but haven't had the courage to do it yet.  I'm not doing massive long runs but they contain a lot of ascent each time. 

120 miles of cycling a week is bound to have a training effect.   Hope you enjoy the rest of the build up... keep us posted right?

the cycling is to and from work three times a week. according to mr ironman the heart doesn't know what sort of training you are doing so this is really good for building up your VO2 max. In other words making you more efficient with your oxygen intake. I just do a few max heart rate sprints or race up the few hills. This works your heart without as much injury risk. I also do swimming once a week and doing swimming sprints does a lot of work for your heart too, but the the slow swimming is also fantastic for recovery from runs.

i'm enjoying my training a lot more without the long runs as they take up time, but also mean a day wiped out as I'm not much use to anyone for the rest of the day, which doesn't go down well with the family.

if you see a broken man around the 18 miles mark then it may well have not worked.

Rondo, all makes sense.  I did my cycling as a base endurance thing (I was injured so couldn't run).  It does work.  Didn't run a mile between July last year and end of January and I'd only lost 20 seconds a mile off my 5K time.

I might try your swimming idea as an extra / x training session.  Anyway, all sounds good - keep going!

Rondo, there are a lot of theories out there about training for endurance runs. I'm with you on what you're doing though. I've checked my training log and last year I did absolutely no running from Brighton Marathon in April until I returned from Italy at the beginning of October. I did however do a lot of cycling (120 miles + a week) including a 300 mile trip (4 days) to Newquay at the beginning of September. I ran one 20 mile run two weeks before BHM and a few short runs after that, then, although expecting problems, managed to finish BHM OK (top 50 I think).

This year, although I'm running more I'm really struggling to motivate myself for the long training runs and also aching more because of it. This change in the weather's not going to help either!

See you guys out on the Seven Sisters, this sunny Saturday?

There's been a noticeable pick-up in runners during September, presumably breaking in the legs (hopefully not breaking up!) ahead of October's event.

Think I came across last year's Ladies winner.

Aching, but gotta get on with it! 

forgot to mention i'm supposed to do leg excercises twice a week. just sort of lunges and squates, but the inclination and energy is just not there.

i did 13 miles this morning and really enjoyed it. 9mm with the last two at 7.30mm.

Because i'm not doing the longer runs I don't have a dread of them. I've had no injuries and even though my mileage was 22 along with a mile of swimming and the 120 miles on the bike i'm not fatigued.

I think you can argue it anyway you like, but i want to be able to do many more marathons and running 50 miles a week with a family and full time job doesnt work, whereas my current program does. this is actually much more the deciding factor than all of the theories.

question for BHM vets. fast or slow down the hills?

oh and good luck on sunday lombster

rondo wrote (see)

question for BHM vets. fast or slow down the hills?

depends if you fall over !  most of  'em are too steep for me to run down!

"fast or slow down the hills?"   depends on how the legs feel....

early on you'll go down fast, but by the time you hit the 7 Bitches and your legs are knackered, you'll be going down slowly as the quads will be killing you!!

are you training for an Ironman rondo??  I've done 5 and as you have been advised, you don't need to do a high volume of long runs as the training is more endurance based with an emphasis on long rides with shorter runs off the back.  when you hit an IM event you know pretty much that you won't run the whole marathon so why do 20 mile runs in training?  but I have to say that if you want to improve your marathon times, you're still better off doing focused marathon training.

Cheers Rondo.

I "ran" all of the marathon last year, although some of the downhills are so steep you do have to reign it back a bit otherwise you'll end up taking a tumble, as my mum did fairly early on into the race (she did go on to complete it after she was patched up!). Some of the uphills are again so steep that you can't physically get much speed; I definitely recall having to use my hands on my knees to help get me up some of them towards the end!

hello fat buddha,

i'm not doing an ironman, just have an ironman trainer. the cycling is a necessity as its the best way to get to work ( same time as driving but a lot cheaper and less stressful) and I wanted someone who didn't just say stop cycling.

i'm not too worried about marathon times, but doing this to give my fitness routine a purpose. i figure if i just randomly do excercise i will just give up.

and five IMs? are you mad?