Edinburgh Marathon

Well done on the 20miler Fi Personally, if you can resist your competitive side, I would run with Shaun...but only because I like running with Mr CS

I think Nottingham were over selling the "flat fast course" we did see a poster afterwards in Sweatshop that said "faster flatter course" which was more like it...it was very similar to the old route just minus the really nasty hills. We met up with Angie at the start...she wasn't feeling the love as she'd spent the previous day moving house...so when we reeled her in at 11 miles (she started in the pen in front of us) and said to her that she could speed up now we'd managed to catch her up...her response was less than feminine  At 9miles I said to Mr CS he had permission to shout at me between 11 & 13miles....just this once...he didn't shout at me but he did pick the pace up a bit and make me work.  So for a hilly (ish) route I'm pleased with only 3 seconds slower than Edinburgh.

Met up with Super Tanner & Laura in the pub afterwards...he did stonkingly well as per usual...and Laura made us laugh...Darren finished the race and she wouldn't give up his jacket as she'd got cold in her role as supporter.

Dave hopefully this is all the poorliness getting itself out of your system sooner rather than later.  Hope you feel better soon.

Well done on Nottingham Caz and Mr CS for pushing you   You must be pleased the fact it was tougher than Edinburgh but a similar time - but how gutting to miss a PB by 3 seconds.  So, so close.  Next time you'll smash it.  Glad to hear Darren and Laura are OK. 

Get well soon Dave. 

Well done GE on another PB.  You are on fire at the moment.  Read your comment on the Snowdon thread totally under selling yourself.   You should easily get nearer the 4 hour mark the way your running is going............which means a good hour before me probably. Lol.

Philby - I'll be thinking of you tomorrow - I too am heading out for a 20 miler.  Not feeling remotely motivated at the moment.  Have been having a bit of intermittent trouble with trapped sciatic nerve.  So much so on Mondays run that I had to walk the last half mile backwards (least painful way).  Have been doing loads of stretching since and spent a good 10 mins stretching before my run yday and touch wood no trouble.  If I fail on the 20 tomorrow it's not the end of the world.  Still got time to fit it in next Tues or Wed and still leave enough time for Cardiff half and then 2 week taper.

So good luck Phil - hope it goes well.  And good luck to everyone else training or racing this weekend.  x

Nice work Philby and I love the raining mantra - will store that one for errr....... a rainy day!

I defo had a virus this last few weeks but luckily I have managed to train through it in a fashion. Had weeks of 62, 58, 54, 76, 28 (virus tried to ake a grip last week) and 60 miles so far this week. Had some awful track sessions but last night was much better and hitting splits similar to pre-London and after a tough morning session so I reckon Amsterdam will be OK and around the 2:40 mark. I can confirm DT2 is in amazing form and I think he will go under 2:30 - Hope so because he's worked incredibly hard for it

Fi - Hope the pain stays away for you and you enjoy the Cardiff half.

Caz - congrats on the anniversary and well done on your Nottingham run. Definately got that PB in your sights now.

Did my longest ever training run on Tuesday night. Was supposed to be 22 on an out and back route near Hitchin. Went out 9 miles and came back 7 miles (16 so far) then did a 2 mile off shoot (there and back took me to 20 and 2 miles from the hotel) Got to 21.5 miles at 6:30 pace and took the last left along the road back to the hotel only it should have been a right. Did another mile beofre I realised and then doubled back. Still managed to take another wrong turn as well in the last half mile leaving me with 24.52 miles in the bag -- NEVER AGAIN!

2 races tomorrow for me. Parkrun in the morning and then a cross country relay in the afternoon - shoud be fun

Great running Caz. That time is going to keep on coming down. Sounds like some top pacing from Mr CS as well.

Fi, hope the 20 miler went well and the sciatic nerve has settled down. Good luck and hope you and Shaun enjoy Cardiff.

Phil, that's a good pace for us mortals for a training run. Well done mate. But be careful you don't overdo it. 22 on the 15th seems a bit close to the race to me.

Obviously when I talk about mortals I don't include Dave in that description. Absolutely stunning stuff. Hope you're rewarded with a good run in Amsterdam

Fi, thanks for the vote of confidence but think I'm being realistic when I talk about being really happy if I can get under four and a half hours at Snowdon. Looking at  the mile splits posted by people who've done the race before it really brings home the extremes of ups and downs from start to finish.

Last 20-miler planned for tomorrow morning. Weather forecast looks ok.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Thank you Beavis.  You've either got a very good memory or have been on FB....

Well for somebody who has not been feeling 100% Dave you can certainly still bang out the miles and times.  Crazy & awesome in equal measure.  I also think you must be one of these men that suffers really, really badly with man flu. Lol.

Last long run completed yday.  Left work a little early.  Misjudged route so ended up just under 21 miles.  Really happy with it though.  Especially as the first few miles were hell and I seriously did not think I'd last until 10 never mind 20.  Bit of a worry when you start clock watching as early as 1 mile in..............

Had a bit of a dilemma before.  New shoes turned up in the AM and I realised by comparing just how worn out my old ones were.  Do I run in new and safe my legs but risk a bit of rub?  Or keep to old - no rubbing but mash my legs?  Decided to keep with old, I think mainly 'cos I couldn't contemplate the telling off if it had all gone tits up.  Golden rule - don't wear new kit for first time on 20 mile run! ........Oh yes, I could hear the lectures. So old trainers used.  Feet sore by the end and slight twinge in one calf but other than that - glad to say - fit and well.  Even opened up a bit on the last half mile back to car so actually feel like Snowdon is very much doable.  (still with a big dollop of realism of how tough it's gonna be mind )

GE - when do you require our drink orders for the first round?  Or in my case you'd better have a few rounds first - I'll probably be joining you around about round 3.

Off to look at road bikes later Beavis.  So hopefully I will be singing the praises of all things cycling very soon.  Thinking of entering - or at least trying to enter - the Dragon Race next year as it's local to me.  Think the long one on that ride is around 120 miles.  Hmmm......think I'd better get some padded shorts - or maybe enter the shorter one.   Good luck tomorrow.  Let us know how you get on.

Have a good weekend all.  Weather fab here today.  Just off up the mountain with the two girls. 

Take care all x

Beavis, hope you enjoy the sportive. Presume you're not doing the Brum Half this year. My son entered again but as he now has a broken toe ( football injury) he's been told not to run. Can't remember whether I mentioned that before. I'm the only person in our house without a broken bone .

Fi, hope you've had a great day. You must be so pleased with that run. Awesome. And plenty of time to run in the new shoes.

Got the last 20-miler done this morning. Wasn't looking forward to it to be honest. But it was amazing. Ran my hilly route (nothing like Snowdon though) which takes me up to the Staffs/Worcs border. Got to the highest point and the view is stunning. This morning the sun was just breaking through and the mist was hanging in the valleys. Felt so fortunate to be fit and well to do this sort of stuff.

Tough cycling on some of those hills. Love the cycling too but time is short so dont get the road bike out enough, I tend to ride to work on my mountain bike if not running down the trail. Well done on the lsr GE hate those as the training comes to an end near a marathon. Did a nine miler in the mist yesterday morning which was nice but the smell of Bacon at the carboot in Bakewell drove me home, but I still only had porridge as no bacon in the fridge. Awesome respect for the mileage some of you folk do. My average is about 25 at the moment per week.

I think Dave's mileage just goes to show how much effort & dedication it takes to run at the level him & Darren do...his weekly mileage is equal to most of my monthly totals

Well done on the long runs Snowdon trio, suppose I'd better pull my finger out this weekend and not let the marathon side down.  We had a 16 planned for the saturday just gone and after doing 8.5miles on Friday we had to bail at 9.5miles as the legs just felt so heavy on the Saturday...apparently this getting close to my PB malarky takes it out of my lickle legs. 

Mr CS has been looking at the Vegas course and erm it doesn't look very Vegassy....looks like it's lots of desert & through mountains...think our training on Yorkshire roads will stand us in good stead but I imagine a lot of Americans will be walking on the rolling route.  Still hoping for sub-5 though.

Fi, can you imagine how long you would have been banished to the naughty step had you come to the conclusion a 20mile run this close to the race was the perfect time to try out new trainers.  After a 4mile run in new trainers knackered my foot up for best part of a week I walk around in mine for a while before even heading out the door for a run in them.

 Caz - know what you mean about Dave and DT's mileage.  Even with marathon training my heaviest weeks are only late 30s. 

But also, amazingly, these guys are running the times that they do whilst holding down full time jobs and family life as well.  The top runners all now have the luxury of being professional and hence the time and resources to devote 100% to the sport (as they should)  The top club runners don't have that benefit and yet their times are not vastly different.  Huge dedication.  On that note - well done DT (or your alias) last weekend.  Was it a 3rd?

Oh well, looks like it is gonna be a wet run again tonight.  Weather for Sunday not looking good either.  A few runs over the next couple of weeks and then it's Snowdon bound. Eeekk!  Have to do somthing otherwise as soon as I stop I feel all the niggles and colds coming out.  Taper madness hey?

Stay happy and healthy guys.  Good luck with training this weekend all. x 

HI everyone

I've just entered Edinburgh 2013, and Manchester (April) arghhh!!

Toni

Hills are hard work but they're great for the training. Have definitely noticed the difference as I've tried to run more hilly routes in prep for Snowdon.

mcs, 25 miles a week is pretty good going. I presume you don't have a marathon planned at the moment?

Caz, don't remember loads of deserts and mountains in Yorkshire but I think I know what you mean....

Fi, I suppose wet runs are ideal bearing in mind the likely weather. This time last year I was looking forward to the Palma mara which was warm and flat. Everything that Snowdon won't be......

Welcome Toni. Good luck for Manchester and Edi. You've stumbled onto a 3 year old thread which still has some connection to the Edi Mara as most of us on here have met there over the past couple of years. Not too sure at the minute how many of us are doing 2013 but you're very welcome to hang around and join in.

Am well into taper mode now. Haven't decided on the length of tomorrow's run, could be anything from 10 to 15 miles. Just see how I feel.

Have a good weekend all.

 hard for me to avoid hills GE.  But they don't get any easier lol.  Great for stamina though and the mental toughness required.  Actually, find I prefer the struggle and pain of working up a hill more than when it gets hard work on a flatter route.  Think maybe that at least with a hill you know the hard work will eventually result in an easy stretch - either flat or downhill.

Don't quote me on that mind after Snowdon............I'll probably be put off hills for life.

If it's raining now I think of Philby........'if it ain't raining it ain't training'

6 miles completed last night - in the rain - by 'eck, I'd better find some energy from somewhere for sunday or it's gonna be a long 13 miles!

Think I'll do a 15 next week and then lots of smaller ones leading up to Snowdon - just to keep the legs ticking over and the colds at bay.  Few little niggles appearing - no big surprise.  Will probably book a physio next week just to have an iron out.

Have a good weekend all. x

Cardiff half completed.  Good route.  Lovely fresh morning.  Bit chilly on the start but soon warmed up.  finished in 1.55 - same as Edinburgh.  Haven't checked exactly but Edinburgh was seconds quicker so not a PB.  But another sub 2.  Legs a bit tight - calves - so will be stretching lots this week and a few days off to recover.  nothing to worry about though.

Crowds were a bit of a headache on times.  the first mile was one of my slowest.  So a new PB is definitely doable.  Infact a sub 1.50 is my target for Llanelli half in March.

Take care all x

Fi, well done on that. If you can stay injury free those times will just keep on tumbling down. Talking of which....... if you're set on doing 15 the weekend before Snowdon you make sure you take things really easy. Especially after Cardiff. Don't want you turning up injured.

Did 14 miles on the towpaths on Saturday partly in a torrential downpour so that obviously must be good using the Philby philosophy. Quickish 6 with the club last night which felt pretty good. 11 days and counting.....