Paris Marathon 2013

At a rough glance, we've covered 12 countries and three continents. Any additions, give me a shout and I'll post the list again next Monday.

Dec 9: Lisbon Half - Tiddy.
Dec 26: Chevin Dash - SR.
Jan 1: Serpentine 10k - RR.
Jan 5/6: Enigma Double - Emmy.
Jan 12: Nato Run-Bike - TD.
Jan 20: Four Villages Half - Dave The Ex Spartan, Orbutt.
Feb 10: Liversedge Half - SR.
Feb 17: Bramley 20 - Tiddy. Nice 10m - Straycelt. Wrexham Half - Dave The Ex Spartan.
Feb 23: Standish Hall Trail Race - DLR.
Feb 24: Malta Marathon - Emmy.
Mar 3: Haweswater Half - SR. Hogweed Hill Half - Straycelt. Paris Half - ATM. Silverstone Half - Jimbob. St David's Day 10k - Yer Maj. Surrey Spitfire 20 - Tiddy.
Mar 16: Eco Trail de Paris - Emmy, RR.
Mar 17: Inverness Half - Kaz. Liverpool Half - Orbutt. Reading Half - Jimbob.
Mar 18: St Anne's 10-miler - DLR.
Mar 23: Thames Path Ultra - DV.
Mar 24: Harewood House 10k - DLR. Hastings Half - Tiddy. Lexington Half - Straycelt.
Mar 30: Dallas Half - Straycelt.
Apr: London-Paris-London: DV.
Apr 7: Paris Marathon - Chris, Vin, Britt, Lee, Bernardo, Chico, Harry.
Apr 21: Antwerp Marathon - Emmy. London Marathon - Eggy, Straycelt.
Apr 28: Chirk Sprint Tri - Dave The Ex Spartan.
May 5: Mont St Michel Marathon - Emmy, Princess Fi. Richmond Half - Tiddy.
May 11: Kintyre Way Ultra - ATM. Mallorca IM70.3 - Engineer.
May 12: Great Ethiopian Run half - RR.
May 26: Edinburgh Marathon - Tiddy.
May 27: London 10k - Jimbob. Jun 9: Bala Half Ironman - Dave The Ex Spartan. Strathearn Marathon - Kaz.
Jun 15/16: South Downs Way Ultra - DV.
Jun 23: Torbay Half - Jimbob.
Jun 29: Giants Head Trail Marathon - Emmy.
Jul 8: Paris Tri - RR.
Jul 16-18: Badwater Ultra: DV.
Jul 28: Ironman Switzerland - Engineer.
Aug 3: The Devil O The Highlands Ultra - Kaz.
Aug 5: Dublin Half - Straycelt.
Aug 10: North Downs Way Ultra - DV.
Sep 7: Medoc Marathon - DV.
Sep 9: Bala Olympic Triathlon - Dave The Ex Spartan.
Sep 15: Great North Run - Jimbob, Tiddy.
Sep 29: Berlin Marathon - DLR, Emmy, Jimbob, Kaz, Neil Belgium, Orbutt. Tiddy.
Oct 6: Cardiff Half - Yer Maj.
Oct 8: Jersey Marathon - Princess Fiona.
Oct 26: Beachy Head Marathon - Yer Maj.
Oct 27: Frankfurt Marathon - Emmy.
Nov 3: New York Marathon - Tiddy.

Weedy - I'm pretty sure everyone is doon south from Kaz. Newcastle is the tropical south from Orkney.

My wife and 9 yo daughter will be along as a a cheer squad( they'll probably wander off shopping).

After knee operation about 43 years ago was told I would only be able to play sport for another 3/4 years, hate being told what I can or cannot do.

PB5 - great stuff. Doctors. What do they know etc.

I hate to agree with Iain but doctors are normally always right...

How is everyone getting on?

Well the weather was simply charming.  Pissing rain and howling wind to kick off my training - hat and gloves came out this morning.  13k with 6 @ HM pace certainly woke me up...nothing like breaking you in gently...

Emmy, how are you feeling now?

Hi Yer_maj, It's been foggy here and its remarkably cold in comparison to yesterday.

I've eaten lunch and not thrown up so i'm definitely feeling better but i'm going to have a rest this afternoon in the hope I can run tomorrow if I feel up to it.

yer_maj wrote (see)

Well the weather was simply charming.  Pissing rain and howling wind to kick off my training - hat and gloves came out this morning.  13k with 6 @ HM pace certainly woke me up...nothing like breaking you in gently...

Strava says you got a new PB for 5k there YM!

What is this Strava you talk of? I've heard lots of whispers about it

www.Strava.com - a way to share your runs, compare and compete.

Well worth a look. It's free and on first registration it uploads your entire Garmin history from your PC.

Garmin Connect is catching up - you can now link to other people - but it's still way behind Strava in my opinion.

I'm booked back in at the physio this weekend. Needless to say things aren't improving. Both my short walk/jogs have resulted in abdominal pain the following day. Fitness level crashing through the floor.

Good going yer_maj.

Emmy et al, Strava is an online website that allows you to post exercise data - running, cycling, I guess kayaking if you really fancy... What is quite unique is that you can choose to follow other runners, so automatically see their data AND you can define segments - stretches of road or forest trail, and then set up a league table. So anyone who runs the same segment, you can compete against their historical times.

Was just up in your neck of the woods Emmy - seeing the surgeon at UZA. Anyway, it looks like I have either got damage on the Medial Collateral Ligament and/or bruising on the Femoral Head (bone). Either of these could be causing the leakage making the Baker's Cyst at the back of the knee.

I have an MRI scan next Monday so we can check to see if the damage to the ligament is new (worse) than the last MRI I had back in May. Then we can see if it is stable (good for me) or deteriorating (bad outlook for me). Options ahead may include several months total rest from running (allowing bone bruising/ swelling to recover), or another operation to try and do some kind of repair/ reconstruction of the ligament, or, sell all my running kit on eBay and buy a big ass TV, ahead of growing my very own big ass. Which frankly, on my frame, won't look that good.

So I get to discuss it all again with the surgeon 2 weeks from today. At least it all works fairly quick here in Belgium. Got to love what our 53% tax rate delivers.

I'd pay 53% tax if it delivered something beneficial.

I'm glad you won't have to wait too long for a diagnosis Tricky - fingers crossed that you won't be going down the lardarse route....

Neil - it's a pb for Strava I think - my PB from back in the spring was about 30 seconds faster but I wasn't using strava then.  However I am happy to have hit that time this morning during a training run

Eggy - sounds like you're finding it tough going, fella.  Anything we can do to help? 

Corr, the 18 week talk has made me realise this is sooner than I thought. Just casually running at the moment, will make a plan that starts when I buy my train ticket! Have cut my number of runs down as the cold seems to be messing my joints up a bit (or maybe that's because I've finally introduced harsh hills to my training), 3 outdoor runs a week at the moment, between 6-10 miles each time, and then general gym cardio another 3 times a week. I ordered a garmin gps watch a couple of weeks ago which, after getting lost by royal mail once, should arrive tomorrow, so hopefully that'll come in handy to motivate me. Haven't been timing runs recently, just treating it casually.

Kind of excited for this. A little nervous though. Sure as I get into the longer runs over the winter that feeling will die down though.

I ate four twirls one after the other yesterday. I'd have eaten a fifth if it had been there.

TD - Sounds like a nightmare for you. I really hope they can find the route cause and that it's treatable.

yer_maj - Some sort of anti-insanity device would be good. Although I fear it may be too late for that.

helterskelter wrote (see)

I ate four twirls one after the other yesterday. I'd have eaten a fifth if it had been there.

I actually contemplated going to the shop for more yesterday. I need to get back out before I suffer a sugar overdose.

Iain, you should speak to Mr Maj.  I thought I was a socialist until I met him...he makes me look like a raging Tory compared to him...