FLM 09 - 3.45ers!

Wow - Velociraptor - CONGRATULATIONS. That is a stonking time. You could definitely go for something more ambitious at London.

I had my 'easy' 10miler pre Barns Green today - had a great panic around 8-9 miles when I looked at my watch and thought I'd been doing 10 minute miles (wasn't supposed to be THAT slow!). But it turned out I'd just lost the ability to do sums, and came home in just over 9.10 minute miles. Much more like it!

How did the other racers today get on? Amanda in the gales and rain in Stroud?

You did so well V-rap! I didn't doubt at all you'd make it ;) That el Bee's a great pacer isn't he?

I did 4:15 in the end after my calves decided once again at 19 miles they were going to seize up with cramp. Story of my life with time goal marathons! But I still enjoyed the day, the company was lovely and so much support from forumites :) Look forward to seeing the photos on RichK's site!

Well done, pidge :o) I'm sure you'll blow away your Windsor time next weekend. It just can't be as hot and hilly.

Tiger, at the moment I'm so delighted with eL Bee's pacing that I don't mind saying so knowing that he's lurking and will get all big-headed ;o) And you have SOOOOOOO got the capacity for sub-4 and there's no reason why you shouldn't do it at your next attempt.

Well done Ms Raptor. Another marathon tucked under your belt, and a time that begins with a 3. Was everything fairly constant, did you walk at any stage , did you use gels, what pace did you set off at, etc etc.

I'm still a marathon virgin and am very jealous of a lady with SOOO much experience like you.

Well done also to Cramping Tiger, and to Pidge...did you feel good enough at the end to go on for a wee bit more ?

Where is Amanda ?

Played poker til 4am this morning having been supping at a family get together since 2pm, but still found time to take the wee sister out for a wee run of 6 miles at 9am. Gonna goto bed soon and catch up on some sleep, then see if I can have another week of 33 miles, starting 6am tomorrow.

Goodnight all.

Hi LS :o) Well done on packing in all that real life and still managing to run! I've got a wee sister who runs too ...

And for today ... everything was very constant and we did 8.45mm pace (with eL Bee dragging me back from time to time) until mile 21. Then we had a trio of slightly crampy 9-somethings and a very shuffly 10.27 before storming the last mile-and-a-bit at 8.20mm pace and picking off half the world with a sprint finish.

Fortunately, the buzzy one and I met Mr Wall at around the same time.

I didn't use gels (I never have), but I carbo-loaded mightily yesterday and had a good breakfast, and carried and swigged from a bottle of lemon Lucozade Sport from the start until about mile 7 then just had a sip of water and a couple of sweeties every 3 miles or so. And a huge dinner mid-afternoon. It makes me laugh when I read the nutritional advice in RW and suchlike about low-fat this and sugar-free that and blueberries and dried apricots. About 20 of us went out for dinner together, and most of the plates seemed to have large chunks of cowflesh, generous portions of chips, and a token bit of green stuff on them. Except the really fast peeps. They had fillet steak and chicken and sausages and eggs and fried onions and chips.

I had two cups of coffee about 2 hours before the race start, then no more to drink till after the start. Having done the Kenilworth Half with a full bladder, I wanted to avoid that problem this time.

I didn't walk at all, but we ran most of the way with a V70 chap who said he wanted sub-5hrs but would stick with us for the company as long as he could handle the pace. By 21 miles he was doing a run-walk thing. He beat us. THAT is inspirational!

Well done Vrap.

V-Rap

Good work fella. I half to say that I was on for a similar time for the first half before the lack of training caught up with me and the wheels fell off! Still I'm chuffed with 4:25ish and have learned some valuable lessons.

A great day until I got home and was left holding the screaming toddler while Mrs LoR goes out partying. Must dash - the screaming started again...

LoR

Velociraptor: that's superb news about today. Well done.

After a good 5k in the Bushy Park Time Trial yesterday, late this afternoon I managed my first ever two laps of Richmond Park - about 14.6 miles (eek) in just a touch under 2 hours. OK, not quite a marathon for me, but to once again plod for over 13 miles was excellent.

When I did my stretches afterwards I noticed a bit of, er, bleeding nipple (ouch) - probably because my running top was absolutely soaked from the rain after about 10 minutes and thus rubbed throughout. Vaseline for me next time I think.

Felt a touch dizzy once I'd got home which was understandable so am now enjoying plenty of food for dinner - I'm a big food fan so being able to eat loads is a great benefit of my running :)

Hi All,

Stroud was great and luckily the weather held out. It was a bit blustery, but apart from that, perfect conditions.

The route had a few more hills than I was expecting, but managed to get round in 1.55, was on for 1.50 but struggled with the hill in the middle. More importantly, I really enjoyed it and am not aching too much today.

Not sure that it bodes to well for the FLM, but with some serious training am hopeful that I could get under 4hours like Vrap!

Vrap, congrats on breaking the big four and the sprint finish!

Are there any good half marathons near London or Bath before Xmas? Had a quick look on the events guide and couldn't see any.

A

Hello

Having read through a few of the last pages I am a bit scared to pop into this thread - you all sound a bit too speedy for me. I very much want to break 4 hours and managed 4:11 last April. Not entirely sure what to do to get faster though.

V.Rap!!!! Tiger!!!! LoR!!!!

Well done to all three of you!

V.Rap that time was just awesome! Can you pace me at London? ;)

Snowdonia this weekend for me. Been carb loading consistently since last SUnday!

GymAddict....welcome! Stay on the thread! Loads of advice on here. Only 11 mins to shave off.....no sweat ;)

(I hope you are right - I would really really love to do it)

Hi GymAddict, we're not all as fast as Vrap; my PB is 4.06.

A light week this week (in mileage terms) but still some intensity. Just done my 5.3 mile circuit. Knocked a whole minute off Thursdays time, a new BSR (best since Rotterdam) and now sub 39 mins.

I'm hoping to break 4hours. Applied for London 07.
Have a place in Edinburgh marathon. Did London 06 in 4.03.25. I was gutted about the extra 3mins25s!
I am hoping I will earn the right to be in this thread with future results!

Gymbo, its alright being speedy, but there are dumplings like me on here who have never ventured beyond 13.1 miles. You at least have a proper notch on your belt. And your an addict which will help with the Winter training !
Can you send me a picture in keeping with my Scots Porage Oats image to put next to my entries, as all the programmers and neurosurgeons and rocket scientists on this thread can't help me.
Lows5, doing an FLM already earns you the right to coax us novices through the dark months ahead, both meteorologically and mentally !
HRR, glad to hear the vinegar solution worked.
Amanda, brilliant time whatwith all those hills.... I think it bodes great for London, and is a new benchmark to be improved in the months ahead. Well done !!

P.S. Gymbo and Lows5, we need to know age , weight, gender, height and occupation on this thread.

It's the law.....!

Amanda, glad you've checked in. Well done on a very good time on a course that isn't easy :o)

GymAddict, if you read back you'll see that my previous marathon PB was 4.41.21 and I thought I was punching above my weight going for sub-4, so if being on this thread leads to that sort of percentage improvement you'll do nicely ;o)

We will all - ALL - knock the time I ran yesterday into oblivion in our spring target marathons provided we aren't derailed by injury or demotivation.

http://3401.e-printphoto.co.uk/nqo/index.cfm?z=z&CFID=169555&CFTOKEN=75558306&y=y&p_id=3800173&c_id=49459&action=view

Copy and paste the link into the search bar. Tiger is 277, and eL Bee and I are the skeletons. Who says you don't lose weight training for a marathon?

Following little stokers orders - and thanks for the encouragement VRaptor.

I am female, 36, 5 6 (no weight but I'm not skinny and not fat), IT Director for a quarry company as occupation although I used to be a physicist and would much rather be a personal trainer.

I am Scottish so could easily get you a pic of a porridge oat OR a foxy man in a kllt - what is it you are after??

Emailed you the best one I've seen so far. I can tidy it up for you if you like it. Have photoshop - will play!!

Maybe we should include "Scottish or not?" as part of the vital statistics disclosure ;o)