FLM 09 - 3.45ers!

I was a veggie of convenience at college, when it was cheaper, and everyone else seemed to be veggie. Now I'm in the rare steak lovers club!

Is it true if you didn't bequeath to FLM you should know end of this week / early next if they've cashed your cheque?

Brilliant pic, LS. Pure dead brilliant ;o)

RD, you don't have to go as far as Glasgow to get a deep-fried Mars bar. Apparently they're also a staple item in the Walsall diet. but in Glasgow they'll batter and deep-fry anything you ask for.

GA, I suppose it depends on what we're looking for. I'm not athletically gifted, want to run the best I can and have very limited time, so all my training has to be running-specific. My mileage in preparation for Abingdon was very similar to my mileage in preparation for London in 2003 when I did 4.41, and in 2003 I was also doing two BodyPump classes and at least 2km of swimming a week, plus a 30-40 minute interval session on the stepper, little bits of rowing and using the elliptical cross-trainer (but only little bit because I got bored) and some free weights and balance work. I was also amenorrhoeic for a short time despite being no lighter than I am now, and had to eat about 1,000 calories a day more than I do now to stop my weight from dropping.

Of course, the gymming may not have been what limited my running performance, because at the time my oldest daughter's behaviour was causing problems and during the next year I walked away from a dysfunctional work situation and called time on an unhappy marriage. So in retrospect my running then was probably about running away from life rather than trying to run as well as I could. When I found myself in a happy work environment, created some personal space within the house and the acute crisis with my daughter had settled, I went through a spell of not feeling the need to run a great deal for quite a long time.

The impetus only returned a few months ago in response to a specific training goal - doing TrailWalker (100k) in under 15 hours next summer and not wanting to be the rate-limiting member of the team.

>Slaps self around head< Dinosaurs talk too much!

DOMS bypassed Raptor Cavern when he did his post-Abingdon round. I ran late last night after putting the kids to bed and rattled off 5 not-very-evenly-paced miles without any discomfort. The fastest mile, surprisingly, wasn't the one during which a group of silly boys seemed inordinately keen that I should accept a lift in the back of their pickup van, and kerb-crawled alongside me for what felt like quite a long way. It was really difficult not to engage in banter, but I thought I'd be safer just legging it and hoping they'd get bored driving at 8mph. It was a fairly busy road and they weren't likely to try anything, but if it had been in the middle of nowhere I'd have been quite frightened. Fortunately, there IS no middle-of-nowhere in my neighbourhood.

My legs felt a little heavy this morning but are improving as the day goes on and I'll try to get out for a very slow 7-miler after work tonight.

LS, what are the chances of that eh?

Got a photo of me in my Flares somewhere.....

Now my legs are coming back to life I've decided to do the Gosport half marathon on 19th November and make the most of my marathon fitness.

I'm starting to feel the need to go out for a run again, but I shall resist till Saturday when I'm supporting at Beachy Head marathon and will no doubt be doing quite a fair bit of jogging around from place to place :)

Tiger, aint it amazing how quick the fit body recovers? The fact that you feel like running is superb.
Best of luck at Gosport.
I entered the Llanelli half in March. I gotta a huge sense of doom about my FLM entry.
Can't wait to get it out of the way now so at least I can enter Lochaber and get travel arrangements sorted etc.
LS, I am going to bring you same lava bread up for you boyo,theres nice isn't it?

It's foul actually! Give me a battered, deep fried Mars bar anyday of the week.

Would anybody on here know what I was talking about if I offered you all a Rissole?

Wey Hey! Start carbo loading for Snowdonia tomorrow! I got that down to a fine art.

Oh I know what a rissole is - hubbie is from newcastle and sister-in-law lovingly prepares them for him everytime he goes home. THankfully I don't have to partake of that particular feast.

Little Stoker
I'm age 30 - almost 5ft3 - 8st7 - female, and a store manager. Enough info?
I'm checking my bank account everyday to see if my cheque for London goes out or not. I know it won't (if it does goes out) leave my account until the 28th ish. I'm just hoping!!

Mr Dap, although our chances of being interviewed by Sue Barker, or sitting in Nell McAndrews slipstream disappear with a "SORRY" magazine, at least the air in Fort William will be purer, with a higher O2 content, and we can run with an air of defiance, counting hairy coo's, which may result in PB's for us both !?

We can taper on a diet of said deep fried Mars Bars, white puddings, lorn sausage, potted hoch, stovies, mince n tatties, whelks, dulce seaweed, Forfar bridies, Arbroath smokies, Aberdeen butteries, neeps, kail soup, shortie, Dundee Cake ( as in that famous square-go put down " I'll put more nuts on you than a Dundee Cake !", all washed down with a few pints of heavy, or Irn Bru for the teetotallers.
I think that's mostly carbs, with just a trace of essential oily fats ?

What are DOMS ?

Lows5,
Sorry, but you have to be male, 37, and 13 stone-ish, OR a 42 year old fully qualified doctor of either sex to be on this thread.
So, your options are...

In the next 7 years, eat lots of pies, and book yourself in for a complex hospital procedure.

OR

In the next 12 years, read lots of books, and accept that not every patient will be Brad Pitt and his troublesome groin strain. The choice is yours if you fancy the complex procedure here, but I can tell you that it results in improved driving and navigational skills, no more violent mood swings, your bum not looking big in anything, and ALWAYS wearing comfy shoes !

>Lobs all the cups in the cupboard at LS, misses every time, and grasps handle of still-hot chip pan in case he dared to cast a sideward glance at the calendar instead of assuming he's done something wrong again.<

Wow! Have you never met DOMS yet, LS? I'm well impressed. DOMS is that evil fiend who creeps up on you the day after the day after a run, just when you think you've Got Away With It. Otherwise known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

I think I have that compulsive shopping thing, but it's also possible that the quantity of food I've just stuffed into my cupboards will just about last a long weekend with 8 pre-teens, one full-time and an undetermined number of part-time teenagers, three adult runners, three cats and whoever else happens to drop by.

Tiger, sensible decision :o) I hope you have a great race at Gosport. My next race is that weekend too, but it's the Suicide Six, which is really just a big obstacle race and will break me of the expectation of PBs at every race (though I should get s Suicide-Six-specific PB since I only have to beat 72 minutes).

I have a sense of doom about London too. I really don't think they're going to accept my "five strikes and you're in" plea, and eL Bee is relying on the ballot. And we really need to get a fast spring marathon tucked away before ploughing into TrailWalker training. Lochaber looks tempting (especially if there are lots of people from the thread going) but I love supporting at London ... no doubt the decision will become clear in time.

Good luck with Snowdonia RD. I have a friend from another thread running there. One difference he's running the Dublin Marathon as well on Monday; two in two days!

VRaptor - Continuing the gym theme. For a few years now ALL I have done is run (okay - plod) so I guess I have decided to get back to the gym in the hope that developing a more rounded fitness may help my running. I have also just left my running club and so feel I need the structure of the gym visits to keep me going at a difficult motivational time. Although hopefully this thread and others like it will become a help in that as the race gets closer.

My background is actually as a dancer - who got injured, turned to aerobics and then only recently started running because of the restriction that children bring to getting out of the house.

Mr Dap, when you do the Snowdonia run, if you listen carefully, you can hear my faint cries for Mummy, echoing from Mount Snowdon, from my harrowing 3rd of 3 peaks climb at 2am in October 2003. "The Wall" on that adventure hit going under the railway track on the way up, when I would've shaved off my eyebrows and stripped to my y-fronts to reduce the weight I was carrying !?

How many full Marathons have you done now ?
Best of luck with this one, and I hope neither of us see Ben Nevis next April !

No running for me this week as I have a severe dose of Man Flu, NOT to be confused with the common cold.
Glen Clova Half on the 11th, so I'll get back on track next week. What running should I do in the week before, if it is on Saturday lunchtime ? Would say an 8.6 on the Monday, and a gentle 5 or 6 on the Wednesday morning be OK ?
And this carb loading thing...
What is carb loading, and what is carb over-eating ?

Carb-loading for a half-marathon is, by definition, carb-overeating, LS ;o) Especially if you carb-load with a fried dumpling supper with curry sauce and a deep-fried Mars bar every night for the two weeks before the race.

Hope your manflu takes itself off elsewhere quickly.

GA, what sort of dance did you do?

Ballet and contemporary, never brilliant but I did it into my twenties - I was the oldest person in my dance school apart from the teacher. Obviously as an older and slightly more strapping lass these days I will not be doing that sort again. So, next Thursday I am hoping to start back at latin/ballroom. Should be a laugh and I am going to call it cross-training.

Sounds great fun, GA :o) I've got two left feet - can't even stay co-ordinated in an aerobics class.

I do indoor climbing, but it's not really cross-training, it's just a fun sport that I can share with the kids.

That sounds cool too. I already dance with my daughter but as she is only 3, it isn't very technical. I am trying to find her a class asap as she is desperate to be Angelina Ballerina.

Paris, V-rap - but you'll have to make your decision quickly, it's filling up! Fast & flat too and it's always one or two weeks before London.

Or you could come to Barcelona! That's what we're intending to do next - 4th March :)

Good luck at Snowdonia RD! Hope the weather's kind to you :) I think I shall have plenty of layers on tomorrow supporting at Beachy Head and a sturdy umbrella too!

I love to watch dance, GA, and I tried so hard as a child ... interestingly, despite being more solidly built than the stereotypical ballerina and despite her parents having four left feet between them, one of my daughters is a very good instinctive dancer :o)

Tiger, Barcelona's way too early for us, but last night we had a look on the internet and found Zurich on 1st April. It's flattish and fast. It's also just a fraction too early, but possibly our best prospect. Paris is a good alternative, of course, and definitely One To Do Sometime.

Hope you enjoy supporting at Beachy Head, and hope Snoop runs a blinder :o)

RD, have a great time at Snowdonia. I'm looking forward to your report.

Who else is racing this weekend?