VLM 2012 Outsiders Thread

Hi melmar and welcome

You've got plenty of time to build up your stamina and confidence. Don't worry about walk breaks, I take them too, the thing to do is to structure them so that you do them at at set intervals rather than just grinding to a halt when you're tired. Apart from being kind to your body I find they also help with the psychological side of running that sort of distance.

And definitely don't worry about the crowds -  they are half the fun!

Glad to hear you were able to plod on Saturday Que Sera. I ran 5 again ysterday plus walking on Saturday - probably another 5 miles or so there - so am feeling quite virtuous  

thanks scream did worksop half yesterday was dreadful think walked more than ran... was near the back and enjoyed the banter and words of encouragement among the other slowbies. am not disheartened though its motivating me to train more !  the thought of doin twice wat i did yesterday is scary but av got to do it......

am gonna look at diet also...... must be doin something wrong am firming up but not lost a single pound in weight

sounds like we all have some way to go to get to marathon level but we  all determined and dedicated  so probably better than we think....

Dare I ask you your finishing time melmar?

(No obligation - it isn't that sort of thread) but I bet you weren't last....

Helloo, I'd like to crash this thread, seems I belong here too

Have done FLM twice, approx 4.54 and 4.44.  I should have a 4 hour marathon in me seeing as I've managed a 1.44 and a.149 half but the wheels seem to fall off at about 20 miles.  (Probably lack of training).

I don't plan to run with a time in my head this year, just go along and enjoy it.

Hi Iron Pingu and welcome

Some decent times there. It will be interesting to see what happens this time - maybe if you are more relaxed about the whole thing the pressure will be off and it will all "come together" by itself - it will be interesting to find out.

I'd be dead chuffed to do 4.59 but I'm not getting any younger so I probably shouldn't get my hopes up about that one.

I must admit I've been right off running this year, had lots of injuries and found trying constantly to improve times has put me off.  More recently I just go out and do what I feel like and enjoy it much more. 

It was a right shock to get a place at VLM!

Are you training yet Screamy?

I've never had that problem Sacco, sticking to my own pace is probably the one thing I'm really good at - in fact I could be a pacer for dead slow runners

As long as you're in the right start pen for your predicted finish time you sould be surrounded by people running  at a similar pace. Ignore the ones that speed off, they are either a) late, b) had no idea of their pace but have discovered in training that they can go faster c) have been completely unrealistic about their  predicted finishing time - you can wave as you overtake them at mile 17 when they will have run out of steam 

Pingu, I started training for the BUPA 10,000 in January and all was going well. Got up to 5 miles (so close!) then got a hip injury. Then got ill. Then pulled a muscle in my back  which was stupidly painful for about a month. Have been getting back into it gradually  since September - so far so good. I had a deferred place so I knew this was coming!

Great idea about doing what you feel like now and then, it keeps you fresh. Sometimes I do just go out and run without a watch. Last week I went for a long walk instead of a short run - you have to mix it up to beat boredom. 

I'm a bit less of a wuss about hills than I used to be too, so that gives me more variation when it comes to routes than the last time I trained for a marathon. It all helps

Afternoon Outsiders!

Yesterday was quite a good day: I walked for an hour at lunchtime and had planned to run 2 miles in the evening - in the event I ran three and a half!

This weekend is a drop back week so I'll be doing 4 miles but I'm making it a hilly one. 

Happy plodding

Hope your run went well Screamy. I had a brilliant one yesterday - 10 miles and I ran it all - and quite fast (for me). The weather was gorgeous and I felt really cheerful. Still feel good today. All in all a really top weekend all round for me, and in consequence I can't settle down to my work. So I have entered the Ashby 20 on March 18th instead. Hurrah!

I managed a 10 miler yesterday too.

I ended up doing it faster than usual because of the number of "spectators" on my route. I need to get some blinkers or something, otherwise VLM will be a painful experience.

Well done people - 10 miles - phew! I don't have that pleasure for another month.

LOL at Sacco runnning in blinkers  If spectators do really bother you then you probably need to get some races in before the VLM because there will be hundreds of thousands of them in London and they will all be very noisy, especially if the weather is good. Perhaps the Reading Half would be a good race to do as there are quite a few at certain points but not too many at others so it's not too overwhelming.

The only other thing I can suggest is that you don't run with your name on your shirt and that you keep to the middle of the route so you have other runners around you, that way you'll be shielded from the worst of it.

Then again, if it makes you run faster......

I quite enjoyed my hilly 4 miler but I am feeeling a bit creaky today. I think that's probably got more to do with clearing out my study and building flat pack furniture though.

Had my first proper run in a week yesterday, a slow plod on some hills & mud. 16m, 1500 ft of ascent. My dogs loved it. One of these days I'm gonna take them on a run where they aren't still bouncing at the end. It'll be a tough ask. Did a 40m run/walk in May and that didn't faze them......

Doing Sodbury Slog at the weekend, 8m XC, Avebury 8 the following weekend. This month & next  is just about fun and plodding along. Training proper starts 1st Jan.

Saco, sorry can't really give any advice. I'm quite happy to ignore the world around me, or interact at will. Tends to be more to do with how focused I am on what I'm doing. VLM isn't going to be a ' Focused ' event though so plan to have the craic with spectators, marshalls, fellow runners etc along the way.

Oh yeah - you gotta have a laugh  I tend to run along on the outside (out of the way) so I got to high five lots of little kids last time. Some of them were a bit sticky I seem to remember 

Wow Chimney, you must be fit - I feel exhausted just reading that. Glad your dogs enjoyed it though. Hmm...would I run faster with 4 legs I wonder....

I'm a Londoner, I'm used to zoning out crowds and noise when I want to. It is a good skill to have.

I'm a Londoner too, but I normally just run laps of Regent's Park so I'm quite sheltered from view. This time I decided to run around Hyde Park and I unconciously upped my pace while I was "on show".

I shouldn't let my ego get the better of me. I'm very excited about doing VLM though, I've only ever been a spectator before and the atmosphere has been great.

Don't worry Sacco - I think it will be quite easy to hide in the middle of 35,000 other runners

Unless you want to try and win