3 Days to London!!

I had a nice couple of days off celebrating and healing, basking in the glow of having accomplished the seemingly impossible goal (a few months ago) of finishing a marathon.  🙂  Now comes the insanity of running the next one seven days later!!

I went out for a run this morning to test the legs and it was nice to run at a pace I was comfortable with instead of going from shuffling behind a wall of runners, to bursting through a gap to only shuffle along again *chuckle*.  Hopefully I can get into a decent stride at around mile 3.

The legs felt and feel okay, they have a bit more healing to get in so I may just put 3 miles in on Friday and a 15 minute loosen up on Saturday, then BAM!  We do it, we do it, we do it, we do it AGAIN!

Don’t forget I am still less than halfway to my fundraising goal, so if you or someone you know has some spare cash please consider tossing it my way!!

http://www.justgiving.com/Steven-Martin-London

The Paris Marathon (from a runner’s perspective)

As most of you know who have been reading this, last July I got it in my head that I was going to run a marathon this year.  Some people buy a sports car when they have a midlife crisis, some have an affair, some get a motor bike, others skydive.  I on the other hand decided I was going to put myself through the hell of training and running in a marathon this year.

I’m proud to say, mission accomplished!

There are some observations that I would like to pass on to aspiring and perhaps even experienced marathoners that may help with the experience.

GENERAL

1. Prepare your mind.

This run is going to kick your ass and you’d better be ready to take it and dish it back and then take it some more.  I found that there were two sides of me out there, the coward and the hero.  Be the hero.

2. Know where the start line is and have a transportation route there.

The roads are going to be closed so taxis are probably not going to be an option. Unless the marathon is in your town, you probably won’t know the area so make sure you know where you are going. When I couldn’t get a taxi I ended up walking a mile in the wrong direction before I jumped on a train!

3.  When you sign up and give your time, make sure it’s close to or less than the time you think you are going to run.

I ran my marathon in 4:27:27.  I believe I could have run it in under 4 hours. However when I signed up I signed up as 4:30. The problem this created is that since there are so many people, the 4:30 pen was so big that there were 3 different pacer flags and I landed at the back. Trying to get up to the proper pace was absolutely impossible.  When you have that many people (thousands literally) to work your way through, it is draining and takes its toll. I was, I think, more tired at the end of the race than if I had kept a steady pace throughout.

PARIS

1.  Toilets.

For the life of me I could not not find a toilet until the end so I had to pee in a bush. I wonder if they caught THAT on video 😜

2. The Oranges.

They have orange slices cut into quarters that people just eat and chuck on the ground.  I have shoes made for street running so the soles are rather slick (Mizuno Prophecy) so when I hit those orange slices it got pretty slippery so I had to slow down and pick my way through them.  Not ideal!

3. Liquids.

The water had screw tops, and the sports drink was poured into plastic cups.  Ever tried running and drinking out of a bottle or cup? Also not ideal! Silverstone had the pop tops and was much better. I’m hoping for the same in London. I’ll keep you posted!! 😁

 

1 down 1 to go; 6 days to London now :)

So I now have the answer to why people run marathons

Why do people run marathons?

Because they are masochists and they are #%$&@ (insert appropriate descriptive word in appropriate language here) CRAZY!

Like me.

4:27:27 not the best time but not too bad for a first try, we’ll see what happens in a week. I’ll write more about my experience later

 

2 hours to Paris; one week to London.

We’ll here we are at the big day. Technically my pen starts around 9:40, but it’s 2 hours to the start of the race. I’m feeling good. All the training comes together today!  Thank you all for your support and well wishes. 

I will see you at the finish line.

 

21 hours to Paris start; 8 days to London

Well, with this little 5k breakfast run my training is officially over. All that’s left is to cross the finish line tomorrow!!

 

2 Days to Paris; 9 to London.

Finished off my last run before I get to Paris. Was supposed to be a nice easy trot for 3 miles but I averaged a 9:08 pace???  Is this now my trotting pace??? Bloody hell!  I’ve got a 5k breakfast run on Saturday to get the juices flowing then…Hammer Time on Sunday.

Hopefully we have  wifi so I can keep posting but if not, my bib number is 61918 if you can figure out how to follow along or see results 🙂

http://www.justgiving.com/Steven-Martin-London

3 Days to Paris: 10 to London

Had a five mile run today.  Very easy, much attention to the knee and it feels like it could do 27 miles *smile*, good thing I only need 26.2 out of it.  Printing off boarding passes car park etc…

Time to start carbing up…

4 days to Paris; 11 to London

Ah took a couple of days off to rest the knee a bit some more and align my training properly.  (It had me doing the marathon on Friday instead of Sunday :P) 

The knee feels a bit less annoying but it’s not by any means ‘healed’, so I’ll  just keep running through the irritation.

I went for a six mile run yesterday and felt a little out of sync at first (having only done a 1.5 mile run on Sunday since last Wednesday) but then everything slipped into order. 53:40 so under 9:00 mile 🙂 

Training will continue later today!!