Edinburgh Marathon Review

4 hours 20 mins

My marathon did not go as the planned sub 4 hours.  The first 20 miles where bang on target at 3 hours exactly and I ran an average of 8:41 for the first 17 miles or so. I maybe tapered a bit too much and skipped a few runs and I took my 16 years old girl out as she signed up for a 5km in June giving herself less than 4 weeks.  I am not making excuses here  but rather getting down all my thoughts about it. For my very first marathon at age 43 with only 3 year running at any consistency this was a successful run.

First off I've managed to avoid almost all the bugs and colds that have swept my family over the last few months. Except for the gastric bug they had the week before the marathon. They all had the runs and lots of wind, but this got me the 2 days before the marathon with a pain in my lower guts and no wind or the runs. I was bloated and constipated and could not really eat at all.  In fact the day before the marathon I only had lunch and couldn't eat breakfast or any dinner. This is not like me as all.

So the day before the marathon I was concentrating on feeling ill and not getting excited or working out my plans or studying routes or maps for pacing. I was very unsure that I'd be running on the day and told the wife if this was a training run then I would skip it. I decided to run much against my own better advice as I thought it is better to try and fail than to not try at all.

Race day and my guts still felt like a solid lump and I couldn't tell if I needed a pee or not as nothing was coming out even if I tried. If you are reading this sorry. My big black bin bag was useful as the weather was horrid when I left the hotel as it was raining hard and very windy and the cold rain stung your face. Not pleasant at all in my delicate state.  I did my last preps drunk some SIS and waited for the start.  If I had to stop I would have to stop and would DNF (Did Not Finish); not the best mind set on the start line, but I was there and trying and that really mattered to me.

The run was good, my guts felt solid for the first 7 or so miles and I stopped for a pee and I lost few pints. I felt better and was trying to run at a consistent 8:45 or any under 9:00 was good.  I got a bit of a high at 14 miles and really felt great.  The weather was dull cloudy moving to windy hard cold rain moving to no wind and sun and then back round again. I stopped for another pee around the mile 17 and nothing came out. I was in a little less discomfort but still couldn't tell if I needed to go or not.

On the way round I noticed a few things;  Hats: three or more about every mile, Gels: a lost gel every 300 yards and an eclectic mix of abandoned tops, jumpers and jackets throughout the course. You could have run the course and just picked up gels on the way round, the runners behind you might not have been too happy though at your sudden stops.

 Things started to fall apart at mile 18 where I had a "micro rest" where I took a gel and some liquid. By mile 20 I was starting to really feel it and thought "I'm never doing this again" which I said in my first 10K, my first half marathon and now my first marathon. At mile 19 you leave a small forest which was dry and warm and you go straight back head first in to the wind and rain. I struggled on and got more and more exhausted, but mile 26 I was walking completely.

Lots of people shouted encouragement and I really thank them for it; but this has no influence on me at all and I'm out there for me and no one else. This is in my mind set and I see no other way to run any distance unless you want it yourself and need to prove it to yourself or it will just hurt more. I was hurting and I thought at one point in the last mile I was going to feint or be sick (I saw a lot of people being sick along the way) and a few people sitting with that horrid haunted look you see in the complete exhausted.

I ran the last few hundred yards and stumbled onto the very large queue to exit. I tried another pee and lost about 100ml of the brightest orange pee I've ever seen (orange gels?).  Put on my free teeshirt, drunk my juice and munched the jelly beans from the pack.

Would I have run better had I not been ill?; maybe or maybe not. Next time I will know what to expect and I will have to carry more gels and less liquid; weight for weight I think the gels are better as there is water stations on the way round. The bus back to the start and centre of Edinburgh was about a 100 miles away, ok more like a half mile but it felt much longer. Getting off the bus was not pleasant and half the bus hobbled off.

Back at the hotel I lay in a hot bath drank some vimto and ate some sweets.
Thankfully the wife dragged me to the pool in the Hotel which was bliss as I was pain free and managed to float without any pressure on my joints and muscles. After that we went out for a big feed of home cooked lamb shank pie and a few pints.

Next day and I was good, really stiff in the morning and my guts were starting to feel better and I managed a huge breakfast.

Anyway there is always next year I've already pre-registered. So much for never doing another one!!

Runs last week

Milage is creeping up and I'm putting myself in to a good state of mind by really looking forward to the long runs on a Sunday.  So far I've ran 105 miles in March, might not sound a lot but 32 of those where last week.

Tues:  3 mile 24 mins.
Wed:  7 mile, 60~ mins
Fri:     7.75 mile,   1:09 (slowing it down)
Sun:   15 mile, 2:13:01,  8:52 min/mi

Sunday run was great, really enjoyed myself, we left Scotston centre and headed up via Milngavie to Craigmaddie Reservoir. I stuck with the group all the way up, which meant quite a few stops and starts as there is quite a few climbs and dips.  my trusty Garmin 305 reported a total climb and dip of 2000ft; all those little hills do make a difference. Craigmaddie is a lovely place even for a stroll and if this your local running spot you are lucky indeed.

Once at the top I was very fresh and ready for my run down. I left the pack and decided to put a few fast miles in order to push my endurance up and to push myself a bit. Miles 9,10 and 11 where sub 8min/mi and 12,13,14 and 15 where sub 8:30. I am getting fitter and I noticed on my Friday run I was doing 9min/mi without even breaking breath.

Map is as follow as usual provided by Bob Porteous who is running the Running Network marathon training.

16 miles this Sunday; which is only 1 more than last week :)

Runs this week

Another week another series of runs, This is a rest week so only 22 miles in total

• Tuesday:        3.08 miles   24:27      pace 8:00/mi    Standard Road run; dry and cool
• Wednesday:   7.02 miles   58:39      pace 8:22/mi    River cart walk way mixed trail/road; sunny
• Friday:           4.04 miles   39:21      pace 9:44/mi    Rough trail Pollock Park Mbr tracks; dry
• Sunday:         8.39 miles   1:10:20   pace 8:29/mi    Road and Canal Path Scotston,  damp

My pace is certainly on the up, but there are some big miles coming up in the next few weeks so we will see how I get on with the 15,17,18 and 20 milers.

Running Week 6 of Marathon Training

Running update from last week.

Tues:   3 mi, 25 mins,  8:12 mi/min
Wed:   6 mi, 52.57 mins, 8:32 mi/min : very wet cold and windy
Thurs:  New Trainers came: Gel Nimbus 2E
Fri:      4 mi, 31.21 mins, 7:48 mi/min; 2 mile split with 2 min rest
Sun:   13 mi, 1:53 hr:min, 8:42 mi/min; dry and fare, left foot wee bit sore.

I'm getting stronger and I'm working on my negative splits for the actual marathon, still aiming for sub 4 hours in Edinburgh in May.

This week is rest week so I am going to slow it down a bit; or try to at least :)

Running this Week.

This is my runs for this week I will up date my times once they are done.

Tues: 3 mile      23:06 mins  with 1/2 mile recovery added on.
Wed: 6 mile      52.99 with average 9:09mi/min pace. Mixed pace
Friday: 3 mile    25.24 8:32mi/min pace: Fast then slow with 1 mi recovery added to the end
Sunday: 12 mile 1:46:00  08:53mi.min pace:  Found it bit harder than last week,

Last Sunday run was 10mile at about 1:24mins (hh:mm) and I did a few sub 8 mins miles. Looking forward to my next Sunday Run which is a tour of 5 parks in Glasgow

http://grnmarathon2011.blogspot.com/2011/02/week-5-6-march-2011.html

Garmin 305 Review First Couple of Weeks

I've been using this on my Runs for about 2 weeks now and I'm beginning to really love this piece of tech.  For just over £100 at amazon I thought it was a complete bargain. OK it does look like you can use it to land helicopters on it and its not exactly small, but it is cheap and has more functions than you could use. The model I got also came with a heart rate strap so value is on the high side.

Charging
Initially I just charged it for about 5 hours after advice on other blogs; it is best to charge this overnight so it gets a full first charge. The battery lasts 10 hours which is far longer than I could every run, but if you are doing a very long bike then this could be limited and  you may want to bring a usb backup charger.  It does take a good 3-4 hours to charge and I tend just to leave it on charge all the time when I'm not using it; which is most of the time.  Remember to switch it off when you either stop running or get home as it will drain the battery and have a flat unit on your next run.

Using Forerunner 305
When you first put it on it looks huge and I mean really huge, but it does not bother you when running and fades into the background after a few minutes and after a few runs it's just eh... normal. The advantage of its size is the big screen and this makes it easier to read while on a run. The screen is excellent and comes with quite a few pre-set screens for you. The GPS is fairly accurate and I've used a few different ones and this is one of the better ones. I live in Scotland so the built in back light is very useful and gives off a cool green glow.

Functions
There are a lot and you can spend hours just fiddling with them. Some of the best are:

• Screen Customisable: Display just one item on the screen or up to four and you can switch between screens each with a different set items.  I tend to run mostly with Distance and Current Pace on a 2 display set-up.
• Lap / Stop Start buttons: I really like this for doing sessions where I will run a fast mile or run up a hill and take a rest. Simply hit the lap and start/stop buttons pause your session and split it between laps for viewing later on the software. I've also set up auto-lap every mile so I can see my splits.
• GPS Tracking: It takes about a minute to sync with the satellites which is ok and matches your actual route about 98% with a little drift every now and again.
• View History: You can view your history and laps on the 305 itself instead of waiting till you get home. You can also view your laps as well while on the go.
• Back Light: as mentioned above this makes it easy to read at night. Living in Scotland means I have to run all my mid weeks in the dark for winter. 

Software

The software supplied is very good and is one of the few that actually caters for macs (as well as a windows version on the disc). I opted not to install from the disc but downloaded the latest version from the Garmin website. The software is fairly extensive and you can view runs in details and I like the elevation against pace and distance. On my last 10 miler I climbed and dropped a total of 3,000ft all those small hills do make a difference.

If you don't like the software you can always hook your 305 up to trainingpeaks.com which also support device uploads from mac and windows machines. This is very similar to the Garmin software but you can add meals and other info and the maps are a bit better. TrainingPeaks.com can also pop your runs onto Twitter and FaceBook which I find quite useful as there are a few people following my current marathon training.

I am using both currently and to compare my runs on each.

Actual Usefulness
I go too fast  as times and I can't judge my pace well as all. I think I'm going either too slow or too fast and find it hard to judge. I also like to know my splits (actual pace or speed per mile or over a particular section) and this is very good for this. I can glance at my 305 and know my current pace, press a button and get distance, heart rate and other info. This has made my runs faster by allowing me to firmly control my pace.

Summary
The 305 Great piece of kit if you and it costs the same as a good pair of shoes and from speaking to other runners seems to be the choice over some of the newer models. Just remember to keep it charged and it will serve you well. The only moan I've really got is that the usb charging cable is a bit short, but this is fairly minor.

Marathon Talk

I've been listening a lot this last week to Pod Casts Marathon Talk. This has been going for about a year of so and involves two blokes Martin Yelling and Tom Williams who get together every week for a natter on running and as you've guessed marathon and training. They also have a fantastic line up of guests who bring a weird and wonderful mix of views and discussions on  running and training.
One of the most interesting things is that they do this on no or little budget and via skype including all the interviews; the quality is very good.  Best way to listen is via iTunes or you can just download the mp3 from http://www.marathontalk.com.