March 7. 2008 16:24

Just been reading your most recent entries Douglas - GOOD LUCK for the Half Marathon on Sunday! And the same to everyone else who is going to run a half marathon before London!

Katie

March 9. 2008 21:37

Well Doug I am glad your training is going well and as you said on Weds the Marathon training has given you a strong base for a good X-Country season.

I am also running London for AICR (Doug roped me in!) and this will be my second marathon (last was in 1999). I will be running on 13th April with my wife, who will be running her 1st. 13th April will be a special day for us as it falls on my wife's birthday and it is also our wedding anniversary! Makes it easier for me to remember Unfortunately as we got entries through different methods we are actually at different starts on the day.

Our training is going well and we are now up to 22 Miles. We have 1 more long run (in 2 weeks time) as our final last run. Doing our training around Dunfermline means that we are getting lots of hills in our long runs which will hopefully make us stronger for the day. By running this distance we have good confidence that we will be fine on the day.

Anyway, good luck to Doug all the other AICR runners that will be down running in London. Hope your training goes well, you get to the start line fit & well and have an excellent day.

Dave McQueen

dmq

March 10. 2008 15:44

Jit and Les’ Marathon Newsletter
A report on the Brentwood ½ Marathon - 9th March

10:00 am – the start
The Gun should have sounded, but the start is suddenly delayed due to the number of late registrations resulting in a record of over 3400 participants for the half marathon and fun run. Weather conditions are perfect – overcast and little wind. We make a few light hearted comments and chat to a fellow runner or two to settle the nerves and then suddenly there is a move forward, a bellow in the ear from the local brass band and we’re off.

Miles 1 to 3 – World record pace
Having checked out the course gradient before on mapmyrun.com beforehand, we know it’s a downhill start. A glance at the watch shows that we may have started off a tad too fast as we hit the first mile about 8.45 and are still under 9 minute mile pace by the end of mile 3; at least 40 seconds per mile faster than we’ve run before. But we feel comfortable.

Miles 4 to 6 – In the groove
First feeding station comes up, never had to do this before. I remember the golden rule, don’t go for the first table it will be busy. So I race by to discover there’s only two tables and whilst the first one has bottles, the second one has cups. A failed attempt at a reverse and I manage to clasp my hand around a cup and get 3cls down my throat, with the rest sloshing all over my face and up my nose (I make a mental note of “extra feeding station practice required”). That said, we’re keeping a good pace going and the wind remains very light. At the 6 mile mark we’re still well under 55 mins, roughly 2 minutes faster than we’ve run before at that point.

Miles 7 to 9 –A wee break and great support
Having spent about 90 seconds in front of a urinal shortly before the race (after drinking half of Kielder Reservoir it felt like) I am confident I can run through to end without a pit stop. But at this part of the race I suddenly hear those dreaded words..”It’s no good Les I need a p***”. So Jit exits stage left to acquaint himself with Farmer Giles’ Privet Hedge and I jog v slowly ahead and trip up anyone who dares to pass me as we regain our momentum.

We’re keeping the pace going, dropped to a little over 9 minute miles as there’s been a small incline over the last couple of miles. Suddenly we hear some loud shouting by what looks to be some strange country bumpkins, and a mad man with a baby in his arms ringing a bell rather loudly (him not the baby that is). As we approach we suddenly realise it’s our better halves, friends and their mum/dad/inlaws and family. What a boost and we deliberately put our “my this is really easy, what a lovely day” face on for 45 seconds until we’re well clear and then it’s back to the grimace and concentration.


Miles 10 to just under 13 – On the way home
With 10 miles gone we check the time and its around the 1hr 30 mark, suddenly we know there’s a good chance we can get under the 2hr mark. Having kept a steady pace going we suddenly find ourselves overtaking a few more people; some who have extended themselves and are walking and others who are trying to get rid of cramp on the grass verge.

With 2 miles to go we know it’s the uphill part with an especially steep climb near the end. Have we kept enough in reserve, knowing that our pace will inevitably drop? We approach the hill and it looks like Mount Everest although in truth it’s more like Ben Nevis (!), we push up and try and not glance at someone who is receiving medical attention on the side of the road – hope they are Ok I think as I crawl by.

The finish – We’ve done it
We get to the top of the hill and make a sharp left, less than 300 yards to go. There’s a cheer from the rather large crowd that has assembled and we know we are nearly there. We have somehow managed to get into a gap between the runners in front - we’re wearing our AICR Charity vests and are side by side and it feels as if we out in front and the crowd are cheering us to victory….if only. I mumble to Jit, “I think we’re going to break the 2 hour mark” and he replies “we certainly are” and with a mild sprint at the end, we stop the watches and it shows 1 hr 59 minutes 13 seconds [ subsequently corrected to 16 seconds). We’ve done it, smashed our personal bests.

Les

March 12. 2008 15:01

Anyone suffering from niggling aches and pains from all the training and subsequent 1/2 marathons, try some swimming as part of your cross training. I have been suffering since October with a niggling pain to the inside side of my right knee. After doing 3 hours running last Sunday it was still a bit painfull on Tuesday. I have been doing some extra stretching exercise to alliviate it (when I remember ) but last night following the Perfect World training programme in the LM magazine either a 30 min easy run or cross train, I decided to go swimming. A leisurely 1 hour lane swimming and afterwards I felt I had just recieved a new knee transplant, well almost.

iantaylor