Top tips for the few days leading up to the marathon…

The week before

Look after yourself in the final weeks to ensure that you don’t catch a cold at the last minute. Eat healthily, hydrate regularly, avoid spending time with anyone who has a cold and get plenty of sleep.  It has been suggested to me to wash hands regularly and carry around hand sanitizer to use when not near a sink

Avoid any unnecessary stress in the final week, and don’t tire yourself out with activities such as gardening, partying or shopping. Relax, get lots of sleep and chill out.  A story that sticks in my mind is one of a very good runner who killed his hopes of a fast marathon the weekend before when his Mrs asked him to build a shed!

Set yourself achievable goals for the marathon – ideal time, a satisfactory time, getting round without walking, etc.  If you started in January with a particular time in mind then you should reassess.  How has your training gone?  Is this still a realistic goal?

Work out your travel arrangements well in advance and aim to be there an hour early. You’re advised to use public transport, as many roads in and around Greenwich will be closed. The train system is surprisingly efficient, although it gets increasingly crowded the later you leave it. There are no tube/train closures this year to contend with but the trains are busy – think rush hour!

Eat more carbohydrates than usual in the last 3 days before the marathon. Food such as pasta, rice, potatoes and fruit should make up approximately 70% of your diet, although you should avoid making any radical changes to your diet at this stage.

Try and get to the Expo early.  This leaves the day before the race clear and ensures you are not on your feet the day before.  The Expo is busiest on the Saturday with long queues to collect your number and at all the stands.  If you can get there earlier in the week all the better.

The day before

Eat a large meal the night before that is high in carbohydrates and low in fibre. Choose food that you’ve eaten before a long run in the past. Now is not the time to be trying out new recipes!

Drink plenty of fluids the day before the marathon to ensure that you are properly hydrated. This doesn’t include alcohol, save that until after the finish line!

Get your kit ready the day before to avoid rushing around on the morning of the marathon. Pack clothes for different weather conditions and take all of your running essentials – race number, Vaseline, energy bars/gels, drink, sun cream, change of clothes, tissues, safety pins, plasters, timing chip etc.  You might also want to think about taking a long sleeved top that you don’t mind dumping at the start to use once you have left your bag at the baggage trucks (a bin liner with holes cut in for your arms and head would also do if you don’t have old clothes to dump).  Also think about taking your own toilet paper just in case. The race toilets will quickly run out and that’s a chance you don’t want to take!

Wear tried and tested kit.  Run in something comfortable that you have worn during training. This includes everything from your running shoes and socks to your underwear and top. New kit may cause chafing, blisters or general discomfort.  Do not go to the Expo and buy anything new, especially trainers.

I have been advised to go for a short, slow jog the day before the marathon to relieve tension and get rid of any pre-race apprehension. This will also help you to sleep.  At the Dublin Marathon last year I took part in the International Breakfast Run the morning before the marathon and I found it woke my legs up.

Don’t worry if you don’t sleep very well the night before – most people don’t! A combination of nerves and anticipation will keep you awake. As long as you rest in bed for 8 hours, you’ll be fine. Some people find it helpful to set a routine of getting up very early in the week before the race, causing tiredness in the evening and allowing you to go to bed early. As long as you have slept in the week running up to the big day you will be fine!

The big day

Remember to set 2 separate alarms to minimise the chance of sleeping in. Make sure you eat something on the morning of the marathon, even if it is too early for you to feel hungry. Eat a light meal consisting of foods that you have eaten previously before a long run. Drink some water or a sports drink, whichever you use consistently. Again, stick with what you know.

Apply Vaseline or similar to any areas where it is common to suffer chafing problems – under the arms, bra band, toes, etc. Be careful not to apply too much to the toes as this can make them slippery which could cause blisters. If you suffer from ‘jogger’s nipple’, use plasters or surgical tape to prevent soreness and bleeding.  It amazing how many people you see at mile 20 in a white t-shirt with red lines!

Queues for the toilets will be very long, so allow yourself plenty of time. Stop drinking 30 minutes before the race to avoid the need for another toilet stop.  There are also toilets along the route so don’t panic if you need to go.

Make sure you have arranged where to meet up with friends and family afterwards. You’ll be too tired to spend time wandering around lost!  The official meeting point is on Horseguards Parade and is arranged in the letters of the alphabet.  It does get busy here around the 4/4.30hr mark when the biggest concentration of runners cross the finish line, so if you have another idea of a meeting place then go for that.  A word of warning, do not rely on your mobile phone to get through to people, the signal is like at New Year and you will find it really hard to get through.

The first few miles are very crowded. Many people tire themselves out by dodging in and out of runners because they’re behind on race plans or get caught up in the moment and go out too quickly. Maintain a slow, even pace, relax and enjoy the occasion.  Keep an eye out where the coloured starts merge – you run along side each other for a while before you come together and the heckling that goes on is quite good fun.

Be sure to know where your supporters are.  I find knowing that they are X miles away helps get through bad moments.  If you have more than 1 group supporting make sure they are spread out so you have more encounters to look forward to.  Give these people anything you might need during the race – Jelly Babies or extra Gels just in case you need a pick me up towards the end will be greatly received.

Drink plenty of fluid and eat something as soon as you can after crossing the finish line. You might not feel like eating but the sooner you do, the quicker your body will start to recover. Choose something easy to digest, such as a banana or smoothie or the sweets in your goody bag.

To keep warm, wrap yourself in the space blanket provided as soon as you finish.  Get changed into dry clothes as soon as you can. Treat yourself to a mild sports massage, a hot bath or even an ice bath – as favoured by Paula Radcliffe!

After the marathon, be sure to rest – you’ve earned a break! If it’s your first marathon, don’t try to run in the following week. It’s a good idea to take a few days off work as your body will feel very tired on the Monday and often worse on the Tuesday. Stairs will be your nemesis, but it wont last!

Make a conscious effort to congratulate or reward yourself after the event – the training has taken over your life for so long and completing a marathon is an incredible achievement.  I have treated myself to a few nights abroad this year and fly out on Monday afternoon.

See here for my cobbled together Interactive Virgin London Marathon Route Planner

The tool allows you to put in your expected finish time and plots the mile splits based on two different algorithms. It is a useful guide to print and share with friends and family who are coming out to cheer you on!

Two weeks ago I had a phone call from Tom Williams, of Marathon Talk Podcast. I have met Tom before at the Nottingham Marathon aid station and had been in touch electronically since the start of the podcast.

Earlier that day Tom had been contacted by Noel Thatcher MBE whose wife is Japanese and he himself has many ties with Japan. The Tsunami and the destruction it has caused in Japan had caused Noel to question whether there was anything that could be done. At that point an idea was born between Tom and Noel – let’s use the power of running and it’s community to raise awareness and funds for Japan.

The concept is simple – you donate a run to Japan and you sponsor unit for unit that distance, eg you run 10miles you log it on http://RunForJapan.com and you donate £10/10$ etc.

After initial reservation from me regarding the logistics of the site and the difficulty getting something done so quickly, within a day a website was designed, created and fully functional. The website allowed users to upload a photo of themselves (preferably running) and has a collage of all runners involved.

The campaign got off to quite the best start possible. Paula Radcliffe was the first donator. WOW. I put this down to Martin Yelling (also involved with Marathon Talk) and his wife being lifetime friends of Paula as Liz and her trained at the same club as children.

Needless to say my evenings were long and late fixing bugs, working live on a site that was getting respectable traffic. As I write this post two weeks after it started we have raised £15,800 been mentioned by Mike Bushell on the BBC, tweeted about by Jenson Button, donated to by Chrissie Wellington etcetcetc. It’s been mental and im glad to have been involved. Noel is understandably absolutely elated and let’s hope the campaign carries on over the next few weeks pushing out to new runners across the world.

Sunday 6 March, The Clapham Chasers Thames Riverside 20. Following my rather poor organisation I failed to register early enough for the 2011 Silverstone Half Marathon and therefore was free on Sunday. A few months ago an email sent via the Serpies mailing list gave info of a race or pace 20m run. The course was to start at Bishops Park, Fulham and follow the river away from London. After speaking to the coach to see if it was ok to do it I signed up.

At the time the logistics of getting to the park for 7:30 hadn’t been considered however at 6am as the alarm went off I was cursing myself (as I’m sure Laura was too!). Fortunately the traffic was good and the journey across was quick and pain free, even taking into account the slight detour to pick Rich up in Kennington.

I wasn’t scheduled to race this event doing it as a paced run instead and I was looking to do 10miles @ 8:30min/mi and 10miles @8:00min/mi testing out marathon pace for a reasonable length. The route was pleasant although I was glad to have company I think an out and back on one path alone may have sent me insane!!

After about 2miles I had found a natural rhythm at a slightly faster than hoped for 8:15min/mi. My heart rate was settled so I carried on at this pace. We soon bumped into Lindsie who was training for Rotterdam Mara, the week before London. It turned out she would run with me from about mile 3 to the end!

The course was flat and to be honest the morning lacked many anecdotal stories other than Rich being an idiot and not going to the loo before starting to run. 1 mile in he was regretting the move especially given the fact that there were no toilets on the route.

After finishing the 20 I carried on and added a slow mile and half on at the end making this my longest training run in 2011 (and to date as previously I’ve only ever got to 20). The run went really well hitting almost all the splits bang on, apparently I still looked good at the end and apart from feeling a bit dehydrated I felt it too. RESULT

All in all a good little 21.5miler

During this week, as usual, the toughest session was Thursday’s interval session. This week it was not only intervals, it was mixed with a marathon pace set in the middle which really tested me.

Today was LSR time and Laura’s dad had volunteered to ride his bike the 20 miles with me to keep me company. Last night I made sure he did not pack the kitchen utensils (If you have seen the film ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ you will know what I’m talking about!) and set my alarm for a 7am wake up call. We set off at a steady pace about 8.40 and proceeded to tackle the hills of North West Kent. Around 7 miles in catastrophe struck, whilst muttering a few choice words under his breath Martin pulled over with a puncture to the the back tyre. I carried on for a loop but when I returned the bike was still not fixed and Laura had been called to pick him, and bike, up. At this point I made the call to turn back the way we came and run back on my own.

Having done some quick calculations in my head I realised that I would need to add more miles on the way back in order to make 20 miles. With that in mind I tried to work out the route with the least hills. Now, if you have ever run in this part of Kent you will know why i am about to write – FAIL! Its very hilly and even a road you think is flat in the car is definitely not whilst running. Remembering part of the Dartford Half Marathon course I made my way to ‘Central Park’ which added a couple more miles.

I headed back. Deep down I knew I was still on course to not meet the number of miles I needed to, but hoped that I may have miscalculated. I hadn’t. I met Martin on the outskirts of their village with the stricken bike. It turns out he had been dropped back home, changed the tyre and come back out to find me. Unfortunately it seems he has got a dodgy back wheel and the tyre punctured again 3 miles from home meaning a long walk back. Approaching the house my Garmin showed I still had 3 miles to complete so i ran on (and on!) up ANOTHER hill.

At the top of the hill I thought I had extended the distance by enough to cruise my way back downhill to the end. I hadn’t. 1 long mile short…

Finally back home I rewarded myself with a very hot shower and a bacon sarnie.

Till next time – race next weekend at Dorney Lakes. Maybe see some of you there!

I suspect for almost everybody out there training towards a  spring marathon the past weekend saw you out pounding the pavements and putting some big miles in the leg bank. It was no difference for me as I had a 2hr30 run scheduled, the longest to date for 2011.

On Saturday I went for a service with Chris D at the sports clinic. Whilst I didn’t have any serious injuries I’m aware that it’s best to have a massage once a month or so when heavily training to flush out the rubbish that has built up in the legs. One hour later I was out and my legs felt refreshed and ready for the LSR on Sunday.

This weekend was another Training Run organised by Havens Hospice in Southend. Benfleet RC put together a number of routes covering all magnitudes of distances and at 830 in the morning everyone leaves on mass. Whilst waiting in Little Havens there is always an aura of anticipation! For a number of people there embarking on their first marathon this would be the longest run to date and this is a worry. This was me 3 years ago and I know the feeling! Fortunately, these training runs bring people together and allow people to see they aren’t alone!

As mentioned I was out to do 2hrs30 and based on previous runs I wanted to do roughly 8:15 splits if possible. I was prepared to slow it a bit to run with company as I saw no point in travelling to Southend and running on my own! Fortunately I managed to drag 2 runners along with me, Paul and Kanan(?!?!). I have run with Paul before, in fact we both started training for the 2009 marathon for Havens. Since then it seems we have both improved in pace leaving the 9min/mi group we both ran with in ’09 in our wake!

I am fairly confident when I say I pushed them harder than they were expecting. These guys are training for a sub 345/350 and for 18 hilly miles we hit an average split of 8:17. At 18 miles that would put them over half a mile ahead – let’s not forget though it’s all about the last 6miles and not the first 20!

The run was perfect and as 18mile sessions go it was certainly up there with one of the best. Two very good training sessions with havens this year and even though the weather for the  second was grey an dismal the cheeriness of those out more than made up for it!

With the Roding Valley half on Sunday week I believe my schedule has a ‘mini taper’ meaning my LSR this coming weekend is not so ‘L’ – at 90mins I will be looking to do 10-11 miles and just enjoy it!

Hope everyones training is going well and to plan!

N

For a few weeks I had been somewhat looking forward to last week. The schedule looked on paper to be relatively forgiving baring the weekend LSR. There were no sessions scheduled for the Thursday and in fact every run had the word ‘Easy’ by it. Jackpot!

However, on Wednesday I was about to realise perhaps things were indeed easier but they were still runs none the less. The relatively short 5k I chuckled about as I took to the treadmill, simples I thought! However, 20mins later, sweating like anything it was actually bloody tough and I couldn’t have pressed the stop button any quicker.

Thursday was similar – an easy 6 miles scheduled so I jogged back from Stratford. As I was on the tube on the way to the start I was telling myself ‘yesterday was a blip -today really will seem easy’. From the first 100m I realised once again that wouldn’t be the case and it was going to be a more challenging than expected run home. To give me a little bit of credit I did have my camelback on which adds about half a stone to my weight which doesn’t help matters!

I entered the house feeling dejected. In what felt like a few short seconds my three easy days were over – and none of them felt easy. What was that about?! After a few texts with a woman in the know I was informed this was to be expected following heavy training. That said she also informed me I could be coming down with a cold. I tried to have an early night and similarly on Friday my allocated rest day.

Once again due to plans and arrangements my LSR was shifted to Saturday and I was scheduled to run 2hr15. I sorted my kit out on Friday night, gels etc. I’m trying to get back into the SIS Tropical gels having been suggested it possibly isnt the best idea to only take the caffeine ones as I did in Dublin. Laura had to do something for her school in Bromley so I decided to go with her and run towards my nan in Kennington from the other side of the river.

I was also fortunate to have Olly company for a portion of my run. I ran a few times with Olly last year, meeting him in Greenwich and once again we met in Blackheath and following a quick handover of wallet etc we were on our way to London Bridge. I am normally pretty meticulous with gMap Pedometer and plan my route out however today I knew that I was likely to come out short so would have to do laps at the end.

The south side of the river is much less enjoyable to run along than the north. On the other side there is a footpath that runs all the way from docklands with only a few deviations for new properties this is not the case on the south! Mental note to self there!

The run itself went ok. The 16 miles turned out to be 17 but mainly because I forgot to restart my watch at Blackheath. My heart rate was up on last weeks LSR and I failed to take on a third gel which may have helped during my final few miles and where I really did slow down!

As I finished and whilst consuming a recovery shake I started to ponder more about the week that had passed. Why had things seemingly been so bad? I think the problem stemmed from my brain giving the wrong message to my body. It was a recovery week NOT a rest week. For some this may amount to the same thing, for me I now know the difference!

Recovery week done, back to sessions this week and the likelihood of having to do some shuffling about due to another busy week of commitments.

Till next time.

N

How is it almost February already. January has literally flown by and my running mileage has been huge based on previous months! In actual fact if I had included the run with Rich and Ath from a few weeks back where my Garmin unfortunately had conked out January would have been 1mile short of my biggest month ever. I’m slightly concerned what the next two months have in store for me!

On Saturday I did my routine LSR and was scheduled for 2hours on my feet. To my reckoning and based on the previous week I figured I should plan for about 14-15 miles. We had plans to go into town in the afternoon so I chose a route from the flat upto nans via the Tower of London. I have done this route a number of times over the last few years, it is a reasonably forgiving route this way around mainly because the first 6 miles are downhill! The run itself went pretty well – my heart rate was low and baring the difficulty I had at the start getting out the door it was ok! Pretty surprising considering the one or two (ahem) whiskeys I had drunk the night before on a work function!

In the end I covered 14.6ish miles and all went well – I actually thought at the end considering the distance I had made very little of it, just another run of the mill day where I finished and got straight on with something else!

Next week I relax and drop down the pace and sessions. Jackpot!!

Last week on the HavensRunner site I wrote a post about my Thursday session. This was a hill session and it was the first of it’s type I had ever done. Rightly so I was anxious about what I was about to put my body through – I had no doubt this was going to be hard, it was just the question of how hard!

Throwing on my new trainers for their second run I headed towards a local hill which I had run on many times before. However, for obvious reasons I often opted to run down this mountain rather than up, finding alternative less demonic routes back to my flat. On Thursday I was aiming for it and I wasn’t going to do this hill once I had it scheduled to run it 6 times! I jogged down the hill for about 3miles (figuring that I wouldnt do much faster than an 8min mi average for this session) psyched myself up turned round and went for it. Feeling an enormous sense of pride once the two mins was up I turned round and jogged back. I think it was during the first jog back I started to realise that I had 5 more of these to do and short of giving up and calling a day there was no easy option!

6 reps later i was beaten and I jogged back home glad it was over! Connecting my Garmin I was presented with the following heart rate graph – i think it’s clear from this even if my splits weren’t entirely consistent the effort I put in each time was!

Friday was my rest day and I loved it, but deep down I know the only reason I’m resting is to prepare for the next run and baring a little jog on sat, Sunday was my LSR. The schedule had me down for 1hr50 and at this stage it’s all about time on my feet. Setting off towards Stratford I was going to check out how far along the Olympic Park is…

If you live in London I would recommend you head upto Stratford. The park is an amazing sight and with the Olympics just over a year away I’m very excited to get in there and experience it! I digress…

I covered 13.75 miles in 1hr53. Tried out another gel type (Powerbar Strawberry and Banana) which weren’t too bad. This gel did not have the consistency of most of the other gels I have had. It was much thicker and less gooey. It tasted ok though! The run went well with no real issues or concerns. I tried to keep my heart rate down below 160 which I did so that was good! All in all a promising LSR covering a respectable distance.

One day off (running) and come Tuesday morning I was back out again pounding the streets. 8miles between Bank Station and work (Shepherds Bush) at a slow very easy pace. Whilst it didn’t feel easy my heart rate was low averaging low 150bpm. Just keep on reminding myself it’s all about miles on the feet!!

Till tomorrow no doubt when I’m back out again!

N

It’s far too easy sometimes to get caught up in a schedule and not entirely enjoy what you are doing and the reasons why you are doing it. This weekend, in particular Sunday was not one of these times.

Before getting into Sunday I wanted to quickly write about my warmup run on Saturday. At Xmas Laura got a bike in the hope she could come out with me when I was running training. She could be my company on some of those runs where I’m out on my own. On Saturday she joined me on my little prep jog before Sunday’s LSR. We headed to Gunpowder Park in Lea Valley and for 30mins I ran and she cycled beside me! A great way to do those kinds of runs

On Sunday morning, getting up at some ungodly hour (for me), Laura and I jumped in the car and headed for Little Havens in Southend. The charity had organised a training run and as I’m involved in the Havens Runners project as well as having run the London Marathon for them in 2009 and 2010 I went down to join them.

I was scheduled for a shorter run than normal ‘consolidating my miles’ this week and was require to run 1hr20 or about 10miles. Fortunately to cover all bases the Havens team had created routes to cover all abilities and distances.

As more and more runners turned up it was clear that this was going to be a busy run which was nice and at 830, we set off down towards the sea front. Laura was armed with her camera ready to snap away as the group of runners exited the site. The pictures really show how good the turnout was!

This is not the first training run I have done with the Hospice, however it is the first time the weather has been kind. The sun was out and whilst it is still cold it was glorious running conditions.

Forming a small pack at the front Paul M, Neil D, Ian R and I set off at an 830 ish pace up and down the many inclines. However, unlike many of my previous runs here in Southend this felt pleasant. My heart rate stayed low and I could hold an easy conversation – most would say a perfect LSR pace!

At about 6 miles is where I separated from the others in the pack who were carrying on to do an extra couple of miles but just before that I witnessed the spectacular sight of the sun over the sea front from high. It was a glorious sight – far from the normal gailing winds and lashing rain I remember from the past.

The turn around point is on Belton Way which is a pretty big hill. This hill has always been a bit of a nemesis for me. I remember ‘running’ it for the first time in 2009 and it was horrid. This time I would destroy it and with my increased fitness I duly did. That’s not to say it’s not a killer hill but all of a sudden it’s passable! Will have to go try that *mountain* in fattened again soon although I think that is still top steep!

At the top of the hill I noticed another havens runner so dropped back to run with them to the end. I figure these runs are supposed to be with company so what’s the point in running 30meters in front of someone for 3miles! Great bit of company saw the remaining, relatively dull bit of the route fly by and before long we were back at Little Havens tucking into a bacon sarnie

All together a perfect run. No niggles, pains or concerns and a bit of beautiful scenery to top it all off! Thanks to Havens for organising it. I hope some of the other Havens Runners enjoyed it as much as I did!

The afternoon was spent in front of the tv. I put on Chariots of Fire which I had sky+’ed months ago this followed by Spurs V United, a roast dinner and bath topped off what was to be a lovely day all around! Shame it can’t last and it’s now back to work again…

Till next time

N

Just before Christmas I managed to strike lucky and get my hands on a Motorola Defy to play around with. Due to a bit of fortune and good luck I got into discussion with a guy from Vodafone who is also a keen runner and has a personal project which he has set up, http://peoplerun.net/. This is very similar to my site, Havens Runners, and he was happy to send me one of these phones to play with.

Branded as ‘rugged and waterproof’ this Android phone seemed the perfect phone for British weather and also a sweaty runner like yours truly! Charged and armed with a couple of running apps over the last few weeks I have seen it through its paces. I added both the Endemodo and Runkeeper apps and tried them over various runs and scenarios – I also threw on a few tracks to listen to whilst running – albeit a very very limited collection (including the classic blast from the past We Built this City).

I love the fact that I didn’t have to worry about getting this phone wet or damp so I chucked it into my pocket or held it whilst running.  Basically,  I just went for it and hoped it would indeed live up to its ‘rugged’ reputation – which it did!

The screen is the same size as my iPhone and the quality much sharper (just to remind you I have the very dated 3g model, not the 4). The phone is MUCH smaller and lighter than most phones that run android or iOS.  It was barely bigger than my old nano and the phone could obviously take the task of a phone (shocker!), music player, camera and GPS and running distance application.

What was the verdict of the running apps?

As I mentioned earlier one of the first things I did when I got the phone was to load on some different apps. I’ll be the first to admit that my knowledge of what was available for the Android operating system was very limited having only really looked at apps for my iPhone. However, it didn’t take too long to find out that both endemondo and runkeeper both offered versions for this phone and away I went.

Anyone who follows this blog regularly will know that I would never go out without my Garmin so I have been able to compare the app data with what my watch displayed and on the whole the results are pretty respectable coming in very close in distance to the GPS watch data.

What has to be constantly remembered though is these apps are TOTALLY free, unlike my very expensive Garmin. The phone will also give me a map to see me home when I get lost whereas the best my watch can do is give me a compass. This phone has much, much more functionality than the watch!!

I loved this phone, so much so I would seriously consider it for my next purchase over the iPhone. The size, coupled by its relative price, replaceable battery, durability and great screen resolution makes this phone actually pretty smart. Plus its substantially cheaper than its Apple rival! If you are a runner and want a phone to match your lifestyle without worrying about damaging it then this is the one for you! I know a lot of people run with their iPhones or similar phones by wrapping them in a sandwich bag or equivalent but this is not necessary with this phone meaning you can actually use it when you need to without the added hassle! As one of those people who have tried the sarny bag method in the pouring rain it was a refreshing change not to have to do it with this phone!

Go get this phone it rocks! Cheers Vodafone for sending it out to me, you may have just got a customer out of it too!!