London marathoners assemble

I know what you mean Coffee! Am not thinking of running 26 miles; I try just to think about my next long run & keep going!
Welcome Utah! Well done on getting back into running after all that. Good luck with the training.
Good luck with the belt Kitty hope it suits you.
18 miles tomorrow, will need to drive 20 mins first to get to flat bit of the path!

Hi all, can I join in? I'm 49 the week before VLM and got in in the ballot on my third attempt. Must say I wasn't expecting to get in that way, and felt quite safe in applying lol. Was in a real state of shock when the magazine came through. I'm a member of a super friendly running club but I'm one of their slowest runners! I'll be Jeffing my way through this marathon as I was badly injured last year and din't run for most of it, had a big operation too which needed a lot of recovery. I'm currently doing 1 min run/30 secs walk and am coping well with that but I am soooo slow! My training is going well, did a 15 miler this morning but had to walk the last 2 miles when an adductor injury from last year reared it's ugly head! Felt good apart from that! This took me 3 hours 43 though, so I'm going to over a 6.5 hour marathon...that's a seriously long time to be on your feet! My DH is running it with me; luckily he got in the club ballot which is incredibly lucky. He's done 3 marathons already and is much faster than me, but he's going to be my one man support crew and run at my pace. What an achievement it will be to finish...hopefully still married! Looking forward to sharing the journey with you all.

Emummy I think it's because it feels quite daunting so I'm trying to pretend it won't happen!

Well done Pickle, hope your tummy continues to behave itself.
Welcome Coffee, good luck with your race tomorrow!
Would it help to think about why you are running? Is it for charity or fitness or mental health or whatever? Having a reason and motivation to do the race might help on days you don't want to go out the door. And do you know why you don't go? Are you worried you can't do it or something like that? It's a big deal running a marathon, we all feel pretty daunted by it at times and wobble! Hope you can keep it up. Tomorrow's race might spur you on! Keep talking to us, we are all in the same boat!

That sounds awesome emummy. I had visions of that lovely calm snowy run when snow was forecast a couple of weeks ago. What it actually was was horizontal sleet and slush. I ran to the warmth of the gym on that day.

Sorry you've had a rubbish week elba. Hope all goes really smoothly with your tooth. Definitely better to sort now rather than risk pain on the big day. Although might distract from the pain of running 26 miles I suppose?!?

Hi coffee! Do you have someone you could run with? I know I probably wouldn't be setting my alarm for 6:30 if I wasn't meeting my friend.

I've just done 13.3 miles. My furthest ever! Admittedly only by 0.1 of a mile. I meant to do 14 but misplanned my route slightly then could be bothered running round streets near home to make up the 0.7. And it was bloody windy. Thought the canal would be sheltered but it created a sort of wind tunnel and regardless of which direction we were running the wind seemed to always be blowing at us.

Stomach held up this time. I actually ordered some tailwind kitty, just before you said you'd had trouble. So was dreading it. But all okay. I've tried to cut down non soluble fibre and replace with soluble. So breakfast toast has been switched to overnight oats (made with oat milk which is sooooo nice and actually makes decent lattes) and white rice instead of brown etc (which seems strange but actually seems to have helped my stomach) . And cut down on my ridiculous coffee consumption. And stopped chewing gum because of the sorbitol. So now, because I gave up too many variables, I don't know if it's any one of those or all of those or just a fluke. But am crossing everything it continues!

Hi, can I join?

I'm doing VLM this year. I only started running a year ago using Couch to 5K and the longest I've currently run is 10K.

I'm doing the Huddersfield 10K tomorrow and the Monsal Trail half marathon on 25 March, so I need to be running a 10 or 12 miler in between.

I don't really know why, but I'm beginning to self sabotage and avoid runs. Help!

Sorry about your horrible week Elba. Think your plan will work, you will be fine for your half. Treat it as a training run, not a race and just get round.
Your conversation with the dentist is exactly like the one I had a year ago! I got my tooth out, the roots stayed behind. It really wasn't that sore afterwards, and I am a total wimp so it can't have been bad!
Good luck with the half, don't worry too much, we still have plenty of time.
Hope those ankles behave Kitty!

emummy that sounds absolutely gorgeous in the snow and woods, I have terrain envy!

Elba that's not good . Try not to stress too much over your half - remember you can always walk/run, I did in my first one. Eating, stretching and sleep is a perfect way to de-stress and prepare mentally. As for the tooth, probably good advice to get it sorted before London as sod's law it would flare up the night before.

Kitty well done with the training, really hope your ankles keep strong!

Had the week from hell for various reasons, and training has totally gone out the window. Have not run for a week and have my first ever half on Sunday- dont feel like I could walk a mile let alone run 13 at the moment! Not really slept or eaten much either (never do when stressed) which won't help, and had far too much wine. Plan to spend tomorrow eating, stretching and sleeping and just hope for the best. Please tell me it will be ok??

Also have to have a wisdom tooth out a week on Wednesday- may be straightforward but there's also talk of possibly drilling/removing bits of jaw bone . Had a chat with dentist about leaving it until after marathon but we both agreed the risk of it flaring up was too great, so that's potentially another chunk of training lost depending on how it goes. All feels a bit out of my reach at the moment...

Well done running! I agree, can't wait for some warmer weather. Saying that, I had an amazing run yesterday. Doris brought us snow, so I did my one hour steady run in the forest, through about 3 inches of snow. It was absolutely magical, I was just happy for the rest of the day! Did hills today with no snow but lots of sunshine.

I have just done 12 miles but oh boy it was so hard in the wind (my head telling me to give up didn't help either...). Started off frozen, got boiling and then froze again, really wish it would warm up just a bit ! How is everyone else getting on? Can't imagine many of us were out in Doris yesterday!

Have just read Bryony's book & she has been on a couple of podcasts recently.

This is a nice article. (You need to register to read the whole article but it's free)

www.telegraph.co.uk/women/health/bryony-gordon-tearing-marathon-training-plan/

The title sounds quite negative but it's not!

Well done on all the running.

I'm on a train home from work. Get in at 8pm. Get gym gear on. No dinner (because stomach would object). Head straight back out to pound the treadmill for 50 mins. I really, really can't be arsed. It seems all I do at the moment is work, run and sometimes sleep. It'll all be worth it though? Won't it?! Trying to convince myself!

I ran! Toe strapped up felt OK so I made it out for a pyramid session and was happy with my pace, even though my legs weren't! Think from now on I just have to accept my legs will always be tired from the long run.

Lack of sleep is utterly debilitating, I can't even function let alone run. Here is to good sleep tonight!

I slept badly over the weekend too and it definitely made my long run much harder. Hope you get the fuel sorted.
I have just tripped over a balloon, wacked my foot on the wall and broken my little toe! Not amused, own stupid fault for rushing. Won't be able to run tomorrow, after that we'll see. Humph!

Tailwinds that is a very impressive distance, agree with eummmy that you clearly have the mental strength which must be at least half the battle. That doesn't seem like a very long cut off time? I think it's 7 hours for London isn't it.