Running Thread - anyone got a place in 2009 London Marathon (or any Marathon!)

hatwoman - thats a great idea!

I'm running for Beating Bowel Cancer charity

www.justgiving.com/shirleymcdermott

If we all had a mums net badge on then we will recognise each other too, plus all the mumsnetters supporters!

x

Hi everyone. Are we all doing the marathon for charities? I was wondering whether we could ask mumsnet to sponsor us? Not sure if it would be cheeky or if they'd like the idea. And perhaps see if they have some badges or similar that we could wear? (I guess not t-shirts as we'll have stuff from our charities). But it would be so nice to get a bit of a cheer if any fellow mumsnetters spotted us. What do you think?

Hello hatwoman
I would treat yourself to a hotel nice and close - YOU DESERVE IT!!!
I ran 17 miles on Sunday, was supposed to run 16 but some guy gave me wrong directions.
I ate five meal the day before (bowl of brown pasta late at night) and in the morning, had water banana and then left at 7.20. It felt great except my legs reallt ached from 12 miles onwards because I didnt warm up enough. But no head aches or sickness and i enjoyed it.
I will do one more 16 miler this sunday and then try 18.
Hope you are all well. Be so nice to meet up with you on the day if possible?

Hi everyone,

well done on the 17 miles Hellion. I did 16 yesterday - and it was harder than the 18 I did last week. I'm beginning to think that I need to a bit more holistic about this whole thing - and take a bit more notice of the more general advice - like eat well, sleep well etc. I suspect I found my 16 really hard because I had a late and slightly boozy night on Saturday.

I have a question for you all - do you all live in London? and if you don;t what are you doing the weekend of the marathon? I'm a bit torn, I have friends who have offered us beds for the night (dh has conceded that he'll come, and bring dds), but I'm slightly inclined to stay in a hotel (if I haven't left it too late to book). I think I might sleep better and go to bed earlier. If we do stay with friends it'll be slightly hectic (lots of excited kids) and whilst it'll be lovely, I'm not sure it'll be the right thing for the night before. The location isn;t close to the start, but, on the plus side, I could probably travel there with another friend who's also doing the marathon. the downside of a hotel is, cost - and i think dh would much prefer to stay with friends. what do you think?

hi everyone

i keep losing this thread.

have had a pretty good couple of weeks for the longs runs, did 12, 13 and 15 last weekend so feeling quite positive though havent a clue about pace and mileage etc. Tommorow am attempting my first half marathon but have an upset stomach today and cant keep anything down so not sure how that is going to work out. Still only going out twice in the week as if I do 3 times I am useless on the long run. Not sure if this is right (book says 4 times) but it seems to kind of be working for me at the moment.

Well its great to hear 16 is not much harder than 18. i cant believe it though but I'll find out soon

Hope you feel ok today - I'm prepping myself for my 2nd 16 mile run this sunday. last time i had a horrible experience after so fingers crossed it doesnt happen again.

how is everyone else doing - we should all be nearing 16miles now?

Hi Runforlove - to be honest I'm not being very good about food. obviously I'm eating more but not sure I'm eating the right stuff. Normally I do upto 10 miles on an empty stomach - always prefered it that way. but for this I had a bowl of porridge about an hour before setting off. yesterday I had pasta with bacon and brocolli for tea.

I've never felt sick after a run - until today. dh thinks I drank too much water (about 4 pints). I did get a headache - quite a bad one. but it's gone now and I'm feeling ok.

and yes, this is the longest I;ve ever run. I;ve done 16 before - and to be really honest it didn;t feel any harder. the marathon feels within reach now.

oh - and time - it was 3hr 20 mins - which is a 11.07 mile. but there were a couple of hills - and the goodrunguide tells me the flat equivalent distance was 19.3 miles, which gives me a pace of 10.24 - which I'm pretty pleased with. for me.

hope you have a good 8 miles. I'm having a rest tomorrow. funnily enough.

weird - for some reason my messages appear in the wrong order?

WOW - You go girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I will be doing 18 miles in a few weeks but cant imagine it. I bet you couldnt take your shoes off - well done.

Is that the first time you ever did it? Well done.

Did you feel sick or have a headache after and did you have to take a nap?

Questions questions

Can you tell me what you ate yesterday and today and what time you ran.

With my long runs I keep feeling sick and really tired after. I think it maybe my diet so I am trying hard.

Going for 8 miles tonight - i'll think of you with an extra 10 if I feel tired at any point.

Have a good nights sleep.

x

sorry didnt mean to write well done twice - im not crazy

Hi again everyone. Hope you're all doing ok. I did 18 today. In some respects it was better than other long runs - I didn;t get my 13 mile low - managed to keep myself feeling quite perky - but when I got home I felt terrible. my legs hurt so much I didn;t know how to take my trainers off! and they had to come off as they were covered in mud. I stood at the door feeling helpless, thinking, I can;t face sitting on the floor. I can;t bend down, wtf do I do? dh sensed my frustration and offered to take them off for me.

wine when stressed should have put a next to that!

also for nights when no runs the next day!

thanks hellion - nice to know. hope you are feeling strong again.

i know what you mean, i dont normally drink fizzy drinks or soft drinks and usually have water if thirsty, tea for pick me up and wine when stressed.

i stopped drinking soft drinks when pregnant with my first and i've never gone back to them.

when you are not use to them you can really taste all the sugar and i find them sickly and they leave a lining in your throat.

i do drink one on my long run though because for some reason (even though i'm eating and drinking very well) my body can not cope with these long runs.

since my awful 16 mile run where i had my first miagraine, i ran 12 miles last weekend and had a massive headache after, felt sick and slept for two hours!!! have to say, i felt great after. not sure whats happening because before my 16 mile run, i felt fine after all the other long runs.

i'm eating five meals a day, two are small and drinking lots of not sure where i am going wrong. but anyway, the end if nigh and i cant wait for the big day. i 'm really looking forward to it but also looking forward to not have to worry about fitting runs in.

i think i will always run now, I love it! but will keep those long runs for special occasions.

how is everyone doing?

Hello everyone

Its great to hear all your experiences because its just how i feel and so i know i'm not failing but its just part of it.

I can not believe how important it is to have something other than water, you really need to store up on water and food the days before and bring some gels or jelly babies for the crashes near the end.

i have gone back in my prog because i ran once in two weeks, i got myself in a bit of a mess and felt so depressed but i picked my lip off the floor and gave myself a kick up the butt!

I'm going out soon to do a 12 mile run, this week i ran 4, 6, 8 and today wil be 12. I was thinking of going straight back into my prog next week which would be 5, 8, 5, 16 but not sure if thats a good idea. If I dont then I will end up only doing one 18 mile before the big day and on my prog you need to do 2 18 milers before the big day.

on all of your prog, how many 18 milers do you need to do before?

thanks and keep up the hard work!!!!

x

It's odd isn;t it? I do 3 5-mile runs in the week - and I don;t feel any different, they feel quite easy these days - and short - and so it doesn't particularly feel like they're doing any good. But, like you say, they must be - as the longer ones are getting easier. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to going beyond 16, though. not sure when I'm due to do that.

I only take water with me - and my bottle's only just enough. I too was a bit of a sceptic about carbs and glucose etc, but I'm going to have to look into it. If they can give me a boost to get through that 13 mile low then perhaps I won;t need to talk to myself

but clearly need to go and eat as my typing and words have gone rubbish!

Hi hatwoman - that looks amazing! I did 14m today on my own and I am really pleased as it wasnt actually that bad after the 12m was just awful last week. I am so variable on the day - last week just wasnt hapenning - just got to hope dont get one of those on the day. I dont actually ache too much easier amazingly.

It was good for me to see what it is like on these longer ones now - I had a bottle of lucozade sport which I was sipping the whole time but I ran out at about 11m - I never really valued the importance of the carbs thing before but sure enough I had a massive crash at about 14m - I didnt start talking to myself but was really moaning and groaning (like in labour!) - luckily I had a glucose tablet in my pocket and that sorted it out for the last mile. It is amazing how your body is constantly on the edge when you are running longer distances.

Can't believe I actually ran a half marathon! Never would have believed it. Doing one for real in a couple of weeks - Hastings - anyone else?

Hi again everyone. How are you all doing? I managed 16 miles this morning. It was a lot better than the 16 I did a couple of weeks ago. My legs feel quite wrecked - but nowhere near as bad as before.

Has to be said I reach a real psychological low at about 13 miles. I was cursing and saying how completely ridiculous it was of me to think I could ever do a marathon. but I talked myself out of it. literally...talking out loud. does anyone else do this?

It was a good route - mainly on teh flat but with one huge hill...but the views were worth it. these were all taken from where I went. I was a bit nervous about going up on the moors, but the route was so simple, and the path so totally visible on google earth that I guessed it would be ok. and it was. really lovely in fact. (and I managed to chose a route where you couldn;t see the cement works!).

Hello everyone, sounds like you are all doing good. I took a week off and ran for the first time yesterday 4 miles since my 16 mile run. I felt fine except for the muscels on the inside of the top of my legs really ached whilst running. Anyone got tips on building these?

Also dont think I'm eating enough of the right thinhgs and thats what i'm always tired. Im still waiting to feel the extra energy and sexual desire exercise is supposed to bring

I'm 5.7 and 9 stone with a beg appetite, any of you similar, what do you eat in a day?

thanks

Don't give up Hellion - you've got time. Could you get an appt urgently with a sports physio? A guy in the running club I sometimes go with has done loads of marathons and has problems with his feet - he says this is the quickest way to getting problems sorted. A podiatrist is maybe better long term - will look at your gait etc, but maybe a physio could do something in the short term so you can train again?