Anyone doing the loch ness marathon in October?

[Zerotorunninghero]

I've just signed up for the loch ness marathon in October (first one!) and looking for some virtual friends to share the highs and lows with. Don't suppose anyone on here has signed up?

There's a Facebook group called "Running Friends Scotland"
If you join you'd be sure to find other people doing the Loch Ness marathon

@Bumply that's great to know, thank you. I'll go and join it.

@Zerotorunninghero If you didn't find lots of friends on Facebook I've signed up to Loch Ness this October. My first marathon and I'm questioning my sanity!

@milkfromthesleepycow ooh that's exciting! Are you starting your training from a decent base? I did a 5k today and found that difficult so a long way ahead but up for the challenge!

Would love to share our experiences, so glad to have found someone else doing it 👏👏👏

It's good to have company 😁
I'm doing a half marathon at the end of may so doing about 20 miles a week at the moment and a bit of speed work as I'm quite slow.
I'm just planning on trying to finish the marathon and not die rather than a time goal! Are you following a plan?

@milkfromthesleepycow My marathon goal is also to finish without dying...kindred spirits 😁. It sounds like you've put a lot of effort in to your training to date and imagine a half in May is perfect on track prep for a marathon in October.

I'm not following a plan yet as my goal for the first month of 6 is to focus on weight loss and general fitness, which includes running but is not primarily focused on that yet. But when I do start a plan in a few weeks I've had Hal Higdon recommended by a few people so will look at his plans. How about you?

Good luck! It’s very hilly! (I live on the route)

@doodlejump1980 if it all goes tits up can we take a detour to your garden for a cup of tea?!

Absolutely!

@Zerotorunninghero I was just looking at Hal Higdon plans yesterday! I'm still doing the HM plan on my garmin at the moment but was thinking of using novice 1 afterwards.
I'm generally quite good on the long runs, just very slow.
Used to live in fort William so sort of familiar with the general area, the hills are a concern 😂 but I'm looking forward to coming home as I live over the border now
Very happy about the rescue tea stop @doodlejump1980 thank you!

@milkfromthesleepycow My SIL lives in Fort William these days. I'm in West lothian and thankfully have plenty of hills around me that will hopefully stand me in good steady for loch ness.

What's your running plans for this weekend? I did a 5k yesterday and planning another today with my DS in tow to keep me company if I can coax him along. And then I'm going to attempt a caroline Girvan workout at the gym later if I can find the confidence to do it in public!

@Zerotorunninghero working this weekend unfortunately but only a half day today so managed to fit in a run. Got 9 miles but I was too tired really and now my legs are done 😂 should have rested today but won't have an opportunity to run Sunday.

Carolines workouts will def help you! How often are you doing them? We'll done on the 5k

I'm really tempted. I've done one marathon before, snowdonia marathon so loch Ness would be less hills.

It's the training and the travel (I'm in South Wales) that's giving me pause. I regularly run 10 miles at the moment but I know once I get to about 16 miles I'm going to be hating my life.

@Fatkittythinkitty "once I get to about 16 miles I'm going to be hating my life." This is the kind of reality check I need 😂. Would be fab to have you on board if we can twist your arm to sign up!

@milkfromthesleepycow well done on your 9 miles! I'm in awe, still so far away from that.

Today was my first Caroline Girvan workout. I did 15 arms, and then a 15 min core which was all done standing up which I liked. I did it in the 'weights' section of my gym. First time I've ventured in there. It was a bit intimidating at first but I felt okay by the time I was done so that's another new experience ticked off. I really liked her workouts, will definitely do them regularly. Do you do them pretty frequently?

@Zerotorunninghero I did them for about 9 months and have now moved on to a gym and become quite friendly with the barbell. It definitely helps!
My legs are totally drained today. Taking an unscheduled rest day (aside from work 😂) to recuperate
I think'll be hating my life around 16miles too!

My arm is definitely twitching, the feeling when you cross the line is just amazing. And thinking about it you don't have to do that many long runs....

So tempting!

Lochness isn't that hilly , it's undulating which makes it a fast course. Everyone I know PB's at it. It's my favourite marathon. It has one big hill everyone goes on about around mile 21 but honestly it isn't that bad then you get a lovely down hill 21-24 miles into Inverness.

The training for a marathon is way worse than the marathon itself . It's time consuming and seems to take over your life. If you hit 80 % of your training runs the marathon it's self will be fine. Also I've never ran over 3hours or 16 miles in training as once you go over that time frame you experience fatigue which can take 3 weeks to recover. Just keep that in mind as some plans tell you to do 20/22 miles and for a first time marathon runner or someone who is just a recreational runner that's madness. It will exhaust you.

That's interesting ricco and definitely not something for me to keep in mind IF I end up doing another marathon. I'm a slow runner and the long runs completely wiped me out.

3 hours for long run then definitely would be your cut off regardless of miles you do in that time.

If you get to the start line fresh you will have a much better run than arriving fatigued and having banked loads of miles.

Good advice @Ricco12! Thanks

How's that twitchy finger @Fatkittythinkitty?

You know you want to @Fatkittythinkitty Don't leave that twitchy finger hanging about too long.

And thanks @Ricco12 , that makes good sense. Definitely don't want to turn up knackered on race day.

I've downloaded the Hal Higdon app and started following it today. It's giving me a pre marathon training plan for now and I'm going to try and do what it tells me. I did just over 5k today and felt fitter than I did just a couple of weeks ago which is a nice encouraging feeling.

@milkfromthesleepycow how are the legs feeling today?

@Zerotorunninghero feeling better, thanks
5k and feeling strong at the end is great!
Intrigued by a pre marathon training plan....
think I'll look at Hal higdon again after I do my half

Gym day today, deadlifts and shoulder exercises mainly
Going to get an early night then up at the crack to try a 'progression run'. I still think my garmin has overly optimistic ideas about how fast I can run 😂

@milkfromthesleepycow an early night sounds wonderful, I think I'll do the same. Hope the progression run goes well. I find it so tough getting up early to run. I went out at 8am this morning but that's about my limit.

I'm off up to Aviemore tomorrow for a couple or days so I am going to pack my running gear with the best of intentions of going a run on Wednesday to stick to my Hal plan.

@milkfromthesleepycow how did your progression run go the other day?

I did 6km yesterday along the river Spey in aviemore. It was lovely. I always take my running stuff on holiday but then never use it so quite chuffed that I actually went.

That sounds like a lovely run @Zerotorunninghero. 6k- increasing up!

I couldn't get the speed and my progression run but got close and did the time length so I'm happy with that.
Running schedule has been derailed by work so looking forward to getting out for a long run Saturday!