Barcelona marathon 2010

rovers_runner

Ok, suppose it's time to start a thread instead of posting new topics on main forum.
114 Irish entries already according to the site, good going.

Official site:
http://www.barcelonamarato.es/

Entry fee:
€45 1 March 2009 - 20 December 2009
€55 21 December 2009 - 31 January 2010
€65 1 February 2010 - 21 February 2010

Flights:
Aerlingus to Barcelona (short bus trip to city)
Ryanair to Reus/Girona (both 1hr by rail)

Hotels:
Anywhere in city centre is fine as metro will reach almost everywhere in about 20 mins from the start/finish/expo.
http://www.ecaconsortium.net/conference/imgs/Map-Metro_Barcelona-xl.gif (Espanya is the stop for race/expo)

Course:
http://www.barcelonamarato.es/recorrido09_i.htm
Measured in KM with stops every 5km for water etc.
First aid and sponges start from 7.5km

hot to trot

Whoo hoo cant wait:D. Will deffo do some proper training for this one and not just tip along between marathons.
Is travelling Saturday am and back monday am the usual timeframe?

rovers_runner

hot to trot wrote: »

Whoo hoo cant wait:D. Will deffo do some proper training for this one and not just tip along between marathons.
Is travelling Saturday am and back monday am the usual timeframe?

The only direct Barcelona Sat am flight (EI) is very early, would your sleeping pattern get thrown out by this?
I'm thinking maybe 06:40 flight on the Friday to relax the rest of Friday.

RacoonQueen

I'm flying out Friday and flying home on Sunday evening, I hope.

hot to trot

It will be an early start Saturday for sure but i have the whole day to sit aroound on my well toned gluts doing nothing once I collect my things at the expo.;)
Dont fancy getting home at 4am Sunday night. I wouldnt be able to walk after spending another 4 hours in the car after a flight directly after the marathon. So it will be Monday morning for me. If I lived in Dublin I think I would be tempted to go home Sunday night.
So will just be forced to celebrate in Barcelona afterwards with everyone else :P

central park

Anyone know when registration opens for the Barcelona HALF marathon on 14th Feb? Can't get any details on web except for organised tours.

--amadeus--

billgalway wrote: »

I'm going Friday to Monday - am doing it with www.croi.ie, bringing my partner for the weekend too on the package. Fairly good value considering that you can fundraise and you know the money is going to charity

Bill I have lost count of the number of times you have mentioned fundraising for that charity. It's *not* acceptable and if you do it again I will ban you for shilling.

Krusty_Clown

Too soon to look forward to this one for me, but training starts in a couple of weeks. I'm travelling Friday to Monday. Have booked the Aer Lingus flights (100 euro each), but still looking for a good hotel.

RacoonQueen

I've booked in here http://www.hotelsonix.com/en/hotel-onix-fira-barcelona

I've not actually booked my flights yet but the plan for me is to go Friday to Sunday. Haven't booked flights yet I should probably get onto that :eek:

The Rook

Booked in to the Ac Vilimari in Barca for this and booked my flights too

Flying out Saturday morning at 6:40am ...early enough it has to be said but I'll cope!) and returning on the Monday night (give me time to recover from what will be my first marathon!)

Krusty_Clown

I had to book somewhere very swanky, as it's the week after my wedding anniversary. Got a very good deal. Duplex suite in a 5*GL hotel, for €146/night/room, two miles from the start.

RacoonQueen

Flights are 160 now for Friday to Sunday. :eek: How far are the other airports, the ones Ryanair fly into from the City?

Krusty_Clown

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Flights are 160 now for Friday to Sunday. :eek: How far are the other airports, the ones Ryanair fly into from the City?

Reus is around a 1 hour train ride. Not a big deal.

CR7

central park wrote: »

Anyone know when registration opens for the Barcelona HALF marathon on 14th Feb? Can't get any details on web except for organised tours.

Hi Central Park
Registration is open right up to Feb 8th, and its only E15 to race!

http://www.bcn.cat/mitjamarato/en/registration.html

I think this is a great opportunity to visit Barcelona. Im making my marathon(full) debut this year after a half and 10ks this year so a half early in the season looks like a great start. As its Valentines weekend I better bring the gf too.

central park

Yes its great value. I have signed up and so have two of my friends so it should be a good weekend! Best of luck to you. A word of advice though, book your hotel soon as the main hotels are full!

liamo123

hi all..new visitor to boards here..i registered for barcelona in December but my name is not on the list of competitors.. has this happened to anyone else..have emailed the barcelona site but had no reply as of yet

depadz

flights now €65 return on aer lingus.

rovers_runner

depadz wrote: »

flights now €65 return on aer lingus.

Dates?

depadz

any by the looks of it..
all flights seem to be 3.99

rovers_runner

depadz wrote: »

any by the looks of it..
all flights seem to be 3.99

Thanks depadz, although I had a job convincing my better half I had no other choice but to book the flights....

I'm in, at €70 return I couldn't refuse.

The Rook

Hi to all doing Barcelona. Just wondering what weekly mileage everyone’s doing these days….. as this is my first marathon I’m curious to see how I’m doing in comparison to others!!

Last week I did about 35 miles and this week is a “rest” week and then next week I’ll be up at around the 35-40 miles … how does that compare to everyone else?

Cheers!

rovers_runner

The Rook wrote: »

Hi to all doing Barcelona. Just wondering what weekly mileage everyone’s doing these days….. as this is my first marathon I’m curious to see how I’m doing in comparison to others!!

Last week I did about 35 miles and this week is a “rest” week and then next week I’ll be up at around the 35-40 miles … how does that compare to everyone else?

Cheers!

Only decided I was going to take part last week, did about 30m in the 7/8 days up to the weekend there.
There are almost seven weeks left so am aiming to go 11-13(both this week)-15-13-16-13-18.

Most people on here that are aiming at a time (sub3-4hrs)are at 18-20 miles long run and about 40-45mpw it seems.

Krusty_Clown

Did my first 20 on Sunday, and currently hitting around 48-52 mpw. Sounds like you're doing fine The_Rook. How long is your long run, and what kind of time are you targetting?

Now that I've hit the 20s, I'm getting excited.
1 Month, 19 Days, 10 Hours, 42 mins!

liamo123

Rock I did my first marathon in October in Chicago and was doing similar milage to u at this stage of my training.. Was works for me is to run every second day for example 5 rest 9 rest 10 rest 13 and so on..make sure with about 2 weeks to go u start tapering ur training.. Im behind in my training for Barcelona mostly to do with the poxy snow but will make it up in next couple of weeks ...

Kursty what time u hoping to do...am impressed with ur current milage

The Rook

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

How long is your long run, and what kind of time are you targetting?

I'm planning on two or three long runs of about 2:45 each run (doing it by time rather than by distance). In these runs I should cover about 28k each one.

As it's my first marathon I'm not too worried about time but woudl like to complete it in less than 4:15ish ...

Krusty_Clown

liamo123 wrote: »

Krusty what time u hoping to do...

Well, I'm hoping to knock somewhere between 50 seconds and 5mins 50 seconds off of my existing time, which would see me finishing some time around 11:25 local time.

RacoonQueen

depadz wrote: »

flights now €65 return on aer lingus.

You have GOT to be kidding me, I held off for so long and then as soon as I book them, a week later they go down. FFS! :mad:

kennyb3

cant wait to hear about this marathon, i hope to do it the following year as barca is my fav city in the world - a truly amazing place.

if you get time after check out parc guell.

if anyone wants a nice 4 star hotel (remember a 4star there is like a 3 star hear) that is very central - 2 mins walk to placa de catalyuna and las ramblas i would highly acta atrium palace.

enough non running talk - best of luck to you all

Krusty_Clown

Cool. Any other visiting tips. please pass 'em on.
5 Weeks today!

RacoonQueen

This time 5 weeks we'll all be either finished or just finishing up. Starts at 8:30 am their time doesn't it? :eek:

central park

This day two weeks the lesser mortals amongst us will be finished the Barcelona Half Marathon! Are there many Irish doing it and where do you recommend for sightseeing afterwards?

roversrunner

Got my flights for 70 return including taxes, Fri-Mon
Also we got one of the nn-hotels two metro stops from the start/finish for 99 a night with breakfast so happy out.

Park Guell was the only place we missed last time so will be heading there for sure.
All Gaudi's places are must see, also there is a tour bus on viatour with a rd and green line tour which covers the whole city in a few hours.

Krusty_Clown

Well, it's only 33 days to go, so the count-down is really on. Anyone else really looking forward to tapering? I have one final 20+ mile run on the 14th February, and then it's happy days from there on in, with some 16, 11 mile runs. Just need to stay injury free...

RacoonQueen

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Just need to stay injury free...

This is it for me. I'm TERRIFIED of injury. :rolleyes:

Can't believe I'm so close to yet another taper, what am I doing with my life?

The Rook

Can't believe it's come around so quickly, and with taper fast coming up I'm just hoping I've done enough to see me through my first marathon!

Was pleasantly surprised by my Dungarvan 10 mile time (1:17) so that's given me a boost as I never thought I'd do that distance in that time. However I am well aware that the Marathon is a different animal!

Krusty_Clown

RacoonQueen wrote: »

This is it for me. I'm TERRIFIED of injury. :rolleyes:

Can't believe I'm so close to yet another taper, what am I doing with my life?

It's almost a relief though, to make it this far, after last year's problems. Last week was my peak mileage week, so I'm hoping current niggles will resolve themselves with lesser mileage.

Anyone planning any tune-up races over the remaining weeks? The only suitable races I could find (from a schedule perspective) are IMRA races, which are hugely enjoyable, but don't give a strong indication of your progress, as times are largely irrelevant. Wouldn't mind getting one flat race in, before the big day.

Krusty_Clown

The Rook wrote: »

I'm just hoping I've done enough to see me through my first marathon!

Well done in Dungarvan. Great time! Self-doubt is part and parcel of your first marathon. Expect is to get worse, but just remember, everyone is filled with the same doubt, from the 2:11 boys and girls, to the guys who walk from start to finish.

Anyone else notice that the count-down clock on the Barcelona website is screwed up? Based on the number of hours remaining, we'd be starting our run at close to mid-night! Think I'll bring my head-torch just in case.

eoinken

Should have taken your advice and booked reasonable hotel. Wife is not too happy sharing apartment with 6 people. Are there any plans for people to meet up after. Decided to extend sty to Tuesday am.

eoinken

RacoonQueen wrote: »

This is it for me. I'm TERRIFIED of injury. :rolleyes:

Can't believe I'm so close to yet another taper, what am I doing with my life?

I know that feeling. I am about 4 months behind on training and now only really training to get my body used to the pounding so as to avoid getting a show stopper injury.

Clum

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Well, it's only 33 days to go, so the count-down is really on. Anyone else really looking forward to tapering? I have one final 20+ mile run on the 14th February, and then it's happy days from there on in, with some 16, 11 mile runs. Just need to stay injury free...

Tapering will be great. January was supposed to be my first month of Ironman training too so there's been a good bit of extra cycling (although mostly turbo training...stupid ice!) and swimming on top of the running.

Really enjoying the extra eating! That's be best part of high-mileage weeks. It's all low fat but still good.

Why no long run this weekend?

Krusty_Clown

Clum wrote: »

Why no long run this weekend?

The plan I'm following (Pfitzinger and Douglas 12 week, 55 mpw program) has a 17 mile mile on Sunday. They don't do consecutive 20 mile runs. The program worked well for me in Berlin in '09, so hopefully it'll work out ok in Barcelona. Delighted with my 21 mile run on Sunday, so hopefully next week's run works out just as well, but I am looking forward to dropping the mileage back into the mid-40s.

dario28

central park wrote: »

Anyone know when registration opens for the Barcelona HALF marathon on 14th Feb? Can't get any details on web except for organised tours.

I have entrance and cant go.............if anyone wants it gimme a shout..but ya better not get a sh$te time on my name !!!

central park

We booked an apartment from www.lovingbarcelona.com for 645 euro for three of us for four nights. Yesterday they emailed us to say that apartment was being refurbished so they upgraded us to a luxury apartment for the same price! Nice one!!!

Krusty_Clown

Nice result, central park!

Anyone got any suggestions for a pub meet-up point after the race? I haven't been to Barcelona for a few years, but there was a half-decent Irish pub off of Las Ramblas? Quite central, and only about a mile from the start/finish.

SuperCereal

This will be my second time to do the Barcelona Marathon, finished on 4hrs31mins last year so not great but plan to get it in under 4hrs this year.

Just saw this thread today and though I know the original post/enquiry about flights and sleep patterns was weeks ago I hope this is informative.

I got the Aerlingus morning flight at about 6am so was up and moving at 4am. Wheni arrived in Barca the slight time difference plus geeting into town and finding the expo meant the day flew by. This would all have been great had I been able to hit the hay staight after the expo but sadly the place I was staying was unavailable til 9pm. When I finally got to bed I was wrecked having risen at 4am and spent the evening waiting.

The next day was one of my worst performances in a marathon. I cat blame the lack of proper rest and sleep entirely but it was a major factor, This year Im taking no chance. I arrive on the 3rd and leave on the 9th with ryan air to Girona.

Anyone booking with aerlingus on the early flight be sure you can check in and rest at your place of stay.

That said I am so exited about this years event and counting the days.

Bars to meet up: Theres a bar in the wax museum just off La Rambla, it is designed to look like a rain forest/fzsiry garden with intermittent sound effects of storms and rain. Not hard to find and kinda cool.

Im doing Cupids dash in the phoenix on thew 13th its a 10 km and €25.00 to enter will be my last event b4 barca.

eliwallach

SuperCereal wrote: »

Bars to meet up: Theres a bar in the wax museum just off La Rambla, it is designed to look like a rain forest/fzsiry garden with intermittent sound effects of storms and rain. Not hard to find and kinda cool.

Just to make the Irish contingent feel at home and remind them of all the weather they trained through?

cphowlin

SuperCereal wrote: »

Anyone booking with aerlingus on the early flight be sure you can check in and rest at your place of stay.

Going out on this flight myself but on the Friday so have a day to rest... Cant believe its so close... have been stuggling with injuries so really not sure how im fixed but its booked and paid for now so im going!

Anybody going to do the breakfast run on the saturday?

Krusty_Clown

cphowlin wrote: »

Going out on this flight myself but on the Friday so have a day to rest... Cant believe its so close... have been stuggling with injuries so really not sure how im fixed but its booked and paid for now so im going!

Anybody going to do the breakfast run on the saturday?

I'm going out on the same flight too, and planning on doing the breakfast run with the OH (who's not running the marathon). Breakfast run seems to be open to all, so I reckon the experience of running into the stadium will be cool.

I remember the fairy/tree bar near the waxworks from one of my previous trips. While it's a very cool bar, It's a very dark place with lots of cubby-holes. not much chance of assembling a group of people who have never met before! By the way it's called: Bosc de les Fades

Krusty_Clown

By the way Supercereal, did you find the marathon hilly? I've looked at the elevation profile on the site and it doesn't look too bad. a Couple of 50m climbs, spread over a mile or two.

What was the temperature like?

Clum

SuperCereal wrote: »

This will be my second time to do the Barcelona Marathon, finished on 4hrs31mins last year so not great but plan to get it in under 4hrs this year.

I think they changed the course ever so slightly from last year's course but the finish is pretty much the same. What were the last 4k like? The course rises for this whole section but hard to tell how much of an incline there is just looking at a graph on A4 paper. Was it a noticable climb (taking in to account your tired state)?

Thanks

kennyb3

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I'm going out on the same flight too, and planning on doing the breakfast run with the OH (who's not running the marathon). Breakfast run seems to be open to all, so I reckon the experience of running into the stadium will be cool.

I remember the fairy/tree bar near the waxworks from one of my previous trips. While it's a very cool bar, It's a very dark place with lots of cubby-holes. not much chance of assembling a group of people who have never met before! By the way it's called: Bosc de les Fades

There is an irish bar just off las ramblas about half way down on the left (if coming from placa de cataluyna) its not the best though - cant think of the name of it though.

There is a big irish bar and in my opinion the best by far if you are coming from las ramblas and take a right off placa de catalyuna. again cant think of the name. did a quick search but couldnt find it. plenty of choice anyway.

the bars down at the marina tend to be more of a rip off