Berlin 2010 - September

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

Don't look today! €141 for those flights!

I was booking flights via RyanAir for Alicante in July, and they went up by €100 per day (four people travelling) before I had to chicken out after two days and pay €200 more for them. Thankfully (?) I booked them when i did, as they are now €200 more expensive.

Peckham

:mad: That's pretty frustrating - could have saved myself a handy few quid!

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

Just head into the toilets on the plane, and steal €60 worth of toilet paper and liquid soap. It's just about the only thing they don't charge you for these days.

liamo123

4 stars (good)

Flights to Barcelona are approx 98euro return excluding baggage atm...Barcelona marathon March 2011 springs to mind!!

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

liamo123 wrote: »

Flights to Barcelona are approx 98euro return excluding baggage atm...Barcelona marathon March 2011 springs to mind!!

It's way too early to think about Barcelona. Sure that's 3 or 4 marathons away!

liamo123

4 stars (good)

Ur a well oiled machine at this stage Krusty... A marathon every couple of months is no problem to u!!!

eliwallach

3 stars (average)

Received an email today from Real Berlin marathon... but it was only flogging Official gear.
But the time is flying.
How's training going?

Mine is, well, interrupted.
Even had to (for the firat time ever!) give the OH a ring 14 miles into an 18 mile run at the weekend to come and collect me . Mystery virus.
Not too worried though.
Will try a 20 mile coming weekend and see how that goes.

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

Mine is going fine. Feeling a little sore (achilles/calf) these days and tired, but the speed and endurance seem ok. Trying to up the mileage to around 60-65 miles, which will put a bit of strain on the engine.

17'-22'C in Berlin at the moment (during race times), which isn't too bad. Looking forward to some curry-wurst and Weizen.

opus

4 stars (good)

As a matter of interest, does anyone know if there are pacers in Berlin? I've been doing a bit of googling and it found pages that suggest that they will be but haven't been able to find anything definitive. Failing that I'll just put my faith in the Garmin watch to hustle me around

Thanks!

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

There certainly were last year. I positioned myself behind the three hour pacers before the start of the race. They disappeared very quickly and I didn't see them again (hopefully the tables are turned this year!). Not sure what time slots they cover, but probably: 3:00/3:15/3:30/3:45/4:00.

Peckham

My training going okay. Was going great, until the weekend when a planned six hour beer session turned into a twelve hour one. Sunday evening's planned 18 miler was pushed to Monday, and then was reduced to an 11 miler due to my two day hangover, and almost got binned altogether (2 day hangovers - a definite sign of a man in his early 30s - remember that age Krusty?! )

Work overran a little this evening, and I was nearly forced to bin my 14 miler with 8*5min tempo. But out I went, and turned in some good times on the tempo sessions.

Definite tiredness creeping up on me though. Am on holidays the week after next, so that will be a recovery week. 60 miler next week, and then again the week after I come back from holidays.

Another concern is that the weight isn't shifting as quick as it normally does during training. Again a sign of age! Have started paying a bit more attention to what goes into the gob.

opus

4 stars (good)

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

There certainly were last year. I positioned myself behind the three hour pacers before the start of the race. They disappeared very quickly and I didn't see them again (hopefully the tables are turned this year!). Not sure what time slots they cover, but probably: 3:00/3:15/3:30/3:45/4:00.

Thanks Krusty, that's good to know. I won't be going after the three hour group mind you but might try chasing the bunch doing 3:15.

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

Peckham wrote: »

2 day hangovers - a definite sign of a man in his early 30s - remember that age Krusty?!

Barely. I was quite drunk at the time.

If the weight's not shifting, maybe it's the beer? I'm on the dry after this weekend (with a one week break for my holidays). I'll be looking forward to a beer in Berlin after the race.

Peckham

Apart from last weekend, the beer intake has been pretty moderate, certainly no more than I would normally be drinking at this stage in a training cycle.

Mind you, feckin' Superquinn and their 6 for €12 offer on speciality beers. That's tough to resist.

liamo123

4 stars (good)

not long now folks:)

just back from weeks hols and despite my best intentions the training plan went out the window..ate and drank far too much!!

I c Powerbar are supplying the energy drinks this year but don't know what flavour their giving out...

village runner

4 stars (good)

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

There certainly were last year. I positioned myself behind the three hour pacers before the start of the race. They disappeared very quickly and I didn't see them again (hopefully the tables are turned this year!). Not sure what time slots they cover, but probably: 3:00/3:15/3:30/3:45/4:00.

I didnt pass them last year so they must have ran 2.58 or lower. Wear a pace pand a garmin and a heart rate monitor and trust oyur training.

7 weeks to go so plan to put a serious 5 weeks in. Then with 2 weeks to go relax. Training going ok but a stomach problem still persists. If i have to run it easy so be it. But i will give it ago.

Peckham

Well that's the road cleared for my sub-3 attempt. Gebrselassie isn't running Berlin this year.

He has tweeted that he's going to be doing the Great North Run, which is the week before Berlin.....and a Google search indicates that he's running NYC marathon.

(Apologies if this is old news, I wasn't aware of it)

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

Powerbar drinks aren't too bad, and are at least readily available (the muck they had last year (you can try it at the expo) was horrific.

Anyone going over on the Friday? Planning to hit the expo on Friday afternoon to avoid the throngs.

Sorry, forgot to mention that Haile was NYC bound (which is also on my calendar this year, I'm his personal stalker. I wish I could stalk him faster!).

Peckham

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Anyone going over on the Friday? Planning to hit the expo on Friday afternoon to avoid the throngs.

I'm flying over Friday evening, so will (probably) be too late by the time I get there. So, I'll be part of the throngs on the Saturday.

opus

4 stars (good)

Didn't know that Gebrselassie wasn't running, too bad was looking forward to being in the same field (abeit 10's of km behind!) as him.

Think it will be late on Friday when I arrive as I'll be in central Germany on Thursday night and getting a lift to Berlin on Friday afternoon so guess I'll have to fight the masses as well on Saturday. A friend of mine is doing the rollerblade marathon on Saturday also so I'm must figure out how I can see some of that as well as getting the registration sorted.

liamo123

4 stars (good)

Flying with Ryanair friday morning and intend hitting expo in afternoon once I've checked into my hotel... It will give me a chance to master the Berlin transportation system:)

village runner

4 stars (good)

Peckham wrote: »

I'm flying over Friday evening, so will (probably) be too late by the time I get there. So, I'll be part of the throngs on the Saturday.

Be there at 9am and you will be out of it by 9.30am at the latest. I went with a lad last year. Arrive after 11am and your looking for trouble.

village runner

4 stars (good)

opus wrote: »

Didn't know that Gebrselassie wasn't running, too bad was looking forward to being in the same field (abeit 10's of km behind!) as him.

Think it will be late on Friday when I arrive as I'll be in central Germany on Thursday night and getting a lift to Berlin on Friday afternoon so guess I'll have to fight the masses as well on Saturday. A friend of mine is doing the rollerblade marathon on Saturday also so I'm must figure out how I can see some of that as well as getting the registration sorted.

The skating starts at 4pm odd. The hotel i stay at it passes by at 17.10 at 36k i think.

village runner

4 stars (good)

liamo123 wrote: »

Flying with Ryanair friday morning and intend hitting expo in afternoon once I've checked into my hotel... It will give me a chance to master the Berlin transportation system:)

By a day pass for the transport and get all your busines done on that day. We bought the 4 day pass last year and didnt use it. This year its taxi to hotel and return to and from expo. Food is very cheap over there in comparison to here/dublin

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

village runner wrote: »

By a day pass for the transport and get all your busines done on that day. We bought the 4 day pass last year and didnt use it. This year its taxi to hotel and return to and from expo. Food is very cheap over there in comparison to here/dublin

How much are the taxis? We got a train from the airport (with Woddle and co) and it worked out cheap and quick. but if a taxi is reasonable, it would be worth a look..

The skatings definitely worth a look. I have a video of the lead pack going past. amazing stuff. Get's very tiring after that. Find a good corner, and wait for the mayhem.

village runner

4 stars (good)

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

How much are the taxis? We got a train from the airport (with Woddle and co) and it worked out cheap and quick. but if a taxi is reasonable, it would be worth a look..

The skatings definitely worth a look. I have a video of the lead pack going past. amazing stuff. Get's very tiring after that. Find a good corner, and wait for the mayhem.

They will be 4 of us in a cab so its 7 euro to the hotel each. We paid 33 euro for a 4 day pass that we barely used used last year. If you buy one of these you should be using it for discounts in the restaurants etc etc. There is a discount on hte bus tours of the city by buying the pass.

Re skating buy a couple of sticks and throw them out in the street as they pass. always have a kid nearby that you can BLAME.

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

Here's the video I recorded. Talk about drafting! Unfortunately for some reason I shot it sideways, so you'll have to tilt your monitor (or your head).

asimonov

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Here's the video I recorded. Talk about drafting! Unfortunately for some reason I shot it sideways, so you'll have to tilt your monitor (or your head).

Wow, your GS Fuel pump relay video has been an unlikely viral video sensation.

Krusty_Clown

4 stars (good)

asimonov wrote: »

Wow, your GS Fuel pump relay video has been an unlikely viral video sensation.

6,522 views? :eek:
Just goes to show, some people will watch anything!

You like my live skiing action too?!

asimonov

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

6,522 views? :eek:
Just goes to show, some people will watch anything!

You like my live skiing action too?!

It was my second favourite (after the bike of course).

Oh yeah, berlin is up soon - best of luck to everyone, should be a great day, taxi's seem reasonable.