Getting Back To My Best

Marthastew

+1 on the above,

You have nothing to lose by turning up on the day and seeing how you feel, you never know, you may have a really good day and if you don't you can soak up the atmosphere instead. You have lots of good solid training behind you.
There's always New York to look forward to whatever the outcome next week.
Fingers crossed for you

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Probably not sound advice, no pressure on now so just go out and blast it and see what happens. If you feel like **** just DNF. Perfect opportunity for you to expreriment...unless you are completely fudged.

shels4ever

I'd go the other way, if you are still sick next week you have nothing to gain from the marathon, but you could jsut jog around in 3.5 /4 hours and do some sight seeing. But watch out if i spot you down the road i'd count that as a scalp

Brianderunner

Danica Grumpy Duet wrote: »

Probably not sound advice, no pressure on now so just go out and blast it and see what happens. If you feel like **** just DNF. Perfect opportunity for you to expreriment...unless you are completely fudged.

Thats what the competitor in me is saying alright. I won't lie thats probably whats gonna happen.

shels4ever wrote: »

I'd go the other way, if you are still sick next week you have nothing to gain from the marathon, but you could jsut jog around in 3.5 /4 hours and do some sight seeing. But watch out if i spot you down the road i'd count that as a scalp

I'd still fancy my chances of out sprinting you, even if i was on deaths door

Fri 13th April, 4 mls easy in the heath in 32'56 (8'14) First mile or so was sluggish, but it was uphill. Felt better from here on and finished well. 20 mins core after and some rolling.

Brianderunner

Sun 15th Apr, 3.5 mls in the heath today which comprised of;

10 mins easy (at 8'02 pace), 1 ml at MP (on the track in 6'51), 10 mins easy at 7'50 pace).

Felt great throughout, best i've felt since March 2nd. One week away now and hopefully i'm coming back into form at just the right time. Fingers crossed. I've had a couple of false dawns the last few weeks so not getting too excited yet.

Weekly Review, 23 mls and 5 runs. 3 core sessions too.

Brianderunner

Well Sunday proved to be yet another false dawn. Woke up Monday smashed and totally off the pace in general. Went to the doctor again (different one this time). He found that my lymph node glands were swollen, a classic sign of a virus or other infection.

I got my blood test readings too and my white blood cells are in the 4.x range, within normal range but too low for a runner. the 128 reading for the platelets remains a puzzler (normal is 140-400) I've another one scheduled for next week which will test my ferritin levels too so hopefully that's back to normal then.

He gave me the all clear to run on Sunday, but that i'm unlikely to perform at my best (i know that anyway but still). Hard to say now whether i'll run or not. I'm going to get the number at the expo tomorrow evening anyway instead of deferring, who says i'll even want to run it in 2013 anyway.

No runnning yet this week since Sunday, i'll do a short one tomorrow. Problem is anything faster than recovery seems to be setting back my overall recovery from this. I'll see how i am on Friday/Saturday and make a decision then. 60/40 in favour of at least starting at the mo. Don't wanna miss out on the whole thing tbh. As regards strategy if i do run, not a clue

Mr Slow

Brianderunner wrote: »

No runnning yet this week since Sunday, i'll do a short one tomorrow. Problem is anything faster than recovery seems to be setting back my overall recovery from this. I'll see how i am on Friday/Saturday and make a decision then. 60/40 in favour of at least starting at the mo. Don't wanna miss out on the whole thing tbh. As regards strategy if i do run, not a clue

Defer, this is not the time to dig in and run 26 miles even at recovery pace, if you run you'll have a sh1t day and hinder your recovery even further.

Pisco Sour

Brianderunner wrote: »

As regards strategy if i do run, not a clue

Why not consider running it backwards. You'd probably set a world record or something, or at the very least achieve the qualification standard for the "World" Retro-running Championships.

Brianderunner

Mr Slow wrote: »

Defer, this is not the time to dig in and run 26 miles even at recovery pace, if you run you'll have a sh1t day and hinder your recovery even further.

Trust me i'll know if its not happening or if its doing me damage. I'll drop out straight away if somethings up. I know the course inside out (and where the tube stops are)

I have GFA for 2013, unless they change the standard, so deferring is a bit of a waste.

04072511 wrote: »

Why not consider running it backwards. You'd probably set a world record or something, or at the very least achieve the qualification standard for the "World" Retro-running Championships.

As long as i get a slot in "The Running Review"

RacoonQueen

Defer.

Been there Brian. Running a marathon when you're f*cked is not fun, you WILL go for sub 3. You won't be able to help yourself and the disappointment will hang over you and the risk of making yourself worse is always there. This sounds awfully like my Barcelona 2010 - it took me 4 hours 47 minutes(as you know that is still hanging over me 2 years later). Easily one of the most miserable days of my life. My doctor told me the exact same thing as yours told you "you won't be winning it but you'll make it around OK".

I went to run comfortably, in a crowd comfortably is always going to be what you've trained for when you're being dragged around in the race day atmosphere.

It's not worth it. Don't do it. Defer.

All the cool people are considering London GFA 2013 anyway.

TheRoadRunner

If you're still feeling crap now I would consider skipping it as well. Even running at a slower pace will catch up on you. Anyway I need a bitch waterboy helper out on the course.

tHE vAGGABOND

What RQ said....

shels4ever

If your not feeling great i'd skip it to, or just do an nice easy run around half of the course. If you defer you still need to pay for this year and next year, you already have a GFA for next year right? so the defer option is basically just the same?
You could stand and the 23 mile mark and shouth HTFU at theRoadRunner as he goes by...

kennyb3

+1, skip it, absolutely nothing to be gained, fuppin up your health for weeks might not be a bright idea.

TheRoadRunner

shels4ever wrote: »

You could stand and the 23 mile mark and shouth HTFU at theRoadRunner as he goes by...

I'll be doing two armed windmills, somersaults and tumbles at that stage so probably won't notice him to be honest.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Let it go Brian your obviously not right.....well we knew that a long time ago:) I know its dissapointing as you were looking forward to it but there are other races. No offence to anyone but your past the point in your running of just jogging around and collecting another medal as that serves no purpose. I was of the thought earlier of just go out and blast it/experiement but i take it back as you are clearly fvked.

Look on the positives at least i will get some more mileage out of my one pb quicker than yours;)

Brianderunner

Thurs 19th April, 3 mls in the heath in 26'50 (8'57). Felt ok but not great the first 20 mins till i picked it up for a few strides (to about 7'40 pace). This hit me like a ton of bricks and the last 5 mins were pure muck. Had to rest my head on the railings of the track after.

That was the final nail in the London coffin. I have decided to pull out and defer my place until 2013. It was always likely but even then its still a sickener. I've been aiming towards it the last 4/5 months and things were going brilliantly in Nov/Dec/Jan but since early March things just havent gone right. Whether it was overtraining or a virus i might never know but this thing has really flattened me At least now i can watch the elites in action roadside on Sunday and have a few pints with the bro Sat evening

Priority is to get over this and ease back into it over the next 2 months. Dunshaughlin 10k in late June would be nice but i'll see how the next few weeks go. I'll use on or 2 of the Monday night Battersea races as a fitness guide.

Thanks to everyone for their input over the last few months. The title of this log now takes on new meaning.

I do have some good news to report. I passed my driving test this morning on the 3rd attempt Bloody strange day!

RacoonQueen

Never an easy decision, but definitely seems like the right one. Take it easy with the comeback.

Marthastew

Definitely the right decision to make although I'm sure it has been hard to come to it.
As RQ says, make sure you are well and truly recovered before coming back to training.

Congratulations on the driving test:D

RayCun

Should be a great race to watch. Enjoy yourself, and give yourself a chance to shake this thing for good.

shazkea

Ah Brian I'm gutted for you but def the best decision. Congrats on the driving test though.

chinguetti

Thats a right bummer but the right call, if the really difficult one.

Mind yourself and when you're watching on Sunday, remember that it will be you next year.

TheRoadRunner

Pity about the race but right decision.

Great news about the car, this means you can pick me up from the airport now. I'll email you my details. And Brian an auld valet on the car would go down well, I like to travel in a clean car.

Mr Slow

It's easier to stick to your guns and race, you've made the hard decision which will see you return to top form much quicker.

Fair play.

pistol_75

Gutted for you Brian but I have no doubt you have made the right decision long term. Recover well and well done on the driving test.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Pedestrians will not be safe around the streets of London with you driving. You must have slipped them a nifty to pass you or else you made a play at the male driving instructor:)

Good call on the race, a difficult call but the right one imo.

theboyblunder

hard luck - as others have said, its the right thing to do in the circumstances. get well soon

tHE vAGGABOND

That said, we have somone new to drive us to races around the country now - score :cool:

Brianderunner

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

That said, we have somone new to drive us to races around the country now - score :cool:

Unfortunately for you, "the country" is not Ireland

rainbow kirby

Brianderunner wrote: »

Unfortunately for you, "the country" is not Ireland

Great, you can drive my excess baggage to GNR :cool: