Rotterdam marathon 2011

Speedy44

dapope wrote: »

Cheers Speedy. Original target was sub 3, that became sub 2:50. The Carlingford time had me on course to dip under 2:45 according to Daniels...

The way things are now i'll be happy to make the start line. I'll have a better idea what to target depending on how things progress injury wise over the coming weeks. I've had work done on it and looked after it pretty well. Hopefully I can build up some strength in it and everything will be ok. Training wise i havn't been able to do a whole pile for the last 2 weeks but I'm not too worried about that.

I've been following your training log and its great reading. Your in good shape. I'm a big believer in Daniels. Apart from the injury I came out of Phase 3 way ahead of anything I expected.

ya, can't believe I'm only discovering Daniels now :rolleyes:, wish I had done it before the last few DCM disasters. It really is a great program and even though the Q sessions can be hard, the fact that there's only 2 of them per week means there's lot of time to recover.
I'll see how I do in the Craughwell 10 next Sunday, and then the final 15 MP run, before I decide on a target.
Like you, I origionally would have settled for sub 3, but now its just a matter of how low I feel I can go, without doing anything stupid.

Pronator

Any of you lads run this before? If you have done the hard work now is the time to let any injuries heal. I was struggling before DCM last yr and did little running over the last 3 weeks, it did not make a whole lot of difference on the day. In fact I felt really fresh:D

Speedy44

Pronator wrote: »

Any of you lads run this before? If you have done the hard work now is the time to let any injuries heal. I was struggling before DCM last yr and did little running over the last 3 weeks, it did not make a whole lot of difference on the day. In fact I felt really fresh:D

so where is everyone staying, arriving?
Any good places for a celebratory beverage

Pronator

Can't remember where we are staying? In fact I don't have a clue if its close to the start or far from it! Regarding a beverage afterward, we will be heading straight off afterwards. Flight home Sunday night:eek:

KentuckyPete

Speedy44 wrote: »

so where is everyone staying, arriving?
Any good places for a celebratory beverage

I got a great deal in the Hilton up the top of the Coolsingel (booked in Oct 2010) so i'm staying there. I'm flying in from Cork to Schipol on Sat early and will get the train down.

You're right about the beers Speedy - has to be done . I haven't touched a drop since Jan 1st.

The inevitable Irish bar the boards,ie runners used last year is Paddy Murphys - just off the Coolsingel near the finish line.

Here's the location map for the pub. The address is

Rodezand 15
3011 AM Rotterdam
World Trade Center
0031 (0)10 411 0078

it looks fairly sh1te on the outside but is grand inside and they have a good setup and a great atmosphere. Fierce central too. We should definitely hit it on Sunday night.

On the running front I was targeting 3:10 or so but got a bad hamstring tear while racing in the Dungarvan 10-miler 6 weeks ago. After a week of half-running I packed in completely for a fortnight (swam instead) and didn't get back running until late Feb. The hammer is stiff and sore but I'm getting the miles done. There's no question of doing any speed work though so if I get to race day I won't be in any way sharp. Still, I'm looking forward to it, albeit with a lowered horizon.

I looked at your log there Speedy - inspirational stuff. Those midweek sessions you're doing are top-class lad.

Speedy44

tx for all the info KP. As is usual with me, I left everything until the last minute (booked everything yesterday!) so I am staying 20mins outside the city centre. I am arriving in Eindhoven around 9.30am on Saturday. Should be at the expo around 11.30am or so I imagine.
Paddy Murphy's looks good alright for a pint or ten, I'll just have to check the train schedules for heading back to the hotel !

Speedy44

This may have been covered here already, but are the markers only in K's, or are they also in miles?

Also, I will be in D pen, should I expectthe first few k to be slow or will I be ok if I get up to the start of it?

Pronator

Speedy,

Not sure about the markers situation. K's yes but not sure about miles. Before I got conformation of my pen I had asked the same question about pen D, the advise I got was get up close to the front of this and you should be fine.;)

Slogger Jogger

Pronator wrote: »

Speedy,

Not sure about the markers situation. K's yes but not sure about miles. Before I got conformation of my pen I had asked the same question about pen D, the advise I got was get up close to the front of this and you should be fine.;)

Its ks alright.

KentuckyPete

Speedy44 wrote: »

This may have been covered here already, but are the markers only in K's, or are they also in miles?

Also, I will be in D pen, should I expectthe first few k to be slow or will I be ok if I get up to the start of it?

Yeah it's kms. And as for the pen, leave nothing to chance and get to the front. D is a huge pen and a lot of slower runners, arriving early, naturally gravitate towards the front.

One way of dealing with the kms only situation is to do a pace band for your target time but do it in kilometres. That way you run off the watch at mile pace but you can check your "real" progress off the band as you pass the km marks. Putting 42 different km times on your wrist make it impossible to read but if you make the band with a big font and just fill in the 5k times it's a big help

donothoponpop

Speedy44 wrote: »

Also, I will be in D pen, should I expectthe first few k to be slow or will I be ok if I get up to the start of it?

Only K's.

Also, you should email them now saying you are going for sub 3, (provide proof of recent races if you have them), they will bump you up to C pen (which is where you should be). Worst case scenario, ask them to bump you up at the expo, they'll give you a sticker "C pen" to cover the "D pen" on your number. D is congested if you are looking to break 3 hours.

*Caveat- this info is two years old! Best of luck, get over the hump from 25k-30k and you'll hit your target

Speedy44

donothoponpop wrote: »

Only K's.

Also, you should email them now saying you are going for sub 3, (provide proof of recent races if you have them), they will bump you up to C pen (which is where you should be). Worst case scenario, ask them to bump you up at the expo, they'll give you a sticker "C pen" to cover the "D pen" on your number. D is congested if you are looking to break 3 hours.

*Caveat- this info is two years old! Best of luck, get over the hump from 25k-30k and you'll hit your target

cheers for the advice donothoponpop.
Hopefully I will have a decent time in the Craughwell 10 on Sunday to show them :rolleyes:

Moycullen1

KentuckyPete wrote: »

On the running front I was targeting 3:10 or so but got a bad hamstring tear while racing in the Dungarvan 10-miler 6 weeks ago. After a week of half-running I packed in completely for a fortnight (swam instead) and didn't get back running until late Feb. The hammer is stiff and sore but I'm getting the miles done. There's no question of doing any speed work though so if I get to race day I won't be in any way sharp. Still, I'm looking forward to it, albeit with a lowered horizon.

Greetings from Galway KP. Sorry to hear about the hamstring. I can only assume you were fairly going at the training so it must be a bit of a disappointment. Just as well you didn't go ahead with Boston! Good luck anyway. You managed a PB last year with a back injury so who knows what will happen!!

PS: You weren't tempted by the Galway Iron Man were you?

Speedy44

Hows the taper going folks?
I'm starting to get a wee bit antsy already. Finishing up a course of antibiotics tomorrow so hopefully I'll be good to go then.

I have one last 'hard' session this Thursday:
2mls warm up, 2 x 2mls tempo with 3mins recovery, then 30-45mins easy.

Was thinking this morning that I'll probably have to watch the amount I eat now, since I'm not running as much, I normally eat like a horse :rolleyes:

Is it to early to start checking out weather predictions !!

Pronator

Its all part of the taper Speedy. I'm following a Lydiard programme so no real quality session's left apart from a 5k time trial at the weekend. Warmed up with a run in the Dunboyne 4 mile at the weekend, a painful warm up run.:D

Looking forward to it now:eek:

dev123

Just had a quick look at the long range forecast and it is giving highs of 16-17 degC for the latter part of next week (Wed - Sat)

This Saturday it is to be a balmy 21 degC and one forecast has the same again for next Thursday.

Not sure how much faith to have in forecasts this far out but it looks like it will be dry.

Hadn't thought of sunscreen but might have to break out the factor 50

Speedy44

dev123 wrote: »

Just had a quick look at the long range forecast and it is giving highs of 16-17 degC for the latter part of next week (Wed - Sat)

This Saturday it is to be a balmy 21 degC and one forecast has the same again for next Thursday.

Not sure how much faith to have in forecasts this far out but it looks like it will be dry.

Hadn't thought of sunscreen but might have to break out the factor 50

yea, been taking a sneaky peak at it myself. Will have to drink lots of water next week :rolleyes:

dev123

20 odd degC sounds a bit steep.

Don't think there will be a chance for climate training between now and then!!!

Not having run in temps in the high teens / early 20s is sunscreen recommended?

Speedy44

0% chance of rain and 63F

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/NLXX0015

Itziger

But lads, it's early April so right now in Luxembourg it's 12 degrees at 11 o clock - but today's high is forecast to be 22!

If the high for the day is, say, 17 it won't be anywhere near that at 11am. Maybe at 1 o clock you'd start feeling it. Small bit early to be believing weather forecast sites anyway
.

Itziger

Speedy44 wrote: »

Hows the taper going folks?
I'm starting to get a wee bit antsy already. Finishing up a course of antibiotics tomorrow so hopefully I'll be good to go then.

I have one last 'hard' session this Thursday:
2mls warm up, 2 x 2mls tempo with 3mins recovery, then 30-45mins easy.

Was thinking this morning that I'll probably have to watch the amount I eat now, since I'm not running as much, I normally eat like a horse :rolleyes:

Is it to early to start checking out weather predictions !!

I hear ya on the eating front. Just did a 10 miler there now and there'll be very little else till raceday. Maybe a 10/12 k on Monday and a little 6/8 k spin on Wednesday.

As for drinks we'll be heading home that afternoon - but I'm hoping to get in a token pint in that place about 3.30 or 4.00

KentuckyPete

Lads, meself and Itziger are heading here on Saturday around 6:30 for grub. It's a solid pasta joint, not too expensive and near the action. The Google Maps link is here.

Am tapering away at present - still hoping for the 3:10 despite the injury outage. All going well will have 538 miles done before hitting the start line. Am jittery as fcuk around the house - the missus is not impressed. The weather forecast seems to be holding steady at sunny and 61 degrees (16.5 celsius) so that sounds like shades, plenty of use of the sponge stations but no need for a hat.

Is everyone hitting Paddy Murphy's in the aftermath? Might be no harm to PM a few mobile numbers later in the week to hook up...

Itziger

KentuckyPete wrote: »

Lads, meself and Itziger are heading here on Saturday around 6:30 for grub. It's a solid pasta joint, not too expensive and near the action. The Google Maps link is here.

Am tapering away at present - still hoping for the 3:10 despite the injury outage. All going well will have 538 miles done before hitting the start line. Am jittery as fcuk around the house - the missus is not impressed. The weather forecast seems to be holding steady at sunny and 61 degrees (16.5 celsius) so that sounds like shades, plenty of use of the sponge stations but no need for a hat.

Is everyone hitting Paddy Murphy's in the aftermath? Might be no harm to PM a few mobile numbers later in the week to hook up...

Hey, Pete, I've just seen their menu. They have cream in the Carbonara! You expect me to eat in an "Italian" joint that uses cream in their carbonara?? Also, won't my gang be taking up most of the resto? Otherwise , top post

KentuckyPete

Itziger wrote: »

Hey, Pete, I've just seen their menu. They have cream in the Carbonara! You expect me to eat in an "Italian" joint that uses cream in their carbonara??

This from a guy who thought spaghetti came in hoops from a tin until he was 25...

Slogger Jogger

Best of luck in Rotterdam guys. Its a great place, great race. What are your aspirations time-wise?

TFBubendorfer

Good luck to everyone doing it. I seriously considered running this but the missus decided Vienna was a nicer place for a holiday (could not argue with that). Have a great race, everyone!

Speedy44

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Best of luck in Rotterdam guys. Its a great place, great race. What are your aspirations time-wise?

tx SJ

I'll take sub 3 thank you very much

Speedy44

Just got my confirmation in the post today, no going back now eh :rolleyes:

Think I'm #7912

brownian

Best of luck in the 'Dam, everyone.

We'll be in Connemara, sweating up some mountain, dreaming of red light districts flat canal-side streets.

Speedy44

brownian wrote: »

Best of luck in the 'Dam, everyone.

We'll be in Connemara, sweating up some mountain, dreaming of red light districts flat canal-side streets.

thought that was the other 'dam

I can see the Twelve Pins across the lake from where I live, and I would rather pay hundreds of euro to tackle a marathon in Europe than run up those 'dam' mountains

Best of luck with them.