"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them"

Beef · 10-04-2014 08:25AM

The very best of luck on Sunday Red. Your prep has been top class and the one regret I have is not racing before Manchester like you did in Bohermeen. I think you will smash the 3:45 mark and you deserve to after the disappointment of having to withdraw from Dublin after all your hard work last year. Can't wait to hear the result! I'm heading over to the London thread to make sure ye all have your bib numbers in place to be tracked on Sunday morning. I feckin love a good marathon tracker.

RedRunner · 10-04-2014 09:00AM

Beef wrote: »

The very best of luck on Sunday Red. Your prep has been top class and the one regret I have is not racing before Manchester like you did in Bohermeen. I think you will smash the 3:45 mark and you deserve to after the disappointment of having to withdraw from Dublin after all your hard work last year. Can't wait to hear the result! I'm heading over to the London thread to make sure ye all have your bib numbers in place to be tracked on Sunday morning. I feckin love a good marathon tracker.

Thanks Beef. I can't focus on anything but the race at the moment. I'll be useless in work today too as I check the checklist....again.

Whatever happens I know I'll have the support of all on here and that's fantastic.

HelenAnne · 10-04-2014 10:25AM

Best of luck, Robbie! You'll do great. Enjoy it!

Willie42 · 10-04-2014 01:25PM

Best of luck RedRunner - you deserve a good result

yaboya1 · 10-04-2014 02:49PM

All the best for Sunday.
Hope you get the time your training merits.
Enjoy!

AuldManKing · 10-04-2014 03:23PM

Nearly there RR

Don't fall over now in the coming days!
Settle down & relax in the race - that advice helped me no end last week. Simple - but effective to check form & breathing at regular intervals.
Best of luck with it.

Murph_D · 10-04-2014 03:46PM

Can't remember if I wished you the best yet. Bring it home, sir - good luck.

dazza21ie · 10-04-2014 07:10PM

AuldManKing wrote: »

Nearly there RR

Don't fall over now in the coming days!
Settle down & relax in the race - that advice helped me no end last week. Simple - but effective to check form & breathing at regular intervals.
Best of luck with it.

+ 1 but most importantly don't piss off anyone before the race like AMK did, you never know who has a snipper rifle

Good luck and enjoy!

Tom Joad · 10-04-2014 08:40PM

Best of luck RedRunner.

Darren 83 · 10-04-2014 08:46PM

Best of luck Redrunner, all the hard work is done just enjoy the race and report back with a new pb

Ososlo · 11-04-2014 12:30PM

Have thoroughly enjoyed following your progress and training for this R. You give folks like myself something to aspire to.
Massive congrats on the superb training and delighted to see you getting through it unscathed.
Go get what you deserve and enjoy the Coal Hole. It's gonna be epic! I'd nearly fly over to join yiz in the celebrations!
have a blast !

RedRunner · 11-04-2014 12:33PM

Tue-Wed 8th & 9th April

No running as I had to travel to Germany for work but that was probably just an easy excuse to do nothing and mind the niggles to be honest. Coming home on the plane, it was just my luck to get seated beside this chick who clearly was suffering from some kind of cold. I must have looked a bit odd as I covered my mouth and nose any time she even looked like coughing. I was on the outside seat so at least I could lean away into the aisle.....but then next thing you know the guy on the aisle seat opposite is sneezing. Ahhh FFS I said to myself...." Viruses on a plane" That could be the sequel to the snakes version:D

Couldn't get off that plane quick enough. Anyway it seems I didn't contract anything serious.

Thursday 10th April

As predicted I was pretty useless today, just went to a few meetings and then could think about nothing but London.

Went out in the evening for a short run to ee if the legs remembered what to do. But before I did I had to take my eldest to a match so it was later on in the evening when I eventually got out.

This wasn't before I nearly went over on my ankle heading out my front door. Jesus the fright I got. How I didn't sprain my ankle or hurt my foot in anyway is beyond me. Nothing but a cut knuckle for my troubles. Clearly I should have heeded AMK's warning about not falling over! Please someone just magically transport me to the London start line now!

The run went fine. A short steady paced run to test out the foot and give me a bit of a confidence boost that all was still ok, and all seemed to be ok apart from some slight niggles

3.96miles @8:58avg

WTD|8.18
MTD|36.08
YTD|613.41

Friday 11th April

Last trip to physio for lightish rub down. Told her about my foot issues and she diagnosed Plantar Fasciitis. She worked a bit on that and did a few tests. Should be ok for Sunday so hopefully I get through it without it flaring up.

Thanks a million for all the good wishes. Hopefully I can deliver the goods now on Sunday.

Bahanaman · 11-04-2014 01:02PM

Have a great race. Congrats in advance!

RubyK · 11-04-2014 01:30PM

Good luck and enjoy Sunday!

davemcmahon · 11-04-2014 01:35PM

Good Luck Robbie. Go out get your time and enjoy watching Liverpool beat City

yaboya1 · 13-04-2014 02:34PM

Well done today.
Massive PB and even more improvement to come on your next go at the distance.
Enjoy tonight

tang1 · 13-04-2014 02:51PM

Well done RR, great running & well earned PB.

Ososlo · 13-04-2014 03:08PM

tang1 wrote: »

Well done RR, great running & well earned PB.

Delighted for ya RR!! Super result!!

Murph_D · 13-04-2014 03:50PM

Well done Robbie. Looks like you had a tough finish and hung in there. Kudos.

Beef · 13-04-2014 07:30PM

Well done Robbie - sounded like a tough old finish but you dug in well and got a massive pb. A summer of pb's to come too I reckon. Enjoy the pints.

AuldManKing · 13-04-2014 08:40PM

Great running, great racing and great PB.
Now, there's great drinking to be done

Willie42 · 13-04-2014 09:08PM

Well done RR great result

blockic · 14-04-2014 02:58AM

We'll done RR. A great result and improvement!

DOCO12 · 14-04-2014 06:23PM

Congrats on a super pb RR delighted for you! Looking forward to reading the race report, it looked amazing on TV!

RedRunner · 15-04-2014 10:51PM

London Marathon Race Report

After landing in London City on the Saturday morning , it was all becoming very real. Met Gavlor and Mrs G for the first time at the airport and Meno, CL ,Digger and of course, not to forget “Boston” Dave were there too.I’m going to run the London Marathon tomorrow. It was exciting times and I was just thrilled to have made it through the training after the disappointment of missing DCM13 through injury. I was still a little worried about the PF but tried not to think too much about it.

After picking up the number and making a few purchases at the Expo we headed to the hotel on the Strand to check in and get settled. Went for a spot of lunch and then back to hotel to rest up before meeting the gang for dinner which at this stage now included Runchick and MrRC. Lovely food was had and the company was great. It was a nice relaxing evening and I was in bed by 10pm. Took a while to get off to sleep but managed to get a decent night’s sleep only waking once during the night.

Race Day

Was up at 6:30 had a shower, and got ready before heading down to breakfast where I had some porridge, a banana, two slices of toast , orange juice and tea. This was followed by a beet shot when I got back to room.Saw Gavlor there and Runchick too and then TRR sat down and introduced himself. He’d spotted my Boards AC top and sat down for a few mins. He looked fairly relaxed but I sensed that he couldn’t wait to get to the start line and do the business.

We had arranged to meet up at 8am before heading for the train in Charing cross. I was feeling fairly relaxed at this stage and the foot felt ok . At the train station we were directed to the train for Blackheath. Unfortunately it wasn’t going to Blackheath! We wondered why a large crowd of runners got off at an earlier stop.Long story short,we ended up in Charlton and then had to make our way back to Greenwich where we then had to walk back to Blackheath to get to our respective starts. Luckily we had plenty of time to play around with. Myself and RC split from the Red Start gang and made our way to Blue start.RC had to queue for the ladies so we wished each other luck and I went off to find my bag drop lorry. A few last minute stretches and an extra bit of Vaseline for good measure before heading to start pen.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and to be honest I feared that the heat would be a factor later. I tend to suffer if it is very hot so I stood at the startline hoping this wouldn’t ruin my chances of a good race. The race started and we were off. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I’m now running the London Marathon! What a great feeling as we went under the start gantry and I started the watch and thousands of us headed off down the road. The first few miles were pretty congested but except for only one or two moments I didn’t think it would affect my overall pace .It wasn’t as bad as I had envisioned beforehand. The first section of the course was pretty fast with a few downhill sections and crowds were great in patches. Even got a shout out quite early as I was wearing my club top. I wondered if I needed to slow the pace down a bit as I was going faster than the 8:35 pace required for 3:45 but since it was mostly downhill I just treated this as some time in the bank.

Miles 1-6

8:54,8:22,8:12,8:10,8:27,8:18

From this point on I was trying to relax,keep form, try to keep to race line as much as possible and soak up the atmosphere as much as possible. Was really felling quite emotional at a couple of points during this stage. The support was just on a scale I’d never experienced before and the bands playing at different stages of the race gave it that festival atmosphere , just brilliant. A great wall of sound as we rounded the corner at Cutty Sark and this was just one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had. Feeling very comfortable in this section which would bring us to near Tower Bridge.

Miles 7-12

8:22,8:15,8:24,8:20,8:22,8:33

Another shout out for my club going over Tower bridge from one of the stewards (who sounded like he had an Irish accent) and I was feeling great. Had a bit of a burst of pace for next couple of miles from pure adrenaline rush. Maybe should have been more conservative at this stage. Feeling good though and got a great view of Mo Farah chasing down one of the Kenyans as they were heading for home. It was great to get a glimpse of the elites running at the pace they were doing. At this stage the heat was beginning to bother me a little. There was little wind and it was quite warm in places and sometimes it was a toss up whether to run the race line or stay in the shade of the buildings. I was taking on water but not too much and I didn’t take water from every station. I was beginning to use the showers though to keep cool when I met them on the course. Still feeling pretty ok and reckoned I was a couple of minutes ahead of target at this stage. I’d been taking the gels as planned and had plenty of salt tabs by the time I’d gone through 18

Miles 13-18

8:16,8:14,8:19,8:30,8:34,8:31

So all was going perfectly to plan so far. Going through the Canary Wharf area (I think that’s where it was anyway) just before the 19 mile mark the first sniper hit. My right hamstring seized up so bad that I had to stop running and try stretch it. As soon as I did that the second one went .So there I was in agony, feeling like my hamstrings were about to explode,I tried to stretch it out by leaning against the barrier. I was up close and personal with the crowd at this stage and getting plenty of sympathy as I grimaced trying to get some normal feeling back in the legs. I was offered some water by a person in the crowd which I gladly accepted. Tried to get going again but cramped up again and was thinking now that possibly my race was over. Ah fc@K it I thought, not fair! Then I remembered a conversation from the previous day with Meno and others about cramps and Meno had mentioned it being better to try and keep moving because at least you would still be moving forward. So tentatively limped around the corner at walking pace.I could see the 19 mile marker a couple of hundred metres down the road and attempted to break into a shuffle. The shuffle then broke into a jog. The jog then broke into a run.The run then found me back at race pace and the hamstrings seemed to settle down a bit. Couldn’t believe it, a miracle from heaven. I’d lost a minute or two but I was up a couple of minutes anyway so thought at 20 miles that it still might be possible to hit my target but at that stage I was just glad to be back running and glad to be in with a chance of just finishing. By mile 21 I was beginning to tire though and I had used my last gel as planned just before 20 miles. Mile 22 was slower again and at this stage I was really beginning to fade. The wheels hadn’t quite come off yet but were definitely beginning to buckle.

Miles 19-22

9:53,8:33,9:09,9:19

By mile 23 I was running out of energy fast and then had to begin a run/walk strategy. I knew my target was well gone at this stage but also that I could still do a decent time but I was very disappointed to have to walk. I felt though if I walked say for 30 secs to a minute that would save me enough energy to get going again running for 5 minutes so that’s what I tried to do from there to the end. It was very annoying but with each step at least I knew I was getting closer to the finish line and I would claim that finisher’s medal that I so dearly wanted and a new pb. As I went up along theriver I got a great shout out for my club colours and this gave me renewed purpose to keep running from there to the end. Onto the section before the mall (birdcage walk ,I think?)and I tried increasing the pace a bit but then felt the right hammer start to cramp up again so eased back off it as I really wanted to be running when I turned that corner at the palace onto the mall.That’s the image I had in my head when I entered the ballot and that’s what I wanted to experience. I kept it going and the sight of the finish line not far away was such a welcome one. The relief of getting this far after my earlier issues in the race is hard to articulate. I enjoyed the last few metres just as I had the first few and proudly held my arms aloft as I went through then finish line. I had given my all on the day.I hadn’t hit my target time but bagged a sizeable pb so I had a lot to be happy about.What a superb experience that was!

Miles 23-26.52

9:50,6:25?,13:27,10:02, (9:24)

26.52 miles @8:46avg 3:52:32 (35 min PB)

Duanington · 15-04-2014 11:01PM

Great report RR - well done on a seriously well earned PB.

Ososlo · 15-04-2014 11:07PM

Great report RR. You had me all choked up!
You had a tough enough time out there so well done for digging so deep and still finishing in a superb time.
You've lots more to take off that time in the near future, that's for sure.
How are the legs now?

AuldManKing · 15-04-2014 11:12PM

given your splits from mile 19 - 3:52 is a remarkable time - especially how you were previous to this training cycle.

Bahanaman · 15-04-2014 11:12PM

Great report! Some chunk off the pb. Hearing of your own and everyone else's experience of London and Manchester makes a fella want to go out and tackle a marathon straight away! Instead I have to wait just over ten weeks and head for the glamour that will be......Waterford!

tang1 · 15-04-2014 11:13PM

Great report RR and great balls to get through it to the end. 35mins off your PB is savage going.

"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them"

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