Three Days To Go - Packing

Packing The Suitcase And A Word On The Weather...


Off to a bad start today when I opened my case and a massive greeny-brown spider scuttled out, leaving me to get rid of its web before I could start packing.

It's amazing how much stuff you need to run a marathon, at the bottom left you can see all my pills and gels and energy tablets, then two pairs of trainers, 2 outfits, warm clothes to wear pre-race and throw away. This shot doesn't even include non-marathon stuff.

Everyone talks about the bit of the NYC marathon where you have to line up for hours at the start line before the race gets underway. It's because they shut the bridges so everyone has to be bussed over before that. To keep warm, most people wear an outfit they are going to discard.

Paula Radcliffe has shared some gems of wisdom on this and the other difficulties of the NYC marathon here:

"New York is a difficult one in terms of the start because everybody has to get out to Staten Island and people doing it for the first time don't realise how early you have to get out there and how long you're out there," Radcliffe said.

"The other thing is that the road surface is very different in New York to London. "Where London is pretty good tarmac most of the way, in New York there's a lot of concrete and a lot of potholes! So when you're running with a lot of people you have to keep your eyes down and be very aware - a lot of people twist ankles.

"There's a bridge when you go into the Bronx - around 18/20 miles - and that's metal grid. That's pretty hard on your feet at that stage as well."

Weather forecast for Sunday not looking so hot:

Seven DAYS To Go - Final Prep...

Monday 26th October, 2009

It's now just seven days until we run the marathon and a mere four until we jet off to New York. To get in to the right mindset, I've been trying to push all doubts about my fitness and my injury out of my mind and focus on the more important aspects: like what I'm going to wear and how much fun being in New York is going to be.

I was further buoyed up after a few more generous donations pushed us over our fundraising target and an Edinburgh based friend of mine pointed me towards articles on visualization.

The aim is to visualize - in great detail - yourself racing, imagining how the race will look, and what you are likely to see, hear and smell (ew) along the way. The theory is that once you have visualized the entire thing, you will be better placed to do it because - in your head at least - you already have.

My outfit for the big day:

And so I tried to visualized myself on the morning of the marathon, what I am going to wear, eat and what I will take with me to the race.

I found it very helpful indeed - especially for remembering certain things to take with me - and very reassuring that I definitely will be able to complete the marathon - now I can see myself doing it!

One week to go and I am sure, whatever happens, I know I can finish the NEW YORK MARATHON, Eeeek!

13 Days To Go - Anticipation Building!

Saturday 17th October, 2009

This week has been mainly about the ice-pack and the glucadol tablets, in a bid to shore up the knee ahead of the marathon. I can't believe it's only 2 weeks to go, I am getting more and more excited.

Having an injury gives me time to focus on things other than getting around the course and in what time, I've been thinking a lot about how I'll feel on the day, the atmosphere, the sense of achievement and, most importantly, my outfit for the big day.

On YouTube I found this awesome video of the course for inspiration.







On Saturday, I ran ten rainy slow miles in the forest, to keep myself in the game. It was hard going and my knee burt but most importantly, I made it round the ten and am now totally focused on the big day...!

20 Days To Go - Kingston

Sunday 11th October, 2009

Back in London to attend a wedding, I had also signed up to run 16 miles in Kingston. With the knee still causing me trouble, I had to drop out after 8 miles, which was a bit frustrating, but again, necessary to make sure I am in shape for NYC in 20 DAYS!!!











After dropping out of the race, I went to see the onsight physio, who said I need much more stretching and possibly a knee brace. He gave me a deep tissue massage, for my ITB, resulting in massive bruising all up the left hand side of my thigh:















Ran: 7.99 miles
Time: 74 mins
Pace: 9.25 mins per mile

Yoga For Runners

Wednesday 7th October, 2009

Competing in the Brussels marathon reminded me just how tough a marathon is.

Duh, I hear you cry, but to be honest, I think I had fallen in to a bit of a false sense of security, knowing that I'd run a marathon before had made me self-assured and cocky.

Monday's muscle tightness, sore knee and general fatigue quickly saw to that, and as well as concentrating on my diet and water intake, I decided to explore the benefits of yoga. Something had to loosen these damn muscles!

Running is a great workout for the heart and lungs, but breeds lower body strength and upper body instability because it works a certain set of muscles and has a limited range of motion, often leading to tightness and overworked joints.

That, according to my book, Run for Life, is where cross training, like yoga or swimming can come in. Yoga helps with balance, muscle stretching, breathing and flexibility. It also gets blood pumping around the body, aiding the healing of injuries and the meditative aspect is good for the mind.

With this in mind, I trotted off to the Yoga College of India.

If it's good enough for Jennifer Aniston, it's good enough for me!















Bikram Yoga is a series of 27 postures and two breathing exercises, which take place during a 90 minute class held in a room heated to around 36 degrees C. To me - the lay-person - most of the exercises seemed to be advanced stretches, and there were some incredibly flexible people in my class!

Some of the poses were difficult to bend in to, but I managed to have a go at each one and the instructor was very helpful, highlighting the benefits of each move.

Afterwards I felt great: relaxed and well stretched. I will definitely be going again as the NYC Marathon draws ever nearer.

Gross Photo, Sore Knee

Tuesday 6th October, 2009

Here is a lovely photo of me just after I stopped running at the weekend... and some other photos of the marathon.

The knee has been pretty bad these past few days, I am icing it, resting it and hoping for the best.




















The start, pro runners:
















Inside one of the tunnels:

















The finish, in the Grand Place:

















And finally, only in Brussels:

Three Weeks To Go - Eating 21 Miles For Breakfast

4th October 2009

With the knee rested for over a week, I returned to Brussels feeling a bit more upbeat. I'd been chomping the painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs and wasn't feeling any pain.

With the New York Marathon just 28 days away I was acutely aware of the need to do a long run. The Long Run part of the training is very important, not only from a physical point of view but also from a mental point of view. Completing it reassures you that the massive distance involved in the marathon is achievable and also allows you to try out certain things, for example using gels, drinking water, setting the right pace and generally getting a sense of how you will feel on the day and what problems could crop up.

A few weeks ago, before encountering my injury, I'd entered the Brussels Marathon and I decided that I would start it and see how far I could get. If my knee began to hurt I would drop out, but in a best case scenario I would be able to do 21 or 22 miles, thus covering off my Long Run.

The Brussels Marathon is tiny in terms of competitor numbers, with just 2,000 runners, compared to New York's 37,000 or London's 30,000. Even Edinburgh, the other marathon I have run, had 13,000.

It's also a very fast marathon, with a 5 hour cut-off. No beginners here.

Arriving at the start, in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe in the Park Cinquantenaire, built when Belgium celebrated 50 years of independence in 1880, it became very obvious that this was a marathon for SERIOUS RUNNERS. Nearly everyone had a gel belt and a lot of serious kit. There weren't that many women.

I suppose the reason is that the Brussels course isn't particularly pretty, the city itself isn't a major holiday destination and finally that the course is very hilly, so there's no likelihood of getting your best time. Here's the profile:












The Brussels marathon has a team of professional pace-setters who aim to set a steady pace for runners who want to reach the finish line at a certain time. There are seven sets of 2 runners, each with massive coloured balloons on their backs for a certain time, ranging from 2 hrs 59 - Pink balloon to 4hrs 3o - orange balloons.


I lined up with the Orange balloon team and was quickly introduced to John and Terry, who said there were "our grandparents" and would look after us for the run. They were both fairly old but super fit and running with them was great.

I remembered my Edinburgh marathon experience where I had been really concentrating on my time, wearing a pace band, continually checking my watch. It was quite stressful. Following a pacemaker completely removes that and allows you to focus on the race itself. I will definitely follow one in New York.


The race went well, with good weather conditions. I found myself reminded of why I love running and the sense of immense personal achievement I derive from it. Brussels is a very green city, and the route goes through the woods and out to the beautiful Africa Museum before returning to the city and ending in the Grand Place.











The city also has a lot of traffic tunnels, and this, in terms of a marathon, means a lot of running down in to the tunnel and up out of the other side. I feared for my knee entering the first one but tried to concentrate on my breathing and "running from my core." Up and down, it was fine.

Reaching the half marathon at 2 hrs 15, I took a gel - vanilla flavoured, and powered on. The knee pain kicked in. I took 2 paracetamol.












Stopping after 21 miles was tough. Part of me really wanted to carry on to the finish but I was in a lot of pain and acutely aware of how long it took me to recover from the Edinburgh marathon. My main focus is on New York and being able to get round the course and enjoying it. So I stopped and walked the remaining 5 miles. Almost everyone passed me and a policeman drove past, closing the course.

Handing my chip in at the Grand Place I felt great. The New York marathon is in my sights and all feelings of letting myself or my running buddy down were gone.

Link to my official marathon time, here

Time for 21.02 miles: 3 hrs 36 mins
Average Pace: 10 mins 16 seconds/mile

Overall time for marathon: 5 hrs 9 minutes