Monster milestone run!

[Katie204]

I've just tested myself on my longest run before the Royal Parks HM in 2 weeks' time. I did 20:16km, which took me 2 hours 48 minutes.

I was so nervous before I set out, as my training schedule went out of the window when I injured my leg - but all went OK! My biggest problem was that my phone battery gave out about 20 mins before the end, so I lost my comforting little ZenLabs robot-voice - but I know I can go the distance now.

I was doing run/walk, but I was running most of the way - and I finally seem to have found a pace that works for me. Thank goodness!

[Madge50 Marathon]

Wowsers, well done Katie, I've got a HM in 2 weeks, really not feeling the love right now, managed a hard 16k last week, legs really tired today 10k, just about, got some niggles.....not sure how much I'll get in the next week...will just have to wing it!

You're more than ready with a 20k under your belt, taper time soon.

Mx 🤗

[Katie204 Half Marathon in reply to Madge50]

Thanks Madge! It sounds as if you are making steady progress there.

I will do a couple more runs this week, then my friend (and HM buddy) and his wife and I will walk the Royal Parks course on Saturday, then I'll taper.

Less than 2 weeks to go - gulp!

Where is your HM happening?

[Madge50 Marathon in reply to Katie204]

Mine's the 8th Oct, all off road, some killer hills too 😱, it ain't going to be fast and it ain't going to be pretty......I think I've pushed it a bit recently and although I wanted to nail a 20k this week, with a sore calf, less may be more.......

Good luck, and don't forget your report!

Mx 🤗

(This will be my second HM, so by no means an expert!)

[Katie204 Half Marathon in reply to Madge50]

I had the sore calf issue as well, and I bought myself a strapping off Amazon to support it. I think this helped.

Re the running, I think taking things slowly and carefully is better than pushing yourself to destruction. I took a couple of ibuprofen before I set out today, and maybe it was the placebo effect but I didn't have any problem from my dodgy calf.

Going round, I kept reminding myself to relax my legs, and (this may sound strange) relax my shoulders and let my shoulder blades hang down, and that also seemed to help.

[aliboo70 Half Marathon in reply to Katie204]

Well done Katie that's a great distance. And the royal parks will be a great experience .

Re the ibuprofen it might be worth switching to paracetamol as I've read that it's not good for when youre exercising, Google to check if you can , I can't exactly remember why but I know it's not recommended. 😕

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to aliboo70]

It can damage the kidneys if you get dehydrated

[Anniemurph Half Marathon]

That's great, Katie, well done! You are well on track for that HM

[Katie204 Half Marathon]

If I make it round in less than 3 hours, I will be happy.

If I get round in less than 2:30, I will probably be disgustingly pleased with myself and impossible to live with.

[Madge50 Marathon in reply to Katie204]

Yes, I think I'm stressing about mine as it's got a 3 hour cut off time - looking at previous results the 3 hours is a bit elastic for the last finishers, but even so......I managed 2:39 for my first, but that was all road .......... 🙁

Mx

[C3PO Marathon]

Good job, Katie! I really believe on focusing on relaxing your back and shoulders.

I'll be at Royal Parks as well, so if you have any tips or thoughts after your walk around the course, please pass them on.

[Katie204 Half Marathon in reply to C3PO]

Hi C3PO - my friend and I walked parts of the course this morning. (We didn't do the whole thing - just tried to plot our way through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.) He was super-organised and had a photocopied map of the route, which he marked with different coloured pens to show uphill, downhill and level bits. The main things we found were that Hyde Park slopes uphill from the Serpentine towards Marble Arch, so there is at least one long slog in there, and there is a vicious little uphill in the final mile, near the Albert Memorial. Oh, and there is a bit of an uphill at the Aldwych, but that only lasts for a couple of hundred metres.

Hope that helps - good luck for Sunday as I suspect I won't see you in the crowd!

[C3PO Marathon in reply to Katie204]

Thanks for the info, Katie! I really appreciate it. Good lucl to you too!

[misswobble Marathon]

Good! Well done! All positive stuff there 🙂👍.

The count down to the big day has started 😃 Eat properly,get some sleep and stay hydrated. Oh and do some running obvs 😁