I am busy busy busy as I have my virtual half marathon - the Milton Keynes Reimagined shindig - this week!!! Feeling pretty nervous, although I am resigned to the fact that I will not be breaking any records 😊 Anyway, it's tomorrow, so I've made my faffage list, and I'm checking it twice - and I'll post a report later in the week!
I have also now committed to the full virtual Brighton Marathon in October, and am mulling over two options for the route:
1. Roughly the official route, which will involve crowds and road-crossings
2. A seafront route with far fewer road crossings, but a fairly ghastly bit along the road between Hove and Shoreham.
What do you think?
This article about virtual marathons from Runner's World is actually quite helpful!
Struggling with my virtual Marathon training 27 days but still not over 18 miles. Yet! Tried a new walk/run technique yesterday which did seem more achievable. How are others getting on?? X
I allowed 20 weeks for my training. 16 weeks is usual but I like a bit more time to get there
Run walk is great You can choose your run/walk ratio ahead of time and stick to it on the day. Walking early into the event seems odd but it works 🙂. I used Jeff Galloway timings
I have until midnight tonight to decide whether to enter a REAL 10k next Sunday (Wingham, it has pottery medals with pigs on). However, two things are holding me back from pressing the button:
1. Doing a 60 mile cycling sportive the following weekend and am meant to be doing a final short "training" ride the weekend before.
2. My GI condition is unhappy at the moment. All runs bar one in the last 2 weeks have involved emergency stops.
I think I will procrastinate long enough to miss the deadline. Not to worry, there is always next year!
Hi roseabi good luck tomorrow! My HM training is not going well, I only ran once last week after a niggly shin - trying to stretch out calves as much as possible. Hopefully get back in to it this week! My eldest starts school on Wednesday so we're all finding a new rhythm! Hope everyone is getting on well and enjoying it.
Great job and good luck. I've fallen way behind, I am afraid - routine has been all over the place so I have to be more realistic about my aims! However, now kids back at school and some semblance of "normal" again, my aim is the Muscular Dystrophy/Town & Gown (Cambridge) 10k virtual race on 18th October but still going for a SPRING HM, so will still watch in the group for tips and inspiration!
It is quite difficult because the surface of the pavement is dilapidated, lots of potholes that are even more treacherous after rain as you don't see them. And the path is narrow in places so the traffic is very close, and there are quite a few crossings into the industrial areas along there, so I have to be wary of van and truck drivers. It does have some nice views of the harbour though!
Very best of luck with the virtual marathon! My preference would be to take the seafront route as it's less likely to involve the crowds and unnecessary delays, but I don't know the area so I don't know how bad the road from Hove to Shoreham is.
I had a reasonable week, completing the virtual 10 miler on bank holiday Monday. After that I was just adding distance to my LEJOG challenge. I'm going to try to run the whole lot rather than walking some of it, but I don't know whether that's feasible when the days get darker in winter, nor what effect going back to the office might have. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm lucky that I don't work on Wednesdays or at weekends so I've got a bit more flexibility than most.
I'll keep trying to include one longer run into my weekly schedule in preparation for the virtual HM in a few weeks. I've got a short break in Suffolk to look forward to at the end of the month. I'm staying in a 16th century coaching inn so I'm hoping there will be lots of (flat) roads and trails to explore!
Belated Happy Birthday Abi,and Atb with your marathon.Yes take Dr Martin Yellings advice and take route 2.🤔.Great article,thanks for posting it and thanks for all you do.
I'd take the most scenic route every time! The route we've planned for the VLM doesn't have laps as such - it's two (possibly three) loops from the car which will double up as our aid station. It's along rivers and maybe a small lake, but I've also sussed out some public loos along the way! It will probably be pretty busy if the weather's decent. The car will be very close to the pub where we hope to be met with loud cheers, congratulations and full glasses! Because yes, mad as it still seems, I'm assuming I will complete it 🤞😅. One long training run/walk done and one to go. We can do this!!!
Happy belated birthday Roseabi 🎈🎉🥂and good luck for the HM. I wouldn’t do anything remotely related to the word “ghastly” unless I absolutely had to so I would take the first option 🙂
Good luck everyone for your 10 milers 💪 and have a great week.
And a very happy belated birthday! Hope you had way too much cake! 🎂 🥂
Personally, because I can’t deal with any “unknowns” during runs, especially long ones that mean something, I’d pick the duller seafront route for your virtual HM. If it was a “naked” run, I’d go scenic though. Whichever route you choose, you’ll smash it and be brilliant as ever! ⭐️
Happy birthday Roseabi, and good luck with your marathon. I’d probably run backwards and forwards over the best bit. Can you run to Rottingdean along the undercliff path? I wasn’t a runner when I lived in Hove, but remember walking a long way.
Happy Birthday, and good luck for tomorrow roseabi !
Count me in for the virtual 10 Miler next week.
My training is going well at the moment - did 8 miles yesterday and then a hilly 7 miles today, which was a bit hard going. Not ideal to have these 2 days in a row, but sometimes have to plan training around family life and other commitments 😀
I did a long run today having missed my last week’s one Cos of dog sitting duties. I did 25k run cum ramble As I worked my way through brambles and nettles I could have done with a machete 😁. Lots of stiles and overgrown footpaths today so slow going
Happy happy birthday Roseabi and best of luck in your half tomorrow and the full mara to come. I’m curious how bad that stretch of road must be!
I’ve been back on plan through Aug after an injury riddled June and July. The longest plan run was last Saturday at 42k. Wore the Speedgoats and loved them! After this are some shorter long runs and then the race on Oct 10. No cancellation yet. This week I should find out.
On another unrelated note, our family just adopted a dog from a north Ontario rescue, hopefully my run buddy in months to come. His name is Otis and apparently he is a Shepard/Husky mix. He’s taken some time to settle but he’s a real sweetheart and is sleeping on my feet now. He and Honey the cat are much more relaxed with each other now too.
The road from Shoreham to Hove is known as the road to hell. It sits at roughly the 20 mile point and runs through some dreadful concrete industrial zones. It has broken many runners of the Brighton marathon in the past. My son recollected quite a few sat at the side head in hands crying when he did the run. One particular runner in a foam telephone box caught his eye as only a few miles earlier he was bounding along like zebedee. It’s a soul destroying section of the race for sure. 😬
That's OK! You are thinking of Basin Road South, which is indeed part of the Brighton Marathon, and is included in my Option 1. I don't dislike it as much as a lot of people seem to, it's quiet, and it has a sea view part of the way along too - you can see a lot of surfers near the power station on a windy day. I run there quite a lot as it is near where I live. It also has a downhill incline heading back East towards Brighton, which is very nice at after Mile 20! It has some shade too, which was awesome for the 2017 marathon, when we had hot weather. It does sometimes get a bit dusty and smelly though!
I was talking about the Kingsway/A259, which for my Option 2 I would have to run along all the way from the Lagoon to Shoreham (and back), and it is nasty! 😂
Happy belated birthday roseabi! And all the best for the Hms & Ms x
Yes please, count me in for the next 10 miler. I did 12k at the weekend with no ill effects so it’s time to push it on a bit more. As long as they have brownies in the coffee shop again 😋 Looking forward to my next Woohoo too!! 😄
Happy Birthday! 🎂🥳. I'm not ready for 10 miles yet - have only done 12k so I've a fair way to go yet, but will be watching with interest. Good luck everyone & hopefully I'll be joining you soon! (Can I piggyback a question- how do you find out about races, virtual or otherwise, near you?).
Lots of websites out there for hunting down real races - Findarace, Let'sdoThis and RunBritain are probably the ones I use most often. For virtual I would just google 'virtual 10k running race' or whatever and go from there. There are some companies like Virtual Racing for example that have challenges all year round. Happy hunting!!!
Thanks! I've just done a virtual 10k with FindaRace, but I'll have a look at the others as well.
Happy birthday, that looks like a lovely cake!
I've started running but taking it easy. I've got to load the tendon but not overload it, a hard balancing act! Im trying to get back to hm distance by 4th oct so I can try and join a friend for their vlm marathon. It is loops, first being hm then shorter ones. I kind of thought if I can do the hm loop I would just keep going as fàr as I could. However, my foot is not 100% yet so I could see another marathon opportunity just slip away. That is soul destroying to me at the moment.
Oh dear 🤒. There's anothing worse than dates in the diary and daily analysis of an injury. I spent too much of last summer doing that to ever forget how devastating it feels when progress doesn't fit the plan. Much sympathy but keeping everything crossed for you.
Happy belated birthday Rosabi and hope your VHM went really well.
Just a little update to let everyone know I did the first run of C25K yesterday and I had no pain in my calf! 😁
Feeling great about it but still extremely tentative. Will take things ultra steady. As I said in my last post, I have been lucky as I don't think the tear was too bad. I have been walking every day for the last 4 weeks and doing strengthening and stretching exercises. I'm hoping I might be able to join a future HM group to try all over again!!
Good luck everyone with your upcoming HMs and 10 milers - enjoy! 🏃♀️💃
Sign me up Roseabi! (and by the way - congratulations on the MK run)
Last week was a good to fair (sounds like a weather forecast!) in that did the targetted total distance (31k - a steady week on week increase now for the last month) and ran over 14k on Sunday. A few feets issues and quite tired at the end on Sunday and still feeling a bit tired during last nights intervals sess.
So the plan for the week ahead is complicated by taking a holiday (my first week off this year - I am so looking forward to this 😁) and finding time and places to run. There will be less running overall but I'm hoping to get one long run on a nice seaside promenade and get to 10 miles next Sunday 🤞 (I know that's one day before the V10M window but I'm hoping the race officials won't notice this 😉)
I'm not going to push it to get to 10miles - if it happens then great (and I can think about the giddy heights of a HM later this year - still hoping Leeds 10k / HM will go ahead in Nov). If not then perhaps time to consolidate a bit (given that I am just approaching the first anniversary of starting C25K I have nothing to complain about and lots and lots to feel happy with 😊😊😊).
I completed my first training run today since coming back from my holiday, it was an uneventful steady 8K keeping as much as possible in HR zone 3. Seems like cycling up all those hills in the Lake District did my legs some good as they didn’t complain at all about running 8K before breakfast!
I have enjoyed catching up on everyone’s 10 mile run reports and seen a few HMs too! You’ve all done awesome! 🥇🏃🏼♀️💪🏻
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