M - 5: Noooo....
Yesterday I considered increasing my list of obsessions to 4, but didn't want to tempt fate.
The fourth was that on the bus on the way to work I noticed more people than normal coughing and sneezing. I immediately went into panic mode and worried that I'd catch something. I tried pathetically to cover my mouth with my hand, as though that would miraculously make me germ free (when all it actually did was encourage me to breathe through my nose). Maybe this is more of a paranoia thing than an obsession.
I tried not to get too worked up, after all they weren't sitting that near me, were they?
I'm not sure. This morning I felt a bit mucus-y. (Sorry if you're eating). It's not a full blown cold at this stage, but it's just not quite right. Admittedly it did get better during the day. I really hope that it's nothing and won't develop, but I've been dosing up on vitamin C and cold cures all day, just in case. Prevention is better than cure...
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Today I've also been giving some thought to my race plan. I have my HRM/footpod combo, and it's the first time I'll have raced in them, so I can be a bit more precise than usual. But I don't want to get too caught up with them, because my plan, at heart, is simple. Run, but not too fast, for as far as possible and then get to the end any way you can.
But in terms of things that will help me do that...
First part of the plan - don't get too hung up on what the HRM says in the early stages. I always get really high percentages, and I suspect that my maximum heart rate is higher than what the HRM estimates. Equally, for a first marathon I just want to run at a pace I feel happy with, rather than a pre-determined pace. I'm not going to write an endless list of split times down to refer to, and I'm not going to have any set in stone ideas. In an ideal world I'd like to think I could hit 9 minute miles. My training is in that ballpark -- my best long run was done at pretty much 10 minute miles, so on race day, nicely rested and full of adrenaline, I may well be able to go faster, and 9 minute miles is the sort of pace I've been hitting naturally throughout the taper. But if that's not what the monitor shows then I'm not going to try to speed up to hit it, and I'll leave the 4 hour marathon for another day.
Second part - energy - I have gels in a waist pack, and I've also got jelly babies. I was going to eat one each mile, until I realised that there aren't mile markers (it's marked in km). I quite like the idea of taking every mile as a separate challenge, with a jelly baby to mark the end of it. I could either take the miles off my HRM reading, or go for 1 jelly baby every 2km instead. I haven't decided yet. 42 jelly babies (1 per km) does seem a little excessive. As long as there are jelly babies involved somewhere I'll be happy.
Third - keeping going - I said that I was going to ignore my heart rate, and I kind of am, but I like the possibility of using my HRM as a motivational tool in the latter stages. Once when I was struggling on a training run I had my HRM locked onto a heart rate zone, and the constant beeping when I took walk breaks was quite good at getting me to start running again so I could get my heart rate back up into a zone the HRM liked. It's like an alarm that says "there's a lazy bugger over there taking a walk break when she should be running", and that seems to motivate me to start again before anyone notices! It seems a bit harder to slow down to stop creeping out of the top of it though, particularly when you're feeling good. But if I get to the stage where I want to take walk breaks, this could be a good way to make sure that they don't go on for too long. I'm not intending to set a HR zone in the first half of the race, but it might keep me running in the second half, if I need the motivation.
Fourth - music, or the lack of it - recently I've started running without my ipod because it's getting dark in the mornings. I've been weighing up the pros and cons of running with music. On the plus side it will possibly let me concentrate and focus, and the familiarity of my own music might help. But on the down side, maybe I need the atmosphere of the crowd to pull me through. I don't want to carry it round if I'm not going to listen to it, but do I want it there as a safety blanket with some specially picked and inspirational songs on it to get me through the hard parts?
--------------------------------
Gah. In my current state of mind - roughly "can't run too much, but can't stop thinking about running" I've been making plans for Amsterdam too. There is only so much I can do with my Berlin packing list, as it's been in pretty much final form for the past two weeks, and things that are missing tend to occur to me at random moments rather than when I'm looking at it.
So, Amsterdam. I've not really thought about that much at all, even though it's only three and a half weeks away (and no race pack yet!), but I found myself on the website last night and nearly died of shock. The half marathon I'm meant to be running doesn't start at a normal, civilised, running time, but at 2pm. Since when did you run a half marathon in the afternoon? I can see why, as the full and half marathon courses are different, but overlap quite a lot, and it would be a nightmare trying to have everyone running at the same time, but 2pm???
Which led to two panics in my head. First of all, my flight home, which is at 8.45 that evening. I'm not so slow that I'd miss it, but there's not likely to be much time for a celebratory meal or drinks afterwards before I need to head out to the airport.
And second, what on earth will I eat? I never run at 2pm and I have no idea how to feed myself in the hours before the race. At least it's not a real target race, and I was only ever intending to run at as a bit of fun with my friends, but still, if I can shave a bit off my PB if my legs have recovered enough I'd like to go for it. But 2pm... What on earth are they playing at?
The fourth was that on the bus on the way to work I noticed more people than normal coughing and sneezing. I immediately went into panic mode and worried that I'd catch something. I tried pathetically to cover my mouth with my hand, as though that would miraculously make me germ free (when all it actually did was encourage me to breathe through my nose). Maybe this is more of a paranoia thing than an obsession.
I tried not to get too worked up, after all they weren't sitting that near me, were they?
I'm not sure. This morning I felt a bit mucus-y. (Sorry if you're eating). It's not a full blown cold at this stage, but it's just not quite right. Admittedly it did get better during the day. I really hope that it's nothing and won't develop, but I've been dosing up on vitamin C and cold cures all day, just in case. Prevention is better than cure...
-----------------------------------------------------
Today I've also been giving some thought to my race plan. I have my HRM/footpod combo, and it's the first time I'll have raced in them, so I can be a bit more precise than usual. But I don't want to get too caught up with them, because my plan, at heart, is simple. Run, but not too fast, for as far as possible and then get to the end any way you can.
But in terms of things that will help me do that...
First part of the plan - don't get too hung up on what the HRM says in the early stages. I always get really high percentages, and I suspect that my maximum heart rate is higher than what the HRM estimates. Equally, for a first marathon I just want to run at a pace I feel happy with, rather than a pre-determined pace. I'm not going to write an endless list of split times down to refer to, and I'm not going to have any set in stone ideas. In an ideal world I'd like to think I could hit 9 minute miles. My training is in that ballpark -- my best long run was done at pretty much 10 minute miles, so on race day, nicely rested and full of adrenaline, I may well be able to go faster, and 9 minute miles is the sort of pace I've been hitting naturally throughout the taper. But if that's not what the monitor shows then I'm not going to try to speed up to hit it, and I'll leave the 4 hour marathon for another day.
Second part - energy - I have gels in a waist pack, and I've also got jelly babies. I was going to eat one each mile, until I realised that there aren't mile markers (it's marked in km). I quite like the idea of taking every mile as a separate challenge, with a jelly baby to mark the end of it. I could either take the miles off my HRM reading, or go for 1 jelly baby every 2km instead. I haven't decided yet. 42 jelly babies (1 per km) does seem a little excessive. As long as there are jelly babies involved somewhere I'll be happy.
Third - keeping going - I said that I was going to ignore my heart rate, and I kind of am, but I like the possibility of using my HRM as a motivational tool in the latter stages. Once when I was struggling on a training run I had my HRM locked onto a heart rate zone, and the constant beeping when I took walk breaks was quite good at getting me to start running again so I could get my heart rate back up into a zone the HRM liked. It's like an alarm that says "there's a lazy bugger over there taking a walk break when she should be running", and that seems to motivate me to start again before anyone notices! It seems a bit harder to slow down to stop creeping out of the top of it though, particularly when you're feeling good. But if I get to the stage where I want to take walk breaks, this could be a good way to make sure that they don't go on for too long. I'm not intending to set a HR zone in the first half of the race, but it might keep me running in the second half, if I need the motivation.
Fourth - music, or the lack of it - recently I've started running without my ipod because it's getting dark in the mornings. I've been weighing up the pros and cons of running with music. On the plus side it will possibly let me concentrate and focus, and the familiarity of my own music might help. But on the down side, maybe I need the atmosphere of the crowd to pull me through. I don't want to carry it round if I'm not going to listen to it, but do I want it there as a safety blanket with some specially picked and inspirational songs on it to get me through the hard parts?
--------------------------------
Gah. In my current state of mind - roughly "can't run too much, but can't stop thinking about running" I've been making plans for Amsterdam too. There is only so much I can do with my Berlin packing list, as it's been in pretty much final form for the past two weeks, and things that are missing tend to occur to me at random moments rather than when I'm looking at it.
So, Amsterdam. I've not really thought about that much at all, even though it's only three and a half weeks away (and no race pack yet!), but I found myself on the website last night and nearly died of shock. The half marathon I'm meant to be running doesn't start at a normal, civilised, running time, but at 2pm. Since when did you run a half marathon in the afternoon? I can see why, as the full and half marathon courses are different, but overlap quite a lot, and it would be a nightmare trying to have everyone running at the same time, but 2pm???
Which led to two panics in my head. First of all, my flight home, which is at 8.45 that evening. I'm not so slow that I'd miss it, but there's not likely to be much time for a celebratory meal or drinks afterwards before I need to head out to the airport.
And second, what on earth will I eat? I never run at 2pm and I have no idea how to feed myself in the hours before the race. At least it's not a real target race, and I was only ever intending to run at as a bit of fun with my friends, but still, if I can shave a bit off my PB if my legs have recovered enough I'd like to go for it. But 2pm... What on earth are they playing at?
posted by YP at 8:55 PM
1 Comments:
Im so excited for you! I can't wait to read about the experience! Good luck! You are very well prepared!
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