The FastDay Forum

Well done @CreakyPete and Mrs Pete! You really have made a successful recovery from your op.
I've got my first marathon next Sunday - any tips? I've done a 41km trail race before but it isn't the same thing. This will be my longest ever road race. Training has gone well so now tapering and trying to eat healthily.

Thanks Susan - I am getting some stick from the hip community for running too soon but I have been very careful to increase activity in a steady progression, and of course I am still very light compared to most thanks to 5:2!
Marathon tips: have a time in mind, usually 2*half-marathon plus 10 mins which would be about 3h 40m for you, and aim to start off at not much faster than that pace no matter how slow it feels! Be well rested this week but have a gentle jog on Friday for 20 mins or so. Be well hydrated, but not full of water just before the start or you will have to stop (happened to me in Paris, wasted a minute or more!). More carbs than usual this week but again, don't go mad at the last moment. Enjoy the day, maybe engage people in conversation to pass the time (but let them do most of the talking!). Accept drinks at all the early stations, probably best to stick to water unless you know you tolerate the sports drink they offer.
Remember, half way is about 30km - but then you only have 12km left to run, which does not sound too bad!
Good Luck, and enjoy - you are guaranteed a PB whatever!

Hi Pete, thanks for your reply. Lots of common sense. A question for you, have you ever tried fat loading before carb loading the week before a marathon? http://www.active.com/nutrition/article ... rition-fat
I quite like Matt Fitzgerald and so may try fat loading for 3 days before eating more carbs. I will drink plenty of water this week (not the morning of the race) and won't over exercise. I have a sports drink that I love and I'd rather drink that than eat. I have some fruit jellies but find them difficult to eat when running. I won't set off too fast...like I usually do . My training has involved long outings with the last 1H40 at 12kph and hopefully that will help me finish strong, as long as I don't start out too fast!

Not tried fat loading as such but the old carbo-loading method would have you eating no carbs for a couple of days after your last hard training run so I suppose that was similar. Never really subscribed to that, just more carbs as the race got closer.
Never ate during a marathon, too hard to chew & breathe, but used to have a bag of assorted sweets on longer trail events. Last week I was being fed wine gums by my son, these work OK but jelly babies are easier to get down!

Be careful at the water stations as some people panic and cut in front of you or suddenly stop, as Pete says be properly hydrated today and just sip water tomorrow.
Carry some toilet roll with you (no comment needed).
Watch out for speed bumps at the start (when there are so many people that you can't see bumps coming) and in the later stages of the race you will probably not be lifting your feet up as much as you usually do.
Don't try anything that you haven't already done in training.
Have fun.

Nice to see lot's of activity hitting the running part of our 5:2 forum. Congrats to all getting off to a good start this running season !
And for the rest of us, better days are ahead.

At my annual physical with my primary care physician I complained about continual soreness in my legs and back. She said it appears my muscles are tight and especially on my right side IT band. So now I'm doing 3 weeks of Physical Therapy which is very encouraging. The site is has a running affiliate so fixing up runners is their main focus. I'm doing lot's of Foam rolling and Hip exercises along with deep massage and electro stim therapy. It's funny though that some of the therapies bring on more pain than running ever did, but I guess it's braking down the fibers that are causing the tightness and that should be a short term effect to get a longer term benefit. Hoping that I'll get back to running in April.

Another parkrun, another improvement - for me at least. 25:10 (=66%) and MrsPete 27:28 (over 71%). Best run since last September, never mind since the operation, and limited only by lung capacity. Managed to get out on my bike yesterday as well in the beautiful first day of Spring, 14.6 miles at 16.8 mph, faster than the same time last year.
Things are looking up!

Best of luck to @Franglaise for tomorrow's first marathon!

...Things are looking up!

They should.... for the Bionic Man!

... Best of luck to @Franglaise for tomorrow's first marathon!

And yes Franglaise, flap those arms and fly!

You guys are all doing great, I managed 26.06 yesterday, a little off my PB, but was feeling quite good.
The run itself had 226 entrants, most ever.

Saw the best running slogan ever:
I Run, sometimes slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter, but I Run.

Rome Marathon done, it rained all the race and measured 500m more by all our watches at the end. But brilliantly organised by the Romans, great atmosphere and i managed 3h41m even with a 4 minute Paula Radcliffe type pitstop due to my racing gastric problems. 179th woman out of a few thousand and 2922nd out of 11600 odd finishers. There were a lot of non finishers!

Congratulations, @Franglaise!!

Fantastic! Well done, and don't worry about the watches over-reading - it is well known that GPS errors are mainly additive and the tendency is to read longer than expected. Some runners who use the watch for pacing info allow for this. And it definitely means the race was not a short one!
The only downside to such a good time is bettering it next time, of course...

Can you still manage walking downstairs??

Well done @Franglaise. A brilliant result.

Congratulations @Franglaise. Well done on the time too.

Yes Pete, walking fine - did 15kms today visiting Rome including 512 steps up to the top of the Basilica. Not sure I'll ever do a better time or indeed another marathon but it was a goal to reach beforevmy 50th birthday and I did it. Enjoyed it and even the training too! Barcelona is tempting for 2016....