Barcelona marathon 2010

roversrunner

Got my flights for 70 return including taxes, Fri-Mon
Also we got one of the nn-hotels two metro stops from the start/finish for 99 a night with breakfast so happy out.

Park Guell was the only place we missed last time so will be heading there for sure.
All Gaudi's places are must see, also there is a tour bus on viatour with a rd and green line tour which covers the whole city in a few hours.

Krusty_Clown

Well, it's only 33 days to go, so the count-down is really on. Anyone else really looking forward to tapering? I have one final 20+ mile run on the 14th February, and then it's happy days from there on in, with some 16, 11 mile runs. Just need to stay injury free...

RacoonQueen

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Just need to stay injury free...

This is it for me. I'm TERRIFIED of injury. :rolleyes:

Can't believe I'm so close to yet another taper, what am I doing with my life?

The Rook

Can't believe it's come around so quickly, and with taper fast coming up I'm just hoping I've done enough to see me through my first marathon!

Was pleasantly surprised by my Dungarvan 10 mile time (1:17) so that's given me a boost as I never thought I'd do that distance in that time. However I am well aware that the Marathon is a different animal!

Krusty_Clown

RacoonQueen wrote: »

This is it for me. I'm TERRIFIED of injury. :rolleyes:

Can't believe I'm so close to yet another taper, what am I doing with my life?

It's almost a relief though, to make it this far, after last year's problems. Last week was my peak mileage week, so I'm hoping current niggles will resolve themselves with lesser mileage.

Anyone planning any tune-up races over the remaining weeks? The only suitable races I could find (from a schedule perspective) are IMRA races, which are hugely enjoyable, but don't give a strong indication of your progress, as times are largely irrelevant. Wouldn't mind getting one flat race in, before the big day.

Krusty_Clown

The Rook wrote: »

I'm just hoping I've done enough to see me through my first marathon!

Well done in Dungarvan. Great time! Self-doubt is part and parcel of your first marathon. Expect is to get worse, but just remember, everyone is filled with the same doubt, from the 2:11 boys and girls, to the guys who walk from start to finish.

Anyone else notice that the count-down clock on the Barcelona website is screwed up? Based on the number of hours remaining, we'd be starting our run at close to mid-night! Think I'll bring my head-torch just in case.

eoinken

Should have taken your advice and booked reasonable hotel. Wife is not too happy sharing apartment with 6 people. Are there any plans for people to meet up after. Decided to extend sty to Tuesday am.

eoinken

RacoonQueen wrote: »

This is it for me. I'm TERRIFIED of injury. :rolleyes:

Can't believe I'm so close to yet another taper, what am I doing with my life?

I know that feeling. I am about 4 months behind on training and now only really training to get my body used to the pounding so as to avoid getting a show stopper injury.

Clum

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Well, it's only 33 days to go, so the count-down is really on. Anyone else really looking forward to tapering? I have one final 20+ mile run on the 14th February, and then it's happy days from there on in, with some 16, 11 mile runs. Just need to stay injury free...

Tapering will be great. January was supposed to be my first month of Ironman training too so there's been a good bit of extra cycling (although mostly turbo training...stupid ice!) and swimming on top of the running.

Really enjoying the extra eating! That's be best part of high-mileage weeks. It's all low fat but still good.

Why no long run this weekend?

Krusty_Clown

Clum wrote: »

Why no long run this weekend?

The plan I'm following (Pfitzinger and Douglas 12 week, 55 mpw program) has a 17 mile mile on Sunday. They don't do consecutive 20 mile runs. The program worked well for me in Berlin in '09, so hopefully it'll work out ok in Barcelona. Delighted with my 21 mile run on Sunday, so hopefully next week's run works out just as well, but I am looking forward to dropping the mileage back into the mid-40s.

dario28

central park wrote: »

Anyone know when registration opens for the Barcelona HALF marathon on 14th Feb? Can't get any details on web except for organised tours.

I have entrance and cant go.............if anyone wants it gimme a shout..but ya better not get a sh$te time on my name !!!

central park

We booked an apartment from www.lovingbarcelona.com for 645 euro for three of us for four nights. Yesterday they emailed us to say that apartment was being refurbished so they upgraded us to a luxury apartment for the same price! Nice one!!!

Krusty_Clown

Nice result, central park!

Anyone got any suggestions for a pub meet-up point after the race? I haven't been to Barcelona for a few years, but there was a half-decent Irish pub off of Las Ramblas? Quite central, and only about a mile from the start/finish.

SuperCereal

This will be my second time to do the Barcelona Marathon, finished on 4hrs31mins last year so not great but plan to get it in under 4hrs this year.

Just saw this thread today and though I know the original post/enquiry about flights and sleep patterns was weeks ago I hope this is informative.

I got the Aerlingus morning flight at about 6am so was up and moving at 4am. Wheni arrived in Barca the slight time difference plus geeting into town and finding the expo meant the day flew by. This would all have been great had I been able to hit the hay staight after the expo but sadly the place I was staying was unavailable til 9pm. When I finally got to bed I was wrecked having risen at 4am and spent the evening waiting.

The next day was one of my worst performances in a marathon. I cat blame the lack of proper rest and sleep entirely but it was a major factor, This year Im taking no chance. I arrive on the 3rd and leave on the 9th with ryan air to Girona.

Anyone booking with aerlingus on the early flight be sure you can check in and rest at your place of stay.

That said I am so exited about this years event and counting the days.

Bars to meet up: Theres a bar in the wax museum just off La Rambla, it is designed to look like a rain forest/fzsiry garden with intermittent sound effects of storms and rain. Not hard to find and kinda cool.

Im doing Cupids dash in the phoenix on thew 13th its a 10 km and €25.00 to enter will be my last event b4 barca.

eliwallach

SuperCereal wrote: »

Bars to meet up: Theres a bar in the wax museum just off La Rambla, it is designed to look like a rain forest/fzsiry garden with intermittent sound effects of storms and rain. Not hard to find and kinda cool.

Just to make the Irish contingent feel at home and remind them of all the weather they trained through?

cphowlin

SuperCereal wrote: »

Anyone booking with aerlingus on the early flight be sure you can check in and rest at your place of stay.

Going out on this flight myself but on the Friday so have a day to rest... Cant believe its so close... have been stuggling with injuries so really not sure how im fixed but its booked and paid for now so im going!

Anybody going to do the breakfast run on the saturday?

Krusty_Clown

cphowlin wrote: »

Going out on this flight myself but on the Friday so have a day to rest... Cant believe its so close... have been stuggling with injuries so really not sure how im fixed but its booked and paid for now so im going!

Anybody going to do the breakfast run on the saturday?

I'm going out on the same flight too, and planning on doing the breakfast run with the OH (who's not running the marathon). Breakfast run seems to be open to all, so I reckon the experience of running into the stadium will be cool.

I remember the fairy/tree bar near the waxworks from one of my previous trips. While it's a very cool bar, It's a very dark place with lots of cubby-holes. not much chance of assembling a group of people who have never met before! By the way it's called: Bosc de les Fades

Krusty_Clown

By the way Supercereal, did you find the marathon hilly? I've looked at the elevation profile on the site and it doesn't look too bad. a Couple of 50m climbs, spread over a mile or two.

What was the temperature like?

Clum

SuperCereal wrote: »

This will be my second time to do the Barcelona Marathon, finished on 4hrs31mins last year so not great but plan to get it in under 4hrs this year.

I think they changed the course ever so slightly from last year's course but the finish is pretty much the same. What were the last 4k like? The course rises for this whole section but hard to tell how much of an incline there is just looking at a graph on A4 paper. Was it a noticable climb (taking in to account your tired state)?

Thanks

kennyb3

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I'm going out on the same flight too, and planning on doing the breakfast run with the OH (who's not running the marathon). Breakfast run seems to be open to all, so I reckon the experience of running into the stadium will be cool.

I remember the fairy/tree bar near the waxworks from one of my previous trips. While it's a very cool bar, It's a very dark place with lots of cubby-holes. not much chance of assembling a group of people who have never met before! By the way it's called: Bosc de les Fades

There is an irish bar just off las ramblas about half way down on the left (if coming from placa de cataluyna) its not the best though - cant think of the name of it though.

There is a big irish bar and in my opinion the best by far if you are coming from las ramblas and take a right off placa de catalyuna. again cant think of the name. did a quick search but couldnt find it. plenty of choice anyway.

the bars down at the marina tend to be more of a rip off

Oisin11178

Not long left lads, good luck. Wish i was going with yas:D

roversrunner

Main climbs on the route would be:
From bottom of Nou Camp up to main road
From bottom to top of hill at the Pedrera (Gaudis place)
The bridge around half way, not much of a hill though.

The second half of the route is largely flat except for the last 2km, which is a slow drag all the way up to the Placa D'espanya.

Krusty_Clown

Here's a link to last year's route on mapmyrun. It's a little more useful than the official website map.

cphowlin

I tried copy this years route into mapmyrun a while back..
Barcelona Marathon 2010
Looks like i went wrong somewhere cos its coming up about half a mile too long but might be helpful anyway...

Looks like its downhill from mile 3 to 8 and from mile 12 to 21...

Krusty_Clown

Tick, tock, tick,...
Four weeks to go. Weather looks prefect at the moment.
8'-13'C, no rain, and wind @5km/hour. I can almost taste the tapas.

Krusty_Clown

cphowlin wrote: »

I tried copy this years route into mapmyrun a while back..
Barcelona Marathon 2010
Looks like i went wrong somewhere cos its coming up about half a mile too long but might be helpful anyway...

Looks like its downhill from mile 3 to 8 and from mile 12 to 21...

I compared your map to the site's map, and it looks pretty much spot-on. The half mile difference is probably just down to mapping anomalies. hills don't look too bad, however, it looks like it could be a tough finish.

roversrunner

15 day forecast for Barca:
http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast-15day.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&locCode=EUR|ES|SP008|BARCELONA&metric=1

Weather starting to look tasty now, when there for a week last year we had a range of about 6-17 degrees and freezing temps at night, so anything is possible.
Wind was never a problem though.

As mentioned earlier the finishing 4k is tough, most of ye have a time in mind make sure the hard work is done before then.

hot to trot

OH my God !!:eek:

I forgot I had entered for Barcelona, way back in November. Just also spotted my posts at the start of this thread. I got sidetracked by Seville after talking to a bunch of Irish runners at Lisbon who more or less talked me into doing it. Forgot I had formally registered for Barcelona and it went completely out of my head.
So, three weeks apart, Aerlingus flights €221 today. Not sure about ryanair or accommodation, etc. Is it do-able? or should I just forfeit the entry money and aim for something later in the season??
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH. Cant believe it!:eek:

Krusty_Clown

hot to trot wrote: »

OH my God !!:eek:

I forgot I had entered for Barcelona, way back in November. Just also spotted my posts at the start of this thread. I got sidetracked by Seville after talking to a bunch of Irish runners at Lisbon who more or less talked me into doing it. Forgot I had formally registered for Barcelona and it went completely out of my head.
So, three weeks apart, Aerlingus flights €221 today. Not sure about ryanair or accommodation, etc. Is it do-able? or should I just forfeit the entry money and aim for something later in the season??
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH. Cant believe it!:eek:

So are you doing Seville? If so, I would just let the €45 slide, or maybe try and contact them and defer it to next year.
That's quite expensive for flights, given that they were €60 just a few weeks ago.

Alternatively look into Ryanair, who fly into Reus, which (while it's not in Barcelona) is only a 1 hour train ride away from Barcelona.

Krusty_Clown

roversrunner wrote: »

15 day forecast for Barca:
http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast-15day.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&locCode=EUR|ES|SP008|BARCELONA&metric=1

Weather starting to look tasty now, when there for a week last year we had a range of about 6-17 degrees and freezing temps at night, so anything is possible.
Wind was never a problem though.

As mentioned earlier the finishing 4k is tough, most of ye have a time in mind make sure the hard work is done before then.

Thanks for that.. Looking good. I read elsewhere (Marathon Guides..I think) that at times you can get strong winds along the sea-front, which can make it quite a struggle.