Barcelona marathon 2010

central park

Just back from Barcelona Half last weekend. We had snow flurries at start of race and it was really cold! Great city to run in though, nice and flat for most of course. Not sure about Marathon route though! And it was Powerade all the way for us.Enjoy the run and best of luck to all taking part!

Clum

central park wrote: »

Just back from Barcelona Half last weekend. We had snow flurries at start of race and it was really cold! Great city to run in though, nice and flat for most of course. Not sure about Marathon route though! And it was Powerade all the way for us.Enjoy the run and best of luck to all taking part!

From looking at the course I'd guess (total estimate) that on the Barca half course kilometers 3 to 4 are close to the full course kilometers 40 to 42 and from the half kilometers 14 to 21 are the same as the full 27 to 36.

Any chance you can give us a description of your course, specifically 3k to 4k and the last 2 or 3k? Were they very hilly or just a slight incline as the marathon description states?

Thanks.

hot to trot

I really enjoyed it. I didnt go flat out and managed to stay pretty comfortable . Got a bit tired at 18 miles or so but was able to hold the pace and my last mile was the fastest by about a minute. Finishsed in 4:11. My fastest up to this was 4.19/4:20 I cant remember which. Forgot my heart rate monitor so not sure of the effort but it felt like about 75% for most of it which is grand.
Think I should do Barcelona at about the same or slower? Would be afraid to chance chopping off another 15/20 secs per mile yet.

Krusty_Clown

hot to trot wrote: »

I really enjoyed it. I didnt go flat out and managed to stay pretty comfortable . Got a bit tired at 18 miles or so but was able to hold the pace and my last mile was the fastest by about a minute. Finishsed in 4:11. My fastest up to this was 4.19/4:20 I cant remember which. Forgot my heart rate monitor so not sure of the effort but it felt like about 75% for most of it which is grand.
Think I should do Barcelona at about the same or slower? Would be afraid to chance chopping off another 15/20 secs per mile yet.

I haven't done 3-week back to back marathons before. Smallest gap has been 5 weeks, and typically I was taking one of those marathons easy. best thing to do it make sure you recover properly, and then decide on your pace on the day, based on how you feel, and what you can do without injuring yourself. Well done. It's great to record another PB.

Clum

Clum wrote: »

From looking at the course I'd guess (total estimate) that on the Barca half course kilometers 3 to 4 are close to the full course kilometers 40 to 42 and from the half kilometers 14 to 21 are the same as the full 27 to 36.

Any chance you can give us a description of your course, specifically 3k to 4k and the last 2 or 3k? Were they very hilly or just a slight incline as the marathon description states?

Thanks.

Nevermind these questions. I just google street viewed the last last 4k of the marathon route. Google Street View rocks! Tempted to go around the whole course although I'd say I'd run it quicker than I'd navigate through it on the computer....

No hills, just gradual, easy, rise from the coast to the finish. It's long and it happens after 38kms, that's the only worrying part.

central park

Hi Clum, we didnt encounter any hills of note on the half marathon course. There were a few long drags but nothing too strenuous. Some of the long roads seemed to go on for ever but were all flat so I just kept picking out markers and mentally ticking them off as I came to them.The worst was a climb up to the Ramblas which went on for a bit, but we had a lovely hill down the Ramblas to compensate. The last few miles were lovely along by the water and there was a slight uphill finish but at that stage, we didnt care! All in all, its a great course for a PB which I did by 3 mins. Im a 51 yr old female so if I can do it, anyone can!! Hope this puts your mind at ease! Most importantly, enjoy this buzzing city!!

Clum

central park wrote: »

Hi Clum, we didnt encounter any hills of note on the half marathon course. There were a few long drags but nothing too strenuous. Some of the long roads seemed to go on for ever but were all flat so I just kept picking out markers and mentally ticking them off as I came to them.The worst was a climb up to the Ramblas which went on for a bit, but we had a lovely hill down the Ramblas to compensate. The last few miles were lovely along by the water and there was a slight uphill finish but at that stage, we didnt care! All in all, its a great course for a PB which I did by 3 mins. Im a 51 yr old female so if I can do it, anyone can!! Hope this puts your mind at ease! Most importantly, enjoy this buzzing city!!

Excellent stuff, CP. Long drags sounds like what I saw on Street View. Thanks for that.

Well done on getting the PB too!

Krusty_Clown

Hmm.. Rain on Friday, 22'C on Saturday.
Sunday 7th March: Mostly sunny, 7-16'C, 4km/hr winds. Perfect.

Fingers crossed it stays like this!

cphowlin

Spotted on the Marathon website that you can take a bus tour of the marathon route.

Think i'll give it a miss myself. Price seems a bit over the top.

Might be useful to some of you though...

From the site:
DURATION OF THE TOUR: 3hrs. (aprox)
- PRICE OF THE GUIDED VISIT UNTIL FEBRUARY 20th : 20€
- PRICE OF THE GUIDED VISIT FROM 21/02/2010 TO 28/02/2010: 25€
This tour will be on March 04 and 05 only, on morning and afternoon sessions at 9h30’,10h,10h30’ and 14h,14h30’,15h, departing from Avinguda de la Reina Mº Cristina.

hot to trot

Racoon Queen, are you still going out Friday and coming back Sunday? I will be travelling then too. Is it time to start another list for who is going when

RacoonQueen

hot to trot wrote: »

Racoon Queen, are you still going out Friday and coming back Sunday? I will be travelling then too. Is it time to start another list for who is going when

Yeah 17:45 Aer Lingus flight on the Friday and back on the Sunday, flight at 9.

Are we having a boards post race re-hydration session?

hot to trot

Count me in . Do ye do the day before meet up at the expo or a meal out in the evening or anything?

roversrunner

From an accuweather login I "acquired".



Going out early Fri morning and back Mon morning.

Krusty_Clown

roversrunner wrote: »

From an accuweather login I "acquired".

Hmm... The temperature is perfect, but I hope the wind doesn't get any stronger.
But at least it's East Northeast, which will push us home. Definitely in favour of some post-race rehydration.

I'm also Friday morning to Monday morning. Will probably go to the expo on Friday afternoon, to get it out of the way, and hoping to do the fun run on Saturday morning, but it's also a good chance to catch up on some missed sleep.

liamo123

anyone going out early saturday morning... Weather looks fine for 7th..it will make a nice change to what we've had since christmas.. hopefully our hard weather training will stand to us... i know im jumping forward but is anyone doing Berlin in September...

Krusty_Clown

My OH will kill me if I start planning the next marathon 12 days before I complete the previous one! The timing for Berlin is perfect though, and it's a brilliant race.
Connemara: April
Clare Burren marathon: May
Dublin: October
There's a Berlin shaped gap in the middle!

Krusty_Clown

By the way, a friend who lived in Barcelona was saying that the bars around Placa D'Espanya (start/finish) are very small, but if you head down Gran Via there are lots of bars. He recommended a place called the rather appropriately named George Payne. It's a large Irish bar around 1.5 miles away, but is only a stop or two on the red Metro line.

christeb

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

There's a GAPING Berlin shaped gap in the middle!

fyp

liamo123

my OH doesent know im doing berlin yet.. She'l be fine as she thinks im having a mid life crisis with all this running..at least im not having an affair!!! that pub looks the business kursty..

SharkTale

Nearly upon us the big day in Spain...are those who put down there names for this spring marathon late last year all still heading over. Is there anymore heading over who are not below?

The Rook
Sharktale Yes
RQ
cphowlin
decokel
Krusty_Clown
Clum
Amadeus (maybe)
Hot to Trot

Are we picking " The George Payne" as chosen by Krusty? and what time would be good time to meet up?

The Rook

The Rook Yep...hoping for a 4:15 for my first marathon ... fingers crossed !
Sharktale Yes
RQ
cphowlin
decokel
Krusty_Clown
Clum
Amadeus (maybe)
Hot to Trot

rovers_runner

The Rook Yep...hoping for a 4:15 for my first marathon ... fingers crossed !
Sharktale Yes
RQ
cphowlin
decokel
Krusty_Clown
Clum
Amadeus (maybe)
Hot to Trot
rovers_runner - Maybe (back in after rethink in mid Jan)

Clum

The Rook Yep...hoping for a 4:15 for my first marathon ... fingers crossed !
Sharktale Yes
RQ
cphowlin
decokel
Krusty_Clown
Clum - Yeah, looking for a 2.03.58 WR finish! (Probably wont happen though)
Amadeus (maybe)
Hot to Trot
rovers_runner - Maybe (back in after rethink in mid Jan)

Krusty_Clown

The Rook Yep...hoping for a 4:15 for my first marathon ... fingers crossed !
Sharktale Yes
RQ
cphowlin
decokel
Krusty_Clown - Needless to say, I'm there. I'm obsessively watching the weather forecasts, and eagerly awaiting a return to beer.
Clum - Yeah, looking for a 2.03.58 WR finish! (Probably wont happen though)
Amadeus (maybe)
Hot to Trot
rovers_runner - Maybe (back in after rethink in mid Jan)

cphowlin

The Rook Yep...hoping for a 4:15 for my first marathon ... fingers crossed !
Sharktale Yes
RQ
cphowlin - Yep im still in... please dont rain or be windy
decokel
Krusty_Clown - Needless to say, I'm there. I'm obsessively watching the weather forecasts, and eagerly awaiting a return to beer.
Clum - Yeah, looking for a 2.03.58 WR finish! (Probably wont happen though)
Amadeus (maybe)
Hot to Trot
rovers_runner - Maybe (back in after rethink in mid Jan)

RacoonQueen

The Rook Yep...hoping for a 4:15 for my first marathon ... fingers crossed !
Sharktale Yes
RQ - touch and go for me, could be a big fat no
cphowlin - Yep im still in... please dont rain or be windy
decokel
Krusty_Clown - Needless to say, I'm there. I'm obsessively watching the weather forecasts, and eagerly awaiting a return to beer.
Clum - Yeah, looking for a 2.03.58 WR finish! (Probably wont happen though)
Amadeus (maybe)
Hot to Trot
rovers_runner - Maybe (back in after rethink in mid Jan)

liamo123

im in too..

SharkTale

The Rook Yep...hoping for a 4:15 for my first marathon ... fingers crossed !
Sharktale Yes
RQ - touch and go for me, could be a big fat no
cphowlin - Yep im still in... please dont rain or be windy
decokel
Krusty_Clown - Needless to say, I'm there. I'm obsessively watching the weather forecasts, and eagerly awaiting a return to beer.
Clum - Yeah, looking for a 2.03.58 WR finish! (Probably wont happen though)
Amadeus (maybe)
Hot to Trot
rovers_runner - Maybe (back in after rethink in mid Jan)
liamo123 Yes.

rovers_runner

Complete u-turn on the weather forecast now.
Looking like showers from Friday to Sunday with strong winds forecast for the Sunday, don't mind the cool weather or rain but fingers crossed the winds don't happen.

Krusty_Clown

rovers_runner wrote: »

Complete u-turn on the weather forecast now.
Looking like showers from Friday to Sunday with strong winds forecast for the Sunday, don't mind the cool weather or rain but fingers crossed the winds don't happen.

Another complete U-turn. 12'C with winds of 4km/hour. I'd happily take that at this stage! Just goes to show, there's zero point in looking at weather forecasts +7 days in advance.

This time next week, the race will be tomorrow.