Barcelona marathon 2010

Krusty_Clown

Snow? Jesus... Thank god for all the snow training in January!

So who's up for a post-race beer hot cocoa in the George Payne?

If you want to 'pm me your mobile numbers, I can send a text if plans change (like the pub is closed!).

I'm travelling in the morning, and am planning to do the fun run on Saturday (I eat uphills and dis-repaired stadiums for breakfast). If we don't meet up, have a great race, and see you on the other side! Let the carb-loading begin.

rovers_runner

Best of luck Krusty, I'll be around the Rambla after the run but if I stumble across the George Payne I'll recognise the group of accents and say hello.

Look forward to your positive post race report

Seres

best of luck all in barcelona , KC no pressure but we are all expecting a class A preformance !

Krusty_Clown

Seres wrote: »

best of luck all in barcelona , KC no pressure but we are all expecting a class A preformance !

Does that mean i should find some class A drugs? Shouldn't be too hard in Barcelona, but i make no promises.

SharkTale

All set myself 4 miles this evening, and all the training comes to an end . Best of luck to all taking part.
Will head to The George Payne for a beer on Sunday evening if the snow is not too bad!!:eek:

liamo123

best of luck to all doing barcelona... no pressure Krusty but im expecting a sub 3 from u...ur the man!!!

with my carb drinks, powerbars, gels and if needed my nurofen plus i hope to be home about half an hour after u...

hopefully we will all meet up for drinks sunday night in the GP..

hot to trot

Is the meet up on sunday night rather than after the marathon then ? What time approx are we refreshing and rehydrating ( or dehydrating?) down in Georges?:D

Krusty_Clown

There's showers after the marathon (have you guys seen the start/finish maps?) so I figure I'll hang around for an hour or so (get my feet back) , and then stumble to the pub for a couple of hours. Quick kip + proper wash, and then back to the pub for more beer (I have a lot of calories to regain).

Reaganomical

Best of luck folks. Here's to you all hitting your targets

RacoonQueen

This is it boys and girls we're nearly there now. Disappointed I missed the taper but sure I'll be the most rested athlete on the start line on Sunday.

I'll recognise KC in t'pub so if you can't find the accents look for a small person in a black cap and you'll find us.

Is everyone heading to the expo on the Saturday?

The Rook

Yeah, get into Barca on Saturday morning and head down to the Expo at some stage .... not staying too far away from the area!

Slogger Jogger

Best wishes to the Barca mob. Enjoy it and it will happen.

Oisin11178

Good luck lads and ladies. Enjoy yourselves:)

rovers_runner

Just arrived. cloudy but nice and mild

hot to trot

I''ll be at the expo too on saturday - morning most likely . If you hear an Irish Accent and you see a limp, take a chance and say hello.
Best of luck to you all, and have a great experience.

hot to trot

Congratulations Krusty sub 2:56 WOW:D. Hope you are enjoying it today.
Racoon queen, Mind yourself . It was nice meeting on the bus to the plane. I actually saw you on the way out too but didnt know who you were then. will know next time.
Next time??:rolleyes:
Ummmm now theres a thing....

I thought this was brilliantly organised.. Must pop over to marathonguide.com and post a review. Now there is a very dangerous website to visit after a marathon. So many places...so little time...even less training. LOL:D

I managed to get the heel down the day before so I was able to run on it on the day thankfully, even though my calf was very tight from walking on my toes all week. Cough improved a good bit as well though it did put the system under a fair bit of pressure as well as running. My max heart rate is 194 and from mile 8 or so I had to stop to take walk breaks to try and keep it below what was starting to average at 185-191, and closer to the top end pretty much from mile 15 on.:(
Disbelief that I still made it in 4;30. The legs fulfilled their end of the bargain ( god bless my little stumps) after Seville. Now if I can get the heart rested up , who knows what/where next. Perhaps some proper training and sub 4 ... Now where is that spring marathons thread

MInor complaint but this race is emminently suitable for runners with no bladder , bowel or womb. There are no loos on the route.:eek:

RacoonQueen

hot to trot wrote: »

MInor complaint but this race is emminently suitable for runners with no bladder , bowel or womb. There are no loos on the route.:eek:

I'm sure I saw 3 around 40km. I could have been hallucinating by then, I had done a lot of walking and random thinking.

Well done, 2 marathons in 3 weeks is fantastic.

Clum

That was marathon number 7 for me and by far the most enjoyable. It was my 3rd time attempting sub 3 (3.02 and a blow-out 3.08 in previous attempts) and I nailed it with a few minutes to spare.

I trained hard, did lots of miles, lots of hard work and got the weight down where I wanted it. Even the head was focused properly. It's a fairly exciting city too with lots to do and see and that added to the build up.

The marathon itself was good. Expo was similar to Dublin in size, so was marathon entry field but there was a fair bit more to see on this route. Organisation was very good too. I've no complaints about this marathon at all, although it's not as flat as they make it out to be, there are plenty of long climbs. But plenty of big water stations with small bottles of water, powerade in paper cups (but in bottles at end of tables so was easy to grab one of them), sponge stations, entertainment stations, etc.

I felt comfortable all the way. I was running at 5 to 10 seconds per kilometer faster than planned from the gun and although I feared another blow out I didn't once feel over exerted. At half way I thought things were going too well and expected the worst thinking it was too good to be true. By 35k I still felt great and knew I was going to get sub 3. I was delighted at this stage. I thought about chasing 2.55 for NYC qualifying but then remembered what the mother (about 30 marathons to her name) text me the night before: enjoy yourself. I'd beaten myself up over slow results far too often so happy with the knowledge that my first sub 3 was in the bag, and I was trying hard enough as it was, I strode home with a smile on my face and really enjoyed this marathon finish.

A good marathon to do for anybody interested. Well done to all Boardsies who took part, hope you enjoyed the day too.

Krusty_Clown

Well done Clum. We were within a minute or two of each other.
Here's my very long winded race report.

hot to trot

Brill report Krusty..made me feel like I wish I was there.... and then I think , oops I was. Yours sounds so much more exciting than mine. Average heart rate of 152 . I am so jealous Normally my marathon heart rate averages 157-163ish until this one. I guess I wont have any more that have an average including walking breaks of 185

Clum , that was a brilliant performance and I am thrilled for you. May the pleasure last much longer than the pain.

I have to admit that I didnt notice any hills. I was expecting "the hill" back up from the beach/seafront to the finish area but I found myself back at the espanya before I realised that there wasnt one coming. Maybe I am just paranoid after Lisbon. Yeah , that must be it.

Racon Queen, I didn notice them at 40km. Its hardly worth stopping so close to home at that stage. Hope the have it sorted for next year. I have to make some serious redress after this one. I dont mind my finishing time - its the " didnt perform on the day" bit that sticks in my craw. Cough cough . Will have to do a clum on it next year.
Rite lads...qualification times are your next targets. We wnat full progress reports every 3 months

Oisin11178

When is the next marathon hot to trot?
Fairly racking them up now:)

Krusty_Clown

hot to trot wrote: »

...and then I think , oops I was... Yours sounds so much more exciting than mine.

Glad to see you're still typing and made it home in one piece. Not only did hot to trot run her second marathon in three weeks (sick as a parrot) she then flew home that evening, and later drove a couple of hundred miles home. Performance of the day (and night!). You must have been wrecked!

as for NY good for age qualification, I only have to wait another year and a half until I join masters, and I'll be able to take an extra 15 minutes tootling around the course and still qualify (that'd feel like cheating though ).

rovers_runner

Well done to all !
I was going grand for my target up to about 30k which is a direct result of deciding to take part in the second week of Jan and a lsr peak of about 15m
I'm only built to finish though and was happy to do so again taking time off my previous
best finish.


Did anyone else notice what seemed like a tribute to the Irish lad who died last year around by the back of the train station I think it was?
There was a tricolour and some traditional music on loudspeaker.

RacoonQueen

rovers_runner wrote: »

Did anyone else notice what seemed like a tribute to the Irish lad who died last year around by the back of the train station I think it was?
There was a tricolour and some traditional music on loudspeaker.

Yeah I saw that, some of his friends(the guys in the tricolour shirts were his friends I think?) were behind me as I passed and some of his family were standing on the side of the road.

Lots of Irish flags along the route, I acknowledged as many as I could by shouting "IRELAND" and throwing my arms in the air. The non-flag bearing Irish were the only ones who could pronounce my name and all sent encouragement too.

The Rook

Didn't see that tribute Rovers, but did see lots of Irish suport which was great!

For my first marathon my overall impressions were that I really really enjoyed it. There was only one place (Avda Diagonal) where I thought "Ah seriously come on folks, how long is this fricking road" and was delighted to get off that road!

My goal was to finish in 4:15 (with a secret goal of a possible sub 4) but in Km 33/34 my knee started playing up and my time per km was hit, and slowly but surely the 4 hour marker pacemaker reeled me in and passed me with about 3k to go (which was a pain in the ass but as my goal was to finish in 4:15 I knew I'd be able to do that I wasn't too worried!!)

I thought the atmosphere was cracking and while in some places support was a bit non existent, in other places there were SO many people cheering on it was brilliant! The end was amazing, turning in to the last straight and the and fountains going of left right & centre, a big palace in the background and crowds all over the place, it was class!!

So besides needing a new knee and needing a bit of recovery time for my right ankle it all went as planned!!! Finished in 4:03:50 which I was delighted with, and I've now a target to beat for Dublin in October!

Krusty_Clown

Well done Rovers_Runner.

Yes, I noticed it too. It was playing the Fields of Athenry as I went by, and it gave me a huge lift. I didn't make the connection with the poor fella from last year (Colin Dunne). He died five miles from the finish, so that would have been around the right spot. I believe there was a big Irish contingent of his friends and family running to mark the occasion. RIP.

hot to trot

Oh God ! I didnt realise what was going on there. the Wolfe tones or something was playing and there were two spanish looking people at the place and I let a roar "come on ireland". Oh NOT, GOOd not GOOD AT ALL.
Sorry Colin.

Well done the Rook. Brill time for a virgin effort.So glad your venture was a positive one. So where you going to chase the next high?;)


Rovers return . methinks you will return again too.A PB is a PB no matter what time you finish. Thats what I love about the marathon . doesnt matter if your goal is 5 hours or three hours. the challenge is against yourself and the gremlins and luck on the day. Sometimes I think that us down the back have more to be proud of cos we are out there struggling for far longer than the speedy ones up the top. Krusty was well tucking into his sandwiches and miwadi while we were still [unishing ourselves out there. Better to chip off a bit at a time ....gives us an excuse to come back again for another go at it:D

Oisin, have to get rid of this cough first.Trying very hard not to think about what is next. Have daughter doing the Junior cert so Cork would be cutting it tight so as not to abandon her at her hour of need. ON the other hand Imight be better giving her space and the house to herself??;)
Dont think I can wait til Dublin. MIght give the sub 4 a shot in Longford.Whats for you?


I promised myself I would do some proper training and see what I could manage but the desire to run around weird and wonderful places is so tempting.
If I make it to August my qualifying time for Boston is 4 hours. How sweet is that. Bet you young ones wish you were ould now too .

rovers_runner

hot to trot wrote: »

Oh God ! I didnt realise what was going on there. the Wolfe tones or something was playing and there were two spanish looking people at the place and I let a roar "come on ireland". Oh NOT, GOOd not GOOD AT ALL.
Sorry Colin.

Well done the Rook. Brill time for a virgin effort.So glad your venture was a positive one. So where you going to chase the next high?;)


Rovers return . methinks you will return again too.A PB is a PB no matter what time you finish. Thats what I love about the marathon . doesnt matter if your goal is 5 hours or three hours. the challenge is against yourself and the gremlins and luck on the day. Sometimes I think that us down the back have more to be proud of cos we are out there struggling for far longer than the speedy ones up the top. Krusty was well tucking into his sandwiches and miwadi while we were still [unishing ourselves out there. Better to chip off a bit at a time ....gives us an excuse to come back again for another go at it:D

Oisin, have to get rid of this cough first.Trying very hard not to think about what is next. Have daughter doing the Junior cert so Cork would be cutting it tight so as not to abandon her at her hour of need. ON the other hand Imight be better giving her space and the house to herself??;)
Dont think I can wait til Dublin. MIght give the sub 4 a shot in Longford.Whats for you?


I promised myself I would do some proper training and see what I could manage but the desire to run around weird and wonderful places is so tempting.
If I make it to August my qualifying time for Boston is 4 hours. How sweet is that. Bet you young ones wish you were ould now too .

Thanks hot_to_trot, am up to five marathons now so learning a bit each time, have taken bits and pieces off in that time while not going above 16m or so lsr, can't manage it as I keep having problems with my left glute/knee.
Have tried lots of exercises etc. to strenghten it but right leg is just a lot stronger.
Good thing as you said is that there is always room for improvement the more you gain experience.

I'll always keep doing them for enjoyment though, everyone around me on the road on Sunday wanted to be there regardless of talent/fitness/condition so it's a great place to be.

hot to trot

RR what have been your favourites so far and which did you least enjoy?
YOu should try from time to time to test the 16 miles. Maybe even by an extra half mile. Youd be surprised what your body will adjust to after a while. I used to have trouble with some trigger points in my gluts which gave pain down to knee and often to ankle. I have got on top of them now and have managed to keep myself painfree here for a good while.

Claire Davies book on trigger point therapy is highly recommended. It is for regular people rather than practtiioners/therapist for self treamtnet. No runner should be without it.

rovers_runner

hot to trot wrote: »

RR what have been your favourites so far and which did you least enjoy?
YOu should try from time to time to test the 16 miles. Maybe even by an extra half mile. Youd be surprised what your body will adjust to after a while. I used to have trouble with some trigger points in my gluts which gave pain down to knee and often to ankle. I have got on top of them now and have managed to keep myself painfree here for a good while.

Claire Davies book on trigger point therapy is highly recommended. It is for regular people rather than practtiioners/therapist for self treamtnet. No runner should be without it.

Well I've done Dublin twice, Barca twice and New York once, Barca definitely the best for the organisation and overall experience.
New York was great as it was so scenic and diverse, too many people though which causes problems like being left on a freezing island at 6am, 10-12k like Dub/Barcelona/Edinburgh are perfect sized fields IMHO.

The one time I went to a physio she did go into the trigger points so I'll look into this again, thanks for the book reference.