St Albans Striders Blog

The ALTERNATIVE View: Berlin Marathon 2011

2012-02-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

Words: Petra Grosse

Photos: Sylvia Herden

Berlin. Sunday. 25 September 2011. The MOMENT is upon me! After months of training,

(......possible overtraining......but who knows.....)

constant battles with my inner "couch potato" that would much rather watch Masterchef than plod the streets at 5 am

(....the milkman is remarkably attractive ........if I don't wear contact lenses......)

struggling to keep up with "Grim Jim" on his Tuesday evening runs 'with efforts" for those who want to....

(....and beliiiiiieve me ......I was NEVER one who wanted to make ANY effort.....)

The view from behind....

I am on my way to the start of the Berlin Marathon 2011.

With my personal photographer Sylvia in tow

(.....a dear old school friend.....who has witnessed me making A LOT of effort avoiding PE lessons at the tender age of 13.....so, needless to say, she was keen to see what I would do to get out of THIS ONE....)

we find ourselves at a Berlin U-Bahn station where I have my first panic attack!

I am CONVINCED I have forgotten SOMETHING!!!

Sylvia assures me I have EVERYTHING I need. She would have told me had I forgotten to put pants on.

(....even though she tells me, THAT would make a funnier photo.....)

So,........it's my race number? Definitely my race number!

No, the race number is in my bag and so are the Gummibears.

(....I NEVER travel without them.......never mind running without my beloved sticky friends.......they have helped me through rough times....back when I was 12 and struggling with acne or now, 30 years later....closer to menopause than puberty....)

Where are the Haribos??

It is a mere miracle that we make it to the start in time!

(....you don't want to be late for a German Marathon....they might not let you run it....Germans take it very personally if you are NOT on time....)

Strictly VERBOTEN!!!

While Sylvia leaves me to ponder on my non-existent race strategy,

(....and also because she isn't allowed to go any further.....it is strictly VERBOTEN.....)

I decide to make my way and attempt to WAIT semi-patiently for the race to start

(....I don't DO patience.....)

in the sub-4 hour “play”-pen.

(…..passing the time by treating myself to no less than 3 loo-breaks……you have to really…….the facilities are just too inviting....whether for nerves or just to enjoy the “aroma” of pre-race-“sweat”…..)

I very soon experience the warmth of pre-race bodies rubbing against each other in their silly orange Adidas-all-over “bin bags” that runners are given in exchange for their race bags

(….doesn’t anybody SHOWER any more before an important race ???....)

and opt to ignore the stern looking marshals reminding us of ORDER in the “play” pen.

(….hopeless…..half of the participants don't speak a word of German….and I decide to be "deaf"……)

As I nudge my way to the very front of the pen, I spot he sub-4-hour race group.

Two cheerful chaps

(….yes, both German….)

one dressed as a Scot in a cute check skirt, he must have borrowed from his girl-friend

(….admittedly....slightly odd…….)

the other dressed as “Joe Blogs”

(….aka, Wolfgang Müller….)

promise to get us over the finish line - come what may - in under 4 hours.

High on pre-race Gummibear consumption I decide to join them.

(….I have spotted a very agreeable looking bum hiding underneath that cute little skirt…..THAT alone will keep me “amused” for the next 26 miles……and maybe even ease the pain......)

The glaringly obvious....starting off too fast....

Not long after Paula and her pals are on their way to chase their own records and Olympic qualifying times, we are on our way, fighting our own battle with over-enthusiastic runners crowding the Avenue of the 17th June (Straße des 17. Juni) past the famous Siegessäule.

(....which brings an emotional tear to my eye....usually reserved for crossing the finish line.....)

"Wolfgang and the Scot" are full of beans and lots of silly jokes:

"Leute, laßt mich durch, ich bin Arzt!!"

(.....make way, I am a doctor.....)

In the end I don't manage to keep up with them.

I don't know whether it is the masses of runners selfishly forgetting that there are another 35,000 people in trainers chasing the same dream

(....crossing that line....in one piece....with limited amounts of blisters on their feet....)

or whether I am not quite fit enough to do a 9 min/mile race. So, after 3 miles I am "on my own".

(....mourning the fact......that I can't chase THAT BUM any more....)

My friend Sylvia spots me near the area of Alexanderplatz at around mile 6.

(.....I don't....I am "deaf" AND apparently "blind"....)

Reportedly, I look a mess and my friend doubts I will EVER make it to the finish line.

(....have faith dear friend....I am a tough cookie.....I have trained under the supervision of "Grim Jim" and Gladstone.....I CANNOT fail.....)

At mile 7, a Japanese chap wired up to his iPod and enormous headphones, presumably under the influence of Prosac

(....or he has eaten one too many Gummibears.....)

shouts at the top of his voice: "Keep going! Keep going!"

I want to remind him, that this is just over a quarter of the way, and maybe he should preserve his vocal energy for later in the race. However, Mr. Prosac flies past me deliriously happy, so I decide to watch out for him at, say, mile 17. Doubtlessly, he will have collapsed by then?

I decide that I am not going to make the sub-4-hour target on this occasion.

Instead I decide to enjoy myself.

(....I have 4:38:39 from New York in 2008 to beat.....surely, I can do THAT ......piece of "Kuchen".....)

Maybe just as well. I have another three quarters of the way to go, most of which through a part of Berlin that is rather colourless and grim

(....with street lines by Germans.....that by nature are not the most enthusiastic VOCAL supporters....)

More than once I have to battle with the locals who insisted that they could cross the street JUST in front of me

(....the race organisers obviously don't feel that barriers are necessary......presume they are NOT seasoned Marathon veterans then...)

Also, having enjoyed the "facilities" at the start so much, I decide to see whether they are just as "good" at mile 16.

(.....they are NOT!!!!!!........bad mistake......)

......something you ate.....too many Gummibears perhaps?

I don't know Berlin well, but I thought I know it well enough to estimate how many MORE corners I need to turn until I FINALLY make it to "Unter den Linden" knowing that the Brandenburg Gate is lurking somewhere in the distance.

(.....still about 1 kilometre away.....the LONGEST 1000 metres of my life........)

Now, HE is clearly struggling....

With the famous landmark in my view, my spirits lift and I cannot BELIEVE I am actually about to run underneath "das Tor" that was hiding behind The Wall for decades and the regime it stood for and I spend my childhood in fear of.

I expect to cry

(.....emotional drama queen that I am....)

but I don't.

Instead, I laugh my way happily to the FINISH LINE!

(....official video footage proves later, that I am pretty much the only maniac waving to the puzzled crowds lining the last 200 metres.....)

STILL......

......I am NOT happy!!!!!

I have burned a good 2600 calories and my muffin top is still visible!

.....well, she IS German....they have NO shame....

....so if you can't beat the flipping flabby thing....

.....and drink a lot....

....you might as well feed it.....

...a bunch of hooligans....

....and laugh with your friends about it!!! :-)

.....Brandenburg Gate Drama.....

....with NO sense of humour..

Prologue:

I beat my previous PB by 24 minutes rolling over the Berlin finish line in 4:14:17.

I thought that that breaking 4 hours would make me "happy" and not reaching my dream target that I have trained for a good 9 months would make me miserable.

It didn't!!!

Being in a place doing what I enjoy doing,

(....in a cruel sort of way.....especially when my piriformis muscle is a right pain in the BUM......)

accompanied by my friends and family supporting and "humouring" me on my personal little journey to run a marathon in Berlin.....

.......THAT made me REALLY happy! :-)

(....something to think about....next time you chase after a "good time".....)

.....and REMEMBER....
.....just don't mention THE WAR!!!

Found on the WEB.....

2012-02-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

A new feature on the Blog.

How many times do you come across an article and think "Oh, I wonder whether this might be of interest to....."

Well, think no longer, but send an email with the link to me. I will put it on the Blog to share with everyone and possibly start a discussion?

The two links below were found by Mike Jubb on http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/

Does Winter Running Burn More Calories

The 10 Biggest Sports Nutrition Myths

Any weird and wonderful stories about running and such like, please email to newsletter@stalbansstriders.com

Many thanks
Petra :-)

Jack Brooks: MANY Marathon(s) Man: July to December 2011

2012-02-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

Fairlands Valley Challenge Trail Marathon: 17^thJuly 2011:

Eight of us from the Striders ran round the 26.2 mileChallenge course. Luke, Gladstone and Katie were there for the 2^ndyear and Abby, Judith, Linda and Petra were also prepared to trust mydirectional skills. We were also joined along the way by several waifs andstrays who found themselves directionally challenged at various parts of thecourse. Hopefully everybody enjoyed themselves and I was grateful for thecompany. My time was 5:42:44.

Thames Meander: 20^th August 2011:

This out and back course started in Kingston-upon-Thames andafter running through Richmond Park we followed the footpath along the Thamespast Kew Gardens for about 10 miles to a turnaround point on Putney Bridge andthen returned the same way. It was a revelation to find such a pleasant routeamongst the urban sprawl around London. My time was 4:22:29.

Gin Pit Trail Marathon, Greater Manchester: 29^thAugust 2011:

This was a small 6 lap marathon starting from the MinersWelfare Club, Gin Pit Village, Tyldesley. Needless to say, where there has beencoal there will usually be a large slag heap and the organisers determined thateach lap should go over the top of this. In spite of ran and mud this was awell organised and friendly event, which I finished in 4:06:10.

Dingle Marathon: 3^rd September 2011:

The marathon route was undulating, but the scenery aroundthe Dingle Peninsula is so spectacular that it didn’t matter. I crossed theline in 4:01:46 and headed towards a pub.

Robin Hood Half Marathon: 11^th September 2011:

Fortunately when my knee locked up at 12.5 miles I had theoption of dropping out of the marathon and just running the half, which Icompleted in 1:58:37.

Farnham Pilgrim Trail Marathon: 18^th September2011:

There were some substantial hills on this course, but thescenery made up for this. It was good to see some other Striders in attendance.My time was 4:36:41.

New Forest Marathon: 25^th September 2011:

The organisers seem to have slipped in some extra hills andan additional off-road section since I last ran this race. I really struggledto get round and finished in 4:17:34.

Jersey Marathon: 2^nd October 2011:

I chose to go to Jersey as it was to be Paul Richards’ (akaBig Dingle) 100^th marathon. The race starts in St Helier and headsinland along quiet lanes. After a long section by the airport one heads Southto St Brelade. After a 3mile gentle well-shaded downhill section along an oldrailway line the last 3 miles are along the sea front. The temperature was inthe high twenties, but I was surprised to find how pretty Jersey is and theheat didn’t bother me too much. I ran the first 18 miles with Paul and finishedin 4:14:22. Given the conditions and some big hills in the first half I waspleased with my time and more than ready to join Paul for his post-racecelebrations.

Liverpool Marathon: 9^th October 2011:

Unfortunately for the organisers they had to delay the startfor over 40 minutes because of an accident on the course. The first halfthrough Birkenhead and along New Brighton was fairly flat. At about 11.5 mileswe entered the Queensway Tunnel. The first mile was fairly easy going, but theascent out of the tunnel was challenging and the second half was much hillierthan the first. In addition the 6 miles through Sefton Park and Princes Parkseemed to go on forever. For the last 2 miles we were running into a strongheadwind and heavy rain. My time was 4:08:43.

Santa Barbara Marathon and Malibu Marathon: 12^thand 13^th November 2012:

I was originally planning to run 3 marathons while out inCalifornia, but due to a calf muscle injury I decided not to run the SantaClarita Marathon. I was nervous about running the following weekend, but giventhat I’d already shelled out a large entry fee for both races I decided I’d tryout the Galloway marathon plan by taking a 15 second walk break after eachmile. This worked well for the Santa Barbara race where I was able to prettymuch keep up with the 4:15 pace group up to around 20 miles. After that I sufferedfrom not having run since just after Liverpool Marathon and slowed down tofinish in 4:35:17. I suffered more in the Malibu race as the heat and hillstook their toll in the second half and I finished that in 4:51:53. The bigrelief for me was that miraculously I hadn’t made my injury worse. Even so Itook the rest of 2011 fairly cautiously although I did run 2 trail marathons inStratford upon Avon over the weekend of 10^th and 11^thDecember.

Call for Blog postings

2012-01-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

It appears that our blog is rather devoid of:

- amusing stories, (....we all want to know if you have fallen into the mud at a cross country race....)

- race reports (....and whom you have overtaken ....who subsequently fell into the mud because of it....)
- training advice (....how to avoid mud in general....)

- recipies and nutrition advice (...how to made a chocolate mud pie...and EAT IT without any guilt....)

- marshalling etiquette (....how to stay calm during a race....so not to push somebody into the mud....)

- good housekeeping (....how to get mud off spikes....with a toothbrush?)

Any other inspiring stories springing to mind, please email me on newsletter@stalbansstriders.com.

Many thanks

Petra

Pheidippedes: True Story?

2012-01-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

By Jack Brooks

It is a little known fact that there were actually 2 runners sent off on the 24 mile journey from Marathon to Athens in 490 BC to deliver word of victory to those in the ruling chamber in Athens.

The second runner was named Opportunistes and had his story come to light earlier the marathon distance could have been established well before 2008.

Now, Opportunistes was one of those runners who is habitually harping on about injuries and prior to the battle of Marathon he had ensured that all of his fellow runners were aware that he was having problems with his left calf.

Nevertheless, when volunteers were called for to deliver the news to Athens that the Persians had been decisively trounced Opportunistes was the first to put his name forward. In the end it was decided that 2 messengers would be despatched and Pheidippedes and Opportunistes set off together.

It was probably sometime during the first few miles that Opportunistes suggested that they should add some spice to the journey by making it into a race and having a side-bet on the result. Having heard the rumours that Opportunistes had been suffering with calf problems an over-confident Pheidippedes wagered his only villa against Opportunistes’ villa. Once they had shaken hands on this proposal Opportunistes suddenly picked up his pace. Pheidippedes continued on at a steady pace confident that his opponent’s injuries would soon catch up with him.

It was with some surprise that Pheidippedes arrived at the ruling chamber to discover that Opportunistes had already been there over an hour earlier, had delivered his message about the battle and left a message for Pheidippedes to say he was jogging on to Xerxes’ café where he would be drawing up the paperwork for a major property transfer and would like to see him there as soon as possible.

It is at times like these that one’s thought processes tend to crystallise and it now became evident to Pheidippedes that his opponent had never really sustained a calf injury, that he had been comprehensively duped and that he was about to lose his property.

It has been widely reported that Pheidippedes entered the ruling chamber, uttered the words “We have won” and then died from exhaustion. However, his final words were actually “He has won” after which he suffered from a major heart attack and died on the spot.

Funnily enough, the distance from the ruling chamber to Xerxes’ café was exactly 2 miles and 385 yards. Unfortunately, historians have only been able to ratify the true facts in recent months. Otherwise the full distance run by Opportunistes of 26 miles and 385 yards might well have been adopted from 490 BC as being the standard marathon distance.

Final blog: The Get Started Park Run

2011-10-24T14:03:00.001-07:00

By Kate Webb

With apologies to Frank Sinatra.......
And now, the end is near, and so I face the final Park Run
The bin, was our start line, and off we ran, into the bright sun
We’ve done Get Started now, we’ve travelled round St Albans’ highways
And now, just look at us, we’ve done a 5K

Blisters? I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention
We did what we had to do, and saw it through, with some exhaustion
Week 1 around the lake, then up some hills, and roads, and by ways
And now, here in the park, we’ve done a 5K!

Yes, there were times, today I saw, that dogs and ducks were running faster,
But through it all, with marshalls’ cheers, I buckled down and faced my fears,
We lapped the lake, ran to the end, and did a 5K.

We’ve jogged, warmed up and stretched, with Becky’s help, and tips from Helen
And now, while warming down, I have hopes for the next park run
To think, six weeks ago, I wouldn’t run, not in a fast way -
But now, in Autumn’s sun, we’ve done a 5K!

Massive thanks to Helen, Becky and all the Striders who’ve made the Get Started course so enjoyable. And for making sure it never rained!

See you Tuesday.
Kate

Week 5: There’s strength in numbers

2011-10-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

By Kate Webb

So we are entering the home straight which means I can look back to where I started and reflect on what I now know, such as:

#1 – there are lots of runners in St Albans. Not news to the Striders maybe, but I’ve not really noticed before. Whenever I’ve been out I’ve always seen someone else running.

#2 - you need never do the same route twice. This is especially good if you get bored quickly, which I do.

#3 – I really don’t like running on my own. I’ve tried it and it’s just not as good as running with others.

Heading out at weekends, with my supportive husband for company, has been good. But when I’ve gone out on my own, I’ve found it much more difficult. I really value the chance to run as part of a bigger group on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I’ve found that numbers are helpful in other ways. For instance there’s running time – for the Green Team week 1 meant 5 minutes, while week 5 saw us run over half an hour. We can look at it in terms of miles covered too, though to be honest, here the records are less accurate. Garmins are still on our wish lists. But we are running further, definitely.

Having built up these stats I feel that there's still room to improve, and the end of next week promises more numbers, with an answer to the all important question: ‘What pace you do you run at?’

A few weeks ago when I was asked this, the best answer I could give was a shrug of my shoulders and a bit of a demonstration! Being able to answer confidently will give me something to build on in the future – for me, there’s definitely strength in numbers.

Intervals

2011-10-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

By Kate Webb

9 October

Week four and I had to skip a session. I missed running, tea and cake on Tuesday as I had tickets for a play. I made up for it with butterscotch ice cream in the interval.

Intervals can mean different things in different circumstances. For me, until Get Started, the interval only happened at the theatre. It meant queuing for the loo or trying (usually in vain) for mobile reception to get an update on a ‘very important’ football match or something similar.

Over the last few weeks, intervals have been different. There’s been less ice cream for a start. The gentle and considered Green Team intro to running Striders-style has majored on intervals: run, (power) walk, run, (power) walk, repeat, until you’re back at the track for a warm down.

And then, in Thursday’s session, there was no interval.

Now, at the theatre in my experience ‘no interval’ isn’t always a good sign, for at least two reasons. First, there’s no chance to spend too much money on a small tub of ice cream. Second, there has been the odd occasion when I suspected that it was simply a way of stopping me walking out of a bad play.

‘No interval’ at Striders means something else entirely: we keep on running. On paper, given our sessions so far, this was a big step. The intervals were always a chance to catch up and get your breath back.

I suppose I knew this day would come, but the week 1 butterflies made a short reappearance as I wondered through the warm-up whether I’d manage to make it through to the end without stopping.

But to my amazement, ‘no interval’ didn’t leave me in an exhausted heap, and I coped. Okay, so we observed the Green Cross Code all the way round, and from time to time we jogged at a traffic light, but by the time we got back to the track we’d clocked up nearly 32 mins! It’s been years since I managed that and I was very chuffed as I made my way home.

Would it have been right to celebrate with an ice cream? Probably not. I’ll save that for another time, maybe after the 5k in a couple of weeks time.

Lucy Waterlow: Give Cross Country a go!

2011-10-09T03:07:00.000-07:00

If you think running is all about pounding the pavements or circling the track, then think again. You could improve your endurance, competitive spirit and enjoy a run in the great outdoors, by taking up cross county. And lucky for you, St Albans Striders compete in a plethora of off-road events between October and March.

Many people think cross country is not for them if they are targeting a road race like a marathon but this doesn’t have to be the case. There are countless examples of top athletes who incorporate cross country racing into their training regime. To name but a few, top athletes like Seb Coe and Paula Radcliffe grew up taking part in cross country events, while Mo Farah competed in them at the start of the year before taking World Champ 5k gold in the summer.

It works for them, and it can work for you, because running off road improves your stamina and endurance, making you a stronger runner when you return to the road. This is because the uneven surface under foot and the up and down hill sections makes your muscles work harder improving your muscle strength and core stability. Running on a softer surface also makes you less likely to get injured as it gives your body a break from the impact of pounding hard surfaces like the road and track.

As well as the physical benefits, cross country racing is also good for your mind. No course is the same which means you can never get bored or feel like you’re running the same old route around the block. From running through woodland to skirting farmers’ fields and going through pretty parkland, the scenery certainly beats most road races. It’s also an event where you can truly experience the childlike joy of running – pace per mile and kilometre splits are all irrelevant here - it’s just about running as fast as you can and beating as many people as possible in the process. While you can’t track your progress in terms of a pb time, you can still measure your success by how your position compares throughout the league races or year-on-year in events like The National.

If you are new to running or don’t consider yourself to be speedy, there’s no reason to dismiss cross country. It’s suitable for all abilities and ages. And if you finish outside the top 50, 100, or 200, your contribution still counts. Just like the Mid Week Road Race League, the cross country competitions we compete in are team events. The first to the last scorer all make a difference to where the team finishes.

So if I’ve convinced you to give it ago, these are some of the races the Striders will be competing in this season and what you can do to join in…

THE LONDON CITY RUNNER MET LEAGUE: Comprises clubs from Herts, Essex and Middlesex. Women run approx 6k (start time 13.55) and men 8k (start time 14.35). It’s for all abilities from elite athletes to beginners and snooker champ Ronnie O’Sullivan has even been known to take part.

When:

· Claybury,Saturday 8 October 2011

· Stevenage,Saturday 12 November 2011

· Ruislip,Saturday 17 December 2011

· Trent Park,Saturday 14 January 2012

· Horsenden Hill,Saturday 11 February 2012

What to do: Turn up on the day (details of times and venues will appear on the message board, at club announcements and via email), collect a number from captains (Ed Blake for the men and myself for the women), run!, hand your finishing position ticket to captain, go home and eat well-deserved cake!

For more details visit:www.metleague.co.uk

THE CHILTERN LEAGUE: Comprises clubs from the North West Home Counties. Unfortunately all but one of the dates clash with the Met League this year. Currently the Striders’ priority is getting teams out in the Met League but we also take part in the Chiltern League to give people greater opportunity to race over cross country. This friendly league is suitable for all abilities and particularly appealing to club members with sporty children as St Albans AC compete in it.Approx 6k for women and 8k for men.
When:

· Luton, Saturday 8 October 2011

· Watford, Saturday 12 November 2011

· St Albans, Saturday 3 December 2011

· Slough, Saturday 14 January 2012

· Wing, Saturday 11 February 2012

What to do: As with the Met League but see Deborah Steer who will be there with the St Albans AC squad for numbers. She will post details of each event on the message board beforehand so, if you can, let her know if you are attending so she can look out for you.

For more details visit: www.chilternccl.co.uk

THE SUNDAY CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE: Slightly lower key and not as high standard competition as the Met and Chiltern League so a good introduction if you have never done cross country before. Clubs from the local area take part with men and women competing in the same race which is approx 5 miles.Suitable for all abilities. If you take part in four or more races you will be in with a chance of winning an individual age group prize at the end of the league. Individual trophies are awarded as follows: Senior Men, M40, and M50 - first five places. M60 - first three, M70 - winner.Senior Women, W35, and W45 - firstfive places. W55 – first three, W65 – winner. All races start at 10.30am.

When:

· Broxbourne, 23 October 2011

· Trent Park, 20 November 2011

· Watford, 11 December 2011

· Digswell/Tewin, 15 January 2012

· Royston, 19 February 2012

What to do: As the Met League except you don’t need to wear a number.

For more details visit:www.runherts.com for results. The Watford Joggers website www.watfordjoggers.org.uk/sundayleague.phpalso has some good information on the courses but please note at the time of writing, the site hadn’t been updated to say that this year all races will start at 10.30am, not 11am.

HERTS COUNTY CROSS COUNTRY: Individual and county medals up for grabs here and the chance to qualify to represent Herts in future races.Approx 8k for women and 12k for men.

When: Stevenage, Sunday 8 January 2012

What to do: You must have been born in Herts or have been a resident in the county for at least nine months prior to the race to compete. Captains have to enter teams in advance so look out for details on the message board or via email. On the day, collect your number from captains.

For more details visit: www.hertscaaa.org.uk

SOUTHERN CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS: Regional event made up of clubs from the south of England.Approx 8k for women and 15k for men.

When:Stanmer Park, Brighton, Saturday 28 January 2012

What to do: Open to all club members of all abilities but you must be pre-entered by captains.

For more details visit: www.seaa.org.uk

THE NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS: Prestigious and historic event which clubs across England take part in.Approx 8k for women and 12k for men.

When: Parliament Hill, London, Saturday 25 February 2012

What to do: Open to all club members of all abilities but you must be pre-entered by captains.

For more details visit:www.englishcrosscountry.co.uk

There will also be some Vets only cross country races (age 35 and over for women and age 40 and over for men) across the season including the Southern Masters Champs on Saturday 10 December 2011 in Croydon which you must be pre-entered in by the captains. The County Vet Champswill take place on Sunday 18 March 2012 but further details on venue etc is still to be confirmed by the organisers.

We also take part in various cross country relays which are good fun - see the message board or keep your eyes peeled for relevant emails!

All these events are completely FREE so it's a much more economical way to compete and keep fit over the winter.

Finally, here’s a list of essentials you will need for cross country racing…

Striders vest:You must compete in a club vest for all the above events.

Layers: Wrap up warm with hats, gloves and a waterproof jacket before and after the race. Some courses can be exposed to the elements and races will go ahead come wind, rain or shine (just one thwarted by snow last year and that was due to safety fears over people travelling and parking at the venue).

Shoes:Some courses early in the season will be suitable for trainers, but
as the weather gets wetter and ground gets muddier, trail shoes or spikes are
essential. If you only plan to buy one or the other, trail shoes are more flexible as they give good grip in muddy sections but are more comfortable on courses which include harder surfaces such as gravel. However, cross country spikes can be bought cheaply (around £30) so are well worth having in addition to trail shoes as they give better grip on courses which are entirely grass/mud. Invest in some different length spike pins to insert in them so you can adapt the spike length according to the course (12-15mmbest for very muddy courses like Parliament Hill).

Pins: For attaching your number.

Change of socks: The socks you run in might get wet and there’s nothing worse than travelling home with stinky, damp feet!

Wet wipes:Great for wiping all that mud off your legs (and arms and face!). Don’t worry about getting muddy, it’s all part of the fun and it all comes out in the wash!

If you have any further questions about cross country running or want to find out more, contact xc men’s captain Ed Blake at men@stalbansstriders.com or women’s xc captain Lucy Waterlow at ladies@stalbansstriders.com

Jack Brooks: MANY Marathon(s) Man: January to June 2011

2011-10-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

100 Marathon Club AGM Handicap Marathon, Bromley: 9th January 2011:

This was the 2^nd time I’d run this 5 lap part road and part off-road marathon. Having done no running over the Christmas period due to the snow it was hard work getting my legs moving and I was content to finish in 4:18:50

Fairlands Valley Winter Challenge Trail Marathon: 16^th January 2011:

It was cold, damp and muddy. Furthermore I was too busy talking to someone at a critical turning point and we’d gone a mile before we realised that we’d gone wrong. By the time we’d retraced our steps a good many people had passed us. I eventually trailed in, 19^th out of 44 in a time of 5:33:24. Still, everybody tells me that time on your feet is beneficial!

Gloucester Marathon : 23^rd January 2011:

The last time I ran this was in 2007 and my time was 3:52:42. The start and finish have changed, but the 3 main laps appeared to be the same. I couldn’t remember how hilly the course was, but my friend Gary Wade advised Sally Onn and me that there was only one real hill per lap. Curious, as I counted 5 each lap and they were all considerably harder to ascend on the third lap than they had been on the first. I hope that this wasn’t a contributing factor to Sally having a hard race as it may have led to her setting off faster than she otherwise would have. She still finished 2^nd lady in a very creditable 3:13:04 and 38^th overall, with this vet 55 member of the club trailing in 191^st out of 344 in 3:53:58.

Watford Half Marathon: 5^th February 2011:

Whilst my timing chip didn’t work I struggled round in 1:47:21. Once again it was good to see so many familiar faces around the course.

Richmond Park Trail Marathon: 12^th February 2011:

This was a small marathon comprising just under 4 laps of Richmond Park. For some reason my legs gave up on me at around mile 22 and I struggled for the last 4 miles.

The Punchbowl 30 Mile Trail Race: 13^th February 2011:

I awoke to the realisation that the heavens had opened and it was blowing a gale. This wasn’t a good time to discover that I’d forgotten to pack a waterproof jacket and trail shoes. I spent the first 25 miles slithering over the mud and then wading through a 400 yard long swamp. By this time I was soaking wet and the wind along the ridges was making life distinctly uncomfortable. In addition my route description instructions had become so wet and torn that they were indecipherable and I had to resort to following one of the other runners to the finish. I was extremely grateful for the hot cup of tea awaiting me at the race headquarters.

Limassol Marathon, Cyprus: 20^th February 2011:

Naively I though that February weather in Cyprus might be better than the constant rain and cold we had been experiencing in the UK, but race day started with torrential rain and the sort of winds that you have to fight your way through. At least I didn’t suffer as the Kenyans did when the lead car took them 2 kilometres past the point where they were meant to turn, but I didn’t have a good race and finished in 4:03:15, 90^th out of 205.

Steyning Stinger Trail Marathon: 6^th March 2011:

This is a trail marathon with a marked route. It has a reputation for being very muddy and hilly, but this year at least we escaped the worst of the mud and I finished in 4:39:51.

Bedford Clanger Trail Marathon: 13^th March 2011:

Apparently a Bedford Clanger is a pie with sausage at one end and apple at the other end. The course was flat and the route description was excellent. Naturally there were Bedford Clangers available at the finish for competitors to sample. I had a leisurely run with friends taking 5:16:40.

Cotswold Marathon: 20^th March 2011:

This is a 3 lap road marathon and there is one hill that is tough on the first lap and murderous on the third lap.

I had volunteered to take a blind runner round and after the first lap I started to wonder whether we’d beat the five hour cut-off time. Furthermore, I was so busy making sure that there were no obstacles in Paul’s way that I managed a spectacular fall myself over an uneven area of road. We actually crossed the line in 4:52:44 and there were still a fair number of runners behind us.

Waltham Forest Half Marathon: 27^th March 2011: Almost from the start I was in excruciating pain where I’d hit my rib on the previous week’s fall. However, I soon became distracted as I had to apply all my concentration to not getting hit by cars or buses. I can honestly say that out of all the races I have ever done this was the most poorly marshalled and dangerous race by far. I finished in 1:49:17 grateful to still be alive.

The Great Welsh Marathon, Llanelli: 10^th April 2011:

Who would have expected such a scorching hot day so early in April? This marathon is set within the Millennium Coastal Park and is traffic free, fairly flat and very well organised. It is also a good race for supporters as runners pass the start point on 3 occasions during the race. I was not in quite as much pain for this run, but could have done without it being quite so warm. My time was 4:03:26.

Limerick Marathon: 1^st May 2011 and Belfast Marathon: 2^nd May 2011:

I thought that Limerick Marathon was flat and fast, but Frank Dalton assures me that there were hills. Frank and I ran together up to about 20 miles. I eventually finished in 3:44:00 and Frank knocked over half an hour off his PB finishing in 3:56:09. As soon as we finished it was time to jump in the car and hurtle towards Belfast for their marathon the next day. I’ve never found Belfast to be an easy course and on tired legs I only managed 4:19:00.

Sheffield Half Marathon: 8^th May 2011: I like this race, but only managed a mediocre run finishing in 1:48:42. Jill Jubb finished some way ahead of me.

Windermere Marathon: 22^nd May 2011:

We had hail and rain prior to the race start, but the main impediments on this race were the wind and the hills. I did not feel particularly comfortable right from the start. I overtook Caroline Bailes at about halfway, but she soon came back past me and finished in 3:49:37. I was just happy to finish. My time was 4:02:32.

Kissing Trees Marathon, Stratford-upon-Avon: 11^th June 2011:

This was a low-key trail marathon. I ran round with some friends just enjoying the scenery.

Vancouver Marathon, Washington, USA: 19^th June 2011:

I flew out on the Friday, got the airport shuttle to my hotel and then met up with friends from Seattle. Vancouver is a pleasant little town nestled on the North bank of the Columbia river. It is also where the Hudson Bay Company was founded. The race went out through pleasant countryside with the last few miles following the river back into town and going past Fort Vancouver. There were a couple of sharp climbs, but generally the route was fairly flat. I finished comfortably in 3:50:56. The following day I’d arranged to meet up with a friend from North Carolina and we set off to tour the sights of Oregon. After visiting Seaside, Eugene and Crater Lake we arrived at our hotel in Bend ready to register for our next race.

Pacific Crest Marathon, Sunriver, Oregon: 25^th June 2011: Sunriver is a pretty holiday resort at 4,200ft altitude. Their marathon comprises 2 laps following a well- paved path, which runs through the woods and fields that surround the resort. By the start of the second lap I was feeling the altitude and had to dig deep to finish in 3:57:34. Nevertheless, the route was extremely picturesque and all the other competitors were extremely friendly, so I really enjoyed the race. The following day we drove back along the Columbia Gorge back to Portland Airport and regrettably it was then time to head home.

Jack Brooks

Halfway Point

2011-10-04T02:07:00.001-07:00

By Kate Webb

3 October

Strictly’s back and we’re getting to the business end of X-Factor, which can only mean one thing: it’s time for the ‘Get Started’ half term report.

So where have we got to? Six Striders’ sessions completed and three pieces of weekend ‘homework‘ done. New bits of kit have been purchased, more miles have been covered, new routes found, and the pace is slowly but surely building up.

Progress can be difficult to judge when you are starting from scratch, but the continuing encouragement from Becky, Helen and the other Striders suggests we are getting better at this, and I have noticed that the sessions are slowly but surely getting easier.

It’s even enjoyable in places, running off the stresses of the day! Although I’ve lost two name badges to the streets of St Albans (and had my car broken into) I get to the end of a session wishing that there was time for another interval or two.

We've got three weeks to go, and something that began – for me - as a bit of a personal gamble is now a more of a guilty pleasure (not unlike Strictly in our house). As this stage, it is tempting to start looking beyond the twelfth session. I’m trying to work out how I will keep this up, finding time to run at weekends, and looking out for route ideas on walkjogrun and such like.

This isn’t what usually happens when I exercise, but then firing up the barbeque in balmy October while Brucie introduces another Waltzing celebrity isn’t usual either.

Comfort Zones

2011-09-26T12:26:00.001-07:00

By Kate Webb

26 September

So we came back for more. Tuesday night, sun setting, and Green Team assembling by the club house sporting a variety of fluorescent kit. Longer intervals this week, but that wasn’t the main difference. There were other comfort zones to break out of.

On reflection, having spent week 1 jogging round the lake, I see that the park gives a lovely sense of security. It’s quiet, it’s sheltered, and most of the time it’s flat. But Get Started is about more than running in big circles with only ducks for company, so prompted by earlier sunsets and the descending darkness, week 2 saw the new Striders striding out into wider St Albans.

It’s now becoming clear that this course is about more than putting one foot in front of the other at a reasonable pace. It’s about running while negotiating the real world in all its glory, and in St Albans this means, in no particular order, cobbles, hills, headwinds, traffic lights, hills, other people, hills, wheelie bins and cars. Oh, and hills.

And that’s where the real benefit of running in a group starts to pay off, as we shout back and forth about the upcoming hazards, and encourage each other up Abbey Mill Lane and Mount Pleasant.

Turns out that for all the pain, anguish, heavy breathing caused by running up a slope, there is a tremendous sense of speed (and achievement) to be gained from trotting down Holywell Hill back towards the park. (For now we’ll ignore the teenagers effortlessly going in the other direction.....give us time.)

No doubt there will be more comfort zones that will be shattered along the way, but so far so good. Wonder where next week will take us?

Getting started

2011-09-22T05:04:00.001-07:00

By Kate Webb

19 September

In spite of what the song, says, I’ve always had more trouble with Tuesdays than Mondays. Mondays seem to come with some in-built momentum and energy, whereas Tuesdays simply remind you that there’s an awful lot to get through before the weekend comes around.

Given this, you’d have got very long odds at the start of the summer on the chances of me standing, on a Tuesday evening in September, neck to ankle in lycra, alongside the athletics track in Verulamium Park. Long odds not just because of my natural antipathy towards Tuesdays, but also because of my chequered history with trying to keep fit. I have, over the years, developed a finely tuned ability to talk myself out of any sustained attempt to exercise. While I’ve been able to see exactly how successful and rewarding gyms or spin classes, running or triathlons could be for friends and family, I’ve never been able to maintain any reasonable effort for myself. It’s always been too expensive, too inconvenient, or offered the unwelcome prospect of embarrassment or discomfort.

So what changed?
With the benefit of hindsight, it was a combination of things that led me to dust off the running leggings and check the elastic hadn’t perished. There was a latent sense that I should really do something to combat the commuting and office-based work life that occupies most of my week.

There was the triple pincer movement of the announcement of the Get Started course – via twitter, email and facebook – so I couldn’t reasonably say I hadn’t seen it. Then there’s the cost - £12.50 for 12 sessions over six weeks and ongoing annual membership of the club which seemed to appeal to my Yorkshirewoman’s need for value for money. What’s more the Striders promised support from friendly coaches, no matter what level, which sounded right up my street and certainly worth a try.

And then there were the welcoming and supportive emails from the Get Started team at the club who made it all seem very straightforward and easy.

So there I was, nervously shifting from one foot to the other, as the sun set on one of the better days we’ve had recently alongside 40 other new recruits.

First step – the warm-up. I have a sneaking suspicion that alongside a plan to get people running confidently there’s also a plan to enter a team in a synchronised formation warm up event (perhaps a spin-off of the 2012 Olympics). If so, there’s still work to be done here, but under Helen’s helpful guidance, and with some willing demonstrators, we soon had our pulse rate up and were feeling nicely warm.

Then we split into our teams, organised by ability and led by Becky and marshalled by fully fledged Striders. I’d been assigned to the green team (green as in beginners, rather than suggestive of any speed). Fine by me – that’s exactly where I needed to be. And off we went, setting our own pace, with coaching tips as we went – 5 mins running, 2 mins walking – while the sun set and the wildlife on the lake watched on.

And, much to my surprise, it wasn’t so bad. At times it was verging on enjoyable! So much so that I came back for more two days later, having found myself in a strange place (for me) of looking forward to it while at work during the day. The same pattern of warm-up, running, and warm down, accompanied by talk of day-glo tabards and building up towards doing a 5K (one day).

Okay, so it’s only the end of week one, and there may be a bit of beginner’s euphoria as I type, but I’ve got a sense that something might have clicked and that in launching Get Started the Striders may have struck on a winning combination of friendly, supportive and practical exercise – at least a combination that can work for me.

In spite of discovering muscles I never knew I owned, I managed another short run over the weekend (note to self – try without the slight hangover next time), and now I am really looking forward to what might come next. You’d have got even longer odds against that back in July.

Of course, the danger through all of this is that I start to like Tuesdays and take against Mondays instead, but I’m too focused on getting myself some reflective kit to worry too much about that right now.

RACE REPORT: Third 2011 MWRRL Fixture – Welwyn Garden City: 7 June 2011

2011-06-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

The St. Albans Striders showed their class on Tuesday night in a dominant display at the third fixture of the Herts & Essex Midweek Road Race League, division one. The series of 10k runs pits the top clubs in the region against one another in a bid to win the coveted ladies’, men’s and overall trophies.

Back to full strength after a disappointing spell, the Striders romped to victory in both the female and male races at Welwyn Garden City, picking up maximum overall points on the night and thrashing arch rivals Garden City Runners on their home turf.

The men’s team was brought home by Simon Riley in 33:27, with captain Paul Adams hot on his heels in 33:29. Ed Blake (33:58) and Blake Vivian (34:35) also made the top ten in a high quality field. Tom Crouch made a welcome return to racing on home soil with 34:47 showing plenty of promise. Jonathan Scott (34:51) and Steve Buckle (34:55) took the 14^th and 15^th spots.

Not much further back, the men’s scoring twelve was completed by John Knight (36:26), Gary Warren (36:47), Ross Langley (37:23), Andy Auld (37:50) and John Jones (38:08).

On the ladies’ side, first home was Sally Onn with a new personal best of 38:47 in third, followed by Lucy Waterlow (39:44) in fifth. The impressive consistency of the female squad was demonstrated by the Striders packing a further five athletes in the top 20, with solid runs by Zoe Lowe (41:19), Gill Jubb (41:59), Heather Blamire-Brown (42:39), Helen Cartlidge (42:42) and Claire Kremer (43:48). Anna Styles also ran well to complete the winning team in 44:29 for 27^th.

The fact that the Striders finished ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams in both the ladies’ (eight to score) and the men’s (12 to score) 10k shows the great turn-out that the club enjoyed. Ladies’ captain and team manager on the night Liz McKie commented, “this was a fantastic race for the Striders and all our runners deserve congratulations for some great performances”.

RACE REPORT: First 2011 MWRRL Fixture – Stevenage: Thursday 5 May

2011-06-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

Defending champions St. Albans Striders have made a promising start to their 2011 Midweek Road Race League campaign. The League pits the top running clubs from Herts and Essex against one another over five evening fixtures in the summer months. Although finishing only second in both the ladies’ and men’s sections at the opening race in Stevenage, the Striders were lacking a number of their fastest athletes, so the overall result was encouraging.

Leading from the front, men’s captain Paul Adams was first Strider home in 33:15, finishing second overall. He was closely followed by Simon Riley, who continued his recent run of good form to post an impressive 33:48. Jonathan Scott, Blake Vivian and Pablo Plaza Lastras also made the top ten in a high quality race.

Further back but still running well, the men’s scoring twelve was completed by Gary Warren, Grant West, John Ockenden, Stuart Wright, Richard Harry, Matt Ennion and John Jones, all well under 39 minutes despite recent marathons still in the legs.

On the ladies’ side, the first Strider over the line was club chairman Sally Onn in fifth with 40:21 and there were good runs from Zoe Lowe, Heather Blamire-Brown and Helen Cartlidge, who finished 11^th, 12^th and 13^th respectively. Fast-improving Claire Kremer posted a solid sub-45 time on a warm May evening, with Liz Walls, Helen Varley and Mandy Attree completing the scoring eight.

If you can run a 10k in under 38 minutes (men) or 44 minutes (ladies), the St. Albans Striders would love to hear from you. Please email men@stalbansstriders.com or ladies@stalbansstriders.com .

RACE REPORT Hatfield Broad Oak 10k – Bank Holiday Monday 30 May 2011

2011-06-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

The St. Albans Striders are celebrating another successful outing, having returned from Monday’s Hatfield Broad Oak 10k race with the ladies’ team prize. In warm conditions the undulating course was challenging, but Sally Onn (40:27), Zoe Lowe (41:16), Deborah Steer (41:39) and Gill Jubb (43:30) did enough to walk away with the female team trophy.

Zoe Lowe’s impressive time was also the winning performance in the female vet 45-54 category, with Deirdre Heydecker (47:01) replicating this success in the 55-64 category, just eight days after completing the Edinburgh Marathon.

The men also ran well, with Simon Riley, Gary Warren, John Ockenden and Colin Braybrook at the front of the Striders, but this was only enough for fifth male team amongst a strong field of Herts and Essex club runners.

The event also featured a one mile fun run for the kids, which was enjoyed by honorary mini-Strider Antonia Jubb, inspired by her mum’s success in the main race.

Full list of Striders’ results:

↑ GunPos	Name	Gender	Cat	ChipTime
12	Simon Riley	M		00:35:20
39	Gary Warren	M	V	00:37:28
58	John Ockenden	M		00:38:53
69	Colin Braybrook	M	SV	00:39:23
102	Sally Onn	F		00:40:27
121	Zoe Lowe	F	SV	00:41:16
125	Jonathan Redshaw	M		00:41:29
132	Deborah Steer	F	SV	00:41:39
142	Stuart Middleton	M		00:41:51
180	Gillian Jubb	F	V	00:43:30
187	Joseph Dunn	M		00:43:44
246	Christopher Onn	M		00:45:09
248	Helen Cartlidge	F		00:44:51
262	John Hope	M	GV	00:45:34
266	Elizabeth Walls	F	SV	00:45:58
351	Deirdre Heydecker	F	GV	00:47:01
373	Mandy Attree	F	SV	00:47:30
412	Patrick Higgins	M	SV	00:48:37
443	Carol Ransom	F	V	00:49:15
484	Linda Powell	F	V	00:50:10
612	Claire Sharp	F	SV	00:53:36
812	Sheryl Norman	F	SV	00:57:12

Ironman Lanzarote - Probably the toughest Ironman in the World

2011-06-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

by Mike Jubb

With one week to go, I had every athlete’s nightmare: a cold!

After six months of hard preparation my heart rate had risen by about 10 beats and I could barely breathe. On the Tuesday, after the cold had turned into a sinus infection, I made the decision to get antibiotics. Not sure if racing while taking them was a good idea, but this was the final throw of the dice.

The pre-race activity for an Ironman starts two days before the race with registration and the Expo: picking up the goody bag, the t-shirt with every competitor’s name on it, your race numbers and transition bags, along with a briefing on all the dos and don'ts in the race.

With a video of last year’s race showing on a huge screen while we wait in line, the adrenaline starts....and there is still two days to go. I was staying with fellow St Albans Strider, Rav, and his family. Rav has completed EIGHT ironman races (and two DNF) so is very experienced. His decision to stay in a quiet villa away from the race was a good idea, helping us to avoid the pre-race nerves.

On the Thursday morning, I managed to get a lap of the swim course in - I figured the salt water may help my sinuses - and a 45min easy ride on the bike, just to make sure that I had put it together correctly after the flight.

The day before the race (Friday) is bike racking and handing in the transition bags. These bags need to be filled with everything that you will want for the bike and run sections of the race. This can be a logistical nightmare trying to think ahead to ensure all the little things, like Vaseline for your toes, are in there.

The bike racking resembles a car park for 1500 bikes. It is huge! Trying to find fixed points that you will be able to spot on race day helps and I noticed that I was near the second tree after a marquee. Unless someone chopped it down overnight, I would be fine.

The race starts at 7am so we were up at 4 am for a breakfast of porridge and a Starbucks coffee (albeit instant).

Travelling down to the start at 5 am, it was still dark, yet competitors were descending onto the start area from all corners: quick check of the bike and put some food into a small box on the frame (known as a bento box). As well as the food at the aid stations I had two cereal bars, a small bag of peanuts, two packets of energy shots (sort of like soft wine gums, but filled with energy, salts and a bit of caffeine) as well as two energy gels and a bag of salt tablets that I would use during the race.

The sun started to rise at around 6.15 am. It was then that we started to get into our wetsuits. Once suited up, we made our way onto the beach, ready for the start of the 3.8km swim - like 1500 wetsuit clad lemmings heading towards their fate.

The swim start of an ironman is a great spectacle, with so many athletes running and diving into the water at once, it quickly resembles a huge “washing machine” of bodies and white water. The experience of being in the middle of it is also quite strange. Trying to look where you are going too much is somewhat pointless as all you can see is a mass of flailing arms and legs. As you slow down when you look up, it has the effect of hitting your brakes while on the motorway: the guys behind just run into you.

I had my goggles knocked twice, but both times managed to relocate them without getting too much water into my eyes, and apart from possibly choosing a wider than required line round the first two corners, my swim was a good one.

After one lap, we had to get out of the water and run up to the beach, round a stake and back into the water. This gives the spectators a great chance to cheer you on and gives you some idea of how you are doing. With the race clock showing only 32 minutes, I knew I was having a good one. In my previous Ironman, I had taken 76 minutes for the swim, so anything under 75 was going to be good.

Another lap and I got out the water on 66 minutes. Better than I could have imagined. Maybe this was going to be a great day after all.

Getting out of the water, we had a long jog up the beach to pick up our transition bags and enter into the changing marquee. As you sat down you were “attacked” by people applying suntan cream to your exposed flesh. With 180km of cycling ahead of us, this was more than welcome, until the sunscreen was slapped onto my neck and I discovered that my wetsuit had chafed badly – boy, did it sting!!

Out onto the bike.

Due to running injuries, this is where I had done most of my training, and I was feeling good. Passing people pretty much the whole way, I started to work my way through the 651 people in front of me after the swim.

The 180km bike route on this course is what makes it so hard. With over 2500m of climbing, the heat and also the strong wind, it can sap your strength. Rav said he saw at least two people lying at the side of the road with apparent exhaustion, while one girl was just sat astride her cross bar sobbing, halfway up the biggest climb. For me though, it went almost to plan, with no neck/shoulder ache (a problem I'd had on my longer training rides) until about 160km in when I started to feel a strain in my right inner thigh.

With only one small climb to go I knew that after that, it was downhill to the finish. Unfortunately, about 50m from the top, it cramped badly and I couldn't even rotate the pedals. My momentum kept me going over the crest, albeit at a snail’s pace. As I started the long descent, I tried to stretch it to free it off, which seemed to work ok. Thank goodness the bike was over and there were no more uphill sections.

Riding into the second transition, the crowds were out in force. I had completed the bike in 5hrs55mins and had overtaken 406 people.

Now, with the run section to go, typically my strongest event, this would be my chance to push on to catch even more.

After dismounting we had to run with our bikes through what seemed the longest transition ever. Running barefoot caused my hamstrings to cramp up and I had to resort to a brisk walk.

Grabbing the run transition bag I entered the changing marquee and yet again was attacked with sunscreen. Cue more shooting pain into my chafed neck. With my trainers on I headed out onto the marathon and “……hmmm, legs not feeling great. Surely, I should be able run better than this shuffle I am doing.”

After one kilometre though, I was suffering.

My strategy had been to push the bike hard, then just get through the run. I knew that due to several running injuries, the marathon was going to be tough as I simply had not done the miles in training, but I thought that I would be able to get halfway before it really started to hurt.

But no,........the Marathon is a distance that should always command deepest respect, no matter how good you have been in the past......trying to do it at the end of the Ironman is even harder!

The run course was three laps out along the coast and back, with the first lap going much further covering 20km, then two shorter laps of 11km.

After about 15km, and still with two more laps to go, I was fighting my body just to continue. I have never suffered so much for so long as I did on that 4hrs12mins marathon! But I was determined to finish, even if I had to walk it.

I decided to take walking breaks that gradually got longer as the race went on. What started as a 50 step break, turned into a 60, then 100, then “who knows how many steps” break. I couldn't even count!

My mantra going through my head was, “every step is getting you closer to the finish, so just keep going”!!!

And I did!!!

Eventually crossing the finish line in 11hrs28mins, to those immortal words "You are an Ironman"

Two days later and my legs are agony, my neck is killing me, and I can't lift my right leg.

Next time I'll do more running training!

Post- race analysis, I wonder how much the infection and antibiotics took out of me? Did it affect my body's ability to process food/oxygen into energy? I guess I'll never know!

Still, my dream of getting to the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii eludes me........maybe next time??!!

Thanks to everyone who sponsored me - raising money for PACE - a local charity with strong connections to the Striders. I think the total is running at around the £1000 mark, which is great - anyone wishing to reward my suffering and donate to a great cause, please follow this link: http://www.justgiving.com/Mike-Jubb0

Breaking News: Striders found in Easter Mud Fight

2011-05-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

As this is probably the only time I will ever be able to report that I actually WON a race I thought I'd post it on the blog! Steve and I entered the Mad Maldon Mud Race on 25th April Easter Monday. This is a challenging distance - 500m. No problem for two Striders surely? Sadly it is across the Blackwater estuary at low tide so there is lots of thick, gloopy mud to get across and armpit height water to deal with.

The winners get across and back in about five minutes. If you are not in the top 20 or so, then you are in trouble. The mud gets churned up and you start to sink. After an hour, the wet-suited marshalls start to drag people out!

Held each Christmas at the Maldon Promenade Park the race was delayed this year due to freezing conditions this winter. I can only thank the weather gods for that.

Only 250 competitors are allowed to enter and this year 12,000 people watched it so the atmosphere was very buzzy. Jo Brand, Sean Lock, and Ed and Andy from CBeebies and Blue Peter were taking part too. We entered as my Grandma lives there and we had watched it over the years and spent holidays on the prom. Loads of people dress up and there was a giant lobster and lots of "where's wallys'.

As we waited on the mud to start we both began to sink up to our knees, which was a bit worrying. Then the mud fight started... As the hooter sounded everyone surged forward and lots of people fell over as their legs were stuck.

Steve and I got through the water OK although someone did squash me down and tried to swim over me! We tried to run up the other bank but the mud was so squelchy we both fell flat on our faces and had to crawl - just like everyone else in front of us. I pulled myself up on a marker pole and ran/staggered along. I did look over at the bank and at the crowds and it made me get the giggles, which did not help. I became aware that I had caught up with Steve and I thought I might beat him for the first time ever, which made me put on a spurt! We crossed the line together. As we got out there was a big cheer and I was told I was the first woman back and I think I said "you are having a laugh". That marathon training paid off!! I had no idea I was first woman - I could not tell who was who in the mud!

We had to stagger through a crowd to get to the showers but we got lots of cheers and comments like "you mad xxxxxxxx". We showered off some of the mud while lots of kids watched and asked questions about what it was like. One man was painted in silver paint and wore a grass skirt which he lost in the mud. As he showered, everything was revealed.....

We were given a foil blanket and a cup of tea and we found Grandma and the girls. We walked back through the town in our muddy kit with lots of people giving us a wide berth.

We finished ahead of Ed from CBeebies and Andy from Blue Peter. Sean Lock came in at 227th and Jo Brand was last and had to be rescued.

I need to go back to Maldon for a presentation from the mayor and I will receive a silver plate. A big thank you for those track sessions etc - they were not in vain.

31st position Steve Alexander

32nd Becky Alexander (first lady home!)

Clare Cunningham joins the Club La Santa Hall of Fame

2011-04-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.clublasanta.co.uk/news/clare-cunningham-joins-hall-of-fame

Photographs of Striders at La Santa in February 2011

2011-04-17T12:02:00.001-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/stalbansstriders/LaSanta

Reflections (mostly from the Sports Bar) on SAS Club La Santa Trip-

2011-04-17T11:59:00.001-07:00

By Ranjiet Kainth

The recent St Albans Striders trip to Club La Santa, Lanzarote had something for everyone, from baby wipes to bicycles, from budgie smugglers to bikinis……. I’ll come back to that later.

Of course variety is the spice of life and the group had that in spades.

· The experienced “La Santas” were relaxed, laid back (quite literally) and knew how to pace themselves

· The serious athletes were pretty driven (mostly by their own pedal power, arms and legs)

· The “newbies” ran around in circles and some ended up injured

· Some excelled at everything (Paul), and some didn’t (Petra swimming backwards comes to mind!);

· Some were world class and humble and ended up with their picture in the Hall of Fame, (well done Clare ), the rest of us didn’t.

· Some decided it might be fun to trip over the lava (it wasn’t honest), and

· Some kept a low profile and let their performances do the talking. Just because they wouldn’t want to be mentioned , I am particularly referring to Deirdre, Chris P and Luke.

This was my first visit to Club La Santa, so I could easily bang on about the fantastic facilities and the multiple classes. However you can read all that on the website, so this is a more personal reflection.

For the 6 blokes (Rav, John Hope, Luke, Mike, Phil and myself) billeted together, it got off to a flying start when, at check-in, we were upgraded to the penthouse (aka Jenson Button suite). We did rather boast about its’ size for a while (nothing new there). However we did open it up to the rest of the group (yes it was that big) as the venue for the 2 part Jubbmeister quiz. Mike’s rather large and eclectic taste in music played to Lucy and Chris O’s strengths, so that was a good team to be on. Unfortunately, for all their other undoubted talents, this was not a good event to team up with either Sally or Clare. Also, if Gary tells you he knows anything about cheese, he’s most likely exaggerating.

The host La Santa sports team “The Green Team” were without exception knowledgeable and helpful; just ask Gladstone and John H about the Welsh guy who had them practicing walking “as if in high heels”. Something about front foot landing apparently! Nicoletta’s morning stretch became strangely more-ish and on a personal note, if you fancy spinning (or even if you don’t), check out if Ronya is giving the class. She also does swimming lessons!!

I could ramble on about the orienteering, duathlon, mini-triathlon, 5k and 10k, half marathon, swim-athon, pool, crazy golf etc, but suffice to say all who participated had fun, and if you’re not sure who won, then Paul, Mike and Sally are fairly safe bets.

Mike did a fantastic job in providing the right amount of competitive team events and a couple of light touch track sessions; and Sally, leading by example (mostly from the front actually) was always there to remind us that you are never too tired or injured to do “just one more event”. Thanks to both Sally and Mike for all their efforts to put the trip and schedule together.

So what of the budgie smugglers, bikini, baby wipes and bicycles?

For the budgie smugglers, check out the picture on the Striders website of “the boys” prior to swimming in the lagoon. Well done Luke, you’re a brave man.

Petra, you need to be practical. Wearing a bikini during a swimming lesson when you are surrounded by lots of thrashing arms is a recipe for losing one or other element of the two-piece. Or maybe you knew that already?

And finally the baby wipes and bicycle. The sight of Phil each night on his knees using baby wipes to clean, one by one, each link of his bike chain, will live with me for a long time. In fact I may well need therapy to get over it.

Until the next time....

Ps. Good luck to Rav and Mike when they return to Lanzarote for the Ironman in May.

The CLUB LA SANTA Training Report

2011-04-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

By Mike Jubb

First off.....why go on a training camp? Well, the British winter can start to get a bit monotonous after a while...wrapping up warm, getting wet, etc..... so the opportunity to go to a training camp in Lanzarote, with pretty much guaranteed warm weather (average temperature of 20 degrees C at this time of year) is an opportunity not to be missed. The feeling of going out running/cycling in shorts is wonderful after hiding away under layers of thermals and lycra all winter. In addition, I'm signed up to race Ironman Lanzarote ( www.ironmanlanzarote.com ) in May, so this would give me an opportunity to ride the course and get used to Lanzarote's famous windy conditions. In addition to Striders, there were a couple of guys on the camp who were also training for the Ironman. Club La Santa is based on the North Side of Lanzarote, with everything an athlete could possibly want, from a 400m running track, to a 50m Olympic standard pool, as well as spa facility for relaxing those tired muscles. One of the big mistakes that a lot of training camp novices make is to do too much on the first couple of days, so I deliberately wrote myself a training schedule for the week and vowed to do no more than what I had planned.

So, here is my training diary from the week:

Day 0

Flew out from Luton just after lunch and didn't arrive until the evening, so a planned rest day before the week ahead.

Day 1

An organised 1 hour pack run with all the club members to show them the route to get away from the site and onto some off-road trails. It was during this run that I realised that many people never run off-road, and hence have developed a 'shuffly' running action where they don't pick their feet up adequately. Several of the club, despite being experienced runners, tripped on the underfoot conditions, and a couple actually fell over. I hope that they may have learned from this experience and factored an off-road run into their weekly schedule going forward, as it will certainly improve their running speed, not to mention avoid future skinned knees......you know who you are!
An easy 2hr30 bike ride out into the lava fields - including an impromptu 'race' with a German guy who was riding with his wife until we overtook him, and he promptly latched onto our back wheel and gave us a good stuffing over the top of the long climb we were on. Not too sure what his wife thought of this, as she was left trailing some 10 minutes behind......suspect there may have been some cold shoulder served up with the sauerkraut that evening in their household! To finish off the day, we did a low key,45 minute swim session in the pool. Now I know what you are thinking at this point......I thought that you wanted to take it easy and not do to much on Day 1, Mike? Well, you're right, and ordinarily, doing 3 training sessions in a day would constitute a hard days work, but when you are on a 'training camp' it somehow seems easy. There is no daily commute, no stress from work (the blackberry was turned off) - so the three sessions were exactly as planned.

Day 2

Started off the morning with an open-water swim in the lagoon (before the windsurfers get out there). Joined by 4 other people in wetsuits (and Luke who decided that it would be good to just swim in his Speedos - the air may be warm, but it's still the Atlantic Ocean in February!) we did a couple of laps of the lagoon - much nicer than swimming in a pool any day.
After breakfast, Phil, Paul and I met up for a 4 hour ride around the north end of the island, following the route of the Ironman course and taking in the Tabayesco climb (10km of climbing from the coast up to the highest point on the island). This day became the first that we really experienced the strength of the wind.....it just feels like you're pedalling with your brakes on all the time! As it was the first long ride of the week, we allowed ourselves to stop for lunch and we enjoyed a nice paella sat overlooking a small village harbour. For the record, the Tabayesco climb was completed in 34 mins.

Day 3

Another short morning pool swim - nothing too hard, just 30 mins of steady swimming in the Olympic pool. At Club La Santa they organise events pretty much every hour of every day - sort of like a Butlins for athletes, with members of the Green Team (think yellow coats in trainers) coordinating events. One such event is the 'advanced' bike ride. I'd done this before, and knew that anything with an 'advanced' tag on it was not going to be a walk in the park. Sure enough a group of around 20 cyclists set off, with the warning that...."this is the advanced ride, if you fall off the back and can't keep up, then you must make your own way back". The two green team riders who escorted us on this ride were both professional cyclists. One of them was a junior who rode for a team in Glasgow and the other was a Danish triathlete, with thighs the size of my waist! Phil, Paul and I all performed well and did not disgrace themselves, keeping up with the lead bunch. I even managed to wind up the pace a bit on the way back.
Upon returning after 2hrs30, as Paul and I are both training for the Ironman, we had already committed to doing a 1hour run 'off the bike'. This is known as a 'brick' run....not too sure why, other than your legs feel like bricks...or maybe because you feel like you're hitting the wall? I'm not going to lie, it was not pretty - we jogged along at a pretty slow pace, thinking about a pint of cold coke in the bar upon our return!

Day 4

Race day - one of the big attractions in attending Club La Santa is that they organise weekly races - these are low key events, but due to the attendance at the resort by high quality athletes they can often be quite competitive affairs. On this day they held a mini-duathlon in the morning (2.5km run - 15km bike - 2.5km run) and an aquathlon (200m swim - 3km run) in the afternoon. In my plan, I'd already decided to not do anything long on this day, but to get some quality in, by taking part in the races instead. Despite being the wrong side of 40, I gave a good showing in the duathlon, finishing 2nd, to a much younger Paul Adams and in the aquathlon decided to do it as a relay with Lucy, so I did the swim, and she did the run. Great fun and good from a training point of view to mix up the endurance sessions with some flat out efforts.
I also decided to do a bit of extra swimming after the aquathlon, so stayed in the water and did another 45 mins of swimming.

Day 5

Ironman bike course day - we had been promising ourselves that we would do the full Ironman course one-day - unfortunately 20km of the course (the start and finish sections) is down into one of the major towns, so we decided to miss out that bit, but still took on a 170km loop. As if this was not going to be hard enough, we seemed to choose the day with the hardest wind blowing too. So what were the highlights of the loop.....grinding uphill for 20km into the headwind at around 10mph???, the descent off top with the wind behind and hitting 48mph??? or maybe seeing Phil eat three (yes I said three!) Magnum ice creams at around the 100km point to get some energy into his body for the remainder of the ride???
No matter, it was good to do the whole loop...almost 6hrs of it - with locals heard saying that they could not remember the wind being so bad for a few years - I hope they are right, coz if it's like that on race day, it'll be a battle to finish the bike...never mind getting off and running a marathon!

Day 6

After doing the long ride the day before, it would have been sensible to take it easy today....but no. Today was the mini-triathlon race. Yet again low-key, the mini-triathlon (400m swim - 15km bike - 5km run) turned out to be a very competitive affair for me with several of the Striders from the running club teaming up to make relay teams. Yet again, I finished second (to one of the teams made up of Sally, Phil and John), but was extremely pleased with both my bike and run performances (I'm never pleased with my swim performances, as I resemble a lump of concrete in the water).
After the early morning race, I took a group of less experienced riders upto the Tabayesco climb that they had heard us cyclists talking about, and after lunch at the top, myself and John headed out to do a loop round the top end of the island again - without realising, today turned into a 5hour ride - a sign that we were getting used to all the long days inn the saddle maybe?

Day 7

With a flight booked for the evening, we crammed an extra couple of sessions in, a 45 minute morning run with Sally and Paul before checking out, and then a 2hr30 ride taking in another notorious climb on the island at Femes. We had gone down this road on the advanced ride (with our brakes fully on!) - it was steep! Fortunately, it was not very long but after leaving the roundabout at the bottom, I was in my bottom gear and struggling immediately. But if this week had done anything for me, it had definitely made me strong willed and the three of us ground our way to the top. A great way to finish the week.

On the way back to the resort, my legs felt very tired and the weeks training started to catch up with me. I think that I hit the training load about right, and just need to make sure that I recover now that I am back. The stats for the week show over 30hrs of training, with over 650km of biking.....it was hard (especially due to the wind) but I hope that once I've recovered I'll be much stronger for it.

In a conversation with Leda Cox, who used to undertake hard training camps regularly, she said she would do 4 days of no training at all, followed by 4 days of very light training, before returning to her normal training regime. Two weeks later - she would be flying! Bearing in mind that she would regularly train for 35hrs per week, it shows how important the recovery is. If you ever get a chance to attend a winter training camp then I would highly recommend it....especially if you are training for a specific race. Here are my tips for getting the most out of it:

Go with a group that you can mix and match your training partners with

Set yourself a training plan before you go

Don't do too much on the first two days

Wear loads of sunscreen when you go out training - it may not seem hot (especially if there is a wind blowing) but your skin will not be used to the sun and will fry

Take a good chamois creme or similar if you are going to be doing a lot of cycling - especially if you are doing more than you are used to

Take your watch off before you apply your sunscreen or you get a nasty sunburn around the edge of your watchstrap (as I found out!)

Stay out of the sun between sessions and stay hydrated - the purpose of the holiday is to train hard, not get suntan lines

Eat healthy and plentifully - you are likely to be burning many more calories than normal and you'll need to replace them

Plan a recovery week for when you return - including a massage session or two.

Embrace Pre-Marathon Training Holiday in the Algarve

2011-04-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

By Helen Cartlidge

After seeing my sister go from a very recreational and unmotivated runner to someone who raved on about the benefits of track sessions and started running 1 minute per mile faster in training, I decided to spend all my “understanding wife” brownie points accrued from my husband’s ski/golf/stag breaks and went on a training holiday.

(I promise, this was arranged before the official strider’s trip was even mentioned)

When the first run of the holiday was a muddy, stony, undulating, woodland track 15 miler, I wondered if I would survive the week. But it is surprising what peer pressure can do. Having found a few people of similar pace to me, we chatted our way round and got to know each other by the end of the run.

The hardest day was Tuesday, which started with a 10k run in the morning. This consisted of 4k uphill on a muddy coastal path accumulating about half my bodyweight in mud on the bottom of my trainers, then about 1k on the footpath, some nice downhill road through a golf course, finishing with what coach Neil described as "a little surprise", but to the untrained eye it looked like a mean hill!

This was in preparation for the afternoon run which was a 3.5k road run up a mountain. Running and breathing at the same time was almost impossible but it was an achievement, and a relief to see the guys at the top even if they looked like they had barely broken sweat.

I also ran on the beach for the first time and ran twice a day for the first time. Major respect to all you hardcore 70+mile/week people and triathletes: I could only do it if the only other thing to do were to eat and chill out!

Coaches Graeme and Neil have set up the holiday to cater for, and encourage, all abilities from those aiming for sub 3 hour marathons to 5 hour+ marathons.

Some of the runs were laps. The coaches had run ahead and marked out the route with cones and some had coffee/drink stops to re-group. Others were 15 min out and back down to the beach. So theoretically everyone would finish together. The scenery was amazing and the programme included woodland, beach, coastal paths, road and track so no two runs were the same.

In between running there were optional swim and bike sessions, but there was lots of space to hang around, sunbathe and make new friends.

There were some memorable debates including the best way to cook an omelette and "would you rather run a great marathon time wearing red speedos and a tucked in t-shirt or a more modest time in your own kit?" (not my question by the way!!!)

If you like boot camp style holidays with early wake ups, strict schedules, brown rice, aloe vera juice and alfalfa sprouts don't go on this holiday. If you like ensuite accommodation, orchards in the garden, the option of a duvet day (...yes,really!) diet coke and superbok in the fridge AND great run/tri training with mega-fit coaches you will love it!

Welcome to the NEW Striders BLOG!

2011-03-28T04:49:00.000-07:00

We have moved into the next century (at last!) and replaced the Striders Newsletter with an online BLOG!

This means that your training stories/advice, race and holiday reports, general anecdotes, including serious and silly photographs, can be published quicker and more regularly.

The published material will then be easily accessible to fellow runners/members, enabling them to comment on and get a "conversation" going.

To make this an interactive informative BLOG, we require good content from our members.

Therefore, please be invited to send any suitable material through to newsletter@stalbansstriders.com

Looking forward to hearing (and reading) from you
The Editor (Petra)

2010 Autumn Marathons and Beyond.

2011-03-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

A group of us did Autumn marathons in 2010 and as Striders always do, shared experiences, thoughts, learning with each other afterwards. This is an attempt to capture some of that on paper, as well as some notable advice from people such as Deb Steer who has 10 years of learning from her success and experiences to pass on. Enjoy the read….

A Decade of the London Marathon

by Deb Steer

December 2000 my second application for the London Marathon was successful.

What do I do next?

Very apprehensively I took myself along to St Albans Striders. I knew no one. It was like my first day at school although I was quite a bit older and had 3 children of my own.

I had been running 3 miles on the treadmill so the 5 miles with Noel around the ring road was my first step on the ladder to completing the 26.2 miles that April.

This brings me to my first piece of advice—never let it cross your mind that you can’t do it. Marathon running is just a goal, which CAN be reached! There is no time for negative thoughts!!

I soon became a regular Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning runner with the Striders. I loved it! Running was never a chore. Meeting so many people from so many walks of life was a bonus.

I remember doing the Hitchin Half Marathon as part of my build-up, but no other Races. I managed do perhaps two 17 mile long runs on my own.

There were a few of us doing our first marathon and I think we were all full of excitement. We had had a share of injuries and I still had a heavily strapped buttock! But NOTHING was going to spoil the day for me!

Just enjoy the whole day! Running round London with everyone cheering you on is a great feeling!

One of the many advantages of being a woman is, it was much easier to get guaranteed entry for the following year.

I didn’t realise it but I had managed to run the qualifying time to compete in the following year’s London Marathon in the “Good for Age” category.

But much more importantly for Carol Mooney and myself was, we had qualified to run with Brendan’s Saturday morning group!

They had always seemed so unreachable and now we had passed the test!

AND - I had a whole year to train for London No 2!

Training: what advice can I give?

It should be fun! If you enjoy running, it will not be hard work. It is a major bonus to have a group of running friends that make your Saturday mornings fun or, in my case. therapeutic.

Without realising you are doing intervals just because you want to beat someone to the top of the hill.

I would also say, don’t be too academic about it. Running marathons is not “text book”. It is a journey. You will have many ups and downs.

It is very hard to prepare for these moments. If you spend all your training hours “in control” of your runs, how will you cope when you “lose control” in unexpected circumstances?

Try and gather as many supporters, friends and family as you can to cheer you on.

It will help you divide the 26.2 miles up into manageable chunks, knowing that “somebody” will be waiting for you “somewhere” on the route!

I spend lots of time running “off road” as it is more forgiving on my ageing body. It also helps with motivation as you feel “faster” “on road” as a result.

Talk to as many people as possible to gather lots of different training ideas. You need to find out what suits YOU best! There are now quite a number of very experienced runners at Striders and qualified Coaches to ask for advice who are only too happy to share and help.

My training has always consisted of two quality sessions a week doing hills, speed work, a long run, my usual Liz-10-miler and a couple of recovery runs.

Although this has been a deliberate decision, in some ways it could also be seen as a mistake, in that it has always had the same format.

When your body gets too used to the exercise you are putting it through, it will just plateau. I need to increase the sessions it if I’m going to make any more improvements to my performance.

This is though! It is much easier to do more of the same than to make it harder!!

Make sure you have a training plan that you follow but, on the other hand, don’t worry if you miss days when you feel ill or have a niggle.

Write a training diary! I haven’t kept one for the last year and my motivation is suffering.

Get a foam roller. Stretching is great but if you have a real knot in a muscle you need more than just stretching.

Sports massage is great if you can afford it. Physiotherapy is sometimes needed with more persistent injury’s but is only as good as the therapists.

I have seen my fair share of therapists who don’t really understand running and its associated problems.

Gait analysis is worthwhile if you feel you may require more help. A qualified sports therapist will advise you of exercises to strengthen muscle groups which are perhaps weaker.

Races. I enjoy racing as it enables me to push myself which ordinarily I find hard. This is a great training benefit.

I particularly enjoy Cross Country as there is no clock to worry about and it can be so hard that the sense of achievement when you cross the finish line is second to none.

I always say to the kids I coach if you can cope with cross country you can cope with anything!

Over the last decade that I have run the London Marathon, the support has continued to increase. It is the crowds cheering that keep me going!

I love to absorb the entire atmosphere, take the fruit and the sweets that supporters offer on the way trying to focus on that rather than the gradual onset of fatigue

In 2004 I was lucky enough to run in my first championship race as in 2003 I had managed to run under 3.15. Again, qualification is easier for women.

It was an incredible race, as not only Jonny Wilkinson kicked us off but also most of my family was on the lead vehicle after winning a competition in the Evening Standard. .

In those days the championship women would start at 9.15 and therefore run most of the race alone.

I would see how near the finish line I could get before the Elite men would come tearing past me.

2008 was another great year as my daughter Megan and one of my young athletes got to run the Mini Marathon.

It was great to know that while I was doing the whole 26.2 miles they were ahead of me running the final 3 miles.

A final piece of advice that I have learnt over the years is to focus on Big Ben on the last stretch!

Then savour the final effort down Birdcage Walk counting down the traffic lights. Try to keep the momentum in your legs going and enjoy overtaking. “Feel” as though you are sprinting and that you have incredible knee lift when really your feet are just clearing the ground.

Turn those last two corners and focus on The Finish. Try to treasure that feeling of the ultimate achievement.

The amount of times I wished I could re-live that finishing straight, but “the moment” seems to have been wiped from my memory

I will just have to do it all over again!

Summarising the aforementioned and as borrowed from a book about the London Marathon

‘Running the perfect marathon is like finding the perfect wave to surf’

This year I may run in fancy dress!

Will that be the perfect one?

Amsterdam Marathon 2010

By Shane Ryan

You are running along your local track in the dark about three weeks after the marathon and you are feeling good, the sort of unexpected uplift that you can’t help but notice. It surprises you because you didn’t feel like going for a run today; your body groans as you try to get into a rhythm, and your thoughts retreat.

The whole business of running starts to make sense to you as you feel more expansive and light, and you own the whole muddy track on this wet November evening. It doesn’t feel cold now, the air is refreshing and you can feel it replace the stale office in your lungs.

Your thoughts turn to the marathon and you think it was like an overdose, like something that feels good until you have too much of it. Like something that in small doses gives you a burst and energises, flushes away the frustrations, and puts things into a favourable perspective. You like the feeling it gives you and want more, but you overdo it and you enter the devil’s hell hole which is the last 6 miles. You remember saying something like that at the end of the race, ‘I dipped my toe in the devil’s hell camp’; or some such nonsense. You were in pain at the time, and you noticed all the people strewn on the ground just past the finishing line, particularly the middle aged man sobbing; why do they do it? You recall the event and know that it wasn’t all that bad, the first 20 miles were pleasant enough, although you did have to prepare for the inevitable wall that was heading your way. But when the wall hit you weren’t prepared; how can you be prepared for a tsunami?

The last 6 miles was too much for you to contemplate, maybe break it down to one mile, or better still break it down to each step, one at a time. You remember now how you just thought about putting the next leg forward, one then the other for the last demanding 10 kilometres. Overtaking your brother helped distract you for a few minutes, and the brief burst of energy you got from Gladstone as he strode past gave you the idea to keep up with him, pace him to the end. How far to the end you thought, and then all the energy disappeared as The Coach weaved his way forward, out of sight and you were left with one foot after the other. Cocooned in the moment you continued and to your own amazement there in front appeared the Olympic Stadium, and then the finish, and then immediately more pain, but all over now and a head that kept spinning like you were going to topple over. You remember the withdrawal the week after the marathon, the foot that refused to work, the electric shock stairs that demanded you descend backwards, the food that would not fill that empty hole and the sleep that did not refresh.

But none of that really mattered now as you bounced along the old train line on this late autumn afternoon, you did it, you finished, you got under 4 hours, you didn’t stop, and now you are running again. Pain? What pain?

2010 Amsterdam – Some Reflections and More Questions–

By Martin Halling

Training

The big question - mileage!

I've never done more than 30-40 miles a week during peak marathon training. Is there any substitute to doing more? Generally I've only done three runs a week - one long, one tempo (7-8 miles typically) and one speed (Tuesday night track session usually). And very little cross training.

Can the three times a week schedule really work, if each session is done hard enough? I think I only have time to do one long run (that is any run over, say, 10 miles) a week. If I can convert my one tempo run to four or maybe five tempo runs and do at least 20 miles every long run I can maybe get up to 60 miles a week. Is it as simple as that? Do I have to do some of the extra mileage in longer runs or can I just pick up the miles as and when I am able - possibly just bite sized 5 miles round the park most lunch times?

Speed of long runs?

I know that the three times a week schedule suggests that all runs should be fairly hard. Does the "time on your feet" mantra only apply if you are doing 70 plus miles a week (or in view of the above sums, 60 miles a week!)? I suspect that I've not done many of my long runs hard enough - generally only those when I'm running by myself. Often the long runs take on the air of a social run and there's stopping to re-group, or stopping at the shops for water/jelly babies so it's never quite as punishing as the feeling you get towards the end of a marathon. Do you have to put yourself into the position of feeling like that in training - I guess by running several 26 mile (or thereabouts) runs at not much below race pace? I'd rather not just have to do my long runs by myself and I'm a bit fearful of doing long runs with a group of faster people, but do I have to push myself more?

Speed work.

Should I just be doing mile reps rather than the track sessions? I rather enjoy the track sessions, probably because they have shorter elements (and the sessions may be more helpful as training for shorter races) but should I just do mile reps instead for 3 months before a marathon?

Enjoyment is, of course, rather important to everything because that's why I go running! I have rather enjoyed my marathon training to date, but perhaps that's because I haven't been doing it right! I guess I would give up 3 months of enjoying my running if that was necessary to do my best possible marathon! Because apart from the fun of it there is an element of competition in getting involved with organised running and going racing...

Targets and Planning

This is the root of the problem. I think that I should be able to run a marathon under 3.30 and that target has taken a grip of me. Looking at what other people I can compare myself against achieve (we all do that don't we?) and given that I have already run 3.30 so have only 30 seconds to find from somewhere it may not be an unreasonable target? But is having a rather clear target helping me run faster or is it actually slowing me down because of the psychological pressure or the way it makes me run my races? Could I really do better just putting my kit on and running as I feel on the day without any target? Regardless of the answer to that question, even if I wanted to I can't now forget what I've done to date so realistically I can't see how I could now set off with a big blank in my mind.

First of all, maybe 3.30 is not a realistic target? In my other 3 marathons, during all of which I have walked, I've not done better than about 3.48, so maybe that should be my yardstick? Maybe my 3.30 race was a one off and the best I can ever hope to do! Would I be better off planning my race around a 3.45 target and if things just happened to go well I might do better? But the problem then is that if you plan to pace yourself towards 3.45 and feel good you have to make decisions in the race - see below!

Apart from a target time, I then have to think about splits. I'm sure even pace is the mantra here, but possibly because of the big round number target I have in mind I know that I very much think that getting ahead of even splits and having some minutes "in hand" (for when everything is going to get harder later on) is a good thing. If it really isn't a good thing to try to build up a cushion in the first half of he race how do I slow myself down? In all the marathons I've felt pretty good in the first half of the race so to a large extent I am just running as I feel without lots of target based discipline. In all four marathons I've done the half in between 3.38 and 3.40 which is pretty consistent. Should I be slowing myself down to 3.44/45 or is the amount "in hand" not so much as to put the race out of kilter?

How does one plan for the pain of 20 miles onwards? Do I just continue to hope that maybe this time I won't suffer so badly. Is it possible that I have to do 10 or 20 marathons, in most of which I feel awful after 20 miles, just to get the one lucky day when for some reason it goes OK. In other words do I do nothing to prepare myself for the last 5 or 6 miles because one day it will be OK? Anyway, what can one do about it?

Food?

Before Amsterdam I didn't think this was a big issue for me, but maybe it is. The fact is that, however it's described, I think I just run out of available energy towards the end of the marathon. Nothing new in that and, yes, I've heard of the wall. But the trick must be to take on enough of the right food before and during the race. I'm a veggie but am pretty healthy and fit and I don't change my general diet at all during marathon training. Is there some trick I'm missing? Yes, I have jacket potatoes and/or pasta the night before. I think I eat until I'm full, but should I try to cram in even more? I try to have quite a big breakfast of muesli and fruit with plenty of coffee before the race and I've spent the day and night before drinking squash and water like there's no tomorrow! One energy drink shortly before the race. During the races I have taken gels - possibly three or four starting at maybe 10 miles. I don't have a clear regime and when I'm running even if I have set out with a clear timetable I don't think I stick to it very well. In Amsterdam, I struggled a bit to eat my first gel and felt positively nauseous taking my second which I didn't finish. I was close to being physically sick at the side of the road and didn't eat anything else. I'm not sure why that was but I'm now worried that gels may not be for me. Yes, I should doubtless try out all the other brands of gel but maybe there is something else to consider. My odd times of trying an energy drink during a race (not in marathons) have not been great as they also make me feel sick while running (although not a problem at the end of the race). I know there's loads of advice out there on food and it's probably trial and error but any good suggestions would be gratefully received.

I want to plan my race sensibly. Getting it wrong feels like such a waste! I'm never going to do a marathon more than once or twice a year so it's a long time to wait to try again if it's not been properly planned.

The Race

The big question which also arises from my thoughts on targets and planning is, of course, should I try to stick to clear plans or just run as I feel?

The other question which relates to all that is the watch question. I still see my watch as a security blanket. I think I need it in the early part of the race to check my pace to make sure I don't go too fast. As it's the longest race I run the correct pace is obviously the slowest of all races so it's always going to feel relatively easy to start with and the temptation is there to feel too good and to go off too quickly. While I have some idea now about how fast I'm running, I'm not great at that and need help. Those people who advocate "no watch" and not looking at any clocks are still having to set themselves a pace - is it just that they are sufficiently experienced to know how fast they are running anyway so they don't need a watch to help them? I can see that having the very accurate information of a watch might tend to reinforce mental feedback about how the race is going - that's all very well if it's going well and makes you feel even stronger, but when it's going badly I can see that it reinforces the decline in spirit and performance. So, obviously, only wear a watch when you're having a good run!! There may be a serious point hidden there, that to be prepared for a good run you therefore want to have the watch? I think I probably check my watch at each mile (or kilometre in Amsterdam) - maybe that's too much? Should I perhaps ration it to, say, mile 1, 2 and 3 (to see that I'm not going too fast) and then maybe 10, half and 20 only? And, for reasons that will become clear below, certainly not at 40k!!

Even at the start of a marathon I feel like I'm in a race. I don't think I do any stupid weaving around and I try to run conservatively, but I know I'm looking around and judging who I think should be going faster or slower than me and that probably does influence my pace. I can see that the marathon is really even less of a race against other people (rather than against myself) than any other race I run, so should I try to completely ignore what anyone else is doing? How do you do that?

Linked to that is I suppose the issue of running with team mates or for that matter someone else in the race who seems to be doing about the same as me. Or perhaps even the pacing person with the 3.30 balloon if you are in a big marathon - albeit that I could see that the 3.30 group at Amsterdam, who went past me just about when I stopped to walk, were being paced to hit 3.30 exactly. Why don't they do a 3.29 balloon!! Running with others can certainly make it more enjoyable and relieve some of the tedium of covering the distance. Running with others also removes some of the mental pressure of deciding what to do, but the flip side of that is that you may not be running exactly how you feel. If you get to a point where you can't keep up there is the reinforced negative mental feedback of "going backwards". I suppose if you ran with a slower group for a lot of the race and then got the positive feedback of "going forwards" that might be helpful. The thing is, as I said before, I have a pretty good idea of the other people around me in the race, so I know when I'm starting to going backwards (or forwards) anyway even if I've not been running close to the same person or sharing the odd word along the way. I don't know how you can really avoid getting that feedback, but I suppose it's a bit like the watch question - if it's going well then you're happy to have the feedback!

I've already mentioned trying to prepare for feeling bad towards the end of the race. I'm not sure if there is any trick, but you need to be mentally prepared for it to be bad. I don't think I'm a particularly weak and undetermined person, but that seems to be what the marathon does to me. I have walked towards the end of 3 marathons, although the circumstances were all a little different, as follows.

In my first marathon I had a more disastrous than usual start (ran 3 miles to get to the start line but still missed the start of the race and ran far too fast to catch up etc). When I stopped at 20 miles I think it was (or is the closest I have got to) a proper "wall". I made no conscious decision to stop and the first I knew about it I was just standing at the side of the road feeling completely empty. An out of body experience! Because of what had happened earlier on I can just put that down to misfortune and bad planning maybe.

In the next marathon in which I walked I also stopped at 20 miles. My excuse this time would be that it was only two weeks after I'd run my good marathon so I was bound to be weak and was stupid to be running another marathon. But this time I had felt myself slowing down and when I saw the 20 mile sign I made a conscious decision that I would stop as I wasn't feeling great. I was rationalising that I was only up to running a 20 mile race that day or perhaps I was just wishing that I was running a 20 mile race. Either way, this was a conscious "giving up". As I say, I don't want to be a person who "gives up" but it does seem all too easy when running a marathon.

Amsterdam was an extreme case of "giving up". I had been slowing down from about 28-30k but I made a positive decision that I would not stop at 20 miles again and carried on - so far so good. I was suffering a lot, but was clinging to that sub 3.30 target (which was still dangling there as I had built up some time "in hand") and kept going. But at 40k I stopped because the maths got quite easy and I knew I would miss 3.30 (even if only by a couple of minutes). As I said the 3.30 balloon was just passing and I knew I wasn't running and wasn't capable of running 5 minute kilometres any more. I was very tired and feeling awful but I have to admit that really this was just "giving up" because I was shattered by having missed my target when earlier in the race everything appeared to be going perfectly. I'm sure there could be deep psychological analysis on this about fear of failure or something, because it seems I'd prefer to fail spectacularly than accept that I'm just not quite good enough to fulfil my plan. I'm not going to delve further into that but my Amsterdam experience does bring everything together. For the first two thirds of the race it was one of my best running experiences ever, but at the end I'm feeling destroyed by the event. I need to know how to overcome it!

Learning from Amsterdam Marathon 2010

By Alison Ryan

If I do another marathon…

In the preparation and training:

Previously, I had trained for 4 marathons and been injured each time, because I was trying to use the Runners World type training schedules, with 4 or 5 runs a week – my body at my age just doesn’t cope with that intensity of training. Amsterdam showed me that I can do a PB running three times a week at most, and with a maximum mileage of 30 miles a week. However, it is a very painful process both during and after.

Doing a 20 mile training run that is off-road (The Dunstable 20) is more physically demanding than a regular training run. Despite its beauty, I am not sure that I would do this one again. I found it too demanding, and didn’t run for 9 days after it.

Use the Garmin enough times during training so that I begin to know what my pace is.

Do sufficient runs at marathon pace, using the Garmin, so I can tell if I am on track with my marathon pace, and have a pretty good idea of whether I am running 15 secs per mile faster or slower than my predicted pace. I only did two runs at marathon pace with a Garmin, and didn’t use my Garmin at all in training, so I had a very hazy idea of what my expected pace would feel like.

Expect to feel completely knackered after every long training run. Try not to book too much else in during those six or so weekends of heavy training. Don’t have overseas visitors staying with us (as we did), or have undertaken a project at this time to re-do the front garden and refurbish the bathroom at the same time (as I did). Give yourself permission to have an afternoon nap if needed.

Consider changing my running shoes to try another brand – despite quite new running shoes, my feet were so sore at just over half way that I had to take painkillers. The soreness was from striking the ground, not from blisters, although I did get those too. (secondary learning – I really do need Ibuprofen).

During the Race

Don’t leave myself so little time to queue up for the baggage deposit that as per Amsterdam, I had to give up on the queue, throw my bag of clothes on the ground, run to the start, climb the barrier to get into the pen as the race is about to start, trap my leg in the railings and get stuck on top of the barrier for several seconds until helped down by someone, beginning the race with a bruised and grazed leg.

Personally, I don’t benefit from gels or jelly babies. Sports drink does the trick. Eating jelly babies on long training runs made me feel nauseous, as did gels.

It is better to run my race without paying too much attention to a watch or timing. As Coach Jubb advised would happen, I did panic when every time I looked at my watch, I was either going too fast or too slow. My pace see-sawed during the first few miles as I either slowed down too much, or speeded up too much every time I looked at my watch.

However, I do need to be sufficiently familiar with knowing what my marathon pace feels like. With Amsterdam, I didn’t have this knowledge, and lost 11 mins during the second half as I had run a bit too fast in the first half, and I suspect this also made the second half that bit more punishing. Who knows? Everyone reported finding the last 6 miles really difficult, even the Gill Jubbs of this world, who were really well prepared and ran a well paced race.

Another bit of learning - Music is good for certain portions of the race for me, but choose my songs a bit more carefully. When I really needed some upbeat tempo stuff, and the MP3 got stuck on Ludovico Einaudi (modern pianist), it was not a good mile. However as the race progresses to the last 6 miles, music (and everything else) becomes intolerable.

Around mile 20, I saw the back of someone’s charity t-shirt in the race with a saying across the bottom of the shirt ‘Determination is everything’. I repeated this to myself pretty much continuously for the entire last six miles and that helped me to finish. As well as the occasional ‘You never have to do this again’ thought.

Which brings me to:

Why ever run another marathon?

I really disliked the effect of the long training runs on my life. For that six weeks or so, it felt as though I did not have energy for much else in my life, that is, apart from work and the absolute essentials of running a house and having teenage children. I began to dislike running. When driving my car, I would look at any runner sympathetically rather than enviously. I was vocal (to a boring degree), in my determination to never run another marathon after Amsterdam.

The last six miles of the race were one of the most acutely unpleasant 60 minute periods of my life. I was in such pain – my calves felt as though they were about to explode, and with even 1 kilometre to go, I was not sure I would be able to finish, as people all around me were coming to a sudden stop, gripping their hamstrings or calves in agony. The bones in my feet felt so utterly battered and sore that each step was extremely painful, despite the painkillers.

For 3 days afterwards, I could not tackle stairs and shuffled around at work and home.

It took a month to recover from the run. My feet and calves were twinging with every run at three weeks post race, and my energy was just not back to normal levels when running.

I did not feel particularly elated with my time, despite running at the time I had hoped for, and taking 9 minutes off my only other previous proper marathon. Because most of the last half and particularly the last six miles was just so unpleasant, there was a sense of ‘So what?’ about it all.

Two Possible Reasons to do another one – beat my PB or do London

I could go through it all again and perhaps if I train better and pace myself better, take 5 mins or maybe even as much as 10 mins off this time. But for what? I am not convinced that it would be worth all the pain and negative impact on the quality of my life. (Beating my Half Marathon PB is another matter though, and one that fills me with enthusiasm. I love a half marathon distance.)

I have not done London. My only other marathons were Abingdon, as well as a very social Fairlands Valley Trail Marathon. I did 5 miles of London before having to pull out with an injury, and I loved the carnival atmosphere, the sense that this was a celebration of life, a huge party and you were right at the centre of it. The first question everyone asks about marathons is ‘Have you done London?’ This seems to me the quintessential, the best, the only marathon, and I have not done it. And of course, my Amsterdam time gives me automatic entry for 2012…

Marathon First Timer Experience
by Alison Telfer

I’ve only done the one marathon (though plan to do a couple in 2011) and I ran very slowly finishing in just under five hours.

My tip to other people who are on their feet for a long time is not to stop refuelling even if you feel like you can’t face another thing. I was feeling great at the 20 mile mark and thought that I couldn’t face the banana and drink that my parents were kindly offering me (on my previous instruction).

I also at this point removed my bum bag which held some emergency rations as it was annoying me (even though it was small and not cumbersome at all). About a mile later I suddenly felt hungry and weak (may have been psychological but nonetheless felt real) and I could have eaten the penguin who went flying by (not a hallucination but one of the few fancy dress runners). Luckily there was Kendal Mint Cake on the horizon but i had a dodgy couple of miles where I couldn’t even respond to my nephew shouting insults from the roadside.

I have learnt from this and will carry a small roast dinner when running my next marathon (or at least some extra jelly babies and such foods).

Marathon Experiences for 2010

by Gladstone Thompson

I’d encourage anyone training for spring and autumn marathons to take advantage of the Saturday morning runs going out from Westminster lodge.

My marathons were much improved last year because of these runs. Yes, the 8am start is early for some including myself but at least you’ll get your long run out of the way so that you can enjoy the rest of the weekend. Also it’s a great way to focus the mind just as you have to do on race mornings. I know that I’ve got to be up early enough to eat breakfast, get dressed, sort out nutrition/drinks plus do all the other pre-run stuff that we all do, then be out of the door by 7:35 at the latest in order to get to Westminster lodge on time, any later then I’ll be getting into the park late and will most probably be saying goodbye to the various groups setting off for the morning.
Also, trying to work out routes and distances especially while out running can be very time consuming. I can pre-programme my Garmin with set routes but this takes away some of the enjoyment of running as I’d be too focused on looking down on my wrist rather than looking at where I’m actually running. I found it so much easier to join up with the organised runs and really appreciated the efforts of the run leaders who took us on such great routes around St Albans plus they knew the distances without having to refer to electronic devices.
Finally, going out on Saturday mornings is a great opportunity to meet up with others to talk about the high and lows of your marathon training and to assess your progress.

The Dos and Don’ts for Marathons.

By Colin Braybrook

DO want to do the race – if you cannot get that mental picture of finishing the race in your head beforehand, things will be so much harder when the going gets tough.

DON’T worry if you don’t feel 100% on the morning of the race. You have a long time to perk up and you probably won’t feel 100% at the finish either!

DO train often. If in doubt, train. If totally miserable about it, don’t train.

DO long runs as much as you can bear to. They help build mental strength as well as physical strength.

DO other races apart from the marathon. Your marathon should not be your only race. Getting used to races is just as important as getting used to distance. Why waste all that training on just one race?

DON’T taper too much.

DO drink water, but DON’T overdo it.

DON’T expect the marathon to be easy. It won’t be.

DON’T always expect to enjoy the marathon. Sometimes the more you hate it the faster you will want to get it over with.

DO be ready for the point when treats (water, gels etcetera) do not help any more. At this point, focus on the finish and your mental strength and determination are what will get you through.

DO ignore aches and pains at this point and just focus on finishing. The sooner you finish, the sooner the pain stops!

DO break the last few miles into small chunks in your head. Think of them as a Tuesday night track session (with no recovery between each repetition!).

And lastly....some "Odd Bods" Advice....

Nikki

One thing I've learned from my multiple marathon training is its not necessarily the ammount of mileage put in but the quality of those miles. Basically don’t be a fool like me and do 70 + miles a week! When I did 40(ish) and cross trained with speedwork etc etc I got a better time! In this case more is not always better!! And should my injury clear up and let me train for London I will not be giving up all the different cross training and yoga I've had to replace running with! The problem now is how to fit in the runs!! Answers on a postcard please..................

Jack Brooks

My advice is to take each one as it comes and not worry about them too much. Everybody has good days and bad days and there are bound to be times during each marathon where you feel particularly good or particularly bored. The main thing to remember is that there is always another race you can enter and not to pin everything on a single event. Whether you have a good, average or bad marathon there is something to be learnt from each one.

Hallam

(who else would give this advice?)

Remember to stop after 26.2 miles

New York Marathon 2010: Not just a jog in Central Park!

2011-03-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

By Linda Powell

On Sunday 7^th November, just 2 weeks after sustaining an injury to my lower left leg that threatened to jeopardise my chances of taking part, I successfully completed the New York Marathon.

After months of training, I couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to take part but a short test run prior to flying out reassured me to try. So, I decided to run “no matter what” and if there was pain, it would only be for around 4 hours of my life!

Having collected my race pack and number the previous Friday, I rose at 5 am on race day and caught the 7 am ferry across to Staten Island where a lovely American girl called Ana shared her blanket with me; it was freezing, around 48-50C. I was in “Green Wave Two” which was due to start at 10:10 am. However with over 45,000 runners taking part you never get off on time unless you’re at the very front.

I decided to go out with the 4-hour-pace-group. This meant following Bruce, a guy with green balloons and a badge pinned to his back. There were around 10 of us in his group, all excited and grinning nervously as the official air horn signalled the start. The sun was shining as we ran across the bridge onto the mainland with the New York skyline looking amazing, peering through the left hand side of the bridge. I thought to myself, that I was really privileged in my life to be able to take part in this race. At mile 2 we entered Brooklyn and the crowds were roaring. It was just so amazing!!!

Still in Brooklyn and at mile 8 l looked out for my brother (who lives there). As I ran down the road I saw him and his wife who gave me a big “High 5”. It’s great to see people you know along the way.

I was wearing my St Albans Striders vest with my name on it, so the crowds were calling “come on Linda” all the way. My leg had a dull ache but was holding out quite well. It was so good to be running again and the sun was out with the most beautiful blue sky. We headed towards the Pulaski Bridge passing the halfway mark—only another 13.2 miles to go! The other side of the bridge took us into Queen’s; the next mile or so is flat and then you hit the dreaded Queensborough Bridge, which is a never ending gradual incline and I felt I was starting to struggle to keep up with the group. We finally stepped off the bridge at the 16 mile mark.

As we turned the corner into First Avenue, Manhattan, we heard and saw the largest, loudest crowd on the course - it was just fabulous! I carried on with the 4-hour-pace-group. Every now and then Bruce shouted to the crowd “Let’s hear it for 4 hours” and the crowds went mad.

At 19 miles I couldn’t keep up anymore and was flagging. I just ran out of steam and felt delirious. I stopped for a large drink of water and another energy gel but I was sick of them. I started to run/walk for a while, taking pieces of bananas and an energy drink that were being handed out.

At 20 miles I entered the Bronx to loud disco music, which gave me the urge to run again.

At 21 miles I was back in Manhattan and really struggling. I kept running/walking.

At 22 miles there was a massive hill just before entering Central Park. I just had to walk.. The crowds were so encouraging saying “give me 5” and saying “you can do it Linda”. By this time I was losing the will to live!

I got to mile 25 and told myself “just run, it doesn’t matter what the time is, just finish and then you can rest forever more (no pain, no gain!)” I started to run and didn’t stop, I even got a sprint on in the last 800 metres and finally came through the finishing line in 04:18:09 - two minutes faster than my London time this year.

The next day I could hardly walk but I was so proud of myself. Finishing in under 4 hrs 30 mins meant my name and finish time were printed in the New York Times the following day.

Not bad for day’s “jog” through Central Park!

A Tale of TWO Marathons

2011-03-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

By Gladstone “No-my-name-is-not-Jack-Brooks” Thompson

Apart from running in the London Marathon, I have always wanted to head to the Big Apple and take part in the New York Marathon.

So, after 3 years of being rejected through the ballot system, I was finally guaranteed a place for November 2010.

HOWEVER, after a Striders night out at the Peahen some 15 months previously, I somehow found myself committed to the Amsterdam Marathon just 3 weeks prior to New York as well.

The Jack Brooks of this world wouldn’t find this to be a problem but for me, I just wasn’t sure if my running CV would be up for such a challenge.

As it was, I decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and go for both races.

Amsterdam was going to be my autumn ‘A’ race and New York my ‘just get around and enjoy the atmosphere then head to the shops’ race.

So, first up was the Amsterdam Marathon.

In the year leading up to this race interest within the club had increased such that 9 striders had signed up, along with a support crew consisting of Mike’s Jubb and Jack, plus Antonia Jubb.

I had previously run Amsterdam in 2008, so I was really looking forward to taking part again and sharing the experience with my club colleagues.

On the morning of the Marathon, 10,000+ runners assembled on the track in the 1928 Olympic Stadium for the start of the race.

The weather conditions were spot on, about 10°C, a slight breeze, and very sunny so dark glasses were the order of the day. The course was very flat, as you would expect for Amsterdam, so there was definitely potential for a PB.

With this in mind I set off at my Marathon pace with the aim of picking it up in the later miles.

The race had three distinct sections, the first took us on a 4 mile loop lined with enthusiastic crowds, which made for a fantastic atmosphere.

The crowds then thinned out down to just a few spectators watching from their gardens as we headed into the ‘like it or hate it’ second section of the race, which took us down and back up the banks of the River Amstel.

We were treated to a live band playing music from a riverboat but otherwise this was a very quiet part of the race.

At 16 miles we were back off the river and into the enthusiastic crowds again who cheered us on for the third section and “business” end of the race.

At this stage I started to feel a few of my pre-race niggles and a few doubts started to creep in.

But then I was fortunate to see the Striders Support Crew who helped spur me on.

In the latter stages I managed to catch up with Carol Mooney who was running well, and then Shane Ryan who looked like a man gunning for a PB.

Ordinarily I would have been happy to hang around for a chat, but by now I was “a man on a mission”. With the finish just a few miles away I decided to push on and chat later!!

We finally finished back in the stadium were we started but now the stands were jam-packed with spectators cheering us all the way to the finish line.

Post-race I managed to meet up with most of the Striders just outside the stadium.

We all sat around for a while to recount some of our race experiences and to allow enough time for our legs to stiffen before eventually setting off like zombies back to our hotels.

Katie and myself were very pleased with our day’s efforts.

I ran 3:49 a PB, and Katie 4:11 her best Marathon time for 2010.

There were several other great performances from the Striders including PB’s for John Ockenden and Gill Jubb who knocked out 3:04 and 3:21 respectively, and Shane Ryan who achieved his aim of doing a sub-4 by coming in at 3:58.

Later that evening a few of us met up for post-race drinks.

We all had tales to tell of ‘if only I did this and that’, but I think it would be fair to say that we all learnt something about our running abilities that day. Experiences that would hopefully serve us well in future Marathons.

However for two of us, our minds now turned to how we were going to fare in New York in three weeks time.

For our next outing in New York we were joined by Linda Powell who was running her second Marathon.

Katie and myself picked up our race numbers at the Expo the day before only to find out that the organisers had for some reason changed our pre-race 7 am bus tickets for 6 am ferry tickets.

The bus was going to take us from just outside our hotel directly to the start. However, our new tickets meant making our own way to the ferry terminal, getting across to Staten Island and then getting another bus to the start.

On race morning we hopped into a taxi to get us on our way but it turned out that our driver didn’t know the way to the ferry terminal! Apparently, it was his first day on the job.

Exactly what we didn’t need!!

How I envied the Elite runners and Celebrities at this point, all of whom would have been chauffeur driven to the start line.

As it was, I told the driver to head south and “stop when you see water”!

Miraculously, following my instructions, he eventually got us to the ferry, but NOT before driving the wrong way down a one-way street!

We then made it across to Staten Island for the start.

In near freezing conditions, the 44,000 runners taking part set off in 3 waves, first heading along the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn, then on through the other boroughs of New York, before eventually finishing in Central Park.

As with the London Marathon there were super-enthusiastic crowds along the whole course. The noise coming from them was relentless.

If you ever wanted to do a Marathon just for the atmosphere and crowd support then New York is for you.

I would say that it rates just as high if not higher than London.

Whereas, if you just wanted to race in “peace and quiet”, and increase your Marathon tally, then sign up for Luton!!

In amongst the cheering crowds I noted loads of banners referring to Chuck Norris, with most of them saying that he had never run a Marathon.

For those who don’t know, Chuck Norris was an 1970’s and 80’s all-round tough guy, stuntman, American karate champion umpteen times over. On one occasion he even gave Bruce Lee a run for his money.

However, as tough as he was, he had never run the New York Marathon…maybe he should have joined a running club to toughen up!!

One of the more notable points on the course, and some would say a highlight, was at about 16 miles where the crowds started shouting ‘one more drink before the bridge’.

They were referring to the notorious mile long double–decked Queensboro bridge, which crosses the East river from the Borough of Queens and takes you for the first time into Manhattan.

Running along the lower deck this bridge just seemed to go up and on forever, while sapping the energy out of most who crossed it.

However this didn’t deter loads of runners stopping to take photographs as proof that they had conquered the bridge.

For me, this wasn’t the time for “holiday snaps” as there was still a “job to be done”!

Coming off the bridge and turning into First Avenue we were faced with a long stretch up to the Bronx before turning around and heading back down towards Manhattan and the finish in Central Park.

I used to think Central Park was flat. How wrong I was! This park had hills, not Watford/Berkhamsted Half Marathon type hills, but at this point in the race they might as well have been.

By now the crowds were 10-deep and their support was just what I needed as I started flagging big time.

My mind was saying the usual negative things. It just does at this point in a Marathon, plus my Garmin seemed to be doing crazy things as well. That finish line couldn’t come quick enough!

I then saw the marker for “800 metres to go”.

‘Great, twice around the track’ I thought, however as with all Marathon finishes, that “twice around the track” is a very long way, but I eventually got there and crossed the line saying:

‘Never again…..ok, maybe until next time!!’

I finished in 4:03 and Katie did 4:22. No PB’s this time.

Maybe our times would have been better if we hadn’t run Amsterdam, BUT we didn’t care as this was our race to ENJOY.

Linda Powell who had been nursing a leg injury in the weeks leading up to NY, came good on the day and ran a PB of 4:18.

Following our Marathon efforts we had several more days in New York doing some much deserved retail therapy before heading back home to reflect on our achievements for the year.

In summary, Amsterdam was race I enjoyed just as much second time around and would certainly do again. Maybe another Striders trip will be on the cards?

New York, is just the biggest Marathon in the world! While a challenging course it’s well worth doing just for the experience.

Overall, I achieved my running aims for 2010 and now looking forward to ‘kicking some butt’ in 2011…..

Now, where’s Chuck Norris???

Mixing with the Stars in Barcelona

2011-03-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

By Becky Alexander

One of the running highlights of 2010 was a trip to watch the British team perform brilliantly in the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona in August. Athletics-fan Gill "statto" Jubb invited a few running friends to join her to watch the team at the Montjuic Olympic stadium.

I imagined lots of watching athletics in the sun and long lazy lunches between the morning and the cooler evening sessions.

However, my first reminder that I was with “The Striders” was on arrival at our apartment, when bags were put down and before you could say “coffee anyone?”, half the group had changed into their running kit to go for their first run!

There was running or swimming on every day for those who wanted to join in. I discovered that one reason, why Liz, Sally, Gill and company are so fast, is that they do DO a LOT more running than me!

I did inform Steve and Mike that I seem to have found myself on a training camp.

Watching Mo Farrah and Chris Tomlinson run the 5K and 10K and Jessica Ennis excel in all disciplines in the heptathlon was inspirational.

I am sure many of you watched the events on TV so I won't go in to all the results. What I will say is that I had never watched an Athletics competition “live” before, and I would recommend that if you can go to Paris in 2011, or one closer to home, do go if you can.

If you have children and teenagers, it is well worth taking them as it is amazing to see athletics close up. The event was very tightly organised and there was always something to watch in all areas of the stadium.

So here are some highlights:

1. Liz, Gill, Sally and Vicky meeting Mo Farrah while out running before his 5000m final.

The girls were out for their own training run and to watch the marathon in the city centre. They saw Mo running through a park and he was very happy to have a photo taken with them. We are sure, knowing he had such support spurred him on to his sprint lap and his win in 13.31.18!
5K in 13.31 minutes!!! I would still be running at least ten minutes later!!! Very impressive performance!

2. Watching Dai Greene win the 400m hurdles (48.12) and celebrate with his family who were sitting near us in the Stadium.
Such a proud Dad! We met them for a drink and photos later that day. Jamie Baulch is now acting as his manager, so he joined us as well.

3. Seeing how high Blanka Vlasic can jump (2.03!), which is basically over all our heads.
She is not built like other humans on the planet!

4. Seeing how calm and focused Jess Ennis is during her events.
She is an inspirational role model.

5. Singing the National Anthem loudly, on many occasions. The team did so well and it was fantastic to see the huge amount of support for them in the stadium.

During the “Athletics-breaks” we made the most of Barcelona.

We all swam in the pools on Montjuic Park: one huge municipal outdoor pool, looking out over the city with an infinity edge, so you get the most amazing view.

We also swam in the Olympic outdoor pool, which shows films some evenings.

The very good swimmers among us loved the huge deep pool and of course, all of us enjoyed the loungers and sunshine!

We had some fabulous food including outstanding tapas and delicious paella, and sat in sunny squares enjoying Cava and beers.

Lucy Waterlow seems to know everyone in athletics, so was an amazing social organiser. Sally had terrific Spanish, which was very helpful, while I talked everyone into eating things perhaps they wished they hadn't.

A very good and very inspirational trip!