Hi guys
I will run my second marathon on the 13th of May in Lodz, Poland.
I chose this one because the course is completely flat (so they say) and it's on a four lap course wich works well for me as I like to get to know the road.
My goal, once again, is to go under 3 hours.
I tried that in my first, in October, and ended up walking from 34km to 37.5km and finishing with 3h36'33''.
I have been training with a very "spontaneous" plan that I devised as I went, due to a nagging groin injury (Steve... ).

All tips will be very welcome and as I will probably have to spend a night in Stansted airport, if someone lives nearby and fancies a game of chess at 2 o'clock in the morning, I will take my magnetic board

HELP!!!!
I am having a problem with deciding about the travel dates...
I have to watch how much I spend and I came down to two options...
A more expensive one in which I would travel to Poland on the 10th of May and, great!, I would have 3 days to adapt to lower temperatures and to rest from the trip.
A cheaper trip... Which would involve being on a plane from 1.45am to 5.50am on the night before the race. I have plenty of free time to rest in the days before (I work at home) and I can rest from 11am on Saturday...

Now... Do you think this is pushing things too much? I'm not so worried about 4 hours on the plane but more about not being able to sleep on it and thus not getting enough rest two nights before the race...

I need to buy the tickets tonight! What's your advice!!????

:eek:

So am I right in thinking the cheaper option means that you're travelling on Friday night/Saturday morning?

I suppose it depends on your finances but if it were me I would go on the 10th. Travelling can be quite stressful, even though you may not think it at the time.
If you want to give yourself the best chance in the marathon then get the travelling over sooner rather than last minute.

As I think you are aware, the important night for sleep is two nights before the race, and that goes for your meal too...the Friday evening meal is the most important for a Sunday marathon.

Thanks Trinity, I took your advice. Tickets bought and I managed to get a decent deal.
That includes the night in Stansted so, anyone up for chess in the early hours of the 9th of May, let me know

One week to go...

Good luck with the taper madness

Thanks Trin
Had my last "long" run yesterday. 15Km at an easy pace.
I feel the legs getting stronger by the day but after the first experience in the marathon still very insecure about the outcoe of this one

Good luck with the race Fulmar...trust groin wil hold up!!

e4...

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13 months to L2B!

hold up what?

Leaving to Poland soon!
See you all later guys, thanks for the support.

YOU BAD GIRL TRIN!

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13 months to L2B!

Moi?








Good luck Fulmar...have a great race!

3h03m43s
Hi guys, still in Poland, 4 days after the marathon.
A new PB by almost 33 minutes and despite being very near the 2h59m59s I was hoping for, I am still very happy with the result because at last I have run a marathon! (I had had to walk for about 2 miles in my first one).
I know I was in shape for a close sub 3h but everything would have had to come together juuuuust right and it didn't.
But hey! 4 hours after finishing I was already thinking about the next one

Steve - the groin pain was a bit disturbing until the 32nd km. After that, everything else started to hurt and it didn't bother me anymore

Thanks for the support

Well done Fulmar...

Quality performance.

33 mins off a PB amazing Fulmar - well done mate.