Du bist ein hamburger??

[Seafront Plodder]

Well I spotted it.

Care to elucidate old chap?

[El Gordo]

Well I spotted it.

Care to elucidate old chap?

Ich weiss nicht.

Oh god, what have I gone and done now...?

[marathondan]

Does that three-letter graffitto count as a blogpost, EG? Some measure their output in words per minute, others in characters per quarter...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

EG's gettin' restless!

[El Gordo]

Does that three-letter graffitto count as a blogpost, EG? Some measure their output in words per minute, others in characters per quarter...

3 letter graffito...?

[marathondan]

There is a 3 letter graffito (yes, your spelling was correct) on your front page. An addition to the handwritten note. Maybe it's been there for months, and I never noticed. Not sure if this is what SP is on about or not. Then again, I rarely know what he's on about. He seems pleased about something, anyway.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I think that's been there for ... some little while Dan!

[marathondan]

I think that's been there for ... some little while Dan!

OK, as you were.

Anyone know what SP is on about then?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I think that's been there for ... some little while Dan!

OK, as you were.

Anyone know what SP is on about then?

Have a look at EG's sig file/status line!

[marathondan]

Have a look at EG's sig file/status line!

To coin a phrase... I think that's been there for ... some little while MLCMM!

Or am I wrong?

[Seafront Plodder]

Yes that is what I was referring to, and if it has been there a while then I'd not noticed it.

Any road up, an explanation would be grand from Swiss Toni.

[marathondan]

Perhaps you should refer to this blog post.

But anyway EG, how's it going?

Some of us are starting to see mirage updates now...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Good to see we're all on the same page!

Is there any tea on this spaceship?

[El Gordo]

Perhaps you should refer to this blog post.

But anyway EG, how's it going?

Some of us are starting to see mirage updates now...

Me too.

How is it going? Hard to say, Dan old chap. Except, something is certainly going. And other things not. Does that help?

In brief, my last failed campaign was the most devastating failure of them all, by a long way. I had never felt so up for it; never more determined. 6 weeks of focused, furious effort... and I didn't get anywhere. I still couldn't turn in a decent 4 mile run. It's a big disincentive. Maybe I'm past it.

But yes, I did enter Berlin, and yes, I do have a calendar. (22 weeks to go).

Yes, I am going to be at the P2P in November.

Yes, I do have a guaranteed London Marathon place in 2014.

Give me some advice.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

...

But yes, I did enter Berlin, and yes, I do have a calendar. (22 weeks to go).

Yes, I am going to be at the P2P in November.

Yes, I do have a guaranteed London Marathon place in 2014.

Give me some advice.

Not sure if this was aimed specifically at Dan or whether anyone can chime in (but I am anyway)...

Easy ... read your Boston training diary. There you suffered all kinds of injuries, illnesses and circumstances and was in doubt right up to the final week or two. Yet you did it! And I reckon you can do it again. Just re-read your training blog and you'll find that spark.

[marathondan]

I doubt very much it was aimed specifically at me. Although there may be a gap in the market for an "Ask The Gorilla" marathon advice column.

My advice... less is more. 3 sessions a week. No cross training, no massive health kick, just eat sensibly and minimise those known evil foods.

The ideal, I think, is to incorporate a modest amount of running into your lifestyle, and then ramp it up when the time comes. But I've never managed to achieve that. You and I are spreadsheet monkeys, we need goals to drive us. Therefore with Berlin 22 weeks away, in my opinion your next goal should be to hit that 4 miles in another 6 weeks from now. That will leave you the classic 16 weeks. But even then, your ramp-up can be more modest than you've done in the past, particularly if you were to adopt a Gallowayian approach to Berlin.

So what went wrong in the super 6 weeks? Lingering injuries? Lingering kilos? Lack of long-term fitness? Lack of mojo? Probably none of those can be easily fixed (except the last one: we can pep talk you till you have to be dragged down from the ceiling with a winch). But they can be worked around.

Also, you say "couldn't turn in a decent 4 mile run"... how bad are we talking?

[El Gordo]

I read the above from MLCMM and MD, and as a result am just back from a 30 minute lunchtime plod. Horrible physically. Mentally pleasing.

Must dash back to work. More later.

[glaconman]

Have you thought about removing your running goals from centre-stage and running them in parallel with other activities. Although I know that, like all choices we make, our choice of sport tends to be an emotional/instinctive preference for something. If I can run, I will run. Other stuff will come second.

But If I was to land in Horgen for a few years I would be thinking about 3 things: running, road biking and canoeing/kayaking.

The latter two are non-impact sports. And now is the time of year to start enjoying them. You get a completely different perspective from the middle of a lake and flat water canoeing is not very technical if you use a nice long, stable boat. I used to have a boat I would take up to Ulswater for the day. Plus it's great for core strength. Give it a go. You live next to a lake.

The running could be ramped up very slowly over the Summer. This doesn't necessarily address The German Question. But I'm thinking longer term.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

My advice... less is more. 3 sessions a week. No cross training, no massive health kick, just eat sensibly and minimise those known evil foods.

Which is exactly what I did for both my marathons - three runs per week, eat tolerably well and ditch the cross training. Perhaps not ideal if you're after a fast time, but enough to see you through, and most important, far less chance of injury.

[El Gordo]

Have you thought about removing your running goals from centre-stage and running them in parallel with other activities. Although I know that, like all choices we make, our choice of sport tends to be an emotional/instinctive preference for something. If I can run, I will run. Other stuff will come second.

But If I was to land in Horgen for a few years I would be thinking about 3 things: running, road biking and canoeing/kayaking.

The latter two are non-impact sports. And now is the time of year to start enjoying them. You get a completely different perspective from the middle of a lake and flat water canoeing is not very technical if you use a nice long, stable boat. I used to have a boat I would take up to Ulswater for the day. Plus it's great for core strength. Give it a go. You live next to a lake.

The running could be ramped up very slowly over the Summer. This doesn't necessarily address The German Question. But I'm thinking longer term.

Yo, GM. As always, a different perspective -- thanks.

Yes and no. Road biking, as in a racing bike and bombing down steep hills, is not for me. I'm too cowardly, and just not built for it. (But CH roads are full of such impressive athletes - you can see why they do well internationally.) But I do have a decent-enough Trek hybrid bike that will give me a perfectly good workout. Yes, it makes sense.

Canoeing? Now that's interesting. I read a book about canoeing or kayaking when I was a young kid in London, and have hankered after it ever since. A few years ago , I spent a couple of afternoons canoeing (or kayaking? Not sure) on the Rhone in southern France, and it was fantastic. Helped by the extraordinary landscape and its tranquility, admittedly.

This is a big sport/leisure activity here. And yes, I often see people kayaking on the lake. I will research this.

----

More generally re 3 runs a week / cross-training etc. --- I do like going to the gym (not that I've done it much recently). The one I'm a member of is a nice place to hang out for an hour or two. I wouldn't want to stop that as it's more likely to keep my fitness head right. And I'm paying for it....

The other thing I should do more of is walking. Hiking season is just getting underway again and there are a few groups about.


Gah! Time! Off to work.

Thanks all. Plan is brewing. More later.