Hello....

[gblackman]

Hello everyone/Andy,

I was also directed to you website, through the RW forums, which i find very friendly and helpful. I found your link to here from there, and must admit for the last week or so, i have been enthralled by your wise words! You seem to think on the same lines as the things i think, but i am not so good as to putting them down on paper! so i think i will just stay here, and be prepared to be addicted!!!......great website by the way!

Bit about me, 31 years old, runner of 5 years, getting slower and more injury prone by the minute....i love having a challenge and have run 14 marathons (best of 3.24) 3 years ago, way beyond me now, and 21 Halfs, best of 1.28....i don't think i will evere get anywhere near these times in the future, but i am quite happy to become one of the backmarkers,where all the social side of running happens, and will continue on life's little challenges, albeit on a lot slower method!

I love running,all sports, swimming, indoor rowing, any exercise really, as well as going to the cinema, painting(almost a part time job!) see website
http://mysite.freeserve.com/Gary_Blackman
socialising, and listening to music, and making the most of this one chance of life we get!

If anyone wants to chat or email, feel free, as i believe you can never have too many friends or interests!

Anyway thats it......but great site, hope to speak to some more of the forumites soon, and maybe see you at some races!!

Gary

[Griff]

Welcome to the Forum Gary.

Andy, I hope you've got plenty of webspace and bandwidth, cos this forum and your site is certainly where it's at for quality discussion and writing. Just look at the quality of runner that you've managed to attract (myself excluded).

Incidentally, do you measure the traffic on this site?

Cheers
Griff

[gblackman]

cheers for the welcome Griff, i think the quality of people attracted to this, is due to the quality of the site....such inspired writing!!! ....i think it will grow and grow!

[El Gordo]

Welcome Gary. You can be our resident expert with times like those. I'm beginning to move away from thinking in terms of times, as I don't seem to be getting any... less slow. If I could ever run a marathon in less than 4:30, and/or a half in under 2 hours I'd be a happy man. I know I could do it if I applied myself enough, but, well, I don't apply myself enough.

I've forgotten to mention it in the logs, but for the last week or two I've not worn a watch, and just tried to enjoy the experience of running without any additional interference or pressure. It's been quite successful. I figured I needed to get back to basics.

But anyway, nice to have you around. What are your race plans for next year? And if it's not too much trouble, I'd be really interested to know what marathons you've done. I've got quite an obscure one lined up for spring.

Griff - yes, I do occasionally look at the stats. They've steadily increased from about 30 unique visitors per day last November to somewhere between 80 and 90 unique daily visitors this month. I know quite a few people just visit once a week or so to catch up, so it's hard to say what the total readership is. Probably about 150-200 I should think. I'd like to see it increase, but the marketing department spend too much time in the boozer. I might have to knock a few heads together...

Cheers

Andy

[gblackman]

Andy, the last few marathons i have done, have all been done without a stopwatch, and am quite happy just getting round, so i have given up chasing times (as they seriously will not get that low ever again)

What marathons have i done? Quite a mixture really, do a lot of trail, as easier on the legs.....hmmm let me think back

1st one was Manchester in Oct'98
2nd Clarendon way (winchester to Salisbury point to point)oct'99
3rd Luton marathon Dec '99
4th Turin (ITA) marathon April '00
5th london Marathon April '00 (2 weeks after turin)
6th Isle of Wight May '00
7th rottingdean (south downs) June '00
8th Marshfield Nutcracker (bristol/Bath) june'00
9th Downland Challenge 30 mile (south downs) July'00
10th Chichester international March July '01
11th London Marathon Apr 02
12thChichester international March july '02
13th Rottingdean (again 'June03)
14th Clarendon Way (again) Oct'03

Took me a while for the old grey matter to kick in......was stuck in the middle for what i had done

Next one is this saturday, the Beach head (formerly the 7 sisters) and then will probably have a break, and do london again ballott permitting...but not hopeful with 9 rejections out of 10

What is the run that you are due to do Andy?
Intrigued now!

[El Gordo]

When I was in Israel I was quite deeply affected by my visit to the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. Then, more by coincidence than anything, I picked up a book last week called Man's Search For Meaning by someone whose name escapes me, about his experience in the Nazi concentration camps. It might seem a bit morbid but it's made me want to visit Auschwitz and see it for myself. There's a marathon in Wroclaw, SW Poland, in April. I'm told it's a very beautiful, medieval city, and it isn't far from Auschwitz and Birkenau. So that's what I'm thinking of doing, all things being equal.

But they rarely are.

Andy

[gblackman]

sounds a good enough reason if any...i imagine the city would be quite beautiful, the Prague and Budapest marathons have appealed in the past, its trying to fit them all in (and the cost!)but maybe one day.......so i take it that you are doing this in place of London rather than as well with!

[El Gordo]

Yes, I toyed with the idea of London, and even contacted a charity to talk about a gold bond place, but in the end I thought it was a bit of a shame to do the same marathon twice when there are so many interesting places to visit.

Cost does come into it of course though I'd book my own hotels and make my own way, which is much cheaper than some kind of package. I'd like to drive there, but I'm not sure I'll have enough time.

As I say it's just an idea at this stage but I'm quite keen to do it.

Andy

[gblackman]

well good luck, and hope you get around to doing it!

You are right about doing different stuff, as long as i stay reasonably injury free, will probably end up doing another foreign marathon, after my annual london rejection, realy liked Turin, so would like to try another!!

[parky]

On the subject of different marathons there is a handy website called http://www.marathonguide.com (sorry don't know how to do hyperlinks which is a bit of a sad admission from someone who works in the IT industry ho humm!) which lists loads, and rates them in terms of fans/support/course etc. and allows for comments. It can be quite a useful guide when choosing a marathon abroad as hopefully the comments will tell what the organisation is like.

Basically there are loads to choose from (as you all probably know) including trail as well as road marathons. Check it out.

Although I've run four marathons, its only been London and Berlin so my experience of them is fairly limited. However if you want a big race atmosphere (like London), a flat fast course (pb guranteed (well maybe)), great organisation and facilities, interesting city and a race that is not as difficult to get into as London, I really recommend Berlin.

By the way if you all know about this already, apoologies for wasting your time.

[El Gordo]

Agree about http://www.marathonguide.com. That's where I first hit on the idea of doing Chicago. It's also interesting just to browse through and read about people's experiences in different places.

Didn't realise you'd done Berlin -- it's one of those races I feel I must do sometime, and I've always wanted to visit the city. I have it in my diary for next autumn, but in very faint pencil at the moment, as it's a long way off. Runners World have it as one of the top marathons in the world. Would you recommend it?

Please waste more of our time, Parky......

[gblackman]

definitely would be one to do in the future, i always wanted to get 50 marathons done before i retire...so whats that? another 34 years of work till i am 65...done 14....so 36 ledt to do...should be achieveable...one a year...!!

berlin WILL be one of them...i will make sure!

have a good weekend everyone!

[Seafront Plodder]

I have been to Berlin many times, sadly never to run the marathon.

Was there just 2 months before the wall came down, and again 6 months afterwards - with hindsight, a very moving experience. It is a truly superb city, and if you ever get the opportunity to go, you won't be disappointed I can promise you that!

I'm now as ready as I'll ever be to run Dublin on monday, staying until wed for the compulsory rehydration procedure. Hope hope to get around to a 'race' report and if so,I'll put it here.

A quick word about watches, I never run with one. At my level I cannot see the point; I have a certain distance to run, and so much depends on the weather, how I'm feeling, whether I go off too fast (a phenomenon I never seem able to recover from) etc. As Andy says his log, whether the run is x mins/secs longer than last time is irrelevent - well to me it anyway.

Off to admire the idiots doing the Beachy Head marathon this morning - that'll help the focus!!

Andy.

[El Gordo]

Gary - I just had a look at your website, and am very impressed with your work. (http://mysite.freeserve.com/Gary_Blackman for anyone who missed it).

I'm also a Shawshank and Green Mile fan. I was always a bit snooty about Steven King until I read the Shawshank Redemption on holiday one year. A great film. I have it on DVD, and watch it from time to time at 2 in the morning when I'm drunk. When I was in the US last year we hired a car for a week after the Chicago marathon and went off round Michigan and Ohio. In Ohio we drove through Mansfield, where the film was shot and went to take a look at the reformatory, which is no longer in use. Their website is at http://www.mrps.org/index2.html.

Re Berlin: I read on the RW forums today that medals are awarded only to people who finish in under 5 hours. I'm pretty sure that the next marathon I do will be quicker than that, but nevertheless I thought that attitude a bit mean-spirited. But I'd still like to do the event.

Seafront Plodder/Andy - best of luck in Dublin for Monday, mate, and sorry that I didn't make it with you. Watch out for that hill at Mile 19. Guinness, I'm told, is a rich source of carbohydrate so a few pints the night before would be my advice. Let us know how you got on, even if it's just a line or two.

Andy

[gblackman]

Thanks for your comments on the website Andy...bit of a part-time job almost....no wonder i don't get any time for my training!
The horse i had in the photos, which i had for the last 2 years, i sold 3 weeks ago, as i had to move and was not able to afford him any longer , but will now hopefully free up a bit more money and time to do a few more physically challenging things!....my legs will ache in a different way now..

Done Beachy Head on Saturday, albeit slowly....
here is a brief report!


I had as good as run (if i can describe it as that) that i could have expected...got round in 5hr 9 mins...bit incident packed, on the 1st long downhil descent, i turned on my ankle, and twisted it quite bit, but ran it off to a certain extent, at about 10 miles, almost got trampled over by horse that spooked and the rider lost control, had to jump a verge to get out of the way...had a real bad patch from about 10-13 miles, as having done no training, i always suffer in the middle bit, but got going after this although slowly, really enjoyed the 7 sisters, as found it easy to walk up and belt down the other side....so made a bit of time up....Groin was suprisingly ok, but is very painful this morning.....i did go out Friday night till 11, and had 5 pints of lager, so maybe not the best preperation (although i did have 2 pints of water as well, in my defense) ...although didn't feel like this stopped me in any sort. had a good chat with some really inspirational characters on the way around, and the weather and views were simply stunning! Will definitely be back, hopefully with some preperation this year, but was pleased with the time, as 2 weeks after the Clarendon way marathon....and have now reached 15 completed ones....although 1hour and 45 mins outside my PB...(as if i will ever get near THAT again!!)

Ok, although it wasn't that brief!

Well done on the others that have done marathons this weekend...Snowdonia/Dublin etc....

I am going to have a bit of a rest from marathons...(well rest of the year i think) will look for a few next year hopefully!)

Gary