April 2011

[marathondan]

Week 18 – 1 week to go

Well, April has come around again and it’s marathon week.

I’ve ticked off my final fartlek, tempo session and long run (8 miles). For the first time, the Marathon Talk podcast didn’t last the duration of the long run. Episode 64 included part 2 of a very interesting interview with Jeff Galloway. Many of you may be familiar with his run / walk technique, but it’s new to me. I know he’s an evangelist, but it was a pretty compelling talk and I’m tempted to try his methods in training and racing once Brighton is out of the way. The emphasis is on remaining injury-free and continuing running into mature years, both of which may be of interest to certain forum members.

I tried on the outfit last night for the final time; it’s feeling quite light and comfortable so I’m going to try and pace myself for a 4:30 finish. I’ve no idea how that will go in practice, if everything goes well it should be doable but I’ve only run for 10 minutes in this thing so there could be all sorts of unforeseen issues. As well as the normal drinks, energy snacks and Vaseline, I’ll be carrying a roll of gaffer tape in case of structural failure.

Just a couple of jogs planned for this week, some touching up of paint and application of logos, final packing list and off we go!

I did have a mad idea yesterday that the top of the costume would be the perfect location for a camera. Install one up there, set to take a still every 5 sec or so, and I would have a time lapse movie of the entire race from an excellent vantage point. I even wondered if the race organisers would be interested. But I don’t think there are compact cameras around that would reliably keep snapping away for 5 hours and store 3600 photos without running out of battery.

[suzieq]

Good luck and have fun on the run! I'll be thinking of you and SW this weekend. Hope it all comes together.


Suzie

[ladyrunner]

Good luck on Sunday. Atleast the wind has died down so you shouldn't get too blown around. Hope to see some photos of the custome (Sweder get your camera ready).

[stillwaddler]

We are looking forward to following the pink appendage round MD, what colour start pen are you in?

Good Luck, we'll seek you out at the start.

[glaconman]

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Seriously phallic, G'man! Lucky we're all adults here (well, with a couple of doubtfuls)...

Best of luck for Sunday Dan - I hope the weather holds up for you and you don't need too much of that gaffa tape! Really looking forward to your race report and some of those photos Sweder has been dobbed in to take.

Go the rock!

[marathondan]

Um, thanks GM!

I'm in yellow SW, can't remember what time that refers to. Not too worried about a fast start though!

BTW SW, I hear that Mr Testicles is running again!

[Sweder]

BTW SW, I hear that Mr Testicles is running again!

That's possibly bollocks ...

[marathondan]

Not the greatest piece of journalism ever, but I got a mention on the BBC...

[glaconman]

[marathondan]

Cheers - your good health!

The good health of my quads will have to wait another couple of days...

[The Beast of Bevendean]

Didn't see Mr Testicles, though there was an alarming looking chap I have dubbed the illustrated man, in an écorché costume, that is to say as if he had been flayed alive. He must be local (for there can only be one) as he passed me between Seaford and Newhaven on one of my Sunday long runs a few weeks ago. He was going like a train.
Perhaps I would do better if I were to run as a body part or anatomical structure. The Islets of Langerhans, perhaps?

[Sweder]

Lawks yes! I saw that fellow. He looked like something out of the Hellraiser series, wrapped in a visceral full-body suit. I was surprised not to see a parade of yapping hounds trailing in his impressively fast wake.

[marathondan]

Yes, I exchanged a few Shearers with "Mr Muscles" (as I thought of him) at the crossover points (or countercurrent flow paths as we say in the world of process engineering). I wondered if he was running for a charity related to a muscular condition, or maybe he's just weird. The full face covering was quite disturbing.

[Sweder]

By the way Dan I wanted to congratulate you on your time.
For a man aiming at 5 hours in such a non aero-dynamic outfit on a very warm day you absolutely nailed it. Add in your costume tribulations and your achievement is all the more remarkable.

To put it in perspective I ran the same distance in Connemara in 4:42 in similar conditions without a nine-foot stick of rock strapped to my backside. Brilliant.

[marathondan]

Thanks Sweder, although I would point out:

- At Connemara you had the small matter of another 13.1 miles to run, so I guess you were taking it a little bit easy.
- I didn't really notice the heat; I think the costume did a good job of shading me. Certainly I felt better during the last hour than I did wearing the gorilla suit.
- My conclusion from how I felt after the last two marathons is that running a slow race in big fancy dress is easier than running a fast race in normal clothes. I'm now wondering whether to just try for a straight PB attack next year - that feels like a bigger challenge than another round of extreme silliness. (Having said that, I've now run three in a row, so my recovery should be better.)

So while I gratefully accept your plaudits I do know deep down (having done two now) that it's not as hard as it looks.

[ladyrunner]

Hi Dan

I've managed to track down the Brighton Marathon Argus Special Edition and was very disappointed to see that there were no photos of your Stick of Brighton Rock in the photo section

Well done on your time on what was such a hot day.

Julie

[marathondan]

Oh thanks Julie. It seems that Sweder's photo of me is the only one on the internet. I bet Spongebob made it into the paper, and I notice that his finish time was 9:06!. Still, I will put all bitterness aside; the main thing is that my last few donations are set to tip the sponsorship total over the £2000 mark - so the costume did its job.

[stillwaddler]

well, I found one more - v.quick search on Google images turned this up

http://hovedailyphoto.blogspot.com/

[stillwaddler]

and another
http://www.millennia-events.co.uk/2011/0...thon-2011/