[Watcher]

Hi Biscuit, JohnnyBravo.

We are down to one month now as of yesterday for the marathon. I was knocked out from a stomach virus for 2 days this week after attending a family gathering so running has been a bit laborious. My VO2 Max plummeted from 48 to 43.

I will finish out this week in the 46-50 mile range. Sunday the sun will be out and temps will start at 50° for the half marathon challenge as the weather finally begins to turn favorably. Hopefully there will be no wind.

I've run this course before and it's through farm country with accompanying rolling hills. This is a separate 5K and 10 miler race. It's offered as a half marathon challenge and I think the concept is to give people running options with the three choices. They also get more people to register by offering options.

March will be the 4th time I reach 200 run miles in a month and I will have 185 after Sunday so I am pretty close to my high of 211 from last August.

[Watcher]

This morning the sun was out in full force and there was wind so running conditions were ideal. I didn't have to wear a sweatshirt for once however I did end up with noticable wind burn.

Both courses were rolling country hills. The 5K launched first and I set a new record for myself while finishing at a 7:50 minute. I was surprised to learn after the conclusion of both races that I had medaled for my age group.

I also set a record for myself on the 10 miler and alternated between 8 and 9 minute paces. After the 2 races I finished out the day at 19 miles.

The pace of the 5K and the hills from the 10 miler probably took their toll on me today so there was no point in pushing myself past 19 miles at that point.

I am up to 550 miles on the year. I believe I'm running good at the moment but won't really have a feel for it until I'm in the marathon. There is a huge dropoff with the training miles from the races.

[Watcher]

It has been cold and windy this week. This morning I ran 13 miles to finish the month of March with 212 miles run to set a new high for myself.

I have a half marathon tomorrow in the wind and rain to finish out week 14 with 61 miles run. On Sunday I have a 4 miler for the NYC Marathon which will be race 6 of 9.

I updated my Garmin Connection and they have added a new category for ascent. I climbed 6,200 feet in March and 18,000 feet since I started running hills in January. Previously I had been averaging about 1,500 feet in ascent per month.

I made a slight alteration for my trip and decided to just extend my stay at the marathon hotel as I don't want to deal with a train ride right after a flight. I ordered my train pass weeks ago and it arrived in one day. I also went to the bank and ordered some Pounds which cost a lot more than Euros.

Everything is set however I really haven't thought about the trip because I still have 2 more weeks of running. I probably won't be excited until I'm sitting on the plane come the 17th. My running times even look really good but I'm ignoring them because I don't trust them yet, lol.

[Watcher]

There was steady rain and wind for the half marathon this morning along the beach which had 1800 runners. The first mile was overcrowded before it finally opened up through mile 8.

The temps were 61° with 15 mph winds so I actually was able to wear shorts as it was comfortable. I wore a wind breaker but IDK if that helped or not. I was rather drenched when I was finished.

It took me until mile 6.5 to pass the 2 hour pacers so I knew I was in control at that point. Miles 9 through 11 were extremely narrow with the course resembling a bicycle chain at that point with the lead runners coming right back your way.

It finally opened up again for the final 2 miles on the boardwalk. This was not my favorite course as I'm not a big fan of being forced to run single file until something opens up. I did shave 17 minutes off of my time from last year.

Aside from the opening mile I'm still hitting all 8 min miles which continues to surprise me. I had no fatigue and could have continued.

Tomorrow is a quick 4 mile run in NYC and I'm not doing any additional running this weekend. I have one more 20 mile run to try during the week before I begin to slow the long runs down.

[Watcher]

The sun was out on Sunday however it was windy and cold so the chill of Winter still lingered in the air. There were 7800 runners for this 4 mile run.

I've run this hilly Central Park course many times at numerous distances so I was able to maneuver past people on the hills. Otherwise the course was crowded and narrow. Four miles doesn't leave much room to create separation.

There are 12 pens at NYRR races and I'm currently in number 6 so hopefully I continue to move up so I won't have to fight through the crowd so much. I think pen 4 would probably be the highest I could go. These races also help determine ones wave assignment for the marathon.

I'm back on this course in June and look forward to wearing Summer clothes finally. This was another 8 min mile run and I finished 12 of the 14 races in 2023 at the 8 min mile range.

The London Marathon will be the next one up as I just have to finish out weeks 15 and 16 with these training runs.

[Watcher]

No race today so I had to run 20 miles on my own. My watch pings at each mile and I just ignored it until the end while keeping a consistent pace. I hit each mile objective so I believe London will be my fastest time.

Week 15 ended at 54 miles and I now have 648 miles on the year with one week left for scaled down training. I will receive my corral assignment and starting time on the 14th.

I finished with 4x 20 mile runs for the London Marathon and this was my best one yet. This morning was 39° with no wind and the running conditions were ideal for shorts.

[Watcher]

The weather actually looks good for London next week straight thru to the marathon with running temps hovering between 58-63° on race day which will be similar to my Berlin run.

Hopefully the temperatures won't climb any higher. I received my starting information from TCS London so I guess that running organizer was not a scam. I will start on the blue line. I always get blue on these majors.

The waves start at 10am, go to 1130am, and I landed at 11am. I started Berlin at 1045am and NYC at 11am so more of the same. I'll be able to sleep a bit later and eat breakfast before hopping on a train to the start, off at Blackheath station. With NYC I was already on the road to the race at 4am because that's how they do things.

I'm not going to the expo until the Saturday prior to the race with my group organizers and I'll probably be impatient all week because that's cutting it close for my bib, lol.

Cleopatra's Needle is at mile 25. There are only two in the world I believe and I have run past the other one many times in NYC's Central Park. I still have 4 more days to run this week at 8 miles each and then I'm ready for World Major #3. 

OMG, can you imagine if that Tax Offset Unit did something to my passport, 😂

[gman242]

Wow that sounds like quite a trip! How long are you going to spend in Europe? Hope you have some time to take in some sights.

Disturbed puts on a great show. Sand I saw them a few years back. They played for nearly 3 hours. So many songs over the years. Totally worth going.

[Watcher]

Hi Gman,

I believe I will be there 17 days and I have to dedicate two of those days for the marathon. So I will have plenty of time to sight see. I already know what I want to see in London as everything of importance is along the marathon route and pretty much in walking distance from my hotel.

My number one destination must see is Caerphilly Castle in Wales. I will also stop in Cardiff. I'm visiting Bath for the Roman history and after the race in London I will be in York to walk out my marathon legs for a couple of days.

I am going to Edinburgh and have excursions scheduled for Loch Ness, Hadrian's Wall, and Holy Island. I'm leaving prior to the Coronation. Maybe I should have stayed longer however I don't believe the date had been announced yet while I was making my plans. Anyway it probably will be crowded.

There is a Little Ben. I'm taking a picture of it and telling everyone that is really Big Ben, lol.

I'm looking forward to Disturbed. I've never seen them before and they just look and sound like a great concert show. I also have Godsmack. Both of those tickets were low cost.

I have Zach Williams which is Christian and then my country trio of Morgan Wallen, Dierks Bentley and Eric Church. I got orchestra for Dierks Bentley with Jordan Davis so I'm really looking forward to that one.

I was reading today that the blue start line is the hardest of the three routes because it has a two mile incline.

I'm apprehensive about the trains. In Germany there was the ICE train. It was easy to pick out. There are many different lines in the United Kingdom. Well I know the Western line that takes me to Bath and Cardiff. That should be the GWR. Well I hope it actually says GWR, like ICE, on the train.

I have to learn the Northern route lines but my brain is overwhelmed if I try to plan it out.

So one step at a time. Land in Heathrow then take the train to Piccadilly Station, transfer somewhere, and then take the train to Victoria Station to my hotel. That's my first objective.

[Biscuit]

Watcher,

Get the Piccadilly line to either Hammersmith or Earls Court and then change to the District line to Victoria….can’t think of a quicker way.