London Marathon 2017

Had an awesome weekend and marathon in London 😀

A few months ago (27th January '17) I got an email from The Running Bug team, that I had been selected to be a Reebok #FloatrideLondon ambassador with a free place at the "otherwise-sold-out-and-very-hard-to-get-a-place-in"-London Marathon. I'm very pleased and humbled for getting this opportunity!

The last many years I have entered the ballot for the London Marathon but without luck and had sort of given up the idea of participating. And I tried to fool my brain and convincing myself that it's (the marathon) probably just over-rated anyway hence not worth the effort of trying to get a place at. However, I guess deep down in my heart I knew this wasn't true. Truth is I would love to run it!

So I was very very pleased finally standing at the start line with some 40,000 other equally-minded, eager to get going. 😋 Everybody buzzin' and off we went...

A great relief to get going. Crowds of people cheering along from the first few metres and from here only very few places were without huge hordes of enthusiastic and cheerful high-5'ing spectators 😎 What an amazing atmosphere!! Simply AWESOME!!

Of course I brought my camera and took some photos along the route. Who wouldn't! And I also captured some video footage (about 45 minutes in total 😱) which I've compiled into a 5 minute video. 

My training for it (the marathon) has not been optimal. I've mostly been a #WeekendWarrior due to my job allowing only little time during work-days for running, so pretty much all my training has been in the weekends. However, I felt ready for it and managed to get myself a PB in 3:48:55. I really enjoyed it and had an awesome weekend in London! I will definitely recommend anyone to run it.
Ballot sign-up for 2018 is this week!! (1st May '17 and till 5th May '17: LINK).

My Reebok kit and Reebok Floatride running shoes did a great job and my feet or legs was not sore afterwards. My Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR GPS watch also did a good job.

I'm very pleased and thankful that I got the opportunity to participate in the London Marathon 2017, which would not have been possible if it wasn't for Reebok UK Team #FloatrideLondon, SweatshopOnline and The Running Bug. Thank you very much!

I have been out running once since the marathon - a nice and easy 10km run @ 5:20 min/km avg. pace (somewhat a week after) and my legs, feet and body feel great. 😉

I'm not sure what my next target will be, but I'd love to do some more ultras. I was a bit jealous when I passed some runners as they finished TP100 this weekend when cycling along the river in Oxford... 😊

Oh - and remember to give blood if you can! Donated today - my 25th donation in Oxford 😎 #GiveBlood

Until next time - Keep on running and see ya out there!

#VLM2017, #LondonMarathon, Team #FloatrideLondon, SweatshopOnline, The Running Bug, Suunto #Spartan Sport Wrist HR, #GiveBlood

Best M.

Next stop: London Marathon

London Marathon this coming Sunday - Yeah 😀

With less than a week to go, I'm feeling ready for it - Still slightly surreal that I've got the chance to run it though, but I'm looking very much forward to it indeed! Thankful and excited!

A couple of weeks ago I was at a Reebok/Sweatshop training session as a part of the preparation for London Marathon with some great talks by various people including my coach Shaun Dixon (from Let's get Running), a nutritionist and former Marathon World Record holder Steve Jones who won Chicago, London Marathon and New York in the mid-80's and who is also a Reebok Ambassador. 

All in all a great day with a bit of exercise at the end round the streets of London. Most of the information given is very much in thread with what I have been trying practising over the past years. Here's a few points:

• Training:
   - Listen to your body!
   - Don't do to much too soon.
   - Don't play catch-up with your training plan if you miss a session - Let it go!
   - Session over 3-ish hours if probably not doing you any good.
   - Rest after a race.
   - Stretch those legs once in a while.
• Carbs:
   - Don't be carb-phobic! You need carbs to fuel your run.
   - Start carb-loading for a race a maximum of 48h prior to the race. 
• Proteins:
  
   - I eat varied and relatively healthy, so I probably already get enough protein, hence no need to top-up with (expensive) protein shakes that does not taste that well after all.
   - Milk/Cocoa flavoured milk is (still) great as a post-run-drink for re-hydration and has a good mixture of proteins and electrolytes that helps the recovering process. Top that up with a banana for some fast carbs. The body can only process so and so much protein at a time, so no need to over-do it.

Almost ready for London Marathon. My new Reebok running kit has been washed and dried. The new Reebok Floatride running shoes has arrived and have been tested. Accommodation has been sorted. My camera is being charged "as we speak" and the memory card emptied to make room for my photo coverage of the streets of London. The new Suunto Spartan Sport WHR multi sport GPS watch has arrived and I thought London Marathon would be a great place to test it and compare it to my old GPS watch. 

And for those who have too much time on their hands can follow me via this link:

FOLLOW ME ONLINE @ LONDON MARATHON: #56502

See ya at #LondonMarathon 😃

Best M.

Team #FloatrideLondon, ReebokUK, SweatshopOnline, The Running Bug
Suunto Spartan Sport WHR
 

Reebok Ambassador + London Marathon 2017

It seems like I'll be running London Marathon 2017 after all 😀

Friday afternoon (27/1 2017) I got an email saying "You're in!". 
A week prior to receiving this great email, I had filled in an application to become a Reebok Ambassador. This also includes a place at London Marathon in April 2017. How awesome is that! 😎


Now, receiving an email like that is a kind of weird - you don't really believe it at first. However, I replied saying my thanks to the person sending me the message, and got a reply back that more information will follow next week. I'm very pleased and honoured that I've been selected with 3 other runners for this. From the email, it is also mentioned that I get a coach - cool! 😁

So far so good - so unless somebody made a (huge) mistake of sending me that email, I'll be running at London Marathon this year on 23rd April! I'd better get on those trainers and get moving...!

So from a "running" perspective, 2017 doesn't seem so bad after all. However, there are many other things that could be a lot better: The Trump Incident; the several refugee-crises around the world; The Trump Incident; Oh - and Trump has become President of the United States of America! 😱

Right - I guess this means that my focus for 2017 have changed a bit  - a least until after London. I'll be focusing my training on that the next 3 months, so maybe interval-training is back on the weekly running menu? I'll get back to that, when I know a bit more on what is going to happen... 

So until then - See ya all out there 😊

#Reebok #LondonMarathon

Best M.