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The Spring Marathon Round-up | We talk training and kit for Boston, London and Manchester
3.2k Plays6 months ago
The Run Testers took part in three of the year's biggest Spring Marathons this year: Boston, London and Manchester. In this episode we talk through the training we did, the races themselves and the kit we tested out during the events.
Big thanks to Fear of Tigers for the killer intro music. You can listen to more of his stuff over at https://www.patreon.com/fearoftigers
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Transcript
Meet the Team & Marathon Introductions
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, Tommy from the Runetestors and welcome back to the Runetestors podcast. In this episode, we are going to be talking about the spring marathons that we've all done. So myself, Nick, Kieran and Mike have all run marathons over the past few weeks. And in this episode, we're going to be talking about the training that we did before those marathons, the actual marathon experience itself and the kit that we all tested over the course of each of those races. This podcast is also a full video on the YouTube channel. So if you'd prefer to watch this as a video, maybe don't listen to this podcast.
00:00:31
Speaker
Right, let's dive in and do the podcast. Alright guys, how's it going?
00:00:44
Speaker
Very good. Good. End of a long marathon season for us all. We all did marathons. I think that's the first time we've all done marathons at the same time, isn't it? Five marathons in seven days, I think between us. Exactly. Yeah, although I did do another marathon about a month, a month and a half ago, so quite a lot for me. We're talking about the times yet.
00:01:10
Speaker
Save
Training Strategies: Apps & Coaching
00:01:11
Speaker
that. So we've all done marathons, we've all done videos about marathons, so Manchester, Boston and London, but in this special episode of the podcast we're going to be talking to each other about all of the marathons, the training we've done, the actual race days and talking a bit about the kit that we tested out for each of the marathons.
00:01:34
Speaker
and also thankfully there's been loads more marathons so i've got lots more marathon celebrity times yeah a lot of celebrities in london it was a massive year for celebrities much much more than uh we've had for the last few years so i've got plenty to work on and probably got
00:01:50
Speaker
Two or three pods worth of celebrities to go through. Good. Have you got Matt Hancock? Well, celebrity is questionable with that, but I have got Matt Hancock on it. Let's not do Matt Hancock. Let's just leave him in there. Well, we love him as a bonus one. I definitely ran past one of those celebrities you probably got on your list.
00:02:09
Speaker
I didn't I didn't spot anyone else out actually. I definitely spotted two. I didn't see anything together. Okay, well, let's start off and talk about the training we did in the lead up. Kieran, you did the first marathon, you did Manchester and we won't talk about the time just yet, but we're going to hide the times. We've done about five videos.
00:02:31
Speaker
Well, if anyone's listening to this or watching this and doesn't know our times, that would be an extra treat for them. They look amazing. Keep watching for the reveal. Yeah, the big reveal. So, Manchester, you did quite a bit of training for, didn't you, Kieran? I did.
00:02:46
Speaker
did quite a lot. Actually, what I did was I was sort of testing the Cooper running app. And I used that to train mainly for a half marathon up to the landmarks half, which was a week before. And then so that was basically how I was doing my kind of faster stuff. I was doing the sessions that were on that app to see if it could get me into kind of I guess, sort of faster pace. I've got quite a good
00:03:06
Speaker
base of insurance. And then nearer the time in order to get marathon ready, I went out and sort of did three marathons in my training build up, which is not really recommended or probably sensible. But I realized I hadn't done any of that kind of that proper sort of long mileage. So I got three of those in just before the race. And it
00:03:26
Speaker
Yeah, I did some of those kind of slow, but with some sort of marathon pace sections in them, testing shoes as well, which videos on the channel, and it seemed to sort of pay off. It kind of worked. There was a sort of a ramshackle affair, really. But somehow, by hook or by crook, I pieced it together and it worked out. So how did you find structured training for a marathon? Because it's been a long time. Have you ever done, you did it once, didn't you, where you followed a really strict plan?
00:03:48
Speaker
I have done, I mean, the interesting thing, this is just to be the third, without revealing the actual time, because I want to give it a wait. I've run a sub three, and I seem to have done them every five years, sort of since I started running. So every five years I go and do it. But it's a very different, a lot of what I do before this was just sort of out, you know, running long and
00:04:06
Speaker
just from joining. It's been the first time I've gone back and had to be on the watch and looking at paces and thinking about sessions and it is a very different mentality. I found it took quite a long time to get my head back into that because I just hope that you sort of run as free. Maybe you're sort of just a bit more concentration. It can feel a little bit more like you're
00:04:24
Speaker
doing work, I guess, is the difference. But actually, I enjoyed the process and tried to just take each run at a time, tried to sort of hit some target pace, tried not to get too down hard when I've missed them often. But yeah, it is a very different process. And I guess, you know, getting a bit long in the tooth, I've reached a point where maybe now I sort of just run for adventure rather than for time. So it was a bit of getting back into that, took a little bit of a mindset change. Mm. You gonna do it again?
00:04:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think I will. It has given me a bit of a taste for running fast. Who wants Tom's time? Who wants Tom's time? Although, yeah, maybe save it for the autumn now.
Back-to-Back Marathons & Weather Challenges
00:05:05
Speaker
All right. So, Nick, you're always training anyway, but you did train particularly hard for this one, didn't you?
00:05:12
Speaker
Yeah, highest mileage ever. Loved it. I think I won the best training block I've done. I really enjoyed it. Despite that, it was a really windy and unpleasant winter here in London. I got probably added on average for about 20 miles a week. I was doing kind of 115, 125k weeks.
00:05:28
Speaker
And it went really well. Like everything was going swimmingly up until the Easter holidays when things got a bit tricky with fitting stuff in around the kids and that. But for the most part, trained really well, very consistent and yeah, enjoyed it. And that's, I mean, I really love structured training. I always have, I've got a coach, sets the sessions. It's great fun, good variety, just a couple of, probably early on we're going hard. So even as I was building up the mileage, there wasn't a lot of just pure easy running in each week. It was really beautiful.
00:05:56
Speaker
I mean, up in the mileage, lots of progression runs, so everything was finishing at a decent pace. And then in the second half, it was kind of one or two key sessions, long run, and then a lot of easy running around it. But I really enjoyed it. I've always known, everyone knows that adding more miles to your general running will make you a better runner, but you've got to do it in the right way. And I haven't done it before. And I was amazed actually at how much would benefit. In the middle of that, I was running my fastest park climbs ever and stuff like that without doing any kind of 5K specific work.
00:06:22
Speaker
I'm hoping for maybe down
Marathon Experiences & Comparisons
00:06:24
Speaker
the line when I get back into the marathon mindset towards the end of the year for Valencia, I'll probably hopefully look it up in the mileage even more and just seeing what the benefits bring. But I had a great training block, I have to say. It really couldn't have gone more smoothly. I think it was also the first training block I'd visited physio fairly regularly, just almost for check-ins. I do think it's, you know, it actually is worth it. I really made quite a big difference just to have that kind of peace of mind and checking in on anything and didn't really have any injury issues or anything like that. So just probably, you don't know, you just get into the point where you're just
00:06:50
Speaker
spending a bit of money on getting a bit of support from the coaches, physios, it does make a pretty massive difference. All right. Was it just the mileage that you, were there any changes to the actual sessions or was it just the- Similar sessions, but longer, harder, faster. I remember doing a couple of sessions towards the end. The hardest one probably was 10 times one mile down the track. I remember doing that very early in the morning because I had to get back, look after kids.
00:07:12
Speaker
Also, they were throwing grass onto the track, different annoyance. But I remember doing that exact session before Berlin, where I ran my previous PB, and the sessions were, and the paces for the miles were just a lot faster this time. And hitting that was like a big kind of, okay, you've come a long way in the, since Berlin. Because last year I didn't really do anything too serious, because I had my second kid last year, it was quite a relaxed year, didn't really go hard at any marathons. And what I did, I basically didn't want to do the
00:07:35
Speaker
like Kieran's talking about, that kind of structure training takes a lot out of you and you take some mental focus as well. I didn't want to do that last year with the kids, so back into it this year was great fun, but yeah, an interesting challenge. Good. Mike, what about you? Yeah, so I, basically I used an app as well, so it's one called RumbleHow, which actually you introduced me to, Tom, and
00:07:54
Speaker
I was planning to use it last year, didn't really, couldn't really complete the plan that I had. So I decided to give it another go and I'm going to do, I am going to do a video on this kind of digging a bit deeper than my experience of using Run With Hal. And unlike the first time I used it, I dropped down to kind of an intermediate plan. So it's slightly different from the advanced plan that I was following for the last marathon that I did.
00:08:16
Speaker
and just really seeing how it worked. And I didn't really talk too much about what I was targeting. I think really for me, I wanted to be realistic about what I thought I could do and also not have any issues or any aggravate anything. I think a bit like what Nick said, I think I paid a bit more time in terms of like, I went to the physio before I did a half marathon back in earlier in the year and just focused a bit more on that and following this plan as best as I could, knowing that it would get me
00:08:46
Speaker
get me around, get me around a good time and hopefully get me around kind of my target time that I had for London, which wasn't a PBE time, but a time that I knew that I was capable of without having any issues in the race as well. I guess I remember you running past me. I remember seeing Tom and then Mike and wondering what the position is. They'd finish on the other side of the road. I saw them and it both looked very happy at that point, Tom, I have to say.
00:09:14
Speaker
I was only happy because I had something to do, which was looking at you. Anything that distracted me from my life. How do you train for doing two marathons in six days? I didn't train for doing two marathons. I trained for doing one marathon. Well, actually, my training this year on paper was pretty much the same as what I'd done previously for Berlin. But in reality, I don't think I was never that
00:09:36
Speaker
focused on the time for boston so i don't think i probably put as much effort into the pacing stuff as i did um football in i was very focused on that and i didn't miss paces also didn't miss any runs whereas this time this is the first time i've probably trained over winter for a marathon and i did find it really hard to to fit it in and do the right
00:09:55
Speaker
to sort of the right pacing and stuff like that in Brighton in the cold and the wet. Very windy Brighton. It's very windy. It's very difficult to see what pace, to hit the paces that you should be hitting for the session because it's windy and you don't know if you're hitting the right pace. And yeah, on paper, I probably, I was, I should have been all right. But when I came to the race, I had trained for it, but I just don't think I'd put as much effort in mentally and physically as I had done.
00:10:23
Speaker
for Berlin, so not a bad training block, but well, we'll find out how I did in the next one. Bought a whole load of gear though, didn't you? So not come away empty handed. Well, we'll talk about the gear I bought in Boston because I'm now bankrupt. Don't talk exclusively where's Boston related clothing at this point. I've got Boston pants on at the moment, so yeah. All right, well, let's dive into the actual racism.
00:10:57
Speaker
Right, so three different marathons that we all did over the same one week period. So let's start off with Kieran. You did Manchester Marathon. Is that the only time you've done Manchester? First time? Yeah, first time out there, yeah. I don't think Nick and Mike, you haven't done
00:11:15
Speaker
No, I'm very eager to hear about Manchester Course. I've considered it before, but I get the feeling it's not the world's flattest marathon as claimed. Colin, what was Manchester Marathon like? Was it what you expected?
00:11:31
Speaker
A lot of people have told me beforehand that it wasn't going to be the world's flattest marathon, so I knew there was some humpy bits coming. I didn't really bother to look at the course profile too much. I was just going to run what was in front of me. I'd like to not get my head too much into worrying about what might be coming. It's a really well-organised marathon. There's a good volume of people. I think 32,000 runners did it. It goes off in waves. It's very easy. You start at the Lancashire Cricket Ground, Old Trafford, near
00:11:57
Speaker
Man United's ground, the other old traffic, which is across, but it's a very good setup. The backdrop was nice and easy. All of that kind of morning stuff that you do to get to the race, it's close into the city. It's all very convenient, very easy. There was less sort of stress than many other city marathons on that front.
00:12:14
Speaker
And then you kind of wander from the backdrop, it must be about a kilometer up to the start line, it all went off in waves. And then it gets very narrow. I mean, one of the things there's a few things that I you know, I love the support in Manchester, it's not quite London levels. There's many things to like about the race. There are a couple of things that I found a little tricky. I was running the whole thing on feel and not looking at my watches. But
00:12:35
Speaker
immediately in the beginning it narrows quite a lot and you find in order to sort of get round people you're having to shift up and down through the gears to try and get in a position where you can at least be running you know to be near your kind of target intensity and there's bollards and sometimes you're being swept through kind of what are the cycle lanes so you know does the cycle lanes now have those kind of fixed in tall poles bollards sometimes we're sort of shepherded into that kind of stuff
00:13:01
Speaker
And I think it took probably maybe about kind of three or four miles before that cleared and you actually got into free running and could get into a bit of a rhythm. So that was a bit tricky. It was quite windy on the day. It was a really weird mix of headwinds, but also at times it got really quite warm. So it was a bit of a mixed bag when it came to the weather. And then there's two things that I think really sort of jump out of the race course here, which you're thinking about going for a PB at 16 miles and at 20 miles. There are two hills.
00:13:30
Speaker
And they don't go on for very long. They are quite steep, but mainly been flat before that along kind of dual carriageways and stuff. And then when you hit those, they are, you know, they basically ask a question at the time when you probably lead at least, you know, as I came around one corner.
00:13:45
Speaker
I was at an aid station. I went for the last bottle on the aid station to try and get the water to avoid the crowds. And the guy who was there didn't put his hand out and I missed it. I was dying at that point at first. And then I turned the corner. And then there was the one big old Tringham climb. And it nearly made me sort of step off the course and go home. But you just got to kind of dig in and focus. Yeah, so it's not flat. I think it's going to be challenging at places if you want to
00:14:10
Speaker
that freedom to run all out from the gun and if you're further back that will affect how much of a PB course it is. There are big out-and-back stretches. Annoyingly we didn't really get the wind at our back on the way back round through but overall it's, you know, I think it's well organised, good at good water stations and once you get free there's lots of room to move and I think if people, I think this year it's going to come on the same weekend as London so
00:14:33
Speaker
People may be weighing up whether or not to go for Manchester or for London. As an event, I think it's a really good race to run. I really enjoyed it. And I think if you've not done it and you're looking for something different, then you can go and run fast on there. I'm not going to tell you how fast I ran though, Tom, because we're saving that. We're not saying it at all. You can do it now. We will see the photos of you running the course here. And so it was quite clear that you were trying quite hard at certain points. What time did you get?
00:15:00
Speaker
So I ended up doing a 254-40, which is like a three-minute PB. And I ran the entire thing on feel, so not looking at watches at all. But at times, I definitely found I was kind of struggling a little more than I wanted to, maybe sort of 10 miles in. I had a period where it was difficult. And then for the last six miles, I was hanging on for dear life, to be honest. So there's lots of photos of grimacing and gurning and all sorts. Then with 800 meters to go, I got
Securing Marathon Spots & Entry Tips
00:15:28
Speaker
a bit cocky and I thought, I'm done.
00:15:30
Speaker
I pushed for 200 metres then I was nearly sick and I nearly I nearly became that sideways wobbly runner all over. So that I yeah the last bit I'm sort of shuffling over the line but yeah yeah happy with the time and and actually the pacing was fairly even. I didn't manage negative splits this time running on field but it wasn't too far off and yeah I think I left it all out there so yeah I'm really happy. Oh congratulations.
00:15:54
Speaker
Well, let's save London for last because three of us did it. I'll bang on about my failure in Boston first. What's the opposite of a negative split, Tom? If you look at my pacing chart, it's just a straight down. It's like a diagonal line, basically. It's an incredible first 10K, I have to say. It is downhill to start, right? You weren't just going nuts.
00:16:16
Speaker
It is downhill to the start, but I did feel pretty good anyway. But Boston, obviously, it's one of the most sought after marathons in the world. You've got to qualify to get in. I think a lot of people do it, and they put a lot of effort into getting in. And then when they get to it, they enjoy it a little bit more. I spoke to quite a few people who said, oh, I'm not going for a fast time. I'm just going to enjoy it now I've got in.
00:16:38
Speaker
So, Boston is, I know Kieran, you're the only one who's done Boston here. It's quite a tricky marathon to sort of plan around because you've got to get that bus out all the way. It's like a 45-minute bus to get to the start line. So, it's all a bit unexpected. You sort of don't know where you're going if you've never been there before.
00:16:59
Speaker
The start area I wasn't a big fan of because you sort of get off this bus and then it's just loads of runners just in an area with some tents and some water and you're there for like two hours, which I'm not a big fan of because you just, you haven't got anything to do. There's not even any food or anything there.
00:17:15
Speaker
but it was starting to get really hot at the start of the race. I think it got to like 22 degrees or something like that, but there was absolutely no clouds. So it was pretty much beaten down the whole time. But first five, I think the first 10K is almost all sort of downhill. And you really notice it. You get very excited at the start. It's way more noticeable than London. And you really just pick up the pace quite heavily on that. But I did feel fine. I was actually holding back a little bit on that. I wasn't like bombing it as fast as I could. But I got to 10K and I just felt awful.
00:17:45
Speaker
just started, my head started hurting and stuff, and I just thought, by about 15k, I just thought, there's no point, I'm not gonna try and push this, because even if I had, I've pushed it with everything, I don't think I would have got a PB or anything, so it would have been a little bit of a horrible experience trying to force it to the end, but when you, the Boston course, it's really undulating, I've started constant, there's probably like, they're not massive hills, but it's every, at any point, you can see a hill at some point,
00:18:12
Speaker
In front of you and many be a little one, but you really start to notice that over time It really starts grating on you, especially in that heat and heartbreak Hill I didn't actually notice until halfway and I'd somebody said to me Oh, you're on heartbreak Hill and I didn't realize cuz I just I was in such a state Don't worry about it
00:18:33
Speaker
It is quite a heartbreak hill. It's not like, I reckon on a good day, if you're feeling good and you maintain your pace, I think it would be okay. Even if you're having a bad day, I think you do notice it because it's just long. It's not like really steep. It's a horrible one to track, Boston. We're looking at the tracker, tracking you going like,
00:18:49
Speaker
Is he all right? I said visions of you being horribly injured but refusing to stop because you bought so much Boston stash and you're like, I've got to wear this. And then the split comes up and you're going really slowly. Well, that must have been a hill because in the next split, you're not quite as slow. It's like, oh, what is going on? Is his calf hanging off? No, I was instantly wrecked. By about halfway, I just didn't have anything. I was walking bits towards the end. So it was not a successful one. I still ended up with a, I think it was like three, two, four or something.
00:19:18
Speaker
Not a massively bad one for me that's sort of still faster than a lot of my marathons a few years ago but it's a really tough one it's a really interesting marathon though it's um because you know if you run Manchester or London or anything you're basically running around the city so slow you've run under the marathon you're running in London
00:19:35
Speaker
This isn't in Boston. It's like little towns and villages on the way into Boston. So all the crowds there are all these little towns. It's quite nice. It's like quite a nice community vibe to it. But it's definitely the only marathon I've run like it is Venice, which it takes starts 20 miles away from Venice. But yeah, it's it's tough course. And I think a lot of people struggle to it. But how is the how is it that Wellesley College scream zone or something? Is that was that good?
00:20:03
Speaker
I didn't even notice it. It's not like London. The crowds aren't the same as London. They do lie in the streets, but it's not like dense with people. And you can sort of get off at points and there's no one there. You can walk along a little bit until you get into Boston. But you're not in Boston for that long. But it is nice. And some of the finish is nice. The actual finish line seems quite small in comparison to things like London.
00:20:31
Speaker
uh with an anti-climax but um yeah uh enjoyed it won't be doing it again i don't think because i spent so much money on all of the boston kit yeah yeah we spent about three days snowmobiling in iceland yeah i did i did a bit of snowmobiling the week before the marathon which i think is normal training yeah yeah yeah good table
00:20:52
Speaker
Yeah, classic paper. I saw a pair of, what's the name, Chitagat doing that? Yeah, they're all snow building, they're waiting to London all the other ladies. There were so many people there. It was all runners. So yeah, that was my experience of Boston. So let's talk about London, but I think, Mike, this is the first time you've done London, isn't it? So it'd be nice to hear your view of London from an inexperienced London runner.
00:21:15
Speaker
Oh my god, it was terrible, wasn't it? It's not very good. No. Do you know what? Having this talk about it now, a few more days afterwards, I think has really kind of helped me kind of digest the race itself. And I think the difficult thing I thought I would fly with London is that, you know, fortunately, I've done a lot of races in London that take in a lot of the routes.
00:21:37
Speaker
So it was more for me about, you know, would that atmosphere really kind of drop, you know, be and it absolutely was. I mean, you don't know until you're in it and you're on that course, just how good and how well supported. I mean, I've done that's, that's my third major now. And I can't say that.
00:21:54
Speaker
I felt that kind of atmosphere. I mean, it's almost deafening at times on that course. But the fact is, it is all the way round the route. And I've just not had that at a marathon. I think if you're looking at them ages and you're wondering where you're going to get that best, great support, I mean, absolutely, that is absolutely what you get at London. And it was incredible. It was incredible to be part of it.
00:22:18
Speaker
As I said, the route was probably less something I was really kind of concerned about, more about kind of being part and being part of that amount of people. Obviously, it was the biggest participants for London. And I think for me, that may be one of the things I found with the race was it did get a little bit congested. I don't know if you guys would have found or had the same experience in different parts of different waves and what have you. But I did find in place and I think just naturally because of the way the course is and it narrows a little bit, at times it did feel a little bit busy. But it
00:22:47
Speaker
thankfully wasn't in or in too many places but I do think that's maybe they may have to look at that but generally yeah I was really happy with the race I mean I kind of didn't tell you guys what I was kind of targeting I knew I probably wasn't gonna be PBing in this course but I want me my target was
Marathon Gear Review
00:23:02
Speaker
to
00:23:02
Speaker
To get through it and not have any issues like I have kind of at latter stages of marathons where I run good times, but I, you know, I've had issues and I was pretty happy. I kind of went out harder in the first half, knew I could probably go a little bit harder in the second half, but I was just, I played it a little bit more cautious and I enjoyed it and I enjoyed the crowds and I could still run nice and feel like I was running a good time. And I knew, you know, very much early in the race that I was kind of fit in the right place to do the kind of time that I wanted to maybe go a little bit quicker than
00:23:30
Speaker
kind of anticipated. Whenever people talk about the crowds and the atmosphere, I absolutely get it. I totally get it and I totally get why people talk about it. And while I don't necessarily absolutely love, just because I've done the route a few times in different races, I think it's a pretty flat one in general. There are a couple of little niggly hills that people won't absolutely love, but I think
00:23:54
Speaker
When you think about the location it takes in and if you've never been to London or run around London or run in the UK, I mean, it takes in so much of London and the good parts and you get the good parts and people coming out support and they're coming from all over the country to come and support you. And yeah, it's definitely, as I said, talking about and thinking about a few days away from the actual race, it definitely made me appreciate a lot more in terms of being part of it and being part of this one this year.
00:24:18
Speaker
I'll tell you what, if I had an absolute horrible, not because of the event, but because I was absolutely wrecked from Boston. I felt fine for the week, but obviously my legs weren't properly recovered. But my plan was to just run like a sub four.
00:24:36
Speaker
But in my head I was thinking, I'll just run a sub 4, take it easy, just relax, just jog around smiling. I was in so much pain just trying to get that sub 4 done. And when the crowds at London are incredible, if you need support and maybe it's not a marathon, you've done a lot, when you're in so much pain and you know you can't keep going, having a thousand people show you, keep going, you can do this. This does not help you at all.
00:25:03
Speaker
But most marathons I've done, there's always areas of respite. So you can sort of go if you if you're struggling, just, you know, go and walk along the side of the road. There's no way you can go. You just have to walk in people shouting faces as you're just hobbling along or in the middle where there's just to get away from him. But either way, it's tough. It's a tough one if you're struggling and you know that you can't actually do any better.
00:25:25
Speaker
And how did you find it? Did you notice the... I definitely did feel that it was very busy this time, but I know some waves, so I assume that wouldn't have a massive impact on it. Definitely busier at my end as well. I would say I was surprised. Running with a friend beforehand while we arranged, I all run together, a guy who's also coached by my coach.
00:25:47
Speaker
and we were just in a big group. I barely really saw him that much. We were in the same group mostly, but I was expecting, it's very busy to start London at any kind of pace. I thought after 5k, you get a little bit strung out and it got a little bit strung up. I know I was in big groups for ages, which was really nice, and then strung out a little bit second half. If you're feeling good, I was feeling good second half. You start to climb the ladder of runners is how I think of it. You see a runner, you slowly pick them off. You pick the next one off, that's how you get through.
00:26:11
Speaker
second half of the race, but even then I was people running with people the whole way and Yeah, well, I think it was busy a full stop. I never felt congested really for me But it did definitely felt busier. I would say okay, I should probably probably say here because we've done the videos on on these races now and a few people have commented who maybe are new to running or the marathon running who've been asking how to get into these races and
00:26:36
Speaker
And we've been bigging up, it's bigging up London. Yes, London is really, really hard to get into. So if you're listening to this, and you're thinking, Oh, I might give that a go. It's very, very hard to get some people never get into it through the ballot. There is a ballot that happens every year. I think it was almost 600,000 people entered for this year. And eventually, the ballots random, if you keep entering, you don't get any better odds. So you're just as unlike again.
00:26:59
Speaker
I think they are increasing the amount of the field next year. They're going for a record next year, aren't they? So that might be more of a chance, but your odds are still, I think what they probably give 25,000 ballot places max, even including dropouts. Yeah. And I guess it is half a million. I mean, some of those people applying in their numbers are going for the overseas ballot, which is different. But even so, your odds are low of getting in.
00:27:18
Speaker
So yeah, sorry if you listen to this and you desperately want to do it and it is very hard to get into. You have got the charity option as well, which means you have to raise money for charity, but I think it's quite a lot now. It's two grand. Yeah. Two grand. Or you can do good for ages how I got in, which is if you run a time for a marathon in the year previous that fits within the sort of rules of within the different age groups, you can get into that. That's basically like Boston equivalence almost.
00:27:43
Speaker
you could yeah just one of the way you can actually clubs running clubs yes allocated tickets and they have smaller ballots so yeah it means joining a club and the way they give them up might be different but sometimes I know runners who are members of smaller clubs where not many people actually want to run London they
00:28:00
Speaker
I can tell you about those clubs. The club places are, I think they have been smaller than they have been. My club gets a lot of places because we run one of the elite drinks tables. I do think, and normally our club allocates them on who's been doing the most for the club, who's been marshalling races, turning up for races, turning out to do volunteering. I think a lot of clubs do that as well. I was surprised actually that I think our club places were slightly less than in the past.
00:28:26
Speaker
Same for my club there. It's definitely a smaller number and I've seen a few of my club members helping out on the course and stuff. So yeah, I do think that is one of the other ways but it's definitely I think the pool of opportunities to do it through club running has definitely got a bit smaller. Yeah, at Lambos you have to qualify. That's the only way you can get into it and that should do charity as well.
00:28:48
Speaker
Okay, well, that's almost all successful marathons all around, apart from me. Let's dive into the kit that we tested during the marathons.
00:29:07
Speaker
Okay, guys, are you ready for some London marathon celebrity times? Here we go. It's a big one. Your favourite time. And as I said, there's a lot of people, a lot of celebrities that did it this year. There was a massive long list. When I say celebrities, I didn't know about 80% of them.
00:29:25
Speaker
So I've basically picked ones that I know. We're all old gentlemen now, so it's tricky. Yeah, yeah. And celebrities these days is a little bit different. When you look at celebrities like 20 years ago, they tended to be TV personalities, sports personalities. Now it's social media personalities and I haven't got a clue where any of those are. So I've stuck to the ones that we know. Right. So first one.
00:29:47
Speaker
Romesh Ranganathan who ran the marathon for calm charity and according to his post only found out he's doing it 10 weeks before. How do we think Romesh did? I should know this because I listened to the podcast and they've been talking about it for weeks.
00:30:07
Speaker
I think it's, I'm going to say six, six hours, 30, six, 30, no, five hours, five hours, 30, maybe four 45.
00:30:19
Speaker
Uh, 4.30. 6.35.21. Oh my days. I think he had, he had, he found it quite hard. I've not listened to the, I listened to the podcast as well. I've not listened to the one where they talk about it. That is tough. It's a long time to be out there, isn't it? But he was going to wear tights apparently, not tights, but he was going to wear like proper. Yeah. Even though it was pretty warm because he was worried about shitting himself. So
00:30:46
Speaker
He didn't want to have, didn't want to arrive and have Gabby Logan interviewing. So he thought that might cover it up if it happened. You can't criticize anyone for overdressing, get away. I know, I'm like, this is a perfect strategy. Okay, what about, you know who Phil Dunster is?
00:31:09
Speaker
He's in Ted Lasso. Oh, actually, speaking of podcasts, he popped up on the James John Robbins podcast talking about it, I think. Oh, I go then. Yeah. Which one is he in Ted Lasso? He's the one in the first series who isn't very nice and falls out of it. What about the royal king character? No, it's the younger guy. He's basically a young guy who looks quite fit.
00:31:35
Speaker
Three hours, 45. I think he was going for it. I think he was quick. I think he was going to run like a, like a three 17. My three 47 four Oh three 11. Um, he was running it for young lives versus cancer. Okay. Uh, how about anyone who Natalie pink, pink comers? I do her son actually goes to his actually best friends with my son.
00:32:02
Speaker
Oh, but it can't work. You really do. I know that is. Try Sports F1 presenter. I had no idea who she was because I don't watch anything to do with sport. I actually helped her a little bit with a few things ahead of this. Well, this is a little bit unfair. Good job there's no prize for this. No, but now I'm going to have found out because I can't remember the time. I think it was five, I want to say five and a half. No, it was close to five. I'm going to say five. Five, ten. Five, fifteen.
00:32:30
Speaker
452 22. Ooh. And, uh, she was running for the Smartons. Okay. How about, I don't know this is, but hopefully you will. Gary Rowlett. Oh, the football. Yeah. Football manager. Yeah. Oh, he's still, he's only recently retired. So I'm going to say 340. Retired from playing or managing? That's 405.
00:32:58
Speaker
OK, 4.15. 3.41. 36. Very good. Previously, he'd run Rome Marathon in 3.46.16. There you go. I don't know any of these people are, so just skipping these. OK, so Ruth Wilson, who was the actor in Luther, but she's been in loads of stuff.
00:33:26
Speaker
4.12 I'm going to say. That's pretty good. I'm going to say 4.36. I'll say 3.48. It was 4.54.26.
00:33:41
Speaker
And the big one, as she was running for Alzheimer's Research UK, the big one for you, I think you Nick, since you keep bringing this up, Christopher Eccleston. The Ecclesman. The Doctor. The Ecclescake. Doctor Who, so got to be pretty fit. That's just part of the role I think. He's 60 as well. Part of the role though is Doctor Who, got to be pretty fit Tom.
00:34:03
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know if that is true because... It's the best of McCoy. I reckon he probably, he danced his way around at five hours 30. 60, 60.
00:34:16
Speaker
Apparently. It's surprising, actually. Do you remember his Doctor Who episodes were now, what, 20 years ago, 25 years ago? Yeah, 25. I'm going to go 4.50. 4.50. Yeah, I was going to go 4.55. I think Nick's close. It's 5.21.50. He was running for the big issue. And finally, the one that you've all been waiting for, Matt Hancock. Yeah. I'm doing Ivo Graham and pushing around Rose Jones, who I did make sure I passed.
00:34:46
Speaker
Uh, I haven't got them on the list. Do Matt Hancock then? Oh, I had to think he did. Halfway and stopped crying, gave it up. I think he would have done annoyingly well, didn't he? Or 30, I'm going to say. No, 350. 350, I'm going to go.
00:35:03
Speaker
might be interesting to see the one part of the one, the marathon, people weren't cheering. It's at 355 37. Uh, and when, uh, I think we should, which sounds like a PB. I can't believe cause he's done it before. Sounds like a PB. Absolutely. I don't know. I don't follow Matt Hancock. He's cropped in the quiz before. So, oh, and then finally, I forgot one more. So, uh, Jack,
00:35:31
Speaker
Durgis. Friend of the show. Friend of the show. So shout out to Jack. How do you think Jack did? I know Jack did. Oh, you do know Jack did. Yeah. All right. We'll just do a congratulations as you already know. 3.17. 3.17. So I don't think it's the time that you wanted, but it's a damn fine time. Very good time. Yeah. That's a nice piece of Paris. Good choice. There you go. Well done, Jack. All right.
00:35:58
Speaker
That'll do. Yeah
00:36:07
Speaker
Right, so Kieran from Manchester Marathon, what did you wear? What are you testing? Do you want to know the whole outfit or just what are the shoes? What have we done in Paris, let's say. Just the shoes and anything really, really important that stands out if there is anything. So I basically, I mean, the shoes, I wore the Essex Metaspeed Sky Paris and they did everything that I needed them to do on the day. I mean, that's kind of the biggest compliment I can give them. They were absolutely bang on. I had, you know, I dealt with the shoes a few,
00:36:36
Speaker
you know if things go wrong you end up kind of hanging out your arse at the end of the race whether or not they're protective enough in the back. I wasn't quite hanging out but I was you know I was struggling a bit and they still did a good job even in those last six miles when I maybe wasn't moving quite as well or in as good form but for for 20 they were really nicely controlled lots of sorry lots of energy lots of pop from them really good sort of overall sort of disappearing comfort as well so sometimes I find with some of the carbon races
00:37:05
Speaker
after two and a half hours on feet or whatever, you can start to notice those kind of tight uppers or those minimal heel collars and all those kinds of things. They just don't quite feel comfortable. When you want to get to the end, the first thing you want to do is take them off. And actually, these shoes, none of that, even by the end of it, I wasn't in a hurry walking around after to get them off. So the comfort on the foot, I think, was a real standout and a bit of surprise because I thought they might not hold out for that. I thought they could run fast. I wasn't really sure I'd be entirely comfortable for that long.
00:37:34
Speaker
But yeah, they were awesome. I mean, they did exactly what I needed them to do on the day and they've become...
00:37:39
Speaker
one of my favourite shoes. We later I ran a 5K in them and did a 5K PB as well. So I've now done almost, you know, lots of different sort of races and PB in them a couple of times. So, yeah, I think they are, they're closer to me, to me, like, then they are closer for me to like a Nike Vaporfly 2 or something, which is that sort of bit more minimal, bit more direct, which I really like. Any other top picks from the kit you tested? You don't have to go to depth about it.
00:38:07
Speaker
What else did I mean? I ran and tested a couple of watches which we've got reviews coming up. I can't remember where we've actually put them out there yet. Great X2 Pro versus Advantage V3 I had on. I also had the Garmin 40965.
00:38:20
Speaker
and another watch as well. Three watches to cover up. It's a lot of fabric here. I had four watches. Yeah. Four watches. None of them you're looking at. Yeah. No, none of them I was looking at. The other guy also, I also wore the Sennheiser Momentum Sport heart rate tracking headphones again. And you just to see, and yeah, they didn't, they flatlined, I think at 145.
00:38:43
Speaker
After about six or seven minutes, they just flatlined. So on the Strava that's gone up and everyone was coming back to me and saying, look at how even your heart rate is because every mile was 145. And that was the one, I've spent like three weeks explaining to people that that is not true. But I wish it was. But yeah, so again, the heart rate on that didn't quite work, the audio.
00:39:04
Speaker
did a good job in the wind. Mike, what do you go for? Yeah, so shoes wise, I had the New Balance SCL 8v4. Now, for disclosure, my place for London was through New Balance, but didn't ask me to run in the shoes. I decided that's what I was going to use. And actually, I think going for something like the SCL 8v4 works for me in terms of how I wanted to run that race. As I said in kind of our video, it's probably not the
00:39:30
Speaker
the shoe that I think has been my favorite in terms of those marathon super shoes that we've tested. But I feel in terms of what I wanted to do in this race, I wanted something that was going to still feel fast, but ultimately feel that it was going to feel comfortable, feel stable. And that's ultimately what I got from the shoe. Some of the issues that I think we talked about in our review, in terms of the heel lock down, things like those, things that maybe were concerning me didn't really
00:39:55
Speaker
A lot of my marathon training was in the shoe and those issues weren't replicated. Those earlier issues weren't really replicated in the marathon and the marathon training as well. It just felt comfortable. The feeling of running in that shoe didn't change throughout that race. I had no issues. Even when I started to maybe tire a little bit, I didn't feel like
00:40:14
Speaker
And I kind of mentioned this, it was, you know, if I think if I went for a more aggressive shoe, I think maybe I might have encountered some more problems with the shoe and running and trying to maintain what I was trying to do. But in terms of running the time that I did, it felt like the ideal one. It still feels
00:40:29
Speaker
fast. It still feels like a fast shoe to run in. It's just a different type of these kind of racing shoes that we've tested this year. And yeah, you know, for me, I felt like the right pick. I mean, I definitely would have looked at some other shoes. But for me, in terms of what I would do in that race, it really served me really well. And I was really happy in terms of, you know, how it performed on the day.
00:40:51
Speaker
Yeah, well, you look pretty content and as you shouted at me when you ran past. So yeah, that was quite a late time in the race. Anything else that you want to mention? Yeah, there's a lot of stuff, but a couple of things I did want to kind of definitely mention. So I was through training and probably like the beginning of the year, I've become a little bit of a convert and I'll blame Nick. We're not really blame. I think I kind of thank Nick.
00:41:13
Speaker
We used half tights for the first time. I've been racing in half tights. I've been storing my stuff. For the first time, I used the precision fuel hydration gel pouch. I just used that. I didn't use any gels. I just used that for the race. It was great. In terms of having storage and not really having an issue in terms of...
00:41:30
Speaker
rummaging around in kind of a belt and stuff like that, it worked really well. I used the kind of Janji half-ties. I've been playing around with those and the kind of Seiske ones, and I found this worked a bit better for me on the Janji ones. So those were very good, and that was kind of a good find for me in my training. The other thing I wanted to talk about, ISOI, because it was London, because I wanted to soak up a bit of the crowd here in the atmosphere, I used open-ear headphones. So I used the Bose Ultra open earbuds, which I got sent
00:41:59
Speaker
just a few days before the marathon and I was going to use something else. I was going to use the Suunto Sonnet, but I chose to use these. It proved to be a bit of a mistake because one of the earbuds didn't pair when I got on the start line. I'd already put my bag away and then I think, I don't know, probably a quarter of the way into the race and I'd grabbed a bottle of water and I've knocked one of the buds out and I lost about two minutes trying to find the earbud on the floor and then thankfully one of the spectators spotted it.
00:42:24
Speaker
And I was basically listening through one ear, one of the earbuds basically, and ended up, you know, it wasn't the best experience for those. But I had some other bits and pieces which I'm going to talk about in kind of future videos. But those are things that kind of really stood out for me and, you know, in different ways, but well worth seeing how they performed kind of a, you know, an effort.
00:42:43
Speaker
Well then Nick, what did you use? I used the Matt Speed Sky Paris. I had a great build up of that shoe, did some of the best training sessions of my life, ran probably the best half marathon I've ever run in that shoe. And then yeah, on the day it was perfect. It's just a really nice combo. It's very lightweight, but it is really bouncy. So cruising through the first kind of 30, 35K felt very in control, hitting the pace as I was looking at. And then
00:43:05
Speaker
At the end, when I was struggling, it's so lightweight. I'm a very high cadence runner. It helps turn the feet over to have a lightweight shoe on that. And I think big difference I noticed with the Metaspeed Sky Plus and some other shoes is even when I am running really quite shuffling towards the end and getting quite low impact and not really having that low ping style you need to really engage the plate. In some shoes, I find with the Metaspeed Sky Paris, just even that shuffling gate engages the plate. I felt I was still getting the feel of propulsion from the shoe and was holding a pretty decent pace at the end, even as I was starting to struggle.
00:43:35
Speaker
I ran a nice negative split. I couldn't afford them. They're brilliant shoes. I do think they are the outstanding shoe on the market really all round at the moment. We haven't tried the Edge. People will ask about the Edge. We haven't tried the Edge. We're trying to try the Edge. Then I had a couple of watches. I've just actually filmed it. I'm going to edit that video soon. I did a big long-term. I was trying to basically wear the Garmin Epic Pro and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for the entirety of marathon training and the race itself.
00:43:57
Speaker
and then use them on the day. I had the Apple Watch's pace ammo set up. It was remarkably accurate on distance, the Apple Watch actually. I think to the point where maybe it corrects it if you set a pace, I don't know. And then the Garmin, I was basically taking manual splits every 2K and using that to not get carried away, running quite even splits and then picking it up towards the end. So I've got a big video on those two watches coming over, what I've noticed over the last four months, what's annoyed me, what hasn't annoyed me. But yeah, they're very, very good on the day actually.
00:44:19
Speaker
Well, I wish I'd use them at Swede Sky Paris by the sounds of it. I went for the Nike Outfly 3 for Boston, but I like it, but I just don't think it works for me. It definitely wasn't the reason that I did badly at Boston, but I definitely don't feel like...
00:44:35
Speaker
It felt nice for the first 10k or so, but I just don't feel I'm getting enough bounce and propulsion that I get from the Alpha Flow 1. I definitely didn't feel like it was helping a lot in the later stages, and I've felt that in a half marathon before. I do think it's a nice shoe. It's just not quite right for me. Did it make a difference on the hills? No.
00:44:55
Speaker
No. Nothing could have made a difference on the hills. I could have been wearing rocket shoes and I think I still wouldn't have struggled on those hills. So I use the Alpha V3s for Boston. Yeah, I see how it would work for... I know you're a big fan of it, Nick. I can see how it would work for you. For me, I just don't think it's quite right. You went far off your 10K PB in the first 10K to be fair.
00:45:15
Speaker
No, I mean, I think I can do this. I actually think the long distance is probably the one that is really, it's really noticeable when I've raced in it before a short distance and found it absolutely fine and got close to my PB. But for London, I went a bit mad and I did the suddenly triumph 22 because I thought I'm going to use a nice easy shoe because I'm going to do a nice easy run. And I really struggled in that shoe just because I'm not used to using a shoe like that for that sort of distance. It's quite hefty. And I think it
00:45:45
Speaker
I think I would have been OK with maybe the Tribe 21. I think it is a little bit of a different ride to the 22. I know you guys haven't tested yet. You've got it. Yeah, I've run it. Yeah, run it. Short runs. Yeah. It does feel quite different. Yeah. I can't quite put a finger on it. And I said in the video that I did that I'm not going to review it based on that marathon because my leg is in tatters anyway. So it's going to be a pretty bad, poor chance to do review. So I'm going to do another run in it this week and then we'll do a video on it.
00:46:13
Speaker
But yeah, definitely, it's strange to run a marathon in a shoe like that when you're not used to doing it because you get into later stages and you can really feel it. There's a big shoe on your feet, basically. So yeah, I didn't really test anything else out. I should in full socket, as usual. So yeah, well, that should do it for the spring marathon season. Well done all on the times and we're all getting some much needed rest now.
00:46:40
Speaker
Yeah, recovery week. Nice recovery week. Probably do some short stuff over the summer, autumn. Not for me. I've got to go and get ready for doing big hills at the Comrades. I've got a 35 kilometer climb to prepare for in May. It's the first week of June, I think, so I've got about 45 days or something. Is that right? I don't even know what date it is. I've basically got 40 days to get ready for 50 miles starting with a 35k hill, so I have to find hills. So no rest.
00:47:04
Speaker
All right, well, I'm sure we'll cover that very, very soon. All right, guys, catch you later. See you. Bye. This episode of the podcast was presented by Tom Wheatley, Kieran Algar, Mike Saw and Nick Harrish-Fry. It was produced by Tom Wheatley. The music was by Fear of Tigers.