14 Dec 2014

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 6 Plan

What happened in week 5 training!

Monday - 8k easy run with a pace of 6:20. I did it with an average pace of 6:17.

Wednesday - This was speed training of 7 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery in between. As usual this went well.

Thursday - Today I was supposed to run 8k at 6:20 but found it impossible to fit it in my days schedule so instead I ran 5k today and will run the other 3k tomorrow.

Friday - I ran the other 3k from yesterday today.

Saturday - This is where things get confusing! With Christmas coming up fast there are a few of my sons Christmas parties I have to go to. One is next Wednesday at the athletics club so there is no training for my son that day. Therefore, instead of running 6.5k today, I decided to do next Wednesdays speed training so ran 12 x 400 metres speed with 400 metres recovery. This was pretty hard and I was glad that I had already been doing speed training each week even though it isn't in the Hansons Plan. At half way instead of jogging the 400 metre recovery I walked it and then continued running again. This made the 12 x 400 metres easier to manage.

Sunday - Today should have been a 9.5k but I was ill in the night so decided not to run at all today!

Week 5 Overall - This week started of normal and then went a bit strange. I expect the training to be all over the place until after Christmas now.

Hanson's Method Week 6 Plan (the training plan underneath is for my friend Danny)

Monday      - 4k with a pace of 6:20
Tuesday      - 6.5k with a pace of 6:10
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday    - 6.5k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Tempo 8k marathon pace 5:18
Saturday     - 11k with a pace of 6:20
Sunday       - 13k with a pace of 5:40

Monday      - 6.5k with a pace of 6:20
Tuesday      - Off
Wednesday - 12 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - 6.5k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Tempo 8k marathon pace 5:18
Saturday     - 11k with a pace of 6:20
Sunday       - 13k with a pace of 5:40

7 Dec 2014

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 5 Plan

What happened in week 4 training!

Monday - 8k easy run with a pace of 6:14 which should have been 6:20. The temp was only 2 degrees and with the wind chill I'm guessing it was in the minus! I ran by the harbour again as I love running there and looking at the lights shining in the water.

Wednesday - This was speed training of 7 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery in between. This went very well again even though it was a little cold! 

Thursday - Easy run of 5k today. I had to run the first 3.5k faster than I wanted to as I only had 20 minutes to get as much of the 5k done before I picked up my son from school. Average pace in the end was 6:14 instead of 6:20.

Saturday - Easy 8k today at a pace of 6:10. I did it with a pace of 6:07 so close to perfect. For me, this was the hardest run so far! At around 2.5k my right calf is aching quite a bit. I figured it was because I was running on tired legs. I just ignored it and waited for it to disappear which it did at around 6k. I guess it just needed to loosen up a little. I wonder how it's going to hold up tomorrow....

Sunday - Today was an 8k with a 5:40 pace. I'm not sure what happened to me today! It could have been the cup of coffee and peppernuts (small ginger tasting biscuits) that I had 15 minutes before my run, it could have been because it was raining loads, or it could have been because I wore my brooks which keep my feet warmer. Whatever it was I was feeling GREAT!! 

As soon as I started running my pace was high. I decided to just go with it and see what happened. What happened was my pace just got faster and faster!! After I'd run 2.5k I made the decision to do a test 5k and see how much of a difference this Hansons Method was making. I ran the 5k in 25 minutes and 59 seconds which I think is 27 seconds faster than my previous 5k best! I'm very happy!

I then ran the last 3k with an average pace of 5:41. It was SO hard to run slower though and my pace was still way too high until I had run 7k.

Week 4 Overall - This has been a crazy week especially the weekend! Why was I so tired and achy on Saturday after a days rest and running at an easy pace, and yet so full of energy on Sunday?

Hanson's Method Week 5 Plan

Monday      - 8k with a pace of 6:20
Tuesday      - Off
Wednesday - 7 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - 8k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Off
Saturday     - 6.5k with a pace of 6:00
Sunday       - 9.5k with a pace of 5:40

30 Nov 2014

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 4 Plan

What happened in week 3 training!

Tuesday - 6.5k easy run with a pace of 6:14 which should have been 6:20. I'm beginning to get a little bored with the running routes again so may start taking the metro out to other places to run.

Wednesday - This was speed training of 6 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery in between. This went very well as usual and they did put the flood lights on for me :-)

Thursday - I had a lovely easy 6.5k run today and had my pace spot on. It should have been 6:20 and at exactly 6.5k it said my average pace was 6:20!

Saturday - Easy what should have been a 6.5k but I ended up doing 7k as I was busy trying to draw something with Nike maps. It should have been 6:10 and my average was 6:07 :-)
Sunday - Today was an 8k with a 5:40 pace. I ran down by the water front where I love to run but it was so cold and really windy. I started off fast as the wind was behind me and I knew I would have a fight with it later. I ended up running 8.5k just to get me almost home and my average pace was 5:34

Week 3 Overall - This weeks training has gone well. I am beginning to feel stronger on some days and really tired on others. 

Hanson's Method Week 4 Plan

Monday      - 8k with a pace of 6:20
Tuesday      - Off
Wednesday - 7 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - 5k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Off
Saturday     - 8k with a pace of 6:10
Sunday       - 8k with a pace of 5:40

23 Nov 2014

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 3 Plan

What happened in week 2 training!

Tuesday - I decided to run the easy 3k today in between finishing work and picking up my son from school. This didn't quite work out as I wasn't finished with work until 16:10 and the school closes at 16:30 so I had to be there by at least 16:20. So instead of an easy pace of 6:20 which I was supposed to do, I ended up running the 3k with a pace of 5:30.

Wednesday - This was speed training of 6 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery in between. This went very well again and, as it was so cold, it was nice to have to run fast! I found out that, if I ask at the sports club reception before I go out to the track, they will put the flood lights on for me :-) And it's free!

Thursday - Another great run today :-) It was an easy 5k supposed to be with a 6:20 pace. I did 5.3k with a 6:16 pace so am at last getting better at the pacing.

Saturday - Easy 5k run with an almost perfect pace. It should have been 6:20 and my average was 6:19 :-)

Sunday - Today was a 6.5k with a 5:40 pace. I had a lovely run down by the harbour and through the nature area. The wind was behind me after the first few metres so I went a bit of a faster pace for the first half so I would still get a good average pace after my fight with the wind during the second half. My average pace was 5:36.

Week 2 Overall - This weeks training was very similar to the first weeks. It has gone really well and I have managed to get my pace much closer to what it should be.

Hanson's Method Week 3 Plan

Monday      - Off
Tuesday      - 6.5k with a pace of 6:10
Wednesday - 6 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - 6.5k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Off
Saturday     - 6.5k with a pace of 6:10
Sunday       - 8k with a pace of 5:40

16 Nov 2014

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 2 Plan

What happened in week 1 training!

Wednesday training went really well. I biked up to the track so took that as my warm up so as soon I set foot on the track I did the first speed 400 metres. I did 5 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery and then 800 metres cool down.

Friday training went too well! I was supposed to be doing an easy 5k at a pace of 6:20. I ended up running 5.6k with a pace of 5:30. It is much harder to run slower than I thought!

Saturday training was a little harder to get out the door and do it. This was probably because I was out for dinner and a couple of drinks last night. Again it was supposed to be an easy 5k at a pace of 6:20. I did it with a pace of 5:48 which is better than yesterday but still not slow enough. I never would have thought that I'd have such a luxury problem as running too fast!

Sunday training went very well. I was supposed to run 6.5k with a pace of 5:40 but ran with a pace of 5:29. I really have to do the pace right otherwise I may get injured! It was very windy today!

Week 1 Overall - This first weeks training has gone really well. I even managed to get up early on Sunday for a morning run instead of running in the afternoon as I had planned. But I do have to concentrate on running slower....

Hanson's Method Week 2 Plan

Monday      - Off
Tuesday      - 3k with a pace of 6:00
Wednesday - 6 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - 5k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Off
Saturday     - 5k with a pace of 6:00
Sunday       - 6.5k with a pace of 5:40

9 Nov 2014

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 1 Plan

Week 1 of my Hanson's method training for Barcelona Marathon 2015 is nearly here. Below will be my Week 1 training. I have taken out a normal run and added speed training as I feel I have the running base needed to do this. Also I'm a little scared to go in from zero to the first speed training of 12 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery as it sounds like a killer. So I thought if I can work up to at least 8 x 400 metres before the real speed training starts I might just have a chance to complete it!

Some days will also be changed due to family commitments. For example, my son has athletics indoors every Wednesday after school for one and a half hours. I take him and there is a track outside so what a great place for me to do my speed training. Therefore my day off is Tuesday and my speed training is Wednesday (except over the Christmas holidays). Because of this I also have to change my tempo run as I can't do speed then tempo the next day. So Thursday becomes an easy run and Friday becomes my tempo run.

Hanson's Method Week 1 Plan

Monday      - Off
Tuesday      - Off
Wednesday - 5 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - Off
Friday         - 5k with a pace of 6:20
Saturday     - 5k with a pace of 6:00
Sunday       - 6.5k with a pace of 5:40

2 Nov 2014

Hansons Marathon Method


On the 9th November it will be exactly 18 weeks until I run Barcelona Marathon again. My first goal was to try and finish in 3 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds or less. This would be quite a challenge seeing as my best marathon time stands at 4 hours, 27 minutes and 19 seconds which I got in Berlin 2012.

As I didn't get a place in London Marathon 2015 and this has always been my ultimate running goal I started looking to see what the 'best for age' qualifying time was for a woman. It's 3:45. So my challenge for Barcelona 2015 has now changed into trying to qualify for London 2016!


I am aware that this is quite a BIG challenge so I needed to find the right (and proven) training program for me. I have decided to follow the Hansons Marathon Method as many people have had a lot of success with this plan and knocked a lot of time of their previous PB's. I have never followed a training plan completely before and certainly never trained more than 3 times a week consistently. I also take photos and talk a lot while running marathons, taking my time at water stations, and going to the toilet A LOT. I figured if I work on all these things I actually do have a chance of at least a SUB 4, if not qualifying for London!


The Hansons Marathon Method (I'm following the beginner plan as the advanced looks way too hard) starts off slow but then gets pretty serious very quickly. It's written in miles so I've had to work out roughly what it is in kilometres.

Here's an example of week 11:-

Mon     Tue                           Wed   Thurs                   Fri       Sat       Sun
8k         6 x 1.5k Strength      Off     Tempo - 13k       9.5k     13k      25.5k
(easy)   (400m recovery)                 (5:15 pace)           (easy)  (easy)  (5:40 pace)                                                                                                               

I'll be writing a post every Sunday about how the week's training has gone. I think the hardest thing will be getting out of the door 6 times a week during the cold Danish winter!!


Wish me luck! I'm going to need it..........




28 Sept 2014

London Marathon Waiting Again!


And so here we go again!
The 'you got a place' and 'you didn't get a place' London Marathon magazines are ready to be sent out again so I'm waiting, waiting, and waiting as usual.

Last year when I didn't get a place for yet another year, I decided I couldn't be bothered to try anymore but watching London Marathon 2014 on TV made me realise that I will never be satisfied until I have run this marathon!!

I will be running Barcelona marathon again in 2015 so already have one marathon waiting for me but WANT A PLACE IN LONDON!!!

14 May 2014

One Week until I Climb Ben Nevis!


At last a post with nothing to do with running!
Still about exercise and a big moment in my life though.


In exactly one weeks time my older son and I will be celebrating his 11th birthday on the summit of the United Kingdoms highest mountain Ben Nevis :-)

We got the idea of doing something cool like this last year when we were watching Bear Grylls survival program. I came up with the idea of walking the second half of the West Highland Way. When I told my son he said it would be 'too easy', so I came up with the idea of climbing Ben Nevis instead!

We have hiked a little over the past year but never climbed a mountain before. We are both looking very much forward to the experience :-)

4 May 2014

New Adidas Adistar Boosts!




My old Adistar Boosts are almost dead so it was time to buy some new ones. There was no way I was going to buy anything else as these are the best running shoes ever!! No blisters, No lost toenails, No knee problems!!!

I have run my last three marathons in my Boosts and have had NO problems at all! Unlike my first four marathons!

As some of you may remember last year I was an ambassador for Adidas Adistar Boosts for a danish shop called Kaiser Sport.
This was my review that I wrote for them:-


As far as I am concerned the Adidas Boost trainers are THE BEST TRAINERS EVER! Why do I say this?


All 4 of my other marathons that I have run have two things in common:-
1: LOTS of blisters!
2: BIG loss of toenails!



 I have been searching for some trainers that would help with the blister situation and would stop me losing toenails. I had already tried taping my toes, different socks, different trainers, trainers too big, vaseline, bodyglide stuff, vitamins, and any other remedies I could find on running sites. Nothing has made any difference :-(

But now I seem to have found the answer: Adistar Boosts!!




 After the marathon I had one little blister on the side of my big toe and one little blister in between two toes. And that was it (other than having very wrinkled feet from the wetness). As of now, three days after the marathon, it looks like all my toenails will stay attached this time :-) If I don't lose a toenail then, as far as I'm concerned, these trainers are like GOLD to me! I'll keep you updated.



There also seems to definately be a return of energy when running in these shoes as my legs didn't seem very tired at all during the marathon and could have carried on going for ??? amount of kilometres more!


One last thing, the trainers are not very water resistant so when my Boosts are dead and I buy some more, I am going to spray them with a water resistant spray to help my feet stay maybe a little dryer :-)



Please Adidas don't ever change your Adistar Boosts!!

13 Apr 2014

Barcelona Marathon 2015 Goal!


I was watching the London marathon today and got very inspired by it. Well done Mo Farah! I think an 8th place in your first marathon is fantastic :-)


I have already decided to run Barcelona marathon again next year as I know that I could have got a new personal best this time if I didn't keep holding myself back to save myself for Rome.


My goal for Barcelona marathon 2015 is to try for an 'under 4 hour' marathon time!! I'm sure if I stop talking so much while running I can save at least 10 minutes and if I cut out some toilet stops that's another 10 odd minutes.

When I got my personal best in Berlin marathon 2012 I hadn't trained nearly as well as I had for Barcelona. I know that with the right training I can do this!! I have bought a book called 'Hansons Marathon Method: A Renegade Path to your Fastest Marathon'.
Many of the reviewers of this book say that they have run over 30 minutes faster which is exactly what I need to do. I'll also, of course, do all the things exactly the same that I did before and during Barcelona marathon this year such as wearing CEP calf sleeves, eating properly in the week before, and running with my hydration pack.

I am very excited about this new challenge :-)

26 Mar 2014

The Marathon Oscars!


After running Barcelona and Rome marathons last week, which were organised completely differently from each other, I decided to rate each marathon I've run out of 10 for different categories. It's kind of like the Marathon Oscars.


I invite comments below for you to rate your own marathons by the categories too and then, when I have quite a few marathons rated, I'll make a Marathon Oscar stand alone page. If you can think of any categories I have missed let me know and I'll add them to the post.


Remember these are my ratings. Maybe you ran Berlin last year when the start number pick up was supposed to be a nightmare? Or you don't agree with my low rating about Rome marathons course? Again rate your marathons in the comments section below.


My hope is that this will help other runners decide which marathons will be great to run and which they should avoid!


Welcome to The Marathon Oscars!!!



Registration
Copenhagen 9/10
Valencia 7/10
Madrid 9/10
Berlin 8/10
Barcelona 9/10
Rome 6/10

Expo
Copenhagen 6/10
Valencia 7/10
Madrid 7/10
Berlin 9/10
Barcelona 9/10
Rome 7/10

Race Number Pick Up
Copenhagen 8/10
Valencia 8/10
Madrid 7/10
Berlin 9/10
Barcelona 10/10
Rome 8/10

Start Line
Copenhagen 7/10
Valencia 8/10
Madrid 7/10
Berlin 7/10
Barcelona 10/10
Rome 5/10

Refreshment Stations
Copenhagen 7/10
Valencia 7/10
Madrid 9/10
Berlin 6/10
Barcelona 9/10
Rome 4/10

Toilets (Start Line)
Copenhagen 8/10
Valencia 7/10
Madrid 7/10
Berlin 8/10
Barcelona 8/10
Rome 7/10

Toilets (Around the Course)
Copenhagen 7/10
Valencia 0/10 (no toilets)
Madrid 7/10
Berlin (I never used them so will give the average point of 5/10 from the other marathons)
Barcelona 7/10
Rome 4/10

Course
Copenhagen 6/10
Valencia 7/10
Madrid 9/10
Berlin 8/10
Barcelona 7/10
Rome 4/10

Sights (based on how many of the city sights were part of the course)
Copenhagen 6/10
Valencia 9/10
Madrid 9/10
Berlin 8/10
Barcelona 9/10
Rome 7/10

Finish Line
Copenhagen 8/10
Valencia 10/10
Madrid 7/10
Berlin 10/10
Barcelona 8/10
Rome 5/10

Medal
Copenhagen 6/10
Valencia 6/10
Madrid 9/10
Berlin 8/10
Barcelona 9/10
Rome 10/10

Other Runners (considerate, friendly, etc.)
Copenhagen 8/10
Valencia 8/10
Madrid 8/10
Berlin 5/10
Barcelona 8/10
Rome 4/10

Spectators
Copenhagen 7/10
Valencia 8/10
Madrid 9/10
Berlin 10/10
Barcelona 9/10
Rome 4/10

Overall Marathon Oscar Champion Ratings:-

WINNER!!!
Barcelona 112/130 points




Madrid 104/130 points





Berlin 100/130 points




Copenhagen 93/130 points




Valencia 91/130 points




Rome 77/130 points



24 Mar 2014

Rome Marathon 2014!


If you have dreams of running Rome Marathon one day as you have heard that it's supposed to be really great then either stop reading now or continue to find out what the city with "one of the most beautiful courses" is really like!

This will be a long post with photos to prove that what I am writing is the truth!

I'll start at the very beginning which as they say is a great place to start :-)




First the expo:- I think I timed this just right. I went at 4pm on the Friday and just walked up to the desk, picked up my number and went to find the pasta party. The pasta party cost 5 euros and you got a plate of under cooked pasta and a bottle of water. I was really hungry so ate it all anyway.
I know that on the Saturday the queue to pick up race numbers was right out of the door and down the front of the square!

The marathon:- My old school friend Danny (hi Danny) ran London Marathon 2013 and caught the Running Bug so signed up for Rome marathon too. We decided to meet up and run the marathon together!

On marathon morning as I stepped out of the door I could see it had been raining and rain was predicted for the marathon but as I've done Edinburgh half and Copenhagen marathon last year in rain it didn't bother me that much.

I met up with Danny at the nearest metro station and we made our way to the start area. This was ok and we queued for the toilets for around 15 minutes. Again this was ok too even though it rained while queuing. I had my Barcelona Marathon poncho with me so put that on. Poor Danny got wet though. He did find a rather flattering poncho later ;-)


After the toilet we tried to make our way to our start section D but there was no start sections at all! There were no official race marshalls to show you where to go! It was basically chaos and whoever pushed the most would be the ones starting near the front no matter what time they were going for! Me and Danny just held back and waited. 


The race started and as it started everyone cheered. At exactly the same moment the sun came out which I took to be a good sign. Yes the start was disorganized and I was a little wet but what did I care....I was about to run one of the best and most scenic marathons in the world :-)
As we got closer to the start line people were throwing their ponchos and clothes all over the place creating a BIG hazard for the runners coming behind them!


Danny found his lovely pink poncho which surprisingly looked good on him ;-)  Then, while dodging rubbish, we crossed the start line! The marathon had begun...


I've been told that positive things should be said first so I'm going to start with the positives.


The biggest positive was running the whole marathon with Danny :-) So thank you so much Danny! Without you I would have walked all the way from 28k. He is a pleasure to run with and guess what? He talks as much as I do! I hadn't seen him in 21 years and yet it was like it was yesterday that we last spoke! He's a great guy :-)


The next positive I would say is the medal! Wow it is nice and I think it's my best marathon one yet! (my Edinburgh half marathon guitar shaped one is still the overall winner)




Another positive would be the last 4km of the course as this was run in the centre of Rome so we went past the Spanish Steps, the Capitoline museum, Navona Piazza, and some of the smaller older streets.





I'm sitting here trying to think of some more positives but I'm afraid I've run out and it's time to give the race report and, unfortunately, all the negatives that go with it :-(
I'd already checked out the course which didn't look too interesting until around 12k when we would start following the river towards St Peters Square. I was ok with this as I expected the rest of the course to be great! 
The start and finish line were almost next to The Forum and by the Capitoline museum. 
Me and Danny were running at a comfortable pace and just catching up on the last 20 years of life :-) At 5km we hit the first water station and that's when I realised the water stops would be bad!


First the water was in plastic cups and not bottles. Second you first had to find a clean cup, hold it out and hope someone would quickly poor water into it. Third the runners just threw the plastic cups on the floor so it was a repeat of Berlin all over again, gently running through each water station hoping not to slip on a plastic cup, and later on orange peels and banana skins :-(



One of the better drink stations at 25k
At 25k the water stations were a little more organised in that there was already water in the cups on the table so you just had to take one. We even found some smaller water bottles and Gaterade bottles at the later stations.

Next every 5k there were sponge stations. Runners took the sponges, wiped their faces and then, in style with the rest of the race, just threw the used sponges in the middle of the road not worrying about the runners coming behind them!

Then there was the toilets! The first toilet stop went without incident and there was even some toilet paper in there :-) After that things got worse! I needed to go to the toilet again around 17.5km I think it was. I saw two toilets and no queue so said to Danny that I should stop there so we didn't have to wait for other people. There was one little problem...Both portaloos were tied shut with plastic strips and there was no way to open them! I thought it was strange but figured I'd just stop at the next ones instead. At the next ones there were two toilets and one was locked off. Danny and I decided to stop anyway and join the queue.


One of the other runners told me the toilets were being locked because they were disgusting. As a runner we already know that portaloos are not nice but don't really care as we will pretty much go anywhere if it will save a little time. In all 7 of my marathons and numerous other races I had never seen toilets locked until Rome Marathon. 

There was one incident that I couldn't believe actually happened! While waiting outside the one available toilet for Danny, I saw one of the marathon people taking water bottles out of the trunk of his car. I decided to take a photo of this for my blog to show that the water stations were simply not stocked up well enough. What happened next surprised me. The man with the water bottles stopped going to the water station and said 'you take photo of me'. Then he stood and posed in front of me!! I just said 'don't you think you should take those bottles to the runners at the water station'? He looked at me like I was crazy then wandered slowly away with a self importance swagger! Look at the photo below and the two runners either side of the man and you can see on their faces how unimpressed they are with him!



Now to what was supposed to be the most important part of this marathon for me and the reason I had chosen to run it - The Beautiful Scenic Route!!

To put it quite simply, what scenic route? We didn't run around The Colosseum as the previous Rome marathons had! The finish wasn't with The Colosseum in the background which I really wanted it to be :-( We didn't run past the Trevi Fountain either! Basically between the start and 38km we ran past a pyramid with scaffolding on it, a smelly river, lots of apartment buildings, a couple of churches and St Peters Square.





Speaking of St Peters Square, I was really looking forward to running through it as I expected a lot of crowd support and a band or two there. I didn't see and certainly didn't hear a band and as for the crowd support, me and Danny tried to get them cheering and it took us three attempts before a group cheered back! The first two groups of people just stared at us like we were idiots! Maybe we were idiots to expect some support along the route :-(



From around 28km me and Danny walked/ran the rest of the marathon which suited us just fine. I helped him when he needed it and he helped me when I did so we were a great team :-)

The finish line was also very interesting, there was no crowd support whatsoever! We weren't even sure it was the finish line until we were 10 meters away!


We ran across the finish line together holding hands and then I did a funny kind of celebration as I could now finally join the Marathon Maniacs club! (more on that in another post). As it turned out my celebration was actually some strange kind of rain dance because as soon as I'd done it and we looked for the medals the rain came pouring down! And I mean pouring down!! So we grabbed our goodie bag which contained an apple, a bottle of water, a bottle of Gatorade, a strange jelly thing, and a cereal bar and headed back to our different hotels/apartments.




Before I sum all this up I just want to say a little about my apartment. It was next to a bar and I couldn't sleep on the Saturday night because of the noise. I made myself up a bed using duvets and towels  (I could still hear the music through the floor) and slept in the quietest room - The Bathroom!!


Comparing Rome Marathon overall to Barcelona Marathon:- Barcelona would get an 8 maybe even a 9 out of 10 and Rome would get a 4 maybe a 5 out of 10. More coming on this soon as I'm going to write a post soon comparing all my marathons on different categories.


Would I run Rome Marathon again? No way!! I'll stick to the Spanish Marathons thanks :-)