Chicago Marathon – It’s Race week – Quick recap of events
Posted on October 1, 2018 Leave a Comment
OMG I can’t believe that the week is finally here. I also can’t believe that I’ve run Berlin just 2 weeks ago, and in 6 days time I’ll be at the start line of the Chicago Marathon.
This past 2 weeks went really well. I think I’ve recovered after Berlin really easily and quickly. It helped that I took my roller with me and after the race I rolled my legs out, even though it was painful but it definitely worked 🙂
This post will be just a quick recap of this weeks events, and also will write a separate post about how can you track me on race day.
I have 2 more running sessions before we fly out on Thursday morning. Nothing fast or crazy, just nice and easy runs.
Our Flight leaves from London Heathrow, but we staying up there on Wednesday morning, mainly because we couldn’t make it up there on the day with trains, and I also don’t want to leave my car in the car park there.
We flying on Thursday with American Airlines / British Airways, they code share so I have no idea what will be painted on the side of the plane. But I have a guess it will be AA.
We only can check out to our flights on Wednesday morning, but I’ve called AA and booked our seats. So no rush with checking in.
We leaving Heathrow at 8.40am and getting to Chicago at 11.25am. When we land we have to go back to the main terminal to collect our pre ordered Ventra cards. This will enable us to use public transportation. Because our hotel got cancelled, we staying with a friend of mine. It’s so nice of them to offer a bed for us 🙂
I won’t write down our plans step by step, because it still can change. So whenever we are back I’ll definitely write a post about our adventures.
On Friday we will need to visit the expo, to collect my bib and goodiebags. Also this will be the day when I’ll be able to pick up the goodies from the charity. Cant wait 🙂
On Saturday we’ll start our day early. Luke and I are off to run the International 5k run. It’s similar to the one we’ve run in Berlin. But here at the end we are getting a medal and a hat as a present.
And of course sunday will be the Main event, Race day 🙂
Literally cannot wait for it. Can’t believe I’m running my 4th marathon, and its in Chicago.
As I said I’ll write a proper post about our day-to-day activities after the race.
Later on this week I also post about the tracking information, so if you plan to track me please keen an eye on the website, I’ll upload the information soon.
Love,
It’s Race day!
Posted on September 24, 2018 Leave a Comment
It’s time to summarise my Race day experience, if you’d like to read my Travel journey (click here ) or of you want to hear about our Breakfast run ( click here) then please click onto the links.
OMG the day is finally here. I’ve train for this for so long, and so much. I gave everything I had in my training.
After realising there’s no kettle in the hotel room I had to have pastry with yoghurt for breakfast. We left our hotel around 7.15am, because I really wanted to be part of the group charity photo. We agreed to meet up by Starbucks at 8am.
When we got on the train it was full with runners. I felt so happy. I can’t describe it. All the training I’ve put in the last few months, and today is race day. I knew it well that it will be over so soon. So tried to enjoy every minute of it.
After the photo I’ve said goodbye to my husband and went to my start zone, I was starting from Zone H. At this point I still had about 1.5 hours before the start.
Luckily at registration I’ve chosen to have a poncho, so didn’t need to queue up for the bag drop off. If I would do the race again I’d pick the poncho again, it saves so much time. No need to queue at all, just straight to the starting zone.
When I got to my start zone, it was still early, roughly about 8.30am, so not many people around. Had a quick loo break, and didn’t have to queue at all for it.
As the different waves started we cheered all of them. Then slowly the clock turned to 10.05am and it was our turn to start. Heard the countdown then heard the starting gun. It was time to do it, time to run. All the mixed emotions I had before were all gone by this point. I just felt happy, I felt free, glad to be there.
My first meeting point with my husband was at the 6km mark, which happened to be just in front of our hotel. I literally had no idea about this when I’ve booked the hotel. We just seen the blue line being painted on Saturday evening. Wow. Great hotel.
I felt really good about the first part of the race. Jeffing worked as well, and also seen other run-walk-runners.
My half point split was 02.52.27
It’s still about 6-8mins slower than my training runs and my best half marathon time. But even with this I was well on time to beat my target time. The first few miles were really crowded and had to take over many runners. So I assume I’ve lost some time there.
But I was still cheerful and happy. Seen Luke just after the half way mark and that gave me a massive boost.
After seeing him there, our next meeting point was at the 35km mark.
I was still going strong for a few miles, and hydrated really well, even ate some apples too from the tables.
By the time I’ve got the 35km mark I’ve lost the race mentally. My first 5k time was 39mins, the 5k between the 30-35km mark was 47 minutes. I did not get tired physically it was unfortunately more like a mental weakness. All my training runs were done by myself, so I really thought that it will help me during the race. But it did not. I was running thousands of others but I’ve felt totally alone. I felt alone, and I’ve struggled with my thoughts. I even started to question myself, why am I doing this? Other people go to the beach to have fun, not to run 26.2miles. At some point I even thought I’m not even worth to be there and I should really cancel my Chicago/Tokyo/Boston entry. At this point I’ve decided just to walk the rest of the race. I did not care if the sweeper bus picks me up and get a DNF next to my name.
Because of this mental weakness my predicted finish time went passed my dream finish of 6hrs. When I’ve seen that I really did not want to continue. I know its sounds so childish, but that’s what I’ve trained for. I wanted to be under 6hr. I wanted to be better than myself. But I failed miserably.
I felt like a total failure , I’ve trained for something but could not deliver it.
Luke even got my a Nutella pancake at the 35km mark, hoping it will cheer me up . But it did not work unfortunately. I don’t think anything could have cheered me up.
Then I’ve seen Meagan speed walking past me. She’s the founding member of the Berlin marathon Facebook group. I only chatted with her online, but this was the first time seeing her. She was struggling was her walk was faster than my attempted run. I though this is a sign, I have to keep up with her. I can walk, cant I?
So I’ve walked the last 7.192km with her. OMG. I had a look at my splits and those km walked were faster than my running pace in the last few km. We walked , chatted, walked, smiled to the camera guys. I felt great again, I felt alive. I felt like I could go again for hours and hours.
Then I’ve realised why I’ve lost my race, I’ve lost it because I was out there alone. I literally had no one to talk to for 30km, no one to share my struggles, or even my happiness when I was running great splits. Yes, I’ve seen hubby a few timed during the race, but it’s not the same. He couldn’t run with me.
We’ve crossed the finish line together with Meagan. I’ll be forever grateful for her. To pick me up at km 35 and fast walk with me to the finish line. She kept me going, even when I thought I can’t go any longer. Thank you so so much !!!
We’ve crossed that magic finish line in 06:22:52.
To my surprise I even PBd! This time is a whole 10 mins faster than my time in New York in last November. I can’t believe it. What would have happened if I wont lose it mentally at km35?
As you can see I’m back at my happy self at the finish 🙂 Like nothing has happened. But I knew that I’m struggled a lot, and I need to sort this out by the time I get to Chicago. I know im strong physically just need to get my mental game on.
So I’ve got a PB even though I had the worst race of my life. I have 2 weeks to sort myself out, and get out there and get a better performance in Chicago. I CAN do it and I WILL do it.
Love,
Berlin Marathon Expo & Saturday activities
Posted on September 24, 2018 1 Comment
After arriving Berlin and checking into our hotel ( you can read all of that here ) we went back to Berlin Central station to make our way to the Expo.
I’m part of a few Berlin Marathon training groups on Facebook, and during our train journey I’ve read many horror stories about the Expo. Mainly how disorganised was. Massive queues everywhere, hour-long wait for packet pick up ect.
At Expo was located at the old Tempelhof Airport.
At first I had no idea what to expect from it. How can they hold an expo in an airport? Well the Germans done it, I think it was really well organised.
We’ve arrived around 17.40 and there was no queue at all! The expo was closing at 19.00 on the Friday so we had just less than an hour and half to get around.
When we got into the building it was sectioned by hangar by hangar. At first I had to separate from Luke, because they had to give me my special marathon bracelet. I needed this to be able to go into the packet pick up area, and also it’s needed for the race on Sunday.
As you can see in the above photo there are not many people queuing for packet pick up. Also have to say Germans are really efficient, they didn’t have the bib numbers pre printed, instead they only printed the ones they needed. So when I got there I gave the volunteer my Start card + Passport, she found me in the system and then she printed out my bib number. So there’s no wastage at all. I remember seeing hundreds or even thousands of uncollected bibs at the London expo last year.
After packet pick up we went to collect my pre ordered merchandise. I pre ordered my finishing t-shirt and event jacket. Because many people said they sell out pretty fast. For this we had to go out of the hangars, and they had a table there. Had to show my collected bib to the volunteer and she grabbed my T-shirt and Event jacket.
I think both of them looks and feels really nice. They are a bit tight, but mainly because I have bigger boobs. Which is really strange because they are Adidas, the same make as my London merchandise, and those items are fitting perfectly. Never mind 🙂
Adidas Event Jacket
Adidas Event Jacket
After this we walked around a bit more, but then eventually we left. Didn’t buy anything else.
In the below photo you can see what was in the goodie bag. Did you see the yellow sponge?! Hahahah
Saturday – Breakfast Run
We/ve started our Saturday really early. I was so excited about the 6k breakfast run that I couldn’t really sleep overnight.
We’ve left our hotel around 8am, to get to the start by 9.30am.
Public transport was spot on again.
The start point was at the Shloss Charlottenburg, it’s a Palace. By the time we got there they already had the party started. Music on, balloons in the air and loads of happy runners all over the place.
The run was roughly 6km, but I’ve stopped my watch just after the 5k mark. Because at that point we were queuing to get into the Olympics stadium. So I did not want to record the walking parts. It worth every single minutes of running to finish at the Olympics stadium. It’s awesome. It’s massive. It’s beautiful. OMG. And this run was totally free to attend, what an experience.
At the end of the run we managed to grab a bit of a breakfast. It wasn’t a cooked one, but still tasted good, and don’t forget it was all free.
After the run we’ve decided to go to the Brandenburg gate. I’ve really wanted to take a photo of the Hall of Fame. This wall had all registered runners name on it, New York done the same last year. It took us about 10 mins to find my name, but we did it 🙂
After that we’ve done a bit more sightseeing, and had our normal pasta dinner. Then went to bed early, all ready for the big day ahead.
But more about that in my next post.
Love,
Our travels to Berlin
Posted on September 24, 2018 2 Comments
A few months ago I’ve already posted our journey details here and here as well.
To be honest I wa really nervous about this travel. Mainly because I knew that we need to get to Berlin on Friday because I really wanted tp pick up my race bib on the Friday. I’ve hears horror stories about marathon expos on Saturdays. Didn’t want to risk it.
We decided to spend Thursday night up in London, because our Eurostar train was leaving at 6.13am. There’s no train services from Andover or even from Basingstoke that early in the morning to get us up there by 5am. So we stayed a lovely cosy hotel , 10 mins from St Pancras International.
Because I love being nice and early we walked to the station about 4.50am 😀 Hardly anyone in the queue and not many people in the terminal either.
Had to wait to be able to board a train, but we were on the train about 5.45am. The train did leave bang on time, so I was really pleased with it.
After a few hours of travelling we have arrived to Brussels. It’s a massive station, but so nice and clean.
While we were still on the Eurostar I’ve decided to download an app called DB Navigator. If you ever go to Germany and will use the trains you’ll need this app. It tells you exactly what platform your train will be, and to my total surprise the train formations as well. So everyone who booked a seat, like us, will know where to stand on the platform.
This train had some issues during our journey, so unfortunately it developed a bit of a delay. But the conductor announced it many times that we don’t need to worry because in Koln they will hold our connecting train. So we will all make our train to Berlin. Wow.
Also on the platforms they had massive interactive boards, telling customers about train formations and where to stand on the platform.
We did have a really nice and comfortable journey on the ICE trains. Can’t fault them at all. All conductors/guards/train managers knew about our FIP Coupons, and wished us a relaxing journey. All trains we took made announcement in multiple languages ( French, Dutch, German, English.
Catering facilities were spot on as well.
We’ve seen a few double-decker trains as well. Couldn’t resist taking a photo of them 😀
Because we reserved our seats on the DB trains, we had nothing to worry about when we got on the trains.
We were supposed to arrive to Berlin at 17.07 but at the end we got there at 17.10. So not a massive delay at all. Even though the Brussels – Koln train was late, but because the held our Koln – Berlin train our delay for the whole day was only 3mins at the end. So I don’t think that too bad for a journey like this.
The above photo shows you the front of the main train station in Berlin, Berlin HBF. It’s a massive station with many trains.
When we arrived we decided to go and check into our hotel first, then go to the expo. Luckily I’ve changed our hotel reservation, and this new one was only 10 mins walk from the station. Lovely clean hotel, massive rooms, and friendly staff. The only disadvantage that they did not have any tea making facilities 🙁 So the porridges I’ve taken with my self was a waste, I couldn’t eat them before the race. But other than that everything was spot on.
In my next post I’ll write about the Expo and our Saturday, then finally I’ll write about my race.
Love,
Berlin Marathon Tracking – How to track me?
Posted on September 9, 2018 Leave a Comment
Since yesterday they tracking app is finally available. I really thought that won’t release it till like a day before the race. Chicago already released theirs, and that race is still 4 weeks away. But never mind.
A few weeks ago I’ve received my Start Card. I’ll need to take this with me to be able to collect my race pack at the Expo.
How can you track me on race day?
At the moment there is no website where you can track me. It means you’ll need to download either the iOS or the Android app.
You can follow my progress during the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON. Just follow the steps below:
1. If you haven't already then please download the official BMW BERLIN-MARATHON app from the Store: Appstore: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id464044582 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.corussoft.berlinmarathon 2. Then click on the link below to add me to your favorites and follow me on my way to the finish line during the event. http://guide.redirect.aws.corussoft.de/?topic=2017_berlinmarathon&favoritesUrl=comscc-eventsmarathon2011://?pid=99999905C9AF65000046C3A7%26code=
The above link doesn’t seem to work for me. I’ve tried to use it on 4 different devices but every time I’m getting an error message. So I’ll share a step by step guide below.
- You’ll still need to download the official marathon app. Use the Appstore / Google play link to download it.
- Open the app.
- Click on the ” Visitor” button
- Click on ” More “
- Click on ” #berlin42″
- Click on ” Tracking”
- Click on ” Search athletes “
- Search for ” Gabriella Waller ” or ” 69100 “
- Click on ” Track Gabriella Waller”
That’s all 🙂 After this you’ll be able to follow me on the map, and see my timings as well.
Beacuse I’m starting from Block H, it means that my start time will be:
- 03.05am (Chicago time)
- 04.05am (New York, USA time)
- 09.05am (UK time)
- 10.05am ( German, Hungarian time)
- 17.35pm ( Australian Central Standard time)
I can’t wait for Friday morning, that’s when we’ll start our travels to Berlin. During our stay I’ll try to share as much things as I can. But after the race I’ll definitely write a day by day weekend report.
Love,
Mi is az a World Marathon Majors? Hogyan lehet jelentkezni?
Posted on August 23, 2018 Leave a Comment
Miert is futkoraszok a vilag minden reszen? Mi is konkretan a World Marathon Majors? Csak profi elit futok vehetnek reszt rajta? Vagy lelkes amator futok is? Draga? Hogyan tudok jelentkezni a versenyekre? Mi jar azoknak akik teljesitettek a kihivast?
Ezek a leggyakoribbi kerdesek amiket kerdeztek tolem. Igy ugy gondolom itt az ideje irni errol egy bejegyzest magyarul is. Angolul mar irtam rola par honapja, azt el tudjatok olvasni itt.
Eloszor is boncsanat , de nincsenek ekezeteim, az iMac-hez csak angol billentyuzetem van :/ De remelem igy is ertheto lesz minden.
1, Szoval kezdjuk egybol a legvegevel, ez a gyonyoru medal jar minden teljesitonek. Plusz a neve fel kerul az Abbot Hall of Fame-re ( Abbot Hiressegek Csarnoka ). Per pillanat olyan 3500 ember teljeseitette a kihivast, de viszont ebben csak 4 magyar van.
Hat nem gyonyoru?
2, Mi is az a World Marathon Majors? World Marathon Majors nem más, mint a hat legrangosabb, legismertebb, legnagyobb maraton versenyek sorozata. A versenyek Tokióban, Bostonban, Londonban, Berlinben, Chicagóban és New Yorkban zajlanak.
3, Van-e ido korlat a versenyek teljesitesere? Per pillanat nincsen, a lenyeg az hogy legyen az embernek “Hivatalos” beerkezesi ideje ( Official Finish Time). Ez minden versenynel mas, pl Boston szigoruan 6 ora. De az viszont nem szamit hogy hany ev alatt sikerul lefutni mind a 6 versenyt. Az egyik angol nyelvu Facebook oldalon irta az egyik futo hogy o 2006-ban futotta le a londoni maratont, de mikor teljesitette iden a 6. versenyt Bostonban, akkor ugyan ugy megkapta a specialis medalt mint aki lefutja mind a 6 versenyt 12 honap alatt.
Tavaly mikor lefutottam a londoni maratont akkor lattam par celba erot ilyen szep medállal.
Nem is nagyon tudtam mi lehet ez. Pár héttel később viszont sikerült kideríteni. Ekkor elhataroztam, hogy en ezt meg fogom csinalni, meg akarom csinalni. Semmi sem lehetetlen. En magamnak 3 evet adtam, hogy teljesitsem a kivihast. Evente 2 verseny, megfelelonek tunt.
London – New York = 2017
Berlin – Chicago = 2018
Tokyo – Boston = 2019
Ha esetleg nem ismesz, akkor rolam annyit kell tudni, hogy 2011 ota Angliaban elek. 3 eve kezdtem el futni. 2.5 eve a helyi vasutnal dolgozok, reszmunkaidoben, reggel 6-10kozott, hetfotol pentekig. Szoval szerencsesnek mondhatom magam, mivel van rengeteg idom edzeni, felkeszulni, munkahely is tamogat, igy ha kell szabadsagot kivennem akkor megoldhato minden problema nelkul. A fizetes sem rossz, igy megengedhetem magamnak az evi 2 utazast.
4, Kik vehetnek reszt a versenyeken? Profik vagy amatorok is? Mindenki akinek sikerul regisztralnia. Profik es amatorok egyarant.
5, Draga? Ha azt mondanam, hogy nem akkor hazudnek. Szoval igen draga, meg akkor is ha az olcsobb modon sikerul valakinek bejutnia a versenyekre. De a regisztraciorol majd kesobb.
6, Hogyan is tudok a versenyekre jelentkezni? Minden versenyre kulonfele modon lehet jelentkezni. De altalaban van a “sorsolas utjan” , “jotekonysagi szolgalat altal” , “hivatalos utazasi iroda altal” , ” ido kvalifikacio utjan” stb. A lenyeg az hogy mindig olvassuk el a hivatalos weboldalt. Sok utazasi iroda hirdeti hogy tudnak indulasi jogot szerezni, de nincsenek is rajta a hivatalos listan. Tavaly egy Europai ceg eladott 10-15 futonak Tokyo / Boston indulasi jogot, es verseny elott derult ki, hogy nem hivatalos ceg es a penzt elnyeltek. Szoval mindig el kell olvasni a hivatalos maratoni oldalt es onnan valasztani cegeket.
Kicsit lejjebb belinkelem a hivatalos oldalokat, de annyit mar most elore meg irok hogy egyik maratonra nincsen magyar utazasi iroda regisztralva!
Tokyo Marathon
Weboldal: https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/
Datum: Marcius elso Vasarnapja
Regisztracios dij:
Sorsolas altal : 12 800 yen , kb 32 000 Ft ( Japanon kivul lako embereknek )
A sorsolasra valo regisztracio altalaban Augusztusban van, es az ertesitesi email pedig altalaban Szeptember kozepen tortenik meg.
Jotekonysagi szolgalat altal: 100 000 yen , kb 250 000 Ft plusz a normal regisztracios dij ami 12 800 yen , kb 32 000 Ft
Ez iden Julius 2-an nyilt meg, es az elso 5000 regisztralo aki kitoltotte az kerdoivet es befizette a Jotekonysagi szolgalatnak a dijat kapott automatikus felvetelt a maratonra. Ez nem olcso igaz, de garantalt a bejutas.
Utazasi iroda altal: En 2 angol cegrol tudok akik hivatalos partnerei a maratonnak. Az egyik a 2:09 Events a masik pedig a Sport Tours International. Ezek a cegek komplett csomagot arulnak ( hotel, repulo jegy, es verseny regisztracio), igy elegge dragak.
Run as One ( ido kvalifikacio altal) : 300 hely van erre, azok jelentkezhetnek akik megtudnak futni egy bizonyos idot es van hivatalos papirjuk ami ezt igazolja, nem minden maratont fogadnak el. Szerencsere a Budapesti Spar maraton rajta van a listan.
Ferfiak: 2:21:01 〜 2:45:00
Nok: 2:52:01 〜 3:30:00
London Marathon
Weboldal: https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/
Datum: Altalaban Aprilis 3. Vasarnapja
Regisztracios dij:
Sorsolas altal: £39 , kb 14 000 Ft ( Angol cimmel rendelkezokenk )
£80, kb 28 800 Ft ( kulfoldi jelentkezokek )
A jelentkezes atalaban majusban tortenik, es 5 nap van ra hogy interneten kitoltsuk a kerdoivet. Az ertesites pedig majd csak Oktoberben tortenik meg.
Jotekonysagi szolgalat altal: Itt minden ceg mas mas osszeget kerhet, akikkel en futottam ok kertek £1350-et, de lattam jo parat akik £2000 felett voltak. Itt a hivatalos lista a hivatalosan regisztralt jotekonysagi cegekrol.
Good for Age ( ido kvalifikacio ) altal: Erre csak angol cimmel rendelkezo futok jelentkezhetnek. 6000 hely van erre, 3000 ferfi es 3000 noi futonak. Tovabbi informacio errol itt.
Utazasi iroda altal: Mivel ez a verseny Angliaban van igy egyik angol utazasi iroda sem arulhat erre indulasi jogot. Itt a hivatalos lista a cegekrol , Magyar ceg NINCSEN rajta!!
Berlin Marathon
Weboldal: https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/
Datum: Altalaban Szeptember 3. Vasarnapja
Regisztracios dij:
Sorsolas altal: €125 , kb 40 500 Ft
A jelentkezesi ido altalaban oktober kozepetol kezdodik egeszen november kozepeig. Az ertesitesi emailek pedig november vege fele szoktak megkerkezni.
Jotekonysagi szolgalat altal: Erre van egy garantalt lehetoseg ( RTL Donation Marathon (“RTL-Spendenmarathon”) for children in need ) , az elso 1000 regisztralt futo reszt tud venni a versenyen €190-ert, kb 61 500 Ft.
Plusz van a normal jotekonysagi szervezet altali bejutas, itt minden ceg akkora osszeget ker amekkorat szeretne. A hivatalos cegek listaja itt talalhato.
Fast runners ( ido kvalifikacio ) : €125 , kb 40 500 Ft
Ferfiak:
18 – 44 ev kozott: 2ora 45 perc alatt
45 – 59 ev kozott: 2 ora 55 perc alatt
60 ev felett: 3 ora 25 perc alatt
Nok:
18 – 44 ev kozott: 3 ora alatt
45 – 59 ev kozott: 3 ora 20 perc alatt
60 ev felett: 4 ora 10 perc alatt
Utazasi iroda altal: Itt a hivatalos lista a cegekrol , Magyar ceg NINCSEN rajta!!
Chicago Marathon
Weboldal: https://www.chicagomarathon.com
Datum: Altalaban Oktober 1. Vasarnapja
Regisztracios dij:
Sorsolas altal:
Amerikai lakosoknak ( 50 allam lakosai, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico vagy mas U.S. teruletek ) : $195 , kb 54 800 Ft
Minden mas lakosnak : $220 , kb 61 800 Ft
Tavaly a jelentkezesi ido intervallum Oktober vege es November vege kozott volt, az emailt pedig December kozepen kuldtek ki.
Time Qualifier ( ido kvalifikacio altal) : 300 hely volt erre.
| Fel maraton | Maraton | |
| Ferfi | 1:11:00 alatt | 2:31:00 alatt |
| No | 1:21:00 alatt | 3:01:00 alatt |
| Ferfiak ( 40+) | 1:13:00 alatt | 2:41:00 alatt |
| Nok ( 40+) | 1:25:00 alatt | 3:13:00 alatt |
Legacy Finishers: azok jelentkezhetnek igy akik mar lefutottak minimum 5 Chicago Maratont az utobbi 10 evben.
Jotekonysagi szolgalat altal: $1000 ha meg a sorsolas elott jelentkezunk , ha viszont mar csak a sorsolas utan jelentkezunk a jotekonysagi szolgalathoz akkor mar $1500. Hivatalos partnerek listaja itt talalhato meg.
Utazasi iroda altal: Itt a hivatalos lista a cegekrol , Magyar ceg NINCSEN rajta!!
New York Marathon
Weboldal: https://www.tcsnycmarathon.org/
Datum: Altalaban November 1. Vasarnapja
Regisztracios dij:
Sorsolas altal:
Amerikai lakosoknak ( 50 allam lakosai, plusz District of Columbia lakosai):
- NYRR tagoknak : $255, kb 71 700 Ft
- Nem NYRR tagoknak: $295, kb 83 000 Ft
Nem Amerikai lakosoknak: $358 , kb 100 700 Ft
A jelentkezesi ido intervallum Januar kozepe es Februar kozepe kozott volt, az emailt pedig Februar vegen kuldtek ki.
Van jo par garantalt bejutasi lehetoseg is:
- Jelentkezok a 9+1 or 9+$1K Program altal
- Futok akik lefutottak minimum 15 New York City Marathon
Time qualifiers ( ido kvalifikacio altal ) : itt az egesz lista idore es nemre lebontva
Jotekonysagi szolgalat altal: a hivatalos cegek listaja megtalalhato itten , es minden ceg mas es mas osszeget kerhet.
Utazasi iroda altal: Itt a hivatalos lista a cegekrol , Magyar ceg NINCSEN rajta!!
Boston Marathon
Weboldal: https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon
Datum: Mindig a Hazafiak Napjan ( Patriots Day )
Regisztracios dij:
Ez az egyetlen verseny a 6-bol ahova nem lehet sorsolas altal bejutni.
Time qualification ( ido kvalifikacio ) :
Amerikai lakosoknak $185, kb 52 000 Ft
Minden mas lakosnak $250 , kb 70 300 Ft
Ido kvalifikacio altal sem egyszeru bejutni a versenyre, hiaba futja meg valaki az eloirt idot, sokszor az alatta kell futni. Mivel olyan sokan jelentkeznek, hogy tenyleg csak a leggyorsabb futok kerulnek be.
| Korosztaly | Ferfiak | Nok |
|---|---|---|
| 18-34 | 3hrs 05min 00sec | 3hrs 35min 00sec |
| 35-39 | 3hrs 10min 00sec | 3hrs 40min 00sec |
| 40-44 | 3hrs 15min 00sec | 3hrs 45min 00sec |
| 45-49 | 3hrs 25min 00sec | 3hrs 55min 00sec |
| 50-54 | 3hrs 30min 00sec | 4hrs 00min 00sec |
| 55-59 | 3hrs 40min 00sec | 4hrs 10min 00sec |
| 60-64 | 3hrs 55min 00sec | 4hrs 25min 00sec |
| 65-69 | 4hrs 10min 00sec | 4hrs 40min 00sec |
| 70-74 | 4hrs 25min 00sec | 4hrs 55min 00sec |
| 75-79 | 4hrs 40min 00sec | 5hrs 10min 00sec |
| 80 and over | 4hrs 55min 00sec | 5hrs 25min 00sec |
Itt nagyon jol es reszletesen le van irva ez a jeletnekzesi mod, igaz csak angolul.
Jotekonysagi szolgalat altal: Mivel ez egy nagyon nepszeru verseny es nagyon nehez bejutni, igy a jotekonysagi cegek kernek egy minumum $5000-t, de a tobbseg joval $10 000 felett van! A hivatalos lista a cegekrol itt talalhato meg.
Utazasi iroda altal: Csatoltam kepet a hivatalos cegekrol, Magyar ceg NINCSEN rajta!! Kattints a kepekre a jobb minoseg miatt.
7, Hogyan is kerultem en be a kulonbozo versenyekre?
A 2017-es londoni maratonra sajnos nem sorsoltak ki , így úgy döntöttem hogy akkor megyek egy jótékonysági cég által ( MACS UK ) . Nekük be fizettem a pénz összeget (£1300) és már ott is álltam a rajtnál 2017 áprilisában.
A 2017 novemberi New yorki maratonra pedig egy utazási iroda ( 2:09 Events ) csomagját vettem meg (£1200) . Mivel le késtem a lottó sorsolásról.
Már a felkészülés javában zajlik az idei szeptemberi Berlini maratonra. Ide sem sorsoltak ki. Így maradt a jótékonysági szervezet ( Prostate Cancer UK, £500 ) és a nekik fel ajánlott pénzem .
Október első hetében pedig már a chicagói rajt vonalon fogok állni. Ha minden jól megy. Ide sem sikerült bekerulnöm sorsolás álltál. Így egy újabb jótékonysági szervezet ( Paws Chicago, $1000 ) álltal fogok rajthoz állni.
Julius 2-an megnyitotta a weboldalat a Tokyo-i maraton jotekonysagi reszlege. Helyi ido szerint 10 oratol lehetett feliratkozni, ez viszont hajnali 2 orat jelentett Angliai ido szerint. 1.30kor mar a szamitogep elott ultem, es izgatottan vartam. Nem ment az egesz zokkeno mentesen, mivel csak 3.40korul sikerult vegig csinalnom a regisztraciot. A jotekonysagi szervezetnek be kellett fizetnem 100 000 yent plusz a verseny regisztracios dijat 12 800 yen ( Run with Heart ) . Igy garantalt az indulasom. Varhattam volna a sorsolasra, de ott kb 7-8% az esely hogy kisorsolnak. En pedig a biztosra akartam menni.
A legnehezebben a Bostoni maratonra lehet bekerülni. Mivel én nem vagyok egy gyors futó és nem hiszem hogy valaha 3:35 alatt fogok maratont futni így esélyem sincsen a BQ-ra. De viszont pár honapja az egyik angol utazási iroda ( 2:09 Events ) megnyitotta a jelentkezést és sikerült megszereznem az egyik helyüket a 30ból. A 30 hely elfogyott 5 perc alatt, nekem sikerult kevesebb mint 1 perc alatt regisztralni. Az egesz csomag 2 fo reszere ( 1 futo + 1 szurkolo ) £4500-ba kerult.
Szoval amint latjatok nem egyszeru bejutni a versenyekre, es nem is olcso. Ha valakinek sikerult bejutni az osszes versenyre sorsolas / ido kvalifikacio altal akkor is meg jon a repulojegy / hotel dija, plusz kolto penz stb.
De viszont nekem ez mind megeri. Jovore sikerul ezt mind vegig csinalnom es akkor utana johetnek az uj kihivasok. Ami a 2018-as Juliusi Angol Ironman Triatlon verseny lesz . Amint latjatok soha nem csinalok semmit egyszeruen, vagy konnyen. Egyszer elunk, nem lehet unalmasan elni.
Ha esetleg valakinek lenne kerdese ezekrol a versenyekrol akkor irjon nyugodtan, szivessen segitek vagy adok tanacsot barkinek.
Remelem latni fogok jo par magyar nevet a Hall of Fame-n az elkovetekzo evekben.
Sok puszi,
29 days till Berlin – Quick travel update
Posted on August 18, 2018 1 Comment
Only 28 days and 19hours till Race day 🙂 Getting closer and closer. By this time in 4 weeks time will be already there, and probably the pre race nerves will kick in.
I just want to give you all a quick update regarding our travel plans.
Since I wrote my last post, I’ve decided to change our hotel arrangements. This new one is right next to the main train station, which is really good for us. Also it is much closer to the start, only 1.5km away, which is about 20mins walk. So not too bad at all.
The hotel called Hotel Central Inn am Hauptbahnhof, it was a bit more expensive than the previous one, but we won’t spend as much on public transport as we were supposed to before. Win win for us.
Since my last travel post, I’ve also purchased our seats on the DB trains. We didn’t have to book our seats in advance, but I didn’t want to risk it. It wouldn’t be comfortable to stand that long, or sit in an awkward seat. Luckily the German railway offers “seat reservations” only bookings. Because we travelling on my free railway vouchers, we can just turn up at the station and take almost any trains we want. But for €18 I’ve decided to get our seats reserved, at least it’s all guaranteed.
Our whole railway journey will cost us :
£70 – London to Brussels to London ( Eurostar )
£0 – Brussels to Berlin to Brussels ( DB ICE trains )
€18 – Optional seat reservation from Brussels to Berlin and back
Total: £85 / person
Within Berlin we going to buy single and day travel tickets. On the friday we just need to get to the Expo and back, so a single ticket for €2.80 /person/journey will be perfectly good for that.
On the Saturday because we are going to travel a lot more, the day ticket for €7 / person will be our best option.
Saturday will be a busy day for us.
Starting with the official Breakfast run in the Morning. This is 6km easy paced run , starting at 9.30am from the Schloss Charlottenburg towards the Olympiastadion.
I can’t wait to see the Olympic stadium and finish the race there. After the run the organisers will provide Breakfast! Have you run a race before where there was no medals, but you’ll get breakfast at the end? Nope, me neither. But it does look like a fun event. Can’t miss it.
After this we going to have some free time, probably will do some kind of sightseeing, but haven’t decided yet.
Later on the afternoon, we are going to meet up with a few other runners for our carb loading pasta dinner. I’m going to meet with fellow Team Paws members, and I’m so excited about that.
After dinner I’ve booked in a sightseeing tour, we are going to visit the Berlin Dome ( Reichstag Building). It’s all for free, but you’ll need to register in advance. This place is only about 15 minutes walk from our hotel. So we don’t need to spend any money on public transport.
As you can see not much sightseeing at all, I want to make sure I’m rested well before race day.
Love,
My first 18miler (alone)
Posted on August 13, 2018 Leave a Comment
After last week’s horrible 14 mile run, I really had no idea what to expect from this long run.
Last week everything was so good till the mile 13 marker, then something broke inside me. I just sat down, and really started to think why am I doing this to myself? Is this all really worth it? Probably the heat didn’t help. But at the end I managed to do the run in 2hrs 59mins, so it wasn’t that bad.
I was supposed to do this 18 miles on the Saturday. But because of the summer holidays at work, I’ve been asked to work. I rarely work on weekends, so this thrown my plans up a bit. But the extra money will be good to spend in Berlin / Chicago. But it also meant that I won’t have a lay in day all week.
On Sunday my alarm went off at 4am, to my surprise I had no issues waking up. Got all my running gear ready the previous evening, so just had to dress up, eat my porridge, make my drinks and off I went.
I left the house at 4.50am.
A few weeks ago when I was planning my 20miler long run , which will be in 2 weeks time , my coach suggested do run a few laps instead on 1 big one. By doing that its easier to get my refreshments done, and also if I need any toilet break I can sort that out as well.
I’ve planned out a 6 mile look by our house, mostly flat, and only had to cross the main road 3 times / loop. It was through housing estates, but because I was planning to run early I didn’t really think this will be an issue.
My flat 18 milesSo off I went at 4.50am.
To my surprise this run went so much better straight from the beginning than my other one from last week. In the first hour I was wearing my head torch, and high-vis, because of the darkens.
To my surprise I managed to complete my first 5 miles just under an hour, 59mins 30seconds.
Looking back at my run details in Garmin Connect, my fastest run pace was between the 5:21 – 5:57 mins/km mark. But because I do Jeffing ( run – walk ) my average pace were in the 7:21 – 7:47 mins/km mark. It turns out my walk pace is usually around the 11mins/km marker.
My fastest km was in just before mile 5, which was an awesome 7:01mins/ km.
Completed my first lap in 6 miles ) in 1hour 12 mins. I am really pleased with this time 🙂
By the time I’ve started my second lap it started to rain. But I didn’t mind that at all. It was nice and cold, finally the perfect running weather.
Much better running temperatureWhen I started lap nr2 I re filled all my carry on water bottles. By doing this I only had to carry 2 x 220ml small bottles. Instead of the massive 500ml ones.
To be honest it was mentally hard to continue every time I’ve run past our house. But I knew that I had to get this run done. If I can run a whole 18miles alone I’ll be totally fine on race day.
I’ve run many 18-20milers before but all were in race conditions, unfortunately for this training cycle I didn’t find any local races. So I have to tackle all of this alone.
So during my second loop I was still going strong, My average pace was varied between 7:13 and 7.36mins/km. Still really happy with that.
At mile 10.03 I was still under the 2hrs mark. This is the second time in my whole life. Whoohooo.
I think because of the light rain and proper refreshments, I still felt really strong.
I’ve started my 3rd loop and I knew I’ve got this, but then after 2 miles something hit me. My legs started to hurt, and my mind started to play games with my. Just to usual stuff, questioning myself constantly. Because of this, my pace slowed down a bit. My running pace got about 20 seconds slower, so instead of my 5:30 run pace they turned into a 6.14-6.41. Also my walk pace dropped to a 14-15mins/km, which meant my average pace slowed down to 8-8.30mins/km mark.
You won’t get an even pace line with the run-walk-run methodI think it’s all have to do with me running all alone. When you are in a race, there are other runners who supporting you all around the course, and of course there are the spectators, who can give you a massive boost. I hoping that on race day I’ll be able to keep up my faster pace for a longer period of time.
Because of my slowing down , when I got to the next hour mark, I only completed 4.7miles, instead of the 5 I’ve done before. To be honest it wasn’t much slower. It took me 1hr 2mins to do the whole 5 miles. this got me up to the 15miler mark, in 3hrs and 2 minutes.
I am really happy with that, because last week I’ve only done 14 miles in 3hrs, so this time I was a whole mile faster.
The last 3 miles were uneventful. I kept thinking it’s only a parkrun to go. I can easily do a parkrun, even with blindfolded.
When my watch beeped at mile 18 I felt a massive relief, I’ve done it. I’ve done something I never done alone.
It took me 3:48:55 to run 18miles (29km)
18 long miles done
Average pace: 7:54mins/kmIt’s great, it’s awesome, I happy with that. I think on race day I’ll be able to squeeze in another mile and still be under the 4hrs mark. Then I only have to do 7 more miles in 2 hours, to still be under my goal 6hours mark. At this moment it feels like it’s totally achievable.
Today I’ve won. I beat my own mind. My mind which is my worst enemy, I was stronger. Running is not hard physically, it’s much harder mentally. My legs want to go, my heart telling me I can go, but if my mind tells me I can’t it takes a whole lot of courage to beat that. On this day I was better, I was stronger.
I’ve attached a few photos comparing with my other 18 mile runs. unfortunately London didn’t provide an 18 miler split, so will use the 30k split for that. But New York had an 18 mile split so can provide that.
In London it took me 04:43:51 to run 30km ( 18.6miles) , so that’s a bit longer than my current 18 miler, but as you can see that took me 55 minutes longer than this run.
London 2017
Luckily the New York marathon does provide an 18 mile split, in the results database. As you can see in the photo below, I was faster in the race compared to London, but that 18 mile still took me longer to run than my current run. It took me exactly 04:13:09. Which means my current run is 30minutes faster than that.
New York 2017
I do feel really positive about this run, I think I’ve said that like 100 times already. But it does look like that hard work do pays off. I’ve put so many mileage in since may, and even with a few missed session I can see I’ll get to my goal.
This week I only have to run 12 miles on saturday, but a week after that I’ll be out on my longest run, 20 mile. Because of this positive 18 miles I’m not worried about that at all.
Love,
Berlin Marathon – Start list
Posted on August 4, 2018 Leave a Comment
Only 6 weeks to go till the Berlin Marathon. My training is well under way, and in August I’m upping my miles significantly. Today just had a 14 mile run, and on the 25th of August I’m having my longest run, 20 miles.
A few weeks ago I was reading through the official website, and came across a part where you can search the Participants. I’ve got really excited, because I’m running with a charity, and wanted to make sure I’m registered.
I’m Officially Registered!
As you can see in the above photo there’s no BIB number yet, I assume they’ll update that part when we receive our Start Cards a few weeks before the race.
I’m running the race raising for funds for Prostate Cancer UK, if you’d like to sponsor me please do click on this link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gabiruns
I’m already at 20% of my target, but if you feel this is a worthy cause please sponsor me. They are really grateful for any kind of donations. Thank you 🙂
Love,
Ironman Bolton ’19 – Back from deferment
Posted on July 31, 2018 Leave a Comment
This race was supposed to happen this year. I really wanted to do an Ironman race before I turn 30 in February 2019.
But for multiple reasons I had to defer my place till 2019.
I’ve started my training really well, I really thought that I can do this. But then an injury happened and I was out of action for a few months. It’s all started in January this year 2 months into my training ! First I’ve written about this HERE. Then I had a really emotional post about my deferment HERE. Then a fully confirmed diagnosis about my Plantar Fasciitis is HERE.
I’m not going to lie, it still hurts sometimes. I can go for weeks without any pain, and then it just appears and I’m back to square one and even struggle to walk. I’m still stretching 2-3 times a day, and wearing my special boot at least 4-5 times a week. It does seem to work.
On the 15th of July I was back at home. A last-minute trip came up to back home, and I thought it’s a great idea, at least I won’t think about race day. But it was hard, the whole of my Facebook was full with my friends competing up there. I’ve tracked a few of them and they all smashed their goals, and become on, an Ironman. Well done all of you 🙂
I did feel bad about me not being there, but then I knew that I didn’t have the chance to do the whole training, so I really didn’t want to risk me being pulled out because of the missed cut offs.
I have 11 months now to get better and better. Fingers crossed I won’t get any injury this time.
Because I have deferred my place I was able to sign up for the race again, for free.
I’ve received my sign up email on the 16th of July. Because I didn’t want to forget it I’ve filled out my details straight away and the pressed the ” Sign up ” box. Then it was all done 🙂 Received the confirmation email a few minutes later as well.
I still going to use the same training plan I’ve started for this year’s event. I did really like how was it set up, and the variety of the session. I’ve wrote a post about it, it’s a book called, Be Iron Fit.
I’m back at proper swimming from this week as well, and will do a few more cycling day outs as well.
I really wished I could have raced this year, with my friends with me. But I’ll be there next year, smashing it all alone.
I already looking into some training camp/days up in Bolton. it would give me so much confidence to go around the route a few times before race day. It will take me so much to organise, because I’m from the South and Bolton is about 4hrs drive from me. But I know I need to do these training events.
So if you know any company who offers training days/weekends please let me know.
I’ve done a quick Google search and found 3 companies who’s done a training day / weekend for this year’s race. The don’t have much information about their 2019 event, but did send them an email and currently waiting for an answer.
1. Holiday Inn Bolton – 3rd June 2018
This event was free for local residents, and they had a great hotel rate for the others. Click on the photo to see it in better quality and bigger size.
2. SiEntries – Invictus Thriathlon Club
It was a day event, and was only £20. The swim was in a local pond, not in the Flash, but they’ve done 1 lap of the actual bike route and there was a optional 5/10k run at the end. Click on the photos to see it in better quality and bigger size.
They are the most expensive out of the 3 companies. But they offer a full training weekend. Starts on the friday evening and finishing Sunday mid day. They only have 20spots, so will need to sign up as quick as I can. Their price was £95 if you’ve signed up before then end of the year, and £115 afterwards. They don’t have the new prices up yet. But the date should be the 11-13th of May 2019. Click on the photos to see it in better quality and bigger size.
With this race next year, I’m going to have a really busy 12 months ahead of me.
Currently I’m marathon training, Berlin is coming up in September less than 7 weeks to go, then 3 weeks later I’m racing in Chicago.
Next year I already have the Tokyo Marathon booked in for March, then a month and a half later I’ll be in Boston. Boston is really important because I’ll be collecting my 6Star medal there 🙂
Busy months ahead, and IM training will properly kicks in from December. But I know that I’m totally capable to do all of them.
2019 will be my year 🙂
Love,