Week 11 – Berlin to Chicago training
Posted on July 28, 2018 Leave a Comment
I haven’t written a training summary for a long time. I’m sorry I’m getting really busy.
The runs are getting longer, and I’m getting a bit tired as well.
But have to say so far it all going well. When I started this training plan I really didn’t know what to expect, if it’s going to workout at the end or not.
But it does work.
When I’ve started on the 15th of may, my pace was averaging 9.03mins/ km and currently its on 7.30mins/km. On the shorter runs I can easily do 7.18-7.20mins/km as well. I’m just hoping that as the distance gets longer I’ll be able to stay close to the 7.30mins/kms.
I know it wont be easy, but I still have 7 weeks of hard training ahead of me, so I’ll do my absolute best to keep it up or to even get better.
My VO2 Max also improved a bit since may. I don’t know much about VO2 Max, but when I’ve started in may it was only 34, and now it standing on 41.
According to Garmin I went from Poor to Good 😀
I do feel fitter and not running out of breath as quickly as I used to.
The one thing I’m failing is that’s my diet. I’m trying to eat as healthy as I can but that’s still not good enough.
That’s all for now, will try to give you a training update as frequently as I can.
Love,
Abbot – Everyday Champions ★☆★☆★☆
Posted on July 26, 2018 Leave a Comment
Yesterday I came across a tweet from Abbott :
BREAKING NEWS
The all new Six Star System is live! Housing over 2 million results, waiting for you to claim them so you can see all of your #AbbottWMM results in one central hub. Register today! https://t.co/jy2f1j2Iqz#ReachForTheStars pic.twitter.com/4y7TAyu0HX
— Abbott WMMajors (@WMMajors) July 25, 2018
I’m so pleased to see that now I can track my 6 Star journey online, and also others can search for competitors, by name or even by country.
Before hand they only had a list of the 6 Star finishers, but now even if someone run 1 race, you can find them. Well as long as they registered, and claimed their runs.
I went to register straight away and claimed my 2 races, London & New York 2017.
As soon as I complete my others, I’ll update this post as well.
- London 2017 ★
- New York 2017 ★☆
- Berlin 2018 ★☆★
- Chicago 2018 ★☆★☆
- Tokyo 2019 ★☆★☆★
- Boston 2019 ★☆★☆★☆
As you can see from the above screenshots, it tells the competitor’s name, gender, PB, Star amount and Nationality.
If you’d like to see my full profile, just click HERE.
To my knowledge there are only 4 Hungarian 6 Star finishers, friend of mine took a photo of the Wall of Fame in Boston, and only 4 people name was on it.
- Zsolt Dragoman
- Zsuzsanna Fekete
- Janos Kiss
- Gabor Vass
Sorry about the bad quality photo.
At the moment only one of them claimed his 6 Star account, Gabor Vass.
I’ll keep an eye on the website, and when the others will claim theirs I’ll update my post with the links.
On the new site you can search by Stars as well, click on the images and you’ll be able to see the photos in better quality.
At the moment there are ZERO Hungarian 1 Star finishers:
At the moment there are TWO Hungarian 2 Star finishers:
At the moment there are ZERO Hungarian 3 Star finishers:
At the moment there are ZERO Hungarian 4 Star finishers:
At the moment there are ZERO Hungarian 5 Star finishers:
At the moment there are ONE Hungarian 6 Star finishers:
I’m going to keep this post updated whenever there’s a new Finisher 🙂
I’m so happy and proud to be part of a special group of people, and reach my goal in Boston in 2019 🙂
Love,
Who’s a Charity Runner? Why do I need to explain myself?!
Posted on July 21, 2018 2 Comments
Well I never really thought that I’ll need to write a post about this, but here we go….
I’ve shared the same photo in 3 different running groups, 1 US-based and 2 based in Hungary. It’s a picture about a countdown for my upcoming races.
As you can see I’m having a pretty busy 12 months ahead, but I do looking forward to all of them 🙂
In the US-based group ( World Marathon Majors Challenge ) as of yet I’ve received 55 likes/loves and 11 comments. All positive.
In one of the Hungarian group , won’t name it, I’ve received a really horrible comment.
In short it said, that these kind of posts does not belong into this group. I pay my self into these races, and I do not deserve to be there. According to this person only motivation people should be in this group and people who wants to run 10ks, and when they fully can run it then move forward to half marathons, and then maybe to full. But I do not belong there, because I buy my way in, and I do not put nothing down to the table to deserve to be there.
So let set the record straight, who’s a charity runner?
A charity runner is a participant in a road race, usually of half marathon or marathon distance, who raise money or awareness for an established organization. For more elite marathons, such as the World Marathon Majors, runners who are unable to obtain a qualifying time for their gender and age group can gain entry by running for an official charity affiliated with the race. Other races provide charity runners with free race entry, training, team shirts, and encouragement as incentive to raise money for local charities.
Now we know the exact definition 🙂
It’s a newly founded group, only about 3 months old. This group main aim is to help slower runners, everyone who’s pace is 7mins/km or higher. I do believe I belong to this group because I usually run around 7.30-7.45mins/km. Since the group opened I’ve shared 22 posts, and 19 of them was about me running and training, 2 of them was when I’ve got the charity place for Tokyo and than today’s post.
I’ve tried to explain to this person that I’m not buying my way in. I’m running and representing different charities. Every penny I’ve put in / my friends give me I’ll transfer it to the charities straight away. With that money they are able to help men who have/could have Prostate cancer, or these charities are helping for homeless dogs / cats.
But this person still didn’t get it. Still keep going on about my buying my way in. I even explain that in the London marathon thousands of runners are raised millions of pounds for charities. These runners are representing and supporting the organisations, and helping them get better with the money they’ve raised.
I think this person mindset is really small, and doesn’t understand the concept of charity runners. I do believe there are not many (if any) charity runners back in Hungary. I do not know if races are letting runners join and raise money for charitable organisations?
I have some weird experience with fundraisers back at home. Few years ago I went to Tesco and been stopped , and this guy wanted to sell me some postcards to raise money for a children’s hospital. I wasn’t sure if he was genuine or not. So did not donate any money.
Maybe this could be the reason why this person does not understand the concept of Charity runners. I do pay my own race registration fee and the also raise money for the charities. Without signing up with them first I wouldn’t be able to register for the race. For some races I had to reach my fundraising target BEFORE the race, but for other I had 6-8 weeks after the race.
Maybe because there are no fundraising events back in Hungary, this person does not think that this is a genuine way of running.
Maybe never heard of Race for Life, Comic Relief, The Worl’s Biggest Coffee Morning, Moonwalk, Movember, Christmas Jumper Day, just to mention a few big ones. Thousand if not millions of pounds get raised year after year.
I do NOT agree with this person’s comment and mindset.
I feel really proud that I am able to help these organisations, and I also can afford it. Not many 29-year-old can do this many races in this time frame.
I do work extremely hard and I am really sensible with my money. I do not spend it on silly stuff.
I feel really honoured that I can represent these organisations , wear their singlet, and raise awareness for their cause.
I do not believe being a Charity runner is anything less than being a normal time qualified runner. Have to say being a Charity runner maybe harder, I need to fundraise and train in the same time.
This person’s comment was really hurtful and unfair. Has no idea how hard I work to raise the monies and the work hard at work to be able to do and afford the travelling part.
If this person does not understand the charity concept, should have asked about it first.
From now on I won’t post anything onto this group , because I do feel I’m not welcomed being part of it 🙁
If anyone has any more questions about the charities, or how does this work please comment below or message me. I am really happy to answer any questions 🙂
Love,
Tokyo flights, trains, hotels, sightseeing
Posted on July 8, 2018 Leave a Comment
A few months ago I pre-booked some hotels on Booking.com just in case I get into the marathon. All of them was on a “book now pay later ” offer. So I thought even if I don’t manage to get into the race i wont lose out on money, I just cancel them later on.
But lets start with the Flights 🙂
Since I managed to get a charity place for the race on Monday, if you havent read it click HERE to read that first 🙂
All week-long I was constantly on Skyscanner to see what’s the cheapest option and when for. It turned out the direct non-stop flights ( like BA, Japan Airlines ) were over £1600 for 2 people. I really wanted to go with one of these flights, but we planning to spend 1.5 weeks in japan, so if we could save some money on the flights then that would be the best.
We are flying out on the 23rd of February and flying back on the 4th of March.
So all week-long I was going back and forth between the “stopper” flights, calculating, organising and planning our week. First I was thinking to fly with Aeroflot, because their price was £1300 for my days. But then I came across with another airline called Air China. Never even heard of them , but we never travelled that way so never had to.
The only problem I was having that the Air China flight doesn’t get into Tokyo till 8pm, so we losing out on a day. But in the other hand it was only £1000 for 2 people.
So going back and forth with my sightseeing plans, I’ve decided that we can shift our sightseeing days by a day, and take on this deal.
Today finally I’ve purchased the tickets, it came as a total of £1009 / 2 person, and free meals, seat reservation and other benefits.
We flying out from London Heathrow on the 23rd of February and arriving to Tokyo Haneda on the 24th.
London – Tokyo
Our first flight from London to Beijing will be a Boeing 777-300ER, I’ve checked a few photos out of it and it looks like a decent plane. Also managed to book our seats for totally free. Luckily my OH doesn’t mind where he sits, so I’m lucky to get all the window seats. We booked on to the Economy call, it’s perfectly good for us 🙂 The seating arrangements are 3-3-3. So in theory someone else will sit next to us. On this flight we will have 2 meals ( breakfast and a hot meal ) plus unlimited drinks.
London – Beijing with a Boeing 777-300ER
We going to have a few hours to hang around in Beijing, then we continue our journey to Tokyo. So our second plane will be an Airbus 321. This one is a much smaller plane, than our first one, and the seating plan is a 3-3 arrangement, Luckily I’ve booked my seat next to the window again, so can see the beautiful view. On this flight we are going to get another hot meal and also unlimited drinks.
Beijing – Tokyo with an Airbus A321
On our return journey back to London will be on the 4th of March.
Tokyo – London
On the First part of the journey, we are going to fly with the same Airbus A321 like we have done it earlier to Tokyo. Seats have been reserved and mine is by the window again, while OH has to take the middle seat again.
But our Beijing to Heathrow journey will be on a different flight this time. it will be an Airbus A330-200. This plane has to be the best looking one. We still on the economy class, but the seat arrangements are much better, it has a 2-4-2 split. So luckily no one will sit next to us. At least if I need to go to the loo I only need to ask my OH, not a complete stranger. Because this one is the longer journey , we going to get 2 meals on the plane plus the drinks. Had a look on google and this plane looks really nice inside as well. Really looking forward to flying on it.
Beijing – London with an Airbus A330-200
Now let’s go back to our hotels, have to say their will be a few.
We going to land in Tokyo at 8pm on the Sunday. Then we are going to spend 1 night in a hotel close to the train station.
This hotel is nothing special, just to spend a night there because there’s no late trains to Osaka.
So this hotel’s name is Smile Hotel Nihombashi Mitsukoshimae and it’s only cost us £38 for the night. Look at the main entrance, haha.
Smile Hotel Tokyo
On the Monday morning we will walk over to the near by train station then hop on the fastest train I can ever imagine, it’s the one and unique Shinkansen Nozomi ( bullet train).
It only takes 155 minutes to get to Osaka from Tokyo which is 515km apart. Nozomi services using N700 series equipment reach speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph).
Shinkansen Nozomi
Whilst we are in Osaka, finally I can visit my dream place. I’ve read the books multiple times, watched the movies loads of times. Visited the Harry Potter Studio in London, but this will be different. This is one of my dream place, so if we travel to Japan, to run the marathon we need to go here.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Universal Studio Osaka
We are going to stay in Osaka from Monday till Wednesday, so will have plenty of time to explore the whole studio. We are going to stay in a hotel called Hotel Keihan Universal Tower. This hotel is literally next to the entrance of Universal Studio, perfect location. This hotel will cost us £254 for 2 nights.
Hotel Keihan Universal Tower
Hotel Keihan Universal Tower
So on Wednesday we are getting on to the incredible fast Shinkansen Nozomi to get back to Tokyo. We are going to spend the rest of our time in Tokyo.
We are going to stay in the APA Hotel Kanda Jimbōchō Station East. This one is not as good-looking hotel as the Universal one, but it comes with a free breakfast and it’s by the marathon route, so my OH can just walk out of the hotel and see me running by.
APA Hotel Kanda Jimbōchō Station East.
As you can see our hotel is just before the 8km mark.
What we are planning to do in Tokyo?
Well the most important part is the race bib pick up on the thursday, but will write a separate article about it.
Then our main sightseeing point will be the Tokyo Disney Resort. We haven’t decided how many days we will spend here, but it will be definitely a full day at least and probably will travel back here after I’ve picked my race number up. It consist 2 main pars, Disneyland and DisneySea.
Diseneyland Tokyo
DiseneySea Tokyo
Disney Resort Tokyo – click on photo for better quality
There is 1 more sightseeing activity I would really love to do , this is the MariCar. Racing through Tokyo with a go-cart, dress up as Super Mario or even Browser. OMG. Not too sure this is the best idea to do before a marathon , but then we only live once haha.
MariCar Tokyo – Who should I be?
Here is a short video , all thanks to Bloomberg 🙂
That’s all for now. My next post will be another sightseeing tour , but this time it’s around Berlin 🙂
Same as always if you have any questions just comment below and I’ll answer as soon as I can.
Love,
I got into TOKYO which also means I’m getting my 6star medal in Boston 2019!!
Posted on July 2, 2018 6 Comments
OMG. I’ve done it, signed up for the Tokyo Marathon
It wasn’t easy, the whole system was really slow, kept freezing and wasn’t straight forward, but I done it. But let’s go back to the beginning.
Since last year unsuccessful lottery drawing, I managed to save up the charity + entry fee. I really wanted to go with the guaranteed place, didn’t want to risk it with the lottery.
I think it was about a week ago when Tokyo announced more details about the marathon. It has been confirmed that the day is the 3rd of March 2019. They have confirmed that the charity registration opens on the 2nd of July 2018 at 10am local time ( 2am UK time ). Also their website stated that they only accepting Credit cards – Visa , MasterCard or American Express. I was really surprised by this because not everyone owns a Credit card.
Number of charity runner positions are available : 5,000 , first-come-first-served basis
On Saturday I went into my local Loyd’s Branch to advise them about the international payment. I really didn’t want to get blocked out of my account, because I knew every minute can count.
Also I’ve found a really good race review by Emma , https://lattesandrunways.com/tokyo-marathon-race-review-2018/ She mentioned it that they had to enter their passport number during the registration! Then I’ve spent the next 1hour trying to find my passport…. But at the end I found it.
I’ve set my alarm for 1.30am on the 2nd of July. I’m not going to lie it was really hard to wake up.
The website I had to register was this one. Luckily it went online bang on at 2am.
I really thought I’m in luck with it. Well I was really wrong. Not too sure why but their registration process is way too complicated.
Multiple steps all the way through, and the website kept crashing, crashing and crashing.
So the first step was to pick whichever charity we’d wanted to run for and fill out some personal details. This was the easy part.
The charity I've chosen is : Pace Winds Japan - Development of protection and transfer activities to save dogs' lives, as well as training for disaster relief and therapy dogs.
As most of you know I love animals, specially dogs. I’m already raising money for a Chicago charity, and they help out and shelter homeless dogs and cats. So it was a really easy choice for me to pick this charity.
After filling out the form, I’ve received an email asking me to log in and pay the donation for the charity. Without paying the fee ( 100 000 yen) I won’t be able to buy my race entry fee ( 12 800 yen). So it means I had to pay the money in advance, and if I would have wanted raise money from friends and family, their money would have reimburse me. Whilst in London you have a fundraising page for months, and you get people to pay in there for you. Tokyo wants the money first, so it was totally confusing .
When it asked me about the donation fee the website only offered to choose from : Credit card – Visa, MasterCard, American Express. Absolutely no option for a Debit card. It made me really worried but I thought I’ll give it a go. Turns out it did work, and they do accept DEBIT cards as well.
To do this step I had multiple challenges. Website kept crashing, my bank card got blocked. Even though I advised Lloyd’s about the charge. So to do this step I think I was refreshing the page for about 40 minutes, whilst on the phone to Lloyd’s, to get my bank account unlocked….
Finally when I was able to pay the 100 000 yen , I’ve received another email confirming this, and advising me that if I want to run the race log back onto the site and sign up as a charity runner.
So back to the website again. By this time I could not even refresh, I’ve got a 502 Bad Gateway error straight away.
What the …… ??????
By this point I really wanted to cry. How hard can it be to spend money? Ooohh it’s not easy, Tokyo made me work for it lol.
When I finally managed to log back on, I had to fill out more forms. More personal details ( full name, address, emergency contact, birthday, nationality, t-shirt size ). After all of this and reading through hundreds of different terms and conditions, I got to the payment part again. I told Llod’s that I need to make another payment so do not block my account again. Well luckily this time they did listen. My race registration fee ( 12 800 yen ) went through without any issues.
YAAAAAAYYYYY I’m registered. What a relief. It was just passed 3.40am, so it wasn’t quick at all.
I have to say this was the most complicated and hardest registration I ever done. If you compare it with my 1 minute Boston ITP registration, this was terrible.
Today I’ve already requested my holidays from work ( Tokyo and Boston ), it’s on a first come first get basis. So I think I should be okay haha.
We going to Tokyo on the 23rd of February, land in Tokyo and then take a bullet train to Osaka. Could fly to Osaka straight away, but c’mon I’m a railway person, need to sit on the bullet train haha. I know roughly what will we do, but I save that for another post. Hotels are also booked via booking.com, now just need to buy our airfare. Will write another post about those as well.
So Tokyo will be my 5th Major, which only can mean 1 thing. I will be a 6 star finisher in Boston 2019. That’s the most iconic race in the world and I feel privileged to run there and get my special medal.
Last year after London I had no idea about Abbot and the WMM races, and fast forward 1 year I’m now planning to finish it. Wow.
What else can beat this? What can I do after I completed the series? Well to be honest I already have my Ironman booked in for July 2019, so I’m free after that. Suggestions are welcome 🙂
Love,
Improvements? Week 1 – Week 6
Posted on June 24, 2018 Leave a Comment
First of all I’d like to apologise that I didn’t write many training posts recently. I had a really busy few weeks, overtime at work, taking on an allotment and spending long hours there and then do my marathon training. I really didn’t have the time and energy to write posts. 🙁
I just finished my Week 6 marathon training. As you know with this plan I’m training for the Berlin marathon and then 3 weeks later I’ll be at the Chicago marathon as well.
In one of my first training post I already wrote about my Coach, if you haven’t read that, then you can click Here to read it.
When I started the training plan on the 15th of May I really didn’t know what to expect, and how I’ll get along with a totally different training approach. Previously I just followed simple plans off from Google.
But my current plan includes loads of different parts:
- 2 x Easy runs ( Monday & Thursday )
- 2x Cross training ( Tuesday & Sunday )
- 1x Track training ( Wednesday )
- 1x Long run ( Saturday )
- 1x Rest day ( Sunday )
At first it looked way too much, but eventually I’ve got used to it. I’m not gonna lie I still get loads of muscle ache, but it disappears much quicker.
I knew from the beginning that I’ll need to trust the plan, it wont be easy but if I want to reach my goal I really need to put in all the work I can. My goal is the get finally under 6hrs , my current PB is from New York 2017 and its 6hrs 32mins. So my plan is to shave off 33minutes.
| Current PB | Target PB | |
| Finish time | 6hrs 32mins | 5hrs 59mins |
| Pace | 9.18mins/km | 8.31mins/km |
It’s going to be hard, but I will give my absolute best.
I’m following a 18 week training plan for Berlin and then 3 weeks shorter but steady runs for Chicago.
When I had my first training run I felt totally knackered. I haven’t done much running since New york in November, do to different kind of injuries and also lost my mojo.
But speaking with Denise gave me loads of confidence, and even though the training plan looks extra hard and lot I have to believe in it.
So my Week 1 Run 1 was hard, it was only a short 5 miler, but for some reason I just didn’t feel it. Struggled all the way around, and my average pace turned out to be 9.03mins/km, which would have taken me to a 6hrs 21mins marathon finish time. But I knew that I didn’t feel fit enough and I do want to get better.
I really had to put on my big girl pants and do the training, even when I just wanted to come home from work and lay in bed, when it was raining and also when it was 9pm.
Slowly realised that I need to do my trainings as early as I can, otherwise there’s a chance I won’t do it, I’ll get lazy. So my schedule is to get home from work around 11am, have some light food and drink, watch an episode of NCIS or whatever is on tv and be out of the house at 12pm. At least if I do it like this I still going to have loads of hours left on the day to whatever I want to do after it. Also on Saturdays I’ve learnt to set me alarm to really early, 4.30-5.00am and be out of the door as soon as I can. I’m home from my long runs by 8ish at the moment, bath, breakfast and still have the full day to do stuff with hubby, go to the allotment or just chill out. I’m not going to lie, it’s really hard to wake up in the weekends, when I could just sleep.
As the week passed I slowly started to see improvements. At first I didn’t run out of breath, then my pace started to pick up, and then finally I’m getting to keep the pace for longer periods of times. I can keep my pace on shorter runs at around 7.30mins/km, and on my longer runs, which is 12miles at the moment, my pace is around the 7.36mins/km mark. Have to say it’s really promising. Because with that pace my half marathon pace is around 2hrs 40mins. I’d be totally happy with that in a race. My last half marathon was completed in just over 3hrs.
So in 6 weeks, my pace changed a lot, and I’m able to keep it up for a longer distance. Beforehand I went out too fast and by the end of the races my pace slowed down to the 9mins/km mark. In this 6 weeks I’ve learnt that I need to start with a slower pace but need to be steady with it, so usually starting with a 7.30-7.35mins/km, but according to my garmin I’ve completed a few of my 4-5mile training runs with an average pace of 7.18-7.20mins/km.
Also some of the kms are turning into a 6.xx mins/km, and I’m totally happy about that. I can’t even remember when was the last time I ran that fast.
Below you can see a comparison of my Week 1 Run 1 VS. Week 6 Run 4
( Click on the photos to see them in better quality )
As I said I still have a few 8mins/km but they nowhere near as slow as when I started.
I’m really positive that with the rest of the training I’ll be able to keep this pace up for an ever longer distance, if I don’t get anymore faster I really don’t mind, because this is already as massive improvement. I can’t even imagine getting faster and getting an even better marathon PB.
My aim is till to get under the 6hrs mark, but if its going to be 1 second below or more I’ll be happy for both results. If I’d be able to keep up this 7.36mins/km for the whole 42kms than that would mean I’d finish the race in 5hrs 20mins. But I won’t get carried away, I put my head down, keep my big girl pants on, do my training, eat healthier and see what I’ll be able to do in the flat Berlin course and then if I’d be able to repeat that in Chicago.
I still have a really long and hard 12 weeks ahead of me, so need to keep focused and train, train and train.
I’ll try to do as many post about my training as I can, but if I’m not able to do it, then I’ll de a comparison in every few weeks.
Also just a short update about my fundraising, I almost collected the whole $1000 for Chicago, I think I’ll be done with it by July. Then finally I can start to fundraise for Berlin. If you’d like to donate click here for Chicago and here for Berlin 🙂
Love,
I’m going to BOSTON 2019 !!!!!!
Posted on June 14, 2018 5 Comments
The last few days were totally incredible.
On Tuesday I’ve received an email from 2:09 Events that they will release their Boston packages on Wednesday around 12pm. I had a rough idea how much will it be, but was really worried that we didn’t save up enough money for it.
The email stated that they had 300+ people on their interest list, but they only have 30 spots. OMG. I need to be fast and lucky to get in.
Luckily from last year I still had their proper website link, so I was really hoping that they will use the same one this year, just with updated details.
I checked out all the pages and I realised it was the proper one. New hotel and flight details on it, just couldn’t press the ” Pay ” button.
On Wednesday I rushed home from work, I’m so glad I only work part-time and finishing at 10am.
Sat down in front of the computer at 11am and was patiently waited.
Pre filled the application from, and was really hoping that they’ll use that when the registration opens. I had it pre filled in my Mac , on the iPad and on my iPhone. I really didn’t want to risk it not pressing the button fast enough.
Also realised something else, when they sent out the emails, they using an app called Mailchimp. I’ve used the same when I had my own cupcake business. With MailChimp you can check out all previously sent newsletters and it pops up when they send out a new one as well. So when I’ve seen the email subject ” Boston Marathon Tour Now Open ” then I knew its all open. I’ve seen it there quicker than in my GMAIL account.
Quickly checked the link, and it was the same as the one I’ve filled out earlier. Checked the prices and it only went up by £75 so it wasn’t too bad. Then pressed the ” PAY” button.
According to GMAIL 2:09 events sent the registration open email at 11:58.11 and I’ve got their confirmation about my registration at 11:58.14. I felt great about it, and I really didn’t think I could have done it any faster.
About 20minutes later received an email from 2:09 Events that ” The response to the Boston details going live has been unpresidented and we sold out in the first 3 mins with over 80 booking applications received in the first 10mins.”
WOW. That was incredibly fast. previously their website stated that last year they sold out in 2 hours. So you can clearly see that loads of people want to get into the race.
Also this email stated that they will be in contact with everyone by end of business , and let them know if they were successful or not. The suspense was killing me.
I’ve got my confirmation email with the invoice at 17.09. I never been happier to get my bank card charged haha. Well Boston here I come.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get a charity spot for Tokyo, then I’ll collect my 6star medal in Boston.
Now lets talk about the prices and hotels and flight details.
Because it’s a package deal I had to take all of it, couldn’t do the same as I’ve done for NY ( flight + entry ), it was the full package ( flight, hotel, entry ).
| PRICES PER PERSON | TWIN ROOM | SINGLE ROOM |
| 4-NT PACKAGE | £1999 | £2799 |
| EXTRA NIGHTS | £180 | £360 |
Additional items:
- RACE ENTRY FEE £500
So as you can see it’s not a cheap option. But I don’t think I’ll be able to BQ and run a 3:35 marathon. I’m currently training just to break the 6hrs mark.
The total tour cost us £4498 ( 1 runner + 1 supporter ).
But as I said to others, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t gamble. I do run haha. Also if I set my mind to something I can save up for everything. Since last year Hubby and I saved up for this. So it’s not as hard as some people think. We havent’ taken up any loans or credit cards. So it’s paid from purely our money. If you think about doing it next year I’d suggest to start saving up for it, you’ll have a whole 12 months to do it. Good luck 🙂
Hotel – Boston Omni Parker House Hotel
OMG, I would have never stayed in this hotel. It’s way out of our price range. But it comes with the tour so will enjoy every minute of it.
It’s a 4 star hotel, and according to booking.com the price for it at Boston weekend is £1800 for 2 people.
Flights – Virgin Atlantic and Delta code share
According to Skyscanner the prices for marathon weekend is already at least £1450 for 2 people.
Depart from London Heathrow on Virgin flight VS11 departing from London Heathrow at 15.25 and arriving in Boston at 17.55local time.
Boston Logan Airport for the return flight on Delta flight DL58 departing at 19.26. Arrive at London Heathrow at 07.05.
I’ll try to book out seats as soon as we get the details from 2:09 Events, but I’m not in a mad rush now.
If anyone has any more question about the tour package, please comment below and I’m happy to help.
Love,
ECG screening by C-R-Y
Posted on June 13, 2018 Leave a Comment
A few months ago I came across a website, which offers free ECG screening for young people.
C-R-Y offers subsidised ECG and Echocardiogram screening to all young people between the ages of 14 & 35.
I had loads and loads of ECG done when I was playing handball back in Hungary, we had to have “sport tests” done every year, otherwise I would have lost my player’s licence.
I think my last screening was around 2010. Since I moved to England I didn’t really needed it, and also it’s expensive to get it done privately.
I’ve signed up my self and my husband for the 9th of June, the appointment was in Tooting, London in the St George Hospital.
Our appointment was at 11.50am but we turned up well in time, around 11am.
After about waiting 10 minutes my husband was called in, and then myself. My nurse was Teresa and she was really lovely. First she took my weight and height. Then had to undress at the top and lay on a bed. She was constantly talking so I didn’t feel as uncomfortable.
The whole process took about 10 minutes, then I dressed up and was told to wait outside and the doctor will call me in and explain me my results.
I’ve probably waited 5 minutes and been called in by the doctor. He was a youngish guy but was professional. he first asked me if I have any concern and why I wanted to have an ECG done. I’ve explained to him that I’m running 2 marathons within 3 weeks ( Berlin and then chicago ) so I just wanted to make sure I’m totally healthy and there’s no issues with my heart.
Luckily he said everything is perfectly fine, and all my graphs look totally normal 🙂 He wished me good luck for my races and the said goodbye.
I highly recommend having this free screening done if you are in the age bracket. It’s better to prevent health issues.
If you have any question, just comment below and I’ll answer.
Love,
Week 4 – Berlin to Chicago training
Posted on June 13, 2018 Leave a Comment
This week was a total write off. Still didn’t feel good at all, and had to take all my pills :/
I really thought I’ll be better by now but not. Hopefully I can continue my training in week 5.
Love,
Tokyo Marathon ’19 – Charity – Quick update
Posted on June 6, 2018 Leave a Comment
Earlier today I came across a new press release from the organisers of the Tokyo Marathon.
It’s states that the Charity registration will begin on the 2nd of July 2018.
Last year it was sold out within 4 days. So hopefully this year will be the same, so I’ll have plenty of time to sign up. I will try my best to sign up on day 1, but will see. Spoke with a few people already about last year’s one, and been told they got notified if they were successful ( or not ) within 4 days after the application.
There will be 3,700 charity runners (down from 3,900 the year before) and 300 (an increase from 100 the prior year) active charity runners.
To get one of the 3,700 charity runner bibs, I must register before entries sell out after registrations open and submit a debit/credit card number, which will be likely charged a large amount. The exact amount hasn’t been disclosed yet. But last year it was 100,000 yen ( £677 ) plus the race fee of 12,800 yen (£86).
After last year’s unsuccessful lottery entry, I’ve decided to go with the guaranteed charity spot for 2019. Saved up all the money for it, so I’m totally ready to hit the “Submit” button when registration opens.
I hope they won’t chance the fundraising target much, and the registration will be an easy process. Keep an eye on my website because I’ll write another post as soon as I’ve managed to register with the charity, and tell you more about the ” How to ? ” part.
I also pre booked some hotels via booking.com early, so I managed to get a good price for them. but won’t share any details because I don’t want to jinx it.
Love,