Holy Cow...I appear to have a London Marathon place.

[Muzzer79]

Trabi601 said:

I forgot that I also cover my feet and toes in vaseline to avoid blistering.

I've done about 10,000 miles of running over the last 10-15 years including one marathon last year (Yay me)

Blisters, I've always found, are due to either poorly-fitting shoes or poor running form. Correct one or both and you should be fine.

Trim your toenails. All those minging pictures of people whose toenails have fallen off mid-run? They're because their toenails were too long. Trim em' right back.
I've never lost one, or even come close.

Nipples. I find it depends on your shirt. Some rub and irritate, some don't. Find what works for you well before race day.

Nutrition. Something I'm still getting my head around. Running for over 3-4 hours means you will need fuel. Again, try some varieties, make sure it's portable and make sure it works for you.

Get those long runs in. You need to get your body and, crucially, your head around running for a very long period of time. Doing it once will not suffice.
Build mileage gradually, but you need to be up over 20 miles before you start your taper.

Don't wear or do anything new for race day. Clothes, trainers, routine, food, everything should all be tried and tested.

Consider seeing a physio and asking them to look at your posture and gait for what you're about to undertake. I wish I'd taken some basic advice on good running form before putting some big miles in.

Enjoy it - it's a massive sense of achievement.

[RichB]

joshcowin said:

I probably did too many long runs i ran 22 miles a few times before the big day...

I used the Bramley 10/20 as a pre-event run which is near Reading/Basingstoke. I coached my wife to run the London Marathon from scratch in 18 months and I believe that a good 20 miles is what you need to have confidently covered a few weeks before the event. That way the euphoria of the day in London carries you through the remaining 6.

[joshcowin]

RichB said:

joshcowin said:

I probably did too many long runs i ran 22 miles a few times before the big day...

I used the Bramley 10/20 as a pre-event run which is near Reading/Basingstoke. I coached my wife to run the London Marathon from scratch in 18 months and I believe that a good 20 miles is what you need to have confidently covered a few weeks before the event. That way the euphoria of the day in London carries you through the remaining 6.

Great! If I did it again I would probably do just 1 or 2 20-22 mile runs before.

Also keep it up, I stopped running for a while and I ran 5k on Saturday morning in 26 minutes, slow and I felt knackered after, that route used to be my cool down!!

[RichB]

joshcowin said:

Also keep it up, I stopped running for a while and I ran 5k on Saturday morning in 26 minutes, slow and I felt knackered after, that route used to be my cool down!!

Indeed, it's quite staggering how quickly one loses the fitness gained!

[Yipper]

RichB said:

AndStilliRise said:

Yipper said:

A (skinny) neighbour did it a few years ago. Felt ecstatic for a couple weeks and then hit some kind of "wall" when the buzz wore off and felt bushed for about a month afterwards. Quite a lot of people die or get badly injured on the LM, so be prepared and don't overdo it. The balance of evidence now suggests marathoning shortens life expectancy, so may be best not to make a habit of it.

What a load of nonsense.

Indeed pure nonsense. I'll tell you what, take a fit runner or a fat couch potato and tell me who's more likely to die early!

The research increasingly (on balance) points to marathoners dying as early as couch potatoes. Too much exercise is as bad as too little.

[RichB]

Yipper said:

The research increasingly (on balance) points to marathoners dying as early as couch potatoes. Too much exercise is as bad as too little.

I have never heard this before so I would be interested to see that research. Most of what I can find after a quick Google suggests what we would expect; that a fit person is healthier than a fat one. e.g. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/120606...

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/118237/20151221/...

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/being-unf...

etc.

[Deanno1dad]

RichB said:

So almost the exact opposite of my experience, short split side running shorts and nipples will harden, eventually if you're doing the distances regularly. I guess we're all different.

I've found a great Asics short with an inner undergarment style lining but not as tight as Lycra..very comfy and look normal