u/_just_drew_it_

I’ve been offered a very reasonable upgrade from Doha-Hanoi (<£500) on the app.
Does anybody know what the likelihood is of the offer being improved at the service desk in Doha if availability in the business class cabin is good?
I’d like to go business but not totally desperate, however, I wouldn’t let a tasty bargain go to waste

Going to Murrayfield on Friday. Doors open at 5pm and “entertainment” starts at 6:15pm. Working on Friday but really don’t want to miss Teskey Brothers - anybody have any idea when they will start roughly?

Well I did it and I’m proud that I did! I initially set out with 3 goals:

1. Raise money for a great cause
2. Finish it
3. Do sub 4

Having done a 1hr41 and a 1hr46 half-marathon in the past, my aim was for sub 4 and that gradually became more important to me as I put the time and effort in

. I initially started using ChatGPT to build my plan but I switched to Runna about 13 weeks out. ChatGPT had me focussed on heart rate at the beginning, which is fine, but I eventually realised that it had me looking at generic HR zones and not MY HR zones so I feel like I had a less productive 6 weeks of training by aiming for an unrealistic BPM.

In the last 14 weeks of the plan, I lost 1 week to illness, 2 weeks to work trips and then, after my 34km run (which went to plan) I had a niggling groin injury which led to 11 days of no running at all and then only short distances after that. I effectively had a 4.5 week taper but I was still optimistic.

Sunday came around and I felt good. It was HOT for Scotland in May but I didn’t let that get into my head too much. First half of the race went great, I held back slightly at the beginning (despite being mostly downhill) and I passed the halfway mark at 2:00:45 - on target!

I passed the sign for mile 18 and fatigue was starting to kick in but I powered on until I could see the sign for mile…17? I had misread the previous sign and it absolutely killed me mentally. Shortly afterwards I had to walk for a couple of hundred metres as the struggle kicked in and the heat became unbearable. Ran the majority of the rest but there were times where I had to slow down to a walk which is something I didn’t want to do at the start and I was surprised that it came to that.

Crossed the line in 4:25:10 and my emotions have been constantly evolving since.

Initially - pride at finishing and anger at myself for walking at times

Then - pride at finishing and disappointment for missing my target

Now - pride at finishing and proud of myself, and everybody else, for pushing through in those conditions.

A few learnings:

1. The people who go out of their houses and invest their time, money and energy to support are lifesavers. There were people who must have cut up hundreds of oranges for runners, people who hosed down struggling runners, people who gave sweets, people who cheered and people who simply smiled. They were all amazing
2. Half marathon pace ≠ marathon pace. The marathon is a different beast
3. Speak to people who have been there and done it. I wish I had found this page sooner
4. Some things you just can’t plan for. Even if I had had an uninterrupted training plan, I’d have still struggled because the weather couldn’t be trained for.
5. Race the race, not the clock. Everybody struggled out there, people were collapsing - even experienced runners with running club vests - I should have taken a note of that and pulled back around mile 14/15 and I might have been steadier.

Anyway, what an experience. I intend on doing it again and can’t wait to get back out once these blisters piss off.

Well done to everybody who turned up on Sunday. We all did what we could, regardless of the end result.