Review: Speedo WomenOnly Swim, Dorney Lake, Eton - 10 June 2012

Yesterday, I 'raced' in my first ever open water swim! @rowenanews and I are both training for triathlons, and a few months ago she suggested we do the WomenOnly Open Water Swim at Dorney Lake. I'd just done the Maxifuel Half there, and a women's only event sounded just right for a first-timer so I happily agreed! There were three distances available and I signed up for the 1500m event.

Up until a few weeks ago I was focused on the Edinburgh Marathon, so I didn't have any huge expectations for this event. I'm comfortable with swimming and I knew I could finish, but not really race. My goal was to stay comfortable, get some experience with open water swimming, and see what it was like to swim in a wetsuit.

We left Brighton at 6:45am and got to Dorney Lake by 8am. The weather was cool, but at least it wasn't raining. It was quite a long walk from the parking area to the Boathouse, but when we finally arrived it just took me a few minutes to register, get my swim cap, stickers, and timing chip. Unlike most running races that I've been to there was no queue for the loos so I quickly popped in and tried to figure out what to do next. It was all feeling very unfamiliar! I decided that I'd better try to get my wetsuit on in case I got stuck.

Luckily for me, BodyGlide made a real difference, and it didn't take me very long to get suited up. From there I went to the Boathouse balcony...and happily found @rowenanews and @becsowengardner! It was so great to finally meet both of them, and then the very nice @windsorAndy arrived to cheer us on.

View of the lake from the Boathouse balcony. The race start was by the left landing,
left of the yellow buoy. The bike racks were set up for the triathlon later in the day.

Twitter wisdom for first-time marathoners

Before I ran my first marathon in Edinburgh, I asked Twitter one question:

What is the one thing you wish you knew before you ran your first marathon?

I was lucky to get lots of interesting responses and advice, including an entire race day guide from the amazing @braziliangunner! (If you are interested, check out his comments on this page.) So as promised, here are the things the wise Twitter Running Family recommended the most:

Top 5 Tips for First Time Marathoners

5. Don't stress or panic, either during the taper or the race. Try to stay calm--the stress won't help you. @nylonruns said ' I wish I'd known how much I would enjoy it, I wouldn't have stressed so much!' 

4. Hydrate properly. Hydrate enough but not too much, and make sure you take some salts to prevent cramps.

3. Understand how you should fuel for the race. Nutrition is an important part of running a marathon, and lots of people said you should test this beforehand and know what works best for you. @brazilliangunner put it best: 'If you get carbload + race day nutrition right you won't hit the wall, as simple as that.'

2. Don't go too fast at the start. It's so much harder to stick with your pace and go slow at the start of a marathon. But as @mikew30 said 'Go off slower than you want to and if the first few miles feel the right pace, it's not slow enough. If it feels slow, it still probably isn't slow enough.'

1. Enjoy the experience. This is what most marathoners said BY FAR. As @ruggedradnage said, 'You'll never have another first! :)'

These were the tips I heard most often but I also got other great advice:

@rhianonruns: During your taper spend all the time you would usually be running on stretching

@runreadrant: Trust your training!

@mikew30: Wear a vest with your name on the front so people shout your name

@_martyn_fisher: Remember during the hard bits that loads of people are rooting for you

@runlikeacoyote: After...keep walking and moving. It really helps keep you from stiffening up

So now that I've run my first marathon, what's my tip?

Run with someone during the race if you can. I usually train alone these days so I never thought much about this at all. But I was very lucky that an experienced runner found me during the race and I think it made a difference! Running with that nice lady forced me to focus on my pace (and make sure I wasn't getting carried away). Best of all, it meant that I didn't feel quite so alone during the tougher moments. So if you can find a friend to run with you that's great. But if not, try to tag along!

All the advice really helped me to feel both physically and psychologically ready for the Edinburgh Marathon. So a big THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to share their wisdom!

And if you are running your first marathon (or thinking about it), I hope these tips will be as helpful to you as they were for me!

Review: Edinburgh Marathon - 27 May 2012

This is a few weeks late after traveling for work last week....but I just HAD TO review my first marathon!

After a rocky return back to the working world and long hours the last few months, Edinburgh Marathon really snuck up on me. While I was able to get my 20 mile runs in, my overall mileage each week wasn't very consistent and nothing compared to what I was running before March. But it was my first marathon and all I wanted to do was finish. I wasn't as nervous as I could have been because I had no pressure to beat a time. A nice feeling after struggling to break 2 hours in the half.

Hubs and I flew to Edinburgh the day before the race and were greeted by beautiful sunshine when we arrived. We had a great pre-marathon day. We wandered around the city and then gave my legs a rest by watching 'The Avengers Assemble' in 3D. That evening we had an early dinner (spaghetti and meatballs for me!) before chilling in our room and an early night.

The Edinburgh Marathon started at a very civilized 10am (the half marathon started at 8am) so I was up and eating breakfast at 7am. It gave me enough time to relax a bit in the hotel room before getting geared up for the race. Our hotel was just off the Royal Mile which meant a very short walk to the start line at Regent Road.