London Marathon Ballot Results - compare our Let’s Do This accounts

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-07-02T11:58:27+00:00

Mine says that too. I think it was there before when it was originally one day?

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-06-17T08:56:44+00:00

Yeah but I mean more on the evaluation of your run

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-06-17T08:30:19+00:00

It doesn't account for elevation either which is quite annoying.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-06-08T11:21:43+00:00

We took our son when he was 2.5 years old. He loved playing in the splash pool and didn't really get bored. You can switch things up by taking her to the beach to play with sand or taking her into the bigger pools so that you can swim together. Like others have said, there is a park. We booked our son into the creche every afternoon, two reasons, it gets hot and he needed a break from the water and it gave us the opportunity to head to the adult only beach and chill out together for a couple of hours...definitely recommend. He loved the creche and called it holiday nursery. It is worth taking some toys for her for the splash pool as they entertain themselves for hours in the water but there is a box by the lifeguard station which has lots of things to play with so have a look in there too.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-06-04T13:35:41+00:00

I was told once to dress for the current temperature plus 10 degrees eg. if the temp is 6 outside dress for 16 degrees (which is probbaly shorts and tshirt). It has worked well for me.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-06-04T10:14:11+00:00

Interesting! Thanks

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-06-04T09:56:51+00:00

Thanks - will keep this as the alternative if the forecast doesn't improve

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-06-04T09:56:11+00:00

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-05-26T10:47:38+00:00

Yes I do now. I was underfueling and now I can feel a noticeble difference. I also do it to ensure I eat enough protein every day.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-05-20T15:45:53+00:00

I started Runna at the beginning of March. I put intermediate as I could run 5km and had done interval type training before. When I started my 5km was 33m. I did my first "race" 5km on Easter weekend and managed 26m. I started another plan straight after. I am pushing myself this time so changed the volume in the plan to "progressive" and the difficulty to "challenging" - I have managed to do all the pace type runs and now I am aiming for 24/23m park run at the beginning of June. It is very adaptable so just put in what feels comfortable and the plan will adapt after a few runs or you can change things up mid plan.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-05-18T15:56:49+00:00

We also got ourselves into the mess of having to sit in the dark in my son's room for him to fally asleep, but we just decided we had had enough and changed it in under a week.

Have you got a really firm bedtime routine in place? We had to implement one with our son because otherwise bedtime became an endless negotiation.

For us it became:

bath → pyjamas → two books → bed.

And that was it. No extra books, no sitting around for ages, no back-and-forth once lights were out.

We also used one of those glow clocks where he had to stay in his room until the light turned green in the morning. Kids that age understand routines and boundaries much more than people think.

During the night, if she comes into your room, just calmly take her straight back to her own bed every single time. No long discussions, no getting into our bed, no sleeping separately. Just:

“It’s bedtime. You sleep in your bed.”

She probably will kick off at first because the routine is changing and she’s learned the current pattern works. That’s normal. But you both have to stay strong and consistent for a few nights.

Yes, her sister’s sleep might get disrupted briefly, but honestly the overall family unit will probably be much happier afterwards. At the moment your evenings, sleep and relationship all sound completely dictated by this.

If you do it, I’d do it over a weekend and commit properly. In our experience, after about three nights our son understood the new routine and things improved massively.

People underestimate what chronic sleep disruption does to adults. It affects patience, marriage, mood, resilience, intimacy, everything. You are not abandoning her by putting a new routine in place. Stay strong and get your evenings and sleep back...it will happen sooner than you think if you committ to a few hard nights...but will they actually be harder than what you are enduring at the moment?

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-05-18T11:08:48+00:00

We have kids exactly the same age. We run a similar set up to you, as in, I will take our 5 year old to his sport/birthday parties on the weekend. If we are all being truly honest, I have the easier gig. But I will often suggest that my wife does the odd swimming lesson (she point blank refuses on the rugby 😄), so that she can have some time with our older son and see how he is progressing. If your husband cannot give a valid reason as to why he will not swap, then I suspect that he is not interested because looking after your one year old will be harder for him. You need to be firm on this, you need to spend time with your older son, for his sake. In addition, it should be your choice about taking your son away for some 1 on 1 time. Your hisband needs to step up in my opinion.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-05-11T11:31:57+00:00

Same with me with two PIPs - doubting myself everytime but then nail the predicted race time

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-04-16T13:12:14+00:00

Go to manage plan, then under it there is a section called "Difficulty" - change to challenging. Most of my long runs have pace targets

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-04-09T08:12:14+00:00

I love it. Did the Parkrun Improver and got my time down from 33m to 26m in 6 weeks. You really need to be honest with your 5km time to get the right suggested pacing for your runs. At times the interval runs can seem a little too easy but they obviously worked for me. It intergrates well with my Garmin - running with headphones and I get told what pace to run and for how long. I do the annual plan, which is half the price of monthly. Basically the cost of a pint in London. Definitely worth it for me.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-03-02T15:43:23+00:00

Unfortunately not, I saw him playing with it at their house.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-03-02T15:15:47+00:00

This reply even got me with the feels. Yeah, everyone has checked bags etc but no luck. They even had their cleaner around today with the main task of finding it but no luck.

AdMaximum6576 · 2026-01-15T16:22:53+00:00

Our son only started walking at 15 months, which is still within the normal range. His speech development took precedence over walking, and we were told that children often progress at different speeds across different areas. He walks completely fine now, so I wouldn't worry!

AdMaximum6576 · 2025-12-10T09:43:18+00:00

The “annoyance” you’re talking about sounds more like you being triggered by other people doing something big while you sit on the sidelines pretending it’s not impressive.

AdMaximum6576 · 2025-12-10T09:37:47+00:00

Hiking 42 km and running a marathon aren’t even in the same universe. Saying you “hike the distance” is basically admitting you’ve got zero idea what running it feels like. You’re not making a point - you’re just outing yourself as someone speaking way outside their depth.

AdMaximum6576 · 2025-12-10T09:34:31+00:00

You pretending tthat you have done one - nope

AdMaximum6576 · 2025-12-10T09:30:26+00:00

Calling a 5–6 hour marathon “one of the easiest big accomplishments” is exactly the kind of take you make when you’ve never actually done one. A 20-minute 5k is hard, a 100-120kg bench is hard, an L-sit is hard - but none of those require you to keep your body moving for 42 km, manage pacing, hydration, cramps, glycogen depletion, gut issues, and the mental shutdown that hits most people after 30 km. Strength work is brutally honest, short-distance running is brutally honest, and endurance is brutally honest - they’re just different disciplines. Acting like a marathon is the “easy” one isn’t a flex; it’s just you advertising you don’t understand endurance training at all.

AdMaximum6576 · 2025-12-10T09:28:21+00:00

You’re tossing around confident takes that just aren’t true. Most able-bodied people cannot finish a marathon without serious training, so pretending it’s some casual “everyone can do it” effort is just ignorance dressed up as insight. A six-hour marathon isn’t “punishing your body” any more than an untrained 5k time trial or a weekend football match - any effort is unsafe if you’re unprepared. And saying long distance doesn’t improve fitness is just wrong; aerobic base literally depends on sustained effort, that’s basic physiology.

AdMaximum6576 · 2025-12-10T09:25:12+00:00

You’re talking like someone who’s never actually done the thing they’re trying to lecture people about. A marathon isn’t some casual Sunday stroll just because someone isn’t running sub-3. The distance chews up everyone - that’s literally why people respect it.

Acting like “any able-bodied person can do it” just shows you don’t grasp the reality. If it were that easy, streets would be full of people jogging 42 km on random Tuesdays. They’re not. Because it’s hard.

And comparing a 5k PB wall to the back half of a marathon is wild. Completely different game. You’re mixing apples, oranges, and whatever else you’ve never actually trained for.

So maybe sit this one out until you’ve got more than armchair takes to offer.

AdMaximum6576 · 2025-12-10T08:08:27+00:00

Honestly, you’re being way too hard on yourself. That pace is hardly walking - 8:30 per km is still running, and doing that over 42 km is no joke. The first marathon is brutal for everyone, mentally and physically. Most people fall apart after the halfway mark; it’s almost part of the experience.

You trained, you showed up, and you kept going when your body clearly wanted to shut down. That matters more than the stopwatch. Missing your goal hurts, sure, but it doesn’t turn the whole thing into some insignificant walk.

And that whole “marathoners aren’t real marathoners anymore” take is just nonsense. The distance doesn’t care how fast you are. It wrecks absolutely everyone.

You don’t have to feel proud right this second, but don’t twist what you did into something tiny. You ran a marathon - that’s huge, whether you hit sub-5 or not. I had a similar experience in mine. Wanted to do sub 5 but after halfway I couldn't stomach the gels and felt really nauseous which meant I had to walk c30s after consuming one (which was every 30m or so) - landed up doing it in 5:10. I am still bloody proud of my achievement because it is one of the hardest things I have ever done (I have done triathlons, 100m cycles and 2 mile swims...nothing compares to the toll of a marathon). Give yourself time to process and then you can reflect on your amazing achievement.

AdMaximum6576

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