The Seville Marathon 2025 took place on Sunday 23rd February and Run Testers Nick and Gill were in Spain for the event. Nick was chasing a PB in the Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris while Gill was tackling her first marathon in a while in the Asics Novablast 5. Also on test were the Garmin Fenix 8 and Garmin Forerunner 965, and Nick also talks about the Running Buddy strength training app he’s been using in the build-up to the race.
Running Buddy app –
00:00 – Intro
00:58 – Pre-race
05:33 – Post-race
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Hello and welcome to runers my name is Nick and I'm here in Seville for the Seville Marathon which is tomorrow it's The first time I've run this event but It looks fantastic flattest marathon in Europe according to all the marketing Spiel around it but in general it's well Known to being a fast flat marathon and One of the earliest ones of the year That you can go for you a good fast time Here in Europe Jill's also out here She's going to be running the marathon As well we're both out here in some way With aex aex sorted my place in the race And Jill is out with an aex trip so both Can using AIC shoes but the meted sky Paris is the shoe I use anyway when I'm Going for a PB and I am going for a PB Tomorrow got a bit of a moonshot Target I think it's fair to say like the goal I'd love to really pull off one day or Hopefully tomorrow is a 224 Marathon the Sub 225 I'd love a 225 or a 226 as well Tomorrow which should both be PBS Current PB is 227 I kind of rolled into this Marathon Straight off the back of Valencia Training that did not result in the Valencia Marathon because I twisted my Ankle in the taper for that event so I Was then able to secure a spot here Through AIC to carry over all that Fitness that I had for Valencia couple More months training and here we are now
Ready to have a good crack at it terms Of the kit I'm going to use it is pretty Much my very standard running kit from Head to toe so all the usual stuff I've Worn before many times and the only Difference might be instead of contacts I might wear these zes prescription Sunglasses depending on what the weather Looks like normal headband got my club Vest which is a sore vest I've got my Decathalon shorts which have a lot of Storage uh I think I've got Sports socks My unicorn socks from my daughter and The metas speed Sky Paris on my feet Usual nutrition strategy which is Morton Kind of all the way big bottle of Morton 320 Before the Race and every 5K I have Something either a Morton gel or half a 250 M soft flask of Morton drink which Again is the 320 drink mixed up in a 500 ML bottle and put into two different Soft flasks so I carry a lot with me on The wrist I've got a couple of Garmin Got the Garmin Phoenix 8 47 mm and the Garmin 4965 both excellent watches we've Talked about a lot on the channel again It's really impressive in terms of GPS Accuracy you can see how the heart rate Is out there tomorrow cuz I won't be Wearing a chest strap so I'll be kind of Looking at them a little bit after the Race to see if there's any unexpected Anomalies but not expecting too much to Go or with all of the kit I'm using like
I said it's Tri tested kit it's my main Marathon goal have been a few things I've changed in training I thought might Be interesting to talk about a little Bit here one is just on the running side Of things I've increased Double started Doing double thresholds ahead of Valencia for the first time like my kids Got to a stage where they were sleeping Well enough I felt comfortable bulking Up my training a little bit so have a Few double thresholds in the build up to Valencia and then Seville mileage has Been pretty high again probably a little Bit higher even than it was ahead of London just trying to increase that Steadily overtime over years really I've Been increasing the mileage to get to The point where I am now to do it kind Of safely and in a way that body can Handle well and then I've done more Strength and conditioning I've been Using the running body app which is Created by a physiotherapist based in Ireland called Patrick Carrol who's a Very keen and good runner himself and so It's really targeted strength training For runners with lots of interesting Types of workouts within the app Including micro workouts which is what I've been using I've always struggled to Do strength and conditioning regularly In terms of doing you know a couple of Longer workouts a week these micro
Workouts basically involve doing a Petric move before your run so like Single leg hops or squat jumps and then A couple of heavier strength training Moves after your run so car raises uh Goblet squats single leg goblet squats You know Romanian uh Bulgarian split Squats that kind of thing so I've been Able to fit those in Fairly regularly Into my training I do think I'm stronger Than ever I weigh a little bit more than I usually wear which I'm putting down Hopefully to extra muscle in the legs Rather than me just putting on a bit of Weight and yeah I've really found it Really good app to use it's obviously Very science Le it really gives you Confidence you're doing the right kind Of things I'm hoping that might bit Dividends because I've never really been Great on strength training before with All my running so this is something Extra certainly added to my routine and Then other things I've added to my Routine there's only one other thing I You want to mention and that is lemon Curd I have never really had lemon curd In my life discovered it over the course Of this Marathon block it's amazing Having that all the time now that feels Like really good fuel that might explain The weight game actually the lemon curd But hopefully not it's not the lemon Curd hopefully it's the strength
Training and we'll see the results Tomorrow talk more about the kit after The race it's all the usual stuff like I Say and we'll also talk a bit more about The Experience here in Seville Expo is Very easy it's a bit out of town but you Can get there on the bus pretty quickly The whole City's nice and small and Walkable very pleasant the weather's Very good Expo and I went yesterday was Not too crowded there only 14,000 Runners which you know there's a lot of Runners but it's not like Valencia or London so it's got more of a lowkey vibe That I'm enjoying quite a lot and it Just makes it a little bit more easy to Focus on the race and not get swept up Into a crazy atmosphere but hopefully The atmosphere will be good tomorrow and Yeah it'll be a nice fast Marathon Hopefully or PB maybe I'll hit that Moonshot goal we'll see anyway talk to You off the race it's half 7 I'm on my Way to start for the aex severe Marathon um on test today no blast five Over a full Marathon distance it's the First time I've run a marathon in Non-carbon plate shes in a long time Even if I wasn't racing it Um I did some stup training on Friday Which I shouldn't have done and Generally I'm not in a place to race Right now we're going to see how it goes I'm really interested to see how that
Non-carbon plate Um Feels by the end of a marathon I Think um obviously that's not kind of Their use case normally but aexs have Got this big thing about Comfort at the Moment and running in comfort so we Shall see if I miss that bounce at the End when my form is failing That's I've just I've just run a 225 Marathon and I I can't believe it I I Can't believe it I've just Uh oh uh yeah I think I've just about 2 Minute PB H it's just the best feeling Posted bril 113 at the half at 123 112 32 half Just yeah that was that was the best That was the best with the group to 15K Running quite well 15 20 we slowed down A little bit and I was like got to go Got to go so I think I around like a 1740 5K I've got to push on and then the Next 5K was 1650 and next one was sub 17 As well it's like well either you've put Yourself on for this or you've just run Yourself out of this race had a 26k had A huge dose of just impostor syndrome Which I don't get I don't never really Get and I was just like yeah what right Do you have to run a sub 175k in the Middle marathon and um and uh yeah just Again I thought if I can just make get To 35 with this little group had going And I did and I was just ticking them Off ticking them off incredibly I have
To talk about later I'll find you talk About it later but soille baby orange Trees and just an amazing Marathon hello Hello I'm Jill she is Jill me to be Running a nice nice children Marathon Today in the no blast Jill Bland doesn't Run slow marathons though Jill what did You run I ran 3719 and had Jill Bland on Her vest full name really got to respect The hell out of that I would have had Mrs D yeah yeah yeah all like ba BC ma yeah Always formality how did you find Seville um great course I think um Generally quite wide there was a little Bit of cobbles at one point and a couple Of tight turns towards the end as you go Into the city but but a really good Course I think um I think it would have Been quite hot uh if you were doing a Bit longer out on the course because I Mean it's very warm today but was um a Pleasant amount of shade because of kind Of the the areas that you went through There was normally some kind of shade Coming up so it's good good course yeah Very flat very flat they didn't really Notice any Hills part from occasion Going under under passes bit of winding But yeah like I say there shade like if You're in the sun it was maximum like Kind of one Street in the Sun and then You' be off it again uh so yeah as the Sun gets higher in the sky I think kind
Of four or five hours it's now 20° OD it Would be a bit tough but um fine if you You know if you I mean it probably is Unnaturally hot though who knows yeah And they did to be fair they did have a Lot of water stations and always both Sides of the road so they're very well Equipped for that very keen to do water As you discovered yeah they're so key They're like the 40K station I was Coming through I think I finished just About top 100 so not all people have Been through and near none of them M Taken water because they were absolutely Desperate to give out water at that Point but it was fine they did get out The way eventually T of Fran esque Actually so J noas we highly recommend This shoe for marathons as a comfortable Option that will Su people to well Pretty fast times as one London Marathon Championship times so enjoyed it did Yeah I did I think it's um got at least Like eight years since I've run a Marathon without a carbon plate shoe Like since the 4% came in I basically Haven't run a marathon without car so I Was interested to see what would happen And how much at the end when I you know Your form is failing and you need a bit Of help whether that would be the point Where I think I'm really struggling to Pick up my feet now I haven't got that Comp plate just kind of rolling me
Forward all the time but actually you Know I think I was having a good day Anyway so there's you know some um some Kind of I've always going to be slightly Thinking great things about it but I Think actually it did work really well It had a good energy return um the main Thing standard no blast problem slippy On water it's just slippy anywhere that Is perfectly dry but yeah that would be The only thing I'd say really but I Think in general yeah it did really well And and I do have um particularly my Left foot does suffer from um feeling Quite the impacts on the ball of my feet So the fact that I managed to get Through the whole marathon and still Feel relatively comfy as aex would say Um I think it's pretty good yeah I That's right she was here for the the Comfort Conference of a six I stopped by As well very comfortable conference Around yeah I mean I don't think I would I don't know if I would have run a Cumulus or a nimbus they're pretty close I mean that's only half a mil lower than The Nimbus lot lighter though lot more Weighty yeah so I ran my first ever Attempt at sub three in nimbuses I think They were Nimbus 16 or 17 years ago and Like that just fills me with Dread you Ining the Met speeds yeah met speeds Shoe of choice a going be the spot but I've been wearing them anyway to be
Honest OB PB in London now PB here in Them they're just perfect they're really More comfortable than you expect for a Lightweight such a lightweight carbon Shoe I get the balls a little bit um but You know I noticed it but didn't have Any problems with it just really fast Really sported really comfortable and at The end the turnover is just so good in Them and that's where I'll be interested To see if I do a marathon in one of the Big bouncy carbon shoes how I feel in That last bit because obviously I'm a Turnover on it I don't have a lot of Bounce so maybe I'll get a load of Bounce shoes and I'll run better or the Aexs just really helped me just keep Turning over down that long home Straight um you know did a pretty solid Last 2K knowing what I needed to run and He I was struggling a bit but yeah other Than that everything was more or less my Usual kit you know so magic socks all All the the Caton shorts all the Again all worked perfectly well thing I Did change this time we talk about is The running body app which is this Strength training app talking to Jill About strength training Jill's prob Better than me and Jill swin so much Better than cross training l so that I Think you know I was probably a kilo Heavy than I normally would be going This Marathon I noticed on the scales
And obviously I felt amazing out there That kilo was probably actually muscle Maybe was missing so I do think this app I think so it's fairly expensive it's $ 13.99 a month I think I need to check That I'll put it in the um on the video Somewhere but you are basic getting Access to a specialist physiotherapist Who's a very keen Runner and a Specialist you know he's you know knows Everything and is giving you quite a lot Of advice within the app as well as well As all his presentations of each Exercise the actual workouts he sets out So yeah it's pretty pretty great if You're run like me who doesn't like Doing strength training and wants to Start slipping in small amounts of it Start building up again yeah it's pretty It's all just the exact things you need To do so something plyometric something C something heavy on one leg something Like that and it's just so I think it's Made a difference today I had a lot of Doubts last couple of weeks I'm pretty Surprised actually you know when well Anything else shout out lemon card Strength train Runners um I use the Chorus armband to get data um so I've Not run a long race um so I was a little Bit worried is it going to chafe or Nothing like that but it was totally Fine and I've got some solid heart rate Data so I'm really pleased with that my
Corus watch on the other hand kept Stopping itself so I'm glad I double Glad I double watched and used the Garment oh what on your wrist yeah oh That dial you got yeah so annoying and Then I used the meta speed speed shorts Um which I literally just like never Wear anything new on race day but Basically everything is new on race day Um but I really like them they've got Jael Pockets they've got kind of a Cycling short underneath with Jael Pockets and then like a split short on Top um and they were they did work Really well so I'm normally very very Wedded to my on Sprint shorts but I I Did try a new thing and they were Excellent and V great is very kind of Lightweight you know Taps all that kind Of stuff no chish no cha fish there at All y all good and no black toenails Either I need to I'll do another little Section after this where I got the Watches data uploaded from the Garin Phoenix versus the 65 but both of them Were very similar um all throughout like You know red slightly long you run Slightly long in a marathon and um like Yeah the markers I at some point I Thought the markers were actually Slightly iffy yes I was um it was the Markers were behind me at one point Which is never that's yeah occasion You'd have one way go that's a long C
The next one's going to be short and it Was Lu it was all first half second half Felt fine to me but also at the end it's Quite built up so the GPS crazy couple Miles yeah but I yeah I had a pretty Strong pacing throughout with them I was Doing 5K splits and uh so yeah I'll Chuck the maps up I look at the heart Rate I wasn't wearing a band today but I Know roughly what my heart rate is in The marathon from using a band in the Past checked it out it basically like Perfectly progressed from like 150 to 160 and you only went over 170 for like The last I think six miles just bar like 178 I think it was so that's interesting That is more or less my Max so that Might be a very low heart rate um not For Fitness just genetically I think so Interesting a good heart rate you heard It here So know pression I was largely running to heart we right That's kind of how I set myself what I Could do so okay that's very quickly Yeah um well well done Jill I'll throw Up some watch later afterwards I'll also Do a little graphic of the nutrition Because people always ask about Nutrition what did you use nutrition Jill I used a mixture of precision Hydration Fuel and hydration gels and um High fives so three of the PF andh is With one one caffeinated one about 2
Hours in and then alternating with high Fives because they just a little bit Gentler yeah and the precisions are 30 Grams aren't they yeah so good amount of Carbs so basically about every half an Hour I had a lot more caffeine actually I had in the past I started to up the Caffeine stayed largely I had one Caffeinated one and often I would use The CIS be of which is 200 Mig of Caffeine that's a lot yeah yeah but this Time I thought well I'm not racing Racing I'm going to stay off the Caffeine and sa sleep tonight yeah Exactly I won't sleep Tonight all right well my arms going to Drop off but um thank you everyone for Watching thanks Everyone thanks anyone who shouted about The Run testers or I saw afterwards nice To meet you obviously and yeah we'll be Back soon with other other races Mike's On the winter run today oh yeah that's True yeah and I've got Bell in half Coming up there we go go okay a few last Thoughts on the race that I want to Mention one is that if you are watching This because you're at the S Marathon Next year and are wondering if the tube Runs early enough on Sunday morning to Go to the start I it does I use the tube Underground Metro whatever you call it To get to the start line it wasn't meant To be running as far as I could tell but
I checked the station near me and I've Got an airb me quite far from the center So I was able to use that to get in and I've just used the DC Rainmaker analyzer To have a look at the heart rate of the Watches and the GPS both pretty much Identical from both watches heart rate Shows a nice steady progression like Jill says like hit my max heart rate Right at the end but that makes sense I Was absolutely going for it you know Really was griesing on the way in there So looks like a really good heart rate Reading which is expect in pretty good Uh warm conditions here say in general The Phoenix 8 sometimes is a bit better Than the 4 and9 65 for hotter accuracy But pretty close today and on GPS the Tracks look absolutely identical and you Know the distance is slightly long but The pacing they was able to use both Watches for pacing quite well throughout The race so I think yeah really Impressive performance on both fronts Other last thing to mention is another Piece of Kit I've used this weekend is The Silo bag which is a very good gym or Runners bag with lots of different Compartments to store your Morton in Separate areas and things like that and It's small enough to fit in the cabin Bag under seat bag for Ryan there I Checked that at the airport by shoving It in to make sure it was small enough
So I'll talk more about that on our end Of the month video but quite a Nifty Traveling bad for weekends away at Things like marathons because you can Get all your stuff in there with a Separate shoe compartment and stuff like That but yeah overall the marathon last Thing I say about the race itself was Really well organized got a pretty Strict cut off time but other than that Which kinda of makes sense it does get Quite hot here but a really well Organized event very easy to get around The city everything's kind of walkable Unless you go as far out as I have but If you don't do that and even if you do Do that there's very easy to get around The buses Expo is a bit of a way out but Again pretty easy to get to and from Just a really nice city to be in in February all around so really good event Worth checking out like Valencia's Become the big Spanish one and it is an Amazing event it's probably like my Favorite Marathon but the Civil course Is unbelievably fast the field is big Enough that you have be able to run with The whole way like I did today but it's Not so crowded the starts a lot more Chilled out easy to get to there's not a Billion toilets but there's enough Toilets I would say and they get people Off really quickly at the start there Everyone's kind of starting together
Quite nicely so yeah really worth Checking out a nice early in the year Marathon that I think really has the Course to run your fastest time as I Have done today And just a slightly less stressful one Maybe than some of the the way in Valencia's now got so big London's Obviously very very big haven't been to The American ones I'm sure they're crazy But it's pretty crazy it's a little bit More lowkey here that makes it for a Slightly more relaxing experience and You're in a lovely city that's very Walkable very good all around and the Whole event's been really well organized So yeah love this F Marathon look Forward to maybe doing it again one day And yeah see you next time please like Subscribe uh ring the little bell so you Get notified when we do new videos
