Categories: uncategorized
Date: 26 April 2004 10:15:56
yesterday was marathon day for me, which i approached not really knowing how prepared i was. Sure i did the 35miler in february and have had a few long runs since then but not as much running as i'm used to since the tri training has been ramping up.
the weather was amazing, a bit too amazing for marathon running especially with a 1 o'clock start. unfortunately this drew all the tourists and day-trippers to stratford along with a few thousand runners. we queued for a good mile to get into town only to find the car park we were aiming for was already full and having to queue a bit more.
managed to catch a few runnersworld peeps before the start, but by that stage i was already too hot. i knew it wasn't going to be pleasant and just wanted to get on with it. also caught up with a few cov-tri types on the start line although either doing the half or the full much quicker than me.
after standing in the midday sun on the start line for 10minutes we were off, started by some footballer chap. after a quick loop round town and some wiggling round residential streets we were off into the countryside. for once i managed to keep my early pace under reasonable control quickly getting a couple of minutes ahead of schedule but keeping that two minutes fairly constant after that.
not sure what to say about the first lap, it's all nice and scenic and stuff, with a couple of climbs. i've been round this course so many times before so i probably
don't notice much of the detail.
at about 9miles i treated myself to a rather melted jaffa-cake and hooked up with a first timer called stephen. we chatted and ran down the disused rail line and round to the half way point together. he was looking for a 3:45 time but by this stage we were running 9:30 / 10:00 min/mile, i knew this was putting me behind my schedule but i knew the heat & sun were taking it out of me, so was happy to oblige!
i passed half way at 2:02 and decided to push on. second time up the hills was unpleasant but just about bearable, going down again was much worse! i caught and passed a few people who had passed us on the railway section which was nice but i really had no idea if i could keep them behind me.
the second lap goes further out and hits the rail line at about 20miles. psychologically this is a bad place for me! it's exposed, hot and seemingly eternal, i DNF'd here 2 years ago with heat stroke. the gravel surface crunches underfoot and it's the only sound you here for the next 5miles.
i start to really struggle here and i know my pace has plummeted to 12 or 13 mins/mile, looking at my watch i'll be lucky to beat my time of 4:20 from last year, hopefully i can hang on to avoid a personal worst time!
i'm allowing myself to walk through the water stations, and for 30seconds after each mile marker. in between it's just head down... crunch crunch crunch.
extra walking breaks start to creep in and even when i'm back on the road doing the out & back mileage adjustment loop it's as much as i can do to break into the occasional pitiful plod!
onto the path by the river now, the town is in sight. 'mind over matter' a spectator encourages me and its head down again with as much as i can muster. i'm looking a few metres ahead of me, the peak of my cap blocks my mind from how much further i have to go and prevents me from making eye contact with the spectators.
200m to go seems like an eternity but i can lift my pace now and olbigingly lift my head for lisa & the camera. 4:35ish on my watch and i'm just pleased to have survived (i've seen more collapses and ambulances than i care to think about this race, and apparently the air ambulance had to put in an appearance too).
my calves feel solid and i feel sick, sipping water cautiously.
i look around for somewhere discrete to throw up... by the marquee? by the path? by the finish area? oh well here will have to do then. the fluids that have been swilling around not being absorbed for the last 5miles empty themselves. i feel much better.
as usual the release from th mental effort of the last 5miles makes me want to cry. it was a steaming day and a dismal time for me, i console myself that i made it, and i'm not in hospital.
at the time of course i'm never going to do anything like that again, but this annoying psychology means i will.
[this weeks totals: 2km swim 0miles bike 37.95miles run]