I entered this on the back of my good performance at the Edinburgh marathon but over the summer and more recently, my running has taken a back-seat to the cycling. I always felt I have enough time to get a few long runs in but I didn't plan very well and before I knew it, the marathon had come around and my 3 longest weeks running had been 41, 37 and 33 miles (compared to 3x50+ before Edinburgh) and I had only 6 weeks running over 20 miles. I had done lots of cycling but I had no idea if that would compensate. In fact, I was sure that the lack of even one 20 miler was going to make me pay.
I decided to just run and see what happened. The cut off was 5 hours so I knew that if I ran to the 16 mile marker, I could walk the rest if the wheels came completely off. As it turned out, I got to half way in about 1:54 and felt good. By 16 I was feeling a little sick and my thighs were tight but still ok. At mile 20 I was sicker and tighter but I was on for a PB. The race was no longer just about getting round, I had to go for it.
It was agony over the last 6 miles. They seemed to go on and on and my quads were very painful. I slowed constantly and mile 24 and 25 were very slow (10:50 minute miles). As you can see, my time was pretty constant until mile 16 when it went up a little and then some more until mile 24 and 25 which were the really slow miles. That's where I missed out on a PB.
I decided to just run and see what happened. The cut off was 5 hours so I knew that if I ran to the 16 mile marker, I could walk the rest if the wheels came completely off. As it turned out, I got to half way in about 1:54 and felt good. By 16 I was feeling a little sick and my thighs were tight but still ok. At mile 20 I was sicker and tighter but I was on for a PB. The race was no longer just about getting round, I had to go for it.
It was agony over the last 6 miles. They seemed to go on and on and my quads were very painful. I slowed constantly and mile 24 and 25 were very slow (10:50 minute miles). As you can see, my time was pretty constant until mile 16 when it went up a little and then some more until mile 24 and 25 which were the really slow miles. That's where I missed out on a PB.
I knew my Dad's PB of 3:55 was gone and my PB of 3:57 was gone. The only thing left was sub-4. I went for it and got to the track with 3 minutes to go. One lap of the stadium should not have been a problem but it felt very long. I was out sprinted by a girl who was being yelled at by a bunch of friends and I guess she was trying to get under 4 for the first time. She did it and so did I. 3:59:10 official chip time. 424nd place out of 647 finishers.
I can't describe just how surprised and pleased I am. A fantastic day.
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