Woke up this morning and looked out of the window - the
perfect weather for running. Very little wind, temperature
about 11 C, mostly cloud cover. I thought, its now or never,
I'm rested, carb loaded, training has been fairly solid
without injury until a dodgy hamstring developed on
Thursday. God knows where it came from because I hadnt done
much training this week. Anyway, a trip to a sports massage
therapist on Saturday worked away most of the stiffness so I
was confident it would hold out.
Showered to wake up, had a toast, glass of OJ and made
myself a nice fresh coffee which I supped until my mate
turned up (late as usual) and off we went with barely enough
time to warm up. Frustratingly as we lined up, an
announcement came up that there had been an accident on the
route and the start was indefinitely delayed - bugger, Ive
just had some sports drink and now the delay means I need to
go to the toilet. Plus the warm up was slowly cooling down
so did a few more jogs up and down waiting for the start.
Accident sorted & we're off, started off slowly enforced by
the pack which was good, but got to the first mile marker in
8'17, hmm a bit fast as I am aiming for 1'45 which is 4 mins
off my PB. Anyway, although legs felt heavy, no probs,
slowed down slightly on the 2nd downhill mile for 8'33. Now
the increased distance training paid off, miles 3 and 4 were
quickish due to more flat and downhill portions but almost a
3rd done and I'm feeling good. Mile 6, I felt the first
twinges shoot through the quads and hams but ignored it and
glided through to mile 8 which was a nasty uphill, still its
downhill again for a bit after this so no probs. Get to mile
10 and fatigue is really setting in, my mind keeps telling
me that if I do 9s from now to the finish, I'll still beat
my PB. But just then, a lady went past me just as I was
talking myself into slowing down. I imagined that she was
the elusive 1'45 and that I had to keep up with her and it
worked for the uphill as she "pulled" me up the hardest mile
of the course.
Now that mile 10 is done, the legs are feeling done in, can
I somehow dig out 8 min miles for the last 2 to get close to
the elusive 1'45? Looks unlikely as the legs are really
tying up, but there are some downhill portions so just keep
putting one foot in front of the next and somehow mile 12
passes in 7'40 - ya beauty! I know there is a harsh uphill
in the last mile but I'm ready for it, slows me down quite a
bit but I knew it and there is only half a mile to go, just
keep pushing. Really tired and sore now, right calf screams
at me a couple of time but I adjust my stride and ignore
it. On the track now, where's that 13 mile marker? See it up
ahead so start giving it all thats left. See one guy
ahead who cruised past me at mile 11 and I'm reeling him
in, literally pipped him at the line and the time?
1h45m25s, fantastic! I am delighted as my goal has been
achieved and although I'll be away for 4 weeks, I am
hopeful that I can complete the Loch Ness Marathon in
under 4 hours now.
Lesson learned - mileage is key. I'd done a couple of 14
milers this year and psychologically, 13 miles does not seem
too bad even though the last 3 miles were a killer. Plus
running a few weeks at 25-30 miles, you have sufficient left
in the tank as proved by myself digging out 8 min miles for
the last few miles when I didnt think I had it in me. Its
hard but I am going to try and get the mileage up to 40
miles plus per week before the marathon and get a few 3 hour
runs in. Plus dont listen to those voices in your head
telling you to slow down, you'll regret it at the end!
Splits:
Mile 1: 8'17
Mile 2: 8'33
Mile 3: 7'45
Mile 4: 7'51
Mile 5: 8'03
Mile 6: 8'15 uphill
Mile 7: 8'01
Mile 8: 7'24
Mile 9: 8'03
Mile 10: 8'00
Mile 11: 8'20 uphill
Mile 12: 7'40
Mile 13: 8'30
13-13.1: 0'38
I make it a 47 second negative split so I am delighted
with that!