Well I said I was going for 2:50 and that’s exactly what came out at the end.

2:50:00

A PB by almost 4 minutes and the best paced marathon I have ever run.

All week before the race, I had so much on at work that I hardly had time to think about the race so I wasn’t getting stressed about it. Am really sure this helped no end.

On Friday evening and Saturday morning I got most of my kit prepared and packed my bag and then after a 3 mile easy run, where I felt a bit sluggish (body conserving energy maybe!) I spent the rest of the day working on an assignment for my OU course, so still not thinking much about the race.

As all my race stuff was prepared I had Saturday evening to relax instead of running around like mad – which is how I normally spend my pre-race evenings!

I slept well and woke up naturally sometime after 5am.  Had plenty of time to get ready and stroll to the station for the train.  Bought a copy of Heat magazine of all things at the station.  I decided a trashy mag full of ‘celebs’ I had never heard of would be a good distraction; Seemed to work!

On arrival at Waterloo, I decided to take the tube to Charing Cross and get the train there rather than at Waterloo East, so I had more chance of getting a seat.  This was a great idea.  I got a seat, facing the ‘right’ direction, put on my music and zoned out for the journey to Blackheath.

On arrival at the championship start I chatted briefly to a few other runners I know and then began to get myself ready for racing.  As I stripped down to my running kit and packed my bag to go on the baggage bus I was starting to stress a little bit.  And once we were out on the street lined up (at 9:25am) my stomach was in knots. After 10 minutes of waiting I started to need another wee! Damn! I considered trying to go at the side of the road when they moved us to the start line but by then there wasn’t enough time.  I would just have to play the game of ‘see how far you can get before you really have to stop and use a portaloo on route’!

We went of bang on time and I stuck to my plan of 2 easyish miles to start 6:35, 6:31 and then easily made up some time on the downhill mile three.

It was feeling quite warm and there was also quite a strong breeze which I was concerned about.  I drafted behind people as much as possible and I ticked off a few miles at or just under target pace and it was all feeling pretty easy.  For some reason it felt like the whole first 11 miles were downhill! Nice!

By Tower Bridge, people were starting to get much more spaced out and it was harder to find people going the same pace to tuck behind!  Went through half way in 1:24 and a few seconds on my watch.  All as planned and still feeling really good.  After 15 miles I had to start focusing quite a bit.  I always seem to have problems of focusing between miles 15-18 at London.  This year was even more difficult; I was starting to have to run on my own quite a bit, the wind was getting stronger, by now I really needed a wee and I was having to work at a harder effort to maintain the same pace.  This is the thing I really dislike about racing marathons – shorter races you can run at even effort, or (if you’ve paced it well) you might be able to increase your effort in the latter stages and thus increase your pace – with the marathon you increase your effort just to maintain the same pace or a even a slower pace! And you have to maintain that increased effort for a long time!

At 20 miles I was amazed to find that I had no quad, hip or calf pain and although it was hard work, I knew I could make my legs go faster if I needed to :-)  This feeling didn’t last though as I got the first cramp in my right foot :-( Over the next 6.2 miles cramp on both feet was coming and going all the time. I had to change my stride, change how I was landing, slow, speed up; all manner of things to try and get rid of it or stop it happening. None of which had much effect. When it came on really bad, I was almost limping along.

My pace was slowing I knew it wasn’t a fuelling issue, it was just the cramping problem.  I just had to get my head down, focus and concentrate on picking people off.  This was quite easy to do; even though I was slowing, most people ahead of me were slowing much more.  I was quite surprised to see so many people at that position in the field struggling towards the end.

At 25 miles I worked out that I had about 7 minutes and 10 seconds to make the sub 2:50.  The pain from the cramp was worse than ever but I just tried to block it out.  At 26 miles I guy in a purple tutu came alongside me.  I figured if I could stay close to him, I might get on TV at the finish and I knew my parents and sister were watching.  I couldn’t hang on to Tutu Guy and as I turned into the Mall, I saw the clock with 2:49:30.  I concluded that the sub 2:50 was gone – 200m in 30 seconds, hmm, just not possible! Another guy came alongside me and we sprinted together to the finish.  I headed for the same finish area that Tutu Guy had gone for, hoping the cameras would still be on that finish as I crossed the line.  My watch said 2:50:08. I was really happy :-)

The cramp kicked in big time and I had to be helped over to the chip removal area as I couldn’t walk!  I started to ease off as I walked to collect my kit and then I saw some portaloos and I suddenly remembered...I really need a wee!!

I called my parents who had been following my progress online and they had seen me finish on TV!! Yeah!  It wasn’t until a while later whilst celebrating in the pub that I saw my official time – 2:50:00 and I decided that managing to run dead on 2:50 deserved another drink!!

So now, it’s rest time for a week and I’m looking forward to a few days without an early morning alarm call for my run.  However, I’m also looking forward to getting back running and building up mileage ready for the mountain and ultra races in the summer.  Should be fun :-)

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I’ve been spending quite a bit of time thinking about the first time I ran a sub 3 hour marathon.  I keep reliving the final miles of that race, recalling the pain and the mental strategies I used to make sure I hit my target.  It may seem like a strange thing to be doing but I need to remember that I can handle that pain, run through that pain and give everything when it’s needed - because I know in less than two weeks time I’m going to have to go through it all again as I try to run under 2 hours 50 minutes.

In January and February this target seemed a little out of reach and I had to make a decision.  If I really wanted to be in a position to have a go at sub 2:50, then I really needed to put a bit more effort into my training but I wasn’t sure that  I wanted it enough to slog through the training.

In the end I decided I had to go for it. Why? Because I think I am capable of running a sub 2:50 marathon and I don’t like the thought of not trying my best to achieve something I’m capable of and also because London Marathon is probably going to be my only marathon race this year, so if I don’t go for it, it will be 12 months or more before I get another go at it.

So commenced the weekly 7am track sessions, progressive long runs, marathon pace running and a few races to bring back a bit of the competitive spirit. The hard training has so far resulted in PBs at 5k and 10k and a half marathon just 9 seconds outside my PB.  All this has obviously increased my confidence that I can run a PB at London and maybe, if things are in my favour on the day, go sub 2:50.  I’m under no illusion how tough it will be to break 2:50 and I know I will need perfect weather conditions and also need to be feeling physically and mentally in top form on the day.  And I have to be prepared to suffer big time on those final few miles!

Looking ahead to the summer I have mountain and ultra races planned which I’m really looking forward to.  In one sense I can’t wait to get London Marathon done and out of the way so I can get back to into ultra training.  I’m sure I’ll think differently after a few weeks of ultra training but for now, well...the grass is always greener on the other side!

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I can’t believe it’s been a month since Wokingham half marathon. I’ve been busy putting in some quality sessions and the time seems to have flown by.  I’ve slightly reduced my mileage and the last four Tuesday’s have seen me at the track for 7am for an interval training session – I figured it’s best to get it out of the way before my body has chance to wake up and realise what’s going on!!  Thursday mornings has been 12-13 miles with 9-10 miles at marathon pace + about 10 seconds.  Saturday has been Parkrun sandwiched in between a few easy miles there and back.  Last Saturday I got a new 5km PB at Parkrun which probably goes some way to explaining the trouble I had trying to do 13 miles at marathon pace the following day at the Great Bentley Half Marathon!

The Great Bentley Half Marathon had been postponed from when we had the snow in early February and having missed last week’s long run due to having a cold, I decided to do the half marathon with 6 miles of easy running beforehand.  I set off at goal marathon pace and initially it felt quite comfortable but within a few miles I realised that the effort of the previous day’s 5km had taken its toll and any remaining energy in my legs was disappearing fast.  I managed to keep pushing on and still managed to pass plenty of other runners but I finished over a minute outside the time I was aiming for.  Initially I was a little disappointed but on reflection, considering I wasn’t going into the race fresh and still had the tail end of a cold, I think it was a pretty decent effort.

This week there is still some hard training to be done and next week I will taper slightly before Reading Half Marathon.  As I write this, it’s just over a month until London Marathon and I’m sure this next month is going to go even quicker than the last one!  Marathon training does seem to have a habit of speeding up the passage of time!

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So, it was Wokingham Half Marathon at the weekend.  My first race since November and having just done 6 weeks of fairly high mileage, I wasn’t really expecting great things.  With my ‘warm up’ race, Great Bentley half marathon, having been postponed due to the snow a couple of weeks previously I had to go to Wokingham with very little idea of how my fitness was progressing.

I started the week feeling tired, having struggled to get through the last few miles of a long run on Sunday and even took Tuesday off completely, along with my planned rest day of Friday.  On the Wednesday I had a good run and managed a few miles at half marathon effort which didn’t feel too bad but on my easy runs on Thursday and Saturday I felt very fatigued with really heavy legs.

I had decided I would aim for 1:23 at Wokingham and I had no trouble sticking to the pace for the first 8 miles.  In the back of my mind however, was the fact the first 2-3 miles of the course had been undulating and that we had to cover the same section again on the way back.  The thing is, on the way out, it’s a slight net downhill and on the way back...obviously...there is more uphill.  This started to play on my mind a bit and as soon as I hit the first hill at mile 10, I had already given up.  The result was that I pretty much ‘jogged’ the uphill sections and then got back onto pace on the easier sections.  This lost me about 40 seconds in just over two miles and gave me a finish time of 1:23:43.

I know that if I had worked harder (and I know I could have done!) I would have been pretty much on target.  This shows me that maybe my guess/prediction of my own fitness was pretty much spot on but also that realistically to have any chance of running a PB at London Marathon I need to be able to take 2-3 minutes off that time over the next few weeks – the next test race will be Reading Half Marathon on 1st April.  Now, it’s time to knuckle down to some hard training sessions and work on the mental aspects of racing so that I don’t lose focus like I did at Wokingham.

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Brrrrrrr! 02/11/2012
 
Been a bit of a chilly week – and that’s a bit of an understatement!  Great Bentley Half was cancelled due to the snow, not that I would have attempted to get there anyway even if it had still been on.  Woke on Sunday to about three inches of snow, so the only thing to do was to put on trail shoes and head to Richmond Park and do a longish run.  It wasn’t an aerobically challenging run but muscles that hadn’t worked for a while were called upon to maintain my balance in the slippy and uneven conditions.  

 Even though the park was mad busy with children and families sledging and building snowmen, I was quite enjoying the conditions.  My running partner wasn’t though!  It’s usually me that moans throughout the long runs; last Sunday I got a taste of it back!  Two laps, 16 miles, was enough for my old legs though and I was glad to get home where I made an impromptu apple and blueberry crumble for recovery food! :-)

To make up for missing a hard workout on Sunday, I tried to make up for it a bit with a bit of marathon pace running on Monday morning’s run.  I was feeling surprisingly fresh and 6:30 min/mile was feeling more comfortable than it was a couple of weeks ago – all good.  Still wouldn’t fancy 26.2 at that pace right now but I know my fitness is improving.

The problem is in the cold weather I find it really hard to do any faster running; my legs just never seem to warm up enough and then there is my asthma.  I did a fartlek run one evening a week or so ago, it was minus something and I was running into a north-easterly headwind.  My chest was hurting and I was coughing like a 40-a-day smoker!  It was not fun!

This morning I went out with the most layers I have ever worn for a run but at -6, I wasn’t taking any chances!  Three layers including a thermal top, gore jacket, thermal tights, compression socks, normal socks.  I managed to stay warm but I think that was more to do with the fact that I did some hill repeats than anything else!  And there were still some runners out in shorts!! How do they do it?!

So tomorrow is proper long run day, 24 miles is on the plan.  I’m hoping the snow/ice that is left in the park melts because I would like to do some faster running but I’m such a wuss I will come to a grinding halt if I come across an icy section.  It might end up being a 24 mile interval workout!

Looking ahead, I’ve got Wokingham Half Marathon next weekend.  It is supposed to be a proper race effort but I’ll decide exactly on my plan when I see how cold it is.  Anything under 5 degrees and I’m not sure my legs will be able to move fast enough to race.

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It's been a pretty heavy mileage month.  The highest mileage I've ever ran in January. It's helped that the weather has been reasonably OK (no snow - yet!) and not too cold but I have still found it hard to get out there some days.

Today's long run was a 20 miler with the aim of doing miles 15-19 at around 2:50 - 2:55 marathon pace.  I ran with a few guys from my running club, West 4 Harriers, for the first 15 miles - a very pleasant run off-road on the trails of Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common.  Wimbledon Common was very muddy in places and my nice white adiZero Tempo's we somewhat less white by the end.  I knew there would be mud involved if I ran with the club but I had opted for Tempos because they are lightweight and I was going to need all the help I could get at running close to 6:30 min/mile at the end of the run!

Well, they didn't let me down. I managed the 4 miles at marathon pace, although my heart rate was a bit higher than I would have liked for that pace.  With all the miles in my legs though it was to be expected.

Next weekend I have Great Bentley half marathon.  The plan isn't to race it but to do a few miles easy paced beforehand and then try to do as much of the race as possible at goal marathon pace.  Hopefully it will be easier to maintain that pace with other people around me.  So lets hope it's not blowing a gale like it was there last year when I ran it!
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_Yesterday I did my longest run since the Commonwealth Ultra, a 50km jaunt around Richmond Park...well 4 times around it actually.  It’s a run I’ve done many times before and it doesn’t get any easier.  In fact I think it gets more difficult.  Or maybe it’s just more difficult because it’s January.

I don’t like January.  After having the whole of December with its cold weather and lack of daylight, by the time January rolls around I’m really sick of it.  Getting out of bed in the dark, day after day.  Checking the weather and deliberating over how many layers, which hat, which jacket.  Finishing my run covered in freezing sweat with hands numb from the cold.

Most of the time I just get on with it; get my kit on and get out there.  The other days I feel more like I should be hibernating until April and yesterday was one of those days.  I just didn’t feel like running.  It wasn’t very cold and there was even some sunshine.  Almost perfect running conditions but I was feeling less than perfect.  On the first lap around the park I felt tired, my legs felt heavy, I couldn’t get into any rhythm and I think I must have told Riel how awful I was feeling at least once every half mile.  By the time we hit 13 miles I had gone into meltdown.  I thought I would start to feel better as the run progressed but I was feeling even worse.  I really wanted to stop and didn’t see how I was going to get through another 18 miles. So I came to a grinding halt telling Riel that I just didn’t want to run any more!

Luckily, we were pretty close to one of the Park’s cafes and Riel asked if I wanted something to eat.  At first I declined...I didn’t want an upset stomach on top of everything else...I should just stick with my tried and tested energy gels.  But in the end I opted for a flapjack.  I scoffed half of it and saved half for later.  After a couple of miles I was feeling much better and we started lap three.  I must have started running faster or the flapjack had altered my perception of time because it went by pretty quickly and soon we were starting lap 4.  And I was convinced of the magic properties of flapjack!! Despite being much more physically tired and dealing with various aches and pains, the last lap was much more enjoyable than the first lap.

Yes, I was pretty exhausted when I got back home but I was happy to have done the run and to find that my legs can still manage a ‘short’ ultra without too much trouble (with the help of flapjack!).  So I guess I know that I still have my endurance which also means it’s time to start working on my speed; the 26.2 miles is not a problem, it’s the 26.2 miles at 6:30 min/mile pace that’s the problem.  And I don’t think a flapjack will help me out with this one!
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I really can’t believe we are week into January already!  Time is going by way too fast at the moment.  If all goes well in just three months time I will be tapering for London Marathon.  Provided I get to the start line fit with a good block of marathon training behind me and ready to race, it will be three years since I last raced London marathon.  Last year I was recovering from an operation, in 2010 I was just coming back to fitness after an injury and ran it as a training run.  So 2009 was my last serious London marathon attempt and where I ran my first sub 3 hour marathon.  Three years before that I ran my first London Marathon in a time of 3:18 – way faster than my target of 3:25.  The evidence would point to me having a good race at London every three years...so there is a bit of pressure for another PB there again this spring!

Back in September, my plan had been to do some ultras over the winter; SainteLyon in France, Gloucester 50k and possibly the Cotswold 35 mile.  However, the knee injury I had in the autumn curtailed my training quite a bit so I have decided to concentrate on London Marathon for the spring and then do some ultras over the summer.  For quite some time I’ve wanted to do the Davos 78km in Switzerland, so that will be my main focus for the summer.  Prior to that, I plan to do Boddington 50km in July with the aim of trying to improve my 50km PB and also to try and gain selection for the England 50km team for the World 50km which is in October.

Despite missing a few runs  in December due to having a cold and then a chesty cough, I’m now back to full training and I managed a 24 mile run on Saturday and then some hill reps yesterday.  Going to keep the mileage high for the next few weeks and then reduce it slightly and add in more quality sessions and marathon pace running.  In February I will be racing Wokingham half marathon.  I have never done the race but I understand it’s mostly flat so it should give me a good indicator of what I should be aiming for at London.

For the last few months I’ve been training with the Polar RCX5 and the G5 GPS sensor.   I love the watch as it’s small and light and not bulky on my wrist. Although the GPS sensor is a separate unit, being quite small it is easy to carry in my shorts/tights pocket or backpack and it has never lost signal.  But the best thing about training with the RCX5 is that the heart rate data and training load data are making it easy for me to assess the impact of my training and help me decide when I should be training hard and if I need to take more recovery.  By monitoring my heart rate during training I can make sure that I work hard enough in the hard sessions and that I don’t work too hard on easy days.  The biggest improvements in my running came a few years ago when I started to train with a Polar heart rate monitor.  I’m hoping that the RCX5 will help push my training and fitness in the direction of another PB at London marathon!

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_ Since my last post, I’ve been slowly getting back into my running.  I think I’m currently in one of the most cautious post-injury mileage ramp ups I’ve ever done!  Two weeks ago I managed a total of 23 miles including a 5 mile XC race (more on this later) and last week I did 33.  If all goes well this week, I might hit 40 miles.  At the moment the reduced mileage is not bothering me too much, I’ve had plenty of other things to keep me busy and use up some time previously allotted to running.  I don’t seem to have lost too much actual speed but I know that the endurance has taken a big dip.  Some 6 mile runs have felt more like 13 milers!

So the XC.  Invited by a friend to celebrate his birthday by running a 5 mile XC race, the Watford Joggers Autumn Challenge, and then head to the pub for a few drinks afterwards.  I have to say that during my time of reduced running I had certainly improved my drinking skills so I was confident I could handle the trip to the pub – I was less sure about my body’s ability to deal with racing a cross country, especially one with the word ‘challenge’ in the title!

During the jog down to the start line, my knee felt a little uncomfortable but I’m sure it was more psychological than physical!  Once I started the race, I had no pain from my knee at all and thankfully it stayed that way for the whole race.  My lungs on the other hand weren’t too happy!  After starting too fast in the first 800 metres, I was soon breathing very hard...too hard to keep up the pace that legs thought they could do!  I calmed it down and settled into a more steady pace just in time for the first hill, when once again my lungs felt like they were being ripped apart!

I was the leading female runner from the start of the race but I didn’t think that I would hold that position.  I knew there were several steep hills on the course and even when at my fittest, I’m not that strong uphill. So with reduced fitness, I was sure I was going to get overtaken by another woman on one of the hills.  So my tactics were to go flat out on the downhills and stay strong on the flatter sections in the hope that it would be enough to win the race.  At 4.5 miles there was a nice downhill section for about 800 metres and I was really going for it...that was followed by approximately 800 metres up a fairly shallow incline.  By that point my legs felt like they were running on empty and my diaphragm and chest muscles were in agony from all the unaccustomed hard breathing.  My pace slowed so much I felt like I was running through treacle.

With half a mile left to run the course went slightly downhill to the finish.  I was pushing as hard as I could but that last half mile seemed to last forever!  I had held onto the first position and it was a nice feeling to be back racing again.  Even better was the fact that the knee held up OK and wasn’t sore afterwards either.  Things were looking up again!
Since then I’ve been to see a physio as I felt I needed a bit more help in getting to the bottom of this knee problem as it’s just not healing as fast as I would like.  I’ve now got my longest run up to 8 miles and tomorrow I’m going to try 9 miles.

Have been training with the Polar RCX5 and G5 GPS for the last few weeks and I have to say I love it.  The GPS is small and light enough to just put in my shorts or jacket pocket and I have had absolutely no issues with accuracy or loss of signal.  It even worked perfectly on the XC race and most of that was in woodland.  I can’t wait until I’m back in full training so I can start getting all geeky and analyse all the heart rate and training load data.  I think it’s going to be a powerful tool to enable me to maximise my fitness in the shortest time possible; just what I’m going to need!

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Knee update 10/28/2011
 
Well it's much better than it was.  I've had some weird sensations in the lateral knee area whilst walking on some days but I've been cross training in the gym and doing strength work this week with no pain.

Tomorrow morning I will try a short run.  I've just received the GPS sensor for my Polar RCX5, so I'm looking forward to trying it out. I'm going to yoga class also - really need to work on my flexibility a bit more!  I struggle a bit with yoga because of my competitive nature.  I'm all 'if he/she can get bend like that, why can't I'.  I have to learn to let go of the competitve side of me, work to my own personal limits and ignore everyone else. 

I think that will be more of a challenge than some of the yoga positions themselves!
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