The day started with the 0641 train into London Bridge, travelling with a fantastic bunch of friends all geared up for the looming challenge.
I was travelling with my neighbour Tom who was aiming for around 3hrs 10mins. My own target was around 3hrs 25mins.
On arrival at Greenwich Park we relaxed near the bandstand and watched the lovely Helen Skelton doing some interviews.
The sun was very warm and the conditions were looking like they were going to be tough. We were downing the drinks and making sure we were properly hydrated.
After my warm up it was off to the starting pen. It was very congested and after cheering for the elite men it took us nearly 3 mins to make it to the start.
From the off I was managing to stick to my plan of keeping the pace and heart rate steady. I knew mile 3 & 4 were downhill and would give me some time without any effort. My first 4 miles were on plan.
From then I was trying to keep to a steady pace of between 7:50 and 8:00 min/miles. They felt very comfortable and I got to mile 9 feeling good and feeling like I was running within myself.
However, I'd made my first and probably most crucial mistake by now. Although I didn't feel thirsty I took my first drink and gel at mile 7. Halfway through mile 9 I felt a spasm in my right quad muscle. Every time I raised my knee too high, or on the slight downhills it would spasm. I had to ease off and alter my running gait so as not to get the twitches!
By mile 14 the spasms had progressed to cramping in the quad. I had to stop and stretch which gave me some respite but before too long it was back. In the last 12 miles I stopped 6 times.
To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I stopped looking at my watch and so had no idea what my time or distance was.
I knew up ahead I had family & friends who were waiting for me so had to keep going at least until I saw them. At mile 17 it was great to see my mate Andy with Ruth and her two nephews. They were so encouraging but mentally I was thinking this is terrible and is only going to get worse.
It was then onto mile 22 where Susan and the family were waiting. I was really thinking this is the pits as I approached them but they gave me a couple of sweeties, a hug and enough encouragement not to give up. At that point I honestly wanted to chuck it in. I had no idea what the time was but I knew my pace was grim and I was stopping ever couple of miles when the cramps became unbearable.
On the way up Embankment I knew I had to just dig in an keep it going. I started thinking about family, friends, sponsors, why I was running and anything to detach me from the feelings of disappointment.
Getting through to the final few hundred yards was a relief. All of a sudden the finish is in front of you and it's a short run from Buckingham Palace to the finish.
On finishing it was off to the Phab meeting area. One of the perks of running for Phab was the provision of physios and a massage. I limped in and was ushered to a massage table where a big South African got to work on me. After 5 mins he calls over the team leader and then the two of them are on me. My quad is shot but the worry is my calf which is twitching away and cramping up. I'm given electrolytes to chew and the lads, now with 2 students getting a lesson on whatever the medical condition affecting my calf was.
Seems that my attempts to protect my quads had me overworking my calf which is still going into cramps as I sit here.
Cramp isn't something I've ever struggled with so I think it was down to my hydration and leaving it to mile 7 for my first drink was the issue. I'm gutted that a schoolboy error led to a torrid second half of the race.
On reflection I am amazed that I only ended up losing 20mins on my target. I genuinely felt that I was crawling and giving up significant time when I stopped.
So tonight I'm here with a twitching leg but apart from that I don't feel too bad. I might need to get another marathon in the diary quick so that I can put a few things right.
Tom, on the other hand, had a storming first marathon, finishing with 3hrs 12mins. Awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment