My trek up to Chester started on Saturday, leaving behind the
family of wife and 4 year and almost 2year old kids. At least
the marathon guaranteed a good night's sleep but perhaps running a
marathon is not the only way to achieve this!
This year had been all about this marathon with my only other
race events two 10k runs and a half marathon, virtually no cycling
or swimming. The year before had been a similar affair with
three marathons Brighton (3hrs 24 and too hot), Beachy Head (4:09:
too off-road and hilly) and Portsmouth (3:34 - too cold and unfit).
I was really concerned that getting close to my pb of 3.10 (set at
Rome in 2006) was a lost cause. But I figured I 'd give it another
go. So all the eggs had been placed in the basket a long time ago
and I was hoping to crack sub-3 hour into the equation.
Early start as usual - with the upside of having kids is that
waking at 6am without interrupted sleep meant that I was feeling
the most refreshed I'd been in a long time. Small bowl of porridge
and a banana 3 hours before race start then it was off to Chester
Racecourse for the start. The organisers had a lot right - warm
tents to hang around in - check. Excellent baggage drop - check.
Lots of portaloos - no check (luckily that side of things was
already sorted).
Race start was on the Chester Racecourse itself and literally
entailed ducking under the white metal rail onto the horse racing
course. It felt a bit strange to be at the front - after the
marathon fails last year was I really even wise to step into the
sub-3 area with others? But I figured that there is no use
predetermining the outcome by being conservative and choosing a
slower time. And knew I should be there or thereabouts after
a 1:25 half marathon the month before. So with the elite
thoroughbreds at the front, and the club runners around me I was
banking on not being the pantomime horse in my bit.
The town crier got us started with an oh-yay and a horn and we
did a half lap of the racecourse on the grass (fortunately they
don't start a marathon in Aintree!). The course then weaved around
Chester city centre past the famous clock tower, the cathedral and
the tiered olde worlde shops called the Rows. Soon we were out of
the Chester part of the marathon. In reality the majority of
the course was on rural roads held across the border in Wales.
I settled into a group regularly doing sub-6.30 to 6.40 times
and figured that this would be the one to hang onto. The first half
of the course was fairly flat with some gentle undulations but
nothing noticeable when feeling fresh. I was happy with the
pace, but dropped off this group eventually towards the halfway
point as the main people doing the work in the bunch suddenly
dropped their pace. I was through the half marathon point
exactly at 1.28. Slightly ahead of pace and only 2 ½ minutes
off my half pb.
The next section of the race was when the going started to get
tough however and the course became more undulating. I was
holding the pace at the right speed (6.50 for sub-3), but it was
really tough going as the field was much sparser by now. Some
nice if sporadic support along the very rural route and Wallace and
Gromit music in a village was great. There was a couple of
hills along this point that were absolute killers (not in terms of
normal running) but when trying to stay on pace (not possible) and
to get back onto my average pace after they finished they were real
mental challenges. Eventually I passed the 20 mile point
seemingly at 2.15 (new pb for this distance). I now had 45 minutes
for 6.2 miles to get sub 3. But unfortunately the course and my
body had other ideas. A succession of uphill drags meant that
I was losing on average 30 seconds per mile and my body was giving
the early warnings of cramp. The mind games were now in full
swing - every time I started thinking negative I tried to keep it
within the moment - just keep pushing on and ignore everything
else.
Normally I get a bit of adrenaline at the end of a marathon and
my pace picks up again, but the threat of cramp became real as my
hamstring went for a full blown lock out that stopped me in my
tracks. I didn't hang around to stretch it out however and carried
on a downhill section breaking occasionally into the monty python
ministry of silly runs onto the final riverside section, which led
into the Racecourse. Unfortunately, the bridge I thought
signalled the entry to the stadium was another ½ mile away but I
continued on at some sort of pace. Finally the course came
into sight and it was back onto the grass race course for a final
push to get under the 3.03 mark. Final official chip time was
3.02.50, nearly 8 minutes of my time from six years ago. And some
proof that I haven't peaked yet! On the plus side, it will also
allow me to qualify for the Boston Marathon either for 2013 or
2014, which is another tick on my bucket list!!!
Unfortunately, not quite sub 3 and 2 minutes 50 secs is also just
too near to the sub-3 that I now have to try for it again.grrrrr!
Overall, I was very pleased with the time but with a sense of
unfinished business.
For those interested in my training
schedule:
Started training consciously 8 months ahead of the race.
Longest weeks were no more than a maximum of 50 miles in total,
which I built up to gradually over the 8 months. My longest
run was a misjudged 23 miler but other than that my longest runs
were 20 miles. Each week I did a maximum of 4 runs but many weeks
only 3 runs per week. This often included a long run (12
miles building to 20 miles as the weeks progressed), regular hilly
tempo run off-road - 8 miles, faster short run (6 miles with some
extended intervals), occasionally a 10 mile run or a treadmill
session but each week was judged according to niggles, workload,
family commitments etc. Part of my training was entering races,
which were essential as gauges of being on track plus a nice
intermediate goal along the way.
It is also worth mentioning my footwear, as I used my Inov-8
F-lites, which are 195 gramme shoes. These are among the most
minimalist shoes out there and, compared to 'marathon' shoes I have
used in the past, I can honestly say that I feel no worse on the
day after than in any other shoes. Also, no blisters at all
or black toes. I have been running in fairly minimalist shoes over
shorter distances for years, so I think that I am now fully
conditioned for them, but it shows that they can really work at any
distance. It's about all about fitness, conditioning and technique
and not support shoes.
Club Records click here
