Training Log Archive: bendoverIn the 7 days ending Apr 23, 2012:
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Monday Apr 23, 2012 #
10 PM
Note
(rest day)
A rest day, but fairly busy as I had to help hang my exhibition, do an hours artist talk and launch my new book; so was pretty busy from 2pm-9pm. Managed to squeeze a couple of beers in though!
Legs pretty crappy in the morning, but feeling a bit more mobile this evening. Going downstairs still an issue, but haven't had to resort to going down backwards yet! Cannot wait to go to bed tonight; didn't sleep great last night.
Legs pretty crappy in the morning, but feeling a bit more mobile this evening. Going downstairs still an issue, but haven't had to resort to going down backwards yet! Cannot wait to go to bed tonight; didn't sleep great last night.
Sunday Apr 22, 2012 #
Event: Virgin London Marathon
9 AM
road running race 2:56:51 [4] 26.54 mi (6:40 / mi) +147m 6:33 / mi
shoes: Asics DS Trainer 16
it's going to be pretty hard to write a report from today that covers the range of emotions, highs and lows that i went through; for those reading this who have run a marathon before (probably a fair number of you!) then you probably don't need me to describe it for you, but for those who have never done one, i'll give it a go.
i spoke to RobB last night for a bit of a pep talk, and he told me that he wishes he could have his first marathon back, because the whole experience is so special; I now know what he means!
saturday night was good, i watched a movie (frost/nixon - brilliant!) which made 8-10pm fly by, and was in bed by 10.30. slept pretty damn well, and was awake at 5.10am before my alarm went off a 5.30.
pre race routine was good, had my hard boiled egg first, then cereal, yoghurt and toast with jam. then carefully wrote out my goal pace 2 mile splits on my forearm. this proved to be really useful, thanks RobB/Kitch for reccomending this.
travelling to Blackheath was pretty easy - 6.56am train from Teddington, an easy transfer to Waterloo East and I was in Blackheath by 08.15; I had a team photo with other Bliss Charity runners at 8.30, then made my way into the pen for the blue start; queued for about twenty minutes for the loos, then i was into the start area half an hour before the start. i had to duck out for a piss ten minutes before the gun, but the marshals were cool and let me jump out of the front of pen 2, and back in again to the same position. my fears about a lack of good runners in pen 2 proved to be unfounded - i could see just from looking around that most of the people around me were decent runners.
I got chatting with a guy next to me called Alex who was running for cancer research - it turned out that he was aiming to run 2.56, and to churn out 6.45/mile, exactly as I was planning - we agreed to run together and try hold a steady pace instead of going off too quickly.
We crossed the start line 30 secs after the gun, and i started my stopwatch on the line. it was really crowded in the first mile, which as Kitch suggested was a good thing; I definitely had loads of adrenaline, as it felt very slow; I didn't try to overtake anyone or weave in and out of the crowds, so I was surprised when the first mile was run in just over 7 minutes. The next 2.5 miles were pretty much downhill, so these flew by; already I was feeling the benefit of having my name on my vest - every 3rd spectator was shouting my name out! When we turned the corner to head west just before mile 4, I had a quick word with Alex and suggested that we slow the pace a touch. I'm really glad that we did this. At around 5-6 miles I could feel the top of my right hamstring a little bit, which was worrying but I decided it was best just to not think about it.
the crowds started building up as we moved towards Greenwich, and Cutty Sark was the first big highlight of the day; I'd promised myself that I would milk the crowds and Cutty Sark and Tower Bridge - the volume was amazing! I got my game face back on after that excitement, and got back into my rhythm pretty quickly. Passing through Deptford around Mile 8, Alex and I got a really loud shout out from a DJ Booth on the roof of a pub, absolutely brilliant! I began to feel quite hot around here, it was a relief that there was a shower point; I made a point of using all of these on the way.
Mile 9, around Canada Water, was super busy with loud crowds for about 500-600m. I saw my parents, housemates and Brooner here which was awesome.
Through 9,10 and 11 it quietened down a bit through Surrey Quays; after the adrenaline of Cutty Sark this was a blessing to be honest as it gave me a chance to consolidate my rhythm and settle down a bit. The atmosphere picked up again as we headed towards mile 12 and Tower Bridge - It was good to see more friends here (my old housemate Simon, and some of my friends from Edinburgh University). Crossing Tower Bridge was just something else - the volume, the setting. just amazing.
Halfway point was just after Tower Bridge, and I had my first problems here - a weird one, but as we passed under the halfway mark I found myself really struggling to hold back the tears! 13 miles too early! this disrupted my breathing a little bit and i had to pull myself together, but it came on again at 14 miles when I passed the Bliss Charity volunteers and supporters! ridiculous, but i guess it was just a follow up reaction from the adrenaline of the previous few miles.
Things started to get tough around 15 miles; Passing James Cracknell at 16 miles gave me a bit of a boost, but miles 17-19 were a real struggle and were the low point of the race for me; I started to have stomach problems around here and gave Alex the heads up that if we were to pass a toilet I was going to have to stop and leave him to it. Chat dried up at this point and I pretty much had to put my head down and concentrate on holding a pace that was at least somewhere near my race pace. I got lucky during this section though; no toilets appeared, and not long after the 19 mile marker my stomach problems went away; I saw supporters from SLOW around here, and began to realise that i had broken through my bad patch.
I was still with Alex at this point, but between 20 and 21 miles I could sense that he was falling off my shoulder; I gave him some encouragement, but ultimately had to push on as I was feeling comfortable and strong now; I kept a metronomic pace, and as I went through 22 miles I began to realise that I was passing people continuously without anyone coming past me. This was a great feeling; I was in a total zone, ignoring the aches and pains and just pounding out a rhythmical footfall.
The gospel choir just after mile 24 was amazing and put a huge grin on my face for the first time since mile 19, and when I saw Big Ben for the first time I knew that I was almost home, and barring some kind of major disaster my sub 3 was on; the big question was could I reach my dream time of 2.56?
I saw my parents and friends again as I rounded the corner by Westminster - I barely registered them to be honest as by this point I was feeling the strain; I saw one more friend (photographer for Water Aid) on Birdcage Walk, but shortly after this I properly hit the wall - my chest tightened, breathing suddenly went all over the place, and everything was hurting; However I knew how close I was and was able to just run on nothing more than adrenaline; as I rounded the corner onto the Mall and could see the finish, the clock was ticking down and I mustered some kind of sprint finish to duck under the 2.57 mark. I have never been as exhausted after a race!! I was on my hands and knees pretty much immediately after finishing, but good on the volunteers who dragged me up and got me walking again. Shed a few tears as i got handed my medal, and the walk out of the finish area after collecting my bag seemed to take an age;
A bit more of a cry when I met my parents out the other side, and then back to the Bliss Charity hotel (super plush!) for an interview, massage and shower. brilliant! treated like a proper hero!
The pub afterwards was great, thanks Jayne for organising that. It was good to see some happy orienteers, and PaulC being philosophical and positive after unfortunately having to pull out. I was gutted for him.
Looking back over my split times, I'm happy that I executed my race plan, which was to run slightly faster than 3hr pace, to give myself a cushion to fall back on in case of disaster; that I hit the wall with only 600m to go was partly good fortune, but ultimately a result of training consistently and sensibly since the new year, and having the base fitness to deal with tough patches earlier in the race. Having the mental strength from the tune up races was a big help as well.
time diff
5K 00:20:37 20:37
10K 00:41:29 20:52
15K 01:02:36 21:07
20K 01:23:31 20:55
HALF 01:28:05 04:34
25K 01:44:25 16:20
30K 02:05:42 21:17
35K 02:26:52 21:10
40K 02:47:42 20:50
finish time 02:56:51 09:09
without a doubt one of the top running experiences of my life; only British Orienteering Champs 1999 comes close, although for different reasons. To have devoted so much time and effort to one goal, and then for it to work out on the day, it just feels amazing. I'm really glad that there were some tough bits on the day as well; it was distressing and uncomfortable at the time, but in retrospect it makes my time so much sweeter.
mission next year? beat Nell McAndrew?!
endnote: I waited around at the finish for Alex, who I ran the first 19 miles with; I was really hoping that he would break his 3hr goal, but it was too busy and I was shafted, so hobbled on. I managed to find him in the results this morning and he got 2.58.07 - I'm delighted for him!
http://results-2012.virginlondonmarathon.com/2012/...
i spoke to RobB last night for a bit of a pep talk, and he told me that he wishes he could have his first marathon back, because the whole experience is so special; I now know what he means!
saturday night was good, i watched a movie (frost/nixon - brilliant!) which made 8-10pm fly by, and was in bed by 10.30. slept pretty damn well, and was awake at 5.10am before my alarm went off a 5.30.
pre race routine was good, had my hard boiled egg first, then cereal, yoghurt and toast with jam. then carefully wrote out my goal pace 2 mile splits on my forearm. this proved to be really useful, thanks RobB/Kitch for reccomending this.
travelling to Blackheath was pretty easy - 6.56am train from Teddington, an easy transfer to Waterloo East and I was in Blackheath by 08.15; I had a team photo with other Bliss Charity runners at 8.30, then made my way into the pen for the blue start; queued for about twenty minutes for the loos, then i was into the start area half an hour before the start. i had to duck out for a piss ten minutes before the gun, but the marshals were cool and let me jump out of the front of pen 2, and back in again to the same position. my fears about a lack of good runners in pen 2 proved to be unfounded - i could see just from looking around that most of the people around me were decent runners.
I got chatting with a guy next to me called Alex who was running for cancer research - it turned out that he was aiming to run 2.56, and to churn out 6.45/mile, exactly as I was planning - we agreed to run together and try hold a steady pace instead of going off too quickly.
We crossed the start line 30 secs after the gun, and i started my stopwatch on the line. it was really crowded in the first mile, which as Kitch suggested was a good thing; I definitely had loads of adrenaline, as it felt very slow; I didn't try to overtake anyone or weave in and out of the crowds, so I was surprised when the first mile was run in just over 7 minutes. The next 2.5 miles were pretty much downhill, so these flew by; already I was feeling the benefit of having my name on my vest - every 3rd spectator was shouting my name out! When we turned the corner to head west just before mile 4, I had a quick word with Alex and suggested that we slow the pace a touch. I'm really glad that we did this. At around 5-6 miles I could feel the top of my right hamstring a little bit, which was worrying but I decided it was best just to not think about it.
the crowds started building up as we moved towards Greenwich, and Cutty Sark was the first big highlight of the day; I'd promised myself that I would milk the crowds and Cutty Sark and Tower Bridge - the volume was amazing! I got my game face back on after that excitement, and got back into my rhythm pretty quickly. Passing through Deptford around Mile 8, Alex and I got a really loud shout out from a DJ Booth on the roof of a pub, absolutely brilliant! I began to feel quite hot around here, it was a relief that there was a shower point; I made a point of using all of these on the way.
Mile 9, around Canada Water, was super busy with loud crowds for about 500-600m. I saw my parents, housemates and Brooner here which was awesome.
Through 9,10 and 11 it quietened down a bit through Surrey Quays; after the adrenaline of Cutty Sark this was a blessing to be honest as it gave me a chance to consolidate my rhythm and settle down a bit. The atmosphere picked up again as we headed towards mile 12 and Tower Bridge - It was good to see more friends here (my old housemate Simon, and some of my friends from Edinburgh University). Crossing Tower Bridge was just something else - the volume, the setting. just amazing.
Halfway point was just after Tower Bridge, and I had my first problems here - a weird one, but as we passed under the halfway mark I found myself really struggling to hold back the tears! 13 miles too early! this disrupted my breathing a little bit and i had to pull myself together, but it came on again at 14 miles when I passed the Bliss Charity volunteers and supporters! ridiculous, but i guess it was just a follow up reaction from the adrenaline of the previous few miles.
Things started to get tough around 15 miles; Passing James Cracknell at 16 miles gave me a bit of a boost, but miles 17-19 were a real struggle and were the low point of the race for me; I started to have stomach problems around here and gave Alex the heads up that if we were to pass a toilet I was going to have to stop and leave him to it. Chat dried up at this point and I pretty much had to put my head down and concentrate on holding a pace that was at least somewhere near my race pace. I got lucky during this section though; no toilets appeared, and not long after the 19 mile marker my stomach problems went away; I saw supporters from SLOW around here, and began to realise that i had broken through my bad patch.
I was still with Alex at this point, but between 20 and 21 miles I could sense that he was falling off my shoulder; I gave him some encouragement, but ultimately had to push on as I was feeling comfortable and strong now; I kept a metronomic pace, and as I went through 22 miles I began to realise that I was passing people continuously without anyone coming past me. This was a great feeling; I was in a total zone, ignoring the aches and pains and just pounding out a rhythmical footfall.
The gospel choir just after mile 24 was amazing and put a huge grin on my face for the first time since mile 19, and when I saw Big Ben for the first time I knew that I was almost home, and barring some kind of major disaster my sub 3 was on; the big question was could I reach my dream time of 2.56?
I saw my parents and friends again as I rounded the corner by Westminster - I barely registered them to be honest as by this point I was feeling the strain; I saw one more friend (photographer for Water Aid) on Birdcage Walk, but shortly after this I properly hit the wall - my chest tightened, breathing suddenly went all over the place, and everything was hurting; However I knew how close I was and was able to just run on nothing more than adrenaline; as I rounded the corner onto the Mall and could see the finish, the clock was ticking down and I mustered some kind of sprint finish to duck under the 2.57 mark. I have never been as exhausted after a race!! I was on my hands and knees pretty much immediately after finishing, but good on the volunteers who dragged me up and got me walking again. Shed a few tears as i got handed my medal, and the walk out of the finish area after collecting my bag seemed to take an age;
A bit more of a cry when I met my parents out the other side, and then back to the Bliss Charity hotel (super plush!) for an interview, massage and shower. brilliant! treated like a proper hero!
The pub afterwards was great, thanks Jayne for organising that. It was good to see some happy orienteers, and PaulC being philosophical and positive after unfortunately having to pull out. I was gutted for him.
Looking back over my split times, I'm happy that I executed my race plan, which was to run slightly faster than 3hr pace, to give myself a cushion to fall back on in case of disaster; that I hit the wall with only 600m to go was partly good fortune, but ultimately a result of training consistently and sensibly since the new year, and having the base fitness to deal with tough patches earlier in the race. Having the mental strength from the tune up races was a big help as well.
time diff
5K 00:20:37 20:37
10K 00:41:29 20:52
15K 01:02:36 21:07
20K 01:23:31 20:55
HALF 01:28:05 04:34
25K 01:44:25 16:20
30K 02:05:42 21:17
35K 02:26:52 21:10
40K 02:47:42 20:50
finish time 02:56:51 09:09
without a doubt one of the top running experiences of my life; only British Orienteering Champs 1999 comes close, although for different reasons. To have devoted so much time and effort to one goal, and then for it to work out on the day, it just feels amazing. I'm really glad that there were some tough bits on the day as well; it was distressing and uncomfortable at the time, but in retrospect it makes my time so much sweeter.
mission next year? beat Nell McAndrew?!
endnote: I waited around at the finish for Alex, who I ran the first 19 miles with; I was really hoping that he would break his 3hr goal, but it was too busy and I was shafted, so hobbled on. I managed to find him in the results this morning and he got 2.58.07 - I'm delighted for him!
http://results-2012.virginlondonmarathon.com/2012/...
Saturday Apr 21, 2012 #
7 AM
trail running 31:44 [2] 3.31 mi (9:36 / mi) +2m 9:35 / mi
shoes: Asics GT 2160
marathon training over.
Friday Apr 20, 2012 #
6 AM
trail running 43:25 [2] 4.93 mi (8:48 / mi) +1m 8:48 / mi
shoes: Asics GT 2160
9 AM
Note
Easy 5 miles and strides this morning, top of right hammy a little tight and a few other small niggles but otherwise all good.
Registered for the marathon last night at a busy Excel centre, the expo is pretty cool. Picked up a signed copy of Adharanand Finn's 'Running With The Kenyans', some cut price gels for Sundays race and some rehydration tabs. Listened to Martin Yellings motivational lecture and Chris McManus on race day nutrition. Both worthwhile and engaging.
Only downer is that I didn't manage to get allocated a spot in Pen #1 - which in theory means that I'll have 5000 runners starting in front of me, 4000 of whom could well be slower. Tough shit, I'll just have to stay level headed and not waste any energy battling over the first couple of miles.
Registered for the marathon last night at a busy Excel centre, the expo is pretty cool. Picked up a signed copy of Adharanand Finn's 'Running With The Kenyans', some cut price gels for Sundays race and some rehydration tabs. Listened to Martin Yellings motivational lecture and Chris McManus on race day nutrition. Both worthwhile and engaging.
Only downer is that I didn't manage to get allocated a spot in Pen #1 - which in theory means that I'll have 5000 runners starting in front of me, 4000 of whom could well be slower. Tough shit, I'll just have to stay level headed and not waste any energy battling over the first couple of miles.
Wednesday Apr 18, 2012 #
6 PM
trail running 49:50 [3] 6.41 mi (7:46 / mi) +13m 7:44 / mi
shoes: Asics GT 2160
I've been using Pete Pfitzinger's 'Advanced Marathoning' book for my VLM training (thanks RobB); tonights run was the last key session before the race, and is described as the 'Dress Rehearsal' - a 7 mile run (okay I did 6.4) with 2 miles at race pace.
I've been really struggling to get a handle on my race pace and how it feels, so really wanted to tonight to go well, and I'm pleased to say it did; it's the first time that I've really settled into a 6.45/mile rhythm quickly and comfortably. First 1/2 mile felt too easy and I had to concentrate to keep the speed down, but once I had settled, things felt good. A good confidence boost for Sunday.
I've been really struggling to get a handle on my race pace and how it feels, so really wanted to tonight to go well, and I'm pleased to say it did; it's the first time that I've really settled into a 6.45/mile rhythm quickly and comfortably. First 1/2 mile felt too easy and I had to concentrate to keep the speed down, but once I had settled, things felt good. A good confidence boost for Sunday.
Tuesday Apr 17, 2012 #
7 AM
trail running 50:46 [2] 6.37 mi (7:58 / mi) +13m 7:55 / mi
shoes: Asics GT 2160
9 AM
Note
Ran 6 easy miles this morning, felt ok if a little heavy legged. Dreamt that I missed the start last night. Apparently that's standard.
Hope the weather isn't like this on Sunday - cold, wet and windy. Basically minging!
Hope the weather isn't like this on Sunday - cold, wet and windy. Basically minging!