I’ve run 3 Tokyo marathons at 3:52, 3:44, 3:43 and last time was in Dublin at 3:40.
The Manchester marathon was the first time since Dublin 2015 and I haven’t been a good runner for the last 5 years so I was a bit nervous if I could run such a long distance and beat my previous PB, however as I already paid so I had to start training.
I had a chat with Clive at the club and he decided to run his first full marathon with me. Chris was also planning to run Boston at the same season as us and we planned some long distance training together.
I’ve achieved only 65% of the original training plan due to work/family/tiredness/mood.
However additional circuit training, off- road races and 20miles races gave me strength during the 16 weeks training period.
On the race day, start was very smooth and people ran reasonably speedy but Clive and I tried to stick with the plan, we have learnt from the 20 miles races that we tend to run over paced by exciting atmosphere. Our pace was average 8:20/M. But suddenly Clive’s watch became very chatty and repeatedly telling us wrong pace at 5:00/M! So I trusted my watch and Clive’s written pacing memo.
Half point: 1:49:46.
I started to feel on my legs but still managed at consistent pace. But just before 20 miles my watch stopped!! Both of us lost reliable tools to know our time/pace, and after 20 miles a few people around us stopped or walked due to cramped legs. However I just avoid feeling/seeing anything as if I was in a shell, wearing sunglasses worked well for that. I knew my body would react in a bad way if I felt something.
Big brother Clive became my son at this stage.
Last 1 mile was the hardest, it’s nearly there and it gave me more pressure and I came out from the shell and started feeling very miserable. My face was like a gorilla. Probably Clive’s even worse! We crossed the finish line finally.
Jon has finished ONLY 2 minutes before us and was waiting there. We didn’t know our results due to the watch issues.
Official result is 3:40:45.
My previous PB was 3:40:47 (2015)
2 seconds improved!
Full marathon including training is hard but sharing the same experience with mates gave me extra power.
Yuka
Yuka’s pace against the average for the race.
Yuka in full flow.
It’s the green light for go, but I don’t have a clue what mile we are on. I’m sure it’s written down here somewhere…..Help me Yuka!
Clive, Yuka and Chris in a practice race for their respective marathons.