I don’t really know where to start but hindsight is a wonderful thing; weeks ago, I was hoping for a PB and thought I could achieve it; following a disastrous Chippenham half marathon, my confidence plummeted and all thoughts of a PB went out of the window. I got so stressed during the days immediately prior to the race that I thought I might just finish inside of 3.45. Even on the Saturday morning at parkrun, I was struggling and heavy breathing at 8mm – slower than perceived goal marathon place. However, constantly eating from the Wednesday to the Sunday and a good rest Saturday afternoon obviously did the trick and I was feeling much brighter on Sunday morning. By then, there’s really no turning back – it’s do or die!
Marathon Morning
Stuart and I were awake from 3.30am and up at 4am; plenty of time to get ourselves organised though we’d already set our kit out the night before and got the after-race bag ready. An easy 2M walk to the start and I left Stuart at the orange start to make my way to the blue start. I got chatting to a lady from Berkhamsted who was equally nervous and we chatted all things running, marathons etc. A long loo queue was stressful but we did manage to sneak into our Corral by 7.20am and at 7.30am the first elite runners started (the wheelchair athletes had started slightly earlier). Our Corral moved forward and I started running at 7.52am. I have always previously just decided to run at 8mm as I was always so scared of blowing up towards the end – far too cautious for my own good. So, for once in my life, I decided to be brave, and run to feel instead of running to pace. I knew the first few miles were going to be tricky getting the pace right as I’d been warned GPS does not pick up due to the tall buildings so not to try to rely on the watch. Easier said than done and my watch told me my third mile was 6.57 which was faster than I wanted so I did slow. Thereafter, I only looked at my watch at the end of each mile and was pleased generally to see around the 7.36 pace. I did occasionally wonder about dropping off at the end, but decided I’d deal with that if/when it came. During the race a few things kept me going and not get distracted/slow down; Gel every 5M, plus one at the start; may change this for Boston to every 5M until 15, then 18 and 23 to finish. Timing mats every 5K for friends to be able to track me; Gatorade and water stations very frequently – I alternated between the two each time, occasionally taking both at the same time on the go, but being careful here as potential to slip. Sticking to the blue line and concentrating to not bump into slower runners ahead. It was funny because towards the end I passed a 3.25 pacer, a 3.20 pacer, a 3.15 pacer who was walking and a 3.40 pacer! There were a few small bridges to go over (they were really small) but a lot of them have metal bases so the organisers put carpet down but not the full width. On a couple of the bridges, the blue line wasn’t on the carpet so a real dilemma as to whether to stay on the blue line or move to the carpet – I stuck to the blue line and took extra care! (for those who are not aware, the blue line is there to follow where possible as that’s the “official racing line” – deviate from that and you’ll definitely run more than 26.2)!!
At mile 17, the crowds thinned and we had a bit of quiet – the noise is good but the break was much needed and relished. But by 18M, the crowds were back. One of my London friends had messaged me the day before to say he would be in the crowd and looking out for me, amongst other friends. I didn’t believe for a moment I’d see/hear him, but would you believe it I did – twice!! That was a real boost; about mile 3 and about mile 21.
I went through halfway in 1.42 (a little quicker than normal, but not massively). For me, the maths tends to start at mile 20. With 10K to go, what time is it now, how long will it realistically take to finish, how are the legs, is there still enough room to avoid weaving too much (to stay on the blue line and how many people are walking on the blue line); I remember glancing at my watch and seeing 2.33 and trying to work out how much longer I’d be on my feet. If I could stick to under 8mm then that be about 48 minutes, so would see me come in around 3.21. I had hope! At mile 23 I thought about another gel but my body wasn’t quite ready but I could feel myself slowing down but not being able to do anything about it. It was just a case of pushing forward as best as I could, looking forwards and keeping an eye out for the next mile marker and the next… I needed energy so by 23.5 I took my last gel and tried to keep an even pace. This is the only part of the course where it doubles back on itself so on one part you’re seeing the runners in front of you, and then on the switch-back you could see those behind you. I tried so hard not to fall behind and to be fair, I was still passing people but just could not achieve 7.35/40.
Next, an odd thing happened that I’d never seen before in any marathon, let alone an Abbott World Series one; I knew I was still on mile 24 but I saw a sign that said 400m to go. I know I’m not making it up because Stuart saw it also. I thought it a bit odd but convinced myself my watch was right and the marker was simply in the wrong place – bit of a rookie error by the organisers. I felt really sorry for a woman who was being paced by a male who saw the sign and shouted, “come on, only 400m to go and sprinted off”. Of course I was dreaming; it was 400m to the marker that then proclaimed “1 mile from here”! So I knew that was it, gritted my teeth and just wanted to finish. I wasn’t in any pain, I wasn’t sore but I wanted to finish before I slowed down any further. Progress, I saw the 800m marker, turned the corner, saw the 400m marker and my heart sank; there was a climb! Not a massive climb but at that stage of the race, it might have well as been Mount Everest! Move the arms I said to myself, the legs will follow. Slight downhill for the last 200m and that was it, I was over the line. Not the 3.21 I thought I might possibly get (who am I kidding?); not the 3.23 I’ve always believed I could achieve, but still extraordinarily happy with 3.24.14, a shiny new PB at the age of 53, 8 years after my last PB at London of 3.25.03.
So, my comment about hindsight in the opening paragraph; I knew to expect the GPS not to kick in for a few miles however, I still looked at it and thought I was running too fast when I saw a 6.57 3rd mile and so slowed down. That was an error. If I’d have just had a bit more faith in those opening miles, even up to the 10K mark, I may have got a 3.23. something. But I didn’t, and who knows anyway. But I have faith I will run like this again. Boston is my next stop and whilst I know there are hills well into the race (mile 17, ½ long, mile 19, short but steep and repeats, into mile 20 Heartbreak Hill is a steep, half-mile trek uphill at a 3.3 percent incline). So nice to know at least!! Some people say the hills are not that bad and a couple of people I know have their PB set there. So who knows…
For those of you interested in stats:
3rd GB lady in my age category (the other two finishing in 3.23);
34th lady overall in my age category
55th GB lady overall in all age categories
1791 lady to finish
9581 finisher from over 52,150 runners.
Good
Finishing where you started meant it was easy to collect your bag as it was where you’d left it with the volunteers.
Clear guidance about where you needed to start.
Plenty of Gatorade/water stations and lots of volunteers to hand out the water.
5K mats to relay your race information to followers.
Enough room to run without being hemmed in (unlike the other big city marathons where there are too many runners).
Barriers to keep spectators off the course (unlike NY where spectators were so close they were stood on the blue line).
Plenty of spectators in general (one quiet spot around 17M which was bliss).
Biofreeze near the end where you could “run in/be spayed/run out” – I didn’t need it but great for those who did.
Free medal engraving at the finish village.
Nike giving away flip flops (though we were in the medal engraving queue so long, they’d run out).
Ice bags at the end.
A few goodies at the end (though I wasn’t aware of all of them).
Could do better
Cups of water and Gatorade offered before going into the Corral but limited to each runner.
Did not see the mile markers in the early stages – were they there?
Blue line was too close to the aid stations and they were slippy underfoot, understandably.
London offer stats about how many runners you’ve passed and how many have passed you during the race – it would be great if Chicago did this too.
Bad
No bottled water at the start.
Not enough portaloos at the start.
Anyone could get into our corral as there were no officials checking bibs.
During the race, some people had pacing bibs on the rear of their shirt so you assumed they were pacers – but they weren’t; that was the time they were aiming for and they were just runners.
