Run > Race

Portsmouth Marathon: 4hr 08:16 Pos: 519/1165

Satisfied with this. All thoughts of racing this for a sub-4 went out of the window when I saw the course and the weather.

With gale force winds, cold rain at the start and a bonkers course, I'm surprised to run 4-08 and feel pretty easy (but tired at the end).

The course was around 21 miles of thick mud and trail with a couple of stretches of shingle and one bit where we had to run through the sea with the water at knee level. It was all a bit silly really, but made for a great long run (but not a race).

Ran with my Camelbak and took gels at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 23 miles.

Remember going through 18 miles saying to myself "I feel pretty good" and I remember going through 22 miles thinking "this is going alright", so I reckon I was in decent shape today.

Sadly, I had a few problems in the last 3 miles with my left knee, which really stiffened up with symptoms of ITBS, but I just plugged on.

The last couple of miles were extremely hard due to the head wind which really knocked me back a few times. It was like running on the spot and I'm not at all surprised with the late mile splits (these include the bit where we had to go for a dip in the sea).

I will now rest the left knee for a few days.

This is a satisfying end to the year and an achievement after 20 months of hip rehab and a couple of months of torn calf rehab.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 8:43(8:43/m) 116cal
2) 1m - 8:36(8:36/m) 119cal
3) 1m - 9:17(9:17/m) 117cal
4) 1m - 9:03(9:03/m) 119cal
5) 1m - 9:27(9:27/m) 120cal
6) 1m - 9:18(9:18/m) 117cal
7) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m) 119cal
8) 1m - 9:00(9:00/m) 118cal
9) 1m - 9:20(9:20/m) 119cal
10) 1m - 9:45(9:45/m) 118cal
11) 1m - 9:01(9:01/m) 119cal
12) 1m - 9:12(9:12/m) 119cal
13) 1m - 9:13(9:13/m) 118cal
14) 1m - 9:11(9:11/m) 120cal
15) 1m - 9:05(9:05/m) 118cal
16) 1m - 9:10(9:10/m) 119cal
17) 1m - 9:33(9:33/m) 118cal
18) 1m - 10:13(10:13/m) 120cal
19) 1m - 9:25(9:25/m) 119cal
20) 1m - 9:34(9:34/m) 119cal
21) 1m - 9:34(9:34/m) 119cal
22) 1m - 9:46(9:46/m) 121cal
23) 1m - 10:04(10:04/m) 120cal
24) 1m - 10:47(10:47/m) 121cal
25) 1m - 11:11(11:11/m) 118cal
26) 1m - 10:25(10:25/m) 122cal
27) 0.2m - 1:37(9:03/m) 20cal

Speed Summary
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Fastest 400m in 2:03
Fastest 800m in 4:12
Fastest 1km in 5:18
Fastest 1200m in 6:21
Fastest mile in 8:30