Run > Race

I have finally managed to upload this run after a really nice week in Tenerife. I uploaded the run by GPX and this has given me the kilometre splits for the run. I had tried to lap my Garmin at every mile marker, but there were quite a few markers missing, so I thought the splits would look unclear. These splits give me a much clearer indication of how the run went!

The run went really well for about 20 miles. I was really enjoying the run and the conditions were good. I went through half way in 1.42.15 and at this point I thought I could keep it up for the whole marathon. I think began to struggle around 15 miles, but I managed to run through it and I actually felt really good at 19 miles.

The wall came back though and my legs felt exhausted as I went over the 20 miles mat. I went through here at about 2.38, so knew I had around 50 minutes to get through the last 10k and beat 3.30. I could see this was going to be difficult though. I tried to struggle on, but I felt I had no option to walk just before 21 miles. I then tried to run whenever I could for as long as I could.

At 23 miles things got a bit worse, as my right hamstring, and then my left cramped really badly. I literally couldn't walk when this happened and a spectator told me to lie down and tried to stretch out my hamstrings. I then struggled to get up and continued cramping as I hobbled off! By mile 25 I worked out a shuffle technique which meant that my hamstrings were able to hold it together slightly better. I was really happy to see the finish line having taken an hour to complete the last 10k.

Obviously I was really disappointed not to break 3.30. This was a target that looked accessible for such long stretches of the run. I'm not sure what more I could have done in training and I know these last few miles are always going to be brutal. It is by far the best marathon that I have run (I went through half way in London in 1.42 as well). I held it together as well as I could and I just didn't have the legs to break 3.30.

My plan now is to work towards the Belvoir Nearly Half Ironman, before the Outlaw IM at the end of July. I definitely need to get out on the bike a lot, as this will obviously have a huge impact on my finish time. Once I have completed these two races I will have to consider what I WANT to train for next. I think that this may involve some shorter distance races (5k and 10k), as these seem to be my stronger events.

Split Summary
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1) 1km - 4:59(4:59/km)
2) 1km - 4:48(4:48/km)
3) 1km - 4:55(4:55/km)
4) 1km - 4:47(4:47/km)
5) 1km - 4:57(4:57/km)
6) 1km - 4:53(4:53/km)
7) 1km - 4:48(4:48/km)
8) 1km - 4:42(4:42/km)
9) 1km - 4:56(4:56/km)
10) 1km - 4:49(4:49/km)
11) 1km - 4:47(4:47/km)
12) 1km - 5:06(5:06/km)
13) 1km - 4:46(4:46/km)
14) 1km - 4:38(4:38/km)
15) 1km - 4:49(4:49/km)
16) 1km - 4:58(4:58/km)
17) 1km - 4:54(4:54/km)
18) 1km - 4:54(4:54/km)
19) 1km - 4:53(4:53/km)
20) 1km - 4:55(4:55/km)
21) 1km - 4:52(4:52/km)
22) 1km - 4:46(4:46/km)
23) 1km - 5:01(5:01/km)
24) 1km - 4:59(4:59/km)
25) 1km - 4:54(4:54/km)
26) 1km - 4:56(4:56/km)
27) 1km - 4:56(4:56/km)
28) 1km - 4:56(4:56/km)
29) 1km - 4:55(4:55/km)
30) 1km - 5:05(5:05/km)
31) 1km - 5:30(5:30/km)
32) 1km - 5:02(5:02/km)
33) 1km - 5:09(5:09/km)
34) 1km - 6:09(6:09/km)
35) 1km - 6:46(6:46/km)
36) 1km - 6:26(6:26/km)
37) 1km - 6:24(6:24/km)
38) 1km - 7:25(7:25/km)
39) 1km - 6:13(6:13/km)
40) 1km - 6:06(6:06/km)
41) 1km - 5:52(5:52/km)
42) 0.93km - 5:08(5:33/km)