I did it!

A big thanks to all who sponsored me and gave me encouragement to run another marathon.

Last years time – 4:38:29

This year’s target time – Sub 4 hours

Actual time – 4:22:31

Improvement – 15:58 minutes!

What a race!  Everything was on track for around 4 hours until mile 19!   I felt comfortable with the pace and I was focussed and determined………….Then the wheels fell off and my speed reduced massively. (Over 3 minutes per mile slower) My legs were dead and painful!  The dreaded “wall” – the point at which your muscles and liver have exhausted all glycogen fuel and your power is greatly reduced.

 
I also hit the wall last year later at mile 22 but tricked myself into thinking that I’d done enough preparation to avoid it until later in the race or even completely this year.  When I hit it at only mile 19 with still 7 miles to go I could hardly believe it! 

I’m well built and not a typical light long distance runner so when my muscles run low on power the effect can be quite dramatic as it was this time. 

Trying to run 7 miles on dead legs takes some doing!

I shuffled the last 7 miles watching the clock tick by.  People that had run along side me in the first half finished in 3:48, 3:50 and 4:10.

Don’t ever underestimate the effect your support had on me.   Your support helped me particularly through those last 7 miles.

So what now?    Well now it’s back to the drawing board once again and more of the same – lose 10kg, learn to run faster and do less shuffling and more “Quality” miles.

I didn't get into the London Marathon - BUT I am first reserve at the running club so will start marathon training again 1st Jan just in case someone drops out.  If I don't run London then I will probably aim to do another marathon in the summer because I find it easier to train during the spring and summer months (Light nights and mornings)

If you think doing a marathon or two a year is nuts – think of the guys in the 100 Marathon club – They’ve all done at least 100 Marathons and one that I chatted to –Martin has done over 400 marathons!  One of our group this year completed her 100th.

I chatted to some of the guys that were running the triple – 3 marathons in 3 days of which Dublin is the third.  Extraordinarily they tended to improve on their times and Dublin was the fastest marathon for each of them.