Yorkshire Marathon 2017

Today was tough, and running a marathon is tough, so it should be tough.  

Over the last few weeks my training has been reasonable - 22 - 23 mile sightseeing run in New York (ok not at pace, but lots of time on the legs) walking the National 3 Peaks last weekend and generally working hard to stay injury free.  I managed a half marathon pb in September, so hoping for a pb today wasn't unrealistic.

This morning the prep had been decent - volunteered at parkrun yesterday to save my legs, good night of sleep, loads of carbs and my ultimate running fuel breakfast of porridge with cashew nut butter and golden syrup.  I did have a cold lingering, but this morning that seemed much better and so I ambitiously plugged a target time of 3 hours 40 to push me to knock off 7 minutes from last year and allow me to achieve Good for Age (3 hours 45) for the future.

We drove to the park and run (well park, ride and run!) and got to the race village in great time.  I had my first toilet stop, left my stuff at baggage drop and walked up to the start area with Alan in our ready to dispose tshirts.  The conditions were great - cool, overcast and not raining!  We made another toilet break about 40 minutes before the start gun and got in our pen - this was my first error.  I always need less time between my last toilet break the start gun and I ended up rushing to the vacant toilet I spotted at mile 5 which cost me about a minute.

Alan and I had discussed what times we would be aiming for and I was going to try for 5 minute 13 second KM average, with faster at the start - around 5 minute KMs and he was going to start off at 5 minute KMs and get faster.  My second error in this race was the temptation to run with the 3 hour 30 pacer who was also a bit fast setting off - I hung on for around 5KM and then both Alan and the pacer disappeared into the horizon.  At this point I felt fine, but I could see my heart rate was a bit high (Alan has had his lactate threshold determined at 157 BPM and we're guessing mine is similar and at this point I was 159, so decided to slow down) I slowed down and comfortably knocked out the miles appreciating the support including pompoms from Tobias (nothing like peer pressure to purchase pompoms!) and the loud HPH collection at mile 5.  My garmin tantalising kept telling me a predicted finish time of 3 hours 23 and I went through 5k at 24 minutes, 10K at 49, 10 miles at 1.22 and half marathon at 1.52.

I made my dash for the toilet when I spotted a green vacant slot on a portaloo and it was about 9 miles into the "harder" bit of the course when it's just country lanes with more sparse support when my right knee started to throb.  My knee has been fine throughout training after my earlier hamstring injury and periformis niggles on my right hand side it was a surprise pain.  I slowed and stretched out, but it continued to hurt.  I then noticed the arch on my right foot was starting to blister so I asked to borrow a marshall's chair and put on a compeed, which didn't really help, because it only stopped half of the arch blistering!

I'm used to marathon's hurting, but usually at meltdown mile 19 - at mile 9 I knew I still had 17 miles to get through and seriously considered pulling out.  I have an unblemished record of always finishing races though and pride/stubborness forced me on.   I limped on (my garmin verifies the limping with my left right balance at a pretty unbalanced 51.5% - 48.5%) and hit the mentally challenging 15 - 19 mile out and back section.  It's great to run past fellow runners and cheer them on, but this only lasts for a few seconds.  I was grateful that Ann and Noel had set up camp in the same motivational spot and cheered me on twice and helped me smile enough for a decent photo at least.  Scott was also a bit further up with a smile and jelly babies that kept me going.  I also spotted Alan and counted the time between us and figured he was on for a good time of at least 20 minutes in front of me.  By the time I got to mile 19 I figured I could walk it to the end if necessary, even if poor Alan would be waiting for me!

The last 7 miles seem a bit of a blur...my garmin estimated a finish time of 4 hours 7 - the Lucy of last year would have been delighted with this time, but knowing the course and what I achieved last year I couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed.   A few similar looking villages with lovely support and more and more country lanes and the sun coming out.  I walk-ran it with my km times flashing up on my garmin at 6.43 and even 8.21 at one point.  Julia caught up to me at one point and said she was aiming for under 4 hours, my garmin had me on track for 4.04 and I knew I'd started in front of her so wished her good luck and she disappeared into the distance. I loved seeing a huge gaggle of HPHs at mile 21 (in fact I definitely heard them all before I saw them!) and grabbed some jelly babies off Caroline after much fumbling and declaring "it's ok I'm not in a hurry!"  People were encouraging each other along with a mix of runners, limpers and walkers and my garmin told me I had less than 2km to go - I could do this!

I then spotted the hill right at the end, it seemed like a mountain, but I made it up - Dan told me I wasn't allowed to walk past him, so I just about started to manage running again.

As the finish line came into sight I started to feel quite emotional - Sam took these photos of me when I wasn't noticing and it sums up my emotions quite well - holding back tears and in a fair bit of pain.

I could see the finish though so I smiled for the cameras and picked up the pace knowing it would soon be over!  Hannah Marshall got a few pics of me looking a bit more triumphant.

As I crossed the finish line my emotions got the better of me, but holding back tears made me start shallow breathing and I had to grab my asthma inhaler and make an effort to calm myself down.  I bumped into Julia who had made it under 4 hours with 7 seconds to spare - I was delighted for her!  I found Alan who had also had a hard run with his hip going seconds after I passed him looking strong at mile 19 (bloody mile 19!) and had finished in 3 hours 52.  We then saw Tilly who had completed her first marathon in an amazing 4 hours 4 - I have a feeling it won't be her last marathon!

I'm now sitting with a Qubit sat on my feet and an ice pack on my knee (thanks for the recommendation Nicola) and about to go to bed (I'm never in bed before 10pm!) and if you asked me would I sign up for another marathon...I might have said no, but somehow I've already answered my own question and I'm doing Liverpool Rock & Roll Marathon in May - the day after my birthday!  I think I'll make a note of these lessons for next time and try and pay attention to my pace earlier on and definitely definitely build in more leg strength training.  

Thanks and well done to everyone today - running just has an amazing way of bringing out the best in us all.

Virgin London Marathon 2015 - The PB to beat all PBs!

Again a bit of a gap on this blog as life takes over, but I like to try and pick things up again if I'm feeling especially inspired and what about another marathon for inspiration?

I last wrote about running back in April last year when I took on my first London Marathon and whilst it was an amazing experience and my training had gone pretty well, I was a little bit disappointed with my time on a flat course being 4 minutes slower than my previous PB on the hilly Eden Project Marathon back in 2011.

This was a bit of an "accidental" marathon as I wasn't sure I wanted to do another one as my training was tough and time consuming last year and around mile 17-18 I said to myself "never again!"  Then as I ran through the finish line feeling massively emotional I thought..."just put in for the ballot again, you probably won't get in" and then before I knew what was happening in October I received the "Congratulations you're in" magazine.  

Around the same time my Grandad sadly passed away - 33 hours before he turned 100.  I was always both inspired and in awe of my Grandad.  He was an ex RAF Squadron leader, retrained as a teacher when he left the forces, had 5 children (my Dad is the oldest), was always active and fit making me and my brother run for buses when he was taking us swimming.  My memories of him are of him with his Chinese friends (He decided to learn Mandarin Chinese in his 70s!) and being the man he was, didn't just sit in a classroom - no he decided to pretty much befriend the entire Chinese community of Birmingham. In fact one year he invited them to a bonfire party and about 100 people turned up (the carpet in the lounge was threadbare and needed replacing afterwards!).  He also taught "old" ladies to swim and swam twice a week until his mid 90s.  I found out during the eulogy that his philosophy to a long and happy life was simple "Find Love, keep active and keep your mind active.  I am a little short on the first and last one, but it seemed like a fitting tribute to be able to run my next marathon in celebration of such a wonderful man and to raise funds for his chosen charity SSAFA.

This is not the most recent photo of my Grandad, but sadly Alzheimers meant that this is probably one of the last times I remember him being "my Grandad" back when I got married in May 2008 when he was 93.  A lot has changed for me since then - I've run 5 marathons, had a lot of interesting positive and negative life events and am no longer married.  It's been a challenging few years and I have to say that running has probably been the best "therapy" I could ask for and has kept me sane even through the tough times.

So at the start of the year my marathon track record was as follows:

2010 - Edinburgh - 4hrs 54 mins 32 secs 

2011 - Brathay - 4 hrs 57 mins 9 secs 

2011 - Eden Project - 4 hrs 47 mins 51 secs 

2014 - London - 4 hrs 51 mins 12 secs

Once again I decided to use the Lucozade Sport training plan as it worked really well last year and so I started off in earnest in January with my first 15 minute run on the plan.  Unbelievably I've not been ill or on a significant "holiday" so I've managed to complete every single run on the plan - with a bit of jigging around of days.  I've also combined this with 1 - 2 sessions of Yoga each week and strength training sessions.  One of the biggest boosts was that my BFF (yes we have named it so!) Jenny Cantrell offered to train me as her "guinea pig" whilst she was re-training to be a personal trainer.  Jenny devised me a marathon training plan combined with a weight loss plan which set sensible and achievable goals - I think I was extra motivated too as I wanted to do well for her!

Since January I've lost in the region of 7kg and it's meant that I can run a lot faster!  In fact I knocked 15 minutes of my half marathon PB in March at Kingston Half Marathon with 1 hr 53 mins and 28 secs on top of a PB a couple of weeks earlier at Bath Half which was 1 hr 57 mins and 41 secs.  

I've also joined a running club - after running for 11 years it's crazy I've not done it before, especially after I was mugged in September 2013 which meant I hated being outside by myself and a lot of my training for the marathon last year was completed on a dull treadmill at the gym.  I had previously compensated for this by doing lots of park runs and races within the Leeds Race Series - basically I went to races to run "with" people.  My biggest issue with joining a club has always been time as I work long hours and already have most Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays tied up with other commitments.  I took the plunge after catching up with a chap called James I knew through work at an NHS conference who invited me to try running at Hyde Park Harriers.  This fits in really well for me as they meet at 7pm in Leeds City Centre on Tuesdays.   It's been great - running and chatting and meeting new people whilst fitting in my training and enjoying the fresh air!  I've met lots of friendly people and heard some inspiring stories as well - I've even got a proper club running vest now!

So marathon weekend began with a mere 5 hour drive down from Leeds to my parents accompanied by Marla my cat who is a bit poorly at the moment.  I set off fairly early, as I only had until 5pm to get to Exel in London to pick up my race pack.  I get why they do this as they want you to walk through the Marathon Expo, but it's a bit of a faff really if you are coming from a long distance away.  I arrived at my parents just before 1pm, got Marla settled in and my Dad dropped me off at the station to head into London.  

I was exhausted on the way back and that morning I'd realised that one of my toes on my left foot was pretty sore - one of the nails had started to fall off (grim I know!) and I knew that if I tried to run 26.2 miles as it was it was going to be agony by the end.  I popped into Boots and bought a special bandage thing to pop over it and got the train home.  Walking back from the station I felt like I was going to fall asleep - I'm not quite sure why I was so tired, but I got home and ended up having a 3 hour nap!  My Mum made me amazing aubergine stew and pasta for dinner and I got everything ready with my race kit, choosing my final race outfit, writing my details on the back of my race number and getting my post race bag sorted with what I would need after completing the marathon.  I got into bed as early as I could around 10pm and probably got to sleep about 11pm waking up about twice in the night with odd dreams - probably far too excited!

I woke up about on time and ran around in my usual panic getting ready, eating porridge with pineapple, putting on compeed plasters and my toe bandage and copious amounts of vaseline. I had decided to wear my SSAFA charity vest and had ironed on my name from when I'd run the Bath Half, but as the letters were falling off I also wrote it in pen - sad I know, but I need the boost sometimes of getting cheered on!  My Dad dropped me off at the train station and I took the train to Waterloo.  Gradually people with the red marathon drawstring bags joined the train and we smiled at each other with a knowing smile that we were all about to take on a very special challenge.  

I realised when I got on the train that I had forgotten my pre race banana!  Disaster!  I had some nakd bars, but I always have a banana and felt extra nervous - however disaster was averted as a nice lady called Dani was offering a spare banana to another runner so I did a swap for my nakd bar.  We got off the train at Waterloo, followed all the other runners to Waterloo East and hopped on the train to Blackheath after starting to chat to another couple of ladies who were from Ilkley!  

After a busy train journey during which I played a message from Hannah and Alex wishing my luck, we got off at Blackheath and followed the hoards of runners to the start.  Dani was at red start and so she broke off in a different direction, but Abigail was at Blue start with me so we became race friends and negotiated our way around the start area.  We both decided to use the facilities as a first priority and were treated to the bizarre experience that I can't quite explain of the "female urinal".  Now I have used these before, but only at a festival an only after several drinks...sober and with race nerves it's not the best experience and it was a baffling scenario for all concerned!  

The weather was perfect running conditions - i.e. overcast and actually a little bit cold so I popped my hoodie into my red drawstring bag and left on the baggage truck and shivered looked enviously at those runners sensibly in bin bags and old clothes...  note to self to not forget to bring a foil blanket etc in the future! I was well prepped with a camelbak, 15 carb gels, extra vaseline, money, cashcard, oyster card, contact lenses, glasses and earphones!  Abigail and me were nearly in the same starting pen so we stuck together and joined a massive queue for the toilet cubicles.  I ate my banana and had some water and it was about 10.05 by the time we got out of the toilets and we walked over to the starting pens to reach there at 10.10 - official race start time, but it took at least 16 minutes to get over the start line.  Abigail wasn't feeling great about the race so was aiming for 12 minute miles so we swapped numbers and wished each other luck and then I ran off with the crowds feeling fresh on my legs.

The first 3 miles went past in a flash as it did last year and I barely realised I was running - focusing more on dodging my way in front of the slower runners and trying to get some room to focus on a decent pace.   I was aiming for sub 4 hours 30 as that was on my bucket list and so 10 minute miles was my initial plan, however in training I'd managed 20 miles in 3 hours 12 an improvement of 24 minutes from 20 miles last year which had been 3 hours 36.  I had my nike plus switched on and a spotify playlist to keep me going if I needed it, but the atmosphere was immense by itself!

As the red start runners joined up with our green and blue start runners in a massive burst of coincidence I found myself behind Dani who had given me her banana - I wished her well and ran on.  I hit some decent times, but hadn't gone mad on the pace averaging 9 mins 20 per mile - faster than I'd planned, but I felt good so I kept going.

Last year I completely self sabotaged my race by drinking too much and convincing myself that I needed the toilet...3 times!  This time I was stricter trying to sip rather than gulp and also resisting the temptation to take water at each station and not go mad and gulp down the Lucozade sport on offer.  I was sensible with my gels taking one for every 3 miles as I'd practiced during my training runs.  

Up to mile 11 I felt strong and enjoyed the atmosphere, the roar of the crowds, the sound of London accents cheering my name with "go on girl" following it.  I grinned from ear to ear and smiled back at everyone who cheered me and high fived the kids as I ran along.  I ran past a giraffe, T-rex as well as a cool runnings team at this point.  There's always so much to look at and the bands along the way are great too - the noise is overwhelming, but amazing!  

I hit Tower Bridge where I knew my friend Lauren was likely to be - I took out my headphones and looked out, but couldn't see her, but enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere.  Once over tower bridge you shortly hit the point where the mega fast runners are already on the home straight - last year it was a bit tough as I knew how far there was left, but this year I whooped and clapped them on inspired by how fast they were running!

I hit the half way point at 2 hours 2 minutes which until earlier this year would have been a half marathon PB and still felt ok, if a little tired.  At this point  I started to feel like I might need the toilet despite my attempt to discipline my drinking!  Every toilet I ran towards seemed to have a massive queue so I just kept going until in a tunnel at around 25KM there was a fairly short queue.  My app stopped timing at this point and I looked at my watch and counted 3 minutes of toilet and queuing time which in the scheme of things wasn't bad.  I managed to start running again straight away and didn't stop until I'd crossed the finish line!

Running towards Canary Wharf the crowds start to get intense and really loud and it really pushed me along - I'd spotted the SSAFA cheering point on the other side of the "out and back section" so made a point of running close to the crowd so I could get some extra cheers to boost me along!  As I found last year - running London Marathon is emotional for the point that you are running with people with very poignant stories on their backs and messages to loved ones - at several points I'd read a dedication and well up - it's a very strange feeling of being simultaneously elated but melancholic.

The miles between about 18 and 23 are pretty tough as things start to hurt, but I was determined to keep my pace and not walk!  I was really looking forward to the Lucozade tunnel again and at mile 24 it was there!  As I ran into the tunnel "Titanium" by David Guetta was playing and I ran through the tunnel practically dancing punching the air as the beat pounded.  I'm not sure what everyone else thought, but I definitely sped up loads for the last 2 miles and at 5 mins 13 secs per KM it's about as close as I'm ever likely to get to a sprint finish for a marathon!  In fact according to the exciting stats the the marathon provide you with afterwards during my last 7.2KM I was overtaken by 4 people, but I overtook 2014 people!

Usually all my run photos are so dreadful I don't want to even contemplate buying them, but each time I saw a camera this time I felt so triumphant that I held both arms in the air and grinned - so I'm vaguely tempted to part with the extortionate amounts of money to buy one or two photos this year!  They're not all great, but certainly much better than any other race pics!

As I passed all the exciting sights of the Houses of Parliament and onto the Mall I saw the exciting sign of 800m to go!  I'd been checking my time and knew I was on track inside 4.5 hours, by a fairly large margin, but I was determined to run as fast as I could.  I remembered last year the boost I'd got from someone tapping me on the shoulder when I was walking at this point and encouraging me to run so I did the same to a chap who was looking tired - not sure if he appreciated it, but I hope that it helped in some way.

As the finishing line was in sight I remembered that this year to celebrate 35 years of London Marathon they wanted to encourage finishers to finish #handinhand so I grabbed the hand of a lady and ran over the line together triumphantly - again not sure if she appreciated it, but hopefully she did!  I had a feeling that I'd run a good time - around 4 hours 15 maybe, but I wasn't sure due to the toilet stop!

I picked up my medal and goody bag - the t-shirt is much better than last year! And I could see my parents through the fence where we'd agreed to meet - they weren't really paying attention so I used my usual "oi!" so I could pass my stuff over and not have to carry it through the crowds to get to them.  

A facebook messaged popped through from my friend Lauren telling me that she'd seen my time and was impressed that it was 4 hours 9 minutes and 25 seconds - 42 minutes faster than last year!!!  I knew that it felt good running, but I'd never for a minute expected to be that fast and I was completely delighted!

I changed into warmer clothes and then we slowly hobbled out of St James Park and made our way to a Pret a Manager and I ate a sandwich and drank some coconut water.

We took 2 trains and a bus back home and I had some more marathon chat on the way back with a lady who had been with her son and his girlfriend who had run the marathon.  

Again it's a feat of sheer organisation and good will on the part of London that this is such a smooth race.  There are no grumpy volunteers whether they are handing out water or pointing out "humps" at the start of the course.   I saw very few "ill" people and of the 2 I saw they were being well looked after by the numerous medical staff.  Not to forget the supporters who roar and cheer the runners on for literally hours!  

Whilst the supporters on the day are important, the support of my family and friends can't go without comment.  So thank you to my parents for putting me up and looking after me after I finished, Hannah and the boys for the motivational messages and park run junior warm ups and her own inspiring running and finesses challenges, Alex for caving into my relentless Facebook requests for a running buddy and joining me on my last 9 mile long run, my new running friends at Hyde Park Harriers, Jenny for her amazing personal training, Hayley, Sam, Zoe and Tana for their supportive messages,  Emma for her own incredibly inspiring marathon journey, my work colleagues for putting up with my marathon chat for the past 4 months and anyone who has sponsored me and anyone else who I've forgotten as well as to my Grandad who still inspires me and is missed!  A big thank you! 

At home I showered and sunk into the sofa to watch the BBC coverage that my Dad had recorded and enjoyed curry for tea.  I had sore knees, but was elated with my time and still overwhelmed with the amazing atmosphere and experience.  Each year I say - no more marathons...but it's just a little bit addictive and I'm not sure I'm ready to give up yet...at least not this year, I run Marathon Du Medoc in September although I'm not sure my training or time will follow quite the same pattern!  

Oh and the ballot opens again on Monday...