Did anyone else NOT enjoy yesterday?

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  • Me too BF - I think I really want to get another marathon under my belt this year just to prove that I can do better. I know I can, as I've done it before, but it's like falling off the proverbial bike - you need to get back on and get peddling again to regain confidence in yourself.
  • I sort of feel the opposite. I had every intention of doing a pb-potential autumn marathon in addition to FLM and Beachy (which I'm treating more as a day out than a race) but now I don't think I want to ever do another marathon ever again. Then again I said that five years ago after my last awful FLM!!
  • I'm delighted that so many spectators - even the beer-swilling, fag-smoking, mildly heckling ones - turned out to watch and encourage us. I suspect that for every person who found the noise as irritating and stressful as I did, there would be 100 or more who thoroughly appreciated every cheer and shout and steel drum and bagpipe :o)

    By the time I reached the Embankment it had cooled down and I just loved the atmosphere at that point.
  • I can't tell you how glad I was to log on and see that there are so many other people feeling a little miserable after yesterday - not something I ever thought I'd be pleased to see!! My OH and I both had a touch of food poisoning (we think) and had spent much of the previous night on the loo. Managed to stay hydrated enough to run, but the heat just made it unbearable. I couldn't focus at all (was very worried about tummy) and today it's not my legs that are aching, it's my back and shoulders - I think I was just so tense the whole way round! For the first time in my (short) running life I had to stop and walk which is so demoralising. However, I know that there were so many of us in the same boat - and it just makes me all the more determined to prove that I can do it. My -on target - sub 4 was turned into a battle to get in before 5 hours - and I managed it in 4:51. Then couldn't find OH and family / other friends who'd all been stuck with the tube closures, so just burst into tears and must've looked like a true baby! Thanks to the lovely lady at the Meningitis stand who was so sweet to me. Excuses aside - I really did not enjoy myself yesterday and feel bitterly disappointed with myself. However, you have to be positive and be proud - a year ago, I never would have dreamt I'd have completed a marathon, even if I did have to walk for some of it. We all rock.
  • As the Embankment can be sink or swim for many, the crowds are very welcome. "You're a tiger!" was my favourite heckle at that point.
  • I was planning my next mara as I was run/walking around the Isle of Dogs - I was so angry with my body that it just wouldn't work any more and so disappointed that I couldn't run the whole way. FLM 07 was my first...

    I'm so glad I recovered enough to be able to run most of the way from mile 20 and actually feel good crossing the line otherwise I would have been miserable as sin... 17 minutes outside my target time, but helps to know it wasn't just me that struggled. Did 4:47...

    Thanks for the words of encouragement here - it was a pretty amazing achievement to cross the line in those conditions!
  • Oh, I forgot to mention that I was so distracted, I didn't even notice Buckingham Palace!
  • Little Kitty: yip, the sooner the better although a bit worried that May-Sep will be too hot...

    Kazza: I think I will treat any other race just a day out from now on too.

    I think the FLM was so hyped up and I had such great expectations of the event and myself. After months of training in cold/cool weather, in the peaceful countryside (me and my ishuffle) and never having done aa whole 26.2 miles before it was all a bit of a shock: heat, noise, feeling awful, seeing people pass out/throw up etc etc, just NOT what I expected I guess :0(

    But in a funny old way it feels such a great achievement to have finished it feeling so awful...
  • Atmosphere was amazing , my first FLM. Dissappointed with not beating my Dublin time of 3.56. Miles 14 to 19 were awful, set off too fast, heat etc, remember thinking I am never doing this again.
    Managed to finish in 4.20, glad to finish on reflection of my thoughts at some points during yesterdays race.
    Will have another go at sub 4HR.
  • God I feel so much better reading all this - thank heavens for you lot being so honest!

    I'm completely in agreements with Bambina - how many of us would've been used to running in the heat? It's fair to say we all managed something pretty impressive yesterday AND, to my knowledge, no-one ACTUALLY punched a spectator, though I believe many of us wanted to at one point or another along the course. (Having been a spectator for many years, I'll change my tune in future!)

    Looks like we're all signing up for another go, doesn't it?!
  • m.ittenm.itten ✭✭✭
    I am disappointed with yesterday, but ok as I've done it before in a much better time (was 1 hr slower than my pb!!!).

    O/h not so happy as it was his 1st marathon & had been on a target for a more 'decent' time.

    Done FLM twice & not enjoyed either in a 'running' sense. Support on route is fantastic, but I'm not comfortable with crowds so start & finish aren't great for me.

    I'm going to find a nice quiet marathon in cool conditions to overcome my demons.
  • I am delighted to have found this forum, as I am so frustrated at how badly the wheels came off and need to vent my frustration amongst like minded people. I have run 4 marathons previous to yesterday - times range from 3.37 to 3.56. Four weeks ago in the teeth of a northerly over hills I ran a 3.10, 23 miler. Yesterday - 4.55! I panicked about the weather - massively over-hydrated before hand - was bloated and a spent force by 7 miles. According to the angel of a physio who stretched me out at Canary Wharf the water stripped all the salt from my body which would explain why I was cramping from 14 miles - pretty obvious in hindsight, but I've never paid much attention to the science of things. Reflecting what other people have said on this thread though 1) yesterday is clearly no indicator of anyones ability to run a marathon and 2) I am simply relieved to ahave finished. Taking that as red though, I can not help but feel a bit gutted because it is London and London is the one out of them all you want to run well. At one stage I paraphrased Steve Redgrave - if anyone finds me near a marathon again you have my permission to shoot me. See you all next year then!
  • I am tempted by the Loch Ness marathon in October.... you can be guaranteed it will be cooler. Ballot closes 1st May. Any takers??? Just think of the tranquillity and scenery, cool temp and maybe a little bit of rain for good measure... Nessie is calling me ;0)
  • BF - am thinking of Luton in December. No risk of overheating then hopefully!
  • Loch Ness or Luton...........mmmmmmmmmmmm..............let me think about that for a minute... although Luton is a lot closer!
  • Loch Ness is a bit far for me (I live in London - we practically ran past my back door yesterday!...) but I'll give it some thought
  • It's funny but at the time when I really needed the mental boost that someone calling out my name should give me I was so shattered that I found it really irritating. The mind's a strange place!!
  • What a shame so many of you didnt enjoy yesterday...especially the first timers who have nothing else to compare it with,

    FLM last year was my first ever marathon, and we were lucky with the weather and I easily beat my Target of 4 hours...3.46..I had the most fantasic day and found it hard to get back into running local races...nothing compared..I entered Dublin..on the memory of London..and really didnt enjoy it was cool but to me alot hillier and support was bad.. I went off too fast and crashed at mile 20 ..coming in at 3.53...when I KNOW I could have easily gone 3.40, i put that down to the hills and fast start

    This year I deferred my London place in favour of Paris..28-29 degrees..bugger no chance of a 3.40 !!! did 3.54...many pulled out and th emergency services were oushed to the limits...heard rumours 4 died !!!not sure about that one though so dont quote me !!!

    SO looking forward to london NEXT year..flatish course and in the right conditions..honestly the best marathon in the world !!!Give it another go..dont be put off by this years weather, maybe this weather isnt going to be that unusual now...Global warming and all that...so we may have to get used to it...
  • sorry to restate what others have already said - but it's great to find that I'm not the only one who was frustrated yesterday.
    If I was a plant, I'm sure it would say on my instructions prefers full or partial shade - did anyone else find miles 9 - 12 very hot? First half went according to plan, but then the wheels fell off, and my fingers swelled like sausages due to dehydration. This led to some run/walking and a much slower second half, taking my time from somewhere btwn 4 and 4.30 up to 4.54. I'm v frustrated, but also in the scheme of things glad to have finished as well as to have not pushed my body too far...
    am also interested in a cooler future marathon, and have to agree with BF re Luton's proximity
  • I agree Trish - I am the same - very thankful for having finished without pushing my body's limits (too far!).

    For a cooler marathon, and not having been put off by difficulties and disappointments of yesterday, I have just entered the Dartmoor Vale marathon. I live nearby and although the route is two laps, it's not a bad run. There are a couple of hills, but nothing too treacherous. I've asked the race organisers for a route map just to check!
  • But how beautiful would Loch Ness be...? Funny - I SWORE I'd never run a marathon EVER AGAIN yesterday. What a difference a day and the Runner's World Forum makes, eh?!
  • Loch ness is a fantastic marathon

    However
    The ONLY year they have had rain was last year-its been fine for the other times
  • Moo thinking of that one myself..local for me too, I have done the half a couple of times and have thought the full could be lonely..but with Abingdon cancelled I think it could well be a popular choice.
  • I am so tempted to do Loch Ness and take a few days holiday to chill before/after it.

    Little Kitty: you can get a flight to Inverness you know ;o)

  • moo

    I've walked in dartmoor before, I'd be checking that route map very closely, the hills there are terrible! (and I only had to walk up them, admittedly with a 40lb rucksack on my back...)

    when is the dartmoor mara?
  • When is it BF? (I'm on a student budget!)
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