VLM 2018: How’d it go for you?

For me, held with the 3:59 pacers to Cutty Sark, started to suffer heatstroke symptoms and my race basically fell apart, as I had to drop to a slower pace and run:walk lots of it to finish.  Ended up 55 minutes slower than I’d hoped, with a tardy 4:49 (although I managed a sprint finish, yay!).  Incredible crowds helped me finish, but as a pale-blue-skinned Scot with little experience of that sun thing, I suffered really badly.  Guess I’m not a hot weather runner. 

But less of me, how was it for you, darlings? ;)

Big shout out to Emily, the 3:59 pacer.  I tried to stay close, I really did.  I hope those that stayed with you got their goal time.  It was brutally hot!!!
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Comments

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    hard lines, jtced. There was a lot against us yesterday.

    I adapted my goal on start line and reduced target pace by 15 seconds a mile. That seemed to work for me and allowed a steady and quite enjoyable run, actually equalling my pb time from last year to the very second.

    I passed two of the 3 hour pacers during the second half so you're in good company. 
  • This is my last marathon, after having done a few in the past. London being my home town I’d trained really well and was looking good for a sub 4 at one point but that heat was ridiculous. In the end I came in at 421, my fourth fastet time and I’ve done 11 of them. So really happy with that.

    Having done Paris, New York, Edinburgh and Brighton, I must say that London really does top the lot. The crowds and marshalls were incredible and really kept me going at times. And that bit where you come into the Mall and see the finish... What a day!
  • 15West15West ✭✭✭
    Last few miles were worse I've ever been at the end of a marathon. Was totally done in. Managed to keep running, but was just a weird shuffle, thought I was going to collapse at finish line. Stupid weather.
  • Trained well, was on for 3:25 but absolutely hated the penned in feeling, elbow to elbow and stopped running at mile 10. I honestly didn't enjoy any of the first 10 miles either, love running felt claustrophobic. Shame as i've heard the GFA is changing!
  • Did it in 3:55:19 here. Pretty pleased for my first marathon, was on track to get done for 3 hrs 30 but I made the mistake of dodging and weaving around people the first few miles which turned my quads into jelly. That and the heat made me slow right down around mile 17. Still a fantastic day and beat my target of sub 4hrs.

    Learned a lot about myself yesterday. Will definitely keep this up and apply for another one next year.
  • Shame as i've heard the GFA is changing!
    Yeah, details are up on the London Marathon site. I'd been wanting my GFA time to run London next year, but the time has dropped 10 minutes which means I'm now over. Will need to enter by ballot, as I simply can't fit a marathon before the GFA deadline this season.
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭

    Shit. Another peely-wally Scot who can't cope with the sun. I don't think I've ever managed to run non-stop in a hot marathon, and yesterday did nothing to break that trend. Ignored all the advice - I knew better - and set off at my planned / hoped pace of 3 hrs. Realised my mistake about 6 miles in and was taking walking breaks by 10 miles. Caught up with some club buddies and could have stayed with them, but I just didn't have the motivation. In the end, finished in just over 3.5 hours. I was feeling pretty annoyed with myself until I saw the state of some of the other runners out there towards the end of the race. Even more so when I heard the sad news this morning.

    With hindsight I was a bit stupid with my pacing and it came back to me bite me. Lesson learned (maybe). After training for months in cold and crappy weather, I just wasn't ready for that strange bright fiery thing in the sky.

  • My preparation was very limited this year -self inflicted holidays taking me away and in hindsight running in the Arctic circle wasn't ideal.

    I knew there was no way I'd be near last year's time so dropped down 2 pens and thought 4 hours would be sensible. In the heat even that wasn't manageable and dropped to 4.13 .

    But I finished. My second long run of the year (19m) before needing a walk and I'm in a better state than after most marathons.

    Really tricky conditions out there and with no chance for people to acclimatise.

    Sneaky sun ! 
  • snewma00snewma00 ✭✭✭
    Ran a solid race, very happy with 3.57. Sub 4 was the goal, but in that heat I doubted I could do it. Splits were consistent, and with 6 to go, knew I could afford to walk a bit each mile. I had to, the heat was searing.
    What a race though, my 3rd and final VLM, and I feel very content!
  • cougiecougie ✭✭✭
    edited April 2018
    Impressive way to finish ! 
  • nicko1981nicko1981 ✭✭✭
    I posted my rambling race report on the 3:15 thread, but just to here to say well done to everyone who got through it yesterday. Reports say 24 degrees but it must have been hotter than that in the sun out on the tarmac.

    I think a massive achievement just to pass the finish line yesterday, so sad to hear of many taken to hospital and tragically Matt never made it home. 
  • djwolfdjwolf ✭✭✭
    Managed a 3:19:57 after being on course for a possible 3:10 (target). Ran Brighton in 3:11 Manchester 3:12, so happy with that in the heat. 
  • Was my first marathon with all my training pointing towards a 4 hour finish. I was fine all the way up until mile 19 where my head just felt like it was going to melt. A weird feeling I had never felt before and then from there I hit a dark wall and ended up on 4.54 and feeling disgusting with no appetite for a good few hours after. I had missed a bit of cream on my shoulders and they were burnt red roar so could have been a bit of sunstroke or exhaustion.

    I was at 188bpm when my head was like that (I am 33) so I am glad I stopped when I did after reading the sad news.

    The extra mile you do on your watch for zig zagging I didnt really account for either.

    Felt loads of regret and said never again but 100% doing it again next year as I want to know how it feels in normal weather lol

    Any other first timers regret?
  • Had a really disappointing race. My third marathon and wanted to beat my NYC PB from 2009 which was 3:52 (I'm 41 now). I just wasn't prepared for the heat, I think it was partly just psychological as all my long runs were in under 8 degrees; my body actually held out OK but my mind just couldn't get around it. I went out at my target pace, 8:30, which in retrospect was way too fast. Ran 10K in 52, then 1/2 within two hours, then it all fell apart at about 14 miles. The last 10K was reduced to walk/run it took me 1:25 and I came in at 4:41. Everyone is saying I should be proud and I know I should but after all that training it feels like a waste. The crowds and people were amazing but sometimes it just felt so intense, like more pressure all the time. I've just had my photos in and so many of them show me walking and I just feel a lot of shame about it. The hard bit was when I first walked, it was so difficult to run again :-(
  • Metzger, don't beat yourself up. That was incredibly gruelling, especially as most of us had trained in cold temperatures. The weather last week was ridiculous, more akin to late July than mid-April.

    I noticed that the average time of those completing this year (4.47) is down around 20mins from last year.

    Didn't help that water had run out from around mile 22...
  • @metzger49 although our situations are different you have pretty much summed up how I feel. This was my first ever marathon and training went disastrously badly. I set out too hard and too fast at the beginning, burnt out and then with only 6 weeks to go injured my hip. I barely ran for those 6 weeks so was ridiculously under prepared on the day. I wanted to do it anyway because I had a charity place and didn't want to miss out on experiencing London.
    I don't even want to say how long it took me because I'm so embarrassed. I agree that at times the crowds felt too intense, I felt really overwhelmed.

    Although I felt that everyone who finished in a similar time to me deserved their medal, I didn't feel I deserved it because I know I could have tried harder. My family and friends are so proud of me just for finishing but I can't help but feel if I'd trained smarter and checked my pride at the door, I could've avoided injury and then would have at least finished knowing I'd tried my best. I feel like I've wasted the last 4 months. I'm itching to get back out there and train smart and slow so that I can eventually try again because I want to get my medal at the end and truly feel like I earned it.

    I'm trying to look at the positives, although it was a massive pain fest and I feel disheartened now, at least it's given me the drive to try again and do my best so I can become a better runner.
  • Training smart definitely outweighs training hard.

    Any finish is a result in those conditions - well done on toughing it out. It will help you in future. 
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    It is what it is, nothing to feel disappointed about. One man didn't get to go home on Sunday and he was an experienced runner. Not only were conditions ridiculously harsh, this was worsened by the extreme conditions we have had the other way. 

    Ghh, the worst thing you can do is get straight out there hammering the training in the next few weeks to make yourself feel better. You'll end up injured again. It may not come immediately but it'll catch you in a month or two. 
  • > @cougie said:
    > Training smart definitely outweighs training hard.

    Exactly, frustratingly I learned this the hard way!
    I guess the great thing about mistakes is that you can learn from them.
    Thank you, it was definitely more a mental battle than a physical one and I don't at all regret doing it.
  • @metzger49 although our situations are different you have pretty much summed up how I feel. This was my first ever marathon and training went disastrously badly. I set out too hard and too fast at the beginning, burnt out and then with only 6 weeks to go injured my hip. I barely ran for those 6 weeks so was ridiculously under prepared on the day. I wanted to do it anyway because I had a charity place and didn't want to miss out on experiencing London.
    I don't even want to say how long it took me because I'm so embarrassed. I agree that at times the crowds felt too intense, I felt really overwhelmed.

    Although I felt that everyone who finished in a similar time to me deserved their medal, I didn't feel I deserved it because I know I could have tried harder. My family and friends are so proud of me just for finishing but I can't help but feel if I'd trained smarter and checked my pride at the door, I could've avoided injury and then would have at least finished knowing I'd tried my best. I feel like I've wasted the last 4 months. I'm itching to get back out there and train smart and slow so that I can eventually try again because I want to get my medal at the end and truly feel like I earned it.

    I'm trying to look at the positives, although it was a massive pain fest and I feel disheartened now, at least it's given me the drive to try again and do my best so I can become a better runner.
    Ohhh, please don't play down your achievement.  All of us who finished on Sunday deserve our medals, regardless of how little we were able to train or how badly it went on the day.

    Mine was a similar story to most other's on here.  I started off with the same goal time in mind thinking it was an easy enough pace to maintain (stupid).  I started feeling a bit light-headed at Cutty Sark, so decided to pull back the pace.  Unfortunately, the damage had been done and probably my head, as much as my body decided to not play ball.  From about mile 18 I walked a fair bit of the way until I got to about 0.75 miles out from the finish when I was determined to run the last bit non-stop.  I eventually finished about 30 minutes slower than my goal time.  

    I was gutted at the time - annoyed with going out too fast and not respecting the weather, until I heard people talking on the TV, then on the way home and now on here.  Very few had a 'good' race - most struggled.  We're bloody brilliant to have finished.

    I have Derry marathon in 6 weeks - I don' expect the same temperatures - I hope!
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭

    Ghh, this will not be your last marathon. And your next one will be much faster and more enjoyable. Please don't beat yourself up about how you did, and definitely don't be embarrassed - you finished the London marathon in the hottest conditions ever. I watched the footage of the race last night and even the elite looked like they were finding it hard going - most of the guys train in East Africa and they struggled. Most of us trained here - my tune-up half marathon was cancelled due to snow. Take it easy, let your body recover from this and get back into it gently. Well done on finishing!

  • snewma00snewma00 ✭✭✭
    Agree with this - finishing that marathon is an unbelievable achievement. Chin up, I don't think any amount of training could have prepared anyone for that.

    Well done all!
  • vodkabobvodkabob ✭✭✭
    This was my first London Marathon, third Mara in total, and loved it.  I was told the crowds were amazing but never expected them to be so loud all of the way round.  I was trying for under 3:15 and managed the first hour at that pace, but knew I couldn't keep that up for another 2 and a bit hours. Slowed right down and finished in 3:34. 

    Not the time I wanted but happy under the circumstances, hats off to everyone who finished and it was so sad hearing about the lad who didn't make it.  
  • GHH, it's your first one. Be proud, drink it all in, recover and then go again...

    I've done a few and never experienced those crazy conditions, particularly given our awful winter - Sunday was the first run in 4 months where I was just wearing one layer!
  • Thanks everyone, this is such a supportive community. I know I should be proud I finished, especially considering the weather. It was a tough day for all, even Mo didn't look too fresh crossing the finish line! I think part of the feeling glum may be down to the post-race comedown...
  • AWCAWC ✭✭✭
    How was it? Hot, slow and painful! 3:27 which was 20 mins slower than I was targetting but that seems a fairly consistent story. Decided to ditch any time goals about 10 miles in and just enjoyed the crowds and the sights as it was my first VLM. Ended up enjoying it quite a lot!

    Hats off to all of you - no one should be disappointed. One lad never made it home and we are lucky to live to fight another day.
  • This was my 15th London and beleive me the bloody hardest due to the weather,NO ONE should think badly of themselves, just to finish, upright and moving,was a great achievement in itself,sit back,re think and then start again, slowly, as AWC says, we live to fight another day, see you at Blackheath next year?
  • StevieWhStevieWh ✭✭✭

    My first marathon and I'm pretty happy with how it went. Was aiming for 3.15 and finished in 3.22. Started from Pen 4 which meant I was battling traffic for at least the first half. Decided to stop fighting it and just run to feel.

    Crowd and support were amazing! Will be in the ballot for next year and in the meantime keeping up training to hopefully get GFA for 2020! (Need Sub 3)

  • Super run stevie. You only lost a tiny bit of time.you must be better at dodging round people than me!. I started in the  3.45 pen and ended up constantly weaving round people the whole run. Just couldn't get anywhere near target pace so gave up by halfway and enjoyed the scenery and crowds. At least I ran a negative split !

    Thanks to every spectator. HOT for them too.


  • This was my first full marathon too and although i had never ran 26.2 i had run 22 miles at 8 min miles. My game plan with the weather was always to run at 9min miles and aim for sub4 (realisitcally 4:15), but as I ran over tower bridge I knew the last 13.1 was going to be difficult and I saw a someone getting CPR which didnt look good (around 12:30, anyone else see that??) so kinda put my race into perspective.

    I really struggled around miles 18 and 22 and resulted in a walk/run towards the end and finished in 4:44 which i was terribly disappointed in. The whole day was incredible and the crowds were fantastic, I will never forget the experience and Im proud of the money I raised.

    I didnt intend to run another marathon, but i cant let that be my time when i know i am capable of much better...
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