Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
P&D Spring Marathon 2021
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Got hot water bottle on my SI joint now. But no regrets.
Cal - sorry to see you're struggling, really hope things pick up soon.
We've got a bit of logistical fun this weekend, with my nan's 80th taking place on the Suffolk coast with a family gathering of 20+. Couldn't really miss it, so we're doing the meal tonight, and then setting off from here about 8:30 to travel towards London and a hotel.
Did Framlingham parkrun this morning. I'm probably throwing caution to the wind tomorrow and will set out at around 2:55 pace. I'm sure the fatigue will catch up with me at some point, but YOLO and all that. Katie and I both off the champs start (her first one, after missing out multiple times due to injury). Hopefully see some of you there.
London
Macca 1072
HA77 1305 sub3
TR - 26016 (yellow wave 1) < 3:00.00
SQ 27760 sub 3. Finish strong.
Joe S 1228 - see out at 2:55 pace and probably limp home.
Which 0% frothies do you go for, TR? I quite enjoy Nanny State - reasonably nice and (important for me) low carb. Want to try the Infinity Session which fits the bill too, but can’t seem to find it anywhere. It’s been 2.5 years since we met, and my memory for faces is poor. So I will randomly accost various runners in the Red Lion asking if they are TR. Remind what vest you will have on - I suspect we could finish very close to each other.
Well done on getting to the parkrun, Cal. I really like your regular tourism. Have you ever done any voluntourism (think I just made up a word)? Hope the bath helped.
Good effort at Aberbeeg (great name), Jools. Unlucky not to be first MV50.
Genuinely think that is a solid plan, Joe. Start solid, see what happens, soak up the atmosphere. Floral print trunks?
Great to see Spoons popping in - will keep an eye out for you at mile ten.
Massive good luck to everyone racing tomorrow. Enjoy yourselves 😃
Feeling very lucky that my club mate went to the expo for me. The scenes from today look stressful.
Two kids’ swimming lessons this morning, one with me in the pool, then a buggy nap walk during the elder’s gymnastics - reasonably sure Kipchoge’s pre marathon day morning runs like that 😆. Didn’t squeeze in a run today, but did yesterday. So usual one day off in the marathon week.
Coach was delayed on the M4 - three fire engines and six ambulances passed going the other way, and then soon overtook us. Probably only added 40 minutes for us, but I didn’t dare to look out the window as we passed.
Got absolutely soaked walking from the bus stop to the airbnb. Packed minimally, and my only jogging bottoms and non-race socks are soaked. So sitting at the desk with a towel wrapped around my legs. What a muppet.
Looking forward to tomorrow. I will start off at 6:45-50s. Suspect I am in 2:57 shape if all goes well. Most importantly, I want to close strong from mile 20. Determined to bank energy not time.
Now off for a quiet episode of Squid Game to chill me out 🦑.
Good to hear from Spoons, It's like a reunion on here, we're all coming out of the woodwork. Almost tempted to change my plans to do next year's marathon.
2.54.33, with 1.26.32 second half, so posdible underperformed a bit 1st 1/2. But great fun on the embankment. Met pukie for a few minutes just after the finish line.
Great to see Millsy, Macca, SQ and Joe afterwards.
Well done to JoeB as well, I think you started about 30s ahead of me and ran a faster first half so I never saw you, even though our overall times were within a minute of each other.
Nice pics Spoon. Hopefully you'll be out there amongst it soon enough. I've really struggled with motivation recently as well. Hoping that Sunday will push me to train more in the coming months.
Pretty much as expected for me. Time of 2:54:29. Felt good and ran consistent pace until about 35km when I started to struggle, I guess unsurprisingly given my lack of training. Ran about 2 min positive split, so not too bad really.
Was good to meet Macca at the start for a chat and also JoeB on horseguards parade at the end. Millsy caught me at about 30km and I ran with him for about 5km, he was running really well and I was feeling good too. I thought I'd be able to go with him but, as happens in marathons, I went from feeling great to struggle street very quickly.
Had a great day and happy that my time should get me a GFA spot next year.
I think the rolling start this year made it a harder to find a pack to run with. Previous years I've always found a good pack pretty early on but this time I felt like no one around me was running my pace (either passing quite quickly or me passing them). I was across the start line about 90s after the elite start, when in previous years it's been about 10s.
https://www.marathonfoto.com/Landing/19802021M1/london-marathon-2021
Good to see people on Sunday, will pop back with a couple of lines about my race.
I didn't really get the result I wanted, feel bad saying that as it was another sub 4 and no huge disaster but I know I should be capable of quicker. I'd been getting a bit nervous all week, first London (maybe only?) and shall we say my stomach wasn't very happy Saturday and when I went out for a gentle 2 miles I just didn't feel great. Then during the race my right trainer started rubbing and digging into my achilles from fairly early on. I could feel it getting painful and it really unsettled me.
I went through half way at 1:50:11 so should have been on for sub 3:45 but my pace continued to drop and I finished in 3:53:49 (PB is 3:49:06).
So, not sure where to go from here, apart from the last couple of taper weeks I pretty much completed every session in the 12 week plan. I guess I'm wondering if I trained too slow or too fast, tapered too much or whether not having a very good day Saturday plus the trainer issue just meant it wasn't my day. I PB'd at 5km, 10km and half mara (1:41:51) all this year so I don't think 3:45 was unrealistic. Now to decide what's next! I did think about another marathon but nothing that local that soon.
RSR – good photos – hopefully inspired by it all.
TR – given the downhill start, that is an impressive split. Maybe not optimum time but must have been fun on the Embankment as you say.
HA – that reads like a decent performance given lack of training and 2 boxes ticked, a great day out and GFA renewal.
Kate – I’m sure its not just me but that’s a familiar feeling, a decent result but not quite what you wanted. You’ve banked some PBs and got close to your mara PB. London is such a big event its so easy to burn nervous energy in the build-up and on the day itself. I’m sure if you repeated the same training cycle the layering effect would reap rewards. Right now rest up and maybe think of a spring low key event ?
My day, started well bumping into Joe and HA in the start pen. I thought I’d listen to my body to dictate pace but I quickly stopped listening and hatched a loose plan to put myself in with a shot at 3hrs. I had inadvertently left my watch on KMs which I never use above a 10k race so spent the first few miles playing mental maths finally settling on 4:18 km pace (2secs too slow as it turns out). First Millsy went past then SQ, I stayed with SQ for a short time (or maybe he slowed slightly) but I could feel his pace was too strong so I eased up. I got to halfway in 1:30:50, feeling comfortably stretched but my maths was starting to suffer. I could deal with calculating 15mile and 20mile splits but not much else. At mile 20 I had dropped to around 2mins behind and accepted a sub 3:05 would be a decent result. From mile 23 onwards it felt like a lot of people were streaming past, chasing sub 3 I guess. I was pleasantly surprised afterwards to learn that I hadn’t slowed too much, maybe 1 min/mile but it was tough. Unsurprisingly I felt worse in the baggage reclaim than I have done for a few years. I made it to the pub, good to see TR, Millsy and SQ again but I had to have a sit down before I fell down. I think I threw too much liquid down my neck too quickly and probably ran a bit too hard. Anyway, goal A of getting round without doing any immediate damage achieved and in a respectable time too, 23 enjoyable miles, 3 tough, all together, a great day out
Macca - it was great to meet up. Your steely legs served you pretty well again. You did look pretty waery when you said you needed a sit down.
Hard luck, Kate. It is hard to get everything to go right on the one day of the race. You have had a great block and, as you say, PBed left right and centre. More to come from you!
Great photos, spoons. I was looking out for you around mile 10. A nice distraction for a couple of miles, albeit ultimately futile.
Well done, Macca. That sounds a very honest report. You have had one hell of a season. I really enjoyed catching up whilst running and for a beer. I owe you one!
Well done, HA. So good to see you enjoying the running again. Shame not to bump into you. Agreed with you analysis of a quick turn from great guns to struggle street. It can be hard to describe, but is always in the back of my mind in a marathon.
TR – you had a great race. So well executed. Bloody good work! Great to catch up for a beer at the end.
Come on, Reg. Get on board for next year.
London Marathon 2021 Race Report
TL;DR great day out!
Saturday
A classic pre-race morning of various kids’ swim and gymnastics classics, with me joining in for one pool session quite a good way to loosen off. Didn’t manage to squeeze in a run, but wasn’t going to stress about that.
Afternoon coach down to London, before arriving in the torrential rain. Having packed light, my only non-race clothes were absolutely soaked, and I spent the late afternoon and evening in the AirBnB/basic hotel largely wrapped in towels.
Watched a couple of London Marathon videos, with a good Ben Parkes one that got the juices flowing. Tried some visualisation, then turned in for an early (yet standardly fitful) night’s sleep.
Pre-race
Classic breakfast of banana pancakes (two eggs, one banana cooked in coconut oil) and a few cashews and plenty of salt (Himalayan pink salt – exceptionally middle class). Left the accommodation just after seven, leaving my overnight bag in the alarmingly open and unmanned reception desk area.
A smooth tube, train and walk to the Green start. The excitement really starts building on this section of the journey and you can feel the nerves of the first timers and anticipation of those a little more experienced. I am a rare visitor to London these days, so despite being bored there, the skyscrapers and world-famous views are exciting.
Whilst there were no celebrities to spot, there was the Guinness World Record registration photo area, with the amusing sight of Egyptian mummies, a brain, a 12-person train, a globe, a guy in wellies and more.
Reminded myself of my key messages and targets: start steady, bank energy not time, finish strong to sub-3.
Vassed up, carbon-plated up and dropped my medical gear with the information point team – as instructed. ‘Yes sir, this will be with your bag at the finish’ – perfecto.
We could see and hear the elites start at bang on 0930, but we, despite no one in front of use, were not allowed to begin until 0933.
The race
We were off! Inevitably, got a little caught up in the downhill opening 5k (6:36 pace). It was a little weird with more slower runners in front than usual. No problem overtaking, but must have been a little annoying and daunting for them. That said, I was probably being overtaken more than me overtaking. Tried to view this as a good thing – I’ll see them later! Enjoyed a few signs, including a twist on the classic Lance Armstrong quote: “Pain is temporary, Strava is forever”. And plenty of variations on “You’ve got more left in your tank than my car”. And some anti-vax ones that really pissed me off. Then Mr Wellington-Boots overtook me – bloody outrageous!
Enjoyed the music and support in the second and third 5ks (both 6:38 pace), and especially having the chance to catch up with Macca for aa few miles. How he was running on post-spartathlon legs is beyond me. And more on this legend later! Took my first Maurten gel at 5M, with the intention of three or four in total. As usual, Cutty Sark was a real highlight, and it is hard not to speed up in the excitement. Great support here.
It wasn’t too long until we were approaching 12M and then Tower Bridge. A runner from Winchester thanked me for letting him draft, he asked if there were any exciting bits coming up – most definitely! Crossing the bridge is always electrifying, absolutely love it. Pace probably varied a little here, but averaged out at 6:38, reaching half way in 1:27 and change. With the wind due to be less kind in the second half, this seemed about right.
I was trying to rein it in, deliberately wanting to store up some energy for the final 10k. I loved seeing the elite ladies come past, including Charlotte Purdue and Sinead Diver – both have great stories, with Diver in particular being a real inspiration.
Average pace for these two 5k sections was now 6:41-42. Felt like I was maintaining, but it was certainly into the wind and the sun was coming out. I enjoyed being on the other side of the barrier a few miles later, trying to spot clubmates around the 14/21M mark.
Every few miles, I was scanning through the body, checking everything felt ok. The hamstrings were the most noticeably tiring, and at the greatest risk of cramp. I think this is linked to not being in the gym and deadlifting like in previous campaigns.
Finally at the 20M mark – HALF WAY! The plan was to gradually increase effort here. The desired input occurred, although in reality the output was to maintain pace/not slow too horrifically. I was noticeably overtaking more people now. The tide was turning, but still I was trying to maintain the balance between pushing on a risking debilitating cramps. 5k average in the 6:45 region now.
Made it to the parkrun to section, and still enjoying the crowds. For me, this is a good barometer of how I am feeling – absolutely destroyed, and the crowds are oppressive and unhelpful, but today I was on just the right side and enjoyed every shout out of “go Josh”!
The sights were coming thick and fast now, the London Eye, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament. Less than two miles to go, then one mile, then a km. Buckingham Palace – come on! Curved round the roundabout and dug out a sprint finish of sorts. Crossed the line in 2:57:18, punching the air with a big smile!
Post-race
So, seven minutes off a PB but exactly as predicted and a pretty strong 1:27/1:30 split. Finished strong and really enjoyed it. Smiles, knuckles and a few whoops. Someone get the beers in!
The usual long walk to collect the bag – and medical box. “Sorry mate, nothing extra here”. Oh dear. I could kinda do with some insulin and my blood sugar tester (and phone). And so ensued a bit of a dampener on the day, but not one that will be remembered in the long run. A 3.5 hour wait, with no phone or medical supplies, not ideal! The volunteers were very helpful, taking me to the medical tend to use their blood sugar meter. Plenty of tea and food on hand as well. Essentially, I had beaten the luggage truck by quite a margin. Certainly a better system is needed for future years. The only annoying thing was this cutting into pub time – I was planning on the Red Lion with forumites, and then the Clarence with clubmates. As the RL is closer, I went there and had a fantastic, albeit brief catch up with TR, Millsy and Macca – with this legend lending me his phone and buying me a pint. There were lots of smiles, although I think Macca’s legs might finally have realised the beating they had taken in recent months.
A run, yes an actual run, to get various trains and bags before making the coach with seconds to spare. Then promptly got told off my the driver and threatened with expulsion if I opened another can of beer! A brilliant day out. Genuinely loved the race – a real highlight of the running calendar.
I had a review of my splits and i more or less ran a progressive race, kind of like the long training runs, with a decent speed up to 2.52 pace from 30k to 40k and then the last 2.2k at sub 2.50 pace. Gives me hope of going a bit quicker still.........but having said that if someone had offered me a 2.54 on the start line i'd have snapped their arm off. The risk vs reward part of marathoning is all part of the fun.
Amazing powers of recovery Macca & a sub 20 5K on Tuesday too!
Glad you’re properly pleased TR - you thoroughly deserve to be.
Ticking over still with some short sharper stuff Tuesday & Thursday, parkrun Saturday & a LR Sunday. Inspired by all your exploits I did 20M@7:25 average this Sunday which was tough enough for me to think I’ll be sensible at Newport in 19 days. I’d like to beat my time from April & finish strong.
Spoons - so great to see you out on the course, you were at a good spot as well where it wasn't too busy.
TR - as I've said elsewhere, brilliant run mate.
HA - always a pleasure, shame we couldn't have our usual pre-race catch up. Great run from you - hoping we'll be in the same start area next year. Always enjoy the annual hourseguards debrief.
Kate - don't be too hard on yourself. Sometimes it just doesn't come together in a marathon, despite having done all the work. You're clearly capable of running sub 3:45 and that'll come as you continue to build on the great base you now have.
Macca - always in awe of your achievements, considering the last few weeks you've had, I think that's an exceptional run. Lovely to see you at the start.
SQ - think you're the only one I didn't see, sorry about that! Glad you had the run you wanted and deserved. I don't think I'll ever get tired or take sub 3 for granted - you never know what might happen in the future. They need to revert back to the old bag set-up though, absolute joke.
London
Sunday was a complete journey into the unknown. I totted up the numbers - 5 'runs' in 6 weeks since getting knocked off my bike, the longest being 5 miles and a total distance of 20. All of them were easy/recovery pace.
We were in Suffolk for my Nan's 80th, not travelling back to London until after the celebration meal on saturday night, so not ideal prep, but it was fun hanging out with extended family. Ended up getting to our hotel around 11pm.
Race morning dawned with Katie and I on the same start for the first time (it was actually her first London), good to see Macca beforehand and have a quick chat.
Despite the lack of running, I felt 95% recovered from my injury so planned to still run pretty hard and just see what happened - YOLO and all that. Impossible not to get carried away at the start and I'm through 5km in 19:44 which is stupidly fast.
Loved the crowds as always, atmosphere was incredible and the usual goosebumps going over tower bridge. Through halfway in 1:24 - ludicrous considering the build up, but I'm already feeling proper tired and certainly won't be negative spliting!
I was determined to enjoy every second and smile my way around, but from mile 16, I was already suffering big time. Having no real target, I'm not sure why I didn't give myself the option to just jog/walk it in and enjoy - I guess I'm not programmed that way.
The final 12km was absolute hell - it took everything to keep moving forward at a reasonable pace, and my legs were absolutely screaming at me. I've never had DOMS mid-race, but I guess they just didn't have the conditioning to get through a marathon after not being used for weeks on end.
I really don't remember much of the final 7km, aside from Millsy floating past me, and I quite rightfully used up some of my energy reserves to urge him onwards and told him to keep pushing.
I've never had to try so hard not to walk, and anywhere but the crowds of London and I think I probably would have. Turning right at the palace was one of the most satisfying feelings of my life.
2:53 is way faster than I thought I'd be able to run, genuinely chuffed with that. Absolutely spent at the end, took me over half an hour to get to the other end of the Mall.
Katie ran 3:07, her 2nd fastest marathon and I'm sure she'll have eyes on that magical barrier next year.
Really got the running bug back, going to target Seville in Feb as it's nice and early, which gives me time to transition back to triathlon in the summer.
As for me...injured again. Physio is quite hopeful I can do some tentative runs next week so I may not have to cancel the race I entered one hour before buggering myself up in the gym. I'm not so sure as it still hurts to put trousers on...but we'll see I guess.
Everyone else - well done. Seems everyone had a good run. Was good to see a few of you out there. Shame I didn't see you out on the course Joe, although I think I would've let you charge off into the sunset anyway, with that first 5km split.
Anyway, I'm feeling more motivated now, so hopefully it will result in some more consistent training. If I can get in 40-50 mpw, I think I'll be doing ok.