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Keep a lid on it for the first 1/2 (6:50 ish) and then assess it, if you feel ok then you can still squeek under 3. You'll feel better as you overtake all the spent bullets too.
showers by 2pm and very little wind
NICE
******* twiddles thumbs **********
10 min until breakfast opens in my hotel
wake up everyone, time to open your presents!
6mph winds, ha, I laugh at your insignificance
OMG
Well its time for the BIG ONE.
Hope everyone runs well. Look forward to the reports later on.
That was a very sleepless night!
Not sure I fancy this porridge ...
sorry to hear that BEJ
I think I saw marders come in, definitely saw DFC, felt very let down by the DFC celebration though, most subdued!
As Bumface Cracknell ran into the finish at 385 yards to get his sub 3 think I spotted Blisters, around 50 yards behind. So fingers crossed.
5:50
5:45
5:22
5:47
5:38
5:42
5:44
5:35
5:38
5:39 (10M = 56:45)
5:37
5:38
5:40 (HW 74:20)
5:33
11:21 (2M)
5:39
5:46
5:49 (cramp)
5:58 (cramp)
6:27 (jogged / walked home)
Absolutely gutted. I've never felt so comfortable in a race and the rhythm / pacing was spot on - 5:37 - 5:40s were being banged in with great regularity and felt like walking. Everything was going so well until sudden and severe cramp in my left calf - exactly the same spot it hit me on Wednesday night. I stopped for a few second to get rid, but it came back with almost every step. I had a choice of running the last 5M in agony, maybe getting 2:30ish (I just needed 6min miles - that's easy run pace!) or calling back home and limiting the damage. Think I've made the right call but it doesn't feel like that right now.
Just come back from the finish with Marders - I'll leave him to give the details for those who haven't already stalked.
Think I also saw a very happy lookingCrabbyWorld Record holder finish with a flurry, pipping Gordon F***** Ramsey on the line at around 3:45.
Sorry to hear that BEJ - looks like it happens to the best of us.
Saw a few coming in - a disappointingly Shearer-esque celebration from DFC, BS and I think I may have seen Blisters sneaking inside that 3 hour mark - only time will tell.
Got a London quandry of my own - the online ballot is open and it looks as though the 5 times reject thing (which I qualify for 2009) is done through the same method. Rumour is that once 120,000 entries are logged it'll shut. Will this be the same for 5 times rejects? I'd much rather get in off the back of a sub-3 at Edinburgh, but if I don't manage that and neglect to send my details in now I amy miss out in a double-whammy stylee.
Don't allow my minor issues to distract from what would appear to be some quality running from team fred.
Really pleased for Blisters by the way. He'll be on soon, and he deserves everything he's worked for.
Nothing quite like marathons. You race the distance not the person. Massively jealous, and demotivated, but hopefully I'll bounce back. Really admire his tenacity. Really struggling with my own motivation at present. Might have changed by tomorrow, but not on the pace at the moment.
Dull
BEJ - sorry to hear that. Sensible decision to pull out, though; not worth pushing through something like bad cramp when you know it's not going to work.
Saw Ed (I think) who looked very strong and Blisters, who was looking pretty comfy. Also saw Matt who was not having a good day - looks like the bug got the better of him, but like BEJ will surely be back strong soon. Missed everyone from the WR crew. Black tops were kind of hard to pick out.
Unlikely to be able to log on until later in the week as am away, so looking forward to a long read back in due course!
Bad luck BEJ, your pacing looked good, so is a real shame.
Back in from FLM and overall very happy with the result 2.41.18. Saw DanA on the start (but no other forumites), the wide top bottle trick worked a treat so thanks for the tip (afraid I can’t remember where it originally came from)
And then we were off, I was fairly close to the front so got away quickly (burning passed some Masai warriors in the first 200 yards, and then an Olympic rower in the first ½ miles) – also had to laugh at the language of the celebs/sponsor runners who were getting knocked out of the way.
The first couple of miles were slightly too quick at close to 6mm, but managed to rain it back to the target pace of 6.05mm. To be honest the pace felt good, but I new anything quicker would have got me in to trouble. Went through the ½ in 1.19.51. So new that it was going to have to be a special second ½ to get sub 2.40.
I felt a bit tentative around Docklands, this was because it was here that my stitch had materialised in the last two FLMs (so kind of like a personal wall to get through), also it was where the flash storm occurred (perfect marafun conditions apart from 20 minutes of windy, cold rain).
So I new I had slipped off the pace a bit after Docklands (i.e. at about 20 miles), but rather than try and recover the time (and risk a disaster), I plugged on with the existing pace. The last 6 miles were hard work, with the legs starting to feel the distance, although I was always overtaking people (so must have being doing something right) – just a case of counting down the mile markers. So all-in-all was very happy to cross in 2.41.18, felt I was really pushing it over the last part of the course and had nothing left in the tank (also a 8 minute PB from Amsterdam last year). For those who like stats, the 5km splits were:
5 km i8:34
10 km 19:22
15 km 18:52
20 km 18:56
25 km 19:02
30 km 19:31
35 km 19:20
40 km 19:23
Finally, No breakfast, no gels & only 4 sips of Lucozade = no stitch.
Looking forward to the other reports – was far to gone at the end to recognise anyone.
BEJ - Sorry to hear that mate; really bad luck.
I managed 2:51:59 so missed out on the sub 2:50. Was through halfway in 1:24:28 and running ok. I haven't looked at my splits - I just slowed marginally in each mile from 20, as I had 40 mins 20 secs to get inside 2:50 at that stage and was bang on target. Still it's a PB by 65 seconds and I was on TV!
Looking forward to getting the rest of the results in.
Hmmm. On the plus side I'm just about recovered already.
Dull - I think the only reason I got cramp was because I had it quite severely on Wednesday night which caused muscle damage and didn't repair in time. Why did I get it on Wednesday night? I put it down to inactivity - maybe tapering too sharply - I was about 10M per day down on normal training - guess the 'don't try anything new' rule was broken for the taper... Marders complained of similar (but less severe) cramps for the past few nights too. Perhaps it's something in the East London air?
Worked out my 5km splits from the website:
17:32
17:47
17:36
17:35
17:30
17:45
By the sounds of it conditions were pretty tough for the last 10km. We first felt the wind picking up along South Quay (just before it snakes around Canary Wharf) - at that point our pack was down to MikeB, Marders and me - we immediately looked at each other and put in a synchronised 'oh sh!t'. That explained the slow 25 - 30km split.
Sounds like a day of mixed results!!
Great to meet DanA, DOT and Tmap at the start. I spoke with DOT at the end but didn't see anyone else. The Red Lion was a wash out, so only stayed for 5.
Anyway, 2:45:30 ish for me, why am I not happy with a 10min PB?? I wonder.
Ran an even race, made the mistake of trusting garmin pace and by the time I realised it was wrong it was too late!
Don't know splits or even official time yet, but half was about 1.22.40 so I new the 2nd half was going to be tough - it was!!
That is good going considering how you have been feeling over the last few days. Unlucky on the timing of your cold but top marks for giving it your all today.
actually sounds like a good day so far, MTR, NDO and RM (plus myself) all running PBs. Maybe not getting our initial targets, but a good day at the races (please excuse me BEJ).
well run to all who have reported so far.
bloody hell RM I didn't know you was that quick!
I met Dan A and Dad Of Two at the start, and DoT and Blisters at the finish - I'll let them tell their stories, but well done both!
I had a tough race; felt really heavy and tired from about 300 metres into the race and was already struggling to maintain 6:45 pace by 5 miles, at a point where usually you're trying to slow yourself down. I was therefore chuffed to bits to finish in 2:58:29 in the circumstances, but need urgently to figure out what on earth went wrong with the taper. I had the same thing in the London-Brighton. Wifey's been away all week with the kids and I've been sleeping well so I expected to feel really fresh. Could be something silly like instant coffee I had for breakfast, could just be nerves, could be creeping old age.
Had my hardest-ever walk back to Waterloo; took over 10 minutes to climb the steps onto the footbridge, assailed by bad attacks of hyperventilation. But at least this year that wasn't during the race.
Splits:1: 7:06 (bit crowded, but still...)
2: 6:37 (maybe I just needed to warm up)
3: 6:25 (feels a bit better)
4: 6:40 (had to work extremely hard for that one; what's going on?)
5: 6:38 (again, feels like a struggle)
6: 6:58 (oh man, what on earth's going on here?)
7: 6:49 (OK, but still not easy)
8: 6:40 (better)
9: 6:49 (just can't seem to go any quicker)
10: 6:48 (ditto)
11: 6:43 (oh well, this isn't too bad)
12: 6:43 (love those crowds)
13: 6:44 (sub-3 seeming unlikely; if I do 3:15 at least I'll get into the 2010 race)
14: 6:36 (ah, if I can keep this up...)
15/16 13:32 (missed that mile marker, it's really chucking it down now and I can't see)
17: 6:46 (dodging puddles, trying to dry my glassses to put them back on)
18: 6:46 (feels OK)
19: 6:59 (oof - sub-3 seems a distant prospect, but still hopeful)
20: 6:47 (if I can just keep this going)
21: 6:53 (yep, just about)
22: 6:50 (cutting it fine... starting to get cramp in top of calves)
23: 6:52 (it's looking possible now, but crampy feeling is spreading to hamstrings)
24: 6:46 (altering stride to stave off cramp, but starting to feel positive)
25: 7:22 (ooof...)
26: 8:25 (yeah!)
On the nutrition debate - I had not a drop of anything, not even water. I suspect that's why the cramp nearly started up, but with that solid second half (not far off a negative split) it was the right thing to do.
That's one determined look on Marders' face! I just look bored out of my mind - prefer my races to last about 15mins!
Race went ok. Went off a bit too quick so tried to keep it steady. Didn't really feel great for first 5m as thought I needed a pi$$.
Crowds were amazing and got to half feeling good but behind time. So pushed on a bit. Started to struggle with wind and rain at about 15ish but pressed on.
Was feeling really good 16-22 thought I was averaging 6.13's and still on for sub2.45.
The hardest part was trying to run with someone in the last 6m as it seemed everyone was going backwards. Although it gave a confidence boost too.
Finally got to about 25m and realised it was going to be very close. I could not have given any more on the day anyway. Think I ran the last 1.5m at 6.07mm.
Apologies if it bores anyone - I was quite surprised by them!!
19.03
19.40
19.52
19.54
HM 1.22.40
19.23
19.39
19.44
19.43
Mara 2.45.20
HRate 162 (90%Max) seems high%. Last mara was 159.
Still looking forward to hearing some more reports.