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A quick summary of how London 2018 went for me….OK, maybe not so quick!
My campaign started on Jan 2nd when I did my first run since before Christmas, during which time I had the proper man-flu going around at the time. I couldn’t and didn’t run a step for 2 weeks.
I still had the chest lurgy but figured the running would clear it off. It didn’t, it stayed, it went away a bit, it came back. This cycle repeated until early March.
During those weeks the weather was varied but mainly cold. Outside immediate family, no one really sees what we do, what it takes to get to a marathon start line and succeed and fail in our endeavours, they maybe see a social media post or engage in a brief conversation but it’s difficult to describe the battle of willpower to get out of the door in the morning/evening darkness in sub-zero temperatures to go running.
I battled on.
My lurgy cleared in time for the Surrey Half, I bagged a 1.25 PB and the son of lurgy returned a few days later for a final hello and goodbye.
Finally, with a month to go, I felt the clarity of chest I’d craved since December and felt very focussed for a PB tilt at London. Despite arctic weather and illness, I had completed every planned session, covered more miles than any other campaign and had a set of stats that were quicker than any previous marathon attempt.
But then, there was to be a final twist. The African Plume. A shot of warm air fired up from the African continent to make a mockery of our winter training. It was to be the warmest London Marathon on record. Plans dashed.
I find weather forecasts to be frustratingly accurate now, nearly as much as I found them frustrating inaccurate years ago. From the Thursday before the race I began drinking lots of water with a Nuun electrolyte tab plonked in. I was casually careful with my carbo loading and enjoyed my packet of crisps vice, telling myself this was added salt required.
I slept well on the Friday and when Saturday came, I relaxed all day and woke up on the hour every hour until getting up early for the race. Textbook.
I arrived at the start on a locally organised coach and made for the Blue start. In Boston 2017 I arrived 2 hours before the start and took shelter inside a marquee to keep cool. I did the same in London. I lay on the damp grass which cooled my body nicely for a good hour. Three coats of factor 50 and half a tub of Vaseline and I was ready. A splash and dash in the urinals and I hit Pen 1.
I felt special in Pen 1. I never thought I’d get to the giddy heights of Pen 1 when I was a 4.47 runner in Pen 7 years ago. Being able to talk on level terms to the GFA crowd like you lot is like being a new celebrity going through the public phases of higher recognition.
I could hear the elite being introduced. I looked up at the giant screen and the clock said 4 mins to go. It was time to take off the white t-shirt I’d put on to shield my shoulders from the sun. As I dumped it I found a slab of water bottles, so I and a few others took one to run the first mile with. Next thing, we’re off and running.
The urge to hit A-Target pace early on and see what happens was overwhelming but with my shoulders already cooking on a low simmer, I remembered back to Boston and how people blew up after attempting such folly.
I tick off the marathon in markers, get down the hill at Charlton for the 4 miler, then Cutty Sark, Jamaica Road, Tower Bridge, Halfway, Canary Wharf, 20 miles, The turn back to The Highway, Tower Hill, Blackfriars underpass, the turn into Parliament square for final showbiz mile glory and relief...
By 6 miles I was cooking nicely and this chicken needed basting. I grabbed water at every station, pouring it over my head, neck, thighs and wrist where I had a buff soaking it up to keep me cool.
I was cruising nicely but I knew I couldn’t push at all. I settled into all day pace knowing that it was still going to hurt later due to the heat.
At around 9 miles I bumped into Lorenzo. I asked what pace he was doing and he wasn’t sure, probably 7.15s, he was on regular stopwatch. Great idea! I did the same and plodded on.
I hit my course markers and showboated for the cameras. By now I was resigned to the fact that I wasn’t going to PB and even a New York qualifier (3.14) would be outside of today’s possibilities.
Oh my, how I was glad I’d been sensible by the time I hit 19 miles. I wanted to push but the legs were getting tired. It was getting hotter. I felt drenched in water most of the way but found that by the time I was getting to the next water station my vest was almost dry. It really was a hot one!
I got to mile 20 and decided I would push on for a bit. I had a feeling Lorenzo was nearby as I could hear the crowd shout his name every now and then. I was on The Highway and overtaking more than running with runners. My legs felt stronger hear than on previous London’s but pushing even harder now could have been a disaster, I was boiling hot and legs were better but still heavy.
I spotted the wife at mile 25 and got a bit choked. She and the rest of the tribe supported me through all the above and on the day itself. It was a final boost I needed to press on. I pulled myself together and hit for home.
The final mile flew by and I turned for The Mall. It’s a scene we should never forget and be privileged to view. I soaked it and saw the gantry clocks. I was on for a middle 3.16 and selected the centre aisle. In homage to my fellow striker, I raised a bended arm to Alan Shearer, my traditional finish pose and ran through the mats. It was over. The relief of not just the race but the whole campaign was somewhat overwhelming. A pal was a medal volunteer, I found him and we hugged. He is still winding me up repeating that I said I was broken and had a little dust in my eye!
I met Lorenzo again and a couple of club pals. Brief tales of hot running and a spectacular blow-up from my sub-3 hunting mate exchanged and we collected our bags.
It was great to meet a few of the thread guys in Chandos after and really pleased to hear that OO and especially DT did so well. I still maintain, DT, you were a little careless there, fella!
A former coach at my club told a mate that experience would be of best benefit to runners on a hot London day. He was right. It was as warm if not warmer in Boston last year and I learned so much and applied it to London. My last three marathons have had two with mini heatwaves while the other had storm force winds. The latter was a 3.09 and should see me OK for another go at London next year. Next up is Chicago. Surely THAT won’t turn out to be four freaky weather conditions in a row?
One practical thing, GD, is that Chicago is a very early start, so even if the weather gods are cruel, you won't be battling midday sun!
Great report G-Dawg especially agree with the people not seeing what we do. As this was my first marathon and first real consistent training block I really learnt how much effort and time goes into it. Especially difficult in the winter months when it has been so dark and cold!
By the way I'd like to thank you all for the support, been a massive help over the past few months!
+1 for Joolska, I think Chicago is also a faster course than London. But the last 6 men's WRs have been set in Berlin.
Birch - if you want to borrow the gear for your next race I will happily send it over the Snake....
Maybe I will even win the battle one day as Poacher so rightly says to get the start line in one piece as the last 3 out of the 4 I have ran I arrived quite injured and that's the ones I actually managed to even start as Sundays race was deferred for me lol
The cheaters thread is so annoying (by that I mean it's purpise). Why would you do it!
Now the dust is settling after London and my quads are (slowly) coming back to normal. I'm after advice as to what to target for the rest of the year. Do I:
A) Go again in an Autumn marathon (Probably Abingdon) and try to achieve 3.15 or better on a quieter course and hopefully cooler conditions
B ) Focus on halfs/10ks for the rest of the year to lower my times. Have Birmingham half as my A goal to see how low I can go
I know what I'm leaning towards but interested to know what you all think!
Jools - "Chicago is a very early start" - I like the sound of that!
Stevie - personally, I would be tempted to go for Abingdon or another autumn marathon as an A target. You'll probably PB in the shorter distances too!
5 mile recovery run and 8 miles easy to work today. There's a possibility that I might be able to do the Norfolk 100km race after all, but with only 2 months to go I am concerned that I won't be ready in time.
I think, apart from the Medoc marathon, I'm going to end up trying to keep the fitness with shorter races and get more time running faster. I might have been tempted to push for another mara before summer starts proper; however with the 3 toenails I removed last night; just walking is currently an issue!
what's the field size on Abingdon? Not sure how I'd do without the big race vibe.
Great report GD, well done!
One thing I did notice is that you added extra salt to your diet the days before the marathon. From what I understand this isn’t a good idea. Consuming extra salt can disrupt your hormonal system causing a fluid/sodium imbalance. You’ll sweat more.
I have the same issue, Stevie. However I am not sure I can take another mara cycle straight away. The good thing about an Autumn mara is that you are training in much warmer temps than you will run in as even in a warm October it is going to be cooler than July/August.
Just looking on Runbritain. London had a difficulty of 3.1. Scrolling back through my entire race history I don't have a single rd race that gets near that rating. A couple of xc/trail races in that region but no road race. I got -1.3 performance which is also my best ever performance rating and dropped my handicap to an all time low of 3.7.
Going to try a 3-4 mile recovery over lunch.
Badbark - good point. Maybe one day there will be a running watch which gives you your sodium level so you know whether to drink water with or without electrolytes to keep the right balance!
DT19 - that's a very impressive handicap. Good luck with the recovery run.
7.5 and 5.5 easy miles this morning. Although Miss GD the younger no longer wishes to visit Warwick University, looks like we'll now be going to Bath instead on the day of the Norfolk 100km race. Glad I didn't mention it to any of the family. Now pondering which race to target instead.
I've been away on business trip this week and not had time to report on VLM, but reading back I think you said it all anyway. After Paris 2 weeks ago I ran a sensible race and went off around 7min pace or just over. A good time was never on and I just tried to enjoy it. I lasted until about mile 22 until a bit of tiredness from Paris started to affect my pace but I was never going to stop- not this time. 3:15:19 is a fair reflection of my race. The more stories I hear the better that looks. The best bit was post race, seeing family & the guys in the pub- I had quite a few pints by the time I got on my train home. My legs have been reasonable since, but I've had a dull headache for days which is a new one on me. I've not run yet but in a club event tonight which I'm sure will be fine.
A friend has offered me a number transfer for New York in November- I'm retired by then, so very tempted.
It's been good banter this year. I hope the new guys to the thread will stick around until their next challenge- for sure you'll learn and get better if you do.
Will enter the VLM 2019 ballot but on the basis I don't get in Brighton in April 2019 may become the focus
http://abc7ny.com/3391811/
Not posted since back in January. However been reading sporadically since then and taken inspiration from everyones exploits over the spring training season and into some impressive race results.
As for me over marathon training I brought my half PB down by almost 6 mins to 1:21:48 at Wokingham in February. I also broke the 19 min barrier at parkrun for the first time, running three 18:xx's on three different courses, with my best being 18:25 the weekend prior to the marathon. However I had a pretty tough day out on Sunday in Vienna.
With similar hot weather conditions to London (20C and clear sunny skies for the 9am start rising to 24C by midday and upwards from there) I was foolhardy to try and run sub 3 which was the aim (the new london GFA times didn't help on that decision though!)
I went through halfway in 1:29 but started slowing around 25k and by 30k I was around 20 seconds behind schedule. The wheels really fell off after the first bout of cramp around 31k. The final 10k or so became a battle just to get home with several stops due to cramp - particularly in my hamstrings. Anyway i scrapped home with a 68 second PB in 3:12:24. It was a lot harder work than last year, and i've been in a much worse way since.
Anyway like some of you guys I'm now considering my goals for the rest of the year and so wandered if ignoring the weather is sub 3 a realistic goal with those half/5k times? Basically do i have another marathon tilt in the autumn or do i try and improve my speed at shorter distances and go again next spring?
My times are slower than yours and I was also (foolishly) targeting 3 at London, and ended up 2 seconds slower than you. I'd say your chances of sub 3 are way better than mine with your current pace.
Stevie - do both. A faster HM is a great indicator for a faster mara, so why not do a flat out HM in Sept then fit in a no-pressure mara in Oct - you might surprise yourself, and experience in managing one's way round 26.2 is useful. Of all the things I wish I'd known from day 1, its that short-distance speed is never wasted even if one's main interest is in plodding a long way.
Nicko - Abingdon is not huge, but it is potentially quick.
Gul - if you are wimping out off the "proper" race, there's always the Sh**es***re.
OO - the only reasons not to go to NY are (a) very expensive city (b) harder course than it looks. But what's not to like?
Lorenzo - that will be a bit easier than your summer of extreme masochism.
Rich - that HM time "should" make sub3 a shoe-in, but the marathon gods are cruel. Statistically, getting to half way in 1.25-1.28 makes it more likely. You clearly have the ability, so cashing in in the autumn is a good idea.
BTW if anyone misses out on London in 2019 and wants a quick spring mara, I would say Manchester is potentially the place to be. Birch - with your long experience how would you rate Manc?
Rich, we seem to be in similar shape. I ran 3 back to back solid 18s the weeks before London, peaking at 18.21. I also got a 1 22 half. I consider i am in sub 3 shape. I tackled things differently to you on Sunday, lowering my target by 10 seconds a mile. To my surprise I ran my best Mara yet and I suspect the reason I did so was because I'm in better shape than even thev6.50 pace I was planning.
poacher, Manchester is my go to option if I don't get in London. On that topic I had some time to kill last night and I went through the rb marathon rankings for last year and this year. Now I appreciate not every runner is registered with rb but the cast majority at that level will be. I believe there are currently only about 3800 men with a qualifying time. what my calculation doesn't take account of is men that appeared in last year's and this year's rankings, like me. Again at that level you would expect a good 20-30% to have run in both years. Then of course not everyone will want to run London next year. Therefore I am sort of thinking that the rationale from London is that they have analysed these figures and for now anticipate that 3000 reflects the numbers currently at New gfa level. It also means that they never now have to reassess the goal times. if standards improve them the capping system looks after that.
I started my race report over lunch but then work got in way. will finish it tomorrow.
Excellent report G-D. A sensible start made all the difference to those closing 6 miles. I'm reliably informed that conditions at Chicago (just like New York) will be perfect!
Abingdon is a great autumn marathon Stevie - you might find yourself running in space at 3 hour pace but the course and stadium start/finish are brilliant. This is my PB course!
You need to find a way to do the Norfolk 100 Gul - you'd think Universities would plan these events with a bit more consideration to running parents based in Norfolk!
Do you think running Paris helped you cope with the conditions in London OO or were you just doubly unlucky? Are you allowed to transfer NYC Marathon places?
You shouldn't have a problem targeting Sub 3 with that HM time RichN - you just need to make sure you've done the marathon specific training.
Given the early April timing and geographic location, Manchester is beginning to look like the spring marathon of choice for PB hunters. But don't forget Brighton - my favourite marathon for now!
I've been back running since last Wednesday - so 2 days off post Brighton. All recovery/easy pace but with 14K runs on Sunday and Wednesday. The legs are desperate to do some speedy stuff (10K races would be nice) but the hamstring issue is still in the background. Will keep to the easy runs for another week and see how things look.
Rich - with a sub-82 HM, I'd say that sub-3 is certainly a possiblity. Sounds like it was a tough last 10K on Sunday but don't let that put you off an assault on sub-3 in the autumn.
Zero running for me so far this week - have decided to give my body a complete rest and then get out on 2 wheels over the weekend. Another track 5000m in the Vets League on Monday in the offing.
Gul hope you find a race soon while you are in shape.
Birch good job your not retired then !
Seem the cheats thread not sure why they do it but no doubt conditions were very tough on Sunday and many people hardly do any training and get one hell of a shock come raceday when the wheels come of at 10k !
30 min tempo tonight with club about 7m/mile pace ,no time for a cool down and straight into nightshift ,knee grumbling a bit now !
Thanks for the advice all. I'm 90% certain I'm going to do Abingdon now. I might struggle to fit in a half in September as I'm away for a week plus there is a few family/friends birthdays. We will see though!
DT - I guess its just lack of knowledge of local races, I did enjoy the half last year though!
So current plan is: Stratford Half on May 13th - See how legs are feeling but try to go Sub 1.28. This will give me a baseline for summer training. Then I'll most likely do Stratford 10k in September as a goal race. I also have the small matter of the fact I bet my boss that I could do a sub 18 parkrun. That's going to be tough!