So how far was this last minute run? 20 miles!! I thought about it for a while and tried to gauge if I could manage it injury free, as I had had a painful twinge in my right hamstring on Wed during a treadmill run.I decided the chance was too good to miss as I could use this as a new run for my charity campaign and as a free entry it would save me much needed money.
I was working Fri and Sat at work so no chance of rest, and Sat night I wasn't back from work til midnight and had to stay up to cook and eat some pasta and anything else I could manage to try and carb load my muscles with.In all honesty it was too late to try but something was better than nothing.
I managed roughly 5 hours sleep and got up, showered and changed, and had some toast and coffee as per usual and threw my stuff in my bag and I was out the door for 8.55am.
Transport as ever was provided by the ever helpful and supportive Mr M and today we had some fellow passengers and runners from SWAC (Southport & Waterloo Athletics Club) today it was Mandy and Jane.
Prompt arrival in Lancaster as always when Mr M drives, and after a bit of a queue to get through the Lancaster to Morecombe bottleneck leading up to Asda and we were there and all parked up at the sports centre.
A quick visit to the cafe area to find the loos etc and then after a welcomed pre race liquid relief it was out onto the track and onto the athletics clubhouse for our numbers.
A quick hello to several fellow runners and friends from RDB and a quick photo op (see pic below) and we were ready for the off.
So 20 miles here I come and I'm ready, or so I thought, in the rush to get our numbers etc I didn't get the chance to go back to the car and collect my running gels, water, mars bar and paracetamol.......this was a major oops!! but I convinced myself that I could manage by trying to grab anything I can from the aid stations even though it was purely some sweets and water.
So we were off and straight onto a cycle track which then lead on to more cycle track and then more cycle track ( a pattern seems to be emerging here). Then onto a flashy pedestrian bridge over the river and down the Quayside on the other side.We saw the leaders on several occasions as there were several switchbacks to and fro and as usual they were flying.
After a few side roads etc it was back past the bridge and onto the cycle path again (surprise) this went on pretty much for the entire length of the run but it was relatively quiet as such if you got ahead of the main bunches of runners, and you soon learned to keep your eyes peeled for cyclists who appeared a little dismayed at a long stream of runners on what is actually a walk/cycling path so we were perfectly entitled to use it :)
Onwards we went and thankfully there were aid stations roughly every 5k (2-3 miles) but I ignored most on the first stretch apart from when I saw sweets being offered, so I grabbed some every time at those.The challenge was trying to chew a mouthful of sweets and breath through my mouth at the same time which I have never mastered, which is exactly why I don't eat sweets and run and use gels instead.Every time I had sweets I found myself out of breath as I tried to eat while holding my breath a little, this didn't work by the way.
I ended up running fairly comfortably at 7:45 minute miles for the first 6-7 at least so was building up a little bit of spare time that I could use when I tired in the second half and would slow. I didn't really know what time I wanted, I looked for sub 3 hours as a guideline due to the fact that when I run to Liverpool from Southport which is also 20 miles it takes me roughly 3hrs but I stop for breaks on those runs and stop my watch so it's more like 3 hrs 20 mins.I set my watch for 8:30 miles because a sub 4 hr marathon is 9 min miles and I wanted to go quicker if I could.
We continued down the never ending cycle/walk path alongside the river and the views were quite nice of the river but it was overcast so not as pleasurable as it could of been as everything looks nicer in the sun with blue skies.I soon approached a timing mat at 10 miles which was the half way point and I hit a respectable 1:19 but I was now starting to feel my legs losing energy and no longer felt comfortable at the pace so I had to slow a little to try and preserve some energy, I wasn't puffed at all and could of keep it up but I knew the higher pace would waste more energy than I could afford.
Onwards again down what was now feeling like a dreaded cycle path to nowhere and finally at between 11 and 12 miles I think it was we turned round and headed back.Now I really was struggling and I was getting the odd person overtaking me and I was struggling to keep up with people in front of me.I convinced myself that these were people who had saved their energy for the second half instead of running faster in the first half like I had done.
Aid stations now became rest stops for me as I would take sweets and stand still and eat them to save choking on them.thankfully a welcome site was Frankie and Jenny fellow runners from RDB who when I mentioned I needed some food they kindly offered me a HI 5 gel :) bonus, just what I needed.I plodded on a little faster but still couldn't believe I still had near on 7 miles to go.
Aid station sweetie raids continued and sneaky rests as people passed me but I didn't care now it was all about survival.I continued on and at mile 17 and 18 I stopped and walked a 100 metres to give my legs a chance to pump some much needed blood and energy into them as running was using it quicker than my body could supply it.
This thankfully worked as I suffered through the final miles and mile 19 to 20 which felt like the longest mile of my life (26.2 miles at Bolton hill marathon felt more comfortable than I did now) last 400 or so metres now and onto the athletics track for the last 350 metres and a slow painful slog in with pretty much no sprint left in me...and over the line in 2hrs 51 mins and onto the goodie bag collection point :) a very much welcomed sandwich was handed to me and a t-shirt and in the goodie bag was a banana and a chocolate Twirl bar :) all promptly inhaled along with several cups of water.
All that remained now was a little wait for some fellow runners to come in safe, and a little chat with another member of SWAC who I had never met Paul.
Once everyone was safely home at the finish it was onto the cafe for a quick coffee and toilets or changing clothes etc and then it was time for home.
Several of us waddled over to the car and we were off home and as always arrived safely back in Southport courtesy of Mr M again (thank you Mr M).
So overall a very hard run due to tired legs but a good run for people who were using it as their last long 20 mile run in preparation for the London marathon in April.it is always good to have a long run or race as preparation to see what works and what does not on a run of this difficult distance.20 miles mean you will usually hit the wall of sorts unless your lucky so it's valuable practice and vital to prepare you for your big day the actual marathon.
Thanks to the on course photographers `Sprint finish photographers` for the great pictures on Flickr, all the marshal's, helpers at the aid stations and clubhouse etc and all the organizers, this is a good run because of them and I would recommend it.
So now I have a weeks rest and next Sunday I am onto charity run #6 of 14 the btr Liverpool half marathon.I will be attempting a new PB there so am going to try and rest this week but will still need to do a few small runs.
I hope to see some of you, runners or supporters in Liverpool and hopefully I may see some donations start to come through as this being an almost year long charity campaign donations as always are slow in the beginning, but next weeks run is almost the half way mark :)
See you next week....
No comments:
Post a Comment