T 6 miles (6:25mm)
W 8 miles, including 2miles @MP (6:13mm)
T 5miles (6:45mm)
F 4miles (6:41mm)
S 3miles (6:47mm)
S Yorkshire Marathon 2:22:49 (5:27mm)
Official splits
Pre-breakfast race day weight 139.0 Lbs
So race day arrived and I absolutely knew I was in the shape of my life. Never had I put such a consistent block together. My injuries of previous months had gradually faded to virtually nothing; no sciatica, no dodgy glutes, no nasty hamstrings. I felt great. Even the stars had aligned to give me prefect running weather with no wind whatsoever and a nice cool temperature. I had also managed to hit race day at the lightest I've been probably since I was 12!
I had a mini taper wobble midweek having worn my heart rate monitor on a couple of easy runs early in the week while I was carb depleting. HR was relatively sky high so I ditched it for the remaining runs of the week which certainly seemed to help the mental state a bit more. Now it was just about convincing myself that I was going to deliver. I only got a place in the race a about 11 weeks ago but thought it was worth one big effort to see where I could get to. I'm just a little too obsessive not to have a marathon to think about!
Carb loading went great and although I had an absolute tonne I stuck to an average of 11 g per kg of body weight which is what the experts say is about right but it still felt like I could have had more!
About Five O'clock on Saturday evening I had a dilemma about my race day shoes. I had been planning to run in Adios Boosts but they had really beaten up my feet in the half marathon a few weeks ago and when I told my wife Hania her face suggested I consider another pair! I thought the fact that they'd done so much damage to my feet was down to the fact that I'd worn a thinner sock and I hadn't quite tightened the laces enough but it was too much of a risk to take. So I spent about an hour trying them on and then putting on my Puma Faas 300s, swapping back then went to get my Adidas Bostons which had 450 miles on the clock but that I'd run Edinburgh in. I gradually decided that I wanted to race a marathon in a lighter weight shoe for a change but that it wouldn't be the Boosts it was to be the Faas 300s which is nice and lightweight but feel quite nice and spongy.
Bloody hell I haven't even started talking about the race yet! So race day morning. I woke up at 3:30am as I tend to. In fact I had only slept a total of 10 hours in the previous two nights. That seems to be normal for me now ahead of a big race so I didn't let it concern me too much but I would like to get to a race where I've had a good couple of nights sleep. Maybe one day. Cup of tea, shower, breakfast espresso and off! Got to the start nice and early and settled into the VIP/Elite area listening to some tunes and making sure all necessary body parts were well lubricated!
Little jog to warm up and then to the start. I wanted to try and keep it really easy for the first mile which I managed to do with quite a few folks streaming past me. I knew that I was going to be in for a lonely run given the quality of the field. There were a number of sub 2:20 calibre runners then me a 2:28 man so I was aware that it would be me on my own with my thoughts. Some say it's easier to run in a pack, I'm not too sure that's completely necessary in the marathon unless conditions are really bad. When Steve Jones won in Chicago in 1985 he went out from gun to tape with no intention of running with anyone, not that anyone could have stayed with him but it proves that you don't NEED someone to run with in a marathon. You just have to do what you have to do and run the race as optimally as you can. With others I genuinely believe you are unlikely to unless you get very lucky and happy to be running with someone who is exactly matched to your ability and fitness!
Anyway, back to the race. I felt really easy from the off which was a great sign. Got my head down for the first few miles and just concentrated on getting into a rhythm. I wore my HRM as I do like to keep an eye on it even in a marathon these days. I don't let it dictate my pace but it is a helpful guide and now after 12 marathons I have a pretty god idea of what is sustainable. Once I got to three miles I knew for sure if I kept a cool head I was going to obliterate my PB. All the signs were good. I felt relaxed, I was moving well, breathing was all very under control and I was focused.
The next part of the course was quite tricky in that there was a gradual down hill and then a long drag very slightly uphill from 14 for a couple of miles to 16 before dropping down again to 18. It was in this section that I started to feel that I was working and having to concentrate quite a bit more on my cadence and keeping the legs turning over. I saw my club mate Mike Burrett who was out supporting on the course (and doing his long run). He gave me some helpful info in terms of how I was looking and gave me some much needed encouragement. Then there was the turn back section to work back up the hill for a couple of miles before getting to the business end of the race. I went through 30k in 1:41:26 so about 34:30 for that 10k split which shows the slightly trickier nature of this part of the course. Then it was on to 20miles and the last 10k.
My legs were now really starting to scream at me, I could feel a bit of hard skin under my right foot which was causing me some bother but not enough to really cause too many issues. I just had to try and ignore it. At this point of the race it really was just about one foot in front of the other and concentrating so intently. I just focused on the next mile marker pushing and driving. I managed to pick off a couple of 'genuine' elites at this stage which was highly gratifying. I was flying past them. A mile seems quite along way when you're 23 miles in but although my pace was starting to drift a bit I was still keeping pretty strong. I had seen that there was a big hill in the last mile which I was conscious that I needed to save some energy for as there was no way I wanted to be walking up it! Either way it was going to take a monumental effort to get up it. As I reached the point I just got my head down and I could feel the strength of my very recently late Auntie Di help me drive up the hill. As I reached the top I went past the 26 mile marker and I knew with one last push I could come in under 2:23 which would be a whopping PB. and with that I absolutely emptied the barrel, I poured it on, there's no point in leaving anything out there and some how managed to cover the last 0.22 of a mile in 4:39 pace. The crowd were going mental and I lifted my hands above my head and actually felt like I'd won. It was just ace. I crossed the line at a full on sprint and as I came to a stop the emotion of the day got on top of me. I was a really wuss as I couldn't stop crying. It took me a few minutes to regain my composure but I did eventually. I then had a couple of television interviews which I will no doubt look like an absolute idiot in. It's really not an ideal time to be interviewed a couple of minutes after the monumental effort I'd just put in. It was incredibly pleasing not only to get the mahoosive PB and finish 5th overall but also to be the first Yorkshireman home was very special indeed.
Shortly after I took up running a few years ago I had a dream that I would go sub 2:20 one day and with today's performance I've taken a big stride towards that.
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