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Can't wait to collect my bike!! Shag this running business

TRR wrote: »

Good news. Just back home to find out that the father in law cut the back garden! Don't know if he's handy at carpentry but I can send him down your way if you need him

Can he paint?? I was given my "list" today!

Prelude

This was to be my third and possibly final attempt at breaking the 3 hour barrier. since I started running 2 years ago I always felt it was well within my reach but it was proving a little bit more difficult that I had expected.
My first attempt in limerick was a reflection of the haphazard approach that I took to training. I blew up with 2 miles to go and finished in 3.01.xx.

I had an injury due to wearing racers all last summer and this meant that I was squeezing my dcm training into 9/10 weeks, 2 of which were my holidays in Italy. That race went ok until my right hamstring had enough and I missed the target by 4 seconds. This was followed by a 6 week break from running whilst a grade 2 tear in my hamstring healed.

I followed the BAA advanced training plan for this and everything was going great until I hurt my glute about 4 weeks ago. A neurofen plus supported final 4 weeks training period was not ideal and if it had been an Irish marathon I would have pulled out and waited for the injury to heal properly. That said, I rested well over the past two weeks and the my right ass cheek had felt much better by the time I boarded the plane on saturday and was held together with K tape incase I fell apart.

An enjoyable lunch with meno and redrunner was followed by Mrs G heading off on a "pre shopping" viewing stroll around covent garden whilst I chilled out in the room watching next seasons champions league winners defeat the might Sunderland!

The Race

I had been really relaxed in the build up to this but my nerves where tested a bit after we boarded the wrong train and ended up missing our stop! We made the GFA pen with plenty of time to spare and after a bit of stretching I made my way to the start line. Some guy beside me was panicking as he couldn't get his garmin to work. The dufus had the bezel locked. Amateurs eh??!

Miles 1-6
6.44; 6.41; 6.37; 6.35; 6.44; 6.42
It was a beautiful day and as the countdown began I reminded myself to enjoy the occasion no matter what the outcome. It became immediately obvious that london was up for this one as the noise was electric from the first minute! Apart from stumbling over a speed ramp and jarring my right hip (typical!) the first 6 miles flew by.

My tactic was to go out at 2.56 pace and see where it got me. I was confident that I would have the stamina to hold that but I was also anticipating that my injury would eventually flare up and I'd need some time banked. I felt really good and my breathing was light and easy. Tried to run in shade whenever possible and stuck to that throughout the race. I took a gel @ mile 5 and sipped on water every second mile. I loved the bit where we merged with the blue start, everyone was still in great form at that stage.

Miles 7-12
6.43; 6.46; 6.45; 6.46; 6.43; 6.44

Again nothing much to report here apart from the noise! I had sipped on a lucozade and taken another gel at mile 10. I passed one of the guys from the club and after a brief chat I headed on. The fact I was able to chat away to him without any effort was pleasing, everything was going to plan.

Miles 13-18
6.51; 6.43; 6.42; 6.50; 6.48; 6.47

Mrs G was due to be somewhere between mile 13 & 14 and because she wasn't wearing her new shocking red lippy I thought I might struggle to see her. This made the time fly by and I got a nice little boost when she gave me a shout out! I had 2 zero electrolyte and salt tabs with me and took one in a bottle of water around half way and a gel at mile 15. I think the 6.50 time was due to running through a short tunnel. It was at mile 18, through canary wharf that I felt my glute flicker for the first time since the speed wobble early on. Put it too the back of my mind and kept my form.

Miles 19-23
7.21; 6.43; 6.51; 6.54; 6.57

I lost signal going through canary wharf but had the stopwatch on so I wasn't too bothered. Took a gel at mile 20 and kept up my policy of drinking every 2 miles. At this stage my glute was becoming a bit of an issue so I was happy that I didn't need to be chasing time. from 21 to 23 the time flew as the 4hr -4.15 groups where running the opposite direction. The noise and atmosphere were great again and it would be easy to loose focus at this stage so I tried to concentrate on the task in hand. Took another zero tab around here. The Glute pulsing had made it's way down to my hamstring and I just couldn't believe it. I was so close and feeling so comfortable that I refused to give into it. I'd rather blow up in spectacular fashion and miss my target by 10 mins than have it pulled from under my nose again. I ran through the first couple of strains but directly under the 23 mile marker my right hamstring locked up. I pulled up and tried to stretch it out. The course was slightly down hill so I tried to lengthen my stride and get back into the race much to the delight of the crowds around me! It surely couldn't happen again? I was trying not to get emotional and to stay positive as I knew I had a time cushion and really worked on getting into a stride that wasn't going to put any strain on my leg. Got moving again and threw another gel into me. My 5th and final one of the day.

Mile 24 - Finish

6.46; 7.03; 6.54; 6.27

I was back running albeit with a little discomfort in my hamstring. We came out of the tunnel (hence the 7.03) and on to the embankment. My only focus was westminster abbey. I tried to keep a straight a line as possible and avoided weaving between runners. A couple of close calls followed but I would possibly have ran over my own mother at that stage if it meant saving my hamstring There was a bit of carnage along the embankment with athletes in bits on the road. I passed 169 in the last 7.2km. I just looked straight ahead at that big clock and held what was a nice easy pace. Once we turned along birdcage walk I knew I had the monkey finally off my back. I had a nice bit left in the tank and when I turned onto Buckingham palace/The mall I was able to open my legs up for the first time in a while and following a few fist pumps and a huge sigh of relief I crossed the line with 2.59.xx on the clock above my head. Hamstring started to cramp up again as soon as I stopped!! The road to perdition had been completed and regardless of what happens from now on I'll always be a sub 3 marathon runner!!!

Aftermath

Strand palace was a great idea, it's centrally located and perfect for either the tourist thing or the marathon finish. (tho there was a strange waft in the lobby on monday morning ) We made our way over to the coal hole and had a great night with too many boardise's to mention!! I got a lecture on football from BB's son, keep an eye out for him as he'll be running the country soon! and both Mrs G and Mrs TRR used the opportunity to plot their DIY revenge following months of neglect!! By the way, TRR is actually a nice bloke, who would have guessed??!!! Also, if Mr runchick is reading, marathons are definitely tougher than 160k + cycles

We met meno, rr, cl and digger for a couple of pints on monday and then I was dragged around for the next 2 days sightseeing, shopping and to a show.

All in all a great experience and a great relief personally to break that invisible barrier. Thanks for all your messages of support before, during and after the race.

Particular thanks to those that contributed to the Solas centre, our trials and tribulations pale into insignificance compared to the people that use that service.