London marathon training log/blog

kennyb3 wrote: »

i presume you ll be putting a blow by blow account up?

Cheers, yeah I'm a bit busy today so it could be tomorrow before I get time to put it all together.

Before I waffle on about the race itself I want to describe the niggle I had and how it effected my race (mentally more than physically thankfully). I managed to finish the race in 2.47.06 which is a PB of over 2 minutes for me. Obviously I am delighted with this and at the moment I am feeling very satisfied with myself.

I developed a shin splint at the start of the month. In hindsight it definitely could have been avoided. I can pinpoint the session that caused it, I can actually tell you where on the session I was when I first felt the twinge. The following day it was sore, instead of taking a day off I ran 9-10 miles and continued on until mid week when the damage had already been done. I am quite lucky in that in all my years running I have been relatively injury free so looking back on my log the last couple of weeks I think I may have been over dramatic some days, but overall I was quite reasonable in my opinion that this was a serious niggle. Some days it was OK to run on others it hurt like hell. Bottom line is it affected my final preparations and I had to reassess my target pace. I knew aerobically 6.30 pace would be right for me and I also knew if I could hit those splits I could pull something out of the bag at the end if needed to run a PB. I hope I didn’t come across like a kid who says he hasn’t studied before an exam an turns out getting 100% or somebody who is making excuses before they run. I hate listening to fellow runners on the starting line waffling on about their latest strain or how they are just coming back from injury before proceeding to run a PB. My niggle was genuine and could easily have caused me to drop out of the race. My philosophy is, if you’re feeling good let everybody know who asks and if you are not feeling good then let people know but only if they ask. This log is an in between and for anybody who wanted to read, they heard all about my woes. Anyway, on to my race report.

Flew out of Dublin Friday evening. Ran 4 miles in the morning before flying and my leg felt fine, absolutely no pain what so ever although my calf did feel a little dead. I was happy after this run, the best it had felt in 3 weeks, good stuff. Got to the airport in plenty of time as wanted to stay stress free I had enough things on my mind without worrying about the poxy M50. Plane landed on time and got the train to our hotel. This wasn’t straight forward but we arrived (a little stressed) at around 8.30 pm. We stayed in Canary Wharf in a Radison hotel and it was spot on location wise relative to the race start (Grenwich) and the race expo (Excel). Got something light to eat and had an early night.

Left the hotel the following morning after a carbohydrate rich breakfast of porridge, bread, bananas and raisins and headed to the Excel. We arrived just after 9 and I quickly picked up my number and purchased some of the official merchandise. I actually didn’t want any merchandise as I wasn’t expecting to be wearing any products with the London marathon logo on them with pride but the Mrs got me a nice jacket and running top (thanks by the way ). I had a quick look around the expo and was on a train back to the hotel by 10.30. The expo was brilliant. You could buy absolutely anything. I got some cool running socks and a nice running cap. People were queuing to have their gait analysis done. I thought this was bizarre, why wait until you get to the expo to find out any weakness in you biomechanics. I personally would rather not find out the day before I had 26 miles ahead of me. Lucozade were handing out wrist bands with splits on them. I asked could I have one for 3hrs 30mins, 3 hrs, 2hrs50 mins, 2hrs48 mins and 2hrs 47 mins. They thought I was mad but I was in the scouts and this was what being prepared was all about. One of Lucozades sports scientists talked to me about the benefits of taking on carbohydrates as I ran. I quizzed him on it and he reckoned I needed 60grams of carbs for every hour I was running. The glucose sweets I use have 45grams per pack. I consume one pack per race. He told me there was 20 grams of carb per lucozade bottle being given out on the course. Eh, Mr Lucozade that’s 9 bottles for me no thanks. Anyway this kind of worried me, less experienced people may have been inclined to take this advice at face value and if so would have a very upset tummy today and even worse during the race.

We dropped off my number etc back at the hotel and I loaded up on brack, bread and fig rolls. We did a bit of sight seeing Saturday afternoon (sitting on a tour bus off my feet). My leg was quite sore and I had difficulties walking up and down stairs, this put me in foul humor. The tour was great but I could see them setting up the marathon course, this did nothing for my mood. The bus stopped outside Buckingham palace and the guided pointed out the mall where the marathon finish is. I refused to look down it, I had real butterflies and was quite literally ****ting it. The bus decided to sit at this spot for 10 minutes so I had a creek in my neck by the time we pulled off again on our tour.

I made sure to snack and drink constantly during the day and consumed plenty of fig rolls and jaffa cakes and well as a rice based dish for lunch. Back in the hotel Saturday evening I again had a rice based dish for dinner and lots or water and carbohydrate drinks. I snoozed a bit in the evening and decided I needed to test my leg out. This was not planned as I had decided Friday was going to be my last run. The leg was so tender (the tendon was sore to touch) on Saturday though I needed a self-assessment. I got decked out in my race gear and ran 2 miles around canary wharf. The leg felt fine, I stopped after the first mile and stretched and then ran the second mile at marathon pace. Leg felt fine and this little jaunt was a real confidence booster. Showered and hit the sac after icing the leg one final time. I’m surprised I didn’t develop frost bite in my right leg the last couple of weeks with all the ice I have had on it.

Woke Sunday in great form, had a shower hit breakfast and had a couple of Weetabix. Got dressed for the race and had my bag prepared from the previous night. Scoffed more jaffa cakes and carbo drinks. If I never see a bottle of Powerade or Lucozade again I will be a happy man. I walked to the local rail station with 2 fellow guests/runners and discussed the weather. It was hot, very hot. There was no cloud cover and knob head (moi) had no sun cream.

Jumped on a train and got to Greenwich at 8.45, race start was 9.45 am so in good time. Had a bit of a walk to the start and I was a bit anxious to get rid of my bag etc. As I qualified via the good for age (GFA) category I was directed out of the park where we had a separate start from the mass participants. The GFA section was brilliant. We had our own toilets, baggage and warm up area. I felt like a pro and the relaxed atmosphere in this section helped settle my nerves. Five minutes before the race started we were led to the front of the red mass participant start (there were 3 starts in all). This was great as it meant we didn’t have to take the sharp right turn out of Greenwich park that must have been a real bottle-neck. On the start line runners were sussing each other out and small groups/packs were being assembled based on target pace. A couple of lads beside me were targeting 2.30 while another were going for 2.50, my target pace. I decided not to run with anyone and run my own race. I would normally try to tag onto a group but wanted to run how I felt. I took on as much water as possible without over doing it, I didn’t want to have to stop and use the facilities after a mile or two and I was all set for the off. There were big screens close by and looking at them I could see a birds eye view of the start it looked awesome.

The gun went and we were off, the start was narrow enough relative to the numbers running and the first half a mile was run very gingerly, this didn’t bother me in the least, close to a mile it was possible to jump on footpaths and bypass some people so by mile 1 I was close enough to target pace and had a clear run ahead of me. More importantly the leg was feeling good, it would want to be though. I popped a load of Solpadeine an hour before the race start and earlier in the morning. During the last 3 weeks I was taking anti-inflammatories but resisted the pain killers. I reckoned I would get more benefit from them on the race day and didn’t want to ameliorate my nervous system to their painkilling effects (at least that was my rationale).

The crowds at the start were great, huge numbers of people were out, I was impressed and assumed numbers would thin out as we went on. I was wrong the crowds in Greenwich were pathetic compared to those that lay ahead. I hit 5 miles in about 32 minutes (~6.25 per mile) I felt great, it was hard to hold back people were flying by me but I tried to stay even. The first 10k is probably slightly downhill so some people were getting carried away. Pubs along the route had music, dancers, cheer leaders etc laid on. These really added to the atmosphere. Some of the pubs looked like they could have been on “Britain’s toughest pubs” though. The state of some of the clientele.

I passed a guy dressed as robin hood at 6 miles and hoped to hit 10 in 65 minutes. Based on my Garmin I managed 10 miles in 64.32 however I did run wide in the first couple of miles so I didn’t pass the official 10 mile gantry until 64.57. Pacing was going well. In the meantime my calf was starting to feel tender, cue Solpadeine round 3 and off I went looking for another 10 miles close to 65 minutes.

I didn’t care less about my half way split, I had mentally broken this marathon into 2 by 10 miles at even pace followed by a flat out 10k to finish. Hit half way in 85 minutes so my pacing was still bang on. Got to 15 miles and I was feeling good. I wanted to push on but held myself back. Runners around me were starting to suffer and I was picking off large groups easily. I was taking on water at every single water stop (every mile) and while only taking a sip at some stations I was using the remaining water to top over my head and keep me cool. While this was a good idea it did mean my feet got a little wet which isn't normally a problem. I was wearing 1000 mile socks though, and in the past I have found these can cause blisters when the double layers rubs off each other if wet. In fact this is the reason I stopped wearing them about 6 years ago but got some as a Christmas present and as they had been great in training and I have a short memory I ran in them on Sunday. I have some nasty blisters now but if I'm honest they didn't really cause me too much discomfort in the race.

To my dismay I spotted a dude dressed as superman ahead of me at 15/16 so I got ahead of him as I was determined no muppet in fancy dress was going to run in front of me if at all possible. My mile splits were still relatively even some were quicker than others but this was due to undulations in the course, my effort was even. I was getting very restless though I just wanted to let loose but I knew I had to hang back, I was starting to carry my right leg a little and my left quad was stating to complain. Nothing too serious though but I knew I had to be sensible.

I passed Spiderman at mile 19 !!!!!! He was dressed head to toe, mask and all, he was wrecked but was still on for a time of 2.50 which was just mad. I later found out he finished in 3.01 which is impressive but he managed to loose over 11 minutes in the last 7 miles.

I hit 20 miles in 2hrs 8 mins and 54 seconds which meant miles 10-20 were run in 64.22 perfecto. I didn’t catch the split on the official 20 mile gantry.

I started to crank the pace up a little, at this stage it was carnage. Runners were blowing up all around me and I was starting to pass many of the guys who had British championship numbers (sub 2.45 men) on them which was a real confidence booster, I knew I had timed my race well at this stage. After mile 21 I just stuck the head down and kept motoring, I was no longer bothered with splits and was concentrating on effort. The crowds were huge at this stage and in some places stewards and police had to hold them back, people were trying to step onto the road so as to spot their friends/family coming along. I somehow managed to thrown a very fast (for me) 5.21 mile in and at mile 24 I knew I had a PB in the bag, some quick maths told me I needed to get close to 6 minute miles at the end to make sure I got 2.47 and beat a work mate’s PB of 2.48. So I pushed on again, it felt so easy any pains in my legs were not noticeable.

I came onto the mall and picked an empty finishing gantry and kept the pace up, it’s a great finishing stretch and I really enjoyed it. I crossed the line and felt pure relief, not joy with a PB but just relief quickly followed by excitement at the realisation that I had executed my pre-race plan to perfection. The last 6 miles 385 yards were run in just under 38 minutes, I was delighted with this. It was also the first time I have ran a marathon without having to stop to stretch or use the toilet, most importantly and a real eye opener for me was the fact it was the first time I have ever ran negative splits and I think this was significant. When you are tired there is nothing better than passing others so banking minutes in the first half of a race is in my opinion not the way to go.

Overall I got my pre-race meals and hydration spot on. Out on the course I was well hydrated and even managed to take on board some carbo drinks, I also took about a pack and a half of glucose sweets.

After I finished I quickly changed and met up with the Mrs. I watched the end of the race for a few minutes and cheered some people on. Some runners were in a real mess. With 3hrs 40 minutes on the clock a guy collapsed under the 26 mile gantry that says "only 385 yards to go", he was out of it, he looked like a punch drunk boxer. His friend propped him up and decided to try to get him over the line. The medical people were trying to get him to relax but the lads were having none of it. I was trying to tell the friend to relax and get some glucose into his friend. I reckon a quick drink and 5 minutes rest and he would have been able to walk down to the finish. They were frantic though and both collapsed 20 metres later. The punch drunk runner was taken away in an ambulance. After that ordeal I took to the local establishments and quite frankly drank like Shane McGowan into the early hours of Monday morning.

Overall I am still very happy with my race. I think relative to the last few weeks I outperformed a little. I’m still very sore and stiff and in fact haven’t felt this crocked since my very first marathon were I did little or no training. I think this shows I ran a little quicker than I was probably capable of on the day. The crowd really helped they were brilliant and the extra adrenaline of a big city marathon helped me get an extra 1-2% that I didn't have. I would definitely run London again and would definitely recommend it to anyone considering it.

I’m going to take it dead handy the next week to 2 weeks and will resist the urge to run. I think I need a bit of a break and hopefully this will sort out the tendon that caused the shin splints. Thanks to everyone for their messages on the log and also all the private message. I have got some great advice and encouragement through fellow Boards runners and when I first picked up my niggle, lads were quick to get in touch with advice and tips on shin splints. I even managed to procure a strap and a foam (a.k.a torture) roller from Woddle and Shels, both of which definitely helped.

Cheers
TheRoadRunner

PS here is the link to my GPS data for the race http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8103424

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Looking at the motionbased log, there's a couple of big spikes in the elevation profile. Is that just interference from tall buildings (blocking the signal), or do you actually have to scale tall buildings are part of the race?

Must have been the buildings, I didn't scale them but spiderman and his superhero friends may have judging by the state of them

Peckham wrote: »

Personally was particularly delighted to read the overview of the luxury that awaits me next year in the GFA holding pen!

Yes I thought you would be interested to hear about that section all right. I wouldn't even consider it a pen as in the normal sense, more of a large warm up/ chill out area, absolutely brilliant.

Stupid_Private wrote: »

I was thinking... instead of a Wednesday run next week, how do Wednesday pints sound?

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. Sounds good to me but I actually won't be around next week but we should schedule Wednesday pints the following week. How does that suit you ?

This is also an open invitation to anybody who wants to go on the beer.

shels4ever wrote: »

Maybe stick in a bit of thai food there too

oooooohhhhhhhhh, this is gaining a bit of momentum. Beer and thai food, excellent.