Well its been a while but life has been very hectic!!!
after the final long run on april 1st i followed the plan religously and to the letter but had no time to blog as it was our busiest time at work
we had our yearly BRC audit which in effect is 2 days oy your life but-theres a 2 week build up and a week long aftermath! none of which is that pleasent and certainly not the best build up for a marathon taper!! on the positive side i had no taper madness as i had no time to worry about it!
Then at the weekend came the big day - 16 weeks of hard work had come to a head and there was nothing more i could do but panic!
Travelled to fort william on saturday almost 7hrs driving in the rain!!with lots of wee stops for the wife!
got to the travel lodge checked in and went to explore (as you do) found where the start was etc went for a 2 mile leg stretcher to registration and got my number and went for a pint! and some carbo loading! mmmmm lasange and treacle pudd yum yum!
race day dawned and i went through the usual routine of porridge, stretch, panic and panic some more! Met a couple of forumites at the start it was great to catch up with levi again and hazel of course. So 1045 am and everyone is congrgated at the start in the pouring rain as if by magic about 2 mins before the start it stopped - there is a god! And then we were off!
the first few miles 1-4 are a bit of a blur i know i went a bit quick but it seemed right at the time !
from 4-7 i tagged along with a lady that was running a pace that suited me and although we never spoke a word we seemed to know exactly what pace was good for each other but unfortunately she stopped at 7 miles to sort her shoe and i never saw her again til the finish.
From 7-18 i had another pacer , a really nice chap who was running the marathon as a 70th birthday present to himself!! so i ran with him and talked to him for 11 miles! and the time flew by at 18 miles i stopped to pop a blister and he was off but it wasnt the last i saw of him
i managed to get going again and still maintained my 4 hr pace to the 23 mile point at which point the heavens opened and i started to struggle not sure if it was the cold or whether id just over cooked it early on but the wheels fell off up to this point id maintained the planned 9.10 m/m pace but mile 23 took 12 mins 24 took 11.30 i managed to pick up the last mile and a bit but it was too late with about a quarter of a mile to go i caught up with my 70 yr old companion from earlier i passed him and a few others before the finish and with the clock reading 4.04 something i managed a sprint for the line and got in under 4.05
so a shiny new pb of 4.04.46 and i was disapointed !! but only cos my heart and head were set on 4hrs but once id had time to reflect on the fact that id taken 23 mins of my previous best i was one happy short arse!
once i stopped the legs and the emotions went a bit daft but hey thats what its all about!
Lochaber was an awsome course if a little misleading, because it followed the waters edge it seemed flat but you really couldnt tell whether you were running up or downhill! quite bizarre at times
The scenery was every bit as good as id been warned only down side was you couldnt see the ben due to low cloud but you cant have it all ways!
I will be back there next year to get under 4 and i cant wait!
Just the business of the blackpool marathon on june 3rd to take care of now so off i go to plan my training!
be good
sng
