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Triple Marathon Challenge 2010
It's been a little while since I updated the site and I'm sorry about that if you've been coming here the last few weeks. You probably expected that, as by now I should have run 2 of the 3 marathons, there might be quite a lot I have to say about them and you'd be right. It's just that it's been a bit of an intense time and not everything has exactly gone to plan so it's taken a little while to get to the point where I can reflect on it all. However, I got through them both unscathed and my head has cleared a little bit, so here's my reports for the London and Edinburgh marathons.
London Marathon
Running 26 miles is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one; you can be in the best possible shape but if something happens to make your mind falter it can be as damaging to your race as a knee injury. My training during the taper period for London was completely disrupted by illness so, even though I was healthy when the day came, rather than facing the run with confidence, I'd convinced myself there was no way I could run my best marathon. And with a second one to come less than a month away, I decided not to run to my full capability and 'save myself' for Edinburgh where I'd hopefully be a lot better prepared. This might sound very sensible and I don't think it was a bad decision in itself but it had a side effect; when the race got tough 20 miles in, I perfected an instant mental shutdown.
Up until then I'd been running very comfortably. The weather, which had been forecast to be scorching again, turned out to be not too far from ideal. I was pacing it very well thinking I could probably maintain it all the way for a 4hr20min finish. I met Mandy exactly where we'd planned at the 9 and 18 mile markers, getting a boost when I could see the huge pink No.1 helium balloon she was holding so I could easily see her in the crowds. (No.1 for the first marathon in the triple.) Then it started to hurt. That wasn't unexpected of course but, because I'd already made up my mind not to over exert myself, instead of digging in and slogging it out, I just dramatically slowed down without a second thought and barely shuffled along for the next four miles. I was quite happy doing that until with about 2 miles left to go the thought suddenly hit me...'hang on a minute here...you're absolutely fine!...you can move much faster than this with not much more effort!
 Mile 9...looking good. |  Mile 17...not too bad |  Mile 24........................no comment |
And that's the thought process that led to me running probably the fastest last 2 miles I've ever run in any marathon or even half marathon. I had so much left in the tank, something previously unimaginable after 24 miles. I practically sprinted down the whole of The Mall and crossed the finish line in 4:39:50. Not too bad a time, although slower than what I'd originally hoped for. Far more frustrating was knowing that I had the energy in me all along to do better if only I hadn't convinced myself before I'd even started that I didn't. I realised that it's not very often you find yourself on the startline of a marathon and you train very hard to get there, so you might as well give it your best shot no matter what the circumstances. There was a bright side though, I only had 4 weeks to wait before I'd be in another one, a chance to quickly rectify that mistake.
Edinburgh Marathon
At least part of the plan to run London 'easy' had worked out. I recovered very quickly and was able to get straight back into training for Edinburgh. During the 4 week gap, I did a couple of longish runs, no more than 16 miles and started to do a bit of speed training on the treadmill. I hoped this would bring back the fitness I had before being ill, without overdoing it too much. There was still a chance I wasn't as fully recovered as I thought. It all went very well, I did a lot of quality running and felt stronger and much more confident than I had been in the run up to London. Little did I know that an old enemy was gathering strength and preparing to unleash itself on me far worse than it ever had before.
Even at the end of May, Scotland isn't particularly known for its fine weather, but once again a heatwave struck my marathon weekend. At first I didn't worry too much as there was nothing I could really do about it and I thought I must be getting used to this by now. But it proved to be a step beyond anything I'd experienced before. As usual the first 16 miles weren't too tough but it was getting hotter and hotter. The route was almost entirely along the coast where there was no shade to be found. I don't know what it was that got me, heat exhaustion, the wall, seeing all the runners coming back the other way, knowing I still had all that to come, fatigue from the London Marathon...I don't know but something hit me and broke me completely. Never before had I come close to experiencing this amount of fatigue and pain. I must have walked about 3 or 4 of the last 6 miles, it was all I could do just to hold my body upright and stop it collapsing onto the road. Giving up during a race has never crossed my mind, but on this occasion I'm still not sure how I didn't. Large sections at the end of the route were next to a wall which was the perfect height to sit down on and plenty of runners were doing just that. At least I managed to convince myself that if I joined them, getting back on my feet would not be happening soon afterwards.
So I just shuffled on. Limped, waddled, whatever it was - I can't really remember how I was moving forward. It was a bit like a zombie movie; everyone else around me was in the same situation, hardly anyone was actually running anymore. The people who were still on their feet and not being treated by the side of the road were the lucky ones. Then I saw a sight that put a lump in my throat and almost made me burst into tears. A few hundred meters away I could see the No.2 helium balloon marking Mandy's position, bobbing in the sky. I started to run towards it, collapsed into her arms for a few seconds, then carried on for the last mile and a half with her running beside me. She'd been absolutely amazing with her support for me in both marathons and with that final bit of encouragement, I found some strength in my legs and finished in 4:50:50.
 Out comes the sun just as we get started |  An extremely hard earned medal |  Marathon No.2....done! |
I've probably been running on and off for 20 years now, starting on my school cross country team. It's always hard and very often painful but I enjoy it. Even after a race in which I'm disappointed with how I ran, I still usually look back on it as a positive experience but on this occasion, unfortunately, I didn't. It was the third marathon out of four where the weather had been freakily hot for the time of year and I heard later that one guy had actually died, the second time that's happened in the 4 I've done. I seem to run to expectations in half marathons but for whatever reason I still haven't done what I think I'm capable of at marathon distance. After almost 2½ years training solidly for them and feeling as if my whole life is about running sometimes, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm actually cut out to be a decent marathon runner.
Don't worry though, I'm not giving up, just rethinking a few things. This challenge is called The Triple Marathon Challenge and there's still one more to do. With a four month gap (rather than 4 weeks), the chance to hopefully do some hot weather endurance training in the summer, regaining a bit of confidence and mental strength and maybe a bit of luck on race day for once, who knows.....I might just nail it in Berlin.
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