London marathon 2018

I was more nervous about this than race than any other that I can recall.  It was my first road marathon in 12 years, I had ambitions for a good time, there was a full-on April heatwave after months of pretty dismal weather, oh and my left hip had been aching all week.

I arrived at the start line on Blackheath good and early.  I had said goodbye to the lovely Mrs S at Charing Cross station, and it was an easy stroll up on to the wide open space.  People were gathering from all directions and the atmoshere was crackling.  In my wisdom I'd opted for a hair make-over.  It was supposed to be green, aligning with my fundraising for the Woodland Trust, but turquoise was the best that Romsey could offer.  Hmm... the consensus was that it was... well, possibly a bit blue?

No grey hair today

I was in a Good For Age enclosure which got funnelled to the front of the red start. I found myself about 5 metres back from the front line, surrounded by lean blokes.  Hardly any ladies... curious.  A guy I chatted with reckoned that the qualifying thresholds worked differently across the genders and most of the faster ladies were in the championship category.

Scene from the Good For Age enclosure

A geordie bloke did a bit of compering.  He told us that the Queen was opening the race, but she might be looking a little the worse for wear after a hard night partying (it had been her 92nd birthday the day before).  Her Madge's input was a bit disappointing - just a screen clip of her at Windsor Castle bimbling out to a table in the garden and pressing a button.

Right, we were off.  Almost immediately there was a near pile-up as some guy fell over just past the start line.  I tried to set a sensible pace as went through the quiet roads around Greenwich Heath.  I was aiming to keep to around 4:05 or 4:10 per km in the early stages, but I kept knocking out 3-something.  It's just incredibly difficult to keep steady when all around you are moving ahead and the atmosphere is crackling.

After about 5k I forgot to even think about my left side, which was good news.  Past the Cutty Sark, over Tower Bridge and past the halfway point and all was well.  The crowd energy was wonderful and having my name on my shirt made a huge difference... the only drawback was that I was having to wave a lot to acknowledge the continual shouts of support.

It all started getting a bit fuzzy in the Isle of Dogs.  I became aware of my legs - specifically my quads - starting to become weary and achy, and the heat was starting to tell.  I was drinking plenty and pouring water over me, but I could feel fatigue starting to make itself known.  It must have been at around 30k when the end felt a long way off and my fingers started to tingle; not a great sign.

Mile 22, suffering

I saw Becky and Julie from RRR in the crowd, which gave me a lift.  But I was slowing down quite considerably now.  Through the City, and on to the Embankment.  I could see Big Ben, wrapped in scaffolding, but I was hurting quite a lot now and both my hands were tingling.

On, on, the crowds raucously supportive, the sunlight dazzling and the heat everywhere.  The Palace of Westminster, Birdcage Walk and Buck Pal... I don't remember much of it.  It was all heat and light and noise and pain.  I could see the finish and tried to accelerate but couldn't, and then it was over and I was being given medals and bags of stuff.

I could barely walk, but it was a sod of a long way past all the kit lorries in the Mall and then past Horseguards Parade to the tree with the big S on it.  I flopped on the grass.  Shortly afterwards Mrs S and Finn arrived (they'd been watching from the Embankment) and they hauled me to my feet for some sweaty photos.

At the finish, finished

My fabulous, wonderful support crew

3:04:26... 11 minutes off my target time, 5 and a half minutes off my hot weather contingency target.  But I was pleased enough with getting around intact on the hottest London marathon ever, all limbs intact, without blowing up.  My Garmin stats tell their own story of how I slowed down drastically throughout the race.

Pace in blue, heart rate in red

But never mind all that.  It had been an extraordinary, exhilarating day out in a city wreathed in sunshine and buzzing with excitement and goodwill.  It had been immensely worthwhile.

Salisbury 10 mile, 2018

I'd been feeling a bit apprehensive about this race.  Last year I really struggled to hold it together in the second half, and on top of this I've been churning out a fair few road miles over recent weeks and struggling to go much faster than 4:30/km.  Increasingly I'm feeling relaxed and comfortable about racing cross-country and less so about the road.  This is a HRRL event with a fast, competitive field, and with 2 weeks to go before London I felt I had something to prove.

The lovely Mrs S and I arrived in plenty of time.  The racing conditions were perfect, which is to say that it was a little damp and chilly for comfort.  There were plenty of familiar faces, including the RRR and OS tribes, and we kind of flitted between the two.

Steady, steady at the start.  I hit the first km at 3:52 and the first mile at about 6:15.  Kath Bailey was about 20 in front; she finished just ahead of me last year so she was a good pacing target.  A felt just a little bit of ennui at about mile 2, running close to threshold with all that distance ahead, but soon after this I caught up with Kath and we kept up a competitive pace for the next 5 miles or so, making the event far more interesting.

Soon after 5 miles you cross the river Avon and start heading back south towards Salisbury, which felt good.  The road was quieter and the landscape felt nicer.  I was ready for the crunchy little hill in mile 7 which I pushed through, and around this time I left Kath behind and realised I could get a reasonable time if I could keep the pressure up.  At 8 miles you get a view of Salisbury cathedral, you can see there are no more hills and you pass a field of llamas.  All good.  Sensing the finish ahead, I upped the pace as much as I could and was chugging along as we got into the outskirts of Salisbury.

A final fling around the grassy finish area and I collapsed in a heap over the line in just over 1:02, done for but happy.  Last year my chip time was 1:04:07, this year it was 1:01:56 - I'll take that.

This was a good pre-London confidence boost, and moreover a cracking local event, well organised and with excellent support and marshaling.  And there were a couple of huge and fabulously dressed-up Bactrian camels (that's the 2-humped kind) at the finish, a delightfully random but classy addition to the day.

Plenty to smile about for RRR