Paris post mortem

Ok - it has been a few days, and I’ve had my chance to go over it. As you'll have seen from the twitter feed - I didn't have the best of times on Sunday, finishing a tad over my target time of 4 hours, in 4.46...

The wife kicked butt of course - smashing her pb, and her target time of 3.45 by a good 2 minutes.

So where did it all go wrong? I talked it up pretty well I thought, but I didn't have it in me on the day. Here’s the blow by blow account - set your excuseometer to full.

Preparation - not too bad, but as previously discussed - it is a fine line between training fully, and getting ill with me, and I chose the healthy option - if I felt my health dwindling I cut back the training. Other runners get injured - I seem to get ill.

Night before - not a bad night’s sleep, there were some noisy shaggers in the room next door, but my ear plugs soon sorted them out (you'd be amazed how much it spoils the mood having ear plugs flung at you via a balcony and an open window).

Morning of the race - my normal upset stomach didn't materialise until it was too late to do anything about it - I was in the queue trying to get into the 4 hour pen when it kicked in an I felt quite uncomfortable. mind over matter, and it seemed to go away

The start - while I was still elbowing my way into the pen, and well before the actual start, the organisers decided to open the front of all the other pens, allowing all the 4 and a half hour runners to surge forward, before all the 4 hour runners were in there. By the time I got in, there were a good 5000 "slower" runners in front of me all shuffling forwards. I could see the people with the green flags, showing they were the 4 hour pacemakers about 200 yards in front, so I aimed to keep them in view.

The first 5k - just trying to get any sort of flow on in my running was impossible, as I was struggling to avoid slower people in front of me, and faster people behind me did their very best to elbow me out of the way. the usual people running as groups didn't help, and my only choice (if I wanted any hope of hitting my target time) was to keep running at my 9 minute mile pace, and if that meant going sideways, then so be it. I know this is a bad idea, but I knew it would be cutting it fine to get me on pace, and losing even a few minutes early on would have left me needing to run ludicrously quickly (for me) for another 23 miles, which wasn't going to happen.

First water station - absolute hell. For reasons best known to themselves - the organisers put this at a narrow corner, and the entire race stops to grab a bottle of water, and half a banana. (This in turn means the cobbled street is covered by wet banana skins - which isn't such a problem, as running at this point was not an option.) another 2 and a half minutes wasted. I had a gel and tried to make the most of the rest, which I didn't need

10k - well behind schedule (about 5 minutes) I attempted to up the pace a little, but not too much - as in London last year I’d caught up 3 minutes by the half way point, and it wore me out just to put on that much of a burst of "speed".

13 miles - shocking. feeling tired, no energy left and not really worrying, but a tiny bit worrying pains across my ribs (I won't call them chest pains, as I never thought my life was in danger) I was 10 minutes behind schedule. realising I was exhausted, and to get a sub 4 marathon would have meant smashing my half marathon PB (and then some) and to get a marathon PB I would have to pretty much get a half marathon PB (my half marathon PB isn't that great) and feeling the way I did at that point it was NOT going to happen.

14 miles – still going, and seeing what happened. I was running – or doing what I call running. Most others would still call it jogging.

16 miles – barely moving. I saw the 26 km marker twice, and started wondering if I was hallucinating (I decided I just saw 25 and mistook it for 26 later) this was the point at which we went through underpasses, tunnels, and last of all the scene of the crash that killed the Queen of Hearts (TM). Walking through the airless tunnels, with the occasional word of encouragement from my French counterparts, I could hardly face another step.

17 miles – walking, and not on the official course, I had a nice stroll along the banks of the Seine, admiring the Eiffel Tower in the distance, and the Statue of Liberty on the river (not hallucinating – look it up), I scanned for a metro station. If I’d seen one, the emergency 5 Euros would have been utilised to get me back to the Arc de Triumph. Fortunately I didn’t find one. With 9 miles to go, I wondered about walking directly to the arc, but my sense of direction, in addition to my sense of shame (one of the advantages of getting sponsored, and of going on about it so often to the world and his wife about my fifth marathon, and telling the parents how they could track my progress online, and imagining them watching my chip be scanned through every 5km point (actually they were shopping, but I didn’t know that) so I told myself the following.

9 miles isn’t that far. That’s a jog home from work.
I would only get lost trying to walk back
I would look like a right old quitter, trudging the streets of Paris in my vest and number.
Even if I walked the 9 miles – I’d get there eventually, I’d get a medal, and I’d finish the marathon.
Finishing 5 marathons is still pretty cool, even if one of them (ok – 3 of them, almost 4 of them) was pretty rubbish by my standards

Onwards. Back on the course

20 miles – walking and running, I kept on going. 10k – is 10k, and I can do that standing on my head.

22 miles – bumped into a fellow club member – it was nice to see her, and we chatted for a while, I made sure that she wouldn’t slow down for me, and I did my best to keep up with her.

23 miles – The Marathon De Beaujolais Neuvoux were advertising their race, by giving away wine. Nice, warm red wine, in little glasses. Two years ago, I was tempted, but I was taking it seriously that time. With nothing to lose, other than my lack of a headache, I accepted the offer of a cheeky beverage from a beautiful girl dressed as a nun, then went to catch up my team mate.

24 miles – the stand for the Marathon De Medoc (another heavily wine based marathon – 26 miles, 26 vineyards) provided more red and another one offering cold white wine (my favourite wine of all) and I was much happier. With 2 miles to go, I kept on jogging along. I passed a pair of camels at one point. The wife has no recollection of them – I may have been elsewhere at the time, head wise.

26 miles – no chance of a sprint finish, I posed for the photographers (they missed me completely), crossed the line, accepted my medal, and had a look around for the wife. No sign of her, and it was beyond the 1 hour cut off period we’d set for giving up meeting at the finish, and heading for the hotel, so I headed for the hotel.

I’d just showered by the time she got back – she must have been on the train behind me. We exchanged stories, and that was that.

I’m giving myself 18 months without running another marathon. Another small marathon will probably happen at some point. Maybe Leicester again (although hilly, I can train up for that) maybe Abingdon (a good one for a PB) or maybe somewhere else. I’ll keep on supporting the wife, but my body needs a break. It needs adrenaline, and the speedier events such as the triathlon and 5-10k races will be much better for me.

12 hours to go

Resful day - check.

Drunk plenty of water - check.

Big pile of pasta - check.

I think i'm ready. we've spent the afternoon watching an entire series (nearly) of the office (US version) and generally lying around - we had a short walk this morning to the Gardin De Luxemborg at ate bread and hummus, and drank orangina, and we had a lovely swift meal at the same italian restaurant we ate at last night.

I'm as ready as i'll ever be.

I'm making sure i keep the pressure on myself - not in a bad way, but i'm very much aware that this is likley to be my last marathon (certainly for a while) and i want to give it my best shot. i know that i am my own worst enemy. I'll get about 3 miles in and want to give up, i'll get about 13 miles in and reckon i can do it, then i'll think i need a walking break at about 16 miles, and thats where it could all fall apart.

in my long runs previously, i've been getting much better at only walking when i really have to - crossing roads, avoiding pensioners, and that is pretty much it. my own laziness will be the killer, so i won't let it beat me. i'm more aware than ever before, that i really should be able to do this. if that fat guy can beat me in thanet, then i am capable of a lot more.

people occasionally suggest i should be able to go a lot faster than i do, and i agree, but for some reason, i don't seem to be able to. sometimes i wonder if illness while i was younger had adversely affected my abilities, or if my running style isn't as good as it might be, or as efficient. i really don't know - but looking at myself in the mirror, i'm lean, i'm gorgeous, and i'm ready. i can do this.

I'll be disappointed if i only finish. I'm sticking to my 5 minute 40 second kms (i have a nice wrist band to show me the actual times as i'm not too hot on my 5 minute 40 second times tables. curese the french and their sensible metric system - 9 minute miles is so much easier!)

i'll be happy if I get a PB (that would only need me to finish in 4 hours and 12 minutes, which means i could lose 30 seconds a mile and do it still) but i know i can get that sub 4 hour time.

I'll be back tomorrow evening to tell you how i got on, and to give you a damn good excuse as to why i didn't get it!

until then,

au revoir!

2 more runs till the big one

I thought I’d better write about running again, as it is both the most interesting thing I’ve done for a little while, and also the fact that I have recently publicised this blog on my running club’s website! All very well, but if they have to dig down to find something running related, underneath all the rest of the drivel you have to put up with.

I never promised a specific subject for this blog – it’s just what’s on my mind at the time – and very much – if I don’t have anything worth saying, then I won’t say anything at all.

I’m just back from a 9 mile run – my normal route home from work. As some of my longer marathon training runs have been deviations from this route, with extra bits added on to the beginning, so I might do five miles round the city, before doing the remaining 8 miles home on the normal route – doing it this way, I’m not as tempted to give up half way round – as half way round is still 6 miles from home, I’m not home and having to run past the front door – and keep on going. The other good thing about ruining this way, is that when I only need to do the 9 miles, if feels pretty easy – by the time I was getting to Stockwell, I was exhausted before – now it is barely 4 miles in, so I’m feeling chipper, and can sprint over the junctions, instead of taking the excuse to stop and walk.

I am loving the fact that I can run 9 miles and hardly notice – I’m going to be making sure I keep enough of a level of fitness that I’ll be able to run home once or twice a week (when I’m not cycling to work of course).
It’s not the best way to think about things, but I weighed myself just now – I’m floating around the 12 and a quarter stone mark – not quite down to the 12 mile “fighting weight” I was hoping for, but close, and I’m still off buying chocolate for lent. (I’m off buying chocolate – if others offer to buy me chocolate, or I find chocolate lying around the place, that is fair game – waste not want not. The 2 massive chocolate chip cookies I ate today, were both valuable for me for the run, and stopped me needing a (far too common) second packet of crisps in the afternoon. If the dreadful hardship of jogging home once in a while means I can eat massive amounts of crisps and chocolate – then bring it on.

I’m quite happy with how the training has gone – I’ve been more mindful of my body this time round, taking care not to become sick, which was very much the problem with my first marathon (Paris 07) and my third (London 08), illness meaning I missed big chunks of vital training, including not as many long runs as I should have completed. This time though – I’ve been more consistent, and my only missing period was about a week ago during my taper time, so I’m not overly worried about that. I’ve done 261.5 miles so far this year, and with 7 miles on Sunday, and a run from work half way home on Tuesday (I can’t do the full 9, as that would be too much in the week before the big one) and I’ll be ready for Paris.

I’m not convinced I’ll get the sub four hour time – but I’m very confident I’ll get a massive PB – and I’m focussed on pushing appropriately hard all the way round – pacing myself properly, never walking through laziness, and above all remembering.

This is what I’ve trained for. This is all that matters. If I feel awful, can’t walk, or don’t run for a month afterwards, but I get my target time, then it was worth it.

And don’t drink the wine they offer at 23 miles. That won’t help at all.

We’re starting to get our lives back now too – with time for the family (mummy’s visiting once we get home from Paris, and big bro is visiting this week). I’m also going to tell you about a fab day out I had with my dad last week too – but another time.