Race strategy

In my last post I had two weeks before the Edinburgh Marathon.  I knew I wasn't going to be 100% ready but a cold certainly put paid to that.  I only had a couple of 5 km runs the week before so I arrived at the race on Saturday rested, or was it rusty?  My objective was to get under 3hrs 45 to get a "best for age" for the London Marathon 2024.  Beth was hoping to get 3hrs 55 to qualify for Boston so we had a chance of running it together.
We discussed our strategy and I knew I needed to run 5min 22sec per km to achieve my target time.   That was going to be tough as I had no idea how my heart would react - hopefully the same as Manchester marathon and not the same as my slower training runs.  I new it was going to be a slow start so I pushed on and was bang on for my first km.  Beth had recommended I run steady 5:20 per km and hopefully be able to increase the pace towards the end  (she's ran more marathon's than me) - but I chose differently!  I'd decided to run on feel and not look at my heart rate. The 2nd km on 5:17 and 4:40 in the 3rd km.  I was building up "credit in the bank" knowing at some stage I'd start to slow down.  At 15 km I tripped over a speed bump and managed to cut my knee on the same place I'd stitches a few months earlier.  I immediately got back up and started running, I wasn't stopping for a cut and bruised knee.
By 26km I was starting to tire and my times increase over 5:20 but this was OK until KM 32 - 20 miles or the half way point as I refer to it.  The weather forecast was for 13 degrees but it was 19/20 degrees and people we getting medical treatment at the side of the road as the heat took people out.  My heart rate was good around 150 which is unbelievable but I was suffering.  I had brought salt tablets but couldn't find them and I knew my body was starting to fail.  But I still had the target within my grasp.  
I was hydrating and taking my gels but had to ask a Macmillan volunteer for water between feed stations and she was an angel and gave me her own.  This got me to the next check point but I was in serious trouble.  With 3 km to go I started walking as I realised I wouldn't make my target and I was worried that my body was leaning over to the left as though the left side had collapsed.  I had walked through the last two feed stations so I could get my gel and a full bottle of water in me but I weighed up the pros and cons and decided to quit the race.  That lasted 30 seconds as I thought I should jog in and finish the race or I'd regret it if I didn't.
From 39km on all my km's were over 6 mins.  I was struggling to stay upright and the crowd were amazing screaming encouragement to me.  It took everything within me to stay standing and not crash into the barrier on the left side.  I crossed the line in 3hrs 49 mins - 59 seconds slower than Manchester and 4 mins outside the London target.  I didn't care.  I could hardly walk now and was sat down by a medic and given water.  When I was ready to go back to get my bag I had horrendous cramp and took an age to get to the bag drop.
Beth had a tough day out and couldn't hold the speed she needed but came in with a respectable 4hrs and 4 mins.  Her pacing was much better than mine.
It's been a painful lesson but res assured, when we complete the Amsterdam Marathon in October I am going to stick to a strict pace and see how that goes for me.  What I can't understand is how my heart behaves better in a fast (for me) marathon and not in a slow jog around Strathy Park?  
But we have 5 days to recover before we take on the Full Tilt 58km ultra including 2 Munro's.  Obviously I will be taking it easy and much will depend on how my legs feel when I start running.  It will push us both following our marathon efforts.
Training is good but the real learning is when we are in the race.  I'm not an experienced marathon runner but I am learning fast.  I'm looking forward to Amsterdam and in July the new experience of the Highlander, Last one standing race.  I'll give more details on that one after my next race report.
I'm so glad I didn't give up but I wish I'd stuck to a disciplined pace.  Here's to the next race.  Bring it on. 

Get lost

As you know I can get lost in a car park and there are too many examples to mention.  I try my best and even having prepared and downloaded the map to my watch, that's no guarantee that I will stay on route.  But I've come to accept it and get less stressed out about it as getting lost can be fun - assuming it's not in a race.
Last weekend I had 2 nights away in our campervan, AKA Scooby, with my daughter Eilidh.  We stayed in the caravan park next to the Glencoe Visitors Centre where we were looked after like Royalty by our good friends Graeme & Karen Scott who will be working at the site for the season.  If you are up in Glencoe, the campsite is fantastic and I'd definitely recommend you stay there.  We got up early on Saturday to climb two Munro's.  These were Eilidh's first ever Munro's and she did brilliantly.  I had climbed them a few weeks earlier so I was sure where we were going as I didn't want to risk it being too technical.  By the time she got to the bottom she could hardly walk and her legs were shaking.
Graeme & Karen came to the rescue with wine and ice cream and the next day she was brand new and ready to tackle The Pap of Glencoe.  I was nervous about this one as the last time I was up here with Beth, we'd lost the path and ended up scrambling over rocks.  Same happened again but I didn't freak out, or let on to Eilidh, as I knew roughly where we were headed.  The last time I was "bricking it" on the descent because I had lost the path on the way up.  But when coming down I could see the path and although technical in bits, we descended safely.  Not always knowing the exact path can be exciting and keeps you on your toes as you need to be constantly on the look out for the path - if there is one.  What a brilliant dad/daughter weekend in Scooby.  It's got her talking about our next trip into the mountains and I can't wait.
My next race is the Edinburgh Marathon and I'll put it out there - I'm looking for under 3hrs 45mins to qualify for London.  But a lot can happen on the day and there are no guarantees.  My preparation has been hampered by a cold which meant I didn't run for over a week so we'll see if that means I'm rested or rusty.
On Friday night after a long week at work I headed out for a short run to test my legs and my heart.  Both passed the test.  On Saturday morning I turned up at Chatelherault to run with my ATHelite club mates.  It was all going well till we stopped to wait for the others to catch up.  My HR had been behaving but after the rest it maxed out at 205 bpm!  That is the effect of Atrial Fibrillation.  I was still able to talk although felt slightly out of breath.  I told Alan & Mark to run on as I was going to cut the run short at 7.6km but they waited at the top of the hills to make sure I was ok - thanks guys.  Obviously this effort took it out of me and my Garmin told me to take three days off! Yeh right I have a race in 2 weeks time.
Today, Beth, Stuart and I headed out to do a recce of part of the Full Tilt Ultra (58km with 2 Munro's) which is 5 days after the Edinburgh Marathon.  I had the GPX (map) on my watch so was confident we wouldn't get lost.  The weather forecast wasn't good and the low cloud coverage meant we couldn't see the summits.  I'd looked at the map and could see we could take a short cut through Blair Atholl Castle where we had been last year.  As we approached we notice a hut selling tickets.  We were asked for £24 to park our van and take the short cut so we headed down the 1km driveway to a carpark across the road and ran up the driveway.  They were waiting for us.  No access if we didn't have a ticket - very disappointing but we headed back down the driveway and made our way to the start of the route.
The low cloud cover didn't help us and we took one wrong turn but quickly worked it out.  The terrain allowed us to run which was ideal for the marathon training Beth and I needed.  We reached a critical point in the route and due to the cloud cover, we took the safe option.  That meant we missed out on one summit but it was never our intention to complete the whole 58km today.
We had a fabulous time and made a decision not to tackle the other summit which again was hidden and trying to get the bigger picture off of my watch was impossible.
We ran 25km today with ascent of 650m.  My HR averaged 117 which was excellent and enjoyed 3.5 hours on our feet.  We spent a lot of the run trying to work out exactly where we were but that was part of the fun.  I'm not so worried about being uncertain where I am as long as I have a rough idea and help from technology (another of my strengths - not!).  On race day it will be different.  Getting lost is not an option so the recce was very valuable.  The only time I want to say "get lost" is to the staff at Blair Atholl Castle that wouldn't let us through their land unless we'd pay £24.
I got home and ordered some pakora and a couple of cold beers followed by a hot bath.  My Garmin isn't happy with me but other than yoga and some gym work, I'll take tomorrow off running.  It's a bit of a stretch going from 5km to 25km with climbing in 24 hours but that will count as my long run before the marathon.  Here's to finding myself exploring more adventurous routes and getting lost!

Inspired by the London Marathon

I love watching live sporting events.  As they say, "it's only live once" and who knew a marathon could be as exciting as this years London Marathon.  49,673 had entered and very few dropped out before the race with 49,272 starting and 43,965 finishing - congratulations to you all.  What an achievement.
3 out of the 4 races were nail biting finishes.  The men's wheelchair event was easily won but it raises some questions re the equipment - not taking anything away from the winner. Kelvin Kiptum, the mens winner, put in an amazing display leaving the field behind with 5 miles to go and finishing in 2hrs and 1 minute - what an unbelievable time and about 15 minutes faster than my half marathon time!
The woman's wheel chair race had four athletes come round the last corner together for a sprint finish but the best race was the woman's.  In the very early stages the "rooky" marathon runner Sifan Hassan was in trouble.  She stopped to stretch out her thigh on a number of occasions as the leading pack extended their lead.  The commentators were saying her race was over and if she was sensible she'd pull out to avoid further injury.  But she kept going and made her way back to the leaders.  She patiently waited until the finishing straight and left them for dead - incredible race and such an inspiration.
It brought back memories of the Manchester Marathon a couple of weeks ago.  I had pushed myself and it took me at least four days to walk without pain afterwards, but my time had given me a "good for age" entry for the Boston Marathon - still not guaranteed a place.  But inspired by Sifan Hassan I checked out the London good for age qualifying time - 3 hours 45 mins.   I wasn't that far away so both Beth & I decided to enter the Edinburgh marathon on 28 May.  This has given us both a focus for our training this month and we'll give it our best shot to get under 3 hrs 45 mins which would get me in to London.
I learned a lot in the Manchester Marathon and hope I can use that experience and get sub 3hrs 45 mins but you never know what can happen on the day.  We've also entered the Amsterdam Marathon in October for fun.
But I am still under the guidance of my Cardiologist and as if I needed a reminder, sadly an experienced 45 year old runner died after completing the London Marathon in under 3 hours and was on his way home.  My thoughts are with his family and it's a reminder that you may have an underlying condition and not know about it.  I'm lucky that mine was discovered, although shouldn't be life threatening, and the medication will help.  However I have been advised not to take any unnecessary  risks by putting excessive strain on my heart, but at the moment he was relaxed about marathons.  Thank you London Marathon for inspiring me and giving me a short term focus to my training.