I took a week off after the Stort 30 and then began my 8 week training plan. I enjoyed the shorter runs in the first week, 5km felt like a real novelty after a heavy few months of training, however it was soon back to business with back to back long runs over the weekends. Half way through the plan I had a bit of a crisis of confidence and questioned whether I'd be better off doing the conventional one single longer run as I was unsure the back to backs were giving me the required resilience over the longer distances. I approached with some caution as I know from past experience that I have struggled with niggles on the longer stuff hence opting to spread the load over back to back runs instead. However with disciplined stretching, rolling and some targeted strengthening exercises I survived two 18 mile runs and one 20 miler in my build up to the marathon. Psychologically this was a real boost knowing I could get to 20 miles in one sitting, as it was during the Stort the wheels began falling off big time at 20 miles.
Fortunately we had a quiet night planned New Year's Eve. Earlier that day Paul had run the Flitch Way marathon and would be doing the double running New Year's Day too. It was a perfect excuse for cooking a big plate of comfort food to help fortify us for the following day. As the name of my blog suggests, it's not just about the running it's about the food too (the real reason I run)! We have recently moved towards a plant based diet, so I made a mountain of vegan macaroni cheese (yes this is a thing and it was EPIC!), garlic bread and some nutrient dense green veggies to accompany it. Suitably fuelled we sorted out our kit for the next morning and got to bed early knowing we'd probably be woken up at midnight by fireworks.
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| Macaroni 'cheese' - pre marathon fuel |
Over the festive period I've been religiously taking my multi-vitamins and echinacea, fortunately I seem to have dodged all the colds and stomach bugs doing the rounds so I was pleased for it to finally be marathon day, I was feeling good (although not exactly confident) and ready to see what I could produce. Despite having done two 50k races over the summer, my last marathon was in 2015. In 2015 I ran 2 marathons (both along the Flitch Way), neither attempt was pretty! Both I had started training with the best intentions but with little experience I ended up injured and then had to abandon training and just hope I could complete it.
My marathon personal best is 4:48:26 set at my last attempt in 2015. I knew I was capable of beating my PB as I had been far more consistent in my training. However, much of my training had incorporated the strategy of running for 25 minutes and walking 5 minutes. I knew if I stuck to that strategy from the off a PB may be close or less likely. After chatting to a friend I took some advice to run to the first check point 6 miles in and then take a 5 minute walk break, that would at least see me an hour in before walking. From there I'd see how it goes. I always set myself a few realistic targets when running so my target would be to beat my PB with an expected time finish time of 4:40-45 (bronze target), with the further options of 4:40-4:30 (silver target), sub 4:30 (gold target).
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| Paul and I at the start |
The New Years Day Marathon is always quieter than the New Years Eve race. However, I still saw lots of friendly and familiar faces including Karen who was attempting her first marathon. I had the pleasure of sharing a couple of training runs with Karen along the Flitch. Having done this marathon before, I accompanied Karen on a recce run only to get us lost at the tricky Dunmow Industrial Estate section before re-joining the Flitch! In fairness this mistake probably meant that neither of us were likely to forget the way on the day!
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| Karen and I ready and raring to go! |
We gathered at the start for the race briefing and Lindley gave us the news that this years race would not be finishing at the top of the 'Hill of Doom'. I didn't mind to be fair, however I am sure this was a relief to some. At 10am the race started and we and headed over the bridge out of the Great Notley Country Park to pick up the Flitch Way. At Rayne Station cafe I gave a wave to my in-laws who were out to give my husband and I a cheer.
The conditions underfoot were pretty decent, we'd not had much rainfall for a couple of weeks so it had dried out quite nicely. I settled into a comfortable sub 6 min/km pace and found myself nestled in a group of 3 ladies. I got chatting to Maud (who I recognised from my volunteering at the Essex 100 in the summer) about ultra marathons and our running goals for 2019. I was maintaining running at a steady pace but then remembered Maud had won the 50 mile race at the Essex 100 and she was a far more capable runner than me! I backed off a little and let Maud go ahead as not to get carried along.
In just over an hour I'd made it to the first check point at Dunmow. I stopped long enough to grab a bag of salt and vinegar crisps and fill up my soft cup with some coke. Conscious not to waste time I soon left the check point and decided to use my 5 minute walk break to eat and drink before running again. One thing that had been good about practising walking in training was when I started running again I found no issues in settling into a steady pace again. In the past (before attempting the longer races) walking felt like failure and I knew once I gave into walking I'd struggle to find a rhythm again. The next check point would be the turn around at Takeley at 13 miles, I decided to see if I could make it without needing to resort to the 25/5.
A few kilometres out from the turn around the lead runners were starting to pass me on their return leg. It wasn't long before Paul appeared, we exchanged a very quick hello, a check on each other and high five. I could see Takeley Station appearing in the distance only to then remember that the turn around was about another kilometre on. I had taken a bit of a gamble and was wearing new socks that I'd not done a long run in yet in the hope they'd resolve blistering on the end of my toes which I've suffered with on a couple of long races. However, I was beginning to feel a hot spot forming on the ball of my foot. At check point 2 (turn around) I decided to briefly stop and address my hot spot as it's be another hour at least before I had the opportunity to stop again. Some Body Glide applied and another cup of coke grabbed I left the turn around and was on the home stretch.
I'd not eaten a lot at this point, I'd mostly been sipping on my bottle of Tailwind. So I took a walk break out of the check point to eat some Nakd nibbles. After 5 minutes I got back to running again with the view not to stop until I reached the next check point in approximately 6 miles. The Flitch was quite busy with lots of dog walkers, families and cyclists making the most of the weather on a fair New Year's Day. I'd not long passed Takeley station when I caught a figure in the corner of my eye. This figure was the other side of the path behind the bare trees and hedge line. My focus was on the path ahead but they started making some disturbing noises so I looked over only to see a hooded man with this pants around his ankles pleasuring himself!!! I immediately averted my gaze back to the path trying to make sense of what I had just witnessed. Perhaps it was just a mentally disturbed man who had chosen a really bad spot to have a trail wee? I passed two walkers heading in that direction and didn't warn them, I was still in a state of shock. In hindsight (which is always a wonderful thing) I should have stopped, given him some verbal before taking his picture and reporting it to the police. I feel dreadfully guilty that I didn't do anything, I just hope someone else had also seen and reported it.
I soon found myself all alone, no one behind me and no one in front. All of a sudden I felt very vulnerable after my unwanted encounter. I was wondering if this guy could run and may be lurking somewhere ready to jump out on me! Powered by adrenaline my pace suddenly picked up and I didn't feel the need to walk until I got to the next check point.
At check point 3 I'd caught Paul up who was having a rest and something to eat. A little surprised to see him I (he was seeking a 4 hour finish) I asked why he'd slowed down. His hamstring was sore from the marathon the day before and was therefore not pushing it and taking it easy. Paul told me not to wait for him and go ahead and get the time I wanted so I didn't think twice about implementing Top Gear rules and leaving him behind!
I again walked out the check point to eat some food and finish my cup of coke. I started running again after a short hill taking you back onto the Flitch. With 20 miles under my belt, I started trying to work out my finish time. The usual suspects (my knee and foot) were not really causing me any problems much to my relief, I decided that I may as well now run for as long as I could and walk the last bit if I had to. Maths is not my strong point and multi tasking running and counting certainly isn't! From what I could figure out a 4:30 finish would happen if I could minimise my walking, if I continued running I'd perhaps manage a 4:15-4:20 finish. This was massively exciting but I tried not to get carried away with myself.
Much of my training had been along the Flitch which could have been both an advantage and disadvantage. However, it worked in my favour in the late stages of the race. The Flitch given that it is an old railway line is pretty straight and can be a bit featureless. There are few landmarks but when I reached these I knew the approximate distance to the finish which made it a little easier to judge. I decided that I'd walk over the bypass bridge before coming into Rayne, my legs were beginning to feel lead like.
The possibility of seeing someone I knew at Rayne Station meant I continued running with purpose. I now knew I had just over a kilometre left and despite my legs screaming at me I had to continue putting one foot in front of the other as fast as I could. Looking at my watch I was wondering what time I could cross the line, I knew that I was minutes away from it being finished so started to increase my pace. Along the final road section before entering the park I spotted someone I knew, I had to put on a brave smile despite the fact I was blowing out my arse at this point. After crossing the last bit of uphill taking me back into the park, I cashed in on the downhill of the bridge in the hope I could let my legs unwind and propel me to then finish line. Squeezing every last drop out of the tank I made a sprint to the finish line (sorry for the audible grunts to those watching), I couldn't believe it - the clock read 4:21:48!!! What the actual fu*k?! All I could do was drop to my hands and knees to take a moment to process what had just happened whilst gasping for oxygen.
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| After I scraped myself up off the floor! |
I collected myself and had a drink, still no sign of Paul. I caught up with a couple of friends who had come out to watch the finish. My words to Paul at the beginning of the race was not to wait for me to finish and to go and get changed and warm. So I did just that! Once indoors I got chatting to a friend who had also been running then thought I'd better go out and see if I could catch him finish. I missed him by a minute, Paul finished in 4:47:35. He'd felt the affect of running a marathon the day before and was nursing a tweaked hamstring. All 39 runners finished within 6 hour cut off. A massive thank you to Lindley and Maxine and all the volunteers for putting on another superbly organised race.
Despite living just over 2km from the finish line, we opted to bring the car so it was not long before I was home and soaking in a bath of magnesium flakes. In my pre vegan days my post race treat was usually a Papa John's veggie pizza. Having given up all dairy and eggs I opted for a lazy dinner (realising neither of us would be up to cooking) of vegan 'chicken' nuggets, oven chips and baked beans, washed down with champagne - classy! It was perfect.
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| Winner winner vegan chicken nugget dinner |
Having had a few days to reflect on things, I am still over the moon with my time, I far surpassed what I thought I was capable of. It just goes to show that if you trust the plan you will be OK. Special thanks to Paul for helping me with yet another training plan. I feel in a good place to start thinking about what my goals will be for 2019. I am not that bothered about chasing times, I feel a lot of people put way too much pressure on finish times and ultimately feel disappointed when they fail to improve. Provided my recovery from the marathon is good I will probably start looking for progression from 50km.
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| Just in case I hadn't already mentioned it... |
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