The Race!

After months of training the day finally arrived, on Sunday 25th April I ran my first marathon. While I feel a certain amount of pride that I can say that I finished the London Marathon 2010, it is tinged with a bit of disappointment. I finished in 4:35:41 and placed 20,332 of 36,522 finishers.

Running the London Marathon is something special, I thought it would be good beforehand but I wasn't prepared for how good. I'd read lots of reports that it was an amazing event to be part of, but I'd presumed they were exaggerations, people had been sucked in by the marketing, I was wrong. The main thing is the crowds, the noise they made was something else, coming past the Cutty Sark and onto Tower Bridge it was huge, I've been to some big games of football and it would come fairly close to the roar after a 90th minute winner. But it wasn't just there, with the exception of a couple of kilometres around Docklands they were a constant companion, and if it wasn't the crowd keeping me going it was the other runners, there was a camaraderie that I just hadn't seen before in the halfs I've done, maybe it was because I was struggling more than ever that I noticed it, but I think its probably borne out of the mutual respect that is generated by knowing just how much hard work has gone in beforehand. It is just a great day. I would recommend it to anyone, yes it is alot of work, yes there is lots of pain afterwards, yes there is the risk that you put in lots of work and fail to make the start, as I did last year, but it is worth it, unquestionably.

I think you can understand that I'm glad I did it, but it doesn't mean I'm not disappointed with how my race went. Here are my splits:

5km    00:25:53  00:25:53
10km  00:25:07  00:51:00
15km  00:25:25  01:16:25
20km  00:26:33  01:43:08
25km  00:32:37  02:15:55
30km  00:39:39  02:55:34
35km  00:45:27  03:41:01
40km  00:40:30  04:21:31
42.2km 00:14:10  04:35:41

Half   1:48:44  1:48:44
Full    2:46:57  4:35:41

I think they tell most of the story, I set off at what I felt was a fairly comfortable pace, more than 5:00min/km when in training my long runs were all quicker than 4:50min/km, so I thought I was playing it safe. I was feeling my knee from the start but it didn't seem to be getting any worse, I was gradually ticking off the kilometres and gaining confidence, but probably after about 15km's I started to tire. I was taken aback, 15km at that pace should have been easy but it wasn't. I kept thinking to myself, keep pushing on, get to halfway running and you'll feel better. I got to halfway and despite the crowds just couldn't summon the energy to keep on running.

After about 22km's I took a break to walk. As soon as you make that decision you know it is going to be a huge struggle to run the rest of the way, each time you start to run again its harder to get going,while walking the muscles get cold so when you start again you face a big injury risk, a few times I felt that my calf was set to go so had to ease off. From 22km's on I just battled on, running when I could summon up the energy, trying to break it up into little sections, telling myself I had to run 500m before I could have another rest, just to get myself round.

I did get round, and I guess I can be proud of that, I've got the medal, got the T-shirt, its done, but its not the way I wanted it done. So what to do now.....learn the lessons and go back to try again! Why did I feel so lousy during the race, it could be the lack of running in the weeks before the race because of my knee, but equally it could be from not feeding myself up well enough in the days before and for that I have to blame a lack of preparation. Ideally, you shouldn't be eating anything new or different in the days before a run, just more of the right foods, essentially pasta and rice. I was finding wherever convenient to eat and just taking the standard portion, what I should have done was to prepare food to take over with me, having eaten the same meals before long runs during my training. While in London I didn't have much of an appetite, partly because of nerves, but as much because it was different food to what I was used to.

I have learnt from this experience, there will be other marathons, other challenges, from now I keep my head up and keep training ready for the next one.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll be to post some pics from the day later in the week.

Hasta luego España, Hello London

This is my final blog post before I set off for London. I never thought I could be so nervous about a run. Normally, the morning of a half-marathon, how should I put this....my stomach is normally a little delicate, but I think thats as much due to the change of routine from getting up earlier and sitting on the bus, a full two days before and my belly is already tieing itself up in knots.

I guess the nerves are partly due to the uncertainty, we've had the flight problems, but they seem to have been resolved just in time. The knee issue still remains though, things seem to improving but I haven't dared try running, right now I'm thinking it is best to rest it, and just see what happens on Sunday. I don't need to run beforehand, I know my fitness is there to run 42km, I know it will hurt afterwards because I've lost some of the muscle memory from not running much in the last three weeks, but that isn't important now, I don't mind hobbling around with sore muscles for a month provided I get round.

I had the last session with the physio today, this time she told me that my pelvis was twisted slightly and this could be causing the problem on my left side, cue a couple of minutes of torture as she put her knees in my back to hold me in place and twisted it back. She told me not to do any running today, and if anything tomorrow then very gentle, and things should settle into the right place by Sunday.

Time will tell, we'll see if the gods are smiling on me on Sunday.

Anyway, it seems as good a time as any to list exactly how much training has gone into this marathon, I'm listing below the totals for swimming, cycling and running since I got back from my holiday at the end of August last year, when I started to build towards London.

Swimming   40.5km 18hrs 40min
Cycling       640.4km 33hrs 26min
Running      1061.0km 81hrs 51min

I'm not sure what to think of those totals, are they alot, too little, or just enough. Its another question for Sunday.

Now I have to sign off and make sure I've packed everything before the journey starts.
Wish me luck! And thanks for reading!

Hasta pronto

Last Week Update

Two completely unrelated issues have put my participation in the marathon in doubt, the first couldn't have come from an unlikelier source. The appearance of a Icelandic volcano ash cloud and the ensuing flight chaos has left me panicking that I won't be able to get my flight on Friday, touchwood I'll get on, things seem to be getting sorted now, Easyjet started flying from Alicante to London again this morning.

The second problem is the ongoing knee situation. I went to the physio first thing Monday morning, and was told the problem was that my tibia (upper leg) was slightly out of alignment, after waving my leg around in the air for 20 minutes she told me it was all sorted, and to go for a gentle run the next day, but make sure I stretch well before hand. So yesterday I was up early to head to the track, the idea was to do a gentle 5km. In the end I only did 3, I could have run more but it was clear that the knee still wasn't right, it was progressively getting worse, though it didn't reach the same extent as last time I had run, when I tried to run home and found I couldn't turn corners while running. Cue another phone call to the physio to see if she could fit me in for another session today. Now we think the problem is tendonitis in the tensor fascia lata, from what i've read on the internet its the strip of tendon that connects the hip to the outside of the knee, the friction on the bone as you are running causes the tendonitis.

After missing last years marathon for tendonitis, it has become a scary word for me, but I think the  experience of last years injury may help me now. Firstly I know this is nowhere near as bad, last year I was suffering with sharp pain when I tried to run, currently I have mild discomfort that increases as I run, but so far even at its worst it hasn't even got close to last years torture. Secondly, I'm familiar with what happens, you end up with swelling on the related joint so movement is restricted for a while after, but while its progressive, the joint won't lock up because of it until I stop moving, i.e. on Sunday I can't stop running until I cross the line!

More info from the web, the cause is often tightness in the calf and hamstring, this mornings physio session largely dealt with that, massaging it, well she drove her knuckles as deep as possible into the muscle and moved them about causing excruciating pain, I'm not sure if it counts as massage but I'm just hoping it works. I'll do WiiFit exercises to keep me limber and do some swimming over the next couple of days, letting the inflamation caused by the running settle down before another session with the physio Friday morning.

Fingers crossed everything falls into place for Sunday!

Training week (Apr 10th - 16th)

The penultimate week of training before the big day, and it wasn't a good one, the knee was/is still giving me a bit of a worry, so the large part of the week's training was in the pool.

Saturday 10th April - Bike 25.6km
After the disappointment of the previous day's run where my knee didn't react well I opted for going out on my bike. I headed towards the nearest mountain, going up from 100m to over 400m before turning back. In hindsight I shouldn't have gone, it seems the knee doesn't react well to the bike, it swelled up a bit afterwards and a little uncomfortable for a couple of days afterwards. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the ride, it was a clear day so when I turned back to head home I had a good view out to sea.
25.57km 3:13min/km 1:22:21

Sunday 11th April - Rest Day

Monday 12th April - Swim 750m
I could have done a full kilometre but given the discomfort in my knee over the weekend I opted to take it easy and just do 750m.
750m 24min/km 18min

Tuesday 13th April - Rest Day

Wednesday 14th April - 1,000m Swim
Did a full kilometre this time and went fairly quick too, without any problems in either my knee or level of fitness so all positive.
1,000m 26min

Thursday 15th April - Rest Day

Friday 16th April - 1,000m
Back to the pool again, another km, again at a fairly good pace. No problems.
1,000m 26min

Training week (Apr 3rd - Apr 9th)

Saturday 3rd April - Rest Day

Sunday 4th April - 30km Bike
As a result of the problems I'd had with my knee I opted to rest from running and go for a bike ride instead. It had been a good two months since I'd been out on my bike, so it made a good change. I took it fairly easy, but that was partly since the knee seemed to be reacting a bit. When I got back home I had some swelling but could walk without any problem. My route took me up to 250m of altitude from 100m where I live, nothing very steep just long shallow incline.
30.1km 3:13min/km 1:37:01

Monday 5th April - Rest Day

Tuesday 6th April - 800m Swim
Time constraints meant I stopped after 800m. I didn't notice the knee problem very much while swimming but I didn't want to push things too much, so the 800 was at a relaxed pass.
800m 22:00

Wednesday 7th April - Rest Day

Thursday 8th April - 1,000m Swim
Another day's rest meant I was pain free to swim so I made sure I did the full kilometre this time. Again I went at a fairly leisurely pace, but this partly as a result of being in a busy pool.
1,000m 29:29

Friday 9th April - 3.8km Run
With half an eye on a half marathon on the Sunday I went to the track to see how my knee reacted, unfortunately I didn't realise the track was closing at 8, rather than the usual 10, I got there only 15 minutes before closing. I managed to get 3,200m done before the end, while I had no problem running, I was doing 3:57min/km and I felt good to carry on at that pace but I did notice a problem when I stopped and started again. Leaving the track I started to run, I was fine going in a straight line, but when it came to turning my left leg didn't want to go, it felt like the lower leg wanted to go but my knee wasn't letting it, so I had to almost stop to turn the corner.
3.9km 4:12min/km 16:12

Needless to say, that last run was enough to rule myself out of the half-marathon. I've made an appointment to see the physio, but she's away on holiday so I'll have to wait until the Monday before the marathon to get treated. Now its a case of rest from running, do what I can, so swim and if it doesn't aggravate things too much use my bike, and keep my fingers crossed for a speedy recovery and that the physio can work some magic.

Training week (Mar 27th - Apr 2nd)

This was my first really disappointing week of training with the appearance of a knee complaint affecting my training.

Saturday 27th March - Rest Day

Sunday 28th March - 13km Run
I went out planning to do my last long run before London but opted to cut it short. I felt some pain on the outside of my left knee, it wasn't a sharp pain, just seemed like i could feel the bones rubbing when I brought my leg up. I could probably have gone on for longer but I thought it wasn't something I should risk, especially since I could make good use of the time to finish off some work I had to do.
13km 4:43min/km 1:01:28

Monday 29th - Wednesday 31st March - Rest Days
The three consecutive rest days were the result of two things, one was a need to rest the knee the second was that my last piece of work of the semester was taking longer to complete than expected and I had to get it done asap. I got it done a day late, but it did get done.

Thursday 1st April -  1,000m Swim
Finally got round to doing some training, I didn't feel ready to test the knee again so went for a gentle swim. Had no problems swimming, felt ok, a little lethargic, but I put that down to a lack of sleep in the few days before.
1,000m 30:00

Friday 2nd April - 10.6km Run
If I look at the overall pace of the run it was ok, but I slowed down after about 5k's to protect the knee, again it wasn't very painful, an annoyance more than anything.
10.6km 4:28min/km 47:06

Training week (Mar 20th - Mar 26th)

Saturday 20th March - Rest Day

Sunday 21st March - 27km Run
The plan was to do 30km+ but didn't have it in me, I'm putting it down to not eating properly the day before. I was caught up in my work and missed lunch, had a big dinner but it seems it wasn't sufficient to compensate. I ran 25k's, walked for a couple of minutes before running the last bit home.
27.2km 4:45min/km 2:09:05

Monday 22nd March - 1,000m Swim
A little bit slower than the week before but still a quick swim for me. It was a good distraction after a busy day, preparing my class, grading and when having a moment studying for my courses.
1,000m 26:32

Tuesday 23rd March - Rest Day

Wednesday 24th March - 13.2km Run
After the disappointing effort on the previous Sunday I had a better midweek run, getting round 13km's at a good pace. I have one more half marathon before London, after this run I felt fairly confident of being able to attempt another PB.
13.2km 4:10min/km 55:03

Thursday 25th March - Rest Day
I had an exam to come the following day and wasn't feeling confident enough about it to skip an hour of studying to play football.

Friday 26th March - Track Session
After the stresses of doing an exam in the morning it was a good release to get out on the track. I did an 800m, 2x200m, another 800m, another 2x200m and 1,000m to finish off, before a gentle jog back home. I wasn't at my quickest, I suspect the late night of studying the day before had zapped the energy a tad.
6.2km 6:11min/km 38:07