My previous marathons have gone pretty much exactly as planned; I trained hard, I tapered, marathon pace suddenly felt like a jog and I hit my target time. Marathon number four was a bit of a different story. I trained hard, I tapered, and marathon pace felt like...well, a sprint.
I felt horrific from the start, to the point of actually wondering how I was going to make it to the finish from 10k, and finished about five minutes slower than I was aiming for. Five minutes isn't terrible, I know, but I really believed I could do it. After struggling from the start to stick to my rehearsed 2.34/2.35 pace, I finished in 2.38.
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| Rocking the Saucony arm warmers - still feeling alright here |
The thing that frustrates me most is that, despite being probably the fittest i've ever been, I can honestly say I spent every single moment of the race feeling terrible and pleading with my legs to keep going. Having experienced the lovely feeling of being relaxed to 30k in my other three marathons, this was a bit of a nasty shock.
Looking back, i'm pretty sure I know what went wrong; the last few months have involved some pretty big life changes and I definitely spent a lot of that time feeling tired and fatigued. Although, I had occasional flashes of relative brilliance, where I hit my best times ever in training, I spent most of the marathon training cycle feeling pretty rubbish.
My (very wise) coach Nick had told me many times that to run well, I needed to be happy and relaxed with life. Up until the last four weeks pre-race, work and life stress meant that, although the training suited me perfectly and I didn't miss a run throughout, my fitness was hidden by non-training influences.
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| A race I enjoyed a lot more - winning the Rugby 10 as part of my last 20 miler |
I like to see the positive in all things and I can definitely still take a lot from the build up. I had some very enjoyable wins in races; coming 3rd overall, and 1st British women, at the Great Eastern Run in 76.05 as part of a 20 mile run was definitely a highlight and I developed a new found love of using races as part of long runs and training.
The biggest positive of all, though, was that seeing the negative impact the stress was having on my running motivated me to make some changes and finally, with some help and word of wisdom from some fabulous friends and family, follow my dreams. I have moved away from London, back home, and have started a Masters in Exercise Physiology. I'm sure this will mean I am ready to finally chase the sub 2.34 in the Spring :)
So, lesson learned, one of the most important thing to remember is, to run well you have to be happy and relaxed in life...and don't be afraid to follow your dreams even if it involves some big changes...
