THE MARATHON!!

So the day had come! I had been up Edinburgh since the Thursday. I went to the castle Friday and Saturday me and Rachel just walked around Edinburgh. I probably didn’t rest enough but think getting out and doing bits kept my mind off of what was coming on Sunday.

Luckily our hotel was right at the start, so we got up early, grabbed some breakfast then went back to the hotel and we got ready. We knew a fair few people running it so we all headed to the start together. I was the only one who hadn’t done a marathon before so was a tad nervous. I still had in my head that I had only done 1 run of 18miles in my training and had my knee problems in the back of my head.

So 9:40 came and we went in to our pens, I was in the gold stripe pen  right to the back as I said my finish time was around 4:45-5hrs. Realistically I just wanted to get round before that 6hr 30min sweeper bus time!

Our support left us in the pens and headed to the start line to try see us off. 10am came and the race was underway. It took probably around 5minutes or so to reach the start line from where I was.

I had a plan to go out quiet quick as I felt that if I took it too slow it could backfire on me later in the race if I had to walk a lot from my knee. I set off at probably too fast a pace. I hit 10km in 54minutes [5 minutes off my fastest 10km] where I saw all the Crisis team cheering me on. I then hit the half way point at 2:05 [12 minutes off my fastest half marathon]. When I hit half way, at a fast pace for me I still felt ok and actually started to think I could do this in 4:30. It only took a couple of miles after this to realise it was a down hill slop from here. I stupidly put new inner soles in my shoes [for my flat feet] which I hadn’t run in yet. My feet were absolutely killing around mile 15. My knee felt great on the other hand, which I think was massively helped by the inner soles so it win/lose situation. Mile 18 came where you turn around and go back on yourself, the 18th mile!!! The maximum distance I had run prior. This is the point where I started to really struggle. I mentally was shot! There was no crowd support at this point, I had no music to zone out in to, my feet were a mess and we had to run the last 8 miles the same way we just come from. It was quiet mentally challenging that last 8 miles for me and that is where I really lost my time. I was down to something like 12-13 minute miles, I was taking lots of walking breaks and getting cramp overtime I started to get a rhythm.

It was a weird few miles, 18-20 was a slug then 20-24 I think I must have gone in to some trance as I can’t really remember it. But 24-finish was horrible! It took forever!! The wind had really picked up and was going right in to our faces. I remember getting to mile 25 and thinking come on last mile lets pick it up, then a massive gust of wind and some rain started [thank god only for a minute or so] and I was cramping up. I remember thinking ‘I will walk a little more’. I got a text from Rachel letting me know she was at the finish, the corner before the straight. I hit mile 26 and spotted my Mum & Dad straight away, so headed their way to say hi. I went round the corner and their was Rachel, I headed over to her again to say hi then headed for the finish. I crossed the finish line and got my medal! The only thing I wanted. It felt awesome! My finish time was a little slower than I wanted but I got round, which was the main aim! I finished by my Garmin watch at 5:05 by my Nike app 5:04 and by my official chip time was 5:08.

Overall it was a great experience. I am so glad I done it! I am going to try to get to the London Marathon next year as I feel with a lot more support around the course I could mentally overcome that 18mile hoodoo! Now I also know I can physically get over those last 8 miles I will be a lot more mentally prepared for London! Lets hope I can get in, so I can start another one of these blog categories! The trainings been fun and horrible at the same time, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it! If you are debating whether to take up the challenge of a marathon! Do it! Its well worth the training in the end, but its not easy!

Marathon Training – Week before marathon

sorry for the delay in posts but moving house the marathon etc has really made it hard to get some Time to write this all up. So the week building up to the marathon was quiet slack in terms of runs. I had tapered right down, was starting to carb load.  

  
I done 2 small runs  just to keep me ticking over really. I also went Physio for the last time on the Wednesday before we headed up to Edinburgh. He stretched my quads right out and gave me some last advise before the big run. Nerves were kicking in and due to  last couple of weeks being quiet poorly prepared I was doubting myself if I could make it round. Having only done 1 extremely long run of 18miles. 

Marathon Training // 16th May

Life over the last couple weeks has really started to get in the way of marathon training. I  currently moving and need to be out the current property so this week (after Monday’s long run) I have been packing, tidying, physio and genuinely busy. I managed to get out for a recovery/small run over the weekend but it’s been a pretty unproductive week in terms of running. I got out and done just under 5 miles. My legs did feel a bit heavy and my knees even though they didn’t hurt felt more uneasy than Monday’s run. I think I am slacking on the rolling and stretching really so I will have to up the amount of time I spend on those bits. Hopefully can get a double figure run in this week before my marathon week (eek!). Fingers crossed. 

   
 

Marathon Training // 11th May

The day had come. I had to get out and attempt my longest run of yet. I was aiming realistically at 18 miles. It is  4 miles more than my last long run and I was sceptical of my knee and ankle. I decided I was going to go out for 3 and half hours whether I had to walk a lot or not. 

I started my run really not fancying it (then again most of my long runs I don’t fancy doing before hand). The only thought I had in my head was 

“If you don’t get to 18 miles today, you’re screwed” 

I plugged away and before I knew it I was at 5 miles. I had a phone call which lasted 10 minutes which took me to 6 before I’d even knew it. Around my area there’s a lot of hills and for the next 2 and half miles it was all flat, it felt really good to be on constant ground for once. At 8 miles I headed back on a different route. So far the knees felt great, no twinges, no aches or pains. HAPPY DAYS! 

I got to the half marathon mark just shy (30seconds) of my Colchester time, I was gutted as I had a few busy roads to cross and definitely lost a minute or so in time on that front so I would have nipped my half marathon PB had I got across quicker but never mind, PBing wasn’t on the agenda today. I was starting to tire and I was only at 13 miles. At the 14 mile point I decided to take a little stretch. My right leg was starting to cramp up a bit going up and down the hills. I then got to 16 miles just before the 3hr mark. I was going to be out another half hour max. My legs were cramping a lot more now and my drink had been Gone for 2 miles. At 16 I was passing my flat so i called in advanced to Rachel and got her to meet me en route to grab a drink. I again stopped for about 2 mins having a stretch and bit of drink. I decided to do 2 laps of my block and that would take me to 18 miles. The cramping did kick in a lot more but I did jog then walk then jog to get round. I am so relieved I finished the 18miles and I think I could have got to 20 pretty easy but I didn’t push my luck. Plus it was getting late and cold. Very happy with this run and definitely feel a lot more confident in finishing the marathon. 

   
 

Marathon Training // 9th May

Since my last post I have been doing exactly what the physio said. I have been rolling my legs, doing the exercises and also stretching. I decided on Saturday to go for a little run to see how my legs are doing. I was planning on a long run, but had the birthday of a friend in the afternoon, playing foot golf (Google it, it’s great) and out all night. So I decided against it. I hit the roads and in the end went for around 5 miles. The run felt good, my knee didn’t feel bad (only done 5 miles though, previous run my knee went around 7) but my ankles did feel a little sore. I am still certain this is due to my flat footedness and hopefully I can push through it for the race (which is now only 3 weeks away). 

  

I also have purchased the Garmin 10. A budget GPS watch. Personally I think it’s amazing! It does exactly what I want it to do. This 5 mile run was a little tester and it works perfectly. The amount of data I can view online is great. I now have the iPhone app to view my data and also when you log in on a computer it’s even better. I’ve attached some screen shots from my iPhone app to show you the data from the run.  

       

The reason behind the 2 different stats between my phone and watch was I started my Nike app. Then after a minute I realised I hadn’t properly started the watch. I started the watch but didn’t re-start my phone app. The only slight worry I have for the garmin is that the battery life States that it only lasts for 5 hours on GPS. If I have a slow marathon I will not get all my data which is a shame. We will see. 

I was going to do my long run on Sunday (yesterday) but as I got in at 4am and had minimal sleep I opted against it. My feet ached from being on them all day too so probably wouldn’t have got far. So tonight is going to be my long run. So expect another update tomorrow. I am also going to try the new Adidas running app out tonight to see if that is any better than the Nike app. So I’ll let you know. 

Marathon Training // 7th May

So with my knee problems and with only 24 days to go till the marathon I decided to get myself to the physio. I got there and instantly he noticed my flat feet. He mentioned that could be the root cause. He done some examining of my knee and felt some fluid. Also he said my knee cap was slightly off centre. This causes friction on the knee. I have been told to roll out my outer quad as well as strengthen my inner quads to pull the knee cap over. 

The things he mentioned to get me through the marathon are the rolling, lots of stretching, strengthening exercises and taping up. He showed me how to tape my knee up, suggested getting inner soles for my feet and I am going back next Thursday for some deep tissue massage and a full on taping. Going to try a run tomorrow and see how it goes after lots of stretching and rolling tonight. Wish me luck. 

Marathon Training // 4th May

It had been nearly a week since my last run. This was due to a couple of factors. 1: my calf was still not 100% and I didn’t want to risk injuring it further. 2: I had my record labels event on Thursday which took up lots of my time along with late finish and lack of sleep. So I decided Monday would be my day to attack another long run. I would be rested, I would eat well and be fully prepared. 

I went out and within 1 mile my tape all came off. I had only put it on that morning which I think is the reason it wasn’t stuck properly. I don’t know if it’s a mental thing but by mile two I could feel my left knee getting weak, no pain just weak. Then at mile 2 I also got my calf problems back. The pain it’s right at the top of the calf. I tried a few times to stretch it out. I was expecting to feel pain when stretching but there wasn’t much. I would continue the run an 200metres later it’d kick back in again. I tried my hardest to run it off. I got to 7.35 miles before I had to stop. My knee and calf both just gave up. Luckily i was right near my parents house at the time and I limped to there’s and luckily catched a lift home. 

 
I am sure it is my IT Band that is causing the problem. Some times it’s fine. Some times I get to a certain distance and it gives out. This is scaring me a bit for the marathon as its only 3.5 weeks away and if this happens on race day I won’t get round. It also scares me that I haven’t completed a longer big run yet. I was aiming for 16-18 miles yesterday and had to stop at 7 which isn’t good. I am going to try see a physio / sports masseure this week and try see there response to it all. I will keep you updated. 

Marathon Training // 28th April

So again I gave myself a couple days rest after my long run on the 25th. On Sunday I went to see the London Marathon, it got me even more nervous and anxious about the whole marathon thing. I have been reading loads in to it and people are suggestion that you should have hit 18-22miles a few times before the marathon. This is definitely not going to be my case, as I have under 5 weeks left and have the 3 weeks taper period so I have 2 long runs left in me really. I decided to get out yesterday even though I was unsure how my calf would react after Saturdays long run. I got out and decided [probably stupidly] that I wanted to try a speedy run. I wanted to hit every hill with a lot more speed and push myself up them a lot more. It mean’t I stopped a lot but I went pretty fast up the hills. The first 3 miles my calf felt ok, I was definitely conscious of it, but it wasn’t stopping me doing what I wanted to do. I got some heavy legs around mile 4 and decided that I would up the tempo and only do another mile or so. The last half mile back to my flat is down hill so I decided perfect time to get used to speed downhills. Again probably the worst decision I have made as my calf decided that now was the time to give out. I managed to plough through to 5 miles.

My pace was good [9:30 per mile] and if my calf didn’t give out I was sure I would have hit my PB for 10k but oh well! Again I am not going to risk injury under 5 weeks before my marathon. I have woken up today and my calf is really sore. That means my run tonight is cancelled [Was going to aim for a medium/slow run of 8-11 miles] instead I think I am going to sit at home and do some core bits and rest up. I have a busy Thursday and Friday [My Record Labels next event] so no exercise for those days, going to run Saturday and then hopefully hit another long run on bank holiday Monday and try to surpass 15 miles. If I can do that, then try hit 18 miles the following week [My last long run] I will go in to the marathon with a lot more confidence, at the minute that is quiet a longshot so I am panicking constantly about the big day! Fingers crossed I’ll make it round..

Marathon Training // 25th April

I gave myself a couple days rest after the recovery and gym run, before I hit up another long run. I have started to worry about it all in my head. I am worried I haven’t hit the distances I really wanted to at this point. I was hoping to be at around 15-17 miles at this point and even though I have run a few half marathon distances in the last few weeks I am still struggling to find a way to get over that 13 mile slog. My aim today was just to break that 13 mile slog and get over it. The run was going really well. Of recent my half marathon distances have been pipped by my knees totally giving out at around mile 11-12, leaving me with no option but to stop. I know if this was marathon day I would push through it, but I don’t want to cause a massive injury and be out of 2 weeks worth of training. Its not worth it this close to race day. I got to 10 miles and no knee or ankle pain, I was a tad tired but felt great! Then!!!! I felt my calf tighten up, something that hasn’t happened before. It was like a mixture of cramp and a slight pull. I decided to run through it for a bit in the hope it would loosen up, but even though the pain eased a little it was still clear it wasn’t going to go away. I got to 13 miles again and thought it might be time to head home. I decided to go around the block one more mile really slow to get me to 14 miles. I did this mainly as a mental challenge. To get me over this hoodoo of only being able to hit 13 miles. I got to 14 and my calf was throbbing, but at least my knees were ok right?

I done the whole 14 miles in 2:40 by my nike app. I would say I did stretch out and stop a few times and to take a gel or two so It might be worth adding 5-8mins on top of this. But I also done mile 14 so slow it was like a cool down really [17:30 mile] so if my calf wasn’t sore I am sure I would have knocked at least 5-6 minutes off of that time too, so I am going to stick with that 2:40 as the rough time. 11:30 per mile pace. Not the pace I was hoping, but again it was a very hilly run, mile 6 saw a +200ft increase which in my eyes was a massive hill. That mile took me 13minute and the mile after was a slow one at 12:30 too as I was shattered after that. So hopefully I can knock some time off of my 11:30 min per mile pace. Fingers crossed!!

Marathon Training // 22nd April

The day after my gym session I decided I was going to go on a recovery type run. I was going to try keep my attempted marathon pace throughout. I struggled to keep running without stopping ever so often, which I am really starting to notice a lot lately. I am craving a quick 10-20 second walk every so ofter. I don’t know if its a mental thing, to try to reduce impact on my joints or a physical thing where I am starting to tire, either way it is making me nervous.

In the end I done 5.21 miles in 52 mins. 10 minute mile pace which I am happy with. I am also hoping the amount of up and down hills I run during my training will pay off in the Edinburgh marathon. I feel my route is very hilly [even though I have no reference to compare my runs too] and I am hoping that I can reduce my speed / travel further without stopping on a more even terrain.