So this post serves as a race report for the recently run North Dorset Village Marathon and also as a bit of a catch up with my general life and running.
I have not posted on here for a long while. Life has been busy as you will see. I had a great preparation for the Barry 40 Mile track race back in March and felt I was going to have a great run there. However I was unfortunate to pick up a knee injury which put me out of action. I lost a good month of training, but was happy with how I managed the injury as I expect I could have had a longer period out if I had not been as sensible as I had been (I basically just didn't run...not good).
Often an injury comes out of general fatigue and the body just being not as strong as it should be. During my injury period I had a good amount of time to reflect on my life (yep it got pretty deep) and why I was fatigued. It would appear there were a number of factors. My wife and I have been in the process of moving house for a very long while. The stress that this had bought probably part of the reason of the injury. The house move was designed to reduce the commute to work, to save time for the important stuff like running. During the injury period I also reflected on my current employment status. I have been working in a consultancy environment, which often is very challenging and requires a large time commitment. I could change my line of work (without a large impact on my career progression) to give myself again more time. On top of that I am studying for my Actuarial exams. So I have been balancing a number of challenges and really not excelling in any of them. Something I found very difficult to accept. So over the last few months I have been implementing some changes. Now I have a new job, a new house, a new car, a new running club and have mildly avoided a breakdown. A lot of stress but I feel it has put me in a much better position to enjoy and live life! So I hope you understand why there have been non posts recently.
So running-wise, what have I been up to? Well since the injury, I've slowly been getting back into the swing of things. I had a good race at the Maidenhead 10, running a 56m31. The Maidenhead 10 will be in it's 60th year next year. It's a fantastic race and one I hope to continue running in over the years. We were living in Maidenhead until the very recent house move so it might mean I can't run it quite so regularly. 4 years on the bounce makes this the most regularly attended event I have ever participated in.
Then a few days ago I ran the North Dorset Village Marathon. Which I report on now. I wasn't greatly prepared for it and just wanted a nice hard run. I didn't taper, I just had an easy week. In the back of my mind I thought I might be able to get a PB, so decided to run a 1h21 first half and see where the rest would take me. Well we set off at the start, I pretty quickly settled into 4th, in front were 2 relay runners and another marathoner (he was shifting it). I lost the 2 relay runners, but slowly reeled them in and worked with one of them to the first relay changeover point. The relay changeover points were really great parts of the course, lots of runner all giving a nice big cheer as you enter the changeover area and then continued on through. I thanked the guys I had been running with and he wished me well.
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| The relay runner was a great pace maker early doors. |
So onto mile 8 and a pretty steep climb, which saw me drop the two relay runners and also saw me breathing a little too heavily. At this point I then picked up the lead bike. Shit, I was winning...pressure!! I was already breathing a little too heavy and now I had the added pressure of being the lead male. So the guy who went off at the start was actually a relay runner. Cool. I wanted to re-gain a little composure but the course and the fact I was winning made it difficult.
So I spent the next 10 miles staring at the cyclist's arse, trying to get my breathing under control. It was very hard on this course. There would be a nice little climb where I couldn't get the breathing under control. This would be followed by a descent but I didn't want to waste the hard work I'd put in going up the hill, so I never really recovered my breathing.
Around mile 17 I started to fade, I had been counting down the miles from the half way point. My team of supportors (wife, in-laws, brother-in-law and hisnwife) saw me here and I tried to make a joke. I think they thought I looked pretty good at that stage. However, it's all relative. I hit a left hand turn and was faced with a bit of a headwind and a nice lengthy climb (not steep, but steady), I felt the legs wobble. I wasn't too worried, I came here for a hard run, and it was about to get hard!
Two relays runners came past, and the lead bike went with them. I was trying to work this out, why the lead bike went with the relay runners and not me. Quite obvious now. The lead bike was always for the relay runners and was never meant for me!! But I still didn't realise I was second until people started saying things like the leader is "only" 5 minutes ahead!! haha
So I was still on the count down on the mileage, and they were still ticking away quite nicely, lots of 6m25-35s which meant I was slowing but not dying. Something that I found interesting (well painful) were the climbs. Every climb after about mile 18 my legs just felt very fatigued. But I was still moving very well on the flats. I figure I just do not have the musclar endurance on the climbs because I train almost religiously on the flat.
Mile 22 was great, I saw wife, in-laws and Grandpa-in-law. The route runs straight past his cottage, and at 98 he was probably the oldest spectator on the course. Unfortunately his cottage is on a piece of the course which is uphill, so I went past them very slowly...and forced the best smile I could. About 400metres after this I bumped into Steve Way, which was a bit bizarre. I had given him a big cheer at London a few weeks back (he doesn't know me), and there he was in the middle of the road taking a photo of me. We exchanged a few words, I was moving past him so slowly we actually had a conversation without me stopping!
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| Having a chat with Steve Way...both feet still off the ground, maybe I wasn't going that slow. |
Then the rest was a trundle to the finish. The last mile was all uphill on a stoney path. This hurt my feet and made me feel less happy. But I finished, in 2h47m02. Couldn't really judge the finish line, so a little bit of a shame I not to hit a 2h46, but not too worried. This was a great workout, and I have to say I was very impressed with the event. If anyone is looking for a less low key marathon then this comes recommended. I expect it was worth 2-4minutes from a flat course and that if I was a bit more sensible with pacing I could have run faster...ifs and buts though.
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| At the finish with the winner. Certainly needed that coke! |
Interesting a guy called Ian Graham ran a 3h05 maraton to hit the top of the v65 rankings for the marathon this year at the North Dorset Marathon which is pretty cool. People were talking about him in the pub afterwards, getting much deserved kudos. Also when in the pub at the end (about 3 hours after finishing) a runner came in, in full attire and race number...needing the loo. I joked that he might still be out of the course running, unfortunately he was!!!
Won't bore you with a full split analysis (partly because I don't have it), but ran 1h21m18 and 1h25m44 so reasonable...
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| Collecting my prize. I have now shaved off the disgusting facial hair. |
