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It’s been almost a fortnight since I ran in the 2009 London Marathon, and it’s long overdue my writing up a few thoughts and notes. I had a great experience, and hit my main target of a sub-4 hour time. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get close to my secondary target of a 3:45 time, for various reasons.

I was able to get a decent nights sleep. An early night compensated for waking up at various points in the night, paranoid that I’d overslept and missed the last train to Blackheath. Nerves weren’t too prevalent, but it was a bit harder to eat my porridge than usual. A short walk to Charing Cross railway station, and managed to get a seat on a train out to Blackheath.

Certainly a top-tip for future years. The train was busy at Charing Cross, and I felt for people trying to get on trains at Waterloo East and London Bridge. Not a stress I would have wanted, but it seems most people got on eventually.

After a chat with a few fellow passengers, we made our way to the Blue start area. I wasn’t able to hook up with my running club – it’s hard to find people when there are 15,000 other people milling about in similar attire. Main task was to put on some suncream, as it was a lot brighter than the weather forecast had suggested. Sunburn was going to be a serious risk!

It was then time to join the toilet queue. And a heck of a queue it was too. Unfortunately, as I subsequently made my way to the start area to find my ‘pen’, I noticed there were two other men’s urinal areas (which hadn’t been on the maps to my recollection) with tiny queues. Quite why the organisers didn’t see fit to mention this, I don’t know. The start pens are supposed to mean faster runners don’t have to overtake slower runners, and my number was inspected closely. However I’ve heard subsequently that a lot of other pens weren’t being checked very thoroughly, so we had pen 9 runners up in higher pens. Further, we were constantly being moved further forward all the time, ie. in to other pens. Really quite bizarre.

After the start, it took me 5 minutes to cross the start line, and the first mile or so was slow going. 09:57 by my Garmin for mile 1, then 9:00 for mile 2. Much MUCH slower than my target pace of around 8:30 miles. All very stop-start, and overtaking charity chain gangs, walkers and similar drained some of my good will. It’s still very hard to be too annoyed at people doing great things for charity: It’s an immense achievement to even get to the start line. But really, I just wish they’d gone in the right start pen (and been kept there), or given more realistic time estimates for their marathon time.

After that things got back on course, and one of the highlights just after the 3 mile marker was where the ‘blue’ and ‘red’ starts merged. Lots of jovial booing at each other was great fun. Through Woolwich, then into Greenwich along non-descript roads, but plenty of great support. The Cutty Sark was a bit of a non-event given it’s currently deeply under wraps, but it’s still a significant part of the course. Then the few miles up through Southwark and towards Tower Bridge. Support was at times massive, and at other points absolutely deserted. Very strange, and a lot more twisty than I’d expected. Managed to see a colleague from one of my clients enjoying the sun. Not sure sitting on grass near to a hedge was quite the best plan!

Crossing Tower Bridge was quite special. It’s such an iconic part of the course, and so very close to the half-way mark it’s hard not to feel the significance of the moment. I was feeling quite good at this point, and my splits were still roughly on course, but still more variable than I’d hoped. Certainly it was starting to be apparent I wasn’t going to make up any of the time I’d lost at the start, and knew only too well that things get properly tough after the 20 mile mark. I still managed a few 8:37 paces, and even – at mile 19 an 8:35 – much of that as I’d locked on to points where I knew supporters would be. The fetchpoint was a great spot, with wonderful red and yellow balloons and loads of supporters. Great to see them on the way out to Canary Wharf, and on the way back. Just the boost I needed.

The miles through Canary Wharf weren’t too bad. Bar the bits around mile 20, near Billingsgate market, much more support than I think I’d expected. But the course was a lot narrower than I’d expected it to be. Spectators encroaching on to the road was one thing, but even marshalled areas seemed to mean the course was a bit narrower than I’d hoped. Overtaking (which I was doing a fair bit of) just got fiddly and, sadly, time-consuming. I was caught up by fellow club runner Michael around here, but soon lost him behind me as I had a couple of good miles at mile 19 and 20 at 8:35 and 8:21 respectively.

Hitting 20 miles was psychologically significant. Only 6.2 miles left, and almost all of it in a straight line right through London. Easy to focus on, and tick off the miles. I only once had a difficult moment around mile 23. I was starting to feel tired. Not the “wall” by any stretch – I’d been taking gels and energy drinks. I just needed to gather up my thoughts, so I resolved to use the very brief break to gather myself up set off to the end. 20 seconds or so later (and a very stiff few strides), and I was on my way again. Still much slower at this point, closer to 9 minute miling, but doing a fair bit of overtaking (At this point so many other runners seemed to be walking), and the runners were starting to thin out a bit more, so felt a lot easier to make progress.

My determination carried me along the Embankment, and started to really feel the building sense of accomplishment. Large numbers of supporters shouting just moves you in quite a way! I knew there were some club supporters around here, and I’d not hear the end of it if I took another walking break! I stuck to my resolve and on I went. Somehow I picked out my club’s Ladies captain Carla in the crowd screaming something encouraging at me. Marvellous, and a further boost. My average pace indicator on my watch suggested a sub-4 hour was very much achievable, and that kept me going.

Hitting Birdcage walk – the last mile – was something else. The end is almost in sight, and whilst I’d perhaps distanced myself more than I’d expected from the crowds and the support along the way, I was lapping it up now. The last few hundred metres were much easier than I’d thought – the finish line is a motivator like no other – but the crowd and distinct sense of achievement as you round the corner in front of Buckingham palace to see the finish line in front of you just pulls you along like nothing else.

Crossing the line and the emotion really washes over. I’d made sub-4 hours (3:56:35), but the time didn’t really matter. I’d seen it so many times on the television, to cross the famous finish having completed the worlds biggest marathon was really quite a moment. The finish area just passed in a blur. Up on the ramp to get the chip cut off. Collect medal. Pose for photograph. Collect goody bag. Collect bags (how’d they know it was me!?). Then I just found the “L” section in the reunion area and waited for Frances. No way I was leaving my iPhone in my bag, so no mobile telephony assistance in reunions!

I’d missed out on my other goal of getting a 3:45 time, and I’ll put that down to a poor start position, the weather, but also perhaps being a bit optimistic. A marathon really is a distance that tests you like no other running event. All said I enjoyed the experience, and the distance, and I will almost certainly do another marathon. But I know I won’t be rushing back to enter London – I think I’d prefer to try a smaller event (with less congestion), and see how I do there. I’ll also be a lot more aware of the amount of time required to train. The race itself is almost the easy bit. The hard bit is finding time to train for three hours on a weekend, when there are so many other demands on my time. Having a life. Glasgow parkrun. My business. My friends. Just having time off.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed London from start to finish. Sure, I’ve a few gripes, but they’re relatively minor in the grand scheme. I know I could run faster, and I intend to prove that someday. London’s not an easy place to get a PB, and it’s so much more than a 26.2 mile run. I know a lot of people had problems on the day, so I feel very pleased that things came together for me on the day and I achieved my primary goal, and had a big smile on my face when I crossed the line less than 4 hours after starting, and to think three years I’d have laughed at the prospect of such an achievement.

Definitely recommended. Just looking at the medal (it’s just by my desk) brings back so many memories.

I’m chuffed a lot of people are saying they’ll be coming along on Sunday morning (or watching on TV), so I thought it’d be worth saying a bit about my rough plans for the day, and point folk in the direction of a few websites that might be useful.

I’m hoping to get somewhere around a 3:45-4:00 marathon time. Whilst I hope I may be able to manage a bit faster than that (based on race predictor times), I’m conscious this is my first ever marathon. It’s so much more than a double half marathon: I also don’t know how I’ll feel after 23 miles, given I’ve never run more than that before. If I do find myself going a bit faster, I’m hoping I’ll have the presence of mind to back off and save my energy for the final 6 miles. But best laid plans have a habit of falling by the wayside, and I’ve also something of a history of underestimating my own race ability.

A sub-3:45 marathon time has me doing miles at a pace of about 8:30 (over a minute slower than my half-marathon pace). A sub-4:00 marathon time has splits of 9:10. If I’m careless, splits of 8:00 put me close to 3:30 – 30 seconds a mile difference roughly equates to fifteen minute time, which is quite easy to remember.

It’s fun to put my pace up against the elite runners. But when I quote these figures, I sometimes sense incredulity – even amongst runners – at just how fast marathon pace is. They’re running almost twice as fast as me. Faster than I can run even in short race, running flat out! And they’re running that for 26.2 miles! To put the world-records into perspective, the men are running with 4:44 splits (2:03:59 world record) and women in 5:09 (2:15:25 world record). I can’t even run a mile at that speed! The best I’ve managed is 6:09, about a year ago. Impressive stuff, so give them a cheer if you see them. They’re world class athletes.

Anyway, what does this mean for “Richard spotting”, if you’re thinking of coming along on the day. Remember that there are over 35,000 other runners, and it’s incredibly hard for runners and supporters to spot people in crowds, even when you’re expecting them! And that’s before the hours of running that may well have preceded my morning!

So drop me a note if you plan to be along, and roughly where. The course map is here, but best of all there’s also a spectator guide. If you see me, shout loudly. Even if I don’t see you (which is quite likely), the support still means a huge amount for me and every other runner, and really does make a huge difference. There are times when things will be really tough. A cheer can change that in an instant. Lots of support for other runners from my running club appreciated too (’Go Bella!’ works).

Start is at 9:45, and I’m on the ‘Blue’ start on Blackheath. I’ll post my number in due course. I’ll probably be looking something like this, although the size of my smile will be inversely proportional to the distance run, until I cross the line at least

Cutty Sark (~6.5 miles): 10:40am
Tower Bridge (~12.5 miles): 11.40am
Canary Wharf (~19 miles): 12.30pm
Tower of London (~22.5 miles): 12.55pm
Embankment (~24 miles): 1.10pm
Finish: (26.2 miles): 1.30pm

All this of course presumes I cross the line on time, which is unlikely, and also presumes a steady pace, which will be difficult given congestion on the course, especially at the start. The theory is similarly paced runners start at the same time, in pulses, with faster runners at the front, and slower runners to the back. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work like that

After the event, my goal is to go and meet up with Frances and fellow club runners, and then collapse in my very convenient hotel, for a few hours. I hope to go out for a celebratory drink or three later in the afternoon/evening, if you’re in town. Frances will, hopefully, be contactable on her mobile. I’ll probably be reunited with my iPhone on Monday morning

Tracking runners

Well, after 15 weeks of training, I finished my last long run on Saturday. Best of all, I bumped in to Frances who’s just starting training for the Race For Life she’s doing in June, and got an extra two miles with her. A great way to top off my training, and pleased to report Frances did very well too for her first run in almost a year.

The training has gone very well. My previous post summarised a few niggles I’d had, but all the issues have been put to bed. I’m only left with a bit of a sock and blister problem – something I’ve not experienced before – and one that I’ve not had a chance to properly sort out. So I’m going to have to take a tiny bit of a gamble with a pair of socks I think have been ok, and hope things work out ok.

My longest run was 23 miles, which I was very pleased with, particularly when compared to how I felt after a 20 mile run a couple of weeks before. The difference between the two was nutrition, and I’ve got that licked. I’ve also discovered that whilst I don’t have an adverse reaction to Gels, they’re not exactly nice, particularly if you get it on your fingers, and the sweetness is just icky. I really begin to crave solid food! So I’ll definitely be putting some food in my gear bag, something I can get my teeth into when I finish!

I’ve thankfully been injury free, which has meant I’ve followed my coaches training programme quite closely. The best thing about it having done that is I’m as certain as I can be that I’ll get around the course, and I’m told the atmosphere in London is something special, so should hopefully help pull me along when the going gets tough, after, I suspect, the 20 mile mark. It’s carb loading over the next week to ensure I’m as properly prepared as I can be.

The taper is certainly proving to be quite difficult. I had to stop myself running to pick up our car from the garage yesterday (a 30 minute jog away), conscious I need to be taking it easy and reducing my mileage and effort. It’s also confirmation to me that running is very much part of me these days. Certainly if I’m trying to find excuses to run places, and convincing myself not to!

I’ve also had so many great words of advice from fellow club runners, and park runners. Whilst I know it’s my own race, and I need to run it to my plan, I’ve absorbed as much from people as I can. It’s the only way a new-marathoner can really get an idea about what’s involved. I’m determined to enjoy it – I’ve heard a good few horror stories of setting off too fast, changing plan too early, or struggling through injuries. Finishing, I hope, with a smile on my face is my primary goal. Faster times can wait. I settled on a sub-4 hour time as my primary goal, with 3:45 as my ideal. Anything better than that would be delightful, but I’m not going to push myself too hard, at a distance that is such a serious test over the complete distance. I’ve never run more than 23 miles, and those last 3.2 miles will surly be the hardest.

This last week is busy on the work front, but I will find myself in London at the end of the week, and should be able to get registered with plenty of time to spare. An early start on Saturday to get out to see the Bushy parkrun so I can check out what a properly busy ‘funnel’ looks like, to take some tips away to Glasgow parkrun, where we’re experiencing phenomenal growth and, given we’re so far away from other parkruns, having to learn a lot through experience. Sunday morning I’m close enough to the railway station that will take me out to Blackheath it shouldn’t be too bad. My goal then is to get up, scoff my porridge, stuff a few things in my bag, and just get out there. I’d really rather be there very early, than stressing about not getting there at all. I’m a rotten traveller when there’s time pressure.

If you’re going to come along on Sunday to watch (and I’d highly recommend it even if I wasn’t running, it’s a great atmosphere), be sure to allow plenty of time to get around. It’s a bit busy, and crossing the course is very difficult. Drop me an e-mail, or a comment, if you’re planning on looking out for me. It’s hard for runners and spectators to see each other, given it’s so busy (and the runners can be a bit preoccupied!). I’ll post some rough times for key points if my race goes according to plan, but could be some way either side of that.

All that really remains is for everybody to keep their fingers crossed for cool and overcast weather. Sunny is not good. Rain is not good. But cheer everybody taking part, even if you don’t see me. The amount of training most people will (should!) have put in is, I can say from experience now, huge. The marathon is just the icing on the cake, and I can certainly say it makes a huge difference on short distances, it’ll be something else on a marathon course!

I’ve just booked my post-London Marathon hotel. A bit of luxury to, I hope, reward 4 months of hard graft. And also not very far away from the finish line, just on the other side of Green Park. Should be eminently walkable, even after 26.2 miles and sore legs. Heck, Frances may even be able to carry me there

I’d also rather fancied getting the train back on Monday. I’m not a fan of flying unless it’s necessary or the only option available. Previously I’ve managed to find very good deals from Glasgow to London, even at peak times, with a bit of advanced planning (a rare commodity in my case). It’s quite possible to get first class travel if you travel outside of the rush hour, and the price difference is often as little as £15 – Given you get free meals on the way, it’s not much different from standard class plus a couple of sandwiches and coffee from the buffet car. Plus you don’t get half as many distractions, so it’s ideal if you plan to work.

Unfortunately, I was in for a bit of a shock last night. Because I’ll be in London already (I’m going to be quite some way south on business, and arrangements are being made by my client), I’m just looking at a single ticket rather than a return. It seems that train prices, with Virgin Rail at least, are geared on return travel. Consequently where it was once not much difference in price to travel by train, it’s looking very hard to justify not flying back (Assuming I can make it up the boarding stairs; I’ve heard horror stories of marathoners struggling to get on flights! And I do like a good horror story to keep me honest)

I’m not sure whether this is a function of dropping demand for air travel keeping easyjet and co’s prices low (it is also unusually foresighted of me to be planning a flight 10 days in advance), or whether the train companies simply don’t have a system to adjust ticket price based on availability: Surely one of the best legacies of budget air travel?

Regardless, I’m now pondering flying back, and then putting the money I’d save on the train trip I’d planned, to good use with a nice meal out with Frances later in the week. Heck, with the money I’d save I could probably buy a chunk of rain forest.

If the Government really wants to do something about getting more people to travel by train, it would do very well to insist they adopt the pricing strategy of budget airlines because as things stands, train travel is starting to look prohibitively expensive, even if you’re prepared to spend a bit extra.

So with just over seven weeks to go until I run in the London Marathon, I’m in week 9 – over half way – through my 16 week training programme. I’d been planning to write a bit more in way of updates, but as you can see, my weblog writing mojo has taken a bit of a back seat the last few months.

In the general sense, things are going well. I’ve got most of my long runs in – I just missed one – and I’ve been working through the issues that have come up, as I encounter well known endurance running issues for the first time. Until starting my training I’d never run more than about 14-15 miles.

There’s not really a discrete way to say this, but it boils down to three things, first of all chaffing. Run for 18 miles straight and if you’re not wearing the right gear, things that are usually fine start to rub. I’ve learnt to hate cotton. And it’s never nice, so liberal doses of, er, Vaseline or similar (Favourite training quote so far “There’s no problem that Vaseline can’t solve“).

So with that solved, and the distance increasing, I really start to struggle after my first 20 miler. My pace just dropped, and it was tough to get around and hit the 20 mile mark. My body had just run out of energy. A long run can easily burn 2000 calories. Look on the back of your cereal packet, and that’s the recommended daily intake for an adult. In just a few hours! So last week I spent a small fortune on what are best described as “orange flavoured wallpaper paste”: Yup, I’ve got some gels at last. I’ve also “rediscovered” Jelly Babies. Ok, I’ve always liked them (head first, natch), but they were pretty much a long car journey treat. Now they’re a great reward on long runs.

The goal in all of this is to make sure I’ve tried everything out, so that on race day I’m as prepared as I can be. I’ll be worried enough as it, and the weather will no doubt provide enough randomness for my tastes!

My third, and – I’d feared biggest – issue was sore legs, particularly my right leg. I’d begun to worry I’d picked up an injury – a hamstring or calf strain or similar – so had backed off a little. In talking it through with some fellow runners, I was strongly recommended to try getting a sports massage. People seemed marginally surprised I’d not actually had one before.

The reason is I’m a bit funny about massages. Just don’t particularly like people touching me, so whilst Frances is usually first in the queue for a spa massage, I’ll content myself with a run and then a shot in the pool. However, it was such a consistent “you’re training for a marathon, therefore you must have a massage” from so many running friends that I figured I’d give it a shot. As one of my clubs coaches is a qualified masseur, popped along early and had the full ‘Oscar treatment’. Painful? Yes, but in a really good way. I was very surprised by the difference I felt, and where the problem (such that it was) seemed to be located. I’d not actually expected to be able to run afterwards, but felt really good, so I opted to skip the hill session my group was scheduled for and went for an ‘easy’ run around Glasgow Green with a few others. Whilst the pace wasn’t quite as easy as I’d hoped, it was eminently manageable, and my legs felt, and still feel, fine. I may even go for an easy run this afternoon. The last few weeks they’ve been stiff for a fair while after any long-ish run. So, I’ll be most certainly going back!

This weekend I’m running the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon as part of the training plan. Not sure what pace I’m going to run it at yet though. Coaches advise is largely “just see how it goes”, which seems sensible enough to me, perhaps as a pacing run for the marathon, perhaps a bit quicker. I’ll be saving any attempt at half marathon PB’s for later in the year. Then it’s a few more weeks of long 20-22 mile runs before starting the taper.

I’ve also rediscovered running with music. I’d stopped listening to music whilst running a couple of years ago, but trying to motivate yourself for a 20 mile run on your own, you do need something! As my running club weekend long runs normally clash with the parkrun, I’ve been running on my own a lot, unless I managed to find a few others happy to get up early on a Sunday morning. But when that doesn’t happen, I’m off on my own with my music, and quite enjoyable it is too.

So all going quite well, and I’m quite relieved my recent worry about injury was, it seems, misplaced. I’ve overcome the challenges I’ve encountered so far, and learnt a lot about my body in the process. It’s far from over though: There’s a lot that can happen even when it’s “just” a case of getting a few more long runs done, but I’m enjoying the experience, and if that’s happening, fingers crossed it’ll come together ok on the day.

After my previous post on my marathon plans for 2009, I managed to forget all about my club’s ballot for places. I convinced myself that I was quite happy with Edinburgh for a first marathon, and I really didn’t care about not getting in to London in 2009.

I’d also discounted going for a charity place. I suppose I felt that asking people for sponsorship, when I (expect to) enjoy it all so much, was a bit of an ask. 

With the draw for club places taking a bit earlier than previous years, due to a change in the deadlines for applications, I got to thinking about things afresh over the weekend. It’s very clear to me that London is THE marathon to try for. It’s one of the biggest marathons in the world, and the support along the route is, I’m told, second to none. And that’s even before my running club’s support crew are factored in. It’s quite an expedition of other halves and supporters. Quite the club event. I understand there are usually between 20 and 30 participants as we’ve got a good few ‘Good for age’ entrants, in all age groups.

So I figured I couldn’t not put my name forward. I could always recant to my original position of not being bothered if I didn’t get picked. 

So on a cold evening, the names were in the hat. I was quite surprised by the odds. Six names in the hat, for four places allocated to the club. Much better odds than in the main ballot! Two names were drawn out without my being mentioned, so it was down to a 50/50 chance of a place. The third name was drawn, and after what felt like an eternity (un-peeling post-it notes with gloves would appear to be quite a challenge), my name was read out.

Suffice to say I’m absolutely delighted, and chuffed by the congratulations from many of my fellow runners. I don’t think the grin came off my face for a good few miles into last nights session, which was quite tough, as I’ve a feeling I’ve the onset of a cold. Didn’t help that I was running with the faster ‘B’ group, when I should probably have been taking it a bit easier.

Training kicks off early in the new year, and what with the Glasgow parkrun to organise (at least until a few other volunteers step forward to help with things), my Saturday mornings are going to be quite busy. But I’m really excited about the prospect. Despite this rather amusing video sent by my friend (and fellow London 2009 marathoner), David.

I decided last year that running a marathon wasn’t going to feature in my running plans for 2008. I’d been aware of just how much training was required for a half marathon, so doing a full marathon along with running my own business, and having a life and time with Frances just wasn’t practical. Oh, yes, and given London was the marathon I wanted to do, that we were getting married the day before sort of put pay to any small notions I still had.

As my fellow running club members built up to London 2008, my appreciation of the time and effort required increased further. It’s a lot more than “just twice the distance” of the (easier) half marathon, and really tests mind and body to the limit. 20 mile training runs take a long time, and that means a large part of rare free time is eaten up for a good few weeks, and if the weather is inclement, it’s hardly a lot of fun getting out to get the miles done. The support of a running club geared up for the race would seem essential.

However, part of me still wanted to give it a go at some point. I get the impression it’s something every runner needs to have a go at at some point. Even just once. I’d also thought it’d be good to see about beating my charity total from Glasgow 2007. So I resolved a month or two back that I’d enter the ballot for London in 2009 when it opened.

Earlier this week I heard the application process had opened, just a week after the 2008 marathon finished. So to cut a long story short, and with a year and a day to go, I entered the ballot for London 2009 yesterday lunchtime.

If I don’t get through (which is likely given the huge volume of applicants for the limited number of places), I may look at a charity place, although the fund-raising required for such is a bit of a concern. Failing that, my running club usually gets a few places allocate as it sees fit (by ‘lucky dip’ last year after the Christmas 5k charity run). There’s always a big turnout at London from the club – it’s one of the clubs biggest races given the high number of ‘good for age’ runners – quite something for a club 400 miles away. But I’ve got my fingers crossed I’ll be lining up on Blackheath in a years time.