A reluctant runner: April 2010

26 April 2010

Epilogue? The London marathon

I entered London about 11 months ago and got on through the ballot. I had always assumed that I'd be so tired after the MdS that I'd just pull out and roll my place over to 2011 but - blisters aside - I felt pretty good after the big one. My feet had a couple of weeks to heal so I decided to give it a go yesterday and see how I went - it was a great opportunity to see if I could run sub-3:30 given I'll probably never be as fit again. In fact, my target was 3:20 and I wanted to start well enough over the first few miles to give myself the opportunity to run 3:10 if I could.

I never felt great to be honest. It p'ed it down for the half-hour before we started (I neglected to take a bin liner) and when we got going, it became fairly warm and humid. I don't think my immediate preparation was ideal - dinner in the awesome Iberica on Friday night, followed by a bbq and beer at my friend Gus' on Saturday.

However, I think the main problem was that I haven't trained much for this kind of race. My runs have mainly been pretty low intensity, with little in the way of quicker threshold runs. Basically, I wasn't really equipped to maintain a pace of a touch over 7 minute miles. The first half of the marathon went OK nevertheless - I got to 13.1m in 1:36 - but I knew that I couldn't keep it up. By the time I reached 19m, on the way back from Canary Wharf, I was really starting to feel it and the last hour or so wasn't the most fun I've ever had. I assume that at the end of an 'ideal' race you should feel as knackered as you ever have done if you're going for a good time, which I managed but which doesn't make for a lot of fun.

On the positive side, though, the crowd was as amazing as I remember and I eventually stumbled home in 3:21, which I'm very pleased with and is decent enough for me to think about calling it a day on marathon running. That latter feeling has stayed with me today given how stiff I am! I'll post a photo or two when they're released. This time I tried to smile, given how pained I looked in the ones in 2006...

By now, I am very much a "reluctant runner". 2009 is over and we're a good chunk into 2010. I've still a post or two to go - particularly some kit tips for the MdS itself, but I have a feeling that this might be it - the blog has served its original purpose of livening up my training and providing a chronicle of my training for the MdS. What should I do with it now? Suggestions in the comments box please!

15 April 2010

Full MdS 2010 write-up with pics...

...now on this site here.

11 April 2010

Day 7 / loose ends

Back in Ouarzazate now. Yesterday's half-marathon was tough, given the previous day's exertions and the state of my feet, but I made it through. By the end, my motivation had solely become to make it out of the desert and back to civilisation. The run was broadly flat apart from a couple of sandy sections at the start and finish. The latter were the dunes near Merzouga, which brought back memories of my visit there with Gus, 15 years ago. It was summertime and very hot indeed. Due to our (my) slight mis-budgeting, we ran out of cash and thus water in our final few hours there and spent the time immobile, nursing our final precious litre, waiting for the bus out and watching our pee gradually change colour in a slightly alarming way.

I also want to mention day 3. That blog update seems to have failed to appear here, which is both good and bad. Day 3 was my lowest ebb. It was a flat course but frighteningly hot at times (a competitor clocked about 50C on his watch), a bit humid and the scenery was stiflingly dull. All very oppressive and, after a decent run to checkpoint 1 (and an unscheduled Radcliffe break), I found it really hard going, walking most of the rest of the way. A couple of competitors - Sophie and Cranston (I think) - were kind enough to chat to me on the way and really helped me through. I was in a bit of a state when we got in to the bivi and I remember my email from day 3 being very flat indeed. Mabe it's good that it never appeared, in case its tone worried people back home, but I certainly want my feelings recorded - if for no other reason than otherwise it looks as though I had a great time every day of the race and this was certainly not the case!

I'll post a proper write-up with some photos on my return. For now, some final thoughts. My main memories will be both good and bad.

The MdS is brutal and attritional. The heat and dryness. Grime, sand and sweat. Frequent nosebleeds. A general feeling of being ill at ease. Much of day 3 and and the final stage of day 4 were horribly tough. On the other hand, there was so much support from other competitors - I have mentioned those on day 3 above, and another thank you has to go to Aussie Paul for his conversation and gel at the end of the long stage - they picked me up just at the right time. Tent 93 were a diverse bunch of guys, all very different but all great people. In order of appearance, a huge thank you to young Andy, Kris, Pete, Jeffrey, Ben, Rob and Frank. I made it to the end, which is great, with a couple of good(ish) runs on days 4 and 6.

What now? I've completed what I assumed would be the toughest thing I've ever attempted to do and it's been over 2 years in the planning. The reality of the experience was a bit different to my expectations and in some ways I found it easier than expected. Is answer to find an even harder challenge? Possibly. I'm wondering, though, more about whether I'm asking the right question.

09 April 2010

0882--Day 6 - marathon day

My last email from the camp tent - hopefully this remote blog updating thing is working out OK; sorry they're terse but we're space-constrained. Once again, thanks to all who've sent me messages - it's been great to hear everything (apart from the Arsenal score).

Yesterday was mainly spent lying down following a visit to the scalpel-jockeys, who did bad things to my feet. Off there again after this...

Marathon day today. There are a variety of reasons that I ran quite well today. One is that I just wanted to get it out the way - my feet hurt and I wanted to get off them. We've spent a while out here now and it's easier to judge what's possible given the experience I've gained. Finally, it was that bit cooler. I thought I'd run round in a pleasing 5h45 but I forgot what time we set off and apparently it was more like 5h15 - close to a miracle.

Anyone who can still move will finish tomorrow's half-marathon through the dunes, so I'm pretty much done now, which feels great!

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08 April 2010

0882--Day 4/5 - could have been worse

The first news is sad. Ben, a lovely guy in our tent, dropped out on day 3, due to illness/heat. It's a real shame and I feel for him a lot.

I was surprised not to feel too bad at the start line given what we'd done in the previous 3 days. 51mi awaited...

Stage 1 - ran with chipper Aussie tent-mate Kris. Felt good.
Stage 2 - mainly downhill through sand. A thorn went through the sole of my shoes into my foot. I turn my ankle slightly in the sand.
Stage 3 - put on iPod for the 1st time. It helps (thanks FF&D), or maybe it's the codeine. Run through the heat of the day.
Stage 4 - the first of the fast group overtakes. Walk through to 30mi.
Stage 5 - night falls as I enter the dunes. Cracknell overtakes.
Stage 6 - become a walking robot. Uphill through relentless dunes.
Stage 7 - the final 6mi is long. My feet are killing me - lots of blisters. Finish about 12.15am, better than I'd expected. Pass out.

Food ingested: oatmeal, 4x oat bars, 1x peanut M&Ms, 3 Pepperamis. Urgh.

05 April 2010

0882--Day 2 - reality sets in

First of all, thanks to those who emailed - your thoughts are (mostly) very much appreciated, though if you want to annoy me with stories of 9-course tasting menus, Easter eggs, roasts or steak, I'd probably wait until later in the event.

Next a kit update. Turns out that the ThermoRest NeoAir is indeed as fragile as they say. I ended up binning mine last night after it developed a very slow puncture and I was unwilling to use all my water to find it. Nights will be less comfortable. Also, my gaiters need a bit of extra superglue.

It turns out Day 1 was a gentle induction session. Today was hotter I think. I'm actually enjoying the running, but that's because running means I'm on flat rather terrain rather than stony ground, sand, steep hills etc. Today had not a lot of the former, and a lot of walking was required. The 'highlight' was the ascent of what looked like a massive sheer cliff, against which the wind had piled up a load of sand. Brutal, and still 5 days left.

0882--Tent 93 / day 1

Firstly, I'm typing on a French keyboard so apologies for any unusual looking spelling or punctuation... Well, it's been a fun few days. Job 1 - to find 7 suitable tent partners - went pretty well. Ages range from 25 ("young Andy") to 44, we've got a hyperactive Aussie and a guy who bought his sleeping bag from Tesco (he went for the Finest rather than the Value range) etc. All-in-all, a good bunch. What followed thereafter was a lot of queuing - for food, water, check-in, food, water etc. The scale of this thing is huge - >1,000 runners plus all the support. Anyway, on to today.

It's pretty hot, though not as bad as it could have been. Today was a little bit of a confidence boost before the tougher times ahead - it went fine, no blisters, knee held up, kit all OK etc. No scorpions yet, which is good I guess. What's really amazing is quite how much the sand slows you - I wondered how the average speed on this event is as low as it is and basically: running in sand is very difficult.

A reluctant runner