Part Two – The Marathon
I woke up sleepy, forgetting
what day it was for a few moments. When
I realised, it was like a mixture of Christmas and pre-exam nerves! I couldn’t wait, but the pressure was
on! I lay in bed for ages, with my
iPhone on Twitter, following all the other Brighton, Paris, and Manchester
runners who has also all woken early and were on the internet to distract themselves
too. Eventually my alarm went off
anyway, and I got up. It was like
auto-pilot then – get washed and dressed, then eat my two croissants for
breakfast, and a small cup of hot tea.
Pack my bags, then repack because I had left the gels in there. Obsess about everything, check everything,
fill up hydration pack (with that warm water – had to let it run for a few minutes
to try and let it go cool!), basically just have an hour of total OCD. Even when I was dressed I realised I hadn’t
printed my name on my vest, so quickly took it off and wrote it on in black
marker pen. Finally, I was ready and
went down to the lobby to check out and put my suitcase in the cloakroom,
before waiting for the others to come down (eventually!! They had also obsessed!).
There was a bit of an urgent
atmosphere among us all as we set out for the couple of miles to Preston Park,
the venue for the start of the race. We
hardly even mentioned the marathon (for the first minute or two anyway), it was
just get going, get walking and make sure we were all set. Quite amusing, like we had an important
business meeting to get to! Once we were
all on our way, we joined up with lots of other runners making their way (no’one
knew the exact way to the park, so there was a bit of herd instinct as we
followed anyone who had vaguely a rough idea).
It was soon clear the closer we got though, as there were just thousands
of runners all over the place! We
finally reached Preston Park, and here we got separated for a bit as I wanted
photos of the convoy of Harley Davison motorbikes which would ride alongside
the elites, and Ben and Wai Meng had spotted a photo opportunity somewhere else. The next hour was the typically pre-race scenario
– sort out our bags for the baggage bus, stand in the queue for the looks for ages,
and wrap ourselves in foil blankets and bin liners to keep warm. It started raining for a bit too, but luckily
soon stopped. Over all the weather
seemed ideal for running – cloudy and cool, which I liked as it was better than
the mini-heatwave we’d had recently.
Soon we were lined up on the
start line, ready to go! I was in the
green pen, which was the 5 hour plus group, but as I wanted a sub-5 (or as
close to that as possible) I made sure I was as far forwards as possible. I tried to look for the 5 hour pacer, but
couldn’t see him – turned out he was slightly behind me at the start. The saxon went, and we started shuffling
forwards. I made sure my Garmin had
picked up the GPS signal, dumped my foil blanket, put my sunglasses back on and
off we went, over the start line! Paula
Radcliffe was high-fiving runners on the start line, that was pretty cool. I was a bit too far over the other side of
the road to high five her though. The
first mile was very slow – crowded and uphill, but at least it meant I didn’t
go off too fast. The first mile or two
is always weird, as my body couldn’t quite decide was it was going to do –
having tapered, I knew I had loads of energy, but I also felt a bit
sluggish. I told myself it would soon
settle in a few miles, and I’d get into a nice pace.
I took the first few miles
slowly, and enjoyed the atmosphere and running past some of the sights of
Brighton – although I was totally lost, weaving through the city centre, I
think I saw the Pavilion two or three times but we seemed to be zig-zagging all
over the place! A few miles later we
began the first main stretch along the seafront to the east and here I began to
settle into a better rhythm. I was
slightly concerned about making up my time though, as the first few miles had
been quite a lot slower than my target pace of 11.25 min/miles. This long stretch out was slightly
undulating, and I did get some faster miles on the downhills. It was mostly uphill in this direction, so I
was hoping for faster miles on the return.
On the other side of the road were the faster runners, it was amazing to
watch them! There was also an interesting sight as we went over the bridge over the main road leading down from Preston park - I saw a huge long queue of lorries slowly driving down and I realised they were the baggage buses on their way to the finish line. That was cool.
We turned round at Ovingdean, and now we were the “faster” runners on the return stretch! Apparently Wai Meng saw me here, but she said I had my head down and looked focuses (in pain?!) so I didn't spot her back. Here I very gradually tried to make up my time on the gentle downhills. I was still a bit worried about losing out on my time as my body still didn’t seem to have found the “fire” I sometimes felt in a really good race. During the Berlin Marathon, I felt great the whole way round, and was lucky enough to experience a few of the “runners highs”! During Brighton, I was running fairly steadily, but it was an effort to try and speed up, and when I tried to it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. The miles that were on or faster than target pace were very challenging and difficult to sustain.
We turned round at Ovingdean, and now we were the “faster” runners on the return stretch! Apparently Wai Meng saw me here, but she said I had my head down and looked focuses (in pain?!) so I didn't spot her back. Here I very gradually tried to make up my time on the gentle downhills. I was still a bit worried about losing out on my time as my body still didn’t seem to have found the “fire” I sometimes felt in a really good race. During the Berlin Marathon, I felt great the whole way round, and was lucky enough to experience a few of the “runners highs”! During Brighton, I was running fairly steadily, but it was an effort to try and speed up, and when I tried to it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. The miles that were on or faster than target pace were very challenging and difficult to sustain.
Coming back into Brighton,
the atmosphere was fantastic! Huge
crowds lined the streets along the marina, and it was a real boost. Felt very motivated and spurred on here, plus
I knew I was nearly halfway and was still feeling pretty good and no where near
the “wall”. We could see the elites running
their final mile here two, which was awesome.
Outside the Hilton hotel (what I’d have done for a nap back in my room!)
we passed through the half-way point. My
Garmin was slightly ahead, and marked 13.1 miles a bit too soon. It was another minute before I officially
passed halfway. My Garmin has just
passed 2.30, meaning I was just about scraping my target pace for the sub-5
hours, and had about half a minute to catch up.
But would I be able to sustain the pace for another 13.1 miles?
After the half-way high,
things got tough, but mostly mentally. I
think I ran some of my faster splits between miles 10 and 14, but up to mile 20
they were slowing down – although not terribly so. I was doubting that I’d run the sub 5 now, as
the miles run faster than target pace were not fast enough to make up for the
slow miles, they were only 3-10 seconds faster than target pace while the
slower miles could be up to 11.50 minutes.
I wasn’t quite as steady as I hoped either, although every mile except
for miles 1 and 21 were between 11 and 12 minutes, I did yo-yo between faster
and slower paces quite frequently, rather than have a nice steady pace
continuously. However my 5km splits were
all fairly even though, definitely slower later on but not by that much, but no
negative splits this time.
Miles 14 to 18 were a long
out-and-back through the residential areas, and here I think I got a bit
obsessive with taking on gels. I had
bought several with me, and took some from the feed stations as well. I probably had too many, as I could feel them
sitting in my stomach. I made sure to
have plenty of water. After 16.3 miles
I started counting DOWN the miles – it’s great when there are finally less than
10 miles to go! Miles 20 to 23 were pretty
grim, as you pass through the power station.
It was not attractive and smelt of fish.
I was looking forward to getting out of that part of town! Worst of all my Garmin battery ran out at 21
miles – just over 4 hours in. I was
really annoying with myself for not checking it was fully on charge! I did see Wai Meng though, on the other side
of the road, she was about 10 minutes in front of me. That was a bit of a boost. I was also getting a bit emotional from watching the other charity runners as many of them had names and signs on their back saying who they were running for. Lots of them running in memory of someone close to them. I remembered my charity, Look UK, and thought about how today was very hard work, but at least it was soon going to be over, but for the kids with visual impairments and disabilities every day was a battle and I should carry on running for them.
Finally out of the power station and just 3 miles (a parkrun!!) left to the finish, and it was on long stretch all along the sea front to the marina. In the distance we could see the pier and wheel dominating the horizon, although they seemed like a life-time away then. It was difficult to know what pace I was doing now, with no GPS or even a stopwatch, so I really had little to go on except by judging my effort-levels. I just thought, there’s only 5k left do I was just going to push through, drain the tank and finish as best as I could. As tempting as it was, I pushed out any thoughts of walking whenever I felt the urge, and carried on running (well, shuffling/jogging by now!). I was really feeling it now, my hips seems to be the most sore of all my body, my shoulders and back ached, my calves were stiff and my thighs felt like they were burning. But I was still managing to move along faster than those walking, so I told myself not to walk unless I cramped up or really hit the wall. Looking at my 5k splits later, it seemed the final 5k was indeed the slowest. It was at least positive to know I was passing so many people who had gone out too fast and were now having to walk. I recognised lots of people from earlier on, too. The crowds were good here too – along mainly moving as people walked up and down the sea front – we were still quite a way from the finishing area anyway. At 25 miles, we went back onto the main road, but carried on running east, and the pier that had seemed so far away less than half an hour earlier was now behind us. Here the crowds really got massive again, and the best part was passing the 1000 meters to go marker. The crowds were so big that a temporary bridge had been erected to allow people to pass over. It was really noisy, and very exciting. I had no idea what time I was going to make it in, or my time since my Garmin had died, but I tried to pick up the pace in that final kilometre. There was a nice bit of downhill, and just after that we went round a bend and I knew the finish line was about to be in sight. I was going as fast as I could maintain for those final few hundred meters (i.e. not very!!) not yet ready to start an attempt at a sprint finish – but the adrenaline had really kicked in and I just loved it! And there was the finish line! A wall of noise and crowds 5 or more deep, it was amazing. I just about managed a sprint to the finish, crossing the line smiling and giving a massive thumbs up!
Finally out of the power station and just 3 miles (a parkrun!!) left to the finish, and it was on long stretch all along the sea front to the marina. In the distance we could see the pier and wheel dominating the horizon, although they seemed like a life-time away then. It was difficult to know what pace I was doing now, with no GPS or even a stopwatch, so I really had little to go on except by judging my effort-levels. I just thought, there’s only 5k left do I was just going to push through, drain the tank and finish as best as I could. As tempting as it was, I pushed out any thoughts of walking whenever I felt the urge, and carried on running (well, shuffling/jogging by now!). I was really feeling it now, my hips seems to be the most sore of all my body, my shoulders and back ached, my calves were stiff and my thighs felt like they were burning. But I was still managing to move along faster than those walking, so I told myself not to walk unless I cramped up or really hit the wall. Looking at my 5k splits later, it seemed the final 5k was indeed the slowest. It was at least positive to know I was passing so many people who had gone out too fast and were now having to walk. I recognised lots of people from earlier on, too. The crowds were good here too – along mainly moving as people walked up and down the sea front – we were still quite a way from the finishing area anyway. At 25 miles, we went back onto the main road, but carried on running east, and the pier that had seemed so far away less than half an hour earlier was now behind us. Here the crowds really got massive again, and the best part was passing the 1000 meters to go marker. The crowds were so big that a temporary bridge had been erected to allow people to pass over. It was really noisy, and very exciting. I had no idea what time I was going to make it in, or my time since my Garmin had died, but I tried to pick up the pace in that final kilometre. There was a nice bit of downhill, and just after that we went round a bend and I knew the finish line was about to be in sight. I was going as fast as I could maintain for those final few hundred meters (i.e. not very!!) not yet ready to start an attempt at a sprint finish – but the adrenaline had really kicked in and I just loved it! And there was the finish line! A wall of noise and crowds 5 or more deep, it was amazing. I just about managed a sprint to the finish, crossing the line smiling and giving a massive thumbs up!
I was totally shattered, and
had to immediately go and lean on a lamp post gasping for breath – a volunteer
from St John’s Ambulance gave me a concerned look! My head was spinning and my legs just didn’t
seem to want to move, but I staggered onwards slowly, and collected my lovely
shiny medal. It was large and very
pretty, with a detailed engraving of a carousel on it complete with seagulls in
the sky – every year it shows a different themed picture of a Brighton
landmark. Next came the tee-shirt, foil
blanket, and then the goody bag with a biscuit bar, water, a banana and Powerade. To be honest, I could have done with some
more food, maybe with something salty, as that got eaten very quickly. I picked up my baggage and managed to pull on
my tracksuit trousers and jacket to try and keep warm. It wasn’t cold, but I always cool down very
quickly after a marathon, so I wanted to keep as warm as possible. I even tied the foil round my legs like a
towel to protect them the most.
Finally I found out my time,
after phoning my Dad – I finished in 5.05.43. So it was indeed over the 5 hour dream, and it was not a PB either, but I
was still happy. It was one second
faster than my Loch Ness Marathon time which I found amusing. So officially my second-best time and not even
that far off the PB set at Berlin which was 5.03.00.
I then had to make a decision
– Ben and Wai Meng would have already finished and headed to the pub again for
food, but I was desperate to go back to the hotel for a shower so I went back
there instead. I got to see loads of the
later finishers too – many still going after well over 6 or more hours. At the hotel I got my bikini out of my
baggage and went to the spa again. This
was total bliss! I sank into the warm Jacuzzi
and did not want to get out, even though the bubbles felt too strong on my sore
legs. I stretched gently and talked with
other runners about how we all got on. When I got dressed and dry I felt human at
last and went back to the pub. They’d
eaten already, and I was tempted by another goats cheese ciabatta, but it was
getting late and we had a train to catch.
So I just had a Red Bull and ate some of the snacks in my suitcase and
we chatted about times. Both Ben and Wai
Meng had got PBs which was awesome! We
then said goodbye, and caught the train back to St Albans. Luckily it was far less busy, and we got a
seat on one of the nicer trains. When I got
home I had a takeaway pizza in front of the TV then slept like a baby that
night with my medal on the bedside table!
Now, 6 days to recover, then time to do it all over again in London!
Stats
Brighton Marathon
Bib number: 4143
Time: 05.05.43
Average Pace: 11.39 minute miles
My 5k splits
My Garmin stats for the first 21 miles, before the battery ran out
Now, 6 days to recover, then time to do it all over again in London!
Stats
Brighton Marathon
Bib number: 4143
Time: 05.05.43
Average Pace: 11.39 minute miles
My 5k splits
Split time
|
Split pace
|
Total time
|
|
5km
|
00:36:38
|
11:47/mile
|
00:36:38
|
10km
|
00:36:01
|
11:35/mile
|
01:12:39
|
15km
|
00:34:42
|
11:10/mile
|
01:47:21
|
20km
|
00:35:43
|
11:29/mile
|
02:23:04
|
25km
|
00:36:11
|
11:38/mile
|
02:59:15
|
30km
|
00:36:02
|
11:36/mile
|
03:35:17
|
35km
|
00:36:45
|
11:49/mile
|
04:12:02
|
40km
|
00:38:02
|
12:14/mile
|
04:50:04
|
My Garmin stats for the first 21 miles, before the battery ran out
| 1 | 12:15.1 | 1.00 | 12:15 |
| 2 | 11:29.9 | 1.00 | 11:30 |
| 3 | 11:20.2 | 1.00 | 11:20 |
| 4 | 11:38.0 | 1.00 | 11:38 |
| 5 | 11:11.0 | 1.00 | 11:11 |
| 6 | 11:40.2 | 1.00 | 11:40 |
| 7 | 11:28.8 | 1.00 | 11:29 |
| 8 | 11:22.0 | 1.00 | 11:22 |
| 9 | 11:23.3 | 1.00 | 11:23 |
| 10 | 11:16.1 | 1.00 | 11:16 |
| 11 | 11:22.3 | 1.00 | 11:22 |
| 12 | 11:00.5 | 1.00 | 11:00 |
| 13 | 11:03.2 | 1.00 | 11:03 |
| 14 | 11:31.2 | 1.00 | 11:31 |
| 15 | 11:35.3 | 1.00 | 11:35 |
| 16 | 11:44.8 | 1.00 | 11:45 |
| 17 | 11:35.3 | 1.00 | 11:35 |
| 18 | 11:47.6 | 1.00 | 11:47 |
| 19 | 11:27.7 | 1.00 | 11:28 |
| 20 | 11:48.7 | 1.00 | 11:49 |
| 21 | 11:49.9 | 0.99 | 12:01 |
Harley Davidson motorbikes by the start line!
My lovely medal!
After the race, with my finisher's medal and tee-shirt
