I won't bore you with all the details of my build up to the marathon, as I have written about that on other posts, but, just for context, my training seemed to be going really well until about a month before the race. I had reached 22 miles and been pretty consistent in my pace. However I then got a pretty heavy dose of flu and damaged a knee ligament which combined to keep me off running for 2-3 weeks. So in the end I was not feeling psychologically confident in my ability to finish, let alone record the sub-4hrs that I wanted. … And then I strained my groin a little the day before the race and ended up rushing to get to the start line in time due to children not getting up early enough :-(
However, I did get to the start line, enthused and in anticipation of a great event. The 2-3 days before the race had been very warm and the forecast was for blue skies, light wind and strong sun on race day. The weather Kens and weather Barbies have developed the habit of getting these things right nowadays and, sure enough, as the starting time approached, the sun was already high in the sky, and the runners were starting to get sunburn. I covered myself in suncream and, along with around 16,999 others set off.
Mercifully downhill at the start, the first couple of miles went by at 8:15 pace. Just about right for what I was hoping to achieve.
My legs felt heavy though, even in the first couple of miles. It didn't feel good and didn't feel right. And the temperature was climbing all the time. I think the majority of the race was run in 20°C+. Others have put it at an average of 22°C and others as high as 27°C in some places. But whatever the temperatures were, they were very high, much higher than the average for the time of year, and there was little break. I ran in the shade whenever I could, but for most of the time there was precious little shade.
My pace hovered around 8:30 - 8:40 for the next 10 miles or so - slower than I had hoped for. But my problems really started at about 12 miles. I was suddenly really tired and decided to pull over and walk for 20 seconds. This is something I have never done before, even on a training run. I have always kept going. I have always been able to keep going. But I felt slightly light-headed and so made my way to a shady wooden-gated driveway, drank something and walked. This was a psychological blow. A month previously I had been running half marathon distances and more every week and never had a problem, especially as early as 12 miles.
I don't remember much about the next couple of miles as we headed further out onto the coast road towards and past Longniddry, except the heat, the lack of shade, and the occasional runner being moved semi-conscious or unconscious on a stretcher by the first aid staff. In fact the first I saw was at mile 7!
At about mile 13 I started to get cramp at the bottom left of my right quad, a couple of inches above the knee - looked it up and I think it's the vastus medialis. This persisted, grew, and then duplicated itself like a virus into my other leg. I had to walk several times (which didn't help) and stop several more to massage the cramps away. I was able to get rid of it each time for anything between half a mile and 1.5 miles, and then would have to stop again and massage again. It was worst between miles 17 and 20 and then eased off for a little. But once I had got past 20 miles I felt stronger (thanks to Emma :-)). I also got through from 20-22 miles without another stop - this was about going further than I had ever done, and I pushed myself through it.However, miles 22-25 were back to several severe leg cramps, mostly on my right leg again and several massage stops and short walks (20-30 secs).
My last self massage was around mile 25. From then on it was just a bit of agony (which is not necessarily a bad thing!) with quad and calf cramps until the last half mile, which saw the crowds of interested spectators building in numbers and volume and a run along the final 5 furlongs of Musselburgh racecourse - alongside it and then onto an artificial surface for the last 2 furlongs or so. This new surface was a bit bouncy, but the novelty paled into insignificance….… as I looked up to see the racecourse grandstand full of shouting and chearing spectators making more noise than I can describe, with music and commentary. As I approached the line I heard a loud wolf-whistle and recognised the dulcet tones of my wife - I looked up and slightly behind me and saw her and my children high up in the grandstand waving frantically and shouting like only demented females can [with apologies]. I crossed the line in, I think 4 hrs 14 mins, and was pretty overcome by the enormity of the occasion and the feeling of having finished.
I collected drinks, medal (heavy duty, Matthew, and well worth it!) goody bag, banana and Special Edinburgh marathon beer, served by what I am sure were angels, and went to retrieve my kit bag.
I sat down and put some fresh clothes on and realised I had also hurt a toe - one of the nails had been rubbing (I hadn't really noticed it - so there was some good to be had from the muscle cramps!) and was now infected and nearly pulled off, and then went to meet my family back in the race course. It was quite an emotional reunion. I had tried to call my wife with 2 miles to go to say look out for me in 20 minutes or so, but couldn't hear her. She got a message from me with grunts and groans and thought I was in an ambulance somewhere. But I didn't get told off, just a hug and some chocolate milk.
My garmin time was 4:03:36 and chip time (due to the stoppages to massage my quads) was 4:08:53. I guess this is the time I should quote…
….. It's now two days later. At the finish I never wanted to consider running a marathon again. I remember saying to my wife that I didn't enjoy a single step of the run, though I loved the occasion. Now I think I will consider it, as I really think I can do under 4 hours, given better weather and preparation, but will be prepared to withdraw if training doesn't go well or actually if the weather is too hot.
As to the race itself, the course was fantastic - fast, by all accounts, and very scenic (coast, country house estate, sights and sounds of Edinburgh). The locals were very generous in their gifts of water, jelly babies and hose pipes / sprays to cool the runners down, and the finish was immensely memorable. There were pipers and drummers around the course, there were karaoke men singing the Proclaimers and there was local radio with their live road show. There were costumes, firemen and squaddies (for the ladies) and other heroes, like the 98 year Sikh man, the lady on crutches and the thousands doing it for charitable causes.
The race organisation worked well for me - slick in fact, though I understand that they ran out of water for the later runners. The organisers are saying that 6,800 bottles of water and 4,040 gels were stolen in the early hours of Sunday morning from water stations, which meant that for 40 minutes there was no water or sports drink between miles 15 and 21 for 40 minutes. That would have been absolutely devastating for me, even though I was carrying my own bottles and gels. There were also complaints from the locals about traffic gridlock - I guess you have to expect that if such an event is put on.
In summary, I finished 3,099th out of 8,260 finishers (which means I was faster than nearly 2/3rds of finishers. There was also a Hairy Haggis Team marathon where teams of 4 could complete the course (2 ran 8 miles each and 2 ran 5 miles each) which added a further 4,060 runners to the mix. I have anti-biotics for my toe-nail and my quads feel bruised and stiff and I am finding stairs very tricky. I was surprised and slightly alarmed by the muscle cramps I experienced, but my determination to finish and my visualising my goals got me round when my body was starting to fail me.And of course a big thank you to all in the ecademy running club for your support, encouragement, cautionary words and wisdom over the last few months. These have been a necessary part of the learning experience for the challenge of the marathon and without them I would not have got through, and probably would not have even got to the starting line. And of course, not forgetting my good friend the hobbler (from another place) and all the miles we have trudged around central London on Tuesday evenings - couldn't have done ti without you.
You can read more official reports of the race
here and
here from the Edinburgh evening news and also
here from the BBC. Very limited coverage from this national broadcaster, compared to, say, the Great North Run and the London Marathon.
I would recommend the race to anyone wanting to try a marathon, as long as the weather is cooler. The course was flat and the organisation pretty effective, with inevitable travel problems around the start and the finish. Train services into Edinburgh for the start of the race were very limited at that time on a Sunday morning (non-existent from North Berwick area, where we were staying) so there were lots o cars on the roads, but, if treated as an adventure, none of these problems were impossible to overcome.
I'm sorry to have rambled on for so long, but, you know what…. I've completed a marathon!!!! :-)
Phil
pics to follow
