The Flora London Marathon
I know I’ve been bad about updating my running endeavors but I’ve been pretty busy trying to get my new venture off the ground. Check out http://www.clydesdalerunningcompany.com/ when you have a chance. We’ve launched the site and are ready to be the supplier for all of the big/tall endurance athletes out there. Sure that has nothing to do with the London Marathon but it’s the reason I’m woefully behind in my updates. Enough of the advertising, let’s talk about the race!!
We arrived in London on Thursday morning after an all night flight from Dulles. I went with my friend Julie (see photo of us above post race) and when we arrived we decided it was best to stay up on Thursday and try to adapt to the time change. After a visit to Buckingham Palace we went for a celebratory dinner (her birthday) then for some shut eye! Friday was a visit to the race expo. It was a tube ride and short walk away from the hotel and it wasn’t really as large as I expected (or as crowded). It was pretty neat to see all of the different races represented. I picked up information for marathons like Loch Ness, Dublin, Norway (Midnight Marathon), Tokyo, Berlin and many more. We picked up our goodie bags and it was fun to see a can of Fuller’s London Ale in the bag! Saturday was supposed to be a relaxing day but after our 2 mile easy run, Julie thought (and I agreed) taking a city bus tour on a double decker bus was the right thing to do! It was a really great way to see the city with too many landmarks to name. The pre race dinner was at an Italian place close to the hotel! It was great! We were back to the room about 7:30 or so and I decided to go to the finish (about 4 or so blocks from the hotel) to see how it looked. After meeting a few new friends (Andrew and Jo) I turned in around 9:30 to get ready for the race! I realized on the way back we’d been on our feet WAAAAAYYY too much that day and I hoped I could recover a little before the race!
Finally it was race morning! We expected the temperatures to be in the 50’s and overcast but unfortunately it was in the lower 60’s and not a cloud in the sky! The trip from the 5 hotel to the start was uneventful but I did talk to the race organizers of California International Marathon for a bit of the trip. Great folks! We arrived at the starting area and were sent to one of the three starting areas. The starting area was in the middle of a large field and I believe the blue start (our start) was the largest of them. We were there about 2 hours before tip off (or the start, however you prefer) so we relaxed in front of the monster projection tv and took all of it in. After a few trips to the Andy Loos it was time to line up. All of the race numbers came with a corral assignment and Julie was in corral 4 (I think) and I was stuck in corral 9. I assumed there would be 15 or so corrals but after I wished her luck I walked back to my starting position only to find it was corral 9 OF 9! I believe of the 20 or so thousand in my starting group, there were literally about 100 people who were going to start behind me. All of a sudden I was dreading the start knowing I was faster than probably 5,000 people ahead of me (if not more) but I was determined to make the best of it and try to stick to my plan!
When the gun went off I knew it would be 15 or 20 minutes before we would hit the start line. I had been talking to a gentleman who was wearing a U of Michigan Alumni shirt. After a few jokes about traveling across the Atlantic only to find one of THOSE types of people, we hit the start. Right out of the gate it was VERY slow going! I somehow managed to hit the first mile marker in about 10 minutes but it felt like I’d run twice that far! It was pretty funny seeing all of the superheroes, cartoon characters and others dressed as their favorite celebrity (real or otherwise) but after passing the Sta-Puff marshmallow man (Seriously!!) I decided I needed to try to focus a little and try to get on pace if I could! By mile 2, two of the three starting areas had melded together so the 20+ thousand people were now about 30,000 people and it was way crowded! There was no way to get into a rhythm! After the 2nd water stop (around mile 4) I realized I needed to find a bathroom but the lines were way too long! I saw a few folks veering off the course for the call of nature and I joined them! During the 1 minute I was off course I could feel the increased temperature and it dawned on me I should slow down and try to leave some in the tank for later. I hit my first split at 5 miles about 1:20 slower than I wanted but with the stop, I was right about where I wanted to be! I realized I’d used more energy dodging people than I had hoped and the sun beating down on us wasn’t helping at all! The next few miles I remember seeing tons of people (as was the case throughout the course!) cheering us all on. By mile 8 I knew I was in for a little different experience than Virginia Beach because the temperature and sun was starting to take its toll. The 10 mile split had me 5 minutes off my projected pace and I had to walk around 15k for the first time. I was struggling big time!! Right around 20k we ran over Tower Bridge and I was feeling a little worse for the wear! The Lucozade (sports drink they gave us) was far thicker than Gatorade and it really wasn’t agreeing with me. I hit the half marathon point around 2:21 and it was about that point where I felt like surviving the race was more important than anything else! At the 15 mile mark, I took a swig of the Lucozade and knew if I drank any more of that stuff, I’d probably get sick! I also realized the point of being in London was to have fun, finish the marathon and enjoy the post race part of the trip! At that point, I decided to take my foot completely off the gas and just get to the finish line. I was fairly sure I could still get to the finish in a reasonable time but not at the expense of needing medical attention! At that point my 11 minute miles (which were really slow anyway!) turned into 13 minute miles, then to 14 minute miles. At 23 miles I was well off the pace and just hoping I really didn’t have 5k left! I stopped drinking anything but water and while my stomach felt better, the rest of me really didn’t! I knew I had 35-40 minutes left and if I pushed I could have my 2nd fastest finish. Problem was, though I really couldn’t push! At 25 I was passed by two guys in tutus. I really didn’t want them to beat me so I tried to stay up with them. A leg cramp later and they were gone! FINALLY I saw Buckingham Palace and the “200 Metres to Go” sign. While I wanted to sprint to the finish, my body said otherwise and I limped in. I missed my 2nd fastest time by about 4 minutes and was pretty disappointed with the time but not the effort. I knew that was about all I could do based on the weather and how I felt throughout. My garmin said I’d run just over 27 miles. This meant I spent nearly a mile (or about 10-11 minutes over the course of the race) dodging people!
Post race was great! I got back to the hotel to find Julie had a similar, but much faster, experience as I did! She missed her goal by about 10 minutes and was equally disappointed with the race! After some relaxation, I’m proud to say we met up with some of her friends who live in London and ended up closing up three pubs and bars that night! Man, what a fun time walking back from Picadilly Circus at 1:30am after closing up the places!
I know I’ve been bad about updating my running endeavors but I’ve been pretty busy trying to get my new venture off the ground. Check out http://www.clydesdalerunningcompany.com/ when you have a chance. We’ve launched the site and are ready to be the supplier for all of the big/tall endurance athletes out there. Sure that has nothing to do with the London Marathon but it’s the reason I’m woefully behind in my updates. Enough of the advertising, let’s talk about the race!!
We arrived in London on Thursday morning after an all night flight from Dulles. I went with my friend Julie (see photo of us above post race) and when we arrived we decided it was best to stay up on Thursday and try to adapt to the time change. After a visit to Buckingham Palace we went for a celebratory dinner (her birthday) then for some shut eye! Friday was a visit to the race expo. It was a tube ride and short walk away from the hotel and it wasn’t really as large as I expected (or as crowded). It was pretty neat to see all of the different races represented. I picked up information for marathons like Loch Ness, Dublin, Norway (Midnight Marathon), Tokyo, Berlin and many more. We picked up our goodie bags and it was fun to see a can of Fuller’s London Ale in the bag! Saturday was supposed to be a relaxing day but after our 2 mile easy run, Julie thought (and I agreed) taking a city bus tour on a double decker bus was the right thing to do! It was a really great way to see the city with too many landmarks to name. The pre race dinner was at an Italian place close to the hotel! It was great! We were back to the room about 7:30 or so and I decided to go to the finish (about 4 or so blocks from the hotel) to see how it looked. After meeting a few new friends (Andrew and Jo) I turned in around 9:30 to get ready for the race! I realized on the way back we’d been on our feet WAAAAAYYY too much that day and I hoped I could recover a little before the race!
Finally it was race morning! We expected the temperatures to be in the 50’s and overcast but unfortunately it was in the lower 60’s and not a cloud in the sky! The trip from the 5 hotel to the start was uneventful but I did talk to the race organizers of California International Marathon for a bit of the trip. Great folks! We arrived at the starting area and were sent to one of the three starting areas. The starting area was in the middle of a large field and I believe the blue start (our start) was the largest of them. We were there about 2 hours before tip off (or the start, however you prefer) so we relaxed in front of the monster projection tv and took all of it in. After a few trips to the Andy Loos it was time to line up. All of the race numbers came with a corral assignment and Julie was in corral 4 (I think) and I was stuck in corral 9. I assumed there would be 15 or so corrals but after I wished her luck I walked back to my starting position only to find it was corral 9 OF 9! I believe of the 20 or so thousand in my starting group, there were literally about 100 people who were going to start behind me. All of a sudden I was dreading the start knowing I was faster than probably 5,000 people ahead of me (if not more) but I was determined to make the best of it and try to stick to my plan!
When the gun went off I knew it would be 15 or 20 minutes before we would hit the start line. I had been talking to a gentleman who was wearing a U of Michigan Alumni shirt. After a few jokes about traveling across the Atlantic only to find one of THOSE types of people, we hit the start. Right out of the gate it was VERY slow going! I somehow managed to hit the first mile marker in about 10 minutes but it felt like I’d run twice that far! It was pretty funny seeing all of the superheroes, cartoon characters and others dressed as their favorite celebrity (real or otherwise) but after passing the Sta-Puff marshmallow man (Seriously!!) I decided I needed to try to focus a little and try to get on pace if I could! By mile 2, two of the three starting areas had melded together so the 20+ thousand people were now about 30,000 people and it was way crowded! There was no way to get into a rhythm! After the 2nd water stop (around mile 4) I realized I needed to find a bathroom but the lines were way too long! I saw a few folks veering off the course for the call of nature and I joined them! During the 1 minute I was off course I could feel the increased temperature and it dawned on me I should slow down and try to leave some in the tank for later. I hit my first split at 5 miles about 1:20 slower than I wanted but with the stop, I was right about where I wanted to be! I realized I’d used more energy dodging people than I had hoped and the sun beating down on us wasn’t helping at all! The next few miles I remember seeing tons of people (as was the case throughout the course!) cheering us all on. By mile 8 I knew I was in for a little different experience than Virginia Beach because the temperature and sun was starting to take its toll. The 10 mile split had me 5 minutes off my projected pace and I had to walk around 15k for the first time. I was struggling big time!! Right around 20k we ran over Tower Bridge and I was feeling a little worse for the wear! The Lucozade (sports drink they gave us) was far thicker than Gatorade and it really wasn’t agreeing with me. I hit the half marathon point around 2:21 and it was about that point where I felt like surviving the race was more important than anything else! At the 15 mile mark, I took a swig of the Lucozade and knew if I drank any more of that stuff, I’d probably get sick! I also realized the point of being in London was to have fun, finish the marathon and enjoy the post race part of the trip! At that point, I decided to take my foot completely off the gas and just get to the finish line. I was fairly sure I could still get to the finish in a reasonable time but not at the expense of needing medical attention! At that point my 11 minute miles (which were really slow anyway!) turned into 13 minute miles, then to 14 minute miles. At 23 miles I was well off the pace and just hoping I really didn’t have 5k left! I stopped drinking anything but water and while my stomach felt better, the rest of me really didn’t! I knew I had 35-40 minutes left and if I pushed I could have my 2nd fastest finish. Problem was, though I really couldn’t push! At 25 I was passed by two guys in tutus. I really didn’t want them to beat me so I tried to stay up with them. A leg cramp later and they were gone! FINALLY I saw Buckingham Palace and the “200 Metres to Go” sign. While I wanted to sprint to the finish, my body said otherwise and I limped in. I missed my 2nd fastest time by about 4 minutes and was pretty disappointed with the time but not the effort. I knew that was about all I could do based on the weather and how I felt throughout. My garmin said I’d run just over 27 miles. This meant I spent nearly a mile (or about 10-11 minutes over the course of the race) dodging people!
Post race was great! I got back to the hotel to find Julie had a similar, but much faster, experience as I did! She missed her goal by about 10 minutes and was equally disappointed with the race! After some relaxation, I’m proud to say we met up with some of her friends who live in London and ended up closing up three pubs and bars that night! Man, what a fun time walking back from Picadilly Circus at 1:30am after closing up the places!
The rest of the trip was very fun! Monday was recovering and just walking around London! Tuesday was Windsor Castle, The Roman Baths and then Stonhenge. We met some new friends after we got back from Stonhenge and managed to go back to Ye Grapes for a few more pints after dinner!
All in all, a fantastic experience only slightly clouded with the disappointing race results! In hindsight, I don’t know much that could have been done differently. There’s no way you can plan for how you’re going to feel on race day or if the weather is going to cooperate. All you can do is hope for the best!!
Coming soon: post London races in Cleveland, Columbus, Duluth!
Keep running friends!!
1 comment:
Dude, post your finish times! I mostly run 1/2 marathons, 3 this year, but I had a run of illness and surgery that took away most of my summer...my blog is: http://bigbuckeyerunner.wordpress.com/
Julio
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