30 Years of Running Marathons
30 Years of Running Marathons
The Reading Half Marathon: A Story of Comeback, Camaraderie, and Chasing the Clock
Every runner has a story of a race that tested their limits, and this is mine from the Reading Half Marathon—a true tale of grit, wit, and a surprising twist. Battling back from injury with only a smattering of training under my belt, I take you through the pre-race jitters, the comedic chaos of coordinating with friends amidst a sea of runners, and the strategic decisions that shaped my journey to the finish line. The nerves are real, the bathroom lines are longer, and the camaraderie? Well, that's the heartwarming constant that makes every mile worth it.
As the starting horn blares, feel the rush of adrenaline that tempts every runner to push the pace, and join me in the mental game where each step is a negotiation between ambition and the reality of my preparation. The crowd's cheers weave through my recounting like a lifeline, pulling me over hills and through the high stakes of a personal battle with the clock. Adjusting strategies mid-race, dealing with the dreaded GPS inaccuracy, and the final sprint—this is the rollercoaster of emotions we runners strap in for, and I'm inviting you to the front row seat.
The aftermath of a race is a curious blend of exhaustion and elation, and in the wake of crossing that finish line, I delve into the post-race glow and the unavoidable lows that follow. My reflection spans the importance of pacing, listening to your body, and the alluring call of the runner's high that's got me eyeing up another half marathon just weeks away. Through it all, I keep it real—bringing you along for the highs, the lows, the lessons learned, and the undeniable urge to do it all over again. So, lace up your sneakers metaphorically, and let's hit the pavement together for an episode that's as close to the race day experience as it gets, minus the sweat and blisters.
Thanks for listening. Keep on running.
The race is on, so let's get straight into this episode of 30 years of running marathons. It's currently Tuesday and I'm recovering from Sunday's Reading Half Marathon. It's my first big race of the year and boy did it have an unusual ending. I'll tell you more about that later. But where to begin? Well, I've been injured so I haven't done any running in January.
Speaker 1:I've done a few 10 miles in training and I did one 13 miler and one 14 miler just to give me the confidence to be able to complete this half marathon. I mean, I was fairly sure I would complete it. I just wasn't sure what time it would be. I put down originally that I was going to do something like two hours 20. Bear in mind, my normal time is about one hour 45 minutes. Um, six months ago I did the Redding half uh sorry, the Windsor half marathon and I'd only done one training run before then and that was on the Thursday, and I did that in two hours 20 minutes and that's like a really hilly race. Redding is known as a flat half marathon, so I was pretty sure that I could beat two hours 20, but for some reason I'd put down two hours 20 on my form. So I was going to be stuck in the second from last pen, so the Stein pen. So you put in according to what time you predicted to finish. So that means everybody obviously starts with the right speed of runners and the runners are spaced out so we're not obviously crossing the line together. So there was no way I was really going to be able to move up to a faster pen. Well, that's what I thought anyway, but more on that later.
Speaker 1:Anyway, my preparations were fine. The night before I had a good sleeve, a good pasta meal, and I woke up the following morning feeling really good. I had my usual breakfast before a race, which for me consists of a porridge pot, peanut butter, bagel and then and that's normally about three and a half hours before the start, that that was about uh 6, 30 I think, just just before I went to the to catch the train. So I left the train at at seven. Call it at 7 20. Got there about. The train was a little. Left the train at 7,. Called it at 7.20,. Got there about. The train was a little bit delayed, but luckily I gave myself plenty of time because racing starts at 10. And if on my particular wave I think it didn't start until near a half 10. I didn't know that at the time, but I soon found that out when I got there and started chatting with other runners.
Speaker 1:But anyway, so it was great, got into Reading and they provide these shuttle buses, so I just literally followed all the other runners. You get on this lovely coach and it takes you straight to the stadium, or just literally just outside the the stadium. You're not actually in the stadium itself, but they've got this race village and it's all uh built around, um literally, the stadium there. And, yeah, it gave me plenty of time. It was a nice, nice sunny day and it gave me plenty of time to look around the race village. So things like you got refreshment, uh a lovely bar, which, to be honest, I could have done with the drink before we started um a burger bar, um you know, things like massage, coffee, everything you could want really, and it's all out in the open. But, as I say, it was a lovely, warm day.
Speaker 1:So literally I just sort of, you know, took my bearings because I had a bag drop and I need the bag drops to drop my bag off, so I looked where that was. The first thing I did was go to the toilet, so you go to the toilet again. I wanted to get to the toilet fairly early on, um, because at once I mean obviously I would say quite early, so I would say just after eight, but it would soon start filling up as soon as more uh runners come in. Then you get these massive queues for the toilet, um, and I guess it's not too bad at being a guy. You know there are plenty of bushes and that. But if you have to do the other business then obviously you know you do need to go to the proper toilet, so it's essential that you go there first of all. And then I had these tables and chairs and I sat down at one of the tables and chairs with the other runners and just took the whole race atmosphere in.
Speaker 1:I was trying to stay really calm, so I was drinking like lots of liquid, so lots of Lucasade Sport. I was trying to stay really calm, so I was drinking like lots of liquids, so lots of LucasAid Sport. I had some gels with me, so I was going to take one gel sports gel about 45 minutes before the start. I wanted to give myself enough time because it wasn't warm enough to completely strip off, although some runners were just in their t-shirts and shorts. I was going to leave it to as long as possible.
Speaker 1:And I say I got chatting to a runner so a lady sat down next to me and that and ironically she was actually in the same pen as me, the orange color pen, and she had put down for her time was it was two hour five minutes and as far as I was aware, the two hour five minute finishes would be in the next pen up. Because I had a friend who was going to be pacing two hours five minutes and he said to me he said would you like me to pace you? And I said well, I don't think I'm going to be able to go that fast. I also think I'm going to be in the pen behind you anyway, not that they have any marshals actually stopping you from going in in. You know, in a pen further up some races very stripped in it, you can only go in the right pen with your color number. But you know, here there's there's no marshals really stopping you from going in a pen further up.
Speaker 1:But I wasn't really thinking you know, two hours five minutes, I wasn't. I wasn't really sure about that. So I said to the lady because she'd never run this race before, I said yeah, it's a bit of a walk to the start and it's about sort of 10, 10, 15 minutes walk and but and I said you know, if you wanted to move up a pen, if you're two hours five, I said I don't think I'll stop you from doing it. To be honest, uh, I think it's pretty, pretty, pretty relaxed, you, when you, when you walk down the literacy, just a whole group of runners and they're behind the barriers there and you just walk up and go wherever, whether you can find a space, really. So I had a little chat with her and that, and runners came and go and sat next to me and that was long queues for the coffee.
Speaker 1:I'd already had my coffee. I have a coffee, black coffee first in the morning and one would be enough for me. I didn't want to keep going to the toilet, so drinking my lucas aid sport was enough for me. And also, too much coffee can be a diuretic. So you, you're losing a lot of liquid rather than gaining from it. I mean, one is good, one can give you a boost, give you a bit of stamina, but you know, if you have too much of it. As the lady said, she had one coffee where she didn't want to have too much because she didn't want to go in the toilet all the time, although there are toilets around the course, but I never like to stop, and I say the queues towards the end. And I was keeping an eye on this and, funny enough, I got good information from the lady, because she was saying the wheelchair race started at 10, even though they said the official time start was 10, which I guess it is. The wheelchair race start 10, the elite start 10, 15, so we probably wouldn't be going off to about half 10 and it was now half nine, so there's plenty of time.
Speaker 1:I went to the toilets again and this time there was quite a long queue, so I queued up there. By the time that had finished I thought, right, I better go to the bag drop, and it was a bit of a walk to the far side of the race village to the bag drop. Luckily there was no queue to the bag drop, plenty of runners there getting stripped down and that. And I was sort of stripping down very, very slowly. You know, I was the top off first and then see how it feels.
Speaker 1:And there was this really funny scenario going on in front of me. There was two guys on the phone. One guy was saying where are you? And then I could see the guy on the left saying, where are you? The guy on the right was saying oh, I'm here, I'm in the race village, I'm actually outside the bag drop and I'm thinking because I could see what was going on. But they couldn't. And it was literally, you know, probably only 10 yards apart from each other, very close, and I was looking at these two guys talking to each other, both on their mobile phones, close. And I was looking at these two guys talking to each other, both on their mobile phones. Suddenly it clicked that they were both talking to each other through their mobile phones, only 10 yards apart, and they, they put their, took their phones down and suddenly realized and I had, I had to laugh and I did mention to him, I did say I did think you two were talking to each other and I wonder why you're on the phones, and that it was hilarious and it certainly broke the ice and certainly calmed any race nerves. I thought it was hilarious, it's like something out of a comedy sketch these two guys on the phone talking to each other, friends, saying where were they in the race village, and one was saying well, I'm outside the race. You know the bag drop. And so it was literally only 10 yards apart. I'd never seen anything so funny in my life. It was hilarious and we had a good laugh over that. And so then, yep, then went to the bag drop, put my bag over there in the bag drop and that was it.
Speaker 1:I walked down to the start and I had to make sure I was going right. Direction was two directions one for one group of colors, of of numbers, and one for the other group of numbers. And I think in the past I've gone to left because I've been on slightly faster uh, numbers. This time I was to the right because I said I was, I was, I was penultimate one back, I think. I think pink was the last color number and that was for any time after 2.20 and I was orange. Anyway, I walked down there and of course then I was walking down there thinking I need to go to the toilet again, and I remember in the past, certainly when I've gone left, there was plenty of bushes and that where people have gone to the toilet. Well, you know, guys have gone. Obviously I'm lucky, I'm a guy, but guys have gone behind the bushes there and that. But we were going right and there was this mass of people going down there and I didn't think how you know how far the start was away or whether it'd be loads of people around there, whether it'd be any bushes and that. So I was just passing the final batch of toilets and I looked around the corner. I was just passing the final batch of toilets and I looked around the corner. It didn't seem to be much of a queue, probably about four people. So I thought, no, I better go. And I went there and queued up and it was now gone 10 o'clock but I knew probably my particular pen wouldn't be starting off till probably about half 10. And I noticed there were runners around me with the orange bibs on orange numbers. So I knew I was OK. So I orange number. So I knew I was okay. So I was.
Speaker 1:I was quite relaxed, in fact probably the most relaxed I've been for any race, and I went to the tour land to be inside. I don't know, I didn't really need to go, but you get, you get these nerves before before any race. Even after all these years I still get the race nerves, not as nervous as I have been, I guess because I was more relaxed, because I was pretty sure that I was going to break two hours 20. Um, I had this feeling, you know, if I can do two hours 20, one training run, then I was pretty sure, you know, I hadn't done a lot of training, but I've done a few tenors, the 13 and the 14, including hills, and I was pretty sure, I was confident, if I was looking to beat two hours 15, two hours five, no, that would be well out the realms and certainly not breaking two hours. So I didn't really need to go. But I felt quite calm, so I just, I just walked down onto the start.
Speaker 1:As I was walking down towards the start, I saw my friend, uh, gary, who, um, as I said, he was that he was the pacemaker for two hours five and the pacemakers had these flags sticking. They hold these flags sticking out their backs and he had the two hour five one. I recognized gary because gary's a tall, slim guy, always wears a headband and that, and he, he was talking to other runners that were walking with him. So I thought I'd just stay, just just just behind him and if he notes me and says, hello, um, the runners were only the male runners were going going off to spend a penny, and I and I thought this is gonna be my last chance, um, I mean, it seems strange talking about now I need to go to the toilet yet again. But I thought, yeah, I better go, this is my last chance, and I could feel I guess it was the nerves that was producing it.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I saw Gary off and I saw other runners go off, so I thought, okay, I'll go off and find a bush there. But when I went there, to be honest, typically I was wrong. It was just a nerve, so I didn't, I didn't need to go on that. And then there's, and then I was just coming back up, um, to the road to walk to the start, and that Gary was there and Gary was like I won't shake your hand, um, not because you've been to spend a penny, but because apparently there's a lot of um gels, uh, these, the sports shows, yeah, can be very sticky on your hands, and that, uh. But he asked how I was gonna. I hadn't seen him for months, um, maybe a year or so, I don't know, it's been a long time. I normally ever see him sort of at races.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, he asked me how things were going and that and he was obviously starting in the pen pen in front of me. So I was just following him and I was very tempted to follow him all the way into his pen and that. And he asked me you know what time did I? I think I was going to do, and I said, well, you know, I'm in the two hours 20 pen. But I did meet a runner who was with me, who she put down to a two hours five, and he said well, maybe that's at the front of your pen. But I said to him, I said, well, I think I can beat two hours 15 to 10. I'm not sure about your two hours five. I think that'd be really really pushing it. It'd be a miracle, I think, if I did two hours five, I mean. But who knows? And then he said, well, he said I'm going up here and that, and so I left him too.
Speaker 1:I got the impression that I didn't think maybe I should follow him and I didn't want the pressure of having to try and keep up with him, to be honest. So it was difficult to exactly see where your pen started, where his started and where mine finished. He did point out to me Edith and Catherine who was doing the two hours ten, and I could see her at the one side and I thought no, I'm going to go a bit further up. And I went a bit further up and I was. I was supposed to be in the orange pen, the one in front was the green pen, and I saw. I saw what I thought was the back of the green pen, although there were some people in where I was standing who had green numbers on as well. I was looking to see where the pacemakers were, because you know, you can get an idea of where you're starting pennies by the pacemakers. And Catherine was further back, two hours 10, which was fine because I wanted somewhere, probably just between two hours five and two hours 10.
Speaker 1:I didn't want to push myself and go up a garage to do the two hours five, but you know when the hooter went it, you know we literally just didn't move. Um, we were stuck in this road. I couldn't even see the start line and every now and then we'd be moving up because obviously what they do is they start on you off in waves, but your official, your official time is you've got a chip on the back of your number, so your official time is from that. They have what's known as the gun time and the chip time. So no worry about that. There's no rush for me to start my watch. But of course then I get very anxious.
Speaker 1:At this point, even now, and I'm you know, I'm constantly doing up my laces because I've had problems before and my laces have come undone and I hate having to stop. And you get many, you get many runners. You point yeah, your laces are undone. I'm like, yeah, I know, I can see my laces are undone, but I know I can run without having to do them up. So but I guess they're worried about me falling over and tripping over other people. Not, I've had this in the past.
Speaker 1:So the trouble is also I've done them up too tight before and when I've done them up tight before, although I think previously, when I have done them up too tight before, I did have a problem with a particular pair of running shoes that I'd got and I thought they had been broken in and I thought this was just. You know, still in the breaking in process, but they were never really broken and I think they were very narrow at the top of my feet. But also, I do think I'd done the laces up too tight and that was in the Manchester Marathon and I really struggled for the last 10 miles. So I'm very conscious, you can do them up too tight, but they're not enough. I mean, some runners actually double knot them, so you do one knot and you do a double double, you know another knot on top, but I, I can't understand all that. So there was me.
Speaker 1:The long we're waiting, the more times I'm bending down to do, you know, redo my laces up. Have I got it right? Have I not got it right? And it's no you, it's no specific science, it's just how you feel. And of course I'm worried about, as soon as I bend down, start doing that, we'll start cantering off. But of course that didn't happen. It's very much a slow walk. But then, as we started to walk and we started to walk quicker, I assumed that we were going to soon be going off into running pace. But that's what normally happens in race. But it didn't happen like that. We, we were moved up and we got to the start line and I was right at the front of the start line and then they stopped us. So we didn't carry on with to wait at the start line.
Speaker 1:But it was great because I had this open road in front of me and to the right of me was the mayor who was going to. The mayor of redmond was going to be starting the race alongside john majewski, who actually the football stadium that we're running into, he was the chairman and the stadium, uh, was actually named after him, the john majewski stadium. I think they've now reverted to a, a sponsor, but you can still see the john majewski stand, I think you'll find in the stadium. Um, and he, he was the chairman of reading football club. So I had john majewski there at the side of me and the mayor and they were going to be starting the race and but there was this long, long pause and the the funny thing was I remember the announcer saying now remember, go on the horn. And I couldn't help laughing and the mayor had a giggle at that go on the horn. So that's what we had to do. We had to go on the horn, which is rather funny, but the only problem was was obviously I was at the front and it was great because I had an open view. But I knew what would happen and sure enough it did happen. As soon as the hooter went or the horn as they like to say, go on the horn I just sped off.
Speaker 1:I wasn't the first one out, but I was one of the first and it was all downhill on the road on the first bit and I could see myself going off way too quickly. The trouble was I felt so good, you know, my food had been digested, I didn't feel full or bloated, I felt refreshed. And the mile time I was doing it, you know I was just cruising along, but it obviously was the adrenaline of being at the front like this, like this, and you know it felt like I was leading the race. And my first minute mile I work in minutes per mile was 8.33. And if I put that into some context, you know what I've been doing, my training runs have been like 9.40 to 10 minute miles or more, that's over a minute, which is a lot per mile. So I knew that was way too fast.
Speaker 1:So I was trying to, you know, slow it down on the second. Obviously you're supposed to do it around the other way, because you start off too quickly. Later on the race is going to hit you. So the second mile, I mean it was still pretty quick. You know it was still 8.36. But the terrain was good. There was lots of crowd support around the start, around the road.
Speaker 1:I was in amongst a group of runners and I was feeling good. It didn't feel like some races I've been. It takes me a few miles to warm up. It didn't take me any time to warm up. I felt really, really good and it wasn't until the third mile that it really hit me. And I do remember this when I've run it before with my friend Hilton and I was keeping up with him and then suddenly he just left me for dust because it was a hill.
Speaker 1:And if you listen to my previous episodes you know I'm just no good at hills. I've tried to do hill work. I've run up Gerrard's Cross, I don't know how many times and that and thank goodness I have, because I'd probably even be worse at hills if I hadn't. Now it might sound da, but some people do actually like hills and I'm not particularly tall, so I haven't got the longest of legs. And there was this lady behind me and she must have been about six foot, slim, longest legs ever and I'm thinking I wish I had those legs because it was just, you know, my little legs trying to get up this hill Anyway. So I really struggled and I'm glad that the first two miles a little bit quicker because the time on that was nine minutes 25. But my race plan was I'd set out my race plan that I needed to do between nine minutes and nine minutes and 10 minute a mile to get between what I wanted to do, between two hours and two hours, 15 minutes, for example. I knew if I did average of nine and a half minute a mile I'd get two hours five, which is a terrific time. So I was okay.
Speaker 1:This was 9, 25 and this was an uphill section. It was quite a hot day as well, so I was already feeling the heat and a lot of people struggling up the hill. You know it was. I mean, I've run this race many times before and little did I remember that in fact this wasn't going to be the worst of the hills, it was only going to get harder. But you know that was. That was after the third mile. So you know we're coming up to almost a quarter of the way through and I got halfway. So about six and a half miles and I think it was approximately like 57 minutes.
Speaker 1:So 57 minutes, you know, if I did the second half in an hour and three minutes, then I'll be about two hours and I thought there's no way I'm going to be that much slower. So, you know, I allowed myself 54 minutes up to an hour and you, you know, even if it'd taken me up to an hour and you do the next section, you know, next, half in an hour and 10, that's two hours, 10 or an hour and 15, and I always like to. It's not necessarily the correct way to do it it's best to do a negative split, do the first half a bit slower and the second half quicker, but I always know the second half I'm going to slow down more. I mean, obviously you don't want to foolishly do the first half way too quick. And I didn't think I had, but I guess I had, if you think about my current condition, not much training. Was I really in that sort of form? Maybe I was going to pay for that fast mile? We'll see.
Speaker 1:But as I say, the half mile, you know approximately 57 minutes. Ok, but then on the seventh mile I'm back to this nine minute mile pace. So most of the miles in the first half have been in eight minutes, apart from when I struggled on the third mile 9.25. But then on the seventh mile I was back to nine minute mile. And what happened on the 7th mile?
Speaker 1:So between like 6 and 7, it's very twisty and turny, it's a few little uphill sections and you're going around the busiest parts. It's around the main high street, around the main shops, the city centre and with all that crowd support actually you'd think you'd be going faster, but for me it was. The was the opposite effect. I mean, it was great to have the crowd support but I felt, to be honest, I felt a little bit embarrassed because I was really struggling. I wasn't really enjoying it. You know you should be enjoying the crowds and I felt I should be enjoying the crowds and you've got your name on your front of your number and people cheering my name and I was trying to do my best and obviously that gave me a boost because I really was struggling and there was no case of waving to the crowds. I was trying to do my best and obviously that gave me a boost because I really was struggling and there was no case of waving to the crowds, I was just trying to keep at a decent pace and I kept looking at my watch, which is a terrible sign because it means I'm getting panicky, it means I'm worried about my pace dropping. But the crowds were terrific and you know, when they were shouting my name it did spur me on. But there were some like little uphill sections, twists and turns, and it was a bit of a struggle going round there and, to be honest, even though I loved the crowds, I was happy when we got out of that Because it was like a very, you know, tight section there in and out around where the shops are, the high street, and I was glad we got back out to the eighth night and then getting to the 10th mile.
Speaker 1:For the 10th mile I set myself a target of between I think it's between one, 120, 130 I was right on the edge 130. So I know I've got like three miles to do. Well, actually 3.1 and that point one ofa mile. In the end it was going to make all the difference, but I thought, well, look, I've got half an hour. Ok, it's a 10-minute mile pace to get to two hours. Ok, I've got that 0.1 in which you know. At the time I thought well, that's only 0.1 of a mile. Little did I know because obviously I hadn't run this race I think now for a couple of years, because normally I run Manchester Marathon at this time of year. So it was difficult for me to remember and maybe I should have done more homework on the actual course route. But it probably wouldn't have shown me the elevation anyway. But anyway, that's to come later.
Speaker 1:So, 10 miles I was at 1 hour 30 and I was on target, albeit on the very outer limits of it and the 10 miles you were actually coming down on this on this lovely road. But I knew what the 11th mile section was. I remembered it from before and I mentioned it in my my previous episodes the fact that it's along the a33 dual carriageway and, like previous years, it was going to be hot, um, but not only hot. It was very blustery on the section. So when I came down to the section, um, you're coming up to like 11 miles, so you've only got like two miles to go, but on this open section of road the sun was beating down, but it was more the wind. The wind was busting me all over the place and I wasn't the only one struggling, you know, there was many stragglers along this section and and you could see we're all spread out and you could see people really, really suffering and there were people at the sides of the road, some people already finished cyclists, spectators. We're trying to give us all the encouragement we needed just to keep going. And there was, you know, pairs of runners and that were shouting to one another come on, you've got this. It's only another couple of miles.
Speaker 1:The trouble is that couple of miles feels like forever and, as I always mentioned before, last mile in any half marathon, marathon, in any race, is always the longest. And I say this is one of the best finishes in any half marathon. I do because you're finishing in the stadium, in this stadium, and that that is the reward. But this particular time when I'm going along the A33 and I've been buffeting about all over the place and all I can see is my pace dropping minute by minute, and I'm now so desperate to get to two hours, you know, get into two hours or just under two hours, within the reach which, okay, at start I would have been happy to break 220, 215, 210. But when you get so close to this, after so much effort, you're thinking you know you've come so far, you've only got these last couple of miles. You don't want to lose in the last couple of miles. You know you want to. You want to finish the race, having said you've given everything and we left everything out there on the road.
Speaker 1:And of course trouble was the more anxious I got, the more I was like you know people saying, come on, you've got this. Yeah, I was pretty sure I was going to finish, but for me it'd be a disappointment if I didn't make it under two hours. And the more anxious I got about this, the more you know my running slowed down. You know that it was just my muscles were tensing up because I was getting anxious and I was stretching more and my whole running rhythm was getting all out of sync and I shouldn't have kept looking at my watch. But I did because I admit I started to panic. Even after all these years running races, you know you still panic in these situations, especially when you're so close to your target. And I did panic and you know I think the last, the last three miles, even though some of them were downhill. I think I did the 11 mile in nine minute 27. And then the 12th mile was 947, even though it was down seven. And then the last mile, it was well, the last mile was a a real struggle. I mean, it was only a mile to go and for some reason my watch I don't know my, my watch seemed to be way ahead of the game.
Speaker 1:This can happen sometimes when you watch. You know the GPS, depending on you, know the cloud cover and also the exact route you run, because obviously I always try to follow the racing line as such. I mean, I can't see the red line where they mark the marathon route out on which is. You know, obviously, what the professionals do, but I always try to, so I try. Basically, what I do is I try to watch the runners in front of me. If you can't memorize the course, you try to watch the runners in front of you or you look ahead to see where the next corner is. If you see runners turning to the right, then you're already starting to run to the right to cut off the corner and obviously if you go a little bit wide, it all adds on to it, so your distance might not be exact 13.1. So my watch had already said 13 miles and I hadn't come to the 13 mile marker. And then, when I did come to the 13 mile mark, I'm thinking this is going to be close. Now to get to two hours, I really don't think I'm going to make it.
Speaker 1:And that 0.1 of a mile made all the difference because as you come off the main at 8.33, you're coming into stadium grounds and then you've got this uphill section, and I remember it from when the shuttle bus dropped us off. The shuttle bus dropped us off at the bottom of the stadium. We had to walk up to it and so we had to run up this and it was tough. I mean, it was. You know you've got the slope coming down afterwards, but to get up it and by now you've already done 13 miles. So by now I was absolutely knackered. And it was more depressing. As you come up you can see the other side of the fence the runners who have finished they've come up the stage and runners who finish you've got their medals and I always had this impression that they're probably gloating at us, thinking you know what kept you. But it was the complete opposite. In fact, runners behind the fence there were actually cheering us on and it gave me that extra boost.
Speaker 1:But then I was looking at my watch and I was like this is coming up to two hours now. I'm not going to make it. I still had to reach the top of this hill, get down the other side, round the corner of the track. So I stopped looking at my watch. I thought that there's nothing more I can do. Okay, I've literally given him my all. I was almost falling over just trying to get the time. I just felt despair within me because, even though I was going to finish which is the main priority in any race is to finish I was going to beat two hours 20. It's going to be two hours 50. I'm going to be two hours 10. I should be happy. But you know, the competitive side of me is saying well, you came so close so far. How could you mess up? And you think of all the mistakes maybe you did make. You know that. I think that's the first mile. Maybe I went out too fast. Has it come back to bite me on the back side? You know, it was too late for me to do anything now. All I could do now was just forget the watch. Just, you know, don't give up. Just run as fast as I can to that finishing line.
Speaker 1:So, as you come to the top of the slope, to come down the stadium, just about at the corner of your eye to the right, see the finish line, the finish gantry, but, more importantly, you can hear the noise, the finish gantry. But, more importantly, you can hear the noise, the noise of the crowds. And so I came sprinting down this slope, overtaking several runners, and I just could hear the. It's like an amphitheater of noise, it's just, it's just beautiful, and you just see this vast stadium. All I can focus on was the, the, the finish line, the finish gantry, which was, which was to the right, around the bend. And I probably didn't take the quickest route, because I came down and I went to the left instead of cutting corner, you know, keeping to the right around the corner. But I did that, I guess, just to overtake all these runners in front of me, and I did. I overtook so many runners. I came around there and the crowds were cheering me on. I came around the right and then I just came sprinting down.
Speaker 1:I wasn't really looking at the clock on the gantry, because that that clock was going to be well off. I mean, I was going to be, you know, because we'd started so far behind the official gun time. All I was focused on was just sprinting across the line. I didn't put my arms up or anything, I just wanted to. First thing I always do is justing across the line. I didn't put my arms up or anything, I just wanted to. First thing I always do is just sprint across the line, straight through the line, not to the line, just go straight through it and then stop my watch.
Speaker 1:Next thing that happened, I just collapsed on the ground. I just absolutely had. I didn't know where to get. I just kissed the ground and just looked to the heavens, thanking my late nan, knowing that she's looking down on me, just wishing I could have beaten two hours for her.
Speaker 1:And the next thing I see is this St John ambulance man trying to pull me up, asking if I'm all right. I'm like yeah, yeah. And then I go to get up and he's telling me not to get up too quickly. He said you'll feel dizzy. I'm like I don't me not to get up too quickly, he said you'll feel dizzy, I'm like I don't think I can get up too quickly and I'm like, yeah, I think I know this amount of marathons I've run. But he was just trying to be helpful, but he was really concerned about me. But he got me a water and yeah, I, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I just looked at my watch and the watch said two hours. Okay, two hours, wait for it. One minute eight seconds. So I was out by a minute and eight seconds and it was that, as I say, it's that 0.1 of a mile at the end of a 13 miles. Is that 0.1 of a mile that I did for that eight minute? You know, one minute, um, eight seconds. So that one minute eight seconds. It was just that 0.1 of a mile. Um, you know, my, my pace was it was nine minute, 12 was the pace. So I knew if I'd done 9, 30 pace, it's going to be two hours five and I think I had to do 9 10. I think it was 9, 10 if I was going to be straight on two hours or maybe just a smidgen under. So I was close and I was that close. It was frustrating and I looked up at the gantry at the time and I think it's something like two hours 14, so that's how long we had to wait before we start. We started a good 14, 15 minutes, um, after the official gun time, but I wasn't worried about that, you know, it's that's the gun time. My official chip time is two hours one, uh, two hours one minute eight seconds.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I had mixed emotions. I was obviously happy, I mean I got around injury free. I had no, no, no pains on my foot. My shoelaces had stayed tied up, my feet hadn't been painful so the laces weren't too tight. My shin had been behaving itself because I had problems with my right shin before and obviously my right knee that's the one that's had the tall meniscus in as well and the bake assist that hadn't been hurting. Yes, I felt absolutely knackered. I mean it had taken out of me.
Speaker 1:But you know, as I said, I'd given it all at the end and with that buffeting win and coming up the hill, and that that's what really took it out of me. But you know, I'd rather give it all like that, cross the line, having given everything, and collapse. And maybe you know people worried about me. You know, am I OK? Because I don't want to come across the line thinking I could have given more. If I'd come across that line thinking, wow, ok, two minutes, one. Ok, two minutes, one minute, sorry, two hours. If I'd come across the line, get my teeth in, if I'd come across the line and said two hours, one minute, eight seconds, I'd get about eight seconds for now. But two hours say I'm one minute over two hours. And if I'd come across there thinking I could have done more, then I probably would have felt worse than what I did, because on reflection now, I think I gave everything I could. So if you've given everything you could, you can't ask for more.
Speaker 1:And looking back, as my friends have said, you know I was looking for under two hours, 15. So if you look at it from the other point of view, it's 14 minutes quicker. A lot of people would love the time I've got. There's plenty of runners coming in after me and just to complete a half marathon. You know it still gives me the ultimate buzz to run a half marathon, in fact to run any race, it just gives me just the whole.
Speaker 1:But you know I was relaxed from the very start of the day, probably the most relaxed I've been in any race, maybe because my expectations weren't set so high for me. I just wanted to finish. I knew I hadn't done a lot of training. I knew under 220 would be good. 215, brilliant, 210, amazing. I mean two hours five. I never thought I could keep up my friend Gary, and in fact I never passed my friend Gary. He was doing the two hours five and he said to me he said I never saw you pass me. I didn't see him after the race. But but later on, when he messaged me and I said well, I said the reason was probably because he started in the front pen in front of me. He would have probably been long finished by the time I came across.
Speaker 1:Because, remember, my time started further back. I started further back in the in the further pen and the thing I was worried about was that there were going to be slow runners in front of me because I was starting right at the front of that pen. I had a clear road in front of me. So I think back to that first mile and yeah, I mean that's playing on my mind. You know you do the first mile too quick and I'm an experienced marathon runner, I should know that then you're going to pay for it and maybe I did pay for it, maybe that's what cost me the minute at the end.
Speaker 1:But you know you live and learn and it's it's a very long race to half marathon. It's you know many factors come into it. You know the weather conditions, how you feel on the day, just how you pace yourself. It's just you know there are many factors that come into play and it's to get them all together like one jigsaw puzzle that fits together, takes everything to be exactly right, everything to fit together exactly. And I did the best. I did the best I could, you know, and I can keep ruminating about that one minute and could I have done better, could I've done something differently, but I guess at the end of the day I am am happy, I am happy. I might not sound too happy, but I'm happy. My friends have all said well, no, you should be so happy. And I am happy, Considering a few months ago I couldn't even run three miles.
Speaker 1:So to run a marathon like that, and six months ago I ran the Winter Half Marathon on only one training run, did two hours, 20. That I thought was a good achievement. To do this without any training. You know I hit all the goals on my race plan. You know, as I say, it's always good to have a race plan and to have several different targets on that race plan and my first target was to finish the race. First of all, second under two hours 20,. Third, under two hours 15, four. First of all, second under two hours 20,. Third under two hours 15, four, two, 10, two, five would be amazing. I wasn't really thinking about two hours. Yeah, in the back of my mind I was.
Speaker 1:And when I did the first half so quick like that, normally I have the stamina for the second half and it was literally those last three miles and coming up the hill towards the end. But more than anything, it wasn't the the three miles, it's just that sniggly little point, one at the end and that little bit just around the stadium coming up that hill. That's what really did it. But then, you know, I got the reward of finishing in that lovely stadium and I hung around in that stadium for for a while just taking the atmosphere in which other runners come across. It was great atmosphere. And then, ironically, as you walk out of the stadium, you've got to walk up a little upslope, which is a struggle. I mean it was a struggle for all of us. I mean we all have a struggle. Walk back up there. But then you get the rewards, yes, the lovely rewards.
Speaker 1:First of all, we handed this bag and it's empty. And you're thinking, well, what's this? I've got an empty bag. But then the goodies come. So you just walk down the line. It was two bags of popcorn, then it was a protein bar and then, after the protein bowl, then it was the, the t-shirt. And I was thinking, well, normally always the t-shirts are too big. Now on your, when you ordered your shirt, they put on my race number, medium, and I was like, can I have a small, because normally they would come away too big? And she said, no, unfortunately you can't, because you know they might run out, someone might not have it. So, anyway, lucky for me that the medium was okay. So you get your shirt next. Um, I think that was it. And then I went to walk off and you think that's everything. And then I got handed a new sports. And then I went to walk off and you think that's everything. And then I got handed a new sports bottle, which I needed, a new sports bottle. That was good.
Speaker 1:And then you walk around there and it's just like mass of people friends and family waiting for their relatives and friends to come through, and there's literally the race villages there from where you started the day and I think the first thing I needed to do actually was to go to the toilet again. So I went to the toilet and then I, just after that, I just need to sit down somewhere and I I ate the. I didn't feel really hungry, but I ate the protein bar and I was just taking all in wasn't cold because it was a lovely hot day and it was lovely atmosphere and the place was full. I mean, I could have done with the drink, to be honest, but the queue for the bar I mean it was so long queue for the bar. I was going to get a burger, but the queue for that as well. I mean that there were queues everywhere and, to be honest, it was. It was a good job. I didn't stay for any burger or drink because I had to get the shuttle bus back to the train station.
Speaker 1:And the queue for the shuttle buses, even though they had several, and I was standing in line and got chatting to a couple of runners and it's funny because we were talking about races, and one of the guys actually run the Brighton marathon the week before, which is the race I was supposed to have done, and I can't believe he was running a half marathon now. And even Gary, my friend, he'd run the Southampton marathon the week before and I'm thinking, wow, that's pretty good going. How you can, then, you know, run a timer like that, two hours five minutes after having run a marathon the week before. So it's great. I was chatting to these runners and we reminisced about races we had done. In fact, one of the the guys he's going to be running beat the boat which I'm going to be running later in the year, and we discussed the previous marathons I'd done. I recommended the dublin, the manchester marathon to them and I recommended marathons to me, and it's a good job.
Speaker 1:We were talking because we waited so long in that queue uh, far longer than what I had to do in the morning. The morning I just jumped straight on the shuttle bus and that was that. So it was a long, long, long, long way and eventually we got on and even the bus took a long, long time back and I was checking the timetable for the train and I was thinking, okay, we're close to this one, there's a direct train, a speedy train. But the coach got in. I had to get off the coach pretty quick, but the coach got in. I had to get off the coach pretty quick and I was like, if I'm going to catch this train, I'm going to have to run.
Speaker 1:And of course I tried to run but I couldn't. I couldn't really run now. I mean, I was like my legs were as stiff as anything, not injured, I mean just just stiff, and I had my medal and T-shirt on. I changed into my marathon T-shirt and had my medal on, as all runners did, and it was me trying to run. I couldn't run. I was on the escalator. Luckily, the train I was going on for was actually delayed. It's delayed by seven minutes. So luckily I managed to get on there, uh, just in time, and there are a few other runners on there and I get on there.
Speaker 1:I say to the guy I said this is, this is the right train. He said yeah, yeah, yeah. He said oh. He said well, done, by the way, so that was nice. So, but yeah, he said, go and sit down. And that was the first thing I was going to sit down and have a rest about 20 minutes to get home, and then I still had like a 10 minute walk from the station, which was which was pretty tough.
Speaker 1:But, to be honest, all I wanted now was I just wanted a nice cold guinness just to celebrate. I normally when I finish a race, I always like to celebrate with a guinness. I guess that comes from my dublin marathon running days, when normally every year I run the dub Marathon. It is my favourite marathon and when I first ran it I went with friends and we had a proper Guinness in Ireland, and when I've been back since after the marathon, I haven't even bought a Guinness for me. So I wanted to get a Guinness. So I'm not in Ireland here, but I managed to walk to the pub, which is about three quarters of a mile. That was a struggle, even more struggle after a few guinnesses. But, um, it was just just just nice to um, uh, to celebrate, and then I didn't have to get up the next day, so that was fine. So I managed to rest and, to be honest, the next day, yeah, the legs were a little bit achy, but the only thing I was worried about was whether I was going to have any injury, because sometimes you can finish a race. It's not until the next day that you realise maybe you picked up a bit of an injury. My right shin actually the one I've had problems with was a bit sore and I was a bit worried about it, but I took some painkillers and put some heat spray on it and I took it easy for the rest of the day and today, as we speak, on Tuesday, it's touch wood. It seems to be fine. You hear these cases of DOMS, which is delayed onset, muscle soreness, which usually happens a few days after a half marathon or a marathon, and, luckily, touch wood.
Speaker 1:At the moment I'm not full of energy. I'll be, I'll be honest with you. Um, and I haven't been running yet since sunday to say, it's now tuesday um I I don't know I could go for a run tomorrow, but I might leave it till thursday. I'm hoping to do another half marathon in a few weeks, which I'll probably let you know in the next episode if I'm going to be running it or not. So if I do, then obviously I'll need to get back in a bit of training fairly quickly, but I'd rather take it easy and make sure that I'm fully recovered. I know one of the runners I was speaking to said well, I'll probably go for a light run on Tuesday today.
Speaker 1:But for me I tend to listen to my body. I've been doing it for long enough now that I don't go by any set day because, to be honest, you're not going to lose a lot of fitness. You know, I could give it maybe five, six days and I'd probably still be fine. I wouldn't lose the fitness. And in fact, after this race my VO2 max has actually increased to 43. It's always been like 43 and excellent, but certainly over the last year, because I haven't been training and running, it's gone down to 42, which is still good. But VO2 max, which is basically the amount of oxygen you can take in, and that it's gone up to 43, which is now classed as excellent. So I'm happy with that. So yeah, I'm just my actual.
Speaker 1:My Garmin watch sort of tells me roughly how long I've got to recover, so it will say how long your recovery period is and for example I'm looking at now it says like 19 hours. It's about another day, they reckon, but you know I don't tend to stick to that explicitly because you can always tell by how your body feels, and sometimes I'll go sooner than what it says and sometimes later than what it says. And after a race, because you're putting that much more effort in than, say, maybe, a normal 13 mile run, then I feel it's important, you know you recover, though again, I'll probably will get the itch to go for a run fairly soon. You know, I I feel like I'd like to go for a run tomorrow, but we'll wait and see. I think it's more likely to be, uh, thursday or even later, um, and then I think it's three weeks to this next half marathon. If, if I do it, if I get in and if I decide to do it, which is that I'll probably let you know in the next episode where I'm actually running that race or not. But yeah, so I'm really happy with that performance.
Speaker 1:On reflection, it was a a good performance and I just enjoyed the whole day. More importantly, I, from the very first moment I woke up okay, I had a bit of racing, as I always do, but they weren't as bad as they have been in past races I was fairly. I was a how can I put it? Sounds a bit of an oxymoron, but I was nervously relaxed. Let's put it that way, and I was. I was confident, you know, I'd written out my race plan, done my affirmation to what I wanted to do, I've done my stretching, I was well hydrated, you know, my travel plans went fine, even though train was slightly delayed. I didn't panic because I'd give myself plenty of time.
Speaker 1:So it's all about organize yourself and controlling what you can control, controlling the controllables, and I couldn't control the weather from the day, though the weather was good because on the, the monday afterwards, yesterday, it was wet and rainy and windy, but I'd rather it was a bit hotter like that, um, than it being, you know, wet and rainy like it was yesterday. Okay, it was. It was a bit windy, especially, as I say, especially going the last two miles, but, um, overall the conditions were really good and it was just a case of making sure you were hydrated. They were offering water around the course and, in fact, I forgot to say actually one of my um friends, laura, they had this um choir called the rock choir and they were actually singing there and she'd look out for me and I actually saw her singing in the choir and it was good, because where the choir was replaced, was placed was actually quite a desolate part of the course where you're literally like going through these car parks and it was quite a monotonous, depressing part of the course. I mean, most of the course was lovely, but that was a bit not only spectators around there, and I guess that's why they had the choir there and and she certainly gave me a boost when I ran past their lovely singing choir. I mean, the crowd support all the way around was brilliant. Um it, it really was.
Speaker 1:Obviously there were some parts you know out further, you know maybe more in the suburbs that obviously weren't weren't quite quite as busy. You get the odd person standing on the road, but generally it was well supported and the course is. You know the way the course is designed. So you go through it, says it's, it's, get my teeth in the game. The way the course is designed to go through the city centre, you do get lots of support and then obviously at the stadium at the end, mass of support. So yeah, I mean, what more can I say? It was just.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm still just about on a runner's high at the moment.
Speaker 1:You know you have this runner's high, as I mentioned before, maybe for maybe up to a week and then suddenly you know it sort of, you know it hits you, how can I put it? It's like a post runner's high or post race highway. You know you've had this, you've had this, you know drug of finishing a race, get this dopamine hit. And then suddenly you sort of come off it and it's like, okay, I've done that, it's done and dusted, now I need another hit. And that's why I'm thinking about doing this half marathon in three weeks time, really really thinking about it, because, yeah, I need another hit, another race hit. So that's what I'm planning on doing, but I'll let you know anyway in my next episode whether I'll be running that race or not. But yeah, really really good race. So I'm really happy with that and I say I'll let you know the next episode where I'm going to be running, um, this next half marathon in three weeks time. Okey, doke, thank you very much. Bye, thank you.
