I'm a Marathon Runner

The Marathon Question

I have been a Sandhurst Joggers member for over three years and I’ve been running for only just over 4 years.  I never really had an ambition to do a marathon until last year, when I had done the Wokingham and Reading half marathons and actually had a really good time while at the same time hitting my target of a sub-2 hour time.  Those results were achieved without training properly for them, so after watching VLM2012 on the telly I thought I really could have a go at doing a marathon if I actually trained for it.

My thought was that I would do my first (possibly only) marathon for myself, thinking I didn’t want to have to commit to running for a charity and raising a lot of money at the same time as putting the hours in for training (as it was I did raise over £200 for Christopher's Smile). I put my name down for the ballot as soon as it opened.  I thought I probably wouldn’t get a place at London, but if I still felt like doing a marathon in the spring maybe I could enter Abingdon, or the Farnham Pilgrim in September. 

I then forgot about marathons but decided to do more running with the club and started to turn up at Friday track sessions with my two children when the kids track started in April.  After a few sessions I started to see improvements in my Frimley parkrun times and I was really enjoying my running.  I entered the Yateley 10k series and Woodland 5s and went through a bit of a purple patch getting my first PB at Frimley in over 18months and, having set a goal of a sub-50 10k, managing to do it at the first Yateley 10k race.

Aaah Achilles!

Then disaster struck. I was doing all this running and not paying any attention to warming up or down, stretching or massage and the second Yateley 10k race saw me pulling out half way with an Achilles injury.  This probably came about as a result of tight calf muscles and I got some massage sessions, but they didn’t really fix the problem.  So, when the Elvis magazine came out in October and I still hadn’t sorted out my injury, I thought at first that wasn’t such a bad thing.  Then I thought “Bloody hell, I’ve been rejected.” 

That didn’t feel good at all, so to make me feel better, I entered some spring half marathons – Wokingham (because it’s in February), Fleet (I’d never done it before) and Bracknell (as near to a home half marathon as I could get). Having committed to this little lot I sought out some proper physiotherapy and went to see Elrina-Mistress of Pain in Elvetham Heath.       This is her:

  

                       

                                                  

And this is what she did to me:

A combination of deep massage (ouch) and electro-acupuncture (really ouch!) started to make a difference and by early December 2012 I was on the mend. So, as I had been given the go ahead to get back to running and Christmas was approaching I decided I would go along on the Christmas Lights run and skittles after.  I had a last minute panic before setting off trying to find my proof of entry to the London marathon, and was late setting off with the runners as I was waiting for a friend to turn up. I caught up with the SJ runners and had a nice pain free easy run around Yateley, just without my friend David from Cove Joggers.  After the warm down and stretch in the car park at Frogmore I called David and we had a debate about whether we would go to the skittles, but he relented when I offered to drive us both there. 

Shock and Awe

Come the time of the Marathon Draw, I thought “I never win anything, so I’ll just keep eating my curry and see about second helpings after it’s calmed down”.  I had a bit of a shock though when the first name out of the hat was RICHARD …somebody else. Then the last name out was ME! I stood up, waved, smiled a bit, looked a bit embarrassed and thought “Damn, I really have to start training now!” I think I spent the rest of the evening still looking a bit shocked as I kept getting reassuring comments from our experienced marathon runners, things like “You’re a runner, you can get round a marathon already” and “Training is just about achieving your time.”

Christmas was a really good time as far as running went. I did 5 parkruns including Christmas Day and New Years Day with my daughter Elinor (7) as she wanted to get her 10 runs T-shirt.  Those runs were all in the 32 to 35 minute range, so nice and gentle.  The real confidence booster was going on the Mince Pie run at a very muddy and quite hilly Lightwater and coming out pain free. Unfortunately I missed the message that said bring trail shoes.

January saw my last physio session and the start of training proper with a 16 week programme aiming for a time around 4:15 to 4:30 or around 10minute mile pace.  If I was fit to start with I could be on for a sub 4 hour time (dream on!), but from where I started I have to be realistic and have a target based on where I was then, not where I think I should have been in a perfect world. 

Training Hard

So my long runs started at 8 to 10 miles and gradually increased over 13 weeks to 20 miles.  It’s was all pretty smooth going considering my monthly mileage in the few months before Christmas was less than 40miles followed by 101 miles for January, 116 for February and 150 for March – all record breaking months for me.  Along the way I did Wokingham Half (2:02), Surrey Spitfire 20 (3:26) and Fleet Half (1:55 and a PB) with weekly parkruns and interval sessions in the mix mostly done in the rain or snow, but at least I managed to keep smiling through them. 

  

Above: Wokingham HM and Fleet HM, both in the cold and rain!

Aaah Plantar Fascia! (Maybe)

Then – my worst nightmare struck! Having done my last 20 mile long run and started into my first week of tapering I had entered the Bolt Round the Holt 21k.  I did this with Kelvin from Cove Joggers and I started the morning with a steady parkrun at Frimley followed by a dash down to Alice Holt to find the start delayed.  The run was tough but I ran it as a steady training run at about 9:30/mile pace and finished in 2:05 in good condition, moving fine and with no pain.  My training plan had me doing 15 miles, but I did 16 miles with a 45 minute break after the first 3.  After the run I was walking OK, did my warm down, stretching, hot chocolate and then home to a hot bath and lunch.  Three hours later my left foot was all swollen under the toes and I could hardly walk!



Fat Foot - It's all Alice Holt's Fault



I spent all day Sunday on the sofa, holding on to the furniture when I had to walk and eventually crawling upstairs to bed thinking that the marathon was over for me just when I had done all the hard work. Monday I was slightly better – still limping but I could walk the 50m from the car park to the entrance to work.  I saw my physio in the evening and had some serious foot massage which was torture (I have really ticklish feet!) and I was diagnosed with a possible plantar fascia injury.  I say possible because she had difficulty getting any reaction to her poking and prodding around the bottom of my foot. My treatment was to rest and ice it, with the neat trick of using a frozen orange instead of a tennis ball to roll around the arch of my foot.  By Wednesday I was walking normally and I cycled to work completely pain free.  Thursday my first post-injury jog was 4.5miles from Sandhurst to Crowthorne and through Wellington College, all completed pain free at marathon pace.  I did a gentle parkun at Frimley on Saturday and then on Sunday jogged from Sandhurst to the Lookout with another 3 miles while there, making 8.5 hilly miles.  I was feeling pretty much fixed.

Let’s Do This!

The last week before the marathon I hadn’t completely convinced myself that I would be at the start line, but I got back to the training plan with runs on Wednesday and Thursday completed without incident and on Friday I went to the Expo to get my number.  That’s when I thought “I really am doing this!” and the excitement started to build.  Saturday after a very gentle parkrun, cake, breakfast at the Basingstoke Canal Centre café I got back home and started to sort out my kit.  I probably should have done this earlier, but I hadn’t sorted out whether I was wearing baggy or tight shorts, long or short socks, which shoes or even which underpants!  I did know that I was wearing my Sandhurst Joggers vest, though. I wouldn’t be running the marathon in the first place if it wasn’t for SJ so duty and loyalty to the club had to be recognised.

 

Left – last minute test run on Saturday evening - the new shoes with orange laces won out but only because they were most comfortable (honest).

Race Day

Saturday night finally I had all my kit ready and went to bed early, then woke up on Marathon Morning before the five alarms I had set went off. Got my porridge, banana and golden syrup breakfast made, dressed, went to the loo for the third time and set off to catch the coach. 

The atmosphere on the coach was great, like going on holiday, and we got to Blackheath with no trouble just after 8am.  There was a great feeling amongst everybody in the start area, I found a few friends to try and chill with, had a coffee went to the loo, then the urinals standing next to a 6ft tall cockroach, who was looking nervously up at the blazing sunshine.  Finally it was time to get changed, get rid of my bag and make my way over to the start. 

I was in blue start Pen 9, edging towards Pen 8.  10am and the planned whistle to mark to 30seconds silence for the victims of the Boston bombings couldn’t be heard, but a minute later I could see past the hot air balloons in the distance there were people running, so I shouted out “I see people running! We’re away!” and a big cheer went up around me. We stayed standing for a few minutes more, then began with a march of the penguins shuffle, then walk and then jog to the start at just over 12minutes.

My plan was to get under 4:30 and I set off comfortably at 10min/mile pace.  The sun beat down, the crowds cheered, the bands played and I was having a great time chatting to runners and waving to people who shouted my name.  I met Janet Ford at about 10 miles and ran with her for a mile or so. At 14miles I heard an extra loud shout and saw my wife Julia and kids Alfred and Elinor so stopped for a chat for half a minute.  So far so good. I was fuelling and drinking OK, possibly overdoing the drink, but I saw a portaloo without a queue, stopped for a loo break managing a 1min pit stop.

20 miles was when problems started.  Pain in my left foot, inside of my right ankle and right knee all seemed to come at once.  The foot pain gradually worsened and my pace slowed from rock steady 10min miles to 11:30/mile over the last 6 miles.  The run along The Embankment was agony and Big Ben seemed to take forever to pass.  I was being overtaken by so many runners, but then I noticed many people hanging on to the barriers with cramp and I just kept telling myself “You’re still running and you’re not stopping.” The turn by Buckingham Palace, the “385 Yards to Go” banner and then the finish was in sight. 

I crossed the line with a huge smile on my face to hugs and handshakes from I don’t know who, but they were obviously Sandhurst Joggers. Got into the right hand lane for tag snip and medal from Vicky Rice(I think). Coming down the ramp I kissed my medal and for a moment I was nearly in tears. Now, I am a marathon runner. And that is all that matters.

 

Medal Winners after the finish: with Alison, Kelvin and David of Cove Joggers:   Result 4:35:55