If you looked at my previous post, you may have noted that I have been here before, back at the end of July when I came out for a medium/long run with a number on my vest and achieved 9 miles and a DNF. So, Saturday late afternoon on 19 September and I was back at the Wokingham Waterside Centre for a second go at the Thames Trail Marathon on the Thames Path between Reading and Sonning. This run also coincided with International Talk Like A Pirate Day, so I was thinking that there might be a few salty dogs along for this run, but when I turned up there wasn't a west county accent to be heard.
The Wokingham Waterside Centre is nowhere near Wokingham, but lies at the extreme northern end of the borough just east of Reading on the Thames. The organiser's original plan was to run from here along the Thames through Reading to the other side of Caversham, then return making a 6 and a bit mile lap. However, works to Reading bridge mean the path has a nasty detour (steps, busy road) so the run goes between the Waterside Centre down river towards Sonning, then back past the Waterside Centre on to Reading Bridge and back again. It has one short lap of about 2.2 miles followed by 4 long laps of 6 miles each. The course runs on grass, gravel trails and tarmac paths and you end up crossing Horseshoe Bridge over the mouth of the River Kennet 8 times.
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| Start/Finish is at A, the short lap goes out to point B and the long laps go out to the red markers |
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| We're off! Not quite crowded with just over 30 runners. |
After a short race briefing describing the route we set off on time at 5pm in lovely sunshine with 32 marathon runners out of a capacity of 40 for this event. It didn't take long before we were spread out along the grassy banks of the river, running in ones, twos and threes. The first part of the route should be familiar to people who have run Reading parkrun or the Halloween 5 Nite Run, running along the grass path following the river as it bends right and the path goes into the woods. I noted a few tree roots and dips and hollows in the path for later when it got dark,
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| Pleasant running along the river |
Tactics
I had decided to tackle this event using a run/walk strategy, thinking that I would still have quite a lot of tiredness in my legs after the Farnham Pilgrim 6 days before. So, I set up my watch for an interval training session of 26 reps of 10 minutes running and 1 minute walking. That turned out to be a bit optimistic, in terms of the number of reps I could do, but I stuck at it and got to half way in a decent time of around 2:15.
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| Fairly spread out by lap 2, there was a lot of lone running. |
At the end of the second lap it was getting a bit dark and I took a break to get my head torch, grab some chocolate and a banana. My head torch is really good, a fairly cheap Chinese CREE 2200 lumen torch with battery pack on the back of the head strap. It lasts for ages, stays charged for months and is well balanced, so it doesn't move around. With the torch set on the lower brightness setting I could see very well, though I was conscious of not wanting to look people in the eye and blinding them. However, even with a bright torch, I was a bit cautious running on the grass paths and in the woods as it is not so easy to see little pot holes as in daylight.
I was feeling very tired by half way and had got past the turn point at Sonning for the third time when I caught up with a woman in a Supergirl costume who was having knee trouble. Carla had done a 12 hour ultra a couple of weeks ago as preparation for this, her first marathon, which is a bit unconventional for a training plan. We sat on a bench by Sonning Lock for a couple of minutes while I showed her some ITB stretches and talked about what her injury could come from, then we carried on jogging and walking together for most of the remaining 10 miles. There were some very quiet, misty and peaceful stretches along the river with the moon shining and I think we were both glad of the company.
On the way back from Sonning for the final time with 4 miles to go I was trying to run, managing half a mile then running out of energy and was forced to walk for 5 minutes or so, but when I got past the start/finish aid station with 2 miles to go the thought of finishing soon lifted my spirits enough to jog on again. I got to the finish at about 10:40pm, inside the cut off time with a couple of people behind me. I got presented with some nice bling by race director Paul Ali, had my photo taken and was directed back to race HQ for some food and a hot drink somewhere warm. I was very tired but had had a good time on this run. It's well organised, low key and friendly and they didn't seem to mind people taking most of the allotted 6 hours to finish. The only thing I would say is, if you are a bit nervous about running in the dark by yourself, you might want to take a friend along with you, or just make a new friend along the trail.
So, another marathon done (9th this year and 17th overall), I still didn't quit and didn't do any more damage to any injuries. I know I am not in any sort of shape to do a marathon a week, but my fitness is improving and I'm pretty sure I can do 1 every 2 weeks and manage some decent recovery and training in between. That is just as well as next up is Clarendon Marathon in 2 weeks time, followed by Abingdon 2 weeks later.
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| Supergirl Carla at the finish. See you at Abingdon! |
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