'It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.' - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Exactly two years ago I had a harsh lesson delivered to me in the form of a painful and ultimately disappointing introduction to marathon running at the inaugural Yorkshire marathon here in York.
I followed my training plan and thought everything was in place to get me round in my target time of three and a half hours. In the end though I paced it badly, I hit the wall, cramped up and hobbled home painfully and disappointed 6 minutes outside my time.
I know now that I was seriously underprepared.
I found it tough to take but what happened to me in that race essentially kickstarted two years of incredible trail running adventures as I resolved to train harder, run further and be stronger so that I never have to feel that way again. I am a different runner now, much stronger and I've certainly learned how to suffer better...!
Fast forward two years and my home marathon was looming again and I had got myself a number thinking I'd be in great shape to run a time I'd be happy with. In reality though its been a tricky few months with injury curtailing my training and then a tough day out dragging myself round the Hardmoors 60 only a few weeks ago with the sprained ankle.
In my mind I had decided to withdraw from the marathon soon after finishing the Hardmoors. The ankle has improved a lot but I knew a super quick time (for me) was out of the question. In the few days before the race though, my decision not to run had started to nag at me. I slowly started to realise that the desire to chase a time had blinded me to what an incredible experience and privilege it is to run a marathon and even better when its on your doorstep.
In the end the fear of missing out won. I decided to run on the day before and immediately regretted overindulging at a function the previous Tuesday evening!
But what would my tactic be? I didn't want to just trot round and treat it like a training run, but I also knew that my recent prep would preclude a super quick time.
I decided to try to run the race I wanted to two years ago.
I ran comfortably with the pack surrounding the 3h 30 pacer telling myself that if my ankle started to hurt at any stage I would withdraw. The weather conditions were perfect, the Minster looked glorious and the good people of York lined the route in their thousands cheering, clapping and keeping everyone supplied with jelly babies, musical entertainment and lots of love.
The ankle discomfort never materialised and I got stronger as the race unfolded. The wall never came, the cramp never appeared and I ran a negative split coming home in 3h 25mins.
It was immensely cathartic to finally put those 2013 demons to rest. To comfortably deliver the race I hoped to back then with no specific preparation shows how far I've come. I'm so glad I didn't listen to my stupid ego telling me that its all about the time. I know I can go faster but that's not the point.
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| Top photobombing. I wondered what happened to my free yoghurt! |
As the nights draw in, the call of the sofa and the duvet gets stronger. To all of you braving the elements this winter and pounding the pavements and trails over the next few months extra respect. Good luck to you whatever your challenge. Its certainly harder this time of year but way more rewarding. You have my permission to feel that extra little bit smug! See you out there...
