The Yorkshire Marathon - 09/10/2016

'Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional' Haruki Murakami

So to the Yorkshire Marathon.  My home marathon and what a great event.  Super slick organisation, a great route through the beautiful city and then the villages of Stockton, Stamford Bridge and Dunnington.  The weather dawned cool and sunny and the good folk of York were out in force to cheer us on once again.

This is the fourth edition of this marathon which has deservedly earned a great reputation and my third attempt.  Given the countryside around York, lots of people go into this race expecting a pancake flat course, but the two 'out and backs' and the lumps and bumps along the way make for a tougher challenge than first expected.

My running targets at the start of this year were to maintain my UTMB qualifying status (which I did in the Lakes in July) and then an ambitious grand slam of personal bests across 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon on the road.

With the half pb in the bag at North Lincs in May, this would be the one chance at a marathon pb in 2016, and in the days leading up the nerves really started to build.

I had such a good day last year at this race as I cruised round easily in 3.26.  This year, the preparation was a little better (decided to skip the ankle sprain this time) but with still only five weeks to get ready after the TMB hike this summer it would by no means be easy to go faster.

I did manage to squeeze in some good runs around 17-20 miles in the short period I had given myself but I did feel undercooked.  I also set myself an ambitious target of 3.15 which is closer to the time suggested by my strong performance at the North Lincs Half in May.

Despite executing the first half of the race perfectly, the dreaded cramp set in from mile 16 or so which is seriously early.  Whilst I managed to maintain a good pace for a further four miles after that, it was all I could do to ease off and make the best of it after mile 20.

In the end a time of 3.19.26 was a big pb but it was bitter sweet given how strong I felt.  If it wasn't for the cramp, I am sure I could have gone under the 3.15 barrier but I guess 5 weeks just wasn't enough time to condition my legs for this run.  If I hadn't dialled down the pace in the way that I did, my cramp would definitely have brought me to a halt and the pb chance would be gone.  So I guess in a way it was good to still salvage a personal best time despite the painful last few miles.

A big shout out to my old mucker Ben who cruised under his four hour target.  He's come a long way in the last year or so and its great to see how much he improves with every run.

Having spent so long focusing on going long on the trail for the past few years, this was a good reminder of why the road 26.2 deserves so much respect.  If I'm going to get closer to the 3hr mark, I'm going to need a proper run up and a more singular focus.

This is the second time this year I have cramped badly in a race, the other being at Osmotherley in May.  I thought I had put the cramps behind me with my running but it has returned in a big way this year.  I'm putting it down to insufficient specific prep combined with running a sustained faster pace but time will tell I guess.  I will need to find an answer if I'm going to continue to improve.

In hindsight whilst I have enjoyed running faster this year, it is proving difficult to satisfy my expectations of myself over these disparate disciplines.  Perhaps I was just too ambitious this time.  I can be pretty hard on myself and sometimes focus so hard on the negatives I forget to acknowledge the progress I'm still making with my running.

Anyways enough navel gazing, I'm half way to my pb slam!

Next up is to see how fast I can go at the 10k at Leeds Abbey Dash where I have a target to go under 40 minutes.  I may go for that 5k pb at my first parkrun as some speedy preparation.

Only three weeks to go so I've given myself another uphill battle to get ready.  Nowt like making it easy for yourself!

Yorkshire Marathon 11/10/2015

'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.

Top photobombing.  I wondered what happened to my free yoghurt!

When I jump off this ultra treadmill for long enough I'd like to see how big a hole I can put into my marathon time.  For now though its good just to have one in the bank that doesn't have such a painful memory.

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...