Went to the expo on Thursday and it was very efficient. I went in with my son and my old running buddy David Moritz. I was processed and clutching a runner's number and timing chip within 3 minutes. Then we wandered around the show, not that many freebies although an 11 year old boy seems to have the knack of getting something for nothing! I managed to get a replacement Garmin ANT stick for free - thank you Garmin and Paul won a duck in the tombola and Dave won a laptop bag. I am not sure what the point of the rice and beer in the goodie bag was.
Before I knew it, it was race day. The night before was not ideal, as a last minute change to the sleeping arrangements meant moving all my kit to the loft and the alarm in the house firing at 5am, just as it got light, meant total hours sleep the night before the race was around 5. Trip in was fun if odd to be surrounded by Harpenden Aro Runners. Following my departure running fource has disintegrated. Kenny is jetting around Birmingham and Barbados, Dave is in St. Albans and Paul refuses to race anymore. The Aro Sports shop has gone from Harpenden, but thankfully the club is thriving. Training nights well attended and senior men's achievements abound. Well done Aro Running Club! If I am back on a training night I’ll certainly come along.
Speirsy was on the train and I got to meet Lee (again) and Vidy for the first time. Found Dave on the train eventually and then we could get into all the old stories - so Speirsy do you remember vaulting a gate that was not closed......
As I predicted we were far too early. While busy at London Bridge I got on the first train no problem and made my way over to the Blue start. Lovely day and bumped into Speirsy again as they'd taken the wrong train and had to cross Blue to get to Red. By the time I had located the bag truck, the loo and the pen entry point it was 8:00am. 1h and 45m to kill before race start.
Cups of tea and coffee were on offer, so I took a cuppa and sat down in the sun to soak up the atmosphere and think about the race ahead.
Did several trips to the men's urinals (they had female ones too, the mind boggles) each one taking an exponentially longer time to get to the front of the queue than the previous visit.
On the final visit I was next to Spiderman in the line and taking off that kit was a mission. He should have a fly! Boom boom.
Pen position 3: so finally the time got closer to go so I made my way into the start zone. I was in the pen in front of the 3:30 / 8 min mile pacers - two blokes with beards and the marker. I decided to stick close to them. We shuffled forwards as the time crept closer to 9:45 then I could see the start, one last pit stop at the side and then we were off!
The pacers were boxed in like me in mile 1. Went through in 8:45 and was annoyed that I could not get any faster and could not get closer to the guys with the marker.
They even pulled away from me in mile 2 and so I was really hoping they were making up time. But they only just got back to 8 min miles and did not really look like they would pick it up. So I decided to try and get back some of the time lost on mile 1 by myself.
Miles 3 and 4 are downhill and ok to do a shade faster. I was being carried along by the crowd and the people around me in the race and watching the various starts merge. Mile 3 beeped in at 15 seconds over 7 minutes, too fast now! Tried to slow down and mile 4 went by at 7:11 opps. Tried much harder to slow right down and went through mile 5 at 7:36 pace and decided I felt fine and could hold that most of the way.
And I pretty much did until mile 19. Highlights along the way were:
- the Cutty Sark,
- going over tower bridge, I loved that and the couple in front of me got out a camera and took a picture of themselves on the bridge!
- People wearing celebrity masks in the crowd, my favourite was an old dear in a queen of England one
- Running with a banana
- Running next to a guy called Neil, I could pretend they were cheering for me
- Running with a guy in full monk's robes and monk's hair cut
- Seeing two blokes with identical died orange Mohican hair styles meet each other next to me
- Roman legionnaire waving his sword at the crowd
- Overtaking Mario and Luigi
- Being overtaken by a guy in a kilt and a gas mask
Then at mile 19 I felt I had lost the pace a bit and glanced at the Garmin. Pace was 9 minute miles. Was this the wall? Already! I figured my gel gap calculation was off and I so I took the next one straight away and recovered ok. Was feeling tired now ok at my new 8 min mile pace.
Then at mile 22 the road turned to treacle. Each step was an effort and my legs were burning. Holding the pace at 8 min miles was tough. My body and brain were screaming at me to stop. More and more people were walking or stopping for treatment. I started doing calculations of finish time if I walked. Each time I looked at the watch it said I had travelled 0.01 miles since the last time. I focused on each mile, then each half mile. This was payback time for the two 7 minute miles at the beginning.
Fastest vegetable home was announced on the tanoy as I came in front of Buckingham palace.
Then the sight of the finish, wonderful and to see 3:2x:xx and I went as fast as I could to the line, which was – exactly the same pace! So much for the sprint finish.
Still job done and well under the 3:30 target. At half way I thought I could do it in less than 3:25 but it was too much. The minute at the start and at mile 19 cost me greatly. But I was pleased to have got the time back quickly and I don’t think that was a mistake.
What's next? Any suggestions....
Garmin
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