Well, I did it. And in under 4 hours as well. And I didn't have to stop. And I thoroughly enjoyed it too!
Chester is a great marathon. Well organised, well supported and a great route that takes in both the city and the surrounding countryside. It was the same route as last year so I had a fairly good idea of what to expect and that helped a lot.
I woke up early, had a light breakfast (cereal and coffee) and then my wife drove me down to the racecourse for the start. The town cryer gave a great speech and then we were off.
My plan was to run at around 5:30 per km which would bring me in under the magical 4 hours. The course left the racecourse, swept round the city centre, under the clock and then over bridge crossing the river Dee and out into the countryside. Looking at my watch I was running at 5:20 per km. A bit faster than planned but comfortable. I had settled into my pace and felt fine. This time I had decided to take my iPod Nano with me since I wasn't chasing a PB so I thought I would listen to some podcasts. I know there are strong feelings about wearing headphones while running official events but I have no problem so long as all noise is not blocked out completely. Listening to podcasts fulfils this criteria so I don't see it as an issue.
My fuelling plan this year was to take a gel every 3 miles. Gels were supplied on the course but only from mile 9 onwards and even then only every 6 miles after. I took 2 gels with me and then took another 2 gels at each station. This allowed me to take a gel every 3 miles and worked out great.
The first 22 miles were fine (if you can call running 22 miles fine). Then came the last 4 miles. Regardless of taking the race comparatively easy the last 4 miles are always tough, My brain screamed for me to stop but all I had to do was tell my brain to shut up. Experience kicks in and you override the central governor. This is not going to last long. This will be over. You will feel so much better if you get to the finish line without stopping. These are the things you tell yourself.
Back over the A56 and then it's down to the final 2 miles. And the hill at Sandy Lane! It's not much of a hill. Not in real terms, but at the end of a marathon it looms large like a mountain! 500 yards of slow and steady and then it's the final push to the racecourse again. Swinging left down onto the river for the last mile. Some of my wife's family were supporting along the route so I put on my best game face and posed for a photo or two as I "zoomed" past.
Then I finally got to the racecourse and the finish line was in sight. 300m. Not too long but long enough to seem like miles away. Managed to see my wife in the crowd so put on my "not in any pain whatsoever" face. She took a video of me sprinting towards the finish line. I say sprinting but since I have seen the video it is more like a fast walk. With about 50m to go I was on my own and decided to put on a little show for the crowd so I airplaned toward the finish line in a zig-zag. Once I crossed I had to stop almost immediately because my foot felt like it was about to fall off. The hubris of showboating!
Anyway, I finished in just over 3:48 which I was ecstatic about. I picked up my free technical top (very nice), downed a couple of bottles of water and then found my wife. Then I put my feet up for the next 4 hours while my wife drove back to London.
So now I'm in the post marathon bliss of easy runs. The next five weeks is about getting back up to speed and distance without injuring myself. My first run was the Friday after the marathon. It was four miles and I felt shattered! This was followed by another 4 miler and then a 5 miler on Sunday,
I have another 5 miler tomorrow, then another, and another and then a 7 miler! It's going to be a fair few weeks before I get to double figure runs again!
