Notes
I can't believe it finally happened and I ran the London Marathon. I definitely did not have the training that I would have liked and the injury made things iffy going into the race but I lucked out with the weather on race day. The day before the race, we were told it was going to rain all day and I was not ready for that. I woke up on race day and there was no sign of rain and it made me very happy. It gave me a little extra boost that I needed because I was not all there mentally because of the rain so it was very good to not have any.
Getting to the race was really easy since I had a bus ride there and it was mostly just hanging out for the start for a while. It wasn't too cold and I was dressed well.
The start was weird as it was a rolling start and they were a little behind but once I got going, it was great. I felt pretty good for about 10 miles. In relation to my training, this made sense. The best I ever really felt was about 10-12 miles this training cycle and then my hamstring started to hurt a bit though. It was a race day though so I really couldn't worry about it- I wanted to get a good time. The best moment was around 8.7 miles when I saw Kate and Megan. It was great to have people in London cheering for me. Another great moment was during the 7th mile when we ran through Cutty Sark and the crowds were loud and crazy. I will always remember going around that boat with a lot of support. I continued to run well through the south side of the course and around 12.2-12.3, we turned right and crossed the Tower Bridge. That was probably the coolest moment I've ever had in a marathon and I'm comparing it to Wellesley College in Boston, the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin and running near the Emperor's Palace in Tokyo. This bridge was a wonderful landmark and it looked so cool with people lined up 5-6 deep on both sides across the entire bridge. I'll never forget that. Miles 12 and 13 were a little over 7:00/mi and I crossed the half around 1:30:09 and I was happy to get 14 miles in with another sub-7 mile. This was where the lack of quality training I had started to catch up with me. I kept pushing as much as I could but the body really started to hurt. The hamstring was a problem (but much better than it had been in the summer) and the hips were really sore. When I do my next one, I really need to get up in the 70 mile range again. I only had one 65 mile week and I needed more.
I kept pushing as much as I could but finally needed a walk break at 35K- I wouldn't let myself do that any sooner. I knew I wasn't going sub-3 but I definitely wanted a sub- 3:15. I figured that was a minimum that I could get. I ran as much as I could but needed to walk a bit to stop the cramping. The scariest moment was at about 23.5 miles when I saw medics doing CPR on a runner. It was hidden but I still saw it and I'm sad to say I heard he passed away. It was harder to learn this when I realized he was my age at 36. I pushed as much as I could and I was about to turn onto the mall when I really cramped badly in the left hamstring. I took a few steps and then picked it up. When I saw the finish line, I also saw Kate and Megan and it really gave me a much needed boost. I realized a sub-3:10 was possible and picked it up hoping not to cramp again. I crossed at 3:09:44 and I was so much happier with that than I thought I would be. I know the 6 majors under sub-3 goal was done and although there is still a tiny amount of disappointment with that, I still know that I have 5 majors with very good times and four of them under sub-3. Also, the last 3 years have really been taxing on me and I've come to accept that. I would love to get healthy and try London again but I'm ready to move on to bigger and better things. I ran well considering the last few months and the last 3 years have not been easy on me. I know I have to take care of my health and start getting sleep again. The really positive news is that I can still run a 3:09:44 with my worst training cycle and being injured so I know I could have some really good times in me. If there is one thing I'm really happy about, it is that. I know how how hard marathons are and most people would love one that fast so I know I'm lucky to be able do it in these circumstances.