The sound of the gun going off is a new one on me... I'm normally way too far back to hear it... then again, this time it really was a GUN! No arguing with that bloke I'm guessing.
The first few miles were really tough, my HR was really high and the hills pretty much started straight away. I definitely put my "ultra" head on though, and stuck to a conservative plan of walking the big hills and chilling out for the rest. I was thinking that it would take me around 5:20 if everything was going well.
At the halfway mark, I was 5 minutes faster than I was in London, however I knew there was a tough section of the course ahead between 14-17 miles, and I knew I would lose time there. Meeting Sebby at around 15.5 miles was great, as I felt a sense of achievement not being half an hour behind her. She was still very fresh, so we weren't together long before she shot off into the distance.
The cramp started at around 20 miles in my calves and hamstrings, and what with my piriformis hurting from mile 4 (I believe this was down to running on the same camber for the whole race) this was to have me resorting to mainly walking in the last 3 miles, which is a shame, as I was heading for a sub 5 before that point.
That aside though, I really enjoyed it... even the pain, and I felt a fantastic sense of achievement. I have ran 2 marathons in 3 weeks, I've done hills without the training and I've done it all while not feeling at my best. My finising time was 5:06:00
Next challenge will be the Boddington 50K in 5 weeks time. How I'll cope with that, God only knows!
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