Good day for running.
Not the best time nor the worst (apologies to Mr Dickens) but somewhat surprised to find I was 5th in the V50 category given that I an V65.
Despite the entreaties of the organisers to stick to one supporter per runner, the roads were lined as usual with excellent & very vocal support. Magnificent !!
I was very wary about running this with very limited training and sequence of injuries : so it was pleasing to report that I completed the race without the ‘wheels falling off the wagon’. Time of 4h 4m was in line with hopes but obviously some way off what I would have expected had I been injury free & been able to train properly.
Slightly confusing to have been 2 timing chips, one for the Virgin Marathon and one for the Abbott World Marathon Championships, in which I had zero expectations of featuring !!
#WeRunTogther
#LondonMarathon
I wasn’t going to Run London after a summer of Hamstring tears/strains and this week, a bad back & after effects of a Covid Booster Jab. But then again its too special to miss.
A little surprised to find that I have 2 Race Bibs to wear each with a timing chip : The Virgin Marathon one must be worn on the front and the Abbott Majors on the back. So that means if I reverse over the finish line I will get a faster time for the Abbott race than for Virgin ….
#WeRunTogether
So the return of mass start racing has seen me partake in a few events but with no great success. Still getting over hamstring & related injuries and with limited training going on due to heavy workload has resulted in a big drop in performance.
With almost no long training runs this year, I have been concerned that I wouldn’t be able to run a Marathon but at the time of writing this post, I am hoping to give it a go ! The target is to get a good enough time to get a Goof=d for Age place in next year’s race.
As usual I hope to raise some mich needed ££s for the MS Trust.
First ‘actual’ race since Florence Marathon back in November 2019 and it was good to race again.
No mass start with runners queuing up – socially distanced of course – to be sent off at ~ 5 second intervals. So adrenalin levels were lower than with the mass start racing. Pre-pandemic there would have been ~ 700 runners but today just 200 and there was plenty of space for runners, dogs & walkers. The course had also been changed with the down/up hill section in the North West corner being cut out to be replaced by an extra (flat) loop to the west : So it was a bit easier.
Given that I had to stop running only a few weeks ago for yet another hamstring problem I was relieved to be able to get round without problem although the time of just inside 50 minutes was not what I would have considered acceptable a year or two ago but at least I was #1 in my category. Pace was even throughout too with the slowest lap being the first as it should be.
Lets see if it happens …..
So at last a Marathon but nothing like normal as is the way in these times. Next weekend …. I still have to work out when and where to inflict the pain of 26.2 miles. Somewhere flat for sure but I have been so short of training due to the ongoing hamstring problems that have beset me for most of the year.
But currently out of running action due to a recurring hamstring problem.
