Having completed Reading Half Marathon, I kept on training with some friends from my triathlon club who had upcoming marathons. The training was going well, and a couple of weeks ago I saw that Belfast Marathon was still taking entries. So I decided to give it a go.
In with my other training I managed a slow 20 mile run and a fast 16 mile run in the few weeks beforehand - the 16 miler at 7:10 pace. Getting very obsessed with my pacing now I have it on my wrist with the Garmin 205 :) So I was feeling quite confident that 20 miles at pace was doable, and that if I could hang on for the final six miles and not hit the wall I had a chance of getting 3:15. 3:15 is the magic time as this is the limit for getting a "Good For Age" place in the London Marathon for next year; I've missed out on the ballot for that two years in a row.
Did a good 10 mile run about a week from the race, and a very easy 6-7 on the Wednesday and then pretty much tapered. Drank a lot of orange squash, and ate a lot of pasta. Gave up caffeine and alcohol for two weeks as well. good preparation and got to race day in good shape.
9:05 was start time, so got up at 6:30 and had some Oatso Simple porridge, a banana, and 500ml of caffeinated sports drink before 7am. Drove up to Belfast with my family and parked the car at a relation's house. This was a great idea, Frazer and Eileen gave me a cup of coffee (a mistake, it was too close to the starting time) and drove me right to the start line.
I'd been given a lot of advice about starting out easy. I knew that after about 16 miles my pace would slow no matter how hard I was trying. The only way to get my 3:15 was to go out fast and then try to hang on, so that's what I did. I watched my average speed throughout - it was 6:48 for about the first 9 miles - and I was feeling OK. I took a gel at mile 6 and a few sips from cups of water at every drink station.
Then we hit the hardest part of the race - it was starting to get hot, and we had a 5 mile climb. I watched my speed slow down, but was pretty happy it didn't go down quickly. By the top of the hill my average was still 6:54 and by the half marathon my time was approximately 1:31. Apart from a small bump at mile 25, there were only downhill and flat sections ahead, so I had my second gel and sped up and got my average down to 6:52 again.
The long coast path by the side of the motorway was probably the hardest section. I was feeling thirsty (I think I didn't get a drink for about 6 miles) and it got a bit lonely with no supporters and very few other runners in sight. I guessed this must mean I was doing quite well.
Arrived back in Belfast centre and finally got a drink - stopped and took a few seconds to down a whole cupful. Only 5 miles to go.
By this stage, I could now feel the fatigue kicking in. My average pace was dropping very slowly, maybe a second a mile. I wasn't too worried by this as the markings on my wrist said that I was well on track for my 3:15, probably even 3:10. But it was hot now and I was bored. I wanted to drink or eat more but had nothing left and didn't want to lose time at the water stations so just kept on going.
Getting more bored (it's a long time to be running) and just wanting it to be over, I got to Ormeau Park finally, and a fellow runner tried to overtake me, which gave me a bit of a boost. When I saw the finish I found a last bit of energy, and gave it a good sprint to the line.
My mum and Gina were waiting for me there, and we went in search of bananas, and I ate and drank most of the contents of my goodie bag.
I was massively pleased with my time - 3:05:28 - almost 10 minutes faster than I needed - my London Marathon place was now secured.
I had another surprise when I got the final result - which was printed in the newspaper the next day - I actually came 67th overall - and as this was a special 20th Anniversary year for the race, I would receive a free commemorative t-shirt as a Top 100 finisher :)
Photos and finisher video are still available to view at Marathon photos here
In with my other training I managed a slow 20 mile run and a fast 16 mile run in the few weeks beforehand - the 16 miler at 7:10 pace. Getting very obsessed with my pacing now I have it on my wrist with the Garmin 205 :) So I was feeling quite confident that 20 miles at pace was doable, and that if I could hang on for the final six miles and not hit the wall I had a chance of getting 3:15. 3:15 is the magic time as this is the limit for getting a "Good For Age" place in the London Marathon for next year; I've missed out on the ballot for that two years in a row.
Did a good 10 mile run about a week from the race, and a very easy 6-7 on the Wednesday and then pretty much tapered. Drank a lot of orange squash, and ate a lot of pasta. Gave up caffeine and alcohol for two weeks as well. good preparation and got to race day in good shape.
9:05 was start time, so got up at 6:30 and had some Oatso Simple porridge, a banana, and 500ml of caffeinated sports drink before 7am. Drove up to Belfast with my family and parked the car at a relation's house. This was a great idea, Frazer and Eileen gave me a cup of coffee (a mistake, it was too close to the starting time) and drove me right to the start line.
I'd been given a lot of advice about starting out easy. I knew that after about 16 miles my pace would slow no matter how hard I was trying. The only way to get my 3:15 was to go out fast and then try to hang on, so that's what I did. I watched my average speed throughout - it was 6:48 for about the first 9 miles - and I was feeling OK. I took a gel at mile 6 and a few sips from cups of water at every drink station.
Then we hit the hardest part of the race - it was starting to get hot, and we had a 5 mile climb. I watched my speed slow down, but was pretty happy it didn't go down quickly. By the top of the hill my average was still 6:54 and by the half marathon my time was approximately 1:31. Apart from a small bump at mile 25, there were only downhill and flat sections ahead, so I had my second gel and sped up and got my average down to 6:52 again.
The long coast path by the side of the motorway was probably the hardest section. I was feeling thirsty (I think I didn't get a drink for about 6 miles) and it got a bit lonely with no supporters and very few other runners in sight. I guessed this must mean I was doing quite well.
Arrived back in Belfast centre and finally got a drink - stopped and took a few seconds to down a whole cupful. Only 5 miles to go.
By this stage, I could now feel the fatigue kicking in. My average pace was dropping very slowly, maybe a second a mile. I wasn't too worried by this as the markings on my wrist said that I was well on track for my 3:15, probably even 3:10. But it was hot now and I was bored. I wanted to drink or eat more but had nothing left and didn't want to lose time at the water stations so just kept on going.
Getting more bored (it's a long time to be running) and just wanting it to be over, I got to Ormeau Park finally, and a fellow runner tried to overtake me, which gave me a bit of a boost. When I saw the finish I found a last bit of energy, and gave it a good sprint to the line.
My mum and Gina were waiting for me there, and we went in search of bananas, and I ate and drank most of the contents of my goodie bag.
I was massively pleased with my time - 3:05:28 - almost 10 minutes faster than I needed - my London Marathon place was now secured.
Photos and finisher video are still available to view at Marathon photos here
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