Edinburgh marathon - 3:57:58 (watch-time)
A hard marathon in the blistering heat of Edinburgh! Having trained through a Scottish winter I was somewhat peeved when the weather turned last week to glorious summer weather.
The marathon was mostly enoyable. The first 13.1 miles went past without any problems. I took on plenty of water (enough to require a couple of pit stops over the race), got into a nice rythmn of 8.30-ish miles and was feeling very good. The temperature was warm, but there was a cooling breeze and parts of the course were shaded. 8.30-ish miles was very slightly faster than I had been planning, but not by so much that I felt the need to slow down. At the 13.1 mark I was 1:54 into the marathon which was just where I wanted to be for a 3:45 marathon.
Miles 13-18 I decided to up the pace because I was feeling so good. I didn't up it by that much - just about 20 seconds a mile or so - but it made a noticeable difference to my position in the field and I overtook a substantial number of runners in the process. This was my basic race plan - get to the halfway point, and if you feel good then push things a little.
Miles 19-21 was where thing started to get interesting. The course moved from a relatively sheltered industrial and residential area down to the open shoreline of Portobello. I think this coincided with a drop in the wind and a rise in temperature as we approached noon, and I really began to feel the heat quite badly. At 20 miles I was at 2:52, which was still on course for a 3:45-ish finish but I was beginning to realise I had used up all of my "good" miles. What I find most interesting (in retrospect at least) was that my last few 8:00-8:30 minute miles didn't feel strained at all. I wasn't breathing heavily and my legs weren't feeling very tired.
But from mile 20 on I just buckled in the heat as did a lot of other runners and my splits below demonstrate how quickly I began to slide. Lots of local residents had thankfully taken to their gardens to hose down the passing runners and I zig-zagged through as many I could on the last few miles. I had a wobbly moment at 22 miles when I started to feel naseous and wondered if I could keep going to the end. But at 24 miles I reached the last water station and decided to walk through it until I finished my water - the first time I had walked in the marathon. It was probably the most sensible thing I did all day - after a couple of minutes of comparative rest (although my legs were pretty stiff as I walked along) I broke back into a jog and completed the last couple of miles feeling a little bit fresher than I had for the previous 4.
I spent yesterday afternoon in my bed with a sore head and feeling sick - dehydration and/or mild heat exhaustion I assume. I managed to drift off for a brief sleep and felt much better after that.
So after all that, I'm just pleased to have broken 4 hours. I would like to think that on a cooler day I could have gone a little bit quicker. Should I have tried to speed up at the halfway point? In retrospect probably no, but I was feeling good enough to try it and I don't regret it. It also takes 30 minutes off my PB from only previous marathon - 4:29:58 at the 2003 Loch Ness Marathon.
Some reflections on training etc. later.
1 - 8:53
2 - 8:44
3 - 8:27
4 - 8:08
5 - 8:57
6 - 8:40
7 - 8:24
8 - 8:59
9 - 8:36
10 - 8:50
11 - 8:46
12 - 8:35
13 - 8:32
14 - 8:21
15 - 8:25
16 - 8:35
17 - 8:17
18 - 8:26
19 - 8:19
20 - 9:06
21 - 9:19
22 - 9:42
23 - 10:17
24 - 10:37
25 - 11:30
26 - 9:49
26.2 4:32 (26.52 according to the Garmin)
The marathon was mostly enoyable. The first 13.1 miles went past without any problems. I took on plenty of water (enough to require a couple of pit stops over the race), got into a nice rythmn of 8.30-ish miles and was feeling very good. The temperature was warm, but there was a cooling breeze and parts of the course were shaded. 8.30-ish miles was very slightly faster than I had been planning, but not by so much that I felt the need to slow down. At the 13.1 mark I was 1:54 into the marathon which was just where I wanted to be for a 3:45 marathon.
Miles 13-18 I decided to up the pace because I was feeling so good. I didn't up it by that much - just about 20 seconds a mile or so - but it made a noticeable difference to my position in the field and I overtook a substantial number of runners in the process. This was my basic race plan - get to the halfway point, and if you feel good then push things a little.
Miles 19-21 was where thing started to get interesting. The course moved from a relatively sheltered industrial and residential area down to the open shoreline of Portobello. I think this coincided with a drop in the wind and a rise in temperature as we approached noon, and I really began to feel the heat quite badly. At 20 miles I was at 2:52, which was still on course for a 3:45-ish finish but I was beginning to realise I had used up all of my "good" miles. What I find most interesting (in retrospect at least) was that my last few 8:00-8:30 minute miles didn't feel strained at all. I wasn't breathing heavily and my legs weren't feeling very tired.
But from mile 20 on I just buckled in the heat as did a lot of other runners and my splits below demonstrate how quickly I began to slide. Lots of local residents had thankfully taken to their gardens to hose down the passing runners and I zig-zagged through as many I could on the last few miles. I had a wobbly moment at 22 miles when I started to feel naseous and wondered if I could keep going to the end. But at 24 miles I reached the last water station and decided to walk through it until I finished my water - the first time I had walked in the marathon. It was probably the most sensible thing I did all day - after a couple of minutes of comparative rest (although my legs were pretty stiff as I walked along) I broke back into a jog and completed the last couple of miles feeling a little bit fresher than I had for the previous 4.
I spent yesterday afternoon in my bed with a sore head and feeling sick - dehydration and/or mild heat exhaustion I assume. I managed to drift off for a brief sleep and felt much better after that.
So after all that, I'm just pleased to have broken 4 hours. I would like to think that on a cooler day I could have gone a little bit quicker. Should I have tried to speed up at the halfway point? In retrospect probably no, but I was feeling good enough to try it and I don't regret it. It also takes 30 minutes off my PB from only previous marathon - 4:29:58 at the 2003 Loch Ness Marathon.
Some reflections on training etc. later.
1 - 8:53
2 - 8:44
3 - 8:27
4 - 8:08
5 - 8:57
6 - 8:40
7 - 8:24
8 - 8:59
9 - 8:36
10 - 8:50
11 - 8:46
12 - 8:35
13 - 8:32
14 - 8:21
15 - 8:25
16 - 8:35
17 - 8:17
18 - 8:26
19 - 8:19
20 - 9:06
21 - 9:19
22 - 9:42
23 - 10:17
24 - 10:37
25 - 11:30
26 - 9:49
26.2 4:32 (26.52 according to the Garmin)
posted by edinburghrunner at 7:10 pm
5 Comments:
Amazing work! Well done on running the marathon at all in this weather - the hottest day of the year I think. Time for a few days with your feet up?
Yeah - hot, hot hot! I'll take a week off completely I think. Try to give my a complete rest.
Well done on breaking the 4 hour mark :-)
Good job getting under 4, your splits tell the tale, though it's good you went out conservatively (which is hard for me). Maybe waiting until 16 or 17 miles to turn it on might help next time. Also sounds like you were definitely dehydrated, which surely makes things worse. Well done regardless, it's impossible to get everything right and you gutted it out for a good time.
Walt - thanks for stopping by.
Mike - thanks for the comments. I agree with what you say. 16 miles before pushing would smarter.
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