Edinburgh Marathon

23rd May 2010

3:22:46 - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34538102

Living in Britain as I do, the weather can be something of a problem. Wind, rain, hail, sleet, fog, mist but not so much blistering sunshine. Unless of course I happen to be running a marathon. Edinburgh 2010 made it three of my last four marathons to be run in sweltering heat.

I travelled up the day before the race with two lads from the club. We strolled up Edinburgh's Royal Mile bathed in sunshine and looked enviously at tourists supping beer outside the pubs and cafes. Worst of all more glorious weather was forecast for the following day. Or was it? I awoke the next day to the beautiful slight of cloud and drizzle. Had breakfast, cloud and drizzle. Walked to the start, cloud and drizzle. Waited in the start pen, cloud. Started the race, ran for a half a mile and wouldn't you just know it? The cloud has gone and there's the sun blazing down on us!

Never mind, my marathon best of 3:15:18 was set in warm sunshine so let's not worry about it. However, I did have another worry in the back of my mind. Namely the persistent lower back and hamstring pain that had dogged me during my training. It invariably flared up during the latter stages of all my long training runs and it was more in hope than expectation I believed it would stand up to the test of the full marathon distance.

Nevertheless, the early stages of the race were comfortable and at a decent pace. The first 5 miles covered in 36:22 and the next 5 in 36:48. 10 miles down in just over 1h 13m  and on course for a 3h 12m finish. The heat was relentless but I was dealing with it and hit the halfway mark in 1:36:11. The next few miles were probably the most enjoyable of the race. My hamstring was beginning to ache a little but I'd been running at a comfortable pace and was passing a lot of other runners who were beginning to wilt. Around mile 15 I latched on to a runner markedly younger than me and we paced each other for a few miles comfortably churning out mile splits in the 7:20s.

Just as I was beginning to think I could ride this pace all the way to the finish and a new PB my injuries come to the fore. Mile 19 is a 7:35 and I lose my pacemaker in the next mile with a 7:53 followed by an 8:05 split. The wheels hadn't so much come off but one of the engines had seized up. That engine being my troublesome left hamstring.

With 5 miles left I had to take decisive action to make sure I finished the race. Not wanting to stop and stretch, I chose to introduce walking breaks to ease the load on my injured leg. At first these were after each mile marker but then became every half mile. For the last 5 miles my splits get perilously close to 9 minutes and mile 25 is cruel enough to go over (9:09). The sun is relentless and my dodgy hamstring gets tighter and tighter but I make it to the finish at Musselburgh Racecourse. The sprint down the final furlong is not so much of a champion thoroughbred but more of a lame old nag.

My finishing time is 3:22:46. Not what I'd hoped for but respectable given the circumstances. Quite clearly I have injury problems that need to be addressed ..... but not before heading to the finish area and partaking in an activity more suitable for the weather conditions. Another couple of marathons need to be finished before I head back home. Pints of Marathon Ale that is. Never has a drink been more refreshing.