London Marathon

It seems a while ago now, but it's taken me a few weeks to have the heart to write this race report.

I've just read my race report from the National 12 Stage Road Relays the previous weekend, and the warning signs were there.  I'd commented that I was moving reasonably well and feeling good on the flat, but any inclines were presenting big problems for me.  I was working a lot harder than I wanted to on them and my hamstring was becoming tight and sore.  I put this down to a three hour flight the day before the relays and was confident a week tapering for the marathon would see me right.

Conditions on race day seemed reasonably good on arrival, although when I warmed up I realised it was a lot warmer than I had first thought.  I had recently been warm weather training so wasnt at all concerned by this.  My hamstring was obviously playing on my mind before the race as I did some specific stretches on it which I would never normaly do before a race.

I had a target pace in my mind, which was based around my 2:19:05 in last years race.  I was really happy with the way I paced last years race and figured that to make a one minute improvement, I wanted to be running 2-3 seconds per mile faster than last year for every mile of the race.  I preferred this approach to trying to make large gains in the early sections and overcommit. 

Within half a mile of the race starting, there was a huge sense of deja vu as I was alongside two runners who I spent many miles of last years London Marathon running in a group with: Steve Way and Pieter Vermeesch.  The first two miles were pretty much identical to last year and then we passed through the 5k chip mat a couple of seconds down on last year.  We had quite a gap in front of us, but we were chatting about the race ahead, how some people had overcommitted and the general vibe was that things were how they should be.  10k was reached a little slower than last year and myself and Steve looked at each other questioning whether the marker was in the correct place - the course had been revised this year slightly to account for work at Cutty Sark.

Myself and Steve were alternating turns in front, with Vermeesch content to just sit.  We were closing slightly all the time on the group in front: Natali, Fraser Thompson, John Hutchins and Tom Payn.  The 10k split was slightly off what we had hoped but as I passed a few familiar faces in the crowd, I was giving them the thumbs up to indicate the race was going well so far.

There was a slight incline in the 10th mile where my hamstring started to feel problematic.  I lost a few metres to Steve, and Pieter came around me, but I was back with them as we got onto the flat.  This was the first sign of my hamstring tightening.  As we approached Tower Bridge, another slight incline saw me lose ground again, only this time I wasn't pegging it back.  A halfway split of 69:34 was 45-60secs off target but provided my hamstring didn't get any worse, I still have a chance of running faster than last year, although a PB was looking unlikely and my mood had changed dramatically.  I went from feeling positive and confident to asking questions of my body and it's capabilities over the second half.

I ploughed a lonely furrow for a mile or so, and was working hard to try to get back to Steve and Pieter but to no avail.  I was caught by John Gilbert and Paul Molyneux at 14 miles.  It felt so much easier rolling along in a group again and I was trying to settle down but my hamstring problem was quickly deteriorating.  At the time, I remember thinking it was cramp and was massaging my hamstring vigorously to try to eliminate the problem but to no avail.  I also took a Lucozade to try to address the suspected crtamp.  I fell away from Gilbert and Molyneux at 15 miles but very very quickly and went from running 5:30s to running 6:15 pace.  I can remember telling myself to tough it out and make sure I finished no matter what but when I started limping and was unable to plant my left foot on the ground at all with 9 miles still to run, my decision was made for me.  I asked a policewoman where the nearest tube station was and she pointed me to one just 100m away.  I limped up to the entrance, with my clothing still damp from pouring water over my head every mile.  I boarded the tube and was getting some very strange looks, apart from one man in a Tipton Harriers vest who I got chatting to.  This was his 85th marathon and his first DNF.  It helped to be on the tube with this guy - suddenly I didn't feel so alone in my plight. 

Physio assessment and treatment since has confirmed the problem was a hamstring problem originating in my left glute.  At this stage I am still not sure whether I will be running any more marathons.  As things stand, my body simply isnt strong enough to run another marathon.