The closest I`ve done events together before this was back in 2015 when I did the St Albans Stampede 12hr, followed 3 weeks later by Loch Ness marathon. That one hurt!
As usual I didn't sleep particularly well, this is pretty standard for me before a long event so I try not to get too worked up about it. The goal for this one was to try and stay relaxed and attempt to enjoy it as much as I could, knowing that the last marathon was probably still in my legs somewhere.
Also I had been wrestling a cold for half the week so lets just see how it goes!
Right I think that`s all of the excuses and humble brags out of the way, on with the story....
With a start time of 9:30am, it was nice to be able to get up at 6am for a very respectable 7am pick up time from Mummysaurus.
An hour and a bit later we parked up at the Elmbridge XCEL Leisure Centre in Walton on Thames.
Our hosts for this mornings fun are Phoenix Running, well known for some bonkers medals and a "Tuck Shop" aid station.
We wandered into the Leisure Centre reception area to find quite a few people in there already laughing and joking with each other, a mixture of relaxed and excited energy in the air.
With the time now coming up to 8:30am I went over to registration to pick up my number and was greeted with lovely big smiles from everyone at the table. After a brief chat I headed back over to Mummysaurus to chill out for a bit on a nice squishy chair. Looking around the room we recognised a few of the faces from a couple of weeks ago, most of these were in the relaxed category. There were a couple of folks looking a little nervous and with some of the t shirts proudly on display you can understand why. I mentioned before in my last post that reading shirts along the lines of 52 marathons in 52 weeks, 10 marathons in 10 days and many, many more, should never intimidate you. The people inside these shirts know what its like to be where you are now and every one of them will great you just the same, with a smile.
Mummysaurus and I chatted for a little while as I attached my number and shed some layers, before we knew it it was around 9:15 and time for the race briefing.
The race director Rik Vercoe called us all outside. It was a little chilly, overcast and threatening to rain......ah potential PB weather! He welcomed us all and explained that this was a 6 hour challenge where you can run just one lap or as many as you can get in. I was aiming for a marathon today so my target was 8 laps. He then told us that today there is a change to the course, we will be running the other way which means.....no little blue bridge!!! For those of you who have no idea what I`m taking about I shall do my best to explain why I was personally already over the moon with this news.
This little fella is "The little blue bridge" looks quite nice doesn't it? Well if you just walk over it a couple of times then yeah, its very nice. However if you are made to cross it 16 times during a marathon I personally think you could be forgiven for wanting to burn it to the ground!
Some people love this little thing, as for me, I was more than happy to be running away from it!
Meanwhile back at the Leisure Centre.......
Rik explained that this weekend was special as it marks the 75th D-Day anniversary and with this in mind, as we walk to the start line he would like us to observe a moment of silence. Nice touch.
We walk around the back of the building and across some grass, the only sounds now are the rustling of kit bags and the wind through the trees. We round the corner and pass little clusters of beautiful blooming Poppies.
Everyone was still in silence as we reached the "Tuck Shop" and race start around 3 minutes later. As everyone dropped their bags and cups off, Rik broke the silence by announcing that we had 3 minutes till the start. I gave Mummysaurus a quick hug and shuffled into place.
3...2...1...GO!!!
We walk around the back of the building and across some grass, the only sounds now are the rustling of kit bags and the wind through the trees. We round the corner and pass little clusters of beautiful blooming Poppies.
3...2...1...GO!!!
As you can see I`ve already gone off waaay to hard! Oh well, lets see how this goes!!
I had kinda promised myself that I was going to take it easy, you know, test the legs.....then I here the word "GO"....all bets are off and that goes right out the window!
The laps today are 3.28 miles or 5.27km depending on what flavour you like to record in. For ease of maths, lets just call it roughly a parkrun.
I`m just over a mile in, clocking a 7:40 minute mile and I`m cruising along in 6th.....OOOPS!!
This was NOT the plan but I cant seem to slow up, I know I`m going to pay for this later.
What the hey, keep smiling, keep kicking!
I find myself at the turning point already and it was at this point that I started to realise just how hard I was actually running. It took nearly 30 seconds before I saw the main pack coming the other way!!
Whats got two thumbs and is probably going to burn out and end up a crumpled mess a little later?
THIS GUY!
I smile and give encouragement to everyone along the way and before I can really take it all in I can see the "Tuck Shop" and the end of lap one. I grab my wristband for my first lap and head straight back out, joking to Mummysaurus as I pass that "this isn't a parkrun is it?!"
Parkrun number 1 done in under 25 minutes, man oh man, the crash is going to be spectacular but the message just isn't getting to my legs! I`m still knocking out 8 minute miles and actually starting to lap people now as I come into the end of parkrun number 2 in 50 minutes. What am I doing?!
I have a little sip of my Huel and a little water, thank everyone and bop off down the path to begin lap 3. OK monkey, time to relax a little, rein it in......end of lap 3 and I`m still running 8:20`s?! Good job idiot, top shelve restraint there....(slow clap)
Another sip of Huel and some water and its on to start lap 4 - Right come on now, you know this is silly, just slow it down a lit........oh look its the end of lap 4!
So now I`ve just done my second fastest half marathon ever it would be a really good idea to ease off.
However the idiots that are my legs, are clearly running the show today (pun intended) so off we bop again doing sub 9 minute miles......for the entire next lap.....please see above meme.
I left the "Tuck Shop" with a little handful of sour cherry sweets and a giant strawberry and treated myself to a little walk while I had a munch.
I stuffed the giant strawberry in my face and went to run, oh. Whoever was steering this body today had instantly noticed the change in pace, given me the finger and abandoned ship. MUTINY!
OK don`t panic, time for plan B, walk run.
I focused on trying to run 4 minutes then power walk 1 minute to assess just how much damage I had done early on. It wasn't too bad but I knew this was probably going to be it now for the long stints of running. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, time to get your head down and concentra........"turn point, TURN POINT, MATE!! TUUUUURN POOOINT!!"
I would like to take this moment to profusely thank both the runner that was behind me and the photographer for yelling the above at me as I sailed by! Without you both being there at that time I probably would have been somewhere around Hampton Court before I had noticed!
Speaking of the photographer, a huge thank you for the great shots that are featured in this blog, great work man!
Back to the, erm, fun?
Run, walk, run a little less, walk a little more. I was just trying to do anything to try and keep the pace up. The main thing that kept me going at this point was the encouragement of everyone else, you guys near the back are amazing! Always smiling even when its clearly starting to get tough, I applaud you all regardless of distance or time.
Lap 6 now done, I try get some fluid in me and march off as quick as I can, all too aware that the walking part of my walk/run plan are getting closer and closer together. If I can help it I really don`t want to have to walk a whole lap. During my walking parts I try and push as hard as I can to keep the pace up, swinging my arms like a mad man. Hey if I have to walk, I`m gonna mean it! I looked at my watch during one of walking bits and was still doing a 12 minute mile?! What in the he....I`ll take that! Seeing that gave me a little boost and make me jog a little more.
I reminded myself that even at this choppy speed, if I could just keep it up, I could actually finish somewhere close to my PB! Walk, run, walk, run, just keep chipping away.
Finally the aid station, keep smiling even through gritted teeth!
This was it, the final lap, the last push!
My walk/run was now down to 1 minute/1 minute but it was getting the job done!
I could feel my glutes and hamstrings getting tighter and tighter due to the marching but I was so close now I just had to keep moving. I was trying to build myself up over the first half of the lap to try and run as much of it on the way back as I could.
Finally the turn around point.
This was it, the home straight! With a deep breath I started to jog, my legs were not happy about this but I just kept going. I was so tired but with every smile I was greeted with I tried to pick it up a little. My pace started to pick up ever so slightly and it actually felt a little more comfortable, I mean it wasn't like I was lounging on a sun drenched beach but, you know....
26 miles down and I looked at my watch. I knew a had half a mile to go and I could see the minutes fluttering away before my eyes. I had so hoped for a sub 4 hour finish today but alas it was not meant to be, as I saw my watch tick over to 4:00:00 I gave a little sigh but knew I could still knock another chunk off of my PB so chin up lad, you're nearly done!
That last 400 meters hurt. I gave it as much as I had left and legged it straight for the finishers bell.
4:02:46 - The job was done and I took much pleasure in smashing the PB Gong as well!
Rik then placed this monster medal around my neck (pint of Guinness not included) and congratulated me on a new PB! To the pub!
Fortunately we didn't have far to go as the pub is also at the finish line! Get in!
We made our way into the Weir Hotel for some well deserved lunch and a pint, perfik.
As always I would like to say a huge thank you to Mummysaurus for the support, I know its been tough watching me run about when you currently cant but fingers crossed that the injury clears up soon for some more shenanigans!
Massive thank you to the Phoenix team and everyone that was there, you really made my day! Keep up the great work folks, I`ll be back for another one very soon!
For anyone interested in checking out a Phoenix event and to be honest, why would you not be?! Then please click this handy link to the website (CLICK ME!)
Thanks for reading folks, hope you enjoyed it!
Much love,
Cardiosaurus
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