Marathon 1 - Done, Dusted and Dead Legs!
Well, it's a day later than my usual update but due to lack of internet access last night, it has had to wait. Anyway - FAR more important than my blog timing... my marathon!
So, the week of training wasn't quite as planned. I didn't actually get a chance to run until Wednesday and then despite telling myself to slow down to approximately 8.45 min/mile pace (Does everyone find it so hard to really slow down their comfortable pace to something so incredibly slow?), I ran 4 miles at 7.55 pace. That said, given the fast (by my standards) run the previous Sunday, it still felt comfortable. I then didn't run again until early Saturday morning which WAS a very controlled and steady 2 miles. I wasn't too bothered by such low mileage in this week of 'wind down' running as I knew that I wouldn't really be taking anything away from my performance at this stage but me, being me, would have liked to clocked up another 5 miles in the run up to the weekend. Hey ho.
We arrived in Milan late Thursday night AFTER arriving at the gate just as they were about to close it. I don't think I've ever manage to cut something so fine before and think that my eldest was quite traumatised by getting herself so distressed over the possibility of missing the flight. We didn't miss the flight however, and arrived in Milan to light drizzle. We were staying very close to the train station and so were hardly caught out in a downpour so all was fine. Well, all was fine until late Friday morning when en route to the Duomo (stunning cathedral and gives St Edmundsbury Cathedral a run for its money), I was either incredibly lax or just unlucky by managing to have my purse stolen from my handbag. Purse, money, cards, travel passes et al - all gone. I did not appreciate this unlucky Friday 13th start to my weekend away. Now, I'm not especially superstitious but sometimes these little kicks make you feel as if you have real reason to be nervous... more so than I already was! SO after many phone calls and several hours in a central police station in Milan, I was once again ready to get a spot of sight seeing in. Or I would have been if it wasn't now 5pm and raining! Instead, I took the opportunity to attend the Marathon Village. Very much like the London Marathon Expo but on a smaller scale. I think I waited a grand total of about 90 seconds to collect all of my race information, number, t-shirt and goodies. I then looked around a few of the many stands, drooled over some of the beautiful Mizunos and then headed back (in the rain) to meet up with my friends and children at the hotel. Saturday was a much nicer day without too much rain for the most part. A decent look around the Duomo this time, window shopping for me (there's a real hint of guilt attachment when unexpectedly borrowing off your friends until you return to the UK), the public gardens (these are lovely but I honestly think that the Abbey Gardens win this one) and the castle grounds and aquarium. Of course, being pre-race day my nerves were kicking in so I was doing everything I could to keep myself occupied. A MASSIVE pasta meal (perhaps too much food but I wasn't taking any risks) to prepare for Sunday - this is, of course, one of the big benefits of running a marathon in Italy; pasta dishes come in a million varieties and are served in virtually every restaurant. I had also been really good in ensuring that I was staying hydrated throughout the week so was getting into good habits.
I tried hard to stay focused on Saturday evening (hours of faffing - packing/unpacking/repacking my bags are a giveaway to my nerves) and even managed a pre-11pm bedtime. That was until what had been a nice, quiet hotel, was overtaken by a very loud stag party weekend of sorts! Thanks for that chaps!
Onto Sunday, race day! A total wash out for the entire day. I was a drenched missy with running mascara before the event had even begun (and yes, I wore mascara). At the last minute, I put another vest OVER my Pacers crop top (apologies for this Pacers but it was just a little too cold and damp not to). Now I like running in the drizzle as a spot of rain always helps to keep me hydrated but this amount of rain water was a touch extreme! My nerves were dreadful up until about 30 minutes before the start but a few jokey conversations with some Italians who clearly spoke MUCH better English than I do Italian (this isn't hard by the way), lots of Gatorade, a little bit of protein and I was excited, ready and desperate to run to get myself warmed up in the cold rain. The Italians, it would appear, are a very patriotic bunch: 1 minutes of silence (personal prayer time I think but I can't be sure), nearly 6500 runners singing the Italian National Anthem and group well wishing before the gun. I had intended to try to stick to 8:45 min/mile pace but it was obvious after about 4 miles that my body was going to stick to between 8:34-8:38 pace. This obviously suited me fine but I had the underlying fear that I was going to pay for it later. The first ten miles felt extremely comfortable and I often had to talk myself into NOT speeding up for fear of suffering in the later stages. In terms of the scenery, well the starting zone (Rho Fiera) was fantastic - the National Exhibition Centre for Milan. The next10 or so miles were less impressive and mainly consisted of motorways, industrial estates or residential areas. We hit the castle grounds at the half-way point which was rather torturous as it was also the finishing point. At 14.94 miles my Garmin lost its satelite reception and never regained it. Whether this was the rain, the tall buildings or something entirely different but the control freak mathematician in me who had been avidly watching the clock throughout the last 2 or so hours suddenly had to go by how I felt instead. So, from 24km onwards (as opposed to mile markers like us old fashioned Brits) I tried to run at a pace that would secure 5min25/km (good job I do love my numbers) which would equate to 8mins40 mile. Amazingly, I must be a steady runner as EVERY km between 24 and 36km fell between 5.23-5.26 pace. Given that I developed cramp in the left foot arch at the 31km mark, this steady pace really surprised me, although considering the cold rain water that flooded many of the roads, the actual cramp came as less of a surpise. 36km completed, the challenge really kicked in. Running that distance for that length of time became a case of talking myself through the kilometres and being so very grateful that I'd been taking a gel shot religiously after every 45 minutes of running and drinking plenty of water. So despite feeling tired and sore, I never felt that my energy levels had stooped too low. My muscles argued against the final few miles but I was encouraged by the sheer fact that I was overtaking so many people (according to my split times I was ranked as 2437 at the half marathon mark, compared to 1990 across the finish line). I think in the last 6 or so kilometres, I lost approximately 30 seconds where I had slowed down a little and literally counted my way through the minutes of the last 3.2 km (17 minutes 14 seconds to be precise). A HUGE cheer, lots of shouting and waving from my daughters at the 250 metres to go point was all I needed to speed up (or at least it felt as if I sped up) for the final few metres. Oh how good it was to see that blue finishing line! I was determined to get under 4 hours but was hoping to achieve the 3:50 mark and would be really pleased with anything quicker than that. My official finishing time was 3 hours, 48 minutes and 8 seconds. SOOOOO pleased.
Finishing position - 1990 out of 3975 full marathon finishers (slowest recorded finisher was at 6 hours) (this isn't that great)
Gender - 101st female out of 407 (I'm pretty pleased with this)
Age category - 25th V35 female (out of 82 V35 finishers, I'm pretty pleased with this too)
Typically me, I cried as soon as I stopped although I think the rain hid those tears rather well! Lots of cuddles, dry clothes, a hot shower, recovery milkshake and a nice coffee later, I actually felt on the mend. Today - tired legs, back ache (although I put most of that down to the plane and car journey home this morning) and bizarrely enough a sore bone at the top of my left foot but on a nice high.
I do love a challenge.
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