I had decided that it was time for a daft pacing early in a marathon so this was it; no looking at my watch, set off at a faster than comfortable pace, see how far I get and pick up the pieces from that point. The Portsmouth Coastal marathon route is out and back following the coast onto Hayling Island and covering a variety of surfaces. Ten minutes before start time, the sky darkened and torrential rain swept over the waiting runners. The race director took the sensible decision to send us off a few minutes earlier rather than let us slowly freeze in the rain, it was chip timed so no-one would lose out time wise.
I really enjoyed the freedom of starting at a good pace, it felt great to actually be running at the start of a marathon. I well knew I would pay for it later and was fully prepared for that to happen. The rain relented but the breeze picked up and we were treated to real coastal conditions; shingle beaches, muddy coastal paths and constant battering by the wind.
As expected the energy rapidly depleted. By seven miles it was hard work, by ten I was wondering if my legs would seize and by halfway I was reduced to walking with the occasional stiff-legged trot. On the way back most miles were sub 15 minutes, but a decent overall time was not the aim and strangely I very much enjoyed the event, it's a great, testing route and I'll be back next year to improve my time!
22nd December 2013 Portsmouth Coastal 4:57:38 #24
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