It was probably not the brightest of ideas to attempt the hilly Compton 40 miler as first event after the 7 in 7, my legs duly all but packed up during the first of the two loops and I quite literally staggered to the half way point, at times barely able to move forward during the final miles, recording an official 20 mile finish in 4:31:13. Subsequently I developed a cold and having spent the Saturday before my next event coughing and sneezing, feeling generally achy and lethargic, I took the decision not to start the highly regarded Brighton Marathon. It was strange reading social media reports of many personal best performances later in the day; part pleasure for the deserved rewards being enjoyed by many friends, part envy at not being able to enjoy the same feelings myself. I knew that taking on so many marathons this year would adversely affect my running, and I also know that recovery from the punishment endured by my body in the last few months would take time, but jealousy at others was getting me impatient.
The events since Week at the Knees had shaken my confidence and I turned up at Ashford genuinely uncertain as to whether I had the wherewithal to complete marathon distance. The first half mile was enough to confirm that my legs still had not recovered sufficiently and the entire event became a grind. Once the half-marathoners finished it became a very lonely experience. About four miles into the second loop I became increasingly suspicious that I was in last place. I could see no runners ahead or behind and had quite a mental battle convincing myself that it was worth continuing. I have enough experience to have a good idea of pace without looking at my watch and my sole focus became keeping a rate which I thought would get me round in under five hours. I passed one runner obviously having a worse time than myself and on the short out and back section noticed another also behind me so was able to use keeping ahead of those two as another incentive to keep moving. This was a day on which completion in any time was victory and it was to a degree gratifying to finish in under five hours but I was still being hit very hard physically.
A mini road trip to Kent with clubmates Martin and Julia followed. I decided to revert to a previously successful run for nine minutes, walk for one minute strategy to see if that helped me get through a potentially difficult three events in four days which were on the agenda. At St George's Day Marathon last year I eased to a 4:01 finish in relative comfort and so approached this flat out and back course with a slightly elevated confidence than I had been enjoying recently. A very easy first half in which I stuck rigidly to my plan ensured that I was able to run strongly in the later stages and pick off runners to finish in better shape than for quite some time and with a negative split. The Wonderland Caucus Race, a fancy-dressed, surreal experience at the foot of the white cliffs of Dover followed. This was a six hour event but I decided from the start that seven laps totalling 26.95 miles would be sufficient. Again I started cautiously and despite struggling to get my legs working properly in the first three laps I finished strongly with a second negative split in two days. A bit of friendly rivalry out on the course certainly helped to focus my competitiveness and the decision to plug in to my music at the start of lap four was a huge boost, putting a smile on my face and getting me singing out loud in exuberance. I had quite a physical dip at the end but know how to handle this and was able to prevent myself getting too cold.
And so to Hamburg, my favourite road marathon. I ran this entire event with Kaz who has 160+ marathon finishes under her belt, including three ten in tens! A very determined endurance runner! I said from the start that I was going to be following my nine/one strategy and she was happy to do the same. My legs again took about five miles before they felt as if they were moving without restriction but by halfway I was feeling great. Kaz mentioned that she had never negatively split a marathon and so I resolved that today would be the day she would. I felt on top of the world, playing to the crowd with fist pumps and high/low fives and just could not get the smile off of my face. We tried to step up the pace to achieve the neg split but Kaz did not have enough recent training to keep up the late pace and so we eased down a little and cruised to the finish in about a one minute positive split. It didn't bother me to miss out on the third negative split in four days, I was just happy to finally be recovering from my slump and anyway it was great to run the whole thing with Kaz, a very different experience for me as a normally very solitary runner.
Finally I have started to feel like my running legs are returning but am aware that I need to be cautious about getting too carried away. I am quietly confident about completing the four marathons booked in for May, the more concerning obstacle is the 50 miler half way through the month, but, what will be will be, I'll start it with no expectation and just see how it goes.
4th April 2015 Compton 40 dnf
12th April 2015 Brighton dns
19th April 2015 Ashford & District 4:56:26 #71
23rd April 2015 St Georges Day 4:47:51 #72
24th April 2015 Wonderland Caucus Race 5:12:05 #73
26th April 2015 Hamburg 4:32:18 #74
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