Saturday 25 April 2015

Manchester Marathon

I would love to write a mile by mile, blow by blow account of how the marathon went.
I would like to write about how I smashed my goal time into bits.
I didn't smash it to bits.

My original goals were

A) Finish
B) Sub 5 hours
C) Sub 4.30

Sub 5 hours would be a push - i knew that before the day came.

When the gun went off and i crossed the start line, my goals for the day very quickly became

A) Finish
B) Don't shit yourself 
C) Don't be last

These all seemed like fairly achievable goals. 
Much more realistic than my first set of goals - although 'B) Don't shit yourself' came into question for a few of the middle miles. 


I think I would have liked to have blogged about my training that led into the marathon. But in all honesty, it wasn't that glamorous and in all honesty, some days, I called getting out of bed and getting dressed a success, let alone going in the outside and running. 

I can summarise the training part fairly quickly, I missed 6 weeks at the start of the build to the marathon - I found a lump in my left breast on New Years Eve, the first biopsy left me sore and not able to do very much for the first week of January, the second biopsy left me very sore and unable to do very much of anything for about 5 weeks.  I was unable to swim (arm movement hurt) unable to run (jiggle hurt far too much) and unable to bike (downward pressure was agony regardless of how much strapping I used) 

Lack of exercise, let alone significant training, also compounded the SAD that had already taken a tight hold. Overall, at the beginning of the year, most days I had the motivation of a sloth. 
Happily, I only had to have 2 biopsies and some poking about.

I did train when I could n February saw me racking the miles up - running became my happy head space and suddenly, the drop in heart rate I had been promised for so very long, finally arrived.  
Whoop.

The week before Manchester, I cheered Paris marathon, found myself giddy high and ready for it to be my turn.

Manchester wasn't a 'run' for me in the same way it was for many others.
It was a training exercise for Ironman Japan.
Yes the distance was a bit early, but I needed to tick off the distance. 

I needed to know what 26.2 miles of running would feel like.
I needed to know how far it was. 
I'm aware that sounds stupid, but until I completed it, I genuinely didn't know. 

And now I do.

I learned a lot while running my first marathon last Sunday.

I learned my mates are awesome. 
Really they are.
It makes my face hurt and my insides squish a bit when I think about the fact they stood in the cold for over 5 hours to cheer for me.

I learned that 26.2 miles is hard work.
It hurts your legs, your joints, your head and if you're not careful your stomach. 
I need to practice running longer distances.

I definitely need to practice pace control - even though I KNEW this and tried my best to curb my enthusiasm, I still went out harder than I should and this made the second half harder than it needed to be. 

Did I mention that I bloody loved it?
As in properly loved it.
I smiled the WHOLE way round.


And I high-fived EVERYBODY
I even found myself crossing the road to high-five kids!
That counts as extra running right?


I BEAMED all the way (apart from the photo below which was taken before the gun went off and I was still full of all the terror - also slightly pressured and confused, but mainly touched, by the fact my swim coach had come to watch me run.)


I was promised pom-poms at mile 26.
Couldn't really miss them!!


My biggest fan


And a new friend who helped me through the last 5 miles. 




The biggest thing I learned though was from looking back at the pictures after the marathon and knowing how much my knees hurt during the last miles and in the hours and days after I had finished.

If you look at the picture below, you will notice 3 things
1)  One of the loves of my life is hanging over the fence on the left of the picture.  I love her lots.  Signe covered miles on the course so she could cheer and squidge in multiple locations!! She's ace.
2) I am still smiling.
3) My legs are all over the shop.

The pressure that is placed on my knee when I connect with the ground is visible.
My whole leg is at an angle, with my foot tilted out to compensate and balance the weight.
I rock my hips from side to side.

If this happened for every stride during the whole 26.2 miles (which it did, cos this is how I run), no wonder my knee was grumpy with me.

I knew my run was 'distinctive'
I've been told I can be very easily identified in a crowd of runners.
And I kinda knew it happened.
I just didn't know it looked like this!!



Other than looking like a very happy version Quadzilla, there looks to be no roll in my left foot - it appears that I land flat, my hips seem to roll (although not as emphasised) 

 
Its certainly fair to say, I don't look like this 


Sigh.

There is much work to do.
No amount of work will make my legs that long. 
Orr lean.

I have been experimenting with my running form since the marathon - I have been working on aligning my hips and knees, not rocking my hips, keeping my feet facing forwards, shifting my body weight, altering my stride length. 
All to see which feels best. 

What it feels like, what it looks like and how efficient it is can all be very out of sync with each other.
And like swimming, having someone watch can be invaluable. 

So... for me, I need to work HARD of my running form - mainly so my knees don't die a slow and painful death just as i'm starting to love running. 

Any hints, tips, drills will be appreciated - I know there are lots of running coached out there. 

Ideally, I need to have some proper analysis and some proper coaching.

I shall add it to the list of things to do.....


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