Marathon time again, six months exactly after a first taste in Venezia, for my second official attempt at the distance outside of an ironman. As much as I enjoyed many aspects of the race towards la Serenissima, it had left me somewhat frustrated by the result (read race report here) and so really wanting for more and determined to give the distance another shot. Experience is key when it comes to marathon – just like an ironman really – and I was also tapping on some consistent winter training to achieve a more accomplished result. Having clocked 2:49:12 in Venice after being well (over) cooked for the last 15 K or so, including a few minutes spent battling with debilitating cramps by the roadside, I was hoping I could go sub 2:45, and perhaps even aim for a 2:40.
And yep, as much as I don’t need an actual race to be motivated to go out for a run every other day (I would go every day if I could really), and as sad as it might sound, I still have the mindset to think about these races in terms of outcome. After all, the marathon is the only distance left at which I can still dream of a PB. Any shorter distances are for younger legs, and with anything longer the clock doesn’t really matter.
Back in April 2023 my brother and I ran a virtual marathon on the same day as the official one, with the aim not just to qualify but to do the race together the following year. This was the plan until a few weeks ago when unfortunately Fabien injured himself after doing a trail marathon in rather extreme conditions…No London for him this year sadly, and neither for our fellow runner/music head Mike Hughes, who had qualified but would also be a DNS because of injury. Finding yourself toeing the start line of a marathon fit and healthy is perhaps the most difficult step in the journey! Partie remise for next year boys 
Winter training is never plain sailing and this was confirmed yet again, what with having to juggle with the usual cold season ailments, small niggles, back to back party weekends and ensuing social jetlag, but at least it was somewhat consistent. Some good sessions on the treadmill showed me that I was on the right track (one of my new favourite session became what I call the Progressive/Tempo Run: 1% incline, 13 min progressive build from 13.5 kph to 16 kph, 10min at 16.1 kph, 9min at 16.2 kph, 8min at 16.3 kph then 13-15 min progressive build from 16.3 kph to 17.5 kph. Just over 14k and under an hour in total, quick and efficient just like a treadmill session should be. Did that 3-4 times over a few weeks and could really tell the progress. I also tried to add some slower recovery runs – something I have rarely been able to do throughout my career – as well as some intervals (mostly fartlek), hill sessions and a few long runs. Some days felt great but many felt terrible. All in all average 4-5 runs per week over 5 months, between 50 to 90k a week depending on whether I could run on weekends or not.
I sold (half of) my soul and invested in some carbon plated cheating shoes, though at least I stuck to my beloved Altra (the Vanish Carbon ones). If you ever see me wearing one of those ugly squeaky Nike Vapor Zoom whatever (or anything related to Nike for that matter), please save me as this would mean I’d fallen deep into the dark side.
Four weeks prior to the marathon I ran a half at Run Fest Lee Valley in a rather disappointing 1:17:10. Though I ran mostly on my own in very gusty conditions, this didn’t make me feel especially confident in my running form. The last long run I did alongside the Allier river near my home town felt especially bad, though at least it had the merit to make me realise that the supposedly revolutionary (?) Maurten gels are really not for me (I just couldn’t assimilate them). What I did pretty well though I think – after party bender post BATB two weeks prior the race mis à part – was the tapering part, as for once during the last ten days I was able to be smart and reduce the volume while keeping some good pacing. When race day came, apart from an ongoing niggle on my right knee, the legs and lungs felt fresh and raring to go.
To my surprise I must have slept 7-8 hours the night before, very much unheard of as it’s something I’ve never been able to do in the past before a big race. Racing on home turf and sleeping in my bed surely did help, though this meant I felt somewhat uneasy in the morning, unsure whether it was a good thing or whether I should have been more stressed…
Crazy thoughts really!
A short cycle ride to Dalston, a couple of trains to Blackheath and all of a sudden I was joined by an impressive mass of runners moving towards the official “blue wave” start line (where the “Good for Age” start), friends and family in tow. Clearly never done anything on that scale before. 60000 runners or so, the biggest ever in London apparently. I can only imagine how crazy it must be at the “red wave” start further down the hill. Up on the heath it was rather cold and windy but everything else went (surprisingly) very smooth. No queuing for the loos (!), no struggle finding the right lorry to drop bag, no big push at the start. As smooth as. At 10:02:20 here I was running past the start line, embarked on a solitary journey with myself, albeit surrounded by thousands of fellow runners.
The first few kilometres (mostly downhill) really flew by, as I focused on keeping the pace in check to avoid being very sore and sorry later on, all the while having to navigate around the hundreds (literally) of slower runners who had somehow managed to start at the front of the race. 3:47, 3:46, 3:32 (ouch), 3:42,… trying to stay conservative and as close as possible to the 3:48 per km target (which leads to a 2:40:15 marathon time). The intense cheering all along the course combined with the constant navigating meant that before I knew it we were already crossing Tower Bridge, enjoying the special moment despite running into a rather gusty headwind.
Soon after as we turned right towards Canary Wharf it was the halfway mark, which I reached in 1:19:40. Bang on target, even though I thought I’d been running faster by looking at the splits on my Garmin. Turns out these were pretty far off and unreliable, and it would get even worse after that (I even clocked a 3:22 at km 32 apparently… yeah right!). Fab and Silvia were waiting for me with a bottle of electrolytes soon after, as planned, then off we went for a loop of the Isle of Dogs. As the kilometres clicked and with less than 15k to go I still felt comfortable and rather confident I could hold that pace to the end, maybe even increase it in the latter stages. Gwan!
At mile 20.5, right outside Limehouse town hall (the venue where we host our All Or Friends parties) is the spot chosen by Run Dem Crew to drum up a storm all day long, bringing out the vibes and the rawkus as led by my mate Charlie Dark (MBE). I was waiting eagerly for that moment in the race, but I think I was starting to be a bit light headed by that point and so was taken a bit by surprise. I saw Charlie on the megaphone as I was running past him and missed my high five, though I still managed to catch Fab and Silvia again right after as they ran next to me for a bit. Didn’t see Gio, though I heard him shouting my name. Thanks guys, this makes all the difference.
Less than 10k to go now, we’re on the real stuff. Instead of slowing yourself down to stay on target it’s now all about grinding and hanging on to keep that same pace. And that bloody Garmin keeps on giving me wrong splits.
I’ll stick to a £15 Casio clock watch next time.
Lots of talking to myself in this section.
Maybe it’s fine if I stop here, I’ve done pretty well already?
No definitely not, the marathon starts here actually.
But my quads are failing me, I don’t think I can carry on.
Yes you can, you’ve done enough long distance triathlons to know otherwise.
And on and on and on.
As I reached the 40k I did some quick calculations in my head and thought if I kept that pace I would be just under 2:40!
But what pace was I on?
And how hazy was my brain?
And my quads?
As I finally made the right turn around St James Park and ran under the 383 yards banner I had a quick look at my watch. Just over 2:39… Ouch. No sub 2:40 then. The quads were smashed and sprinting down the home straight was not an option. And I would have needed a monster finish. Instead I increased the pace by a good 0.1 kph and stopped the clock at 2:40:17 (officially 2:40:22).
That’s a huge (9 min) PB and improvement compared to Venice, with a lot less suffering involved. Happy days then. But it’s also just 23 seconds short of the 2:40:00 cut off, which is a cool barrier to break in itself but on top of that it allows you to take part in the Championship start (as opposed to Good for Age) the following year. The kind of thing club runners like to brag about so I’m told.
That was close…
I’ll have to run another one then.
Sub 2:40.
Here or elsewhere, hopefully with Fab.
Yep that’s a bit mad to think like this.
But that’s how it is. Once a runner…
RESULTS
PS: outside of those exquisite post race pints, here’s a quick lowdown on my nutrition game: I had four (SIS) gels in total, the first one 15 min before the start then one at 10, 20 and 30K. I also took a couple of salt tablets, which I believe prevented me from cramping like I did in Venice. But had I been lucid enough to take one more gel around 36-37K I believe it could well have allowed me to pick the pace up in the later stages…
Next time.
London Marathon 2024
Bravissimo. From the four of Chambery