Edinburgh marathon 2009

I got to Edinburgh about 11 on Saturday morning and had coffee and lay around in the shade in Princess Street Gardens until the flat was available. Met up with RuthB2 in the excellent flat she had found and then after an afternoon siesta mainly because of the heat, I went off to Starbucks down the road for hours of chat and meeting old and new Fetchies. 

RuthB2, Pestomum, Woodley and later Flip and I spent a quiet night in the flat chatting away before I had a relatively early night.

I woke a little early and started my pre-race faff. My ribs were still a little sore so besides pain killers I thought I would wear a sleeveless base layer under my fetch top for support. I thought I might get too hot but it turned out fine and my ribs were pain free for the entire race. I did take some more pain killers half way round just to be on the safe side.

The plan for Pestomum and me was 11 min/miles and for the first half we managed this fine and everything was going well (apart from there being no water at the 3m water station). Saw the winners coming back before we reached Fetchpoint, which it was lovely to see, and from then on we played spot the Fetchies on the other side of the road for a very long time. When we got to Fetchpoint there was no RuthB2 of Flip with Pesto's special drink - it turned out that their bus took 4 hours to do a thirty minute journey as it was following the runners. Flip ran five miles to try and catch us but we were long gone by the time he reached Fetchpoint 

One thing I noticed was the number of people walking on both sides of the road - I have never seen so many, but it was very very hot.

After halfway we started to slow a bit and had some walking breaks. At one point Toolilac, who was doing the relay and going in the other direction, stopped and warned us there was no water ahead and handed us her water bottle as she hadn't got far to go. What a lovely, thoughtful thing to do ! That water was very useful. I started to search the side of road for bottles with any water in, but didn't have any luck.

Eventually we got to 20m and there was water. After that there was loads of water. At about 21m we found Flip who had run out from Fetchpoint with water for us having heard about the water shortage - considering he didn't run the race, he ran an awful lot yesterday, a real hero ! 

Got to Fetchpoint the second time, lovely to hear the cheers, and there was RuthB2 with Pesto's drink and then we were into the final miles. Our pacing had been pretty good and we ran/walked the last stretch coming home in 5hr 20m which in that heat was a good time for a first marathon. She did great !  We had a good a good chat on the way round too 

I felt my hamstrings a little on the way round, but no cramp so that was good as well. 

In the evening we went to the party organised by Santa and I danced a bit. Well, a lot and loved it 

A fantastic weekend and I think I will do this run again in spite of the water shortage. But this weekend will be remembered because of the kindness and thoughtfulness of Fetchies, the work by Fetchies organising Fetchpoint and the pre-race and post-race Fetch events. Thank you ! 

  

Brathay Windermere marathon 2009

This was my first marathon two years ago and although I struggled from mile 22 onwards, I enjoyed it. Last year I was doing it after the White Peak the day before and I surprised myself how well it went.

This year it didn't start well, I slept poorly the night before, so I was still tired when I woke up. The day before had been fun watching and encouraging the Ten marathons in Ten Days runners at various points round the Lake (they do the marathon course every day !). Met many people I knew, including Phil Owen who came over to watch and support them.

Go to the start in plenty of time and and saw the Ten in Ten runners off on their final lap (they start an hour earlier), more chat and then off to our start. The plan was to be disciplined and do 10 min/miles and help others to new pbs. My hamstring hasn't been good this week and I have Edinburgh in two weeks, so it was always going to be gentle, enjoy the scenery, run.

The course is very undulating and it wasn't easy to keep a consistent pace. My plan as it evolved through the race was to stick as close as I could to 10 min/miles and not to speed up to catch others who were speeding up, but to slow down if people were struggling to keep up. We were a minute or two ahead of schedule at 13m and then the hardest undulating quarter kicked in and we started to slip behind the schedule. Andrew had always been slightly ahead and he disappeared soon after half way. Kev went ahead at 15m, followed by Tracy at about 18m, leaving me and Mel.

Then at 19m I fell ! I had moved off the road to look at my watch and caught my foot on a driveway kerbstone. It was like being in slow motion, I thought I had recovered, but I hadn't and I smacked down on the driveway. Ouch. Everybody around me stopped to ask if I was okay and I knew from previous experience of falling that I had to give myself a minute to assess the damage. Initial assessment was good so I told Mel on go on and said I would try and catch her up. I was up at this stage and walked for a bit. The inside of my left hand was a but bloody and grazed and I had slight pain in my side at chest height, but no damage to my legs.

Caught Mel up before we got to Bowness and we went along the flat part and walked the 21m hill to be greeted by a couple of friends at the top, it was great to see them. I was becoming conscious of the soreness in my side and my hamstring was starting to protest, left calf was tightening and it was starting to become harder work.

Then at 22m, the heavens opened and rain came down in buckets. Before this it had been a mixture of cloudy and sunny with a slight head wind in the first half. Mel was starting to struggle a bit, but it was clear we were going to get her a new pb and it seemed to be possible to get her under 4hr 30m. In the end we missed that by 23 seconds, but got her a new pb by about 6min, so that was great!

Afterwards I was amazed how tired I was. Not sure whether it was because of poor sleep or the fall, but it seemed worse that it had been the last two years.

A lovely weekend !

Photos : https://picasaweb.google.com/105792896882008304219/Windermere2009