Horrible weather: check
Early morning start: check
General feeling of foreboding: check
Must be marathon day!
The new forest marathon represented a good chance to return to home territory after moving away to Cardiff some two and a half months ago, and meant that I could catch up with some of the runners from Westbourne RC who I hadn't seen for a while.
The weather was suitably horrible which is indicative of an autumn marathon and a good indication of the sort of luck I was expecting for this marathon. I haven't been particularly conformative to my training routine since the dualathlon a few weeks back and have been dreading the thought of having to run for 4 hours solid, so I was hoping that I would have enough residual fitness to carry me round the course.
I ran the first 18 miles with a few of the guys from WRC who were doing this as their first marathon and the first 10 miles or so went passed in a bit of a blur as we caught up with each other. We had been averaging about 8:30 min miles which felt oddly comfortably and so by the half way mark I was starting to feel confident that the rn would go better than expected.
The rain had been pret constant all morning and luckily there was not much wind to speak of and the temperature had remained cool but not cold. I had discarded my jacket at the start of the race and decided to brave the elements in my shorts and make a wish t-shirt and within 20mins or so it be became apparent that the jacket wouldn't have made an awful lot of difference!
The course is simply beautiful and takes in a fair amount of the local country side, predominantly on road with approximately 3 miles of trail, which was only slightly marred by the rain. I saw a couple of people taking photos as we went round, and even a few recording the entire thing! I must remember that for marathon #12!
My shoes started giving my a bit of trouble at 15 miles or so. I had known I was due for a new pair since the last marathon but hadn't quite gotten around to getting some, and the all too familiar ache in my left foot had started and given me clear notice that it was not intending to go away any time soon! Still, I've coped with worse situations and come out fighting throughout this challenge and I was determined that this would not be a repeat of marathon number 3!
I lost the WRC group around 18 miles or so as a call of nature forced me to nip behind a bush and take a quick wee. This meant that Jon and the others had kept running on and I didn't quite have the energy to push up the pace to catch them up. Still the thought of being able to make up a but of the distance gave me a mental push to keep going.
Miles 19 to 23 went by without much to write about and mile 24 brought with it the knowledge that the end was almost in sight and finishing was all but guaranteed. By this point the cold had really set in and I was looking forward to having a nice cup of tea and some chocolate!
I've looked back at the photos taken as I approached the finishing line and am fairly sure I know what was going through my mind, "only 3 more left!". This year has certainly been a roller coaster and the end is nearly in sight.
With marathon number 10 only a week away the end is nearly in sight and I'm already thinking of challenges for next year! I have already signed up the blenheim palace triathlon in june with my brother and am hoping to compete in the London triathlon as well, so hopefully next year will be as challenging and rewarding as this year!
