The write up for this marathon is pretty late and so please accept my apologies for that.
This marathon was a simple point to point race with some off road sections (approx 3 miles) and tarmac, the former being comprised predominately of well established trails with the odd field.
The route itself is described as challenging yet scenic and I couldn't agree more with the websites description. This marathon was akin the cambridge in difficulty, although the weather was far more agreeable and so I had a positive outlook on the race from the start.
I've been toying with different ideas of what to listen to whilst I run. Let's face it, running for 4 hours can get pretty boring (despite the great scenery) and so music choice is pretty crucial to keep you going (and sane) to the end.
I had previously listened to music, from pop/chart music to dance and house (hoping that the higher BPM would have a carry over in speed like it does in shorter races), however I always found that because of the changing nature of the music I was unablet o really "zone out" and just keep plodding along.
A colleague of mine mentioned that he listened to audio podcasts whilst he was doing training runs in preparation for the Cardiff half, and so armed with this new idea, I set off from the start line with the wise words of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for inspiration!
Whilst you might laugh at the thought of a grown man plodding along listening to the adventures of a teenage wizard, I have to say that the singular tone of voice did help to carry me through as I found myself being involved in the story line rather than on the constant left foot/right foot of the marathon itself.
I had bought a new pair of shoes about a week before the race as my trusty Mizuno shoes had finally given up the ghost after being my trusty sidekicks in 6 marathons (april-september) and with a heavy heart they were confined to the cupboard (I havent quite brought myself to throw them away just yet!) and replaced my a slightly less forgiving pair of sauconys. The new shoes have a lower profile and far less cushioning and present themselves as an entirely neutral shoe.
I'm happy with the feel and ride of them and they certainly held their own during the marathon. My one gripe is the sudden return of bruised toes which I hadn'd had with my previous pair, although I have a sneak suspicion that it is down to the laces and the way the shoe holds over the bridge of my foot, so i'll have to tinker around with that and let you know.
The race itself passed without much event. It was, all in all, a very pleasant marathon albeit challenging. I don't think that doing two marathons in two weeks was the wisest of ideas, but unfortunately it was some bad planning on my part which happens every now and then.
I have recently purchased a new road bike in preparation for the 2013 challenges and so am trying to do some more cross training and cut down a bit on the running. One thing I have learnt this year is that rest is crucial and now 10 months into the challenge, I feel my legs are starting to take a bit longer to feel 100% (although achieving a recovery to the point where I can run a marathon slightly quicker than previously) but I suppose that was to be expected.
I continued my use of bananas during the race which seemed to work very well and abstained from using lucozade as an energy source. As a personal choice I don't think that it agrees with me very well and I prefer to have a proper food source rather than energy gels mid-race.
The next race is the A20 path 'n' downs marathon on 18.11.2012 which is a special race for me as it is the same marathon that I did last year as my "practice run" to see whether I could actually run a marathon at all!
Hopefully it will give me a clear indication as to whether my speed over longer distances has improved at all over the last 10 months and of course, it ticks the penultimate race off the list for me leaving only portsmouth on 23.12.2012.
As always, thanks for reading this blog. Sorry that this race report is pretty brief but the say that "no news is good news" :)
garmin log: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/235517953
