Finishing time
3 hours 40 minutes 18 seconds
Weather
A good day! Plenty of lovely sunshine, the wind had finally dropped and the temperature felt much milder.
I felt much more awake this morning and mentally focused at the start so I decided to see what I could do today. With the weather being so good I even decided I didn’t need to wear my rain jacket which was very pleasing. I set off with a faster than normal pace and by the time I was at Hawkshead I was already a couple of minutes up on my usual time at this point. This continued to the hill at mile 7 called “The Devils Gallop” and all the way to the bottom of the lake at mile 12.
I was conducting a bit of an experiment, could I push my body to continue this pace all the way around the lake or would I pay for it at some point? I was soon to get the answer. When I got to yellow drinks box number 7 at mile 14 I knelt down to the floor to the pick my drink out of the box. I could feel both my legs creaking as I went down. After selecting my drink I tried to stand up again only to find it almost impossible! The legs had reached their limit. After my drink I tried to get running again only to find my legs just didn’t want to go. The next couple of miles were exceptionally hard work as I tried to loosen my legs up. This was made worse as miles 14 to 18 on the course are very undulating without a flat section.
The conclusion to my experiment was there isn’t any reserves spare in my body which I can tap into to improve my marathon times over the last few days of the 10 in 10. I think I will have to go back to the pace and plan of my previous days.
After mile 17 I got my legs working reasonably smoothly albeit at a much more sensible usual Malcy pace. I carried this on for the remainder of the course. I legged it up the drive and across the lawn into the finish hoping to dip under 3hour 40 minutes but couldn’t quite make it. I still finished with a comparable time to my previous days and seemingly no worse for wear after my fast first half blast so I’m pleased with how it all went in the end. Now I just need to prepare for day 8!
High Point
The physio’s Laura, Alex and Mel out on the course in a Red Peugeot 207 screaming at us as they when past. Especially in Bowness, all the other pedestrians were wondering what was going on!
Low Point
Box 7, mile 14 when I was struggling to get up, never mind run!
