Along the side of the river Trent in Nottingham is the National Water Sports Centre. It is kitted out with some brilliant Olympic standard facilities including some man made rapids for canoeists to practice their skills and test their courage. There is also a rowing lake, a perfect rectangle 2000 meters long and a couple of hundred meters wide. It was round this lake where the aptly named “Let’s go round again“ marathon was held held at the weekend, consisting of just short of 9 laps. There were also half marathon, 5k and 1 mile options for runners who didn’t fancy the full marathon distance.
Sporting this year’s Brathay 10in10 Top for the first time
The course had potential for a PB course with the path around the lake being perfectly flat and made of tarmac. We were also blessed with very good mild weather for February, even the sun put in an appearance for a good proportion of the race. The only down side was the wind, as we travelled down the lake the wind was behind us and we got quite warm but as soon as we turn to come back for 2000 meters along the far side of the lake each lap the wind hit us. After several laps this started to become very tiring.
Phil and his Time 2 Run team had set up another of their usually well organised, professional run events with a gantry and music at the finish which we passed each lap and even more music entertainment at 2 other gazebos spaced out around the lake. This helped make the monotony of the course much more bearable.
I enjoyed bumping into a few marathon friends I haven’t seen for a long while before the start but then it was time to get down to business and start running. After 1 lap I discarded my jacket, my thanks to Dave for looking after it for me. I must admit this isn’t something I often do in February! It also gave me the opportunity to show off my Brathay 10in10 official top for 2019 for the first time.
I settled into a reasonable pace after the first couple of laps and hooked up with fellow Lancashire runner and friend Adam and we kept each other company for a good while. Sadly this time he had the edge on me and move on ahead.
Half way came in 1 hour 50 minutes which I was very happy with but on lap 6 it all quickly went badly wrong. I turned at the end of the lake to return into the wind and all of a sudden I started getting sharp pains in my stomach. Possibly it was trapped wind or occasionally in the winter, cold water at water stations can upset my stomach which I wonder was to case here. To reduce the pain I had to run slower. Sadly the next 2 laps were very uncomfortable and slower, reducing my pace from 8.5 minute miling to 10 minute miling. Things then started to improve again and my pace return but this only lasted for a couple of miles before sadly the pains return for the remainder of the race. Runners over took me which I found very frustrating as I know I’m fitter and faster than I was able to go.
In the end I was simply glad it was all over and in a way relieved to get under 4 hours with a finishing time of 3:53:03. I suppose without the bad days you don’t appreciate the good days. It also goes to show that even with lots of marathon experience things can still not go as expected. A shame I couldn’t make the most of the good running conditions for February. On the positive side I’ve started to get in some good 10in10 training, with a high mileage week followed by this marathon. Onward and upward, hopefully the next marathon will go a little bit better for me.
