Day 1
Day 1 is always a bit of a freebie, we have arrived at the event fully trained, tapered and more prepared than most people who are just doing 1 marathon. This means day 1 should be well within us, the hard bit is not to run too fast and injure yourself on the first day. In Joss Naylor’s words “Don’t go off like silly buggers”, sadly he can’t make the event this year due to ill health. That said, I decided to run a bit quicker than maybe I should do to squeeze in a sub 4 hour marathon. I know I’m not fit enough nor fast enough to do multiple sub 4 hour marathons this year but was sure I could knock out one without endangering my ability to still go one to do all the 10 days.
The weather was dry, cool and cloudy, although windy so pretty good for running. I am happy to take this sort of weather, I just hope the rain stays off for most of the days.
I took the first half at a very comfortable pace for me and got to halfway in 1:59, exactly what I had planned. As I made my way back up the east side of the lake to the finish, I knew it was going to be tight to dip under the 4 hours so pushed the last few miles to run under the finish gantry in 3:57:27. Not thing too sore so all good and that’s the start of my 9th Brathay 10in10 started and my 90th official run around the course.
Day 2
The day started with good news and bad news. The good news was the lovely sunny and calm weather, the perfect conditions I love to run in. The bad news was the pain in my right groin which I have experienced at my last two Brathay 10in10s had returned. From experience, I don’t think it will stop my 10in10 attempt but I’m sure it will affect my running and enjoyment of the event like it did over the past two times. It makes my groin hurt when I start to run and I have to run with a weird running style for a couple of miles until it seems to ease and settle down. Today I tried something different and did some short runs around the grounds before the start to hopefully ease it up a bit before the start of the race. It seemed to work when the race started. I expect to have the same problem for the remaining 8 days so plan to adopt this warm over the coming days.
Day 3
Day 3 is still very early in this event but with having already done two hilly marathons, I’ve got some stiff, sore legs and feel tired. Some more dry and sunny weather, which I certainly won’t complain about, although it did get a bit warm under the collar over the last few miles.
I might have done this event many times before but I am still very cautious about approaching each day. It is so easy to overdo something and quickly be in a world of pain. Quad and groin held up during the first half which I took very carefully in 2:10. I enjoyed the company of several other runners including, Greg, David and Mark during the first few miles and nice to see Trudi at the Swan hotel. Also, good to see Paul out on the course on his bike and Catherine in Bowness. And it goes without saying, lovely to see Yuk-Lam at the start and the finish.
I pushed on a little during the second half to make a pleasing 3 minute negative split. Day 3 done with a finish time today of 4:17:25. A bit slower again but that is another day done and no new pains to add to my list so now time to rest and prepare for tomorrow. This year is all about completing the days and the challenge, not the time, I’ll leave that to the fasties at the front.
