A bit of journalistic sensationalism with the title of this blog post. It sort of makes it sound like I’ve travelled to some faraway exotic locations but I’m afraid to admit it was merely England and Wales. But none the less 2 countries and in no way am I stretching the truth. The plan for this weekend was to complete 2 marathons in 2 days, the Groundhog track marathon on Saturday, yes that’s right a track marathon 105 and a half laps round a standard 400 metre running track, followed by Wrexham road marathon on the Sunday. My plan was to take them both at an even pace with reasonable effort and try to nip under 3:30 each day if possible.
On Saturday I arrived in Telford at the Oakengates Leisure Centre for the Groundhog Day marathon. The weather forecast was for a pleasant day with some sunshine and mild spring temperatures, the like of which I hadn’t seen so far this year. I set off relaxed knowing I needed to pace myself for 2 days of serious running. After only a few laps I started to realize my pace was accurately rather quick, probably because I was on an easy flat track with good weather unlike the poor weather and hills I’ve recently been training in. Should I hold back? As I felt good I decided to continue on at the same pace as long as it didn’t start feeling uncomfortably fast. I got myself into a good steady rhythm and started to bash out the laps. The weather warmed up and my jacket came off as I enjoyed good paced running in lovely weather for the first time in about 6 months. It was refreshingly enjoyable.
The problem with a track marathon is you quickly lose “Track” of how many laps you have done and Garmins don’t work very well, they seem to always over calculate the distance. I had an idea of how far I had gone at any time and the chip timing people told me when I had completed each block of 10 laps but even so it was very difficult to know what pace per mile I was actually running. I didn’t even know when I was actually at half way but I knew it was fast for me. I still felt comfortable so decided that even though I was running again tomorrow it was worth pushing this race to see what I could actually do. As I got into the last quarter of the race I was starting to find it very tough but I knew my pace wasn’t slowing and I was on for one of my best ever times, even though most of the time I didn’t quite know how far or fast I was exactly going. As I got closer to the finish the tougher it got, my breathing got louder and I over took 2 runners moving myself up into third place. Often I am encouraging other runners during a race and I had been doing it earlier today but now the other runners could hear me breathing and working hard and as I kept lapping them they encouraged me on which was a much appreciated and lifted me over the last dozen laps. Eventually the final lap came round, it was a quick time but how quick? 3 hours 10 minutes and 41 seconds my fifth fastest time ever! Something I hadn’t planned for at all but I was so immensely pleased. It’s nice to know that even though I might be getting older, there is still some good running left in me.
The big question now was how would this extra effort affect my performance tomorrow and how stiff would or wouldn’t it make me?
Day 2, Wrexham marathon. The forecast was for a cooler day with cloud and some rain. As I stood in the car park before the start I wasn’t cold and it wasn’t raining so I elected to not wear a jacket just a thermal top and a t-shirt. My legs felt tired and heavy but I was pleased that the main muscles weren’t particularly sore. I must have been lengthening my stride more than usual yesterday in order to keep the speed going which had made my groin area feel a bit sore.
I bumped into lots of runners that I knew which made for a nice bit of pre-race banter. As the race got under way I could feel my legs were struggling to loosen up and it took me a good few miles before they got into any sort of steady rhythm. The weather soon turned, it started with light rain which I could handle but by half way it was heavy cold rain made worse when running into the wind during certain sections of the course. I quickly became very cold and was desperately wishing I had worn my jacket. I couldn’t feel my fingers. All I could focus on was to keep running as quick as possible to try and keep generating some bodily warmth. The sooner I finished the sooner I could get back to my car and some dry warm clothes. The course had some lovely countryside sections and a well setup start/finish in the town centre but a big section of the course was in an industrial estate which I found rather drab. To my relief the end of this race eventually came and I still finished in a respectable time of 3:35:36. At the end I was simply glad to get back to my car and changed into some dry clothes.
Overall this weekend has been a fantastic running success because it is the fastest double marathon I have ever done so I suppose a kind of PB.
These two days have highlighted several things;
How changeable the British weather can be and how it can have a profound effect on my running especially if I don’t get my clothing correct. I must make sure I’m prepared for any weather conditions during the 10in10 as the Lake District can throw anything at me in May.
It shows where my training is up to, I’m on track but still have a lot more to do.
It shows that even though I might keeping trying to do the same thing each day, each day can still be very different, both the weather and how I feel mentally and physically can have a dramatic impact on how a day’s marathon can go. The 10in10 in May will be a rollercoaster however well prepared I am.
