SNOWDON ROAD MARATHON 2014 - MY 1ST MARATHON

Snowdonia Marathon – My 1st Marathon. The end result & my thoughts

This journey started on the 29th July 2013 and ended on 25th October 2014.

The whole point of it was I had been telling myself, though not very often and with no conviction that one day I would like to run a marathon. So at the age of 46 and never had any form of exercise since leaving school 30 years previously it was time to act on my once a year thought, normally when I watched the London marathon on television. All the gory details of this journey have been documented in all the other 7 issues of this blog so I won’t go through the whole thing. My plan of action was to book up events ASAP and not rush into a marathon plan but to take it in steps, 10k, HM, FM. So this overweight, unhealthy, not long stopped smoking, huge under achiever set on his way. It has been an interesting trip, hard work, lots of swearing, illness, boredom and a few tears. It has also been educational, at times fun; given me a new life, met lots of lovely people, took part in events, and had moments of glory. But for me I think it has been an amazing achievement. One I had no idea if I could do. I have never at any stage wanted to quit. I did however wonder if once I completed the journey would I want to carry on afterwards.

Well the journey came to an end when I crossed the line at the Snowdonia Marathon on 25th October 2014. 

Snowdonia marathon.

Got up at 7-30 after another pretty useless night’s sleep. But was feeling ok after my bowl of porridge and scrambled egg on toast. Pottered around for a while and got my bag ready and pinned number to shirt. Sharnie arrived at 9-40 after getting stuck in traffic and 5 mines later we all walked to the start. Only 15 mins away so was a nice leisurely walk. Sharnie and I and family. We was not hanging around too long before the off but in that time I had a wee panic waiting for the Garmin to connect. It was always going to be a case of us running our own race, it always is, when I next meet sharnie it will be at the end or if something goes pear shaped. So, very relaxed at this stage, no nerves, I just told myself it’s another long run. Off we go.

After 30 seconds Sharnie has disappeared and I set of. My plan was to keep a steady 9-40 on the flat. 2 sections would be much slower but there will be plenty of scope to make that up. So I was happy with my aim of 4h 30mins. 1st few miles went by very quickly and much quicker than the 9-40 pace, but there was a big tail wind which pushed us along to the 1st hill. We had run this hill before, its long and very steady climb, I just dropped the pace and held it all the way to the top, it wasn’t easy but I was chuffed I maintained a good sensible pace and breathing was good.

The views at this point were fabulous. We then had a good few miles downhill, mainly off road and this section was so enjoyable, we just flew down while making sure not to do anything stupid. The pace on this section made up for the previous hill. I was ahead on schedule by now but had no doubts of going to quick, all was comfortable. Then came a very small but testing hill which kind of said, hey don’t get to comfy just yet.

Nearing the half way mark, the heavens opened up and I got soaked, but it was very welcome and the locals stayed out to cheer us on.  The rain stopped pretty quickly as I approached 14 miles, then came a 2 mile hill, this seemed like 5 miles, it just went on and on and on, I struggled on it, but what made me happier was everyone around me struggled on it. Made to the flat again and carried on at a good pace.

Had been chatting to lots of people so far and that made the time go much quicker, fuelling was going very well, I had a cereal bar at miles 8, 12, 16 and 20. I never took any water as I knew there would be lots of stations. It was at this point somewhere that a camper van wing mirror collided with my elbow, in very slow traffic but I gave him what for. My thoughts now were to get to mile 21. Then it’s into the unknown distance wise but I would be approaching the last killer hill which I had run before.

Up to now I had ran every single step of the way, was pretty chuffed with that. Can I get up this last hill without walking? The answer is no, but at this point I was way ahead of my aimed time, feeling good. So a few little walk sections won’t kill me, three times on that hill I walked each for a minute or two. Then as I am running I felt a hand slap me, I turn around and its sharnie that can only mean her leg was playing up. “You keep on bloody running. Don’t stop” she said. We had agreed that unless we were dying at the side of the road, we carry on. I also knew that my running wasn’t much quicker than her walking, and she was safe and chatting to someone else. I eventually reached the top and Sharnie caught me up. I did not at any point slow down to run her race, instead she somehow found the courage to carry on. We have a nice downhill section to the end now, steep also. Was a bit nervy running down there. We came back into civilisation, ½ mile to go, people cheering us on. At this point I got a little emotional as I realized that I’m going to finish, I am going to achieve what I set out to do. I could hardly speak to sharnie without sounding like a blubbering wreck. We rounded the last right hand corner, the finish line in sight, she was in pain, I took her hand and we went for it. No crawling over the line we ran as quickly as we could.

And there it is, in the next 20 mins, we had a cup of tea and walked home. Job done.

I want to thank you all for the messages, for being there all the way. A huge massive thanks to Sharnie for the coaching, the listening to me moan and for being there at the end. You are the best.

Overall Results were

Overall position was 853 out of 1760 finishers

Gender position was 720 out of 1339

M45+ position was 149 257

Chip time 4:18:05

So that’s it, I completed what I set out to do.

So what are my overall thoughts and feelings on the marathon, maybe you can share your thoughts on these points.

Pre-Race build up and nerves

The build up to this, my biggest run ever was remarkably low key. I treated it as I do any other run. The week before the run was pretty much the same as any other. Or so I think, I had a pretty crappy weeks sleep, up at 3 or 4 am each day. Was this a hidden fear coming through, I don’t know. I wasn’t worried about the run as such. Knew it would be tough but like I said, just treated it as any other long run with the bonus of having people to talk to.

So on the actual morning of the run, I was fine. Just took it all in my stride. Not one shred of nerves. Does that mean I am an unemotional being or just very lucky. I wonder if the nerves will ever strike me. How do you all cope with the nerves or lack of?

The Marathon

I think it all boils down to the training you do. As you know, I am no expert and have done pretty much what I was told to do, but obviously that coaching was spot on. Are all marathons tough no matter of the terrain, 26 miles is an awful long way after all? I had ran up to 21 miles in training  so on the race day my plan was to stick to my plan for those 21 miles then hopefully when I reach the 21 I would be in good enough shape for the unknown, I was and it went well. I briefly thought, oh I’ve gone further than ever. But that was it; just get on with the rest. And what about this wall I keep hearing about, again, is this all down to training or training and fuelling. On my training runs in the last month I ate a cereal bar at the same time as I would on the run. On the run it would be at miles 8, 12, 16 and 20. So in training, even if it was a 10 mile run, I would take one at 8 miles, but this was only in the last month. In training on the smaller runs I never really needed it but it was to get me used to it for the day. I stuck rigidly to this on the day. So there were no wall issues. I have no experience of the wall. The whole run was very tough, I knew it was going to be tough, but I was not the physical wreck at the end I thought I would be. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. How do you cope with the wall, that’s if you have ever hit it?

Post-race

How did I feel after the race? let me 1st go back to mile 25.5, at that point I got a little choked, when I realized I was going to finish what I started. Me, unfit Mr fat boy was going to run a marathon. Cross the line, chuffed to bits it was over, legs wanted to desert me. The actual crossing of the line was a fantastic feeling; I really was standing tall at that point. But something I have discovered in all the events I do is that moment of glory is very short lived. Maybe it’s just who I am, maybe I’m just a miserable git. I don’t cross the line (and this is for any event) jumping for joy, hey look at me, look what I just did. Or am I in a party mood. I can only put it down to being a single parent. I am so used to crossing the line then thinking about cooking dinner or ironing school uniform, don’t hang around too long you need to pick the kid up. That wasn’t the case on marathon day but maybe it’s ingrained in me. In the days after this run, I did not feel on top of the world, nor do I in any event. I’m not sure what I expect but the crowning glory was not what I thought it would be. Cross the line, job done, move on. Are you on cloud nine for days afterwards or not?

The final question now has to be answered.

Do I want to carry on?

This was never really in question in my head. I knew after reaching my final goal I would want carry on when I finished. But would I actually feel the same when the time came. I will be carrying on for various reasons. My life has been turned upside down, sideways and totally changed since joining the bug, all for the better. Well maybe not the intervals, hill reps and reverse pyramids lol. But my health, fitness, happiness sense of achievement, drawer full of medals (and a coaster). How could I turn my back on all of that? But I can sum it up in two reasons also. 1, because I want to carry on and 2, I am scared of going back to the old me.