OOPS!

Time to come clean...

At the point where Lorna and I decided to mini-taper for the Draycote Marathon, I knew that there was no chance of me running a 3:30 to see how it felt to train through a decent paced race.

My publicly started goal of 3:20 (and a Boston Qualifying Time) was the minimum I was after.
I toyed with the idea of 3:15, which had been suggested to me on one of the threads on Fetch
Sub 3 was definitely out - a tempo run at that pace was run at too high an effort level to make it feasible for the Marathon Distance - AND I had to be able to pick my training back up straight away.

And the pace difference between 3:15 and my current PB was quite small!

So in my own mind I cemented 3:10 as a target
That's 7:14 min/mile

A challenging pace to hold on the Draycote course, especially with the forecast wind, which was going to be in our faces on the undulating section of the course if the Weather Men were correct!

I had about four different plans that I'd use depending on how the first lap panned out :o)

On Saturday evening Aly came down to ours, clearly Up For It, and almost as nervous as me!!
We were joined by a friend, Michelle, who was coming to support, and look after Lorna's youngest during the race.
And we had a very pleasant, quiet and relaxing evening doing not much - eating, and lounging about on the sofas!

I'm awful on race mornings.
I don't mean to be - but I get very nervous, and experience has shown me that I need to get my breakfast down a Full 3 hours before the start of the race.
So I was up at 6 - making the porridge.
This worked out quite well really, because of the time we had to leave to get to Draycote in plenty of time to park and get ready. The morning wasn't rushed - and there wasn't time to pace about too much.

When we arrived, we bumped into Steve (Edwards) and had a really good chat with him before heading off to the Finish area to dump our bags and get ready.

There were a huge number of folk associated with the Fetch site taking part in the race (60 of the 200 entrants at the last count), and supporting. There were more of the Red, Yellow and White vests (as well as the 'away' colour of Black and Red) around than any other, I think. Amazing.

And so to the race itself.

7:14's would give me 3:10

And when we set off Steve and I had a little chat about the kinds of times we were looking for
"Around 3:15" he said. He's SUCH a fibber
;o)

The hooter went and we headed off for the first loop of the marathon course, which is the only bit that is different to the Ultra 35 course, and takes the marathon runners to the back of the field.
Once we turned around to head back to the Start line on the Upper Road, we had the wind behind us. And it made for nice effortless running at Planned Pace.
After the Sailing Club Building the first really exposed section had the wind coming from the side. Not too bad - but the 'buffeting' was quite wearing.

On the first lap you loop back to run this twice - so get to see most of the other runners at least twice - so waved to Lorna both times.

I wouldn't see her again for quite a while.

The first mile exuberance saw me clocking 7:12 - and I settled into a really nice running rhythm that had me peppering either side of 7:14's - to the extent that at 11 miles - and towards the end of the second lap - I was spot on target.

Mr Edwards (the aforementioned 'fibber') had shot off, and was out of sight in no time at all!!! ;o)

The undulating part of the course on the far side of the Reservoir was slightly 'slower' than the rest with the last mile and a half back to the finish being quite a lot 'quicker'. So by 16 miles, I was a Whole Second up on the time I'd set myself to run!!

The fourth lap I found the most gruelling. The pace was at the top end of where I was comfortable - and by this time I'd become a little bored of the tedium of seeing the same landmarks coming around with such regularity.
My mindset changed about 2 miles from the end of the lap (So that period only actually lasted 3 miles!!) Where I could feel that I had enough left in my legs to up the effort for the last lap - which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I passed Lorna towards the end of the Lap - and just as she predicted - she was not liking the course, and was bored of it - Job done, then ;o)

3 Seconds down on my target time at 22 miles, and feeling strong. This was going to be a Good Day!!!

And come the nice flat run in to the end, I opened up a bit.
Legs were tired now - but turning over pleasingly well.

And when the finish clock came into sight it said 3:08:55 - No chance of beating it to 3:09 - and I stopped my watch at 3:09:12.

A 2 minute PB
OOPS!

Bumped into Steve who'd finished a few minutes previously and had a little chat with him
:o)

In reality, I didn't think I'd be holding that pace for the whole distance. I'm delighted that I was strong enough to. The REAL test will be in how quickly I recover from that.

It was really windy and cold - so I clambered into every stitch of clothing I'd brought - 5 top layers including 2 fleeces and a Down Jacket.
I didn't get cold - just!
Time to get a cuppa tea and have a chat to a few folk - see Aly come in in a fantastic PB that also won her the F40 First place prize - OUTSTANDING!!
Then waited for Lorna to come in as well - which she did in around 4:12.

What followed was a bit of a blur of encouraging the ultra runners - congratulating a seemingly endless stream of people who'd run really well, balanced with commiserating with the few who'd not done so - or had to pull out for various reasons......

and eventually collecting everything and everyone up to head home.

It was a fabulous day.
The Support was awesome
The post race snacks were amazing once again.

For those that like stats, here are the numbers

26.22 miles
3:09:04 (official)
pace 7:13

Mile Splits:
07:12
07:15
07:14
07:15
07:15
07:16
07:16
07:15
07:14
07:09
07:13
07:15
07:17
07:15
07:16
07:06
07:15
07:13
07:14
07:15
07:13
07:18
07:10
07:10
07:15
06:53
06:28

1st Half: 94:53
2nd Half: 94:19