Alan vs. 42.2

In April 2006, I traveled to the French capital with a small group of runners from Aberdeen, Scotland, who had started attending one of my jog groups a year or two earlier. We all participated in the Paris Marathon. It was my first marathon, and a thoroughly enjoyable experience as I finished in 3 hours 30 minutes.

Making beer-based race decisions

A couple of years later, the morning after a Christmas night out with a group of runners, I woke up to a text saying ‘Okay let’s do this, let’s sign up for the Edinburgh marathon!’. This was news to me, the things you agree to after one too many beers!

All of a sudden I was doing another marathon.

I remember my first training run in January 2009, in snow and sleet with icy underfoot conditions: it was grim. Training, however, got better and better, through the training process I became the fastest I had ever been in my 12 years of running. People would ask me what my goals were for the marathon. The conversation inevitably went like this:

“3:15 would be great,’ I would say.

“Rubbish,” would be the response, “you're faster than that, you should be getting under 3 hours!”.

Of course, I knew this - you just don't tell people these things in running! The training was going well and sub 3 hours was most definitely my plan. To be a sub 3-hour marathoner is a big deal in the running world, and I was pretty sure I could do it.

Putting in the miles

In interval training I was flying, I was making regular hard club runs, my strength was improving and I was avoiding injuries through weight training. I had a very helpful group of runners who ran with me on my early morning Saturday long runs, even though they weren't training for anything.

Many of my club mates, who I was easily keeping pace with and beating in training, ran in the London marathon in April, the month before Edinburgh. They were recording 2’52 and 2’53. My ambitions changed. If they could do it, so could I! They had more marathon experience than me but I was a shade faster than them and I had another 5-6 weeks of training to go until my big day.

On top of the world

The day of the Edinburgh marathon came along, and it was a scorcher. It was a sunny 24 degrees which is hot for Scotland and a big change from those wintery training runs at the start of the year. At the start line, I chose to sit on the ground to try and get the shade from the other runners. When the race was underway I switched and changed my position on the road to make the most of any shade that was on offer. I was feeling good, I was running fast, but nothing I couldn't handle.

Right in front of me was a group of 6-8 men from London who constantly chatted in their cockney accents for the majority of the race. Their chat was rather annoying but of some interest to me. It was all about running and it told me that they were all 2’50 to 2’55 marathon runners.

‘Excellent,’ I thought, “I just need to stick with these guys and I‘ll have hit my goal!”.

As much as I wanted to get away from the constant chatter, running ahead of them was too fast and far too risky, and running way behind them meant an inferior time for me. I stuck with them, as did 20-30 others, until about the 18-mile (29km) mark, when the group was decimated!

It all comes tumbling down

Was that ‘the wall’ I just hit? I had never experienced it before in Paris or in training and I had regular training runs over 20 miles (32km). My legs were slowing right up. The gels I consumed weren't making it better, neither were the jelly babies. As I passed water stations I resorted to trying anything, any sponsored fluid that would give me the sugars to get those legs moving again. By 21 miles (34km) I was walking, but I was barely walking; I am a fast walker but this was old man walking speed!

It took incredible effort just to break into a really slow jog. My legs were shot and I had no energy. How I got to the finish line I will never know, it was the loneliest running of my life. As I got close to the grandstand at the finish the supporting crowd urged me on, as did the Baywatch theme tune and the A-Team theme tune, classic TV music from my childhood that was blasting out to help runners with their sprint finish.

70 metres from the finish line and YMCA by the Village people came on. It wasn't my favourite song but I wasn't waiting for a better finishing tune and I limped over the line in 3 hours 7 minutes and a certain amount of seconds that I didn't really care about.

Two days after the marathon I would fly to South America and then onwards to New Zealand where I would live for two years. The Edinburgh Marathon was my last race, as new surroundings led to new sports and new opportunities. 

The moral of my story

There’s a lesson in my story, and I’ve retold it to many clients. If I had aimed for 2 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds, I firmly believe I would have got it and therefore be a sub 3-hour marathoner! My 4’05 p/k pace only lasted me 18 miles, the fastest 18 miles of my life granted, but it was too ambitious.

If you go for an incredible personal best in a 10K and mess up, that’s okay, you can probably do another 10K the weekend after and learn from your mistakes.

In a marathon, that’s not really possible. 

Good luck to those training for upcoming marathons and please learn from my story, and get your pacing correct!

Contact me if you need help or advice when planning for your marathon best (or debut!)