Post by rachel45 on Jun 6, 2016 12:41:57 GMT
Just a quick write up of mine and Helena's experience of the Liverpool marathon, or the City break with a difference!
We arrived on Saturday afternoon and demonstrated no navigation skills at all in finding our way from the car park to the hotel. We quickly realised that Liverpool seems to be the stag/hen capital of the UK, particularly when an elderly hen collapsed drunk on the floor in the foyer of our hotel at 2pm.
After this rather inauspicious start, things started to improve when we enjoyed a sunny walk along the dock to pick up our race packs at the Expo. Now then , the Expo. Hmm. It was straight out of Craggy Island, all we needed was a Spinning Cat and that would have been it (sorry if you don't watch father ted, you won't know what I'm talking about)
We were beginning to feel excited about the race the next day, but then nerves started to kick in, particularly for Helena, who became obsessed with gels. Did she have enough gels? Were they the right gels? What if she ran out of gels? What if there were no gels on the course? The possibilities were endless.We were also watching the weather forecast and could see it was going to be a very warm day, not ideal for marathon running!
Later in the evening, we met up with Richard and had a great pasta meal at Jamie's Italian followed by an early night.
Having felt relatively relaxed the day before, my nerves really kicked in on the morning of the race! Nearly went into meltdown when I thought there was no muesli at breakfast, but managed to force down a bowl and some egg on toast.
I was also managing to convince myself that I might not finish due to the heat. I'd already realised that a good for age time was out of the question due to the temperature. After my experience of dying in the heat at the ramathon two years previous, I was really getting worried.
However, once we arrived on the start line, a short walk from our hotel , my nerves quickly disappeared and I began to enjoy the atmosphere and excitement that you only get with a city marathon. Having seen Richard in his Eeyore suit, I also realised that there was no way I was going to be as hot as him!
We started a few minutes late and I quickly got into my stride, running at 8min 30 sec miles , which felt comfortable in the heat. Helena soon disappeared ahead of me and I knew if I tried to keep up , my race would be over at 18 miles , so held back for the first 10 miles. The first 10 miles saw me running with a female Elvis , running around Goodison Park and past the Liver Building and going through some lovely parks. I was feeling strong , but by God it was hot! I needed to stop at every water station, have a drink and then tip water on my head. The next 8 miles saw me pushing on steadily going slightly slower, , but having to work a bit harder not to lose too much time I was now running at just under 9 minute miles, but I was pleased that when I reached the 18 mile mark , I was still feeling strong and the heat hadn't affected me too much. I was particularly buoyed by the DJ playing Penny Lane and shouting about fish finger sandwiches, which were apparently waiting for us at the end. Never thought that the thought of Captain Birds Eye would put a spring in my step, but there's a first time for everything and it was one of those wonderfully surreal moments that you often get on marathons! By this stage , I'd also run up a few hills which was taking its toll. I'd managed to catch Helena at this stage and then passed her. I also spoke to a Clowne runner and was reassured to hear that she had also originally been looking for good for age , but had shifted her target due to the heat. I was feeling pretty good up until about 22 miles , when tiredness really began to kick in and as I looked at my watch, I could see I was starting to slow down. At 23 miles , a fellow runner came alongside, said that I had passed him the whole way round and there was no way I could slow down now and shoved a load of Jelly babies into my hand for good measure! This really lifted my spirits and was yet another reminder of the kindness of strangers that you see at these events.
This lifted my spirits temporarily , but I quickly started to flag again , not least because we were running alongside the Mersey into the wind. I glanced at my watch , 9:40 minute miles, not good. Then, I heard another DJ announce, "The four hour pacer is coming up now, can you beat him?" Yes, I bloody well could I decided, if I couldn't have good for age, I could at least do sub four hours. And with that, managed to speed up during the last couple of the miles, so the last , long , painful mile was completed in around 9 minutes. There was great support at the finish line, which I milked for all it was worth and the crowd seemed to love it, so finished to big cheers at just over 3:57 minutes, almost the exact same time that I got in Bristol. Felt very pleased with that result given the heat and hills and a real sense of achievement getting a second sub four hour marathon under my belt. Enjoyed my free pint at the end and a bit of music from Cast , a real blast from the past. After 20 minutes or so , found Helena and we duly wandered by to the hotel after enjoying the sunshine for a while. Had another lovely evening wandering about the City Centre, enjoying a good meal and a bottle of Cava. Reflecting on the race, I don't think I got my pacing quite right as I really shouldn't have been feeling that awful at mile 23, but I was pleased I managed to pull it back at the end. I was also very grateful for the training plan that John Chapman had done for me , it gave me some real focus and drive in terms of training and was in no small part responsible for getting me round in the time that I did.
After a noisy night in the hotel, with hens/stags running up and down the corridor until 5am, awoke to another glorious morning and breakfast of coffee and croissants outside a café , admiring Liverpool's beautiful architecture.
Was great spending time with Helena and we both agreed that a City break with a marathon thrown in was the way to go and we hope some other Harrier ladies will join us next time for the adventure - leave your kids and hubby at home!
