I came, I saw, I c*cked up. ;-)
Conditions couldn't have been better for the marathon yesterday, sunny but deliciously cool to start with, then overcast and then sunny again but never even slightly uncomfortably warm and no wind to speak of.
The first few miles felt ever so easy despite the hills that I forget about every time. Where I went wrong was in not sticking to my stated goal (3:30) and instead chasing a fantasy gaol of 3:20-3:25 based on nothing more than "feeling pretty good at the start". The lack of decently paced long runs and pre-marathon race experience really began to show around the 8 mile mark when I started to struggle way earlier than expected. I think I hit the halfway mark around 1:42 but I was going backwards fast and when I eventually hit the big hills after Dores, I pretty much lost the will to live, or to run at least. From then on it was a case of walking the hills and jogging the rest to the finish line which I crawled over in 3:41:56. Of course, despite my lousy race, I couldn't resist out-sprinting a fellow runner for the finish and flew over the line, and then threw up!
So, all in all, not one of my better performances. Still, as ever, the organisation was great (although I think runner numbers have been allowed to creep up faster than portaloo provision) and whilst yesterday I was thinking "never again", I'm already thinking "Next time I'll do it properly!".
Time for a rant though.
Most races ban the use of MP3 players for safety reasons. How serious these risks are I wouldn't like to say but I lost count of the number of times yesterday when I was about to offer a word of support, encouragement, comisseration etc. only to find that the runner was shut off from the outside world behind a pair of headphones. It really annoys me that people come to a mass participation event like the marathon and then deliberately choose to be antisocial. What people do when they're training is entirely up to them but I really dislike the way that folk seem to feel it's okay to opt out of interacting with their fellow runners in an event like this.
I really would like race organiser to take a stand on this blight before it gets any worse or at least make their position clear so that I can choose not to run their event if they're going to allow them.
I think that's enough from the grumpy old man. ;-)
Monday 8 October 2007
Loch Ness - No fool like an old fool...
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4 comments:
Mark Hamilton did the Highland Fling in 2006 with an MP3 on... have you stopped talking to him?
I wouldn't race with one on but do lots of training with them on, they are forcibly banned in triathlon so it doesn't add up to use it when doing running races for me.
Funnily enough I wouldn't train wearing one (safety concerns-woman running on own-quiet country roads) but would race with one to help pass the time :) I could have done with one when I did the NY marathon to drown out the heart transplant guy!
Talking of anti-social, you weren't too chatty yourself at the end ;)
Guilty as charged Alison! In my defence I'd say that I wasn't feeling too great at the end. Inverness is also an awkward distance, too near to spend a post race night out socialising, too far to hang on too long post race.
Tim,
I rarely train with one on, but when racing I say yes yes yes.
I get totally pi**ed off with the guy (and there is ALWAYS one) who shouts like a bairn about his work ?? (what's that about ?) his training, his past experiences of every hill he ever saw let alone ran up!! and to be honest it either makes me speed up or slow down to get away from him (always a him), ergo making me diviate from my original plan which I have just spent at least the last 16 weeks preparing!! So I say yes for ipods and root them loud mouths out at the application form stage !!
Rant from angry female who due to work has not ran for almost 2 weeks !!!!
Cheers Karen
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