Edinburgh Marathon 2013 - Sub 3 :-) :-)

So, I've only gone and run the Edinburgh Marathon in 2h59m37s! That's low 2h50s by the way. The race was executed to perfection, even if I do say so myself :-), with the first half bang on sub-3 pace and a negative split in the second half. I was on the edge all the way and went through every emotion, thinking I'd missed out, then thinking it was a done deal and everything in between. With 1.2 miles remaining and just over 9 minutes to go I knew it was on if I kept up the effort. I've gone over the approach to the race in many of these mutterings before. I have to say though, that I trained harder and was more focussed on this than I've been on anything for a while. I was really focussed on the West Highland Way Race and the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc but my training for both was tough at the time but not that tough. For this marathon I ran practically every day, did copious amounts of strengthening and stretching exercises and ran tough races and training runs. My right leg went from 75% to maybe 90% and lasted admirably during the marathon. I remember doing a ridiculously easy pace along the flat canal at the start of the year and really struggling as my leg seized up uncontrollably. I couldn't even run below 7 minute miles in training and a tempo run was out of the question. Races, somehow, were different as I managed my leg for these bigger occasions but still had the tightening and slowing. Although not 100% yet, all those lunges, squats and stretching (yoga) really made a difference - why didn't I do this before now!! My leg was my big fear going in to the race and it held due to all the maintenance work. Now's not the time for complacency though... now is the time to really fix my leg properly once and for all. Hit the gym for the next few months a couple of times a week and keep up the stretching. I've now got a good for age time for the London Marathon, with the Advanced Marathoning book on the way, so it'd be rude not to use it. I got the train through on the morning of the race. I was anxious, I had a bit of a stomach upset on the Friday night and could feel a cold coming on. Annoying as I'd not been ill at all for my whole training cycle. Standing on the packed train I wanted a seat but ended up cramped in the corner. I realised beforehand I hadn't looked at any splits from my pretty rubbish London Marathon run from 2010, so I killed a few minutes looking these up... and wished I hadn't. I wasn't confident at all that I'd crack three hours. The old saying "if you believe you can't, you're probably right" had been ringing in my ears for a month or two now. I tried and tried to believe I could do it but I needed a marker, some previous form to properly convince me. Training was one thing but doing it in the race, something entirely different and my 3h39m marathon PB from 2008 did very little to inspire confidence. I'd been telling people I was aiming for sub-3... usually adding the caveat that I was prepared to blow up in the process and crawl home in 3h30m. A few folks gave me looks which didn't make me think they thought I'd manage it. Others however, had every confidence and I thank them for it. So, with my intention to go for it, backed only by a good training cycle and some data from race time predictors saying I'd manage 2h53-3h03 I started the race. Alan Robertson had drilled it in me to start comfortably and suggested a couple of 8 minute miles. I just about managed, running a couple of mid-7s at a really easy and comfortable pace. I was itching to get going faster though and could easily have dropped a sub-6 minute mile. I remember walking up the stairs at the train station - my legs just felt so light and this continued in to the race. Round the roundabout and past Arthur's Seat, a brief detour to the summit was considered and rejected as unhelpful to the sub-3 cause so I continued on course and started to pick up the pace at maybe 1.75 miles. Miles 3-5 were largely uneventful - all I remember is constantly passing people and/or being blocked in... lots of folks obviously started way too fast. Mile five marked the third mile at proper race pace and I was cruising along. It was only then that I started thinking I could do this. Until that point I'd been assuming I'd drop off pace and blow up. I traded places a few times with a well built chap who was pacing himself really well - we both reached halfway in just under 1h30m pace and this was the first time I was able to say that I was on pace overall... albeit only just. I read somewhere before the race that mile 15 was the first third in terms of effort so I was keen to get there having preserved most of my energy and I felt fine. I had a gel on mile 10 and now another on mile 15 and it took a minute or two to kick in... there were only a few low points in the race and mile 15-16 was maybe the worst.... interestingly, looking back this was also the fastest mile! The road was pretty empty, cambered, with no supporters and it would have been really easy to tuck in behind someone and go at their slower pace. Thankfully I'd been told beforehand that this was where the pace could drop due to lost concentration and I was alert to it. I remember thinking at mile 18 during my 2007/2008 Edinburgh Marathon that I had eight miles to go and that this would take an hour. At the time it took about an hour and a half so it was with much trepidation I said to myself at mile 18 that I had less than an hour to go! I was now cruising along, passing people every few hundred metres. It was tough to keep this going as I'd normally like to tuck in behind someone and let them do some of the pacing but I had to go it alone. I couldn't believe I'd reached mile 20 on target. It was such a good feeling and I knew then that I'd be able to keep the pace going and although it would be tight I'd likely make it. I tried to do some maths in my head but failed miserably. All I could do was try to run close to 6.50s for the rest of the way. I dropped some time on mile 23 and it started to cross my mind that I'd blown it. I was convinced and briefly contemplated slowing to a couple of minutes over. But obviously saw sense. Then I reached mile 25. 9 minutes to go. This is on. In fact, it should be comfortable - although I'd lost maybe 20-30 seconds, it'd been on my 2h58m goal which I was seemingly 20-30 seconds behind. I was getting low on energy so didn't dare to pick up the pace too much for fear of blowing up with 100m left. I had to pace even this last mile and run the tightrope between moving forward optimally and over doing it. I just gritted my teeth and resolved to see where I was closer to the finish, thinking one final all out effort could be generated if required. The crowds were lining the streets and I got a brief surge of adrenalin. Mile 26 came and a cheer from Abbie at the sidelines. I didn't know where the finish line was, so couldn't be sure yet that I'd done enough. I consciously picked up the pace, thinking I had maybe 0.4 of a mile left, rather than 0.2. I was sure the markers would be accurate at this point.... they had to be. Just one lap of the track was going through my head... 1m30s, easy. Ok, it was more like 1m50s but I calmed the effort when I saw the finish line and cruised in. The official timer showed 3h00m14s or thereabouts when I crossed the line but my watch confirmed otherwise, having taken c. 45 seconds to cross the start line. An official time of 2h59m37s was exactly what I was looking for. I couldn't believe it. I can't believe it! It was so comfortable. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely emptied myself on the course but Sub 3 is supposed to be a huge psychological burden, taking several attempts and years of hard work. Obviously the training I've done in the past counts towards this but I never expected it to fall at the first sub-3 attempt. In reality, I reckon I was maybe in 2h55m shape but paced myself to my chosen time goal, which was perfectly fine. Maybe I wouldn't have left it so close though! What next? I really enjoyed training for this race. It gave me a huge sense of desire training for something I wasn't sure was possible for me. A fixed time goal over a set distance is a very rewarding challenge. I'm not really attracted to any other goal or challenge at the moment so I think a repeat marathon, at London next year, with a slightly faster time goal will be a good aim for now. Not setting a time goal at the moment, but just trying to get as fit as I can between now and then and working it out closer to the time. Of course, the rest of the year will be spent having fun at Borrowdale, Sierre-Zinal and Ben Nevis. Then proper training again.... maybe after Tinto hill race.