I had written a lovely and humourous race report from the River Thames HM yesterday, where I contrasted how well everything was organised and how great it all went with how I was struggling pretty much from the start. Then we had a power cut and my PC switched off. Bugger.
So here's the short version:
Good: It was a great race. Lovely route. Nice weather. Well organised. Maintained pretty much constant speed at a level heart rate that never went above zone 4. My target was 2 hours and I got in at 1:57:44.
Bad: My heart rate was higher than expected already from the beginning, and I struggled from before the halfway point. Spent the last 4 miles constantly calculating how much I could afford to slow down (but then instead of slowing down noticeably carried on at the same pace). Meh feeling afterwards instead of elation.
Today: Happy with the result and, apart froma slightly sore hip that a lunchtime recovery run will hopefully cure, I'm tickediboo.
Written by
Tomas
Marathon
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In your revised report it seems so matter of fact, its hard to believe you are talking about a full marathon run!!😀Congratulations on a fantastic time even though emotionally it may not have been as satisfying as you hoped. Its still an incredible achievement and very inspirational.
Cheers Decker, although it was only a half, so far less incredible (but to me it was a big milestone, a target I have worked towards for over a year, so I'm very pleased)
Oh I don't think it was the gadet, I think it was my old ticker that for whatever reason found it harder going than it should have been. Thursday lunchtime I ran a swift 5 km at the same pace with the heart never getting out of zone 2, and everything felt sweet and fluid. Sunday it was hard work from the off and I dipped into zone 4 within the first km. I've been nursing a weird inflamation of my elbow for a couple of days, and maybe it's simply because my body focused more on that than on running.
Ah, sorry, my bad. Yes, I think you're right. Sometimes I can get sooo hung up on numbers that I forget to just enjoy the sunshine, and in this instance it might indeed have been better to have been blisfully ignorant.
I understand the thinking behind heart rate-based training (well, to a certain extent), but I wonder if you should make allowances for the extra excitement of a race?
So your complaining and you set out what you wanted to do which was to get a great time of under 2hrs? I know from when I had the same target it's not easy getting under that time and requires a good strength of character.
So well done and stop worrying about your HR you did that's the most important thing stop worrying about the facts and figures and just enjoy the achievement.
Then plan your next event (beachyhead marathon is good)
oh and no picture of the bling, this i cannot not excuse!
Well done Tomas! I would love to do a sub 2 hour HM one day (dream, dream, dream!) so big congratulations to you!👏🥇 Sorry you didn't feel brilliant though - may be fighting something off? Rest up well and enjoy your bling!🙂
That report sounds like a fantastic run to me! Well done on getting a sub 2 hour hm. Many will dream of such a thing. A great result after lots of training. Hope your feeling back to normal soon.
Congratulations Tomas. That's going some! Under 2hrs is brilliant.
Perhaps the "meh" was for no t-shirt. (Felt a bit like that after the 10 I did when fun runners got medals and 10kers didn't. Although on reflection that was probably my inner toddler showing itself 😀). Hope you're feeling brighter and your hip us ok now.
The short version was more than acceptable! Very well done young sir. It is hard to get your pace right if you start off too fast. I have done it more times than I care to count! Well done on your HM - fabulous time. Congrats from the McGurrans!
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Hope it goes away quickly!
My Second HM – River Moy Half Marathon, Ballina County Mayo, Ireland.
London Landmarks HM - ouch!
HM training day 4 - stay in the zone, man, like stay in the zone 🧘♀️
Successfully ran my spring HM! 
Another Bath HM report.
