LONDON LANDMARKS RACE REPORT (another long race report - sorry)

[Fran6500]

i was in the final wave of the race, with a start time of 10.41 am. Arrived in plenty of time and was able to use the toilets twice before we set off! The toilet queues were a bit chaotic with long lines for one side of the blocks and shorter lines on the other side. I used the shorter lines and had no difficulty - however, no toilet paper or sanitiser left in the toilets on the second visit. Luckily , I was prepared!

I set off in a good mood and at a faster pace than I should have done. I stood by the 2:50 pacer and spoke with her, told her that I was staying with her. I left her behind more or less immediately and my family tell me I was behind the 2:40 pacer when they saw me at mile 3! Big mistake. As Running Dad says, it got hotter as the race progressed and I found it oppressive and humid. Even though I am used to heat, I didnt deal with this very well. My heart rate started to rise and I had to run/walk to try and keep it down. When I thought, oh no , come on, you have done this before, you can continously run this , and tried to, I felt as if my eyes /head were .... I cannot describe the feeling; it wasnt double vision like Stephen but it wasnt a good one. I was forced to walk more and couldnt wait for that finish line. In the end, it was my feet that were giving me gip! No blisters or rubbing but not good. We passed by a band singing "walking on broken glass" and I think thats exactly how it felt.

All this meant that I didnt get my target time and was 10 minutes slower than one I did in March (virtual one for me locally). I am irritated by this to say the least.

Thinking about it afterwards, I did a few things wrong - going off too fast, possibly not enough water and definitely no energy drink or similar for electrolytes. I use a camel back so had the water with me and didnt need bottles from the stalls but I should have put something in it.

I had had a light breakfast of porridge and banana 3 hours before and a Naked Bar just before I set off and 2 during.

I think the nutrition was ok for me but hydration not. My fingers were swollen pretty soon into the run. I have never had this running in Portugal in mid 20 to 30 degrees C heat with full sun. Assume this was lack of salts and they obviously returned to normal within a couple of hours of finishing

I remember the meandering thru the streets round and round and back on myself. The full on entertainment in some parts and none in others where you probably needed it. That last 3 miles from Tower Bridge back to the finish. Dont like that stretch at all.

When I was finished and having a drink with family I had a text from LLHM congratulating me on finishing and urging me to register for the next one in 2022. Will I do it? Not sure today but may change my mind. .

Overall, I am glad I did it but think I would like a buddy to run with if I do do it again. I ran with my niece when I did the first one in 2018 and I think I enjoyed it more.

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Never apologise for a long race report - they're the best! Congratulations from me too - sounds like it was a tough run yesterday!!! The weather clearly wasn't as kind as the forecast led everyone to believe. Humidity can be very draining. I have to agree with that stretch from Tower Bridge! Just before the tunnel a lady at the drinks station assured me I was nearly there now. Pah! She had no idea!!! 🤣

Although I enjoyed LLHM I'm pretty sure I won't repeat it - there are so many other races to choose from 😊

[backintime 10 Miles]

Congrats - well done!

From all the race reports it definitely sounded like a humid one! I hate that, I find that I sweat more in the humidity but it doesn't evaporate.

Given all the reports, I wouldn't feel bad about being slower than your last one, it sounds like conditions definitely weren't the best ones for doing PBs!

[Stephen_UK Half Marathon]

Thanks so much for this brilliant report. You have made me feel a lot better about my run as I can see your experience had some similarities. I think you did incredibly well to get round in fairly extreme circumstances. You certainly shouldn’t worry about having done it slightly slower than previously. I am impressed how well you handled the challenges and it gives me hope that a more sensible approach can work.

[Deals1 Metric Marathon]

Great report.. Also a good insight to what it's like getting back to 'normalish' events. Thanks.The heat will of affected u for sure. Still sounds a great run to me. Well done 👏🏃‍♀️

[Irish-John Marathon]

Reports are great! I learn from them, share a wee bit in the ups and downs and they help me plan and get motivated for my own events

Thank you for sharing so honestly and openly - its pretty easy to write about our triumphs, but less so when things go awry

Well done on running a difficult race well 👍🏻

[Curlygurly2 Half Marathon]

Great report Fran. Strangely I'm finding the same thing about hydration, this year I'm in UK, normally I run in the south of France where it's obviously so much hotter then here. I never take water or have any problems, for UK I've just bought a hydration vast, weird innit?

What landmarks did you see?

[Fran6500 Half Marathon in reply to Curlygurly2]

Very weird. But on the LLHM Forum lots of people were reporting hydration problems when they didnt normally have any. think it was the humidity and the heat rising from about a third of the way in. I saw all the usual ones - St Pauls, Somerset House, The Shard, Tower Bridge, etc etc but running over Waterloo Bridge was a good un too!

[Curlygurly2 Half Marathon in reply to Fran6500]

I love Waterloo Bridge, I used to go that way every day when I was working in London, just gorgeous at sunset!

[Fran6500 Half Marathon in reply to Curlygurly2]

Me too. But that was back in 1990!!!

[Curlygurly2 Half Marathon in reply to Fran6500]

Yes, about that time for me too!

I remember looking at the view, seeing the lights change in front of me, speeding up to follow a taxi through, and looking at the view again - the taxi stopped...whoops!