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Oxford Half. False starts. Lessons learned?

Snail_Male profile image
Snail_MaleMarathon
16 Replies

Before taking a place in the London Marathon I was given one in the Oxford Half marathon ballot. So, having completed London, with 2 weeks recuperation time, full of bravado with my new 'Marathon Runner' badge, I thought I may as well still do the Oxford Half. I'd paid my money and How hard could it be, right? Quite hard, as it turned out.

My downfall was perhaps in the preparation. On the night before the run a much anticipated gig that I had originally booked in c. Feb 2020 was finally happening. I'll go along, see the gig, have a pint, maybe two, I said, kidding nobody. Still I had diligently packed my bag, had my race number in hand, knew where I was going etc. I went to the gig, it was brilliant, deserving of several more than two pints as it turned out.

Consequently I left the next morning on my bike, arrived in plenty of time, went to lock up bike only to realise I'd brought my door key but not my bike lock key! Phoned home, a quick cycle homewards to collect the key half way, turn round, cycle back, now lateish, lock up bike, trot round to bag drop, which was about half a mile away from where I locked the bike.

Bag drop was fine but by now adrenaline meant the next port of call was the toilet. Queues which were huge, and did I ever pick the wrong one. Turned out it only went to half the number of cubicles of the others. Still when I went in there were literally thousands of runners queuing and milling about.

Inevitably at this point several pints of real ale the night before kicked in and wanting to make sure I was running as light as possible, when I emerged the queues had gone. As had the runners - all of them! Only a few marshals, looking at me a little bemused. They pointed towards a gate saying 'Starting Pens' and suggested I might need to hurry.

I started trotting (gentle warm up I thought) but as I followed the signs it became apparent that my pen was a long way away and in fact as I was trotting along the pavement, from the opposite direction very fast runners started appearing and flashing past. They had started without me! On and on I trotted until I finally arrived, at least a mile later, at the back of the queue for my pen, the very last to cross the start line, with me very near the back.

After that the adrenaline of the cheering kicked in and I started off at a reasonable pace but noticing my heart rate was a good 10 BPM above where it would normally be. The rest of the race was uneventful, pleasant, but when I got to around 12k I suddenly felt way more tired that I expected to and had to 'Jeff' it home from there.

Whether that was the one mile unexpected 'warm-up' the pints of the night before or the residual effects of London I'll never know. I finished 10 minutes slower than I had hoped to, but I've got the t shirt and medal, the miles in my legs and the experience. And who knows, perhaps I will learn some lessons here.*

(*Reader, history suggests Snail Male will not learn any lessons here.)

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Snail_Male profile image
Snail_Male
Marathon
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16 Replies
SkiMonday profile image
SkiMondayUltramarathon

I reckon it’s most likely to be the beers!

Unless you were really shattered after your Marathon, two week should be plenty of time to recover. Likewise, so long as your unexpected warm-up wasn’t much faster than your HM pace, that shouldn’t have made much of a difference.

Besides, if beers the day before don’t affect running, I’ve just wasted Saturday walking past a load of pubs in York!

Snail_Male profile image
Snail_MaleMarathon in reply toSkiMonday

I think they may have been pubs well avoided!

SueAppleRun profile image
SueAppleRun10 Miles

It all sound amazing and from my spot on the couch very enviable, well apart from the pints that is

SkiMonday profile image
SkiMondayUltramarathon

🤣 thanks Snail_Male.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon

Oh dear!! 😂 Still, well done!!!

cheekychipmunks profile image
cheekychipmunksHalf Marathon

You did very well in the circumstances - I’d have been a flailing mess and would probably have flounced off home with a face on. But maybe next time make it a bit easier for yourself! 😅

That actually sounds like everything that could go wrong actually did go wrong! Now running a HM 2 weeks after a marathon is heavy too. A colleague ran her first marathon a few weeks back and is now training to get back to 10K even. It takes a toll on your body and while some can do marathon after marathon, I think most people need some recuperation time. But having so many pints before a marathon, that doesn't sound too healthy either. Alcohol dehydrates you and no matter how much fluids you drink afterwards, it won't get you to the hydration needed to run a marathon. So I'd just write the HM off as a learning experience as you say and to try to keep in mind what NOT to do 😜

Snail_Male profile image
Snail_MaleMarathon in reply to

Yes, agreed, alcohol doesn't appear in many training manuals in the 'do this' section. That almost certainly was the issue here. 😅 Interesting about your colleague working her way back to a 10k. I was looking back to when I was training and just thought if I'd been training for e.g. a 50k then the marathon would just have been another long run on the way, and I would have to be back out again soon enough. So much of my running is about how I mentally frame it. If I get that bit right running is usually much easier. Especially without beer.😂

linda9389 profile image
linda9389AdministratorMarathon

Lessons are funny old things! You ran a half on the back of a full I'd take that!!! The rest is a great story to laugh about 😀

Snail_Male profile image
Snail_MaleMarathon in reply tolinda9389

Yep, VERY happy to have them in the bag.

grumpyoldgirl profile image
grumpyoldgirl

🤣🤣🤣🤣Or, how NOT to run a HM!

But, you did it, so what do I know! 😁🥳

Run46 profile image
Run46Half Marathon

Lol, well done on completing it at all...you're self awareness on probably learning nothing is impressive 😂👍

Snail_Male profile image
Snail_MaleMarathon in reply toRun46

If I've learned nothing else, I've learned that I don't learn from my mistakes.

skysue16 profile image
skysue16Half Marathon

Well, I am amazed that you even got to the start line 😂. Very well done 👍

Snail_Male profile image
Snail_MaleMarathon in reply toskysue16

Thanks. There was a moment when the duvet weighed heavy.

nowster profile image
nowsterMetric Marathon

I'd stay off drinking the Murphy's stout if you want to avoid Murphy's law. 😆

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