I could tell from the very first mile that it was simply too warm to hold the 9:25/mile pace I had set myself. When it is that hot it is doubly hard to run. It is best to go on perceived effort more than pace or even heart rate. I had read that the key to a good marathon is to try to maintain as close to the same pace as possible throughout, with the obvious potential for slowing way down in the last quarter to half. I worked out my pace and for the first half I managed 9:37 per mile and the second half 9:52. My overall pace was 9:44 per mile.  Only slowing by 15 seconds per mile in the second half was very good. In the last couple of miles I did have to slow right down to training pace of 10:20 per mile a few times as it was so hot and I was so tired. But overall I was able to maintain a comfortable pace and finished the race strong.

I spent the three days prior to the race doing everything I was supposed to. I drank water little and often throughout the day to stay hydrated. I had no caffeine. I ate as many meals and snacks as possible that included complex carbs but took on simple also. On the Saturday I stayed off of my feet as much as possible all day and didn’t overdo it on the pasta that night to avoid feeling sluggish the next day. One the day, because it was so hot, I drank virtually non-stop throughout the race whether it was the Lucozade sports drink handed out along the route or the water. I would drink a bit of water and pour a bit on the head, drink a bit pour on the back, drink a bit, pour some on the legs; all an effort to stay cool. Homeowners along the route had their garden hoses out for you to run through and I took full advantage. So many runners were already walking by even mile 10 and so many others were dropping out due to heat stroke, exhaustion, dehydration, etc. I think common sense prevailed with me. I just paced myself, drank as much as I could and tried to stay as cool as possible. It apparently worked.

Finally, the knee. The route finishes at Musselburgh racecourse. This is/was a horse racecourse so it was grass. In order to provide traction, especially if it had rained, organisers bolted plastic rubber mats to the ground which had raised ‘nubbins’ – for lack of a better word. When you go from running on concrete that doesn’t give to grass and plastic that does and your legs have done 26 miles you can only lift the so high. I was literally 15-30 seconds from the finish line when I tripped on the mat and went tumbling. I didn’t even look down. There is a camaraderie among runners; we help each other out. I had barely touched the ground before a fellow runner had grabbed me by the arm and dragged me up back standing. I shouted ‘thank you’ and hurled myself towards the finish all the time thinking “oh crap, I’ve gone and got a scrape.” I crossed the finish line incredibly satisfied and looked down to discover a gaping hole in my kneecap and my knee-high white compression sock soaked in blood. The plastic ‘nubbins’ had torn my knee to shreds. I collected my medal and goody bag and headed to first aid. The Doctor and paramedic were great. I couldn’t really feel a lot from the endorphins, adrenaline and the fact that my legs had done 26.2 miles. They put four stitches in, dressed the knee and away I went to the reunion area to meeting my husband.

You can see the route map here. We ran by the sea for a lot of it and had great support from the locals. I would definitely do Edinburgh again but I’ve again got my sights set on London next year. I did really well in this marathon especially considering the heat; just imagine what I can do in cooler temps. Watch this space for the next marathon!

Today was the last long run of the programme. I did 18 miles at the usual slow 10:25ish pace. It actually went quite well except I don’t think I’d fully recovered from Friday’s efforts as my heart rate was higher throughout than it should have been. On a long, slow run I can manage to go as low as 147 but today the lowest it got was 158 and was even up in 175 territory in the last few miles. This is fine, though. I may not have fully recovered from Friday but it’s not ultimately detrimental. So long as I get proper rest tomorrow I should be fine again by Tuesday.

So there’s just two weeks to go. Next Sunday is only 12 miles which, considering the long ones I’ve knocked out, will seem SO short in comparison. The next two weeks will be a massive reduction in mileage in what is known as the ‘taper period’. This is the week or two before a long run where you scale back on the mileage, while still training at the same intensity, in order to let your body fully recover in time to make the start line. It apparently takes two weeks for a long run or speed work or another harder session to affect your fitness, therefore, anything done in the next two weeks is basically just maintenance. I won’t see much difference in my fitness level between now and the marathon.

Thankfully, I think I can say with all honesty, I feel quite good. I am, of course, still scared of the race; who wouldn’t be? But I actually felt rather good in today’s long run, which I haven’t been able to say before. Yes, my feet were still screaming by the end and, yes, I couldn’t wait to stop but that was on my own. In the marathon I will have crowds and atmosphere and other runners spurring me on. I’ve even got my name printed on my running top so that 1) hubby has a bit more help finding me in the crowd; and 2) crowds will shout out my name. They will do it, you know. Race crowds are fantastic at really cheering on the runners. The last 10 miles or so I am planning on running without music so that I can hear the crowds and really soak up the atmosphere. Hopefully, and in all likelihood, that will help me to finish the race strong. Crowds really can ‘carry’ you the last miles of a race.

So here we go. The road to the marathon really starts here. The next two weeks will be all about resting, eating lots of good carbs and avoiding any last-minute injuries or illnesses. I just need to stay strong. The physical bits are almost over, it’s pretty much all mental now.

It started on Monday as what I thought were just allergies. Sniffles, sneezing, the usual hayfever signs. By Tuesday morning, though, I woke up with a sore throat from overnight drainage and a bit more sinus-type pressure to go with the hayfever-type symptoms. By Wednesday I was at home from work resting on the sofa. This continued on Thursday. By Friday I felt well enough to go to work but still not well enough to run. I felt slightly better again on Saturday but still not 100% ready to run. Finally, by Sunday I was back to normal.

The dilemma became, though, what to run? On Friday I posted to the Runner’s World forum that I intended to run my scheduled 22 miles on Sunday. I had assumed that I would just be very well-rested for it. Thankfully – and one of the reasons I’m glad I post on RW – a seasoned marathoner replied to my post to urge me not to run the 22 miles.

The conventional thinking is that with time out the body would work so hard to complete this 22 miles after running on low all week that it would be the marathon. My body would not fully recover enough by 23 May to run the marathon or at least run it well.

I consulted another runner at work on Friday and he concurred with this advice. So, I decided to ease myself back in. I’m glad I did because Sunday’s easy three miles weren’t so easy. It was almost as though my legs had forgot how to run. They were stiff, they were heavy and the knees hurt quite badly for the first 1.5 miles. The second 1.5 were much easier and I felt like a runner again. I think that if I had tried to do 22 miles on Sunday I would have quickly realised that it was a bad idea. Your body is intelligent; it knows how to tell you things.

So, yesterday I upped the mileage 1.5 miles to 4.5. I ran both Sunday and yesterday at easy to slow paces, just whatever I was comfortable with. I tried to avoid ‘clock-watching’ the Garmin and just ran. I’m happy to report that yesterday went far better and I feel as though I’m almost back to normal.

I’m going to rest today since I’m scheduled for speed work tonight and I’m not quite up for that yet. Tomorrow is a slow six miles so I will be running that since it’s another 1.5 miles up from yesterday. Thursday is Election Day here so I’ll most likely be in work all day and even into the night so that will be a rest day too. Friday I’ll assess things and see how work commitments are and will look to run the nine miles at marathon pace scheduled for Thursday.

So that is where I am with only 20 days to go to the marathon. Yikes.

P.S. That’s “yikes” to how close we are to the marathon, not to fitness levels. Happy to report I’m feeling fine in that department despite the illness.

Wednesday: felt very tired from Tuesday’s speed work so I rested

Thursday: 8 miles slow, run from work to home

Friday: a mile warm up, 3 miles ‘brisk’ at half-marathon pace, mile cool down

Saturday: rest

Today: repeat of last Sunday’s 19 miles slow.

The weather was certainly better today, much cooler and I had fluid the whole time. Only bummer was my Garmin was dead so I had to just guess at the pacing the whole time. I think I may have managed just a bit too fast at times as the feet were screaming by the end, as they tend to do. It really is a shame. I know I can run but my damn biomechanics think otherwise. More core work and foam rolling awaits me this week in preparation for Sunday’s 22 miles. That will be the longest run of the training. Some people will run the full 26 miles or just over but conventional thinking is not to do so. With high mileage injuries are fraught (as I’m clearly showing) and so you keep it just under the full distance, trusting the atmosphere and your legs to carry you the full 26.2 on the day. Here we go, four weeks left.

I’d planned on adjusting the schedule this week to account for tiredness anyway. My normal Friday evening driving lesson is off for this week so instead of my usual Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday runs, rest Friday, run four easy miles Saturday, I’m throwing out Saturday’s run. I was going to run tonight and tomorrow, rest Thursday, run Friday, rest Saturday. Because of how tired I am, though, and the fact that I have to help with a mind-numbingly boring work task tomorrow that may not let me leave as early as I normally like, I’m resting tomorrow. I’ll run Thursday and Friday and rest Saturday. It’s another 19 miler on Sunday. I need to ensure I’m rested enough to do it.

Today I ran a whopping 19 miles. That’s almost 3/4 of a marathon. I ran along the river Thames today on the path. Map here. It was a lovely spring day if a bit warm for running. This led to the one problem: I ran out of fluid again. I filled my CamelBak hydration backpack with one whole litre of Lucozade energy drink (like Gatorade or Powerade) as that would be just enough for my three hour run. Well, it was a bit warmer than I’d expected and I didn’t ration out the amount as well as I’d thought. I got to just outside of Richmond, with 5.5 miles to go, turned round to head back, went to take a drink and found no more Lucozade. I immediately had a small panic but just thought “it’s only 5.5 miles you can do this.” Every ice cream van that I passed, though, I considered stopping and begging some water as, of course, I had no money with me. But I thought “I’ll have to stop, best just to keep going”. Needless to say I would’ve preferred to have had water all the way back but I managed to finish.

I repeated my mantra of ‘loose’ the whole time and, I think, it helped to keep things loose as, thankfully, my feet aren’t nearly as sore as they were after the 17 miler. Don’t get me wrong, they hurt, but why wouldn’t they after nearly 3.5 hours on them?! I’m going to continue to use the foam roller and it will still hurt but I think we’re getting closer to perfecting the form and loosening the muscles.

You basically sit on it with whatever muscle is the problem, calves, quadriceps, hips, or in this video the outside thigh or IT band, and roll back and forth. It is just as good as a sports massage and just as painful. I have just completed my first round of rolls and I’m not going to lie, there were screams, shouts, profanities and, yes, even crying. That is how tight my legs really are. This will loosen them up but not without pain. I suppose, though, that the adage ‘no pain, no gain’ applies here. Wish me luck people. This is really going to hurt!

I went to the Physiotherapist again last night for a sports massage. I mentioned that my feet were killing me after long runs and the plantar fasciitis had flared up again in the left foot and seemed to have appeared in the right foot as well. I know my hip flexors are tight and I could feel everything tightening up throughout the legs over the past few weeks. The right leg, it seems, has gone completely haywire. I was wincing in pain when he was massaging my right quad and right calf. While it is not likely to be PF in the right foot, it is some sort of overload injury causing the pain. My hip rotation was well under par and he worked on my hips and glutes, driving his fist – or possibly elbow, I wasn’t able to see nor did I care – into my buttock while stretching my leg the other direction to loosen everything up. It was not your normal relaxing massage. He did other stretches and massage to try to loosen up those hips. They were still relatively tight by the end but had loosened up enough.

So, what’s causing this? Biomechanics; the makeup of my body and the way that I run causes my muscles to tighten up. My form drops after so many miles and my muscles are struggling to cope and, therefore, taking the feet with them. The body is like a chain when you’re running. The upper body, abs, core strength, hips, quads, calves and feet are all ‘connected’ and if one thing goes wrong, it can affect the rest below. It’s not marathon ending by any means but I do need to do some things over the next six weeks to ensure I make it to the start line intact.

I’m going to do core ab work on my rest days and Saturday. This is not just crunches. This is working the inner abdominal muscles that give you posture and help your body to walk and run. I’m going to increase my stretching after each run to two-three rounds and also stretch on my rest days. I’m going to buy a foam roller thing that I will roll on the floor with in cries of agony (so I’m told) to massage, stretch and loosen up the leg muscles. Finally, I’m going to add in a few leg squats with just a broom for balance using my own body weight rather than actual weights. This is to avoid introducing anything drastically new so close to the marathon as per the advice of my fellow running forum-ites.

So, in two words: this sucks. There are remedies but I’m still disappointed that my body is not coping and rebelling in a fashion. I really want to do this marathon and am hoping and praying that my body heals itself or adapts again to the running load. Thankfully, this is actually my highest mileage week at 47. From here to the marathon it is all downhill relative to this week. If you’re the praying type, please do keep me and my poor legs and feet in your prayers. Pray that I don’t fall apart bit by bit by bit between now and 23 May. I like being whole, thank you.