Yorkshire report and post-mortem
4:01pm, 21st Oct 2019 | Yorkshire Marathon | 12 Comments
Blog by jdawayinamanger
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The short version: 2:52:52 official chip time, 7th M50 in a stacked field (BMAF champs). Went ok really, a little disappointed at the fade but after the limited training and with no make-or-break target I didn't really push myself to the limit.
The longer version: Comfortable enough night but bed a bit small and bouncy. Still, I was feeling pretty good after 9 hours prone with a belly full of pizza, legs feeling strong and restless which is usually a good sign that I'm ready to race. A good continental breakfast with the other guests (a younger sub-3 runner) and after packing up we wandered off to the start line. A bit further than ideal, more than 2 miles and we were a bit too early so I didn't even feel like jogging to warm up.
Getting busy around the start as we arrived, jules found somewhere to dump her bike and I did a bit of gentle jogging before undressing. She wasn't planning to ride around the course but had other things to do while I was racing, this worked out well as the start/finish area was a way out of the centre and she got back for the finish. Had a couple of jelly babies, hopped the barrier into the front pen at about 10 mins to go (already full by this point), pulled off clothing and handed it back to her. It's warm enough in the middle of the bunch. Apparently the announcer was talking about how an organiser had died the previous night, maybe a good thing I didn't catch all that! I was looking for M50 back bibs and international (vet) vests, lots of white for England but I didn't see any identifiable Celts.
Off we set, down the hill which went fairly smoothly and we're off into the middle of York. Plenty of room and I'm just settling into my target pace of around 4 mins/km. That would actually get me round just under 2:49 but I'm not really expecting that with any conviction. 2:50 is actually just a whisker under 4:02. The maths is easy and with no precise target I haven't bothered with a pace band this time, I can see the kms ticking off neatly at the right pace.
I seem to be close to the top few women, and gradually drift past them all, but one (F40) comes back past quite soon with a bit of a group. She stays in sight however and I'm running with the 2nd one (F45) for a while. Strong women usually pace better than men and are also easier to keep track of so I'm happy with that. 2JB and a KMC block at 10k with water. All fine so far. My main strategy is to keep my pulse well down in the low 140s as I know that anything close to 150 too early spells danger and I'm not up for taking risks today.
Modest hill at 14k, still with the 2nd woman and I consciously hold back a bit up the climb and stay with her while some of the men pull ahead. She pulls away gently and rejoins them but I'm quite happy with my pace and let them go. There are still people moving up and back quite regularly. One of these who sticks a little way ahead is a red vest with M50. A bit of sleuthing in the results suggests he was the Welsh team member that I eventually beat by about 30 seconds.
Someone with headphones pulls alongside and asks what my target is. His is 3h. I tell him he's already about 5 mins fast as we approach 18km. He then proceeds to annoy my by running right alongside elbow to elbow, pushing me off the crown of the road onto the camber, and out wide on corners. Even hits me quite hard with his elbow once. We literally have the road to ourselves at this point. I suppose I should think myself lucky I've never previously encountered such an annoying un-self-aware twat past the first couple of minutes. Maybe I'm usually the annoying un-self-aware twat? Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, it wasn't that big a deal and I drop him around 20km.
Two pipe bands on the course give me some amusement. It seems a long way to come just to support me! I give them each a wave as we go past. Turns out Yorkshire has pipe bands. Who knew? Mostly the course is quiet, decent crowds around the dead turns on the out and back sections and also some support at the water stations which are every 3 miles and well organised. Apart from the bins being far too close. Why do they do that?
Past halfway under 1:25 and the 2nd woman's group is not far ahead so I push a little bit to try to catch them up. Pulse rises a bit and I'm not up for it at this point in the race so although I just about make it I eventually give up on them. Maybe they'll come back to me, I think hopefully. Some of them do of course, but only in ones and there's never anyone to run with as I have had in Mancs each year. The occasional overtaker too, but I'm settled with my pace and don't try to hang onto them.
Doesn't seem to be much shelter from the wind which is always cross. Well there are some hedges but it's still noticeable. Also gentle slopes costing me time against my rough target. I haven't seen a sub-4 km since half way. It's going ok but still a long way left at 30km as I take my 3rd set of 2JB and a KMC. From about 10 miles out I've been amusing myself by working out what 7 min miles for the remainder will give me, decide it wouldn't be a disaster (2:55ish) but I hope to do better. My watch is set to km and the markers are miles, as a maths PhD with a decent ability in mental arithmetic it always amuses me how much harder it gets to do the calculations in the third hour of the race.
We join the 10 mile course at about 22 miles and it's nice to have their mile markers (which give exact measure of distance to go) as well as our own which give you n-and-a-bit each time. Hoping to go under 2:52 still but not desperate for it and I bleed another minute over the final few kms. Legs not tying up though, I can feel my left hip/quad getting sore but pleased to find it's not crippling. Right hammy grumbling a bit too but not a problem. I've noticed these as minor grumbles in training and you never know how they will hold up to the extra strain on race day.
Hill of sorrows arrives and I'm glad I don't have a reason to push hard up it. It's not really very big. Over the top, a nice crowd lining the barriers and I spot my pre-arranged flag to carry to the finish. Actually two flags taped together, so one side gets the Scottish flag and the other gets EU stars
Through the finish, pick up the goodies and a couple of pints of Erdinger and find a seat where I can wait to meet jules. Only she can't get in so eventually I pick myself up and go to meet her. Find the advertised showers - well worth the 50p - and the bus/walk back to the van helps loosen up the tight hamstring a bit.
Overall it's ok. I didn't put in a proper training shift, never got down to race weight and didn't take the risk of pushing myself too hard on the day. I think my VF shoes are also a bit soft and perhaps not as springy as they have been. They've done 3 each of marathons, halves, 10k and probably 5k too, with a bit of training.
A note about food as I tend to half-forget this between races. My strategy was to take 2 jelly babies and one chunk of home-made Kendal mint cake, at around 10, 20, 30, 40km coincident with water stops. I also had 2JB 10 mins before the start with a last sip of water. This worked well though I only took the KMC at the last feed which was around 38km. This is easier to get down than the JB and I wasn't really feeling like I needed food at that point. It's about 120g in total which coincidentally is the most I can fit in my little pouch that I've been using for several years now. Much higher energy density than gels and I pick up water en route to help get them down (hence eating just before the water stop).
Can I take 8 mins off over the winter and break 2:45 at Mancs? I must admit that it doesn't sound all that likely, but I do have a plan. Watch this space...
The longer version: Comfortable enough night but bed a bit small and bouncy. Still, I was feeling pretty good after 9 hours prone with a belly full of pizza, legs feeling strong and restless which is usually a good sign that I'm ready to race. A good continental breakfast with the other guests (a younger sub-3 runner) and after packing up we wandered off to the start line. A bit further than ideal, more than 2 miles and we were a bit too early so I didn't even feel like jogging to warm up.
Getting busy around the start as we arrived, jules found somewhere to dump her bike and I did a bit of gentle jogging before undressing. She wasn't planning to ride around the course but had other things to do while I was racing, this worked out well as the start/finish area was a way out of the centre and she got back for the finish. Had a couple of jelly babies, hopped the barrier into the front pen at about 10 mins to go (already full by this point), pulled off clothing and handed it back to her. It's warm enough in the middle of the bunch. Apparently the announcer was talking about how an organiser had died the previous night, maybe a good thing I didn't catch all that! I was looking for M50 back bibs and international (vet) vests, lots of white for England but I didn't see any identifiable Celts.
Off we set, down the hill which went fairly smoothly and we're off into the middle of York. Plenty of room and I'm just settling into my target pace of around 4 mins/km. That would actually get me round just under 2:49 but I'm not really expecting that with any conviction. 2:50 is actually just a whisker under 4:02. The maths is easy and with no precise target I haven't bothered with a pace band this time, I can see the kms ticking off neatly at the right pace.
I seem to be close to the top few women, and gradually drift past them all, but one (F40) comes back past quite soon with a bit of a group. She stays in sight however and I'm running with the 2nd one (F45) for a while. Strong women usually pace better than men and are also easier to keep track of so I'm happy with that. 2JB and a KMC block at 10k with water. All fine so far. My main strategy is to keep my pulse well down in the low 140s as I know that anything close to 150 too early spells danger and I'm not up for taking risks today.
Modest hill at 14k, still with the 2nd woman and I consciously hold back a bit up the climb and stay with her while some of the men pull ahead. She pulls away gently and rejoins them but I'm quite happy with my pace and let them go. There are still people moving up and back quite regularly. One of these who sticks a little way ahead is a red vest with M50. A bit of sleuthing in the results suggests he was the Welsh team member that I eventually beat by about 30 seconds.
Someone with headphones pulls alongside and asks what my target is. His is 3h. I tell him he's already about 5 mins fast as we approach 18km. He then proceeds to annoy my by running right alongside elbow to elbow, pushing me off the crown of the road onto the camber, and out wide on corners. Even hits me quite hard with his elbow once. We literally have the road to ourselves at this point. I suppose I should think myself lucky I've never previously encountered such an annoying un-self-aware twat past the first couple of minutes. Maybe I'm usually the annoying un-self-aware twat? Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, it wasn't that big a deal and I drop him around 20km.
Two pipe bands on the course give me some amusement. It seems a long way to come just to support me! I give them each a wave as we go past. Turns out Yorkshire has pipe bands. Who knew? Mostly the course is quiet, decent crowds around the dead turns on the out and back sections and also some support at the water stations which are every 3 miles and well organised. Apart from the bins being far too close. Why do they do that?
Past halfway under 1:25 and the 2nd woman's group is not far ahead so I push a little bit to try to catch them up. Pulse rises a bit and I'm not up for it at this point in the race so although I just about make it I eventually give up on them. Maybe they'll come back to me, I think hopefully. Some of them do of course, but only in ones and there's never anyone to run with as I have had in Mancs each year. The occasional overtaker too, but I'm settled with my pace and don't try to hang onto them.
Doesn't seem to be much shelter from the wind which is always cross. Well there are some hedges but it's still noticeable. Also gentle slopes costing me time against my rough target. I haven't seen a sub-4 km since half way. It's going ok but still a long way left at 30km as I take my 3rd set of 2JB and a KMC. From about 10 miles out I've been amusing myself by working out what 7 min miles for the remainder will give me, decide it wouldn't be a disaster (2:55ish) but I hope to do better. My watch is set to km and the markers are miles, as a maths PhD with a decent ability in mental arithmetic it always amuses me how much harder it gets to do the calculations in the third hour of the race.
We join the 10 mile course at about 22 miles and it's nice to have their mile markers (which give exact measure of distance to go) as well as our own which give you n-and-a-bit each time. Hoping to go under 2:52 still but not desperate for it and I bleed another minute over the final few kms. Legs not tying up though, I can feel my left hip/quad getting sore but pleased to find it's not crippling. Right hammy grumbling a bit too but not a problem. I've noticed these as minor grumbles in training and you never know how they will hold up to the extra strain on race day.
Hill of sorrows arrives and I'm glad I don't have a reason to push hard up it. It's not really very big. Over the top, a nice crowd lining the barriers and I spot my pre-arranged flag to carry to the finish. Actually two flags taped together, so one side gets the Scottish flag and the other gets EU stars
Through the finish, pick up the goodies and a couple of pints of Erdinger and find a seat where I can wait to meet jules. Only she can't get in so eventually I pick myself up and go to meet her. Find the advertised showers - well worth the 50p - and the bus/walk back to the van helps loosen up the tight hamstring a bit.
Overall it's ok. I didn't put in a proper training shift, never got down to race weight and didn't take the risk of pushing myself too hard on the day. I think my VF shoes are also a bit soft and perhaps not as springy as they have been. They've done 3 each of marathons, halves, 10k and probably 5k too, with a bit of training.
A note about food as I tend to half-forget this between races. My strategy was to take 2 jelly babies and one chunk of home-made Kendal mint cake, at around 10, 20, 30, 40km coincident with water stops. I also had 2JB 10 mins before the start with a last sip of water. This worked well though I only took the KMC at the last feed which was around 38km. This is easier to get down than the JB and I wasn't really feeling like I needed food at that point. It's about 120g in total which coincidentally is the most I can fit in my little pouch that I've been using for several years now. Much higher energy density than gels and I pick up water en route to help get them down (hence eating just before the water stop).
Can I take 8 mins off over the winter and break 2:45 at Mancs? I must admit that it doesn't sound all that likely, but I do have a plan. Watch this space...
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jdawayinamanger
Dubious and reluctant mid-life (2011, early 40s) recruit to running, surprised to find it enjoyable!Got my sub-40m 10k at the end of 2013, followed by a sub-3 marathon at Chesterfield in Sept 2014 and then 2:54 in Manchester 2016 (pic above). Further gradual improvement to 2:51 and 2:48 in 2017 and 18, both at Mancs again. A result of accrued experience and gently increasing mileage. Kept chipping away with 2:47 in 2019 and also a 10k PB.
After the covid-enforced break in racing, I'm definitely over the hill but hoping to decline gracefully. I won't see any more true PBs but a WAVA target of 82% is now in sight. Hoping I can get older more rapidly than I get slower!
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