Considering before October I had only once run over ten miles I thought it would be a great idea to enter the London Marathon. Unfortunately the timing meant my training would start after I moved to London. I then spent the best part of 5 months enjoying the lovely fumes, traffic and picturesque views of city life as I trained for the marathon. Within the build up to the London Marathon I managed to clock the below PB's:
5k - 20.46
10k - 45.36
Half Marathon - 01.44.15
15 Mile - 02.12.00
The above is the furthest I got in terms of distance, I only managed to clock a maximum long run of 15 miles before race day!
After moving up to Edinburgh in early January, a loop round Arthur's Seat began to become my local training run, I thought this was great although there were no hills in the London Marathon... Anyhow, March struck pretty quick and I picked up a bunch of micro tears in my calf from over-training... I guess I caught the running bug too quickly. From here I visited the physio a fair few times, began to wear compression socks everywhere and only ran once a week. Not the best Marathon prep. Anyhow I clocked a half marathon PB 7 days before London and I felt in peak condition for race day.
Unfortunately marathon day was super hot, many runners were struggling to cope with the heat and you could tell it was taking its toll on everyone. I managed to clock a debut Marathon time of 04.02.09, not bad I thought, but I did miss out on my Sub 4hr goal.
However, far more importantly I raised £2,287.39 for Muscular Dystrophy. They're the leading UK charity dedicated to beating muscle-wasting conditions by finding treatments and cures and to improving the lives of everyone affected by them. They rely on support from events like this so they can continue with their vital work. It's a charity close to home as my younger cousin Inder whom I live with, is personally affected by Muscular Dystrophy. I was extremely proud to support this charity, and thank you to everyone who donated and offered their support.
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| A few of the great support team! |
After 4 months of no alcohol in the build up to the Marathon I began to go out a lot more, eat much more fast food and genuinely become lazy. However the running bug was still there, and I would occasionally sneak out for a run, never more then 5 miles!
Nevertheless at the back of my head I still had a niggle, I was sure I could break the 4hr barrier in a marathon and I was desperate to beat my dad's PB of 03.58.47 (I think)...
So on June 15th after 2 months of very little running, multiple late nights and a poor showing from England the night before, I headed down to Bournemouth in search of a Sub 4hr Marathon. In my head I new I wasn't as fit as I was for London, I new my preparation had been awful but I had a renewed hunger for the Sub 4hr run and I knew that if I was in the right mental state I could break the barrier!
I always knew my legs wouldn't last the full 26 miles, I knew I would want to quit after 5 miles however I prepared a race plan that was hopefully going to make me succeed. I decided to run way above my target pace for the first 15 miles, hopefully banking enough time so that when my legs decide to give way I could drag myself round for a sub 4hr time because I was way ahead of target....Most experienced runners will completely laugh at this plan however I was pleasantly surprised as I ran across the 24 mile mark in 3hrs 40mins.... I had 20 mins to run 2 miles. Easy.
I gritted my teeth and gave my everything in the last 2 miles, my last mile was the quickest mile of the whole race I ran an a 8.14 mile after 25 miles of running. How?! I crossed the line and may have possibly shed a tear, luckily I had no support at this marathon so no one was able to laugh at this. But I had done it, I had broke the 4hr marathon barrier and clocked a time of 03.58.01. This was an amazing feeling.
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| Sub 4hr Marathon to my name. Very happy. |
That's it and the marathon bug was gone, I haven't touched my running shoes since and I don't plan to anytime soon! I hope this inspires some people to try a marathon! Do it, you have nothing to lose.
Cheers,
Chyavan
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