Runs, rides ‘n' swims and a Half Ironman by JSIMMONDS

Who’d have thought it? You can run a half-marathon on no training at all. That’s what I found out at the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside marathon on Sunday. With a grand total of 19 miles of running in the last 8 weeks in my legs, and no runs more than 10 miles for the last 4 months, I was a little concerned at the outcome. The combined effects of ITB syndrome, two head colds (one of which was still with me in vengeance), two blisters (sustained on the Saturday by wearing my wellies all day – dumbo) and no training made this an interesting experiment as to how I would cope.

And boy, was I right to be concerned.

Set out at 9:30/mile pace, which felt very comfortable – a nice steady pace which I thought I should be able to maintain. That lasted for 13 miles, all the time feeling pretty good, with no energy problems. Things started to go downhill rapidly from there. By 16 miles I had to stop. My legs were in an awful lot of pain. Energy levels were fine (I am an old hand at nutrition now), but legs had gone on strike. Clearly 3 miles per week just doesn’t cut the mustard for a marathon!

I had many a stern word with myself but to no avail. Legs just weren’t having any of it. My running became a shuffle as every time I tried to lift my leg a little more than a shuffle, I got huge cramps which made me stop again. So I shuffled/walked/limped all the way for the last 10 miles, finishing in a personal worst time of 4 hours 54 minutes.

So the no-training-marathon-experiment is over, never to be repeated. I spent the second half of the run saying “never again” to running a marathon, but I know I will. Only next time, I will train properly.

Now, where are those mince pies?