Tim's countdown to the Virgin London Marathon 2011 by tnmboswell

• Virgin London Marathon reflections

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  Apr2220116:22 p.m.

  After crossing the line there were the formalities to get done – get chip removed, have medal placed around neck, collect goody bag and pose for official photo.  Then there was the rest of the Mall to negotiate – it’s a good job that there are railings in front of all the baggage trucks because I was hanging on to them most of the way !  It really is an exhausting walk – you just want to sit down but know deep down it’d be better to keep on walking if all possible.  I think it’s the slowest walk  / hobble I’ve ever done !

   

  We’d agreed to meet next to the ‘B’ rendezvous point in Horseguards Parade, and Jo and her family were already there by the time I arrived.  My nieces Lauren and Caitlin presented me with the banner and card they’d made.

   

   

  There was a bit of a wait for Mum and Dad, and then Emma, Dean, Megan, Molly and Daniel weren’t too far behind.  I headed off to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the Macmillan reception, where I was greeted by Alice, who helps to co-ordinate all of Macmillan’s activities around the marathon.  She said “Hello Tim – there’s a familiar smiley face !”.  She recognised me from the photo from last year’s marathon that’s been used in various Macmillan newsletters in the build-up to this year’s race !  Also at the reception was Team Tim member, the Coventry City physio Michael McBride.  He was more than happy as he’d finished in something like 3 hours 15.  Amazing time !

   

  The massage was very welcome (as were the sandwiches and drinks !), and I had time to ask the masseuse a few questions about some thigh cramps I’ve been getting after long runs.  Evidently, hip flextor exercises and stretches are the answer !

   

  The others waited for me on the edge of St. James Park ... Jo and her family left shortly after I got back.  The rest of us took a gentle stroll up Whitehall, saw some people still out on the marathon course, crossed over near Westminster Abbey and walked to Big Ben.  Then, it was over Tower Bridge and to a cafe near the London Eye.  One of the great things about the atmosphere around London after the marathon is that fellow runners (also proudly sporting race t-shirts and / or medals), give you a smile, nod or wink (honour amongst sufferers, I call it), and other people also give you knowing smiles or congratulate you.

   

  By this point, the running-type leg pain had given way to a sharp pain on my left foot, right where it meets the leg.  The equivalent of the wrist, if you like.  I’m not sure what caused it – I had wondered early on in the marathon whether I’d tied up my laces too tight – but it was really sore by the time we sat down.  The strange this was, it hadn’t hurt while I was running.

   

  After a drink, we crossed back over the river near Charing Cross and headed to Pizza Express on the Strand.  I’d got some vouchers to use, so headed back to the hotel to pick them up and get changed, while the others waited for a table.  Everyone was tired in their own different ways, but the food was more than welcome – as was the celebratory beer !  We all went our separate ways not long before 9pm. 

   

  Monday morning started with a massive breakfast from the hotel buffet .  I more than made up for only having porridge and a small banana on Sunday !  Cereal, full cooked, pastries – the lot !  We all met up again at about 10.30am at the London Eye, which was already busy by that time.  In amongst the sightseers were more people still wearing their marathon t-shirts – I still was too – and still giving respectful nods to fellow runners yesterday / hobblers today .  My foot / ankle / lower leg was still painful so it was a much slower walk to the Eye than the walk in the opposite direction had been the previous afternoon.

   

  We caught a sightseeing boat up the river to Tower Bridge and then on to Greenwich.  It was really interesting seeing some of the marathon landmarks from the water (Embankment, the tunnel from the Highway, Cleopatra’s Needle, Tower Bridge).  Something that struck me was just how far Tower Bridge seemed from Big Ben, and in turn just how far Canary Wharf seemed from Tower Bridge.  It’s easy to trot out numbers in training “a long run of 18 today”, “10 miles of intervals”, but that’s just numbers really.  When you see it with you own eyes, albeit from a distance, 26.2 miles is a heck of a long way !

   

  Once dropped off at Greenwich, we walked alongside Cutty Sark (easy to see why we couldn’t run there this year) and then over the road (part of the race route), towards the National Maritime Museum and then up to the Royal Observatory.  The climb up to the top is short and sharp, but it makes you realise just why mile 3 of the marathon is so downhill !  The view from the Observatory is a fantastic one – from the city in the west, to Canary Wharf almost right in front of you, to the O2 and  a distant Olympic Stadium towards the east.

   

   

  I left the others at a cafe near the Observatory, then headed back to Cutty Sark DLR, Canary Wharf tube and back to Marylebone for the train back to Warwick.

   

  Stew from work had worked an early shift and the weather was warm, so it would have been rude not have a catch-up over a pint in the beer garden !  I got back home at about 7.30pm, had some food, and promptly fell asleep in front of the TV marathon coverage that I’d recorded.

   

  It was back to work on Tuesday – hobbling somewhat with my foot still giving me grief. Everyone was full of questions as to how it had gone, and there were some kind comments about my time.  Wednesday was the most sore day of them all – the delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) had properly kicked in, and getting down stairs was pretty painful – not so good when you live in a first floor flat !   I still managed to go down the stairs forward, though ... I’ve heard tales of people having to descend sideways or even backwards !

   

  The soreness in my quads had gone by Thursday and as I type (Friday), it’s just the foot injury that’s still sore.  I’ve not run all week – I think it would have been mad to, given how sore my foot’s been – and it’s really nice to wake up in the morning and know that I didn’t have a run / intervals / tempo session / gym workout / swim to get through before work.  I’m not sure when I will run next ... maybe see how everything feels early next week.

   

  Either which way, I’ll need to be on best form to get my ballot entry for the marathon filled in on Tuesday. Which, I guess is my way of saying I’m ready to give it another shot. 

   

  On Sunday afternoon, I wasn’t so sure. I had that post-Christmas feeling, which I suppose is sort of inevitable when you spend such a long time and so much effort (17 weeks and 480 miles not including the marathon), building up to something which is over in a day.  And, of course, the nearer the big day gets, the more and more it occupies your thoughts.  To the point where, for the past few weeks, I’ve thought of very little else.  On top of that ... I got to thinking ‘maybe I’m not built to run sub-four ?’  ‘Have I got the stamina within me ?’  ‘Have I got the mental strength ?’

   

  However, that post-Christmas type feeling and wobble in self-confidence have eased as the week’s gone on, and for a few reasons ... 

   

  Firstly, I’ve watched every minute of the TV coverage from Sunday.  What a spectacle.  What courage people have shown just to get to the start line.  Of course I knew all that as I was running, but seeing it in retrospect really drives home what a massive occasion it is, and I feel really, really proud to have now been part of it twice.  To refer back to the blog about the race itself, why wouldn’t you smile when a stranger wishes you well a few miles in ?  Sometimes an occasion is bigger than all of us !

   

  Secondly, I’ve put my statto hat on, and it seems I’m not the only one who suffered with the heat this year.  My chip time this year was 04:04:40, which put me in 10,298^th place.  Copy that finish into last year’s results, and the person finishing in 10,298^th place did so in a time of 03:57:46. To take this a stage further, last year’s chip time of 04:22:51 put me in 16,927^th place.  If I’d have run the same time this year, I’d have finished in 14,458^th place.  In my mind, this can only mean one thing ... either a weaker field or a slower one because of the weather.  And I’m sure that once you get in amongst the 4 hour runners, the strength of the field will even itself out over the years.  On top of that – I finished within the top 30% of the field and knocked 18 minutes off my PB.  Earlier this year, I was so, so chuffed to have knocked just one minute off my half marathon PB and then knocked that PB down by a further two minutes a fortnight later.  So maybe I was a little harsh on my performance ...

   

  Thirdly, I’ve been blown away once again by people’s generosity.  I don’t know what it is about the London marathon, but it really does bring out people’s generosity.  To date, people have sponsored me more than £770 in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support (getting on for £900 including Gift Aid).  I really, honestly didn’t think I’d get anywhere near last year’s total so once again I’m really touched by how kind people have been.  And let’s not forget that we’re not just talking numbers here ... we’re talking lives changed by the work Macmillan do.  Lives changed by every penny that people have so generously donated. So not only is the occasion bigger than all of us, there are plenty of people less fortunate than us to think about, and to help in any way we can. 

   

  So thank you so much to everyone who’s sponsored me, or supported in so many other ways.  Thank you to Simon at the Harvester Inn at Long Itchington – www.theharvesterinn.co.uk – for generously donating the sweepstake prize.  Thank you to family and friends for their interest in the training, and especially to those who walked their own marathons across most of London to come and support me on the day.  Thanks to the members of Team Tim – especially those who’ve recently started all chatting together on Twitter – for their encouragement and support.  Watch this space for future Team Tim adventures !  Finally, thanks to those who’ve read or commented on the blog.  It’s been good to share some of the highs and lows of training. 

   

  Virgin London Marathon 2012 ?  Here’s hoping ... !

  

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  Comments (3)

  • Firefly123 'Well done, Tim. I suppose that'll be the last we'll see of you on RB until next year!!' added 22nd Apr 2011

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  • tnmboswell 'I might surprise you yet .... ;)' added 22nd Apr 2011

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  • Jenny1961 'Hi Tim! I've finally caught up with you! I disappeared for a while in March and April due to arm and shoulder problems so had to keep away from computers- and running- for a while! Have had a read of your race report and am delighted that you beat your previous time! Congrats! Like Sue says- I guess you'll vanish again for a while but do keep up the running! I'm still on for a sub-4 hr marathon one day! Gloucester marathon was 4.01! (Bummer!)' added 31st May 2011

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