I went through the 20 mile mark in Paris in 2:43ish and thought i had a good chance of getting near to 3:30. Unfortunately, my legs had a different plan. While training i had tried to condition myself to believe 4 miles from home was a time to up the pace. It had been working, until marathon day. I just felt like there was no more to give. From early on it felt like my stomach was struggling with the energy food even though it was the same stuff as used in training. Mile 25 was the lowest point with the developing mantra being, fuck doing this in the desert everyday for a week! I so wanted to stop but kept plodding away because i have stopped in the past and it was not a good idea.Happily, these thoughts disappeared as quick as they arrived after crossing the finish line.
What went wrong? I had been feeling unwell and a bit run down in the week or so prior to the race. It was like man flu, only worse. I do feel this was only a minor contributor though, as was the fueling. The main problem had been not losing enough beef at the start of the training programme. This lesson has now been learned(i hope).
My legs were sore that night and tackling stairs was difficult until the Wednesday. I've done 3 short bike rides and 1 run since the race. Getting about not too bad but still lacking any real power to blast(relatively speaking) up hills. I'll give myself another week of fairly gentle activity before deciding where i'm at and what i'll be doing.
I've had a few beers through the past week(including loads on Saturday) and may have a few more this week. I might even try another day of excess. It was rather good fun, I think!
