London Marathon

What a weekend of ups and downs. The training that I have had to endure for the London Marathon was tricky to say the least. Not because I had to do more running but for the simple reason of that I still had a 70.3 Ironman to train for and the Outlaw which is a full Iron distance race.

However though with being ill 4 weeks before the marathon twice. We are here. Yvonne and the kids have been great with their patience and support. My parents have got the kids this weekend as we knew it would be too hectic and busy to try and keep an eye on them. THANKS MUM AND DAD.

Well got the train down on Saturday first thing, it was a very much quiet journey down. Just tried to relax and read a book while listening to music. Been a while since I have actually used my MP3 player. Took about 5 hours in the train to get to London, then it was a small matter of getting  registered and then to the hotel. Luckily the hotel we were staying at was right next to the Excel (where the registration was). So we decided rightly so to drop our bags at the hotel and then head back to the Excel.

Registration was rather painless. Took a wee wander round the expo to see what was that. A lot of the marathon clothing was sold out, which was a shame as there was still loads of people to register. Bought a couple of things that I needed and then went for dinner. Yes time went that fast. As I did not know the area well we had some dinner in the Excel there was plenty of places to eat. I had pasta, well I did need to carb myself up. Found a Tesco Express which I got some water from, was not sure that they had about near the race (which I found out was very little)

Had an early night but then disaster happened. About 2am I got cramp in my left calf muscle, thought the worst. Got right of bed and started to stretch and I continued to stretch (easy) for the next 4 hours. It did ease off a lot but I could still feel it lingering. Went down for breakfast, weetabix, toast and poached eggs. Then it was time to get my stuff together and head for my muster and start point. That was easy waaaay to easy.

On the way to my muster point Yvonne and I bumped into a friend Andrew Orr, Have not seen him for a few years and he was dressed up as an apple. Quick picture and eventually I got to my starting point. From the tube to the here must of been easily over a mile. Finished my water and banana, kissed Yvonne for luck and headed to the start line. And yes the crampy calf still was there :(.

There was hundreds of us at the start point and being I was in muster point 8 you could tell even when the gun went off for the start we were going to be a while till we actually crossed the start line. I think it was about 15 minutes.

I had a plan which I was going to stick to, I wanted to try and keep as close to 9 min miles as possible. but knowing I had cramp that would increase to 10 min or possible more. I took my phone so I could text Yvonne to give her an update on what mile I was. That turned into a disaster as my phone battery died after sending the second text. So back to running. I got to the half way point and looked at my watch and to my surprise I did it in litterly seconds over the 2 hour mark. WOOHOO.

I still felt good no tiredness in the legs, come on Andrew you can do this YOU CAN DO THIS. The crowds were cheering you on the motivation to keep going was immense, I managed to make it to the 20 mile before I steadily felt the cramp return, so I slowed myself down to see if it would ease off. It did eventually I knew I was loosing time but at this stage I was just looking forward to the finish as it was now in my mind a 10km race. So I got myself back to a jog and after about a mile cramp came back, So you can guess how the remainder of the marathon went. Jog/Run/Jog/Run. Which I was not bothered about I knew I was onto a PB no matter what happened. While I was jogging, I did notice a lot of people stopped and trying to stretch off cramp etc. I also saw doctors and paramedics treating others. I hope it was nothing serious and they recovered.

At last I saw buckingham Palace I knew I only had at the most 1/2 mile to go. I will finish the race running over the finish line. I can see the finish, I can see finish. I have FINISHED. I have completed the LONDON MARATHON in an amazing time of

4 hours 19 minutes and 49 seconds