Cranleigh, Surrey, was the setting for this week’s outing. A 21 mile race set in the picturesque Surrey countryside. The contrast between this event and the 20 miler at Thanet three weeks ago, and Hastings last week, couldn’t be more. A new club vest replacing the old sandpaper which had done so much damage last week! The howling winds and hail at Thanet were replaced with warm Spring sunshine, sea and sand replaced with country lanes, and 1 one hour time difference! Who in their right mind would plan to take part in a race at 9:00am immediately after the change to British Summer Time? Still, at least it was a sign that summer will soon be here! I arrived in good time to park up and as I headed to the Race HQ, I bumped into Tim and Steve, closely followed by magic man Paul Daniels. Other PWRs soon arrived – Geraldine, Jackie, Kevin and Stephen. The race doubles up as a 15 and 21 miler. The course consists or 1 large lap and on reaching 15 miles at the end of lap 1, runners have the option to finish, or continue onto a shorter second lap of 6 miles. This organisation uses more traditional methods, a good old fashioned tea bar and no chip timing! We headed to the start around 8:50am, a short walk from the HQ and when everyone had assembled, we were given a short briefing from the Race Director. When he had finished his briefing, he set us on our way, not with the firing of a gun, or the sound of a horn, but instead a good old fashioned “ready, steady, go”. Usually at this point, I am preparing to start my watch as I cross the chip mats, but of course, there were no chip mats. Instead, I was left to identify the start line and press start. As it turned out, the actual start line wasn’t easily picked out and so I ended up guessing where it might be. We headed off under a nice shade from the sun, not that it was needed at this time; it was still fairly fresh. Once again, this was all about pacing. A time of around 3:30 was the target finish time, or 10 minutes per mile. Once again though, I ended up heading off ahead of pace, and much as I monitored my watch, I kept drifting slightly faster than planned. No change there then! A brief stop at around 7 miles for a toilet break, and hopefully I could get the pace back on track, but that didn’t work either. Even worse was that the course wasn’t the “flat as a pancake” description I had heard about, but was rather more undulating. At 9 miles, we were close to the Race HQ, albeit we would have to go the long way around and another 6 miles before actually seeing it again, so instead of turning left, we headed straight on, along Cranleigh High Street before turning off and through a car park, soon followed by a trail path of around a mile. At the other end of the path was a short incline before we rejoined civilisation. We were greeted by two race officials handing out Jelly Babies. I took a couple, remembering back to the Brighton Marathon last year when I got a burst of energy after doing the same there. However, on beginning to chew them this time, I realised another problem. I was beginning to dehydrate. The next drinks station couldn’t come soon enough but I had to wait until around 12 miles. I was still in reasonably good shape at this point but I was concerned there may be a problem on the horizon. When I saw the drinks station sign, it was time to take the last of the three energy gels I had brought with me. I don’t find them the most pleasant of things to taste and so some water helps. I also needed the water today to attempt to keep dehydration at bay. I was soon approaching the 15 mile point. I hasn’t seen any other PWRs since the start and I was hoping to pass the 15 mile point without seeing any. I had been passed by a number of the faster runners who were 6 miles ahead of me, and at around 14½ miles, I was finally passed by Stephen, and soon after by Kevin. With 15 miles beckoning, the hard work was about to begin, but sooner than I had thought. The undulations so far had been relatively small but now there was a proper hill to conquer – not huge in real terms, but in a race of this distance, it wasn’t the sort of challenge you look forward to at this stage, and it would come around again on the next lap, and just before the finish too. Nice! I passed 15 miles, so wishing I could turn left to the finish. Had it just been a normal day, I may have done so, but this was about marathon training and so there was nothing to be gained by bailing out early. In any case, 6 miles should be a fairly straightforward distance to cover, after all, I do it every Tuesday night with my club. This was very different of course with 15 behind me, and thirst becoming ever more noticeable. I worked my way along the trail I had seen around an hour earlier, even being invited to go ahead of a cyclist – she did eventually pass me further along. The Jelly Babies soon came along but this time the first one wasn’t a taste I particularly liked and so I had to get rid of it. The second just seemed to absorb every last bit of saliva, leaving my mouth and lips completely dry. Again, it was a long slog to the drinks at 18 miles. The only positive sight was that I was closing on a couple of ladies with every step. It turned out one had sustained an injury. Aside from that, every other runner was overtaking me. One thing which was warming, apart from the sun, was the encouragement I was afforded by virtually every person that passed me. Even the photographer, who had perched himself around 13 and 19 miles, took time to give me encouragement as I passed him for the last time. The final mile and that hill again. I was well and truly finished by this point. No energy and very dry in the mouth, but I knew I was nearly done. The sight of a sign showing 200 metres to the finish was extremely welcome and as I turned into the finish area, I was greeted by fellow PWRs Jackie, Steve and Paul, willing me through those last few yards. Relief at finishing soon turned to discomfort as cramp attempted to set in. Luckily, it didn’t quite take hold. Nevertheless, it made for a very uncomfortable 4 or 5 minutes. I spoke with Paul afterwards, listening to his experience (this was his first time at an event of this distance), and comparing it to my own experiences, including Thanet three weeks earlier. I was trying to apply some understanding as to what Thanet and Cranleigh might mean for London. The discussion reminded me that there are so many variables on the day, and that I should only focus on things which are in my control. I reinforced this view to myself when I considered that even primed elite athletes cannot guarantee a performance, despite the rigorous training programmes they follow. All this leaves me with a decision to make next weekend for the Paddock Wood Half Marathon. Do I stick to the 10 minute mile plan, and then run some extra miles afterwards, or attempt a PB on a largely flat course? Something to think about later in the week. RESULTS
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ABOUT MEHaving completed 5 marathons between 1999 and 2016, I decided this year, I would try to do it properly and plan my training! Alongside, I wanted to keep a blog as it went along, partly to look back on, and partly to help anyone else who may benefit from my own experiences. Archives
November 2023
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