Sunday, April 17, 2005
Mark's Marathon
Matchbeats Mark Smith Looks Back on His Marathon Sunday
You know you're in for a long day when you need a drink & a lay down through exhaustion at the start line of a marathon. Likewise you know you've had a hell of a day when you wake up the following morning in agony as much through sunburn as muscle strains.
That was the summary of my 2005 London Marathon. Ordinarily, I'd be extremely disappointed with 4hr 38 min for a marathon when all projections had me inside 4 hours. Given the circumstances above though, I was quite chuffed with it.
I spent much of the opening few miles reflecting on my decision to "Back The Bid" (for 2012) at the Wednesday Exhibition - not regretting it - merely wishing I added the stipulation to keep the Dockalnds Light Railway as far away from involvement as possible. Myself & thousands of other arrived at 08.00am in good time at London Bridge station awaiting the 9 minute journey to the start. An hour later only the third train came by and the first with room to take passengers.
At 09.30 we left Maze Hill Station and had a near 2 mile run, all uphill with a bag of clothes, just to arrive at Greenwich Park for the start, which I did 30 seconds before the gun went. Deciding upon a quick start over stretching & using the loo, the majority of runners - myself included set off with little if any preparation.
Having reached 15 miles three times in recent training and on each occasion feeling completely fresh, it was disappointing to resort to walking by this point in the biggest one of all, but after having walked a combined 4 or 5 of the last 11 miles it's satisfying to have knocked 25 minutes off last year.
At one point around 16 miles, I was already down to just 2 remaining muscles in working order and barely muttered to someone on the phone "this is it - I'm not coming back next year to put myself through this again." Strange - as when receiving my medal & bag 90 minutes later at the finish from a lady who said "see you back next year?" I replied "you bet you will - can't wait" If some of the initial 24 miles had failed to live up to expectation, the last two along the Embankment & the Mall were every bit as good as last year. You cannot buy that feeling, but it seems need to go through absolute hell to experience it.
If ever there was a marathon of every emotion it was this. I laughed, I cried, went through agony & ecstacy and am left feeling a little like Tony Mc Coy in the National or Jimmy White in the snooker. I do really well in the half marathon & the smaller events but can't get the big one right.
It may need a marathon without 'the masses' to achieve the 4 hour mark, but that'll need finding one in October or November. Because one day the weather, the trains & the start will all fall nicely in my favour, but that'll have to wait for another year. A year and 5 days infact until April 23rd 2006 and maybe I'll nail it then.
You know you're in for a long day when you need a drink & a lay down through exhaustion at the start line of a marathon. Likewise you know you've had a hell of a day when you wake up the following morning in agony as much through sunburn as muscle strains.
That was the summary of my 2005 London Marathon. Ordinarily, I'd be extremely disappointed with 4hr 38 min for a marathon when all projections had me inside 4 hours. Given the circumstances above though, I was quite chuffed with it.
I spent much of the opening few miles reflecting on my decision to "Back The Bid" (for 2012) at the Wednesday Exhibition - not regretting it - merely wishing I added the stipulation to keep the Dockalnds Light Railway as far away from involvement as possible. Myself & thousands of other arrived at 08.00am in good time at London Bridge station awaiting the 9 minute journey to the start. An hour later only the third train came by and the first with room to take passengers.
At 09.30 we left Maze Hill Station and had a near 2 mile run, all uphill with a bag of clothes, just to arrive at Greenwich Park for the start, which I did 30 seconds before the gun went. Deciding upon a quick start over stretching & using the loo, the majority of runners - myself included set off with little if any preparation.
Having reached 15 miles three times in recent training and on each occasion feeling completely fresh, it was disappointing to resort to walking by this point in the biggest one of all, but after having walked a combined 4 or 5 of the last 11 miles it's satisfying to have knocked 25 minutes off last year.
At one point around 16 miles, I was already down to just 2 remaining muscles in working order and barely muttered to someone on the phone "this is it - I'm not coming back next year to put myself through this again." Strange - as when receiving my medal & bag 90 minutes later at the finish from a lady who said "see you back next year?" I replied "you bet you will - can't wait" If some of the initial 24 miles had failed to live up to expectation, the last two along the Embankment & the Mall were every bit as good as last year. You cannot buy that feeling, but it seems need to go through absolute hell to experience it.
If ever there was a marathon of every emotion it was this. I laughed, I cried, went through agony & ecstacy and am left feeling a little like Tony Mc Coy in the National or Jimmy White in the snooker. I do really well in the half marathon & the smaller events but can't get the big one right.
It may need a marathon without 'the masses' to achieve the 4 hour mark, but that'll need finding one in October or November. Because one day the weather, the trains & the start will all fall nicely in my favour, but that'll have to wait for another year. A year and 5 days infact until April 23rd 2006 and maybe I'll nail it then.
