pickupthepacepaul

On Friday, 14 July 2023, I decided to fit in a cheeky weekday marathon. I do a lot of marathons with Phoenix Running, and they have a Friday series that is slightly cheaper with perks like a free entry for every 5 events. I have not managed to be in the position to come down on a Friday since he started this option, until now. It’s the same format. The only difference is the races are themed, with mostly a collection of medals from previous events, often last of line. Today, the theme was “love” with two medals to choose from.

I had expected it to be a lot quieter than normal, but if anything, it felt busier. Great crowd of familiar faces, so lots of smiles whilst we were running up and down the tow path.

My aim today was sub 4. I am also back tomorrow and have the same aim. I had a bit of a wobble at the end of last year – beginning of this year, with a lack of motivation and fitness, so running sub 4 at these events became hard to achieve for me. I treat these as training runs, so although it has a well stocked aid station, it doesn’t have the same motivation for me to pick up the pace, so it is easier to ease back. Usually, my easing back meant sub 4, but at the beginning of the year, this was not easy, and I wasn’t achieving it.

My motivation this year is to run 26 marathons in 52 weeks, raising money for Cancer Research. Whilst working and looking after a family, this is hard to achieve, let alone the physical demand. I am pleased to note that today was my 21st marathon of 2023, so I’m getting there.

Typical British summer weather, and we were blessed with rain today. I decided to run to comfort and ran the first few miles at 8 min mile, and gradually slowed to 9 min miles. When you then take onto account stopping at the aid station each lap, I knew I had to run around a 3:50 pace to achieve a sub 4 finish. For much of the race, I was on for 3:55, but eased off on the final lap, ensuring I had enough to finish sub 4, leaving myself fresh enough for tomorrow.

Pleased to finish in 3:59:18 and pick up this incredible Octopus medal designed as a wedding special. I had enough time at the end to get changed and have a beer before making my way to the train.

I’m also sorry, garmin, but I have a marathon in about 19 hours, so I can not recover for 95 hours.