The big day has finally come and gone and I'm pleased to say that things went about as well as they could have done. Whilst it was a bit windy in places, it was cool and mostly sunny and the course was pretty flat. My laces stayed done up and I didn't need to make any 'comfort' stops! My start in the 2:45>3:00hr zone also meant it only took me 6 secs to cross the start-line. Support and musical entertainment was good all along the course too.
As planned, I ran to the the same HR zone (145-155 bpm) that I used for marathon-pace training and this worked very well. I started to pay less attention to HR from about 20 miles, and this may have been a bit too early, as I slowed down a fair bit in the final 2 miles. That's a small point however, and overall, I think I paced the race pretty well for a debut at the distance. The 2nd half was 2m 30s slower, but this was partly due doing more running into the wind in the 2nd half.The Stats
* Time: 02:51:40 (new MV45 Club Record)
* 6th fastest NHRR marathoner of all time (ooh-err missus)
* 2nd highest ever NHRR age% score for a marathon (78.43%)
* Overall place: 249 out of 7856 (12th UK runner/204)
* MV45 place: 28 out of 1300 (1st UK Male Vet 45-49)
Statto approaches the finish line after 26.2 miles! >>>>>>
Click to enlarge
Thanks to everyone who has given me encouragement and support, not least Karen and Sibbo, who's knowledge and experience has been invaluable. I should also mention my wife Ange, who has put up with (even by my standards) 15 weeks of very obsessive behaviour!
Well done Statto, that's brilliant!
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