Good Times, Bad Times At The London Marathon, That's Life!

8 London Marathons 8 Sub 3's
I went down to London with my friends and team mates on Friday and really enjoyed there company.
As for my running that's a different story!
I already knew that I'd blown it weeks ago, running 22 miles at the Trimpell 20 at faster than 2.45 pace was the first straw to break the camels back, I should have stuck to the M.B. plan and ran it as a progression run.
I was shattered after it and had to take it very easy for a week, I recovered to run my fastest ever 1/2 Marathon but then put the final straw in the following weekend pushing way to fast,[basically sprinting up and down all the hills on what was meant to be a very easy long run!
Not surprisingly my following weeks training went very badly!
A easy weeks running before London sadly was not long enough to repair the damage, but to be honest I'd peaked at the Liverpool half and had no where to go but down!
The race
I got a good start from the good for age pen, after half a mile Steve from Aventures Of A Cumbrian Runner came along side me and we had a brief chat.
After a few miles the pacer for 2.45 cruised be followed by a large group, I hopped on board for a very bumpy ride as runners ran elbow to elbow.
I was not feeling very good and by 12 miles I dropped off the pace, by 14 my legs were getting rather heavy and I had to cut my stride and speed my cadence up.
The next few miles were quite unpleasant, at last I hit 20 miles and a slightly more positive outlook came over my mind as I decided to overtake as many runners as possible in the closing miles.
I was not going fast but many ahead were starting to struggle, so one by one I collected many scalps in the final miles.
I never hit the wall but never had much in my legs to give.
I guess 2.49.40 is not bad but it was still 4 mins off my target.

THATS LIFE (Michael Buble Covering a Frank Sinatra hit!) from arief T on Vimeo.

Thanks to Scott for his message; Scott Brown said...I saw what you did Rick and I know it wasn't what you wanted but it's not like it is a blow out. 4 minutes shy of ones goal is within the realms of normal. I was 7 minutes off my goal time the last one I ran and after the initial dissapointment realized that sometimes/most times something is going to happen to spoil the party.

Still, what winners do is regroup and hit it again until there is nothing left! I heard Nate Jenkins say the other day that "We do no good to ourselves giving up." There are so many stories of people giving up when they were within a hairs breath of success! Just keep at it and know that even if we don't reach our goals, by staying on the path what we learn about ourselves and our ability to overcome hardships and obstacles is far more valuable than any times we achieve!

Tomorrow's another day!!!

Cheers Scott, yes today is indeed another day and I'll be back next year to put things right!
I've been in quite a self- destructive mode so far this year and need to pull myself around!
On a positive note, team mate Ben Johnson in only his second marathon and at the age of just 23 ran a brilliant 2.35 for 99th place!
He told me that he ran by feel and only occasional looked at his watch.
He also ran a negative split and each night before he went to sleep told himself over and over that he could run 2.35!
Wow! that's the power of positive thinking for you!
Chris Dunn also had a fantastic run knocking 14 mins off his P.B. for 2.50 and Paul Cain took a good 3 mins off his best for 3.21
I'm going to enjoy my running this summer running with the club and racing off road!
Until the next time,Rick :]
UPDATE
Amazing result at Boston

Watch more video of 2011 Boston Marathon on flotrack.org

Tailwind drives new course record;Mens top 4: Mutai, 2:03:01, Mosop 2:03:05, Gebremariam 2:04:54, Hall 2:04:56. #bostonmarathon #rwboston
GREAT COMEBACK BY RYAN HALL!
Hope for me yet:]
Mutai Wins Boston Marathon in Fastest Time Ever Run