London Marathon 2009

Jesus the Marathon was too hot and very tough going. On the London Marathon website they claim it was "the hottest conditions ever experienced in the 26-year history of the race."
I struggled at 16 miles, the heat was just too much. I was easily on target for my aim of a 3:45 finish, but I really had to knock that on the head, drop the pace as I felt I would get into big trouble in the next few miles. Miles 16-20 was tough going, I felt empty, sick and incredibly hot. I ended up coming in at a comfortable pace at 4:15.
Very frustrating that after four hard months training that the weather impacted so much as training went really well and I knew I could have done a 3:45.Apparently 750 people failed to finish with 350 taken to hospital. Unbelievable number of people collapsed on the side of the road.

I'm hanging up my 'Marathon trainers' now, I trained so hard for today over the past 4/5 months but the heat just zapped me mentally and physically so just finishing it became the achievement.

On the positive, it seems I've caught the sun!

London Marathon Update

Five weeks to go and the latest issue of "Marathon News" has just arrived. This edition contains full details on every aspect of the race day and gives me my registration sheet with notification of my race number - 22923.

For the first time, I'm starting to cack it slightly.