Edinburgh Marathon Race Report

You never know what the weather is going to throw at you & Graham Ramage took part in the Edinburgh Marathon last weekend which turned out to be the hottest weekend of the year so far. A great run & not too far off his target given the conditions. You never know the pain of a marathon until you've actually done one & it's especially tough in the heat. Well done Graham - a great achievement.
Colin

After 16 weeks of long training, most runs taking place around the familiar loops of Auldhouse and Strathaven, usually in snow, cold, wind and rain, finally the big day arrived on Sunday when I would
tackle my first ever marathon.

After a restless sleep I felt surprisingly fit and ready to go - all week the weather had been getting warmer and warmer leading to the seemingly inevitable but instead I awoke to a dull, cool morning.
Perfect running weather I thought....

We headed through to Edinburgh and when I stepped out of the car I was surprised - it was actually quite chilly! By the time I took up my starting position on Regent Road 30 minutes later I could already feel the heat starting to break through the clouds.

There was a great atmosphere on the start line and when the gun went off I set off nice and steady - the course is downhill for most of the first three miles which made for a pleasant start and gave the runners
a chance to take in the scenery and enjoy the atmosphere of the crowd.

A few miles into the run I realised I was going a little faster than I had planned and tried to slow it down a little - I found this difficult and always seemed to settle back to an approximate 8:20 min/mile pace (about 30 secs/mile too fast). This is something I think I'll try and address over the next few months. It sounds strange to say I struggled to run slower but I just couldn't seem to slow it down naturally.

The first 10-11 miles were pretty uneventful and it wasn't until I was nearing the half-way mark that I started to notice the effects of the building heat - I was making sure that I was taking on water at all the water stations and instead of a few mouthfuls I kept the bottle with me, sipping until most of it was gone. The last of the bottle was poured into my hat and back onto my head which cooled me down a lot (thanks Gareth, great tip!!).

I was starting to feel quite tired now - this wasn't in the plan!! During my last LSR I passed 13 miles and hardly noticed! By the time I reach the 15 mile mark the heat had become really intense - I was till taking on plenty of water and now using my Gels but the heat was sapping my energy - I was still maintaining approximately the same pace though. Now we entered a section of road with high bushes on either site which served to act as an oven - there was not a breath here. Already there were people walking and disturbingly quite a few people receiving medical attention!

Next we had to take a right turn, run up a road for about half-a-mile then round a cone and back down again - this was terrible and the first time I really started to struggle. Back out onto the coast road again and we turned into Gosford House. No spectators, a slight hill and no cover from the sun. I couldn't believe it. I stopped running. This was something I told myself I wouldn't do. I walked as fast as I could taking on a gel and then I was back on the same pace again! Very annoying. I reckon If I could have got my pace
down by 30 seconds per mile I'd have managed OK.

The next 7 miles were the toughest 7 miles I'd ever run - at one point a marshal told us there was a water station ahead. I ran for ages then saw a sign saying "Water Station 1/2 mile"! It's amazing how something
this insignificant can become a mountain. I had to drag myself there and the water seemed to be gone is an instant.

Running back through Prestonpans the support was amazing - Most of the houses seemed to have hoses out to cool us down and I think the kids must have thought Christmas had come early as they were allowed to
throw cups of water in the faces of passing runners.
The last 2 miles I think I even managed to speed up a little due to the crowd and then a mile from the end I could hear the PA at the racecourse so knew that it was nearly over.
Running into the racecourse I nearly missed Rosalynd cheering - I even managed an attempt at a sprint finish but quickly realised this was not such a good idea!

I crossed the finish line on 4:02:50 - I was delighted with my time considering the conditions but was slightly annoyed that I didn't push myself slightly more to beat the 4 hour mark.

I had my "never again" moment which lasted all of 5 seconds! Toughest thing I've ever done but I'll be ready for the next one (and hopefully it won't be quite so warm!!!).

A few days on and my legs are nearly back to normal - I think this is a sign that the training worked and my legs were strong enough - I guess training in Scotland through the winter you can't really prepare
for that kind of heat in May. But everyone else was in the same boat so it's just the luck of the draw on the day really.

Thanks to all the help I received from the team at ATHelite and all my running buddies who ran and cycled with me over the last few months and put up with my constant talking!

Bad news though - I'll be talking about this run for ages!!!!!!