touring

Bruce Carmichael sent in this race report… After missing out on London earlier this year with hamstring problems I randomly decided to enter the Reykjavik marathon to give me a goal once my injuries had cleared up. Little did I know that I would be beset by injuries all year and so I headed off to Reykjavik on Thursday with only 4 rather meager long runs and a couple of MP sessions behind me, all crammed in over the previous 3 weeks. I had also managed to re-activate my hamstring trouble the week before the race with an ill judged parkrun. After spending a relaxing Friday at the Blue Lagoon (not the chippy) followed by the most expensive plate of pasta I’ve ever eaten, race morning came and the signs were promising. It was an early start, 8.40, and it was bright and sunny with little wind to speak of. As I made my way to the start I thought I better come up with some kind of race strategy. I was definitely not going for a PB but I figured I would be able to go through halfway in 1.22 and try and hang on for 2.45, although I fully expected the wheels to come off due to the lack of miles in my legs. Both the half and the marathon set off at the same time and I soon found myself in a group of 4 who were ambling along at just the right pace, unfortunately they were all doing the half and after 11.5 miles the course split and I headed off myself, almost literally. I passed one runner after 12 miles and made it to halfway in 1.21, feeling not too bad. Over the next 5 miles there was no one in sight and I at times I thought I’d gone the wrong way, fortunately the odd high viz vest came into view which eased my concerns and let me focus on my pace, which was definitely getting faster, despite numerous vocal attempts to slow myself down. At the 17 mile point I finally caught another 2 runners and hoped to hang on to the back of them and get a breather, but they were slowing slightly so I just pushed on and attracted the attentions of a steward on a bike who led me home for the last 9 miles. Around this stage I had fully expected to be struggling and I was concerned about the distinct lack of runners to keep me going, it really was feeling like a very hard training run. Once I got to 20 miles I was still managing to hold roughly 6 min miles and I tried to use a spot of amateur psychology to get me through the remainder of the race. The race was 22 miles, only 2 to go, stay strong, don’t disappoint the cyclist by slowing down. I made it through the first section in one piece, now the race was 24 miles, only 2 […]