Thanks for the shout out mate - appreciate it! Making my forum comeback for a bit of a race rundown - forgive my self-centred piece but I’m so proud of yesterdays run 
WHAT A DAY.
Given it was my first marathon, I had prepared with goals all the way from A to Z to prepare me for every eventuality and to get me through the tough parts… but they just didn’t come!
I was lucky enough to have a Championship start so got to line up just behind some of the best in the world. Watching the coverage back I could see myself bobbing up and down - a little green pixel in the background. I had plans to hold back for the first 5k, but following tradition I set off marginally faster than my true goal pace, aiming for sub-2:40.
5k, 10k and 15k flew by without even really realising what was happening, I was so focused on the support, the sheer volume of runners alongside me and ensuring I was sipping water. I’ve always struggled with dehydration in long training runs, so knew that being on top of this from the start was going to be key. At 10km I had the first of my three gels, which slipped down without a problem.
Highlights from the first half were Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge, and first seeing my support crew (of just the 1 in case anyone from London Marathon is reading this 
) at Canada Water just after 8.5 miles. I had to stop myself from getting carried away from the lift that I got from them, it was one of the first races I felt like I could go over and high 5 them and not lose any ground.
I had my second gel just before crossing Tower Bridge (about 20k) and then was treated to seeing the lead women going the other direction at almost 2 hours into their race. As good as I felt, they made it look effortless. One of the best things about running is the mixing of abilities, shapes and sizes all battling it out on the same course on the same day.
The pace started to bite when we reached Canary Wharf and there was one section where we emerged from the shelter of the buildings and got hit with a headwind. It was probably only a few mph but it felt like a hurricane at that point and I was praying that it wouldn’t face us along the entire embankment, or it was going to be a slog to the finish line. This was the first point I noticed people really struggling, and shouted words of encouragement to a few who were stretching out their hips or walkers who were paying the price for a speedy start.
I saw my support crew again at Limehouse which gave me a lift, or maybe it was the caffeine gel that I took at 30km that was kicking in. Either way, from there on I don’t think I was overtaken once! Every person in the distance acted as my next marker to tick off and I focused on that rather than the pace or distance. Embankment, which I had been dreading, was my crowning glory and I blazed down the streets well under goal MP. Although my quads were clearly tired and a dull ache buzzed through them with every stride, my mental state was one of the best it’s ever been in a race. I embraced the pain, focusing on picking people off one by one.
I got to Parliament Square with 1500m to go and threw everything I had at the finish, possibly a bit early to start a marathon kick as I shortly found out! I made it to 400m to go before the quads really fought back but I held on to drag myself down the mall for an elated finish in 2:38:13 in my first ever marathon, earning another championship entry for the future, and beating my A goal of sub 2:40!
I even managed a negative split - with a 1:19:09/1:19:04 distribution.
Can’t wait to sign up for the next one, although the current challenge is walking down stairs.
Edit: Strava link - 26.3 mi Run Activity on October 3, 2021 by Sam B. on Strava
