MT CHARLESTON MARATHON 01/04/23

I head out to Nevada. I'm staying in Las Vegas as the race finish is on the outskirts of the city. The hotels are good value for money as they want you to gamble in their casino. I'm in the Tuscany Suites and there are lots of other runners staying as the shuttle bus to the start leaves from here. I go to Wholefoods Market and pick up a load of food for the couple of days leading up to marathon. Apart from going to the hotel gym to do some shake out runs on the treadmill and heading to the Expo to pick up my race pack, I live like a hermit in my room. I've forgotten to pick up any wooden cutlery at the market, I could easily get some from the hotel but I fold a couple of foil pot lids into makeshift spoons and use them. As usual this appeals to me in an absurdist manner. Early morning race day preparation follows a routine I'm used to now, I eat about 4pm, go to bed and get up just after midnight. I have some breakfast and as usual take my time getting ready and trying to relax. The shuttles leave at half past three. Just as at Comrades, Mountains2Beach, Chilliwack and Big Cottonwood we sit in the dark until the buses drop us at the start area. This is the coldest yet. The roads have been cleared by snow plough and there are big banks of snow piled up. There is the odd patch of scary black ice. We sit huddled in old clothes and space blankets and it looks like a scene from a survival movie.

By the time we start I can't really feel my feet. The first half mile is largely uphill and I get clipped form behind, I skate across the road but keep my balance. The runner apologises, these things can happen in congested starts. After a mile or so we start the downhill section for a few miles before another uphill loop, then it is a long stretch of downhill and I'm doing okay. No breathing problems like I had at Big Cottonwood, the slightly lower altitude of 7000 feet and the lack of forest fire smoke in the air makes the difference. I'm manually lapping my watch at the course mile markers but I press the pause instead of the lap button at one and don't notice. By the time I start it again I've lost my elapsed time but I try to just run by feel. Apart from an uphill at Mile 12 this is the long smooth downhill section and I am running not far behind the 3.50 pacer. Halfway comes in 1.54.39 which is 8.45 mile pace. But it's only halfway. The scenery is absolutely stunning and the cold at the start is forgotten, the sun comes up over the horizon in a cloudless sky.

You might think it's easy to run these downhill races, but it really isn't. Your legs can totally seize up with the eccentric loading, and having got away with it in previous downhill races it's happening to me on this one. By mile 16 I know I can't sustain the pace, I can't really run properly anymore.

The inevitable unfolds and the 4.05 pacer goes by a few miles later. The course is largely flat now with a slight downhill and I make the decision, or rather it's made for me, to run/walk it in, to avoid injury and live to fight anther day. I try to make my peace philosophically with the circumstances. It's a long time to be plodding along. Mile 24 has another significant uphill then it is the final stretch. To add an extra twist I even have to make a portaloo stop a mile from the finish. We are now in hot sunshine and I raise a bit of pace for the run in to the line. 4.37.55, certainly my worst paced marathon ever.

My peace with the result isn't convincing. My confidence has taken a big knock. I came within a minute of qualifying in September after a very compromised build up post injury. I went into this race after a full build up and I've finished up over half an hour slower. The next day I take the cliché of get back on the bike literally, I go to the hotel gym and do an hour and a half on the cycle trainer. I am sensible enough to keep it easy and afterwards I have some more appropriate recuperation in the outdoor jacuzzi, sitting in the hot sunshine.

Back in the UK I can't help but go into planning mode. I should be disciplined enough to rest and try and work out what went wrong and train smarter. Maybe nothing went wrong and it was just one of those days.