The plan today was to start off easy and gradually increase the effort, finally cruising home at a nice pace, overtaking all and sundry.
It didn't quite work out like that.
The first half felt fab. The pace was around 7:40 and I felt like I was jogging. However I hadn't checked the course profile beforehand. The first half is downhill and the second half is up.
After halfway I increased the effort a bit and gradually reeled people in, still feeling good. However the last 6 miles are mainly uphill and after 20 miles my legs started getting heavy and I was ready for the race to be over.
By this point the 20 mile and Half Marathon races had merged with my race and overtaking the back markers in the other races was a welcome distraction.
At one point I thought I might go sub 3:15 without too much effort but the hills at the end put paid to that dream. I managed a respectable pace though, with all the miles sub 8 minute. In the end I finished in 3:21. This is quicker than I had planned but it was also harder than expected.
I guess a marathon is a long way even at a steady effort. At the end of my biggest week ever it ended up being a slog at the end. But my goal of doing a marathon as a training run was achieved and it was much more fun than doing a 24 mile run by myself.
90 miles for the week.
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