running the london marathon

After sticking to my training plan reasonably well during vacation, things went off the rails. I had my first IT band injury that I think was caused by not doing enough warming up/cooling down. I also went to the running store and apparently I’ve been wearing shoes that are too small for about 20 years? Whoops. After trying to push through the problem and making it worse, I decided to super-taper early with the goal of hopefully running London pain free. The furthest I ended up going for a long run was 16 miles over 2 days; not ideal, but I’m stubborn and knew I’d get it done.

My original plan when I signed up for the race was to arrive in London a week ahead of time, ease into the time difference, and work remotely. Then, a work trip squeezed right in there, so the new plan was to lobby in DC Mon-Weds, red eye to London Weds night, and hope for the best.

My family happily used my race as an excuse to visit London (most of them for the first time!). I headed to the marathon expo for my bib when I arrived Thursday, then we met up for dinner at the famous Prospect of Whitby.

The next day we explored London in some classic UK drizzle.

We visited Kensington Palace and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The day before the race, we used a hop on/off bus tour to get to Westminster for Big Ben and Churchill’s War Rooms.

The War Rooms were interesting but claustrophobic. The whole area was packed with people between the marathon and environmental protests happening for Earth Day. Roads were shutting down, restaurants were full, and my anxiety was kicking in for the race, so I parted ways with the fam for a few hours to go relax and get my kit together.

We had a nice pasta dinner at Matarello Bolognese, then I hit the hay. The next morning, I joined a few other silent marathoners in the hotel buffet to shove as much food down my gullet as possible. The train to the start line was a five minute walk from the hotel. Luckily, I easily got a seat; a few stops in, they were turning people away. I befriended my seat mate, and we stuck together in the ~20 minute walk to the corrals.

Rain was in the forecast, and by the time I made it to the start area, it was dumping. I had picked up a poncho and sweatsuit the day before which were clutch in the 45 minute line for the porta potty. One nice thing about this marathon is the easy gear check system; you get a large plastic bag with your bib on it that gets loaded into a truck for the finish line. I dropped off my bag that had dry clothes, snacks, and lots of ibuprofen, then waited for my wave to be called.

I went into the race with a plan to stick between the 5:30 and 5:45 finish time pacers. This was a loose plan as I knew I was showing up potentially injured and definitely undertrained. Luckily, my IT band felt great the whole way, and I was easily able to stay in that spot until mile 16… exactly as far as I had gotten in my training. From there, I was feeling pretty fatigued, and let my goal go with a new plan of “finish without wanting to die.” I ran/walked intervals the last 10, and while it didn’t lead to a PR, I crossed the finish line still smiling.

iconic moment!!

The course was a blast! It was way easier than Boston, and the whole race was in the city, with screaming spectators all day. I often couldn’t hear my music over the crowd. Some of my favorite sights along the way were Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, and Big Ben.

The adrenaline and happiness that carried me 26.2 miles STOPPED as soon as I finished, and my legs started to HURT. I picked up my gear bag and stumbled through Trafalgar Square to the tube. A well earned fish & chips and cider rounded off the day.

The next morning, I was borderline immobile. It’s funny, overall it was the best I’ve felt during a marathon, but the worst I’ve felt after. I think it was the tradeoff of giving my IT time to heal: rolling in without enough miles on my legs. I gladly stuck to elevators and escalators as the fam and I headed to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Tea Room for High Tea. Large amounts of tiny sandwiches was just what the doctor ordered for my race recovery.

I went back to the hotel to rest before we met up for dinner at Tavolino, which had a great view of Tower Bridge.

I said farewell to the fam who had an earlier flight than me the next day. I spent my last morning in London moving very slowly around the Tate Modern museum and Millennium Bridge.

Overall, super happy with how this marathon went, even if training was iffy. So much of marathon prep is a solo endeavor; the atmosphere and camaraderie of the London Marathon definitely reignited my love for the sport and commitment to running all six World Marathon Majors. 4 to go! [Berlin, Tokyo, New York, Chicago].