26.2

Yesterday I completed my 4th marathon, in Edinburgh, and achieved a new personal best time of 3:24.01. I'm really pleased with that time because I was aiming to go under 3:30, but also because I know there are things I can improve on. The first 3 or 4 miles weren't good, I felt tired and sick, and I had all sorts of doubts in my mind. I can't explain why I felt so tired. It might be that I set off too quickly, but I was actually resisting the temptation to go faster. Lots of people sped past me at the start, which was a bit deflating, but I stuck to my pace, and by about 8 or 9 miles in I was passing people I saw pass me earlier. I think maybe I need to warm up before I set off in future, which seems strange - jogging 1 or 2 miles before a 26 mile run - but the older you get the more you need to give the heart a head start, especially as I up my pace. I completed 16 miles in 2 hours, so I was on for about 3:16 at that point, but I found 21 to 24 miles very hard, again, which is one of the things I still need to improve on.

At the end, as I was buying myself a rewarding pint of lager, I got talking to an old chap, wearing a medal, at the bar. He looked late '50's or early '60's I would guess. He had a ruddy face and bulbous nose. I asked him how he had fared. "3:01" he said. "Crikey", I replied, and thinking this must be someone with a long history of running, "was that a personal best?". "It was my first marathon", he told me. Quite incredible.

I ran the race with my pal Chris again. Chris' target was to go under 4 hours, and made it, clocking 3:58.32. Also a PB, by almost 30 minutes (so he's closing the gap on me and he's improved most in the last year, as he likes to tell me). Here's a picture of Chris just after he finished.

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