REYKJAVIK MARATHON 18/08/18

The date to go to Iceland comes around. It has been heatwave summer in the UK and all over Europe but Iceland is the other side of the jet stream, they have had a terrible summer and the weather report is for cold weather over the weekend when we are there.

Richard and I fly to Reykjavik very early on Friday morning, go to the expo for registration and head off to our Airbnb apartment. It is advertised as warm and sunny, in reality this is stretching things as it is in a dark basement room with four tiny windows high up on one wall. It is pretty basic but comfortable and fine for us. The marathon is Saturday morning rather than the usual Sunday which will leave us the rest of the weekend free.

I went into this with a fair amount of trepidation as it was our second attempt at a Boston Qualifier after we wilted in the heat and humidity of Wurzburg back in May. I've run way inside a BQ virtually every year up to now when I didn't need it but my times have fallen off a cliff a bit recently, either from the anaemia, ultra running or something else.

So there is a bit of added pressure but it is a perfect day for marathon running, cool but sunny. There are about 1350 in the marathon and loads more doing the half starting together. The course is very nice with long sections along the coast. It is however very undulating especially in the middle 15k with a succession of small climbs up to 30m high. Nothing dramatic but enough to sap the legs. I feel absolutely great at the start and run with Richard for the first 10k at close to 8 min miles before letting him go, his qualifying time is 15 mins faster than mine which is 3.55. But as Boston is oversubscribed nowadays you have to be several minutes inside this to get in and you don't find out what until the qualification window in mid September. Last year it was nearly three and a half minutes, much more than in previous years.

I get to halfway in about 1.48 feeling confident but you always have to pay for early pace and the hills start to take their toll. I have some new gels by Huma with 'real' flavours and ground chia seeds to slow down the energy release. Maybe they will turn me into one of the Taramuhara tribe from Christopher McDougall's book Born to Run. In training I have practised with a couple to make sure they don't cause any stomach issues and they are actually quite tasty. I don't like taking gels on marathons because it breaks my rhythm undoing the zip pocket in the back of my shorts and tearing the top open. They have Powerade at all the drinks stations and I have been guzzling bits of this. I am breaking the distance down into chunks as usual, after 22K I concentrate on the next 5 mile/8K section as a mini target which will get me to 30K. I take the first gel at 25K. I'm slowing down but not disastrously. After 30K I add another another two kilometre window as I know 32K is close to 20 miles. There are kilometre markers on the course and I get there in 2.48.30. As usual the last 10k is a sufferfest with the clock ticking inexorably on. I have to dig very deep to stay on my new very modest pace but I manage to hold it together through the death shuffle. A runner with a purple Sunderland Striders vest passes me. 'Go Sunderland' I call out, anything to get me distracted. 'Where are you from' she asks 'London' 'We've come a long way' she says 'I'll travel a long way for a Boston Qualifier' I reply. It's a good reminder. The amount I have psychologically invested in the race makes me more determined, as usual Moira and Lauren are super supportive and I also don't want to let Richard down, although I have no idea how he is doing. The hills are over with with but I am feeling every small rise. I'm trying to analyse what stops me going any faster – is it my lack of willpower, my sore glutes which feel like they doing a majority of the work or just general fatigue? I don't know the answer. But finally the finishing stretch comes into sight. I cross the line in 3.50.26 so four and a half minutes inside and there was Richard in a space blanket, he has done 3.36.47 so over 3 minutes inside. Now we have a wait to see if we have done enough.

Afterwards we have free entry to one of the outdoor swimming baths with geothermal spa and steam room which is perfect recovery. Sunday is a trip out to the Golden Circle/Secret Lagoon with the Gylfoss waterfall, geysers and natural hot pools.

Approaching the finish line