Trevor Pask writes:
In terms of training, the last two weeks have been like the 12 to 14k point of previous marathons I have run. The excitement of the start has worn off, and the crowds are thinner. The running is still comfortable, but this is the point where things can start to go horribly wrong in the mind rather than the body.
In Brighton in 2019, 14k was out on the costal road running away from Brighton towards Eastbourne. There wasn’t a soul around apart from other runners and marathon support people. Quicker runners were already coming back the other way. I told myself: Get a grip. There are far more people behind you than ahead. It’s been harder in training than this. Just keep going. It’s the turnaround soon. Turn left soon, run up a road towards the posh girls boarding school, turn around, then back to the pier and hallway in no time.
Unfortunately, when I turned left off the coastal road, the tiny loop which was all of two dots on the map on front of the overpriced T shirt, transpired to be a two-way snake of runners disappearing about a kilometre into the distance. Some devil flicked a switch in my head at that point. I did not start to run slower, but I suddenly visualised how far 42.2k was. A seed of doubt had been planted.
I got around the loop and back to the pier on the seafront. This was both the 21k and 11k point. The tail of the field was still coming through on the other side of the road and I shouted encouragement. I knew that whatever I had felt about the quicker runners coming the other earlier was as nothing to what these people had to face. Obviously having taken advice from an anti-sports psychologist, Brighton Council had decided to send two refuse trucks literally inches behind the tail walkers and the final group, to hoover up the paper cups and debris from the road. One driver was smoking and flicking ash out of his window and horning the last competitors to get a move on as if he had a shift to finish. The sheer callousness of that spurred me on until 30K, and the loop around the derelict power station come wood storage yard. This is where the seed of doubt started to grow.
Amazingly there were some spectators dotted around this part of the course. One of them read the name on my bib and shouted: You can run faster Trev. Only two parkrun to go!’ The phrase made me think: S…t twice around Gunnersbury is miles. The logical part of my brain countered: Two parkruns to go is that same as running six of the eight you need to, it’s all ok. These thoughts were working through my head, but then course went through a pallet storage area. The smell of the chemicals in the wood made me feel nauseous and I slowed to a walk thinking I would be sick. I wasn’t but the relief of walking made the seed of doubt grow some more. I ran most of the remaining 11k, but while I was close to my marathon PB, in the power station, my mind had been set on finishing not pushing. I missed a marathon PB by ten seconds.
So the point of this is that the mind can give up before the body, and as important as the physical preparation for London is the mental side. I am now into week eight of training and the long runs are becoming more challenging. I need to use them for physical strength, but also to anticipate what might trigger doubt, and devise strategies to manage the doubt if it emerges.
On the last long run of 24K - to Eel Pie Island and back with a partial lap of Gunnersbury at the end – I asked Din who was running with me – why she thought one of my two planned 32k runs fills me with apprehension, while the other I look forward to. One involves running 5k to Kew Gardens, running the Kew gardens half marathon, picking up a medal and then running 5k home. The other is a dedicated 32k (20 mile) run in Kingston as part of running festival there. Two long laps down to Hampton Court and back and then four 1.6k laps around Kingston’s town centre. Same distance, largely the same tow path terrain. I have done the distance before in previous training plans. It is tough, but that is the point. The two events feel different though, and the only reason for that must be in my head and nowhere else.
Why do people think that is and what might the reasons be? I have some ideas, but I am interested what other runners think. I won’t have run either by the time of the next blog, but I will share any thoughts and suggestions people may have made.
Until next time, and continued thanks for all your support.