The day after the Portland coastal marathon was the Gloucester marathon, and if it had been on trail, it's debatable whether I would ever have started. The legs weren't too sore, apart from a painful Achilles, but they were very very tired and heavy. The hills in Portland hadn't been too bad, but the 3.5 miles along Chesil beach had sapped all the energy out of them and put considerable stress on my calves and ankles, making my right Achilles hot, inflamed and particularly aggravated by uphills.
Luckily, this race is no more than undulating, there are a few bumps that inevitably get longer and steeper on each of the 3 laps, but nothing too severe. I was ok for the first 10 miles or so, but didn't take on enough food or liquids during the race - there was nothing at the stations other than water and electrolyte stuff that was icy cold and not very appealing. Zurich New Year's mara with its warm isotonic drinks and huge arrays of gels, bars and fruit seemed a long way away. I struggled from about 14 miles, keeping myself going with the promise, always undelivered, of walk breaks, until Susie provided race saving Welsh cakes at 18 miles.
My 4'22 finish was fine, given how tiring Portland was the day before and given my highest mileage week ever at 86 miles and 16 hours on my feet. I'm going to have to rest the Achilles now for a bit, it's very inflamed and sore, however since it was exacerbated solely by stupid terrain that is not a standard running surface, I'm reasonably confident it will heal in a few days. I'm really looking forward now to my 50th marathon in Marrakech at the weekend, it seems to have come round really quickly.
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