Marathon 2.0 - What I'm taking from the Bournemouth marathon to London

2017 - Bournemouth

I ran the Bournemouth marathon in 2017.  It was my first and it was great - I loved the training, I loved the people I ran and trained with (especially), and on the day I loved the course and the experience.
I didn't love the hill you get to at mile 17/18, I didn't love getting cramp at mile 20 and then repeated twinges in the last 3 miles, and with the benefit of hindsight I didn't love the fact that I had breakfast too early and then not enough full/carbs/salts etc. prior to the start.
But although I didn't get the time I wanted (sub 4 hours), I finished in 4:17 so I was a marathon runner -and people said well done and were proud of me and it felt good.
So what lessons have I learned from my first marathon and how can this hindsight help me with my next one?

2018 - London

Now in 2018 I've got a charity place for London - one of the "marathon majors" and to be honest pretty much the pinnacle of the running calendar as far as I'm concerned.
So I'm training again, currently in week 4 of my 18 week plan and although I'm feeling a bit heavy and slow after Christmas the weekly miles are rolling by and the current long runs at 14/16 odd miles are manageable.
I have fundraising to do on the side of course.  I'm currently at £1,400 off a target of £2,000 (as of Jan 10 2018) and so this is going well.  We have a disco and raffle planned between three of us so that's on track I reckon (which is a relief - £2,000 seems like a lot).
Feel free to help me out with this: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/piers-wilson
The obvious thing to consider is what i might change or do differently this time around!

The course

This is not something I have any control of, but the Bournemouth marathon course is (from both personal experience and feedback from others) a bit on the tough side.
There are no massive hills like you might find on a trail event but there are some ups and downs, including a fairly punishing climb up West Cliff Drive at mile 17-18 - exactly the place where it gets hard!

Bournemouth - The climb at mile 17 is hard work

On the plus side, running along the seafront is brilliant and at some point I'm definitely going back there to run that stretch again :-) The fun aspects of those stretches really kept me going, so enjoying what you are running past I think makes a difference - and its often easy to overlook.
London is possibly a bit less scenic in some places and more so in others (the Cutty Sark, Tower bridge and Buckingham Palace will be lovely, the Isle of Dogs possibly less so).
However, the main difference at London is that it is flatter, much flatter.  Compared to Bournemouth it is ironing-board flat, so this time I'm not expecting hills to be as much as a factor - I'll be able to comment better after the race, but the race time-lapse video on YouTube looks pretty level to me.

My conclusion from this is that knowing the course and what to expect helps.  I knew there was a hill in Bournemouth, but I hadn't run it tired.  London, which is where I work, will (a) hopefully contain less surprises and (b) be more familiar, especially if I get some miles in on the actual route.

My fitness and running baseline

When I started marathon training for Bournemouth I'd done a bunch of half marathons so that was a comfortable distance, and I'd gone beyond that a couple of times to about 17-18 miles.  My weekly mileage was around the 25-30 mark but I'd done very little in the way of speed work or sprint/threshold training (aside from the monthly 3.6 mile handicap race and the odd Parkrun) - simply the times my club ran those sessions I just couldn't ever get to.
The first week of the Bournemouth plan was 33 and the longest run was 12 - the plan pretty much started where I was.
At the start of London marathon training I'm in a slightly better position - for one thing I'm running a much higher weekly average - normally around the 40-45 mile mark.  I've now run a lot more longer distance runs - several of those were in training for Bournemouth or the race itself (marathon distance).
I also starting London training having been through all the speed and threshold work from the Bournemouth plan (I chopped 2 minutes of by 5k time at Parkrun) and there has been extra speed training sessions at the club run by Terry, one of the coaches, so my speed and thresholds are definitely higher.
I think the lesson is that marathon training the first time you do it is probably a fair step up; this time it won't be quite as high step and managing the running schedule will definitely be easier the second time around (I found it was: Pick a day, Rest on that day, Run on all the other days).  In short if you're used to running most days, doing various speed and endurance training and have put in the longer distance runs the training will feel familiar.
I hope that sets me in good shape for the London training speed sessions - which won't feel quite so new - and the race itself when April 22nd rolls around.

Knowing what the hell I'm doing a bit

This is fairly straightforward, I've done a marathon now so I have got a bit more idea what to expect.
At Bournemouth the race plan/guide I got from my coach Terry was spot on - almost uncannily so - everything he said would happen and the way it would feel at each stage was dead right (he has done a bunch of marathons).  But I hadn't felt it myself at that point, and this is something that I don't think you can underestimate for your first marathon - but you will for the second one!
I recall talking to Alastair, another experienced marathoner and ultra runner at a party, he said you just won't know what to expect when you push your body beyond what its done before - how it will react, how it will feel - he was dead right as well.
I'd trained up to 21 and a bit miles and religiously followed the plan, but running the actual race distance on the day on a course that was unfamiliar
I might have only done one marathon, and I thought I was fairly mentally ready last time (these guys I've mentioned really know their shit so talking to them helped) but I still hadn't done one.
This second race will be much more of a known quantity for me personally. I would say I am optimistic but in a more realistic way, and more comfortable with the pessimism and terror.

Being surrounded by support

Bournemouth was a bit of a solo effort.  Its not next door and there were other running events and things on the same day so there weren't any family or friends due to be at the start/end or en route. As such I pretty much drove down there, ran the race, treated myself to fish and chips on the beach, and then went back to the car and drive home.  I've run quite a few races, so I am fairly used to that...
There was plenty of support though - people in Hook Runners might not have been there but everyone was full of encouragement, and my close friends were definitely there in spirit. Terry,s training plan coaching and race plan were front of mind (and a printed out copy was in my pocket).  Also, Bournemouth is a big event - it does have crowds and cheering and aid stations and stuff.  It wasn't lonely by any stretch.
In contrast, London sounds like its going to be a riot.  There are about a dozen of us from the club running so lots of people travelling up, milling around at the start queuing for toilets - and probably various paces and various start pens - and there'll be a bunch of people that come out to watch and cheer.  I'm genuinely excited about this!

Hook Runners - Hook fun run 2017

Also as I'm running for the charity Barnados (#teamBarnados) I know they'll be in support on the day too and that will be great - especially, as planned, I've hit my target by then :-)

#teamBarnados

Plus, its London - a place I know well from work and goings out; I've travelled there, walked around it (i mainly walk in London), been to pubs and stayed in hotels it is familiar territory - home turf.  As one of the "big ones" in marathon terms it will be busy and loud and crazy!

London Marathon - don't know what year, I found this picture on Google

Food - a hearty breakfast

If there is one thing I definitely reckon I stuffed up last time it was food in the pre-race period.
I think I did OK during the race - I had a gel about every 4 miles and a fair bit to drink, but it was mild so I might have lost more fluid and salt through sweat than I realised.
Beforehand I had my usual porridge with jam for breakfast when I got up at around 6am.  Then drove to Bournemouth, parked up, got the bus to the start.

I had a banana and Lucozade there at around 8:30am, but if you consider that a marathon takes a long time... that probably wasn't enough and was too early in the day.
The race start was 10am and I was in good shape till mile 20 when I got cramp - but that was 3 hours in, so it only became a problem at 1pm.
That's an awful long time after that 6am bowl of porridge and quite a while (even allowing for gels and water) since the banana/Lucozade snack.  Even on a normal Saturday if I had breakfast at 6am I'd be hungry by 1pm!
Bottom line is, I don't know why I got cramp, but this for me is a likely cause - not enough salt, sugar, carbs, fluids and all that other stuff.
So for London I'll still have my morning porridge, and still have gels around the course.  But will take on more water and also (most importantly) I'm going to have a few things that are bit more substantial to take during the way - jelly babies and salt sachets maybe.
Also, I'm going to take something a bit more useful in fuel/salt/sugar terms for the pre-race period - jam sandwiches sound like a viable choice; maybe a Marmite one too.  Made with toast. Yum!

Right now ... Training and Fundraising (and sub-4 hours)

For now though, as I write this in January, my focus is on training (long, slow 15m run this week) and fundraising (I'm currently selling disco and raffle tickets).

https://www.facebook.com/events/167719963815762/

I've got friends too that are running marathons (some London, some others) - some are on their first; some, like me, have done one before; others are chasing times and are really wanting to perform at their best.  I feel like supporting other people is a big part of running - a part I love.
I still want the sub-4 hour time and I love that I have people's support for that; and I'm going to do what I can to support them too in their races too!
While I'm no expert, I learned a lot at Bournemouth - both in training and during the race.  So if any of this helps me and anyone else that's a good result.