Running race 4:23:13 [4] 47.23 km (5:34 / km) +910m 5:05 / km
shoes: Nike Free 3.0 Flyknit Blue
Six inch. Didn't quite go to plan but I guess it did really go pretty much the way I expected.
Tried to set out at a pace that would give me a good shot at running 4 hours and I think I got that about right. I didn't really feel as though I was pushing too hard but by 15k I was already starting to feel a bit tired and thought there was very little chance I would be able to hold the pace. I tried to just keep the pace steady just hoping I wouldn't keep tiring the way I expected to. Kept reminding myself that I felt I had gone out too hard in 2008 and didn't tire too badly.
Kept the pace fairly well through to half way which I reached just about spot on 2 hours. Reached the half marathon start, which is slightly past half way, just after they started so had to run through a lot of the field over the next couple of km. About this point it was starting to become obvious that my pace was slipping a little. 30-34km was all downhill which allowed me to hold the pace around 5min/km making it still seem theoretically possible to make sub 4 if I could somehow find a second wind.
I held onto some slim hope that the steep climb to the second aid station would somehow revive the legs but even the gentle slopes on the approach were a struggle and I had to walk all of the steeper section. From here any thoughts of a good time went out the window and it just became a question of surviving to the finish. No question of trying to run any of the steeper hills and the flats were a mental battle to keep shuffling along rather than giving up and walking it in.
Result didn't surprise me as I knew from the outset that 4 hours would be a real stretch and I never felt as though my training was working effectively. I hoped that I would come good when I backed off coming into the race but it didn't happen. I think all the long runs in the plan I was following were just more than I was ready for so it was wearing me down rather than building me up right from the start. Hopefully all the long runs I have got under the belt will still provide a good base for some better training next year after I recover.
Note: Guy I was running with/near from 10k-27k ran about 3:59 so I think my pacing was about right for 4 hours, just wasn't fit enough.