1st Simon Kasimili, Kenya, 1:03:3533rd Darren Treadaway, Barnet and District 1:12:54
9877 Finishers ujjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
To be honest I was 50/50 on the Friday before the race about actually putting myself on the start line. This was to be the end of a very hard 4 week training block totalling about 25 hours a week and I would have expected to crack a lot sooner so myself and Steve had planned for an easy recovery week after Reading. kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Saturday morning I got a call from Laurence asking me if I could give someone a lift so I said of course and realised it looked like I was now racing, I did say that if he beats me then he can walk home! gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
On arrival which I thought would be more chaotic considering there were some 12,000 runners competing in the two events, we were ushered into the disabled car park so had very easy access to the race area and facilities, obviously this was an oversight but it was too late to do anything about it so thought we would ride our luck. Watching the masses que up to put there baggage in and go through various warm up routines, rituals was somewhat amusing! I went for my usual 20minute jog and knew that it wasn't going to be an easy day, legs were still very heavy.
We realised that the start was going to be very busy so we made sure that we got there with plenty of time to spare, well in fact about half an hour. While jumping up and down to keep warm waiting for the start a TV camera man and interviewer approached me and asked if they could talk to me I said sure but felt kind of embarrassed and thought they should of been talking to one of the Commonwealth Games guys like Dan Robinson or Huw Lobb or one of the Kenyans so said a few words and probably made a tit of myself! Not sure when or where it is going to be shown.
The gun went and adrenaline kicked in and my legs felt re-charged and ready to race. Went off too quickly as per usual but eventually settled down. Went through 2 miles in 10:30, 5 miles in 27:00, 6 miles in 32:35 looking at the splits I realised that I was already up on the pace I ran at Watford and at this stage was enjoying the race and great crowd support. I hit 10 miles in a new PB of 54:55 wow! and worked out in my head that I was on 1:11 pace which was a lot easier said than done.
I got to the 11 mile mark and could see the stadium looming in the distance but my legs went to pieces, the hard work was now really taking its toll on my legs especially my quads. I felt awful and had just resigned myself now just to finishing, I got caught by a big group with a mile to go containing the guy who I gave a lift too, cheeky git! As I got closer to the stadium I could hear the crowd which was a big lift and checked the watch and was amazed to see I was still on for a 1:12!
It goes to show I am in great shape now and once I rest and taper for Portugal I am going to be ready to really turn some heads in the tri world as i am biking and swimming very well too! got my first easy week for a while this week then its 2 more weeks hard work before the build up for Portugal.
Will be doing the 12 stage road relays on Sunday, these are great fun and will be well rested.
