My VLM Nightmare....

Got up at 05.45 had my last bowl of porridge and then faffed about checking my kit bag etc. Headed out the door at 07.00 walked to the 15 minutes to the station, normally I'd get the bus but decided I needed to walk and just think about what was going to happen today.

Got to Stratford Station jumped on the Jubilee Line and headed towards London Bridge to get a connection to Blackheath..result only had to wait 10 minutes but by the time train came in the platform was chocka , got on the train by the time we got to Blackheath Station the smell of sweat and deep heat was very over powering.

We headed towards Blackheath up the hill then onto the Heath...so many people.I headed into the blue start got my bearings and headed to the toilet queue, which wasn't too bad I then got changed and headed to the toilet queue again ! 

By now it was 09.30 so I thought I should go to my start pen (3) OMG it was packed and very warm. The race starts but the first few miles seemed very very congested and it seemed to be very warm. I picked up water at the first water station took a few sips and dumped the bottle.By the time I got to 8 miles I started to feel very uncomfortable and was sweating loads,plus my left hamstring was starting to feel very tight,by 10 miles my ham had cramped up and I need to stop at medical for ice pack and massage,I told the guy I felt pretty sick, he told me I was probably getting dehydrated and that I should take more fluids on board
I went on my way,the ham feeling less tight. 

At 12 miles I thought I was going to be sick,maybe a combination of the gels and dehydration,luckily it passed, at 15 miles I felt awful and I could feel the right calf starting to cramp up,by 18 miles I needed medical help again, so a massage on the calf which hurt like hell !! I took a glance at the Garmin and found I was way off my pace so decided to carry on and run to finish.
As I hobbled along another runner started chatting to me, it turns out we had been passing each other from about Mile 8,it also turns out she's a Fetchie, and can't for the life of me remember her Fetch name,so if your reading this I hope you finished safe. I left her at about 19.5 miles by the time I got to 20 miles I was in so much pain that I actually cried  I hobbled past Fetch Point ( I really need to get a Fetch vest ) and dug very deep to ensure I made it to the finish.

At Mile 24 I managed to see some friends who we on the bridge at Lower Thames Street that really cheered me up as I was suffering really bad by now.

Big Ben was a welcome sight and turning into Bird Cage walk I saw the 800 metres, then 600 metres and 385 yards OMG nearly there, and with my arms in the air I crossed the finish line....in 4 hours 33 minutes a personal worst my target was sub 3.45

I have gone over in my head why it went so wrong for me. Why was I so dehydrated when i took fluids on at almost every water and Lucozade station in fact I think I only missed 2 out. I also went through every shower to cool me down.

I used 4 gels plus sport beans so I know I didn't run out of fuel.


I am now the proud owner of a VLM medal and I'm thankful that I was able to finish when I saw so many runners worse off than me.