VIRTUAL BOSTON MARATHON 2020 RECAP

When I ran my first ever Boston Qualifier (BQ) back in March 2019 at the Tokyo Marathon and subsequently securing a place in the 2020 Boston Marathon, I had big hopes and dreams of running from Hopkinton to Boylston Street. Collecting my first unicorn and completing the 6th of the Six Abbott World Marathon Majors.

2020 wasn’t meant to be and when B.A.A. gave the option of running the 26.2 miles virtually but still receive that famous Boston Marathon medal, I was in two minds. Yes! I would love to get my hands on the medal I have dreamt of wearing around my neck for the last 4 years but then it just isn’t right earning it running loops around Scholar Green, Cheshire, UK. It’s just not Boston.

As for all those people on Social Media complaining about the VIRTUAL Boston Marathon not counting towards the 6 World Marathon Majors!! They should be ashamed of themselves, to even think that a virtual race ran anywhere in the world should count as a Boston Marathon finish is an absolute joke. Yes, you worked hard to qualify or to secure a place with a tour operator or even worked your ass off raising the many thousands of dollars for a charity place but could you seriously feel good about telling someone you earned your World Marathon Major 6 star medal running loops around your back garden?

Anyway, enough of that shit!

In the end, I decided to sign up and run the 26.2 miles. Not to earn the medal but to prove a point.

On the 12th June I was taken into hospital with appendicitis. Upon leaving the hospital I was told that there was zero chance I would be able to run a marathon this year. Well, one thing I love is a challenge and I love to prove that you can do what you can’t do. Someone says I can’t run a marathon, well I can do it and I will do.

My first run post appendicitis was a 4 mile “easy” run on July 3rd. It was anything but easy. My pace was minutes slower than what had once been goal marathon pace, my heart rate was closer to what you would expect from racing a 5k. It was a really eye opener. I had 9 weeks to go from that to running 26.2 miles.

To motivate myself, I ordered the Boston Marathon jacket and cap.

As the weeks went by, training improved. The mileage increased, the heart rate decreased, the long runs got longer and the sessions got fasters. Everything you would expect from a proper marathon training plan.

The only difference here was I had 5 weeks of proper marathon training and a 2 week taper before race day.

I planned out a route that was mostly flat but with a few bumps to keep things interesting. It was a 5.2 mile loop with a 1.2 mile lead in. My plan for the 26.2 miles was to run the 1.2 mile lead in, 3 x 5.2 mile loops, 1.2 mile back to collect a 2nd water bottle, 1.2 mile back to 1 final 5.2 mile loop then finish off running back up the 1.2 mile and a little extra to round off 26.2 miles. Easy! There was one hill on the 5.2 mile which gave 48ft of gain but the 1.2 miles back to get the water bottle and back to finish was a 137ft hill, which now I am writing this, doesn’t feel anything like as epic as it felt on the day 17 miles and 25 miles into the run.

My final three long runs were 2 hour 15 mins, 2 hour 30 mins and 2 hour 45 mins. I ran all three plus all speed sessions on the marathon route to get used to it and get a feel for that hill at mile 17. Each long run gave me more confidence that I could run the distance but also that I was running well with a low heart rate. So well that I felt extremely confident that I could take it easy and comfortably beat my 3:17.48 ran in the New York City Marathon 2018, which is my second fastest marathon behind the 3:01.09 ran in Tokyo 2019.

I treated this as I would have treated the real in person Boston Marathon. I had a full 2 week taper, hydrated, ate well and slept well during those 2 weeks. I did run a 5k race and set a new 1 mile and 5k PB during the Mid-Cheshire 5k 2020 9 days before my virtual Boston race day, which granted! isn’t something I would have done for the real race but the opportunity to run a real in-person race after 5 months of no racing was too good to pass. I did gain a lot of confidence from running those fast PB’s coming off the back of the appendicitis and just 7 weeks of running.

I ran my virtual Boston Marathon on Sunday September 6th, right at the beginning of the 10 day window for logging a time. The Saturday evening, I had the traditional pre-marathon Pizza to fuel the race. Laid out my gear and prepared the race day nutrition as I do for every race and every long run.

Alarm was set for 5:45am. Sunday we go virtual racing!

Aim: to run sub 3:17:48 time ran in NYC 2018 to clock my second fastest marathon and to go well under to cover any GPS blips. 7:30/mi pace and come home around 3:15 was the target.

5km Splits: 22:10, 21:52, 21:49, 21:52, 21:45, 21:39, 21:24, 21:34

So the first mile was a big downhill and I went out in 7:14/mi, some way under the 7:30/mi goal pace. All of my long runs had been on this course wearing the Nike Pegasus Turbo 2. Today I was running in the Nike VaporFly Next%. That extra stack height and carbon plate were pushing me down the road at a faster but more comfortable pace than I planned.

The second mile rolled by in 7:04/mi and felt easy. I know what you are thinking, it’s only 2 miles into a 26.2 mile run, it should feel easy and that was on my mind at the time too. I decided that I would amend the plan and run at 7:05/mi pace, push it and see where my current limit is.

To be honest, I don’t think I found that limit on this day. I ran the first 3 loops of the 5.2 mile course with ease. The first 5 miles were around 7:06/mi then the next 12 miles came in at 7:00/mi. I felt in control, comfortable and enjoying the run.

Mile 18 was up the hill back to collect a fresh water bottle. That mile went by in 6:56. Other than the final uphill 1.4 miles, this was the toughest split on the course and I had coasted up the hill and felt good, strong in fact.

On the way back to the 5.2 mile loop, running back down the big hill, holding myself back from running a low 6min mile I once again changed the plan. Can I now run the final 8 miles at sub 7 min pace?

Mile 19, 20, 21….. all the way to 25 went by all sub 7 pace and feeling ok, not so strong now I am past my longest training run of 22.8 miles but still running mid to high 6:50’s

Mile 26 was back up the big hill. I felt confident of flying up there after clocking 6:56 for this mile an hour or so ago. This time around wasn’t quite as fast, 7:11 in fact. Still faster than my original 7:30/mi target but not sub 7.

I finished off the final 0.25 mile at 6:56/mi pace, running a little extra to ensure Strava tracks at least 26.2 miles to get the credit for the race. Could you imagine doing all that and Strava tracked 26.19 and the time not counting!

So, job done. Virtual Boston Marathon, 26.25 miles ran in 3:04.00 or 3:03.59 going off Garmin so obviously I am using the Garmin time rather than Strava. Comfortably under the 3:17.48 ran in New York City. I am not going to say this is my second fastest marathon because it isn’t a marathon, its just a 26.2 mile run. It isn’t a measured course and GPS can be off but what it is, is a massive confidence boost and proof that I CAN run a marathon less than 12 weeks after lying in that hospital bed with appendicitis and proof to myself that the 3:01.09 I ran in Tokyo wasn’t a freak result with it being so much faster than my other marathons.