Monday, September 19, 2022

The London Double - Full Marathon Saturday - Half Marathon Sunday

 Well that was a fun running weekend!   A Marathon, Half Marathon two shirts and three medals and memories that will last a lifetime!    











 Saturday September 17, 2022 it was "That Dam Hill" run at Springbank Park in London.   This is one of my favorite go to yearly races.  This year they offered a special promotion a medal for those who do bith Dam Hill Saturday  and The London Road Races Sunday.  I choose to do a Full Marathon then a Half Marathon...I like a theme!    The weekend weather forecast was more summer like then fall.   We were fortunate and started the race at a foggy 16C and the fog hung around for the first couple of hours.   My plan all weekend was a 7 minute pace then walk the last 2km of the Marathon.   Things more or less unfolded the way I planned.  I fell a little behind on my hydration going into the last hour of the race slowing me down as my blood thickened.   I wasn't looking for a time other then around 5 hours so taking a little longer and enjoying the day was OK with me.   Had the pleasure of being paced by my old running buddy Gary Johnston for a few laps.  Also had moments with Han ,  Joe and Andrea some folks that I have been running Ultras with since 2007.      

GPS messed up the first of 19 loops so the data is a wee bit skewed.









Pace and HR data tell the tale of how the day went ,  solid through 4 hours then I was done.    







Temperature tells the tale too ..












I was pleased with the first 4 hours so much so I did think about an avg 7:00 pace bringing it home in under 5 hours but the reality of another race the following day plus the fact that I was behind on my hydration I decided to walk the last 3 km.   


Sunday was another day ,  felt tired at the start of the half  but otherwise not too bad.  I showed up at the start line just wanting it to be over but also looking forward to a tour of the city.     It took an hour before I really snapped out of my Marathon hangover and much to my surprise I really started moving well in the second half of the race so much so I had a negative split.     The course brought back lots of childhood memories of the city I grew up in I really enjoyed it.   There seemed to be as many marshals and volunteers as runners it was one of the best organized events.  Water stations were every few km,  I took in water but no salt or calories inn this race.   









Pace and HR tell the tale ,   better one this time! 






Cadence shows how I picked it up once the body woke up from the Marathon Hangover ...
















It was a fun weekend ,  almost done to expectations with the exception of the last hour of the Marathon.    

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