Hi all, Bruno here, I will be running the London Marathon and I will be blogging for Totum Sport in the run up to the big day. I am hoping that Totum Sport will give me the extra I need to achieve a personal best in the London Marathon.

I’ve never considered myself as suited to distance running, I’m a relatively ‘big lad’ for a runner (the bottom half of me must weigh the same as Kipchoge, or Farrah), and the thought of holding paces close to that I can achieve over 5k for 13.1 miles fills me with dread. I guess I can be a bit of a soft runner in general; I often give up the ghost if a PB isn’t on, I throw my toys out of the pram and sulk if someone I can normally finish in front of beats me, and I have had many runs where I hone in and listen to the negative thoughts of “I can’t”, rather than looking back on my training and realising “I can”. Not so at the Monsal Trail.

I have a bit of history with the Monsal trail; in the build up to my last 2 marathons I’ve failed to hit pace and have been dropped off the back of training runs there. I didn’t give this a second thought yesterday, I was prepared, I’d trained so hard for this. I was expecting a PB, and it would point to where I am in my prep for the London Marathon which is just around the corner.

I woke early and had a couple of slices of toast with honey and banana, sorted out the kids with some breakfast, and set off in the old car over the hills to Bakewell for the race. I turned the engine on and did a 3 point turn, the brakes on the car let out an almighty crunch, what’s that about? I set off slowly fearing I’d not get there in one piece. Looking back this was probably because it hadn’t been driven since the snow hit us and there could have been grit particles on the brake discs… Still I had to get there and the wife needed the other car so, fearing for my life on the 25 minute drive over country roads, I set off, the fear a welcome distraction from dwelling on the race ahead.

So having avoided death I proceeded to the start. After a gentle warm up mile I met up with mates from Monday Night Club (MNC) – an informal gathering of runners/friends, and took my pre-race Totum sport hydration sachet… I started taking Totum sport about a month ago and now I take it before and during every run, and after an effort session.

Totum sport complete hydration

The race starts and I quickly find myself in a group of 3 behind the leader with a fellow MNC’er (Mark) and another mate I’d had many a previous ding-dong with at Parkruns. I believe both are targeting between 1:18-1:20, so I am wary of sticking with them and going too fast too early. My pre-race plan was to go out (slight incline) in6:15-6:20, and come back in sub 6:00, thinking this would get me in around 1:20 which was my main goal.

1) 1m – 5:56(5:56/m) 114/155bpm
2) 1m – 6:03(6:03/m) 151/155bpm
3) 1m – 6:03(6:03/m) 152/153bpm
4) 1m – 6:06(6:06/m) 152/154bpm

Around mile 4 the 3 became 2 (me and MNC Mark), and I was still feeling ok. A quick check of HR showed it to be creeping up to 154bpm. I know from training my threshold is around 149bpm and I didn’t want to run too much above this level too early on or I would be in for a world of pain on the way back. This wasn’t a day for avoiding data and sticking with Mark so I backed off the effort slightly and MNC Mark gradually went away from me. The 2nd tunnel hit around mile 5 and the gentle but constant uphill was starting to show in my pace. My mind briefly wandered…Maybe I should have gone out steadier, maybe I was overcooking it, maybe everyone was going to stream past me on the way back. NO Bruno, not today, you are still ahead of plan, your HR is back where you wanted it, and you’re in 3rd place in a Half Marathon!

5) 1m – 6:22(6:22/m) 151/153bpm
6) 1m – 6:25(6:25/m) 150/152bpm

The turn came at a good time, there were people there, I politely declined the cups of water on offer and reached in my back pocket for my 2nd Totum sachet. I can’t see any bins so say “thanks” as I dump my empty sachet in the hand of a bemused marshall before running back down the path toward oncoming runners. I get a planned High Five with MNC Callum and a nice “come on” from MNC Gary shortly after, this machine ran a marathon the day before, I’d only ran a Parkrun. I smiled and offered encouragement to many of the runners coming in the opposite direction, loads of them offered me support. The miles although not all sub 6:00 were close enough.

7) 1m – 6:11(6:11/m) 150/153bpm
8) 1m – 6:05(6:05/m) 149/151bpm
9) 1m – 5:59(5:59/m) 148/149bpm

Around mile 9 the constant flow of runners coming up in the opposite direction slowed to a trickle, and then stopped. Gone were the supportive cries of “well done” or “keep going”, my legs were starting to feel the 70+ miles I’d put into them that week (this run came at the end of my biggest week in this training block), and I started listening out for people coming up behind me whilst in the final tunnel, no sound. I made myself look forward, MNC Mark was on for a cracking time and was a mere speck in the distance at this point, 2nd was gone, 3rd would be awesome. Mile 10 passed, and I passed another drink stop, no need for water I’m still feeling hydrated. Mile 11 passes, pace is still good and I can’t hear anyone behind, am I going to hang on for 3rd? Yes I think I am. I knew a few runners behind me were planning on running a negative split but I thought I had built up enough of a lead, and most importantly I couldn’t hear anyone coming.

After mile 11 I started thinking whether I had anything in the legs if I was challenged. As far as I remember I’ve finished every main race I’ve ever run with a sprint, some of these have been misjudged; my 1:23:24 PB at Leeds HM last year is a prime example where I sprinted for the finishing arch, only to find that the finishing arch was actually an arch for 13 miles, leaving a painful last 200m or so of getting re-overtaken by people I’d just passed. Anyway I convinced myself that if pressed I still had a sprint in me. I may have eased back slightly at this point, the HR was sub-threshold at around 148bpm, but in my mind that was ok – If I had anything left I’d use it in the last 800m and finish strongly.

10) 1m – 6:08(6:08/m) 148/149bpm
11) 1m – 6:06(6:06/m) 148/150bpm
12) 1m – 6:11(6:11/m) 148/150bpm

I pass the mile 12 marker and the area where I parked up, here I see MNC Amir who is supporting with his family. I ask him “How far behind is 4th?” he doesn’t hear the question so I ask again, but I’ve passed him and I don’t hear his answer. I see another runner’s wife and kid, she calls out “keep going, you’re on for a podium”. I give her a little fist pump, I may have even raised both hands above my head in triumph, and then she continues “…but Mike’s closing fast behind”. Did I hear her right? Mike’s closing fast…This guy is a running machine, and I’m sure he runs on diesel rather than carbs. He’d completed the Leeds Towpath Canal marathon the day before in a shade over 3hrs (as a training run), and I know he’s going to be clocking up 100+ miles this week. Did I hear her correctly?

Mike answers my internal questioning as he appears on my shoulder and gives me a little “come on” before putting a little spurt in to open a good few metres between us. The 800m remaining board passes and I’m doubting my sprint, the memories from Leeds are tormenting me. By now Mike’s winding it up to 5:30 pace, maybe quicker. I decide to make a dash for it. I deploy the afterburners and overtake him sooner than I’d planned, I’ve gone too hard and too early and I can’t see the finish. I reign it back a little, Mike passes, I think at this point I might have groaned/grunted, 3rd has gone, it’ll have to be 1st V40 for me. A good run and a V40 prize is still a good return… No it’s blooming not, I’ve not run 9 miles on my own in 3rd to finish 4th. I’d have definitely taken 4th at the start, but not now. I spot the finish line, Mike is around 5 metres in front of me but no longer pulling away. The line is 200m away. I give it one last push, my cadence must’ve hit 220 steps per minute, I pass Mike (who’s running premium quality diesel today, using the HM as another training run at his marathon HR), before tying up right on/after the line. I’d stumbled home for 3rd overall and 1st V40 in 1:19:24, 2 seconds ahead of Mike in exactly a 4 minute PB.

13) 1m – 5:46(5:46/m) 151/156bpm
14) 0.02m – 6(6:06/m) 150/150bpm
(The splits are a bit out due to GPS errors in the tunnels.)

totumsport-londonmarathon