Report comparing the 2015 and 2016 London Marathons

Sisters Louise & Julie Beveridge

I was not going to write a race report for London this year given that I had written one last year and Sandra had included her report but when Alan asked for a comparison of the two years I decided to put the following report together.

This was my 2nd attempt at the London Marathon (and 3rd marathon overall) and this blog report gives an insight into my experience of the London Marathon over the two years.

Going into the 2016 race I had been slower in building up my mileage due to injury towards the end of 2015.  This lack of mileage in my pre-marathon training was noticeable as I could see my times for my long runs were slower.  The Alloa half marathon also confirmed this (1.36 in 2016 compared to 1.33 in 2015).  My last 20 mile run in 2016 was at an average pace of 8.44 minutes/mile compared to 8.28 min/mile in 2015.  However I was surprised at the end of my 14 week training period to find I had in fact covered the same amount of miles as I had in the same 14 weeks of 2015 (give or take 1/2 mile).  This was probably due to higher mileage weeks in the later weeks leading up to this year’s race.

I went into the race expecting a slower time this year given the statistics above.  Just prior to travelling down to London I had revisited last year’s race report I had written and I noticed the comment Alan had recorded in which he said “in 2016 you need to throw caution to the wind and really go for a time” and this was in the back of my mind as I set off.  To give an insight into my marathon training I don’t really follow a plan.  I make sure I get a long run done on Sunday and I gradually build the length of run up week by week.  However I feel I am too early into ‘the marathon’ as race yet to properly go for a time.  I don’t feel as if I put in enough miles or number of runs per week to to do my time justice.  I feel I am still finding ‘my feet’ as this distance.

Maybe I had been a bit cautious last year so this year I decided, just like I had with the recent Tom Scott 10 mile race, to go out and run the early part of the race as I felt fit to do, pushing on a bit (but not overdoing it i.e. I did not want to go below 7.00 min/mile and generally over the first few miles I was hitting around about 7.20-7.30 min/mile).  Although I had no target time in mind I did want to try and keep my miles below 8.00 min/mile for as long as possible and when I did feel I was starting to drift below this I tried to speed up.  Last year I had kept below 8.00 min/mile until mile 16 when I hit a 8.48 min/mile.  I had looked over the splits last year before this race and I was aware of this (and was determined it was not going to happen again).  Mile 16 occurs at Canary Wharf and involves going through a tunnel where I think the Garmin lost it’s signal last year.  This year I managed mile 16 in 8.00 minutes and in fact miles 17-20 were also around 8.00 minutes (7.49, 8.00, 8.01 and 8.02).  Last year I also incurred a 9.13 min/mile at mile 24 but this year I was 8.14 minutes for the same mile.  Overall in 2015 In managed to keep under 8.00 minutes per mile until mile 16 and my slowest mile was mile 24 in 9.13 minutes.  In contrast in 2016 I kept under 8.00 minutes until mile 18 and my slowest mile was mile 23 in 8.21 minutes.

Looking back I was glad to run the first half ‘harder’ this year as deep down I knew I would slow up quite a bit in the 2nd half.  The first 13 miles of London are done as a ‘point to point’ race as you run from Greenwich to Tower Bridge.  However miles 13 to 23 are done as an ‘out and back’ and mentally I find this hard during the marathon as I know as I run out to Canary Wharf that I have to come back along the same route.  Miles 23 to 26 take you along the Embankment to Big Ben and towards the finish line.

Overall I finished two minutes quicker this year to give myself a new PB of 3.26.18.
Julie