For my second marathon, I knocked an hour off my personal best time in hot (~30C) conditions. I didn't tell very many people about this marathon beforehand because I didn't want to over-think it, just to enjoy the 'zen' moments it had to offer. I still had all that great advice from my Runnymede Runners coaches and fellow-runners, from my first marathon 4 months ago when I completed Southampton sub-6. Now I'm in the sub-5 club, and I credit this to running injury-free, and to having done both strength training (Vertue method) and intensive daily (Hobrough) stretching over those 4 months (I figured these out too late for Southampton). These things have resulted in what is essentially 8 months training (including a winter of speed and hill sessions with RRs) for the marathon I completed yesterday, experience, and confidence moving forward.
This time I think I really figured out the nutritional & hydration aspects of marathon-running (though I'm no master -- I just think I got it right). When I realised I was dehydrated yesterday, I describe the sensation as "it's closing in on me" like a faint aura in a circumference around my direct line of vision. As soon as I had this sensation (which I've had before on long hot runs, and occurring usually right after a long hot exposed section of tow-path) I reverted to walking. I drank a whole bottle of water, had a gel, and ate a nutrition bar, and within 10 mins or so I was running again. I repeated this two more times (as my hands would begin to tingle as well, a sensation I had to get rid of) before the finish. Contrary to my first marathon (not injured w/IT band problems this time), I was actually able to pick up and run again. I realised that the food/drink combo at the right time, with salts & sweets, is crucial. When your tank is empty, it is empty, just like a car, and you must re-fuel or you will stop (the tank has a specific capacity that can't be changed). The water is even more important in way because, as that 'aura' was telling me, you will black out if you run out of water and keep trying to run through it, just like a car over-heating when its radiator dries out.
The second key thing I did to let me keep running through the whole race (and I had a strong finish, could've kept going...for a bit), was to change the way I ran, taking smaller steps, altering the rhythm, once I'd restarted. This change in rhythm was a way of activating new muscles to recruit the ones not yet depleted. I got this tip from Brewer's excellent Run Smart.
On the social side, there were some really fun people there, some of whom I chatted up as we waited for the prelim-spiel at the XCel Leisure Center in Walton. One woman was running 12 marathons in 12 months (there were quite a few doing this type of thing, or the even more rigorous 100 marathons in 100 weeks), at the chill pace of 6-ish hours per race. These were chilled people. Another woman (there were four of us clustered around a small table at a cafe in the leisure centre, all strangers or semi-strangers to each other) had done a sub-5 at her previous Phoenix event and was shooting for a sub-4.5 this time (which I think she did achieve).
So, having made some new friends, and now having to run back & forth between two locks along the Thames (a nice route with lots of shade mind you), repeating the route 8 times (4 up & 4 back) we could cheer each other on each time we passed -- which we did, and it helped.
At the end I finished, I finished strong, and was less sore than after my 21.2-mile training run in Parksville BC two weeks before. The finish line was basically a pub so I went in and ate a full round of carmelised goat's cheese on a bed of salad, with a pint of something refreshing. There were finishers and supporters all around. This was a glorious day in a month I don't really associate with races, and that had been looking to be dry of them until I found this Phoenix one in the Runner's World listings. I'm very glad I did it.
