Completed my first marathon this weekend at age 48.
I knew it was going to be tough but nothing could have prepared me for just HOW tough. The wheels started to come off at km 27 - it was as if my legs had just given up on me, to the point where I was scuffing my shoes on the tarmac because I couldn’t lift my feet high enough off the ground. I ran-walked quite a bit in the end, hobbling through to a 4:35ish finish.
I know my training could have been better. Started in January. I had got a couple of 24km, a 28 and a 30 run in with MP sections but had a couple of weeks off due to illness. Weekly mileage averaged 45km, peak week 55km. I was well fuelled (breakfast and 8 gels) and had done leg strength training average of once every two weeks.
Any ideas where it went wrong? Time on feet perhaps - the longest training run was three hours. Not enough time in the gym? Not enough weekly miles?
And has anyone sworn they would never do another marathon after their first, and then gone on to do more?