TOULOUSE MARATHON

What a day that was! Last sunday I set off at 8h45am to run my first (non injured) marathon. I took off with my training partner, Arnaud, who I had broken my semi record with a few weeks prior and we opted to set off on a 4.10 per kilo pace which would have us finish in just under 3h. All started well, at the 5kms mark we were spot on, at 9kms though Arnaud started to fade a tad but hung on until the 10kms mark when he told me he wasnt well. For anyone who's run before it sucks mentally leaving someone your'e comfortable running with and have raced with before behind but he's a tough cookie and will bounce back soon enough. I pushed on and soon had a small group of 6-7 runners who were all on the same pace as me. We hit the semi in 1h28 and I felt good though I made a mental note to myself that between kms 22 and 32 it would be wise not to accelerate....As we continued on after the 21kms point we were on a plateau and could see groups spitting out runners ahead. Not far after the semi I saw a friend I had trained with quite a bit on the side of the road...I felt a pang of hurt for him as he was on great form but the day of an old tendon flaired up and that was that. My group picked up the pace a tad and instead of staying at 14,3kph we were soon at 14,5-14,8kph. Not wanting to find myself alone I tagged along but knew the hurt would happen sooner or later....
At km 35 my cycling quads who have survived 6 hour mountain rides suddenly felt like they had just finished 100 squats with 60kgs! I was in mega pain and soon my group was 20m ahead, I said to myself Id keep them at 50m, then 100m and then they were gone. I pressed on battling my own mind, knowing Id make it though not as planned and at km 37 the 3h balloon passed me. I tried, as any good cyclist would, to take their wheel but couldnt quite make it. At km 38 a few cycling buddies encouraged me and I made it to the line in 3h06 finishing 4th. Vengeance will be on april 11th in paris where i hope to finish in under 3h. For photos check www.velonation.com and my blog!
cheers!