London Marathon - April 23

While in Switzerland and while trying to run the major marathons, I registered through a charity during the fall of 2016 for the London Marathon.  At the time, this seemed like a great idea; however, this proved much more difficult than originally planned given my training plan was significantly shorter than planned due to my scaphoid surgery on December 9.  While in a cast (until Feb. 17), I was not able to do much training and then while out of a cast...it was ski season!  Let's compare my peak training plan (Philadelphia Marathon 2014) to this one:

Philadelphia Marathon (2:56 Finish)

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Weekly Mileage	Cumulative Mileage
1	Rest	3	5	3	Rest	5	10	26	26
2	Rest	3	5	3	Rest	5	11	27	53
3	Rest	3	6	3	Rest	6	8	26	79
4	Rest	3	6	3	Rest	6	13	31	110
5	Rest	3	7	3	Rest	7	14	34	144
6	Rest	3	7	3	Rest	7	10	30	174
7	Rest	4	8	4	Rest	8	16	40	214
8	Rest	4	8	4	Rest	8	17	41	255
9	Rest	4	9	4	Rest	Rest	13.1	30.1	285.1
10	Rest	4	9	4	Rest	9	19	45	330.1
11	Rest	5	10	5	Rest	10	20	50	380.1
12	Rest	5	6	5	Rest	6	12	34	414.1
13	Rest	5	10	5	Rest	10	20	50	464.1
14	Rest	5	6	5	Rest	6	12	34	498.1
15	Rest	5	10	5	Rest	10	20	50	548.1
16	Rest	5	8	5	Rest	4	12	34	582.1
17	Rest	4	6	4	Rest	4	8	26	608.1
18	Rest	3	4	Rest	3	Rest	Race	36	644.1

London Marathon (3:44 Finish)

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Weekly Mileage	Cumulative Mileage
1	Rest	Bike	Rest	Rest	Rest	Bike	Rest	0	0
2	Rest	Bike	Bike	Rest	Bike	Rest	Rest	0	0
3	Rest	Bike	Bike	Rest	Rest	Rest	Bike	0	0
4	Rest	Elliptical	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Ski	0	0
5	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Bike	0	0
6	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Bike	0	0
7	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	0	0
8	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	0	0
9	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	4	5.4	Rest	9.4	9.4
10	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	4	Rest	4	13.4
11	6	Rest	5	Rest	10	Ski	Ski	21	34.4
12	Ski	Rest	Ski	Ski	Ski	Ski	Rest	0	34.4
13	5	10	5	Rest	Ski	Ski	Ski	20	54.4
14	Bike	6	10	5	Rest	15	Rest	36	90.4
15	5	Rest	6	5	10	Ski	Ski	26	116.4
16	5	10	5	19	Rest	Rest	Rest	39	155.4
17	Rest	5	6	10	Rest	Ski	Ski	21	176.4
18	Ski	4	3	Rest	Rest	2	Race	35	211.4

My first run of the year with no cast/brace was April 18th; this was my last run in Switzerland before the marathon and my 2nd run before the marathon.  As you can see, my goal for the race was moreso to survive than PR. 

The weekend's journey started immediately with a surprise as I arrived at the airport over 1.5 hours before my flight, but did not realize there would be passport checks in Geneva for the U.K. flight (when flying to the US this is performed in the US at poorly of entry).  I cleared customs at 9:42p for my 9:45p flight, so I made it...arrived in London at 11:45p and finally to where I was staying at 1a.

Saturday was a relaxing day where I did my final 2 mile run to stay loose and went to the expo when it opened to avoid the crowds on the final day.  Remainder of the afternoon I relaxed at the apartment and went to the West Ham vs Everton soccer game at the Olympic Stadium; game was a blast despite the 0-0 tie.  The remainder of the evening was spent in Greenwich Market near where I was staying to relax, stay off my feet, and carbo-load for the following day.  I randomly ran into one of the marathoners at my apartment for dinner and joined him so that was nice.

Expo - Prerace

West Ham Game

Sunday - Race Day

The apartment that I stayed in for the weekend was within walking distance of the starting line, which is a major time saver on race day in a large city.  The owner was staying at the apartment and cleared all of their open bedrooms to rent to runners as there were two other runners staying there.  My walk to the race area took about 15 min. and then just waited for the start and relaxed.

The actual race was well organized with lots of crowd support the entire race.  Running across London South Bridge and in front of Buckingham Palace were both quite special experiences.  Running a marathon with the goal to finish, run the whole race, and sightsee was an enjoyable experience and really happy I ran the race.  I did finish with running and wasn't in too much pain although I did need to lay down at the finish for about 20 minutes to get off my feet before making my way home.

Immediately following the race, I got my fix of Chipotle as there is one in London!  I actually had 3 meals in the course of the 3 hours following the race.  After only having about an hour to pack my bags, I then had to get to the airport to fly home.  Flying after running is not the best idea!  I basically sprawled out everywhere as it was painful to bend any joints and then when arriving in Geneva running a marathon finally caught up to me and I was exhausted!

Immediately following the race!