3:52:11

A week late, but I've finally got some computer time to record a bit more detail about Edinburgh. The details get hazier in my mind with every day that passes, but here goes.

I felt the preparation went a lot better than for Berlin, and from starting my training with the vague idea of trying to get under about 4:15 this time round and then aiming for sum 4 (0r 3:45) in Amsterdam), I knew in the week leading up to Edinburgh that sub 4 was well within my capabilities, and 3:45 if everything went to plan. I also knew that the fastest marathon time by anyone from Kirkstall this year (so far) was 3:53, and although the girl who did that is usually faster than me, it was a time I felt like I could challenge. During the week I'd actually looked at the splits for about 3:51 and thought that was reasonabl, but there were only pacers for 3:45 and 4:00, and I didn't want to go it alone.

The weather forecast was horrible, and at the start there was torrential rain. I'd remembered to bring some bin bags but hadn't actually tried them on and on Sunday morning realised that they were smaller than they needed to be. I cowered under my umbrella until I needed to hand my bag in, then hid in shop doorways for as long as possible before the start. I did at least have an old t-shirt which I intended to chuck once we got going which kept me a bit warmer.

I didn't really have any nerves at the start. I guess I'm just getting more experienced, and the start of most races is similar whether it's 5k or 26 miles. You hang around at the start for what seems an eternity, make a few visits to the loo, and size up the competition.

Bizarrely I managed to get into a faster pen than the one I was intending (the times for each pen weren't very well signed and there was no-one checking which pen you were meant to be in), so once the gun went off I hung around waiting for the 3:45 pacers to catch me up before crossing the start mats.

Then, I basically stuck with them for 21 miles. The whole thing seemed a lot easier than Berlin. Then I was starting to feel it by 6 miles, in Edinburgh I was at half way before I realised it. Even though there were plenty of people around me I decided to zone out and listen to my iPod (which I never normally do in races), and just focus on running rather than the atmosphere). I heard a couple of shouts for Kirkstall over my well chosen and motivational playlist (which was 4 hours long as an incentive to finish before it did!). My left achilles started to make its presence felt after about 8 miles, but nothing I couldn't run with.

The rain had stopped shortly after the start, although there was a nasty wind for the first 17 miles. It would be at our backs for the last part of the race, but did I use up too much energy early on? Coming out onto the seafront at Portobello I could see the power station further up the coast, which looked a long way away - it was only when I got there thatI realised that was only at about 13 miles and there were another 4 or so to go before the turn!

I've never actually run over 20 miles continuously before. So to get to 21 miles still with the 3:45 pacers was something of an achievement to me. But my ankle was starting to hurt a bit more, and I knew that realistically I wouldn't stick with them to the end. I don't like taking chances with my left ankle because that's the one I broke, and I knew that if I took it steady I could run/walk to the end and easily break 4 hours, which would be a huge PB and a really good time. So, I reluctantly let the pacers go ahead of me, and I took it steady to the end. Or at least to 25 miles, at which point I decided I was going to run the rest whether I liked it or not.

I crossed the line at 3:52:11, and I'm pretty pleased with that. I know from how I ran that I'm not far off 3:45 - I'm OK for speed, I just need to work on endurance a bit more - if I could have got to 24 with the pacers I'd have kept it up to the end, but at 21 there was just a bit too much running still to be done to stick with them. I know which muscles I could do with strengthening, and I've got another shot at it in Amsterdam.

I'm also, at the moment, the fastest marathoner this year from running club, and I'm sub-4. Sometimes I forget how hard it actually is to do a marathon that fast, particularly for women. Because I can do it, I kind of assume that it can't be a big thing really, but then I sit in the pub with a load of people from RW (and K - lovely to see you!), and realise that I'm the fastest one there. Which isn't bad if you look at where I started.

My legs have never felt quite as dead as when I finished. I really did have to shuffle to the pub, and nearly cried when I realised the bar was upstairs. But a bit of food and beer later, and they felt a lot better, and bizarrely by Monday morning they were almost back to normal. I even felt up to negotiating the Madrid metro (complete with escalator and lift-less steps) with my case on Monday evening, and walking miles round Madrid on Tuesday. On Thursday I ran 3 miles as a birthday "treat", and I've done the same run a couple of times since, together with lots more walking.

So now I'm planning to drop my mileage a bit while I do a couple of summer 10ks, then start building the mileage again in mid July. Because I've got another marathon to train for, and I'm looking forward to it!