Juan Moreno - VLM 2016 Race Day
CLC Striders’ Jesus lookalike, Juan Moreno, shares his race day thoughts.
A huge congratulation to all Striders that ran the London Marathon and did a great run: Rich, Paul, Laura, Neil and Will. Well done guys!
I couldn´t run the London Marathon in 2015 due to knee injury so I had to withdraw sadly. Last year I promised I´d run this marathon well in 2016.
A few days before the VLM Brendan asked me what time I am aiming for? I told him under 2.50, My PB in Berlin was 2h53 and last 2 weeks before VLM I was worried because of a HR higher than usual so I´d be happy to do 3 or 4 min off. But He said: “If you’ve run 1.17 HM than around 2.44-2.47 should be possible” I remembered in September 2014, 3 days before the Cheltenham Half when Bren asked me the same, I said 1h21 (my PB was 1h22), he told me:”No way, you are doing 1.18-1.19 on Sunday” and I did it. He was right.
I spent Saturday around London with Rich, David and Paul who was very kind offered to take on my race pack and bring that down to London (Thanks Paul).
On Sunday morning I thought maybe Bren is right this time again so I decided to risk it and try under 2.45h to get Championship qualifier for 2017. I knew the second half would be really hard with that pace.
10km in 38:27, very fast but I felt great. I’ve never heard my name shouted so many times. I went through halfway in 1:21:33 was a bit faster than I had planned. But after half marathon I started to have stomach issues due to my second gel so I decided not to have any more gels from this point. 30-35k was a bit slower than previous splits but nothing to worry about to much. I maintained pace through 35km and it wasn’t until last 7k that I saw any slowing at all. Normally when I´m racing my second part are faster, today was different. I didn´t hit the wall because I only lost 1 min on my second half but I struggled to maintain pace. Most of time from k35 I ran on my own. The fatigue and pain in the legs last 5k was horrible.
The last mile never ended, so long through Hyde park and The Mall. I left nothing in the tank.
First half 1:21:33 + second half 1:22:39 = finish 2:44:12.
Thanks for all the support guys. I´m delighted to wear my Strider vest again. It was a fantastic experience and one I will remember for the rest of my life. So all my targets hit in one fantastic morning. PB and Championshp qualifier. I´ll be back with my friend James Oram in 2017.
See you there Striders!