I had said: I’ll be happy if I go below 3:30 and the closer to 3:20 the happier I’d be.
I went aggressive at the beginning on purpose. I knew I’d have to slow down but I wanted to give it the best shot I had. My plan was to stop running and get back to cycling in preparation for PBP2027. I wanted to set a sub 3:30 PB that I could be happy with.
At km 37 my right knee went, the tendon on the outside. Unannounced. Unexpectedly. Without any warning I had to stop running and walk. Funny enough in front of a friend that was cheating for me.
Walked for a bit. I started to run again and very soon my left leg failed. That was unannounced, it felt just fine all day. But that was not unexpected. My left leg had been playing funny for a while, forcing me to be careful during the last few weeks of training.
Had to walk all the way to the finish. 5 kilometres. 1 hour. I tried to run a few times but not even jogging would work.
1 hour with my head down, hearing people shouting my name, and runners patting my back.
I managed to “run” the last few meters but couldn’t make it sub 4 hours.
It will take my over inflated ego a bit of time to recover from this.
The run in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17408177134
Take care of yourself
Javier Arias González
