Downton Half Marathon
The plan for this race was simple. A quick warm up, then some miles at intended race pace of 8mm, followed by the half marathon at the same 8mm pace, and finishing with a quick warm down. This would mean that the half marathon would be run in a time three minutes slower than my PB for a similarly undulating course.
The forecast for today was cold and wet. I have to give it to the forecasters – they were spot on! On arriving at race HQ I picked up number and chip. Then it was time to get changed and go out.
The first part went to plan. I did three miles in 24 minutes. During this I experimented with a few different kit options and finally settled on wearing two tops – a Helly Hansen base layer and a Craft short sleeved top. Leggings for the bottoms, with compression socks. This combination left me at a comfortable temperature. By this time everyone was getting ready to start. We were hurriedly pushed out into the road, with the traffic stopped, and started. At that point the plan fell apart.
I was a fair way up and moving quickly at the start. I realised that I was going too quickly and backed off the pace. Still I went through the first mile in 6:54. Oops – over a minute too quick. Time to slow down.
I slowed further, but kept moving well. Second mile in 7:19 – time to back off the pace even more.
Drinks on the way to three miles and finally my pace has settled to something close to plan. 7:45 for the mile and some jelly babies from my fantastic support crew.
The next three miles were 8:12, 7:52, and 7:51. This looks good, but somewhere in here was a decent bit of uphill. Still moving too fast!
Then we turned and had a decent chunk of downhill. At this point I got into a race with some others and charged through with my fastest mile – 6:42. Oops, time to slow down. Again!
More uphill. Finally taken at a sensible pace – 8:43. More downhill and another quick mile – 7:19.
At this point I realise that if I can just keep going then I can PB. Of course this is easier said than done, as I start to struggle to keep the pace. However the next two miles go past in 15:58. Somewhere in here I started to walk – someone else going past encouraged me to keep running and I set off again.
Coming back into the wind is slow and the twelfth mile is slow – 8:40. Turning into the end, time to push. A PB is still possible. A final mile of 7:29 and about 40 seconds for that last bit. Then it was a time to dive inside and have the bun and cuppa the race people were providing – something that was much appreciated after being out in the cold! The guy who had encouraged me came over and I thanked him.
In total a 1:41:32, which is a PB by nearly 40 seconds. Not at all to plan, so I am annoyed at myself, but I am happy to PB and happy that I was able to re-target my race when I realised that the original plan was not happening.
My support crew, or mum and dad as I more often call them, were great. They drove me over to the race, and then went round to several points on the course to cheer me on. Mum lent me her watch, as my poor packing meant I had left mine behind.
