October 7th sees me joining the multi half marathon list! My 2nd half marathon of 2018 and after only 15 months of running. This time its the Lowestoft half marathon, the most easterly on the UK mainland. Training has gone well with the local Lowestoft running club (Lowestoft road runners) hosting weekly sessions on the course, as its a 2 lap course its handy to get a feel of what's in store and also work on 10k pace whilst working out which bits are going to kill me on the day. As is customary for these events there is a steep hill, its nasty, short and has to be done twice but other than that there are only a couple of minor(ish) slopes. Although I'm not going to go crazy (finishing is a major achievement in itself) it would be nice to knock a few minutes off my Norwich half marathon time of 2:31:25 from April.
The weekly training on the course is an eye opener for the relative beginner, I still count myself as a newbie even after a year and a bit and all the Parkruns etc), as the club runners impart such fantastic advice which I'd never have considered before. Each week it seems more comfortable and the pace is near where I think I need to be, just a little word in the ear from an experienced runner can help enormously. A major help recently was the appearance at training of Paul Evans, the Olympic 10,000 metre finalist and former Chicago marathon winner, who comes from Lowestoft. If such a high level athlete can be so unassuming and turn up to a local club to give advice to the likes of me then you know you've chosen the right pastime to get yourself fit and challenge yourself!
Not long to go, I'll write a report of my day once that's been and gone then it's into 2019 and training for the City of Norwich HM for April.
TTFN!
