I've spent this afternoon pondering how to describe this run. My local half marathon...what could possibly go wrong?
8 weeks of training...hill runs...interval sessions...long runs...I am all over it!
2 weeks to go....bad pain round knee caps. RICE it...test them out on a 15k....yeah still hurting....back off and rest...
Trouble is I'm so damn single minded. Its like tunnel vision when it comes to a race....
Anyhow fast track to the day..up at 7am...porridge and bananas done. Slow run from the girlfriends house to the park where the start is and the buzz is amazing.
Over a thousand people. All different shapes sizes and colours. Everyone I speak to has a smile..even the lady who had 10 pees as she was so nervous 🤣
Ok ..the course itself was pretty hard. Steady hills followed by more hills...then throw in some more. I'm not talking Snowdonia type hills...just the ones that wear away at your stamina as they keep coming...gently and deceptively.
Throw in some unexpected sun and your chugging away at nailing your 5k targets...it can hit you later on like a punch from Mike Tyson...
The route is lovely..its scenic..it runs you through all the villages outside of leamington. When i run through these places it made me appreciate what a wonderful and scenic place I live in.
Trouble is I'm so F@@king self competative...at 15k I should have backed off in the heat...but no...I keep my pace...16k...water and gel...17k...glutes start playing up BUT I'm on this...I'm close to my first HM time...18k...I just dont care anymore...19k fecking wheels fell off...
Not quite sure what happened after that but I fell over the line with an amazing bunch of supporters cheering all the runners on.
It's hard this half marathon stuff. I hit a PB. I'm happy with that. I wont stop at trying to take chunks off it either.
When I look back...I enjoyed the Saturday PR with some crazy peeps and happy doggie more...you know who you are
Attached is a picture of a dying man doing a 1:56 HM...
Written by
Windoze
Half Marathon
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You smashed that HM goal with a great pace and time! Whoohoo! Rest up, take some time to heal, and enjoy some more PR with the amazing people on here.....until the next race or distance or time goal sucks you into its vortex 😆....then start the crazy all over again 😁
Well done Windoze, what a tough, awesome run! Can’t believe you did so well as you were definitely suffering at Parkrun (I know because I was keeping up with you!!). Amazing time but I know what you mean about being competitive with yourself.
It was hard work, wasn't it? I'd not realised quite how uphill the first 3 miles or so was until I looked at the profile afterwards, it was bit up and down after that too. Too busy fighting the feet to notice at the time!
Good question 🤪 I'm working on a sub 23 5k, sub 50 10k. I'm also working on my core and glutes and intend to extend my long slow runs to 20miles this year. Oh also Birmingham HM in October so will be hunting 1:55 and below 🥴🤪.
Wow ok! Quite a few plans. I suppose by extending your runs you’ll probably naturally run the shorter ones faster? Gosh, I’m tired reading your goals, going back to lie down
Hi ya. Yes to a degree. The longer runs do help but I run interval sessions each week. These concentrate on short but sustained paces mile pace, 5k and 10k pace. Including these and hill sprints ( well more like wobbles) have helped me knock massive chunks off in over a year. I was 30-32min 5k and 1:08 10k roughly this last year...
19 km mark is way bad, add in a hillock or incline and you’re dying out there That’s when you rely on spectators to urge you on 🙂💪😃👏👏👏
Hopefully there’ll be some 🙂. It’s good that you’re competitive and won’t quit at that point. Still, you’ve come this far ....... you’ve got to get back to the start line anyway ..... these are the little chats we have with ourselves
Pacing ourselves in the first half is easier said than done isn’t it
You did it though and had a good day. I dare say medals and cakes were involved 👍😃🏃♂️🏅🍰☕️
Holy schamoley Windoze, great time there! 👏👏👏 Imagine if the wheels hadn’t fallen off, or if it had been flatter and cooler? You were smokin’! 🏃👍👏🎉👊🥇
I loved Leamington PR (might have said that a few times already .. 🙄), and it was great meeting you and the other VRB’s on Saturday. I think we’re all a little crazy! My dog snoozed all the way home in the car. Her kind of day too! 🏃♀️🏃🐕
Brilliant! Loving that determination. 19k has been a tough point for me too - just as well it's almost over by then cos some pretty hard self-talk is needed to keep going 😃
Well done, that’s a great run - and you look in pretty good nick in that photo to me.
It’s funny, I seem to struggle much more with the mental side (‘this is hard. You can’t do it. You should stop running and walk’) over 5km than 10km and up.
Was your first gel/food at 16k? I only ask as I’d always left eating until about 15k until recently when I’ve started having a first snack around 11k? It seems be working better for me that way and I’m finishing stronger; maybe a little more time for the body to convert the food into energy before the end of the run.
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I'd not realised quite how uphill the first 3 miles or so was until I looked at the profile afterwards, it was bit up and down after that too. Too busy fighting the feet to notice at the time!
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