Better late than never 😁
I'd been watching the weather for ages of course, but the closer we got to the day of the Brighton Marathon the clearer I could see it - we were doomed! There was no actual Storm With A Name, but there would be some pretty fierce winds. I took positive note of the fact that the final 5K would be with a tailwind, and set my teeth against not getting the time I'd been hoping for.
As a matter of fact I had been suffering from a soreness in my left hip, so I was already managing my expectations somewhat. In addition, about a week before the race I went down with some nameless horror of a virus that made my whole body ache and sent my spirits through the floor. So I didn't run at all for the whole week leading up to the event. My legs were pretty fresh on Sunday, February 23rd!
My husband dropped me off about an hour before race time, as close as he could get to the start line. Actually it wasn't too far to walk from there to the bag drop area and I discovered that I had got my keeping-warm-pre-race strategy startlingly right! I was bundled up, with a jumper, loose trousers, and my coat, all over my running gear, and my bag-drop bag held a complete change of clothes (rain and sweat were expected!). I also had a throwaway crappy cardigan for the start line. I felt toasty-warm as I wandered around the site soaking up the atmosphere. Eventually I surrendered my top layer and bag to the super-efficient volunteers and had a warm-up run up and down Duke's Mound, a steepish road that runs from the cliff top down to Madeira Drive where the race would start. I wore my crappy cardigan over my hydration vest, a fetching ensemble indeed! And I was still warm 😊 Soon it was time to get into the starting pen, and I began to fight my way through the crowd to get there - getting a bit stressed out by my progress, but at least I was STILL WARM! 😄 I made it on time, and began the final wait, doing a little jogging on the spot because I'd surrendered my crappy cardigan a little too early - but still I wasn't shivering 😄
Anyway, finally we were off! It was tricky to know when we actually started because the high winds meant no start/finish arch, but I saw a timing mat and pressed Mr Garmin's go button. This was my first ever race with a running watch. I know, right???!!! 😂 I heard from the announcer that Fatboy Slim was waving the starting flag for us, but I didn't see him, and I didn't realise he ran the race either, til later. I beat him 😊
So the first little bit was against the wind, but it wasn't really noticeable at our starting-shuffle pace. Soon we took a sharp right onto the coast road (Marine Drive), uphill but who cared since we had a magnificent, beautiful, glorious wind at our backs!!! I was bouncing along at a nice pace that would see me hit my original goal if I kept it up. My left hip (the troublemaker) felt a little stiff for the first couple of k, but I didn't notice any limping, and after the first 10 minutes or so felt perfectly fine so I thought. Anyway. I was running near a man in a tutu who was having a very loud conversation with his friends, so I let them get ahead of me a bit. But then Tutu dropped one of his headphones and suddenly appeared at my feet to pick it up - gave me such a fright! I admit I didn't observe much of what went on around me during most of the race, I was very much in the zone, and also concentrating on not falling over (for those who don't know I had a nasty fall just before Christmas, necessitating A&E and a couple of stitches in my chin, and I remain nervous). Also, I opted to wear my (polarising) sunglasses to protect my eyes from wind and debris, but the day was grey grey grey and the visibility not great.
Up (and down) we went along the undulating road, as far as Roedean School where we then turned for the first time into the full force of the horrible, nasty, rude wind!!! Whew, suddenly my pace dropped significantly - this is going to be hard work. But, still fresh, we battled on, back to Brighton down a nice steep part of the road. At that point the course turns North, along the Old Steine passing the Pavilion (I did see it!!), loops round the Level with its skateboard park, and back South, passing the palace again (I saw it!!), to the Pier. All of the roads in this part of Brighton are being refurbished substantially at the moment, and it's really quite a mess - I was doing a lot of feet-watching at this point. The wind swirled around, sometimes against us and sometimes behind, but there were a lot of brave souls lining the streets to cheer us on!! After the turnaround, at around the halfway point (the mile markers had stayed in the shed with the finishing arch) I started to flag considerably. I took out my highly caffeinated coffee-flavoured gel, and nibbled on it with a little difficulty. I swallowed as much as I could, chased it down with my energy drink in my soft bottle, and I felt much better and started to push on again.
My average pace had certainly dropped, although was still reasonably respectable. But then, of course, we had to turn right at the Pier, and face that dastardly, devilish, despicable wind!!! OK, so this is the hard part, I thought. To make things worse, although my left hip felt OK, my right hip was starting to pain me. I thought about stopping for a second to give it a bit of a stretch, but "stop" was not a word I seemed to recognise, so I settled for a bit of deliberate heel-striking, which seemed to help somewhat. And I thought I'd just soldier on somehow, so I did. There were a couple of loops off the road, to which I was looking forward as being a chance for a break from the headwind - and indeed they were! The first of them was only small, around Russell Square's little lawn. I also liked it because it was the only part of the course I had never run on before. In the event, it was a little tight to get round, so it made for slow going - but Mr Garmin somehow lost touch with the satellites there, giving me my fastest lap of the course! I noticed the error at the time, but then forgot about it, and this resulted in some confusion later on.
Russell Square was the point where the 2 hour pacer caught up with me! I noticed this, and because I don't much like running with pacers I didn't really care that he got away from me when we turned back into the wind. But then I forgot that my watch pace was in error and started to think that the pacer must just be going a bit fast - so I just let him get even further away! Ah well 😊
We did the other loop - up Grand Avenue and back, passing Queen Victoria's statue - which I always enjoy because it has a slight incline which is very encouraging. AND THEN! Back to the ghastly, horrible, evil wind!!! This was the hardest part of the run, between miles 8-and-a-bit and 10, including passing by my own residence - I always play with the idea of popping upstairs for a bath at this point! 
I was astonished at how many people seemed to be passing me, hardcore I thought. I was struggling with my hip, and considered walking, but tossed the thought aside because I KNEW that very soon we would be turning East again. I was fantasising about it!!! As I mentioned to pianoteacher last week, I also told myself simply that I was not a walker!
We ran the about-turn around Hove Lagoon, and there it was again my friend, my lovely, astonishing, captivating WIND!!!! Actually, there is a little upward ramp just at the turn, and my first thought was oh no, this is hard work. Even though a man next to me gave a little whoop 😊 I was looking out for my friend Robert, who had said he would be there cheering us on. For a minute I thought he might have given up and gone home (wouldn't have blamed him!) but eventually I spotted him, called to him, and "well done, Abi!" he shouted back. Then I was caught by a gust of wind from behind, and everything became a lot more awesome 😊😊😊
For the last 5K of the race I pushed as hard as I could, my pace was good and I started to catch up with that flipping 2 hour pacer 😂 I can't say I remember all that much of what was going on around me, I was focusing hard on the Pier in the distance. I did see (for a second time) the man carrying the life-size model of a tiger on his back - fair play, and I gave him a cheer! The course heads along the promenade, which, only a week ago, had been completely covered with shingle thrown up by the sea during the storms. The council had done an astonishing job of getting it cleared, I was most impressed! The tide was high as I ran the prom, and we could feel the sea spray - but the rain held off. At the end of Hove Lawns by the Peace Statue we left the prom and were back running along the road. I was alternating pushing my pace and coasting with the wind behind me, and struggling with the pain in my right hip. Eventually we were back on Madeira Drive, where (as with the Brighton Marathon) I tend to forget that there's still a bit more left to do! I couldn't help but drop my pace, and my eyes were searching for the finish line - eventually I saw the chequered flag waving and focused as best I could. I passed the 2 hour pacer who had stopped to wave people on past him.
And finally there it was, the finish!!! I saw a man wearing a medal and got momentarily confused because he looked as though he was wearing TWO medals - but it was just that the design has a 30 (for it is the 30th year of the half marathon), so it kinda looked like two medals (see pic). I picked up a banana, a can of water (weird), and my medal. I fished out my phone to get my texted result, and noted with disgust that I'd finished in 2 hours and 47 seconds, grrrr! I spent too long queueing for the goody bag and got quite cold! Mind you, I bet I wasn't as cold as the poor volunteers, I don't know how so many of them kept smiling, they were amazing!!! I finally got my warm clothes on and started the long hobble back, against the wind and the rain, to where my husband had managed to park (illegally!). He had been to Taj the Grocers and got some falafel wraps and vegetable samosas for lunch which were LUSH!!! Home, lunch, and bath - pub later 😊😊😊
I made peace with my >2hr finishing time during the walk back to town. My first Brighton Half Marathon, in tough conditions, and with sore hips - I'm calling it a win 😊
NB I wore my hydration pack for the race because I wanted to save time at the water stations, and also because I am a thirsty soul who likes to drink when she wants to! But it has more advantages in that carrying other things is much easier, and with the current emergency is good for avoiding human contact!
My Brighton Marathon 2016 report
Another Manchester Marathon Race Report
