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Windsor Autumn Half Marathon Run Report πŸ˜€πŸ…πŸŽ‰

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathon
β€’24 Replies

TL;DR

So I did it : I completed my first Half Marathon, and an actual event with other people as well and even got the medal to prove it πŸ˜€ I had been training for a time of 2:20, so very pleased with a final official time of 2:16:16, and also got my 10k, 15k and 10 mile PRs along the way as well! Longer write up below...

How I got here

My running journey really started at the beginning of last year when I decided to do couch to 5k, with aim of doing a Parkrun by end of March, which I achieved. After a few months of consolidation I followed Ju-ju's plan and booked a 10k along Windsor river side in October. Unfortunately this run was not well organized (and hampered by bad weather) so had 2 route changes in the last few days, and incorrect signage on the day, so the race distance was not correct (my fitbit also failed so I never got an accurate distance from that either). Therefore I felt this was unfinished business, so I booked up another Windsor River run this spring, with F3 events, who seemed more professional . Of course then Covid happened, so that event like everything else was postponed. I did still do my own virtual 10k in Windsor Park on the VE day bank holiday, and was rewarded by seeing the Red Arrows fly past after I'd finished πŸ˜€

The planned event was pushed back to October, so I decided to keep on training and while I was at it to start a half marathon training plan just to see how that went. Around this time the HUHM Autumn group started up, so I decided to sign up. This has been a great motivation to follow both here and on strava - through all the ups, downs, heat, rain, injuries, as well as the virtual runs and woohoos!

About a month ago F3 emailed to say they had a Covid plan agreed and the Windsor River event was going ahead, so I confirmed my place and at HM distance, so all was set to go. Then with less than a week left the event was postponed again by the local council πŸ˜₯ The new proposed date is the end of Nov, however I was not keen on that given a) I'd trained for Oct, b) the weather by then is likely to be worse and c) given its been postponed twice I think a good chance it will be again! However the Eton Dorney Lake race this weekend was still going ahead, so I decided to switch to this instead. Being on private ground I hoped this had more chance to go ahead plus the weather looked better and also gave an extra week for my knee to recover from a recent injury.

Race Day

Therefore I turned up at Eton Dorney Olympic Rowing Lake this morning. The Covid-19 preparations were all thorough: pre-race health check, check in via the NHS app when you arrived, hand sanitizer, 2 meter gap, people starting at 15 second intervals etc, which all gave confidence in the event being secure. The event was a bit later than the river run would have been due to a duathlon taking place before, so I arrived in time to collect my bib number, get ready, warm up and join the queue for the start. I had my plan, nutrition and music all sorted and was ready to go!

This wasn't my original choice of event, but the course was not quite as bad as I thought (I thought it was literally just laps of the lake). The first section was along the boundary of the grounds, roughly following the Thames. However this section seemed harder as it was longer, and also had a bit of a head wind. Following the turn at the end there was then the straight back to the start. This went down the middle of the lake, and was more enjoyable with the swans, ducks and birds flying around - and more importantly the wind behind πŸ˜€ Each lap was exactly 5k, so the HMers did an extra section on the first lap to make the extra distance. Given this is a flat & fast course and one of the few events currently taking place it is well attended by running clubs and serious athletes - so I was expecting to be overtaken a lot, which did happen! First by the HMers then the 5 & 10k ers as well - still I tried not to get carried away and just stuck to a pace I was happy with (even if faster than my training). I did realise I wasn't quite the slowest though and on the 2nd and 3rd laps I did overtake a few other people. The 4th lap was by far the toughest though - all the fast runners had now finished, so was just us slower HMers going, and all well spaced out by this point. Therefore I found my pace dropping off. However I knew I was ahead of my plan so I allowed myself a short walk, and drink of water, then turned up my music and focussed on the finish straight! Definitely glad to see the finish line: although no spectators, the marshalls did a great job of cheering people on (all very Parkrun like, as also commented by Linda9389 on the Kew 10k!)

Overall very happy to have completed this journey with the Autumn HUHM team πŸ˜€

PS final comment: I always try and sync my Garmin watch straight after an event. On the drive home my watch decided to do an update (which always results in losing all data since last sync) - so very glad I did that today!!

Written by
triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tiger
Half Marathon
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24 Replies
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AlMorr profile image
AlMorrHalf Marathon

Congratulations on completing that Windsor Autumn Half Marathon, you had a good time as well, it's only the gazelles that can run a HM sub two hours so don't worry about them lapping you on the course, once again congratulations. 😊 πŸƒπŸΎ

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toAlMorr

Thanks AlMorr - yes know what you mean, so wasn't too worried about being overtaken!

AlMorr profile image
AlMorrHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply totriumph-tiger

I should have said that the "gazelles" try to run a sub 90 minutes HM, its the club runners that try to get any time for a HM between 91 minutes and a little less than 2 hours., nevertheless you had a very good time as well. 😊 πŸƒπŸΎ

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toAlMorr

Yes makes sense. I took a look and places 1 - 16 were the "gazelles" (sub 90 mins), then a bulk of the runners (17 - 67) were sub 2 hours, then 14 of us at the end! But still I'm pleased with the result, and know from watching the Bath Half a number of times that there is a much larger range of times at a "normal" event like that! πŸ˜€

AlMorr profile image
AlMorrHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply totriumph-tiger

πŸ‘

SmilingTortoise1 profile image
SmilingTortoise1Half Marathon

WOO HOO πŸ₯³πŸ₯³ A brilliant achievement and a great pace tt πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

Sounds like you were lucky to be able to complete an actual real race after so much uncertainty and it sounds really well organised.

Awesome work!! 😊

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toSmilingTortoise1

Thanks SmilingTortoise1 - yes so pleased it actually went ahead in the end!

David_G profile image
David_GMetric Marathon

Fantastic HM triumph-tiger and it sounds like a very well organised event. πŸ‘ Hopefully that can be a template for future events if it proves successful, which it seems to have done so farπŸ˜ƒπŸ€ž

It’s so good to hear about a β€˜real’ run and you’ve done a great job with your training and the HM itself πŸƒβ€β™‚οΈ Congratulations!πŸ‘πŸ‘ Now it’s celebration timeπŸ…πŸ†πŸ₯³πŸΎπŸ₯‚

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toDavid_G

Yes was all very well organized, so just a shame they weren't allowed to do the Windsor River Run, but glad this went ahead anyway!

linda9389 profile image
linda9389AdministratorMarathon

Woohoo! Brilliant!!! So good that you managed to find a real race for your first HM - love the medal! That's a fabulous achievement (especially given the 4 laps course - flat but not very inspiring after the first couple!), huge congratulations. Hope you celebrated in style.

The only question is, would you like the limited edition virtual HM badge or the standard HM badge?

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply tolinda9389

Yes really pleased it actually went ahead, and yes do like the medal πŸ˜€ Went to a local pub with my family for lunch today to celebrate πŸŽ‰

Good question on the badge... not really thought about that! Guess maybe go for the regular HM badge given it was an actual race this time rather than a virtual one!!

linda9389 profile image
linda9389AdministratorMarathonβ€’ in reply totriumph-tiger

It is done!!!

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply tolinda9389

Thanks - that's great to see as well 😊

Stephen_UK profile image
Stephen_UKHalf Marathon

Good work, TT, and a great report too. Hope you are recovering now and can be proud of what you’ve achieved.

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toStephen_UK

Thanks Stephen_UK - yes taken it easy today, and feel pretty recovered now. May try a short run tomorrow πŸ˜€

Madge50 profile image
Madge50Marathon

Super well done! πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ’ͺ, liking that bling.....😍, that’s a great time too!

Mx

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toMadge50

Thanks - yes its a nice medal πŸ…πŸ˜

Decker profile image
DeckerUltramarathon

Wooohoo!! Congratulations!! That’s a brilliant medal. Its great you found a real race for your HM too.

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toDecker

Yes indeed - thanks Decker πŸ˜€

Sandraj39 profile image
Sandraj39Half Marathon

Sounds as though this was a well organised event triumph-tiger - glad you found one to fit in with your training plans! πŸ™‚

Big congratulations on your run and completing your first HM πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ’ͺπŸ…- a really special milestone...and yes, those last few k can be tough!

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toSandraj39

Yes - I just kept telling myself I'd previously done 10 & 12 miles, so this was only a little bit further...!

Kevin41 profile image
Kevin41Half Marathon

What a fantastic time!! And a real running event!! Congratulations on your Half Marathon, it’s great to see and read about. Woohoo!!!

triumph-tiger profile image
triumph-tigerHalf Marathonβ€’ in reply toKevin41

Thanks Kevin41 😊

C3PO profile image
C3POMarathon

Congratulations!

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