A real life race!

[PurpleFish59]

My first one ever actually! Leicestershire Half Marathon at Prestwold Hall.

The race started in front of the hall in the gardens, there was a great atmosphere and buzz about the place, which made me realise why people do these events. Before I got to the event village I will admit to thinking why did I get up so early, drive for 30 mins, and queue to use a portaloo when I could’ve set off from the comfort of my own home on my own time?

The race started with everyone walking two by two towards the start line roughly in order of expected finish time. It was all pretty efficient to be honest and I think the COVID protocols seemed to be working pretty well.

My plan was to run the first half of the race at 6:15min/km, the average pace for my last half then decide half way whether to push on or just get to the finish. Although it was much hotter than any of my training runs I was feeling good at half way so I did pick up the pace for the final 10K.

It would be fair to say I gave it everything I had yesterday. When I looked at my Garmin stats I was pretty close to my max heart rate on several occasions! The photo is from the finish and whilst I don’t exactly look fresh (and you can see the aftermath of the gel I spilled down my front at the 5miles mark 🤦🏻‍♀️) I’m pleased that I still had a little left for a “sprint” of sorts to the line. The gravel made that particularly difficult!

My official finish time was 2:10:26- a pb by around 3 mins although I’m a little gutted about those 26 seconds! That said Garmin recorded my distance as 21.3 km so perhaps I should have taken the corners tighter 😂

For everyone waiting for events that have been postponed there is hope and it will be so worth it once you get there!

[nowster Metric Marathon]

Wow! Your HM time was under my time for 18km yesterday.

I can't see the spillage stain in the photo. All I can see is a determined runner. 👍

[PurpleFish59 in reply to nowster]

Thank you nowster! The first HM is all about getting the distance done and having done 18K there is no reason why you can’t do it any time now 😊 There will be time for improving pace later! My first HM in October was 2:26.

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

That’s fantastic PF! What an amazing time, well done. 🏃‍♀️💥 Love the photo - I’d say you looked very fresh actually.

How exciting running a HM as your first real race. I expect you’re looking forward to your next one. Brilliant! 👏👏👏👏

[PurpleFish59 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thankyou cheeky! I’m hopefully doing a 10K at the same venue next month- I got a 10K PB on Strava during the HM so I should be able to beat that when I don’t have to do it twice 😁 then a friend messaged me asking if I’d like her place in the Sheffield half in September . . .

[Sandraj39 Half Marathon]

Hooray - a real life race report!😀👏🥳

Well done, not only on your first event but on a fantastic finishing time!💪👏👏 I have a real 10k in a few weeks - the first in over a year...can’t wait!

[PurpleFish59 in reply to Sandraj39]

Thankyou! Enjoy your 10K 😁🏃🏻‍♀️

[over61andstilltrying 10 Miles]

So speedy! Brilliant! You look great! 🎉🍾🥂🏁👏🏃🏻‍♀️😊 Well done to you!

[PurpleFish59 in reply to over61andstilltrying]

Thankyou, no-one is more surprised than me that I managed to sustain that pace!

[Cmoi Marathon]

Great run PurpleFish59 , way faster than I can manage, and you look wonderful on it too! 🏃‍♀️👍

[PurpleFish59 in reply to Cmoi]

Thankyou Cmoi. 13.1 miles is just as far however fast you run! And soon you’ll be running much further than me!

[Lizcanrun Half Marathon]

Congratulations!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Absolutely fabulous!!! Great photo, great time, great fun! Congratulations on a cracking first real race.

[PurpleFish59 in reply to linda9389]

Thanks linda9389 - hopefully your event will be just as fun and bring back the love ❤️🏃🏻‍♀️

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

Absolutely Fabulous PurpleFish. This what we’ve all been missing. There’s nothing like the butterflies before a race and the buzz you get. 🤞 more will follow in the coming months.

Congratulations on a great time too.

[PurpleFish59 in reply to Dexy5]

Thankyou Dexy, it’s true there really is nothing like it!

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Oooh a real life race report! Love it! Well done and congratulations, that’s a fabulous time 💪 you should be chuffed. Did you get bling?

[PurpleFish59 in reply to Irishprincess]

Thankyou IP and oh yes there was bling! Picked up from a table in a socially distanced manner of course!

[Buddy34 Half Marathon]

Congratulations Purplefish59. That's a fast HM and your photo looks great . Well done👏👏👏

[PurpleFish59 in reply to Buddy34]

Thankyou Buddy! I thought I’d be a much brighter shade of red to be honest 🥵

[misswobble Marathon]

Yay 👏💪. A well done 😃👊✊🍰☕️🏅