I picked up Rebecca, Mark and Chris from our usual pre-arranged meeting point at 6:30 yesterday morning and we headed off to Swansea.
Once there the usual pre-race stuff began and we headed off to our pens to await the start. Samantha was in the slower green wave at about an estimated 2 hr 10 minute finishing time, whereas all the other CRC guys and girls were in the faster red wave, so I was going to be running this alone.
Pre race photo in the race village
The drizzle was coming in waves and I was getting chilly standing there until eventually we began to be moved towards the start line, then at 09:17 off I went.
I had already decided to try and keep my pace at around the 09:30 min/mile mark as I wasn't sure of my fitness to be able to run 13 miles. By three miles and the first water station I was feeling good and running slightly quicker than the 09:30. At the six mile turnaround point, my pace hadn't changed and I was looking at a 02:03 ish finish time, but of course there were still seven miles to go and I didn't know at what point I might begin to feel the strain, I would begin to fade and my pace would drop off.
At the turnaround point I saw Vanessa walking off with what looked like a member of the support crew. I called out to her, asking if she was ok, and she replied with only one word, hamstring. Ouch! And by this time the drizzle had long gone and the sun was now shining.
It was at this point that I took my first bottle of water, which I held onto for a while, slowly sipping the water to help replace the water I had sweated out.
I took another bottle of water at the nine mile mark and I still appeared to be running at the same pace and feeling good.
It must have been at around the 11 mile mark I saw a familiar figure wearing a CRC vest, it was Eddie, and he was walking. As I got to his shoulder I asked if he was OK, and he replied that he had twisted his knee. This isn't the first time that Eddie has had knee issues and just as I have problems with my calves, Eddies recurring problems seem to be mostly in his knees.
By twelve miles I had gone past the marina and was inside the last mile with just a hill to go before the finish line when, I spotted another CRC vest walking to my right. This was Peter, who said he was ok, but he looked totally knackered.
That last hill was tough with only a tenth of a mile or so left to run, and then the finish line came into sight and I pushed myself a little harder for a strong finish and I stopped my watch as I crossed the line.
Approaching the finish line
I was particularly pleased with my 02:02:43 time as this was a new PB for me and beat my previous PB by a whopping seven minutes, and this was faster than my last half marathon at Newport in March by twelve minutes.
You can see that my pace was fairly consistent
Just a few of us CRC runners wearing our finishers T-shirts and medals
From the left, Mark, myself, Chris and Rebecca
No comments:
Post a Comment